mixingbowl | OPEN POST

Edited 2015-12-28 19:46 (UTC)

[On the rare day Marinette actually stays at school to eat her lunch, she finds a shady spot on the grass and makes herself comfortable. Food is the last thing on her mind, though, when the teacher's announced yet another design competition. Sketchbook out, Marinette loses herself in the skritch scratch of pencil on paper, her cheese tarts forgotten off to the side.

A sudden, soft thumping sound beside her finally startles her out of her work trance. Marinette tenses up and looks over just in time to see one of the tarts disappear into the mouth of a small, feline shape.]

Hey! [Before Plagg can escape, Marinette's already scooping him up in her hands.]

[ cats land on their feet. even as chat noir, adrien doesn't quite do that as much as he probably should, even when he's probably perceived as more perfect when he's not clad in leather and jumping from roof to roof. funny, that.

tonight's one of those rare moments where he's actually blundering as not chat noir. he's managed to slip into an outing with alya, nino and marinette without getting immediately shut down by his father, which he's taking as his rare bit of good luck for the month. that... left absolutely none for their activity of choice: ice skating at trocadero.

yeah, he's not good at that. nino and alya were suspiciously quick to skate off with practised skill, leaving usually-quiet-marinette to take care of the near slipping mess that is currently adrien agreste, hand on the guard rail. he's shifting between sheepish and here-we-go-i'm-going-to-fall as he looks at her, but it's pretty clear he's feeling apologetic about the whole thing. ]

Sorry about this, Marinette. It— [ a small slip, almost; he's having flashbacks to Climatika and her fondness towards ice-ing up the whole street. ] —woah. It's looks a lot easier than it actually is, huh?

[ save him from himself. ]

[Taking down an akuma without Chat Noir at her side was a possibility Ladybug had already thought of, but the reality of it is much harder than she would have expected. She has to keep going, though, and keep the promise she'd made her partner to stay safe while he was handling things in his civilian life.

As Ladybug races across the rooftops, she spies some people on the streets and leaps down.]

You have to get out of here! The akuma's heading this way!

[It's not until the words are out of her mouth that she actually notices what one of them is wearing: an outfit with colors as bright and eyecatching as hers, and a mask to top it all off. She doesn't have time to wonder about it, though. There's a telltale hiss of the akuma's sand on concrete, and Ladybug whirls around to face the threat, putting herself between the akuma and the civilians trying to escape.]

Iͥ̀ ͗̓ͥ͞a̸ͫ͑̈̐̽m ̸̓ͯͫͣD́̈̂͗͐̆͘r̨̒̓ͯe̒͋̇̈̚ảͣ͂͊̂̀͏mͪ͒́̔c̈ͣ͆̽̾ͯa͊͒̇ͬ̎ͫͮ҉t̐͛̐cͭ̌̈h͗ë͌͂̑̇̀r̵̃̃̏̋̋.̐̃ͧͧͧ͝ [Comes the whispering voice of the girl Hawkmoth's targeted this time.] I̾ͯ̇ͦ͝ ͂t͆̉͌̏̎ḣ̀͌̂̂̔̃͢i͝n̔̊̀͢kͥ͆ ̶i̿̓ͦ͞t'͐̈̔ͫs͐ͮ̾̄͂ͣ ̓ͬ̔̌͜t̵ͯ̈́ͦ̅ͮ̏i̐͑̉̓͒͂͏m̄ͥ̍̓̔̚͜ě̊ͬ͗ͨ ̍͂ͣ̒t̃̚oͧ̀̎ ̉s̛͆̄a̾͋͗ͮͫ̂͢y̏̒ ̊gͧ̍ͯ҉o̶͊̑̈́̄̐ò͌̎͞d̿̌͐̉͠nͪ͐͗̌̀i͐͑̏g̓̏h̛̾t͒ͥͩͣ.͐̉̑̎ͧ̇

[The ribbons and feathers decorating the akuma's outfit flutter ominously as the dream-sand circles around her almost lazily. Ladybug keeps a wary eye on her, knowing that getting trapped by the sand will instantly put her to sleep.]

