"Here you go! Two dozen macarons. Your classmates are sure to like them!" Tom handed the box of macaroons to his daughter with a wide grin, which quickly swapped to one of horror. Thankfully, his foot shot out, catching the box at the very last moment. Smiling apologetically, she gave him a big hug, then turned to kiss her mom on the cheek.
"Thanks for the macaroons, Dad!" Marinetts shouted as she ran to the door, late for school. As she waited to cross the road, she saw a man slowly crossing the street on a cane- and a red car hurtling straight towards him. Leaping forwards in a flurry of panic, she quickly pushed him out of the way, crushing a number of the cookies then and there.
"Thank you, miss. What a disaster!" The man said gratefully.
"I'm no stranger to disaster. Besides, there's still a few left," she told him, offering the box.
"Mm, delicious," he praised, munching on the cookie with a blissful look on his face.
She smiled, genuinely this time, before abruptly realizing she still had yet to get to school. "Ack, sorry! I have to go to school now. Have a nice day sir!" She called over to him. Really running now, she dashed through the classroom doors just before the bell rang.
"Late again, Dupain-Cheng!" Chloé sneered from Marinette's seat. Sabrina snickered, slightly mechanically, and imitated Chloé's codensending movements.
"Chloé, that's my seat! Why can't you just leave me be?" She pleaded, knowing she wasn't going to win this fight.
"Well, my Adirikins is finally going to be coming to school this year! He's going to be sitting there-" she pointed imperiously to the seat in front of her- "so I'll be sitting here. And don't worry, there's still a spot for you! With the new girl, of course," she said smugly, before cackling at her 'joke', Sabrina still mirroring her.
"Hey! Who elected you Queen of Seats?" A new voice demanded. Startled, Marinette whipped around to find a girl in a flannel shirt coming to her defense. After Chloé's swift rebuke, the girl groaned in irritation and walked off, dragging Marinette by the wrist and accidentally causing her to drop all but one of the remaining macaroons. "Ugh. Sorry I intervened. You just looked kinda defeated, and I can't stand mean girls. I'm Alya, by the way. What's your name?"
"Oh, I'm, uh… I'm Marinette. It's nice to meet you. And thank you for saving me from Chloé. How did you stand up to her so well?" she asked. Taking another look at the girl in front of her- Alya, that's right- she looked at her quickly, wondering if she'd met her before. She was wearing a pair of jeans with a flannel shirt and sneakers, and simple black glasses sat over green eyes. Reddish locks tumbled just past her shoulders, and a black marks spread across parts of her left face and neck, as well as some of her left arm.
"No worries, girl! And it's easy to stand up to her- you just have to ask, 'What would Majestia do?' She's my favorite super!" Tapping on her phone for a second, she pulled up an image of the super in mid-flight, a quote emblazoned over the image. "'All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing'- it's something I try to remember at all times. Well-" she turned and pointed to Chloé- "that girl is evil, and we're the good guys. We can't let the tyrant rule unchecked, now can we?"
Pausing for a moment after finishing, she just stared at Marinette for a moment before speaking with genuine curiosity in her voice. "Sorry if this is rude, but where's your soulmark?"
Marinette flinched. She knew this was coming, but she had hoped that she wouldn't have been asked that for a couple days, at least. Alya was a lot blunter than most people she'd met.
"I, uh..." fiddling with her hands under her desk, she took a deep breath. "I don't have one. Anywhere. That's why Chloé hates me so much."
Alya nodded slowly as she took that in. "Huh. You sure? No, no, that's a dumb question, don't answer it. Maybe you do have one, but it's on your nails or something, so you haven't gotten it yet."
She… hadn't considered that. Alya was more interesting than she looked. And she wasn't acting mean or rude or condescending, either. This girl was weird. Remember, be wary. She could be another Chloé in disguise, after all. But looking at Alya's bright smile, she couldn't help but hope. What ulterior motive could she possibly have that involves saving her from her biggest bully? Decided, she broke the last macaroon in half.
"Friends?"
"Friends."
By the end of the class they were giggling like old pals, and Marinette was in heaven. Sure, she would talk to people on occasion, and she never fought with her classmates during group assignments, but never had anyone been this friendly with her yet! She'd seen her classmates joke around and make friends as if it was the simplest thing in the world. But they never talked to her or joked with her, or even said "hi" in the hallway. Alya, on the other hand, was bright and bubbly and chatty.
And then came the supervillain. It was all a bit of a blur, really, so she didn't remember much. Just scattered bits. The monster who roared in Ivan's voice. The fear all around her as her classmates scattered for their own safety. Ayla running off like an absolute madman after the monster. Slamming the bakery door behind her and locking it as if it would help keep the villain out. Somehow, she made it into her room, calming down a little now that she wasn't directly in danger.
Flopping into her chair and taking a slow breath, she blew it out slowly as she spun the seat. Slowing down the chair until it stopped, she faced her computer, about to pull up the news to see if there was any information. Instead she saw a little black box. Her face scrunched a little in confusion, she opened it, scrambling back a second later as a swirling light erupted from the box. A lot of confused and frantic screaming later, she had trapped the… talking-bug-mouse-thing inside an upturned glass and turned to call her mom.
At this, the creature quickly phased through the glass and clapped tiny paws over Marinette's mouth as she stared Marinette in the eyes with a sense of immense urgency and importance.
"No! Your parents must never know I exist! I am Tikki, the goddess of creation, and with my help, you can defeat the monster. However, if people learn of my existence, bad things might happen to you or your family. Now, you must transform and help save the city!"
