For the @lovebugs-and-snakecharmers 2021 exchange. Written for @piscesangelina.
Summary: Adrien is going to set up Luka and Marinette. Or maybe they’ll do it themselves. [A university AU]
Prompt: “I'd like a good old college AU, friends-to-lovers story. - It can honestly go any way, as long as the story doesn't have a sad ending. I'd be happy with just about anything I'm given, as long as it's fluffy, has plot and ends well (but angst can be sprinkled along the way).”
Rating: T
Word Count: 2422
@miraculousfanworks
Special thanks to @mininoire for beta reading.
Read on AO3
Kitty Section’s first concert as a band was coming up soon, and Adrien couldn’t be more excited. The other members were still closer to each other than him — Adrien was a fairly last-minute recruit by their guitarist, Luka, who was the first one Adrien met on-campus. Adrien was taking a music theory class, and Luka was there as the TA. Even after the class was over, they remained friends. Adrien couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity to vent his frustrations through music — he was free from his father, or at least more than he had been, and he could meet so many more people now.
Luka was the oldest in the band, two years older than him, but most of the rest were his age — university second-year students. Half of their songs were about emotional repression, and the other half were about unicorns and rainbows. It was an interesting mix, but they were sticking to the repression ones and covers for this concert.
Alya, Marinette, and Nino are all coming too. He’s not sure how many people will be at the festival, but it’s one way of getting at least some people that are there and will watch them.
He’s nervous about Alya and Nino — they only recently invited him into their relationship, and it isn’t his first relationship, but (obviously) it’s his first time with multiple people, and Nino’s music taste tends to run more electronic and Alya is more into ska than punk-
“Adrien, hey,” Luka says. “Take a deep breath. No need to start being nervous now. There’s still one more rehearsal.”
“Okay,” Adrien answers with a nod. “It’ll be fine. Nino and Alya will like us.”
“What about that other friend you mentioned? Marinette?”
“Her musical taste is a hodgepodge of everything, I’m not worried about her. I think you two would get along well, actually,” Adrien comments. “And Alya and Nino are also my partners, I think being more concerned about their reactions is valid.”
He remembers when he met Marinette online, and he remembers meeting Nino from his music theory class and Alya from Nino and gosh, Adrien couldn’t be luckier to have his friends and partners.
“Right, sometimes I forget,” Luka says. “I don’t really keep track of that stuff as much — the only reason I know Juleka and Rose are dating is because their relationship affects the band, and I know Ivan has a girlfriend but I don’t recall having met her. I might have.”
“That’s okay.” Adrien shrugs. “We’re all here for the music. There doesn’t need to be anything else.”
Ivan finally arrives — he’s usually the latest for Thursday practices, because he has a class right before.
“Alright, we ready to begin warmups?” Rose asks.
Adrien sits down at the keyboard bench. “Ready!” everyone else answers in unison.
“A-one, two, three, four!”
***
This is it. Concert day.
Soundcheck goes well (though there are a couple small tech issues, nothing night-ruining, and even despite those issues they sound great as a band). But the real show will be starting soon.
They’re just one of the smaller acts at a much larger festival, but it’s still their first time to show everyone what they’ve got.
Adrien sits at his keyboard, practically vibrating with excitement. Alya texted him that Marinette, Nino, and herself had just arrived at the audience part.
And after a few other acts, they’re up.
“Hello, Harmonifest!” Rose yells into the mic. “We are Kitty Section, and today we’d like to start off with one of our songs!”
They play through their set, a mix of French and English, and the audience is surprisingly receptive — and they get everyone singing along to a cover of “Dance Dance.”
When they get off-stage, they’re all tired and sweaty. Adrien hands a bottle of water over to Rose, who takes a big gulp out of it and then drenches herself.
“We were great out there,” Luka tells them. “The crowd loved us. Now we can relax.”
“I’m going to find my friends,” Adrien says, and then smells his own stink. “After I get changed and put some deodorant on.”
That’s what he does, and then he texts their group chat asking where they are.
Luka finds him before he finds them, though. “I want to meet your friends. Especially Nino, since he’s another musician he’d be interesting to talk to.”
Adrien nods. “Alright then.”
They find the other three sitting on a blanket.
“You were really good,” Alya comments when they arrive. “And I’m not just saying that because Adrien’s my boyfriend.” She winks. “I really enjoyed the concert, even if I didn’t know the songs.”
“I’m not normally a fan of rock that isn’t Jagged Stone, but you looked good up there,” Nino says. “I liked the costumes.”
“I think they’re missing something. I really enjoyed the music, but I think there just needs to be something that puts it together…” Marinette murmurs.
“Why don’t we talk about that?” Luka offers. “I’m in charge of the finances and behind the scenes stuff for the band.”
“Guitarists,” Adrien jokes. “Always want to upstage the singer.”
“Well, we’ll leave you to it,” Alya says. “I wanted to check out some of the other stages anyways.”
“Me too,” Adrien says.
And with his partners at his side, it’ll be even better.
***
“So, what did you think?” Adrien asks Marinette.
“The festival was nice.” She blushes. “Luka was really cool, too.”
“You like him?” The gears in his head are mentally turning, and he has to think about it a little more before he gets anyone involved.
“Yeah, and I also made some concept sketches.” She shows him the back of her palm. “I need to refine them a little bit, but I think this is it.”
“Impressive. I’m sure they’ll be great,” he answers. “I can’t wait for the rest of the band to know how talented you are.” He lightly nudges her.
“What? No, I wasn’t going to…” She trails off.
“What are you afraid of, Marinette?” he teases. “What’s so frightening about showing your designs? Besides, you’ll need to take their measurements to make the masks.”
“You’re right,” she answers. “When’s your next practice?”
“I’ll text you when it happens?”
“Okay,” she answers, and he responds with finger guns.
***
Marinette comes to the next practice, and recognizes Juleka and Rose, without the stage makeup — apparently they’re in the same Environmental Science class?
The band crowds around her sketchbook, looking at the sketches and the mini mask she created within the last few days.
Luka seems to be mesmerized by her, more than the others.
Adrien’s gears continue to turn. There’s something there, and maybe he can help both of them be happy.
The practice is good, fairly directionless though — they don’t have anywhere else to go, so they decide to work on some more composing. They all have different levels of expertise — the others tend to compose more direct things, but he and Juleka especially make more complex compositions. Adrien works like that due to his background, and Juleka tries to compose like Evanescence. Luka can compose a good solo, but he’s not that good at composing drum parts or keyboard parts.
They make a band, yeah? Working together can clamp down on some of the more complex arrangements, and make their songs a little more exciting.
They settle on a design for each of them — they’re pretty much the same, just with slightly different colors, and there is no touching of faces involved for measurements.
***
He’s going to set up Luka and Marinette. That way, they’ll both be happy. But first he needs to make sure that Marinette and Luka actually want to be set up, because there’s no point really in setting them up if they don’t want to be dating.
