Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Alya was going to lose her shit.

He was going to lose his shit.

Their best friends were totally ridic, man. They were totally ridiculous and together, if not in the way any of them had expected.

But this was more than any of them could have hoped, really.

Dude, this revelation opened up a whole slew of ironies he wasn’t even going to touch with a ten-foot pole. Adrien’s massive crush on Ladybug he'd known partly because they were bros and partly because he had eyes. Marinette’s awkward stuttering moments that were painful to watch, even for him. Considering that he'd directed the class play and was privy to quite a few painfully awkward scenes-- including the sizzling chemistry Adrien had with his leading lady... which was, okay, perhaps it had not been one of Nino's finer strokes of artistic genius, this was Very Impressive.

There might have been weird magicky things going on that he wasn't even going to try to explain. Who was he kidding, he loved a good conspiracy. Maybe there was something to distort their perception of the heroes enough that recognition was normally impossible, but he wasn’t blind.

He'd happened to turn around because while Marinette has always lagged at getting away from dangerous akuma, Adrien generally could be counted on to get away fast. Or something. Nino can't recall actually hiding from an akuma together with either of his classmates, was that weird? Speaking of, weird was when he ran faster that Adrien, is what he's saying.

So he turns around.

And as it turned out, he hadn't gotten faster than Adrien, not really.

He'd been dumbstruck as Adrien slipped inside the room and slam it closed just as Ladybug rounded the corner. 

"Where's Marinette," he'd asked Ladybug, a little numbly, because madness was occurring right before his eyes, dude, and she'd smiled confidently at him, all business.

"Oh Marinette? I saw her ahead of me, hasn't she passed you yet?"

See, Nino had been absolutely sure Marinette had been behind him, but...

"Hey M'Lady!" Chat Noir said, exiting the room Nino was positive that he had watched his best friend duck into.

And everything clicking into place was a hugely disorienting feeling, like everything he knew got swallowed and thrown up again in some unappetizing but very compelling truth.

One truth stood out in particular.

The ridiculously comprehensive matchmaking plan he’d been slaving over with Alya was officially obsolete. This hurt a little bit because Alya's journalist spirit ensured that the chart was about as comprehensive as an exposé on Chloe's abuse of privilege would have to be to go to court.

Nino means pinned up table napkin scribbles, late night phone calls, tangles of pinned string to corkboards and not a few 'dates' that were actually chaperoned stalking sessions and wow. 

Ladybug and Chat Noir had finished sharing notes by the time he'd checked back into himself, and were now looking at him oddly. 

"Nino?" Ladybug asked, and this is actually Marinette, how does he even react?

"No! I mean yes! That is you! I mean me! I will go and excavate, I mean evacuate! Immediately, like right now, dude!"

Ladybug and Chat quirk a matching look at him and wow, Nino thinks, they are so synchronized. There's something a little bit destined there, and he really is feeling a bit starstruck by two of his best friends. But there are urgent matters, like akumas wreaking havoc and so...

He fled.

Chapter Text

 Adrien was a very kind boy, Sabine knows. 

Whenever he visits there is a stilted awkwardness that she suspected was caused by being profoundly alone, so she tried making him feel welcome. In the Dupain-Cheng household, this meant as much food to fill a teenaged boy’s stomach, and then some.

Well, generally this is when her daughter’s back was turned. 

Marinette had a way of warding people off and getting extremely agitated over nothing. Sabine honestly didn’t know why-- she wasn’t planning on breaking out the photo albums full of Marinette’s growing up years.

Yet.

But certainly, Sabine would not at all be surprised if this young man were to be her son-in-law one day, and would therefore see a significant number of photographs Marinette would certainly not be looking forward to.

So imagine her surprise when she sees a rather different famous young man (of course she has seen Adrien’s rather prolific advertisements scattered throughout Paris) in her daughter’s room.

Chat Noir smiles at her, a little crookedly, and it’s a little off from what she knows of him, but very polite.

