The Rebellion of Adrien Agreste

by Rose Thorne

Disclaimer: Don't own Miraculous Ladybug or make any money writing fanfiction.

Chapter Seven

The pet names discussion had wound up getting extremely silly. They'd all gone back to relaxing together and kind of cuddling on the big sofa. At first the only one Adrien could come up with was "Blue," to which Luka had responded, "If you call me Blue, I'm calling you Green." The girls had vetoed both.

Adrien had joked about Maestro, which Marinette had argued was almost as bad as Magic Fingers.

Interestingly, it was Marinette who had, with the help of her phone, come up with the winning one.

"You know, the name Luka means 'light.' Any ideas based on that?"

After some discussion, Adrien had come up with the poetic idea of "Firefly," like Luka was his light in the dark. Kagami had deemed that adorable, and Luka had turned red.

Luka's suggestions for Adrien's nickname largely had to do with music, and while Adrien had been fond of Allegro for a cheerful beat, both girls disagreed, saying they were too niche.

"Alya's nickname for him is Sunshine," Marinette finally commented.

Luka smiled. "My Star, then?"

Kagami and Marinette exchanged a look as Adrien's face heated, then said together, "Perfect."

"I think we can still do the blue and green joke sometimes," Adrien murmured, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Can I call you MF as a joke?" Luka asked.

Adrien grinned. "Only if I can call you Maestro."

Marinette groaned. "This is going to be ridiculous."

"It'll upset my father," Adrien pointed out. "Which is the point."

"Honestly, if they have more than one nickname for each other, it lends credence to the idea that they've been secretly dating for a bit. We should specify how long it's been, of course," Kagami added.

"I mentioned to Mari that I don't want to eventually say it was fake, if that's okay. If anything, we weren't sure and decided to try dating." He glanced at Luka.

"I can understand that. I identify as pansexual, though I rarely discuss it," Luka said with a nod. "So I wouldn't mind being thought to have been in a relationship with you. We can say we met when we did, on the boat, and you joined Kitty Section. And maybe we decided to go for it a couple weeks ago?"

"I have enabled the two of you to be together after fencing practice several times, then," Kagami offered. "You have gone for juice?"

"You've gotten soul mate ice cream from André!" Marinette crowed. "We can make up a flavor combination."

Luka grinned. "Green and blue, obviously."

"Perhaps instead we should go find André once the dye is done," Kagami commented. "It wouldn't do to make up a fake flavor combination when we could find out for sure."

"And you can eat it in the limo, so you're not out in public too long," Penny interjected. While Jagged had retired to the other room for a nap with Fang, she'd stayed with them to, as she had put it, 'chaperone.' "We'd rather not garner too much attention from M. Agreste this soon."

"It'll be another picture for social media." Adrien hoped Luka wouldn't get the kind of negative reaction from fans that Marinette had when fans had assumed she was his girlfriend. "I should probably check the comments on those, actually…"

"Not using your phone," Kagami reminded him.

Marinette pulled out hers, and they all scooted closer to look.

alya-ladyblogger: adrienagrestebrand wtf when did this happen, Sunshine? #NinoNeedsAnInstagram

alya-ladyblogger: adrienagrestebrand why is your phone off omgggg

theofficialchloebourgeois: Adrikins, your social media has obv been hacked.

alya-ladyblogger: theofficialchloebourgeois why do you think it's been hacked? That's Sunshine's smile, for sure.

theofficialchloebourgeois: because there's no way! He'd tell me!

Aside from those, there were fan reactions ranging from excited congratulations to rather ugly homophobic remarks that made him feel a bit ill to look at—especially now that he knew Mari was bi and Luka was pan.

The official Gabriel Instagram account hadn't addressed it at all, so Adrien assumed his father was still having a temper tantrum.

A knock on the door sent them scrambling to the kitchenette, but it was the spa staff ready to rinse the dye.

When he was getting his hair blow-dried, Marinette handed him her phone again so he could see what she'd just replied.

marinettedesigned: You look so happy with him! I'm glad you two decided to go public!

He glanced at her with a frown. "Are you sure you want to imply you knew?"

"Yeah. Kagami's going to, and I'm going to, too." Then she got a wicked grin. "It'll drive Lila batty."

"Honestly, I don't see her being able to hold back, regardless. But that will certainly make her angrier. I just hope it doesn't make her go after you more than she has." Adrien looked at her reproachfully. "I wish you'd told me she'd threatened you, Mari. I never would've given you that awful advice."

Marinette turned red, and Kagami scowled.

"This girl threatened Marinette?" When both Adrien and Luka nodded, the girl clenched her fists. "That is unacceptable."

"I'm okay," Marinette whispered.

Luka settled a hand on her shoulder. "She's hurt you, made you more anxious. I can't help you, since I don't go to school with you. But Adrien can."

"Perhaps during the hour and a half that our schools allow for lunch, Luka and I can join you and Adrien," Kagami added, placing her hand on Marinette's other shoulder. "We can present a united front."

"Usually I'm expected home for lunch, but as I'm engaging in teenager rebellion, staying at school to eat lunch with my boyfriend is a nice way to do that."

"Then it's settled," Kagami said decisively. "We shall eat lunch together either at Collège Françoise Dupont or at a café or restaurant in the surrounding area from now on."

The relieved smile that graced Marinette's face was almost heartbreaking, and Adrien realized exactly how much stress she'd been under, how much he'd failed her. He took her hand, squeezing it lightly in apology.

The stylist finished with his hair a few minutes later, and after they spent a few minutes admiring the results, Marinette pulled his hood up so they could all sneak down to the limo. They found André Glacier's location via social media, and Penny had the driver take them as close as possible.

There wasn't a line, so they rushed out of the limo and hurried to the cart. Luka and Adrien approached first.

André greeted them like old friends. "Ah, a lovely pair the two of you make. Blueberry for the gentle heart's tranquility, a soothing sweetness. And, ah, for you… You've come into your own, young man! Passion fruit for the one shining bright as the sun!"

"Would you get some with me as well, Marinette?" Kagami asked. "I would not be able to finish an entire one on my own."

André smiled at them. "I've just the treat for you. Orange for the fire that burns in her heart, blackberry for her night-dark hair. A dual sweetness, with a twist, for the two of you."

They hurried back to the waiting limo, managing to escape notice—fortunately it was an odd hour. Once inside, they took advantage of the photo opportunity with Adrien and Luka, then passed around the treats, all four of them sharing in the flavors.

"I'm glad I got passion fruit," Adrien commented. "It's my favorite. And all the others go so well with it!"

Kagami's phone buzzed. "Regrettably, I am expected to return home, or I would enjoy continuing to help."

"We'll drop you off before we return to the hotel," Penny told her. "It's always nice meeting Marinette's friends, and I'm sure Jagged will be disappointed he didn't get to say goodbye."

They had dropped Kagami off and just returned to the hotel when Marinette's phone went off.

But this time it was an Akuma alert.

Hawkdaddy's pissed.

Thanks to Norakwami for helping me figure out the flavors. And CheshireMadd for other ideas. Not beta'd.