Chapter Text
She never expected she would start a revolution with her one sleep deprived comment. She never expected how much Adrien would try and get to her to switch back to her original favorite. Never expected the Ladyblog to become a war ground for people to argue if Carapace was truly baby and if Chat was truly bastard.
Marinette swore if she giggled anymore over the issue, she’d gain abs (well…more than she had already, being Ladybug was hard work!)
And with the discussion reaching all corners of Paris, it seems a certain Kitten was seeking loving from his favorite ladies: his girlfriend, Ladybug, and herself.
It’s not her fault Nino got her favor by being so sweet!
~
All through the week Adrien had been fretting about Marinette’s sudden change in attitude towards Chat Noir. She was the girl who knew Chat Noir best from balcony rendezvous to fighting akumas side by side while they waited for Ladybug to come! She knew him more than Kagami did! (Not that it was his girlfriend’s fault, Marinette’s just knew him longer and midnight talks resulted in deep-but not too revealing-conversations.) For weeks, if not months, she had been passionately arguing with him that Chat Noir was the best hero in all of Paris, especially with how more in sync the duo were, how Ladybug wouldn’t be able to do NEARLY as well without her faithful Partner, and continued for nearly hours on end over discretely passed notes when Bustier told them not to argue anymore.
It could get very passionate at times.
Had he done something to hurt her? Was there some critical event he was forgetting where he had let down his favorite fan?
No.
No, nothing had changed as far as he knew. Everything was the same as always.
Maybe it was Carapace that had happened? He had always thought the turtle was close to Rena Rouge, but maybe he also went after the baker girl or they were closer than he had thought they were. Friends of course, as he doubted there was anything more between them, something rumbling low and threatening at the idea.
With a heavy sigh, Adrien rolled over, reaching for his pinging phone. Nothing important. Just a Ladyblog notification and Alix asking the class’ private chat for color ideas. He turned his phone off not really in the mood to debate what bright neon colors would suit Alix’s next masterpiece best; no matter what, he was sure to love it.
He wasn’t jealous of the turtle. Maybe just a touch upset because he was baby too.
Marinette and Ladybug called him Chaton for a reason.
Kagami called him Koneko.
Baby.
~
True to his word, Nino talked to Alya, really talked. Of course there was the denials, worries over Nino being close minded or stubborn like certain individuals, but Nino was quick to calm her down and talk her down from becoming a frenzied mess; they could handle this without Hawkmoth doing some fucked up shit to their heads. It took hours and lots of research, but at last, Alya softly admitted that the evidence added up.
Everyone in the class had a connection of some sort to the higher industry, hell, she was the daughter of one of the top zoo keepers and her mother was a famous chef in Chloe’s hotel! Mylene had her dad, Alix’s dad with the museum, and so on. Lila’s connections were just more numerous, her stories broad and wonderous!
But like Nora told her before, in her blunt manner: “If it looks like shit, smells like shit, feels like shit, then it’s probably shit.”
But with her revelations, came the sinking feeling of speaking to her bestie, of acknowledging that she fucked up and she was damn sorry.
Marinette deserved an apology.
Alya dressed for battle, wearing an MDC original to give her an extra boost and to show Marinette that she was THERE for her, no more asking for proof when the proof was there. The sleeveless blouse was a sunny gold on the top before flowing out to warm sunset orange, glittering beading and lace along the edges, the seams, to meticulously cause the viewers’ eye to see all the small details; Alya only ever used it for more formal events, since she and Mari never got around to doing “matching-day”. Once she got her hair to fit the style, she slipped on some tan booties, letting the blouse be the focal point of the whole ensemble.
She was ready.
~
Nope, nope she was not ready.
Facing the trap door now, it made her feel antsy, her nerve wearing on her, before she took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
Once it opened, she started immediately, eyes down as she addressed her best friend, “Hey girl, um-listen, I…can we talk? I brought Minou’s and margherita pizza.” She weakly offers, finally glancing up to take in her friend’s reaction.
Her expression was surprise, before her smile slipped onto her face, helping Alya relieve some of the items from her hand, “Come on up! You should’ve told me you were coming, you didn’t need to do all this, Alya.” Tension left her, hearing the warmth in Mari’s voice, confidence easing back into her. She would do this, for her best friend.