After a moment, Marinette had stopped freaking out quite as much and told Tikki what she knew of the monster. As soon as she had gotten this information, Tikki began a hasty crash course of heroism to a bewildered Marinette. Meanwhile, a wildly different scene was occurring across the city.
oOoO0OoOo
"Are you like the genie in the lamp?" Adrien asked eagerly, staring at the small black creature floating lazily before him.
"What's the big deal about him? He grants wishes, so what? I'm way more personable. Nice to meet 'cha. My name's Plagg. Ooh what's that?" Noticing a glint of metal, he flew over to a foosball table and began gnawing on it before stopping in disgust. "Ahh gross! You can't eat that!" Whizzing around the room, he began giving many of Adrien's items a similar treatment, ignoring Adrien as he chased him around in an attempt to stop him. Finally, the blonde managed to stop him, trapping him between clasped hands after a final desperate attempt.
"What are you though? And what are you doing in my room?" Adrien said, almost shaking Plagg as he spoke.
Glancing away, the creature began to fone of a well-practiced speech in a monotone voice. "I'm Plagg, the Kwami of the Back Cat. I grant powers. Yours is the power of destruction. Got it? Now, got anything to eat around here? I'm starving." A little incredulous, Adrien just stared at the kwami. After a moment, he belatedly released Plagg with a distracted sorry as he pondered over what to get him to eat. Ordering some fruit from the chef, he offered it to an ungrateful little god.
So, apparently only cheese would do. Plucking a piece of fruit out of the abandoned snack, he stood up and walked to the door. Down the stairs, through the big door, last door on the right, his first left… ah, there it was. Tentatively pushing open the door, he slipped in and made his way to the pantry. Glancing around, he quickly spotted where they stored the cheese and grabbed a few of the smaller pieces. Cheddar, brie, camembert, and swiss should be plenty enough. Striding back to the hallway, he paused to grab himself a pastry from the kitchen while the cook wasn't looking. If Plagg was getting snacks, so was he.
After having made it back to his room, he dropped the armload of spoils down before sitting down in front of them and grabbing the fruit. Whizzing straight to the camembert, Plagg immediately began gulping it down, to Adrien's disappointment. Of course he liked the more expensive stuff. How was he supposed to get his hands on camembert, especially at the rate he was going to need, judging by Plagg's feasting. Ew.
Sighing, he finished the pastry and tucked away the cheese before dusting off his night-black hands and turning to the glutton now poking at his remote.
"So, what's this about superpowers?"
Soon enough, he was hurtling through the street on his new- stick? Extendable pole? When something plummeted downward with increasing speeds, literally crashing into him. After untangling her string or whatever that was from the light pole, a black-spotted girl came rushing to his aid.
"I'm sorry! I'm Mari- madly clumsy. You aren't hurt, are you?" She said worriedly, bustling around him but not really touching him. Brushing himself off, Adrien stood up and smiled.
"No worries, I'm fine. Are you alright? You fell quite the height," he asked as a bit of an afterthought. At her nod, he smiled even brighter and held out his hand. "I'm… I'm Chat Noir. Yeah, Chat Noir."
She was about to shake his hand when he heard Stoneheart roar once more, shaking the ground a bit in his anger. Catching himself right before he fell into her, the girl shook her head. "Not right now. The villain is out there and we still need to fight him." Slinging her yo-yo around a balcony fence, she swung up and began running across the rooftops, Chat following in her wake.
oOoO0OoOo
"Maybe it would help if you read the lyrics," Ladybug told Mylene. Unfolding the crumpled piece of paper, she handed the sheet to the other girl and watched as she read. Mylene's eyes softened as she got further along in the paper, and as she finished, she turned wet eyes to Ladybug. "See, Ivan didn't mean you harm. He just wanted to share his feelings with you, even if his delivery might have been a little scary."
Suddenly, Mylene threw her arms around Ivan, standing on her tippy toes to be closer to his level. After a moment of surprise, he leaned down a bit and hugged her back fiercely, smushing their cheeks together. As they pulled back, their cheeks turned into two very different colours. Ivan now had soft orange, like a sunset painted on fabric that had faded over time, whereas Mylene had a deep forest green in place of the black she had had before. Orange and green often didn't go well together, but somehow the two colours went together perfectly.
Ladybug smiled, a little sad, but mostly happy for her classmates. Watching their shock fade into happiness and hope was touching, and she just stood there for a minute before her earing beeped. Hand flying up to her ear, she realized just how close she was to detransforming, and pulled her yo-yo out with a wince. Hooking it onto a beam of the Eiffel Tower, she swung away with a smile and a small wave.
Stoneheart well and truly defeated now, Marinette walked into class later that day with a rare spring in her step. But of course, someone just had to jerk her back to reality. In her absence, an unfamiliar blond had appeared, and had begun to put his nasty pre-chewed gum on her seat. Typical. She pulled a tissue from a travel pack in her purse, shooting the boy a withering look as she covered up the gum. Turning to him, she frowned nastily before speaking with disdain.
"Just because you're new doesn't mean you get to do whatever you want," she told him. Spying Chloé smirking behind him, her frown deepened as she turned to the front of the class. "Ah, so you're friends with Chloé. Of course."
Stewing in irritation, she listened to Mme. Bustier talk for the rest of class. Of course on the day she made her very first friend, she would gain another enemy as well. By the end of class, her anger had simmered down enough to exchange numbers with Alya, and she packed up her things. Struggling to fit the last item in- she really needed a new bag- she made it out of the classroom after everyone else.
As she stepped outside, she sighed, raising her hand, catching several raindrops before it was even all the way up . Staring at the droplet in a sort of resigned disappointment, she didn't notice the boy walking up behind her.
