Jun 30, 2025
Pride June/Raising the Bar
AO3
Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
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Pride June/Raising the Bar
AO3
Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Day 30 of Pride June: If I Had a Dime For Every Crush
The last day! As always, thank you to @maribat-calendar-events & @newdog14 for putting the work into creating prompts for this event! These event fics wouldn't exist without you ❤️
Link to AO3
Marinette looked around her room for the last time as she tried to make sure she had everything she wanted to take with her. She was only taking one suitcase with her so she was packing fairly lightly, but she was finding it hard to part ways - even temporarily - with some of the memories she’d made since moving to the States.
Her eyes drifted to the picture board that had come across the ocean with her (not really, she’d bought a new corkboard after moving but the principle was there) and she smiled as she looked at the pictures. It had been a very full year of meeting people and she didn’t regret deciding to open the bar with Adrien at all.
The first picture was one of the three of them at the grand opening, Chloé linking arms with Marinette while Adrien had an arm thrown over her shoulders. They looked nervous but excited and it made her heart soar to look at all this time later. She would say it was almost her favourite picture, but that honour went to the latest photo which was taken at Chloé and Kagami’s wedding of the four of them plus Conner.
The ones in between were an eclectic mix of theme nights and people that had impressed her during her stay. There was one of Raven and Beast Boy arguing playfully as he accused her of cheating at pool, an out of focus Cyborg standing in the background with his head in his hands. Marinette had snapped that one as a spur of the moment but she loved it. It reminded her that she’d made friends with Raven after her incredibly embarrassing first meeting.
The next pair of photos that caught her eye were taken by Chloé during the fateful night when Marinette had enforced a punishment on Damian Wayne. The first showed her squaring up to him, her tiny stature almost completely dwarfed by his taller, more muscular one. And the second photo showed just how muscular the man was, his shirt discarded as he bussed tables.
Her eyes drifted involuntarily to the painting on her bedroom wall, the purchase after speaking to Damian at the gallery one of the things she didn’t want to leave behind. She wouldn’t be able to just pop into her room to stare at it for inspiration any more and that made her frown. That was another lovely memory, Raven and Damian both having similar interests to her.
There were a few more photos of people she had flirted with and tried a date or two with, but none were anything more than a fond memory at this point. Except for one photo that made her smirk when she looked at it. Cassie - aka Wonder Girl - had been as interested in her as she was in the superheroine, and they’d hooked up once before settling into an easy friendship. It was casual and Marinette was proud that she hadn’t let herself fall madly in love with the other woman when she found out who she really was.
Looking at the time on her phone, Marinette cursed and, after another moment of hesitation, grabbed her favourite picture and slid it into her suitcase. Wherever she ended up next, she wanted to be able to start her new photo board with the one that made her smile most often. It might be replaced later down the line but it was her first time striking out completely alone and she didn’t want to feel too lonely.
That done, she dragged her suitcase downstairs to where Adrien was waiting for her. She grinned nervously at him, stepping into his arms when he offered her a hug and breathing a sigh.
“Thanks for driving me, Adri,” she said, her voice muffled as she pressed her face into his chest. It was the first time they were separating since they’d revealed their identities to each other and it made her both nervous and excited. And she felt the security of knowing he would be there for her if she needed to fall back somewhere settle into her chest.
“What are best friends for, Bug? I’ll always drive you when you need it, or defeat a supervillain, or break a law, or hide a bod-”
“Oh shush you,” Marinette laughed, shoving him and stepping back so she could pick her suitcase back up. “Do you think Conner and Jason will be able to handle the bar while you’re gone? It’s the first time they’re doing it solo, right?”
“Yeah, Jason is really reliable,” Adrien nodded, beaming. Because he’d finally hired someone, a guy a little older than Conner was with dark hair and blue-green eyes. Marinette had teased that he could be their secret lovechild, come back from the future because he was chaotic and sarcastic, but endlessly reliable and capable of impressive levels of empathy. The white streak in his hair made her do a double take sometimes, but only because it shone green in certain lights. “And I trust Conner with it by himself anyway.”
Marinette gave a bright laugh and followed him to the car. The ride to the airport was filled with reminiscing, loud singing to pop music, and one heartfelt chat about the future. And when they pulled up to the passenger drop off, Marinette felt the tears prickling her eyes.
“I’ll call you when I get to Japan?” she said thickly, hugging him tightly again.
“I’ll send Conner after you if you don’t, M’Lady,” he whispered fondly. “Go, have a wonderful adventure and learn all about different fabrics and stitching techniques. And if you finish with your travels and you want to come home, I’ll always have a spare room for you.”
