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The more Marinette looked Chat over, pencil scratch-scratch-scratching on the notepad in front of her, the more she bemoaned Tikki’s abyssal lack of imagination.
It wasn’t fair, she mentally whined, that Ladybug’s costume was essentially polka dotted shrink wrap that belonged in an 80’s music video more than it belonged on her. She made it work, granted, but the more time she spent studying the details of Chat Noir’s suit, the more she wished Tikki had his kwami’s sense of style. She didn’t even have antenna or wings while his suit was ornamented with ears, a tail, and more detailing than she noticed during their fleeting encounters. Now, finally able to focus on Chat Noir instead of whatever absurd looking akuma they were fighting, Marinette had the time to take in the details of his costume…and time to realize just how poorly the “Cat Noir” knockoff costumes were.
“Don’t go into the spaceship, don’t go into the spaceship,” Chat Noir whined, nibbling on handfuls of popcorn stretched out on Marinette’s fainting couch as the cheap, schlocky horror movie played on her desktop monitor. “Marinette, why are they going onto the spaceship?!”
“Because the movie is called Sorority Sisters vs the Brainsucker in Outer Space?” Marinette snorted, sketching the details on his belt while he was almost childishly obsessed with the horror film. “The sisters of Alpha Omega Omicron can’t very well do battle with the horrible brain-sucker from the Secret Moon of Venus if they don’t get on the space ship first, now can they?”
“But the horrible brain-sucker is hiding in Tiffany’s footlocker!” Chat whimpered, teeth nibbling the edge of the popcorn bowl. “How did the ship’s onboard maintenance robot miss that; HouseMomBot has thermal vision!”
“Maybe brainsuckers from Venus’ hidden moon have thermal camouflage,” Marinette said, biting her lip as she tried not to make it obvious that she was studying every inch of the wriggling boy’s costume. The more she studied it, the more she was sorely tempted to buy off the rack. The costume party was still two weeks away, and she could devote her free time to something other than meticulously copying her partner’s wardrobe with non-kwami created materials. But once Chloe bragged about arriving in ‘the finest Ladybug costume tailored to her exact measurements,’ Marinette knew she had to do one better. Her first instinct was to replicate her own costume, but she felt that would be tempting fate a little too much. Alya had slowed her crusade to uncover Ladybug’s identity, and she felt that showing up in Ladybug gear would provoke one too many questions from her overly-intrepid best-friend.
Besides, everyone was dressing as Ladybug; she couldn’t exactly call herself a fashionista if she just followed the crowd.
“Venus doesn’t even have a secret moon,” Chat Noir scoffed, jumping as footlocker rattled on the screen.
“What?!” Marinette gasped softly. “No way! Next thing you’re gonna tell me is that there aren’t any brainsuckers either!”
“Not unless you count that species of fungus that turns ants into zombies,” Chat shuddered, tucking the bowl to his chest defensively as Marinette tried to look like she wasn’t obviously checking out his shoe detailing. Her eyes drifted to the bell dangling from his collar, glancing at his chest as she wondered if there was a non-creepy way to ask about his top.
“Hey…can you take off your shirt?” Marinette asked as the brainsucker launched itself at Tiffany in the shower. As it turned out, there were plenty of non-creepy ways to ask someone about their wardrobe options.
That was not one of them.
Chat’s attention turned from the hapless biology undergrad getting her brains sucked out to look at Marinette, eyes widening a little as he glanced down at his bell collar.
“Th-that came out wrong,” Marinette laughed, pulling a chair up alongside the fainting couch, almost surprised at the lack of quips or innuendo from Chat’s end. “I…look, I may have had ulterior motives for asking you over here…”
Another phenomenally poor choice of words that made Chat turn a shocking shade of scarlet.
“I…l-look, Marinette,” Chat stammered, putting his popcorn bowl down and swiveling to face her. “You’re really pretty and if Ladybug wasn’t in my life, I might be i-interested in whatever, ah, ulterior motives you had in mind, but-”
“That’s not what I meant!” Marinette interjected, cheeks burning as she showed Chat her messy sketchbook. “I…I may have received an interesting commission for a costume party and I just wanted to be as accurate as possible.”
