Thanks to her parents owning a bakery and living above it, Marinette was never allowed any pets, especially the furry kind, which, if you ask Marinette was the best kind, but that never stopped her from visiting the pet shop occasionally and playing with the kittens.
This particular litter of kittens were the most adorable cluster of black fur and green eyes. Marinette had already spent the best part of an hour dangling some spare yarn from her bag over their heads and letting them paw at it and now as the kittens have exhausted themselves, she was revelling in their soft, silky, fur as she stroked them to sleep.
"They're so cute!" she cooed. "Look at their dinky little paws! Even their claws are teeny!" she gently traced a finger against one sleeping kitten's cheek. "I wish I could have a pet. Any pet. A cat, a dog, a hamster…." She sighed longingly. "Something to cuddle."
"Oh! Tiki murmured as she poked her head out of Marinette's handbag. "They are so adorable! I do so love cats," Tiki said dreamily, "don't you?"
"Yes," Marinette agreed as she petted the nearest kitten, "I love Chat Noir."
There is a beat of silence and then Marinette's eyes suddenly widened as her cheeks flushed bright pink.
Tiki covered her mouth as she tried to stifle a giggle.
"I-I-I-I mean cats!" Marinette spluttered. "I love cats! Not Chat Noir! I don't love Chat Noir! I just love cats. Cats, cats, cats," she burbled quickly, "not boys in tight black leather suits. Just cute furry animals!"
Tiki didn't even bother to hide her laugh this time round. "You know Marinette," she said slyly, "there is something called a Freudian slip where you accidentally speak out your own secret desires."
"THERE'S NO SECRET DESIRES HERE!"
The shopkeeper looked up stunned at Marinette's sudden outbursts as all of the kittens before her suddenly jumped up, terrified, and nearby the birds all started squawking.
Marinette's pink cheeks turned scarlet as she realised that she was still in public.
"Sorry!" she said quickly as she stood up abruptly. "I, erm, have to go!"
And with that she ran out as fast as she could from the pet shop vowing to never return again or as long as the shopkeeper can remember this incident.
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Nino was thoroughly sick of hearing about how amazing Ladybug is.
It's bad enough that his girlfriend can do nothing but gush about Ladybug and stalk her through the streets to get the latest scoop on the female half of Paris' superhero duo but having his best friend go on and on and on about her when they were supposed to be playing video games just added salt in the wound.
"Dude!" Nino cried out exasperated. "Can we talk about anything else? I mean literally anything else. I will happily talk about diets and make-up that your father has been objecting you too rather than Ladybug's spectacular yoyo skills or how blue her eyes are."
"I'm sorry," Adrien smiled sheepishly, "I'll try to tone it down, I just," a disgustingly lovelorn expression crossed his face, "admire her so much," he said dreamily, "she's so strong and brave and incredible and so very beautiful. Do you-"
"Dude!" Nino yelled. "You're doing it again!"
"Sorry!" Adrien rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously "It's just that she's so-"
"I know! I know!" Nino interrupted impatiently. "How many times, dude?" he rolled his eyes. "I have heard all about her and her creamy white skin that it soft as rose petals, her adorable freckles that are like tiny star constellations, her plump, pink, lips that would surely taste as sweet as she is, her hair is as dark and glossy as a magpie's plumage, which is fitting because she has stolen your heart," Nino pulled a face at that as he uttered the words mockingly. Adrien felt his cheeks burn in embarrassment. "And her eyes!" Nino mimicked Adrien's usual dreamy tones when he reputed poetic descriptions of his Lady Love. "Oh her eyes, are big and blue and deep as any ocean." Nino rolled his eyes again and gagged. "It's revolting!"
"Oh come on Nino!" Adrien protested. "It's not my fault that Marinette is so beautiful!"
"…What?"
Adrien blinked in response of Nino's jaw-dropping gobsmacked expression. "What?" he replied bewilderedly.