He and Marinette are walking back to their apartment. They’ve lived together since they found out that they were going to the same university, even though recently Adrien’s been with Alya and Nino more often.
(He doesn’t want to leave Marinette behind. He doesn’t have much experience with it, but it seems lonely to be left behind by friends in a romantic relationship with each other.)
“So, what did you think?” he prompts.
“Your bandmates are all really nice,” Marinette answers. “You guys work together well, and I’m glad that you all appreciate my designs.”
“Your talent should be recognized.” Adrien smiles. “Anyone in particular stick out?”
“Are Juleka and Rose dating?”
He laughs and nods. “Is it that obvious? They’d hate to hear that it’s that obvious.”
She shrugs in response. “I don’t know. And I’ve met Ivan before, though I never got to know him super well.”
“What about Luka?” he asks, and it might be a little devious, but she hasn’t said anything and he is genuinely curious as to what she has to say about Luka.
She blushes. “He’s…really nice. Not a bad guitar player, and he seems really perceptive.”
“Well,” Adrien says, “if you’re interested, I can find out if he’s interested in you, and then I can set you up.” His phone buzzes. “Shoot, I forgot about the lunch with Kagami today. She said she was bringing her girlfriend for today.”
“Are you bringing Alya and Nino?”
“Alya can’t make it, she has a job interview. So it’s just me and Nino.”
Marinette nods. “Wait, yeah, I knew about that. I already wished her good luck.”
Adrien mentally curses himself. “I have to go now, catch you later.”
“Yeah, see you around.” Marinette smiles.
***
“Reservation for Kagami?” he asks when he gets to the restaurant. It isn’t overly fancy to the point where they would need one to get a seat, but it’s fairly busy, and they wanted to secure a place.
“Right this way, sir.”
“Not waiting for your boyfriend?” Kagami asks.
“I trust him to be able to handle himself.” Adrien smiles.
And then he looks over to who’s sitting next to Kagami.
Well, this is going to be awkward.
“Hello, Chloe,” he says.
“It’s…been a while, hasn’t it?” she offers, seeming shyer than she was before.
***
The lunch goes well, despite the initial awkwardness. Adrien trusts Kagami, and when he asks about Marinette (and Luka), Chloe winces, but Kagami votes that he should go for it if they both agree.
Yet another friend is in on it.
He keeps an eye on Marinette, too, because if she’s getting overworked he knows she won’t stop, and Adrien doesn’t want Marinette to overwork herself for the band.
But Adrien needs to talk to Luka about Marinette, too.
***
“So, Luka, what do you think of Marinette?” Luka seems a little bit suspicious of Adrien’s asking, but…
“I like her well enough. I’d love to stay in contact with her after she’s done redesigning our costumes. Why do you ask?”
“She likes you a lot.” Adrien shrugs. “If you’re interested…”
“I think I can handle it myself,” Luka answers.
“Okay.” Adrien doesn’t insist. If they want to do it themselves, all the better.
***
When Adrien gets home from his last class of the day, he finds Marinette staring at an outfit. She’s dressed, or she would be in her room.
“What’s up?” he asks.
“I asked Luka out,” she says. “I didn’t mean to do it, but now we have a date and I don’t know what to do?”
“Congratulations, first,” he answers, smiling. He looks at the outfit Marinette’s set out. “Are you guys indoors or outdoors?”
“Could be either. I think the place we’re going to has both indoor and outdoor seating, we’re going to an open mic at a cafe.”
“That sounds good. Are you planning on doing anything?”
“I don’t know. I think you had to sign up in advance, so Luka might have signed up but I probably won’t do anything.”
They both look at the outfit. Dark blue leather jacket, pink crop-top, and a purple skirt with a little gradient to it.
“You should probably grab some leggings or something to wear under your skirt in case it gets chilly,” Adrien suggests.
Marinette tilts her head, but nods.
“Do you want me to do your hair and makeup?” Adrien asks. “I’ve done it plenty of times, for myself and the rest of the band. The makeup artists taught me how to do my own when I was modeling. Had to learn some new tricks for the stage, but I can still do something lighter for you.”
“That sounds good.” Marinette smiles, and grabs the clothes. “I’m going to get changed now.”
When Marinette comes out, she looks good. Adrien herds her into his room, sitting her down at his station.
“Jeez, you’re dedicated to this,” Marinette says.
Adrien opens a drawer and pulls out a hairbrush. “I don’t use this too often, it’s just here.”
As he brushes her hair, he abruptly realizes that he doesn’t own any hair ties. “Do you have a hair tie?”
Marinette rolls her eyes and takes one off her wrist. “Boys.”
“Look, I’ve never had hair long enough to warrant tying up before,” Adrien responds, “though maybe I should try it.”
“I’ve been considering cutting mine short.” Marinette goes to touch her hair. Adrien gently swats her hand away.
“You’re going to mess it up.” Adrien wraps the hair tie around to form a high ponytail. “Now that that’s out of the way…”
He starts doing her makeup. They don’t chatter much throughout the process, but Adrien does explain each of the steps as he does them.
She remarks that while she knows how to apply makeup to some degree, Adrien’s more professional.
“You look pretty, Marinette. Luka will love it.”
She looks at herself in the mirror. “I believe you.”
“Now go get your man,” Adrien says. “Best of luck.”
After she leaves the house, Adrien texts Alya and Nino. Apartment’s empty, Marinette landed a date. Want to come over and watch a movie or smth?
***
Alya and Nino fall asleep partway through the third movie, both curled up towards him. (He still can’t believe some days that they trust him with this, that they’re willing to love him despite everything.)
Marinette comes home around 11 PM.
“How’d it go?”
“It went well, I think,” Marinette answers. “How were the movies?”
“Mediocre, but we had fun. So, are you two going to…?”
“Probably. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow,” Marinette says. “For now, I need to shower and remove my makeup. And then sleep, I’m exhausted.”
So, I feel like I’ve gotten a lot accomplished in the past few months since I last did one of these status updates. Most of the stories I ended up writing were much longer than anticipated, and I’ve had a lot of ideas just pop into my head that I hadn’t originally been planning, so this list isn’t going to look very different from the last one, but I promise that I have accomplished things, and there are some new projects in the works. ^.^;
I’m currently posting the final chapters of Among the Wild Things and Betting Against the House. Below is a list of works I have planned for the coming months. Let me know what sounds interesting or what you’re excited for.
