"You tied his hands up real good, Ladybug," Arctic Fox commented jovially, grinning as Chat Noir extended his staff and managed to take off Pantomime's hat. He handed it to Ladybug with a flourish, and she took out the little picture of Mylène, ripping it in two. She quickly captured the black butterfly as it flew out of the picture, and did her 'Miraculous Ladybug' thing, returning everything to normal.
"Pound it!" The trio said in unison, their fists connecting. A few moments later, news reporters arrived on the scene, all of them flocking to the superheroes.
"You've all saved Paris again!" remarked Mrs. Chamahk, who looked extremely excited. "Do you have time for some questions?"
Ladybug quickly checked her earrings, which beeped. She smiled awkwardly.
"I'm sorry, but I have to go! See you guys next time!" she said, quickly swinging away from the scene. Chat and Arctic waved, before turning back to the reporters.
"Yeah sure, we have some time," Arctic replied, crossing his arms and smiling slightly. Chat Noir casually threw his arm around his shoulders and leaned against him.
"How did you defeat the akumatized victim this time?" Mrs. Chamahk asked, practically shoving her mic into Arctic's face. Chat guided it towards him.
"Well you see, it was all thanks to Ladybug. She came up with the idea of making him mad, so I think we should give her the credit for this one. Right Arctic?" Chat asked. The white clad superhero nodded.
"But of course, Arctic Fox helped too!" Chat exclaimed suddenly, throwing his arms into the air. "He used his ice powers and slowed him down! Plus, the ice always broke through the pantomimes! And, and, his special move, Frost Bite, the chunks of ice practically froze Pantomime to the spot! It was awesome! I didn't even do that much this time!" Chat said, excited. Arctic laughed, and he was about to say that Chat contributed too, but his bracelet beeped in protest. The snowball symbol in the center of the metal band looked almost melted.
"Chat, I have to go, right now," Arctic said urgently, giving the reporters and apologetic look. He waved goodbye to his friend and quickly ran away. Chat checked his ring and noticed he was running out of time too, so he said goodbye to the reporters, who looked a little annoyed at their escaped scoop.
Chat launched himself up onto a building, and started running back towards his home. As he jumped over the gap between buildings, he looked down and noticed a flash of white. He was in the air long enough to see Arctic Fox disappear in a flash of light, and get replaced by a boy.
Chat nearly messed up his landing when he realized who it was. He quickly stumbled to the edge of the building and peeked over the roof, confirming that what he saw was real.
[Male name] was standing in the shade of the apartment building next to him, looking around as he dug around for something in his messenger bag. He pulled out a granola bar and peeled away the silver wrapping. There, sitting on his shoulder, was an exhausted looking white kwami.
Chat scrambled away from the edge of the roof and tripped, landing on his butt. He took a few deep breaths as he processed this new information.
[Male name] was Arctic Fox. [Male name], who was an acquaintance of his, who was pretty popular with girls, but never flirted with anyone. He was pretty reserved, and liked to hang out with Nathaniel. Chat had always thought that he was a bit secretive, but now he knew why.
Instantly, guilt clawed at his insides. What had he done? He knew Arctic Fox's secret identity, when they made a promise to never try and find out about each other! Sure, this was by accident, but Chat felt bad anyways. He gnawed on his lip when suddenly his ring beeped again, and he de-transformed. Plagg came tumbling out of his ring and landed in his lap.
"Ugh... I need some Camembert," the small black kwami groaned. He floated up to face Adrien and held out his arm. The blond rolled his eyes and reached into his pocket, pulling out some cheese, which Plagg promptly devoured. He went back to thinking about his current predicament.
"Well, you look like you're thinking hard," Plagg commented once he had swallowed.
"Plagg, I found out who Arctic Fox is," Adrien admitted, his eyes downcast. Plagg stayed silent for a moment.
"Kamph?" the kwami finally said. Adrien looked up.
"What?" he asked. Plagg looked thoughtful.
"One of my brothers, Kamph. If I remember right, Kamph is the kwami that guides Arctic Fox," Plagg elaborated, "Was he all white? Did he have little ears and a bushy tail?"
"Um, yeah?"
"That's him! Oh man, I can't wait to see him again!" Plagg exclaimed, flying around Adrien's head.
"Whoa, whoa wait!" the blond said, catching Plagg and holding him in his hands.
"What do you mean by 'see him again'?"
"You are going to meet this guy, right?"
