Chapter Text
i am water
soft enough
to offer life
tough enough
to drown it away
-rupi kaur
---------------------------
“I have a present for you!”
She turned her gaze away from the setting sun and instead towards her partner, vaulting over with assistance from his staff. Her smile widened at the sight of him, his bright grin and sparkling eyes feeding the butterflies in her stomach.
She was still getting used to this “I’m in like with my partner” thing.
(Love was far too strong a word. Like was more similar.)
Worry filled her head when she lingered on the thought of a “present”. Recently, Chat had become more and more lax with buying her things, small tarts or beautiful bouquets. It broke her heart in two every time he presented them as a friendly gift rather than a promise of something more whenever she was ready.
Apparently, the second she had moved on, he had as well.
“Good evening to you too, Chaton,” she replied with a chuckle.
He flashed a smirk at her again before pulling his hand out from behind his back to reveal two rectangular boxes. “Christmas has come early!”
“What is that..?”
He lightly threw it over to her, and she caught it quickly.
“Surprise!”
She opened the box to reveal a… a phone?
“What?” she questioned, turning the phone over in her hands.
“I already got a sim card and everything! Now we can call each other whenever we want!” he exclaimed with a delighted grin.
“I can't accept this-“
“Don’t worry,” he chided, moving to sit down beside her. “It’s no issue, really.”
The pool of dread in her core only seemed to expand. “Are you sure about this?” She had come to trust Chats' judgement about identity things more and more since she had become Guardian (and since she had fallen in like.) He was often the one to remind her to not take the rules too seriously, and even though she knew he wanted to discover who she was behind the super façade, she trusted him more than enough to be certain that he wouldn’t steer her wrong for his own gain.
“Yup! I double checked, got a VPN and everything so no one can trace any activity. And, it can be used for akuma alerts, so it has to be allowed, right?”
She took a second to deliberate. On one hand, Chat was correct in saying that it could be used for useful things like communicating about akumas and other threats. But, there was a chance, however minuscule, that it could reveal their identities if it was to get in the wrong hands.
For once, Marinette allowed herself to be selfish.
“Fine,” she sang, dragging out the syllables.
His expectant expression turned to a proud toothy smile. “Yes! This will be paw sitively amazing!”
“Calm down, Chat,” she reminded, not unkindly, “Now, you ready for patrol?”
“Yup,” he answered, popping the “p”.
“Well, let’s race!” she yelled, already swinging to the next building by the time the words had left her mouth.
“Not fair!” he shouted back as he extended his baton, faking offense.
Very little happened on patrol, something which unsettled Marinette. Ever since she had been handed the title of Guardian, Hawkmoth had been throwing bigger and stronger villains at them on a day to day basis. They had changed their patrol times to accommodate, now waking up after a few hours of sleep to go and watch the Parisian streets.
When Marinette returned to her room, detransformed with a sleeping Tikki in her hand, she powered on the phone for the first time.
She was met with a certain smiling cat.
“He set it as my wallpaper,” she muttered with a chuckle.
The contacts list only had one number, labelled as “the coolest B)” which got another laugh out of her.
She knew he wouldn’t be sleeping yet, the adrenaline from patrol keeping both of them up for the next hour or so. Patrols without interruption were rare, but it gave them a chance to talk and banter with each other like Hawkmoth wasn’t in existence.
Maybe in another life, she would have known him as him rather than Chat Noir. His dorky puns would be a daily occurrence, not just when they had planned meetings. She would see whether he wore plaid shirts and baggy jeans or if he kept his hair ruffled even when in school. And maybe, she would have met him before Adrien, avoiding a year of constant debate on whether she could really like Chat because she certainly wasn’t any less in love with the perfect golden boy.
the coolest B)
4:27 AM
what is my name in
your phone
if i speak i am
in trouble O-O
don’t tell me-
what’s the matter,
bugaboo? ;)
i can and will
throw you off the
eiffel tower again ;)
pLEASE NO-
Tikki told me to
tell you to tell plagg
she said hi btw
the cheese demon-
“tell sugar cube i
said hi” and then he winked
i’m scared
she has politely requested
if you can scream at him
on her behalf </3
anything for tikki
she’s an angel
dw she knows
patrol was quiet tonight,
idk if we should be worried
it’s more than likely nothing,
don’t worry about it m’lady
u know you can just
call me Ladybug right /j
eXCUSE YOU THEY
ARE ENDEARING!
