Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Okay, and I think this is a good time for me to save,” Ladybug said, pausing the game and saving her progress. She gave her gorgeous signature smile at the camera, before winking.

“I’m sorry that this video isn’t as long as the last one, but I have an interview for a job tomorrow! I’m so excited!!” She looked back at the game before sighing dreamily, lost in thought. Finally remembering that the camera was still rolling, she blinked rapidly behind her polka dotted mask.

“Sorry! Got distracted! I hope all of you Miraculers have a good week, stay safe, and try to help someone that might be struggling. Even if they might be jerks. Because jerks still need help.” Ladybug closed her eyes, the illuminating smile still on her face.

“And once again..”

“Spots off.”

~

Marinette yanked off the mask, letting down her hair, and rubbing her eyes. She went to her editing software, not even bothering looking at the clock, knowing full well it was late. She also knew that she wouldn’t get finished editing until early next morning.

She giggled to herself, wondering when was the last time she slept for more than five hours. Even before her double life of a famous let’s player began, in high school she was valedictorian and was staff to her family bakery and filling notebooks and sketchbooks full of drawings and ideas for designs of places and people and costumes that just seemed to loom faintly in her mind with no place. After graduation, Marinette soon realized these ideas were the product of many long hours of her gaming hobby, and that these ideas weren’t actually that far fetched in the way of gaming.

She tried studying a semester at the college she had originally chosen (Marinette majored in graphic design, computer programing, and minoring in Modern arts. Who knew right?), but after encouragement from her friends, family, and professors she decided to study abroad in America for a year, and Japan for a semester.

(What’s a little saddening is that she still isn’t fluent in Chinese, her ethnic language.)

And don’t get Marinette wrong, the experiences were wonderful and she learned so many different things and met so many different people. But the moving started to get to her. Money was usually tight, and video games were one of the only permanent things that she had. Gaming… was her home. Steam was like a second mother to her! Her story isn’t that different from other youtubers, but still as genuine. Around 2015, it was one of her last days in Japan, she uploaded a video onto the major streaming platform known as Youtube.

The video wasn’t anything special, about a 15 minute long commentary on Batman: Arkham Knight, but what stole viewers attention was the ladybug themed mask Marinette was wearing in the thumbnail….

Marinette yawned, finally letting her eyes wander to the clock. 2:03 am. Her eyes widened. She had her interview in six hours.

Marinette quickly nestled herself into her duvet, shutting her eyes.

Tomorrow will determine what direction her life goes in.

Tomorrow will determine if her lifelong dream of creating her own video game can become a reality.

Tomorrow will determine if she can handle working in one of the biggest video gaming design companies in Europe, and possibly, the world.

Marinette drifted off, not even processing that the tomorrow she dreamed about was already her today.

`

It was 2:00 am and Adrien Agreste was wide awake.

(Unfortunately.)

He took a swig of his black coffee (Why?? Why did his father even refuse for the word ‘sugar’ to be spoken in their household?) flinching at the bitter taste, but still utterly focused.

He had a shoot in an hour, somewhere downtown for some posters for the famous AGRESTE funded convention. He had gotten home three hours ago from another photoshoot, and wondered when was the last time he had more than four hours of sleep…

Modeling was an occupation that seemed glamorous through rose colored glasses, but having people yank you around like a puppet gets old quickly. Even though he tries (Adrien tries so hard) to fit inside this impossibly small box of being a walking advertisement for AGRESTE, he has to leave the box to breathe.

But when everyone believes that you’re nothing more than the poster child for dumb-arrogant model-boy, you forget you’re in a box, because the people around you make it seem like it’s no longer a box. And then you feel like there’s no reason to even try to fit in that box, when they’re just going to force you in themselves…..

Adrien took a breath, rubbing his eyes, and sitting down at his giant desktop. Out of habit, his eyes flickered to the controller lazily overlapped on the keyboard, but he reminded himself that he couldn’t. No matter how much he wanted to play….

Adrien threw the controller under the desk, and turned his chair around to where it wasn’t facing the computer.

Video games were his life. They were an escape from expectations, from his father, and from himself. He felt better after playing just a simple MMO, and without video games, Adrien didn’t know if he would ever made it this far with his sanity in tact… But surprisingly, even though his father owned and operated one of the biggest gaming companies on the planet, his father forbid him from any activity of the sort as a kid. It was one of the things that frustrated him the most when dealing with his father, and he still doesn’t know to this day why his father was so against playing games when he owned a company that supported the same thing.

