Song Recommendation: Me! - Taylor Swift ft Brendon Urie
{No POV}
The next afternoon Marianne and Jason were walking past Francois Dupont School and saw that the students were on lunch.
"You really know Jagged Stone and the totally awesome duo Paradox Lila?!" Shouted a girl that seemed to love pink to a girl that to the two adults seemed to radiate evil.
'So that is Lila... She radiates evil.' Thought Marianne.
'She certainly does...and she claimed lies about Marinette and caused for her to be hospitalized.' Thought Jason to her in response.
Marianne sighed. 'I want to go over there and call her out gently and subtly... but...' She replied in thought.
"Should we?"
"Let's watch what happens first..."
So they watched as most of the students fell for it except for their hero allies and one red head near Chloe and a ravenette girl with brown eyes that was near Luka.
"How about now?"
"We should do something, but subtly. I suppose we could arrange it with Principal Damocles for an impromptu secret visit as our celebrity identity reveal." Marianne said with a smirk.
Jason smirked back and they went into the school happily and to Principal Damocles' office.
"Who are you?" Asked the man in shock.
The adults took off their sunglasses and Damocles smiled.
"Well if it isnt my favorite students from 10 years ago... I thought you two were dead?" The man exclaimed quietly in shock.
"Our death was highly exaggerated. For certain reasons we had to resign those identities and now live as Maria and Jacob Garrison. Who are by the way the music duo known as Paradox." Jason explained kindly.
"Oh wow. But still what brings you two here?" Asked Damocles.
"Well you see... We heard a student claim she knows us to some people in this school that actually do know us thanks to my baby sister and Adrien Agreste... So we decided we would take advantage of the mix up to reveal our names to our fans by showing here as Paradox for the first time. Our manager said we could decide how ourselves, but it had to be before our joint concert in a month with Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale. We figured a performance for our friends would be a fun surprise and a way to reveal." Marianne explained kindly.
"Of course. Lunch barely started five minutes ago feel free to go and do so. I'll just watch from afar." Said Damocles.
The two adults smiled and went out into the middle of the cafeteria without their sunglasses and their hoods down.
"Maria! Jacob! What brings you guys here?" Questioned the teens that did personally know the two.
"Well we were out walking to figure out how to resolve the conundrum of having to reveal what we look like and our names to our fans for our job as Paradox and we walked past here and thought why not surprise our friends by revealing where we first envisioned our duo?" Jason said with a charming smirk that equaled Marianne's.
"You guys are Paradox?!" Questioned Nathaniel in shocked unison with all the other teens.
"You bet." Marianne said with a charming smirk.
"Prove it." Chloe challenged.
"Sure thing. Hey Luka? Got a guitar I can borrow?" Replied Jason.l
Luka smirked and handed Jason his guitar.
"You guys are in for a surprise." Chuckled Adrien sitting down in amusement next to Nino and Alya who remained impartial.
"What song are you feeling Bluebell?" Asked Jason with a warm smile.
"Hm.. How about something fun... How about the song Me! That one is fun and pretty popular." Said Marianne.
At this point Adrien was recording for Marinette to watch later.
"Whatever you wish my Goddess." Jason flirted with a wink beginning to play a familiar song to everyone on his guitar.
Marianne , Jacob , Both
I promise that you'll never find another like me
I know that I'm a handful baby, uh
I know I never think before I jump
And you're the kind of guy the ladies want
(And there's a lot of cool chicks out there)
Marianne smirked and winked as she saw people in shock as she kissed Jason in the cheek and caressed his shoulder as she moved towards Juleka and Rose.
I know that I went psycho on the phone
I never leave well enough alone
And trouble's gonna follow where I go
(And there's a lot of cool chicks out there)
Then she headed to Luka and Kagami winking as she suddenly purposefully nudged her into falling towards Luka so he'd catch her which he did.
But one of these things is not like the others
Like a rainbow with all of the colors
Baby doll, when it comes to a lover
I promise that you'll never find another like me-e-e-eh
She headed back to Jason who had stood up and started rocking out by Ivan and Mylene winking at them before heading towards her when the first chorus came around.
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
I'm the only one of me
Baby, that's the fun of me-e-eh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
You're the only one of you
Baby, that's the fun of you
And I promise that nobody's gonna love you like me-e-e-eh
Mariane paused as she suddenly sat herself atop the very table that Nino, Alya and Adrien were seated at.
