Chapter Text
Marinette Dupain-Cheng was just a normal girl, with a normal life.
Sure, she moonlighted as a superhero to save Paris on the daily from an emotional terrorist. And sure, one of her closest friends was a tiny goddess of creation who gave her the ability to do that superheroing. But at the end of the day, she was just a normal girl.
Her extended family? Not so much.
While her father had lived almost his entire life in France with his father, his mother had traveled the world and had a child in Italy. It was a curious thing, one that Marinette didn't know all of the details of that arrangement and she didn't exactly want to. All that mattered was that she had a very eccentric, very loving uncle who was living in America with his wife and two children.
Marinette had only visited their house in New Jersey once or twice, and only as a young child. Before the bakery began to take off and her parents could no longer afford taking that many days off.
It was a gorgeous Victorian manor home all on its lonesome up a hill, surrounded by wrought iron gates and even a small family cemetery. A perpetually overcast sky overhead during the day, often a thunderstorm at night. In the few memories that she had of those visits, the state of the house always stood out to her. The cobwebs that hung heavy on the corners of every room and doorway, the way that it was never exactly bright--not even in the middle of the day.
What it lacked in atmosphere, though, it made up in warmth. Her uncle was a short man, though Marinette had been young enough that she barely came up to his waist, but his wife was tall and seemed even taller to Marinette's child perspective. And they were in love, grossly in love at the time but Marinette could see, looking back, how sweet their marriage was. Two children, and a grandmother there as well.
Though, another thing that Marinette wasn't quite sure about was how it worked out. At the time, she always figured that it was her tante Morticia's mother, but the two looked nothing alike.
There was also a butler in the house, a man even taller than her tante who moved around completely silently. Marinette had a few distinct memories of running around the gardens with her cousin only to slam headfirst into the legs of the butler who had suddenly just appeared to corral them for dinner.
A lot had changed from those days. Before five months ago, Marinette hadn't kept up much with that side of her family. The time difference was enough that as a younger teen she didn't want to bother with it, and by the time her sleep schedule had warped to the state where she could keep up friendships in the states, she didn't really have any reason to talk to her cousin.
And then her uncle decided that it was time for his family to take an international trip.
It still baffled Marinette, the fact that her uncle was well off enough that he could decide to whisk his entire family as well as their butler off to France for a few months. And that he had the connections to arrange for his daughter, Wednesday, to attend Dupont to continue her schooling during the time abroad. Uncle Gomez was exuberant about every single thing, and Marinette supposed that probably made him quite a few contacts.
And sure, initially she was really worried about Wednesday seeing her sneaking in and out of her room as Ladybug, but that was quickly solved. With four adults (her aunt, her uncle, their butler, and Grandmama) and three kids (Wednesday, her slightly younger brother Pugsley, and the new baby), there was absolutely no room for them above the bakery. Instead, her uncle had arranged for them to have an extended stay at the Grand Paris.
But just because her extended family wasn't staying with them didn't mean that Marinette was free from hostess duties.
It wasn't a bad thing, of course. Well, she supposed it was a little inconvenient considering everything else that she was responsible for. Helping out at the bakery, class rep stuff for Mme. Bustier, meditation with Master Fu, random akuma attacks, trying to figure out Hawkmoth's identity....okay maybe it was leaning way closer to a bad thing.
She wanted to see her cousin, though! They had finally started talking more regularly to get comfortable with each other before they would be expecting to spend time in person, and they hit it off great!
It was a little rusty in the beginning, with Marinette needing to translate her thoughts into English so that her cousin could understand her, but she was slowly teaching Wednesday more and more pieces of French. But they had a lot in common, and similar humor styles. Of course, Wednesday seemed to be a little more on the dark and gothic side of things--but Juleka was one of her dearest friends so she was no stranger to that.
They talked about school, at first. It was the easiest thing for two young teenaged girls to commiserate over--even if they were going at it from the opposite side.
