Disclaimer: I don't own ML.
I had...way too much fun thinking of ice cream flavours. And thanks to the others in one of the Discords I'm in for being just as enthusiastic about fictional soul ice cream as I am XD
Thanks to The Dimensional Reader, Marichat, Evander1435, Shiranai Arsune, acosta perez jose ramiro, The Keeper of Worlds, DragoonSensei and yellow 14 for your reviews :)
Although Marinette and Juleka are friends, they've really only ever hung out in the context of girl squad stuff or Kitty Section business. That's why, when Juleka arrives early on the windy Saturday designated Girl Hangout Time and suggests that the two of them eat and chat while they wait for the rest of the group to show up, it takes Marinette a few moments to regain her wits and accept the surprise lunch invitation.
"I wish I'd worn the denim skirt," Juleka grumbles as she pins her purple plaid skirt down, then realises that she can't open the bakery doors at the same time, especially with her ponytail blowing in her face. Marinette just laughs and pushes the doors open.
"At least you're wearing leggings," she says. Juleka snorts.
"Yeah. Last thing I need is some creepy guy trying to get a peek."
While Juleka heads on up to the living room, Marinette ducks into the bakery kitchen to grab a plate and a few croissants and other pastries baked yesterday that are either going to end up as Dupain-Cheng leftovers or donated goods or rubbish. Then she follows Juleka upstairs with her prize, and Juleka's eyes light up at the sight of the plate of goodies.
"Admit it," Marinette says with a teasing grin. "You just wanted free treats."
"Well, I won't say no…" Juleka says and snags a moon cake. "But I actually wanted to talk to you."
"About what?" Marinette says, sitting on the couch next to Juleka.
"About you and Adrien and my brother."
"Oh." Marinette sags. "I'm sorry. Did you have to find out through Instagram?"
"No, no," Juleka says. "He told me before Adrien posted that picture of you three and Kagami. I just…look, I don't really know anything about polyamory even though I looked it up, and I guess…I guess I just want to be sure that my brother's not gonna get hurt from this."
"We'd never hurt your brother!"
"I know, I know. I trust you. It's just…hard to process, with how long you've been chasing after Adrien. And you're with Chat Noir and Kagami, even if the Chat Noir thing's being kept under wraps. I don't know how your dynamic works, and I'm not gonna pry when it's not my business. You're my friend, but Luka's my brother, and I guess I just want to say…don't break his heart, Marinette. Luka's always been so empathetic, and he always wears his heart on his sleeve, even if he's a chill guy. I know he could handle a normal break-up, but this dynamic he's in? I don't want to see him get hurt by multiple people."
"Juleka." Marinette reaches over to take Juleka's hand and squeeze. "I promise I'll never knowingly hurt Luka. We're gonna try our best to be open about stuff and not keep secrets and tiptoe around each other."
Juleka gives a soft smile at that, then leans in to pull Marinette into a hug. "Thanks, Marinette," she says. "You're a good person. And a good friend. I still haven't forgotten what you did for me after I was akumatised. You broke my class photo curse."
Marinette just smiles and pats Juleka on the back before pulling away. "It really wasn't any trouble, Juleka. Someone had to stand up to Chloé."
"Well, it means a lot to me," Juleka says. "So, um…thanks."
"Girls! Are we doing this or what?" Alya's voice hollers up the stairs. Marinette squeals and nearly upends the plate of pastries, and it's only Juleka's lightning reflexes in catching the plate that prevent a crumby catastrophe from occurring on the living room floor.
"Damn my parents for telling them we were up here," Marinette exhales, resting a hand over her heart. "That scared the crap out of me."
The two of them join Alya, Rose, Mylène, Alix, Kagami, and Lila downstairs and then the group heads out to track down André's ice cream cart based on the photo of a yellowish stone column that's been posted. As they walk, Lila fills the silence by regaling them with tales of the time she'd supposedly met Bianca Torta, leaving Marinette, Alya, and Kagami to roll their eyes at each other as Lila talks.
