You should look up "Nacho Libre - Anaconda Squeeze" on YouTube if you don't already know what that is. Just sayin'. 8)
Previously:
(ch. 20) "Why would I care about answering to a spoiled, selfish brat like you?" Marinette growled out in a low voice. "You may own half of Paris – and be able to manipulate the other half – but you don't. Own. Him." A breath. "Or me."
(ch. 15) -Did you ever forgive the guy who did that to you?
-Well, yeah. I forgave him before he even did anything I would have to forgive, if that makes sense.
-I'm pretty sure that's what unconditional love is all about.
There are a few problems with seeing someone romantically who you rarely see out of a professional environment. Besides it affecting sales or business productivity, it can also lead to interoffice animosity or disharmony. It's why most businesses currently forbid it in some aspect or another and in varying degrees. It's one reason Marinette – or, rather, Ladybug – had never given Chat Noir a foot – or paw – in the door when it came to his flirtations and come-ons.
Another reason was how well she knew herself and her infatuation with her objects of affection that bordered on obsessive stalking. It was, admittedly, a powerful motivator to keep her from falling for her partner.
It all went to pot when she realized she had fallen for him anyway. Annoying, really, but…she had never been able to bring herself to regret it.
At least, not until moments like these. Moments where she was reminded, in the worst way possible, just why she had tried to keep their professional lives professional only for so long.
They were, in essence, completely distracted.
Again.
Ladybug placed a gloved hand over her lips to stifle the laughter bubbling out, her other small hand raising to the side of her face to swipe at the dust or something that suddenly tickled her cheek. Before her sat sprawled one Adrien Agreste, internationally-acclaimed model, shirt doused in cleaning supplies – whose bottles carried a thick layer of dust themselves, the irony – and a rather indiscernible shade of brownish-yellow paint dripping onto a pantleg with a viscosity not unlike molasses. To top the entire scene with a metaphorical cherry, the model's face was so pathetically and cutely scrunched up into a little pout, it made Ladybug immediately think fondly of a 5-year-old Manon who had just been doing something naughty and wasn't very happy about being caught.
"Why didn't you tell me you knew her!?"
Adrien's ire was directed toward Plagg, but it was Ladybug who gasped a little at the accusing finger suddenly pointed in her direction.
"You never asked," Plagg replied simply. He rolled in the air onto his back and floating lazily above their heads. Ladybug felt the tickle on her cheek again and batted it away, her eyes never leaving the little black Kwami.
Adrien tsked at the paint on his pants as he stood, trying to wipe some of it away unsuccessfully and ending up smearing the residue on the rest of the ruined designer jeans.
"How would I have known to ask something that specific, Plagg?" Adrien accused, shirking his soaked overshirt. While Plagg responded in noncommittal "not my problem"s and "wasn't important"s, Adrien held the shirt up to his nose and sniffed it cautiously. Ladybug snorted at the resulting grimace that crossed his features.
Adrien rounded on her.
"I!" Ladybug hurriedly interjected before Adrien's words left his open mouth. "I think we'd, uh," She scrubbed at her cheek again, starting to wonder if she was developing a new nervous tic (like she didn't have enough of those already). "We should get going. Akuma and whatnot, yeah?"
Adrien huffed a little before calling on his transformation.
"Plagg, claws out!"
At those words, a plethora of events assaulted the small space.
Chat Noir was being zapped into existence, the green glow illuminating the room temporarily. Something next to Ladybug hissed; when Ladybug looked to the sound, she suddenly understood what had been attempting to get her attention for the last few minutes. A cringing, transparent, screaming figure of Chloé Bourgeois, lit up like the most frightening Christmas tree in the history of EVER due to Chat's transformation sequence, looked through stunned eyes at the form that was now Chat Noir. Adding to Chloé's hoarse whisper of a scream, Ladybug wasted no time offering her own. Straight fear seemed to take hold of the spotted heroine. With superhero speed, she leapt away from the apparition in a violent lunge at Chat Noir. Chat Noir, freshly transformed, unsuspecting, and a little off balance from everything happening anyway, toppled over with a yelp once again; this time, though, Chat had the addition of Ladybug crawling all over and behind him and literally kicking and screaming. The cacophony alone was enough to knock the rest of the out-of-date cleaners and paints off the shelves. Add in the bodies of a superduo slamming into the supplies, and the entire room erupted with the smells and sounds of bottles of every kind flying from their previously undisturbed perch from the sudden impact. A foreboding hiisssss came from the bubbling, aged chemicals, and Chat, the only sane one in the room, scrambled out the door on all fours with Ladybug still clawing onto him, sobbing. Her screechy words barely registered in his ears – all four of them, unfortunately – while he hustled to at least grab onto the struggling heroine to get them both away from the janitor closet safely.