sleep sounds endearing
go to bed >:(
i have school in 2
hours there isn’t
much point tbh
ill end up sleeping
in if i do
i can wake you up :)
really?
of course!! anything
for you, bugaboo :D
are you changing
from puns to poems?
you wish ;) now go to
sleep!!
i’ll wake u up
what the hell would
i do without you
die, probably /j
sᴇᴇɴ 4:38
*.*.*.*
7:05 AM
Incoming call from the coolest B)
The beeping of the phone awoke her from her nap, the phone lying on her chest vibrating slightly. She made a note to change the ringtone as she answered the call.
“Good morning, my lady,” whispered Chat, yawning as he did so. She could hear the smile in his voice.
“Good morning, Chaton,” she replied with equal happiness.
“Sleep well?”
“Mhm,” she lied. In all honesty, she had spent the hour after they had finished talking looking through the camera roll. Chat had thought to take several photos on his way to patrol, ranging from pictures of the sights he saw to selfies with a wide grin.
“You have school soon,” he reminded.
“I know, mére,” she joked, “but the effort to get up,” she groaned.
“My sentiments ex- cat- ly!”
“Okay,” she choked out between laughs, “that was a- paw -ling!”
“Wait, could you say that again? I need it on tape,” he deadpanned, voice becoming muffled as he got up.
“What is on the itinerary for today?” she teased.
“School, fe- I mean extra curriculars,” he covered, the sound of water joining him, “and then I’m seeing a really beautiful girl later.”
We don’t have patrol later.
Her smile faltered at the thought, but it wasn’t new information. She knew that Chat wasn’t infatuated with her anymore, and she had long claimed to accept it.
(Whether she actually did was another matter.)
“She better be amazing for me to approve, honestly.”
“She really is,” he said after spitting out toothpaste, “but I’ll spare you from the details.”
“Thank God,” she sassed, smirking even if he couldn’t see her.
“I’m heartbroken!” he cried, the ghost of him clutching his heart in pain making her erupt in cackles.
“Bug, you’re going to be late.”
“Who cares?”
“You should,” he chastised.
“Okay, I’ll get up,” she groaned, the sound of her pulling back the covers filling Chats speakers.
“Yay! Annoying you into things works!”
“Only for you,” she kidded, but there was an underlying tone of serious endearment in her tone that Chat didn’t pick up on.
“See you later, bugaboo!”
“Don’t call me-“
She was cut off by the call disconnecting, a smile finding a way onto her face.
*.*.*.*
“Who are you and what have you done with Mari?”
“Okay, I get it, I’m late a lot!” she admitted as she sat down in her chair, trying to look guilty but failing terribly.
“So,” Alya started, pulling out her phone, “what’s got you so chipper?”
“Nothing!” she defended, far too passionate to be genuine. “Just- just slept well for once.”
“Sweet dreams?”
“Alya!” she hissed, lightly hitting her arm, “Stop! You’re implying things! Again!”
“Hey!” she retorted, “ you’re the one that won’t deny it!”
“Fine! No, Alya, I did not dream about a potential boyfriend. Is that okay?”
Only because he likes someone else.
“Mhm,” she countered, obviously not believing her.
The door to the classroom opened, revealing Adrien and Nino.
“Mari! Alya! Hi!” Adrien welcomed, as smiley and bright as ever.
Trust me to fall for two boys that aren’t interested. I thought ladybugs were supposed to be lucky?
“Hi sunshine b-“
Marinette smacked a hand on top of Alyas mouth, shushing her. The nickname was from when they needed a way to talk about Adrien without him noticing, and thinking about it now only brought embarrassment.
The questioning glance she received from Adrien wasn’t unjustified.
“Hi!” she replied as he went to sit down, the stutter missing from her words.
“Did you guys see the most recent akuma attack?” Nino asked, taking off his headphones to rest them around his neck.
“Yeah,” she responded, thinking about how difficult it was, inches away from losing Chat. “Looked pretty tough in my opinion. Chat Noir was really cool,” she added.
The look of surprise she received from Alya at her clear annunciation made her blush, proud.
