Chapter Text
Ladybug and Chat Noir stare at each other in frozen shock as their transformations time out. They’d both chosen the same alley, and there was no time to switch.
And suddenly it’s Marinette and Adrien in the alley, Tikki and Plagg watching silently.
“I-” Marinette chokes out. “I’m so sorry. I have to go.”
She rushes out without another word, her head down and shoulders drawn up as she brushes by Adrien. The blond lifts a hand toward her when she goes by, but pulls it back to his chest. He watches her go, then turns and walks the other way.
Tikki watches her Chosen sadly. The girl had rushed straight home and flopped onto her bed without another word. Not crying, but definitely shaking.
“Marinette, talk to me,” she prompts.
“What is there to talk about? He hates me now!”
“Why would he hate you?”
Marinette sits up, pushing herself off her pillow, then gestures at herself. “Because I’m me. Ladybug isn’t some hero! She’s just me.”
“You said the same to Chat Noir a while ago. What did he say then?”
She pauses, then looks away. “...he said we’re the same person.”
“And?”
“And he wants me to learn how to appreciate that.”
“So do you think he would hate you now? Just because he knows who you are?”
“Yeah, because I’m Marinette.”
“I disagree. How does Adrien feel about Marinette?”
She opens her mouth to say something about he probably couldn’t care less about her, then actually thinks.
And realizes, that at least in her mind, they’re actually friends. Adrien - socially deprived child that he is - probably would agree wholeheartedly with that statement.
She falls backwards onto her pillow, covering her face with her hands. “Oh nooooo, I’m an idiot.”
“You were overwhelmed by what happened. I don’t think that makes you an idiot, I think it makes you human.”
“An idiot human,” she groans. Then her body goes rigid, and she flies up, scrambling for her phone. “Oh no! He thinks I hate him!”
Tikki sits back. For now, her job is done.
Marinette: oh my kwami im so sorry
Marinette: i shouldnt have run off like that
Marinette: im honestly really happy that its you
Marinette: it was just so much at once and i was worried you would hate me and didnt want to see that because youre really important to me and im so so sorry
Adrien: yeah it definitely stung
Adrien: but plagg reminded me about your feelings about your identity so i kind of figured it had to do with that
Adrien: still had me worried though
Marinette: i know i know im so so sorry
Marinette: um maybe we can meet up for patrol later to talk
Marinette: give us both some time to process
Adrien: sounds like a plan princess
When Chat Noir lands on the roof, he’s immediately tackled in a tight hug by Ladybug. He barely manages to keep from falling over.
“I’m so sorry, mon minou.”
He returns the hug with a smile. “It’s okay, I understand.”
She finally steps back, looking at him with teary eyes. “No it’s not. I hurt you, even if you understand what happened now…”
“You aren’t, um, upset that it’s me, are you?”
“No!” Ladybug grabs his hands. “Never! There’s no one else that I would want to be my partner!”
“Okay.” He smiles. “Then I’m okay. No more apologies, m’lady.”
She looks as though she’s about to argue, then lets out a deep breath. “Fine. If that’s really enough, I’ll stop apologizing.”
He sits down against a wall, patting the spot beside him.
She sits there, smiling for a moment before it fades. “And, um, you aren’t… disappointed it’s me?”
Despite knowing how she feels about herself, he’s still surprised at how she can’t see how amazing she is. “Absolutely not. You’re wonderful, Bugaboo, your being you only makes you doubly awesome. I purr- omise.”
She gives him a small, but bright smile at that, then smacks him gently on the shoulder. “That was an awful pun.”
“Claw-ful?”
She giggles. “No!”
“Won-fur-ful?”
“Absolutely not!”
“Hiss-terical?”
“Nope.”
“Claw-ver?”
“Nuh-uh.”
“Purr-fect?”
“Kitty, I am paw-sitive that that was far from your purr-fect pun.”
He gasps in delight. “You punned!!”
“I shouldn’t have. Now you’ll never stop bugging me about-”
He gasps again, and it clicks.
“Hey wait! That one wasn’t purposeful!”
“Purr- poseful,” he whispers. His eyes are shining, and there’s a wide smile on his face.
“I’m just going to stop talking.”
He hugs her tightly, and she returns it begrudgingly. After a moment, he finally says, “Hey, does this mean we should delete that app?”
She hums. “Maybe we can just use it for hero business now.”
“Sweet.”
“You just liked the dumb nicknames, didn’t you?”
“Purr-haps.”
“I’m ignoring that, but we can change each other’s names to some equally horrible nickname for normal texting.”
“Even better!!”
Ladybug leans her head against his shoulder and smiles. “I’m glad it was you,” she says softly.
He leans his head against hers and takes her hand. “I’m glad too. I couldn’t ask for a better partner.”
She fights the blush rising on her face. “Neither could I. Partners, with or without the masks?”
He pauses. “And.”
She furrows her eyebrows. “What?”
“Partners, with and without the masks.”
A smile breaks across the girl’s face. “I like it.”