"You just said!" Nino cried out. "You just said! Marinette is so beautiful! Marinette! Not Ladybug! Marinette! Dude!" Nino exclaimed. "Do you have a crush on Marinette?!"
"What?!" Adrien yelped. "No!"
"Are you sure?" Nino asked sceptically. "Because you usually only use that level of poetry when describing Ladybug."
"I meant Ladybug!" Adrien explained hastily. "I was talking about Ladybug. I don't know why I said Marinette's name, not that's she not beautiful, she is, Marinette is very beautiful, but I was talking about Ladybug. It's Ladybug I like."
"Uhuh," Nino said flatly.
Nino's disbelieving expression prickled at Adrien as he felt his cheeks flush a bright pink worthy of Marinette's own rosy blushes. "It is!" Adrien insisted. "I only like Ladybug."
"Sure thing, Dude," Nino said in a tone that suggested he didn't believe Adrien whatsoever, "whatever you say."
Adrien groaned and covered his face with his hands.
Nino doesn't let the subject drop for days to come….and neither does Plagg.
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Alya loved Marinette.
She really did. Marinette was her best friend and she was utterly adorable even when she was being spectacularly stupid. Alya honest to God loved her for all of her flaws and strengths…but some days Alya honestly thought if she heard one more word about how perfect Adrien Agreste looked yawning then she might just kill someone.
Preferably Adrien.
"Oh come on, girl!" Alya snapped irritably as she had to shove Marinette into moving. It was bright and early on a Monday morning and already Alya had to deal with her sisters screaming, her printer not actually printing her homework, and her parents expecting her to pick up the slack while they rushed to work. She was already stressed and tired and she didn't want to be late to class because Marinette was awe-struck by Adrien Agreste. "Quit staring at Adrien for five minutes and move! We're going to be late!"
"Sorry!" Marinette jumped. "Sorry!" she repeated as her cheeks turned bright pink. "I got distracted!"
"I could tell," Alya replied dryly.
"It's Adrien!" Marinette protested as her cheeks deepened from pink to red. "He's just so-"
"I know! I know!" Alya interrupted impatiently with an eye roll. "He's kind, and sweet, and honest, and brave, oh and so clever and talented," Alya said mockingly as she counted Adrien's many virtues on her fingers. "And oh! Let's not forget how beautiful his eyes are. You know," she said in a breathy voice as she mimicked Marinette's at her worst lovesick levels. The ones that led to Marinette having Adrien's schedule on her a wall like a creepy stalker. "Eyes are the windows to a people's soul Alya," Alya quoted, "this means that his soul is beautiful and true."
"Well it does!" Marinette protested.
Alya pulled revolted face at that. "Blergh!" she gagged loudly. "You are way too disgustingly gushy for a Monday morning."
"I can't help it! It's not a feeling I can control Alya, it's this all-consuming feeling that just drowns me in passion. I can't just turn it off willy nilly." Marinette flushed brightly. "I can't just stop being in love with Chat Noir."
"….What?" Alya said slowly as she gazed Marinette with a stupefied stare. "What did you just say?"
"I, erm, ah, said….I can't just stop being in love with Adrien?" Marinette stammered out weakly. "You know, the thing I always say every morning?"
"No…." Alya drawled out slowly. "You said," she smirked, "that you can't just stop being in love with Chat Noir." Marinette looked utterly mortified as she ducked her head to stare at her feet. Alya had no doubt her best friend was currently wishing the ground would open up and swallow her whole. "You're in love with Chat Noir!"
Marinette's cheeks were now so red that they rivalled Ladybug's superhero suit. "I am not!" she retorted. "I meant to have said Adrien! Adrien!" she repeated firmly. "I don't know why I said Chat Noir!"
"So," Alya grinned, "you don't think Chat Noir is kind, sweet, honest, brave, clever, talented, and has beautiful eyes?"