Adrien bit his lip and thought for a moment. Well, he knew who [Male name] really was now, so it was only fair that [Male name] know who he was as well, right? He thought about it for a moment longer.
"I... I guess..."
"Pawsome! I'm gonna show Kamph this cheese, then he'll be hooked!"
~~~~~~~~~~
Adrien stood still, staring at the (h/c) haired boy sitting in the shade of a tree in the park. He glanced down at his lunch, which was just a simple sandwich.
"You know, you look kinda weird standing still in the entrance of the park," Plagg whispered in his ear. Adrien sighed and motioned for Plagg to hide. He walked up to [Male name] hesitantly and cleared his throat. Instantly, the other boy looked up in surprise.
Yup, that's definitely him. Same (h/c) hair, same (e/c) eyes, even the same expressions... Adrien thought to himself.
"Hey [Male name]," he said, "Mind if I sit?"
[Male name] maintained his slightly surprised expression, but motioned next to him anyways. Adrien sat down and started unwrapping his sandwich.
"Uh, what are you doing here?" [Male name] asked. Adrien made a note that even his voice was exactly the same.
"Just eating lunch."
"But... Don't you usually eat at home?"
"Oh, not today. I had to beg my dad to let me eat out."
Adrien took a bite of his sandwich and glanced at [Male name]. His eyes were narrowed in suspicion. Yes, that was definitely an expression Arctic Fox used often.
"Why...?"
Adrien took his time in chewing, before he finally swallowed and held out his right hand. He angled it in such a way that his silver ring glinted in the sunlight shining through the leaves.
"Don't you just love my ring?" Adrien said quietly, bringing his hand a little closer. [Male name] stared at it, then shrugged.
"It's okay I guess..." he replied.
"I really like the way it looks. Isn't the shape nice?" Adrien pushed. [Male name] stared at it a little longer. Then his jaw dropped.
"Wha..." he muttered to himself. He quickly regained his composure and laughed.
"Really funny Adrien, there's no way," he said matter of factly. Adrien rolled his green eyes and waved his ring in front of [Male name]'s face.
"Really? Then explain why it's one of a kind."
"Adrien, you're rich, there's no doubt that your father could replicate Chat Noir's ring easily," [Male name] explained his reasoning, though he still looked quite nervous. No doubt he didn't believe himself. Adrien shook his head and sighed. He leaned towards [Male name], and whispered in his ear.
"[Male name], I know you're Arctic Fox."
The (h/c) haired male jerked backwards, an expression of pure panic on his face. He looked around frantically, making sure no one was trying to eavesdrop on them.
"Listen Adrien, if you dare tell anyone-"
"I won't tell! At least, I won't tell if you won't tell," Adrien said, holding out his hand again. The ring glinted. [Male name] rubbed his sinuses and glared at his ring.
"There's no way you're him," he said.
"Um, but I am him. I'm the purrfect image of a superhero."
"..."
"Come on, you can't deny it, I'm pawsome."
"Oh my god."
"Aw, don't be like that. Did you wake up on the tail end of your bed this morning?"
"Okay, okay, you're him! Fine! Just stop!"
Adrien started laughing as [Male name] fumed. He still couldn't believe it. There was no way that pretty boy Adrien was Chat Noir, right? But still, the similarities were undeniable, and his puns were even as bad as Chat's! The (h/c) haired boy frowned. His eyes widened. [Male name] grabbed the collar of Adrien's short and pulled him closer.
"Does Ladybug know?" he muttered dangerously. Adrien's smile slipped off his face as he shook his head vigorously.
"I swear, I haven't told anyone, cat's honor."
"If you tell her-"
RUSTLE!
[Male name] immediately let go of Adrien's shirt and stared at Marinette, who was sprawled on the ground a couple meters in front of them. Judging by the twigs and leaves stuck in her hair, she had just come from the bush a few feet to her right. [Male name] spotted a head of brown hair behind said bush, and there was no doubt that Alya was hiding behind there. [Male name] felt the colour drain from his face. What if they had overheard? It was no secret that Alya had a huge obsession with Ladybug, but what if she also posted the fact that she knew who Chat Noir and Arctic Fox were?!
Marinette jumped up, brushing leaves off her clothing and pulling twigs out of her hair. She had a wide, dreamy smile on her face as she stared at Adrien.
