Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Adrien and Chat Noir seem pretty close, don’t they?”

One short, innocent conversation was all it had taken to drain the color from Adrien’s face, before the school day had even started. Hours later, as he flung himself onto his bed in true Disney-princess fashion, he replayed the five minutes before the morning bell rang over and over in his mind.

“I’m just saying, Adrien and Chat Noir always seem to be in the same place at almost the same time.” Those had been the first words Adrien had heard walking into the classroom, and that alone would have probably been enough to get him faking a stomach ache for the rest of the hour to avoid first period, but not to worry—the rest of the conversation definitely gave him a real one.

“Think about it: Adrien runs into a building, Chat Noir leaves. Chat Noir fights a villain in a park, Adrien is sitting on a bench ten minutes later!”

“Last week I saw Chat sitting up on one of Adrien’s perfume billboards, and it just felt so. . . you know. . .”

“It’s like Marinette and Ladybug, but weirder!”

Adrien had stood in the doorway for a few minutes, but when he’d heard that last one, he couldn’t help but snap his head up. (Reflex, he reasoned to Plagg, at hearing his Lady’s name.)

But Marinette must’ve been flustered at being singled out so suddenly, because—bless her—she’d only taken a second before stammering out, “But—Ladybug and I are friends, so maybe it’s not too weird, right?” And only then had Adrien been able to breathe again, because, that’s right, being friends with a superhero isn’t that weird, right? Right?

Still, he’d waited for Miss Bustier to come walking down the hallway before he’d gone into the class, just in case they tried to drag him into that particular discussion.

Which left him here: lying across his bed, desperately trying to convince himself that no one could possibly be onto him, while Plagg lazily glided over him.

“Kid, I can practically hear your thoughts over the taste of this camembert,” the kwami complained as he ate his millionth slice of the day. “Relax before you ruin my whole meal!”

Adrien groaned into his pillow, smushing his face as far as it would go. “Plagg! I can’t relax! You were there, you heard everybody!” He was whining, he could feel it, but he also felt that teenaged superheroes were entitled to a little whining every now and then. Also, this was important. “What if they figure out who I am?”

Plagg swallowed one last bite of his cheese, settling down on Adrien’s head. “Nah, if they haven’t figured it out yet, they never will. They think it’s all just coincidence!” he finished, laughing.

“Listen to me! This is serious!” Adrien exclaimed, flinging his head up so suddenly that Plagg flew into the wall. His eyes darted around as he dug his hands through his hair (there were no modeling sessions planned for the day, so it was okay). “They were so close! If they’ve already connected Chat sightings with me, then the next step. . .”

Just as Plagg righted himself, Adrien whipped his head around so fast it sent the kwami crashing right back into the headboard.

“What if they already know?”

Plagg rolled his eyes, flitting around Adrien’s head to reassure him that it’s fine, no one knows, if anyone did know Tikki would have killed me by now.

Adrien didn’t even stop to ask who Tikki was, he just sprang up from his bed, making a run for his computer. He tripped twice on the way over—once, over nothing, and the second time, over his limited-edition genuine (replica) Ladybug yo-yo—and nearly knocked over his chair as he threw himself into it. He got his password wrong (catpunsarepawsome$) and slowed down to take a breath only when he nearly crushed Plagg, who’d spread himself over the keyboard.

“Woah, kid, watch it!” he squeaked (kwamis do not squeak, Adrien), batting his hand away. “Calm down. What were you even going to do?”

“Google. . . myself?”

Plagg closed his eyes, taking a second to curse Master Fu for giving him this one instead of the girl. I bet Marinette doesn’t act like this. I bet she bakes sweet treats for Tikki and is never irrational like this even though people talk about her and Ladybug all the—

“That’s it!”

“What’s. . . it?”

“Marinette!” Marinette was probably the answer to a lot more problems than just this one, but that was an issue for later. “Marinette is friends with Ladybug, right? And no one accuses her of being Ladybug.”

“Yeah, but that’s because Marinette obviously isn’t Ladybug,” Adrien chuckled, comparing his Lady and his classmate in his head. True, Marinette was incredibly brave and confident whenever he was around her as Chat Noir, and they did strike a passing resemblance, and he did really like both of them, but. . . nah, they’re totally different people.

Plagg looked absolutely murderous, but he just sighed. “That’s what I’m saying. Just cause they think you and, well, super-you are close doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world.”

Adrien took a second to think this over. His kwami had a point—if Marinette had a superhero friend, why couldn’t he? He was a famous model after all, and Chat’s suit was pretty fashionable. “You’re probably right, but. . . I still want to check.” At Plagg’s look, he added, “I’m calm, I promise. It’ll be quick.”

His kwami simply let out an exaggerated breath, getting up off the keyboard and grumbling something about find more camembert and I bet Tikki’s never had to do this.

Much less frantic now, Adrien managed to actually log on this time, taking one last second to convince himself everything was probably fine before opening up a search bar and typing in, Adrien Agreste Chat Noir.

His eyes widened as he looked through the first few entries.

“Hey, Plagg, what exactly did you mean by ‘close’?”

-----

The next day, Adrien didn’t hesitate before walking into the classroom. Which, as resident Adrien superfan-slash-soft-stalker, was something Marinette noticed while trying to pretend she hadn’t, in fact, noticed a thing at all.

(But if she were paying close attention, she definitely would have noted that he seemed more self-confident than usual. But only if she were paying attention, which she definitely wasn’t, Alya.)

Her attention was quickly dragged away from the boy in front of her, though, as Alya held up her phone to Marinette’s face to show her the latest Ladyblog post.

“Girl, look at how many views this has already!” she exclaimed, lowering the phone to scroll down to a video post. “Thanks again for scoring me that interview with Ladybug.”

“No problem, Alya, really,” Marinette said, because it really wasn’t a problem. “I guess sometimes it’s good to know the local heroes.”

“And I guess sometimes it’s good to have a super-awesome best friend who knows the local heroes.”

Recently, Marinette had been trying to really push the idea that she and Ladybug were actually friends. After word started spreading that she and her spotted alter-ego must be connected in some way, Tikki and her decided that a little damage control was in order. Specifically, she needed to convince people that the ties between the two of them were simply from a strong, trusting friendship, no secret-identity-strings attached.

Her fake-friendship with Ladybug was unusual, because it operated on two conditions: one, she, as Marinette, was very diligent in letting people know it wasn’t up to her to share Ladybug’s secrets. And two: neither her nor Chat could actually have real, deep friendships outside of each other (and occasional other heroes).

Which was why it caught her off guard when Nino joined in with, “Okay, I know Mari and Ladybug are the super-friendship to beat around here, but guys, consider: Adrichat.”