"Of course he's all of those things!" Marinette said defensively. "Chat is an amazing person in his own right but that doesn't mean I'm in love with him."
"Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure!" Alya dragged out disbelievingly. "I so believe you," she said sarcastically. "That's why you're not blushing and babbling and protesting way too much, because you're not in love with Chat Noir."
"Mpfl!" Marinette squeaked.
Alya couldn't help but laugh as she lopped her arm through Marinette's. "It's all right, girl," she said reassuringly, "there's nothing wrong with having a crush on Chat Noir. You might want to work on lowering your standards though," she teased, "first a supermodel, and then a superhero, what's next? A God?"
Marinette moaned. "It's not like that!" she protested weakly. "It was just a slip."
"Yeah," Alya agreed delightedly, "because it's true. That's what a Freudian slip is, Marinette!" Marinette groaned loudly as she covered her face with her free hand. "Don't worry about it, girl," Alya elbowed her gently, "it's perfectly normal to have crushes on superheroes."
"It is?"
"Of course," Alya said cheerfully, "look at me. I totally have a gigantic girl crush on Ladybug."
Marinette choked.
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Adrien sighed miserably into his pillow.
His efforts to win Ladybug's affections had fallen flat once again. He certainly felt rather awkward in his attempts and Ladybug was avoiding his eyes, her cheeks constantly pink, and she was beginning to stammer. It was like being around Marinette, painfully awkward and stilted as he desperately tried and failed dismally to make a connection.
He felt like he had just gone a ten billion steps back.
"Don't sweat it, Kid," Plagg said, "there's plenty other fish in the sea."
"I don't want any other fish!" Adrien shouted as he sat up abruptly. "What other girl is there that could compare? How could I ever love another? When there is someone as amazing and brave and beautiful and endearing, and enduring, as My Lady? All the others pale in comparison to her."
"You say that now," Plagg yawned, utterly bored, "but one day you might just possibly find that you're in love with someone else."
"Never!" Adrien declared firmly as he shook his head. "My heart belongs only to my Princess."
Plagg's eyes lit up with a mischievous gleam that made Adrien suddenly feel uncomfortable. "Your Princess?" Plagg repeated with a sly grin. "Not your Lady?"
"I…you…gah…." Adrien spluttered out as his eyes widened in horrified realisation. "My Lady!" he blurted out. "I meant My Lady! My heart belongs only to My Lady! I don't know why I said Princess when I meant My Lady."
"Uhuh," Plagg said uninterestedly, "well if you ask me it sounds like you found another fish already. One that goes by the name of Marinette."
Adrien tried to stammer out an argument but Plagg had already floated away to eat his cheese in peace leaving Adrien to flop back onto his bed and groan piteously.
It didn't help that he couldn't shake the image of Marinette from his head whatsoever.
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It was finally happening.
Months of fighting side by side, months of loving, worshipping, and admiring her, months of struggling to get his feelings across to her, and now, right here, on the top of the Eiffel Tower under the moonlight, he was finally going to confess.
"My Lady," Chat said breathlessly as he took in the beauty of her big, blue, eyes, "I have been wanting to tell you for some time that I…I….I I'm in l-l-l-love with Marinette!."
He hastily closed his eyes and held his breath as he waited for that moment. That moment when Ladybug realised what he said and rejected him for good. Or, he would never stop praying for, that moment when Ladybug realised what he said and kissed him.
Instead all he received was a never ending silence.
Hesitatingly, he re-opened his eyes to see Ladybug stare at him with wide eyes and her mouth dropped open.
She closed it and opened it again only for nothing to come out which caused her to close her mouth and cough. "WHAT?!" she shrieked. Her cheeks were bright red with embarrassment. "Did you just say what I think you just said?"
And that was when Chat Noir reviewed the last thirty seconds and horrified realisation sank in.
He said Marinette's name.
Not Ladybug's.