Anhedonia: When Adrien Met Marinette: (Adrienette, post-reveal/pre-relationship, roommates) So, I’m taking a screenplay writing class, and we’re studying the scripts of several movies to get a feel for how the writer evokes different cognitive responses from the audience. One of the movies is When Harry Met Sally. I’ve never seen this movie, but apparently it’s about two friends finally ending up together after some trials and tribulations. It’s about never giving up on finding love and happiness...only I’m feeling depressed at the moment, and I don’t want to hear about true love because I’m lonely and despair of ever finding someone to share a life with. So I’m using my feelings to write a story. ^.^ Naturally. XD
It’s post-reveal/pre-relationship Adrienette. They’re roommates, and there’s been a misunderstanding because Marinette didn’t tell Adrien how she felt about him after she found out he was Chat Noir, and he’s told her that he’s over her because he thinks that the only way to preserve their friendship (since she’s already turned down his advances as Ladybug, so, obviously, she wouldn’t want him as Marinette either). It has a happy ending, and they straighten things out because I still believe in finding true love and happiness. XD I’m a sap like that, and these two deserve happiness.
Ladrien Present: (Adrienette, Ladrien) I’m still trying to write a story where Ladybug brings Adrien’s birthday party to him. ^.^; I have half of it written (the Adrienette half), and I have an outline for the rest. I just...need to sit down and make myself write it. I’ve seriously been procrastinating on this one. I don’t know what my deal is. -.-;
Marichat Prompt: This is an overflow prompt I received as part of my Productive Procrastination Prompt Giveaway. It’s about Chat Noir visiting Marinette and it somehow coming up in conversation that Marinette has always thought of Chat as a player. For some reason, this makes Chat really angry because he can’t stand her in particular thinking that about him. I thought this story out a couple months ago, but I didn’t write it down, so now I’ve forgotten, and I’m going to have to think up the plot all over again. XD
Alyadrino Prompt: Someone sent me an Ask that said, “Snuggle party makes me imagine what if nino and alya accidentally did to adrien what luka and marinette intentionally did to him in shades 12″, and I thought, “…Oh, all right. Why not?” I had a basic outline of what I wanted to do with this story a couple months ago, but I didn’t write it down, so now I have to figure it out all over again. Oh, well. I have the basic idea, I think.
Lukadrigaminette: At the beginning of the month, I thought, “I should do Valentine’s Day stories!” I ended up writing a Marichat one, and then I had this idea. It’s not Valentine’s Day related, so I decided to shelve it for later. So, several years ago, my friend and I concocted this scheme to bake for our respective crushes and win their hearts that way. It’s a really fond memory for me, and I’m turning it into a Lukadrigaminette story. Luka and Kagami join forces to bake for Adrien and Marinette in order to win their love.
Plagg and Wayzz Prompt: I got a comment on one of my stories that said, “Can you do a top wayzz bottom plagg one? Preferably in universe and in human form. Doesn’t have to be smut.” First I thought, “What the bloody hell?” because it was a comment on a Lukadrien story, and that’s all it said, and I thought, “Well, that’s random.” I’ve never really written Wayzz before, but this gave me the idea for a story where the team is up against an akuma that somehow separates them from their kwamis, leaving the heroes unable to detransform and the kwamis in defenseless human form. What I came up with really doesn’t have anything to do with the prompt other than Plagg and Wayzz will both be in human form. It will probably just end up being a Lady Noir identity reveal piece, honestly.
Supportive Adrien Lukadrien One-Shot(?): I haven’t actually pinned this story down well yet. ^.^; I was just thinking that I wanted to write something where Adrien is the one supporting and encouraging Luka, since I typically write Luka being a supportive presence for Adrien. I was thinking that the scenario could be that Luka is feeling down because Marinette still loves Adrien and things aren’t going well between Marinette and Luka, so Adrien takes Luka on an outing and confesses his love and they live happily ever after or something.
The only thing is that a different scenario is trying to creep into this story. It’s really weird. It’s post-Papillon defeat, and Adrien is twenty-four (Luka is twenty-six). He’s been in kind of rough shape the past few years since his father was arrested and he lost his family and home and fortune. He couldn’t finish university, and he’s been travelling around, trying to find work and make a life for himself. He ends up back in Paris, broke, and auditions for a band because he happened to see a flyer advertising for a new lead vocalist. It just so happens that it’s Luka’s band, and Luka ends up finding out about Adrien’s situation and taking him in and feeding him...but that scenario is just more Luka taking care of Adrien, and that’s not what I wanted to write. XD It also feels like multiple chapters, and I don’t want to go there. Oh, well. We’ll see what happens.
Adrien Trapped in AU-Land: (Adrienette, canon universe featuring AUs) My idea is based off of a writing prompt submitted by @graaythekwami on the @miraculousfanworks Discord server: AU where all the characters wake up in a different AU every chapter, fully remembering what happened in the last AU. My idea is for Chat Noir to get hit by an akuma (probably named Escapist or something equally dumb ^.^) who traps Adrien in a series of alternate realities (AUs) until he realizes his feelings for Marinette and manages to break free.
L’Amour de Loin: (Lukadrien, post-Papillon defeat, Félix wingman) I did a sneak peek for this here. This was one of the two “Winter Lukadrien Pieces” mentioned on my last status update. Adrien is living in London with his aunt and cousin three years after Papillon’s defeat and arrest. He’s in rough shape and hasn’t kept in touch with anyone from Paris. One day, he gets a text from Luka out of the blue, and they rekindle their friendship. Félix acts as wingman to ensure that it turns into something more.
Adrienette Hanahaki: Awhile ago I did an ask game about a trope I’d like to try writing, and the one I came up with was Adrien with Hanahaki disease (The one where you start coughing up flower petals due to unrequited love making flowers grow inside your lungs). I’ve been thinking about it, and I’ve decided I’d like to actually write this story. My basic outline is: Adrien starts showing symptoms, and Gabriel badgers him about whom he’s in love with, and Adrien just blurts out, “Marinette!” And Gabriel threatens Marinette into dating Adrien, and they start fake dating but then fall in love.
Happenstance and Magic: Marichat May 2019. Marinette and Chat Noir adopt kittens together, and Adrien tries to get Marinette to see that he’s not perfect but still a worthwhile person deserving of her love.
I’ve been thinking about this one, and I think I’m going to cut the number of prompts I actually use. Once I’m done with the other stories, I want to sit down and make a more thorough outline of what I want the story to be and which prompts I’m going to use to get me there.
The Seduction of Adrien Agreste: This is part of the Springtime in Wonderland (Daisy/Jabberwocky) series. It deals with Luka and Adrien experimenting with physical intimacy to see if they can reach a compromise where Luka and (asexual) Adrien are both comfortable and have their needs met.
Things Currently on the Backburner:
The Rejects Club: Predominantly Marichat with Adrienette. Chat Noir and Marinette unexpectedly grow very close very fast as they open up to one another after Marinette overhears Adrien seemingly dismissing her as a romantic prospect. Identity shenanigans at farcical levels ensue.
I can’t really deal with Rejects right now. I’m feeling super overwhelmed by basic life stuff, so I don’t really have the mental or emotional energy to put into a story where I don’t know how many more chapters there will be until the end. I’m thinking that what I have planned will take at least another one or two hundred thousand words. This thing is just so massive, and I’m not in good enough mental heath to deal with it right now.