"H-hey! I just wanted to say- well, I'm sorry. Chloé is- was my first and only friend. Ever since my mom died, my dad's kept me at home, so I never really had a chance to meet people. I really was trying to get the gum off of your seat, though, I swear! I just… um… do you wanna be my friend?" He shoved his umbrella at her, nervously hiding behind it. She smiled nervously, anger having fizzled all the way out at the sight of his sweet smile. Wait, what? Forcing her thoughts back to the conversation instead of his ridiculously cute smile, she awkwardly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Thank you. I'm sorry I got so angry. It's just… Chloé has been making fun of me since day one, and I thought her boyfriend would be just a-" Looking confused, Adrien cut her off, tilting his head.
"Her boyfriend? Did she really- no, of course she did. That explains it. Look, Chloé is like a sister to me? A really bratty one, admittedly," he trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "She- I love her, but as family. Definitely not romantically. Did she tell you we were together?"
Now feeling more than a bit embarrassed, Marinette reflected back to before and winced a little.
"...no. She was just really possessive of you, and acted exactly like a jealous girlfriend. Sorry I assumed. "
Smiling softly, he waved off her apologies before realizing he had pulled the umbrella back towards him as he talked. As he offered it to her once more, Marinette drank in the adorable sight. A bolt of lightning illuminated a gentle, hopeful smile as he held out the umbrella with both hands, and his body language indicated nothing but excitement at the prospect of making a new friend. Funnily enough, his soulmark was located right on the palms of his hands, with odd thin stripy bits covering other parts of his hands in the exact same night-black of his umbrella. As she took the umbrella from him, she awkwardly avoided touching him, feeling even more self conscious than before because his soulmark was right there and she had none.
Of course, he didn't even notice her hesitance, just bounded down the steps to where a limo was waiting for him and gave her a cheery wave before disappearing behind tinted glass. Staring after him a little dopily, she gazed after him with warm cheeks before being torn back to reality by a crack of thunder. With a wistful sigh, she held up the umbrella out of instinct as she stepped into the pouring rain. Tikki flew out of her purse and perched on her shoulder with a giggle, but Marinette didn't even notice, head still in the clouds.
oOoO0OoOo
"Girl, you will not believe what happened to me! So, you remember what happened earlier, right?" Before Marinette could tell Alya that, yes, she did indeed remember what had happened just two hours before, Alya barreled on. "So right after you disappeared, Ladybug showed up! In order to keep us safe, she shoved us both in an animal cage and locked us in! Totally crazy, right! I mean, the miraculous ladybugs got us out, but still! Anyways, when she put us inside, he stumbled a little bit, and we found out we're soulmates!" Clicking on the camera, she immediately swung the phone to her arm, and sure enough, her soulmark had turned from black to shimmering shades of gold and amber. Flipping the focus to her face, she smiled brightly and started talking animatedly once more.
"Isn't it the coolest? So we were talking to see what the colors might represent, and we found out pretty quickly that ours was each other's eye colors. It actually turned out super pretty, because he has beautiful gold eyes, and even though mine are more silver, we match! I told my sisters already and they're super excited for me! … although Nora does keep threatening to beat him up if he ever 'treats me wrong'," Alya complained in a tired tone. "Anyways, I can't wait to tell my parents when they get home from work! Actually, I was kinda wondering if you wanted to come over when I tell them? My mom and my little sisters have been dying to meet you, and my parent's faces are going to be priceless. And I've been talking up your family's desserts so much, I think my dad is starting to believe I'm making it all up! Could you bring over some croissants or something? Thank you so much! See you later girl!" Almost finished, she nearly clicked off before remembering one last thing. "Oh, almost forgot, they get home at five thirty, so you should get here at five. You can have dinner with us! I'll text you the address!"
And with that, she ended the call, leaving before Marinette could give an answer. Mouth still open a little, she sat there for a moment before starting to laugh, building up to a full blown cackle. Tikki, surprising, was laughing just as much, but it was more of a startled laugh that dissolved into giggles. Upon checking her phone, she found that Alya had sent her the address before signing off.
"Guess I'm going to Alya's house, then," Marinette said wryly, pushing herself up from her chair. "She said to be there at… what, five?" At Tikki's nod, she pushed open the door leading downstairs. "So, that gives me about an hour and a half to make some goodies. The nice bread rolls with butter, and Dad's triple-fudge brownies should be perfect, then. The bakery is closing in thirty minutes, so Mom should be free to drive me..."
Musing over the details, she shut the door and headed to the storefront to ask her mom if she could go. Once that had been approved, she moved to the kitchen. The family one; the bakery kitchen would be too busy right now. Pulling out the correct dishes, her mind wandered back to Alya's news. It was pretty incredible, really. To find your soulmate after just two weeks of a new school? Alya was lucky, Marinette thought, a little jealous. Especially so soon after Ivan and Mylene had first come together. It was so rare to see a pairing made at her age, and Alya and Nino coming together so soon after Ivan and Mylene was a little weird, but in a good way. Her mind turning back to Adrien, she sighed dreamily, getting flicks of brownie batter on her face in her distraction.
Goodies freshly baked and sitting warm in her lap an hour and a half later, she watched as the icon on her mom's phone reached the end of its blue path. As the car slowed to a stop in real life, she slid the food off her lap so she could get up, then grabbed it before closing the car door with her foot. Her hands full, she walked up to the door awkwardly and found Alya waiting impatiently for her. Upon seeing Marinette, she ran forward with her hand outstretched, presumably to drag her inside, but quickly stopped when she saw the glass containers she was holding. Instead, she plucked the top item off Marinette's stack, and then opened the door and held it open impatiently as Marinette walked in.
Setting the brownies down next to where Alya had put the other container, she looked around a little bit curiously; this was her first time at Alya's house, after all. However, she was almost immediately distracted by Alya tugging on Mari's wrist, with a slightly mischievous smirk settled on her face for the upcoming reveal.