"H-Hi Adrien! Hi [Male name]!" she said, giving them a quick wave. Her smile widened. [Male name] glanced at Adrien, who glanced back at him, the same panic in his green eyes.
"Um, hi Marinette," [Male name] said. Adrien simply waved and smiled back. She let out a weird little giggle. [Male name] almost let out an audible sigh of relief when he realized Marinette hadn't over heard, and just wanted to talk to Adrien. Marinette and [Male name] had known each other since grade school, and were best friends. That why he had to be extra careful around her at all times, after all, she was definitely smarter than she let on, and one wrong move could lead her to suspect him of being Arctic Fox, or even Chat Noir.
"Uh, so what are you doing here?" Adrien asked politely. Marinette broke out of her little reverie and heat flooded her cheeks. She stuttered and fidgeted with her hands.
"Um... well... I was wondering if you'd like to movie a go! I-I mean, go movie see! I mean kiss me! NO! I MEAN, YES! I MEAN-" Alya lunged out of the bush and covered Marinette's mouth, giving the boys a pained smile.
"What she means is, would you boys like to go see a movie with us?" Alya explained. [Male name] sighed and packed up his bag.
"I don't know guys, I don't know if I have time. Why don't you ask Nino?" [Male name] said, standing up. Adrien shot to his feet as well and grabbed [Male name]'s arm.
"Wait! We should all go! Why not?" Adrien asked. His green eyes lit up. [Male name] raised an eyebrow at him. They weren't even that close, why should he?
But you guys are close. He's Chat Noir, your best superhero friend... [Male name] thought. He sighed, and looked at Marinette, who was also silently pleading him.
"Alright, fine," he said. Adrien whooped and threw his arm around [Male name]'s shoulders, shocking both Marinette and Alya. The (h/c) haired boy blushed in embarrassment and brushed Adrien's arm off, quickly walking back towards the school. Adrien hurried after him, a big smile on his face. The boys left Marinette and Alya alone in the park, staring after them.
"Since when have they been so close?" Alya commented. Marinette shrugged, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Adrien and [Male name] reminded her of a certain two superheroes that she knew.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Watch out!" Arctic exclaimed. A blast of cool winter air shot out from his palm, blowing away an eagle that threatened to knock Chat Noir out of a tree. He shot some ice at a giraffe, freezing its mouth shut as it tried to snap at him. Chat Noir jumped from his perch and landed on the roof of a cage next to Arctic.
"Phew, thanks. That could have been cat-astrophic!" he joked. Ladybug scoffed and stood up from her crouched position.
"Come on boys, we've gotta find Animan," she said. Arctic nodded and stood up as well, holding out a hand for Chat to take. Chat grinned and took it, hauling himself up. Ladybug giggled.
"Oooh, what do we have here? A budding bromance?" she teased. Arctic scowled and let go of Chat's hand, reaching for the staff on his back. He spun it in his hands, waiting for them to go.
"What?" he asked. Ladybug and Chat Noir shrugged at each other, bringing out their weapons as well. They were about to have another long battle.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Pound it!" The trio fist bumped each other, grinning as they achieved yet another victory.
"That was awesome! Excellent use of your Lucky Charm, of course," Arctic said, making Ladybug laugh.
"Thanks," she said. They were about to high five when Chat Noir threw his arms around Arctic's neck and hugged him, obviously extremely happy with their victory. Arctic, however, froze and made a strange squeaky noise. Chat Noir didn't seem to notice as he started purring.
"Um," was all Arctic could say. Ladybug was smiling widely, her blue eyes sparkling brightly.
"This is too cute," she said. Chat Noir pulled away and flashed her a V for Victory sign.
"Thank you my lady, but are you talking about me or him?" he asked.
"Both of you!"
"W-what?!" Arctic asked. He took a step back from both of them.
"Don't think I haven't noticed how close you two have gotten lately. Yes, I think it's official. I ship it!" Ladybug squealed, jumping into the air in excitement. Arctic felt heat flood his cheeks as he scowled. He split his staff in two and shook them, spring-loaded blades shooting out at the ends on either side, kind of like ice picks. Chat Noir and Ladybug backed up in surprise.
"Relax, I'm not using them on you," [Male name] spat. He glanced at his bracelet, then launched himself onto a building using his weapon, not even bothering to say goodbye.
"What's his problem?" Ladybug asked, raising an eyebrow beneath her mask. Chat Noir shrugged.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey, how about you come over after school today?" Adrien asked, leaning against [Male name]'s locker. The (h/c) haired boy rolled his eyes and shut his locker.