Springtime in Wonderland: Yeah, no. See the paragraph directly above. This is another one that’s going to take another couple hundred thousand words to complete, and I just don’t have the stamina in me right now. I’d rather focus on smaller projects that actually feel attainable. I’m trying not to burn myself out.
And that’s it for the moment. I’m sure I’ll come up with plenty of other stuff between now and the next time I do a status update post, but is there anything that you’re particularly interested in? Let me know what you’re thinking.
Hi everyone! Suddenly, I’m in the mood for making recordings of some of my stories.
This is a fluffy excerpt from What You Need.
Transcript under the cut. ^.^ I hope you enjoy it!
Adrien had believed Nino wholeheartedly when he’d said he’d be back. What Adrien had not expected was for Alya and Nino to surmount the garden wall of the Agreste Manor compound, climb the tree, and make their way to Adrien’s admittedly large wall of windows that very evening.
“Oh my gosh,” Adrien hissed, hurrying to open the window for his friends. “Get in here! You guys could fall to your deaths!”
Alya rolled her eyes fondly, giving Adrien’s hair a friendly tussle. “You’re only up one story, Cupcake. The worst that could happen is a broken leg or something.”
“Didn’t you tell me you snuck out that same way?” Nino snickered, pulling Adrien into a hug.
“Yes, but…that was an act of desperation,” Adrien protested, remembering the days before his Miraculous. “There were a couple times I almost got myself killed doing that.”
“Never fear,” Alya assured with a mischievous wink as she made her way over to the coffee table and started emptying her backpack of DVDs and snacks. “We are experts.”
Nino nodded, giving Adrien’s shoulder a pat. “You know we started doing parkour after Ladybug chose us as heroes. Climbing a wall and a tree and scaling the side of a building are nothing we can’t handle.”
Adrien pursed his lips, crossing his arms. He knew his friends were capable, but…still.
“I brought you pain au chocolat from Tom and Sabine’s,” Alya bribed with a knowing smirk.
“Okay,” Adrien caved, going over to retrieve a pastry. “I guess it’s all right for you guys to risk your lives sneaking into my room so long as you bring Tom and Sabine’s. I mean, that’s worth it, right?”
Alya broke out in a laugh. “Yeah, totally. I’ll have to tell Marinette you think so. She’d get a kick out of that.”
“They are the best pastries on the planet, after all.” Adrien shrugged, giving Alya a quick side hug. Then the teasing note dropped out of his voice, and his tone turned sincere. “…Thank you, by the way. I’m kind of in rough shape right now, and I really appreciate you coming and bringing treats.”
“Sure thing, Sunshine,” Alya assured with a warm smile and a pat on the back.
“Always,” Nino seconded, coming over and bumping Adrien’s shoulder with his own. “Now help us choose a movie. We’ve got some snuggling to do.”
Hi guys! I’m currently writing the final chapter of Serendipity, so it’s time once again to take stock of my current projects and decide what I’m focusing on next. Below is a list of what I have going on.
Does any of the below sound interesting? Is there anything in particular you’re excited for or want to know more about? I’m sure I’ll do a bunch of other random stuff along the way as inspiration strikes, and I’m probably not going to do these strictly in this order.
Let me know what you think!
Ladrien Present: Yes, you read that right. I’m attempt to write a Ladrien and Adrienette one-shot where Adrien is alone on his birthday and Marinette and Ladybug attempt to make it special for him by, first, Marinette throwing him a party he attends remotely and then by bringing the party to him as Ladybug. I’m about halfway done. I just have to write the actual Ladrien scene which is kind of the hard part. ^.^; Oh well. We’ll get it done.
Alyanette/Alyabug Prompt: You may remember that about a month ago I did a prompt giveaway while I was procrastinating on writing Serendipity Chapter Thirty-Eight. After I had closed the prompt collection, I got a handful of other prompts in. I finished the original ten prompts and then went back to work on Serendipity. Now that I’m wrapping up Serendipity, I’m thinking about going back and completing the prompts sent to me after the cutoff. The first prompt is “Alyanette/Alyabug balcony scene”. I’m thinking drunk!Ladybug crashes onto Alya’s balcony and accidentally reveals her identity. I don’t know. We’ll see.
Adrino Prompt: This is another prompt I received. Kind of. The original prompt was about Nino teaching Adrien to do something sexual, and there was an aubergine emoji, so that made me think of Nino teaching Adrien to cook. I’m thinking this will take place post Adrien moving out on his own.
Marichat Prompt: Another prompt I received was about Chat Noir visiting Marinette and it somehow coming up in conversation that Marinette has always thought of Chat as a player. For some reason, this makes Chat really angry because he can’t stand her in particular thinking that about him. I haven’t really thought about the specifics of this one yet.
Lukadrien Prompt: The next one was a prompt request for Luka saving Adrien from being akumatized. I’ve thought a little bit about what I could do with this one, but I don’t have anything particularly concrete yet.
Alyadrino Prompt: Someone sent me an Ask that said, “Snuggle party makes me imagine what if nino and alya accidentally did to adrien what luka and marinette intentionally did to him in shades 12″, and I thought, “...Oh, all right. Why not?” I’ve thought about the specifics of this one and think I have a basic outline.
Plagg and Wayzz Prompt: I got a comment on one of my stories that said, “Can you do a top wayzz bottom plagg one? Preferably in universe and in human form. Doesn't have to be smut.” First I thought, “What the bloody hell?” because it was a comment on a Lukadrien story, and that’s all it said, and I thought, “Well, that’s random.” I’ve never really written Wayzz before, but this gave me the idea for a story where the team is up against an akuma that somehow separates them from their kwamis, leaving the heroes unable to detransform and the kwamis in defenseless human form. What I came up with really doesn’t have anything to do with the prompt other than Plagg and Wayzz will both be in human form. I don’t know if this is going anywhere, honestly. ^.^;
Adrienette Hanahaki: About two months ago I did an ask game about a trope I’d like to try writing, and the one I came up with was Adrien with Hanahaki disease (The one where you start coughing up flower petals due to unrequited love making flowers grow inside your lungs). I’ve been thinking about it, and I’ve decided I’d like to actually write this story. My basic outline is: Adrien starts showing symptoms, and Gabriel badgers him about whom he’s in love with, and Adrien just blurts out, “Marinette!” And Gabriel threatens Marinette into dating Adrien, and they start fake dating but then fall in love. I’m not going to guestimate how many chapters I think this will be because I always seem to get it wrong and end up jinxing myself. ^.^; I don’t think this story will be very long, though. (Okay. I’m going to say it: three to five chapters. Place your bets.)
Lukadrien Winter Pieces: I don’t know if this is going to happen or not. I wanted to write two winter-themed Lukadrien stories for people, but I don’t have concrete ideas yet.