“…so you ply me with popcorn and cheap horror movies, and then ask me to take my shirt off?” Chat snickered, seemingly recovering from his momentary embarrassment as his eyes roamed over the page. “I thought you enjoyed my company.”
“I thought so too, but I guess we’re all learning new things today,” Marinette muttered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I—my client—didn’t want to just buy those cheap ‘Cat Noir’ knockoffs they sell in costume shops-“
“Yech; those look like they were made out of construction paper,” Chat said, tongue sticking out between his teeth.
“-so she decided to, ah, commission a more faithful replica,” Marinette said, tucking her legs up underneath her as she looked at Chat Noir. “So…care to help?”
Chat Noir tapped his chin thoughtfully, getting popcorn seasoning on it in the process. “Well, I suppose you did introduce me to chili powder on popcorn, and movies about college students in space.”
“I did,” Marinette said. “Think about how empty and hollow your life was three weeks ago.”
“Tragic,” Chat pouted, scratching his chin. “Aw, what the heck. In the interest of ensuring there’s at least one good looking Chat Noir costume on the streets this Halloween…”
Chat grabbed the bell, batting it back and forth for a few moments before giving it an experimental tug. They both gave a small jump of surprise when the bell slid down an inch or so, glancing at each other as Chat continued to pull it down.
“Huh…didn’t know it could do that,” Chat mused, tugging the bell up and down with a small jingling sound. “It kinda just poofs on, and I’ve never had a reason to take it off.”
Marinette idly wondered if this was going to end with Chat “seductively” undressing himself in front of Ladybug at every given opportunity. As she expected, the strange vinyl material pulled back, exposing bare skin underneath as the bell slid further and further towards his waist. There didn’t appear to be any kind of zipper; just material parting as though Chat was willing it down closer and closer to his waist.
“Wonder how far this goes,” Chat idly mused, glancing up at Marinette who was trying very hard to focus on the fabric choice and design she was going to use for the suit instead of the toned, exceptionally pretty idiot undressing on her couch like it was nothing.
Think of Adrien; think of Adrien, Marinette mentally chided herself. Think of sweet, kind Adrien who probably doesn’t have abs like a gymnast, but also doesn’t make cat puns like his life depends on it.
“I think this might zip all the way-” Chat trailed off, glancing up at Marinette’s scarlet expression before slowly trailing down to his half-undone suit. Having been conditioned to be nonchalant about undressing in front of strangers for modelling, Adrien had almost forgotten he wasn’t prepping for a runway show…and was, in fact, almost completely undressed in front of his friend.
A moment of pregnant silence hung between them, punctuated by a shriek from the monitor as Janet and Courtney stumbled upon Tiffany’s mindless body in the shower.
“W-Wow, this movie is sure graphic!” Chat stammered, zipping his suit all the way back up to his neck and turning back to the screen.
“Y-Yeah it’s one of the bloodier ones,” Marinette laughed, sketching furiously as she tried not to focus on the boy lounging on the couch just a few feet from her.
Something told her she should have bought off the rack.
Of course the day of the costume party had to be ruined by Hawkmoth.
Hawkmoth ruined most things for Marinette; school, extra-curricular activities, Adrien’s birthday. So it should have come as no surprise that her walk over to Le Grand Paris would be interrupted by screams of terror that had nothing to do with the upcoming holiday.
…well, very little to do with the upcoming holiday anyway.
“Yes! Scream, pitiful mortals!” The mad-scientist akuma cackled, throwing a comically large switch that turned a few passing civilians into pale, zombie looking creatures. “Too long has Paris failed to appreciate the beauty of All Hallow’s Eve! Now you will all learn the true meaning of fear from Dr. Frankenscream!”
“Frankenscream?” Ladybug turned to see Chat Noir leaning against the tree behind her, shaking his head at the wave of brainwashed zombie-creatures shambling after screaming civilians. “Did I hear that right?”
“Not very clever, is it?” Ladybug sighed, shaking her head. “I think our friend in the tacky purple suit is losing his touch.”
“He had a touch?” Chat snorted, dropping down beside her. “So what’s the gameplan? Bust out a jukebox and try and lead them in a Thriller flashmob?”
“You know as much fun as it would be to see you try that, I’d like to make this quick,” Ladybug said, snapping out her yo-yo.
“Late for a party?” Chat said, batting a zombie away with the butt of his staff as they chased the would-be super-villain down the block.