"…and she said that I simply had to join her show!" Lila says. "She said that I had the most potential she'd ever seen! That Italian blood in us, you know. But of course, since my mother's a diplomat and we travel a lot, I just couldn't commit myself to a reality show. And I didn't think it would be fair to the other contestants, since baking is their passion, not mine."
"Maybe you and Marinette could bake together one day!" Rose says. Marinette, who's using her hand to mouth along with Lila's story while Alya and Kagami giggle behind their hands, hastens to school her features into the epitome of innocence before Rose, Juleka, Mylène, Alix, or Lila can see.
"Yes, maybe!" Lila says and links arms with Marinette. "I daresay we could teach each other a few tricks! If it's okay, of course, I wouldn't want to overstep my boundaries and accidentally insult your parents' bakery…"
"Oh, of course not!" Marinette chirps. "It'd be a great bonding experience! I'd love to learn from someone with as much potential as you!"
There's no way this baking day's actually going to happen. Not unless Lila miraculously becomes a master pâtissier overnight. But even though this might make Marinette a wee bit of a petty person, it's just so satisfying to see how far Lila's willing to go to preserve her lies, like how she's beaming with her mouth right now, but her eyes are anything but amused.
Honestly, how do people fall for these tales?
"Of course, Marinette," Lila says sweetly. "Anything for a friend."
"As fascinating as your story is," Kagami says, "does anyone have any idea of where André could be? That's why we're walking around Paris, isn't it?"
Thank god for Kagami, Marinette thinks, slipping her hand into Kagami's and lacing their fingers, while the other girls immediately turn from Lila's Torta story to trying to figure out André's hint. For a split second, Lila's face is nothing but sourness, but then her sweet smile is back and she's joining Alix, Mylène, Rose, and Juleka to try and decipher the hint.
"Honestly, if it wasn't so funny watching her try and keep her stories straight, I'd have called her out ages ago," Alya mutters to Marinette and Kagami.
"I do feel bad for letting her lie to our friends like this…" Marinette says. "I hate liars."
"But there's no point in making yourself look like the bad guy when her lies aren't currently hurting anyone," Kagami says. "I mean, the most that would happen are some broken hearts, but she hasn't actively gone out of her way to harm anyone, has she? Apart from what she did to Adrien, but she's apologised for that, so no one would want to hear anything against her. You'd just be shooting yourself in the foot by bringing that up."
"Then again," Marinette sighs, "if she does move on to the big stuff, good luck trying to break her influence when she's got her claws in so deep. Maybe we should've called her out before now…"
"Of course!" Mylène says. "The Trocadéro! Come on, before we lose him!"
The eight of them take off running down the busy Parisian street, towards the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadéro before they can lose André. Thankfully, his cart is stationed right in the middle of the square when they reach the top of the stairs and pause to pant and gasp for breath.
"C'mon!" Alya's the first one to start bounding down the stairs, closely followed by Marinette, Kagami, Alix, and then the rest of the girls. André's eyes light up when he catches sight of them.
"Ah, girls!" he cries and spreads his arms wide. "Bonjour and bienvenue! What can André get for you?"
"Hi, André!" the girls chorus. Rose and Juleka grab each other's hands and bounce on the spot, and André's eyes light up at the sight and begins to assemble their ice creams.
"Ah, a love so sweet I could cry! Squid ink, lavender, and strawberry to try!" He hands the ice cream to Rose, who giggles and accepts it while snuggling into Juleka's side.
"Squid ink?" Juleka says, raising her eyebrows at the scoop of black ice cream.
"It doesn't sound like it, but it's surprisingly tasty," Kagami says. "I tried it when Mother and I visited South Korea a few years ago."
"I love trying new things!" Rose trills. She scoops out a little of the squid ink and holds it out for Juleka to taste, and Juleka lets out a small hum after cleaning the spoon of ice cream.
"Actually…you're right," Juleka admits. "That's pretty good. It's sweeter than I thought it would be."