Happenstance and Magic: Marichat May 2019. Marinette and Chat Noir adopt kittens together, and Adrien tries to get Marinette to see that he’s not perfect but still a worthwhile person deserving of her love.
After knocking out the one-shots, I’d like to circle back to Happenstance and preferably finish it before May. Well, I mean, I’ll probably still be polishing up chapters and releasing them in May if I only release one chapter per week, but...we’ll see. First, I have to write the darn thing. I should be able to manage. I only have about twenty-something chapters left to write.
The Seduction of Adrien Agreste: This is part of the Springtime in Wonderland (Daisy/Jabberwocky) series. It deals with Luka and Adrien experimenting with physical intimacy to see if they can reach a compromise where Luka and (asexual) Adrien are both comfortable and have their needs met.
After Happenstance, I think the next thing I want to tackle is Seduction. People seem interested in the piece, and I think it would be an interesting challenge to write a Mature work for the pairing. It’s mostly going to focus on the relationship and the characters’ thoughts and feelings. I don’t really write smut, so I feel very out of my element. We’ll see how it goes. ^.^;
Things Currently on the Backburner:
The Rejects Club: Predominantly Marichat with Adrienette. Chat Noir and Marinette unexpectedly grow very close very fast as they open up to one another after Marinette overhears Adrien seemingly dismissing her as a romantic prospect. Identity shenanigans at farcical levels ensue.
I recently finished editing and releasing everything I had written for this story so far, so that’s all there is for now. There’s still SO much left to go, and I feel a little overwhelmed by it. I still have all my notes and my timeline, but...it’s a huge story, and it seems a little much to deal with right now. I’ll probably have to chip away at it little buy little. I’ll see how thing are going in the second half of 2021 to determine whether it’s time to work on Rejects again.
Springtime in Wonderland: Yeah, no. Jabberwocky and Daisy aren’t happening anytime soon. I may do one more Nachtmusik chapter and get Seduction out in the first half of 2021, but I don’t have plans to work on the rest again in the foreseeable future. This series really takes a lot out of me mentally and emotionally because I based some of it on the really dark points in my life (not necessarily the events specifically but more the emotions), so it’s hard to go there when my mental health is pretty rubbish, and I think everyone’s mental health is rubbish nowadays. 2020 has really taken a toll on most people. So, yeah. I’ll revisit the idea of working on it again in the latter half of 2021.
And that’s it for now. Let me know what you’re thinking. ^.^
Platonic Alyadrino: Drunk Ladybug on My Balcony? Yeah. This is Fine.: Chapter Nine
Read it on AO3: Drunk Ladybug on My Balcony? Yeah. This is Fine.: Chapter Nine: War Room
When Alya returned ten minutes later, the boys had gotten up off the floor and were snuggling comfortably on the bed.
Alya could tell from the way that Nino had Adrien wrapped in a tight hug that he was feeling uneasy, insecure, and extremely protective. He would not be letting Adrien out of his sight for a while, so Alya could kiss the thought of any amorous activities with her boyfriend that evening goodbye. He needed to keep Adrien close so that he could feel Adrien’s warmth, reassure himself that his best friend was, indeed, alive and well and very much safe.
Alya hadn’t really stopped to think about the danger her friends were constantly in after learning their identities. She had been too caught up in the juicy details of superhero life and romance. It hadn’t occurred to her to be concerned about the never-ending peril they faced.
Suddenly she felt a little ill and had the strong urge to call Marinette just to tell her she loved her. She was sorely tempted to join Adrien and Nino in their snuggle pile.
Instead of giving in to anxiety, she took a deep breath and pushed those feelings aside for later. Right now, it was Nino’s turn to be vulnerable and raw. She could stay strong for now and wait to have her own freak-out when Nino got his feet back under him again.
“How are you lovebirds doing?” she called with a cheerful, teasing lilt to her voice, trying to lighten the atmosphere.
“I think Nino has annexed me,” Adrien reported in amusement with a twinge of guilt.
“Yeah. You’re gonna have to pry him out of my cold, dead hands,” Nino snorted good-naturedly. “He’s mine now.”
Alya shrugged, coming to sit down on the bed beside them. “I always knew you two were sort of a package deal, but this is a bit much, don’t you think?” she joked.
Nino lifted his head from Adrien’s chest to give Alya an earnest look. “Hey. So…would it be really weird if I asked if he could stay the night?” He looked down at Adrien. “Would that be weird for you?”
“It’s not weird for me so long as it doesn’t make Alya uncomfortable.” Adrien looked to Alya for the final decision.
Alya pursed her lips. “I mean, the only thing that might be uncomfortable for me is that the bed’s not really made for three people. But I don’t have a problem going and sleeping on the couch if I wake up and don’t have enough space.”
Adrien grimaced. “I wouldn’t want to kick you out of your own bed. It’s already bad enough that I’m interrupting your quality time together. I’m sorry.”
Alya waved his apologies away. “Cupcake, it’s fine. The couch is very comfortable, and Nino and I can always take a rain check on quality time. I kind of get the impression that Nino needs to listen to your heartbeat for a couple hours or else he’s going to have a meltdown.”
“I’m not gonna flip out anymore,” Nino grumbled petulantly, resting his head back down on Adrien’s chest.
Meanwhile, Adrien’s mouth and eyes rounded into wide “O”s of understanding.
“If you’re sure,” Adrien gave a token protest only to be waved off again by Alya.
“It’s all good. Stay the night,” she insisted. “I mean, you’re already in your pyjamas, so why not? But to get back to what you’re doing here in the first place, did you say you had something you needed to talk to me about?” She glanced at Nino. “Was that, like, a private thing?”
Adrien shook his head and sat up (much to Nino’s displeasure).
Nino repositioned himself so that he was sitting with his back to the bookshelf built into the wall above Alya’s bed, his knee perpendicular to and pressing up against Adrien’s leg.
“Actually, it’s even better to have the both of you to bounce things off of,” Adrien replied, chewing on the inside of his cheek. “I don’t know what to do. I know Plagg’s probably right, but…” He paused, realizing that Nino didn’t know who Plagg was. “My kwami,” he explained and then looked around, realizing that he didn’t know where the cat deity had gotten to or what havoc he was wreaking.
“Plagg?” he called, voice a little high and tinny in alarm.
“Here.” Plagg floated up out of Alya’s hood, still munching on the chunk of Gruyère she had given him. He went over to Nino and landed on his knee. “Plagg,” he introduced himself, holding out a stubby paw which Nino carefully took between two fingers.
“Nino. Nice to meet you, Mec.”
“I dislike you least,” Plagg announced before tossing the remainder of the Gruyère into his mouth and flying off to retake his perch on Alya’s computer speaker.
“He means that you’re his favourite,” Adrien translated with a fond smile. “He pretends to be a little gremlin, but he’s a big softie on the inside.”