“I am, actually,” Ladybug said, slipping her arm around Chat’s waist as she swung them up onto the rooftop of a nearby café. “Surprised?”
“That you’re popular?” Chat sniffed, ducking a wave of vampire bats the akuma sent their way. “Of course not. I’m sure you’re the toast of the town on this, the spookiest of all nights.”
“Are you telling me Paris’ black cat doesn’t have his dance card full this evening?” Ladybug called over her shoulder as the pair of them dove off the roof, chasing the akuma down towards the catacombs.
“Well it is my night after all,” Chat laughed, vaulting over the head of a werewolf creature. “So many insistent friends inviting me to so many important galas.”
“Are you saying I have competition now?” Ladybug laughed, hand clutched over her heart as she hip-tossed an “evil cyborg” on the way into the catacombs.
“Oh please; you know you’re my special favorite, buga-”
“Boo!”
Chat jumped almost high enough to hit the ceiling as a ghost lunged at him out of the walls, spectral arm going through him as he batted futilely at it with his staff. The eyes of the various skulls glowed with spectral green fire, illuminating the path to the akuma deeper into the darkness.
“…you okay?” Ladybug asked, chuckling as she waved her hand through the ghostly apparition trying to claw at her face.
“That was unnecessary,” Chat sniffed, brushing his suit off. “Not even scary, really; just a cheap jump scare.”
“JUMP SCARES ARE A PERFECTLY VALID STORYTELLING TOOL!” Dr. Frankenscream’s voice boomed from deeper inside the catacombs.
“Jump scares haven’t been interesting since the end of the first Paranormal Activity!” Ladybug called back.
“DON’T KNOCK FLIMMAKING TECHNIQUES BECAUSE YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND THEM!” Dr. Frankenscream screeched, bones rattling along the passageway as they went further in, listening for her location.
“Just admit you copped out and used a cheap scare tactic instead of creating proper ambiance!” Chat hollered. “Maybe you should quit being an akuma and direct the next Five Nights at Fred-”
A low, rumbling roar filled the catacombs, followed by a din of rattling that surged down one of the side tunnels, growing louder and louder with each passing second.
“Well…good news is that we know where she’s coming from, r-right?” Chat stammered as Ladybug pulled him back against the wall.
“So…wave of skulls or shambling bone monster?” Ladybug asked as the rumbling, scraping sound grew louder.
“I’m gonna go with shambling bone monster,” Chat said, extending his baton. “Sounds like a shambling bone monster.”
“Really? Sounds more like she’s trying to drown us in a tide of human remains to me,” Ladybug said, stepping behind Chat. “You want to take care of this?”
“No need to get your hands dirty,” Chat said, buffing his nails on his shirt and extending his claws as a dark shadow loomed around the corner. “Just be ready with whatever treat we got for this trickster.”
“Please be a vial of holy water, please be a vial of holy water, please be a vial of holy water,” Ladybug prayed feverishly as the shadow lunged around the corner, barreling straight at them.
“Cataclysm!” Chat cried, hand crackling with black energy as he drove it forward, smashing into what appeared to be a wave of levitating skulls and bones animated with dark purple energy. The disembodied remains of Paris’ former residents slammed into Chat Noir’s open hand, dissolving into a cloud of fine bone dust as Ladybug crouched behind him.
“Hey, you were right!” Chat called over the crashing din of bones slamming into the wall behind them. “It was a tide of human remains!”
“I hate being right,” Ladybug bemoaned, summoning her Lucky Charm in the form of a round metallic ladybug patterned shield.
“No you don’t,” Chat snickered, ducking behind his own tide of destruction as the bone wave abated.
“No I don’t,” Ladybug corrected, vaulting over the top of Chat and charging down the corridor, brushing powdered bone dust off her shoulders as she ran. They turned a corner, nearly running headlong into a gaggle of terrified tourists streaming towards the exits as three large, muscular green men with bolts in their necks shambled after them.
“Frankensteins!” Chat Noir called out as Ladybug put her head down, charging into the middle one and bowling it over.
“Frankenstein wasn’t the monster’s name!” Ladybug called back.
“Wasn’t it?” Chat Noir asked, clotheslining the other two monsters with his extended staff and chasing after her.