(Somewhere in the back of Adrien’s mind, he knew it had to deal with his mother. But after years of what seemed like brainwashing to never speak of her, he brushed it off.)

And the saddest thing was, he was no longer a kid anymore (okay that could be arguable personality wise but not the point). He was a legal adult and he didn’t have to put up with his father or the AGRESTE company in general. He could legally get his own apartment, legally get his own job, and legally buy his own video games. But he couldn’t. Not really.

Without his father… He didn’t have anything. He was his only family… He provided for him, and Adrien wondered if anyone really would put up with him.. Did he really have any talent? Was he nothing more than a pretty face-

There was a knock on the door.

“Adrien, you leave in ten minutes. Be ready,” Natalie warned him from the other side of the door.

Adrien sighed.

“I’ll be out in five minutes.”

Chapter Text

Marinette got a total of 4 hours of sleep, considering she woke herself up from excitement (or maybe nervousness) about the interview. She ate breakfast, she showered, and dressed in the most professional clothes she owned (a silk pencil skirt, corduroy blazer, a white blouse, and her signature ballet flats). She packed her bag, straightened her resume, gave herself a pep talk in the mirror.

Then here alarm went off.

And she realized that it was only 6:00 am.

That’s when she Marinette’d and everything went to shit.

She spilled hot coffee on her white blouse from the shock of her alarm clock going off, the hot temperature causing her to drop and break the mug. One of the shards cut through her shoe, and when she was trying to pick up the shards with her bare hands (yeah, she had no one to blame but herself) she cut up her hands, and the only band aids that she had in the house were My Little Pony themed ( firstly, she babysat a little girl that loved the show, and secondly, no, she had nothing against the show, but weren’t the most professional display of her character).

She changed her shoes into some slightly more casual flats, and bandaged herself self up. She tried getting the stain out of her white shirt, but she only made the stain progressively worse.

Why did she do this to herself?

Marinette scavenged her closet for another shirt, finding one that like the flats, weren’t as nice, but would do. No matter how much perfume she put on she couldn’t stop smelling like coffee though. Great.

And to think that there was millions of people on the internet who consider her an idol.

Marinette snorted.

She checked her phone to find it almost dead, but had texts from her best friends Alya, NIno, and Nathaniel, along with missed calls from her parents.

She felt her stomach drop. It was an instinct, the very instinct that she used for gaming, that told her something wasn’t quite right. Her parents only called her when they wanted to talk to her both at the same time, which meant two things: something really good happened, or something really bad happened.

She quickly pressed the call button, but the battery was good as dead. She shakily plugged it into her charger, letting a sigh of relief escape her lips when she saw lightning bolt indication of charging. She checked her cursed alarm clock for the time, and saw she only had fifteen minutes till her meeting CRAP-

She quickly gathered her stuff, and reluctantly unplugged her phone. She checked the percent and shuttered at the meek 6 percent her phone was living. She told herself that her phone would be for absolute emergencies, no checking comments, no brainstorming, and most of all no mobile games.

The subway was crowded as always.

And was delayed as always.

(Marinette wanted to scream into herself.

She was going to be late.

She was going to be a wreck when she showed up.

They would take one look at her.

And probably call the police. )

As soons as the doors opened, she was the first one out, and running up the stairs and down streets to get to the AGRESTE building. She didn’t even bother checking her phone for the time, knowing that her phone was on its last life.

The AGRESTE building was like it’s own country. It was like Buckingham Palace for the gaming community, and had scary looking security guards to boot. Everything was sleek and minimalistic, while also giving off the vibe of ‘you would have to put yourself through slavery if you break a pencil’. There was a glassed courtyard in the center of the building, along with a fountain in the middle of that.

When Marinette arrived in the building, she could feel eyes on her, judging her in her disheveled state. She clutched her bag closer to her, and walked all the way to the front desk.

Come one Marinette. Don’t screw this up. Your friends, your family, and your fans are counting on you. Your dream is at stake. Don’t be yourself.. Be confident..

… Be Ladybug.

Marinette gave the attendant seated at the desk her signature Ladybug smile. “Good Morning! I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng and I have an interview with-”
“Cancelled. Due to certain scheduling changes.” She didn’t even look up from the desktop. Marinette’s heart sunk to the bottom of her chest and it felt like the world stopped. She kept up her cool facade no matter the hurricane that was ravaging her body’s nervous system.”We tried contacting you.”

Marinette dug her nails into the palms of her hands.