"Come on girl! I know I asked you to make a dessert-thank you, by the way- but you took forever, and you have got to see our soulmarks!" Alya babbled withmore energy than normal. Laughing slightly, Marinette allowed herself to be pulled to the sitting room, where Nino was showing off something on his phone to two little girls, obviously twins. Looking up at the noise Alya was making, the boy sat up and smiled.
"Heya! We've never officially met, so I'm Nino. Alya's… soulmate..." the normally confidant soulmate trailed off a bit and fiddled with his hat. "Sorry, I'm still getting used to this, dude. I just can't believe I got to find out who my soulmate was so soon, and find out she's wicked cool to boot!" Looking up straight, he smiled. "But yeah, nice to meet 'cha!" He finished off with his signature bubbly energy that Marinette had seen in class before. It did feel weird to have that same energy directed at her for once though. He, like the rest of the class, had mostly just ignored her until now, presumably to avoid Chloé's wrath.
Looking at the pair side by side was rather cool, though. They had beautiful shades of gold flecked with rose and silver decorating their arms, neck, and a bit of their faces too. The colour was clearly a combination of their eye colors, and suited them rather well. Nino was unconsciously leaning towards Alya, and Alya had already laced their fingers together. All in all, they made an adorable couple, and Marinette admired them for a split second before noticing another boy sitting next to where Nino had been, wrapped up to his nose in a blanket and looking ridiculously cute. Squeaking a little bit, Marinette rushed to the kitchen to fiddle with the foods she had brought rather than having to talk to Adrien. Noticing this, Alya gave a sly smile and unlaced her fingers from Nino's, jogging after Marinette.
"So, what was that?" Alya asked teasingly, leaning in towards Marinette. Letting out another squeak, she started freaking out a bit internally.
"N-nothing!"
"I don't think it's n-nothing, honey," she teased with a Cheshire cat grin spreading across her face. "In fact, I think that nothing is a crush." Wiggling her eyebrows, Alya stared at Marinette smugly for a moment as Mari tried -and failed- not to blush. Even as she began to deny it with as much force as she could muster, Alya stopped her with a finger to Marinette's ljps. Smirking at the tomato-red girl for another moment, she whirled around and sat back down next to her soulmate in the sitting room. After a moment, she looked up and waved her hand, mouthing "come on girl!". Giggling a little, Marinette compied. As she walked over, Alya shot her a wicked look and shifted herself around a little so that Marinette was forced to sit next to Adrien. It wasn't like the couch was all that big to start with, either, and with five people(albeit two of them tiny twins) already on the couch, she was practically squished right on top of him.
Awkwardly sitting next to the handsome blond, she sat there stiffly for a minute before Alya decided to shove her. Right. Into. Adrien. With the loudest squeak yet, she jumped up, frantically asking him if he was alright. With a chuckle, he sat up and smiled blindingly at her. "It's alright, don't worry. Actually, would you like the blanket? I'm getting rather warm." He must have thought she looked cold, because a moment later she was swaddled in a fluffy blanket and watching the second half of a netflix show with them. As Marinette slowly started settling in, the group started tossing in the occasional joke or crack at the show, until the room was loud with laughter and the movie had finished. Grabbing the remote, Alya turned off the television and herded them all to the bathrooms to wash their hands. Hands clean, they milled around in the dining room awkwardly for a minute when a click came from the door. Giggling and shushing each other needlessly, Alya hushed them one last time before calling out to her parents.
"Hi Mum, Dad! You know how you said I could bring my friends over for dinner, right? Well, here they are! Adrien brought some fancy cheeses, and Marinette brought some pastries. Anyways, we've got a surprise for you!" As she spoke, she handed her friend her phone, the camera app already pulled up. Hearing her mom take her shoes off, they waited in eager anticipation as Mme. Ceseire started to walk into the dining room.
"This better be a good surprise, young lady. Your sisters already give me enough trouble as it i- oh!" As she rounded the corner, she nearly dropped the bag of things she had been holding in surprise when she saw her daughter. "Is that… no… already? Aww, baby, good for you! And your name is?"
"Nino, ma'am. I'm your daughter's soulmate," he said proudly. "It's nice to meet you."
"Awww, and he has such good manners, too! He seems like such a nice boy!" Alya's mom gushed as she set down her bag. Her husband finally walked in, clearly oblivious to the topic of conversation.
"Hey, sweet pea. What's all this noise abo-" eyes wide, Alya's dad just stood, stared, and sputtered nonsense in shock for a moment at Alya's newly coloured soulmark. Smiling widely, Alya grabbed Nio by the shoulders and pulled him in front of her.
"Hey Dad. Meet Nino. He's my soulmate," she informed him. Still clearly surprised, the dad allowed himself to be herded to the table for dinner. After Alya's mom had dished out the still-hot food from the bag- apparently she often made food after work ended and simply brought it home with her-, he finally said seemed to process this new development.
"So, uh, Marinette, Adrien, and Nino, right?" Brandishing his fork at each teen in turn, he stabbed a piece of meat on his fork and chewed it thoughtfully for a moment. "And you're my daughter's soulmate, huh? Well, you seem nice enough, but I'll have you know, if you even THINK-"
"Daaaadddddd! Nora already threatened him plenty enough, and you don't need to too!Can we skip that bit please?" Alya begged. "Oh, and Marinette, thanks for taking the video," she told her, taking the phone back.
"Oh, don't worry about your dad, honey. Now, you and Nino make such a cute couple! Are you going to go on any dates soon? Ooh, you should do a double date with those two. Oh, I nearly forgot! What made your soulmarks happen? I'm sure it was interesting, just look at you two!" Leaning forward, Mme. Cesaire waited for her daughter to answer her.
