Chapter Text
“Okay, you need to check this out.” Zoé sat down beside Marinette at the lunchroom table.
She looked around quickly then reached into her bag and pulled out a small plain box. Marinette put down her sandwich and peered over curiously. She even went so far as to peek around herself, not sure who they were on the lookout for. Adrien was out for a modeling shoot, and the Nino & Alya show were getting in some extra Super Penguino practice down in the boiler room.
Zoé opened the box and upended it between them, a sparkling mound of gold and gems tipped out onto the table. Marinette, suddenly nervous, looked around again.
“Isn’t it cool?”
Zoe reached for one of the pieces of jewelry, using the box to ‘hide’ the pile from the room at large. She slipped a pendant on a thin chain over her head, letting the thumb sized sapphire thump against her chest. She flicked her bangs and held out one hand towards Marinette, fingers limp.
“Dahhhling, all the finest women are wearing big accessories this year.”
Zoé dissolved into giggles and Marinette’s nerves eased. She reached for a ring with a huge square cut emerald on it. “Where did you get all this? Costume jewelry store?”
Zoé shook her head, her giggles turning into an impish grin. “It’s my mom’s.”
Marinette dropped the ring back into the pile.
Zoé pouted, “Oh come on, have some fun. It’s not like she’ll ever miss it. I dug this box out of the back of one of her closets. You should have seen how dusty everything in it was. She won’t care if any of it never comes back.”
Marinette gave her friend a brittle smile, “Zooooééé…”
Zoé was already fishing through the pile again, trying on four rings on a single hand, as well as adding two necklaces to the one she was already wearing. She dropped her alliance ring into the pile to slip another ring on and waggled her fingers again.
Marinette hunched slightly, nervously poking the pile. She shifted jewelry that she had previously thought fake, jewelry that could buy a dozen new ovens for the bakery, and found a simple gold band at the bottom of the pile. She picked it up and glanced at Zoé.
Her pink’d friend gave her an encouraging smile, “C’mon Marinette, be a rebel, and look GREAT doing it.”
Marinette rolled the band between her fingers. Was it warm? Or was that just her nerves? I can always just give it back by the end of the day. It’s just borrowing. She slipped it on and held up her hand for inspection. “Sorry, my outfit isn’t exactly made to go with gold. It’s a pretty ring though.”
Zoé gave it a critical glance but then flashed Marinette a pleased smile. “It’s okay, I just wanted to give you first dibs on anything. I’m going to Robin Hood the rest of it one way or the other. Do you think Adrien would like any of it? I know he’s rich, but you can’t tell me he wouldn’t look great in some dangly earrings.”
Marinette pictured it, and felt herself starting to flush when a sharp voice cut into her daydream.
“What are you two doing? Playing Dress up? What are we, ten?”
Zoé glowered as Chloé strode up to the table, running her gaze over the other two with her classic smirk well in place. Zoé pushed her chair back to stand but Marinette beat her to the retort.
“Just go away, Chloé.”
The Blonde terror blinked once, ”Yes, Dupain-Cheng.” Then she turned on her heel, and, without looking back, headed right out of the cafeteria.
Marinette stared after her. Zoé nudged Marinette gently, “You have to show me how you do that,” she teased.
I have no idea, is she just out of fight? Lila’s not around… Zoe interrupted her thoughts again, trying to slip a lovely pearled gold bracelet into Marinette’s purse. Marinette snatched Tikki’s home away from her in a rush. “Oh hey, that one looks cool. Let me try it on first though. I’m not sure my wrists are as big as your mother’s.”
By the time they’d picked through everything -Marinette avoided actually keeping anything else- she’d completely forgotten about the exchange.
It was two periods later when an akuma hit. Mr. Pigeon again, because of course Mr. Pigeon. Giving the power of Genesis to a flock of birds was surprisingly destructive. Usually the things pigeons dropped from the skies were cause for discomfort and disgust, not serious injury. Mr. Ramier wasn’t a villain at heart though, and so, once Ladybug had sorted out the chaos, wrapping the fight up was routine for her and her partner.
Marinette was the last one back to class as usual, and came in just in time to hear her least favorite auburn haired fox giving a deep heartfelt speech, “-so glad no one was hurt. These attacks are really just getting so dangerous anymore. I know everyone wants to help, but we have to be sure we don’t get in Ladybug’s way. Maybe if our class representative could take more of a leadership role, no one would be separate-” Lila stopped mid speech, “Oh! There you are Marinette. We were getting worried.”