“Nah, you do everything for us, you deserve to be spoiled too~.” She grins, both settling down on the chaise.
Alya thought better of it, settling the food and drinks aside, before taking Mari’s hands. “I actually-I need to apologize, girl. I made you out to be nothing but a jealous person instead of listening to your reasons behind not liking Lila. Nino told me, and he confirmed it by calling Adrien.” Tears edged at her eyes, especially when the look of sheer relief overtook her best friend.
“I am so sorry, you didn’t deserve any of that, regardless of what happened. I should’ve at least heard you out and looked into things, I shouldn’t have just cast it aside like day-old bread. You deserve better than that. I promise, swear on Ladybug herself, that this will never happen again, and if it does, you have full permission to kick my ass.”
The wet sob that escaped her bestie broke her heart, but they were soon hugging, clutching at each other as they cried their hearts out.
It took them a few minutes to recover, with a much needed tissue box stolen from a pink desk, but when they did, Mari’s smile was so soft, it made her want to curse out Lila for ever making her doubt her bestie, “Alya, I won’t say it didn’t hurt, it did, a lot. You’re my best friend and you didn’t hear me out, but,” she smiles more, reaching a hand up to grip her shoulder, “you were there for me when I was ‘framed’, even if you doubted my Lila theory. You and Adrien were the only ones to defend me. It’s going to take a while to trust you again, but I promise, promise, you will always be my bestie.”
“I’ll earn it back, I swear it.” She hugs her once more, before quickly wiping away her tears with a groan, “damn it! I do not need to be this emotional!”
Marinette laughs, her pigtails bouncing as she nodded in agreement, grinning as she decides, “Ya know what, let’s have a picnic in the park, but first,” her grin grew as she looked to the blouse Alya wore, “I think I have something that matches.”
~
“Pose for me, darling! Give me chocolate covered strawberries on Valentine’s day!” Alya calls, laughter ringing in front of her as she attempts to steady her own, snapping shots of her best friend. Oh she was so adding this to Instagram and the blog! “Now, now, I need you to be strawberry lemonade on a summer’s day! Yes, yes!”
Marinette grins as she posed as Alya took more and more shots. “Okay, okay, now it’s your turn Miss Photographer~.” Taking out her own phone, Marinette got into position as they switched spots. “Give me dolphins in the sea! Yes, there we go! You’re swimming, you’re happy!” She laughs, seeing that none of her ‘suggestions’ were being listened to, but Alya was a good model.
Later, while they had an impromptu sleepover and watched ‘Sailor Moon Super S: The Movie’, a show that she would never admit Chat got her into, Alya’s phone pinged with a new submission to the blog.
“Hold on, this is part of the whole ‘Who is Baby and who is Bastard’ thing I have on the blog right now.” She reached for her phone as the movie was paused, Alya sent her bestie a smirk, “Someone just had to begin the whole debate!”
“Listen, I was tired and Adrien was being annoying and I felt petty. Besides, our best turtle bro doesn’t get too much love. Ladybug and Chat have popsicles based off of them like those old Bugs Bunny ones! Even Rena has one but it’s rare to find, but Carapace gets no love. He’s baby.”
Snorting with a roll of her eyes, Alya plays the video titled ‘To End the Wars! Or, Carapace is always baby’.
By the end of it, well, she and Marinette couldn’t help but agree that it would definitely settle the whole argument come class time on Monday.
~
It was late.
It was really late.
Claws digging into the roofs of Paris, the dark half of the dynamic duo was running across the city, his ears pressed back. At the photoshoot that morning, the crew members were attempting (they failed) to keep quiet about the debates over Chat Noir and Carapce! Even at work he was no longer safe! Traitors called him bastard.
Balcony in view, and a very familiar silhouette lounging in her favorite patio chair, Chat Noir finished his journey.
She must’ve seen him coming, because there was already a cup of lavender tea waiting for him, and a blanket for him to wrap himself up in. God, how did he ever get so lucky as to obtain a friend like her? Luka better be treating her right, she deserves the stars.
“Puuuurrrrrrinceeeessssssss.” Came his drawn out whine, said ‘Princess’ giggling as she moved to make room for him on her chair. He happily took it. “Tell me I’m not bastard.”
Her giggle brightens up the dark night, and the ear skritches were definitely nice too, “I don’t know, you can be pretty chaotic sometimes~.”