Wednesday talked about how she had been recently re-entered into public school, how much she missed learning one on one with her mother, and how much she hated being around so many people. Marinette talked about how she loved school, and even though she did her best to try to hide the current goings on of Francois Dupont her cousin seemed to have a scary knack for finding out anyway.
A little alert noise from her computer got her out of her thoughts, and Marinette realized that she had looped the thread over and over in the same hole without thinking. She kicked off of the ground, sending her rolling chair spinning towards her desk, and began the annoying task of trying to undo all of the layered up stitches. It could be an interesting texturing technique, she was sure that she could find some way to incorporate it into a design somewhere. But that design was not this design and that day was not today.
One hand picking at the thread, Marinette navigated to her email to see that Wednesday had gotten back to her.
The time difference made continuous conversation a little hard, and that was one of the things that she was looking forward to the most. Being able to talk with her cousin without six hours in between them.
The timer is ticking down to when I will be in France, so now is the best time to tell me what is actually going on at your school. I don't like liars anymore than you do, and I can hear the false cheer you put into your voice whenever we call.
Marinette sucked a breath through her teeth, grimacing slightly at the screen. She knew that she wasn't the best liar when it came to her emotions (though, thankfully, she was better at lying about what she was doing), but she really thought that Wednesday would at least give her the benefit of pretending to believe her.
But her cousin was like a bloodhound when it came down to it, in a way that reminded Marinette a lot of Alya. She couldn't help but smile a bit at the thought of her best friend. It hadn't been easy trying to convince her stubborn friend to go out on a limb and distrust the new girl, but it had paid off in the end. Just a little suggestion that they should make a full list of all of Lila's connections to better know when the Italian was suited for a task, and the tower of lies came crumbling down.
For Alya, at least. The rest of the class was unfortunately still under her spell, with all of her gleeful and free promises that anyone with actual connections could see were impossible. So they sat in the back of the room together now.
It wasn't great, but it was far better than being alone.
Marinette hummed, tilting her head back and forth as she spun herself back and forth with her foot. She didn't really want to answer Wednesday's question, the truth was uncomfortable and she didn't want to lie.
How was she supposed to explain that her wonderful and talented class had, by-and-large, fallen for obvious lies just because they were promises. She had been talking about how wonderful her class was for weeks before Lila had shown up, about how kind and generous they all were and how Wednesday would have absolutely no trouble transferring in. Marinette had wanted Wednesday to feel completely comfortable about the sudden change, and she had inadvertently sort of forgotten to mention the not so great times.
Before Lila, there was Chloe. And Chloe was terrible in a way that Lila wasn't, far more obvious and cruel with her bullying, but at the very least everyone else understood that Marinette was being bullied. They just were all happy that they weren't in the blonde's line of fire.
But then Alya had transferred in and Marinette had stood up to her, and suddenly everyone rallied behind her and it was wonderful! She told Wednesday about all of those wonderful times, and just happened to leave out what preceded it.
It wasn't that she was trying to hide it, really there was no way for her to do that once Wednesday got here. It would be hard to hide, after all. Just because people were more ready to taunt Chloe back, or argue with her whenever she was in one of her moods, didn't mean that she had stopped any of her behavior.
Marinette just wanted to keep that from her cousin because who knew how Wednesday would react to it!
She could decide that she didn't want to go at all, and demand to stay home in Jersey! What if she did come, but also decided to bring a medieval mace with her to school? What if she tried to take matters into her own hands!
She spun herself around a little faster, already catastrophizing about what havoc could come of Wednesday having ample time to prepare! Was it even catastrophizing if there was a high likelihood of it? Marinette couldn't remember a lot of her visit to the Addams' family home, but she could remember in crystal detail the amount of weaponry they had on their walls. And she knew that if Wednesday came to school with a mace, then Alya would definitely want to join in.
Just the idea of Alya and Wednesday teaming up made a shiver run down Marinette's spine.