“You’d better, I love that room,” she said with mock severity. “I’ll call as often as I can, and send pictures too! And if you ever want help with things like theme nights or troubleshooting, send me a message, or call me, or email, or-”
“I know, Bug. I promise you we’ll stay in touch, even if I have to get Superboy to fly me to you. But you have to go, or you’ll miss your flight and then Chloé will accuse you of being too codependent to go out on your own.”
Laughing at the absurdity, Marinette hugged him one last time before heading off for her gate.
Day 29 of Pride June: Lover Boy
@maribat-calendar-events
Link to AO3
Chloé took a deep breath and glanced nervously at Marinette as the designer rushed around checking the outfits one last time. Marinette was both of their bridesmaids and she had come from Kagami’s room which Chloé was very deliberately not mentioning because she didn’t want to make herself more nervous. But it was also just hitting her even harder that she was getting married in the next hour.
“You look so beautiful, Chlo,” Zoe said with a look full of love and support. “I can’t believe you’re getting married. I never would have thought it possible when I first met you, you know? You acted so crazy about Adrien-” the man in question gave a snort from across the room “-and you were so mean! But you really grew and I’m so so proud of you.”
“Ugh, you silly half-a-sister,” Chloé said, feeling moisture gather in her eyes. “Aren’t you supposed to make the speech after the ceremony? I bet you didn’t save anything good for it, did you?”
“Love you too, Chlo,” Zoe laughed, hugging her gently so she didn’t wrinkle the dress.
_ _ _
Walking up the aisle before Kagami left a thrum of nerves in Chloé’s veins and she was eternally grateful that she’d had years to master her confident looks over tumultuous feelings. She was sure she looked calm and collected to most everyone watching but her heart was pounding so hard in her ears that she couldn’t even hear the music that had announced her entrance.
The noise didn’t abate even when Kagami appeared to walk up the aisle next. She looked absolutely radiant, a traditional kimono of red with black highlights accentuating her beauty. Chloé was pretty sure her heart was going to beat straight out of her chest and leave her melted into a puddle on the floor at this rate, but she somehow managed to keep it together as she turned to the officiant.
The vows went by in a blur and before she really knew it she was being told she could kiss her bride. She met Kagami in a chaste but tingly kiss as all of their friends and family cheered them on. When she turned to look at them all her cheeks hurt from the smile that was firmly stuck on her face. She was pretty sure Marinette was crying, though not as hard as Andre and Zoe.
She turned her smile on her emotional family members and walked back down the aisle now arm in arm with her wife. The thought almost stopped her dead in her tracks but she somehow kept moving smoothly. It was incredible; she had a wife and she was loved. It was more than she had ever imagined for herself and she couldn’t quite believe it was real yet.
The beginning of the wedding breakfast went perfectly as well, the food brought out correctly and there were no last minute substitutions or anything else going wrong. If Chloé hadn’t been in such a state of bliss she might have been suspicious of the way everything fell into place. As it was, she was far too giddy and distracted by her wonderful wife to even think something bad could happen.
By the time speeches were over, her makeup was ruined and she had to step out to fix it with the help of her bridesmaids. Zoe had managed to save some of the ridiculously gooey stuff for her maid of honour speech and it had brought tears to many a persons’ eyes. Chloé wasn’t blind to the fact that so many people were having to discreetly fix their own faces but, for once, she didn’t have anything snide to say to anyone. It really was a perfect day and she was grateful that she was able to share it with so many people who cared for both her and Kagami.
When it came time to cut the cake, Chloé was blown away by the gorgeous, five-tiered masterpiece that the Dupain-Chengs had put together over the past couple of days. She stared at it in awe, hardly wanting to ruin it by cutting into it. But then Kagami was holding her hand over the knife and all she wanted to do was everything the beautiful fencer wanted. She was probably going to have to be careful over the coming weeks to make sure she didn’t agree to do something ridiculous, like exercise.
Their first dance was magical, the floor lit only around them as they swayed and twirled across it. Chloé knew Marinette was having everything recorded and a distant part of herself was so glad she was going to be able to look back on these moments for the rest of her life. The majority of her was still just stunned that she had married the love of her life.
The reception was loud and boisterous, yet still classy in Chloé’s eyes. And Audrey hadn’t left as soon as the wedding breakfast was over which made Chloé’s heart swell for an entirely different reason. And when her parents came to congratulate them, Audrey succeeded in using both of their names correctly. Zoe wasn’t anywhere to be seen so Chloé was even cautiously optimistic that it had been her mother by herself.
Really, the day was perfect, the reception incredible, and she was going to remember it for the rest of her life - and beyond. And she would forever cherish the woman that had made her life so miraculously perfect.