" – knew it! She did this! She did this! It was – this was – this was all her fault and now she's dead – OH GOSH, SHE'S DEAD! And she's haunting me! She'll haunt me for the rest of my life – !"
A small explosion came from the direction of the supply closet they had just exited.
Ladybug didn't stop in her ranting, but Chat slowed down and began to try to pry his Lady off his person.
" – be there ALL THE TIME! I'LL NEVER BE RID OF H-"
A high-pitch whisper of a scream came riding on the aftershock from the blast.
Chat froze, one leg and both arms that had been attempting to force distance between him and Ladybug (she was really, really good at the Anaconda SQUEEZE, apparently) coming to an abrupt halt in their pursuit in order to watch the ghostly figure of his childhood friend race past and clean through the wall to their side. He stared at Ladybug, who had gone silent as well.
Ladybug looked him dead in the eyes, and whispered, "I told you."
"What the crap was that!?" Chat wondered aloud, not able to concentrate fully on, well, anything at the moment.
"She's a ghost," Ladybug continued to whisper, her breath going in his ear in a very unpleasant way. "She'll follow us…oh…oh my GOSH, Chat! She'll ruin our WEDDING!"
"Our WHAT!?" Chat shouted.
"Your WHAT!?" another voice shouted.
Ladybug and Chat cried out simultaneously.
The form of Chloé seemed to have just emerged from the wall, brushing "dirt" off her clothes and straightening her hair before turning on the heroes and crossing her arms. Frustrated, annoyed, and done with all these superheroes and their silly shenanigans, Chloé made the wisest choice between trying to talk reason to Maribug and….Adrichat?…or something else.
She chose something else.
"BOO!" Chloé yelled as loud as she could, holding up her hands like claws in front of her face.
Chat jumped a little.
Ladybug screamed anew.
Chat was again assaulted by a Ladybug climbing all over him. But Chloé wasn't done.
She wisped as swiftly as she could around the two superheroes, making all sorts of cliché "ghost" noises, enjoying both how Ladybug absolutely squirmed while screaming, and how Chat grunted and yowled as Ladybug climbed all over his shoulders and head, occasionally pulling his hair or kneeing him in the jaw.
"Sto-STOP!"
Both girls – Ladybug wrapped around and hanging off Chat's back, Chloé floating in front of him with clawed fingers and open mouth – paused abruptly at Chat's shout. They turned their eyes to his face.
"Akuma?" he asked, looking at Chloé.
Chloé, who had crossed her arms again, nodded. "That's what I came to tell you, since you seemed a little too busy to noti-"
"Okay! Thank you, noted." Chat was blushing a bit under his mask. He started to pull on Ladybug, only pausing to give her a look when she shook her head in protest. After another moment, she sagged under his gaze.
Sighing loudly, the spotted hero climbed off her partner, though she only moved far enough to stand directly behind him. Her eyes barely showed over Chat's shoulder. He rolled his eyes.
"What can you tell us about it?" he inquired, turning back to Chloé.
"Kid got ignored – ON ACCIDENT!" she added when Ladybug narrowed her eyes from being Chat. "And now he sucks the color out of you. And turns out the lights." She gestured a hand above her vaguely.
"Great, thanks, Chlo, er…"
Chat looked at Chloé – really looked at her – searching her face for an answer to a question he suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious for even thinking.
"Yeah, I saw you turn into…" she gestured toward Chat. "…this. It explains a lot, actually."
Chat didn't understand the glare Chloé suddenly sent Ladybug, or why Ladybug suddenly hid herself behind Chat a little more.
"Ok…? Well…see you soon, I guess?"
Chloé waved noncommittedly toward the heroes, turning to inspect her see-through nails.
Chat took off at that point, tugging a heavy-footed Ladybug behind him.
They started running side-by-side after a moment, headed silently for the auditorium.
"So…" Chat started, glancing over to see a pink-faced Ladybug biting her lip. "You going to tell me what's going on between you two?"
They took the basement stairs five at a time, then burst through the side door to cross the large main courtyard area. Ladybug was still silent – no snarky reply, no scoffing remark – and Chat chanced another glance at her masked face. She appeared strangely abashed, a look completely foreign on Ladybug or Marinette's face when talking about Chloé.