Okay, new list: one, she hoped Tikki heard that, because Marinette knew she’d be proud to hear how casual the fake friendship was now. And, two:

“What the fuck is Adrichat?”

-----

Funny, thinks Adrien as the words leave Alya’s mouth (and less offensive ones leave Marinette’s). That’s exactly what Plagg said yesterday.

-----

Marinette was glad Alya had phrased it so eloquently, because, her sentiments exactly.

“Nino, really, what does that even mean?”

Obviously, the Adri part of that. . word. . meant Adrien—they’d all suffered enough Chloe to recognize that prefix anywhere. But the chat part? Chat as in. . Chat Noir?

Because she knew the rules. No close friendships. And, sure, she had this whole Marinette-Ladybug thing going, but surely Chat Noir was smart enough not to do that for real, right?

Or maybe. . . Adrichat as in. . . an identity reveal? Is that what Nino meant?

. . .

No, don’t be silly, Marinette. Of course not.

Her mini freakout-session—and Alya and Nino’s bickering over “stupid terminology”—came to a halt when Adrien decided to speak up in a weirdly-sure voice.

“Oh, Adrichat, right? Like me and Chat Noir?” He was not-quite smirking, and Marinette might have found that expression out of place (yet strangely familiar?) on Adrien were it not currently doing things to her.

Alya looked like she couldn’t quite decide whether to ask him how he could have possibly known what Nino was talking about, but also—

“Is it true, then? Are you guys really friends? How close are you?” Alya gushed, won over by her constant desire to make connections to Paris’s superhero population.

The smirk deepened, before falling off Adrien’s face completely. Almost immediately, it was replaced by a shy smile and a slight blush—blush!—and Marinette was certain this was how she’d die.

Here lies Marinette, killed by the effects of Adrichat on cute model.

“You—you actually know Chat Noir?”

She lived as she died—an absolute mess.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Adrien said, laughing as he scratched at the back of his neck. “We talk sometimes. Isn’t he so cool?” His blush deepened, eyes meeting each of theirs in turn before ducking down, readying the killing blow—

“And kinda cute, too. . . almost dreamy.”

Yep, it was official. Marinette was dead.

-----

“You have got to be kidding me! Adrien! Chat Noir—”

“He is pretty dreamy, though, don’t you think so, Plagg?”

“You! Are! Chat Noir!”

-----

It had been three days since Adrien let slip that comment about thinking Chat Noir was “dreamy”, and, needless to say, Marinette was. . .

In a weird place right now.

“On one hand, Tikki, I’m of course so happy for him, because, like, he’s my partner, and I of course want him to be happy,” Marinette went over for the thousandth time, pacing back and forth across her room while her kwami watched from the bed.

“Of course.”

“And Adrien has the right to be with who he chooses, obviously.”

“Obviously.”

“And yes, okay, I’m a little upset about it, because it’s Adrien, but I do have a right to be at least a little sad, right?”

“Right.”

“But Chat Noir! Why didn’t he tell me! Even if they’re not together—yet—oh my god, yet, what if they get together?” Marinette paused to picture how simultaneously amazing and deeply horrible that would be. “But still! We’re a team! He should’ve told me!”

She slumped down onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling before covering her face.

“And I—I thought—I really thought Chat Noir. . .”

Tikki floated up from her spot next to Marinette’s head, prying away her hands. “Marinette, I know this is. . . a lot. But you need to take a second and think about this.”

Marinette lifted her head, and Tikki slipped a pillow underneath before coming back to sit in Marinette’s now-cupped palms. “I’m sure Chat Noir isn’t meaning to hide anything from you.”

Marinette sighed, closing her eyes and letting her head fall back against the cushion. “I know, Tikki, and. . . I trust him.”

“But?”

“But. . .” She took a deep breath, and another, until she realized she was doing it to keep herself from crying. “But I just—Chat Noir said he loved Ladybug. Do you—do you think he was lying?”

When she opened her eyes again, the look Tikki was giving her was so soft and—empathetic? sad? pitiful?— that Marinette couldn’t hold back all her tears anymore, and a few got through. Which wasn’t fair, because she’d rejected Chat, hadn’t she? That was all her fault. And she had Adrien, anyway, but. Did she have Adrien?

Could she have Adrien anymore, or was it too late at all?

“Marinette, I think. . . I don’t think Chat was lying, but I also think you shouldn’t focus too much on this,” her kwami said, softly. “I think you should talk to him.” Quietly, so quietly Marinette was sure she wasn’t meant to hear, she added, “And ask Plagg what he thinks his holder is doing.”

“But you heard Adrien. If they really are close, then how do I know it’s not too late?”

Tikki laughed, not meanly, just—knowingly. “Too late for what, Marinette?” Too late for who?

The only problem was, Marinette didn’t have the answer to that just yet.

All she knew was one: Chat had kept something from her. Two: she was definitely jealous for at least one involved party, if not possibly both.

The third point to her new list wouldn’t hit her until much later that night, once Tikki had already curled up on her pillow by Marinette’s head and no one was awake to stop her.

Three: maybe I could make them jealous of me.

-----

“Hey, Alya, isn’t Ladybug, like, super hot?”

Chapter Text

In hindsight, there were probably far better ways of going about this issue, but it had been the better part of a week since Adrien’s comment on his. . . attraction to Chat Noir, and Marinette’s brain could handle only so much Adrichat imagery before losing it completely.

Also, she wouldn’t say that things this week had been awkward around Chat, per say. But. Yesterday during patrol, her partner had stopped on a rooftop directly in front of a certain perfume ad, and the side-by-side was just. . .

“Why are you looking at me like that? Are you okay, M’lady? M’lady?”

. . .a bit too perfect.

But it’s okay, Tikki, she’d said that morning before leaving for school. I’ll just have to show them how perfect I am for Ladybug.

And so she had slid into her seat, turning to Alya with a cheeky grin and saying just loud enough, “Hey, Alya, isn’t Ladybug, like, super hot?”

What she wasn’t expecting was her friend to immediately whip out her phone, opening up her camera roll before looking Marinette dead in the eye and saying, “Oh, definitely, so hot, right?”

Marinette was pretty certain a tiny part of her soul died in that moment. She was also pretty certain that Alya had just opened a photo collection labeled ladybug’s sweet, sweet ass.

Tikki had been very against this plan (Marinette! You need to think this through! Are you really prepared to talk about yourself like that?). Maybe she should have listened, but it was too late now.

And, no, she was doing this for a reason. No choice but to see this through.

Marinette forced on a smile as Alya scrolled through an alarmingly long list of pictures of her superhero self and her, well, the label really is self explanatory, isn’t it?