Ladybug's eyes are suspiciously bright as something close to smile played on her lips "D-d-do you really love Marinette?" she asked in a voice that almost sounds hopeful. The denial, and the explanation that he has, for some reason, keeping saying Marinette's name when he meant hers, was just on the tip of his tongue when Ladybug carried on. "Even though she's so clumsy?"
"Hang on!" Chat snapped defensively. His denial lost in favour of defending one of his best friends from an unnecessary attack. "That's completely uncalled for! I like Marinette's clumsiness."
"You love her," Ladybug said in a strained voice, "even though she's always late-"
"She's an artist!" Chat replied shortly. "She just loses track of time because she's busy making amazing things."
"But she can never say a coherent sentence-"
"I think it's adorable!"
"And she has this terrible temper," Ladybug carried on miserably, "and she jumps to these ridiculous conclusions which acts on without thinking-"
"I hardly think you're the one to talk," Chat said dryly, "your temper is no better and shall I remind you of-"
"And because of that she is always getting things incredibly wrong."
"Marinette is one of the most amazing people I know!" Chat shouted, his patience completely lost. "Yes, she is clumsy, and always late, and can never say a proper sentence, and boy, the first time I met her she really lost her temper with me, but she's always so creative, and clever, and sweet, and does the right thing. She has flaws and qualities like every other human being and I love her for them. Nothing you could say would ever stop me from being in love with Marinette Dupain-Cheng!"
There is a silence as Ladybug inhaled sharply and realisation washed over Chat Noir as it finally sank in what he had just said and the fact he had, actually, in fact meant every word of it.
Oh.
My.
God!
"I'm in love with her," he murmured, numbed in realisation, "I am actually, really, in love with her."
"I love you too!" Chat Noir's mouth drops open as Ladybug slapped a hand over mouth in horror. "I didn't mean to say that!" she squeaked out. "That just came out!"
"You…you…you can't!" Chat choked out. Shock, fury, and a mix of other feelings made it hard to speak properly. "You can't just decide when I have feelings for someone else that you now l-mmph!"
Ladybug suddenly flung her arms round his neck and muffled his scolding with a fierce kiss. At first he tried to push her away so he could continue his lecture but she deepened the kiss like so and he found himself melting in her embrace as he returned the kiss. There is a bright pinkish light and he could almost taste the magic on her lips as he feels her transformation suddenly wear off.
Marinette is the one that suddenly pulls away.
"I….erm…ah….Guh…" Marinette tried to speak as she waved her hands maniacally. Chat Noir could nothing more than blink as he took in the fact that Ladybug kissed him but Marinette had pulled away from it. That Ladybug and Marinette was obviously the same person. That he hadn't suddenly just fell in love with another person without realising it but just had fallen even deeper in love with the same person he had always loved. "I, gah, don't know what came over me!" she finally blurted out. "I just…erm…acted without thinking. Like I always do."
He couldn't form a single coherent thought let alone actually says it out loud.
His lips tingled, his heart hasn't stopped racing, and he was pretty sure he was going to pass out and fall to his death from the shock of it all….but boy, he would certainly die happy.
So instead he laughed.
He laughed in utter delight as he suddenly grabbed her hands into his and pulled her close. He wanted to kiss her again. He wanted to shower her pretty face with kisses and nuzzle close to her so see could have the smallest sense of just how much he adored and cherished her.
Instead he rubbed his nose against hers.
"A kitty kiss?" Marinette asked amused. "Of course that's what you do."
"You love it!" he grinned. "Just like you love me!"
"That slipped out!" Marinette blurted out. "It kept slipping out for ages! I can't say that I love anything anymore without accidentally saying your name," Marinette babbled hurriedly, "Cats, my crush, I even said I loved you when I was talking about cookies a couple days ago."
That smug, victorious, feeling faded a little when his brain latched onto two particular words. "You had a crush on someone?" he tried to ask casually but it came out strangled.