“Yeah, t-totally,” Adrien answered Nino, agreeing with her. He probably had a cold or something, the pink tainting his nose and cheeks growing brighter.
“Adrien-“ began Alya, the start of an interrogation, no doubt. Thankfully, Miss Bustier silenced the class, beginning the lessons.
Class progressed as usual, with a few killing glares from Lila any time she interacted with Adrien. She never could seem to grasp the concept that he wasn’t property .
Halfway through her literature lesson, analysing some poem that Marinette wasn’t paying much attention to, her phone chimed.
“Marinette? Please silence your phone,” Miss Bustier reprimanded, an accusatory glint in her pupil.
“Sorry!” she squeaked out, suddenly very aware of how many eyes were on her.
Peeking at her phone under the desk, she saw no notification.
Must be the other one .
the coolest B)
my classes are so boring today help me ladybug
Unlocking her phone, she silenced it before typing a response.
the coolest B)
11:13 AM
my classes are
so boring today
help me ladybug
hmmm
no
betrayed by my
own partner. i would
sob but i don’t want
to get sent to the nurse
youre lucky youre
cute or i would have
blocked you already
ladybug! i’m
blushing!
serves you right ;)
now i have to go before
im sent to the principal
seeya later kitty :)
ladybug? in the
principals office?
what a scandal!!
see you later :D
Nino and Alya shared looks of utter confusion when Marinette and Adrien looked up from their phones-
a blush on Mari’s cheeks and a smile on Adrien lips- in sync.
*.*.*.*
Marinette looked up from her sketchbook, watercolours staining her fingers as she went to open the trapdoor. Some specks of rain fell in her hair as Chat slid in, diving into her bed.
“What the- Chat! Get off my bed!”
“Sorry! Sorry!” he yelped, “Cats don’t like rain!”
“But you’re not a cat!” she yelled back, trying to hold back a laugh. Digging through her dresser, she found a spare pillowcase and started to change the sopping case.
“Oooo!”
She found him peering over her sketchbook, mesmerised by the soft cerulean and light violets. She had decided to paint some of her designs, something she had heard in some podcast about helping her better envision it. It had worked, the colours turning into inspiration.
“These are so pretty, Mari!”
“Thanks Chat,” she mumbled, blushing.
Being in “like” with Chat wasn’t the same as with Adrien.
Adrien was blushing and batting lashes, flowers and compliments, looking at books while avoiding stares from jade green eyes. Butterflies fluttering against the walls of her stomach and quick glances when he wasn’t looking, stutters and dressing up just to catch his eye.
Chat was almost the complete opposite.
He was grinning and flirting, roses and candle lit rooftops and familiarity, chaste hugs before imminent danger and falling asleep to the sound of excited rambles. Talks in the dead of night and looking into pupils and seeing honesty reflected back. It was holding hands without feeling awkward and rebuttals to perfectly imperfect puns.
“They’re only sketches,” she informed, trying to close the notebook.
“But they’re so good!”
She hesitantly smiled, taking the notebook and returning it to the drawer that was its home. Pulling a towel from another drawer, she started to ruffle his hair to rid it of water.
“What would I do without Mari-mom?”
Die, probably, she wanted to retort, the ghost of the earlier messages passing in her mind. She opened her mouth to answer before realising that that would definitely, absolutely give away her identity.
“Catch your death with cold,” she sarcastically answered, carefully swiping the raindrops from his ears before poofing up his hair.
“Probably,” he admitted.
“You… you really like the designs?”
“Of course I do!” he exclaimed, a thoughtful smile turning into a wolfish grin, “Totally a- meow -zing!”
“That’s the worst pun yet,” she replied, steely eyes betrayed by a small stifled smile.
“You sound like Ladybug,” he groaned, trying to fix his hair in a small hand mirror and failing.
The sound of her alter ego made her take a second to think, attempting to figure out how serious that groan was. “She’s that bad, hm?” the girl teased.
“Nah, I’m just kitten around.”
Now it was her turn to groan, whacking him lightly with a pillow, “I make one comment about your puns and I’m subjected to this torture !”
“A small purr- ice to pay, princess.”
Her smile didn’t falter at the nickname, even if her heart skipped a beat.
Maybe being in like with Chat wasn’t that bad.