Naia had been right about how easy roller skating had been to pick up. Of course to that she had said that 'duh, she was always right, she knew everything'. And now she and Marinette were chatting with each other as they skated, the more experienced of the two doing loops and tricks around the other.
"So when did you start skating? It has to have been a while ago for you to be this good." Marinette asked the dimension traveller.
"When I got into the foster care system, I was ten. I use it as one of my relaxation hobbies." she pirouetted.
Marinette and Naia sped up somewhat and they settled into a happy medium of chilling and talking until Naia heard something come through the speakers,
"Eh, where's the drums?" followed by a guitar riff. She turned quickly to Marinette,
"I'll be back in a few minutes, sorry!" and she skated into the centre of the rink in time with the drum beats. She began to dance on her skates with another girl who had also rushed to the centre. It was Alix!
"Let's go
Woo girl, you're shinin'
Like a 5th Avenue diamond
And they don't make you like they used to
You're never goin' out of style
Woo pretty baby
This world might have gone crazy
The way you saved me, who could blame me
When I just wanna make you smile
I wanna thrill ya like Michael
I wanna kiss you like Prince
Let's get it on like Marvin Gaye, like Hathaway
Write a song for you like this
You're over my head, I'm out of my mind
Thinkin' I was born in the wrong time
One of a kind, livin' in a world gone plastic
Baby, you're so classic (Yeah yeah)
(Gone plastic)
Baby, you're so classic (Yeah yeah)
Baby you
Baby, you're so classic
Four thousand roses
Anything for you to notice
All the way to serenade you
Doin' it Sinatra style
I'ma pick you up in a Cadillac
Like a gentleman, bringin' glamour back
Keep it real to real in the way I feel
I could walk you down the aisle
I wanna thrill you like Michael
I wanna kiss you like Prince
Let's get it on like Marvin Gaye, like Hathaway
Write a song for you like this
You're over my head, I'm out of my mind
Thinkin' I was born in the wrong time
It's not a rewind, everything is so throwback-ish
I kinda like it, like it
Out of my league, old school chic
Like a moviestar from a silver screen
You're one of a kind, livin' in a world gone plastic
Baby, you're so classic (Yeah yeah)
Baby, you're so classic (Yeah yeah)
Baby, you're so classic
Baby you're class, and baby you're sick
I never met a girl like you ever 'til we met
A star in the 40's, centerfold in the 50's
You got me trippin' out like the 60's, hippies
Queen of the discotheque
A 70's dream with an 80's vest
Hepburn, Beyoncé, Marilyn, Massive
Girl, you're timeless
Just so classic
You're over my head, I'm out of my mind
Thinkin' I was born in the wrong time
It's not a rewind, everything is so throwback-ish
I kinda like it, like it
Out of my league, old school chic
Like a moviestar from a silver screen
You're one of a kind, livin' in a world gone plastic
Baby, you're so classic (Whoa oh)
Baby, you're so classic (Yeah yeah)
Baby, you're so classic
Ooh, classic"
The girls broke into laughter and sought Marinette out of the gathered crowd,
"Hey Marinette!" Alix called as they came closer, "What are you doing here? I'd have thought that you wouldn't dare come somewhere that you could get run over with your legendary clumsiness."
Marinette chuckled and waited for them to join her in circling the ring again, "Naia dragged me here. I'd never have come if it was for her, I still almost bolted. And yet she still abandoned me." The two skaters laughed,
"For one song!"
"I'm sure Nathaniel knows how you feel. I did the same thing to him." She gestured to the tomato haired boy who they had caught up with due to their fast pace and his slow one. He jumped.
"Oh hey Marinette, hey Naia."
"Hey Nathaniel, " the two girls chorused.
The four of them spent the rest of the time until 5 just hanging out at the rink and the arcade. Just before they went to grab some takeout, Naia called Natalie,
Natalie: Hello?
Naia: Hey Natalie, just calling to tell you that I'm grabbing dinner while I'm out and I'm gonna bring Adrien something back, so there's no need for us to have anything prepared.
Natalie: Are you sure you don't want to be picked up and have something made for you at home?
Naia: No I'm good, see you at six!
She hung up.
When Naia and Co. sat down on a bench by the Seine, near the Dupain Cheng bakery, they were all laden wih McDonalds. Alix had gone for a 'Grand Big Mac(TM), Nathaniel had a Crispy Chicken and Bacon Salad(TM), Marinette had a McChicken Sandwich(TM) and Naia was holding a box of Chicken selects for her and Adrien each. All of them had a large portion of fries and Naia had grabbed a Mcflurry(TM).