He looks comfortable here, amidst the pink and organized chaos that defined Marinette’s creative process. Sabine wonders if it is his first time in a teenaged girl’s room, before wondering if it was his first time in her teenaged daughter’s room.

“Bonjour Chat Noir, is there anything you need?”

He ducks his head shyly and smiles so politely and she cannot help but think that the expression, so different from television and how you see him when he and Ladybug drop by, looks to be profoundly familiar.

“No need, Madame Cheng, I’ll just be waiting for Marinette.”

She eyes him sternly, and he looks abashed. “Is she aware you’re here, waiting for her?”

“Oh, no,” Chat says, pink creeping over the lower border of his mask. “I dropped by in order to ask for a favor.”

“Well, Chat Noir,” she says severely, arms akimbo. “I hope you understand that while you are a superhero and save Paris on a regular basis, I’m not quite comfortable letting a boy wait for my daughter in her room alone for an indefinite period of time.”

He flushes darkly at that, and he stutters his reply. "A-ah! I'm sorry, I hadn't even considered..."

She laughs. "Don't worry too much about it! I'd just rather you came down to the living room."

And to the living room Chat went, rather meekly. Sabine is amused, but not cruel, and serves him a few tarts, still warm from the oven, with a pitcher of iced lavender lemonade he appreciated with gusto.

"You should eat more," she tells him, a little sternly, and bustles about for a few madeleines.

"Thank you so much, madame, but I am afraid my suit will split open from all the good food, and how would I assist Ladybug then?"

Marinette bustles in right about that moment, and the sight of her mother feeding one of Paris's superheroes stops her in her tracks. "Oh," she says.

Chat Noir brightens up like the sun has risen, and it is Sabine's turn to freeze, because in that moment his face was very like Adrien Agreste when Tom had attempted to  bring up plates of cookies and croissants and it goes beyond mere coincidence, especially if she factored in her previous impressions of him.

"Marinette, your friend has come over," she says, a little flatly, and Marinette stares blankly back. 

"Hello Princess," Chat Noir says, and Marinette is transformed into a flustered mess. 

Meanwhile, Sabine is not at all calm inside because Chat Noir, Adrien, and Princess.

Marinette stutters a little bit and excuses herself to clear up her room a little bit before Chat Noir is allowed to enter. A bit too late, in Sabine's opinion, but it was the principle of the thing that mattered, she supposes.

Chat Noir is just about finished with his last madeleine by the time Marinette hollers he could come up if he was done eating. He stands up to wash his hands and it looks a little awkward and a lot adorably domestic and he thanks her so earnestly she blushes a bit despite herself.

She reaches up and pats his cheek affectionately. "You feel free to come by anytime, Adrien." He smiles at her and starts heading up before he freezes and turns back to her, mouth agape but without words.

She winks.

Chapter Text

Once upon a time he dreamed Ladybug would entrust him with the knowledge of her secret identity. 

The prospect terrified him more than he’d admit out loud, which was probably a sign that it wasn’t going to work out.

Ladybug was amazing, but he couldn’t help the feeling that the girl underneath the mask just couldn't match up to his expectations.

So.

Well.

Perhaps things worked out for the best, and Chat Noir theoretically made her happy.

Except, Chat Noir was in front of him now and he was headed to the rooftop of the bakery that offered the best profiteroles in Paris. It was nine in the evening and he knew for a fact that there was absolutely no reason for Chat Noir to be up and about without Ladybug around, there was no akuma update on the Ladyblog, and he knew that while no young man lived in the Dupain-Cheng’s bakery, a certain young lady did.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was absolutely not Ladybug material from what little he knew of her from the collège, but if Chat Noir was dating Ladybug, what was he doing paying her late evening visits?

So Theo wasn’t a stalker, but he’s made a point to take the route that passes by the bakery in the evening when he’s walking home from one part-time job or another and he’s seen glimpses of Chat Noir maybe twice a week. Always without Ladybug near and always headed towards the general direction of the bakery.