"Are you sure your father would approve of me?" he asked. Adrien laughed and shook his head.
"He does. I told him about you and he said that I should hang out with you more often. So, what do you say? Wanna come over?"
[Male name] sighed and walked away. Adrien stumbled a bit to catch up.
"Aw come on, pleeeeaaaase?" the blonde whined, trying to give the other male kitten eyes. He didn't pay him any attention. However, Adrien was attracting all sorts of attention himself, mostly because of how weird he had been acting recently. In fact, Chloe Bourgeois was genuinely concerned with Adrien's behavior, and was 100% sure that [Male name] had everything to do with it.
As the two boys walked into the classroom, Adrien still chatting up a storm whilst [Male name] tried not to look too annoyed, Chloe followed them in, looking as inconspicuous as she could be. The moment she noticed that [Male name] had his guard down, she gave him a shove that caused him to lose his balance and fall.
"[Male name]! Are you alright?" Adrien asked, crouching down next to him as [Male name] groaned and sat up. He looked up at Chloe and his expression immediately darkened. Chloe simply laughed.
"Oh, well will you look at that! It seems that hanging out with Marinette does cause you to catch her clumsiness! Oh, how sad!" Chloe laughed again. [Male name] growled and sprung to his feet. The air in the room seemed to drop a few degrees.
"It's one thing to shove me. It's another thing entirely when you insult Marinette," [Male name] spat. He stepped closer, and the smile on Chloe's face flickered.
"I don't know why you always act like you have a stick shoved up your ass, and that's probably not my business, but maybe you should stop bullying others just because they're getting close to Adrien. He's his own man, and he can hang out with anyone he likes, unlike you, who needs to bribe her best friend into even staying with her," he said. Chloe's jaw dropped as she stared at him. The entire class was silent as [Male name] stalked to the back of the classroom and slammed his bag down on the table, plopping down next to Nathaniel.
Adrien quietly sat down too, putting his bag down and avoiding eye contact as Chloe soundlessly sat down in her seat across the aisle from him. He glanced back at [Male name], who was being calmed down by Nathaniel. Despite what had just happened, Adrien let a small smile slip onto his face. [Male name] had defended himself and Marinette well.
~~~~~~~~~~
Over the course of a few weeks, it seemed that Chat Noir had switched targets. He was relentless, never leaving [Male name] alone whether he was Chat or Adrien. It was driving [Male name] mad. No matter how hard he tried to distance himself from Adrien, he only found himself getting closer and closer. There was simply no end to the constant flirting.
If that was even what it was.
Marinette had been driving him crazy too. It seemed that after she realized how close to Adrien he had gotten, she started going to him for advice instead of Alya, since he knew more about her crush. She bombarded him with questions, asking how Adrien was that day, if he seemed happy, if he was eating well, blah, blah, blah.
For some reason, her questions made his gut twist with anger. Sure, it was pretty obvious that she had a major crush on Adrien, but [Male name] didn't particularly like that. He didn't know why. It wasn't like he had a crush on Adrien, right? Ridiculous.
[Male name] huffed as he flopped onto his bed, face first. Yes, these thoughts had been plaguing his mind ever since Adrien found out who he really was. He wasn't sure if he resented the guy for practically making the world fall to his feet, or if he felt happy that they no longer held secrets from each other. [Male name] let out another sigh.
Tap tap.
[Male name]'s head raised. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked out his dark window. There, standing precariously on his windowsill, was Chat Noir. Panic surged through [Male name] as he leapt to his feet, lunged at the window, and opened it.
"Chat!" [Male name] said, the evening wind blowing his (h/c) hair back. Chat's green eyes glinted as he swung inside the bedroom; practically landing in [Male name]'s arms.
"Hey [Male name]," he murmured. [Male name] shook his head and rushed to his window, looking out into the streets of Paris.
"... There's nothing wrong..." [Male name] muttered to himself. He closed the window and drew the blinds. He transformed, then quickly drew the blinds back again. He opened the window fully and crawled out, climbing carefully onto the roof. He turned a full 360.
"Chat, what happened? Did someone get Akumatized again?" Arctic asked. Chat climbed up next to him, looking out at the view.