Edited 2015-12-29 19:56 (UTC)

[Unlike Adrien, Marinette knows exactly why Alya had ditched her so quickly, dragging a smirking Nino with her. Like always, Marinette's grateful for her friend's helpful nudges toward her crush, but at the same time, she's panicking a little at the thought of being alone--sorta--with him on the rink.]

I-it's okay, Adrien! [She stutters out, her trembling voice at odds with the graceful, practiced way she's handling herself on the ice. She and Alya have gone ice skating together often, after all, though she's realizing the same can't be said of Adrien. Probably too busy with his modeling and other things, she figures.]

You, you just--your skates! U-um...there? [Marinette blushes as she helplessly fumbles her way through the words. Finally, she just points toward the edge of the rink, where others are holding onto the low wall as they get used to the ice.

Why can't her words just speak themselves.]

[ there's probably something endearing about the stuttering... except it just leaves adrien wondering what he's done to get marinette so painfully wound up all the time. especially considering how she acted around chat noir, and how she acts around the rest of the class.

oh, well. curiosity is all he basically feels towards her quirk—he's patient enough to try and get her point regardless; sure, he's not proficient in the skating department, but he's gotten enough experience in waiting for marinette to piece together what she wants to say to him. that, or he can interpret it. ]

There...? [ he repeats, as he glances over to where she's pointing and... him getting what she means settles quickly onto his expression. ] Oh!

[ and then a smile, for her patience and help because this is going totally well so far. (no, it isn't, because she can't speak and he can't... stand. well. right now.) ]

Good idea. Just— give me a second... [ to struggle over there. also give him another second to consider something else. a hint of hesitation, then: ] ... And a hand? Is that okay?

[ god bless our lord and savior camembert, tbh. but no sooner had plagg swallowed down the tart when he finds himself getting scooped up by foreign hands. he flails a little, green eyes going wide. ]

Whoa, whoa!

[ he flails his little arms, turning around in marinette's hands to see just who is trying to catnap (haha get it) him. ]

[It just talked to me. Marinette stares down at Plagg with wide eyes, hands frozen where they are. Though she'd just grabbed him without thinking, she's quickly realizing there's something not quite right with this picture.]

You're-- [Marinette bites her lip, stopping herself from blurting it out. The feline being, obviously magical in some way, those eyes a familiar shade of green...it all points to him being a kwami like Tikki. And she can guess exactly who this one's partnered with.] ...not a regular cat.

[She finishes lamely. Even if she's right, she's not about to admit that she's Ladybug and risk the information passing onto Chat Noir.]

[Outside, she just gives him a wide-eyed look. Inside, she's practically hyperventilating at the thought of holding Adrien's hand. The thought's enough to send her mind whirling, probably blowing a fuse somewhere. Error: Application failed to initialize.

Only a loud shrieks of laughter of a group of kids passing by jolts Marinette back to reality, and she blushes furiously, realizing she hasn't replied yet.]

I--yes. Okay. [She squeaks out, offering one hand in a daze.]

[Her partner's hurt. Ladybug tries not to look toward the street, where a black form lies motionless, as she launches herself at the akuma desperately, one hand clutching the perfume bottle Lucky Charm had given her in a death grip. One spray right to the akuma's face and the scent quickly overwhelms the akuma's heightened sense of smell. As he sneezes furiously, Ladybug grabs the bandana tied to his arm and rips it in half. She barely spares a glance at the cleansed butterfly and the akuma victim before dashing right to her partner's side.

There's a nasty gash on the back of his head, and blood seeping into his blond hair. Ladybug bites her lip, knowing this is one image she won't be able to get out of her head for a while yet. To make things worse, she hears a familiar, warning beep from Chat Noir's ring. With him still out cold, she has no choice but to pick him up in her arms and dash away before his transformation can wear off in the middle of a street. There's little time left for her, too, she realizes with a cold feeling in her gut.