“Still doesn’t make sense because they’re still not cosplaying the doctor!” Ladybug said, skidding to a halt as they turned the corner to see a harried Dr. Frankenscream attempting to transform a lost tourist who inexplicably seemed to dodge every single blast from the akuma’s evil looking ray as he scrambled towards the exit.
“This wasn’t in the tour book!” The man screamed in English, stumbling past Ladybug and Chat Noir on his way to the exit.
“Coward!” Dr. Frankenscream screamed, shaking her fist at the fleeing man. “Why does no one appreciate my terrifying vision?!”
“I thought you wanted people to run screaming from you,” Ladybug said, free hand resting on her hip. “Though I think your hair is scarier than any monster that remote could conjure.”
“Ooooooooh!” Chat called softly, bouncing up and down behind Ladybug. “She did that! She just did that!”
“I suppose you two are here to put a stop to my holiday merriment as well, hm?” Dr. Frankenscream said, crossing her arms with a dark scowl beneath her mad-scientist goggles.
“It’s kind of our job,” Ladybug said. “We’re the wet blankets of Paris.”
“I consider myself more of a puckish rogue,” Chat Noir said, leaning against the wall. “I’m definitely the Iron Man of this duo.”
“Does that make me Captain America?” Ladybug asked.
“You do have the shield for it,” Chat said, rapping the Ladyshield with his baton as their Miraculouses gave simultaneous beeps.
“Can we do this after we revoke the good doctor’s medical license?” Ladybug said, jabbing her thumb in the direction of the akuma who appeared to be tweaking something on her remote. “I don’t know how much time I have left.”
“Right; ideas?” Chat said.
“Hey, here’s an idea for you!” Dr. Frankenscream said, angling her ray-gun at Chat Noir. “Let’s see if you’re still so cavalier when you have two of us to contend w-”
“NO!” Chat Noir and Dr. Frankenscream both jumped as Ladybug’s voice echoed off the walls, foot stamping on the concrete. “No…we are not doing this again!”
“A-Again?” Dr. Frankenscream said, glancing between Chat Noir and Ladybug in confusion. “I don’t know what you m-”
“This whole ‘oooh let’s brainwash Chat Noir and make him fight Ladybug’ thing your boss has been doing for months now!” Ladybug said, jabbing her finger in the akuma’s direction as their Miraculouses beeped again. “We’re not doing it; not again.”
“But-”
“Look!” Ladybug said, stomping over to the akuma. “You have an unlimited supply of civilians turned into monsters. I have the ability to make one random thing per transformation and a partner. That’s my cat; hands off!”
Under normal circumstances, Chat Noir might have been over the moon that his partner had referred to him as hers, but another urgent beep shook him out of his red cheeked reverie. There would be time to swoon over Ladybug’s words later, lying in bed and clutching his pillow to his chest like a besotted schoolgirl (which he basically was). He had an amateur production of Young Frankenstein to halt, and not much time to do it.
“What, so just because other akuma did it, I can’t?!” Dr. Frankenscream huffed, oblivious to the shadow slinking around the side of the room they were in.
“Yep!” Ladybug said, noticing Chat Noir out of the corner of her eye and raising her shield to block him from the akuma’s sight. “Pick a new gag; this one’s gotten old.”
“That isn’t fair!” The akuma whined. “I want to possess Chat Noir too!”
“Sorry, doc,” a voice came from the shadow behind the akuma, startling her into dropping her remote as Chat Noir laid a heavy hand on her shoulder. “You heard the lady; I’m her cat.”
“I’m going to be hearing about this for the rest of the month, aren’t I?” Ladybug sighed, foot lashing out and stepping on the remote before the akuma could grab it.
“All month?” Chat snickered, watching a wave of brightly colored ladybugs restored the historical landmark to its former spooky prestige and left a stunned looking twenty year old sitting on the dusty floor, dressed in a Dracula costume.
“Huh?” The woman moaned, holding her head. “What happened?”
“You tried to turn Paris into Halloweentown and it didn’t end so well for you,” Ladybug said, stooping down to kneel beside her. “Good news; you still have time to make it to whatever Halloween party you’re going to.”
“I just came; apparently it wasn’t a costume party,” the woman sighed, brushing her cape off. “No one seems to appreciate Halloween like I do…”
“Look on the bright side; you gave the town a hell of a scare,” Chat Noir said as his ring beeped four times in quick succession.