She slammed her foot down, stopping her idle spinning so she could hunch over her keyboard and figure out the best way to keep that from happening.
Okay, haha! You caught me!
Marinette frowned at the text, highlighting it and then deleting it to start over.
School has just been stressful lately, girl in my class has been taking up class time with tall tales.
There, that should be good. Explains away why she had to force herself to be cheerful without making it seem too bad. She wanted it to look like she was more stressed about the time that the lying took up, rather than what the lies themselves were. After all, lots of people lied! It was just that not everyone lied about really really specific thing that could be easily disproved with just the quickest search or even a bit of critical thinking--
Lots of people lie, every day. Marinette herself had to, every time she had to say she needed to excuse herself to the bathroom when an akuma alert sounded, and every time she said that she had to help her parents with an order and that was why she overslept.
She had hoped that it would end up being one of the days where Wednesday and her could only exchange a single email due to the time difference.
Another blip from her computer dashed those hopes.
Her cousin's email was simple, only two lines, but Marinette's stomach twisted all the same.
Lying, about what?
Marinette frowned at her screen, drumming her fingers to the side of her mouse as she thought about how best to respond. The truth? That Lila lied about every single thing, and Marinette couldn't even trust that she was actually Italian? The smallest bits, about her connections? The big stuff, about what she's done?
It was her cousin, and despite her fears about how exactly Wednesday would handle the information, Marinette wasn't about to actually lie to her. Sweep some of the nastier bits under the rug, sure, but not outright lie when faced with a direct question.
Her connections, where she's been, things that happened to her.
Part of her wanted to explain further, to say that she was specifically talking about the fact that Lila lied about what she had done to her. Maybe it would be helpful, to have someone else who knew what she was going through.
Sure, her parents knew the broad strokes about liars and bullies, but Marinette couldn't fully trust them.
She wanted to, god she really wished she could, but she didn't. They loved her and they wanted the best for her, but they were so busy with the bakery. They listened to her, at least, especially after the barely avoided Scarlet Moth incident where she was almost akumatized after almost getting expelled over one of Lila's lies.
Still, Marinette still couldn't erase the twin expressions of disappointment she had seen on their faces. They believed her now, yeah, but they hadn't always.
But it wasn't the same with Wednesday.
With Wednesday, it might be easier to just be able to talk about what she was going through on a daily basis. They were both two young teenagers in high school, sure they were an ocean apart but it can't be that different. Finally, she would have someone who not only believed her but could commiserate easily in a way her parents couldn't.
Her parents loved her, and they believed her now, but they were still just as busy as ever.
Too busy to be able to listen to all of the problems that kept threatening to overwhelm her, even the ones that she would be able to tell them.
Marinette knew that Wednesday was no stranger to bullying in her own right, and maybe she would be able to give her tips on how to...not feel so bad about being bullied? She shook her head, discarding the stupid idea almost immediately. Just because her cousin seemed to have skin of stone when it came to other people's harsh whispers didn't mean that she would have any actual advice on how to copy that.
The only thing she needed from her cousin was a listening ear and she had that.
Just as she was about to shut down her computer for the night, another email from her cousin dinged its arrival.
Mother told me that our flight has been rearranged. Something about a meeting that Father wants to attend, so we're going to be arriving a few days earlier than we first thought. She wanted me to apologize for any inconvenience, but I'm just glad that we're going to spend more time together. This will most likely be my last email for the night, we are leaving early tomorrow morning and that means that I need to pack tonight. She says I'm only allowed to take my favorite five poisons with me, and that if I really need more then I can find them in Paris. I'm going to need the rest of the night to decide from my stores, but if you have any preferences, tell me. Amanita phalloides isn't one of my favorites, but it is very good for getting rid of people. I'll bring it if you ask.