In her panic, she latches onto the first safe place that comes to mind: her home. She barely manages to place Chat Noir on the balcony chair before leaping through the trapdoor and into her room. Her transformation wears off just as her feet touch the floor. Marinette covers her face with her hands, heart still beating fast as everything finally catches up to her.]

Oh my god. [Marinette looks up toward the ceiling, hearing faint voices which can only mean that he's awake. In his civilian clothes.] What are you going to do, Marinette? [She feels Tikki touching her cheek in concern. She squares her shoulders, breathing deeply.]

I don't know yet, Tikki, but I can't leave him up there without saying anything. [With a quick "You stay down here" to her kwami, Marinette climbs back up to her balcony. Though she'd already had a strong sense of foreboding, nothing could have prepared her for the sight of Adrien Agreste standing there. The implications hit her and she gasps before she can stop herself.]

[ adrien wakes up from the haze in a both unfamiliar but familiar area; plagg's knocked out, fatigued, on his chest, though that soon changes when his charge bolts up. costume-less. he had been chat noir... there was ladybug, the danger and he— like always he just acted, and then there was a blackness like his name. he's adrien as he peers very carefully onto the streets, sinking back as he recognizes the area as marinette's family bakery.

his head isn't the only thing that protests at such quick action. plagg recovers just as adrien lifts a hand up to the pain that hits him at the back of the head so suddenly, though the boy's hardly giving any thought to that. he's fully aware of every detail of the injury, and even as he sways somewhat grasping the armrest of the chair he had woken up in for stability, he's not thinking about the gash or the blood at all. ]

What a rude wake up! All this hard work, but I can't even get a proper nap—

Plagg... [ is adrien's distracted response. did he mess up? if he was here, that meant it had to be ladybug that brought him. that brought all the thoughts rushing forward, a million explanations and maybes and implications buzzing through his mind.

ladybug brought him to marinette's house. did that mean ladybug was marinette? no, no, his lady was always so careful about her identity, so maybe instead she brought him to a place she knew was safe, which was marinette's place, which meant marinette at least knew ladybug, that would make sense from that time with le dessinateur wouldn't it and god, his head. ]

And now you're overthinking it all again. Do you even know what you did?

I know, I know— [ did that mean marinette knew who ladybug was? ladybug knew who he was, maybe, unless she just left him here and then bolted but he doubts she would've, not without knowing he was at least okay and had someone who could handle him, so did marinette know who he was or... ugh. ]

Tell me when you've got some cheese and you're done giving yourself a heada—

[ sounds from below. ]

— Plagg. [ he says again, as a warning, though adrien finds it almost silly that he's motioning for his kwami to disappear into his clothes when he'd been sitting there unconscious and exposed for who knows how long, but it's a habit and a reflex.

he's not sure who's coming up. there's a part of him that expects ladybug, and there's a part of him that expects marinette, and then there's a part of him that's saying is there a difference while another tells him that of course there is, there's no way what he's been waiting for would be this simple or this clumsy or as easy as getting clobbered on the head—

it's marinette. she gasps, and maybe she knows, but he doesn't know if "it's marinette" is the answer to the question beyond just "who came out of the trapdoor". the buzzing doesn't stop. the only thing he can muster together in the muddled everything that is this entire situation is a very lame, weak: ]

... Uh. Hey.

[ I'M CHAT NOIR! is not what he proclaims from the rooftops. everything about adrien at the moment betrays his absolutely reeling inside.

C'EST LA VIE. ]

[Whatever (small) part of her that had been considering the truth immediately shuts down. Through her shock, one thought remains clear, driven by fear: he can't know. If she had feared Chat Noir would be disappointed by her civilian self, it's doubly true for the boy standing in front of her now. Adrien. Who she's been crushing on since he joined their class.