"Follow me," was all he said, before he jumped onto the next building. Confused, and forced to follow, Arctic grumbled to himself as he chased after his friend. He looked around as they travelled through Paris, making sure that there wasn't any trouble brewing. So far, nothing.
Finally, they ended up on the roof of La Grand Paris. Arctic looked around, still seeing no signs of trouble.
"Chat what's going on?" Arctic asked, starting to get suspicious. Chat grabbed Arctic's hand and led him over to a table with two chairs, in the perfect spot for viewing the Eiffel Tower a few blocks away. Arctic's eyes widened.
"It's beautiful..." he said, all thoughts of saving the world leaving his mind. Chat smiled as he watched Arctic's face light up with awe. He had planned this evening for weeks. Chat transformed back to Adrien and held Arctic's hand tighter. The (h/c) haired male looked over, then transformed back to [Male name] a second later. He gave Adrien a small smile that he had never shown him before.
"L-let's sit," Adrien said, trying not to let on how much that small smile had melted his heart. The two boys sat down, and started to eat their dinner.
"This is... really nice..." [Male name] admitted after a few minutes of silence. Adrien smiled at him.
"Thanks."
[Male name] picked up a glass filled with soda.
"I'm still not sure why you brought me here though."
Adrien stared. How had he not picked up on it yet? How could someone be so oblivious? (Note the irony.) He tried not to frown.
"This is a date."
[Male name] had just taken a sip of his soda when he choked on it, coughing. He grabbed a napkin and wiped his chin.
"You could've just said that from the beginning instead of showing up at my house as Chat and making me think Paris was in danger again!" [Male name] exclaimed, cheeks flaming in embarrassment. He briefly considered transforming back into Arctic Fox and making a run for it, but he fought the feeling down and stayed in his seat.
"But that wouldn't be as interesting."
[Male name] gave him a withering scowl and returned his attention to his food. He felt pretty uncomfortable and self-conscious now. He quietly went back to working on his meal, eating in silence. Occasionally, [Male name] glanced up at Adrien, only to see him watching him intently, causing him to look down at his food again. God, this was so weird.
"Hey [Male name]?" Adrien said suddenly. The (h/c) haired male glanced up.
"Yeah?"
Adrien stood up and leaned over the table, puckering his lips. [Male name] jerked backwards, his cheeks flaming up again.
"What the hell are you doing?" he asked quietly. Adrien simply pointed to his lips and wiggled his eyebrows. [Male name] frowned and looked around. No cameras... he looked back to Adrien, who was still pointing at his lips.
After having a fierce mental argument with himself, [Male name] let instinct take over as he leaned over and pecked Adrien on the lips. He pulled back immediately afterwards.
"Yes!" Adrien said, fist pumping the air. [Male name] raised an eyebrow. The happy blond ran around their small table and hugged [Male name], who nearly fell out of his seat. Adrien didn't hesitate as he kissed [Male name] again, who didn't pull away this time. When they did, they were smiling.
"You know, I think I may be in love with you," Adrien murmured. [Male name] gave him a small smirk.
"So you planned this entire thing, brought me here as Chat Noir and Arctic Fox, made me sit through an awkward dinner, then made me kiss you all so you could tell me this? You could've just told me any old time and I still would've kissed you," [Male name] said, emphasizing his point when he gave Adrien another small peck. At this point, all the doubt about what [Male name] had been feeling about Adrien went out the window. He knew exactly how he felt about him.
Adrien gave him an award-winning smile and tackled [Male name] to the ground, hugging and kissing him. He wasn't going to let go anytime soon.
~~~~~~~~~~Author's Note~~~~~~~~~~
This chapter. Is the longest chapter. To date. It is over 4000 words long. How.
This freaking chapter took me like a week to write. NORMALLY THESE THINGS TAKE ME LIKE AN HOUR WTF I AM SO CHEESED AND I HAVE A POUNDING HEAD ACHE AND GOD DAMN I'M SORRY FOR ANY MISTAKES I'VE MADE I'M JUST SO TIRED I HOPE Y'ALL ENJOYED THIS BECAUSE I DIDN'T GET ANY HELP FROM VANESSA THIS TIME HOLY CRAP
(Also I got my friend into Miraculous Ladybug. I am proud. ;) )
I am so done. I don't even have the energy to write up a full length Author's Note. Just vote.
1) Sans (Undertale)
2) Yuuichiro Hyakuya (Owari no Serafu)
3) Italy (Hetalia)
Hello darkness my old friend...