"Also, that feeding each other thing is the cutest thing I've ever seen, but I might actually be sick," Alix says.
"Oh, do not pretend that your heart has no one!" André says. "André can see someone who will bring you much fun!"
"Really," Alix scoffs. "Good luck with that."
André's eyes just twinkle as he starts to assemble Alix's ice cream. "A stinger she has and a lot of zest, so André gives you honey for a queen hard to impress! Bubble-gum for her eyes of the sky as well, and bitter dark chocolate with a trace of caramel! Do not worry, my dear, for you two will transcend physical love when at last you realise!"
"Who the hell?" Alix blinks as she accepts the yellow, blue, and dark brown ice cream. "Okay, uh, thanks for realising that I'm gay and ace, but you've gotta be kidding me if you think I'm crushing on anyone."
"How about you go fuck yourself, Bourgeois?"
"Eat my entire arse, Kubdel."
Marinette bites down on her lip to prevent her laughter from bubbling out at the realisation of just who Alix's mystery girl could be. She shoots a look at Alya and pretends to toss her hair, and Alya's eyes widen to the size of saucers when she too realises the implication of Alix's ice cream.
"What's so funny, you two?" Alix says, grumpily shoving some chocolate-caramel ice cream into her mouth.
"Nothing!" Marinette and Alya sing. Alix just raises an eyebrow but thankfully doesn't push it.
"How about –"
"Marinette and Kagami next!" Mylène pushes Marinette and Kagami forward, unintentionally cutting off Lila. André's eyes twinkle at the sight.
"Ah, two young ladies with so much love on display!" he says. "But André will stick to the flavours of you sweet girls for today!"
"That's okay, André," Marinette says with a smile. "I'm just glad you can see all four of us!"
André beams and starts to scoop out a couples' ice cream for her and Kagami. "Blackberry for their hair and cinnamon for their sweet but spicy stares! Topped off with delicious dragonfruit for the raw passion that they suit!"
"Wow, you two look scrumptious," Alya grins as Marinette accepts the ice cream. Marinette rolls her eyes but before she can shoot Alya a snarky response, Kagami silences her rather effectively with a little spoon of bright pink dragonfruit ice cream.
"Oh no, it stained your mouth," Kagami grins, then leans in and presses her lips to Marinette's, her tongue darting out to swipe across Marinette's mouth in pursuit of the sweet dragonfruit stain. Marinette's pretty sure that her face is the colour of that ice cream when Kagami pulls away, judging by the heat that's flooded her cheeks.
"Okay, I was wrong," Alix says. "Rose and Juleka aren't the most sickeningly sweet couple. You two are."
"Aww, but now I feel left out," quips a voice from behind Marinette and Kagami. Their faces light up when they whirl around and find Adrien behind them, his green eyes twinkling as he zeroes in on the ice cream that Marinette's clutching.
"Adrien!" Marinette carefully hands the ice cream to Kagami so that she can grab Adrien's hands and stand on her tiptoes to kiss him. Around them, the girls all aww at the sight, except for Lila and Kagami.
"This is a girls' day, Agreste," Kagami says dryly when Adrien and Marinette separate, but she still hands the ice cream back to Marinette so that she can kiss Adrien as well. "You can make out with us any other time."
"Yeah!" Alya crosses her arms. "Get out of here, Adrien!"
"I just came for some ice cream!" Adrien says, holding his hands up. "I didn't know you girls would be here!"
"Well, take your ice cream far, far away," Juleka says. "Maybe go share it with Luka."
"Oooh," the other girls coo as Adrien's cheeks pinken.
"But of course, young man!" André sings and starts to make an ice cream for Adrien. "Mint for your gaze and blackberry for both you and the boy who brings happiness for days! And vanilla with raspberry swirl for the girls so dear to your heart! Eat this, young man, and your love will never fall apart!"
"Wow, that's really what our four-way ice cream looks like?" Marinette giggles as Adrien takes the green, purplish, and white-and-red ice cream.
