Gamer Love: Player Two
Joyeux Anniversaire, Miraculous Ladybug!
Adrien was a decent (translated to, barely making it to the top ten leaderboard and he desperately wanted that little crown by his name) Mecha Strike III player. He had a relatively high winning streak and was a common name in the forums. And of course, like anyone who had a mild interest in the game, he was very aware of who exactly Ladybug was. The queen of the leaderboards and the most talked about person across all chat rooms, forum threads, and general UMS news. Heck, Adrien wouldn't be surprised if the creators offer her some sort of deal (from what he heard, she was a boss at the first two installments of the series before III introduced internet connection to its equation).
And as Chat Noir, Adrien wanted nothing more than to ask her to play a game. Not many people could beat him; there were a few, but they were rare. He was pretty sure Ladybug would be his greatest challenge yet. Even if he lost, knowing that he fought against such a legend was enough for him.
He'd voiced to Nino plenty of times about how his dream was to play Ladybug in a match, but the Bubbler just laughed and told him to keep dreaming. She made it clear plenty of times in the forum (uh, duh, Adrien follows her on there, why wouldn't he? Anyone who is anyone did) that her inbox was almost always full of requests for matches and while she tried to get through them as fast as she could, there would be more than a dozen new ones each day and she did have a life to live outside the virtual world.
Adrien did too, but UMS was his way out, so it sorta counts?
In order to keep himself more anonymous (can't have Gabriel Agreste catching wind that his son spends almost all of his free time playing video games now can we) he refused to tell anyone other than Nino about his Chat Noir persona. And surprisingly enough, the guy was doing a really good job keeping the blond's secret hidden from anyone else in their class.
That didn't mean he didn't know everyone else's usernames, and hadn't had at least one match with everyone.
Everyone except Marinette, that is, but she explained that with school and work at the bakery, she just didn't really have time to play video games anymore. And Adrien understood; even he had trouble finding time some days to sit at his monitors and play a few rounds.
Didn't stop him though.
UPDATE 1.8.0
NEW FEATURES: Spectating and live chat rooms
Adrien hadn't even fully sat down in his chair before the bolded text on top of the forum's homepage caught his eye. It had what, been barely a month since the previous update? Not that he was complaining, any new additions to the game always made his day. With a grin, he quickly went into his inbox and accepted his first available match, ready to get his day started.
CN-BOT was his most trusted partner as he started beating on his opponent, realizing that this person was more of a button masher instead of a combo-hitter like he was, and in no time he had his opponent down to half health. He let his eyes wander briefly to the view count—one thousand—and to the chat box, where there were dozens of people commenting the same thing: a ladybug emoji, a black cat emoji, and a heart emoji. It seemed as though everyone shipped Chat Noir and Ladybug.
Which, Adrien thought with a grin, didn't really bother him.
After all, never let go of a dream, his mother used to say, and his current dream lived on the other side of a screen in Paris (he'd never understand his luck in Ladybug also living in Paris).
With something akin to Ladybug-ease, he took down his opponent and sat back as his chat exploded with cheers. And then, right there, in bright red text with a crown next to the name—a top ten player.
Ladybug: He's pretty good.
Adrien's heart leaped to his throat. Was...was Ladybug just watching his match? The Ladybug? And she said he was good? What—?
Ladybug: For an amateur.
He watched as countless memes—his favorite thing, according to his profile—dropped in his chat in a frenzy. In his chair, he sat stock still, eyes blinking at the chat box. Her message was already gone, but he'd caught in.
In a fit of innocent anger, he clicked to her profile and requested a game.
GAME REQUEST: Chat Noir
well, let this 'amateur' show you what he's got :3
ACCEPT | DECLINE
She'd clicked ACCEPT.
Ladybug allowed Adrien to fully utilize his many UMS strategies, all the combos he's learned, every counter attack, literally anything that he knew was used in that match. And he loved it. Just watching the chat jump to two thousand people, twice what either of them had, and seeing the constant lines of text that were just emojis made his heart soar. His ultimate dream—a match with the one and only Ladybug—had finally come true and he had two thousand people to back up his claims if anyone asked.