"Um, thanks? Also, you think we should go on dates? I kinda figured you'd be against that like dad. And yeah a double date with those two would be fun," she said, smiling wolfishly as Marinette blushed neon-bright and started stuttering denials. "As for the soulmarking, Ladybug actually brought us together! We were running from Animan- Dad- and Ladybug picked us up and threw us in a cage to keep us safe. When she threw us in, we ended up smooshed up next to each other and BAM, we're soulmates!" Throwing a playful glare at her father as she mentioned Animan, she threw an arm around her sort-of boyfriend happily.
As dinner drew to an end soon after, they settled down on the couch and pulled up another movie. At some point, Adrien had scarfed down his brownie and snuggled himself into the blanket, and Marinette ended up sitting next to him. Awkward at first, she quickly became absorbed in the cheesy rom-com that they had put on in honor of Alya and Nino, and completely forgot she was next to Adrien. Until he started falling asleep. At first, he just put his head on her blanket-swaddled shoulder, which caused Marinette to short-circuit temporarily. Then, he turned sideways a little so his back was partly against her. And then, just to top it off, he fell asleep there, falling down a bit so his head was on her lap like a cat.
Stunned, Marinette just sat there for a bit without moving, not missing the looks Alya was sending her. After a lot of mental debate, she had slowly begun to reach one hand towards his fluffy-looking hair when he stirred. Jerking her hand back, she focused intently on the television screen as he came too, whipping upright when he realized what had happened. Apologizing profusely, she brushed them all off quickly while pretending that she definitely didn't just try to pet his head like a sleeping cat. Nopeeeeee nope totally not what just happened at all. Refusing to look him in the eye for the last bit of the movie, she texted her mom to come pick her up. Just ten minutes later, her mom had pulled up in the car and she bid them all goodbye.
Having made it home, she fell into her swivel chair with a sigh and let it spin slightly, Tikki chuckling as she swirled out of the purse. "I got to sit with Adrien! He fell asleep in my lap! Tikki, pinch me!" Feeling a pinch on her left, she looked over to see her kwami giggling softly. Shooting her a playful glare, she turned to her computer to check the time- maybe she could do homework and still work on her latest design? It was… seven thirty. Oops.
oOoO0OoOo
Hearing Ladybug's gently thumping footsteps and the vrr of her yo-yo from quite a while away, he didn't even look up when she landed next to him. He did smile a little bit though- how could he not, when the most amazing woman in the world was right there, standing next to him? But before she could sit down, he stood, stretching out his back with a pleased hum and doing his best to hide the soft, sappy smile on his face.
"Fancy a run, Milady?"
"You know it, Chaton."
And with that, they were in motion. Feet pounding on the tiles beneath them, breath starting to come out faster and faster, heart thrumming in time with his feet. Before he knew it, the sky had darkened all the way and his feet hurt and his sides were splitting as he half-gasped for air. So when that rooftop- the one he had come to time and time again, wishing his lady had been with him, the one where he and Marinette had shared their troubles on- came close, he slowed his pace, using his baton to propel himself the remaining distance. He lay down onto his back, trying desperately to catch his breath.
After a moment, he felt a little better, so he checked his baton. Thirty minutes. It wasn't all that much, really- some of the worst akuma attacks had dragged on for almost an entire day all on their own- but he didn't usually spend the entirety of the akuma attack running at his top speed without break or rest, so he was just as winded any person would be after running their absolute top speed for thirty uninterrupted minutes, super suit or no. His head eventually turned to Ladybug, and he found she was still trying to catch her breath- she had landed a bit after him, so it was only fair. Still, she was still drop-dead gorgeous, with flushed cheeks and shining eyes.
She propped herself up onto her elbows, gazing at the twinkling stars and smiling softly, and he couldn't help but smile too. Pulling himself up onto his elbows, he scooched over ever so slightly until his arm was touching hers. Distracted, Marinette didn't even notice, still looking a little overheated from before. Breaking the silence, Chat raised one hand to the sky.
"Look, there's Ursa Major. And over there- that's Leo. And that one there- those three stars are Sextans."
"Oh, so you know the constellations by heart now, hm? Well then, where's Virgo?" Ladybug asked him teasingly.
"Right there, of course," he said, waving his hand in a wide gesture to its location, "do you take me fur a liar? I used to be super into astrology, and so I ended up teaching myself about it. Impurressed yet?"
"Hmm, not really. Nothenless, good job, Kitty," Ladybug told him, settling back down flat. After a moment, she suddenly curled up against him, tucking her knees in and pulling up close. Surprised, he sucked in a breath before letting it out and falling back down as well.
"Before you say anything, I'm cold. It's a side effect of being the Ladybug holder- my kwami told me so herself. As a rather simple creature, I am mostly just cold intolerant. You don't get to judge me anyways, Mr. Trying-not-to-purr."
Feelling more than a little embarrassed at her call-out, he shifted around a little, blushing, before settling into one position and starting to purr quietly. After a moment, his fingers made it into her hair, and he slowly ran his fingers through it, again and again, careful not to prick her with the claws on the tips of his gloves. She must have liked it more than he thought, because just minutes later, Ladybug drifted off.
He woke her up an hour later, because they couldn't stay out all night, but her travel back home was slow and interluded with a ridiculous number of yawns. Casual touch wasn't something he was used to, but with her it was commonplace. Usually it was either her saving him from villain attacks, or him draping himself on top of her, but every so often she would do something like that, and he still wasn't quite used to that. Still, he wished she would do it more often,
oOoO0OoOo
Hearing a knock from above her, she frowned, more than a little worried. The only person that really had easy access to up there was her. Cautiously pushing open the door just a crack, her fears abated a little and she pushed it all the way open to better see Chat Noir. "Not to be rude, but why are you on my balcony? Is there an akuma?" She doubted it; if there was, she would have gotten a message from Alya by now, and she had already defeated Guitar Villain today.
