Fic: St. Athanase Day
Title: St. Athanase Day
Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug
Characters: Adrien Agrest, Plagg
Summary: Episode tag to Chat Blanc. Adrien and Marinette's beret the second time around. She always forgets the card, but she still signs her work.
Read on AO3 or
Adrien lay on his bed contemplating the weirdness that was his life. Ladybug had come here to deliver a present from fans half-way across the world. She’d been in his bedroom. She’d stood over his bed. He ran his hands across the duvet. Maybe she’d even touched it.
Plagg floated over his head, studying the gift in question. “Why would anyone send a beret when they could send cheese instead?” he groused.
“Not even Camembert could survive the trip from Brazil.” Adrien rolled over to snatch the offending hat from his kwami.
It was a nice enough gift for an odd and vaguely stalker-ish occasion. The purple, yellow, and green stripes were a perfect match for his lucky shirt, the one he’d worn on the first day he’d actually gotten to attend school. The embroidered hearts seemed a bit much, but that was fans for you. Personally, Adrien never got obsessing over someone famous. Maybe because he knew just how hollow public personas could be. At least his celebrity crush was someone he knew, not just a pretty face on a billboard.
Adrien twirled the beret on his finger. Round and around and around. Embroidery along the brim scraped against his skin. He flipped it over to find a familiar signature.
“Marinette.” The name was like the last piece of a puzzle clicking into place.
“What?” Plagg craned over his shoulder to see.
“Marinette made this beret.” Adrien’s breath caught. Marinette had made this hat and Ladybug had delivered it to him. He hugged it to his chest. Marinette made him a hat with hearts on it and Ladybug had delivered it. What if Marinette was Ladybug? What if he was the boy she was in love with? What if this was the happiest day of his life?!
“Those Brazilians must have commissioned it.”
“Oh.” Adrien’s grip on the hat loosened.“That-that makes sense.” Way more sense anyway than the idea that Marinette, the girl who could barely stand to talk to him most days, would be in love with him. His shoulders slumped. He didn’t know why it hurt so much that Marinette needed to be paid to make him something. After all, they were just friends.
Adrien forced himself to smile. His Brazilian fans must have seen his pictures on her website and decided to order. “That’s good,” he said. Wasn’t that the whole reason he’d agreed to model for her? To use his fame to get her customers? He should be happy for her. He smiled harder. His face hurt.
“Kid,” Plagg said quietly, his whiskers drooping sympathetically.
“It’s okay,” Adrien said. He jammed the beret on his head and snapped off a quick selfie. He posted it to Instagram with the caption: Happy St. Athanase Day! Shout out to my fans who commissioned it for my fifth name day and the amazing designer who made it.
Dropping his phone, Adrien flopped back on the bed and imagined a world where Marinette and Ladybug were one and the same and both loved him.
Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug
Characters: Adrien Agrest, Plagg
Summary: Episode tag to Chat Blanc. Adrien and Marinette's beret the second time around. She always forgets the card, but she still signs her work.
Read on AO3 or
Adrien lay on his bed contemplating the weirdness that was his life. Ladybug had come here to deliver a present from fans half-way across the world. She’d been in his bedroom. She’d stood over his bed. He ran his hands across the duvet. Maybe she’d even touched it.
Plagg floated over his head, studying the gift in question. “Why would anyone send a beret when they could send cheese instead?” he groused.
“Not even Camembert could survive the trip from Brazil.” Adrien rolled over to snatch the offending hat from his kwami.
It was a nice enough gift for an odd and vaguely stalker-ish occasion. The purple, yellow, and green stripes were a perfect match for his lucky shirt, the one he’d worn on the first day he’d actually gotten to attend school. The embroidered hearts seemed a bit much, but that was fans for you. Personally, Adrien never got obsessing over someone famous. Maybe because he knew just how hollow public personas could be. At least his celebrity crush was someone he knew, not just a pretty face on a billboard.
Adrien twirled the beret on his finger. Round and around and around. Embroidery along the brim scraped against his skin. He flipped it over to find a familiar signature.
“Marinette.” The name was like the last piece of a puzzle clicking into place.
“What?” Plagg craned over his shoulder to see.
“Marinette made this beret.” Adrien’s breath caught. Marinette had made this hat and Ladybug had delivered it to him. He hugged it to his chest. Marinette made him a hat with hearts on it and Ladybug had delivered it. What if Marinette was Ladybug? What if he was the boy she was in love with? What if this was the happiest day of his life?!
“Those Brazilians must have commissioned it.”
“Oh.” Adrien’s grip on the hat loosened.“That-that makes sense.” Way more sense anyway than the idea that Marinette, the girl who could barely stand to talk to him most days, would be in love with him. His shoulders slumped. He didn’t know why it hurt so much that Marinette needed to be paid to make him something. After all, they were just friends.
Adrien forced himself to smile. His Brazilian fans must have seen his pictures on her website and decided to order. “That’s good,” he said. Wasn’t that the whole reason he’d agreed to model for her? To use his fame to get her customers? He should be happy for her. He smiled harder. His face hurt.
“Kid,” Plagg said quietly, his whiskers drooping sympathetically.
“It’s okay,” Adrien said. He jammed the beret on his head and snapped off a quick selfie. He posted it to Instagram with the caption: Happy St. Athanase Day! Shout out to my fans who commissioned it for my fifth name day and the amazing designer who made it.
Dropping his phone, Adrien flopped back on the bed and imagined a world where Marinette and Ladybug were one and the same and both loved him.