But still, no matter how often or loudly she agreed with Alya, the row in front of them remained silent, dead, absolutely nothing. Nino, she understood, considering he and Alya were dating, after all—he’d probably been through this album hundreds of times (which, okay, not a comforting thought, but, priorities, Marinette, focus).

As for Adrien, though?

No reaction! Nothing at all! Marinette’s enthusiasm faltered for a split second, and she sighed, before fixing a much more reserved, shy look on her face.

Time for the big guns.

Flustered stammer? Ready.

Blush? Check.

Baby-doll eyes? Always.

She reached out to tap on a much less. . . suggestive picture, before letting out the most longing sigh she could manage (the secret? Mental mixture of Adrien’s eyes and Chat Noir’s laugh—does the trick every time).

“She’s just so brave,” she swooned (now picturing Chat fighting). “Do you—” Pause for dramatic effect. “Do you think I’d ever have a chance with someone like her?”

Alya’s head snapped up so violently that Marinette was genuinely worried that she might actually have broken it, and even Nino spared a glance back at her (giving her a quick thumbs up).

Adrien simply kept up his conversation with Nino, didn’t even skip a beat.

Marinette screamed. Or, at least she would have screamed, if it weren’t for that sudden gleam in Alya’s eye (and a surprising lack of confusion, considering her best friend knew better than anyone how incredibly obsessed Marinette was with Adrien).

“Oh, now what is this?”

-----

“You know what, Tikki? That third picture Alya showed me? Not bad.”

“Marinette, that was you. You do know that was you, right?”

-----

“Plagg! Did you hear her?” Adrien exclaimed as soon as he reached his room. “Marinette thinks Ladybug is hot!”

His kwami left Adrien’s shirt in search of cheese—he was definitely going to need it—grumbling, “So? You do, too, and you don’t see me freaking out about it.”

“You don’t get it! What if Marinette really has a crush on Ladybug?”

Adrien was dying. Well, actually, to be fair, he’d been dying since the beginning of school, when he’d had to sit there and listen to his princess gush about his Lady.

It had been pure agony, and he didn’t know if he was more jealous of Marinette stealing his Lady, or—more strangely—his Lady stealing Marinette. He’d put all his effort into remaining calm, though he’d almost broken when Marinette had asked Alya what her chances were.

There was the flustered stammer, blush, baby-doll eyes, everything.

It had, quite literally, nearly killed him.

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” Plagg said from his desk drawer—camembert stash #4—despite the fact that he quite obviously saw what the big deal was and Adrien quite obviously did not. “So what if the girl’s got a thing for Ladybug? Doesn’t mean it’s gonna go anywhere, and besides, you know how strict Ladybug is with limiting her relationships.”

Not to mention Marinette and Ladybug are the same person.

“Yeah, but—” Adrien stopped short. Why did it matter? Obviously Ladybug would never date a civilian, and just because Marinette might have a thing for her didn’t automatically mean his Lady felt the same.

And, it’s not like Marinette’s crushes were any of his concern, right?

So why did he feel so. . . weird?

Plagg nearly dropped his cheese, guessing as to his holder’s thoughts as they played out on his face. Yes, yes, you’ve almost got it!

Suddenly, Adrien’s face cleared, and Plagg actually did drop his cheese at that look of total clarity.

“Wait, I’ve got it! Of course Ladybug would never date Marinette, so I must just be concerned for her as a friend! Don’t want her to get her heart broken, of course!”

“Are you fucking kidding me?!”

-----

“Okay, Tikki, picture it: Ladybug perched on a rooftop, lit only by the soft glow of the moon and amber streetlamps, her midnight hair fluttering in the breeze. Super dreamy, don’t you think?”

“You—you mean Ladybug, dreamy, as in yourself?”

-----

Ladybug arrived at their meeting place a few minutes early, going through her loose script-not-script in her head while also possibly hoping Alya was out somehow to grab a picture of her sitting here.

Okay, Marinette, you’ve got this. Just gotta ask Chat what he thinks of Marinette. Easy breezy.

She heard Chat Noir land on the rooftop behind her, and she stayed sitting, waiting for him to swing his legs out over the roof next to her own.

Just seeing if anything's different, that's all.

It was quiet for a bit, before Marinette decided no time like the present.

“Hey, Chat?”

“Yes, Bugaboo?” She smiled at the silly nickname, in spite of herself, and tried to channel that look into what she was about to say.

“What do you think of Marinette Dupain-Cheng?”

It might have just been the dim lighting, but she swore the color drained from her partner’s face. Huh. Strange.

She hadn't even said anything yet.

“M-marinette? The—the bakers’ daughter?”

“Yeah, her. She’s kinda cute, don’t you think?” She kept her voice light, though it was funny how fidgety Chat seemed to be getting as he caught on.

“Yeah, she—she’s pretty cute, I guess.” Ladybug fought her growing smile. “If I may ask, M’lady, why do you ask?”

His voice sounded almost strained, which was such a pleasant contrast from Adrien's silence earlier today that Marinette had to suppress a relieved sigh.

She was still sad about missing her chance with Adrien, of course, but if she were to go off the way her partner was refusing to make eye contact with her at the moment, it seemed like maybe she didn’t have to worry too much about Chat hiding some secret relationship from her.

“Oh, no real reason, I guess,” she said calmly. “Yesterday, I saw something online called ‘Maribug.’ Apparently people think the two of us would make a good couple,” she laughed breezily, before turning back to Chat. “What do you think?”

His face went redder than she might’ve ever seen it, and she was almost concerned he’d lose his balance and fall off the roof as he stammered out, “Oh, you mean—oh, as in, you and Marinette, Maribug, of course, yes, clever.”

“I know, such a cute name. But what do you think of it?”

“Uh, I—wouldn’t that be dangerous? You know, for her?” Ladybug didn’t know if she liked his opposition to her dating someone else or his attempt to protect Marinette more, so of course she had to drag this out just a bit longer.

“I know we could protect her. And she did a pretty nice job herself with that one akuma, remember?”

“That’s true. . .”

“So? What do you think?”

“I think—actually, would you look at that, is that an akuma over there? No? Better check anyway!” he exclaimed, before jumping off the roof.

Ladybug laughed, before standing up to follow him. He really can be cute, sometimes.

(She tried not to focus on that too much, though, for two reasons: one, she was in love with Adrien, wasn’t she?)

(And two: being in love with two guys is both unfair and exhausting, so, no, she did not love her partner.)

(But he is cute.)

More importantly, though, Marinette felt it safe to say that Chat Noir hadn’t been lying to her. He wasn’t keeping secrets, no intimate ties with Adrien, he was still in love with—

Well, okay, maybe she really should go follow Chat now.

