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Marinette sighed, studying the dress in front of her. Ever since Collège Françoise Dupont had announced their theme for their dance– this year’s being masquerade– she had been hard at work making the perfect dress. At first, she’d wanted to use the design she’d been holding on to for months; a lace ball gown with her signature flower pattern on the torso and a butterfly at the hip, but after hours of Alya’s whining, she had agreed to go as a loose interpretation of Ladybug.
While the costume Alya had commissioned her to make was a dead-ringer for a Rena Rouge dress, the silky orange fabric hanging off her curves with white layered cap sleeves and black gloves that went up just above the elbow, Marinette had taken more creative liberties with her own dress, using a deeper red and adding gold into the color palette.
She stared critically at it for a moment, biting at her lip nervously. After spending weeks on this dress, Marinette felt like it should be perfect by now, but it was still missing something.
Tikki, clearly noticing her distress, flew over to perch on Marinette’s shoulder, “It looks beautiful, Marinette,”
“I can’t help but feel like it’s still missing something, though,”
The dress did look beautiful, Marinette couldn’t argue with that point, but it still felt as though she needed to add something else.
The bodice was rather simple, just the deep scarlet chiffon cut into a strapless sweetheart, but she hadn’t wanted to draw attention away from the skirt, which was the real focus of the gown. Once the dress hit her waist, it immediately flared out into an organza skirt, decorated with gold dots that sparkled when the light hit them. The mask was the same red color, lined with the gold fabric she’d used for the dots and two black feathers– fake, just in case she got to dance with Adrien– were perched in the top right corner.
Her kwami just shook her head, “It’s perfect. You’ve just spent so much time working on it, you can’t help but want to keep fiddling. But it’s gorgeous. You’ll knock everyone’s socks off,”
She was probably right, and even if Marinette could pinpoint something to do with the dress, the dance was in only an hour or two, so she wouldn’t have time to do much.
Marinette nodded, “You’re right. Alya will be here in a few minutes anyway, and then I’ll be able to stop stressing about it.”
“Exactly!”
It was only a few minutes later that Alya made her way into Marinette’s room, gasping when she saw the dresses.
“Oh my god, girl! These are crazy incredible!”
Marinette blushed, shaking her head, “It’s no trouble, really. I’m just glad you like yours.”
“How could I not?” Alya gaped at her. “It looks just like Rena Rouge!”
Unable to help the grin of pride off her face, Marinette just laughed, carefully taking the dress off the mannequin, handing it off to Alya along with the gloves and mask.
Alya quickly rushed off the bathroom to change while Marinette pulled on her own ball gown and gloves.
She studied her makeup box critically, eyes flittering across the different eyeshadow and lipstick options.
“You should totally go for a dark red lipstick!” Alya cheered from behind her, twirling in her dress before striking a pose, “How do I look?”
Marinette giggled, “Just like Rena,”
The two girls did their makeup and hair quickly– Marinette did end up going for bold red lipstick, while Alya went for a lighter orange/pink tone. While Alya went for a very similar hairstyle to Rena– a ponytail with different strands woven in and out, Marinette had chosen to keep her hair down with light curls, keeping it out of her face with a gold leaf hairband.
Finally, they placed their masks on, taking one last look in the mirror.
“Girl, you look so much like Ladybug!” Alya exclaimed, “We look amazing!”
Marinette smiled nervously, “We do look pretty good, but we should head out if we want to get there on time and meet up with everyone else,”
Her friend just grinned at her, “We’re so gonna knock ‘em dead,”
The dance was already rather busy when they arrived, and Alya quickly left her side to find Nino who was dressed as the Carapace to her Rena Rouge.
Not in the mood for mingling, Marinette made her way over to the refreshments table, leaning against the wall there. From her spot, she could see several other people dressed as Ladybug; Ivan and Mylène, who were dressed as an ox and mouse; and Chloé, who was obviously dressed as Queen Bee.
She absentmindedly scoured the room for Adrien, but couldn’t manage to find him anywhere. Then again, she wasn’t sure who he was dressed as, which made it much harder.
