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“Please, Mari! Please, please, please!” Marinette laughed, pushing aside her physics homework to raise an eyebrow at Alya in amusement.“Al, I already said yes, but what I’m asking is why you need me to interview Rena Rouge. Couldn’t you do it? It is your blog after all”. Alya shifted nervously where she was perched on Marinette’s chaise, fiddling with her fingers as she raked her mind for an excuse that could fool her weirdly observant best friend. “Well, I need to… babysit my little sisters! Yeah! My mom’s been pretty busy with the hotel lately, so she asked me to take care of Etta and Ella for her! And I already agreed to meet up with Rena Rouge on Thursday night, so I really need you to do this for me because I may not get another chance and-” …“ALYA!” Letting out a giggly sigh, Marinette walked over and sat next to Alya, putting a finger on the other girl’s lips, missing the way Alya’s face flamed under her touch.The finger-on-lip move effectively silencing her, Marinette removed her finger and smiled, her cheeks dimpling as Alya’s eyes followed her every move. “I know how important the Ladyblog is to you, and I also know how important your family is to you, so I will happily interview Rena Rouge for the blog, and you can take care of your sisters. Happy?” “Yeah…” Alya said, still half-dazed from Marinette’s finger on her lips.Marinette giggled, picking up her pen and settling back into her swivel chair, pulling her legs up into a cross-legged position and leaning down to grab her homework folder from the floor, unintentionally giving Alya a perfect view of her cleavage.Alya quickly averted her eyes and started gathering up her homework and shoving it absentmindedly into her satchel, ignoring the way Marinette had started chewing on her pen as her eyes roved over the question sheet. “Well, I better be going now. Once again, thanks for doing this for me, Mari!”Marinette put down her pen and stepped towards Alya to give her a goodbye hug, which Alya happily returned.“No problem, Alya. It’s the least I can do after all you’ve done for me! You’re the greatest friend a girl could ask for.”Alya ignored the way her chest clenched at Marinette’s words and simply cherished Marinette’s soft midnight pigtails brushing her cheek and the smooth pale arms wrapped around her shoulders. When Alya finally left, warmly thanking Sabine for her hospitality, Alya was walking down the moonlit streets of Paris towards home, trying to quietly reason with her tittering kwami, who was currently in the process of listing to Alya all the reasons why she should just tell Marinette that she was Rena Rouge. “Trixx, for the last time, I cannot tell Marinette that I’m Rena Rouge! It would just open up a whole can of worms that I don’t wanna see out! Besides, it could totally wreck our friendship! I don’t want to make it weird or awkward between us!”Trixx raised an eyebrow (did she even have eyebrows?) folding her tiny arms in agitation.“You mean weirder than you secretly pining for her like a lovesick puppy while she remains completely oblivious?” Alya pouted and stubbornly avoided her kwami’s calculating gaze, her trainers slapping against the damp pavement, the recent rainfall making the air crisp and cold against her goose bump-ridden skin.She knew that Marinette wouldn’t be disappointed if she discovered who she really was. She had saved Marinette while transformed a few months ago, and her reaction was more than delighted. She had also commented on Rena’s suit design, thinking it to be ‘classy and well-fitting’.Alya had spent the rest of the battle blushing profusely, distracted enough to accidentally poke Chat in the eye with her flute while Ladybug was explaining the plan (though Ladybug simply giggled at her behaviour while Chat pouted for at least five minutes). Shaking her head, she resolved to simply try and sleep her worries away, so she could deal with the prospect of being interviewed as Rena by her best friend and crush when the time came. However, what Alya didn’t know, was that Marinette was currently curled up with her arms wrapped around her knees, the idea of interviewing her superheroine crush of 5 months terrifying and daunting. See, when Rena Rouge had first turned up during a tough battle with the latest akuma (the Sapotis), Ladybug had put down her indignation at Chat kissing the newcomer’s hand as simply a need to focus on the battle (Chat himself later confirming that is was simply a gentlemanly