“Just don’t make a habit of it!” Ladybug called over her shoulder, trooping towards the exit of the catacombs with Chat hot on her heels. “Which way was the exit?”
“I don’t remember; I was too busy dodging the legions of hell to notice,” Chat said, crooking his hand in Ladybug’s elbow and tugging her down a side passage, towards the faint glimmer of sunlight still visible in the encroaching dusk. The beeping in her ears was frenetic as they leapt out onto the street, turning into a blind alley as twin flashes of light enveloped them.
Ladybug and Chat Noir disappeared…only to be replaced with Chat Noir and Ladybug.
Marinette blinked at the black and red vision before her as Chat skidded to a halt, frozen in place as he slowly turned around with his eyes screwed shut. The black suit she was used to seeing him in was replaced with an almost perfect replica of her own Ladybug suit, hugging his frame almost as snugly as her own costume did.
“I’m not looking!” Chat said, arm flung over his eyes as he stepped backwards. “Didn’t see anything! Promise!”
“Relax, kitty,” Marinette chuckled, looking him over. “Or…should I say Ladybug?”
Chat laughed. “Not very original, is it? Still…couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”
“I’m strangely flattered,” Marinette laughed, biting her lip as a small surge of warmth bubbled up inside her. It was one thing to see dozens of passersby in store-bought Ladybug costumes; it was something else to see Chat standing in front of her in something that had clearly taken a lot of time (and energy) to make.
Part of her idly thought that he wouldn’t have been a bad Ladybug, if only because he filled out the costume nicely.
“You can open your eyes, Chat,” Marinette said, laughing at the lengths he was going to in order to avoid seeing her face. “You’re not the only one with a costume party to go to.”
Carefully, Chat opened one eyelid that was quickly followed by a second as he tried not to openly gape at the sight before him. Ladybug’s hair was tousled, free from her pigtails and framing her face, her blue glinting mischievously at him from behind a black mask. He tried not to look like he was ogling her; he was more transfixed on the way every single detail of his suit had been lovingly captured and painstakingly recreated as closely as possible.
This was no off the rack Cat Noir piece, and it took Chat a full moment for Chat to put the pieces together.
“…Marinette?” Chat said almost hesitantly. Marinette paled, heart clenching in her throat as she, for a split second, feared that her clever little revelation had given away more than she had intended. “I mean…you got that from Marinette, didn’t you?”
Marinette almost deflated in relief, hand leaning against the wall to keep her from collapsing into the pile of recycling next to her. “Yeah!” Marinette laughed airily. “Marinette! Th-That’s totally where I got it from! Yep! T-Totally commissioned Marinette to make this for me!”
“I had a feeling she was working overtime for someone special,” Chat laughed, pacing around Marinette with a thoughtful expression. “If I had known how special her client was, I’d have made myself more available to her…a-as a model! Not like…available-available. I mean she’s cute but-”
“I know what you mean!” Marinette interjected, scratching the back of her neck as Chat stopped back in front of her, arms crossed and lips pursed. “So did she live up to your…ex-purr-ctations?”
“She did,” Chat chuckled, tousling Marinette’s hair a little. “You, on the other hand, are nowhere near my level of cat-punning.”
“That may be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me,” Marinette laughed, brushing his hand away as a sudden idea struck her. She grasped his hand, turning it over so the thinly covered knuckled faced the sky, thumb running over the back of them as she took in Chat’s suddenly stunned expression. “Though, I wouldn’t say no to a few purr-ivate lessons, My Lady.”
She could feel his hands trembling in her touch, a small gasp escaping his mouth as her lips brushed over the back of his knuckles. Her own laugh covered a nervous flutter that bubbled up in her chest as she tried to maintain the ‘suave’ ‘debonair façade that characterized Chat’s usual flirtatiousness. Judging by his expression, she must’ve been a better flirter than he was, though she had a decidedly unfair advantage.
Chat blinked, struggling to regain composure as the sensation of Ladybug’s lips brushing the back of his hand seemed to be occupying most of his cognitive processing power. He swallowed heavily, licking his lips as he tugged his hand away from her mouth, fingertip pressing against the tip of his lady’s nose with a dismissive chuckle.