“Why don’t I get to be your favourite, Plagg?” Alya whined, shooting the kwami a betrayed look. “I gave you cheese.”
Plagg shrugged. “You’ll have to do a lot better than that. Luka keeps cheese in his minifridge specifically for me.”
Alya and Nino whipped their heads around to stare at Adrien.
“Luka knows about you being Chat Noir?” Alya accused. “I thought you didn’t tell anybody?”
“I didn’t,” Adrien groaned. “I just have perceptive friends. I’d been visiting him for maybe three months as Chat Noir when, one night, out of nowhere, he asked if I wanted to detransform and feed my kwami because I’d been transformed for so long, and I was like, ‘But then you’ll know my identity,’ and he was like, ‘Perfect Fifth…seriously?’ So…yeah. I’m apparently really obviously me…but I don’t know. Nino didn’t recognize me, and I’m pretty sure Kagami has no idea.”
“You hang out with Kagami as Chat Noir?” Nino frowned, trying to picture it.
Adrien shrugged. “She’s like me. She doesn’t get to leave the house much, so I come visit her and keep her company.”
“Aww,” Alya cooed. “That’s really thoughtful of you.”
“I know what it’s like,” Adrien explained sadly. “And I really like spending time with Kagami. She can be a little prickly at times, but she’s a good friend.”
“Who else do you hang out with as Chat Noir?” Nino couldn’t help but wonder. “I don’t know why I always thought I was the only one. Guess I just wanted to be special.”
Adrien grimaced, feeling bad. “Sorry. You are special…but Chat Noir actually has a pretty active social life.”
“Fair,” Nino sighed, shrugging it off.
A somber expression drifted onto Adrien’s face. “It was hard always being under lock and key at home, never permitted to spend time with friends or participate in group activities, so…I actually end up sneaking out most nights. Like, I’m over at Marinette’s all the time.” He bit his lip thoughtfully. “I don’t think she knows it’s me, though.”
“She definitely doesn’t,” Alya grumbled in frustration.
“Her parents might, though,” Adrien admitted. “I’m about ninety percent positive that Sabine knows. Tom is fifty-fifty.”
Nino’s frown turned skeptical. “Her parents? You hang out with her parents?”
Adrien looked down at the bedspread, blushing. “Yeah? I mean…at first, I just went over to see Marinette, but then it felt kind of weird being up in her room late at night without her parents knowing, and I knew they were super chill, so Marinette and I explained the situation with my father not letting me out of the house much, and they were fine with it. I mean, there are ground rules like no unauthorized sleepovers unless I’m having a crisis or don’t feel safe at home or something like that, but then they started inviting me over to cook and have dinner with them when they found out I eat alone most of the time, so…yeah. Tom and Sabine kind of adopted me.”
He looked up with a helpless shrug and a sheepish smile.
Alya clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Boy, you’re already getting in good with the future in-laws.”
“Alya,” Adrien groaned. “Stop.”
“I’m just telling it like it is, Cupcake,” she snickered. “You’ll see. Any day now, you and Marinette are gonna start dating, and you’ll be married with three kids, a hamster, a dog, and a cat before you know it, and then—”
“—This is me seriously asking you to stop.” Adrien shot her a wounded look.
Alya put her hands up, dropping the topic like it had stung her. “Sorry. This is me stopping.”
Nino nodded approvingly, impressed that Alya had learned better than to press Adrien’s boundaries. That was something she had struggled with at times: pushing forward once she got an idea in her head without stopping to think about how her words and actions affected others. He was really proud that she was working on it.
A bashful smile slowly formed on Adrien’s lips as he gave Alya a grateful nod. “Thanks.”
She shot him a wink and abruptly changed topics. “So, I’m kind of ticked that I’m the only one you seem to have decided not to visit as Chat Noir besides Chloé.”
“You run a blog on which you post articles speculating about my identity, and it was once your life’s goal to unmask me,” Adrien retorted sassily. “And I don’t visit Chloé because she’s practically the only one of my friends my father actually allows me to see whenever I want anyway, so there was no need. Plus, she thinks Chat Noir is a loser.”
Alya rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry, Snowflake, but the blog’s mainly about your partner. There may be some articles about your identity, but Ladybug was always my main focus.”
“But you were right,” Nino chimed in, causing both Alya and Adrien to turn to blink at him. “The very first identity speculation post you did about Chat Noir was that he was secretly Adrien Agreste. You even posted that image you’d made photoshopping cat ears and a mask on Adrien’s picture.”
“It was a joke,” Alya moaned, covering her face with her hand. “Everyone knew it was a joke.”
“Some people didn’t,” Adrien sighed.
“I thought you made some compelling arguments like them both being blonde,” Nino offered encouragingly.
Alya deflated, shoulders slumping as her head dropped to her chest.
“If I had visited you as Chat Noir, are you telling me you wouldn’t have badgered me for details about Ladybug and pestered me for an interview?” Adrien challenged.
All Alya could do was groan, unable to defend herself. “Yeah. Okay. I can see why you didn’t come visit the obsessive Ladybug fangirl. Case closed.”
“So, you’re not upset?” Adrien verified hesitantly.
Alya shook her head. “Nope. Well…maybe a little bit, but that’s on me. I do get it, so…all good, Cupcake,” she assured with a conciliatory smile. “…So…you needed to talk to us about something?”
Adrien’s eyes went wide as he remembered. “You will never guess who asked me out on a date!”
Alya’s jaw dropped. “Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, it’s happening!” She began to bounce on the bed, clapping her hands in excitement. “Marinette finally asked you out!”
Adrien’s wide-eyed expression crumpled into a frown. “What? No. Wait. Did Marinette actually say that she was going to ask me?”
Alya’s elation faded into confusion. “I mean…yeah. She was just over here a couple hours ago, and, when she left, I thought we had reached an understanding that she was going to ask you to get coffee.”
“Shoot,” Adrien hissed, brow furrowing. “Shoot. This makes things even worse.”
“Cupcake, you’ve lost me,” Alya confessed, rubbing at the bridge of her nose. “Marinette didn’t ask you out?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Ladybug did, so if Marinette asks me now, I have to say no, right? I can’t…like…go on dates with both of them?” he replied uncertainly, looking to Nino for permission. “Because that would be bad, right? I couldn’t, like, go on a date with Ladybug and then go on a date with Marinette later? Could I? At least until someone says something about making the relationship exclusive?”
Nino shook his head. “Mec. No. You’ve got to be upfront about that kind of thing; otherwise, they’re going to beat you up when they find out, and someone’s going to get akumatized.”
The hopeful expression slid off of Adrien’s face as he dropped his head in defeat. “But I want to date both of them.”
“Well, maybe when Marinette asks you out, tell her the truth and see what she thinks,” Nino suggested judiciously. “Depending on what she says, talk to Ladybug and see what she thinks. Honesty is the best policy here. Isn’t that right, Al?”
