"I'm telling you, it was so amazing," Lila gushed, looking off into the distance. "There is nothing like the moment when the sun starts to set over the ocean in Hawaii. It's nothing short of magical."
"It sounds amazing," Rose said, her eyes dreamy. "I'd love to visit Hawaii someday."
"Maybe I can take you! My father owns stock in a private airplane company, you know," Lila said importantly.
Marinette tried not to grind her teeth as she stared down at her math book. She was pretty sure that this wasn't what Madame Bustier had meant when she gave the class time to work on their homework. Supposedly, Rose and Mylène had sat down where Alya and Nino usually sat in order to help Lila out. But all the three of them had been doing for the past fifteen minutes was talking. Well, that wasn't quite true: Lila had been doing 99% of the talking, leaving Rose and Mylène to be appropiately awed by the stories that Lila was spinning.
Because Marinette was pretty sure that's what Lila was doing.
"Oh my gosh, that would be incredible!" Rose exclaimed, clasping her hands together.
"I'd love to come too," Mylène piped up. "I don't like heights, but the way you talk about the scenery... I don't think I could miss it."
"Of course you can come," Lila said with a smile. "Of course, some parts of Hawaii can be dangerous. My brother almost drowned in the ocean."
"I didn't know you had a brother," Rose said.
"He stayed with my aunt in the United States. He didn't want to come to Paris," Lila replied.
'Or maybe she just doesn't have a brother,' Marinette thought sourly.
'You don't know that,' Adrien thought back, glancing up at her from where he was seated beside Chloé. Adrien was the only one working. Chloé was working on filing her nails.
'I know that Lila has lied about being friends with Ladybug and being your soulmate. I also know she's full of more stories than an anthology,' Marinette thought, trying to pretend that she couldn't hear Rose and Mylène lapping up all the details about a brother that may or may not have actually existed. She wondered what Lila would do if Marinette asked to see a picture of her brother. Probably panic and dig up some random photo on the internet. It was tempting...
"That's terrible!" Mylène said, pulling Marinette's attention away from Adrien. "And you swam into the ocean and pulled him out all by yourself?"
Lila nodded. "It was terrifying, but he's my brother. I just couldn't let him die," she said. "That's how I got my hearing problem."
Marinette's head snapped around so fast her neck ached, and before she could stop herself she blurted out, "Wait, I thought you had a problem with your eyesight."
Rose and Mylène both looked at Marinette in surprise, while Lila blinked. "What?"
"The first day of class, you said you had a problem with your eyes that meant you had to sit near the front," Marinette said, staring Lila down. She knew that everyone else assumed Lila wore contact lenses. Marinette was pretty sure there was absolutely nothing wrong with Lila's eyes, but she couldn't exactly prove that Lila didn't wear contacts. This, however, was pretty telling.
Lila gave a slightly shrill laugh. "Well, of course I have an eye problem. But I also have a hearing problem too," she said quickly.
"Then wouldn't it have been better for you to sit in the front row, where you're closer to Madame Bustier?" Marinette said pointedly.
"I sat here because - because of the acoustics, of course!" Lila said.
"The acoustics," Marinette repeated flatly.
"That makes sense," Rose piped up. "Luka is always saying that a room's acoustics have to be just right. It has to do with the way sound bounces off the walls."
"Exactly!" Lila said, nodding. "That's exactly right, Rose." She sighed. "It's really hard having so many problems at the age of fourteen."
Marinette had to bite her tongue to keep from saying something that would be very impolite. She was now 100% sure that there was nothing wrong with Lila Rossi except for an addiction to lying. But rather than say that, she just gathered her schoolwork together, picked up her backpack, and walked down the steps. She wasn't even sure that Mylène, Rose or Lila noticed that she was going, which was fine with Marinette. Adrien was already scooting over on his bench, pressing himself up against Chloé in order to leave enough room for Marinette to squeeze herself in at the end.