"M'Lady?" Chat pressed. They took a quick turn to the right down another hallway.
Ladybug sighed.
"She tried talking to me earlier today…about you," she started in a small voice. "And I…sorta…snubbed her?"
Chat frowned. They had come to the auditorium doors, stopping just outside. Ladybug was completely distracted. It wasn't the best way to start an Akuma battle, so when Ladybug grabbed the door handle, Chat pressed his own clawed hand to the door itself to stop her efforts. If she was surprised by this, she didn't show it. Instead, a sigh escaped again, her gaze tilting upward to meet his own.
He was shocked to see moisture building in her blue eyes.
"That's not the whole story, is it?" he asked gently, reaching out to cup her chin.
She shook her head. Her lip began to tremble slightly.
"Have you been a sourpuss?"
"I've been a sourpuss," Ladybug concurred tearfully.
"Are you going to fix it?"
She nodded, quivering lip now caught under her teeth.
"Good," he said, pressing his lips against her forehead in a smile before puckering them into a small kiss.
Ladybug inhaled deeply, her body reveling in his feel, his smell…and for a moment, they could only stand there in each other's closeness. The feeling was so amazingly reminiscent of what they had before, of what they were before. Before the drama. Before the atrocious full reveal. Before both heroes were trying to prove something to each other they didn't need to. It was like diving into a forgotten happy memory.
An unanticipated charge electrified the air around them. Ladybug could feel Chat's stillness against her, his breath on her cheek sending an eruption of goosebumps racing across her skin under her suit. And she couldn't stand it anymore.
How many ways can one say they're sorry?
Without words, that is…
In a swift movement, Ladybug pushed Chat's hand away from her chin to grasp the sides of his own face. She took pleasure in the little mewl he let lose when she led his lips to her own in a kiss that skipped past a pleasant prelude and straight into a feverish main event.
It was akin to the kiss they had shared after their "date" at the Lourve: nothing necessarily new, but everything deliciously different. It felt thicker, heavier. The pressure was anything but oppressive though. It only made their hearts beat a little faster, made their skin flush a little deeper, made their limbs tingle at even the slightest touch.
Chat was eager in his return to Ladybug's ferocity. His mouth opened more to deepen the kiss, reveling in the feel and the sheer force of his Lady's hands and eagerness. Ladybug hummed in ascent to his actions. She jumped slightly when Chat wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up – bear-hug style – until their faces were level, pulling them flush against each other. Her arms left his face at the action, moving to wrap around his neck as his kisses became heated and desperate, and she shuddered under the physical affirmation of his undying affection.
Every lip-lock said, I still love you.
He angled his head in the other direction, nuzzling their noses together in passing. Ladybug felt her toes curl when his warmth spread through her body, his breath like murmured promises on her cheek, their lips whispering unheard secrets in their ghosting touches.
You mean the world to me.
A searing heat burned Ladybug's lips when Chat suddenly tugged on them slowly with his own. Though his movements evolved into something deep and slow, the force had not changed. Every slide of tender skin was intoxicatingly immobilizing.
I love you.
A wet-sounding click told Ladybug they had pulled out of another kiss; though missing his warmth she found herself needed the respite, only to press her cheek against Chat's lips brushing loose kisses across her skin not a moment later. He nuzzled into the side of her face, breath tickling her ear, but she couldn't laugh; the touch was so expressly intimate, it made her body shiver all over.
I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you –
"I'm sorry," Ladybug whispered out suddenly, causing them both to jump in surprise.
Chat was purring. He didn't look at her, only continued caressing his cheek against hers and nosing her hair. He loved her scent – it smelled of love and trust and the comfort that came from musing over a pleasant memory. It also reminded him of chocolate chip cookies, which was always a pleasure. He hummed in reply to her admission, mind too wrapped up in her to be able to concentrate on much of anything else.
"What for?" he finally staggered out, a little surprised at the deepness of his tone.
It was a little distracting for Ladybug as well. Just…just a little.
"F-For today," she started, a little breathless. A giggle finally escaped when he nosed her cheek. "For n-not talking to you about it before, or not telling you I knew you a long – heh! – long time ago. Ah!" She gasped a little in surprise when he started peppering kisses all over her face. "F-For not understand your, eh, territorial needs."
Chat stopped in his ministrations to chuckle against her forehead.
Territorial? he considered the word inwardly, pulling away enough to gaze at his girlfriend's lovely, flushed face. The look of her sent another warmth flooding through him. He smiled at the beautiful picture she painted.