I know I tend to make it about me
I know you never get just what you see
But I will never bore you, baby
(And there's a lot of lame guys out there)
And when we had that fight out in the rain
You ran after me and called my name
I never want to see you walk away
(And there's a lot of lame guys out there)
Marianne smiled and stood up on the table Jason standing on a table across from her with a table between them. Then they front flipped effortlessly onto the table in the middle and stared each other in the eyes as they moved on with the song.
'Cause one of these things is not like the others
Living in winter, I am your summer
Baby doll, when it comes to a lover
I promise that you'll never find another like me-e-e-eh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
I'm the only one of me
Let me keep you company-e-e-eh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
You're the only one of you
Baby, that's the fun of you
And I promise that nobody's gonna love you like me-e-e-eh
Marianne smirked as they suddenly jumped off the table and each grabbed a specific teen. Marianne grabbing Alya and Jason grabbing Nino.
Girl, there ain't no "I" in "team"
But you know there is a "me"
Strike the band up 1, 2, 3
I promise that you'll never find another like me
They smirked and shoved the teens into each other before standing next to each other and looking at each other mischeviously.
Girl, there ain't no "I" in "team"
But you know there is a "me"
And you can't spell "awesome" without "me"
I promise that you'll never find another like me-e-e-eh
The two adults smirked in accomplishments as they saw Luka and Kagami blushing and dancing together to the song. Just like other couples.
Yeah, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
(And I won't stop, baby)
I'm the only one of me
(I'm the only one of me)
Baby, that's the fun of me-e-e-eh
(Baby, that's the fun of me)
They smiled at Adrien as they noticed his gaze of appreciation and they made it better by hinting to look over at Chloe who was blushing but dancing with Nathaniel happily.
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
You're the only one of you
Baby, that's the fun of you
And I promise that nobody's gonna love you like me-e-e-eh
Adrien smiled sadly after a moment of watching all the couples before Marianne signaled him to go ahead and go to Marinette once the song is over.
Girl, there ain't no "I" in "team"
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
But you know there is a "me"
I'm the only one of me
Baby, that's the fun of me-e-e-eh
Jason confirmed with a smile as the two adults sat next to him happily and continued to sing.
Strike the band up 1, 2, 3
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
You can't spell "awesome" without "me"
You're the only one of you
Baby, that's the fun of you
As the song drew closer to a close Marianne and Jason ruffled his hair affectionately.
And I promise that nobody's gonna love you like me-e-e-eh
They laughed and covered for Adrien as he left to go visit Marinette.
"That was so fun!" Alya said with a light blush.
"Hey is it true that you know Lila?" Questioned Rose.
"Um... I'm sad to say I haven't the foggiest who you are talking about. But I am certain I would love to meet the girl and know her." Marianne said kindly and awkwardly still catching her breath.
"Do you need your asthma medicine love?" Questioned Jason to Marianne in concern noting how out of breath she low key seemed.
Marianne smiled.
"I am fine Minou. I just need to catch my breath for a minute. It's been a long while since we've performed that song." Marianne responded lovingly kissing his cheek chastely in gratitude.
Jason just smiled goofily and hugged her close.
"Just make sure to tell me if you ever do." Asked Jason.
"Will do love." Marianne answered with a light laugh.
Everyone except Lila was swooning at thier love.
"Is it okay... If I ask you guys a few questions for my main blog?!" Questioned Alya with a light blush.
Marianne and Jason smiled.
"Not at all Alya. Feel free to interview us if you want. Just include your boyfriend as your cohost for this interview okay?" Answered Jason.
Nino and Jason had a fistbump and soon everyone surrounded the table as the two couples sat across from each other while Rose who was kind enough to offer recorded everyone.
"So, Paradox, If I may ask, what are your real names for those of us watching who don't know?" Alya asked.
Marianne and Jason chuckled.
"Our names are Jacob and Maria Garrison." Answered Marianne kindly.
"Same last name.. Why is that?"
"Well, we have been married for 8 years now."
"Oh wow. That is so awesome! Any long-marriage secrets you wish to share with your fans out there?" Nino asked with Alya's permission to ask a question.
"Well, while trust, love and communication are important, it is important to listen AND be heard for the marriage to last long. There are problems occasionally in any relationship but what matters is that you work through them together. Marriage is difficult at times, but it can easily become the best thing in your life when its with the right person. Problems and everything." Said Jason happily.
Marianne smiled.
"Remember when we hit our first anniversary?" Marianne asked with a laugh at Jason.
Jason then cracked up.