"You've got to give her credit. She's great at lying," Chloé said, finally looking up from her nails and smirking at Marinette.
"You were listening?" Marinette said.
Chloé shrugged. "Pretty hard not to. I actually thought you had her there for a moment. Too bad she's quick at thinking on her feet."
"Too quick if you ask me," Marinette muttered. "It's pretty bad when you can't even keep your lies straight."
"Maybe she really does have a hearing problem," Adrien said.
Marinette and Chloé exchanged looks of disbelief. Then Chloé shook her head. "Adrikins, you are so lucky you've got Dupain-Cheng. You would get eaten alive otherwise."
"Hey!" Adrien protested. "Just because I like to give people the benefit of the doubt -"
"It's gone way beyond that now, Adrien, really," Chloé said, her playful smile vanishing. "Come on now. Even you must be able to see that Lila Rossi is nothing but a liar. I'd bet a lot of money that not a single truthful word has come out of that girl's mouth since she came to Collège Françoise Dupont."
Adrien sighed. "Does it really matter?" he asked, looking down at the desk. He didn't like conflict, Marinette knew, though she wasn't sure if that was just the way that Adrien was or if it was a byproduct of growing up with an overbearing, controlling father like Gabriel. Or a combination of both. Either way, he was uncomfortable at the thought of confronting Lila. Marinette took his hand, lacing their fingers together, and mentally pushed comfort his way.
"It might matter more than you think," Chloé said darkly, casting a glare over her shoulder. Marinette followed Chloé's gaze and was dismayed to see that Sabrina had sat down in Marinette's spot. No wonder Chloé was annoyed.
"Oh hey," Adrien said suddenly. "They're unveiling that statue of Ladybug and Chat Noir today."
"I forgot about that," Marinette said, biting her lip. Adrien's sorrow hit her on a deep level, making her ache. The city was paying homage to two heroes who technically no longer existed. She knew that the city was expecting Ladybug and Chat Noir to be there tonight. Adrien had created a fake email and sent a message to the mayor's office informing them that the heroes wouldn't be there, but they had no way of knowing whether the message had been received or believed.
"Just in time!" Alya exclaimed, nearly scaring Marinette out of her wits.
"Al-Alya!" she stuttered in surprise. Alya leaned over her, grinnng.
"I was gonna post the interview after Lila did it, but I've been waiting for the moment when I'll get maximum traffic and tonight is the night," Alya said proudly. "People will want to know all about Ladybug and Chat Noir and they'll come right to the source. First thing they'll see is the interview with Lila."
"Maybe you can ask Ladybug to give you a soundbite about Lila today," Chloé said innocently. Adrien choked.
"That's... actually a really good idea," Alya said as Marinette facepalmed. "I think I'll do that. It would be the perfect finishing point to Lila's interview. Hey Marinette, what time are you going? I'll drop by the bakery to pick you up."
"Um... I wasn't sure I was going," Marinette said.
"You have to come!" Alya exclaimed. "This is like your first time seeing Ladybug, right?"
Marinette hesitated. 'I don't really want to go, but how can I say no?' she thought. Seeing the statue would be painful, but so was the hopeful excitement in Alya's eyes.
'Maybe it's better if you go. You might be able to make Alya feel better when Ladybug doesn't come,' Adrien thought.
He had a point. If Alya got too upset, she'd be at risk of being akumatized. "Okay, sure," she said finally. "But I won't bother going home first. The five of us can walk over together after school."
"Five?" Alya repeated.
"You, me, Nino, Adrien and Chloé," Marinette said.
"What?!" Chloé squeaked.
"Uh, sure," Alya said, shrugging. "The five of us." She retreated back up the steps towards Nino and Alix.
"I did not agree to that," Chloé hissed.
"You'll survive," Adrien said without even looking at her, and Marinette had to cough to hide a laugh.