_ _ _
Adrien snuggled into Conner’s arms as they watched the two newlyweds leave the reception. It had been a wonderful ceremony and had filled Adrien with so much hope for his own future. If Chloé - who had tormented her entire class and city as a teenager - could grow and marry the love of her life, then Adrien was going to be absolutely fine.
He caught eyes with Marinette, who was chatting animatedly to Zoe about how well everything had gone, and she smiled at him widely before sauntering over to them. The look in her eyes was equal parts mischievous and pleased so Adrien couldn’t muster any particular alarm as she approached.
“So, Conner, I can’t help but notice that you caught a bouquet today,” she said semi-casually. Adrien narrowed his eyes at her but didn’t say anything, looking at Conner questioningly. “Didn’t even have to move that fast, hm? It’s almost like it was fated for you to catch it.”
“Yeah? I don’t really know what you’re talking about, Mari, but I did catch Chloé’s throwing bouquet,” Conner said after a moment, cocking his head at Adrien adorably. The grin on Marinette’s face spread even wider and she giggled at them.
“Oh, I suppose you don’t know that the person who catches a bouquet is meant to get married next?” she whispered loudly. Conner’s eyes widened dramatically and he started flushing red as his eyes darted between Adrien and Marinette. “So, I guess I was just wondering if you planned to make an honest man out of your lover boy over there.”
“Mari!” Adrien shouted, feeling mortified. She merely cackled as he jumped up and chased her around, dodging his every attempt to grab her.
Day 28 of Pride June: Making Yourself Up As You Go Along
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“Can you believe we’ve been here nearly a year?” Adrien asked with a sigh. So much had changed and was bound to change even more after Chloé and Kagami’s wedding later that week. He felt a pang of melancholy as he looked at the wedding favours he and Marinette had been tasked with putting together. It was small, a collection of trinkets really, just designed to remind everyone of Chloé and Kagami. For those who were uninformed of their superheroine past there was a keychain with a shoe coupled with a sword. For those in the know, a bee and a dragon.
“It’s crazy,” Marinette agreed, deftly using a thank you sticker to close the wedding favour bags.
“What do you think we’ll do while they’re gone?” Adrien said, mostly without thinking. His mind was focused on the work he was doing and vaguely considering the bar and the women’s two week honeymoon.
“You already know my view on things,” Marinette said with a suppressed grin. Adrien groaned and shook his head but didn’t address the comment.
“Mari, why would you keep bringing that up? Aren’t you having fun here?”
“Of course I am,” Marinette said with a small smile. “But you know that. What about you?”
“It’s been everything I didn’t know I needed. I love the freedom and I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time since meeting Conner. And I get to learn who exactly I want to be.”
“I think my favourite thing about it all is that I get to be whoever I want, from day to day,” Marinette said with a fond smile. “I no longer feel the need to be perfect all the time, you know?”
“I kind of get what you mean,” Adrien nodded slowly, glancing over at the door. “Being a bartender has been so…freeing. It’s something Gabriel would never have approved of and that makes it all worth it. And I know we mostly came here because I was getting over the mess with Luka but it really has been its own little haven, hasn’t it?”
“But…I’m a designer at heart, Adri. I don’t know how long I can keep doing the work for the bar as well as designing. I don’t want not to do the stuff here but…it might be time for me to take a step back from it all. But I really think you should stick with it, and give hiring employees a go because you’d be a brilliant boss and a fab bar owner.”
“You really think I could do it?” he asked quietly, running his hand through his hair. She nodded, not wanting to push him too hard too quickly.
“I think you not only could, you already have. I’m happy to keep bouncing ideas for theme nights and drinks or whatever. But you already do a lot of the hard work keeping the place running, so it just makes sense for you to give it your best shot, you know? But I need to be able to travel for commissions and I really want to see the world.”
“You deserve to do that,” he agreed, glancing around the bar fondly. “This was never supposed to be a permanent thing for you, I knew that. But you’ll always have a home here, you know?”
“Thanks, Adri,” she said quietly, headbutting his arm gently.
_ _ _
“What’re you up to, hot stuff?” Conner asked, leaning against the bar next to Adrien. Adrien glanced up at him and smiled, thinking yet again how lucky he was.
“Just looking at the resumes Marinette’s been collecting. With Chloé and Kagami going on their honeymoon, and Marinette looking to start travelling again I’m going to need the help.”
“Wow, finally broke you down did she?” Conner said. The words sounded teasing but the tone was concerned and gave Adrien a warm, fuzzy feeling in his gut.