“You wish, kitty-cat,” Chat laughed, nudging Marinette lightly backwards with the tip of his finger as he peeked out of one eye. “How was that?”
“Not bad,” Marinette admitted, rubbing the tip of her nose. “Still got a ways to go to earn that costume, though.”
“I endeavor to be worthy of stepping into your tights,” Chat laughed before quickly paling as he realized what he just said. “I-I mean…w-wow, look at the time! D-Don’t you have somewhere to be?”
“Looks like I’m not the only one,” Marinette laughed, scratching her warm cheeks as she spared one last glance at her partner. “Some party is missing a very well dressed Ladybug.”
“And we all know it isn’t a Halloween party until Chat Noir is in the house,” Chat laughed, rubbing his arm he quickly transformed back into his superhero self with a flash of green light. “We…should do this again sometime.”
“Awkwardly pretend to be one another in an alley?” Marinette snorted.
“Or just…hang out outside of costume,” Chat shrugged. “…well, our usual costumes anyway.”
Marinette opened her mouth, line about keeping each other’s’ identities safe already half formed in her mouth and ready to deliver with glum resignation. Instead, she found herself saying, “…we’ll have to see.”
That alone seemed to perk Chat Noir up as he made his way towards the back of the alley. “Good enough for me…have a terribly terrifying evening, my dark haired twin.”
“Happy Haunting, kitty-cat,” Marinette said, mirroring his salute as she watched him vault over the alley walls. She looked after him for a moment, eyes fixed on the sight of him leaping over the rooftops towards the center of town, before turning, heading back out onto the street and meandering her way towards Chloe’s hotel.
She had to admit; it felt good to be Chat Noir, even for just one night.
“Oh…my…GOD!”
Marinette did a small twirl as she stepped into Le Grand Paris’ ballroom, laughing as Alya and Nino let out a pair of identical wolf-whistles.
“Dang, look what the cat dragged in!” Nino laughed, pulling up the hood of his Spiderman costume to get a better look at Marinette.
“When I suggested the slutty kitty-cat, this isn’t what I had in mind,” Alya snickered, tugging Marinette through the crook of her arm and tugging her towards the mass of their fellow classmates dancing and sipping punch in the ghoulishly decorated ballroom. “But good call; you won’t believe who slipped his father’s leash for the night.”
“W-Who…wait, Adrien is here?!” Marinette stammered. She only considered dressing up in a skin-tight catsuit because she didn’t think Adrien was going to be able to make it to the party. Now she wasn’t sure how she felt about Adrien seeing her cosplaying the least modest superhero in existence.
“Relax,” Alya said, rubbing Marinette’s shoulders as she steered her friend over towards the punch bowl. “You look great! Besides…every Chat Noir needs their Ladybug, don’t they?”
Before Marinette could ask Alya what she was talking about, she saw Adrien, laughing at something Kim said as he tugged a red and black polka-dotted mask down over his eyes. His hair was still tousled, windswept as though he had run all the way over to the hotel without stopping…which Marinette realized he must’ve. It was like spending two years trying to complete a puzzle, only to find out that she had been looking at it upside down the entire time. Now that her perspective had been flipped—now that all the proverbial pieces were in place—Marinette froze at Alya’s side, mouth dry and heart thudding painfully in her chest.
“Adrien!” Alya called, waving at him as he turned around. Adrien flashed a toothy grin that slowly dropped as Marinette could almost see the cogs turning in his mind. He glanced between her and Alya wordlessly as he walked over, cheeks darkening as he pushed his mask back up off his face as though to get a better look at Marinette.
Two feet away from her, Adrien must’ve remembered his manners. “U-Uh, hi Alya!” Adrien said brightly, shooting Alya a smile and a wave while not really taking his eyes off Marinette. “H-Happy Halloween?”
“Glad you weren’t caught up in that akuma attack,” Alya said, glancing between her apparently dumbstruck friends with an approving smile.
“Y-Yeah,” Adrien laughed nervously. “Nowhere near that akuma! G-Glad Chatbug and Ladynoir took care of her, r-right Marinette?”
“Nope!” Marinette managed to squeak out. “I-I mean yes! Yes! S-Super glad that I didn’t get attacked by a supervillain with bad hair!”