"Red, white, and green?" Lila laughs, tilting her head and smiling coyly while sidling up next to Adrien. "Those are the Italian colours! Maybe your ice cream's telling you something, Adrien!"
"Italian colours?" Adrien squints at his ice cream. "No, I don't think so. I can tell who's represented by each ice cream flavour."
"Adrien explicitly stated in his video that our relationship is not open to requests to join," Kagami says icily. "Perhaps you should respect that. If any of us want to pursue a relationship with another person, we'll sit down and talk about it together, and none of us have discussed you as a possibility. But then again, if you can't respect that boundary…"
"Kagami!" Rose gasps as Lila begins to cry. Really, though, one close look at Lila shows that her cheeks aren't even damp from how much she's sobbing, so Marinette's not entirely sure what's going on here. "You don't have to be so mean to Lila for making a joke!"
"I wasn't being mean," Kagami says. "I was reinforcing our boundaries, which is critical for any relationship, especially a polyamorous one. Adrien outright said that he didn't want people to request to join our polycule, yet Lila disrespected that boundary. Even monogamous relationships can't work without respect."
"Kagami's right," Adrien says, scratching the back of his neck. "I mean, jokes are fine, but…Lila did ask me out a few months ago, so I can't be sure if it's a joke or if she's really trying to ask to join. I'm sorry, but none of us are looking for any more relationships at the moment. Um, right? Sorry, Marinette, I didn't mean to speak for you –"
"No, you're right," Marinette says.
"It's okay," Lila sniffles and wipes her eyes. "I understand. I'm sorry for overstepping my boundaries. I just won't try to joke with my friends anymore."
Marinette resists the overwhelming urge to roll her eyes as Juleka, Rose, Mylène, and Alix rush to comfort Lila.
"I guess it's just due to my autism," Lila sighs. "I've never known what's inappropriate. Please, do forgive me if I make any of you uncomfortable…"
Marinette's eye twitches, and the only reason she doesn't go off on a tirade is due to Adrien grabbing her hand and squeezing. Noticing that Kagami's in much the same state, Marinette repeats this gesture with her to ground her.
How dare Lila? Lies about knowing celebrities? Sure, whatever. But lying about something like this? Doesn't she know how many hoops Marinette's had to jump through just to have her autism officially recognised after knowing she was autistic for months? How Marinette still struggles with getting support because she's "normal enough"? And yet…here Lila is, just whipping it out like it's a tragic backstory, and they can't just say that she's lying about this because then they're shitting on self-diagnosed people –
"Autism isn't an excuse," Marinette says coldly. "If I accidentally make someone uncomfortable, I apologise and promise to try and not to do it again. We don't get to act like we shouldn't be held accountable for our actions."
"Marinette's right," Kagami says. "Consider this a lesson from fellow autistics. Yes, we might struggle to realise when something's inappropriate, but we don't cry and act like we should be excused from being held accountable. It's an explanation, not an excuse."
"You two have autism as well?" Lila gasps. Marinette's eye once more twitches, this time at the "have autism" phrasing. "I thought you would have my back, then! That there would be solidarity between us!"
"That's not how this works!" Marinette would've thrown her hands in the air if they hadn't been occupied. "That's not how any of this works!"
"If anything, we're best-suited to calling you out, instead of someone who doesn't have first-hand understanding and doesn't know what it's like to be autistic," Kagami says. "Now you know that it's inappropriate to joke about joining our relationship. The correct course of action is to apologise and then not do it again, not to centre yourself because you were called out."
"And you're a liar," Alya just has to say. Lila gasps.
"What? But I don't – how could you – I thought you liked me!"
"You lied to me about being Ladybug's best friend," Alya says. "Like, come on, why would Ladybug be friends with someone who only just got to Paris? And why would she be friends with a random civilian when she's a superhero? She knows that could paint a target on their backs for Hawkmoth."
"Wow, Alya, just because Ladybug didn't call you her best friend," Alix scoffs.
