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“Come on, Marinette, hurry up!” Alya called to her friend.From the other side of the trap door, Marinette called back “Just a second! I have it just...about….right”A moment later, the trap door opened, and Sailor Mercury came down the steps. She stopped at the bottom and twirled.“Well, what do you think?” she asked.Alya gave Marinette a quick once over. “I still don’t quite understand why you went for Mercury over Sailor Moon, but, you do look amazing.”Marinette blushed, and twirled a bit of her dark blue hair subconsciously around her finger. “I..haven’t quite figured out how to handle wigs properly yet.” She straightened suddenly, shifting the attention back off of her and over to Alya. “Your Batgirl costume turned out beautifully!”Alya waved an impatient hand. “Yes, yes-- thank you. Now, if we don’t get to La Villette soon, the line for Chris Evans’ autograph is going to be forever long so let’s go!”She grabbed Marinette by the wrist and made to bolt for the door.
It was then that, for the first time in the history of the Dupain-Chang Bakery, it happened.A kitchen collision.Mrs. Dupain-Chang came around the corner carrying a fifty pound bag of flour from storage, and, suddenly, what seemed like half of it was coating everything in sightMarinette had years of reflexes as Ladybug to rely on, so she managed to break free of her friend’s grasp and launch herself out of the worst of it, gaining only a light dusting,Alya, though.Alya looked like someone had dumped a bucket of snow on her.“Oh, I’m so sorry girls-- are you alright?” asked Marinette’s mother, brushing herself off as she stood up again.”Alya wailed as she fruitlessly tried to wipe the white powder off of her, smearing it into and against the black of her suit. “Oh no! We’re never going to make it in time now!”Marinette thought quickly, glancing from her own cosplay, to Alya, to the clock on the wall.“Actually, Alya? I think I have an idea.” Fifteen minutes and some emergency hair care later, they were on their way.“Are you sure about this?” Alya picked at the blue skirt Marinette had been wearing shortly before.“Positive. Mercury’s affinity for technology suits you.”“But what about you?”Marinette sighed as they hurried down the street. “There’ll be a thousand others just like it, but, it’s what I had to spare.” Adrien Agreste wandered the main floor of Comic Con Paris, amazed by all the artistry involved in the vendor stalls and cosplays that surrounded him. He’d been slightly doubtful about coming out to the event, but, Nino had insisted on dragging him along, so, here he was.Thirty-two thousand people were supposed to be here today, some dressed for the occasion, and some just in their street clothes. He hadn’t quite known what to wear-- an oddity for a model of his background, so, he numbered among the latter. Even so, ditching the Gorilla and sneaking out seemed a bit unnecessary-- there was no way his security detail could have followed him through this crowd.There were people strolling past in full body armor, with elaborate props, oversized suits from video games, as various cartoon characters from the latest Disney, screen-accurate cosplays straight out of the last Marvel movie, and of course about 500 Deadpools, Harley Quinns, Chat Noirs, and Ladybugs apiece.Some of them were even quite good, and the twists that some of them took -- Revolutionary Era, Steam Punk, or Star Wars, to name a few-- were incredibly intriguing. Though, none of them quite matched up to ---Wait.It couldn’t be. Alya had dashed off to get in line for autographs as soon as they were past the front door, leaving Marinette behind to wander the floor. As she’d suspected, there were hundreds of other Ladybugs thronging the convention, almost all in the company of a Chat Noir. It was odd to see so many of them...nuzzling.A few of them managed to look away from each other to look her own Ladybug getup up and down, often before just looking away again dismissively. One guy though had come up to her and said her suit was the wrong shade, and her mask had the wrong number of spots on it.That had gotten her a bit steamed. She was about to give the guy a piece of her mind when she heard a familiar voice.
“Ladybug! Wait!” Adrien dodged through the crowd and sprinted up to His Lady, eyes searching, making sure it was actually her.
Why didn’t she call me?
Panting, standing closer than he’d have normally dared in order to be heard, he asked desperately, “Is everything alright? Has someone been akumatized?”A couple of people heard him as they walked by and sniggered. Others looked around, suddenly fearful. He ignored them.
Ladybug’s eyes widened in panic. “What?! No! I--” she stopped, and forced herself to take a steadying breath. “Everything’s fine. I’m just…”Is...is Ladybug...blushing? Adrien couldn’t believe it.She cleared her throat. “I’m just out having a good time. I thought this would be an easy way to blend in. Plus, well.” She shrugged. “If any trouble turns up, I’m ready.” She met his eyes.Adrien looked away shyly, his hand flying to the back of his neck on reflex.“Oh, well then, I guess…” His expression brightened as he remembered something. “Um.” He reached for his bag, pulling out a pen and notebook. “Would you mind if I…?”“Oh! Of...of course.” She took the proffered stationary and signed with a flourish. Their eyes met again as she handed it back.Silence.Well, silence roared in his ears anyway-- no matter how noisy the crowd around them.From the way she was looking at him...did she relate?Oh, how drawn he felt to her. If only he could...“I...I’m surprised you weren’t asked to be part of this-- being one of the guests and all.” He stuttered.“Oh, um...I was, but. With my schedule…”Dang it, Argeste, you knew that already. It’s the same reason Chat turned it down. But, it had been something to say...and now he was at a loss again.Neither of them was looking away.Abruptly, a Deadpool careened out of the crowd and slammed into Ladybug from behind. She was launched forward and--It could have only happened at Comic Con.Their lips connected.Bright blue and green eyes widened in shock before fluttering closed as neither backed away.A hesitant moment later, Adrien took a half step forward, and gently put his arm around her waist.A brief eternity later, Marinette wound a hand into his hair. Across the way, a Batman-bedecked Nino leaned over to mutter in his Sailor girlfriend’s ear, “Do you think they know?”
Alya shot him a look. “Don’t you dare, or in the name of the Moon, I will punish you.”