Chapter Text
Lila walked down the street from her shopping spree in Le Marais, brimming with delight from all the cute clothes she found. She had decided to go for a white undershirt, with bell bottom black jeans, black boots, and a red jacket over her for the wind. Walking over to the Place des Vosges park, she hummed, checking her phone for the results of the new TVI weather girl.
Mirielle vs Aurore was a big deal for the whole week. Having such young weathergirls was a big deal within the school. Alya was excited, but Marinette was more ambivalent, sneaking glances at the blonde haired oy now sitting in front of her.
Lila was much more interested in the results. “Remember! There’s only one hour left to get your vote in for the new TVI Weather Girl! Vote now online!” her phone chimed with Alec’s voice,
Tikki popped out of her hobo bag, curious about the results. “Wow, Aurore and Mirielle as the new weather girls? It must be really exciting to see your classmates on TV everyday!”
Lila nodded, tapping the link to the voting website. “Mirielle’s a definite win. She’s got the girl next door look people like for this role, while Aurore tries too hard and alienates her fans. Casual viewers would probably enjoy the nicer subtype.”
Tikki blinked, surprised. “Wow Lila, you really know your stuff.”
“Well, that comes with living with a diplomat. Mama can be silly sometimes, but she has an eye for trends that comes in handy with dealmaking.”
Lila walked into the park, scanning around and spotting a bench to rest at. Sitting down, she set down her bags, and clicked on Mirielle’s vote tag.
Tikki nestled down in the bag, as a figure approached her from behind. Lila was absorbed in reading the voting results, and didn’t see two hands come to cover her eyes.
“Guess who!” a voice called behind Lila, and lila only took a second before bursting into a smile.
“Oh Alya,” she giggled, turning around. “You totally scared me!”
“Oh hi Lila!” Marinette came running by, a little girl holding her hand. “Great to see you, have to talk later, bye!”
Handing the girl off to Alya, Marinette went sprinting away.
Lila blinked, surprised. “Um, Alya?” She looked over to her friend.
Alya nodded, looking back, holding onto the girl. “Oh, Marinette had to do something real quick. So, I’m babysitting the little adventurer here.”
“This something wouldn’t happen to be blonde with green eyes, would he?” Lila teased. Alya shrugged, unrepentant.
The little girl looked at Lila and smiled a gap toothed smile. “Hi! I’m Manon! Do you like Mirielle?”
Lila smiled back, eyes squinting. “Hi Mamon! I’m Lila. I just voted for Mirielle online!”
Manon squealed, high pitched and excited, and scrambled up the bench. Lila hurried to move her bags so Manon could see the page. “Yeah! She’s so nice! I wanna see the results!”
Lila hummed, flicking to the livestream. “Oh, I think it’s starting!”
~~
Alec Capalldi raised his hands with showmans grace “This is the moment we've been waiting for! The viewers at home have made their decision, and the new KIDZ+ weather girl is…”
A drumroll proceeded to patter out while spotlights swarmed the stage.
“Mirielle!”
The dark haired girl gasped, ecstatic and blushing.
Alec leaned on the blistering Aurore, whose face was turning pink. “Man, she crushed you, eh? Better luck next time!”
Aurore swung out her arms, dislodging the man. Stomping off quickly, she was followed by Alec’s remark. “What's the big deal? You only lost by half a million votes!”
~~
“Yay, she won, she won!” Manon happily yelled, and Lila stood up. Alya laughed, straightening her back.
“Alright you little monster, want to go to the merry-go-round?”
“YEAH!” Manon shrieked, and off they went, Alya waving goodbye to Lila, off to find Marinette. Lila waved back, a giggle on her face.
Tikki popped out of her bag, “Wow, good for Mirielle! But too bad for Aurore.”
“That’s the nature of the business. If they don’t like you, you’re out.”
Lila stood up, ready to head home, when a loud voice stopped her.
“You! You are perfect!” A man announced, stepping in front of her. He was dark skinned, with purple pants and suspenders, holding a camera. “Please, we need another model for the shoot! The one we had wasn’t able to come!”
“Do you have a contract I can sign?” Lila asked, irritation bubbling. “I’m registered with the Daydream Orrus agency in Milan. My contract lets me freelance with different vendors on my own, but not for free.”