Time to finally put this all behind me.

Chapter Text

Week two of the Adrichat Incident was looking to not be an incident at all, if you were to ask Marinette.

Of course, Alya had spent the rest of last week hounding Marinette for details on her “feelings” for Ladybug—For how long? Does Ladybug know? Does this mean you’ve given up on you-know-who?

(I don’t know, no, it’s complicated?)

Adrien had been weirdly silent about his feelings for her partner—either that, or Marinette had been doing such a good job of backing the hell off that she hadn’t even noticed. Both of which were fine, of course, because this was officially no longer her jurisdiction (not that it ever really was, but whatever.)

Chat Noir, for his part, had been acting. . . distracted was a good word for it. Ever since her little Maribug intervention, he’d been a strange mix of distant and yet weirdly present (he already had a tendency to stare at her when he thought she wasn’t looking, but now he was somehow doing it even more). Also, the blushing. A lot of blushing.

All in all, Marinette figured this was more positive than not. After all, Chat was obviously still at least a little in love with her. Which, no, was still not good, because Ladybug did not love him, nope, not even a little thank you very much.

But, at least it meant he wasn’t hiding anything from her.

-----

Nino, bless him, was the same as always.

(Save for the small bi pride pin that appeared on his backpack overnight.)

-----

“Plagg! Code red! Emergency! Get the candles!”

Those had been the first words Adrien had said to Plagg nearly a week ago, after Ladybug had confirmed she reciprocated Marinette’s feelings and basically ripped his heart out.

He’d been so incredibly thrown off by it all that he had completely forgotten that he was supposed to be in love with Chat Noir—he’d hardly said anything about it at school, and he was pretty certain if he didn’t soon, then people might start to get suspicious.

As in, remember that there had been some sort of link between Adrien and Chat Noir, just not the kind of link he’d wanted them to think was there.

Also, there was the problem of Ladybug is in love with Marinette! Who is also in love with her!

“Whoa, kid, slow down. Did Ladybug actually say she was in love with Marinette?”

Adrien stopped the pacing he’d been doing ever since he’d gotten home from school that day (just like the day before, and the day before that).

“Well, those. . . might not have been the words she used.” Now that he stopped to think about it, Ladybug hadn’t said much at all about her actual feelings for his classmate, but also: “She—she did call her cute, though, and. . . and she wanted to know if I thought they’d make a good couple!”

Plagg sighed, swallowing a slice of camembert in one go—he’d been eating a lot of it lately, even for him, Adrien noticed. “Adrien, I’m pretty certain all of Paris thinks Marinette is cute.” You’ve called her adorable four times already this week. “And who knows? Maybe she was just curious. Or teasing.”

If he were in his Chat suit, Adrien’s ears would’ve perked up. “Teasing?”

Plagg didn’t answer, already on a new cheese dish.

Teasing? As in, seeing how I’d react? But—but what about—

“What about Marinette? Does that mean Ladybug’s leading her on?” Adrien asked. “Because—because—”

Because the thought of someone, anyone, messing with Marinette’s feelings like that—even his Lady—just didn’t sit right with him for some reason. Because Marinette was sweet, and kind, and quite literally all things good in this world, and if she’d fallen in love, she deserved to be loved in return.

“Have you considered that maybe you’re reading too far into Marinette’s feelings?” Plagg said finally, interrupting Adrien’s inner self-righteous, totally-just-friends monologue. “Pretty sure Alya’s the one who always brings up Marinette’s ‘crush’ on Ladybug. Who knows, maybe she’s just got a thing for superheroes.” Or maybe she is a superhero and you’re just an idiot!

“A thing. . . for superheroes?”

Marinette’s words from last week flashed through his head—do you think I’d ever have a chance with someone like her?

Someone like her.

As in, potentially, heroes in general. As in, could she also like. . . no, no, that’s a weird thing to think about someone who’s just a friend.

“Marinette does seem to be going along with Alya more than anything else. . . and she does always seem a little uncomfortable talking about it. . .”

Except for when she called Ladybug hot. That was definitely sincere. But who could blame her?

Still, though, something about this just didn’t feel quite right. Despite his kwami’s incredibly sound reasoning, Adrien still couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe Marinette genuinely did have a thing for his partner.

Not that he’d give up on his Lady anytime soon, but he also couldn’t bear the thought of being the reason Marinette was kept from the one she loved. (Which. Was still a big if, he knew, but he still wanted to be certain).

But Marinette was his friend, right? As both his hero and civilian self, Adrien liked to think the two of them were on pretty good terms. Maybe. . . maybe even good enough for him to simply talk this out with her, and just find out for himself how his just-friend felt about the love of his life.

Adrien looked up to Plagg, deciding not to ask for advice on this one. Don’t worry, I’ve got this.

“Plagg, claws out!”

-----

Adrien had spent entire minutes crafting his plan—he figured that if he showed up (unannounced) and poured his heart out about the woes of the difficult romance between a superhero and civilian, Marinette might be encouraged to do the same. At best, she wouldn’t be able to sympathize, and Chat would know for sure her supposed crush on Ladybug was just that: a harmless crush. At worst, he was fully prepared to become part of a clichéd love triangle (so long as he got the girl).

What he wasn’t expecting was for Marinette to look on the verge of tears the moment he opened his mouth.

“Wait, Marinette, are you okay?” Chat asked, crossing the room maybe a little too fast, judging by the way Marinette flinched, taking a step backwards.

Chat Noir was used to messing up—not even in a sad, self-pitying way. He just genuinely tended to be a dumbass from time to time, and he was okay with that. But even as he replayed the last few minutes in his head, he couldn’t figure out what he’d done wrong that had seemingly upset his friend so much.

He’d burst in through her trapdoor without warning, sure, but that was their thing. (Him showing up randomly, that is. Not the whole breaking-in thing.) And then he’d just launched right into his laments on the “struggles of trying to date Adrien Agreste, renowned model, incredibly nice guy, and all-around perfect boyfriend.”

But he was only halfway into his intricate detailing on just how difficult their circumstances were proving to be when he saw what could only be tears beginning to well up in Marinette’s eyes, and he dropped the act immediately.

“Did I say something? You can tell me, if I did.” And she really could, because despite the fact that she nearly refused to talk to his civilian self, at the very least Adrien knew that Chat Noir very much was her friend.

He stopped himself from reaching up to brush away her tears before they’d even fallen—if he really had done something to make her uncomfortable, he certainly didn’t want to risk making it any worse.

“Huh?” Marinette finally said, bringing a hand up to her cheek only to find it wet. “Oh, no, Chat, you’re fine!” she laughed, though it sounded very forced to Chat.

