"Marinette! I'm bored!"
Marinette heaved a sigh. She offered a smile to the little girl dangling off her arm. Mrs. Chamack was less than thrilled at the idea of Manon staying out late, as the teen expected. Surprisingly, though, Nadja was slowly worn down by her own daughter's begging and relented to the idea, if only just to quiet the child. So, here they were, waiting outside the theatre for Luna to show up, with their tickets. And Marinette had to question why she let her so called "friend" talk her into this.
"Just a little bit longer, Manon," she said with as much patience as she could muster. "Luna will be here any minute, and we'll go inside, okay?"
"But I'm bored right now! Let's play hide-and-seek!"
"No hide-and-seek, Manon. She's almost here. You want to see the show, don't you?"
The little girl folded her arms in a huff. Marinette frowned. Kneeling down to Manon's level, she began to dig through her book bag. She quickly wrapped her fingers around what she was after and pulled it out to gently wave in front of her charge's eyes.
"We can play dollies while we wait," Marinette offered with a smile. "You can even be Ladybug if you want."
Manon's eyes widened at the suggestion. "You mean, I can win?"
The teen laughed. "Only if you want to."
Suddenly, Manon's mood brightened. She snatched up the spotted, handmade doll with a cheer and a twirl. Her eyes grew fierce as she pointed Ladybug's little arm at her babysitter.
"Better watch out, Akuma! I'm gonna beat you to a pulp!"
"Oh, I don't think so, Ladybug!" Marinette shot back. She took out her Lady Wi-Fi doll and waved her about, mimicking her speech. "Your miraculous is mine!"
The two of them growled and laughed as they acted out the fight. They got so into it that Marinette didn't notice the boy coming up behind her.
"Wow, awesome dolls, Marinette!"
The designer squeaked in surprise, tossing her doll into the air. Adrien caught it with ease. He blinked at Marinette, this time all too aware of the light pink dusting her freckled cheeks. Her bright blue eyes sparkled a bit as she fidgeted.
"H-hey! I wasn't... We were just... Hi!" Marinette mentally kicked herself. Real smooth!
Adrien found himself smiling down at his friend. He had to admit that was kind of cute. Not that he was into her or anything. Her cuteness was just a fact, especially with the floral pink dress and black leggings she had on... God, why was his mind betraying him like this?!
"Hi to you, too," he said, laughing a little in embarrassment. "Sorry if I scared you."
"Oh, don't mention it! I mean... wow, that makes it sound like you thanked me which is totally not what you did that was really dumb! I'm sorry! No, wait! That's what you said-"
"It's alright, Marinette," the blond said with a chuckle. "I think I know what you meant."
"Oh... right..." Marinette did her best to smile back even though she was screaming on the inside. She took a moment to study him. He didn't really dress up for the occasion like she had, just a black dress shirt and jeans in place of his usual getup. It looked nice, though Marinette was certain anything would. She soon realized she had been staring at him in silence for way too long and cleared her throat. "So, uh... Nino's not with you?"
Adrien groaned. "No. My dad straight up refused to let me go without my bodyguard tonight." He gestured to the towering mass of a man standing a few feet behind him. "So rather than ride over with Nino and subject him to the Gorilla's constant glaring, I just told him I'd meet him here."
Marinette looked over his shoulder. The bodyguard's eyes locked with hers, narrowing in like a hawk. She gave him an awkward smile as she waved. "I don't think he likes me."
"He doesn't like anyone." Something pulled on Adrien's pant leg, causing him to look down. A large pair of golden-brown eyes gazed back up at him.
"Can Marinette have her dolly back?" Manon asked.
"Oh, right!" the model said as he glanced at the toy still in his hand. "Sorry. Forgot I had it."
"Well, maybe you should stop flirting with her then, Casanova," a familiar voice said in amusement. Before he could turn around, Luna wrapped an arm around his neck, resting her forehead against his shoulder with a smirk. Once again, she sported a beret that hid most of her hair, this time in a wine red that matched her miniskirt. A black jacket over a white halter top and white leggings completed her look for the evening.
"You sure as hell move fast, Agreste," she continued. "What, am I not good enough for you, anymore?"
"L-LUNA!" Marinette yelled. Her whole face sank into an angry blush as she glared at the traitor. Her eyes then flicked over to Adrien. He wasn't offended by that, right? Did Luna weird him out? He had to have known it was a joke... Wait... Was he blushing?
Without making eye contact with either girl, Adrien took hold of Luna's wrist and undid her hold on him. "Why, Miss Galemore," he said. "If I didn't know any better, I would think you were jealous."