Yes, he would go as far as bragging about a match in a video game, don't judge.
After the match, he swooped back into her inbox and sent her an innocent little message of, 'hi :3'. He hadn't gotten his hopes up that she would reply or anything, but he'd test his apparent good luck a little more. If she didn't reply, that was fine. Compliments never hurt anyone anyway.
Chat Noir: you're insanely good at ums. congrats on the win, i can see why you're called the champion
Compliments. Compliments were good. He turned away from his game screen for barely a second before a ding sounded through his speakers—a reply.
Ladybug: Thank you for the praise, but I must commend you on your skill. I've never played with someone as talented at the game as you.
Don't panic, Adrien, whatever you do, brother, don't panic.
Chat Noir: really? i find that hard to believe
Ladybug: Have you seen my win streak? It was really refreshing to have a challenge.
Chat Noir: well i'm glad to be of service. same time tomorrow?
Ladybug: Of course! Until tomorrow, minou.
Chat Noir: until then, my lady
Oh...
Oh my god.
Oh my—he had to text Nino. He had to text Nino and he had to do it now. Adrien scrambled to grab his phone, typing out a hasty message to Nino that explained what had happened in the past five minutes. He'd gotten a short reply back.
Ya Boi Nino: dude did u cream ur pants or somethin
Yes, Nino, Adrien thought with a giddy smile.
Wait, no, no, he didn't!
Just as he thought that, he got a notification for a friend request. From Ladybug. He accepted it.
Yeah, okay, maybe now he did. Just a little though.
Adrien was in heaven for the next two weeks. He'd come home, either from school or from work (he'd begged photographers to not let him work past six in the afternoon, and then begged some more so that they wouldn't tell his father) greet Nathalie at the door and then run up to his room, hopping onto the game's site and waiting for the game request from his dearest Ladybug.
And of course, their game went off without a problem and the conversation afterwards left him giddy, especially when it was now on Skype and not on the forums where he somehow managed to coerce her into changing his name in her Skype to 'handsome chat' while hers was 'pretty lady' on his.
But then, Gabriel Wants-to-Control-Adrien's-Entire-Life Agreste had to waltz on into his room, complaining about how much time he thought his son was spending online. Adrien was relatively used to being scolded by his father, whether it be in person or through Nathalie, but if all that was the icing, then this was the cherry atop the cake of heartlessness.
"You're too much like your mother, not a single care about school or work when you're just sitting here in front of your screens..."
If anything pissed Adrien off more in the world, it was when his father compared him to Elaine, who he knew for a fact would be supporting him and loving him no matter what he did. Adrien knew that Gabriel was just trying to get under his skin and get him away from his computer (which worked well, Adrien had to admit), but that wouldn't get him away from his phone.
Or, it did, until fifteen past midnight when he was completely sure that his father had gone to sleep. Alone with his thoughts, he opened the Skype app on his phone and tapped on Ladybug's icon. He bit his hot tears back, now ready to flow out into the open, and started typing frantic messages.
handsome chat: hey
handsome chat: ladybug i'm sorry that this is so late
handsome chat: it's just my dad
handsome chat: he really pissed me off and
handsome chat: i don't have anyone else to turn to
Nino was probably asleep, Alya too, and he didn't have Marinette's number. And Chloé was an obvious hell no.
handsome chat: if you don't reply that's fine by me
What a liar he was.
handsome chat: but please
handsome chat: i don't want to be alone right now
handsome chat: please please please please ladybug
He almost cried out loud when the little seen icon flashed under his last message and the bubbles from her side started dancing, indicating her reply was coming.
pretty lady: is a voice call okay?
He couldn't have tapped the voice call button faster, making sure that his headphones were plugged in just in case anyone came around and heard him talking to someone and thinking that he had snuck a stranger into the house. When the call connected, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding along with, "Hello?"