Hi Nini! I'm looking for a fic where Ryan dies and Shane continues Unsolved alone. I remember it said that "the new Unsolved had a darker tone" or something as Shane continues to search for Ryan's ghost, but Ryan never materialized. I've been through all the "major character death" you've tagged, as well as all the "ghost Ryan." It would have been posted before fall 2018. If you can't find it, it's ok! Thanks for your help!
The Body That Lies by Lafayette1777
Summary: Ryan is dead and haunting Shane. Because he misses him, of course.
But also to prove a point.
Rated: Not Rated (T)
Word Count: 5,354
Commentary: Ah, that beautiful MCD that makes you wish you were the one dead. This fic destroyed me since the first time I read it and it’s also my favorite ghost story in the fandom. Like– we got some really good stuff with the AU, but this one is– like, kind of, the most… “realistic” and human I’ve read so far. The important word here being human. It’s really something else.
It gives you a grief that resonates with you, your soul, it breaks your heart and makes you cry. It takes you from the extraordinary beginning to the human ending, and it makes you believe at the end. It’s wonderful, one of the best fics I’ve read.
12. things you said when you thought i was asleep. & Ororo/Logan (because I can damnit. lol) [Also, I love how you write them!]
I’m sorry if this sucks, because I’m rusty. I tweaked this prompt a little but might do something else with it.
The faint indent in the now-cooled sheets irked her for a moment before Ororo felt the rush of concern for Logan’s absence. She peeled back the covers and pulled on his abandoned shirt left crumpled on the floor, still smelling his scent in its soft, gray folds. She summoned a gust of wind that snatched open the skylight windows and pulled her off her feet, up from her loft. Judging from the position of the moon in the sky, she could tell it was about three AM. The stars twinkled a greeting but gave her no answers as to where Logan went. She lingered a moment, feeling the gusts lifting her hair and cool her overheated skin. He wasn’t out on the grounds. His Harley Davidson sat just inside the edge of the garage door.
“All right, then,” she mused. “Maybe the den.”
She drifted down, landing soundlessly on bare feet, and she crept down the stairs, Ororo heard faint snores through the doors as she moved through the hallway. As she reached the ground floor, she smelled cigar smoke wafting through the air.
Logan heard the creak of the mattress when she woke and sighed to himself. Of course she’d come looking for him and expect answers. The Haagen-Daas container of vanilla ice cream yawned open on the table next to him next to his empty, sticky bowl while the cigar burned slowly to ash in the glass tray. The thought of a beer hadn’t appealed to him, somehow, and his girlfriend’s habits had begun to rub off on him ever since they became open about their relationship. This was both old and new, never a matter of “if” so much as “when.” Ororo seeped into his cracks and hollows until he couldn’t remember feeling whole without her.
“Is there anymore?” Her tone wasn’t accusing. Without looking up at her, Logan turned and retrieved a bowl from the cupboard. He scooped a generous amount of the melting goodness into it while she pulled up a chair. She smirked up at him, all tousled hair and puffy eyes. Logan smirked back at the sight of his faded shirt molded to her curves, long brown legs sprawled under the kitchen table. They’d been wrapped around him not even three hours prior. Logan slid the bowl in front of her and bent down for a brief kiss, earning himself her faint chuckle.
“Figured you wouldn’t appreciate me finishin’ it off, darlin.”
“I knew there was a reason we got along so well.”
“That ain’t the only reason, ‘Ro.”
She dug into the ice cream, humming appreciatively over it, sucking every drop from the spoon. Logan felt his manhood twitch again in response to the tip of her pink tongue cleaning the white cream from her plump, lower lip.
“What kept you up?”
“Eh.” He shrugged noncommittally. Ororo quirked her brow.
“Eh?” she repeated.
“Nothin’ much.”
“Okay.”
Logan sighed. He rubbed his nape and leaned back in his seat, giving her a strange, heavy look.
“Anyone ever tell ya that ya talk in yer sleep, darlin’?”
Her next spoonful of ice cream hovered just short of her mouth. “Not… up until now. Why?” Then she set it down. “What’s wrong?”