Nervously glancing at Tikki out of the corner of her eye, Marinette let out a little giggle. It would be hard to explain to the creation goddess exactly how little her cousin was joking without going into a lot of things about her cousin's family. The mace would be bad enough, at least airport security might be able to confiscate it. If Wednesday really wanted to bring poisons, she knew how to make them completely innocuous looking.
Figuring it was better to nip that in the bud, Marinette sent back a quick email.
Haha! No, I don't think I'll need any deathcaps. Choose your own favorites.
Hopefully that would be enough to keep her cousin from making any serious poisoning plans. Marinette had made her distaste of Lila and her constant storytelling very clear, and she knew that the Italian would milk the resulting sickness for all it was worth.
Still, it cheered her up in a morbid way. She didn't really want Lila dead, she disliked the girl and really hated liars but not to the point of murder, but the sentiment was appreciated. Even if it was violent, Marinette liked the knowledge that Wednesday was so firmly in her camp even without knowing about the full extent of Lila's lies.
With that last email exchanged, she pressed the power button on her computer and pushed away from her desk. Lazily spinning in a circle, Marinette didn't bother to keep the wide grin off of her face. Her cousins were going to be here soon! She would be able to show off the city that she loved so much to them, show them her favorite spots to eat, show them around her school, she could even show them the arts room!
Trying to hide that she was Ladybug could be difficult, but she had kept it up so far! And, surely the family that had a man-sized venus flytrap in their conservatory would believe her right away about the danger that akumas could be.
As she spun around, her gaze slid to the lotus flower box on the floor of her closet, half hidden underneath unfinished design products and carefully arranged clothes. So much magical power contained within such a pretty looking box.
It hadn't even been that long since the mantle of Guardianship had passed onto her, but the weight of it was beginning to creep up on her. She couldn't summon her lucky charm without dreading that the fight would call for a temporary hero. Every time a battle was just slightly harder than average, every time the odds were just slightly skewed out of their favor, paranoia and dread bubbled in her gut as she debated the risk versus reward of bringing out another miraculous.
More heroes meant more backup, but it also meant more miraculouses that Hawkmoth could get his hands on. It was already dangerous enough in her opinion to have both of the ones that he wanted out on the field, let alone any more. And then there was the question of whether it would be worth it to make a new permanent hero, or if she should keep it to temporary if the need arose.
And then, of course, there was the issue of Miracle Queen. Suddenly, all of her friends' secret identities were revealed just because one girl was upset that she had run through all of her second chances. Just because Chloe couldn't handle not being a hero, just because she believed that she was entitled to the bee miraculous, all of Marinette's hard work was gone.
She couldn't put them in more danger by giving them their miraculous back, and she had worked so hard to perfectly match up her friends' personalities to the strengths of the magical jewels. Even giving them a different miraculous still carried the risk of someone figuring it out, and she couldn't do that to them.
Even if most of her temporary heroes had turned their backs on her civilian guise, Marinette was an expert in separating her Ladybug and Marinette feelings. All of the people she knew well enough to trust with a miraculous were out of the running, and she wasn't sure who else she could even turn to if the fight called for it.
It didn't help that Chat Noir didn't seem as shaken up about it as her, to the point of telling her that they were fine on their own because they had always been fine on their own.
But they weren't! They weren't fine at all!
Akuma destruction could be undone by her miraculous ladybug power--that was why she was so important, that was why she couldn't be anything less than perfect. If she failed, then everything would stay horrible and destroyed and the city would hate her! But just because the physical damage could be reversed and just because people could be brought back by her healing didn't make everything better.
The people who drowned during Syren's attack still kept their memories of water filling their lungs, even though they were breathing free air. The people who burned alive during Road Rage's rampage still kept the memory of what it felt like to have smoke filling their lungs. Just because the physical damage left didn't mean that the mental effects did. That was why psychiatry as a profession had all but exploded in Paris!
Marinette just couldn't understand how Chat could be so lackadaisical about it. This was their city, this was their home. Did he not feel every single building crumble as though it was a physical blow? Was she the one who was too attached to the job? They had lost all of their allies, and at first, Marinette couldn't understand how he was still so carefree.
