#mlbb2021

“Yes!” Ladybug punched the air. “We still have ten minutes left!”

Chat Noir landed behind her, barely catching his breath.

“We missed a whole block back there,” he panted.

“We did?”

“Uuugh, we need to go back.” Chat Noir threw his head back as he said it. “I don’t wanna.”

“Wait!” Ladybug had grabbed his tail, right as he had turned around to take a running jump.

Chat Noir looked over his shoulder, giving her a stare that sent goosebumps down her spine. She bit her lip, trying to think of a justification for her decision, but couldn’t find one.

“Let’s stay,” Ladybug resolved to say. The truth was easier anyway. “I don’t care right now. Paris will survive one night we don’t do a full sweep of the city. I wanna rest. With you.”

Chat Noir perked up. “Wait, whoa, you just gave me a timeframe,” he said, grabbing her elbows. “Ladybug, are we really doing this? You’re not just saying it, right? Are we really gonna be able to be friends as civilians? You’re actually making plans for it?”

“Yeh-Yes,” Ladybug uttered, attempting to keep a coherent line of thought. “O-Of course I want to be with you as a—I MEAN, sorry! Not like with you, I mean hang out with you, like any other friend. Not that you’re any other friend, you’re Chat Noir, my best friend, not any friend—”

“This is so awesome!” Chat Noir pulled her into a tight hug, making Ladybug dizzy in a love haze. “We’ll be able to do so much together! We could go bowling, or to the arcade… Oh! We could study together, visit each other! Maybe even go on double dates. How cool would that be?”

Ouch, Ladybug whimpered internally at the idea of seeing Chat Noir with someone else. Why did he have to move on two days after she finally fell in love with him?

“Yeah,” she whispered as she pulled away. “It all sounds great. But not yet. I need to finish… what I’m doing first. I’m very stressed about it, and I don’t think I could give you my full attention, so I'd rather wait to do it right.”

“MARINETTE!!!” Tikki yelled, getting in her face, forcing her to stop on her tracks. “Stop, please! This is not healthy. You need rest.”

“I can’t rest!” Marinette responded, as if Tikki were crazy to even suggest such a basic human necessity. “I only have a few hours before I have to hand in my assignment. And if I want to stay on schedule for the decorations, I have to finish at least five centerpieces by tonight. So I can do five more tomorrow.”

“Pleeease,” the kwami begged. “If you want, we can help with the centerpieces. But please rest.”

“But you don’t know how to make them!” Marinette retorted. “I would have to teach you how each centerpiece has to be made, and that would take away time from finishing a line of rhinestones today, and if I don’t finish that, I won’t finish my assignment, and if I don’t finish my assignment, I’m gonna fail university, and if I fail university—”

Knock knock .

The two friends froze, staring at the entrance door.

In case anyone was wondering where I've been these last few months, I collaborated for the Miraculous Ladybug Big Bang 2021! This was such an exciting event for me, because I was unable to do the previous one due to a natural disaster in my country.

But this time around, I was able to get my part on track. So here's my part in the MLBB2021. This story is being updated every Saturday and has a cover art by the awesome @star.clef on Instagram.