Alya was too busy trying to wrap her mind around the ever increasingly more confusing situation to hear at first.
“Al,” Nino called again.
She snapped to attention, hawk eyes zeroing in on Adrien. “Wait. Ladybug asked you out?”
Adrien nodded, wailing mournfully, “Why is this happening to me? For years no one’s been interested, and now the two most amazing girls on the face of the planet both decide to ask me out at the same time. I’m cursed, guys!”
“Wait,” Alya repeated, mental gears still stuck and refusing to turn as she attempted to process how her fool-proof plan had failed. “Ladybug asked out Chat Noir? I thought you two decided last night that, even though you loved each other, you couldn’t date until Papillon was no longer an issue. Did she change her mind?”
Nino’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline. “Clearly I missed a plot-relevant episode somewhere. Lady Noir is canon now?”
Adrien nodded excitedly, momentarily forgetting his woes. “Oh my gosh, Nino. She loves me! She just thinks our feelings for each other will screw up our teamwork, so she doesn’t want to date yet, but she said that after Papillon’s defeated, we can finally be together!”
“Congratulations, Bro!” Nino laughed with a wide grin, giving Adrien a celebratory clap on the back. “That’s awesome!”
“I know,” Adrien giggled. “And it gets even better because earlier tonight she came by my room and asked me out as Adrien. I think Adrien is the guy she’s been turning Chat Noir down for this whole time. Nino, I think she really loves me!”
“What?!” Alya snapped, cutting off Nino’s response before he could give it. “She asked you out as Adrien as Ladybug?!”
Adrien and Nino both stared at Alya in concern as smoke started to billow from her ears and nostrils.
“Um…yeah,” Adrien responded tentatively. “Are you okay, Alya?”
“No!” Alya shrieked, reaching up to grip her hair. “You can’t date a masked superhero! What is wrong with that girl?!”
Nino leaned forward and gently loosened Alya’s fingers so that she wouldn’t hurt herself in her outrage. “Deep breaths, Al.”
Meanwhile, Adrien grimaced. “Yeah. That’s what Plagg said too. Do you think I should text her and call things off?” He stuck out his bottom lip in a pout, obvious not too keen on the idea of cancelling.
“Let me think,” Alya requested, pursing her lips as deep trenches formed in her brow.
They sat there in silence for nearly ten seconds until Alya suddenly broke it once more.
“No. Don’t cancel,” she decided, reformulating her plan as she spoke. “Go on the date.”
Adrien looked to Nino and then Alya. “You really think it’s okay? I was a little worried that it’s technically lying to her for me to date her as a civilian without telling her I’m Chat Noir, but…”
“Well, she’s not exactly telling you who she is either, is she?” Alya snorted indignantly. “She’s being equally duplicitous, don’t you think?”
Adrien frowned, looking down at the zebra-print duvet. “Yeah,” he sighed. “The thought had crossed my mind. I think…maybe she knows me when she’s not Ladybug. That’s the only way her feelings for me make sense because Ladybug has been turning Chat Noir down for her mystery guy for years now, so if Adrien is the mystery guy, she has to know me, right?”
He looked up at Alya, eyes begging for clarity. “You know her, right? She wouldn’t waste years pursuing a celebrity crush when she had genuine feelings for Chat Noir…would she? Her feelings for Adrien have to be from her civilian life, don’t they?”
Alya bit her lip, worried she would give away too much with her answer. On second thought, so what if she blew Marinette’s cover? This stupid love quadrilateral they were stuck in had to go, and if Alya “accidentally” knocked it over like a house of cards, so what?
Gradually, Alya began to nod. “Yeah. You’re right, Cupcake. There’s no way Ladybug would pine after some celebrity crush for literal years. She probably does really know you.”
Adrien slowly released the breath from his lungs. “Okay. Wow. I mean…that’s what I thought, but…” He gulped. “Wow. You think she’s been right under my nose this whole time?”
Alya shrugged. “Maybe.”
Nino frowned as the pieces to the puzzle started to line up. “Wait.” He looked to Alya, eyes narrowing.
She arched an eyebrow.
Nino glanced back to Adrien. “Wait.”
Adrien tipped his head to the side interrogatively.
Nino looked to Alya once more, wearing an affronted expression. “If Ladybug is…” he sputtered, shaking his head. “What the hell is wrong with that girl?!”
Alya tried not to burst out laughing as she saw the true insanity of the situation register with her boyfriend.
Adrien, however, continued to look confused.
“Aw, come on,” Nino groaned in frustration, wishing he had hair to spare so that he could pull some out in his indignation. “I want to hit my head against a wall. Why on earth did she ask you out as Ladybug?” he demanded of his best friend.
“I’m…not sure?” Adrien replied uncertainly, feeling like he had missed something important.
“I swear I’m going to shake that girl,” Alya sighed.
Nino clicked his tongue. “Right?!”
“Maybe she didn’t think I’d say yes,” Adrien suggested, trying to ignore the fact that his friends seemed to be having some secret conversation in front of his face.
“Maybe.” Alya shrugged, too mentally exhausted to do more than that.
“I’m just worried that, if I do go out with Ladybug, we’re going to end up exposing our identities,” Adrien sighed, slumping back against the wall behind him.
“Would that really be the worst thing, though?” Nino posited.
Adrien wrinkled his brow as he considered it. “I don’t know. I don’t know if this is something that I can keep from her. Like you said, honesty is best in relationships. I don’t think I could be with her as Adrien and keep my Chat side a secret for long, but…she’s not going to be happy. The secret identities thing is a big deal for her.”
Alya gave an unconcerned snort. “Don’t you think she considered how it could put her identity at risk by getting close to you as Ladybug? She had to know that this was a gamble. Apparently, the chance to date you was worth it. True, she’s going to be upset when you figure out who she is, but…she loves both sides of you, Adrien. She’s going to be really happy that the guys she loves are the same person.”
“Yeah,” Nino concurred, giving Adrien’s arm a bolstering pat. “You two will deal with the fallout when the time comes, so don’t worry about it too much. Just enjoy your date, and when the identity reveal comes, it comes. You guys have a strong partnership and love each other a lot. You’ll figure it out.”
Slowly, Adrien began to nod as he took their words to heart. “Yeah,” he breathed, gradually starting to feel at peace with the situation. “You’re right. I mean, I totally see where she’s coming from with wanting to keep our identities secret and wait until after Papillon is defeated for us to be a couple, but…whatever happens, we’ll make it work. Our bond is strong enough to overcome this.”
He looked up at his friends with eyes shining with gratitude. “Thanks, guys. I really appreciate you talking me through this. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Sure thing,” Nino chuckled, giving Adrien’s hair a fond ruffle.
Alya winked and punched Adrien’s arm playfully. “We’ve always got your back, Cupcake.”