“She didn’t, really. I just…she wants to be able to travel and I don’t want to be the one holding her back from that. So for her to get that opportunity I need to hire someone new, and I really do want someone that fits well here. I’d love your input, if you wanted to help out.”
“You want me to help out?” Conner asked softly, his eyes slightly wide. “Why do you want my input?”
“Well, you spend a lot of time here. If we’re going to stay together, whoever works here will need to get on with you as well,” Adrien said offhandedly. Because it should have been obvious to everyone that Adrien was so head over heels for his boyfriend that he was going to try and involve him in everything. “But if you don’t want to, I’m not going to-”
He was cut off when Conner leaned over and kissed him, his hand bracing the side of Adrien’s face. It was sweet and soft, and the moment was absolutely perfect. Conner pulled back after a minute, smiling beatifically. His eyes were bright and full of emotion that made Adrien’s heart flutter in his chest.
“You’re absolutely amazing, you know that?” he murmured as he leaned his forehead against Adrien’s. The confusion Adrien felt was evidently extremely obvious to Conner because he laughed softly and elaborated. “Adrien, you want to include me in your life, even knowing more about me and my past.”
“What in your past is supposed to make me less likely to include you in things?” Adrien asked, still confused. “The way you do so much for the world even though you haven’t really had any great role models? Or the way you listen to me ramble about anime and manga without making fun of me? Conner, there are a million reasons to want to spend all of my time with you, and zero reasons for me not to.”
“Not everyone would be fine with my parentage,” Conner hedged, fingers tickling the hairs at the nape of Adrien’s neck. Adrien took a deep breath to argue some more but was stopped by Conner’s next words. “But you’re not everyone else and I’m so glad I met you.”
“I’m glad I met you too, Conner,” Adrien said with another smile before pulling him into another kiss.
Day 27 of Pride June: I Won't Say Goodnight
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Chloé woke up the day after Kagami’s bachelorette party with a buzz of excitement in her veins. Marinette had been working hard on the events and Kagami had seemed so happy when she got home the night before. Not that she’d doubted Marinette’s ability to organise the best parties in the universe, but it was nice to see how happy and relaxed Kagami was after hers.
Rushing through her morning routine, she kissed her fiancee goodbye and waited for Marinette to arrive with the other guests. She had chosen to remain in the dark about what exactly they were getting up to, and Marinette hadn’t given any hints as to what she should be wearing so she’d dressed as she usually did.
“Chloé, let’s get moving!” came a shout from outside, Zoe’s voice sounding bright and cheerful. Chloé obliged and stepped calmly out to find a stretch limo waiting for her. It was yellow and black and perfect in Chloé’s eyes, even if she knew other people wouldn’t love it. It was a delightful nod to her time as Queen Bee and it made her insides warm.
“Do I get to know where we’re going?” she asked as she slid into the back seat. It was just after 10am, the sun already heating the day and being relentlessly cheerful. The weather was currently quite pleasant and Chloé had high hopes that it would remain that way. She would hate for her makeup to run because of rain or humidity.
“Yes, but only one activity at a time. If I have to change things on the fly I don’t want you to be disappointed,” Marinette explained when Chloé shot her a look. “When do our plans ever go completely smoothly? But anyway, first up is an obstacle course and race that’s set up so we compete with other bachelorette parties. We’re going to absolutely dominate them since I know how much you like being better than everyone else.”
Chloé couldn’t help the satisfied look that sprang onto her face, an almost feral delight spreading through her at the idea of being crowned a champion. As always, Marinette excelled at her party planning and Chloé was sure that the day would only improve as it went on. The only thing that she didn’t like so far was the lack of Kagami, but that was a given, considering what they were doing.
_ _ _
“This is perfect, Dupain-Cheng,” Chloé said, eyes closed as someone pampered her hands and feet. They had, as predicted, crushed all opponents at the race and the second planned activity had been an afternoon at the spa. All of Chloé’s favourite sessions had been booked for all of them, though they rotated through the rooms to ensure they all got time for it.
“Mmm, I thought you’d think so,” Marinette giggled back conspiratorially. The dark haired woman gave a sigh of content as she was given the all clear to move, and she examined her nails with apparent delight while Chloé had the final touches added to hers. They weren’t getting anything complicated as Chloé would need to redo hers in just over a week for the ceremony. “And I’ve got one more surprise for you before we get to your more traditional bachelorette party.”
“Well you know I love a good surprise,” Chloé smirked, completely relaxed. Really, they could end the day here and she would still say it was perfect so anything more was a bonus. But if Marinette had planned it, it was bound to be epic, and she wasn’t going to discourage being spoiled by her friends.
Stepping out of the spa into the early evening, Chloé admired the dress Marinette had made for the occasion. It was perfect, from the fit to the design, and she was determined to wear it as often as possible after this party.