gesture, assuring Ladybug that he already had a crush on someone in his civilian life).Additionally, when Rena Rouge had bid the duo farewell with a two-finger salute and a wink, Ladybug tried to reason the tightening in her chest was down to being sad watching her new teammate leave so quickly. However, a full month later, when Rena Rouge had pushed her out of harm’s way and gotten herself trapped in chains (chains that forced her to mentally relive her darkest moments), Ladybug had screamed herself hoarse and cried until her eyes were spilling over with tears trying to get Rena free. And when she was finally free and the akuma was de-evilised, Ladybug had embraced Rena and made a promise that she would never let her suffer like that ever again.That night, when she awoke sweating profusely, her breaths shaky and eyes glistening, did she press her shaking fist to her chest and feel her rapidly beating heart, as if she were truly listening to it for the first time in months.That was when she knew.She, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, was in love with Rena Rouge.It was as simple as admitting the sky was blue, or the grass was green. It felt so obvious, that she felt as if she should have known from the beginning. Rena then saving her civilian self mere weeks after her realisation was enough to put the nail in the coffin of ‘you’ve got it bad, honey’. She had mustered up enough confidence to compliment her suit, something which surely confused Rena, if her behaviour during the following battle was anything to go by.At least Rena wouldn’t think of her as a stranger during the interview. Gently stroking Tikki’s head to comfort herself, she closed her eyes and listened to the rain pitter patter on the roof, the rhythmic melody of the gently downpour lulling her to sleep, her dreams filled of warm hazel eyes and silky ombre curls. Finally, Thursday evening rolled around, both parties knowing that the interview was best held later on when less people would be around to snoop.According to Alya, Rena Rouge had agreed to meet at the TV station in a small, mostly-abandoned studio. Glancing at the room number imprinted both on the note that Alya had given her and the door in front of her, Marinette took a deep breath and pushed the door open, tucking the note into her purse as she slowly pushed the door closed, jolting when the knob slipped from her grasp and the door slammed shut. Her heart pounding in her ears, Marinette turned and walked towards the two decently-sized sofas and wooden coffee table situated centre-stage, her footsteps echoing in the practically empty room.“R-Rena Rouge? It’s Marinette. Dupain-Cheng? I’m Alya’s best friend, I’ve come to interview you for her Ladyblog, since she has to babysit her sisters tonight…”. “It’s a pleasure, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng.” Marinette gasped, looking up to see Rena Rouge perched casually (how can she make everything she does look so inviting?!) on one of the metal support beams near the ceiling.With a smug smirk, she let herself fall backwards off the beam before flipping and landing on her feet in a crouch, Marinette intaking a breath as Rena straightened up to look right at Marinette, her whole being projecting effortless confidence and charisma.‘You’ve got it real bad, sweetheart’ her brain reminded her, the butterflies in her stomach having a party as she collected her thoughts enough to stutter out, “Uh, h-hi! I’m Mama-mari-NO-Marinette! My name is Marinette! But, uh, you already knew that, heh, um, yeah, HI!”.Luckily, Rena simply chuckled and gave a bow, sweeping an arm around Marinette’s shoulder as if she’d done it a million times.“Well, anything for the fans! Especially if my interviewer is a cute little cupcake like you!”.If that comment alone wasn’t enough to send Marinette’s brain short-circuiting, Rena proceeded to send her a sideways wink, her hazel eyes boring holes into her own sparkling blue irises.
Rena Rouge has her arm on your shoulders! Rena Rouge is touching you! Rena Rouge called you cute! Rena Rouge WINKED at you! RENA ROUGE IS FLIRTING WITH YOU! THIS IS NOT A DRILL, I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A FUCKING DRILL, PEOPLE!
Unbeknownst to Marinette, Rena was going through a similar crisis.
You fucking moron! According to Marinette, you’ve only talked to her like, what, a dozen times, mid-akuma-battle? AND YOU’RE FLIRTING!? YOU CALLED HER CUTE! YOU BLOODY WINKED! THIS IS NOT A DRILL PEOPLE THIS IS NOT A FUCKING DRILL!
