No one:
Absolutely no one:
Me: so let me share some of the second chapter of my (now jossed) post-Wishmaker fic!
(All you really need to know is that Marinette learned Chat’s identity but he does NOT know she knows. He does not know her identity.)
*
The hours leading up to that evening’s patrol seem to pass impossibly slowly and all too quickly at once.
Marinette needs to see him.
Marinette is terrified to see him.
Seeing Chat—seeing Adrien—will make it real.
She’s not ready for that.
Still, when the scheduled time comes, she transforms and makes her way to the usual spot. Chat is waiting for her, as usual.
He doesn’t like spending time at home, she remembers suddenly. She’s never given it much thought before, Adrien’s life as a famous model seems so perfect. Why doesn’t he like to be home? What doesn’t she know about this boy she loves?
“Hey bugaboo,” he greets, turning to her with an enthusiastic smile.
Her cheeks burn under the force of Adrien’s smile.
She opens her mouth to return his greeting, but all of her words stick together and nothing comes out.
Oh no. Get it together, Ladybug!
His smile dims. “Ladybug?”
“Fine! You’re fine! I mean, I’m fine,” she blurts, then snaps her mouth shut before she can make more of a fool of herself, or worse, give herself away.
Unsurprisingly, her protests do little to reassure.
“…Is everything okay?” he asks.
“Super!” she assures, too loud, flashing him two thumbs up. “Super like a superhero not like a supermodel, that’d be crazy! Heh, because we’re superheroes, right? And nothing else! Just…two superheroes… Wow, okay, let’s start patrol!”
“Are you sure? You don’t…seem super…” He eyes her warily, his brow creasing.
His gaze is too searching, he’s going to figure her out! Where the hell is Rena Furtive to cast an illusion of a suave Ladybug to save the day?
No such illusion appears, however. She seems to recall Alya saying she wouldn’t be able to make tonight.
Ladybug waves her hands around frantically, like that can wave off his suspicion.
“Super duper,” she says inanely.