“Oh- uh my phone died- and.. N-nevermind. For rescheduling, uh.. What do you think would be best-”

“There is no rescheduling.”

Time stopped. Marinette felt as though her heart stopped along with it.

“W-what do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said. There is no rescheduling. Mr. Agreste has canceled all interviewal procedures for today, and won’t be rescheduling. And I suggest, if you have no other business here, you leave the building. Do you have other business here?” The woman demanded. She never even looked Marinette in the eye, making her feel like some kind of garbage that wasn’t worth acknowledging.

Marinette looked down at her bag, where her hard worked portfolio was encased in. It was full of sketches and ideas for graphics, but also had her hopes and dreams it. What was even the point of having one when could never get a single interview?

“No ma’am.. I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

~

Marinette walked down to the front door, the eyes of people that she walked past her judging her even harder than before. She understood now why they watched her enter and exit (in almost tears). She wasn’t good enough. And they knew she wasn’t good enough. They probably wanted to see how Marinette reacted when she found out that exact fact.

Could she ever be good enough? Her fans didn’t know this side of Ladybug. This isn't even a side of ladybug. This was Marinette. And Marinette Dupien-Chang and Ladybug were two completely different people. If any of her fans saw who the real Ladybug was…

Marinette gulped something hard and invisible down her throat, feeling hot tears welling into her eyes. She opened
the door, walked behind the side of a building, and then lost it.

She sobbed and cried like a kid, and felt as though she couldn’t stop crying. All of her insecurities and doubt within herself seemed to finally be escaping. God, why was she like this? She really couldn’t do anything without screwing up. The only reason her channel had lasted this long was probably because no one knew she was Marinette! They probably thought Ladybug was some stylish and confident celebrity who could do anything.

That was only on a screen though. Out of the screen, she was forgettable, a clutz, and most of a, a failure.

“Hey.. Um.. Why are you crying?”

Marinette turned to see who was speaking to her. She couldn’t see anyone though. She dryly chuckled. Maybe it was for the best, so no one saw how much of a mess she was right now.

She couldn’t talk to someone about how she was feeling in forever. Her youtube channel was top private, and she felt like she already bothered her friends with her internal drama anyways. Besides… Although it was weird. And creepy. Why could it hurt confiding in a stranger.

“It’s nothing.. It’s just..” Marinette paused and took a breath. “Actually, it’s everything.”

The voice laughed. It sounded like it was coming from the other side of the bench she was sitting on, hidden by trees. It also sounded male. Marinette felt her cheeks grow hot with anger as the voice laughed at her breakdown. Okay so maybe it was a bad idea.

“Oh! I don’t mean to be mean! That’s exactly how I’m feeling right now!” The man said, reassuring her. “It feels like everything is flooding and all you can do is just drown.”

“Yeah.. Kinda like that,” Marinette replied. Exactly like that. “... So what’s exactly drowning you?”

The man sighed. And then laughed again. The more Marinette heard it the more she realized how rythmic it was. Like a melody.

It was very beautiful.

“I feel like I’ve been drowning my whole life. I can’t really blame one thing or the other. And no one really listens to me anyway,” he replied. Marinette felt her heart swell. She noticed she was no longer crying either.

“... I’m listening to you…” Marinette reminded.

“...Yeah. Yeah you are,” he said, like it was a fact that he had just noticed at that moment. “Thank you.”

Marinette smiled, even though she knew he wouldn’t be able to see it. “No problem.”

“So what’s troubling you?”

Marinette thought for a minute, wondering how much she would expose to this stranger. Her mouth started to move. “ Okay, so this really is a lot, so get ready. I run a youtube channel and it’s surprisingly quite popular. But as much as I love it and my fans along with it, they put me on this pedestal of pure goodness and perfection and- I’m anything but perfect. I’m clumsy, I’m a hot mess, and I’m kinda stupid with social cues and stuff! But my video games- oh I’m a gamer by the way-”

“Really? So am I! What games are your favorite? What’s your youtube channel?” He replied with excitement. He then quickly apologized: “Crap. I interrupted you didn’t I? Super sorry.”

“Oh no it’s fine!” Marinette explained. She couldn’t help but laugh at how cute and dorky he was. “ I’m currently replaying this new American franchise called Resident Evil. It’s kinda corny at time, but it’s fun to play and the graphics and story are really good! Oh I really like Anything Super Mario. It was almost the start of my childhood gaming obsession. I really like.. Anything AGRESTE? I know it’s cheesy but they’re games are just so amazing! The writing is great, the fight scenes are really detailed, and oh- the graphics and how you beat the game- sorry, I’m ranting aren’t I?”