Inwardly, she shrinks away from the rejection--inevitably given if she reveals herself--and slams the walls back in place. Her eyes find a spot on the ground even as her fingers twist together nervously.]

H-hey. Ladybug--she said. She said you were injured in the akuma attack. [Her words tumble out of her mouth, quiet and disjointed. At least that hasn't changed, though a part of her is still reeling from trying to match Adrien to Chat and Chat to Adrien. They're like pieces of a puzzle that aren't fitting together right, and Marinette knows she has a lot of thinking to do tonight. She has to make sense of this somehow. She has to if she's ever going to face Adrien and Chat again.

Marinette breathes in, forcing herself to pretend she's Ladybug talking to Chat (it's technically true, isn't it?) and the words flow a little more easily. It does nothing to erase the bitter taste of the lies on her tongue, though.]

She couldn't stay, but she didn't want to leave you while you were hurt. [Another deep breath.] I...I can help you clean up if you want?

[ yes. yes, it's not that simple, he just wouldn't be able to... know her that easily through a mistake— his mistake, though he can never quite consider his jumping into the fray to make sure she's unharmed a mistake.

inside, there's unwilling deliberations. remember the history book? ladybug's "secret" mission when you had to protect marinette? she's never there but at the same time always there, in the same way you are— all things he shuts down immediately. he'd sworn he wouldn't wonder too hard about it; ladybug didn't want him to wonder.

and if she wasn't telling him now, she still didn't want him to know, did he? she couldn't stay.

there's that familiar disappointment bubbling in his chest, but it's fair, it's her choice. marinette is here, remember, so he gathers the slivers of chat. focuses on her. on the now. ]

I guess the cat's out of the bag, huh? [ hhhow is he supposed to act? like adrien, out of comfort? chat, because that's the truth? beyond the question of ladybug, there's a liberation here now that someone knows, even through the discomfort that the no strings attached freedom's clicking with a part of his very rigid lifestyle (that's a risk, isn't it? it's always a risk in these cases, for marinette too). still, it's the former that gets the shadow of a: ] Princess.

[ out of his mouth, before he even knows what he's doing. it's not quite as strong as it would've been with the black mask. his smile is much more adrien than chat at the moment, too, when he finally wipes the carefully pensive look on his face and replaces it with something reassuring. ]

... Sorry, that was probably— [ weird as hell? too much too soon? shoving this giant everything on her with no warning? just move on from that. adrien shakes his head. probably a mistake, but he ignores the consequences. ] —I mean, thanks for the offer. Would that be okay? If it's not too much trouble. I can't really go home like this.

[ gabriel agreste would never let him out of the house again. ]

Spycraft!

[Princess. Wow, it's weird hearing Chat's words from Adrien's mouth, so completely has she separated the two of them in her mind. But there really is no denying it now. Marinette's hands twist together even more as she forces herself to look up, though she still avoids his eyes. She's always been terrible at hiding things, and there's no way she can disguise the conflict she's feeling from Adrien.]

I-it's okay. I won't--tell anyone. [With the stuttering and the pauses, it doesn't sound half as convincing as she'd hoped. What am I doing? This is Chat I'm talking to. Get a grip! Marinette squares her shoulders, forces her voice to stop shaking so much.] I won't tell anyone. I promise.

[Before she can lose the burst of determination, Marinette studies him critically, gaze lingering on the blood in his hair.] Patching you up isn't a problem. Where else are you injured?

[If there's something that really works in Marinette's favor, it's that people still tend to judge by appearances, despite typical stereotypes being proven wrong again and again. Nobody expects slight, mousy Marinette to be working as a spy or to be as efficient as she is in combat, yet she is all of these things and more. Their mistake.