And then the akuma attacks kept coming, and Marinette realized why Chat barely blinked at the loss of all of their backup.
It was because Chat had obviously delegated all of the planning and worrying to her!
Sure, he would use his Cataclysm, but only after she told him exactly where and when to use it. Not that she was upset that he listened to her, and really it was better than him using it too early and having to leave mid-battle in order to recharge, but it was just another thing on her plate. She had to figure out what the plan was, she had to be the one to tell him when to use it.
It was exhausting to be the one to come up with a plan every time. Sure, Marinette knew that she was good at it and that she was the holder of the miraculous of creativity, but she just wished the burden wasn't on her and her alone.
She had noticed a distinct shift in how her Lucky Charms functioned. Before Miracle Queen, Chat would often be highlighted in her vision as part of the plan to break the akumatized object, now it was almost always just her. As Ladybug, she hoped that having Chat not use up his power meant that he would be able to stick around more after the battle to comfort the akumatized victim and assure the people of Paris that everything was fine.
As Ladybug, she was the one who had to start her timer no matter what. If she didn't activate her Miraculous Ladybug, which itself required her Lucky Charm, then all of the destruction wouldn't be repaired. Chat didn't have to use Cataclysm, in fact sometimes it was better if he didn't.
Marinette had hoped that Chat not utilizing his power would take some of the weight off of her shoulder, but instead it was much of the opposite.
Chat saw the fact that her Lucky Charms no longer needed him as an insult, like she had any control over it. After a string of Lucky Charms that required no one but her own ingenuity, Chat had disappeared for a few fights. Marinette had stalled and stalled in the fights, inadvertently letting more and more damage happen to her city, just waiting to see where Chat was.
At first, she thought that he had just gotten supremely unlucky and had been taken out of commission.
And then he told her the exact opposite on patrol. The patrols that they did solely so that Parisians would be able to look out their windows and see their constant protectors watching over them. He told her that she didn't seem to need him, so why should he interrupt his civilian life needlessly.
Shit, patrol.
Marinette stood up abruptly, sending her chair spinning towards her desk. She had agreed to do a duo patrol with Chat and she definitely wasn't about to show up late after she had just thought about how annoying it was that Chat would show up late or not at all.
She pulled her trapdoor down and as she ascended the latter she called for her kwami. "Tikki, spots on!"
Instantly, she felt more in control of herself. As pink magic wrapped around her, Marinette felt everything sharpen into focus. Like she really did have the answer to everything, like all she needed to do was look at an issue to be able to solve it. Maybe it was the mask itself, or maybe it was bonding with Tikki and feeling her kwami's support through her entire body.
The source of it didn't matter because at the end of the day she felt nothing but in control and free as she let her yo-yo fly to grapple onto a distant chimney. The wind rushing through her pigtails, against her face, underneath her feet--she loved all of it.
It was almost like flying.
The city passed underneath her, hundreds of twinkling lights representing all of the people who she protected every single day. Ladybug let out a thrilled laugh, letting the noise vanish into the wind, and made her way towards the Eiffel tower.
Not only was it a symbol of the city that they both loved, but it was such a central point that it made for a great meeting spot. They could reach far above where any civilians were allowed which let them have a degree of privacy that wasn't afforded on the rooftops.
Ladybug was deeply familiar with how the city looked from this vantage point. Even past their regular night patrols, she had taken up the habit of retreating up there whenever everything felt too much and she needed a reminder of what she was doing all of this for. Since she became the Guardian, since Master Fu lost his memories, she had gotten into the practice of landscapes.
Tough, hard to master, sure, but a creative outlet that let her have a visual reminder of what she was doing all of this for. The Parisian skyline rendered in as many colors as she had pencils, across several different vantage points to fully capture the beauty of the city. All hidden away in a sketchbook that she kept safely tucked away in her yo-yo.