"I remember. Man, that was one difficult but amazing day. We always were drama royalty as teens. Marrying at what? We started dating at 16 almost 17, then engaged at 18... We got married at 19 right?" Jason puzzled out in amusement.
"So you two married young huh?" Asked Alya genuienly shocked and curious.
"Yes well, we were friends our whole lives and feelings grew over time in our mid teens and well after several hardships we finally confessed and started dating. It was honestly a long time in the works." Marianne said warmly with a smile.
"That is super awesome. Now, onto some more questions. Nino, want to take a shot at it?" Alya responded happily.
"Sure. So dudes, what first brought about your desire to form this band?" Asked Nino happily.
"Actually that was a pretty funny accident." Marianne chuckled out.
"We had been at school during lunch and well he was a very popular guy. Girls kept going crazy over him. Making a lot of noise while I was trying to make progress on my lyrics noteboook for a song I had been working on when after about three minutes of girls pushing and shoving me while trying to get at his bones I got angry when during one shove my paper was ripped."
"What happened then?" Questioned Nino and Alya in unison curious.
Marianne looked awkward as Jason laughed and took over.
"She stood up closed her notebook and locked it away before suddenly grabbing my face and forcefully kissing me since the topic the girls were questioning me so much about had been which one could get my first kiss and pulled away yelling out "THERE! ITS OLD NEWS! NOW LEAVE HIM ALONE SO THAT I CAN WRITE IN PEACE!" scaring all the girls away. I, of course, tried to ask her what that was about but she got annoyed at me too at that and literally picked me up and threw me guitar and all into a trash can."
Everyone was shocked as Marianne blushed awkwardly.
"Yeah... um... I had several problems with my anger at that point in time for specific certain reasons best left unsaid." Marianne said blushing.
"Almost forgot about that. Oops. Sorry minou. I know it's embarrassing to talk about for you. I won't mention it again." Jason said sweetly to her.
"You stupid... I can't stay mad at you."
"I know. It's why you dug me out of the trash can a moment later guitar and all before leaving towards your secret spot... only for me to stop you by playing my guitar and singing out to you the words 'will you form a band with me~'." Jason said softly.
Marianne rolled her eyes.
"That was partially from my guilty conscience since I had taken your first kiss. But the musical proposition was the other reason. After that we started practicing in my basement and started writing songs together. Though they were far more angsty and rebellious than loving and tranquil fun like the ones we make now." Marianne said with an awkward but reminiscent smile.
"You guys are so wonderful together. How did you find yourselves having such a wonderful dynamic as a band while being a couple?" Nino asked.
Marianne smiled.
"It was actually fairly easy once we just stopped holding ourselves back from being our truest selves around each other as friends. We did have problems at first managing both our relationship as friends and then as a couple with our relationship as a band but we actually resolved it when we just snapped and let go. We did take it out on each other in fencing and karate for three days before we finally figured it outthe first time when we were just friends and then for six days when our romantic relationship happened. But we came through in the end."
"You guys have the best stage chemistry ever! Seriously I have to ask, how is it that you guys just sync so well together on stage?" Questioned Alya excitedly.
Marianne and Jason laughed before answering.
"We just like to flow with the music. We don't force our interactions. We do our own thing and have fun with it while we're on stage. We like to feel the music, especially when performing, so we just let the music flow and we do what we feel like doing when we're singing sometimes we tease each other in good humour sometimes we taunt, and sometimes we just challenge each other to be better. Etcetera... Its hard to explain honestly." Jason tried and failed to explain.
"Let me set an example to better explain how we work on stage..." Marianne said pausing for a moment to think.
"Paris' superheroes. Ladybug and Chat Noir are perfect opposites right? How do they blend together when fighting an akuma?" Asked Marianne.
"Well, typically they just show up and fight the akuma while trying to figure out how to beat the akumatized villain to then capture the akuma and cleanse it." Nino said after some thought.
"Ah. I get how you are confused by our chemistry on the stage now..." Marianne stated with a warm smile.
"See, Ladybug is the embodiment of good luck and creation right? That's her power." Marianne said pausing to make sure the teens listening were comprehending it.
The teens nodded prompting her to continue.
"But Chat Noir is the exact opposite, he's the embembodiment of bad luck and destruction. That's his power."She said once again receiving understanding nods.
"The main thing I want you to figure out for yourself is how they bring such opposites together to defeat akumatized supervillains without suddenly turning against each other and fighting to the death." Marianne spoke up.
The teens thought for a couple minutes before Alya realized it as she thought back to their conversation from the night before.