“Marinette!”
She was full on laughing now, bumping her shoulder against his, “Okay, okay. You’re not bastard,” a grin begins to take over his face, “you’re bastard baby.” Aaaand back came the pout. “Oh don’t look at me that way, you know it’s true! I saw you grinning when those cats were terrorizing M. Ramier’s pigeons, you were totally cheering on the chaos.”
“Purrhaps.” He grumbles, but couldn’t help to smile a little, feeling a little more at ease. At least he had baby next to his ‘title’. “So why are you up? I have the excuse of pawtrol, what’s yours?”
She scoffs at his pun, sipping at her steaming tea, “Uncle Jagged called from America, they’re six hours behind us. He said he had a surprise for me when he comes back, something about Disney and fabrics? Not sure.” She shrugs a bit. “How’s this mysterious girlfriend you have? Any cute things you guys have been doing?”
Ever since he had admitted to Mari that he was in a relationship-on both sides of the mask-she had been nothing but supportive of them. He tried to help her right back with her relationship with Luka. “Amazing! She showed me some of her favorite dishes her chefs make her, we had them when we went on a picnic last week.”
“That’s so cute, Chat.” She chuckles, grinning at the preening cat.
He was rather smug about dating the most amazing fencer he’s ever known, and Kagami was as cute as a tiger’s cub. “She’s way too cool. Our parents are considering allowing us to go with the other’s family on a vacation later on. Either me with her family, or vice versa.”
Marinette smiles at the stupidly dopey face he was making, little hearts practically blooming around him. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah…oh! How rude of your favorite it cat, how about you and your boyfriend?”
She gazed out to the night, her heart skipping a beat at the thought of her boyfriend, missing the way he would gently guide her to learn how to pluck the strings of his guitar. “Amazing…we’ve both been busy, but we have a date planned for this Friday. I’ve been working on making him a new jacket. The hardest part is finding the perfect materials for him.”
They continued on, talking and talking in the precious night hours, until their yawns were too many and their teas long gone. “Alright, off to bed with you,” he yawns into his paw, urging her to the trap door, “it might be Sunday but it’ll be a long day if you don’t sleep now.”
“Then your butt better be in bed soon too.” She grumbles, opening up the hatch to slip inside, but was sure to give him a hug first. “See you later, Chat.”
“See you later, princess.”
And with that, he was slipping back into the shadows, relying more on his baton to get him back home quicker, sleep tickling at his mind. At least his princess had been reassuring, and Kagami likely amused by his pouting had done similarly.
Wait.
He didn’t ask why Carapace was baby!
~
Monday came all too quickly in the blond’s opinion, Adrien finding himself slumped against Kagami’s shoulder who was somehow awake even after they woke up at FOUR for pre-training sessions for the upcoming competition. It was very hard to not purr as her nails grazed through his tousled hair.
“Adrichan, come on, you need to wake up,” she coos gently, “we’re almost at school.”
With a grumble that let her and G know exactly how sleepy he still was, he sat up, adjusting his hair with her help so he looked presentable. At least he was able to enjoy some sweet, sweet Kagami time. “Thank you, empress.”
The red in her cheeks just made his heart skip, sighing happily as he presses a kiss to her knuckles; yeah, he did really good with accepting her proposal of dating, she really helped father and Nathalie grow more lenient with his time. With a thanks to G, they exited the limo, holding hands as they climbed up the steps, making small talk over their possible competition from rival fencers. He still thinks Vivian Rose was going to be a good competitor against Kagami but Kagami pointed out that Sybil Alcorn was rising quickly in their ranks.
With the shrill of the warning bell, he presses a gentle kiss to her cheek, Kagami doing the same, and parted ways with her, with promises to get Andre’s with some of the others; climbing up to the room, he already saw a majority of his friends in the classroom, save for maybe Marinette and Alya, but people were crowding well…not Lila’s desk, who was actually not there, but Alix’s.
“No way! How did you get it done so fast!”
“Shut up, dumbass!” The pinkette hissed, before sliding whatever it was to the jock. “Just don’t let Damocles see it, or hear about it, okay?” She warns, Kim’s head nodding quickly. “Because we all know he’ll throw us both in detention for the ‘offensive language’.” Alix jokes, chuckling as Kim rose it up, his broad shoulders not enough to block out the stupid writing.
