Link for dA: xxscarletxrosexx.
deviantart.
com/art/MLW-Day-1-Affection-Heartwarming-Support-5754980
(c) All characters mentioned belongs to Thomas Astruc's "Miraculous Ladybug"
Summary:
For ML Staff Appreciation week and ML Week (countdown for the Nickelodeon release).
It was a sunny Monday afternoon when Marinette overheard that Adrien was scheduled to have another international fencing tournament.
Nino had caught her attention when he clapped a hand over his friend's shoulder, breaking her daydream. She had gained the two boys' attention when she had jolted from her neighbor's touch with a squeak.
"What the hell are you doing?" her best friend inquired; she shrouded her amusement with a sigh. Her puckered gestures gave away her true intentions, but the scarlet haired girl wanted to amuse herself with one of Marinette's usual, sly cover.
"I-I-I was exercising something," the flustered, pigtailed woman declared.
"Uh...huh..." Alya stressed out her words with feigned interest. She leaned towards her, a fist rested beneath her chin while her other hand tapped her fingers against the mohagony table.
"W-well it's true! You know that... that... that Filipinos point with their lips right? That's... That's a legitimate reason," she continued proudly, although her round cheeks were still slathered with a rosy tint.
"Really? That's cool that you know that," Adrien praised nonchalantly.
Whereas his dark skinned companion expressed more interest with a sudden epiphany reflected in his coffee eyes. "Right?! It could make one hell of an awesome secret code or something!" Then turning his gaze to Alya he added, "But how do they know what they're pointing to?"
With an unintelligible humm, Alya shrugged and smiled at the two as they parted ways from them with a raise of their hands. To her side, wearing an obnoxiously, gauchely grin plastered on her face as she waved was her dazed and dorky, love-struck best friend. The scarlet haired girl's smile had faltered, exhaustedly when she her eyes darted to her and back to the door. As soon as the door had clicked behind their wake, Marinette snapped back to the life to be the bumbling adorkable person that she was. Immediately, Alya felt those forceful hands clamp on her shoulders and shook her like a lifeless ragdoll.
"Oh my gosh, Alya!" the pigtailed girl shrieked as she retracted and clapped two hands over her blooming cheeks, "A-Aadrien... Adrien... he...! Oh my gosh, he thinks I'm cool!" She bathed in the afterglow with her eyes clenched shut and a wide grin etched across her face.
"Oh, Marinette," the scarlet haired girl cooed as she pulled her into a hug, "you're a precious thing, you know that?"
She squealed something unintelligible as she melted into her embrace and returned it warmly.
"Well, more importantly," Alya recalled as she pulled away, "from the looks of it, he won't be seeing his father at the competition again."
"You're right," Marinette sighed, "I wonder if we can do anything to cheer him up."
"Of course you're going to support him," her best friend answered expectantly.
"Of course! I wouldn't miss it for the world... but I wonder if I can give him something to wish him luck..." the pigtailed girl trailed.
"Well his competition doesn't start until late afternoon in the school gym, so I'm sure you have time to make him something."
"Make him?"
"Well, you are our future designer after all," Alya winked, "and it's something only you can do for him."
"You're right! I'll head home right away and make him something!" she declared confidently. Then the following moment her frame shunk, hands clapped to the sides of her wide, alarm cerulean eyes she panicked,"But what?!"
Glancing around her desk, Alya spotted something a particular object, "You're making handkerchief as of lately, right?"
I'll head home right away and make him something!
The words echoed through her mind like a bitter insult as Marinettee, in her tattered glory, stood at the front entrance of her Academy with a simple design of an ivory, silk handkerchief peeking out of her bag. The design had elegant gold, wispy curly-cues surrounding the border, and one corner etched with Adrien's full name in a startling emerald, inspired by his lively eyes.
The result was something she had to settle with amongst all the complexities that interfered her hours of work. She had completed her work in time, and left her home as quickly as possible after a parting kiss to her loving parents. However, she had stumbled into a crisis on the way to her academy.