"They are themselves around each other and therefore both keep themselves in check and balance each other out?" She guessed.
Marianne smiled.
"Exactly. Now everyone knows that they are opposites. Which does make it hard for them to coincide on strategies at time. But how do they always manage to coordinate just the right strategy for every akuma?" Jason said catching how Marianne was explaining it.
"They think each strategy through together?" Guessed Nino.
Jason smiled.
"Exactly right dude!" Said Jason fistbumping Nino.
"But how does this tie in with you two as a band?" Alya asked confused.
"Well as a band on stage we work much the same way Chat Noir and Ladybug do when they make a strategy. We work out the stage set first, aka what songs we'll be performing, and then we work from that and just work with each other on stage to bring each song to life. We just work with each other, not against each other. That's how we balance each other out on stage and bring out the best in each other." Marianne explained happily.
"Oh wow! That's so awesome!"
"By the way, just to confirm, do you know a girl by the name of Lila Rossi?" Nino asked curiously.
"Hmm..." Hummed Marianne in thought sharing a pensive glance with an equally pensive Jason.
"Ring a bell to you Minou?" Asked Marianne to Jason.
"No unfortunately...How about you Love?" Asked Jason in turn.
"Nothing so I thought maybe you met a girl by that name some time when I was working on something else."
"No... You know that I rarely work on something when you aren't around. Only when you have a lot of recording session time in one day and one of us has a rehearsal or a meeting with the label. That or when I have to go run errands of my own while you have some errands of your own to run separately."
"True...Sorry Alya, and sorry to Miss Rossi. I can't atest whether we know her or not for certain because we don't really remember anyone with the name Lila Rossi, but if we have met and we just forgot for one reason or another we do apologize. We do often have a lot of stuff on our plate at any given time so we do have problems at time remembering certain things that happen throughout our busy schedule that aren't exactly on our schedule. I hope this helps clear the air somewhat." Marianne explained warmly.
"We've also heard that appearantly you guys' song by the name of "True Friend" was inspired by Miss Rossi, any comments on that?" Asked Alya.
"Well, it wasn't insprised by a Miss Rossi. When we were teenagers both Jacob and I had a best friend each that well were both such real friends to us that we felt we could trust them with anything. And we still do, but we couldn't ever see them again. Until recently when we saw my girl best friend once again. We miss the guy best friend to pieces as well. But we haven't been able to see him again. We wrote that song when we had a rough patch in our relationship when we first started dating and we needed the love and support of our best friends. That song eventually helped us work through that rough patch, and even inspired the song "Space Between" along the way." Jason explained as Marianne awkwardly blushed and looked away somewhat stiffly.
"Oh! Well I am certain that they miss you too... Wherever they are." Alya and Nino said in unison.
"Thank you Alya and Nino. You guys actually remind me a lot of them. Don't they Minou?" Replied Marianne suddenly cheerful again.
"You are certainly right. Except it's slightly different because N, the girl, was actually just a huge musclehead a lot of the time but was still very similar to Alya here in personality. The only difference would have to be their dreams. N, dreamed to become a wrestler while Alya dreams of being a journalist. K was something else though. Very unique. He was a bit of a musclehead unlike Nino and his dream was actually the same that Alya has."
"For sure. Well, we best be going now or we'll be late for our rehearsal for our next concert which we will be doing without masks for the first time and will feature new songs we have been working on with Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale." Marianne said standing up with a smile.
"Thank you so much for doing this interview!"
"No problem! Here, have this! We'd love to have you guys at our concert. We'll be looking forward to seeing you guys there backstage!" Marianne said with a happy smile handing tickets and backstage passes to Nino and Alya as Jason stepped to the group of surrounding students.
Then he gave some tickets to Luka, Kagami, Chloe, Nathaniel, Rose, Juleka, Ivan, Mylene, Kim, Alix, Max, Sabrina, and even Lila.
They received a questioning glance from Alya and Nino at that but received a smile and a discreet wink from the adults as they left.
When they were gone, they received a simultaneous text message to each of their phones.
'We have to keep an eye on her. We don't trust her. She exudes evil as if its her entire being. backstage passes and concert tickets are the best way for all of you to do so without being noticed or suspected.' The message read making them share a glance of worry at what their elders had said.
Then the bell rang for classes to resume as Adrien joined them and they all headed back to their class.
All of them unaware of the thoughts going through the minds of Marianne and Jason as they rehearsed effortlessly.
TBC...