Territorial is putting it lightly.
With gentle hands, Chat placed Ladybug back on her feet. Clawed fingers pulled her hands from around his neck to rest in front of her. Then he pulled her to him once more, engulfing her with his entire self in a purr-filled hug.
"Not that you ever needed to apologize in the first place," Chat thrummed into her hair. "But…I forgave you before you could do anything I would ever need to forgive." He felt her hum out a soft laugh against his chest at the familiar words. Pulling away again, he looked into her eyes.
"I'm pretty sure that's what unconditional love is all about."
Ladybug's smile was enough to melt his heart all over again. It was genuine, warm…and free. He hoped his own smile –
"OH MY GOSH," a croaky whisper shot out suddenly in the darkness. Both superheroes jumped (one yelped, but neither would ever admit to it being them).
"Could you guys focus just long enough to take care of this Akuma before you pelt each other with stupid goo-goo eyes!? It's not as much fun being a GHOST-thing as you might think! I mean, sure, I can walk through – or be exploded through, thanks for that, by the way – walls, but I'm slow and just float and I can't even really feel my hair – "
Chat and Ladybug, who had immediately shot apart at Chloé the 'Friendly' Ghost's initial exclamation, grinned fondly at each other over her characteristically Chloé behavior. Ladybug took a glance toward the expressive complainer to make sure the fake apparition was still preoccupied with her rant before tilting her face upwards.
"Go in and see if the Akuma guy is still in there," the spotted heroine whispered. Chat's cat ear twitched in the corner of her eye, signaling to Ladybug that he could hear her. "I'll be in in just a sec."
With a quick nod, Chat quietly opened the door and slipped inside the large space. Ladybug went to put a hand on the "pacing" Chlo-ghost's shoulder. Both girls jumped when Ladybug's hand passed right through her form.
"What was that for?" Chloé spat, turning toward Ladybug full-on. "And where did Adri-Chat Noir go? I wasn't done – "
Ladybug interrupted as gently as she could to head-off another long-winded monologue.
"Chloé, I'm sorry about the way I've been treating you lately." Ladybug sighed. "I'm thinking, now, that you've probably known my superhero identity for some time, haven't you?" Chloé nodded, holding onto her arms and looking away. "And then you were worried about someone you care about – someone we both care about – and didn't want to see him hurt, right?" Chloé sniffed, holding her chin up. "I…I don't know if there really was anything I could have said to placate you then, but I could have at least let you talk, let you voice your fears. Especially today. More than just being one my boyfriend's best friends, I should have listened to you because you're a person. I really am very sorry about that." Ladybug took a deep breath, a hand rubbing her arm nervously, before continuing.
"And…I'd like to make sure we talk more. Have a, uh, I don't know…more open communication or something?" A huff escaped her and she looked down, frustrated with herself but determined to say what needed to be said. "I…don't want to hurt you again. You're Adrien's friend, and, well, I'd like to be your f-f-f-f-" – she physically slapped herself across the face to get the word out – "friend too. And treat you that way."
Chloé sniffed again, though this time it sounded rather emotive than disdainful, even to her own ears. Not that she was crying or anything. She was probably just allergic to all this dust while in this ghost-like state.
"Tha – uh…" Chloé cleared her throat before trying again. "Thanks, Ladybug. That – eh hem – that means a lot to me." She scrunched her face up. "I guess."
The girls turned their previously averted eyes toward each other. They shared some semblance of smirky smiles at the situation before both froze at a desperate sound from the other side of the auditorium door. A distinctly Adrichat desperate sound.
"LADYBUUUG!"
[[ A/N: THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR FAVORITES, FOLLOWS, REVIEWS, ETC.! THANK YOU ALL FOR STICKING WITH THIS EVEN THOUGH THE UPDATES ARE SPORADIC. YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! :3 ]]
[[ Eh hem. So...on THAT^^^ note...I have a question for you guys. What is your favorite trope to read about? And what would be your favorite ML characters to see with that trope? You can leave your answer here or on my tumblr! (callmeakumatized, "Maki, xoxo") Thanks again, yous guys. YOU ARE MIRACULOUS. 8) ]]
[[ OH ALSO, I NOW HOW THIS IS GOING TO END NOW AND I AM SO EXCITED. NOT THAT I WANT TO SEE IT END, BUT IT'LL BE EEEPPPIIICCC. I HOPE. ;D
Love, Maki xoxo ]]