Ms. Bustier gave an encouraging smile to Marinette, “We’re glad you’re safe. Lila had just brought up the idea of having a class rally point, and keeping together in a group when an akuma strikes.”
Lila turned her doe-eyes on Marinette, “As someone who is always finding herself isolated whenever there is trouble, I would hope you would support me on this, Marinette. It’s so very lucky you haven’t been hurt yet. I just want to keep everyone safe.”
Marinette’s mind raced to come up with a rebuttal. This was a challenge more dangerous than all the Mr. Pigeons put together. But before she could answer though there was another salvo.
Chloé pipped up from the front row, “Oh, who really cares, as long as it’s just Dupain-Cheng? Ladybug can’t even keep the miraculous safe, what hope do we have with her watching over us?”
Marinette, already riled up, had no patience for this. She rubbed her face with a hand. “Stop it Chloé. The first thing Ladybug did was save you from becoming sidewalk crepe, you should be grateful.”
Chloé’s sudden, “You’re right,” sucked all the energy from the room. Marinette wasn’t the only one confused.
Lila cleared her throat petitely, “As much as I am Ladybug’s biggest fan, do we really want to put all this extra work on her? If the idea of organizing a group is too much for you, I would be happy to help.”
Marinette glowered. “Thanks, but no thanks, Lila. I think allowing people to act independently and make their own best decisions is better.”
Lila didn’t seem to have an instant answer. Marinette briefly enjoyed the unfamiliar feeling of getting the last word in, but Lila finally spoke up, "What was that, Chloé?"
The blond turned around in her seat. "What was what?"
Lila held her phone in both hands, giving it what appeared to Marinette to be a conspicuous little shake. Not that anyone else will see it that way. "I am quite sure, I heard you say something, didn't I?"
Chloé looked down at her phone, then her face twisted into its habitual sneering frown. "I am not saying that! Why would I say Ladybug can't handle it, Lila? She can handle anything. She saved me, she's saved all of us. Your idea is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!"
All eyes ping-ponged back to Lila, she looked down at her phone and her face turned to panic. "Oh no! My phone has a virus! It's sending random texts! I better get this fixed! We'll talk more later."
She ducked her head quickly, ending the exchange. Ms. Bustier looked lost for a moment before nodding Marinette back to her seat. Marinette glanced sidelong at Chloé before leaning over to Alya. "That was weird, right?"
Alya leaned in too. "Not that weird, malware is getting ridiculous lately."
Marinette grimaced. "Not that. Chloé, speaking up for Ladybug."
Alya looked past Marinette. The blond was pointedly ignoring Ms. Bustier, tapping away on her phone. "I don't know, it's Chloé. She was a fan before. And we all know she's a bit of a… butterfly."
Marinette groaned. "That was awful. You are not allowed to work on any more Cat Noir content for the blog for an entire week."
The next day started off rotten. Marinette had wanted to bring pastries in for the class while they filled out their prospective schedules for the next year. She’d gotten up too late to do it easily, but not late enough to not make it possible. Rushing around her parents, trying to stay out of the way, she’d managed to get three dozen assorted done and ran with them all the way to school.
In the front doors, up the stairs, no time for her locker! The boxes started to wobble as she ran. Rose yanked open the door to the classroom and Juleka lept aside. I’m going to make it! Ms. Bustier’s desk is right-
Marinette’s purse snagged on the doorframe. She spun as she fell, the boxes scattering and spilling. Marinette hit hard, skidding to a stop right in front of Chloé’s desk.
The blond leaned forward to peer down at her, “Another failure, Dusol-cheng?” She laughed into the back of her hand to punctuate the insult.
Marinette grumbled, crawling to retrieve one of the boxes. “Why don’t you get down here and help me, Solé?”
She’d gathered up half a dozen when she bumped heads with someone. Marinette flinched back onto her heels, rubbing the spot and blinking… right across into Chloé’s sapphire gaze. Chloé had four croissants in the crook of one arm, and was rubbing her head with the opposite hand. “Watch where you’re going, Dupain-Cheng. Here, take these.”
Chloé shoved the pastries into Marinette’s arms and crawled off in search of more. Marinette sat stunned for a long moment as others joined in too now, gathering up the fallen food. Soon everything was restored and two of the boxes had been taken up to the upper seats by Rose and Ivan to pass around.