There was a fire in one of the four-story apartment complex, and firefighters had surrounded the area, armed with hoses and ladders to help free the trapped civilians. Marinettee, as Ladybug, had arrived to the scene to gain report of the situation before using her yo-yo as leverage to enter the higher floors. To her surprise there had been a handful of people trapped inside the apartment complex.
Quickly, she gathered as many people out of the floor and guided them to the stairs heading south. Unfortunately, the floor had collapsed, preventing firefighters from the second floor to reach them.
Her next option had guided the herd to another resident's home, located several doors away, and safe from the blazing fire's wrath. She had tried to pry the windows for a good minute before she had to resort to her yo-yo to break through the glass. Lady Bug then stuck her head out the window and hollered for the firefighter's attention. To her relief they responded quickly with a ladder set up in their direction. To ensure a safe getaway, Marinette had to break a number of shards with her hands to prevent any injury to the helping civilians. With a chorus of gratitude, she stepped through the window and used her yo-yo to haul her to the fourth floor, where she executed the same procedure after breaking through the window.
However, with the fire on the third floor rising to the resident above it, she had no problem finding another herd of people huddled in the room above hers. Because the firefighter's were already preoccupied with setting up to two windows on the third floor, Marinette had to resort to using her lucky charm, where she received a red and black dotted handkerchief. Her eyes searched hurriedly about the room, when they highlighted her yo-yo, the civilians clothes, and to a large pine tree.
Acting impulsively, Marinette threw her yo-yo to a low, sturdy tree branch. Fortunately, her powers had enabled it to secure in place, as evident by the strong tug. Then breaking the top layer of glass, she tied a knot to secure the dark thread on the window frame. Turning to the civilians, she quickly instructed them to use an article of clothing to use as a grip and zip line to safety. She warned them that they were coming from a steep incline down, so they must release themselves when they were close to the ground.
As instructed, the civilians were sent down within a five second interval with Ladybug as the last to depart. She explored the floor to check that no one was left behind, when she heard a cry from a child coming from the fire. Her instincts brought her to break into the room, head straight into the bathroom to drench her handkerchief and tie it over her nose and lips, like a bandit from the Old West. She lied low to prevent smoke from blinding her vision and entering her lungs, and within seconds she was able to spot a crying young boy, hidden in his bedroom closet. Luckily, he was not injured whe she scooped him in her arms. When she inquired about any other members, he explained that he was playing hide and seek, had fallen asleep while waiting on his friends, and had just woken up due to the uncomfortable heat. Marinette instructed the boy to use his clothes as a shield from the smoke, while shd quickly dodged her way through the blazing room. After several cries of attention and a quick round to search for the boy's companion, she made a beeline to the entrance.
Just as she was several feet away, she noticed that the entrance and the floor began to collapse. Determined, Ladybug sprinted through the door and managed to dodge the collapsing ceiling and rolled into the hallway, with the boy tucked and protected in her chest. Her back had taken the blow, winding her for a moment as she lied on the floor, disoriented.
It was the boy's cry that alerted her to get back on her feet and dash down the hallway to the window where her makeshift zip liner awaited them. Marinette tugged the string to loosen its knot, followed by tugging the string. Her lady luck had loosened it's grip on the tree and sent the yo-yo back to her with a reeling whirl. Then whipping it out once again, she aimed for a light post and swung herself to safety. Almost immediately, a crying mother came dashing to meet them, and Ladybug had strode towards her with an eager boy reaching towards her. After a word of gratitude, a band of reporters had surrounded her with a turbulent of inquiries. With an apology, she quickly departed the scene.
Now here she stood before the school, half an hour into the competition, glancing down at her bleeding hands from the aftermath. She must be reeking of smoke as well, she thought humiliatingly. "Adrien's match must have been finished by now..."
Just as she was about to enter the building a white figure had bolted through the front entrance, sending the door to collide into the gloomy girl. However, the person who bolted through had held on to the door before it could touch her.
"Woah!" a fencer exclaimed as he saw a surprised pigtailed girl. "Marinette?"