“Of course! The Gabriel brand sources from many different modeling agencies. We'll hook you with our paperwork team.”
“Can I at least put my bags down?” She asked, and the shopping bags were removed from her hands, two women ushering her to a changing stall. Lila had a clothing bag thrust into her hands, with the stall curtains zipping behind her.
Looking down at the bag in her hands, Lila huffed, and began to put on her modeling outfit.
~~
Adrien sighed, looking off into the distance. He had been waiting for Maria since the start of the shoot 2 hours ago, but she had called sick at the last minute, claiming she had eaten something wrong. At least that’s what he gathered from Vincent's outraged squawking.
He was dressed in black slacks, with black loafers. A black button up, with a white silk shirt. Gabriel Specialized in monochromatic designs, and this was a perfume ad doubling as a clothing ad.
Pulling his knee up to his chest, he started doing his new favorite activity- daydreaming of his lady. Her long hair, her bright eyes, her strong-willed personality, even her playful banter, it all made him sigh dreamily.
“Hey, are you my partner?”
“Ah, how silly. I’m even hearing her voice…” Adrien sighed.
“Oh Adrien! We have a new partner for you!” That voice was definitely not his partner.
Sharply sitting straight, Adrien's eyes focused on a girl with long brown hair in a high pony, with two side ponies framing her face. Her outfit was the Gabriel designed partner to his own for the shoot, a white short skirt, black halter neck top with a black bow on her back, and short white kitten heels.
In short, she was beautiful. But Adrien had met many beautiful women in his line of work. What stood out was the air of irritation he couldn’t help but pick up from her. Her eyes had no smile in them, and her mouth was in a close lipped smile, showing no teeth. Everything about her was fake.
Adrien’s lips curled up into a picture perfect model smile. If she would play fake, so would he. “Great To meet you, Lila! Thanks for doing this at the last minute!”
Lila laughed, and to anyone else it would have sounded charmed. Adrien was raised by the premiere actress Emilie de Vanily and renowned fashion designer Gabriel Agreste. It sounded dead.
“Of course, a Gabriel shoot would be amazing for my career! I’m just glad I caught the eye of your photographer there,” Lila giggled, winking at Vincent who laughed in good fun.
“Well, you are in good hands with Adrien! Trust me, this shoot will make you look better than mama’s fresh made spaghetti and meatballs! We have an hour left on the shoot, let's make the most of it! Adrien, one leg up, Lila, sit here- wait, no, more left…”
For the next 30 minutes, the two students practiced their positions on the fountain, posing this way and that in the Gabriel clothing provided. Adrien did his best not to touch her.
“We’ll take a 15! Get some water, everyone!” Vincent announced.
Lila and Adrien slumped, each handed a paper cup. There was silence for a bit, and then Adrien spoke.
“So how long have you been doing this?”
Lila turned to him, a practiced smile on her face. “This, you mean modeling? Well, ever since I was…five? Five sounds about right.”
“Wow, for so long? Your parents must really be proud.”
“Actually, Dad doesn’t like it. ‘It’s way too dangerous for a young girl! Who knows what kinds of sketchy people it’ll attract?’” Lila mocked, in the low bass of her father. Adrian couldn’t help but laugh. Lila laughed quiet, less of an action of enjoyment and more performative. It would be weird to point out how practiced she was, right? Normal people probably didn’t act like this.
“But my mom’s super supportive. She wants me to explore myself and my world, and it’s also a good starter job,” Lila finished, before pivoting to, “what about you? I know how popular you are, but how long have you been popular?”
Adrien blinked, thrown off. “Well, I really blew up around last year, but I’ve been doing this since…forever. Wow.”
“Hm?”
“Nothing, just, didn’t realize how long I’ve been doing this.”
“Is that a good thing?” Lila asked. Adrien couldn't really respond, simply shrugging.
“Well, maybe you’ll find something new to do at school. You’re in Ms. Bustier’s class, aren’t you? We’re classmates.”
Adrien's eyes widened. “Oh! Wow, uh, I didn't realize. I’m sor-”
“Oh gosh, don’t apologize! We were never introduced!” Lila giggled. High and annoying, like it was designed to be grating. “Besides, we have class tomorrow to-”
BOOM! A massive icicle crashed into the grassy yard, shaking the earth. Adrien and Lila both fell over, knocked off balance by the quaking earth.