"Chat? Are you okay?" Ah, her voice was that of an angel, he couldn't get enough of it. It was enough to calm his tears.
"I—I don't know, Ladybug. I just—" his voice caught "—my father said some pretty nasty stuff a-and normally it doesn't affect me this bad but he started talking about my performance in school and work and I just—I kinda lost control of my emotions. Not in front of him, thank god, but it still hurt to say that stuff." He didn't mention Elaine; he didn't want to burst into tears in the middle of a call and have her worry more.
There was a brief pause on her end, before some rustling. "Once, when I was little, I ate an entire cake by myself." What? Why was she telling him this? Was she...trying to make him feel better? "My parents were so afraid that I was going to get sick. I only burped for about three days straight and earned the nickname 'Strawberry Shortcake'."
Adrien chuckled, trying to suppress a snort. Snorts are not attractive. "Are you serious?"
"Hundred percent, minou." She laughed, a bell tinkling through a wall of silence. "Let's just say I learned my lesson that day. Never ate more sweets than I could handle ever again."
"You're adorable," he whispered, before wishing he could have bit back those words when the line went completely silent. "Thank you, my lady," he continued. "But I'm afraid that's the only nickname I'll call you. I'm sorry for keeping you up late. Your story did cheer me up, thank you. I won't keep you up any longer." Oh my god, Adrien-conscience, shut up, you're rambling. "Goodnight, Ladybug."
"Goodnight, Chat."
Adrien stretched as he clicked his way to the forums where Ladybug was no doubt waiting for him to talk about their latest friendly match, where they had hit a sky-rocketing two point five thousand viewers. He grinned when he saw the little green icon appear by her name.
Chat Noir: today's game was great! it's incredible that we always have such a great turnout of viewers
Ladybug: Right? My best friend has like, a BLOG dedicated to me and the only thing there as of late is us. It's insane.
A blog? He'd have to check that out, ASAP. He shot a text to Nino asking if he knew anything about it before replying to Ladybug.
Chat Noir: hahaha no way! don't tell me we have a ship name
Ladybug: We do! LadyNoir or something like that.
LadyNoir was something he could very easily get behind. And support. Where was Nino and that blog name?
Chat Noir: lmfao! pretty creative, i'll give her credit
Chat Noir: but people are shipping us? we don't know a thing about each other, other than that one of your old nicknames used to be strawberry shortcake
Ladybug: Hush, kitty.
Chat Noir: forgive me, my lady. but that does tickle me fancy. can we play a game of twenty questions?
Please say yes. He'd been bugging Ladybug (Ha! Get it, 'cause she's a bug? Man, Nino would skin him alive, where is he with that blog?!) about possibly meeting up these past few weeks that they've known each other but she was either incredibly stubborn, which he loved, or just really nervous about meeting a complete stranger, which he understood.
Ladybug: Sure. You first.
Chat Noir: purrfect
Chat Noir: what's your favorite color?
No use in scaring her away with heavy questions like where she lived. The simple stuff would have to do for now.
Ladybug: Green. The color of meadows.
Chat Noir: interesting. mine's blue, like the ocean
Once again, don't mention Elaine. Ladybug didn't have to know the boy behind the sloppy cat profile picture was an angsty teenage boy whose mother disappeared years ago. This isn't a soap opera, Adrien.
Ladybug: Water is clear.
Chat Noir: don't ruin this cat's dreams, bug
Chat Noir: they're all i have left
Ladybug: Oh, sorry.
Ladybug: So what do you do other than play UMS?
Adrien's fingers paused on the keyboard. How many other boys in Paris had a demanding schedule like his? Was it worth the risk to tell her his hobbies, even if they were forced upon by his overbearing father and didn't really interest him?
Wow. Maybe one day he'd tell her how much he truly hated Gabriel but for now, small talk would have to do while he waited for Nino to reply.
Chat Noir: um
Chat Noir: i fence, i model
Chat Noir: i don't know if that last one is too personal
Ladybug: I don't think so. There's this one boy in my class that models, so I guess you saying you model isn't that bad? It's apparently really popular among teenage boys haha.