Speechless, Marinette recognized the owner of the voice immediately, and dread had washed over her.
Taking off his, mask Adrien wore a concern expression as he gazed at her. "Are you okay? What happened?" he reached towards her, gently wiped away the soot and touched a stinging cut on her left cheek.
She winced at the sensation, but could not bring herself to pull away from his touch. Instead she stuttered, "W-what about your match?"
"It was postponed a minute ago when my opponent's coach had called him in an emergency. There was a fire in one of the apartments here, and his brother was currently there."
"It's alright now," Marinette comforted, "he should be safe. Ladybug made it in time and saved all the residents."
"Ladybug?" his ears perked at the sound of her name. "Don't tell me you got all this..."
"It's was bad timing," Marinette stepped away, concealing her guilty expression with a defensive wave of her hand, "I had an errand there, when the fire happened."
Adrien then took hold of her slim wrists and faced it upwards to reveal several scratches and gashes.
"I slipped on some glass," she answered promptly.
His worried frame fell rigid as he turned and led the way. "Come on, let's get you treated."
"Adrien what about your match? The problem's been resolved, so wouldn't they be looking for you?"
"They'll call me if they need me. I just told them I needed to shake off some nerves," he smiled reservedly, "but thanks for your concern."
They marched hurriedly into the health office where Adrien began to administer first aid, while Marinette silently admired and flushed under his gentle touch.
"It's a shame that there's a cut on your pretty face," he consoled, "and it's even worse that there are a number of them in your hands."
"It's alright," Marinette answered cooly, although her mind was bouncing off the walls when he addressed her face as pretty.
"No it's not," the fencer sighed, while applying alcohol and cream to her hands. He muttered a quick sorry when he heard a sharp breath from his patient. Then covering them with bandages, he answered sincerely while caressing his thumbs over the smooth surface, "Marinette, you should treasure your hands more. They're your most valuable trade." Then he glanced up to meet her dazzled blue eyes with the same reserved smile etched on his lips, "You're going to make wonderful and unique clothes in the future, and you need these hands to make them."
The pigtailed girl stared at him with disbelief, unsure of what her ears have heard.
"After all," his cheeks reddened slightly, "I'll always be itching to own the clothes you design."
Marinette's face had deepened a crimson red, and she avoided his gaze quickly to hide her teary eyes.
Taking note of her actions, Adrien's caress fell to a halt as he exclaimed, "Sorry! I'm hurting you, huh?" But before he pulled away, Marinette shook her head hurriedly.
"No, it's not that," she answered hurriedly, "I'm just moved is all... I..." she avoided his gaze as she lifted a hand to rub over her moist, closed eyes, "I'm sorry, but I didn't want you to see me like this." After she had calmed herself, she looked at him and smiled sincerely, "Thank you."
Unsure of what to do, Adrien's cheek flushed slightly, as he mumbled a quiet, "Your welcome."
"Um... I think we should get going," Marinette answered quickly.
"Yeah," he agreed, as he ambled to the door, and held it open for her.
As she walked through and mumbled her gratitude, she stammered for his attention, "Um, Adrien?"
"Yeah?"
She quickly reached into her bag and pulled out the folded, silk handkerchief and presented it to him, shyly. "Thank you again, and also good luck in your match." She had not given him time to respond when he picked up the fabric from her hand and hurriedly added, "I'll go ahead. I'm sure that Alya's looking for me."
As she bolted down the hallway with her heart drumming in her ears, Marinette had missed an opportunity to witness a certain blond's heart-warmed, melted smile.
A/N:
I love the relationship Alya and Marinette have. They're precious little dorks and I say I'm more like Alya in this kind of stuff (as of lately). Then again I have my little swooning moments like Marinette about fictional **otome** guys. ^/^
That Filipino reference is legit (coming from that culture and all). Let me just say that it's practically second nature when you talk to these people (to a foreigner this would be strange and funny, not to mention a GREAT cover up rather than excusing your puckered lips for"lip stretches") but if you're a foreigner and you're learning, pay attention to what they're talking about because they will direct you with their lips ;)
