She's found that early mornings have truly become her favorite time of day. It was quiet with Paris still asleep, leaving the city hushed and the streets empty. It was a perfect time to just sit and soak it all in. To take a break, to breathe, no drama of school, work, or akuma fighting to frazzle her nerves. Just the quiet hush of morning.
Her favorite area was sitting near the Seine. Sometimes on a roof, sometimes on the fence, sometimes on a bench; she'd sit and just watch and listen to the rolling waves.
And with the peace and solitude of the early morning, she found she could be whoever she wanted.
Mostly she was Marinette. Just plain old Marinette, snuggled up on a bench, a sketchbook loyally sitting by her side or in her lap. Sometimes she watched the waves, listening to her kwamis snore, sketching to the white noise. Sometimes they were awake, sitting out in the open, on her head, on a shoulder each, or snuggled up in lap, nibbling on treats.; unafraid to be seen with too few up and about.
When she was sketching and they were awake, sweet Tikki always had suggestions to share. Plagg only had snide comments, much to her amusement and exaggeration.
"Too lacey."
"Too puffy."
"How is anyone going to walk in that?"
"Well that looks like a headache to make."
He always shut up when she had cheese. And she had a lot of cheese.
Every now and then, she didn't come as Marinette, snuggled up on a bench. Sometimes she came as someone else, free of her nerves and stress, full of confidence and determination.
Lucky Chat.
The recent hero of Paris. So rarely seen in history, most people just didn't know what to think of Lucky Chat. They did note that Lucky Chat has been seen as either gender, and had both the powers of good and bad luck. Only bit she got from the kwamis was that some people were able to handle both sides of luck, even more so when they couldn't find two suitable hosts. But it was very rare. And Lucky Chat was never around for too long as a suitable host was always recently found. She could have a partner soon...
She grinned, recalling Alya's theory of Lucky Chat being the child of the famous, mysterious Ladybug and Chat Noir. Though none knew why Lucky has been seen as both a boy and a girl. Or what to really think of this rarely seen hero. Or why it was Lucky Chat and not the other two more well known heroes. It left a lot of questions directed to her.
Still, this was Marinette's favorite time to appear as Lucky Chat.
With the streets still asleep, there was no bother of any kind. No curious wide eyes, no pressing questions, no wary looks. No one to bother her. Lucky Chat could just sit and watch the Seine unbothered, a peaceful break before the hassle of the day started. The only sounds she could keenly hear were the lull of water, the occasional patter of an early jogger, oblivious to her, and her own breaths.
She could soak this in all day.
Her leather ears flickered to the sound of a coming runner, and Marinette sat still on the fence, waiting for them to pass as she watched the water. Like all others, their steps melted into silence, too caught up in their own muse to notice the elusive heroine of Paris sitting so close to the Seine.
Contently her tail curled about, swaying back and forth. She grinned when she saw a fish jump out, landing back into the Seine with a loud splash.
It was such a lovely morning.
"L-Lucky?"
She almost fell into the Seine.
Heart racing, she grasped the fence to steady herself. She whipped around, facing the intruder of her solitude. Her eyes, cat like due to Plagg, were sharpened, the pupils narrowed into slits as she faced the lamp light and the intruder.
Adrien.
Adrien Agreste.
Oh God.
She almost fell into the Seine again.
He was here?!
Why?!
When did he start jogging in the mornings?!
He jogged in the mornings?!
Panic filled her as her heart hammered, staring into his wide green eyes, just as shocked as he was. Did, did she scare him? Her slit eyes never failed to scare anyone. It always unnerved people. She was probably scaring him by how he was looking at her with those wide, beautiful green eyes. She should go. She should just go.
She moved to leap away, disappear before anything could happen, only to stop when he hurriedly approached her, his hands up as if to stop her. "Wait!" he exclaimed, and she froze, crouched on that fence, ready to leap away with her tail curled up behind her, keeping her balanced. Slowly she turned her bright eyes to him, heart pounding. She watched, a little mystified as his face bloomed red.