“I think the pair of you could have handled her though,” Alya said, earning high-pitched laughs from Adrien and Marinette who poignantly avoided one another’s eyes. “You two are almost a perfect Ladybug and Chat Noir pair.”
“What?!” Adrien squeaked, lightly bumping Alya’s shoulder. “G-Get out of town!”
“Such a kidder,” Marinette giggled, wondering if it was hot because of all the kids in one space or because her body was trying to kill itself after discovering her crush and her partner were the same person, much like matter and anti-matter colliding. She was supremely grateful that Alya at least was there with her; if she was alone, she might end up saying something mortifying or drowning herself in punch, but as long as Alya was there-
“Oops, I think I hear Nino calling,” Alya said, cupping her ear towards the door nudging Marinette towards Adrien/Chat Noir. “I’ll catch up with you two later!”
“Alya!” Marinette hissed, flailing for the hem of Alya’s SpiderGwen costume only to come up short. She turned slowly back to the boy who stood shyly glancing down at her, glittering green eyes looking around for the right word to say to make their situation marginally less awkward. It was then she realized that in her panic, she had forgotten that her friend, her partner was probably going through the same whirlwind of emotions. In fact, Adrien seemed considerably worse off, opening his mouth one or two times before trailing off with an awkward laugh that Marinette couldn’t help but mirror. She just needed to say something; anything to break the awkward tension between them. Anything to get them past the initial what-the-fuckery and on to something approaching a normal relationship again.
“S-So…” Adrien stammered, scuffing the floor with a small, sheepish smile. “Long time no-“
“You have really nice abs,” Marinette blurted out.
“Knock knock?”
Marinette raised her head from her knees as she turned back to see Adrien standing at the balcony door, punch and a platter of cupcakes balanced on a tray in his hand as he shut the door behind him.
“Am I…interrupting anything?” Adrien asked, lingering in the doorway as the dull sound of distant party music echoed through the walls.
“Just cleaning up the pity party,” Marinette laughed, leaning on the railing overlooking the street below. “I’m…sorry about earlier.”
“I-It’s fine,” Adrien assured her, sliding up beside her and offering her a cup of punch. “Thankfully Chloe had a backup punchbowl to replace the one you knocked over when you tore out of there; I think everyone was more worried where you ran off to…well, I was anyway.”
“Thanks…” Marinette sighed, lapsing into yet another awkward silence as they stared at the darkened city below.
“I-I’m sorry,” Adrien said suddenly, standing up off the balcony and backing towards the door. “Y-You probably came all the way out here because you wanted to be alone so I’m just gonna…let you…be…alone.”
“Wait,” Marinette said, turning to face her Ladybug clad partner as he was halfway out the door. “Wait…that’s not what I want.”
Adrien closed the door, slowly making his way back over to Marinette and leaning on the balcony a few feet away from her. “I’m…I’m sure none of this is what you wanted, is it?”
Adrien looked properly wretched, convinced that this was a massive sticking point in their formerly swimming partnership. An hour ago, he was catapulting over the rooftops of Paris with a spring in his step, happy that he was just a little closer to his partner than he had been the day before. Now he felt like there was a gap between them, a stupid mistake spoiling their friendship.
“It’s…it’s not that I didn’t want to know who you were,” Marinette sighed, fidgeting with the bell around her neck. “I just…thought it would be better all around. That we’d be…safer if neither of us knew.”
Marinette turned, shooting a shaky smile at a very guilty looking Adrien, taking an offered jack-o-lantern cupcake. As unexpected as all of this was, she if she had just split when the transformation wore off it would have never happened. Still…she couldn’t muster up any real disappointment. What was done was done, and short of draining the mayor’s brandy supply they couldn’t exactly unlearn each other’s identities.
“You’re not…upset?” Adrien asked hesitantly.
“Surprised…upset with myself that I couldn’t seem to figure out who you were despite Alya telling me,” Marinette laughed, rubbing her arm as she looked up at him shyly. “Not upset though; not at all.”
Adrien smiled, shoulders slumping as he let out a deep breath he had been holding since he first laid eyes on Marinette in her costume.
“Are…you?” Marinette asked a little tentatively.
“No!” Adrien blurted out, holding up his hands. “No, no, no; not at all! I-I-I was just…surprised.”
