The Miraculous Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir

The Voice In My Head

okay but cold chisel is a favourite of mine so i'll just leave that there it has nothing to do with the story and probably won't help the mood just check it out if you want to

Whenever she spoke, he heard. But her voice was so scarce, so rarely was he blessed with that rough yet melodic tone. She didn't talk nearly as much as others did, and he had no clue why. All he could hear were the occasional gasps, laughs and sometimes, even a croaky word, as if she hadn't spoken in a century. 

He did know that whenever he talked, she listened. Because as he rambled about good days or bad days, he could hear her cries of delight or gasps of sympathy and/or horror. Because it was impossible not to listen to the voice inside your head.

It was hard, watching the people around him find their soulmates with a simple conversation heard in their heads. Chloe had found her artist, so quiet, who contrasted against her so perfectly and taught her kindness while she taught him to speak up. Every single model he met often either had their soulmate at their sides or on the phone.

He didn't even know if his even lived in Paris. And he might've asked, if she wou-could answer!

Adrien Agreste sighed heavily in the loneliness of his room. "Where are you?"

~*~

She heard his hopeless cry. And her smile dropped just a tiny little bit.

"Where are you?" If only her life could be that simple.

Because Marinette Dupain-Cheng was deaf, and the only voice she could hear was her soulmate's echoing in her head. 

Her disability was... difficult, but she lived with it. After all, what choice did she have? She was born deaf. She had never heard a bird trill, or Jagged Stone's music, or her parents loving murmurs and cheerful laughs. She couldn't take the register when her parents needed help, nor could she present projects in school because she had no idea what anyone was saying. Which was why the teachers had taken to, instead of learning sign language, just printing out information on the topic and necessary worksheets for her. It was difficult, but it wasn't heartbreaking considering she'd always been deaf - she couldn't miss sounds, voices, music because she'd never heard them. 

And that's why she drew.

Colours had no sound, yet they screamed the loudest or whispered the softest and managed to convey every emotion with an expertise unlike another. Lines needed no voice, yet they connected dots and shapes and as the saying goes, a picture tells a thousand words. Design did not need to be appreciated with words combined with it, that was the point, you wear different clothes to express yourself instead of explaining who you are every single time when meeting a new person. A painting could be taken in a million different ways and it could be all of them and none of them and that's what made it so spectacular. Beauty did not need a voice, it never has. It just drew the eye, because it was beautiful and it didn't have to scream about it.

That's what set true beauty apart from the fake. The fact that it didn't have to boast, it just was. 

Unlike one person she knew. 

Chloe. Bourgeois. 

Marinette just knew that half of the stuff that came out of Chloe Bourgeois' mouth was about her father. Now, ever since she found out that her soulmate was Nathanael, the sweet artist, she had calmed down a bit, but she was just annoying. 

Although she did take the liberty to learn sign language to apologise to the deaf girl. Which she appreciated, of course, but... she was just tiring, y'know? And truly, she did like the blonde after her effort to be her friend, but... she seriously needed to understand that only cosplayers and famous people can pull off blue makeup. And that was when it was a lot of blue makeup, not just blue eyeshadow. 

Except, she wasn't focusing on the horror that coated Chloe's eyelids right now. She was focused on the flurry of signs she was going through excitedly.

Marinette held out a hand for her to stop. Slowly, she signed a few sentences. 

"So. Let me get this straight. We're getting a new student, who is your oldest friend." Chloe's excited nod encouraged her to continue. "And... you really want me to meet him because...?"

"Because you'd be perfect for him! You'd balance him out while also being so similar in so many ways and he's never heard his soulmate speak apart from a few laughs and croaked words and I just thought it'd be perfect if you could meet because, I don't know, his soulmate could be you!" Chloe finally stopped with a sheepish smile that barely covered up her determined yet child-like excitement. 

Marinette sighed and giggled. "Okay, okay. When's he coming? I'll at least test it out."

Chloe clapped and laughed, although she couldn't hear either of the sounds. "He should be arriving today! Oh, Marinette, you'll love him, I swear-" And then she mouthed words which Marinette couldn't read, so fast they left her lips. So she waited patiently where she stood, Nino just behind her with his soulmate Alya, the three of them snickering the slightest at her actions.

Until Marinette froze.

"Hey Chlo." echoing through her mind.

Oh my lord and stars above, if Chloe was right...

The blonde girl came back, practically skipping, towing Adrien freaking Agreste along beside her.

He opened his mouth to say hello and Marinette's mouth dropped.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you!" His eyes focused on Marinette abruptly as her hands flew to her mouth, tears pricking at her eyes. Chloe quickly signed, concern glittering her blue eyes, mirroring the emerald eyes beside her.

"Are you okay?"

She shook her head, shakily signing. "Chloe, I heard his voice. I can hear his voice." 

She couldn't hear Chloe's gasp of excitement and surprise, but she could hear the concerned voice in her head. "Chloe, what's happening? Is she okay?" But the mayor's daughter was so excited at being right that she pounced on Marinette and spun around with her, even going so far as to kiss her friend squarely on the cheek. And that was when Marinette made an adorable disgusted sound which echoed eerily in Adrien's head.

His mouth dropped, staring at the pretty girl who was being hugged tightly by a squealing Chloe. "No way."

Marinette finally pushed Chloe off her and gave her a meaningful look. The blonde nodded apologetically, turning to the new boy.

"Adrien, this is Marinette." The blunette gave a wave cheerfully, reading Chloe's translation from her hands. "She was born deaf, but..." Marinette began signing, Chloe nodding with a smile as she translated. "She says: I was born deaf. I've never heard music, a laugh, a voice. I can't hear myself, so I don't know how to talk, but I can hear you. In my head. And I want to say, thank you for putting up with a soulmate who can never reply, and I'm so glad to finally meet you. Aw, it's so romantic, I could swoon!" Chloe giggled as she twirled and placed a wrist against her forehead, slyly glancing at Adrien's blush as he held a hand out to the petit girl and nearly burst out laughing when in a twist, he was bowing and kissing her hand with a wink.

Years later, Adrien's eighteenth birthday gift to her was a cochlear implant. She gasped as she heard the beautiful music in the room, and nearly burst into tears as she heard her boyfriend's voice for real for the first time.

"Hello, milady."

"H...he...llo, A...dri...en."

i rushed this but it's okay i like the ending