“Are you sure? Are you sure it wasn’t something I said?” Because last time he checked, people didn’t usually randomly start crying during conversations for no reason, and he seemed to be the only possible reason at the moment.

And he really, really did not want that. The thought of making Marinette sad. . . tugged at something in his chest in a way that he couldn’t quite explain.

“Yeah, yeah, of course I’m fine! You’re fine! Everything is fine!” Oh—oh no. She was going into Adrien-mode. As in, short sentences, avoiding eye contact, and in general doing very little to convince Chat that he wasn’t actually the problem.

“Are. . . are you sure you’re okay?”

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I be?” Chat cut a glance to the corner of her eye, where stray tears were still threatening to fall. Her hands, which had been waving around frantically, shot up to rub at her face. “Oh, that? That’s, uh, that’s because—”

She was still refusing to look at him, her eyes instead darting around her room as she continued to stammer. If Chat had any reason to question her, he’d say it sounded like she was looking for an excuse. But, of course, that made no sense, so he didn’t give that much thought.

Until.

“That’s because, well. . . Because I’m having those same problems! Yeah!” she finished, and Chat’s heart sank as she threw her head into her hands. “That whole doomed relationship thing! It’s so hard being in love with a superhero!”

Marinette was crying again, and Chat didn’t know how to respond. Her change in demeanor was just so sudden, and so extreme, it was almost as if. . .

“Difficult circumstances! Star-crossed lovers! The woes, all the woes!”

It was almost as if. . .

Marinette was lying.

“Yeah, yeah, the woes, definitely,” Chat said, as his brain struggled to keep pace.

Now, he obviously didn’t want to outright accuse Marinette, one of his best friends, of lying. Because who was he to say that she didn’t really love Ladybug? His partner was, after all, amazingly brave, and beautiful, and kind, and smart, and—

Focus. Ladybug was incredible, and Chat wouldn’t be surprised if half of Paris was in love with her. But, something about the way Marinette was behaving just felt off somehow, as if she didn’t really mean any of this.

And that’s when he noticed the blush slowly crawling up the back of her neck.

(Now, it was a little known secret to only her closest friends, but Marinette, though she rarely outright lied, had a tell for when she did. She blushed.)

(Maybe she should start keeping her hair down to hide that.)

The point: she really is lying!

Chat wasn’t entirely certain why, or for how long, but of one thing he was certain: Marinette was not in love with Ladybug. Which left two possible explanations:

One, Plagg was right, and Marinette (and, by proxy, Ladybug) was just messing with him for unknown reasons.

Two: Marinette actually was in love with a superhero, just not Ladybug, meaning. . . Nope. Not thinking about that. Not now.

Anyway. Back to option one: they were teasing him. He didn’t exactly know why, or if Marinette’s crying had started as fake (or if she was just a really good actress), but what he did know was that, no matter what, he was winning this.

Ladybug wanted teasing? He'd give them teasing.

“Woes aside, there is one perk to dating Adrien, I guess,” Chat interrupted, cutting off Marinette’s latest burst of fake tears. “He’s a really good kisser.”

More than just the back of Marinette’s neck exploded with blush this time around.

-----

Chat Noir finally left after nearly two hours—two hours!

“Two hours, Tikki! Two whole hours of Adrien this, Adrien that! Which, okay, is maybe how I tend to sound, but I, specifically, did not want to be having that conversation!”

Tikki was trying not to laugh as she listened to Marinette’s rant. Almost as soon as Chat had disappeared back through the trapdoor, Marinette had thrown herself onto her bed and was currently holding back less-than-fake tears. Tikki was grateful that Marinette had yet to lift her head; she knew her holder was genuinely distressed, but Tikki still couldn’t hold back her smile.

She’d caught on to Chat Noir’s game, and now just needed the same for Marinette.

“And it’s not like I didn’t expect it! Well, okay, I didn’t, but still! I’m the unluckiest girl in Paris! Of course this is happening!”

“Marinette!” Tikki finally interrupted, thinking of how she could phrase all of this. “Calm down! I know this seems bad, but. . . take a second to think about it!”

Marinette slowly rolled over, staring dead-eyed at the ceiling. “What is there left to think about, Tikki?” she asked. “Chat doesn’t love Ladybug anymore, he’s got Adrien now. They’re dating, it’s too late, and—and—and I was right about Adrien being a good kisser!”

And just like that, she launched into a whole new series of sobs. Tikki had patience—more than Plagg, that’s for sure—but she did draw a line somewhere.

“Marinette!” She lifted her head up, and Tikki lost just a bit of her impatience. It’s not her fault she can’t see how all of this is lining up. “Marinette, listen to me. I know what happened with Chat was. . . upsetting.”

Marinette nodded, wiping at her face. “It’s just—I just—I knew Adrien loved him, I just didn’t think Chat was serious. I thought—I really thought he loved me!” Tikki didn’t interrupt her this time, not yet.

“I know it’s selfish, but I liked that he loved me! It was—I don’t know, reassuring! Comforting! And I was starting to feel like maybe—like maybe I—” Go on, Marinette! You’re almost there! Like you what?

“Like maybe I—” Her voice broke, and she was lost once again. Tikki sighed. Well, progress was progress, she figured.

“Marinette, don’t you think it’s weird that Chat only brought this up after you started the rumor you were dating Ladybug? Doesn’t his behavior seem a bit, I don’t know, sudden to you?”

As Marinette’s kwami, she wasn’t actually able to tell her exactly what was going on. But she sure could come close, and Marinette had proven before that subtle signs went right over her head.

“Sudden? What do you mean?”

“Don’t you think it’s a bit odd that you went nearly a week hearing nothing about Adrien and Chat, and now all of a sudden this?”

Marinette thought for a second. “Well, I mean, Adrien was pretty quiet. . . but I was trying to block it out! But, then again, Chat’s always been pretty obvious about how he feels, and that did feel a bit out of place. . .”

“And so. . .?”

“And so. . . does that mean he. . . he’s. . .” Marinette gasped, bolting upright in bed and nearly crashing into Tikki.

“He’s faking it too?”

Chapter Text

At first, Marinette was ready to completely murder Chat Noir and simply pass on the miraculous to someone better (like Hawkmoth, perhaps, or her trash can), because how dare he mess with Adrien’s heart like that.

She was ready to march herself over to Adrien’s house and tell him everything, until Tikki intervened (“What if he gets akumatized?”). At which point she got so mad that Adrien might feel so strongly as to have an akuma sent after him that Tikki had to intervene yet again (“What if you get akumatized!”).

All in all, Marinette was out for blood (but also very calm and doing the breathing exercises Ms. Bustier taught her and definitely not about to be akumatized).

