Double Duty: Year of the Rat
Chapter 7 of Multimouse Appreciation Week
Read Ch 1 Ch 2 Ch 3 Ch 4 Ch 5 Ch 6
Despite the fears and responsibilities that were swamping her just a few short months ago, Marinette had never felt happier. While her sleep had not significantly increased thanks to Hawkmoth’s new trend of nighttime akumas, the weight of her responsibilities had lessened, and she felt more energized than ever. Deciding it was time, possibly even to move forward and take the fight to Hawkmoth, Ladybug decided that she needed to talk to Chat about possibly making some of the new holders permanent. They had been carefully watching the pairs, and discussed the holders lives outside of the realm of the miraculous as well as their performance while wearing it.
Rena Rouge and Carapace were easy to agree upon, seeing that they were the first two to receive their miraculous, as well as how useful their powers were. King Monkey was also one they agreed upon, but as a part-time wielder, only. Queen Bee had definitely improved in her attitude and was, mostly, trying as a civilian, but Ladybug wanted to keep her part-time for the present to make sure the trend continued, and Chat found that he couldn’t argue with her reasoning.
Both of them liked Ryuko, but after talking over her home life, both with her and amongst themselves, they decided that keeping her part-time would be for the best. Making Viperion full time was also a decision made with very little discussion. The power provided by Second Chance was highly beneficial, and he was someone who could keep his cool in tough situations. He worked hard, both as a hero and a civilian to bring people together, and to help out in any way that he could.
Pegasus was a tough debate, as both of them really appreciated the usefulness of his power, and the quiet determination of the wielder. Chat pointed out that he could be useful in sending Ladybug to get additional Miraculous, but when she reminded him that she kept the Miraculous at her house and in order to send her there, Pegasus would have to know her identity, he broke off that line of argument. Ladybug continued, that while she liked him a lot, he’d only been tested in two battles, and would like to see him tested a bit further before they made him full-time.
Chat Noir eventually brought up Multimouse. Ladybug immediately said no, for the same reasons as Pegasus, that she had only been in two fights, although, in reality, Multimouse had only been present for one. Chat disagreed with her point, saying that the first one that she’d fought in, she had basically been on her own since both Plagg and Tikki had been captured. Not only that, she had used both Cataclysm and Lucky Charm, successfully combining two miraculous with ease, before even they had done it.
Ladybug changed tactics, saying that, like Ryuko, Multimouse was busy outside of being a superhero. Chat shot back with the fact that he was, too, but he knew that Marinette would do anything she could to help out. Ladybug held up her hands, to stop the onslaught of information. The fact that Chat knew Marinette personally was a little frightening to her, but she desperately hoped he was simply referring to the times he’d conversed with her on her balcony, and that one, highly embarrassing brunch they’d promised never to speak of again.
“Yeah. She sits behind me in cla…” He trailed off before he could finish, seeing Ladybug’s stricken face, and realized what he had just admitted to. “In clarinet practice. We take clarinet lessons together.” He added hastily, and not at all convincingly. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have admitted to that, but I don’t think Marinette’s ever told anyone that she plays the clarinet.”
He looked sheepishly up at Ladybug, expecting to see anger or disappointment. What he didn’t expect to see was her eyes blown wide in shock, looking frightened. He briefly wondered if Marinette did actually take clarinet lessons, but realized that even if she did, it wouldn’t give his identity away since he didn’t actually play the clarinet.
“I’m sorry, Chat, I have to go.” Ladybug was off the roof and swinging away as fast as her yo-yo could take her. Chat stared after her, a little stunned, and unsure of what was happening as he watched the red shadow fade into the distance. Gathering his wits once again, he decided to head to Marinette’s house to apologize, and to explain to her why Ladybug may come asking about clarinet lessons.
While Chat was making his way towards everyone’s favorite bakery, Luka was startled awake from the nap he had been taking in the late afternoon sun by a sobbing bundle of Marinette landing on top of him. Gathering her in his arms, he stroked her back and hair, gently kissing her temple, murmuring soothing words until she was calm once again.
“You don’t have to talk about it.” He murmured into her ear. “But I’m here if you need anything.”
She sighed and relaxed into him, peppering little kisses along his jawline. “Thank you.” She whispered on an exhalation of air. “I’m trying not to freak out right now, but Chat just inadvertently told me who he was as part of an argument to make Multimouse a full-time miraculous wielder. Which of course I can’t be. Only I have no idea how to explain it to him.”
Luka lay there for a few minutes, thinking over the options, eyes closed, one hand on the small of her back, the other tangling in her hair. Neither of them noticed a black cat in the shadows of the warehouse roof, across the street from the Liberty, looking down at the couple on the deck, and sighing. They looked too cute and happy to interrupt, and Chat decided he would hunt down Marinette later that night. He doubted Ladybug was likely to both her right now, either.
Opening his eyes, Luka shifted so that he was sitting up, Marinette secure in his lap. “The way I see it, you have 3 options. The first is you continue on as if you have no idea. Pretend that you know nothing, and never say anything to either him or his civilian form. I chose that option, and I was lucky that you forgave me for it. The major difference was that you had no idea that I suspected.”
Leaning forward, Marinette captured his lips with hers, cupping his cheek gently, and running her thumb along his cheekbone. “Alright.” She asked a little breathlessly. “What are my other options?”
“Your second option is to let him know that you are aware of his civilian identity. I assume he’s aware that he gave you a clue as to who he is?”
Marinette nodded, then laughed lightly. “Yes. And I’m pretty sure he knows I didn’t buy his attempted coverup, either.”
“Alright. So the thing that gave him away to you could also give you away to him if he thinks about it too deeply. Is that true?”