Marinette had offered desert from the bakery and the other two had accepted but Naia opted for a McFlurry instead and partially grossed out the designer and the artist by dipping her fries in her ice cream. Alix understood and had even partaken in the fry dipping. Naia had gained a new Mcdonalds buddy because Marinette had sworn to never let her have fries and ice cream at the same time again as long as she was in the vicinity.
All too soon the Gorilla pulled up and the world traveller had to return to the home of the 'Darth Vader - Luke Skywalker paradox' as she put it mentally.
"I'll see you on Monday! Bye!" she called out the window as she was driven 'home'.
It was 6:11 pm when she arrived home and she immediately escaped to Adrien's room,
"Rhydian!" Naia exclaimed as she entered Adrien's room,
"Jana!" he returned with equal vigour, she slumped playfully,
"I'm so glad you realised that Rhydian and Maddy were crushing on each other and didn't try to call me that." They had begun binge watching Wolfblood on Netflix and Naia realised just how much they matched the vibe of Jana and Rhydian's relationship. She had feared that Adrien's shit recognition of attraction would make him think of her as his Maddy. She shuddered at the thought and quickly dismissed it.
"Here," She tossed the food to Adrien and he began to scarf it down, "We NEED to fatten you up. I eat a more balanced diet than you and I look even healthier than when my bio-parents controlled my diet. You eat basically the same shit I did every day for 4 years."
At 30 minutes to 7, Lycanthria and Chat Noir walked onto the set of 'Face to Face' and saw Nadia Chamack visibly relax. They walked up to her,
"Hey Nadia, Excited for your first primetime show?" The wolf heroine asked the buzzing reporter with an amused tone, raising an eyebrow underneath the feather edged mask that blended into her skin as if painted on.
"You know it. Please have a seat," she gestured to the three person sofa on the set.
"We're honoured to be here," the black cat commented in an earnest tone that shocked those that had expected him to be lighthearted from the get go.
"Actually Nadia, can I talk to your for a minute? Just offside?"
''Of course, I'd be happy to," the reporter and Heroine walked off to the side.
"Nadia, I just wanted to give you some advice and a word of caution. I highly recommend not asking my teammates about what romance there is or isn't. Red will undoubtedly overreact and try to leave if provoked too intensively and the cat over there," they turned to look at Cat Noir who was relaxing and eating a chouquette, "Well he would likely start talking about what he wished was a reality between the two of them and likely state it as if it was fact. So stay away from their love lives and of course identities." She turned back to Nadia who nodded,
"I doubt I'll need to resort to love with the mystery of Paris' Newest superhero. Can I just get confirmation that you'll be willing to discuss answers to questions that many fans have asked? Such as ones about your suits and powers."
The agile girl nodded, "I imagine this will be somewhat lik panel with a mountain of extra joking and good conversation." Naia paused before continuing in a more concerned tone, "I just want this to go as smoothly as possible for you, I'd hate for the pressure if the evening to build up to high. That coupled with a Ladybug freakout would end up with an akuma, I'm sure of it."
The two women smiled mutedly before going to sit by Cat Noir who was balancing another of the chou pastries on his nose like a dolphin with a beach ball. Naia scratched behind his faux ears to make him start purring and lose concentration,
"Nose down Kitty, you're a black cat, not a sea lion." humor was thick in her tone.
"Well technically, by name we are both cats, sooo. . ."
"You can purr?" Nadia looked shocked.
"No!" The leather clad hero, blushing madly.
"You heard him do it." Naia laughed, "Dude, your wearing a leather bodysuit that shows of waayyy more than you should be comfortable with and you get embarrassed that you can purr?"
Adrien turned as scarlet as his partners suit at his sisters words.
That's what Ladybug arrived to.
"Cat Noir blushing? What twilight zone have I walked into; and who said what to make this happen?"
Lycanthria was giggling intensely, "All I did was point out that his suit showed more off so much than a normal person should be comfortable with. But then again he has been painfully aware of how sheltered his life is so maybe he just wanted to explore the freedoms of being Cat Noir in as many ways as possible." Adrien choked and only managed to regain composure as they got the 1 minute call.
"10,
9,
8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2"
The silent 1 rang out as they began to film.
"Good evening, I'm Nadia Chamack and this is Face to Face. For our first edition I welcome the beloved guardians of Paris and their previously unknown companion; Ladybug, Cat Noir and Lycanthria. Hello, thanks so much for accepting this exclusive live interview."
The three heroes waved and Ladybug spoke up, "Well thank you Nadia, we're honoured to be here."
"And hello to all my fans" Cat interjected, which made way for a playful huff from Lycanthria.