"Oh, immensely!" Luna said, cheerfully. She moved to hug the other girl's arm. "There's just no way I'm gonna let you steal my Mari from me, pretty boy."
Marinette gave her a playful shove, letting out a small giggle. "You stop that."
Luna chuckled. She then caught sight of the child at Marinette's side. She knelt down to meet the girl's eyes with a warm smile. "And who might this be?"
Manon shifted closer to Marinette before shyly saying her name. Luna's smile grew.
"Hello, Manon. It's nice to meet you."
The little girl didn't answer, prompting Marinette to stroke her back. "Manon, this is my friend, Luna. She's the one who invited us."
Manon perked up a bit. "Oh. Okay."
"And you remember Adrien. From the photo shoot in the park?" Marinette gestured to the model who gave a small wave.
Manon grinned at him. " Yeah, I remember! Your Marinette's boyfr-mmmgff!"
The blackette was quick to cover the child's mouth, but the damage was done. What could barely pass as a blush before turned into full out red face on the blond boy. Luna, on the other hand, broke into a wide grin.
"God, I love this kid," she said, snickering into her palm.
Glaring at her feet, Marinette pulled Manon closer to herself. "S-shouldn't we go inside?"
Luna stood up, raising a brow. "Shouldn't we wait for Nino, first?"
As if on cue, Nino came up to them with a whoop. "Ladies and dude, you can stop your waiting! The party is here!"
"Great!" Adrien said a bit too quickly. "He's here now! Let's go!"
He beelined it for the door with Marinette and Manon close behind. Nino frowned, taking off his hat to scratch his head. He looked over at the still giggling Luna.
"What'd I miss?" he asked her.
"Absolute gold, Nino. It was truly a magical thing."
"Okay... Gonna elaborate on that?"
She slapped a hand on his shoulder. "You just had to be there, man. Come on. We better catch up before we lose them in the crowd."
The DJ still looked confused but shrugged it off. He learned a long time ago just to roll with the weird shit.
As they waited in line to check tickets, Marinette wanted nothing more than to crawl in a hole, curl up, and die. How in the hell was she supposed to sit through an entire two-act musical after that?! To make things worse, Adrien was acting weird, too! He kept stealing glances at her when he thought she wouldn't notice, which only added to her already high paranoia. And when she did catch his eye, he'd look away immediately to stare at a far off wall or at the doll still in his hands. Did he think she was weird? Was he uncomfortable around her, now? Why wouldn't he say anything to her? Ugh, it was just torture! She should've stayed home with Manon, then maybe she wouldn't have embarrassed herself like this.
Adrien wasn't fairing much better with his own thoughts. He couldn't for the life of him understand why his heart was racing at that moment. It was just a silly comment from a five-year-old. It didn't mean anything. Marinette was just a friend. A very talented, quirky, cute- No! Bad thoughts, bad thoughts! His heart was his lady's and that's it! He needed to stop overthinking it and confusing himself. He wasn't even sure why he was freaking out at this point.
But it was definitely and utterly all Luna's fault.
She was the one confusing him, making him question his loyalty to Ladybug. Her constant back and forth flirting didn't help things, either. Did she like him, or did she just get a kick out of teasing him? Adrien assumed the latter was true if yesterday was anything to go off of. Still, he couldn't deny how comfortable she was around him; how comfortable he was around her. They'd only known each other a couple of weeks, but it felt like more than that. The teasing, the fighting, the laughter... it all felt so natural.
Shaking his head, Adrien frowned down at the doll. It really was well made. He had always thought Marinette to be talented, and the simple toy was proof of that. It also brought back memories of the Puppeteer; one of the many fights Chat had been less than useful in. He ran his fingers along a seam as his eyes darkened. How many times had Ladybug needed to save him? How many times had he gotten himself possessed and turned on her because of an akuma attack? How often did he just make things worse? They were supposed to be a team, yet it seemed like Ladybug was always cleaning up Chat's messes. Hell, that was basically what their powers boiled down to; he destroyed, she restored.
Ladybug was truly amazing. And he was still struggling to keep up.
Did he really even have any sort of shot with her?
"Dude, you doing okay?"
Adrien was pulled out of his thoughts by Nino's hand on his shoulder. "Huh? Yeah! Guess I'm just a bit distracted." He caught Marinette's glance and both teens instantly looked away.
Nino frowned, studying them both. He then leaned closer to whisper in his best friend's ear. "Did something happen with Marinette?"
"No... Yes? I honestly don't know anymore." He sighed. "Chloé said something yesterday and I'm still trying to process it."