"You think that's what this is about?" Alya stamps her foot. "I happily recorded that interview, so why would I be jealous if I thought it was true? She's lying!"
"We thought you were just nervous at first," Marinette says. Okay, so she'd rather stay out of this, but if Alya's insisting on jumping in and having this confrontation, there's no way she's going to leave her best friend in the lurch. "That you just wanted to fit in. But every time someone looks like they're going to call you out, you pretend to cry so that people will side with you!"
"Like when you were akumatised," Adrien says. "I let that go because I didn't want to cause a fuss. But there was no "boy from Italy". You were upset at being turned down, so you tried to make me look like a predator and then took it back just to show me that you could. You could've ruined my life, Lila, just because I said no!"
"You guys have issues," Mylène says with wide eyes.
"For you, young miss!" André thrusts an ice cream at Alya. "Coconut, banana, and a hint of passionfruit, for the love between your young man and you!"
But even André's desperate attempt to salvage the mood is fruitless. The standoff between both sides continues, with Marinette, Alya, and Kagami on one side and Juleka, Rose, Mylène, and Alix on the other, while Adrien is stick in the middle and resembling a deer caught in headlights. The standoff only ends when a low voice chuckles, "Of course, Hawkmoth," and everyone whips around to catch Lila being enveloped in purple-black bubbles.
"Akuma!" Mylène gasps. Marinette, Kagami, and Adrien start to back away, to try and escape and transform, but they're unable to get away before Lila's transformation finishes and she's pinning them to the spot with blood red eyes.
"I am Sanguisuga," Lila hisses. It's really not hard to guess her theme, judging by the bluish pallor to her skin, her jet-black hair, the fangs protruding from her upper lip, the short red and black cape, and the gothic black dress with long, lacy sleeves and a layered skirt that's short at the front and falls to her ankles at the back, revealing spiky black boots and blue-tinged legs.
"Not fair," Juleka says. "Why does Lila get the cool vampire akuma theme and I get some hideous bubble-gum dress?"
"No, Lila!" Rose says. "You don't need Hawkmoth! We can sort this out together!"
"Oh, Rose," Sanguisuga tuts. "Sweet little Rose, always so bright and cheerful. I wonder how much energy you have to give me!"
Before anyone can react, Sanguisuga's hand has whipped out to grab Rose around the wrist. The black bracelet that Sanguisuga's wearing starts to glow purple, and Rose gasps and collapses as she too glows purple, held up only by the vice-like grip that Sanguisuga has on her wrist.
"Rose! No!" Juleka grabs Rose and yanks her away from Sanguisuga, but the damage is done, and a bluish, hollow-faced Rose won't wake up from her moaning, fitful slumber. Mylène shrieks and jumps away with Alix, but the bystanders watching what's going on are frozen. Before any of them can react, Sanguisuga's also drained another three people of energy and they topple to the ground like Rose. This kicks the other bystanders into action and makes them scream and start to flee.
"Thanks for your energy, everyone," Sanguisuga grins, licking her lips. "Now you can – just where are you three going?" She jabs a finger at Marinette, Kagami, and Adrien. "None of you are leaving! And where is that insufferable Ladyblogger?"
"Look, I get it, you're annoyed." Rena Rouge leaps down from a tree and lands in front of Sanguisuga with crossed arms. "But taking it out on them just 'cause you were rejected –"
"Oh, no, it's so much more than that." Sanguisuga's scarlet eyes gleam. "I wonder if Marinette and Kagami know about Adrien's secret."
"Secret?" Marinette says, praying to every deity above that Sanguisuga's not implying what she thinks. "What do you mean?"
"So, you don't know!" Sanguisuga says. "Well, Adrien, why don't you tell your friends your little secret, then?"
"I – what secret?" A chalk-white Adrien tries to laugh it off, but he's not fooling anyone. Sanguisuga's crimson lips curve into a wicked smile.
"That's okay," she says. "I'll help you out, Adrien. Or should I say…Chat Noir?"