“Hahaha! That’s what you get!” a high voice mocked. Above them, a girl in purple with an umbrella and pigtails swung around in the air. “Those who voted for Mirielle should be punished! So I'll punish everyone!”
Ah, Adrien thought, I’ll have to save that conversation for another day.
~~
“We’re live on the scene! This is Nadja Chamack, reporting in! It seems that the new monster has taken the form of a school girl, age unverifiable! We’re providing aerial vision- There they are! Dame Tache and Chat Noir, spotted!”
~~
“So, what can we expect, M’lady?!” Chat asked, twirling his bow to block icicles. Tache hunched behind him, using her yoyo to launch cars to knock her out of the air.
“Her akuma is in her umbrella, I'm sure of it," she replied, pulling in her yoyo. “We need to get her close range! Chat, we need to get her talking! Can you manage that?”
Chat grinned. “M’lady, that’s my specialty. One akuma for easy pickings, coming up!”
Both broke away from their spot, dashing to different directions. Chat hopped up to a rooftop, Tache ducking out of sight.
“So fair maiden, what’s with the icy treatment? It’s a pur-fect summer day!” Chat punned, moving out of the way of a gust of wind.
“A perfect day for who? Everyone else? What about me?!” She yelled, swinging her parasol. A flash of ice shot by Chat.
“Today was supposed to be my special day! Mirielle didn’t even have any acting experience! What was it all for!!?”
To the left, Chat swung his baton, smacking a block of ice away from a cowing construction worker.
“But Hawk Moth helped me! He gave me all this power to be the best weather girl! Me, not Mirielle!”
So it was Aurore. Chat grimaced, moving further along the rooftops, keeping her attention on him.
“Well, then everyone should know it, right?” a voice chirped out. A red blur twisted around the girl, binding her arms together.
“Hup-” and with great strength, Dame Tache swung the bound akuma to crash into the rooftop.
But the akuma was quick, blasting a gust of wind at the heroine. Tache was forced to let the akuma go, dodging the block of ice crashing down.
“Tache!” cried Chat Noir.
“We got her!” Tache called back. “Get her to the broadcast tower, hurry!”
“But-”
“We’ve got her pinned! Chat, I need you!”
And what could Chat Noir say to that?
~~
Stormy Weather flung herself through the air, dodging batons and string alike to get to the broadcast station. She had overheard that stupid bug yell something about the broadcast station, and what an idea!
Showing the whole world that she was the better weather girl? Too good to pass up!
The miraculous, whispered the voice in her head. Get the miraculous first!
She ignored it, heading right to the roof of the station. The bug and cat could come later, but her spot of fame wouldn’t last forever.
She landed atop the broadcasting tower roof, twirling her parasol about to generate snow flurries. The cameramen were yelling something, running away in fear. It felt good to be powerful.
The light on the camera was blinking, and Stormy Weather grinned wide for her audience. “Hello, viewers! Here's the latest forecast for the first day of summer. Looks like Mother Nature had a change of plans. Summer vacation is officially over!”
With a flick of her wrist, her umbrella shot skywards, summoning storms of thunderous clouds. They funnelled around the building, obscuring a red and black pair from launching themselves into the building through a window.
“Come and get me, Bug Girl and Catboy! I’ll give you a weather forecast you’ll never forget!”
~~
“Oof!”
Chat whirled around as Tache tripped over a set of wires. They were in the dark studio, attempting to sneak their way up to the roof.
“Need a hand, bugaboo?” He teased, bending down and grabbing Tache’s hand.
“Please,” she grumbled. It was very cute. “Ugh, why couldn’t I get night vision too?”
“Too? How’d you know I have night vision?” Chat blinked. They had only ever run through their base powers. How did she know about his extra power?
“You have night vision?” She looked up, with outrage on her face.”Oh come on! I can’t even get flight or wings, and that’s so a ladybug power! No fair!”
Oh. Chat snickered, leading his lady up the stairs. He was overthinking it. Up 3 flights of stairs, Chat spotted the red door to the roof.
“Here!” he called out, “the door is up here! Get ready.” His hand was squeezed in response.
With that, the pair kicked open the door to the roof, and were immediately chilled from the icy cold storm Stormy Weather had summoned around the rooftop.