She considered the situation and then nodded slowly. “It wouldn’t be as obvious to him, but if he thought about it in any detail he would know.”
“So you know what your third option is.”
Sighing, she rested her head in the crook of his neck, her warm breath tickling against his skin as she spoke. “Tell him everything. Confess that I know who he is, and tell him that I am both Ladybug and Multimouse. Then hope he doesn’t get too upset.”
Luka held her a little tighter. “You think he’ll be mad about it?”
“About the fact that I’m both people? No. I don’t think he’ll be mad at all. But the other night when you had that school thing and I was on patrol with him as Multimouse? He kept telling me how happy he was for us, and that he hoped, one day, to have something like that with Ladybug.” Marinette hugged Luka a little tighter. “He’s my best friend. My partner. Nobody understands this weird world of Miraculous as he does. We’ve been together since the beginning, and the last thing I want to do is hurt him. I know that he’s been trying to move on with, well, with someone else, but I just don’t want to hurt him.”
Luka hummed his agreement. He knew how much her partner meant to her. When they started dating, she’d been completely upfront about her relationship with Chat. She didn’t know much about his home situation, but she knew it was bad. Well, he thought to himself, she probably knew more now. What she felt for him was completely platonic, but anyone who had seen them together knew how important they were to each other.
The sun was starting to set when Marinette shifted in Luka’s lap with a sigh. “I should probably head home. Thank you for listening to me.” She leaned in and kissed him softly.
She smiled up at him. “You know you don’t have to.”
“I like to. It gives me an excuse to spend more time with you.”
Her eyes lit with an idea. “Yes. Come home with me. I’ll give you your miraculous.”
Grabbing his coat, and an extra hoodie for Marinette, he made sure they were both bundled against the evening chill before they stepped onto dry land. They walked back, hand in hand, and were just passing through the park by the bakery when a voice came out of the dark behind them. Luka whirled stepping to protect Marinette, but she put a reassuring hand on his arm. “Hello, Chat. What brings you out here?”
“I just wanted to talk to you Marinette, but I can see that you’re busy.”
Marinette looked up at Luka, and he nodded. “I just have something in my room that I need to return to Luka, but after that? Can you give me 15 minutes then meet me on my balcony?”
Chat nodded and took off, and Marinette and Luka walked the rest of the way in silence. They went inside and he greeted her parents, promising that he was just grabbing something from her room and would be leaving soon.
Once they made it upstairs, Marinette pulled out her yarn basket and pulling three strands of yarn, it opened, revealing a black and red spotted egg. At her touch, the egg opened, showing more than a dozen miraculous. Luka gaped as Marinette reached for the teal bracelet that represented the miraculous of the snake. She handed it to him, along with its traditional storage container. “Luka Couffaine. This is the miraculous of the snake, with the power of Second Chance. You will use it for the greater good. For the immediate future, the miraculous will reside with you, but when the need is over, you will return the miraculous to me. Can I trust you?”
Both his eyes and his smile were soft as she answered her. “Of course, Marinette. Always.” He slid the bracelet onto his wrist and smiled at Sass. “Looks like you’ll be hanging with me for a while.”
“Nope. None of that. My name is Luka.”
Luka looked over at Marinette, who was smiling at his and Sass’s interaction. She leaned into him, intending to give him a chaste kiss, but when he moved to deepen it, she didn’t object, pulling him closer, and burying her fingers into his hair. They broke apart when they heard Chat land above their heads. One more kiss, this time as sweet and chaste as the first one was supposed to be, before he pressed his lips to her forehead, and headed downstairs, as she climbed the ladder to the skylight.
Shivering in the cool evening air, she invited him down to her bedroom, where they sat on the chaise, side by side, neither entirely sure where to begin. Finally, Marinette took a deep breath and turned to face her partner. “I’m glad you came by. I wanted to talk to you.” Chat tried to cut in, but she held up her hands before he could speak. She looked at him, nervously. “Earlier today I figured out your identity.” There was a long pause, before softly she added, “Adrien.”
He jerked and turned to face her. “How? I didn’t even see you today!”
Marinette laughed. “You did, Kitty. And I don’t play the clarinet. You told me you sit in front of me in class.”
Chat’s brow furrowed in confusion before comprehension dawned. “Ladybug?”
Nodding, Marinette reached her hand out towards him. “Now do you understand why Multimouse can’t be a full-time hero? Or a very good backup one? You always told me how much freedom you had in the suit. It wasn’t until I put down the responsibilities of Ladybug and took on the role of Multimouse that I understood.”
She put her arms around her still stunned partner, hugging him tightly to her. “I didn’t think it fair for me to know and you not to. Master Fu was the one who always insisted on keeping secrets. I trust you, Kitty. With my life, and definitely with my secret. You are my partner and my best friend. You have been since the day we became Ladybug and Chat Noir. It’s you and me against the world.”
Marinette looked at the ground, then back up at her partner’s green eyes, and nodded. “I didn’t tell him, he figured it out. We were on patrol one day, back before we were even dating, and an akuma appeared. He told me that we needed Ladybug more than Multimouse, and I’d better transform. He even called me Marinette.” She shook her head, remembering. “It wasn’t any single thing that gave me away. He wasn’t even sure until he saw me as Multimouse.” She shook her head again.
When she was done speaking Chat reached over, hugging her fiercely. “Alright then, Milady. I guess I will see you at school tomorrow.” He was up and halfway through the skylight when he heard her call out from behind him, “Don’t you mean clarinet practice?”
He laughed the whole way home.
Tags @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @veunnotvuen @larasilvestris @kris-pines04