Yeah, really popular among teenage boys that have no control over how they want to live their life.
...Where is Nino?!
Chat Noir: lol i guess? i don't know it's not my favorite thing to do
Chat Noir: i just do it because my dad wants me to
Ladybug: So UMS is your way out?
Chat Noir: technically, you are
Chat Noir: i wouldn't be online every day if it wasn't for you, my lady
Adrien took a deep breath, no use stopping here.
Chat Noir: i don't know if that's weird, considering we've never met
Chat Noir: but i consider you my best friend
Chat Noir: i've never been so close to someone before
Chat Noir: even my desk mate in school hasn't seen this side of me
Chat Noir: he just knows i'm chat noir
Chat Noir: he doesn't know about how close i am with you
When he noticed that Ladybug hadn't even made an attempt to stop his rambling, he stopped typing, waiting for the little bubbles to appear. They didn't.
Chat Noir: ladybug?
Ladybug: I think-
Ladybug: ithinki'minlovewithyou
Adrien stared at his screen in disbelief. Had...had he read that right? Did Ladybug, the legendary champion of UMS III just say that she was in love with him, the black cat of misfortune that couldn't even scrape himself into the top ten? He jumped over to Skype and immediately started a voice call, his leg bouncing. Man, at this point, Nino could wait, Adrien had other important things to take care of. Like reassuring himself that what Ladybug had said—
The call connected.
"Are you for real?" he blurted out in a single breath, not bothering to plug his headphones in. Gabriel or Nathalie be damned, this was too important to deal with such trivial things like headphones.
"I—I said I think. I've never been in love like this before, so it's all new to me."
Adrien blinked at the cute ladybug icon on his screen. "W-well...I might be in love with you, too, then," he managed to whisper, burying his head in his arms as his face flushed with heat. "But I don't want to rush...whatever this is. If we're better off as friends, then we're better off as friends..."
He didn't think she realized how much saying that made his heart hurt. Goddamn, he loved her too much.
"I think we can make this work. I think we'll be okay," she finally replied, and Adrien fist-pumped silently as his phone went off on his desk.
Ya Boi Nino: its called the ladyblog y
Marshmallow: no reason, but thanks
Ya Boi Nino: u better not be jerkin off to lb again
Marshmallow: i never did in the first place, jerk
Yes, Nino had set his conversation name in their phone to Marshmallow, don't ask Adrien why, he didn't know the answer either.
Around a month later, there was an announcement posted on the main forum page about a live—live? He could meet Ladybug?—competition for anyone willing to enter that was a part of the UMS community. Chat Noir jumped at the opportunity, reading on about the details. It would take place at Le Parc des Princes, to page homage to the French creators of the game, and anyone out of country would be flown in and out once they made it to the final sixteen.
The day Ladybug asked him about the competition, he'd already had his first match scheduled for the day after and was practicing all day after his photo shoots. It was nearing midnight, and while Adrien knew he had to get to sleep to be fully rested for the match, the ding from his computer only prevented him from retiring to bed early.
Chat Noir: i hope we get to the final two, my lady
Ladybug: Oh? And why is that?
Chat Noir: i'm sure you know. it's been exciting talking like this but to talk face to face i'm sure i'd just melt on the spot
Ladybug: Oh no, I'd have a broken cat to deal with XD
Chat Noir: oh ha ha
Chat Noir: very funny bug
Chat Noir. say...are you up for a voice call?
It was only polite to ask because it was already way past either of their bedtimes and maybe she couldn't talk outloud? His question was answered when his computer started playing the Skype call music through his speakers—he forgot to plug his headphones back in earlier, dammit—causing the blond to jump in his seat and scramble to plug them back in before answering the call. "The least you can do is warn me that you're just immediately going to call," he said, placing a hand over his chest to try and calm his racing heart. "My heart almost stopped when my computer started yelling at me and this picture of a ladybug popped up on my screen."