The comfortable, warm atmosphere only lasted for a moment. Seconds later, Adrien’s eyes snapped open wide as he realized he’d forgotten about a key issue: “What am I going to say to Marinette when she asks me out?!”
Nino and Alya groaned in tandem.
Nino gave Adrien’s back a supportive pat as he shook his head. “Maybe don’t worry about that so much. I have a feeling it will sort itself out.”
“But…what if she asks me out and I have to tell her I’m marrying Ladybug?” Adrien looked back and forth between his friends as if this was a genuine and immediate concern he was having. “Won’t that ruin our friendship? Will it be awkward if I invite her to the wedding? Marinette is one of my best friends, and I don’t want to do anything to mess that up. She wasn’t seriously interested in me, was she?”
His eyes fell pleadingly on Alya.
She sighed and shook her head. “You know what? I’ll talk to her. You have absolutely nothing to worry about. Everything’s going to be fine.”
“Thank you so much, Alya!” he cried, lurching forward to throw his arms around her and nearly knocking her off the bed in the process. “You’re the best!”
She couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation as she patted him on the back and shook her head. “Yeah, yeah. I know. You’re welcome, Adrien.”
“So,” Nino spoke up as Adrien and Alya pulled back. “Is that all the drama for the evening, or did you have something else we needed to hash out?”
“Nope,” Adrien assured. “I should be good.”
“Awesome,” Nino chuckled, stretching out on the bed and motioning for Adrien to lie down beside him.
Adrien readily complied and was summarily snuggled for his trouble.
“We were watching that new Netflix show Lupin,” Nino explained, resting his head on Adrien’s shoulder. “Ever seen it?”
“No, but I was planning on watching it,” Adrien replied excitedly.
“We’re only fifteen minutes into the first episode,” Alya informed, retrieving the laptop and waking it up. “If you want, we can start over and watch together.”
“Would that really be okay?” Adrien looked back and forth between them like an excited puppy.
“Absolutely,” Alya assured, cuddling up next to Adrien and restarting the video.
Time for a ridiculously under appreciated OT3, Alyadrino~
@ninovember
———————————————
“... The Super Friends? Really, dude?” Carapace asked, looking up from the video that was currently flashing away from within his shield. “You know that’s already a thing, right?”
“What, no. It’s not a thing… Right, Rena?” Chat Noir cocked his head with a frown, turning to face the foxy heroine. What he was met with was the most playful of smirks, one that suddenly had him drastically doubting himself on a ridiculously stupid level.
“They’re definitely a thing, Salem Jr. They’re like… the Justice League, but lamer,” Rena Rouge informed him, snickering. “So we definitely can’t be the Super Friends, as cute as an idea as that was~”
“Oh…”
Carapace watched as the cat visibly deflated, as though his heart had been entirely set on that idea. Man, why did the guy have to look so disheartened? Anyone else he’d be having a chuckle at. But nope, not Chat Noir. Not when one could easily mistaken him for a kicked kitten right now.
“Hey man, it’s okay. I’m sure you can come up with something even cooler than that!” Carapace assured him, and something in his heart fluttered as he watched Chat Noir visibly perk up, almost glowing. And apparently he wasn’t the only one of Rena Rouge soft ‘oh’ was anything to go by. Man, it was possible that they were utterly and completely fucked… but that was a conversation for later.
“You’re right! I can! Sure, the Super Friends may be dead, but I’m sure I can come up with the purrfect name for our mewtiful trio~” Chat purred on out, winking at his fellow miraculous users. Yet he failed to see the effect is had, as Carapace pulled his hood to cover his blazing face and Rena groaned and covered an increasingly fond smile with her ponytail.
“Oh! Maybe that could be it! Mewtiful Purrfection~ A name fitting of such fine and gorgeous heroes like ourselves, don’t you say?” Chat Noir grinned, in such a roguishly gorgeous way that the pair of them were rendered silent.
“So, what do you say~? My Foxy Fatale and Sultry Shelter~?”
Logically they both knew they should shut him down, right there and then. But logic wasn’t in control as Carapace nodded dumbly and Rena sighed from behind her auburn locks.
“We’re going to be the laughing stock Paris, but… fine. You win this round, you Coquettish Cat.”
“But if those nicknames ever leave this tower I swear I’m gonna yeet ya across Paris, dude,” Carapace warned, finally breaking free of Chat’s dorkish charms. “And your ‘Super Friends’ won’t feel sorry for ya when you’re limping the next day.”
A lie of course, and they all knew it.
Just as they all knew that something was swiftly changing between them, something mudding the waters of friendship and changing it. Morphing into something far deeper and complicated.
welp a few more blogs reblogged my content with tags invalidating the very clearly marked Ninoir and Volpinat as “brOTP/platonic” or whatever and mysteeeeriously only tagged the Love Square in poly-posts, so tonight I will be leaving you all with the following:
Chat Noir is super, super bisexual. He is VERY bisexual. So very, very bisexual. HE IS THE MOST BISEXUAL THAT A MAGICAL BOY CAN BE, LIKE, THIS IS SOME LI SYAORAN NEXT-LEVEL SHIT HERE.
Alya and Nino are both super, super bisexuals too. And they are also super, super POLY! And they ALSO both have super, super big crushes on Ladybug and Chat Noir, but can’t decide if it would be too creepy-fan to try to hit on them if they get a chance.
Fortunately, they have best friends to ask for advice!
“What,” Adrien says blankly, staring at both of them.
“I think it’s only creepy if you, uh . . . if you push it? If they say no?” Marinette manages awkwardly. FOR WHICH SHE IS ALREADY PREPARING THE LET-THEM-DOWN-GENTLY SPEECH, DEFINITELY, OH GOD HOW IS THIS A CONCERN IN HER LIFE OH GOD THIS IS GOING TO BE SO AWKWARD PLEASE DON’T LET HER FUCK THIS UP AND MAKE ANOTHER DARK CUPID PLEASE.
“Yeah, that’s fair,” Alya agrees, squinting thoughtfully. “But we were kinda torn, though, can you guys be the tiebreaker? Who do you think we should try first, Ladybug or Chat Noir?”
“Definitely Ch--” Marinette starts quickly.
“DEFINITELY CHAT,” Adrien blurts urgently over her, gripping Nino’s shoulders in his hands and giving him a VERY IMPASSIONED LOOK. “Nino. Nino, if you don’t at least TRY to hit on Chat Noir the next time you see him, I will never ever ever forgive you ever.”
“Yeah, that’s fair,” Nino agrees. He would probably not forgive himself either, really. Alya DEFINITELY wouldn’t.
And that is the story of how a week and a half later Ladybug finds Alya and Nino and Chat all enthusiastically tangled up in a make-out sandwich on a rooftop post akuma attack with less than two minutes left on his timer CHAT FOR CRYING OUT LOUD MOVE YOUR TAIL