"I'm sure thousands have turned in to watch you tonight,"
The wolf heroine spoke up, "Don't encourage him Nadia or the cat won't stop purring all night." The presenter stifled a giggle and Ladybug rose an eyebrow, internally baffled at what she had missed.
Cat went pink, "Don't listen to her, Lupa and even Bugaboo are just a spot jealous, "
The spotted hero smiled, "Hey, I thought I told you no more Bugaboo calling,"
"Your lucky I like my nickname kitty, otherwise Red and I would team up on your furry behind."
"But it's soo cute,"
Nadia Laughed, "It's obvious you three are very close friends." she paused and began her bridge into the interview, "People know you, but they don't really know you. And in your case Lycanthria, some have never even heard of you because of how recently you turned up. We see you saving Paris but we don't know anything else about you."
Cat took a turn, "We won't be keeping anything from you tonight Nadia,"
Ladybug caught his intentional slip, "Well, we do have to keep a few secrets, including our identities of course"
"So excuse us if we refuse some of the ultra in depth questions, lest we reveal something we shouldn't, " Naia finished off.
Nadia nodded, "Absolutely, how about we start off with a few questions from your biggest fans," she pushed up one of the entries for a live question, but she checked who she could have chosen and skipped past Chloe Bourgeois to save herself from the headache and her show from losing popularity by her attempts to hijack it.
"Let's do it," Ladybug said.
Alya Cesaire popped up on screen,
"Hello caller, please state your name and your question," Nadia told the projection.
"High there Ladybug, Cat Noir and Lycanthria. I'm Alya and I was wondering if you could grant me an interview for the Ladyblog, you know since I have way more viewers than Nadia," said reporter looked startled and offended so Lycanthria interjected before she or Ladybug could speak.
"That's a brilliant idea Alya but just before you go I have a word of advice. What you just did, was attempting to deface a fellow reporter and could technically be classed as slander if statistics prove otherwise.
If you would like my advice, then I would have recommended befriending Nadia instead of putting her down, she is a more experienced newscaster and could either hinder or help you when trying to make it in the world of journalism. You could have used this time to ask us something directly instead of attempt to do something that could have inadvertently damaged another persons effort."
Alya looked upset and contemplative, "Your right. I'm sorry Nadia, that was wrong of me. And by the way, Lycanthria, you seem seriously cool for helping me realise that I'd made a mistake,"
"You're welcome Alya."
"Apology accepted Alya, now for our next caller,"
"Byee!" Alya called. The screen switched to Fred and Mylene Haprelè and Ivan,
"Hello callers, what are your names?" Nadia called, much more relaxed now that crisis had been averted because of one astute hero,
"Hi, our names are Fred, Ivan and Mylene. We were wondering what your suits are made out of because they seem to be unbreakable and capable of absorbing a lot of impact when you fall and stuff."
Ladybug took the lead on this one, "We haven't had much chance to actually analyse our costumes but to me it seems like the magic of our powers, reinforces the material of each of our suits, which are all different. Cat's is leather, mine is latex and Lycanthria's is. . ."
Naia filled in the gap, "modified velvet, magically reinforced like the others and comfortable and closer to normal fabric in everyday clothing "
There were Five more questions
"Is there a time limit on how long you have after you used your powers?"
"Will you ever step down and let someone else become Ladybug and Cat Noir or variations of you?"
"Do your families and friends know your identities?"
"Where did you get your powers?"
"Could I become a superhero?"
After the last one Nadia turned of the projector and they went to commercial. All four of them let out a breath, "Ratings sky high yet?" Lupa asked the less stressed reporter,
"Almost, I'm so glad that this is going well, that first question had me panicking. "
Ladybug joined the conversation, "To be honest I was too, I know Alya by reputation and I have met her, when I saw her I thought she may say something insensitive but I'm so glad that you handled it so well. "
Cat took his chance to join in, " Yeah, how did you come up with such a good answer so fast."
Naia reclined on the sofa theatrically, "You know me, I'm always a lap ahead of my fellow racers, in wit and speed,"
The other two heroes chuckled at the nod to her knowledge and skill and frankly, Nadia didn't want to ruin the moment for them.
Then they returned from the ad break, the host began asking her own questions for the time they had left, she turned to Lycanthria,
"Paris knows what Ladybug and Chat Noirs powers can do, they're iconic. But it wasn't clear from your appearance during the Collector fiasco, what your superpower was. Would you mind enlightening us?"
The Lupine girl smiled, " You may have heard the one or two words that my friends here say to activate their powers. My power is activated by the phrase 'Call of the Wild' and stabbing my knife into the ground beneath me. For those who have read or seen any variation of Harry Potter, my power is the liquid luck of magical abilities. A trail of silver will light the route to take and I will subconsciously know what the right thing to do to win for the next 5 minutes."