“Ain’t nothin’ wrong. Just… maybe it ain’t even worth mentioning.”
“What’s not worth mentioning?”
“Do ya ever still wish you were with Forge?”
Ororo’s brows drew together and she straightened up in her seat. “Hell, no.”
Logan’s eyebrows twitched up. “Ever?”
“Logan. Don’t doubt for a second that that particular ship has sailed. It’s never drifting back into the port.”
“Ya said his name last night.”
Ororo huffed.
“Well, ya did.”
“I dreamed about him,” she admitted. “Anna asked me about him the other day. She wanted to know if his old sub-routine that he programmed into the Danger Room was still on the database. I hadn’t even thought about him in I don’t even know how long until she brought him up.”
Logan grunted. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Eh?”
“Is it?”
Her voice held a faint lilt of annoyance. Logan sighed again.
“But ya dreamt about him.”
“Bits and snatches.” She went back to her ice cream, but her posture was wary, not the easy, casual slump of only minutes before. “It wasn’t happy.”
“How much do ya remember of it?”
“It was the night we met. Sometimes, I still think about it.”
“Ya never talk about it.”
“You never asked. It wasn’t exactly love at first sight.”
“Bells didn’t ring, huh?”
“I woke up in his loft. I couldn’t feel my connection to the earth. Rain was pouring outside, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.” Her laugh was raw and self-deprecating. “That wouldn’t be a problem for anyone else.”
“Guess not, darlin.”
“He was charming. Polite. Deferential. And guilty. That should have been a red flag.”
“Yer awfully good at ignoring those, ‘Ro.”
“Why? Do I have a track record?”
“I love red meat. Smokin’. Drinkin. Being in the thick of the fight. Ain’t exactly good news.”
“Those weren’t dealbreakers.”
“How ‘bout the killin’?”
“Nobody’s perfect.”
Logan felt his eyes spark. His hand shook as he reached for his stogie, and he took a long, hungry drag.
“You’ve never lied to me,” Ororo told him, after a moment.
“Ya’ve never seemed like the kinda dame who woulda bought it.”
“It’s not what you do,” she countered. “I like my men down to earth.”
“Oh, ya do, do ya?”
“Mm-hmm.” She took another bite of her dessert. “You know me pretty well.”
“Force of habit.”
“I hope it’s not a habit you’re ready to break.”
“Hell, no.”
Logan set down the cigar and gave her a sober look, but she saw the twinkle in his dark eyes when he reached for her ice cream bowl, hooking his finger over the rim and snatching it away. She squawked at him for a moment, until he hooked his foot around the leg of her chair and jerked it toward him until she was right beside him. Logan leaned over and transferred her to his lap before he took up the spoon. His flesh was warm against her back, and she shimmied herself against him to get more comfy. Logan dipped the spoon into the ice cream and waited for her to consume it. His arm around her waist was snug and possessive.
“The next time you hear me talking in my sleep, wake me up and talk to me. I won’t mind.”
“Oops. Ya missed a little bit. Right here.” Logan teased her with the spoon, daubing a little of the ice cream on the corner of her mouth before leaning in and kissing it off. “Let me get that.”
BlackBerries (Adrinette April) Day 6: Piano Lessons
Or see it on AO3: Blackberries
--------
When school was done, Adrien walked to the small park with his friends rather than going to his piano lesson like he was supposed to. Alya was bubbling over with excitement, Nino was amused at Alya’s antics, Chloé was sulking, and Marinette was somewhere between melancholy and wistfulness. Adrien took her hand, lacing their fingers together, and held it tightly as they reached the park and looked at the crowd of people, the stage, and the statue that was covered by a cloth.
“What a big crowd,” Adrien said softly, a little unnerved by how many people had turned up.
“Of course it is! Ladybug and Chat Noir are Paris’s heroes. Everyone should be here,” Alya said, putting her hands on her hips and surveying the group. “I’m disappointed, actually. I thought there’d be way more people.”