"Aw, is someone a scaredy-cat?" she teased back, and Adrien could hear the smirk in her voice.
"I'm the one that makes the puns in this relationship, lady," he deadpanned, but smiled at the word 'relationship'. It only proved that they were really something more than friends even if a couple screens separated them.
"I'm sorry, minou. Just think. Maybe in about a month we'll be able to finally meet face to face."
"I can't wait to see your beauty in person, princess." He rested his head against his arms. "I might just end up staring at you because you'll take my breath away."
"You are such the romantic."
"Only for you," he whispered. He opened his mouth to continue when the door to his bedroom opened and he sat up straight, hiding the Skype window and opening the window he had prepared in case of emergency when someone should walk in. A page filled from top to bottom with physics equations usually got the job done, right? He turned to face the intruder, vaguely hearing Ladybug suck in a deep breath on the other line. "Père?"
"What are you still doing awake?" Gabriel demanded, standing a ways away, by Adrien's bed, but close enough to wear Adrien could feel the anger seeping closer. "You have a busy day tomorrow, you should be in bed."
Adrien bit his lip. Don't bitch, whatever you do, don't talk back... "I'm surprised you care." You're a goddamn idiot, Adrien-conscience, why do you even need to exist sometimes? Keep your thoughts to yourself, jerk. "If you must know, I'm working on some things for school." Adrien mindlessly gestured to his computer monitor as he rested his head in his hand. "I'm not wasting my precious sleeping hours doing nothing."
Gabriel didn't reply, just narrowed his eyes at his son. Adrien could feel the daggers jabbing holes in his back. It was a big mistake talking back to his father but at this point the deed was done, he'd take whatever punishment came his way from here on out like a man. "Just don't stay up for much longer," Gabriel eventually said, turning to leave. "The makeup artists will have trouble covering up any shadows you'll get."
Adrien's head whipped towards the doors, a faint, "Yes, père" on his lips but the man had already left. Biting his tongue, the blond waited a brief moment before returning to his lady. "I'm so sorry, Ladybug. I wish you didn't have to hear that."
"It's fine, minou. I'm sorry that you have to deal with that. He sounded so uninterested even when you said it was school work."
Oh, she hadn't ever seen uninterested until she meets Gabriel Agreste. There could be a wild bear shooting fireworks from his nose and balancing an entire Olympic team and his father wouldn't even move a facial muscle. Maybe that's why Nino thought he was a robot sometimes... "Yeah, well," Adrien sighed, rubbing his forehead, "it's what I have to deal with. But everything's better now that I've met you, my lady."
"Oh? Is that so?" God, he loved it when she flirted back with him.
"It's very so." He glanced at the clock on the top corner of his screen. If he wanted to play it safe, it'd be wise to call it early. "Well, my dear, it's late and we both have important matches tomorrow after school. I'd hate for either of us to be disqualified from the tournament."
"Until next time, Chat Noir."
"Until next time."
The qualifying brackets passed by like a blur for Adrien. He could barely remember usernames and by the time he bothered to it was the final sixteen already and he was walking to Le Parc des Princes and his heart was pounding because as the stadium grew closer, Ladybug did too. And it was just his luck that they were on opposite sides, meaning if all went well, he'd go against his love in the final game.
They'd agreed to each wear something personal to find each other should they lose a match and be unable to play against each other, Ladybug a bracelet, and him a black ring. It was snug on his finger and reminded him that this was real and happening.
That, and the phone vibrating in his pocket.
pretty lady: Are you here yet?
pretty lady: I'm sooooooo excited
Adrien smiled at his phone, ignoring the pointed look he got from another Striker. Or maybe they were smiling at him? Who cared.
handsome chat: yes! I just got here lol I can't wait to see you
pretty lady: Should we keep it a surprise? If we make it to the finals together, that is
handsome chat: As much as I would like to meet you sooner, I think that's a pretty good idea
handsome chat: So make sure you don't watch the live camera feeds, only the footage from my games on my profile!
pretty lady: Same goes to you, monsieur! :3
Her first game was against a 'Monsieur Pidgeon', which Adrien watched with a small grin before he was called onto the stadium minutes after her match to face 'L'Imposter', who used the same bot as him and had a very similar attacking style, but it only made the match easier because Adrien saw every combo coming and was able to counter them with combos his lady had taught him in all their games before.
