I tried writing this while Mark was having a live stream and that was difficult af.

Anywho, enjoy this small chap with a fresh pov because work left me exhausted.

Of silver tongues and do overs

Chapter 8: Conversations II

Mauro sometimes wondered if he should have paid more attention to the stories his grandmother Meggie told about silver tongues and how they could alter stories. He would trail behind her as she narrated them, all from her memory because she never read around Mauro; all her stories about jumping in books and magic, about how his powers, were they to manifest, would require him to have control and responsibility. And Mauro had loved the idea of just jumping into one story one day, just to see a different world.

His mother could do it, and when Mauro first conjured a galloping horse from a children's book he had, he was taught to be extra careful with what he read, where he read it and how he read it. He later realized the switch didn't happen when it was something he wrote, which, again, gave him too valuable lessons from his grandmother about being responsible with such magic.

Yet none of their advice fitted in his current situation. Sitting on top of a ventilation duct, watching two teenage superheroes trying to convince the other to shut up and listen. It was a good thing he arrived just in time to avoid one of those purple demons –seriously who decided on the names in this universe- but to see Adrien and Marinette not getting to the point was beginning to give him a headache. Mauro could tell both parties were upset and confused, who wouldn't after all the truth bombs they had got in the past hours. But time was a thing they didn't have and Mauro didn't specify to freeze time outside of the magic shield.

He really should have thought the whole thing through.

"Mauro?"

Oh yeah, and now he had to explain himself to the other side of the equation.

"That's my name," Mauro snapped his fingers, like the finger gun pose, as he crossed his legs on the duct, "I think we have a few more minutes before it fades so, let's get down to business, ok?"

"I don't understand," Adrien turned to look at Marinette "is he? Does he have…?"

Yep. Mauro really should have thought this through.

"I can read things to life," Mauro said, eyeing the kwamis that were floating to his direction "like the shield covering us all from Hawkmoth? The shield that will let you two come clean about many things? All me dude."

"Come clean?"

"Wait, what?"

Mauro eyed at the kwamis "I see your daily frustrations now."

"You have no idea," Plagg muttered, earning himself a strong nudge from Tikki "what? The kid is right, we are going in circles here."

"Marinette," Mauro looked at her "I don't take back what I told you about wanting to help you out and it's good you are telling all this to w- Adrien over here but, I think he also deserves to know some other things, right?"

"What other things?" Adrien was looking between him and Marinette, and if it wasn't because the situation was quite delicate, Mauro would have snorted at how hilarious his face was right there. Instead, he kept as calm as he could, waiting for Marinette to make the next move. He really hoped she was on the same page.

"He's right," Marinette looked at Adrien "I have also done bad things, with and without the mask" she took a step closer "I let my crush go overboard sometimes."

Mauro now knew what it was to feel second-hand embarrassment, listening to the time Marinette went on a series of mishaps to erase a voicemail, and even he could tell having memorized someone's daily life was strange. It also was interesting to look at Adrien's reactions from sympathetic understanding to right down embarrassment.

He would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't for the fact he was currently starving.

Mauro could tell both teens were struggling with letting all of that information out, but if there was something he had learned from the cheesy stories his dad loved was that communication and trust were two vital things in any type of relationship. So he waited, looking at the shield that was still protecting them.

"And of course, the book," she said, at last, turning Mauro's attention to Adrien's face.

"What?"

"As Marinette," she wriggled with her hands "I, the book you had about Miraculous, I took it... without permission."

Mauro glanced at the pair as Marinette explained what had happened that day, how she had yes, followed out of concern and a tad of jealously, how the book turned out to be something important about the Miraculous and all the trouble it came with just trying to return it, even if it wasn't at the right hands.

Adrien had to find a place to sit down after that, his mind reeling with information so fast Mauro could almost picture the hamster in his mind running real fast.

"This… huh"

"Yeah,"

Marinette walked towards Mauro to lean against the ventilation duck, earning a reassuring smile from him as they both waited for Adrien to talk. The silence stretched on for a few more seconds, but for Mauro, they felt quite eternal.

"We are…very messed up."

Marinette blinked once, twice, and then burst into a fit of giggles, earning the same response from Adrien, both teens laughing as they held to their stomachs. Mauro sighed, amused at how they had ended up, glancing at the shield that was finally dissipating, leaving them all looking at the night Parisian sky.

He waited for the others to calm down from their little hysteria, getting aware of the street sounds around them coming over and the cool breeze passing through them to sober them up. Mauro glanced at his watch, a little past ten, and cleared his throat to call their attention.

"Well, if anyone doesn't have anything else to add to the list,"

"I believe no," Adrien stood up, dusting off his jeans as Marinette leaned away from the duct "this…wow this was uh,"

"Quite something" Marinette smiled, her nervousness still there but barely noticeable "are… are you ok?"

"I, well, I think I will be, and you?"

"I uhm, yes, I mean, I feel so much lighter now."

"So do I… it explains many things now too," he said, "like how you knew right away Lila was lying."

Ah, right. The reason Mauro had decided to jump into this story in the first place. He glanced at Marinette, at how her face turned sour with just the girl's name. Oh right, that was the main reason Mauro had jumped into this universe.

"I understand now Marinete" Adrien looked at her, more resolve in his face "but I still think calling her out would just bring us more trouble if she gets akumatized."

"But what about the rest of the class Adrien? What will happen when one lie gets too far and the realization of it makes something even worse? Lila already knows she can get them all against me, what if she goes after you too? Or Nino or Alya?"

"The project," Adrien frowned "the interview and the people she supposedly knows,"

"Ok, it's getting late for plotting," Mauro stepped in between them, "I think you should go back home already."

"What? But it's just," Marinette looked at her phone and gasped when she realized the time "it is late."

"I should go home too," Adrien said, calling his transformation again, "before I get in trouble."

"We can talk tomorrow, maybe?" Marinette asked, just as Tikki floated towards her to let her transform into Ladybug.

"Ah yes, we can, there are uh,"

"Still things we uh,"

"You two are killing me," Mauro turned around "I'm going to use the emergency stairs like a regular human being and let you two solve that last string, this guy is dying for some nourishment."

"Wait, Mauro," Ladybug walked towards him before he reached the door "I could drop you off, least I could do after you helped us out…twice."

Mauro weighed that option, sparing a glance at Chat Noir that was looking at them quite focused. Oh, he did not have time for any of that possibility forming in his head. Rule number one of jumping in stories, do not get involved in romantic tangles.

"As much as I would love to get the Spiderman experience all over again" he smiled "I'm going to go hunt for the cheapest food, buy the equivalent of halls you have in this place and crash on my cheap bed."

"Are you sure?"

Oh totally, Mauro thought as he walked to the metal stairs. The last he needed was to be the third wheel in the last topic those two needed to talk about.

"Yup, don't worry" he smiled "we can plot all you want tomorrow over lunch or something."

He waved at the heroes and slid his way out of the building.

As he walked around the block towards the place he had found to crash, for the time being, he spared a glance at the rooftop where the two figures jumped out in opposite directions. Mauro wondered what would happen about the love square they had now that they knew their identities and came clean with their actions.

Paris wasn't so bad at night, he thought as he walked in search for a convenience store that was still open. And now he could just go back to the initial reason he had jumped to this universe.

He just hoped he hadn't meddled too much with the strings of the story.

And we back on the plot train

Someone feed that boy