He really isn’t proud of staking out the bakery one evening, but it pays off when Chat Noir drops down from above, ducks behind a post, and emerges as Adrien Agreste and he isn’t one for profanity but putain de bordel de merde, he was not expecting this.

He watches him knock on the door and Mme. Cheng let him in, and okay, you might say that it’s mission accomplished, nothing could be more surprising, right?

Wrong. So wrong.

Theo could only watch as a somersaulting blur that could only be Ladybug leapt up to the roof of the Dupain-Cheng bakery and vanished within.

Marinette couldn’t be Ladybug, right?

But the build was the same, and now that he saw Chat Noir and Adrien were one person-- was he ever going to get used to that, woah-- having the same height and body type, more or less. He's cast their statues in bronze, he would know.

But Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Ladybug couldn’t be the same person, right?

Right?

Dieu, he couldn’t even fool himself.

Chapter Text

Marinette is always nice, if a bit of a pushover. 

Manon is confident her babysitter is in love with the nice blonde model who carried her on his shoulders that one time while some photographer was yelling something no one could understand about pasta.

Ah, that day was really great, and the fact that Ladybug called her by her name made up for almost dying in a carousel.

So when the nice blonde model, (‘Adrien Agreste,’ Marinette would say, almost reverently,) was having yet another shoot in the park when she was playing with Marinette, she paid attention to his easygoing grin and the way the photographer would order the most random things to wrangle him into another expression (like you had been starved at school, and your mother has just baked the most fabulous apple pie for dessert!)

And when the park was plagued by an akumatized balloon man because some child has been playing pranks on him, Manon was ready (like all of Paris were, by now.)

Making a beeline for the bushes, she dives in right about the time a green flash of light goes off in her face. By the time she blinks the spots away from her eyes, Chat Noir is leaping out, nearly bowling her over.

But she could have sworn Adrien Agreste...

Seeing someone else reminded her that she’d run off alone and left… “Marinette!” she yells, turning around.

Chat Noir pauses and faces her. “Marinette,” he says, very evenly. “Is she here?”

Manon thinks Marinette is absolutely lucky because not only is she Ladybug’s best friend, she is also apparently really close to Chat Noir. She nods. “Marinette was supposed to be watching me, but…” her eyes rounded as the Balloonman had several parkgoers trapped inside balloons.

“Oh don’t worry, I’ll definitely save her,” Chat smiles, but his eyes spoke worry. He pats her head.

“No problem. Make sure you stay safe,” and his eyes light up when a streak of red appears. “Alright? Manon?”

Manon nods. Chat joins Ladybug.

Chat Noir has clearly never before been in the presence of a contrary child.

Manon is worried.

Marinette was not one of the people trapped in the Balloonman’s balloons, as she'd tried to observe stealthily as she could. Ladybug and Chat were taking a bit longer than the usual due to his unfortunate tendency to use his balloons as shields, and no one knew what would happen if the balloons were popped. She couldn't  find Adrien Agreste either, and she simply didn't know what to do.

"Well," a voice said, from right behind her, "Why if it isn't an adorable little girl to add to my collection."

Manon screams. Very loudly, calling the attention of Ladybug and Chat Noir. She runs, but she isn't fast enough.

She's in a balloon with absolutely nothing to do but wait. It registers that Chat Noir knows her name  and promised to save Marinette, and appeared from a place she saw only Adrien Agreste disappeared to.

When she's saved by the heroes of Paris, Manon isn't quite sure what she should say, but Chat takes one look at her and excuses himself to Ladybug. "Excuse me, M'Lady, but I must try to find her babysitter."

Ladybug laughs, but it's a startled, pinched thing that sounded very like her babysitter hiding things. "Okay," she says, high-pitched and promptly excuses herself, leaving Manon alone.

She sees Adrien Agreste pick his way towards her, and the worry in his eyes was very like someone else's she knew.

"Oh Manon," he says. And Manon stares at him.

Oh. Oh indeed.

Chapter Text

The Marinette girl was going to go far, Penny knows. Great at finding solutions for everyday problems and then some.

Maybe she could even help her with this one, small, request?