“No!! Continue!! You’re so passionate, no wonder you have a youtube channel!” Marinette thought he almost sounded…Amazed? In a way? Marinette blushed though at the compliment.

“Ah.. I’m not the only one here.. What are your favorites?” Marinette said, trying to change the subject.

Another gorgeous laugh. “Hey! Don’t try to change the subject! I could talk for days about what games I like.. My dad-” He stopped. It seemed almost dead silent, but Marinette could still here the sounds of light chattering and foot steps and rustling of the trees in the wind. It was like a part of Marinette forgot what it was like to talk to someone.

“Hey, if you don’t want to talk about it it’s fine. Totally fine,” Marinette said awkwardly, though she hoped he could tell she was being a hundred percent sincere. It made her realize that she wasn’t really being awkward throughout this entire conversation.

This stranger was making the Ladybug come out of her.

“Sorry I just stopped like that. I mean, my father isn’t dead or anything but.. Yeah. Let’s change the subject. So what’s your youtube channel called?”

Before she could stop the words that flew out of her mouth, she blurted: “Miraculous Ladybug.”

There was a pause before he started to laugh again. “That’s so cute!!”

Marinette’s face was burning. Why was she telling a complete stranger a secret that not even her best friend new? He could find out her identity for all she knew and use it against her.

But.. This boy.. He didn’t feel like a stranger to her. He felt like something more..

“Kinda dumb though.. I have this idea for a game I’ve always wanted to create wear teens get to save Paris from evil villains. Pretty basic right?”

“I like it. Is that why you’re at AGRESTE? To get your game developed?”

“Well.. “ Marinette started, her eyes glancing over to the enormously beautiful building. All of her previous emotions of rejection and failure had flooded her back, and she buried her head in hands. “That’s the reason I was crying like a baby. I had been trying to get an interview for months, and then when I do, they cancel it.. And it made me question if I am really good enough for the company? Sure I have credentials, but am I really good enough? I want to create something. Something that people can enjoy. It’s something I’ve wanted my entire life, and if little things like cancellations can take me a hundred steps back, maybe I’m not cut out for this.. Oh god. That sounded incredibly pretentious didn’t it?”

“No.. I completely understand, but what do you mean by cancellations?” He asked, sounding genuinely confused.

Marinette snorted. “Don’t you work there? Anyways, I walked in there, and the only excuse was that Mr. Agreste had cancelled all meetings and events for today. No reschedulings.. Maybe I should apply somewhere else…”

“Did they tell you why?” He asked urgently.

“No, I tried asking but the lady at the desk said that it’s something confidential to the company.”

There was rustling behind the trees, like the man was getting up. “I’m so sorry but I have to go. Can I give you my number?”

‘Oh y-yeah totally. I can give you mine too,” Marinette started. “O-oh WAIT!! Okay, so this is going to sound really crazy.. But you can’t know who I am!!”

He gave a quiet ‘oh’.

“You can still have my number.. It’s just.. Hard to explain.. You’ll see why. Probably,” Marinette tried. She digged through her portfolio, finding her sketchbook and ripping one of the pieces off haphazardly, not even checking ot see if there was a drawing on the back. She grabbed the pencil that was attached to the rings and and scribbled down her number.

She then folded the number into a paper plane, feeling incredibly stupid at what she was about to do.

She took a breath.

Kissed it (for good luck of course).

And threw it into the wall of trees, hoping it would find him.

~

Adrien looked at the paper airplane at his feet. He felt embarrassed, and frustrated with himself.

After his shoot, he had gone to a restaurant without telling Natalie, and in disguise. It was like a breath of fresh air, an act of impulsiveness, and then he sat in this park to just relax. It was close, and he just wanted to stop.

But… His disappearance of course caused some issues. He knew there would be consequences, but he just wanted to have a break. He was tired and hungry (and a little sweaty), but he didn’t know that the consequences of him just trying to escape would ruin so many people’s days, and might of risked their jobs..

He felt like a lost, stupid child. He wondered if anyone actually saw him as a functioning adult? His father never did… And he even went as far as to cancel everything his father today..

Compromising dreams like.. Ladybug’s.

He will fix this. He will be better. Adrien won’t just accept his fate of being some advertising chip or some kind of painting for people to ohh and ahh at.

Because if a stranger can change his life, who says he can’t do the same?