Can I just say that writing Chloe is so much more fun than it should be?
Nathan picked up his phone and answered it.
"Yes, Chloe?"
"Aren't you watching the news!?"
Nathan had to yank his cell away from his ear to protect his hearing from the volume of her voice. "I don't have a television," he told her.
"THEN USE THE INTERNET!" She yelled. "Meet me in five at the rendezvous point, capiche?!"
"Capiche, sweetheart," Nathan only heard the beginning of her heated reply before hanging up.
"That stupid art obsessed idiotic loser...!" Chloe muttered angrily under her breath after spotting him. "What took you so long!?"
Not even remotely intimidated, Nathan met her gaze before carefully delivering his reply.
"I got here as soon as possible."
"I don't want excuses, I want results!" Chloe snarled, pulling out her camera.
Nathan ignored this. "Remember, I'm Silver Ink and you're Golden Lens from now on."
"Duh!" Golden Lens scoffed, "I'm not an idiot!"
"Okay Lens," Silver Ink nodded nonchalantly.
"That's Golden Lens to you," She tossed her hair.
Silver Ink pulled out his phone, "Okay, Golden Lens, it looks like the action is happening at the Eiffel Tower."
"Then what are we waiting for?!" Golden Lens snapped her fingers. "Quit talking about it and let's go!"
Silver Ink shrugged and began walking in the direction of the Tower. "What strategy are we using?"
"The one where we wait for the fight to end and follow Ladybug," Golden Lens rolled her eyes, "duh."
"Fine with me," Silver Ink kept his eyes on his phone, monitoring the news. "It looks like the fight is staying in the same area, near the Eiffel Tower."
"That's good," Golden Lens replied with genuine enthusiasm.
As the pair approached the tower, Silver Ink grabbed Golden Lens' shoulder.
"Don't touch my jacket!" Golden Lens smacked his hand away.
"Shhhh!" Silver Ink shushed her. "We have to keep on the sidelines so we don't get hurt!"
"Ugh," Golden Lens huffed. "I guess."
Silver Ink pulled her down to hide behind some bushes. "Down here!"
"I am not ruining my clothes by sitting on the dirty ground!"
"Keep your voice down!" Silver Ink pleaded.
Luckily, the akuma was too preoccupied with Ladybug and Cat Noir to notice the disguised teens. "Hey, we should go up to the rooftop of that building over there!" Golden Lens pointed to a building that overlooked the fight.
"That's... actually a good idea." Silver Ink studied her. "Now we just have to get over there." He spotted an abandoned food cart. "There!"
Hiding behind the cart, Golden Lens and Silver Ink moved slowly but surely across the street. The cart went unnoticed by anyone, seeing as there was two famous heroes battling an enemy bent on the destruction of Paris.
Once they were directly in front of the building, they left the cart and dashed inside. "No time for the stairs," Silver Ink began to run to the elevator.
"Good, 'cause I am not ruining these shoes!" Golden Lens pressed the button. "They're designer!" She added indignantly after catching his exasperated expression.
They could see the fight perfectly from the rooftop. They had gotten there just in time to see Ladybug use her lucky charm. Golden Lens had her camera rolling, capturing every moment of their fight.
Silver Ink took his phone out and began recording Golden Lens.
"I'm the amazing and beautiful Golden Lens, and the guy recording is my mediocre sidekick Silver Ink. As you can see, we are getting quality footage of Ladybug and Cat Noir's fight against another akumatized victim." She gave the camera a sickly-sweet smile.
"You can watch the fight on the news, but we're about to catch a glimpse of who Ladybug really is!" Golden Lens tapped her camera. "This camera is the absolute best camera in the world, of course, because its mine. Using it's high-tech features, we are about to take an unforgettable picture."
As Ladybug began retreating to the shadows, Golden Lens winked at the lens. "You could almost say its golden." She moved to the side of the building Ladybug had runs towards.
The alley was dark, but a flash of light from below still prompted Golden Lens to snap a picture. She frantically checked the photo she had taken and screamed with excitement and joy. Realizing she was on camera, she quickly composed herself.
"And that is how genius and beauty work together to make this!" She pointed to the camera.
Silver Ink stopped recording. "Did you get her?"
"It's sorta dark and blurry," Golden Lens showed him the photo. "But it's a start!"
"It's still really cool!" Silver Ink gaped at the photo, his eyes fixated on the screen.
"Of course it is!" Golden Lens laughed. "I was the one who took it, after all!"
Silver Ink smiled and shook his head. "Of course."
Marinette lay on her bed, utterly exhausted.
Her ringtone went off and she answered her phone. "Hi Alya," she murmured.
"Marinette, where are you? My party starts in five minutes!"
"Wha-?" Marinette leapt off of her bed. "Uh, I'm on my way! I didn't forget!"
She frantically searched her room for Alya's present. "Bye Alya!" Marinette hung up and shoved her phone in her pocket.
"Tikki, help!"
"Its right here, Marinette." The kwami sighed. "Honestly, you need to calm down," Tikki told her kindly.
Marinette picked up the present and hugged it. "Oh, what of she hates it! What if she hates it and stops being my friend and then I never make another friend again because-"
Tikki flew up to Marinette's face. "Listen, Marinette," she spoke gently, "Alya is going to love it. In the meantime, you need to transform so we can get to that party."
"You're right," Marinette took a deep breath. "Spots on, Tikki!"
"Where is that girl?" Alya murmured, confused by her friend's abrupt hang-up.
Nino surveyed the crowd. "Alya, I'm sure she's almost here."
"I hope so," Alya replied grimly, "I really hope so."
"My man Adrien just got here, I mean, so its not like she's the only one."