A little awkward-looking, he rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. "Um, no. I just… didn't feel like being at home, and you're just about the only person in Paris that I know who isn't a hero. Well, at least as Chat. So, anyways, I was hoping you'd let me come in?" Looking like a lost puppy, his cat ears flattened pitifully and his tail swished back and forth in hope. Sighing, she shifted her body so he could get in, and he darted right in. Spinning in a circle, he drank in the photos and fabric scraps scattered all across her room, a smirk growing on his face as he spoke.
"Your room is fit for royalty, princess. There's an awful lot of pictures of one boy though, isn't there?" Flushing brightly, she hurried to defend herself. "Not that many! I mean, he's one of my best-well, only friends, and his dad's my favorite designer, and well..." Trailing off, she started moving around some fabric in a fruitless attempt to organize her room. "Well, um, do you want to do something? I was most of the way through my dress, but I could take a break if you'd like?"
Surprised by the offer, he quickly declined with a wave of his hand. "Um, no, that's all right. Actually, what are you making?" Curious as the cat he was, he stepped forwards and peered at the dress lying on her desk.
Smiling proudly, she lifted it up with delicate hands and held it out in front of her by the sleeves. "Gabriel is having a dress designing contest, and the theme is Soulmarks. I figured I would try to take a different approach, see? Most people are probably going to have a black dress with colour blooming along it. Instead, mine is a simple sundress in a tone made to match my skin color. No extra details, just a basic dress pattern and this."
Tapping a black-and-red heart to the upper left of the dress, she smiled, a little sad. "And this is the soulmark, of course," she said. "Black for before, and red to signify true love."
Carefully setting it down, she was suddenly hit by a massive bear- cat?- hug from the hero. He had somehow ended up standing on an upended box and was a good foot taller than her, so her face only reached to his chest before a very startled Marinette was let go. Turning a little red, she offered to watch a movie with him, and he agreed. A few minutes later, they settled down on her chaise lounge to watch the Ladybug and Chat Noir movie, laughing a little at the ridiculousness of it. As she waved goodbye to Chat, Marinette smothered a yawn and checked the time. She really had to work on her time management. Saying good night to Tikki, she gently kissed the kwami's head before turning off the lights and rolling onto her side.
oOoO0OoOo
"Ayla Cesaire, this is the miraculous of the Fox, which grants the holder the power of illusion. You will use it for the greater good before returning it to me. Will you accept it?" Offering the box to Alya, Ladybug spoke urgently. Alya shoved her phone into her pocket and scrunched up her face for a moment before comprehension dawned on her and she nodded fervently. When Alya opened the box, Trixx flew out with a grin and began doing cartoonish mid-air stretches. After a quick run-down of her powers and how to use them, they were leaping across rooftops after Alya's siblings.
One elaborate illusion and a pair of un-akumatized twins later, they had slipped into a back alley for Alya to detransform. Before she could, Alya threw her arms around Marinette and squeezed her as tight as she could- which was very tight, because she still had her suit on. Stepping back, Alya wore a big, grateful smile as a tired Trixx emerged. As she handed back the box, she gave Ladybug another(much weaker) hug, this one lasting a bit longer. After a moment of deliberation, Ladybug gave in and returned the hug awkwardly.
As she swung away, she gave the girl a wave before facing forward. Settling onto the couch for a little more late night sleepover tv, she listened to Alya stiltedly gush about the new hero with a contented grin on her face. Falling asleep to the sounds of the television, she reveled in the physical affection Alya had started to throw around as she got more comfortable around her. It was a wonderful change from the awkwardness and dislike she had been expecting at the start of the year.
oOoO0OoOo
Glancing over to Adrien as he scribbled down an answer in their homework, she stifled a laugh when she noticed his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth like a four year old. It was oddly endearing, and she quickly turned back to her problem before he would notice her staring at him. After she had worked out the math, she wrote down the number and turned to Adrien, who was now fiddling with a ball of yarn that had been left out on her desk. Having to cover her mouth so he wouldn't notice her blatant laughing, she watched as he started batting the ball back and forth between his hands. A moment later, he looked up, satisfied, and she nearly melted at his big green eyes. Quickly turning back to her homework, she finished the last two questions on her sheet and turned to him once more to compare answers. This time, he had thrown the ball up in the air and was now playing some sort of one-man volleyball as he tried not to let it hit the desk.
Clearing her throat, his head whipped towards hers and he lost the ball. Red staining his cheeks, he coughed slightly and asked her what she had gotten. With a smile, she gave him her answers, changing a few as they found inconsistencies. Once they were done with that, she pulled him downstairs for a couple rounds of UMS, managing to beat him every single time, much to his frustration. As he slumped onto her shoulder, she felt the fabric of his hoodie tickle her cheeks as he complained. "How are you so good at this? I play all the time and yet you still manage to beat me each and every time- last week you beat me at Max's game, and the week before that it was UMS three, " Chuckling, she gave him a couple pats on the head through the fabric of his hoodie before standing up and stretching. As she walked up the stairs to gather their homework, she giggled at his theatrical moaning and groaning.
It was funny, really. Adrien could take anyone down when playing video games, but for some reason, she beat him every time. Since he started coming over for weekly study sessions six weeks ago, she'd beat him at all four of the Ultimate Mecha Strike games, Gladiator Villains-Max's game-, and two other online competitions. Grabbing the box of passionfruit macarons she had made, she found some chocolate chip cookies as well before bringing them upstairs triumphantly. Setting them on the desk by their homework, she sat down and started puzzling over her science work as Adrien reached over her shoulder for a cookie.