“Okay, first stop on the bar crawl is Adrien’s place,” Marinette said, clapping her hands together as she bubbled over with happiness. At Chloé’s look she laughed out loud and dragged her over to the limo. “It’s where your surprise is, silly. Plus, I figured we could say hi to Kagami.”
When they eventually arrived at the bar, Marinette dragged her into it enthusiastically, pausing only when they arrived at the back wall. Chloé raised an eyebrow and waited for Marinette to explain, which didn’t take much.
“Look,” she said, turning Chloé gently to face the wall. It took a moment for her to realise that something had changed, the frame that held an old Justice League poster having been replaced by something more ostentatious, though still tasteful. “Do you like it?”
Chloé was speechless, staring up at the framed picture. She thought Marinette must have commissioned Nathaniel because the art style was familiar if not instantly recognisable. It showed Queen Bee and Ryuko, fighting back to back with a flurry of black butterflies around them.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her throat tight. “I love it.”
“And the night has barely begun,” Marinette said, a touch smugly as she turned Chloé around to see Kagami standing at the bar. “Now, you need to be outside in two minutes or you’ll suffer the penalties for seeing your bride-to-be.”
_ _ _
Chloé slumped against her front door as she searched for her keys, eyes completely out of focus and giggling slightly. As if by magic, the door was opened and she practically floated into the house. She could hear the buzz of something or other before she flopped onto the sofa with a grand sigh.
“I don’t want the night to be over,” she said, her voice feeling slow and muffled. “I just want to see Gami and tell her how much I loooooove her. I should go to our room and-”
“Chloé, Bee, you can’t go to Kagami because you’re at mine and Adrien’s place,” came Marinette’s voice, going far too quickly to have time to sink in for the blonde. “First thing tomorrow, I promise. Now come here so we can get you into your old bed.”
The following few minutes - hours? Days? - both felt far too slow and like they flew by. Time was a myth and Chloé was stuck in a type of limbo that made her wonder if she could fly. The next thing she was really aware of was the fact that she was tucked in bed and sinking into her luscious pillow. When she turned her head, she caught a whiff of Kagami’s perfume and it made her pout when she didn’t find her fiancée readily available.
“Night Chlo, sleep well,” the Marinette voice said calmly, and Chloé bristled.
“If I say goodnight it’s over,” she frowned. “No, I’m going to keep the party going, find my beautiful fiancée, and keep her all to myself.”
“What a wonderful plan,” Marinette said, practically cooing. “Sounds tough though. Maybe you should get some rest so that when you see Kagami again you’re not too tired.”
“That’s why you’re the brains,” Chloé murmured. And that was the last thing she remembered before her head hit the pillow and she passed out.
Day 26 of Pride June: I'm So Tired of Being Exhausted
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Marinette stared at the page in front of her but couldn’t really see it. It didn’t make sense, and she gave a sigh as she blinked her bleary eyes in an attempt to bring the world better into focus. It didn’t work.
Glancing around the room, she wished she could make herself go to sleep but alas, it eluded her. Why couldn’t she just pass out when she needed it? Why did her brain constantly turn over and over as she had random fits of inspiration, followed by the urge to create, - thanks Tikki - followed by a long shift at the bar.
She couldn’t even be sure she would make it to the coffee shop in her current state, not without either getting into an accident or causing one. Maybe she could message one of her friends to bring her one? None of the three that lived in the neighbourhood would do it, but Alya understood the need to caffeinate and was fairly ride or die.
Her thumb was already hovering over the call button when she remembered that Alya still lived in Paris and, therefore, would be unable to provide coffee. What a load of crock. Maybe Conner would do it? That all hinged on whether Adrien had told him about her recent streak of consciousness and whether the Super would be willing to cross his boyfriend to help her.
No, there were too many variables with Conner, so she was stuck staring at her sketchbook, unable to sleep and too tired to work. If only she’d made more friends while she was here, she would have someone to rely on during such a difficult time. But that would have taken even more of her limited time so it absolutely wouldn’t work.
“You should go and lie down, Marinette,” Tikki said, her voice firm as she floated right next to Marinette’s head. The designer was infinitely relieved nobody else had been around to see the way she flinched at the sudden proximity. “That’s it, I’m not allowing you to run yourself into the ground like this! Get into bed or I’ll start conjuring restraints and I’ll make you go to bed.”
“I don’t need sleep, I need to finish the beading on this bodice,” Marinette muttered mutinously, still trying to make sense of the squiggles on the paper in front of her. “I just need my design to stop moving about so I can start stitching. Do you know how I can do that?”