“If there were more people, your chances of getting a good picture would be a lot lower,” Nino pointed out.
Alya considered that, then nodded. “You’re right. I’m going to go ask the artist if I can get a sneak peek. Coming?”
“Sure,” Nino said, following her.
“Okay, what the hell is going on?” Chloé demanded, rounding on Adrien and Marinette the instant Alya and Nino were out of earshot. “How do you – I mean, you’re here…” She looked at them meaningfully. “Everyone is waiting for Ladybug and Chat Noir to show up. Shouldn’t you be… you know?” She gestured.
Adrien sighed, realizing that he should’ve realized this moment was coming. “Chloé… we need to talk.” He let go of Marinette’s hand and grabbed Chloé’s elbow, steering her further away from the crowd. Chloé went with it, but only because she was burning with curiosity.
“Adrikins, what is it?” she asked, her smile fading away into something more serious as she got a good look at his face.
“Marinette and I aren’t Ladybug and Chat Noir anymore,” Adrien confessed quietly.
“WHAT?!” Chloé shrieked.
‘Oh yeah, that didn’t grab attention at all,’ Marinette thought as several heads turned in their direction. Adrien winced, fighting the urge to hide behind Chloé. He didn’t really want a bunch of pictures of him getting out on the internet. Luckily, the ferocity of Chloé’s glare when she realized that people were staring was enough to discourage interest and people turned away.
“Our miraculous got taken away,” Adrien whispered, leaning in towards her.
“But… why?” Chloé said, her eyes wide.
“Because we were soulmates,” Adrien replied.
‘And because she knew,’ Marinette thought. ‘You might as well tell her the whole truth.’
“And because you knew,” Adrien repeated out loud.
Chloé’s expression fell. “You lost your miraculous because of me?” she said, sounding a bit horrified. “Adrien, I – I’m sorry.”
“Not just because of you,” Adrien said, taking a little pleasure in Marinette’s shock over Chloé’s apology. No matter what Marinette and everyone else thought, Chloé Bourgeois did have a heart. It might be misguided, and a little darker than most, but it was still there. Apologies were extraordinarily rare, but Chloé always meant them.
“I don’t understand,” Chloé said.
“I told you that no one was supposed to know our identities. I wasn’t kidding,” Adrien said grimly. He supposed it couldn’t hurt much to tell Chloé about the guardian now, so he added, “There’s a guardian, I guess, who takes care of all the miraculous. When he found out that Marinette and I knew about each other, and that we were already soulmates, he took our miraculous away.”
Chloé stared at him. “Seriously? That’s ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.”
‘Damn straight,’ Marinette thought.
“You’re not wrong,” Adrien said, shaking his head. “But we didn’t get a say in it. He thought that us being soulmates was a liability.”
“Then he’s also stupid,” Chloé declared. “Because you two were amazing superheroes.”
Adrien flushed. “Chloé…”
“What? It’s the truth! You two saved Paris like two dozen times.” Chloé huffed, putting her hands on her hips. “And what does this guardian know, anyway? If he’s so great, and his job is to take care of the miraculous, then why does Hawkmoth even have one?”
‘That’s… an excellent question,’ Marinette thought. She was standing with Alya and Nino, but she now turned towards Adrien and Chloé like she couldn’t help herself.
“I don’t know,” Adrien said out loud.
“You never asked?” Chloé said.
“Well… no… I guess… we never thought about it?” Adrien said lamely.
“You never…” Chloé rolled her eyes. “Honestly, you two!”
“In our defence, we only found out that there was a guardian just as he took our miraculous away. We were a little preoccupied,” Adrien snapped, a little embarrassed that he had never thought to ask Plagg how Hawkmoth had gotten a miraculous in the first place. But hiding the fact that he and Marinette were soulmates had always taken priority over everything else.
“Right,” Chloé said, her ire draining away to be replaced with sympathy. “So… what now? Is he going to choose a new Ladybug and Chat Noir?”