Her thoughts were interrupted when someone leaned against the wall next to her.
“Wasn’t expecting to you here, M’Lady,”
Marinette whirled around, facing a very smug-looking Chat Noir. She couldn’t believe that he would show up here, nothing but a flimsy silk mask between someone discovering his identity and him.
She quickly grabbed the bell attached to his vivid green bow tie, pulling him into a corner, “Chat what are you doing here?”
He gave her a bemused expression, “I could very well ask the same of you, Bugaboo,”
Mouth gaping open briefly, Marinette realized that Chat knew she was really Ladybug, before her jaw snapped shut, “At least I had the mind to change up my costume a bit!” She hissed, “You look exactly like Chat Noir,”
Chat crossed his arms defensively, “And here I thought you’d be happy to see me,”
Through his sarcasm, Marinette could tell he was hurt and pulled back, “I’m sorry Chat, I’m just… stressed. The only reason I’m dressed like this is that my friend made me, and I’ve been worried someone’s going to recognize me all week.”
“I’ve been feeling the same way.” Chat sighed, “My friend suggested it, and I tried to turn her down, but the more I rejected the idea, the more she pressed it and I didn’t want her to get suspicious of me,”
Marinette laughed, “Some pushy friends we have, huh?”
He nodded, extending his hand to her, “Dance with me, Bugaboo?”
She raised her eyebrow, “Seriously?”
“Well, that is what they do at dances, right?”
Although she was tempted to say no just for that deadpan response, one glance at his charming smile melted her resolve.
“Alright,” She said, dropping into a small curtsy as her hand slipped into his, “One dance,”
Chat’s face lit up in a grin as he led her out onto the dance floor, his hands planted firmly on her waist as hers landed on his shoulders.
“So,” He began as he led her around the room, “What brings you here tonight?”
She glared up at him, trying her best not to step on his feet in the meantime, “Chat,”
“What? Doesn’t this seem like great team bonding time?”
Chat took her into a gentle spin as she rolled her eyes, “Okay fine. I’m here for the same reasons as you, I’m sure.”
“You’re a student here?” He guessed.
Marinette pursed her lips but nodded reluctantly, her grip tightening slightly on his shoulders as he led her into a more complicated move.
He let out a small laugh, “You really weren’t joking when you said you were clumsy as a civilian, were you?”
“Nope,” Marinette said cheerfully, “Honestly, it’s a miracle I haven’t stepped on your toes yet.”
“Well thank god for that,” Chat grinned down at her, causing her cheeks to flush red.
Had Chat always been this handsome? His green eyes were just as striking when he wasn’t transformed, and she had the strong urge to run her hands through his hair.
Glancing around the room to divert her attention from the unfairly attractive man in front of her, Marinette saw Nino and Alya spinning around the dance floor. Nino shot her a small smile and Alya gave her a thumbs up.
When she turned back to Chat, his eyebrows were raised, “You know them?”
Marinette’s eyes narrowed, “Do you ?”
“Maybe,”
She rolled her eyes, panic rushing through her as she took in the time, “It’s already eleven-thirty?”
Chat nodded, his brow furrowing in confusion, “What’s the matter?”
“My parents wanted me home by midnight! Oh, I’m sorry, Chat, I’ve gotta go,”
A sad smile flitted across his face as he bowed down and kissed her hand, “Will I see you again soon?”
Before Marinette could even register her own words, they flew out of her mouth, “Well that depends on whether or not you find me, Chaton,”
She pressed a kiss to his cheek and rushed out of the ballroom without looking back.
Marinette did her best to try and forget about the offer she made to Chat over the weekend, but her mind kept circling back to that moment.
“Tikki, why did I do that?” She cried, slamming her head against the desk. “This is the worst idea I’ve ever had!”
Her kwami just sighed, patting Marinette’s hand soothingly, “It’ll be okay. Since you’re the Guardian now, it might even be a good thing for you two to know each other’s identities!”