Sneaking around, hiding things, isn't normally Marinette's style, but with the way things are in Republic city, it's kind of hard not to get involved in some way. The Equalists are almost blinded to common sense by their resentment--it only takes one look at Marinette's story before she's accepted into their ranks eagerly. Hiroshi himself takes special interest in her, relating to the way she'd lost her family in a fire caused by a bender, and it doesn't take much for Marinette to get a job working in the mansion's kitchen. It's not revenge she's interested in, though, not like the Equalists immediately believe. She has friends who are benders--had friends before her life got turned upside down. Infiltrating the Equalist ranks is just one way to keep herself occupied as the smoke and ash clears.

In a way, she's almost glad when Asami finally finds out about her father's schemes. It must hurt, Marinette thinks, but at least she isn't in the dark anymore. And she'd liked the Sato heiress while she was working in the mansion. Marinette isn't sure what makes her cross the bay to Air Temple Island to go looking for Asami a few days after the fallout--compassion, maybe. Or the need to be useful. Whatever it is, she's here, and it would feel wrong to turn back now.

Marinette catches the attention of an air acolyte, asking to meet with Asami, if possible. As she watches the acolyte walk off, she stays in the main courtyard, fidgeting with her jacket. All that's left is to wait and see what Asami would do.]

[Asami wants to believe that Marinette is here to help. She took a liking to the other girl while she was working at the estate, and she could definitely use an extra friend right now.

But it's hard not to be suspicious about Marinette's reasons for being here, considering she'd been close to Hiroshi. But Asami'd been close to her father too, and she'd had no idea what was happening.

At the least, she's willing to hear Marinette out. Even if she wants to try something, Air Temple Island is well-defended enough that it probably won't be here and now.] Hey.

[She offers a weak half-smile and studies Marinette, wondering what's going on.] You wanted to see me?

Hi. [Marinette smiles at Asami ruefully, hands twisting together in front of her nervously. Determined as she'd been to smooth things over with Asami, it's hard to get the words out when she's actually standing here in front of her.]

Is there somewhere more private we can talk? [Her eyes dart to the air acolytes wandering through the temple close by.]

[Asami twitches slightly at the request. She doesn't like being asked to move away from the guards, but she can take care of herself if it comes to it.]

Let's go for a walk. [She can't guarantee the airbender kids won't interrupt them inside, so a clear patch of the island is as good a spot as any.]

[As she usually does when she needs a burst of inspiration for her designs, Marinette makes her way over to Trocadero Square to soak in the view. There are a bunch of tourists, as usual, but Marinette's eyes are drawn to one particular group. They're all fairly young, around her age, she thinks, and what little she can catch of their conversations sound English. She's just about to sit down at the foot of a pillar, well out of the way of the students trying to take pictures of the Eiffel Tower, when a loud, discordant note breaks the pleasant atmosphere, followed by screams.

From her location, Marinette can see a gaudily dressed figure wreaking havoc on the gardens below. Every time he plucks at the electric guitar strings, the sound waves send people and things flying, even cracking some of the statues. ]

Ȉ̏̃ͨ̔ ͩ̿̒̃̀ͩ̍͏ä́̾ͪm͛̔ͥ̒ͤ̄͒ ͞S̈́o̎̓̌҉ú̧͆ͩ̀n̈̐dͧͧ̎ͭͭ͌ͦ ̴̌̀̒͗ͪM̾͜ácͯ̋h̋̄͂ĭ̴͒̿̇̎ͤͣnͯͦͮ̌̎͗̐́eͮ̑́̓͑̇ͨ!̔̇̚ ͤ̌ ̓͌̂͟Yͣͭͤ͞o͊͒ͨu͑͒ͥ̉͆'͑rͬͮ́ͭ̕e̢͂ ҉j̿ͫ͌͜u̸̒̆́ͭs̔͋ͪͬ̑̋̅͝t̸͆̓̓ͤͤͭ i̢͂ͦ̈n̄ͪ ͆͋̌̿ͬ̒̅ti͐m̑̐̅̎ẻ ̓̎҉fͫ̓͐͒ͣ͛̌҉ór͛ͩ̅̑͏ ͭ̊͋̽͐͐͗͜mͥͫͦ́y̴̓̓ͪ̆͗̚ ͤ̉҉ę̑ͧn̷̈c̢ͤo̎͐ͦ́͑̒̓r̈͑͑͂eͯ͛̿̃ͦ̀̾!ͣ̀ͧ͛̎̐

It's an Akuma! Marinette realizes, and quickly darts off to find some place to transform.]