"S-sorry! I, I didn't mean to... Do, do you prefer Chat? I, I uh, I just saw you and, uh," he babbled, waving his hands around as he talked. Only to pause, realizing what he was doing and quickly shoved one into his pocket and the other to the back of his neck, rubbing it as he blushed and mumbled a shaky apology.
She watched him, curious, confused, and flustered.
She was Lucky Chat! She chastised herself. She was the snarky, confident, estrange heroine of Paris, using the power of luck to save the day from akumas! And here was her crush, talking to her, no, talking to Lucky Chat.
You are Lucky Chat.
Not bumbling Marinette.
Lucky Chat did not get flustered. She was full of confidence and sass. Very, very, very little unnerved her. Including this civilian.
Civilians shouldn't unnerve her.
A coy smile melted across her lips as she tilted her head towards him. He stiffened under her eyes, she could faintly hear him suck in a sharp breathe. Nimbly she leapt off the fence, landing inches from him and peering up at him coolly. The only give away of her still raging nerves was the uneven swing of her tail. Lucky's smile grew as he gaped at her. "Lucky is fine," she reassured, relieved with how even her voice was. "Adrien, right?" she guessed.
He squeaked, "You know my name?"
Of course I do you handsome boy.
Grinning cheekily, she she pointed to a near bus, that had his picture on the side. "I'm familiar," she admits.
"Oh." She couldn't imagine she's ever seen his face this red before. It made her giggle. It was cute! It was so cute she can't, God why did he have to be so cute?
"Is there something you needed?" she asked, wincing as her tail sped a little. She really needed to get away and recollect herself. Else she was going to end up floating to class and Alya would know in an instant that something happened and she had no idea how to admit that her crush blushed in front of her when it really wasn't her and just, ugh this was a mess!
Sheepish, he clears his throat, rubbing his neck nervously as he uttered, "Well, no. I, I just saw you while I was out an, uh, called out." He laughed at himself, "I had no plan."
She shared his laugh, thankful that her was much calmer; but her cheeks still reddened as she peered up at him. She turned her gaze to her boots, black with white on the tip. Like cat socks. Her tail wrapped around her ankle, squeezing it with her nerves. The red of her spandex shifted under that grip.
"I, I do want to tell you something," he said.
"Oh?" she pressed, her ears flickering at his voice. She heard him gulp and take a deep breathe, steeling his nerves.
"Thank you."
Marinette started, looking up at him in surprise.
Blushing, Adrien looked away, babbling, "I, I know it hasn't been easy. That no one really seems to know what to think of you yet. But, I don't think you're a menace. You do fix everything, the damage, the people; you help and do protect and, and you saved me. And uh..."
After he trailed, Marinette piped, "It's my job." Even if Paris didn't fully approve of Lucky Chat, she'd still do her job. The kwamis made that clear. The job had to be done no matter what. But that still didn't stop the bliss that bloomed in her chest at the thanks, her smile growing on it own. Her leather tail unwound around her ankle and was swinging behind her in big arcs. He stared at it, a little mystified before snapping back to reality.
Blushing, he stammered. "I, I know," he eased, "but, I just wanted to thank you, since no else has yet. Or, well, really has. And you should get one, a true thank you, for all you do and go through and, well, thanks Lucky."
Blinking, she offered him a big smile, a light blush dusting her cheeks as her eyes gleamed. "You're welcome, Adrien."
It was truly a lovely morning.
Started out writing for Ladrien, then I remembered a post on Tumblr of Marinette being Ladybug and Chat Noir, a mixed design of the two, and thought it was a cool idea. Wanted to try the idea out, with Marinette approached by both.
This was inspired by koreanpineapple's piece, and here's the art inspired this oneshot:
post/137660151622/jaune-ladybug-au-adrien-is-infected-by-the-akuma
When I wrote this, I couldn't remember the design name or who posted it up, and wound up calling this mixed hero Lucky Chat.
Thank you for reading!