Ok! So first, Galaxy Conquest is my OWN parody of Star Wars. Second, anything that shows up like this signifies text messages. Third, enjoy!

Always,

WOBE

"Ok. You can do this Marinette. Just, take a deep breath, and text him. Something simple," Marinette tried, giving herself a pep talk.

She had been trying to convince herself for the last three weeks that she didn't miss the two crushes she had in her life. However, this denial was unconvincing to those around her. She found herself lying in bed, staring at her ceiling late at and wishing she could have the kind of courage that Ladybug afforded her the privilege of having, to tell the boy of her dreams the truth.

Then again, she couldn't seem to tell herself what the truth was. Her feelings were as jumbled as a dryer full of clothes left on high.

Finally, she convinced herself, or more so, Tikki convinced her, to type out those words on her phone screen.

Hey Adrien. How are you?

She proofread it five times before she was satisfied that it sounded good enough.

She was surprised that she didn't have to wait long before her phone chirped, alerting her to a text.

Hey Marinette! I'm good! What bout u?

Marinette practically fainted when she read his response, and squealed at the top of her lungs, the excitement was too much for her to handle.

After she had finally convinced her mother that she wasn't having a heart attack, Marinette returned her gaze to her phone, believing that she should send back a reply of her own.

Good! Watcha up to?

Again, Adrien's reply was swift.

Galaxy Conquest with Nino. You?

Reading in my room. Been a slow week.

There was a long pause before Marinette's phone dinged again. She had almost thought he had forgotten to text her back.

You wanna join us?

In short, she began to panic.

"Oh no! Tikki!"

"What! What happened?" asked the little red Kwami, her cute voice squeaking slightly as she spoke.

"Adrien wants me to play Galaxy Conquest with him!"

"That's great!" Tikki said, excitedly buzzing around the girl's head.

"No it's not!" Marinette croaked, pulling at her pigtails.

"It's not?" Tikki asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

"NO!"

Marinette flopped onto her bed, burrying her face into her pile of pillows.

"Why?" asked the Kwami, landing near her owner's pillow-covered head.

"Why?" Marinette questioned, sitting up on her bed and pulling her head out of the fluffy pile of fabric. "Why? Because I don't know how to play Galaxy Conquest! That's why!" she exclaimed, flopping backwards this time onto her mattress.

"Oh boy," Tikki muttered, rolling her big blue eyes. "Marinette, you're overreacting! I'm sure Adrien will help you out if you just ask him to!"

"Yeah, but what if I end up looking like a total idio-trocity?" she asked, looking up at her little Kwami with pleading eyes.

"Don't worry so much Marinette! Just remember that you are Ladybug! And if you can defeat Akumatized villains at the swing of a yoyo, then you can certainly master a computer game!"

"You're right Tikki! I can do this! What do I text him though?"

"First see if he said something else," the Kwami suggested.

Marinette nodded, grabbing her phone, unlocking it with a slide from her thumb.

You still there Marinette? Or did you abandon me for your book? Lol!

Marinette smiled upon seeing his message, and replied with;

Haha! Very funny! No. Just thinking bout whether or not to accept your offer.

Make it snappy!

Marinette bit her lip, conflicted on whether she should text what she had in mind next, or not.

She hit send.

The truth is, I don't know how to play.

She braced herself for the worst when she heard the familiar tone alerting her of her latest text.

Is that all? Well then, piece of cake! I can totally teach you! In fact, would you like to be in on me and Nino's conference call? It would be a lot easier than texting. Keeps your hands free to defeat some bad guy scum!

Sure! That sounds great!

Awesome! I'll call you. You might want headphones on though. Make sure it has a mic.

Ok. Thanks!

Marinette waited patiently for her phone to ring, and when it finally started playing Somewhere Only We Know, her hand fumbled for a minute before she regained control, and clicked the green phone icon.

"He- (clears throat) Hello?" she answered, clearing her throat.

"Hey Marinette!" Adrien's voice came over the cell phone speaker.

It took a strange glare from Tikki to keep the girl from squealing her lungs out right then and there! She was talking on the phone with Adrien! It was too good to be true!