Marinette let Nino and Adrien grab a couple each before tentatively walking over to Chloé’s desk. Sure why not. “Umm, thanks?”
Chloé looked up from her phone, clearly not paying attention. “What do you want, Dupain-Cheng?”
Of course. Marinette shook the box. “Look, just take one and we’ll ignore each other again.”
Chloé thrust a hand into the box and came out with a croissant. She didn’t say another word, or even look Marinette’s way after the fact. Marinette moved on to Sabrina, then sat down at her desk.
She pulled out a pen but could not concentrate on the form in front of her. Her head was filled right up to the top with nothing. She found five minutes had vanished without her putting a mark on the paper, and yet she still just sat quietly spinning the ring on her finger with her thumb. The ring- I have to give this back to Zoé.
Marinette’s eyes were drawn to it. It was such a simple, tasteful , piece of jewelry. It didn’t feel like something Audrey would own at all. Not nearly enough glitter. The passing thought made Marinette giggle. She felt light headed, staring at that golden band. Marinette blinked away an afterimage, then blinked again.
She was looking down at a form -her form?- She was doodling diamonds in the corner. It all seemed so pointless. She ran her pen back over her name again, making the letters thicker, more bold. She liked the way they curved and curled: Chloé Bourgeois.
Marinette jolted, bounced off the back of her seat, caught her sternum on her desk, and was left gasping for breath. Alya had a hand on her back instantly, rubbing. “Marinette, what’s wrong?”
Marinette waved her off, trying to steady her breathing while her brain screamed at her in mindless horror. She finally managed to get out. “Wrong- pipe- scone.”
It earned her amused smiles and looks of concern from the class, but thankfully a lifetime of actual disasters gave her plausibility for a handful of made up ones now and then. Alya helped her up with a concerned, “Maybe you should grab a drink?”
Marinette nodded, not trusting her voice for any complex thoughts. She glanced to the front of the room. Ms. Bustier nodded wordlessly to her over a smile, and Marinette bolted for the door.
She did actually stop and gulp down water at the fountain. She couldn’t drink enough, and yet her stomach threatened to return it all at any second. Marinette shuffled a step to the side and leaned on the brickwork wall. The rough facing tugged at her clothes as she sank to the floor. Head in hands, Marinette blocked out the too-bright light.
She could still feel it. Her thumb wouldn’t leave it alone. Twist, twist, twist, it turned on her hand. It can’t be what I think it is. Even if life had taught her the world was full of impossibilities lately, this was one thing she was simply not ready to accept. I can throw it away right now. Zoé won’t even remember. I can just pretend it isn’t what I think it is, and no one has to know.
Someone did have to though. She did. She was Ladybug. Marinette raised her head slowly. She blocked out everything, which was easier than she had expected. Nothing in the world seemed to want to be in focus anyway right now. She stared at the golden band once more, and her vision began to blur.
Form, phone, form, phone, back and forth like a hyperactive puppy. Almost nothing was filled out. Her thumb scrolled insta so quickly she couldn’t even make out the images. Something caught her eye -no not hers- her thumb flicked ‘like’ and resumed scrolling. Sabrina was talking beside her, a low buzz of words that didn’t stick. Marinette had to know, there had to be some way to be sure. She made her eyes scan the form, they kept trying to drift back to her phone. There , perfect. She picked up her pen, spun it once with a deftness she admired, and scribbled on the line marked ‘Personal heroes’ Vesperia.
Marinette came back to herself, shaking. WhatdoIdowhatdoIdowhatdoIdo?
She grabbed the ring to pull it off, but froze. If I take it off, where do I put it? What do I do with it? God, she’s a…
It was insane. That stupid plain band shone dully on her finger; it was nothing. It was everything. It was power that no one should ever have. It was opportunity. It was every single slight piled up over a lifetime answered in a single object. Marinette was in complete control now, she could do anything, have anything, settle anything.
Marinette’s thumb wouldn’t stop playing with it. Twist, twist, twist, an entire life spun on her finger. Anything she wanted it to be. And nothing, if I want it to be.
That dark thought came from someplace wounded. Her better self flashed Sentibug before her eyes; flashed that brief look of pain and fear. Marinette pulled up her shirt to muffle a sob. Home. I need to get home. I can talk to Tikki. I can- She will know what to do.
Marinette staggered to her feet. She lurched to the rail and slewed down the steps on legs that didn’t want to work. The door was a short sprint then she would be out of the building. She could run home without stopping, dash up to her room and be far from… it.