“I just don’t get it! What does Chat have to gain from messing with Adrien?” Chat messing with her she could understand, because she was messing with him, too, after all, but Adrien? “What if he really does like him? Chat’s stringing him along!”

A little voice in the back of her mind told her this might be a good thing, because at the very least it settled the debate on whether or not she could possibly ever have a thing for Chat (answer: no).

“Do you really think that’s something Chat would do?” Tikki asked, and she couldn’t even bring herself to be frustrated with Marinette’s antics because this new line of thinking was, of course, her own fault. “I know I said he was faking it, but what makes you think Adrien isn’t, too?”

“Come on, you saw the way he talked about Chat!”

“You had no problem convincing everyone else you have a crush on Ladybug.”

“This is different, I am Ladybug!” Plagg would’ve rolled his eyes if he’d heard that, but Tikki was more. . . delicate than him, and so she rolled her eyes only inwardly. “Besides, what if that’s why Adrien’s been so quiet lately? What if he’s onto Chat?”

The thought of Adrien getting his hopes up only to be so utterly let down absolutely broke her heart, and now she had an even bigger vendetta against Chat because that would be two hearts he’d broken.

“Marinette,” Tikki started, grasping at straws, “do you really think that’s something he’d do?” She couldn’t outright say Adrien was faking it, too, because she really had no proof other than Adrien is Chat Noir and you’re all being stupid.

Marinette was inclined to say absolutely it’s something he would do considering he’s doing it right now, but Tikki had a point, because Tikki always had a point.

Chat Noir might tend to be a dumbass from time to time, but Marinette knew him, and she knew he meant well. He’d never purposefully hurt anyone—it was one of the things she, admittedly, loved about him, and for him to turn around and completely stab Adrien in the back over a prank, well. . .

“I. . . I don’t know, Tikki,” she finally responded. “I want to trust him, but Adrien. . .”

She was moving on from him, she really was trying to, and no matter how much part of her hoped Tikki was right and he really didn’t have a thing for Chat, a larger part of her knew they were friends. And if there was even a chance Adrien was genuine, then helping him was her first priority. She couldn’t just write this off.

“I may not know what’s going on with them, but I’m going to find out.”

-----

Originally, Marinette’s plan had been to confront Chat Noir head-on, in the hopes that she could intimidate him into telling her the truth. Unlike her partner, though, she spent long hours agonizing over her plan, and it really only took five minutes and one stern look from Tikki to convince her that maybe she should do something that would require less damage control afterwards.

Around two in the morning, she finally came up with a new plan.

Now, it was no secret among her classmates (and anyone who came into contact with him) that Adrien had what might be considered a slight obsession with Paris’ top hero. Marinette tried not to think about this fact too often (not since last Halloween, when Adrien had come to their class party as Ladybug and Alya had to make Marinette go lie down for an hour). However, desperate times called for desperate measures, and not enough of Marinette’s brain was functional at two a.m. to stop her from playing dirty.

“Think about it, Tikki!” she said that morning, hyped up on all two and a half hours of sleep she’d managed to get that night. “Adrien’s basically my—or, well, Ladybug’s—number one fan, right?”

“Okay. . .”

“And who would lie to their favorite hero?”

“Marinette, you can’t possibly be thinking about using your powers for this! You know what always happens when you use your miraculous for selfish reasons.” Tikki had a point, Marinette knew, but her sleep-deprived brain had managed to come up with a loophole.

“I know, Tikki,” she said, shoving her notebooks into her bookbag. “But don’t worry, I came up with a solution that basically guarantees I’d be able to speak to Adrien as Ladybug without breaking any rules, you’ll see.”

She’d considered trying to find the model after an akuma attack, but the five minutes afforded by her earrings typically all went to finishing up battles and ensuring the safety of Hawkmoth’s victims. She couldn’t be sure she’d find Adrien at the scene of the attack and, regardless of her personal wants, she couldn’t just abandon de-akumatized civilians to go looking for him.

So, all in all, that ruled out any transformation due to an akuma attack.

However, Hawkmoth wasn’t the only reason she ever transformed.

Marinette put on her backpack and ushered Tikki into her purse, filled with so much confidence she only tripped twice on the way to school.

-----

“Hey, Alya, great news! Ladybug said she’s got time for an interview this afternoon!”

-----

Adrien had no shame in admitting his. . . admiration for Ladybug. He carried a Ladybug keychain on his bag, owned enough Ladybug shirts to last an entire year, and had on two separate occasions gotten into debates with Marinette over which of Paris’ heroes was the best (the only two times Marinette had ever managed to speak full sentences around him).

So, of course, when he heard Marinette announce that his Lady would be giving an interview that afternoon right after school—in the middle of the park, at that—he immediately texted his bodyguard that he’d scheduled an extra fencing practice for himself after school and to not bother picking him up.

“It’s great that you guys are so close, Marinette!” he said, turning around, even though he decidedly did not think it was great (just because he knew they were messing with him didn’t mean he was completely over his jealousy). “Do you think we could tag along, too?” He gestured to Nino beside him.

“Yeah, maybe even Chat Noir’ll show up!” his friend said, and Adrien feigned embarrassment, glad Nino was making his crush on his superhero self so easy to keep up with.

“Oh, well, I don’t know about Chat being there!” If Adrien didn’t know any better, he’d say Marinette looked like she was currently trying not to punch someone (a look she usually reserved for Lila or Chloe, and which never failed to both terrify and fluster Adrien).

Alya laughed. “That’s alright, girl, an interview with Ladybug is already awesome enough! You guys should come, too, it’ll be fun!”

Ms. Bustier walked in just then, but not before Adrien saw the small smirk on Marinette’s face, and it made him blush in a way that friends probably weren’t supposed to cause (though he didn’t really have time to unpack all that).

-----

Cons of being Ladybug: Marinette had by now earned herself the title “Flakiest Student at Françoise Dupont” and had a reputation for being ridiculously scatter-brained. Pros of being Ladybug: when Marinette told Alya she had to “help her cake bake a dad” and therefore sadly couldn’t go to the Ladybug interview, not a single one of her friends had even questioned her.

“Alright, Tikki, spots on!” she’d called once they were out of sight, making it to the park in record time and hiding on a nearby rooftop to prepare for her dramatic entrance.

As she waited for her friends to catch up, she mentally went over her plan one last time: one, be super ridiculously cool around Adrien. Two, subtly find out just how sincere his feelings were. Three, if they were fake, finish the interview before going home to celebrate that this nightmare was finally over.

Four, if his feelings were genuine: find Chat Noir and make a rug out of him.