"These are delicious!Your family always has the best recipes ever. I only accept losing to you-" he shot her a playful glare- "because your dad makes the yummiest macaroons I've ever had. Seriously."
Blushing brightly, she started stammering a reply. "Well, actually, that's- those are- I made those macaroons. My dad doesn't even know the recipe," she admitted, pausing in the middle. "I'm glad you like them, though."
Wide eyed, Adrien stared at her like she just told him she invented puppies. "... Can you teach me how to make them? Only if you're willing to share the recipe with me, of course!"
"Of course! I-I mean, sure, if you want me to. We can even do it today if you want, but we have to get this last bit done first," she told him, tapping her pencil to the paper. Watching him work on his paper with renewed vigor, his tongue poked back out of the corner of his mouth and Marinette had to stifle another laugh. Smiling at her paper, she smiled with barely contained excitement and matched Adrien's pace.
oOoO0OoOo
"My dad is finally letting me come over to your house more! Now that I'm eighteen, he's letting me have a lot more free time in my schedule, so long as I'm responsible! You can expect me over here a lot more," he told her with a proud grin. Melting internally at that adorable smile, she nodded excitedly in response.
True to his word, Adrien started coming over to her house almost daily, compared to the once-a-week study sessions that they had had before. Not that she minded; Adrien would come over just to ask about their bakery or to look at Marinette's designs. Oftentimes, he would bring home the messy results of a recipe, and once or twice, they were nice enough to be sold. After a while, it became tradition for Adrien to visit every other day, often to learn how to bake or sometimes just to visit.
After about a month and a half of regular visits, Marinette presented him with a gift.
"Open it," she urged, excited.
Laughing slightly, he tore open the paper and snatched a pair of scissors from Marinette's desk to use on the box underneath. Grabbing the straps folded neatly over the top, he revealed an apron. Black with green cat heads, the apron tied in the back with electric-green straps and had a neat set of pockets on the front. Of course, Adrien loved it immediately. Tying it around his neck with a delighted expression, he twirled around like a girl in a dress and grinned even wider.
"Thank you! It's perfect, and the pattern is so cute! But why cats?" He asked, a little worried now that he had realised the fabric was themed after Chat Noir.
"Ah… I don't know? It just fit you, and so I bought it. But now you don't have to borrow my mom's apron all the time!" She told him, proud.
Two pans of cookies and a huge mess later, they had made three dozen delicious cookies. As they took care of their mess, Marinette neatly folded their aprons and set them both into the drawer where they kept the family aprons. Adrien's apron fit perfectly.
oOoO0OoOo
Stepping into her room, Adrien made a beeline straight for Marinette, who was currently sitting with her knees to her chest and her hands to her head amidst a pile of fabric scraps. As he nudged her head with a warm coffee cup, she groaned and took the drink. Chuckling, he sat down next to her before taking a sip of his coffee.
"Thought that you might need it. How many commissions did you say you have?"
Lifting her head up, she stared at Adrien in despair.
"Fourteen. I got fourteen commissions. I did not expect Jagged Stone to tell that many people about my website. Fourof those orders are from fellow celebrities, and the rest are- well, the rest are normal, but there's still ten of them!" Groaning again, she took a sip of the coffee before giving him a weary smile in thanks. "I have one order from Nadja chamack, two from Clara Nightingale, and another from XY, because of course he can't be outdone by Jagged Stone! All Jagged did was mention my name to Mme. Chamack, and ten people I didn't know tracked me down online, and, well, the celebrities already knew me, but that's way too much work! And before you say anything, no, I couldn't turn them down. I can't turn down chances to design for anyone right now, especially for people like Clara!" Burying her head between her hands once more, a muffled "kill me now" came from her palms.
Patting her on the back with a sympathetic look on his face, he stood up, stretched, and put down his coffee cup, hiding it away half underneath her chaise lounge so they couldn't knock it over.
"So, how should I help? I can help straighten the place out, or maybe start making sense of the commissions?" He took her muffled reply to mean "do whatever, I don't care", and started doing the latter. After another minute, Marinette joined him, showing him how she organized her requests. After being shooed away, she started clearing out a neat space on her desk and pulling out some paper and a pencil. Scribbling away, she wrote down names, dates, and what they wanted down on a sheet of paper. Taping the messy paper to the wall, she stared at it for a moment of self pity before moving onto the mess in her room. With Adrien helping her out, she managed to clear up the majority of the mess, and her room almost looked clean.
With a sigh, Marinette picked up her now-cold drink and took a big sip. As she shooed Adrien out of her room, she thanked him profusely for the coffee before shutting the door. An exasperated smile on his face, Adrien resolved to come back later with more coffee.
oOoO0OoOo
The day was here. On her eighteenth birthday, MDC was going to reveal the face behind the designs, along with her latest project. At least it wasn't just her going up there, Marinette reasoned. Jagged Stone and Adrien would be there, too, and she did know Mme. Chamack. After Jagged Stone's shout out, commissions started pouring in. Even with Adrien, Alya, and Nino helping, she had to turn down a number of the orders. As time had passed and her list of satisfied customers grew, MDC had turned into a media mystery, and everyone wanted something she had made.
Mme. Chamack had found out right at the very start, when she had dropped off Manon and seen the commission list. Even after being sworn to secrecy, the reporter obviously couldn't just let someone else get this scoop. Eventually she asked Marinette to be MDC's primary news source, and Marinette had agreed. And really, she knew it was sensible to tell everyone now that she was eighteen, before someone else found out and leaked it, but it was still nerve-wracking.