“Yes, by going to sleep ,” Tikki said with a not small amount of exasperation. It was fond, Marinette could tell, but it was there nonetheless. Marinette waved her kwami away, barely missing swatting her in her sleep deprived state. “I’ll get your mother, she’ll talk sense into you.
“You wouldn’t,” Marinette gasped, staring at Tikki with big eyes. Or, she thought that was Tikki. Either that or some other kind of floating red thing had made its way into their home and her eyesight just wouldn’t allow her to make out fine details. Maybe best she didn’t try to bargain with the creature anyway. “Fine, but when I’m completely behind on commissions and keeping up with the bar, you get to tell everyone why I failed.”
“Gladly, Marinette,” Tikki retorted, and Marinette thought she could hear the eye roll. “So long as you get some sleep, I’ll field questions with your loved ones and let them know about how you completely crashed after spending too long awake. What’s so special about this commission, anyway? I thought you weren’t taking anything big on until after the wedding.”
“I know, but I’m trying to buy that painting from the art gallery? And the artist said he would be happy to part with it if I made him a suit. He has a lot of requests and not going to see him in person is making it way harder than it should be. But I promise I put thought into this and I think it will be worth the long nights and days to be able to own that artwork.”
“Okay, but you’re going to make a mistake if you don’t get some rest,” Tikki said firmly, leaving no room for argument. Marinette pouted, and groaned, but ultimately did as she was told.
She was asleep within moments of laying down.
_ _ _
Several hours later, Marinette woke with a start and looked around the room in a daze. Everything was much clearer now that she’d had a (short?) nap and she was practically ready to take on the world. Not that she was going to, she’d retired mostly after the Hawkmoth fiasco, citing the need to be a normal teenager with a normal life.
When she finally braved looking at the time she let out a not-so-small shriek, realising it was practically the middle of the night and the bar would either be absolutely packed or completely dead. She felt a twinge of guilt as she hurled herself to the bathroom trying to do the impossible of making herself approachable while feeling like she could sleep a whole lot more.
Running to the bar, she was relieved to see that it was nowhere near as busy as it could have been. Adrien and Conner were behind the bar, chatting to customers and generally just having fun. Marinette definitely saw the little looks they exchanged and she was thrilled to see how comfortable they were near each other, especially since the mishap with their secret identities coming out.
“I’m so sorry I'm late,” she said, rushing over to the bar and jumping behind it. “I fell asleep and woke up, like, ten minutes ago.”
“It’s fine, if it had been a huge issue I’d have run over to get you up,” Conner said with a grin. Adrien gave a laugh, his smile bright and infectious. “But since you’re here now I kind of have to get going. Tim and the others are waiting on me.”
Both Marinette and Adrien said goodbye, Conner pecking the latter on the lips before moving at just slightly above average speed to get across the room. Marinette gave a sigh and used her now replenished energy to get stuck in to the work, thankful she’d finally managed to get some sleep.
Day 25 of Pride June: It Just Suits Me
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Adrien watched Marinette as she rolled her eyes at him checking she had everything ready for the bar’s first shift without him. He refused to concede that perhaps he was behaving a little over the top because he wasn’t . The bar had only been open without him once before and that meant he needed to make sure everything was set up ready because the last time could have been a fluke.
When he checked the glasses on the back were clean for maybe the third time, Marinette kicked him out. He checked the time and pouted as he realised he still had an hour before Conner and his friends would be available for their night out together. He frowned and decided he would head to the place Conner had suggested they go to and just wait the hour out.
After only half an hour Adrien was delighted to recognise Conner entering the bar and heading straight to him. He had a wide smile on his face as he leaned in and gave Adrien a kiss in greeting.
“You’re early,” he said when they pulled apart, eyes shining. “Sorry, the others won’t be here until a little later, but that just means I get you to myself for a bit.”
“Oh, I’m definitely not complaining about that,” Adrien said with a grin, jumping off of his seat to get them a drink.
_ _ _
Disaster hit only half an hour after the others arrived. Someone was breaking into a bank nearby and Adrien was confused when the others all exchanged looks and started making excuses to leave. It was peculiar, but it meant that Adrien was left to himself and, after the drinks he’d had, decided it was a good idea to call Marinette and tell her about the circumstances.
“So they left when they found out that there’s a bank heist? All of them?” Marinette said, sounding suspicious.
“Yeah, I don’t know what happened but-”
“I’m coming to meet you,” she said abruptly, shouting something indistinct to one of the others in the bar, presumably Kagami. “Don’t go anywhere, I’ll be there in five minutes.”