“You mean…surpurrised?” Marinette chanced, hand pawing at the air with a cheesy smile. Adrien blinked at her, blank faced for a long moment as Marinette held the exaggerated cat pose. Then his lips twitched, trembling with the force of keeping his face straight until he couldn’t any more, doubling over and clutching the railing as uncontrollable giggles shook his form.
“Okay, it wasn’t that cheesy,” Marinette chuckled, lightly shoving him back a few steps as any reservations she might have had regarding this sudden change seemed to disappear. Yes, things would be different now. Yes, they might be in more danger knowing who each other really was, but they were never truly safe. At least now…now they could face whatever came next together; in and out of the mask.
Adrien stopped laughing, wiping a tear away as he righted himself. “You’re not a bad Chat Noir…but I prefer you as Ladybug.”
“I don’t know,” Marinette said, looking Adrien up and down. “You’re not a bad understudy, you know.”
“Well, I have learned from the best,” Adrien laughed, hand running through his hair as he looked down at his outfit. “Not enough black in the suit for my tastes but it is flattering, I have to say.”
“I’ll say,” Marinette muttered.
“Hm?” Adrien asked.
“I-I was saying we should head back inside!” Marinette laughed. “Get back to the party before Chloe sends her servants looking for us, right?”
“Oh, she’s probably already looking for us herself,” Adrien said, expression dropping. “I left a party when we were kids to catch my breath and she called the police…they actually came t-”
“Adrikins?!”
A sharp, shrill voice called out over the thump of the distant music, causing Marinette and Adrien to freeze, staring at each other in terror as Chloe’s footsteps grew closer and closer. The door opened with a sharp bang, and a reasonably well dressed Chloebug stepped out onto the balcony, looking around wildly for any sign of her crush.
“Adri-” Chloe trailed off as she stepped out onto an empty balcony, frowning at a tray with punch and half-eaten cupcakes. She scanned the balcony for a moment, leaning over the edge with a huff before turning around, heading back inside and slamming the door behind her.
Above her on the roof, Ladybug and Chat Noir let out a sigh of relief, dropping down and making their way back over to their refreshments. “On second thought…we can stay out here for a few minutes, right?” Ladybug shrugged, taking a bite of a cupcake as Chat clinked his punch glass against hers.
“We can stay up here all night as far as I’m concerned,” Chat said, hopping up onto the balcony. “Maybe make an appearance later on.”
“That would certainly make Alya’s evening,” Ladybug laughed, clinking her glass against Chat’s. “Happy Halloween, kitty.”
“Back at you, Buginette,” Chat said, hesitating for a moment before pulling Ladybug into a brief hug. He was surprised when she seemed to linger, fingers pressing against the flat of his stomach for a moment until she caught him looking at her, pulling back with a small cough.
“Hey…can I ask you a question?” Ladybug said suddenly, trying to change the topic away from her partner’s toned midsection.
“Mmhmm?”
“Do you…ever wonder what Hawkmoth does in his spare time?”
“Nathalie, could you come here for a moment?”
Sighing through her nose, Nathalie rounded the corner into her employer’s personal office, finding him scowling at a tablet, hair frazzled and expression dark.
“Yes, Mr. Agreste?” Nathalie asked.
“One of the design team sent me something and I’d like your honest opinion on it,” Gabriel said, turning the pad to show a quickly sketched image of a dark purple suit.
Nathalie lowered her glasses, squinting at the suit for a moment. “My honest opinion, sir?”
“As honest as you can be,” Gabriel said, standing back as Nathalie took the tablet, examining her expression as she examined the suit.
“It’s exceptionally tacky, sir,” Nathalie said, passing the tablet back to Gabriel.
“…really?” Gabriel asked.
“Yes sir,” Nathalie said. “To be blunt, it looks as though someone skinned a purple dinosaur mascot and created a suit out of it.”
“…I see,” Gabriel said.
“It looks as though someone managed to create a suit out of grape flavored cough syrup,” Nathalie said.
“Thank you, Nathalie.”
“To be perfectly honest, whoever designed that suit would be better suited to a career designing Halloween costumes or-”
“Thank you Nathalie,” Gabriel sighed, deleting the sketch and slumping back in his chair as Nathalie closed the door behind her. “…my suit is not tacky.”