"Hey Marinette!" another voice which she recognized as Nino's, repeated.

"Hey Adrien, Nino. Thanks for helping me out with this!"

"No prob! Now let's get you set up,"

"Ok,"

She grabbed her pink headphones and slipped them on her head, plugging the jack into her phone.

"So, what do I do?" Marinette asked, turning on her computer and opening up her browser.

"Just search for 'Galaxy Conquest' and we will go from there,"

"Ok. Found it! Clicked on it, and now it's on the sign up screen," Marinette narrated, typing in her username and password choices.

"K, all signed up! Now what?"

"Good! Now you get to pick your occupation, name, and create your character," Adrien explained.

"Hmmm. Let me think bout that,"

"Take your time!"

She thought for a second before typing in "Itini Ostwan"

Marinette had a hard time choosing from the list of occupations, and pondered for a while, before asking, "What jobs did you guys pick?"

"I'm a Bounty Hunter, and was able to develop my piloting skills," replied Nino.

"And I'm a Kavi Master. I'm not at the level to have an apprentice though. But still, I love have an Igniblade!" Adrien explained.

"Ok gotcha!" Marinette replied, scrolling down the list again. "I think I'll be a Kavi too,"

"I wonder why," muttered Nino.

"Whatcha say?" Adrien asked, having not heard what his friend had said clearly.

"I said, I'd rather die! This Drone Soldier scum demanded for me to show my licensing papers! Fat chance! Die!" Nino cried, making numerous odd sound effects.

"What? You're kidding! He actually asked to see your papers? Does he not know who you are?" Adrien asked.

"Apparently not!" Nino said, the sound of laser blasters being fired faintly coming across the phone.

"Ok. So I have my name, my job, and I finished my character. I gotta say, there aren't an overwhelming amount of choices!" Marinette said, clicking the "create" button.

"Yeah. The more you play and level up, the more stuff you unlock. It also gets cooler looking the higher up you rank," Nino explained, inserting a rather loud, "Die evil scum!" into the conversation.

As soon as she had finished all the necessary steps, Marinette found her character on a star ship about to crash momentarily. Adrien explained that she needed to find a man that would help her teleport off the ship safely, and send her to her next location, where she could meet other players from around the world. She followed the instructions that Chev Platoon gave her, and was soon in a lush forest, a new mission flashing across the top of her screen.

"Who's 'Chryso Zwart'? He just asked to be friends with me," Marinette asked.

"That would be me," Adrien replied after a moment of silence.

"You shortened your name? Why? I like Chrysoberyl Zwart!" Nino exclaimed, sounding disappointed.

"It was too long! Someone actually told me that there would never be someone with that name in this galaxy!" Adrien explained, obviously hurt that he had been picked on for the name he had chosen.

"I like your name too Adrien! Some people have absolutely no taste!" Marinette commented.

"Thanks guys! Now lets get you Con-questing!" Adrien exclaimed happily, informing his two telephone companions that the sound they heard was him cracking his knuckles.

It wasn't until Marinette's father called her for dinner that she realized she had been playing for nearly four hours!

"I gotta go guys! But I promise I'll play some more, and send you message boards,"

"Sounds good Marinette! Loved hangin with you!" Adrien said.

"Its official! This game is the most addictive one out there!" Nino added, sounding rather pleased.

"It is extremely fun," Marinette admitted.

"It is! And its even more fun to play with my two best friends! Well, gotta go! Talk to you guys later! Chryso out!" Adrien said, the side of his line going silent, and Nino soon following the blonde's example.

As Marinette made her way down the stairs, her face grew hot with realization.

Adrien had called her a friend. And one of his best friends at that!

Tom and Sabine discussed what they thought was the source of their daughter's constant smile that night when they went to bed.

And Marinette didn't have to stare at the ceiling.

NOTE: Chrysoberyl is the official name of the stone Cat's Eye. That's where Adrien got his name. He made his character as a tribute to Chat Noir! This chapter was just something I kinda wanted to do. References will be made to Galaxy Conquest, but it will not be the center of another chapter. Thanks!

Always,

WOBE