Unaware of each other’s mutual inner turmoil, they simply chuckled nervously, walking over to sit on the dark red sofas, Marinette pulling out her phone and putting the camera on, getting it at a good angle so that the glare from the overhead lights wouldn’t be shining directly into the camera.Sighing, Marinette turned to Alya with a bright smile, storing the events of the past five minutes in the back of her mind for her to squeal and furiously blush about later.“Ready to start, Rena?”“Ready when you are, cutie-pie!”
Stop
with the nicknames you stupid fox!
Marinette blinked rapidly before shaking her head and turning the camera towards herself, pressing record on the phone camera before she could embarrass herself any further.“Hello, Marinette here, best friend of Ladyblog founder/creator, Alya Cesaire! Tonight, I will be filling in for Alya and interviewing one of Paris’ famed heroes, Rena Rouge! So, Rena, to start off, how are you feeling?”Rena smiled at Marinette’s introduction, admiring how quickly she adjusted to being in front of a camera. Turning her gaze directly to the camera lens, she grinned and sent a wink to the ‘audience’. “I’m feeling pretty good, Mari, thanks for asking! I’ve obviously heard all about the famous Ladyblog, and it’s an honour to be exclusively interviewed for this blog! And of course, having a perfectly delightful interviewer doesn’t hurt either!”
There you go, good Alya. Subtle, yet sweet. Finally, we’re getting somewhere!
“After all, it’s not often you end up having an interview with someone with as sugary sweet a persona such as yours”.
Annnnnd, you failed. Might as well scream your love to the whole of Paris with how blatantly obvious you’re being!
Alya was starting to think that the annoyed ‘love coach’ voice going on at her in her head was actually just Trixx speaking to her through the Miraculous. Luckily, Marinette simply chuckled and proceeded with the interview, attempting to uphold a level of professionalism so that Alya wouldn’t have to edit through twenty minutes of Rena’s flirting and Marinette’s flustered stuttering. After roughly half an hour of questions (with equal amounts of flirting and actual answers on Rena’s part) Marinette wrapped up the interview with a quick farewell to the audience, thanking Rena for her time before ending the recording, putting her phone back in her purse with a heavy sigh of relief.“What? Glad to be rid of me?” asked Rena, her tone betraying her genuine nervousness at Marinette wanting her to leave, disguised by a layer of teasing playfulness that Marinette was able to see through immediately. “No! No, of course not! It’s just, I wanted to do this interview right! Alya was depending on me, and well, I guess I was just afraid that something would go wrong…” she trailed off at Rena’s softening expression.Rena stepped closer as if to hug her but hesitated before simply resting her hand on Marinette’s shoulder. “You did a great job, Marinette! I’m sure Alya will love the footage! She’s really lucky to have a best friend like you!”Marinette’s cheeks darkened and her nose crinkled adorably as she giggled, making a spur of the moment decision to lean forward and briefly wrap her arms around Rena’s shoulder’s. She savoured the warmth for a few seconds before pulling away and scurrying towards the door, calling out a stuttered farewell and thank you before bolting down the corridor out of the room, leaving a speechless Rena to stare at the door in shock as her transformation wore off.…“Oh, you got it baaaad, sister!”“S-Shut up Trixx!” Poking her head out of the door, Alya walked through the front doors of the building to head home, when she heard a voice – no, two voices – coming from the direction of Marinette’s usual home route. Alya looked around the corner of the nearby alleyway just in time to see Marinette whisper ‘Tikki, spots on!’ before transforming into Ladybug and yoyo-ing over the brick wall towards the bakery. Alya’s eyes widened as she pushed her back against the wall, suddenly feeling very faint, her mind whirring with this new revelation.Trixx floated anxiously around her head, quietly saying, “You know, it’s good to let your emotions out…”. Alya looked at Trixx, then at the direction that Ladybug (MARINETTE!) had left, and promptly summed up all her feelings in a single exclamation of confusion and inner conflict. “WHAT THE FUCK?!”