The last thing she needed was anyone questioning how regular girl Marinette knew what the skylines of Paris looked like from angles that only superheroes or maintenance workers could get to. Plus, having a sketchbook that was meant to be secret allowed her to work on another small project of hers: redesigning her Ladybug look.
There was only so long she was content to swing around Paris in a magical onesie, especially when her superhero partner had a much more complex design. It had been one thing when she was thirteen and overwhelmed with everything that came with being Ladybug to the point that the outfit was the last thing on her mind. The simplicity, once comforting, had become grating the longer she had to wear it.
A magical onesie was still a onesie at the end of the day, and Chat Noir had a much more complicated design from the get go. A tail-belt, cat ears that actually moved, and tactical boots that she had seen paw pads formed to the tread. Despite both of their suits being equally protective, only his actually looked the part.
Which was the first thing that she wanted to change.
In order to save space in her secret sketchbook, she squeezed as many designs as she physically could on each page. Some were more outlandish than others, just little design experiments to amuse herself like a full Victorian ballgown that eventually found new life in a miraculous inspired evening wear line in her main sketchbook. But aside from the mostly joking designs, all of her new ideas were armored and had a set of wings.
Insectoid, of course to go with the Ladybug theme, but there were many different interpretations Marinette had found to weave it into the larger design. Her favorite was a backpack that doubled as an elytra for the wings, both protecting them when folded away as well as functioning as an actual backpack. More storage was another focus of her redesigns, giving her more places to put things than just her yo-yo.
Especially when she needed to use it to move around, having other places she could store items and access them on the fly would be vital. Backpacks, pouches at her sides, even a tactical belt in one notable design. Anything she could think of where she could store power-ups, or maybe even extra miraculouses if things got to that point.
She ran her fingers over the designs, mentally ripping them to shreds in her mind. This one was too bulky, it wouldn't work for how fast she needs to get around. That one was too dressed up, sure it looked nice but it was unrealistic. Another, too simple. A fifth, too complex. She was her own worst critic and she knew it, but there were just too many imperfections. Ladybug was a symbol of Parisian resistance and strength, she couldn't look anything other than perfect.
Her current outfit was suitable because it was simplistic. No one questioned it because of the magic, and it was simple enough for children to draw.
(Hidden away in her yo-yo was a collection of drawings that children would find a way to hand to her, printer paper crumpled in inexplicably sticky hands with crayon smeared across it to clean lines of pencil work clearly done in the margins of schoolwork. No matter what it was, Ladybug accepted it and gingerly put it into her yo-yo.
No matter what it was, she treated it with the same reverence that she did with any item in the Louvre.)
She fluttered her lips as she stared at the next page which held redesigns of her hair and any potential helmets that she wanted to incorporate. One that she was leaning towards was having her hair in a bun, the ribbon hovering slightly to give the impression of antennae.
It would also help, she supposed, keep her identity as Marinette further under wraps. The more differences between her civilian and superhero identities, the better. Or maybe she could do the opposite, keep the pigtails as Ladybug and switch to a bun as Marinette. She was only a year away from Lycee, surely it was time to change up her personal style.
Before her partner even spoke, Ladybug knew that he was there.
The ribbon of one of her pigtails twitched and the moment that his boot touched down on the lattice of the tower, she was standing. Ladybug closed the sketchbook with a snap and tucked it away into her yo-yo.
"Hello, M'Lady," Chat purred, tail lashing behind him like a satisfied cat. He stretched to perch on the railing, hands grabbing in between his feet, and tilted his head at her. "Long time no see."
"You would have seen me a lot sooner if you had come to the last akuma fight." Ladybug couldn't stop her tone from hardening as she moved to stand next to him. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, carefully watching for his reaction. "Where have you been, Chat? If you were out of the city, you should have told me. I might have been able to arrange for you to have the Horse miraculous so you could come help."