The line disconnected before he could object and he frowned at his handset as he realised she was serious. He gave a sigh and stepped off the main street, trying to be less obviously loitering. He’d heard horror stories of getting written up for things like that and he didn’t want to be put in jail just because he was waiting for his friend.
When he heard someone approaching a few minutes later, he looked over only to be surprised by a team of heroes he recognised as the Titans approaching. They didn’t seem to notice him, so stuck in their heated conversation.
“I’m just saying you could have stayed there,” Superboy was saying in an annoyed voice. “We didn’t all need to leave. And as the only non-powered one-”
“Right, but I’m the only one that thinks things through before jumping in,” Red Robin argued back, pulling his cowl off. Adrien couldn’t help but gasp when he recognised the person. The group turned to look at him just as Marinette appeared in the alleyway as well. The next few minutes were pandemonium.
“You’re-”
“-so sorry, I was going to tell you but-”
“-that mean that Cassie is-”
“Okay, can we deal with this later?” Red Robin - Tim, Adrien realised - said with a hint of finality. “We should get back to the issue at hand, but we’ll talk about this later, okay?”
Adrien and Marinette watched them all go, Marinette turning a shade of red Adrien didn’t think was possible without having an aneurysm. He didn’t know what was bothering her but he was dealing with his own revelation so he decided he didn’t need to know just yet.
They had made it back to their bar when Conner came to join them, his face more serious than Adrien had ever seen it before. Marinette glanced at Adrien, clearly letting him call the shots for what was happening from here on out. He smiled at Conner, trying to put him at ease. After all, he could hardly judge the guy for dressing up to fight crime given his own tendencies.
Before they could get into any sort of discussion the other Titans came to join them. Marinette seemed to stiffen slightly when Cassie came in before averting her gaze and flushing. Now that he wasn’t dealing with an immediate issue, Adrien narrowed his eyes at her. Unfortunately she was refusing to look at any of them and that meant it was up to Adrien to get things started.
“Um, maybe we can take this down into the basement? Just for some privacy,” he began, glancing around the bar to take in the range of people there. It was a fairly quiet night but that didn’t mean very much as people tended to appear later in the evenings sometimes.
“Look, obviously you know who we are now, thanks to Conner’s absolutely brilliant disguise of…just not wearing the symbol,” Tim said with a grimace, glaring at the half-Kryptonian.
“Is this a bad time to say it was when you took off the cowl?” Adrien said with a wince. Tim flushed as Conner let out a loud ‘HA!’ and Adrien felt a little bad. “Sorry. I probably would have recognised Conner eventually if it helps.”
“Yeah, well you try wearing that stupid thing regularly. I maintain the stance that Conner’s suit doesn’t do enough to hide his identity,” Tim said stubbornly.
“Well, I think it really…suits him,” Adrien said with a smirk, deciding he wasn’t too concerned if he gave away his identity to a group of heroes. Marinette groaned audibly off to the side but didn’t stop him. And he only had eyes for Conner at that moment so it wasn’t like it was going to stop him anyway. And Conner? His eyes were wide, and Adrien thought he could see disbelief in his blue eyes. “No, really, it’s just super .”
“For god’s sake Chaton, can you stop it with the puns?” Marinette groaned, dropping her head into her hands. “I swear to Tikki, if you don’t I’m going to tell Chloé you started up again and let her loose on your shoes.”
“Aw, come on Bug, my puns are purr-fect-”
“What’s with the cat and bug stuff?” Conner interrupted, looking between the pair in confusion. At least until Tim gasped and stared at them both.
“You were the Parisian heroes?” he asked in a hushed voice. “Holy hell, what are the chances of that? And why are you running a bar ?”
Marinette took the hit and explained everything to the four very confused heroes while Adrien moved across to slip his arm around Conner’s waist.
“So is this a bad time to say I kind of have a thing for heroes?” Adrien whispered, grinning when Conner snorted. He had the feeling everything was going to be okay.
Day 24 of Pride June: Too Hard to Resist
@maribat-calendar-events
Link to AO3
“Look out!”
Marinette ducked instinctively, hands flying up to protect her head even though she didn’t know what she was looking out for. When nothing came flying into her space, she frowned and looked around to find out what she was missing.
“Sorry,” Adrien grinned, his phone out and pointing at her. “Couldn’t help myself, you always look so funny when you think you’re in trouble.”
“Are you filming me?” she demanded, glaring at him even as she started moving towards him. His smile dropped as she zoomed in on him, his hands fumbling for his phone. She tackled him before he could get away, his phone falling to the side and she took advantage of his panic to mercilessly tickle him.