“Glad you could make it, superlosers! You’re here for a special live broadcast! Today’s weather is an ice storm!” she announced, waving her parasol.
Large ice lances formed in the air, aiming at the superheroes. The next few seconds were frantic dodging, avoiding the hail of ice bullets that Stormy Weather flung with deadly aim.
Chat hopped on top of the cooling vents, sharply dodging a particularly sharp ice dagger. He could see a red blur over the stair roof, twirling a yoyo as a shield. But chat couldn’t pull his baton out, he needed his hands free to move and leap.
“Tache, Lucky charm! I’ll distract her!” he yelled, and leaped. He soared high above the purple akuma, landing behind her. Finally, enough room to get his-and it was smacked out of his hand. Alright. Plan B.
Hissing, Chat Noir struck out with his claws, forcing Stormy Weather on the back. He heard Tache call for her Lucky Charm behind him as he managed to get a grip on the parasol.
“Cata-OW!” chat stumbled back, a bruise forming where Stormy Weather had landed a good punch right to his eye. “Watch the face! It’s insured!”
“Ha! Bill it to my manager!” She sneered, flying farther back, summoning more icicles.
Chat and Tache fell back, side by side. “Got the Charm?” He asked, teeth beginning to chatter from the temperature drop. Tache held up a towel in response.
“Well, they do say a towel is the most massively useful item to bring with you,” he quipped.
Tache giggled. “Book quotes aside, I have a plan. The billboard”, she pointed, and there was a billboard with his own stupid face on it, ugh, “we need a big bang. Can you help?”
“M’lady, that’s my job,” Chat grinned, and the two were off. Chat dove under flying ice daggers, jerking his head sharply when a dagger nearly got his human ears. He saw a red blurr on the opposite side ducking and jumping to a vent, but the iron pole was coming up, and his hand was stretching out and the words “cataclysm!” came out in a breath-
And crackling, acidic energy rotted the iron pole, making it crack and bend and fall on the rooftop. Both girls, he could now tell, were locked in hand to hand, tugging at the umbrella, when they looked up.
Tache took advantage of the akuma’s fear to bust out the towel, tying it around her opponent’s hands and dragging her to a small strip of roof that wouldn’t be destroyed. However, this caused the akuma to drop her umbrella. Tache ran, dragging the akuma behind her (apparently the loss of the umbrella meant the loss of her powers). But Chat couldn’t follow them, with the sign crashing down and kicking up dust and dirt.
“M’lady!” Chat cried out, but quicker than a flash, a red hand waved, signaling the two were safe. As the dust settled, Chat could see Tache sitting on Stormy Weather’s back, her jerking and kicking. Tache was keeping a tight grip on the girl.
“Mind taking her off my hands?” Tache grinned up at him. Chat couldn’t help smiling back.
“It would be my honor, Spots.”
The two switched places seamlessly, and just in time, as a crackling black butterfly rose out of the wreckage.
“No more evildoing for you, petite papillon. Time to de-evilize!” And with that, the Akuma was caught, and released, white and unakumatized.
“Au Revoir, petit Papillon. Miraculous Ladybug!” and with that, the magic filled the air, fixing the billboard, the damaged buildings, and the overturned cars in the road.
The akuma beneath Chat slumped, and pink butterflies overtook it, before releasing a blonde girl with pigtails. Chat immediately got off, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Miss, are you alright?”
“Ugh, I-I’m fine. I was in an elevator? How did i get here?” the girl looked up, scared and confused.
Tache came over, and put her hands on her shoulder. “You were taken advantage of by Hawkmoth. He used your emotions against you and turned you into an akuma.”
“No,” the blonde breathed out. “Oh no, this is bad! I’m a weather girl, This looks so bad for me-!”
“Breathe! It’s okay, no one was hurt, you were controlled against your will! Don’t worry, all the damage was fixed!” Tache interrupted, trying to stop a panic attack. Aurore’s breath was still hiccuping, but she seemed to be getting control of her breath with that last bit of information.
“Anyone can be taken advantage of by Hawkmoth. It isn’t a slight against you to have been taken advantage of. You should go home and rest,” Chat spoke, removing his hands from the girl's shoulders.
Aurore nodded, murmuring a quiet, shell-shocked “thank you,” before running to the stairs. As she left, both heroes let out big sighs.