"Oh, I mean, I was in the city." Chat shrugged, moving to be facing out over the city with her. "I just had other things going on, just because we're superheroes doesn't mean we can just neglect our personal lives." He scratched at the back of his neck, a nervous grin on his face as he rocked back and forth. "But hey! You didn't end up needing me, so no harm no foul, right?"
The guileless tone in his voice had her leaning to grip the railing. It would be one thing for Chat to be purposefully making her job harder, sure it would be heartbreaking to know that her superhero partner was sabotaging her. But at least that would be easier to address, and there would be no question in her mind that she was in the right for any consequences that might come of that decision.
Chat Noir genuinely not thinking that there was an issue? That was harder.
"You're not the only one with a life outside the mask, Chat. I have so many responsibilities in my civilian life, and I still show up for every battle. The city is depending on both of us to keep it safe." She tried to say it as nicely as possible, but it was hard. Marinette was tired, tired of fighting on her own and she was tired of Chat not helping.
"I mean, the city really depends on...you. Your powers are the ones that are always necessary, honestly most of the time I'm just in the way. I don't see the issue in continuing on with my civilian life when you have it handled. You're an amazing superhero, Ladybug, the city is in good hands." He smiled at her and the genuine joy in his face made her stomach roil.
"What in your civilian life even continues on during akuma attacks, surely everything is shut down so that you can sneak away. You've been sneaking away--we've been sneaking away for over a year now. What's changed?" Marinette sighed and hung her head, shaking it. "Don't answer that, actually. The less we know about each other's civilian lives the better. I just need you to show up, we fight so well together."
"I mean...alright, Ladybug, whatever you say." He drummed his fingers on the railing and balanced his weight solely on his hands to swing his legs fully over the side of the railing. "Hey, let's table that for now. The night's not getting any younger and we have a city to patrol." With a flick of his wrist, Chat extended his baton and situated the bottom against the floor. "Race you to the next arrondissement?"
Ladybug paused, one hand raised to try and bring him back down to actually discuss, but she dropped it back down. Just because the topic was important to her, just because she had tried over and over to bring it up during the patrols so they didn't have the time crunch of a battle, apparently it didn't matter. Because now was when Chat Noir decided to prioritize patrols and doing their job.
And it put her in a terrible situation. Because now she couldn't demand they continue the conversation without looking like a hypocrite.
"You're right, we do have a city to patrol. You take the east, I'll take the west." She flicked her wrist as well, allowing her yo-yo to spin out slightly before yanking it back to her hand. "I trust that you're going to finish your patrol, right, Chat?" Ladybug fixed him with a stare, purposefully inclining her head towards him.
"Yeah, of course you can trust me! But, LB, I thought we were going to patrol together, like we usually do." He shifted slightly underneath her gaze. "I was kinda looking forward to catching up with you because it's been so long."
"Right, and maybe it wouldn't have been as long if you had come to akuma battles." Ladybug sighed and let her yo-yo fly to anchor in the distance. "Take the east, Chat Noir. Maybe we can catch up another night."
"But I was excited to see you! I wanted to catch up on some stuff."
"There's not much we can catch up on without risking our civilian identities, Chat. I like talking with you, I like our chats, but we can't really catch each other up on stuff. Let's just do our halves of the city tonight." Before he could say anything else, and before she could think twice about leaving Chat in the dust, Ladybug yanked on her yo-yo and flew off away from him.
Part of her felt bad about it, but Marinette was slowly getting better and better at stamping that part of her down. She could only be perfect for so long, and something had to give. It was better for it to be in private rather than in public, better for it to be to Chat rather than anyone else, better for it to be a quick snipe rather than a full blow out argument.
(Secretly, she felt like the part of her that felt bad was really just a part that felt like she should feel bad.)
As she sped through the air, on high alert for any little black butterflies, she felt lighter than she had before the conversation with Chat. Speaking her mind always was somewhat freeing, and on patrol alone she could savor the feeling.