She saw Alya make her way through the park gates, Nino and Adrien close behind her. Show time.

She yo-yoed down, timing her fall to land perfectly in front of them. She greeted Alya, before taking care to glance at Adrien and, as nonchalantly as possible, say, “Hey! Adrien, right? I’m glad you could make it!”

His face exploded crimson, and Marinette was glad to see that, at the very least, he was still her number one fan.

“Hey, Ladybug, d’ya mind if I take a few minutes to set up?” Alya interrupted. “I got a new stand for my phone that I wanna try out, that way Nino here doesn’t drop my phone off the Eiffel tower in the middle of an interview again.”

“No problem!” Ladybug chirped over Nino’s that was one time! She hung back as Nino and Alya moved closer to the fountain. Time for step two.

“So, Adrien,” she started, taking a deep breath. Focus, Marinette. No time for her to lose her mind around Adrien—or, at least, not until she knew how serious he was. “What’s with these rumors I’m hearing about you and my partner?”

Okay, so maybe not quite as subtle as she’d meant to be.

“R-rumours?” Adrien stammered, looking as if he was regretting every single decision he’d ever made that led him to this moment (which, coincidentally, so was Ladybug). “I’m sorry, but I—I don’t think I know what you’re talking about.”

Now, Marinette had spent the time from three to four that morning trying to figure out just how, exactly, Ladybug could possibly know about Adrien’s feelings for her partner. She could say Marinette had mentioned it, but she didn’t want Adrien thinking she was some kind of gossip, no matter how “close” Marinette and Ladybug might be. She also had to rule out any mention of their romance from Chat Noir himself, as he’d only ever brought it up to Marinette, and, again, Marinette was not a gossip.

In the end, she decided Adrien was too oblivious to even consider it, and her tired brain was the only one that actually cared about the logical fallacies behind Adrichat.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to hide it from me.” In fact, Ladybug would really rather he didn’t hide this from her, because maybe she was still a little upset that Chat had gone and formed some kind of relationship with a civilian (however fake) without telling her. “After all, we’re friends, aren’t we?”

And if Marinette thought she was flustered around Adrien, then he looked like he had invented a whole new emotion for it.

“I’m your friend?”

And, okay, Ladybug was prepared for him to be embarrassed. She was ready for blushing, maybe even a little stammering. What she wasn’t expecting were those three words to hit her like a fucking truck, the look on his face so earnest and happy that she needed to know now if Chat was messing with him.

Because, if she had learned anything about Adrien, it was that each of his relationships mattered deeply to him.

“Listen, Adrien,” she smiled at him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You’re a citizen of Paris, and my friend, and I just want to make sure you’re happy.” Strangely, she didn’t feel any nerves at all talking to Adrien now—if she weren’t currently still on the fence about Chat Noir, she might have found it ironic that the only times she wasn’t flustered around her crush was when her partner was somehow involved.

“I just. . .” She couldn’t outright say Chat was messing with him, because, again, what if he gets akumatized? “You know how Chat can be. How—how superheroes can be. Are you sure you’re up for the challenge?”

It didn’t even take a full minute for Ladybug to get her answer.

Too bad. I was kinda looking forward to making a Chat Noir rug.

-----

“You know, Tikki, Ladybug had a point. Do you think I’d be up to the challenge of dating Paris’ top hero?”

“You mean Chat Noir?”

“Tikki!”

-----

Adrien face planted onto the keys on his piano, grateful for once that his father didn’t seem to notice him no matter how much noise he made. “Her! I said I’m in love with her! There’s no way she didn’t notice that!”

“Calm down, kid, it’s not like it’s the end of the world.”

Except, no, it kind of was. For Adrien, at least. And all because Ladybug had ambushed him at the park.

(It’s not an ambush if you willingly went, he could hear Plagg saying, but he didn’t even look up).

His day had been going pretty well. He’d had breakfast with his father for a whole nine minutes. Everyone was still reasonably convinced of Adrichat. Ladybug had even called him a friend, which had almost made him break down in tears right on the spot.

Which is probably why, only seconds later, he’d gone and admitted he was in love with someone, just not the right someone.

“Are you sure you’re up for the challenge?” Ladybug had asked him, and he was so far gone he didn’t even have time to think before he was answering, “Of course! I don’t care how dangerous it gets, or what it might mean for me. All I know is that I love her.”

Of course, he immediately corrected himself (“Him! I love him, obviously!”). But his Lady was clever, and he knew from the gleam in her eyes that she’d caught on to his lie.

Honestly, he wasn’t even all that worried about Ladybug connecting the dots and realizing he was actually in love with her (after all, half of Paris was in love with Ladybug). No, he was stupidly, stubbornly upset about something else entirely:

“I said her, and now Ladybug knows, and if Ladybug knows then how am I supposed to win!”

Plagg stopped rummaging through his hidden piano cheese stash long enough to ask, “Win what?”

But Adrien didn’t answer, too busy going over it in his head.

On one hand, now Ladybug—and likely, by extension, Marinette—knew Adrichat was fake, and that meant he’d lost any advantage he might have had.

On the other hand, though, he still didn’t know why his princess and his Lady had started this little game of teasing—he knew there had to be a reason, and he felt so close to figuring it out, like he was on the edge of a rooftop and ready to fall.

And, if he was being honest, this game of pretend was getting pretty fun.

“Maybe. . . maybe if I keep going, I’ll get one of them to crack. Then do you think I’ll find out what’s going on?”

“Sure, whatever, kid,” Plagg answered, but he was too distracted by his camembert to stop his holder.

Chapter Text

If you were to ask Tikki, her holder was currently taking this way too far.

If you were to ask Marinette, they started it, Tikki, but I’m gonna finish it!

See, the thing is, Marinette was no idiot. She knew her partner and former—present?—crush were messing with her; she understood a slip of the tongue, sure, she made them all the time, but the conviction in Adrien’s voice when he said that. . .

“I don’t care how dangerous it gets, or what it might mean for me. All I know is that I love her.”

Well, it was pretty safe to say he wasn’t talking about Chat Noir.

(Which meant he was in love with a girl, who also was probably a superhero, one of Paris’s current three female superheroes, and if Marinette thought about it for too long she felt like collapsing, so she put it aside for now.)

So, no, Adrien wasn’t in love with Chat Noir, and Chat Noir. . .

Well, Chat Noir was probably still in love with Ladybug, right?

“It doesn’t matter!” she declared suddenly from where she sat at her desk, startling Tikki from her perch on Marinette’s shoulder.

“Marinette, what—”

“I don’t care who they love! I don’t even care why they’re doing it!” Marinette was in full-on frenzy mode, and try as she might, not even Tikki could stop her now.