Penny fires off a quick text, a short greeting followed by a request if she was not too busy. No details yet, she may have to turn to asking someone else and Jagged Stone insisted it should be known to as few people as possible.

Penny then melted into one of the plush armchairs that were one of the best aspects of Le Grand Paris and let out a long, low groan.

Jagged Stone was a good person, but he was also absolutely incorrigible.

And also completely incomprehensible sometimes, but she supposed she could chalk that one up to being an artiste.

She didn’t understand exactly what Ladybug could add to his performance, exactly, but she’s gotten more than used to his eccentricities.

Marinette replies promptly, causing Penny to smile. The girl was under absolutely no obligation to help, but wanted to as a fan. Penny replied back quickly, asking if she could drop by the hotel after her class.

Marinette looked nervous, and Penny ushered her in the suite and sat her down.

Jagged Stone eyed her shrewdly, feet propped up on the coffee table and his left arm resting on Fang’s tail.

“Marinette,” he says, weighing his words, and Penny hopes he is reflecting on how ridiculous his request is. “Marinette, would you happen to know how to contact Ladybug?”

Penny sighs, but watches Marinette carefully.

After all, it wouldn’t do for a middle schooler to start thinking Jagged Stone was utterly batshit insane and post about it on the forums. But perhaps she should get a non-disclosure agreement written up for Marinette if they continued their working partnership.

She didn’t expect what little color there was in Marinette Dupain-Cheng's face to instantly leach out, like she's seen a ghost. Penny takes a step towards her, concerned, but Marinette perks up. “Um. Well. There’s a problem-- I mean it is absolutely no problem! I should think Ladybug is a fan of Jagged Stone!”

“Oh?” Penny is mightily curious now, even if her curiosity hadn’t been piqued by earlier.

Marinette nods eagerly, “Yes! I think she gave an exclusive interview on the Ladyblog once. Perhaps you could reach her through there? I’m sure Alya-- that’s my friend-- could make a post?”

“We’re trying to keep Jagged’s plans totally secret, Marinette, so we'd like some discretion regarding this matter, you see…”

“Oh,” Marinette says, looking troubled. "Well. I don't think Alya has Ladybug's number, but I'll try to ask her and let you know right away!"

Penny can't help but think the world is an amazing place, full of ridiculous coincidences, when Ladybug happens to drop by the hotel that very evening, not thirty minutes after Marinette leaves.

Perhaps she came for the mayor? But Jagged Stone calls out to her, and she accepts the request for a meeting.

When Jagged outlines what he wants from her, Ladybug is startled, but blushes to the tips of her ears.

It's no problem, guesting at his concert, she says, wringing her hands. She was a huge Jagged Stone fan, in fact, and was flattered by the dedication in his last concert, the one after the Vincent Asa fiasco.

Penny can't help but see Marinette's awkwardness in the midst of Ladybug's easy confidence.

after, no matter what she did, she couldn't unsee it. She doubted the occurence of ridiculous coincidences.

After Ladybug leaves, Penny pulls an all nighter, poring through the Ladyblog posts for the past half year and she could find no mention of Ladybug's music tastes anywhere.

Thanks to Ladybug's appearance at Jagged Stone's special concert, the event was a big hit. Penny couldn't help but think that no matter how much she doubted Jagged's methods, she couldn't deny his results.

That aside, her suspicions were solidified when Marinette failed to show up at her guest of honor seat at the concert. Penny studies Ladybug very carefully, but can't unsee the talented young artist behind the polka dotted mask.

The next time she sees Marinette, she thanks her for putting up with Jagged's whims and hugs the girl. Penny whispers that she has her suspicions and she is always free to come for help any time she needs it.

Marinette's face is as carefully blank as paper when she withdraws, but Penny smiles at her and repeats her words. "I mean it, Marinette, anytime."

Jagged looks at them both suspiciously, but he can't follow the conversation and Penny isn't planning on telling him anything. After all, girls should have their secrets.

It seems Marinette has caught on to her thoughts and she manages a weak smile. "Thank you."