Venom: A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction

Marinette-Chapter 9

Scrambling around her room, Marinette arranged everything she would need to begin sewing her dress. She had a bolt of bright red silk, a pattern that she had made herself from tissue paper, her sewing shears, her machine...

She pulled her old gaming console out of the closet where it had rested while she was away at college. She only ever pulled it out when she came home for breaks and played Ultimate Mecha Strike III with her father. She was still the reigning champion, even though he swore he had been practicing while she was away.

Compulsively straightening the plate of cookies that sat on the end of the table, Marinette tried to contain her near delirious excitement. She hadn't spent time alone with Adrien in so long! It almost felt like a date, but she couldn't allow herself to get her hopes up. He hadn't exactly said this was a date and as far as she knew, he was still dating Alyssa. But even so, her heart skipped a beat as she thought about their "non-date" all the same.

"Just relax and have fun," Tikki advised from where she sat on Marinette's shoulder. "It will be great. And Adrien did say you're beautiful."

Marinette smiled, tickling her kwami's head. "Thanks, Tikki."

Her phone buzzed on the desk beside her sewing machine and she picked it up to see a text from Alya. It was only two words:

Ladyblog. Now.

Curiosity got the better of her and Marinette sat down at her computer, pulling up the Ladyblog. There was a new video with pictures Alya had taken last night of Ladybug and Chat Noir fighting Global Warming. Alya's voice narrated over the video.

"Looks like Paris's favorite superhero duo is back together again. But could there be more between Ladybug and Chat Noir than just a great partnership? The Ladyblog obtained exclusive photos of the heroes sharing a kiss after vanquishing the villain."

Marinette groaned as the picture of Chat Noir kissing her on the cheek appeared on the screen. Why couldn't he just be sensible?

But at the same time, Marinette had an uneasy doubt that it wasn't "sensible" that she could still feel the warm pressure of Chat's lips, as distinctly as she had felt it for the swift second they had rested on her cheek. And it was even less sensible that the kiss was far from being unpleasant. In fact, if she was honest with herself, she had enjoyed it more than she thought she would.

Shaking her head in annoyance, she glanced down at the number of views the video had gotten and gasped. Three million? Three million people had seen Chat kiss her?! Oh, he was going to get it for that little stunt.

A knock sounded on her door and she quickly closed the Ladyblog as Tikki quickly dove out of sight.

"Come in," she called brightly and Adrien appeared with one of his signature grins on his face.

"Hey, Mari," he said, pulling himself up into her room and holding out a shopping bag. "I found this and I thought you might like it to go with your dress."

Smiling, Marinette took the bag as Adrien helped himself to a cookie off the plate. Her heart thumped hard when she opened it and saw a beautiful hair comb nestled in tissue paper at the bottom. The swirling silver glittered with small rubies and she picked it up almost reverently, holding it up to the light.

"Wow, Adrien!" she exclaimed, her smile widening. "It's beautiful!"

Adrien ran a hand over the back of his neck in a bashful way. She had alway thought it was cute when he did that.

"I saw it in my dad's studio yesterday. It reminded me of you."

Marinette felt herself blushing slightly at his words. How had he known it would go perfectly with her dress? Adrien was so wonderful, she had missed him so much.

Clearing her throat to cover her emotions, she said, "Do you want to help me with my dress first or get crushed at Ultimate Mecha Strike III?"

Adrien laughed, running a hand through his blonde hair. "I think we can postpone your demise for a little while. Let's work on your dress so you can get that internship."

Grinning, Marinette tossed her hair artfully over her shoulder. "Alright then, you big chicken. But you can't put off losing to me forever. How about we start cutting out the pattern?"

They began laying out the pattern on the fabric and Marinette pinned them carefully in place. She showed Adrien how to pin the pattern pieces correctly according to their markings and then grabbed her shears. At that moment, Marinette's mother called to her from downstairs. She glanced at Adrien, gesturing to pattern pieces. "Can you start cutting these pieces while I'm gone? It should only be a second."

"Sure," Adrien agreed with a teasing wink. "I think I can handle this."

Marinette giggled and made her way down the stairs. "What is it, Mama?"

"I just wanted to send up this pitcher of milk to go with the cookies," she said, handing Marinette a cold jug and two glasses. "Let me know if you need anything, okay honey?"

Nodding, Marinette smiled. "Thank you. You're the best."

Taking the stairs two at a time, Marinette pushed on the trap door and let herself back inside. There stood Adrien with his arms full of perfectly cut pieces of fabric. How had he done it so quickly?

"Wow," she giggled, setting the pitcher down next to the cookies. "I'm impressed. You may have a natural gift for this."

Adrien grinned, setting the fabric down next to her sewing machine. "Well, it does run in my family, you know."

Marinette let out a snort that quickly turned into a laugh. "That's true. When I'm a famous designer, maybe I should hire you."

She set the glasses down on the table, but when she turned, her hip bumped one of them, sending it tumbling toward the floor. Quick as a flash, Adrien lunged forward and grabbed it before it could hit the ground. He handed it back to Marinette, flashing a grin at her.

"I guess we can add cat-like reflexes to my resume," he joked, setting the glass back down on the table. Marinette laughed, rolling her eyes good naturedly. That sounded like the same kind of lame joke Chat Noir would make. Marinette pretended she didn't find them funny most of the time, but she could alway count on her partner to make her smile. Just like Adrien.

"Well, now that's out of the way, do you want to meet your doom?" she teased, nodding toward the gaming console. Adrien wiggled his eyebrows at her, with a mock serious expression.

"Let's do it."