Around him, Rose was giggling at the black cat bracelet Juleka fastened on her wrist with Juleka wearing the turtle matching one; Nino, the traitor, had a tall to-go cold coffee cup, with the broad words of ‘Carapace is always baby’ in swooping silver lettering as the glittering red to pink main color showed who exactly it was going to be given to; Ivan and Mylene were admiring the sweater and sweetly whispering over asking whoever made Alix’s to see if they could get their own; even Sabrina looked to be scrolling through a little etsy store pertaining to Rena Rouge merch.
Alya and Marinette swooped into the classroom, a mess of giggles as Alya showed a video to the noirette, before she hurries to the front of the class to set up for something. Where was Bustier?
“Hope you don’t mind I sort of borrowed your idea.” Nino sheepishly laughed, offering Marinette the cup, making her gasp and melt. His best friend, the betrayer, got to receive a hug for doing something so rude.
Chat was baby, dammit!
Adrien was not amused, brooding at his desk with little grumbles.
'Carapace is baby. Chat is bastard’ printed on Kim’s new hoodie and Marinette’s mug mocking him, and the bracelets the goth-pixie couple exchanged, it was all rubbing salt into his wounds. Ok, so maybe he pushed a couple of objects off tables for the sake of curiosity, and maybe he had sat on a few fences just out of reach of yapping dogs to annoy them a little, and maybe he had a few other cat tendencies at time but he was still baby! Baby with toe beans.
Carapace was cool and all, but he wasn’t baby. How could he be baby? A kitten versus a baby turtle, the kitten wins.
Marinette had managed to stop her giggling for a moment, face bright with a red blush, her eyes sparkling with mirth. “Really? It was just a throwaway comment.”
“Sorry, Marinette,” Unapologetically said Alya resting a hand on Marinette’s shoulders, the set up now done behind her. “This is happening now. This is a thing. All of Paris will know Carapace is baby.”
“He maybe baby but Ladybug is bae.” Adrien mumbled. The room fell silent. Those words were not meant to be spoken aloud. His face turned bright crimson as he tried to think of a cover up. There had to be something he could say, right?!
“The heroes of Paris: Ladybug is bae, Carapace is baby, and Chat is bastard.” Mused Alya tapping away at her phone.
“Alix, does this mean I’ll get more hoodies? Maybe one with 'ladybug is bae, carapace is baby’ and on the back 'chat is bastard’ with a winking cat face?” Kim brainstormed enthusiastically.
Maybe if they went overboard then it would die quicker? He could find a way to be Marinette’s favorite once more! Wasn’t that the best way to put an end to everything? Just overuse it the point it was no longer amusing. Maybe he would stop by the balcony tonight to question Marinette about the new mug and see if some gentle teasing or joking serenades would win back her favor.
“I don’t know. If you push too much then it gets played out.” Alix rejected pulling out a 'carapace is baby’ water bottle from her bag. Curse her art talents that made the turtle drawn on look so adorable! “It only works if 'Bunnyx is Boss’ is added somewhere in it.”
Murmurs of agreement were heard, before Sabrina timidly adds in, “A-And if we can get ‘Rena is Bean’, so she can match Carapace!”
A louder cheer of agreement, many laughing at the double pun: Rena is a bean and Rena has toe beans!
Clearing her throat, Alya gets everyone to pay attention again. Once attention was on her, her grin broadened, “Now, I know everyone’s been at ‘war’ over what is the truth. Is Carapace baby? Is Chat bastard? Well, we have a video that will end the war! Mari, if you don’t mind~.”
With a nod, Marinette turned down the lights as a video loaded up, the screen title: To End the Wars! Or, Carapace is always baby.
Adrien pouts before the video recording began, showing Carapace in the rare instance his hood was down, tears escaping his goggles as he holds a handful of baby turtles. He was crying. Over baby turtles. Little laughs could be heard as the turtle hero holds them all as best as he could.
“Carapace!” A voice calls from behind the camera, the younger kid having a slight lilt from laughing, “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t have enough hands!” The hero wails quietly, as if he didn’t want to startle the little babies in his hands.
The black cat wielder could only sit there, glaring quietly down to his ring.
Why didn’t he think to hold kittens?