20 August 2019

Prompt: Weird (Word)

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug

Character/Pairing: Chloé Bourgeois, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Kitty Section

Rating: K / G / All Ages

Notes: I love unicorns. Nothing makes me feel better. (I hold by two theories: one, the band wore masks and polished up the song since Cpt. Hardrock, so of course Chloé doesn't know who they are (plus, y'know, she wasn't there); and two, Chloé totally knows that's Rose singing and is Just A Bitch.)

Marinette could feel her eyebrow twitching, like a throbbing pulse. It was the telltale sign of an oncoming headache, and it was getting stronger with each grate of Chloé's voice. Every agreeing snicker from Lila. She hadn't thought the two were friends, but apparently the enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that, in this case their 'enemy' being Kitty Section.

"I mean, it's just so lame!" Chloé declared, holding her hand out to inspect her manicure. "Ridiculous – utterly ridiculous! They're all clearly teenagers – who sings about unicorns when you're not five?"

"They've been trending on YouTube since their performance last month," Alya commented, glancing up from her phone. Marinette's eyebrow twitched again. Alya was her best friend, and also hated Chloé, but now Lila was hanging out with Chloé so Alya was, too? What even? "People are really enjoying the song, Chloé. The world can't wait for the next Kitty Section single."

"What-ever," Chloe scoffed. Alya rolled her eyes and sent Marinette a look, which she steadfastly ignored as she scribbled something in her sketchpad. "It's just weird. Teenagers singing about unicorns."

"And fluffy cats," Lila chimed in, as if one of the city's beloved heroes wasn't a cat ear-sporting teenager in black leather. She was probably well aware of that fact, actually, given how much she hated Paris's superheroes.

"Well, the biggest kid's song for a while now has been about a baby shark, so…" Nino chimed in, and Marinette hated how uncertain he sounded. Like he knew the world loved a silly song about a baby shark but was unwilling to own that because Lila didn't agree.

"Because Baby Shark is actually good, Lahiffe, keep up," Chloé snorted (if she ever did anything as undignified as snort, that is). Marinette's grip tightened on her pencil and she looked across the courtyard to where Juleka, Ivan, and Mylène were trying to comfort a distraught Rose. Of course Chloé didn't notice – or, more likely, did and didn't care. Luka sat on the table behind Rose, a comforting hand laid on her shoulder while he glared daggers at Chloé.

"It's not that it's entirely awful," Lila chimed in. Rose perked up, glancing over at her hopefully, as if desperate for validation from the lying piece of…Marinette closed her eyes and took another deep breath. "It's just…"

"Weird!" Chloé cut in. "Those costumes? That song? Like, who even? And Jagged Stone loves them – I don't understand it!"

"Well, it's not like Jagged isn't pretty weird himself," Marinette muttered under her breath, but apparently she wasn't quiet enough. Chloé and Lila shot her withering looks.

"As if you'd know, Dupain-Cheng," Chloé scoffed. Marinette screeched and threw her sketchbook down, drawing her friends' attention. She glared at Chloé, her hands balled into fists.

"As a matter of fact, I would know!" she snapped. "And while we're on it, I love Kitty Section! Their song is awesome – half those hits on YouTube are probably mine!"

…ok, maybe that was a bit of a stretch, but she liked the way it made the band members smile. And she had filmed and posted it for them, after all. That had to count for something.

"Of course you'd like them, Marinette," Lila said with a roll of her eyes. Marinette stood, glaring.

"Like there's anything wrong with liking an awesome song about unicorns! At least Kitty Section has some integrity, Lila," she bit out. Lila's eyes narrowed in a glare. "They like what they like, and they're not afraid to say it – even if you think it's weird!"

"I mean, lots of people like unicorns, sooo…not that weird," Nino muttered, kicking at the dirt by his feet. Marinette pointed at him and nodded.

"Yes! Exactly! Thank you!" she cried.

"Oh, please," Chloé scoffed. "A rock fan like you? As if you'd like something as silly as Kitty Section."

"I do like them, Chloé! A lot, actually! In fact…" Marinette climbed onto the top of the table, braced herself in a Power Stance she'd learned from Rose, and screamed out: "You know I love unicorns! Nothing makes me feel better!"