Blowing out a big breath, she nervously started fiddling with her thick black hair right before a knock came from her door. Letting Adrien in, she started pacing back and forth in frantic worry.
"Calm down, Marinette. You've got this. Don't worry about them. Think about you," he told her, gently grabbing her by the arms, wrinkling the fabric of her jacket as he shook her, being silly.
"You're right, I should calm down. It's just… terrifying," she told him. After he gave her a look, she sighed and started taking big, slow breaths. After a moment, she had visibly calmed down, and carefully untangled her fingers from her hair. Giving her a once-over, he grabbed a hairbrush and threw it to her.
Shooting him a mockingly offended look, she laughed aloud and started brushing her hair. Running the brush through her hair was surprisingly calming, and by the time she was done she wasn't half as worried.
"Do you want to go over what you're going to say?" At her nod, he plucked the hair brush from her fingers and held it to his mouth like a microphone. "Hello and welcome, MDC. We're so glad to have you here today on Face to Face. We've been told you're revealing information on what is to be your newest artistic endeavor. Can we see it?"
"Of course, Mme. Chamack," Marinette said with as much confidence as she could muster. After a pause, she continued on as if the pictures of her new line were on display. "I will now be offering clothes or garments, themed around soulmarks. These items are made to the commissioner's specifications, and are designed to show off your soulmark in the best possible way. Soulmarks are a big and beautiful part of life, and deserve to be put on display. The idea behind this came from watching my friends, who have all found their soulmates, and the realization that such a big part of our lives isn't involved in fashion. I will strive to ensure that everyone can be proud of their soulmark, no matter the shape, size or colour, because I know firsthand the importance it has in our lives. I am a rarity, a person without a soulmark, and I know their impact.
"The first image is of the dress I am wearing now. I had created a dress for the Gabriel dressmaking contest, but I never turned it in. Instead, this dress helped spark the idea that led to this whole endeavor. What you see after those are clothes inspired by my friends. The first set is inspired by my friends Alya and Nino-they should appear on the screen here- and is made to show off their unusually shaped and sized soulmarks. After that is Ivan and Mylene- they'll come on the screen, too-, followed by Rose and Juleka, and Marc and Nathaniel. These classmates of mine were all lucky enough to find their soulmates four years ago, and have been together ever since."
Sighing, she turned to Adrien, sure she had messed up in her spiel somewhere. To her surprise, he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her back and forth before releasing her. "That was perfect. You did so well! All you have to do after that is take off your mask to reveal your identity and answer any unscripted questions, which shouldn't be too hard," he assured her.
Letting out a sigh, she slumped into her seat and spun it halfheartedly before picking up the pink full face mask she was to wear tonight and staring at it pensively. He walked over to her with a chuckle, patting her on the shoulder. When he noticed her fingers going back to her hair, he winced and quickly intervened. "Would you like me to braid your hair for you?"
"Yes, please."
Taking gentle handfuls of her hair with both hands, he dropped her hair a moment later. Twisting to face him, Marinette open her mouth to ask what was wrong, but the sound died in her throat when she saw his hands. Or, more specifically, his soulmark. What had previously been a basic black had turned into an opalescent white, like an opal or the lining of a seashell. Jaw dropping, they stared at each other, then his hands, before Adrien slowly grabbed the end of a lock of her hair and showed it to her. Marinette's hair had always been black, always. But now, it was shimmering with flecks of color that seemed almost like they were inside the hairs.
Even odder, the soulmark spread, reaching all the way to the end of the hairs and the scalp of her head, leaving over half of it shimmering beautifully. Breaking the silence, Adrien spoke first. "Mme. Chamack is going to love this. "
An: Hello everyone! I wanted to thank you for reading this all the way through. This is my very first fic, so it means so much to me that you read it, and I just wanted to let that be known. I do have a few things to say, however. I am very sorry for any errors in the story or writing, and if you noticed any, let me know and I can fix any inconsistencies. Alya's mum and dad were probably very ooc, but we never really see them on screen anyways, so they just got stereotypical parent personalities. Thirdly, I know nothing about fashion, just what I've read in other fics, so oh well.
A note on soulmarks: the color a soulmark will be is determined by the pairing in question. Oftentimes the colors will correlate to either: your soulmate's eye colour, a colour that represents your soulmate's personality, a color that represents you and your soulmate as a duo, or a combination of the last two. The deciding factor for which one they get comes down to whatever I think will look the nicest haha. Side note- multiple shades and tints mixed into the main soulmark colour is fairly common,
For example, Alya and Nino both had the same color, a golden shade. I was looking at them, and I noticed they both have golden eyes, so I thought that would work well enough. Mylene and Ivan, on the other hand, have a more poetic reasoning behind the mark. First and foremost, they got colours that represented one another's personalities. A soft, pretty orange representing Mylane, and a darker forest green representing Ivan. But it also represents their pairing. Mylene and Ivan are an unusual pair- a soft, meek girl with a strong, heavy metal sort of guy who towers over her, and yet they just sort of work. It's similar to green and orange- those two colours often don't work well together(in my opinion), but these two specific shades come together nicely,
Marinettes and Adrien's marks gave me trouble. Blue and green for their eyes was too simple, and red and black wouldn't work(soulmarks, once activated, cannot be black. Deep colours certainly aren't rare, but plain black is out of the question to avoid confusion), so I had to get creative. I eventually settled on opalescent forms of white and black. The drastic difference of white and black represents them being opposite heroes, as creation and destruction, as yin and yang. The opalescence was not only pretty, but sort of represents their many sides and roles, like how Marinette is both Ladybug and Marinette, and also a guardian, a designer, and a baker.
Bug out!