“S-stop it!” Adrien giggled, trying to push her away. When she didn’t let up he started gasping for breath and trying to appease her. “It wasn’t…even as…good…as usual! Mari…please…”
“The audacity that you even tried!” she exclaimed, moving off of him so he could catch his breath. “How would you like it if I tried to take advantage of your deeply ingrained instincts and took a video of you purring?”
“That’s a completely different thing,” he pouted when he was at last breathing semi normally. “Besides, I don’t know how you would even go about that so it’s kind of a moot point.”
“Everything alright down there?”
Marinette glanced at the door where Conner and his friend Tim had suddenly appeared. She groaned and shoved herself to her feet, giving an apologetic smile to the duo.
“Absolutely fine! Adrien was just being his usual annoying self,” she said, glaring back down at him as he failed to stand up. “And now he’s being dramatic because he didn’t win our tussle, because he’s a total loser.”
“Hey! That’s…pretty accurate,” he admitted, rolling onto his front to better get to his feet. “Hey Conner, wasn’t expecting to see you today.”
“Yeah, Tim and I were in the area and decided to drop in,” Conner said with a smile that Marinette noticed came out a lot more in Adrien’s presence. “Did you need any help with any barrels or whatnot? I know you prefer when I have time to do it.”
“That’s just because he likes to see your muscles work,” Marinette said immediately, eyes glinting as Adrien gave a muffled shriek. “But please, by all means go ahead. I can keep Tim company while you do, maybe trade stories about the pair of you.”
“Oooh, good idea,” Tim said, coming to sit at the bar opposite her. “Go on, shoo the pair of you, I’ll wait up here.”
Conner gave Tim a significant look which was dutifully waved away. It took only a moment or two for the couple to vanish into the basement and Tim gave a quiet laugh at the panicked look Adrien shot Marinette as he was leaving. They waited for a minute or two, Marinette trying to make sure that Adrien wasn’t in earshot before she started talking to Tim.
“He’s such a worrywart,” she said fondly, shaking her head and getting Tim an energy drink. He accepted it with a smile and put a ten down on the bar that she dutifully ignored. “Like I would try to mess up his chance with Conner. Do you know what a mopey kitten he was before they met? It was horrendous. But ever since he went drinking with your guy…”
“Oh, totally, Kon is absolute mush for that boy,” Tim agreed, chugging half of the can before taking a breath. “Honestly, they seem perfect for each other. Before I saw them together I wouldn’t have thought it possible, especially as he isn’t Kon’s usual type. But I guess that’s why it’s working.”
“I reckon they’ll get married before we know it. Eloping or grand ceremony for Conner?” she mused, thinking about the same for Adrien.
“Oh, eloping for sure,” Tim said easily. His body language was relaxed and Marinette hummed thoughtfully.
“Does that mean he’d be opposed to a planned ceremony?” she asked curiously. “Because I think Adrien could go either way. He doesn’t really have many blood relatives to invite, but he does have an entire found family that he is shockingly dependent on. And I don’t know if he’d survive not having them there.”
“For Adrien? I think there’s very little he wouldn’t do,” Tim admitted, a mischievous glint in his eye that Marinette didn’t really understand. If the guys weren’t well out of earshot, she would think he was trying to embarrass Conner. “So if he wants a giant wedding with all the bells and whistles, I think he only has to ask. And I’ll admit, I’d like to be there for it so I can do a really embarrassing speech about all the ways he’s a goof.”
“Snap! It’s one of the few small joys we can have when a best friend gets married. I deserve the chance to tell horrendous stories about him to all of our closest friends. And to his significant other, once there’s no chance it can go sideways,” she added thoughtfully, making Tim laugh again.
“It would be a crime not to get the opportunity,” he agreed once he’d stopped. Then he seemed to get contemplative, his thoughts hidden in the depths of his eyes. Marinette raised an eyebrow at him quizzically but waited patiently otherwise. “So you said Adrien doesn’t really have many blood relatives, can I ask what happened?”
“His maman died when he was a teenager and his father…well, he’s in prison for his crimes against humanity. The only people he has left are his aunt and cousin, from his mother’s side,” she said with a sad smile. “Felix is a special kind of awful sometimes, but he’s pretty loyal to Adrien these days. And while I’m not a huge fan of him, he’s one of Adrien’s only two relatives left so I put up with him as much as I’m able.”
“What the heck did his father do?” Tim asked incredulously.
“Oh, he was Hawkmoth,” she replied as casually as she could. “He’s insane but what can you do. Makes me very grateful for my nice, boring parents, you know?”
“Yeah, that’s…that must’ve been rough for him. Remind me to buy him a drink whenever we make it to a bar he doesn’t run.”
Marinette laughed but they were prevented from continuing the conversation by the return of the others.