"Adrien's always late." Alya dismissed this, adjusting the cups of punch on the table.
"Funny how that works," Nino began helping her, straightening the pile of napkins.
"Funny how what works?" Adrien decided to jump into their conversation at that moment.
"Nothing!" Nino and Alya replied hastily in unison.
"Just because you guys are together doesn't mean you could make me a third wheel!" Adrien crossed his arms accusingly.
"Hey, you could always hang with Marinette." Alya smiled at him innocently.
"Maybe I will," Adrien slapped his hand on the table in a clear attempt to be pretend-offended. "And there she is, so I'm gonna go talk to her," he told Nino, gesturing to the out-of-breath girl approaching the group.
"Marinette!" Alya cried, leaping forward to give her a hug.
"Happy Birthday, Alya!" Marinette hugged her back. "Where should I put my gift?"
"Adrien can show you," Alya gave her a knowing look as her friend's face flushed.
"W-what?" Marinette stammered.
"Sure thing, Marinette!" Adrien took her hand and began to lead her over to the table holding gifts. Marinette was having a silent freak out over the hand-holding and was getting more and more flustered by the moment.
Tikki noticed the growing anxiety. "Just be yourself! You almost died fighting an akuma this morning. I promise you can handle this!" The kwami whispered in her ear.
"That was Ladybug!" Marinette hissed.
"You are Ladybug!" Tikki tapped one of Marinette's earring as a reminder and flew out of sight.
She's right, Marinette. Just be Ladybug! Marinette took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
"Hey, your gift will fit right there!" Adrien pointed out an empty space on the table. He gently took the gift from Marinette and placed it among the other gifts.
"What did you get her?" Adrien asked.
Be like Ladybug. "You know how she has her Ladyblog and is a really big fan of Ladybug?" Marinette rubbed her arm nervously.
"Yeah, of course!" Adrien nodded.
"Well, I made her a hat with black-spotted red ribbon and this cool bow. I really hope she likes it." Marinette determinedly avoided meeting his gaze completely. Instead she focused on his forehead.
"Well, you got me beat. I just gave her some money." Adrien laughed sheepishly.
Blushing at the sound of his laugh, Marinette quickly replied. "No, actually, um, she'll really like that. Alya has her eyes on a new bike so she can follow Ladybug and Cat Noir better, so some money will really help her out."
"Really?! Man, I hope she gets enough money for it."
"Same here." Marinette placed her hands behind her back and began to shift her weight from her toes to her heels.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Adrien finally spoke up.
"So, besides fashion and gaming, what do you like to do for fun?"
His question caught her off guard. "Uh, I like music and singing, I-I I guess." She stammered, brushing her hair out of her faced.
"Oh, you sing? I didn't know that."
"Yeah, like, not in front of people, I mean I could never do that!"
"Why not?" Having been shoved in front of cameras all his life, Adrien didn't understand the concept of stage fright.
"Well," Marinette struggled to find the words, "What if everyone thought I was horrible and laughed at me?"
"They wouldn't do that," Adrien fiddled with his ring, "I'm sure you're great at singing. They'd love you!"
"Thanks," Marinette yanked on a lock of her hair, thoroughly flustered and blushing furiously.
Oblivious as ever, Adrien yawned. "I dunno about you, but I'm exhausted."
Marinette was also feeling the effects of fatigue that had resulted from her nightly caper as Ladybug that had faded into that morning. "Did you not get enough sleep last night?"
"Something like that," Adrien trailed off. I wish Ladybug was here. I miss her already.
"I'm a follower of Alya's blog, you know." He said suddenly.
"Yeah, yeah, I, uh, I knew that." Marinette stammered. I totally don't stalk your social media and track your every move and know exactly who you follow and what brand of ice cream you like.
"Is it true you know Ladybug?"
Marinette had a planned response for people who asked her this. But today, in a one-on-one conversation with her crush, she had no idea what to say.
"Yeah, I mean, I know her, I mean, I don't know if, um, we're friends or not, but I do know her, I think,"
By his expression Marinette knew her response did not make sense.
"Uh, I mean, its hard to say you 'know' a superhero. I have her number, but we aren't like super best friends but just friends."
"How do you know her?"
Panic was slowly rising in her chest, Marinette tried desperately to calm down. "Its complicated."
Adrien sensed she was uncomfortable with the situation. "Don't worry about if you don't want to explain. I'm sure its a mess of a situation."
"Yeah." It was a weak response, but it was the best one she could come up with.
"Why don't you tell other people you know Ladybug?" Adrien asked her.
"Well, isn't that kind of, using her? I want people to like me for me, not for who I talk to or who I know." While it was based on a lie, Marinette's words rang with truth. She didn't go around bragging about designing for Jagged Stone.
"That's..." Adrien studied Marinette carefully, as if seeing her for the first time. "A really cool way of looking at it."
"Thanks," Marinette fixed her hair nervously.
"Chloe would probably be nicer to you if she knew you were friends with Ladybug." Adrien pointed out. "Its not the best way to deal with her, but don't you get tired of her picking on you?"
"How do you deal with Chloe?" Marinette asked.
"She was my only friend for a long time. Chloe's a good person, she just doesn't show it very well."
"If only there was a way to get her to show it." Marinette sighed. "What do you think I should do?"
"Chloe likes to play victim. Maybe you could give her Ladybug's autograph and say something like 'there's been some tension between us and I'd rather us not be enemies'." Adrien suggested.
"That might actually work. I mean, its not like she's going to bombard me with questions about Ladybug. She's not a reporter or anything." Marinette laughed. "Thanks for the advice, Adrien."
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