He hadn't ever noticed Marinette liking someone else before. The thought made him sick to the stomach. In fact, he could virtually feel himself turning green with envy at the thought of her liking someone else.
"Y-y-yeah," Marinette stammered out, "Adrien. You kinda look similar, both blonde and green eyed, and I kept thinking that's why I said your name instead of his but – EEK!"
He couldn't resist.
As soon as he heard his name (because as far as he knew, Marinette didn't know any other blonde haired, green-eyed, Adriens) he felt a sheer burst of happiness in his heart and immediately grabbed hold of her to spin her round in the air to celebrate.
As he dropped her gently back on the ground, he let his own transformation drop and smirked at the gobsmacked expression on Marinette's face and the strangled scream that left her lips.
She then pointed at him and stuttered out utter nonsense before she grabbed him by his shirt collar and kissed him again.
There was a few, long, wonderful, kisses before they finally settled down and exchanged stories. They talked and talked, about how they found their miraculous, what had been going through their minds in all of their battles, how they felt about each other, about the slips they kept making.
They ended up sitting on one of the metal bars that made up Paris' most renowned tourist attractions with their legs swinging off the edge. Marinette was tucked beneath his arm as she wrapped her own arms round his waist and rested her head on his shoulder.
They were cuddling under the stars in one of the most romantic cities in the world.
It was Adrien's every dream come true.
"Do you think," he murmured as he pressed another kiss on her forehead, "that we kept making these slips because deep down, subconsciously, we just knew already?"
Because when he really thinks about it he can't help but think he had always known Marinette was Ladybug.
"Really, Sherlock?" Plagg asked snarkily. "Whatever gave you that impression?"
"Plagg!"
Adrien would be annoyed with Plagg, he really would, but Tiki was doing such a great job chasing after him in an attempt to reprimand him that Adrien couldn't do anything other than laugh with Marinette.
It was the best night ever.
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Marinette felt like she was walking on air she was so happy.
Chat Noir was in love with her! The real her! Marinette Dupain-Cheng, class klutz. Chat Noir loved her and he was Adrien, and she loved him, all of him, even those ridiculous puns that he began texting her as soon as they finally tore themselves apart from each other.
(Tiki and Plagg really gave them no choice on that one. Superheroes still need to sleep.)
And now it was the first morning at school where she is Adrien Agreste's girlfriend and she just could not wait to see him again.
And fortunately, she didn't have to wait long as Adrien, Nino, and Alya were all waiting for her outside the front of the school.
"Morning!"
"Good morning," Adrien smiled radiantly, "or should I say good meowning?"
"No," Marinette said flatly, "you should never say that ever again."
"Oh come on, Princess," Adrien pouted childishly as he battered those pretty eyelashes of his eyes. She felt herself melt at the sight of them. "You know you love meow and my puns. You think they're punny."
"I think they're a punishment," Marinette smiled in spite of herself, "and that it's far too early in the morning for puns."
"Did you just pun there, Bugaboo?" Adrien's eyes lit up in delight. "I think I had just heard a pun right there."
"You're imaging things," Marinette replied airily, "I leave all the punning to you, Kitty."
"Then I shall endeavour to do my furry best," he took her hand and pressed a kiss on her knuckles. He couldn't resist a little breathy sigh as he savoured the soft touch of her skin against his lips. "My Lady."
"OH MY GOD!"
Adrien and Marinette both froze as they slowly turned their faces slightly to see a gobsmacked Alya and Nino staring at them with their jaws dropped open. Alya even pointed an accusatory finger at them both.
"You….and you…." She stammered out in shock. "You're Ladybug and Chat Noir!" she hissed. "Oh My God!"
"Dudes!" Nino cried out disbelievingly.
It occurred to them belatedly as Adrien and Marinette exchanged horrified glances that they had well and truly slipped up in their own excitement.
"Oh!" Marinette cursed. "Goddamnit Freud!"