@squirrelstone is a genius and @megatraven knows it
Marinette Dupain-Cheng laughed quietly to herself, “Well it had to happen eventually. It happened to me, now it’s her turn.” She kept her voice at a low whisper, unwilling to let Alya perceive her amusement.
“And Nino! You’re lucky he’s so supportive of your relationship!” Rose spun in place, clasping her hands tightly above her heart. “I don’t think I’d be okay with my girlfriend dating a superhero.”
“I actually think it’s really cool,” Nino said with a smile. Marinette caught the undertone in his voice -- the pure elation. Nino leaned back in his chair, “It’s awesome that more people can get to know such a great person -- even a superhero like Rena Rouge.”
There was a collective sigh around the class -- Marinette noted with amusement that Alya was running her hand down her face in irritation and futilely denied the claims..
Adrien Agreste remembered with fondness the brief amount of time in which Paris thought the infamous black cat hero Chat Noir was dating the famous picture-perfect model civilian Adrien Agreste. He had gotten a kick out of it, especially seeing Ladybug seem to get jealous.
She had denied that accusation, of course, but he was certain of what he saw.
He had played the whole thing off as a joke started by some internet rumor, however. Alya was handling her plight much differently. She had suddenly stopped posting about Rena altogether on her blog, hoping to end rumors before they took hold.
She should’ve known better. But everyone collectively came to the conclusion that they were dating, and that Alya was merely trying to protect the privacy of her girlfriend.
Not that they were actually dating, he knew. He had asked Nino as Adrien and Rena as Chat Noir. Both gave him different answers that told him the same thing.
Nino: “No, they’re not dating, but it’s hilarious to tease her about it.”
Rena: “No! No I am not dating Alya, she’s got a boyfriend, by the way!”
They told him that Rena and Alya were very close, and probably the only reason they weren’t dating is because of Nino. So Adrien saw only one course of action from that point:
Hook up Nino with Rena so the three could all be together happily ever after.
Nino Lahiffe was having a lot of fun. It was so easy to tease his girlfriend about the affair she was supposedly having with herself.
After all, Nino only counted two other people in all of Paris who knew Alya was Rena Rouge, and neither could tell anyone.
So, Nino continued to fuel the fires of gossip surrounding his girlfriend, both taking compliments for “being super supportive” and taking insults for “being such a pushover.” He let the negatives roll off him like water over ducks and relished in the positives, secretly laughing his head off when he could get away with it.
He even had Adrien fooled, which reminded Nino of the bummer that was not being able to tell his best friend about his or Alya’s superhero alter ego, but then Adrien would say, “That’s so cool!” and Nino would be lying if he said he didn’t like the praise.
He loved gossip, most of the time. But then, one day--
Alya Cesaire suffered for three long weeks under the scrutiny of all of Paris. Only now did she regret starting the rumors that Adrien was dating Chat Noir, or that he best friend was dating Ladybug.
Well, sort of regretted it. She half-regretted it. Maybe a quarter?
Okay, Alya still didn’t regret starting those rumors. They had been harmless in the end, and the publicity her blog had gotten had increased exponentially in the aftermath.
But now, after a few careless actions, Paris thought she was dating Rena Rouge. She was Rena Rouge, and she wasn’t so desperate to date herself. She had a boyfriend already, in fact.
A wonderful, loving boyfriend who should’ve been helping her out of this.
He would regret it when she started a rumor about him and Carapace--
Alya cackled as she sat down in her seat, ignorant of all the attention she was garnering.
Starting next week, everyone would be talking about the relationship between Carapace, action turtle man, and Nino Lahiffe, upcoming DJ superstar.
It would probably end with an odd love square, but no one would honestly believe a love square existed, right?