Marinette stood up, marching over to where she kept her spare sketchbook and violently plopping down on her bed.

“Marinette. . .” Tikki floated up over her shoulder, just in time to see her start to outline two figures. “What are you doing?”

“I’m winning this game.”

-----

If you were to ask Alya, she was just glad Marinette finally seemed to have figured out her Adrien problem.

She was a little confused—of course she was. Her best friend seemingly flipped a switch overnight, going from obsessing over Adrien to being in love with Ladybug (!!!). And, sure, all of Paris was definitely at least a little in love with the spotted hero (Alya, for one, definitely was), but she’d really thought Marinette and Adrien were made for each other.

Safe to say, Alya was a little disappointed.

(An entire folder of Adrienette fanfiction made irrelevant, just like that. . .)

However, if she was anything at all, Alya was a shipper (and Marinette fan) first and foremost. So, no matter the two years’ worth of flower shop and enemies-to-lovers aus filed away on her laptop, if her best friend was in love with Ladybug then she was gonna support it.

So, of course, when Marinette sent her a link to fanart she claimed to have just found, Alya quite understandably fell off her bed in excitement.

-----

(If you were to ask Nino, he’d have absolutely no clue what you were talking about.)

-----

If there were two things Marinette prided herself on above all things, it would be her creativity and her knack for thinking up the most convoluted (yet successful) plans on short notice. So it really shouldn’t have come as a surprise to Tikki when Marinette declared she “knew how to win” and proceeded to spend the next four hours furiously scribbling away, first in her extra sketchbook before moving on to her tablet.

It also shouldn’t have surprised Tikki when, five finished art pieces later (ranging from a series of rough sketches to an admittedly impressive soft nighttime scene) Marinette spent a further thirty minutes setting up a new blog dedicated to all things Maribug.

(Twenty of those minutes were spent coming up with the username buggamari, which she was quite proud of.)

The plan was simple: spread Maribug ship art so that Adrien would see, starting with a simple text to Alya reading look at this super cute art i found!!

Part two of her plan was equally simple and involved a further hour spent drawing another Parisian superheroine dramatically posed with Ladybug. After posting it to her new blog, she switched over to her official Ladybug, Hero of Paris account (which Chat Noir had insisted was absolutely necessary for the furthering of their public appearances) and opened up her long-running chat log with her hero partner (Chat Noir, Hero of Paris and Lover of Cheese).

After only a moment’s pause in which she swiftly blocked Tikki from closing Tumblr and thus thwarting her plan, Marinette typed out a quick message and hit send.

-----

Photo received:

Alt Text: Ladybug hangs from the Eiffel Tower, backlit by a full moon. In her arms, a mouse-themed heroine leans into her chest. The two look at each other with expressions of awe and a healthy amount of blush.

Message received:

Hey Kitty, look at this fanart! Apparently this ship is called ‘Multibug’;)

-----

Just because Adrien knew Ladybug was messing with him didn’t mean he still didn’t (briefly) faint when he saw his partner’s messages to him.

He sat up thirty seconds later to the sound of Plagg cackling, and the image splayed across all three of his computer monitors sent him into a near-catatonic state.

“Ladybug and Multimouse???” he shrieked from his spot on the floor, scrambling back up to his desk chair. “Is that even allowed?”

As far as he knew, only he and Ladybug knew about Marinette’s brief stint as the mouse heroine.

The humor of Adrien fainting wearing off, Plagg, in between giggles, managed to get out, “Don’t worry, kid, I’m sure no one actually ships this—”

“Oh, no, I know that,” Adrien said, having immediately clocked the picture as Marinette’s art. (After all, half the time he turned around to talk to her and Alya during class was just to see the adorable little doodles in the corners of her schoolwork. Not that that had any significance deeper than his general appreciation of the arts, of course.) “It’s just that only we actually know about Multimouse. What was she thinking? No one’s going to reblog this.”

Plagg stopped laughing. “That’s what bothers you about this?”

In actuality, Adrien was currently trying his hardest to think about anything other than the admittedly very cute fanart of two of his closest friends (Marinette had gotten quite good at shading) and also trying not to imagine himself as either of the two heroines in the picture.

“Well, yeah, I mean think about it, if no one reblogs it just imagine what it’ll do to Marinette’s self-confidence…”

Adrien clicked on the link to Marinette’s new blog—taking a second to appreciate the adorableness of her username—and immediately regretted his decision (narrowly avoiding another fainting spell). The blog seemed to be dedicated to all things Maribug, and had already been reblogged by—

“Alya posted this to the Ladyblog? Seriously?”

“Well, solves one problem at least.”

Adrien scoffed, placing a hand over his chest and turning to Plagg in a way that could only be described as deeply affronted. “How does this solve anything?”

“Well, now you don’t gotta worry about no one reblogging it,” Plagg replied, having once again found humor in Adrien’s distress.

Adrien turned back to his monitors, blushing as he took in the various art of his princess and Lady embracing each other. (And, he wasn’t proud to say, saving a particularly nice nighttime scene to his favorites.) Against his better judgement, he slowly began to scroll through the rest of the blog.

“Wow, she started this yesterday? There’s already, like, twenty posts on here.”

As he got further into it, he noticed that Marinette apparently had an ask box set up already, having answered two separate messages so far (is that your mouse oc?? and chat noir and ladybug really are peak mlm/wlw solidarity).

Plagg noticed Adrien’s silence, repressing a groan at the now-familiar scheming face he possessed.

“Kid, whatever it is you’re thinking, no.”

-----

New ask for buggamari from ladybugfanofficial_ :

hiya bugga!! just wanted to say LOVE your art and also what are your thoughts on Adrichat/do you take requests??>w<

-----

Adrien didn’t like to brag, but he was something of a legend in the Ladybug fan community. His account, ladybugfanofficial_, had been around since exactly seven hours and fifty-two minutes after his and Ladybug’s first defeat of Hawkmoth, and had been featured on the Ladyblog almost as many times as Ladybug herself.

(Mostly he used it to curate pictures and fan headcanons he thought were funny, but it also made a great place to reblog his almost-as-extensive collection of Ladynoir fanfiction.)

The thing was, he’d recognized buggamari as Marinette; the account was too new, too much of a coincidence. But ladybugfanofficial_? He had a following, years of posts and discussions and theories stating that Chat Noir definitely had a six pack under that suit. He had finesse.

The creation of a new Maribug account was sudden, but Adrichat posts in a long-established pillar of the online Miraculous fandom?

Hell, he could probably get it to trend.

-----

In the other end of the mansion, Gabriel Agreste opened his phone to four separate articles seeming to proclaim his son had the hots for Chat Noir.

“Nathalie?!”