"Cut it out, Dupain-Cheng!" Chloé shouted over her singing. "You're just embarrassing yourself!"

Which, yeah. Probably true. But Marinette was beyond caring – her friends' honor was on the line.

"I see their faces everywhere I go – I dream about 'em in the night!" Marinette continued. She glanced back at the band and grinned. Juleka and Ivan were smiling at her, and Rose – despite the tears on her cheeks – looked like it was Christmas. Mylène gave her an encouraging thumbs up, and Luka…her cheeks turned pink at the grin he was giving her, and she turned back to Chloé. "You know I love unicorns, and nothing makes me feel better!"

"Ok, fine, you've proved your point!" Chloé screamed as she stood. "Ugh! Ridiculous – utterly ridiculous! You are such a loser, Dupain-Cheng!"

Chloé turned with a flip of her ponytail and stormed off, Sabrina scurrying after her. Lila narrowed a glare at Marinette before running after Chloé, and of course Nino and Alya (who at least tossed an eye roll and encouraging smile Marinette's way) ran after her. Marinette sat down on the table with a huff, folding her arms over her chest as she glared after them. She couldn't believe the nerve of that girl! Actually, she could, but…

…she froze when the cheering started. She turned around to find Kitty Section whooping and clapping. Rose was actually on her feet, jumping up and down as she screamed out how great Marinette was. It only took a moment before she rushed over and tackled her in a hug, and the moment after that they were dwarfed by Juleka and Ivan. Marinette laughed as they squished her in a cuddle pile.

"Guys, come on – it was no big deal!" she said. Her laugh turned into a gasp as Rose squeezed her tighter.

"It totally was! You were so cool, Marinette!" Rose squealed. "You totally stood up to Chloé!"

"It was totally awesome," Juleka agreed.

"So not a loser!" Ivan chimed in. Rose bounced in the huddle, squealing excitedly.

"Oh, oh, oh – I got our next song! You know I love Marineeeeeette! You know, she's totally awesome!" she sang. Marinette snorted and buried her burning face in her hands.

"You guys," she laughed. Juleka smirked as Luka walked over.

"Luka should totally sing it," she added. She winked at Rose before continuing the song: "I only want her to be mine, mine, mine – I dream about her in the night!"

"Ooo-k there, thanks, sis, we'll consider it," Luka said quickly as Marinette squeaked (shrieked, squeak-shrieked – she wasn't sure what exactly the noise was that escaped her, but it was definitely embarrassing). She peeked out from behind her fingers and was only slightly relieved to see he was blushing, too. "Come on, guys. Let her breathe."

"Nope – Mari's the best and deserves all the hugs – get in here, Luka!" Rose ordered as she grabbed his arm and tugged him down. His breath left him in a whoosh as he landed, sprawled on his back, across Marinette and Rose's laps. With his head in Marinette's. She blinked down at him from the spaces between her fingers, and he blinked up at her as a slow smile curled his lips.

"Ok," he said, reaching up to take her hand. "I could get used to this."

"Maybe Chloé was right," Mylène said as she attempted to come to Marinette's rescue. "Kitty Section is kinda weird after all."

Later on – much later on, after Mylène had managed to save Marinette from the cuddle pile and remind the band they actually did have to practice at some point that day – the group was walking back to the Liberty. Marinette had hung towards the back, and Luka – who had refused to release her hand since being yanked into the cuddle pile – had stayed with her.

"You know, it was pretty cool, what you did back there," he said, squeezing her hand. Her face felt warm again as she looked to their feet, but she was finding it felt warm most times Luka was around. "You're pretty awesome, Marinette."

"Not weird?" she asked, glancing up at him. He chuckled and shook his head.

"No weirder than the rest of us," he said. "Everyone's a little weird, when you think about it."

"True," she said. She shot him a grin. "Especially Chloé."

He snorted, and then his head fell back as a full-body laugh escaped him. He squeezed her hand again, swinging their arms between them slightly as they walked.

"Yeah," he agreed when the laugh had died off. "Definitely Chloé."