The people around her looked astounded and impressed by her ability. "That's an incredible power," Nadia complimented, "But I'm curious, you mentioned a knife but your weapon is a staff, what knife are you talking about?"
Naia took the staff off her back, "Why this one," she span her weapon until it shrank and what was left was a slightly oversized Karambit knife that was made of ivory and engraved with beautiful celestial designs, "I have 4 weapons. My staff, this knife, a bow," she twirled the knife in favour of her bow forming, "Which you may have seen when we fought the Collector, and a sword,"
She conjured her sword for the first time, it was beautiful. It was thin but incredibly durable, she could tell, made of silver and perfectly balanced to her. She brought her bow back and slung it over her shoulder.
"Those seem more deadly than our other heroes weapons."
Naia remembered Howell's words when she had said something similar, "The wolf has always been deadlier than the ladybug and the cat. In heroes and in nature. But the deadlier weapons I posses only cause physical harm of I wish it to, namely when someone threatens someone I care for or if I have temporarily become phsycotic which is an impossibly rare option. Otherwise getting hit with one of my weapons will release a phantom pain that is worse than the real deal."
Nadia looked worried, "Phsycotic?"
"Not dangerously so, at least to you. When I am in my hero form I am calm and collected, It would be rare for you to see me get mad at all, but in times of great stress, which I don't count akumas to be, I become incredibly violent. I would never turn onto those that I am allied with and protecting, wolves are great symbols of loyalty after all. But if I was in one of my phsycosis episodes and met Hawkmoth. . . Well he would likely be delivered to the police station missing several limbs. "
They returned to commercial and Naia adjusted her seat on the couch, sat with one leg up and mostly on the arm rest. People seemed a lot warier of her now,
She let out a mildly aggravated sigh, "I swear on my life that I will never harm anyone that the miracle cure can't fix or isn't Hawkmoth," a small silver glow emanated from her as she made her solemn oath. "I am only a danger to those who endanger themselves through their malicious intent, you all have nothing to fear."
They had two more sections after that that were similarly dedicated to Ladybug and Cat Noir, they went with less worry about them going insane and killing everyone. Finally the reached the last segment which would only be around five minutes,
"A lot of people think of you as a couple of heroes, but some think of either Ladybug and Cat Noir as a couple, or even, despite your so far brief appearance, Cat Noir and YOU Lycanthria, as a couple. What do you think of this?"
Ladybug and the Cat went to express their thoughts but the Lycan beat them to the punch, she laughed.
"First of all, Ew. There would be more likelihood of me getting with Red than with the tomcat over there. I may be Bi and I can acknowledge Cat's attractiveness but he is litterally a surrogate brother to me."
Cat laughed and mimicked sarcastic disappointment, "Alas! Stuck in the friendzone again! I'm just kidding, I'm with Lupa on this one."
Naia took back centre stage, "As for the mess that is 'LadyNoir'," she giggled, "They themselves don't know each other's identities. We all know that Cat is in love with his Lady, and I know that Ladybug has a crush on a civilian; but with their luck and for irony's sake, they could have locked themselves into a love square with only 2 people."
Her teammates locked shocked at the concept before laughing, "Could you imagine?" Cat asked.
"Not really. Actually, your so different from he guy I fancy, personality wise. But you actually look rather similar."
Nadia let herself chuckle, "Okay, one more question before we leave for tonight, I've noticed you have nicknames for each other. Would you mind explaining them?"
Ladybug spoke first, "I'm not really one for Nicknames actually, I can barely tolerate Cat's. I just shorten his hero persona when its convenient and I haven't needed to do the same for Lycanthria. "
Cat spoke up, "I'm the king of pet names. M'lady has so many that you wouldn't remember them all. As for Lycanthria, well she's a goddess among heroes so I refer to her as Lupa, the wolf goddess"
Naia laughed again, "I, unlike ladybug, like the nickname that kitty gave me, it reminds me that despite being their equals on the battlefield, in nature I'm higher on the foodchain. I simply call Ladybug Red because it's fitting, but for this one, " she gestured to Adrien in his leather catsuit, "He goes by Kitty, Tomcat, Leather Boi, Cat, Dumbass. The list goes on,"
Nadia finally let herself laugh heartily, "And that gem wraps up this edition of Face to Face. I'm Nadia Chamack, and I'll see you all, next week."
As the three heroes stopped on the roof the originals turned to the wolf hero,
"Leather Boi?" They asked in embarrassment (Cat), incredulity (both) and humour (Red).
"I think," Naia said between gasps, "that Nadia Chamack and I have an inside joke!"