“We think so,” Adrien said. “I mean… Hawkmoth hasn’t stopped. Someone still has to protect the city.”
“Right.” Chloé nodded, her expression closed-off so that Adrien couldn’t tell what she was thinking.
‘Maybe she’ll be happy. She can like Ladybug again without having to worry about the fact that it’s me behind the mask,’ Marinette thought in an attempt at being light-hearted.
‘I actually don’t believe that’s true,’ Adrien thought back. ‘What Chloé liked about Ladybug wasn’t the miraculous. It was you. Your strength, your compassion, your kindness, your willingness to protect people no matter who they are or what they’ve done. Those qualities aren’t from the miraculous. That’s all you, Marinette.’
Even from across the park, Adrien could see the way Marinette’s cheeks reddened. She was radiating embarrassment, but Adrien could feel some pleasure in there too. He poured his sincerity back, wanting her to know that he meant every word. She was the incredible one, the one who had kept Paris safe all these weeks, and Master Fu would never be able to find a Ladybug as good as she had been.
‘Oh, Adrien,’ Marinette thought, now tinged with sorrow. ‘You were a fantastic Chat Noir too. You know that, right? I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did without you at my side.’
‘I know,’ Adrien thought. He wasn’t sure he wholly believed it, but he knew that Marinette believed it and somehow that was almost better.
“You know, if you two really want to hide the soulmate thing, you need to work on not openly staring at each other for several minutes,” Chloé said right in Adrien’s ear.
He jumped. “Wh-what?”
“The gushy, lovestruck staring?” Chloé said dryly. “It’s pretty obvious.”
“We’re dating. I’m allowed to stare at Marinette,” Adrien objected.
“It’s truly a marvel to me that no one has figured you two out yet,” Chloé said.
Adrien made a face at her. Their reasons for keeping their soulmate status a secret were still valid, or at least Adrien thought they were. If word got back to Gabriel that Adrien had found his soulmate, Adrien couldn’t be sure how his father or his fans would react. He didn’t want Marinette to end up hurt just because she had the misfortune of being Adrien Agreste’s soulmate.
‘It’s not misfortunate!’ Marinette thought indignantly. ‘I love you and I love being your soulmate.’
“Oh god, he’s getting even mushier,” Chloé muttered under her breath.
This time, Adrien just ignored her as he started walking towards Marinette. The instant he was close enough, he swept her into a hug and a kiss that made her knees weak – he knew because he was the one who had to steady her.
“What’s this about?” Nino said somewhere behind them.
“Don’t ask,” Chloé said wearily. “Break it up, you two. The ceremony about to start.”
“But Ladybug isn’t here yet!” Alya exclaimed. Her sentiments were echoed by a young man that Adrien vaguely recognized.
“We need to wait for Ladybug to get here first,” the man said stubbornly.
“Théo, perhaps if we start, Ladybug and Chat Noir will arrive,” Mayor Bourgeois said. “The crowd is getting restless.”
Théo frowned. “Mayor Bourgeois, I really want Ladybug to see what I’ve done. Please wait another few minutes,” he pleaded.
‘I feel awful,’ Marinette thought, biting her lip.
‘I know. Me too,’ Adrien thought back, hugging her tightly. Maybe they should’ve found costumes to wear. Plenty of stores were selling Ladybug and Chat Noir costumes. Even if it meant there was a chance someone might recognize them, or that they would be called out as fakes when they couldn’t perform any of their usual miraculous tricks, it would’ve been the kind thing to do.
“I really don’t think we can. We’re already ten minutes past the starting point,” Mayor Bourgeois said.
“But they said they would be here!” Théo exclaimed. He looked pretty upset. Automatically, Adrien scanned the sky for butterflies. But it wasn’t like he and Marinette would be able to do anything even if Théo did get akumatized. Nothing but feel awful because it was all their fault.
“We can’t wait,” Mayor Bourgeois said firmly, and Théo’s hands clenched into fists.
