Chapter Text
“So...what are we going to do?” Marinette asked no one in particular, the question hanging in the air between the five of them. The rain was beginning to subside outside, and the atmosphere of the room was no longer strained. None of the kids seemed to really know what to do with themselves or each other, and they just shifted uncomfortably as they glanced around Marinette’s very pink room.
Nino finally let out a long sigh, and looked at Adrien.
“I don’t know. I’m kind of still freaking out over the fact that Adrien’s actually Chat Noir.”
It was silent after that, but the awkwardness of the situation seemed to alleviate a bit after Nino’s comment. Everyone slightly nodded in agreement as Adrien looked at him in surprise. His mouth hung open for a second, before he closed it and slowly smiled. And then, suddenly, he began to to laugh.
“It’s not that hard to believe!” Adrien giggled before walking over to his friend. Nino looked at him in slight surprise before shaking it off as he scoffed playfully and looked at him incredulously.
“Never in a million years would I have guessed that my best friend, who is the perfect role model-uh, no pun intended,” Nino added, which made Adrien grin stupidly, “To be the carefree, kind of dorky, super ripped other half of Paris’s superhero duo.”
“I guess it’s easier to believe now though, since it’s obvious that I am, in fact,” Adrien said, before miming the motion of ripping open his shirt, “Chat Noir: The baddest cat in Paris.”
“Any stray tomcat on the street is badder than you,” Marinette teased, and Adrien feigned offense while feeling himself blush at her.
“I just realized that I flirted with you,” Alya said in shock. Marinette turned to her.
“Hm?” Marinette hummed innocently.
“As Pava. I-Oh my god,” Alya said as she put her face in her hands in embarrassment.
“Excuse me?” Nino asked, his tone slightly annoyed. “You flirted with Ladybug? You’re a taken woman, Alya!”
“I know! But I couldn’t help it, and it’s Ladybug and I just loved her so much and it turned out to be Marinette and holy shit, I’m such an idiot,” Alya groaned into her hands.
“It’s okay, Alya,” Marinette laughed, walking over to hug her. Alya slumped, her face still red from embarrassment, with a pout on her face that could challenge Chloé’s. Chloé, however, contented herself to walk over next to Adrien and laugh at the scene playing out in front of them.
“It must be so strange to find out you were flirting with your best friend,” Chloé snorted. Adrien smiled smugly, and leaned in towards her ear.
“Or your sworn enemy.”
Chloé squeaked, causing the other three to look at her in pleasant confusion. Adrien did his best to hold in his laughter.
“You okay, Chlo?” Alya asked, still being comforted by Marinette.
“Yes!” Chloé managed, her cheeks flushing as Adrien raised his eyebrows mischievously at her.
“Hey, but seriously, this is all just wild. We’re a superhero team. Well, you guys are,” Nino corrected himself, causing everyone to roll their eyes as Alya glared at him.
“Still, it’s insane! Five heroes fighting the evil Hawkmoth in Paris who are actually all just middle school seniors--Just some fourteen year olds who just so happened to have the hearts of a hero-”
“And who keep yapping while I’m stuck in this kid’s shirt!” Plagg shouted, his voice muffled. The kids jumped, startled at the intrusion in the conversation, but Adrien only laughed as he lifted his shirt slightly to let Plagg fly out. He stretched out his arms and yawned, uncaring of the wondrous stares from the other teenagers.
“Yeesh, while you all keep shouting and crying, us kwamii’s have to get stuffed away and just deal with it? I don’t think so!”
Everyone turned to Marinette instinctively, who merely shrugged in agreement.
“We may as well let them out, since we already know each other's identities.”
The children grew excited as they started to let their kwamii out of their hiding places.
“Well, if it isn’t the humble Youya! Ever work up the nerve to tell Wayzz you got have a thing for them?” Follé asked bluntly. Youya sputtered in surprise, their blue cheeks turning a dark shade as they stuttered while they struggled to defend theirself.
“Follé! How could you just tell everyone about their crush on Wayzz!” Tikki scolded as Marinette let her out of her purse. Follé raised her hands(stubs?) up as she feigned an innocent smile.
“What? It’s not like Wayzz is here or anything.”
“Still, just because something is obvious does not mean you should point it out! It’s just rude,” Tikki huffed, crossing her arms as Youya blushed even harder.
Plagg snorted as he rolled his eyes. “You’re embarrassing him even more, bug.”
“Oh no! I’m sorry, did I embarrass you even more?” Tikki said, apology evident in her voice as Youya just put their face into their hands(stubs???).
“Never had much of a way with words, did you, Feathers?” Plagg said teasignly. “Now Pygmy, she could sweet talk her way out of anything.”
“Or into anything,” Follé agreed. Tikki reluctantly nodded.
“Pygmy?” Marinette asked. Tikki turned to answer, but Plagg floated over and put a hand(stub?????????) on her shoulder to silence her gently.
“Another kwami of ours. The fox kwamii,” Plagg explained softly. Marinette’s smile faded, but she recovered mostly immediately afterwards. This did not escape Plagg’s eyes, however; and neither did it escape Adrien’s. Adrien felt his stomach twist slightly, but cleared his throat slightly in order to shake off the feeling. He had wanted to talk to Marinette and what she had said to him, but it was definitely not the time to bring such a thing up. Why would he? He was sure she’d be embarrassed to death if he stupidly decided to just announce “Hey gang! Turns out Marinette is actually super into me and I’m the love of her life, and yes, it’s true, because she just told me so! Can you please give us a sec to sort all of that out?”
Yeah, no.
“Deal with it later, deal with it later,” Adrien thought to himself as his mind drifted off to figure out a way to get Marinette alone to talk to her about her confession.
“Lila’s kwamii is named Pygmy,” Alya thought to herself as she stood next to her boyfriend, constantly squeezing his hand subconsciously. Nino didn’t seem to mind, however. He never did mind when Alya randomly began to stim, even if she was using him to do so. She had always appreciated that, since it helped her think in even the most raucous of places.
“A smooth talking kwamii for the greatest con artist in Paris. Makes sense.”
“Lila’s kwa….mii?” Chloé asked, her voice faltering as everyone looked at her with a warning in their faces. She shrank back slightly, but froze when Marinette glanced her way and nodded somberly.
“Yeah, her kwamii.”
The room was quiet for a moment after she spoke. Adrien wordlessly sat down next to her on her
“Well,” Follé asked, failing to read the mood, “Where is the fox?”
All the kwamii looked at her incredulously, amazed at her complete ignorance on the subject. Marinette sighed, but cut off any other answers before anyone could try and make up an excuse.
“With her chosen, who currently hates me because I hurt her as Ladybug, and tried to woo her as just me.”
Nino sucked in a breath through his teeth. Everyone shot a look at him, but neither he nor Marinette seemed to care.
Follé smiled on awkwardly.
“Oh,” She said finally, her tone strained.