The weather was trending towards summer, and the sun was beginning to hold a little of that beating heat that it would blast Paris with in just a month or so, but up on her balcony there was a nice breeze keeping things a pleasant temperature. All of the windows in the house below were open to enjoy the nice day, and Marinette could hear the sounds of Alya and Adrien puttering around in the kitchen. From the occasional smells that drifted past, it looked like Adrien's current cooking lesson was going well.
"Can you pass me the spade?" Chloe asked. Marinette found it next to her knee and handed it over. Her girlfriend frowned, tip of her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth in concentration as she dug up a flower that had died, then widened the hole to plant a replacement.
Marinette had just decided that Chloe was too damn adorable when she did that and was leaning in to kiss her when her phone went off. She sighed and looked up, seeing a tiny red and black form separate from the kwami cuddle puddle on a cushion on her chair. Tikki lazily floated over to where her phone was sitting on the table next to the chair and checked the caller ID.
"It's Nino. Want me to answer it for you?"
"That would be great," Marinette answered, continuing to repot the plant she was working on.
Tikki swiped to answer, then tapped to put Nino on speakerphone.
"Mari! Please tell me you're alone!" Nino squawked through the phone, stress making his voice squeak slightly.
Marinette couldn't completely hide her smirk, although she did her best to keep it to herself. "Just me, Chloe, and the little buddies."
"Marinette there is a tiny floating talking turtle in my room what do I do?!"
Marinette's smirk widened as four small heads perked up, and a chorus of "Hi Wayzz!" came from the kwami.
"Hi everyone! He's freaking out a lot for someone who has met kwami before," Wayzz's voice came from the phone.
"It could be worse, Marinette threw everything in reach at me when we first met," Tikki sympathized.
"Marinette why is there a kwami in my room?!"
Chloe was shooting Marinette a suspicious look, which wasn't helped when the girl's smirk widened yet again.
"The Guardian felt you did a good job of being Ladybug for a day." Well, after Marinette had a long talk with him, anyways. "Enough to make it a full-time thing."
"Marinette, I'm not a hero like you guys!"
Marinette snorted softly. "I felt the same thing at first. I even tried to slip the earrings into Alya's bag. If I can be a hero, so can you. You've already more than proved you're up to it."
"I… I…" Nino stuttered, lost for words.
Marinette hummed thoughtfully. "Patrol with us tonight. See what it's like when we're not in a fight." She paused, then went on. "Nino, we'd love to have you with us. And this way, the five of us… we're all in this together. In every way."
"… Alright. I'll patrol with you guys, then decide."
"For what it's worth, Nino…" Chloe piped up. "You'll be a great hero."
"… Thanks, Chloe. I'll see you guys soon." A few seconds later, the call ended, and Chloe immediately shot Marinette an amused look.
"You had something to do with that."
"Of course I did, but Nino can't prove that." Marinette grinned. "The Guardian was ready to retire, anyways."
Chloe laughed, leaning in to kiss her.