His semi-final round was against an Italian girl named 'Volpina', who, with her FOX-BOT was a relatively difficult fight against ole CN-BOT. It was as though Adrien could feel Ladybug's stare into the screen since he knew she was watching his match, and he won by a good margin, thanking the woman for the game and texting Ladybug.
That night, excitement kept him up as he texted her. He was finally going to meet his lady behind their screens face to face and he couldn't be more nervous—but in a good way.
He sent her plenty of heart emojis which buried his many 'i love you' messages.
Adrien bounced on his feet as the clock ticked on to the final game of the competition, his fingers absentmindedly playing with his ring. He couldn't even look at his phone because he knew he'd had some sort of meltdown if he did. He'd texted Nino (who was with Alya watching the live feeds on the forum's page) but after that he'd pocketed his cell. Ladybug hadn't messaged him either.
She was right there. Just on the other side of the stadium. Just out of his reach, but not for long. He took in a deep breath. Breathing is a thing people needed to do to survive, he reminded himself. In and out, nice and slow.
"And now we welcome our two finalists!"
In and out, too fast, too fast! He screamed at himself internally as he walked onto the field and to the raised platform, eyes widening at the sight of his classmate at the station across from him. "Marinette...?" he whispered, stepping toward her.
"Adrien?" she squeaked back, and thrust out her hand, where he saw the ladybug bracelet sitting innocently, and kept an eye on it as he gently took her hand and guided it to his lips.
"My lady," he said quietly, turning to sit down with a smile and log in.
They both logged into the game's server, the respective bubbles next to 'Ladybug' and 'Chat Noir' turning green, signaling their presence online. Adrien quickly went to her page and clicked for a game request.
GAME REQUEST: Chat Noir
i love you, marinette. good luck.
ACCEPT | DECLINE
He looked up just as she did, and caught her lips mouthing the words back as she clicked 'ACCEPT'. He then focused back at the screen as the countdown began, and at the zero mark the bots were angrily beating each other down, hits and blocks and HP bars going down at equal rates. Adrien didn't have time to look down at his viewer count or chat; he had a chance here to finally win against the ever-elusive Ladybug, the legendary champion with an incredible high win-streak.
And win he did, with a combo aimed at LB-BOT right as she had taken the shield down. She'd thrown the victory for him and he could only look up into her endless blue eyes in shock.
While the chat exploded, he ran up to Marinette, his own chair clattering to the ground, and picked her up by the waist, spinning on his heels. "I know you threw that game for me," he said with a bright smile, and she gave him a sheepish one of her own. "But I don't really care." A deep breath, followed by a laugh. "See, I told you you'd take my breath away."
She rolled her eyes, but meant no harm by the action, judging by how her lips were still curved up into a smile. "Oh, hush up, minou, you see me every day in class."
"Yeah, but now I'm dating you, so I wanna be more present in your life." Unlike a certain somebody that didn't really care about anything other than work.
Marinette raised an eyebrow at him. "I honestly thought you didn't play UMS."
The blond shrugged, leaning down a little. "What can I say? It's my way out from dealing with reality."
And his lips met hers for the first time.
(Nino sent him a screenshot of that particular moment later that night. Damn bubble-boy.)
(Later that night when he went onto his page on the forums he literally almost creamed his pants at the sight of the pretty little crown near his username.)
author's notes:
to think i'd be celebrating the one year anniversary of a cartoon
joyeux anniversaire miraculous ladybug!
i'm gonna start advertising my fics on instagram so follow me over there eternalwhiterose
btw yes i absolutely disregarded the tragic sequel to this kid isn't all right for this fluff. ur welcome