“It was still stupid,”
“Or romantic,” Tikki said.
Marinette shook her head, pushing her school items into her backpack, “This is such a mess,”
“Don’t worry, Marinette!” Tikki soothed cheerfully, “You never know, Chat might’ve thought you were just joking and let it go!”
The first thing Marinette noticed when she walked into school was that Chat Noir had very much not thought she was joking and subsequently very much not let it go. Her jaw nearly dropped as she walked into the school, noticing the posters everywhere .
Obviously, Chat didn’t have a picture of her, but it noted he was looking for someone who’d dressed as Ladybug at the masquerade, with an email obviously created solely for this purpose at the bottom.
“Damn,” Alya whispered, “Whoever this Chat Noir is, he’s desperate to find his Ladybug,”
Laughing nervously, Marinette slung an arm around Alya’s shoulder, “Good luck with that one. There were tons of people dressed up as Ladybug Friday night,”
Her friend shot her a look, “Oh come on, girl! You have to admit it’s super romantic!”
“Maybe,” Marinette shrugged. “I just hope it’s worth all the effort,”
Alya shot her incredulous glance, “Girl, did you see how hot all the Chat Noir’s were? If I’d been the girl one of them was looking for, I’d be launching into his arms by now,”
“He was pretty cute, wasn’t he?” Marinette muttered, immediately regretted it when Alya stopped dead in her tracks.
“Wait. You were dressed as Ladybug, and you were with a Chat Noir. What if you’re the one he’s looking for?”
Marinette shook her head, “Are you crazy? I’m totally not the one,”
Alya raised her eyebrows, but shrugged, “If you say so,”
The two made their way to class, where Adrien looked rather upset, propping his chin up on his fist as he doodled in his notebook. Marinette couldn’t help but compare Adrien to Chat Noir, both of them with their golden hair, bright green eyes, relatively the same body type…
She shook her head quickly. Even Ladybug wasn’t lucky enough for the two boys she liked to be the same person.
As the day continued on uneventfully, Marinette frowned, staring at the posters hung up around the hallways. She hoped that Chat wasn’t too sad she hadn’t come forward, it was just that she was worried about what would happen if she did. Honestly, she was still really hoping that he’d find her, somehow.
The bell rang soon after, signifying the end of the school day, and Marinette began to make her way home, shouldering her backpack.
“Marinette, wait!”
She whirled around, recognizing the owner of the voice as Adrien ran to catch up to her, his hair messily flopping in his eyes.
Once he caught up with her, he flipped the hair back out of his eyes, smiling at her, “So, did you have fun at the dance last Friday? I heard Alya managed to convince you to go as Ladybug,”
Marinette nodded slowly, biting her lip, “Yeah, she did. I had a nice time, actually. How about you?”
Adrien shrugged, “I had a nice time. I’m still trying to find who I danced with though,”
Thousands of thoughts raced through Marinette’s head as her jaw dropped before she quickly snapped it shut, “Well, uh, good luck finding her then,”
A smile lit up Adrien’s face as he raced his eyebrow at her, “Pretty sure I just did, Bugaboo,”
“Chat?”
His eyes were sparkling with happiness and mirth as he pulled into a tight hug, “Found you,”
She pulled back just enough to look into his eyes, “You’ve been in front of me this whole time?”
“Pretty ridiculous, isn’t it?”
Marinette giggled, “Just a little bit,”
She gazed up into his eyes, noticing as his flicked down to her lips.
“Can I kiss you?” He asked, his voice lower than she was used to hearing.
Marinette just had enough to nod before his lips were on hers, his arms pulling her even closer as her hands wove around his neck.
When he finally pulled away, much to Marinette’s dismay, he smiled down at her with a lovestruck grin.
“I’m glad it’s you,” She whispered against his lips.
Adrien raised an eyebrow at her, “Does this mean you’re really My Lady, now?”
“Have been for a while, Mon Chaton,”
And with that, she pulled his lips back to hers, not intending to let him go for a long, long time.