“Oof, that was a rough one. How’s your face?” Tache asked, moving to see.
“All cured, thanks to Paris’s most beautiful bug,” Chat purred, cupping his face in his hands.
Tache rolled her eyes, but a smile still made its way on her face. “Tease,” she quipped back, but Chat fluttered his eyes, making her burst into giggles.
The joy was stopped by the beeping of their miraculous. Both looked to each other, before smiling and bumping fists. “Pound it!”
~~
Adrien landed behind the camera crates, making a show of stumbling out from them. Vincent spotted him right away.
“Adrien! Come over! We have a photoshoot to continue! Now where is Ms. Rossi?”
“Here!” a tanned hand shot up behind bushes, Lila stumbling out. No stains on the fabric, just twigs and leaves near artfully tangled in her hair. The two makeup assistants, Christie and Jasper, bothe descended upon her like birds of prey, tugging her behind the changing screen.
Adrien wasn’t exempt, with Vincent reorganizing his clothing and ruffling his hair to artful messiness rather than real messiness.
“Putain de merde, that weather witch completely ate up the sunlight! Ugh, we only have enough time to take a few more photos, we’ll have to reschedule with your father for another time slot. Adrien, put on the second outfit, We’ll get Lila in the red…”
Say what you will about Vincent, he was a professional photographer. In the span of 5 minutes, he set up a new set, got the two models in new ensembles, and posing on a bench.
Lila didn’t say anything, swatting away Christie's long black nails. “It’s fine, let’s just keep going” she stated. There was no giggle in her voice. Adrien preferred it that way, having her be less fake.
“I’m here for the shoot!” a voice called out. Oh, and that was Marinette, wasn’t it? From the other day? She had been upset, but had forgiven him pretty easily when he gave her his umbrella. She seemed nice.
Sure enough, she approached with a friend and a kid in tow. The other girl- Allie? They hadn’t been introduced- waved at Lila, who waved back.
“What’s going on?” He whispered to Lila. She shrugged, but her gaze moved from the girls to Jasper, who was looking panicked and had started whispering something to Vincent.
Vincent rolled his eyes, waving her away. “Yes yes, sorry to say we have a professional model filing in-wait. Who is this?”
His remark was aimed at the little girl in pigtails, who looked up with her big eyes.
“I’m Manon!” she announced. Vincent nodded, “well Manon, how would you like to take part in a photoshoot today? Like a real model?”
“Can I? Can I? Marinette, pleeeeeease??” The girl immediately lit up, pulling on her babysitter's arm hard.
Marinette was doing a very poor job of hiding her disappointment and irritation. “Wait, Manon, surely i’d be a better-”
“Nonsense! Having a younger child around accentuates the looks for the photoshoot! A family picture would look absolutely marvelous!”
Whoa, wait- Adrien and Lila? A family? The burn in Adriens cheeks turned his attention away from Lila fully, focusing on the mess happening before his eyes. “Vincent, I don’t think Lila would be comfortable with-”
“It’s fine,” Lila spoke up, raising her hand as she sat, legs crossed on the fountain. “It doesn’t bother me to add another model. Adrien, what do you think?”
She spoke as though there was nothing important about the situation. Adrien envied her coolheaded poise for a second (she acted just like father), before turning back to all the curious eyes.
He shrugged. “Well, if the lady wants…” he trailed off, feeling like a pinned insect underneath the spotlight. He couldn’t bite his lip, that would just be a week of lip treatments, and he couldn’t scratch his arms or the assistants would smother it in lotion. Ugh, the time couldn’t go faster?
“We only have a few minutes left right? We’ll have to be quick, can you do that Manon?” Lila was talking to the little girl, who nodded her head rapidly. Lila grinned back at her, before picking her up and putting her on the fountain ledge, holding her hand. “Adrien, can you help me?” She asked, looking to him.
“Yes, I see the vision! Adrien, take the girls other hand!” Vincent called out, camera aimed on hte girls. Adrien took Manon’s other hand, sitting down on the ledge.
For the next few minutes, Adrien, Lila and Manon took pictures around the fountain, while the other two sat in the back, one sulking, the other recording.
Lila smiled the whole time, a picture perfect model smile. Adrien couldn’t help but wonder, what would a real smile look like on her?