Edited 2016-01-20 02:01 (UTC)

[Dick is actually quite enjoying Paris, they've been there for a few days now and he's been having fun keeping his French polished (it's pretty good, most of his languages are pretty good thanks to Batman) and... not much else, it's been quiet. Much as he enjoys his extra-curricular duties, he can't deny it's nice to have a little break, even if Batman did tell him to keep an eye out for one of the colourful characters who've been causing trouble in the city lately. It's hard to imagine somebody starting chaos now, when it was such a nice day.

Of course, he spoke (or thought) too soon, because almost the second he finishes thinking just such a thing, several of his classmates jump at the loud noise and the chaos descends.

With everybody running around it's easy to duck away and find a quite corner to switch into his uniform (which he brought, of course, never leaves home without it), Robin might raise a few eyebrows showing up in Paris of all places, but he wasn't about to leave people to be menaced by some lunatic in a costume]

[She can tell Asami's tense (and who could blame her?) so Marinette keeps her hands out where they're visible, following Asami further into the temple grounds.

When they're out of earshot, Marinette sighs and begins to talk quietly.]

I heard what happened with your dad. I'm sorry, even if it's not what you want to hear right now. [Marinette turns her head, looking out at the calm waters surrounding the island.] You're helping the Avatar now, right?

[Before Dick's done changing, Ladybug makes her own entrance, swinging into the square from the roof of a building.]

Everyone, please find cover! Head indoors!

[The Parisians seem to recognize her, the name "Ladybug" passed around as they all scramble to follow her directions, knowing she'll handle the problem. With people heading to safety, Ladybug focuses her attention on Sound Machine, who snarls at her.]

Laͨ̋dy͋͊̍̈́ͯ̔ͦb͌̄̈́ͯ͐̍͐u͊ͨ̂g͛̍̿̔!̐ͤ̐ͥ͛̈́ ͧ̓ͮ͗Ḣo͛́̅̓w͑ ͪͫ̏͒̄̑̓d̿ͦͬͩar͌eͭ̌͊̔ͦͧ ͩͪy̒͆̄ͬ̚ó͊̂ͭ̍ͣũ̂ͫ̈́̊͋̽ ͒͐̈́̅ͤȉ͑̚nͮͦ̓ͯͯtͧ͑̓̑ͭȅ͒̿̋̐̊rͤȑ̔̎͌ù̊͒ptͦ͆̓̚ ͑̔̐mẏ̚ ͛ͦ̚p̄ͤͩ̑́̉e̔̅͌̂ͩ͋r̔̾f͂̏̅̇̃or͆ͫͯm̽ȃnͬ̉ce͒̓̃̄̚!̐̌̈́ͧ̄ [Yoyo swinging almost lazily at her side, Ladybug retorts sharply even while she searches him for the akuma item.] I think these people would want a refund if they paid for it, Sound Machine.

I had no idea. [there's an implied 'did you?' at the end of her sentence, but Asami leaves it unspoken for the moment.] I'm doing my best to.

I did. That's what I wanted to talk to you about. [Before she can change her mind, Marinette plunges on.]

I want to pass on information to you and the Avatar. Your dad invited me to join the Equalists a little while ago and...I accepted.

OPEN POST

idk

:3

you'll regret asking for a bajillion things

for damian

never

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sorry for the delay! i still have no idea what i'm doing ajksdlf

me, too...

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for adrien

u3u ugh i tl;dred im sorry

don't be it's great ;o;

you're greater aaaa

I wasn't even sure what to leave so here's some kind of thing

no you

I JUST MADE STUFF UP let me know if this works...

its good lets go for it

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For shini

Re: For shini

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