"Wait, Chloé told you?!" Luna said.
"Chloé told him what?" Marinette asked.
Adrien looked at them like a deer in headlights. His mouth opened to answer, but all that came out was a garbled mess. Thankfully, Nino seemed to sense the landmine they'd just waltzed into.
"Hey, I think the show's gonna start. We'd better get to our seats. C'mon, man." He pushed Adrien into the auditorium and out of the line of fire.
Luna watched them go, her eyes narrowing. Of course it was Chloé. Who else would have the nerve to say something? Not that it was a bad thing; Adrien really shouldn't have been so oblivious to begin with. Still, she could tell that the little revelation was moving things way too fast for either teen to handle.
"Luna, what's going on?"
The actress sighed before turning to her friend. She'd have to tell Marinette that he knew. The girl was going to have a heart attack, and on the night of Spades challenge announcement, too. This was royally gonna suck. "I'll tell you later, okay? No need to ruin the show for you."
"You know that doesn't exactly make me feel any better, right?"
"Kinda figured." Luna smiled down at Manon. "You excited to see the play?"
The little girl nodded. "Marinette says it's scary. But not too scary, right?"
"That's right. But I bet you won't even get a little bit scared, huh?"
"Uh-uh," Manon said, shaking her head. She held up the spotted doll. "I got Ladybug to protect me!"
"Really? All by herself?" Marinette asked. She dug into her bag and pulled out another familiar doll. "Don't you think she needs a partner?"
Manon smiled. "Oh, yeah!" She took the mini Chat Noir and tucked it in her arm beside Ladybug. "They're a team forever!"
Marinette ruffled her hair. "Forever and ever."
The three of them followed the boys inside, eager for what was to come.
Happy New Year! New chapter within a week (my muse is pulling through, people)! I know it's more filler, but it's important filler... sort of... Next chapter will have more going on, I promise. I'm really excited for the oncoming shenanigans, too. But nevermind all that. Onto reviews!
Davey: To be honest, a good and satisfying ending is still a little ways off for me, though I am hoping to keep the chapter volume within a reasonable amount. I think because I'm already 30 plus chapters in, a sequel is more or less inevitable, especially for what I have in mind.
PSYCHOxSEXY: I don't mind the Adrien x Luna dislike. It was always going to come up with such a hardcore fanbase. I'm actually more surprised that the ship has as many followers as it does. And I'll admit that I have toyed around with the idea of Marinette and Luna ending up together. Guess we'll have to wait and see. As for Lila, that could go a few ways.
Alex: Eh, Lila's only a little creepy, lol.
Junior VB: Yes she is, with good reason, too.
SpringBorn: Yeah, it was a little short for me. Sorry about that.
Typicalbooklover: No, it's not. Compared to the evil thoughts I come up with for what could happen, yours is pretty tame, trust me.
Sophie: Hi! Thanks for the review. Don't worry, I'm not planning any over the top sexy scenes, nor am I ignoring Marinette. She is an integral part of the show and I hope to do her justice. As for why an OC... Luna's presence doesn't mean I will end the story with her and Adrien as a pair. I personally love the idea of Marinette and Adrien as a couple, so much that I can't see either of them with any other canon character. That being said, the relationship they have now is absolutely TERRIBLE! What they have in the first season (which is all I have to go on at this point, no spoilers please) isn't anything more than blind infatuation. Blind to the point that they can't even see the person each one is pining for likes them back. On top of that, they know absolutely nothing about the people they supposedly love, which is a major problem. The show also glorifies the fact that Marinette is a stalker, basically saying that it's okay to steal your crush's phone, follow his every move, and oggle him like a piece of meat because in the end you're "meant to be". That is not okay in any light. These are issues that need to be addressed, and that's pretty much Luna's role in all this; not to replace Marinette as a love interest, but to challenge the concepts of the show that I just don't see as right. Again, I only have the first season's knowledge to play with as well as a few leaks here and there, so I can't say if and how these issues will be addressed canon-wise. All I can do is pose the questions myself and try to make sense of them for the sake of my story. And as much fun as it is to watch the love-square play out, it's just not a good representation of a blooming romance. You still have every right to hate Adrien and Luna as a pair, or even Luna herself. I'm just glad you gave my story a chance in the first place.
And on that tangent, I bid you adieu 'til next time! Thanks for reading, guys!
Playlist:
Oh No!- Marina and the Diamonds
Alpenglow- Nightwish
My Demons- Starset
Los Los Los!- Aoi Yuki
There's Nothing Holding Me Back- Shawn Mendes