Work Text:
Marinette quivered with rage and embarrassment as she stared down the camera crew and Jagged Stone who had invaded her most private sanctum. “What… are you doing in my room?”
Penny, dear sweet, overworked Penny, quickly rushed forward, “I’m sorry, Marinette. We couldn’t find the bathroom, and before I could get Jagged out, the cameras just filed in.” She cast a scathing glare at Alec and Bob Roth.
Jagged, unusually sober, stepped forward, “Sorry, Marinette. I got a bit distracted by the raw inspiration that I can see all around me. This is truly the home of an artist.”
Her flinty stare washed over the narcissist Roth and made Alec squirm, “Right. Jagged, you are forgiven. I know what it’s like to be swept up by a passing muse. Artists are like that.” She smiled faintly as he sighed in relief before turning back to the camera crew, “You all should be ashamed of yourselves. You are invading a teenaged girl’s privacy without consent and permission. Your filming permits are limited to the bakery, and you better believe that I will be bringing up these grotesque violations of my privacy and the law later.
She sighed before staring at the camera, “Since you are all here, you’ve seen my room, and for some unknowable reason this is being broadcast live, I’m going to put to bed some rumors that are bound to fly at my collège. Yes, I have a lot of pictures of Adrien Adreste on my wall. I aspire to be a fashion designer, and he’s both a famous model and one of my best friends. That is all. He is a muse. It’s not a coincidence that my drawing table is right by those pictures. I have sketchbooks filled with clothing designs inspired by various people in my life. Adrien is the latest.”
Marinette took a deep breath before continuing, “There are some who would insist that I have a crush on Adrien. He knows this is not the case and I had planned on letting the rumors just die out as rumors tend to do when not fed, but since you all decided to make a spectacle of my life, I am going to set the record straight. I’m gay. I have absolutely no interest in men, and as Adrien is a shining example of his gender, it precludes any interest I may allegedly have. Thank you and get the hell out of my room.”
Silence filled the room until broken by the relentless buzzing of her phone. Not moving to check, she stared blankly at the crew until they began retreating in a panic.
“Marinette, love.” Jagged’s voice grew strained as he looked over her shoulder. He vaguely gestured before joining his thumbs together and flapping his hands like wings, “You got… a bit of a bug problem.”
Her eyes widening, she turned with a glare before snaring the glowing butterfly with her bare hand, “AND YOU LISTEN TO ME, HAWKMOTH! I am allowed to be angry or sad without having to worry about your cowardly butt turning me into a monster. Now go away!” Tossing the butterfly at her window at speed, she nodded in satisfaction when the purple glow faded to white and it flew away.
“THAT WAS AMAZING!” Marinette found herself being slung around like a sack of flour by the overly emotive rocker, “Yeah! Piss off, Hawkmoth! Rock and roll!”
Marinette realized the cameras were still rolling despite the crew’s absence, “Oh geez. So, Paris… Akumas are scary. Hawkmoth can only get you if you let your negative emotions consume you. Don’t stop feeling but talk to a friend. Work through your problems, and he can’t get his claws into you. Show him that we are not weak, we will not be controlled, and we will not be his slaves. We are Parisian and we are not afraid.” She reached out to the camera’s switch, “Goodbye.”
ooo
Across the city in an impromptu viewing party at La Grand Paris courtesy of Chloé Bourgeois, there was only silence. Popcorn fell from nerveless fingers as the heart of Collège Françoise Dupont almost simultaneously came out on national television and told off a feared terrorist.
Adrien, knowing his dear friend’s secret, smiled proudly though in his mind he marveled at her strength of will. “And I didn’t have to fight another friend as Chat Noir. Win-Win!”
Nino’s jaw dropped and he started to laugh, rocking slightly to the side into his girlfriend Alya. “Dude. That was EPIC!”
Alya was just flabbergasted, “Marinette is gay? I could have sworn she had a crush on Adrien! I mean… she made him all those presents that… are all clothing. Specifically designed for him. Dammit.”
Similar feelings swept the room as the eternal surprise known as Marinette Dupain-Cheng did it again. Though it was a certain heiress who nearly surprised them more, she whispered through a suddenly dry mouth, “Dibs.”
She blinked and arched her eyebrow at the vexing blonde, “What are you talking about, Bourgeois?”
Chloé turned with an imperious stare, “I said, ‘Dibs.’” Her gaze drifted back to the now black screen, “I have never seen anything so… exquisite.” A blush crossed her features as her face softened in wonder, “Such strength and passion. I didn’t know she had it in her.”
“And why exactly are you calling ‘dibs?’” Alya’s eyes narrow, “She won’t abandon her friends for you.”
The blonde flopped on an armchair, oddly graceful despite the haphazard position, “If she were that fickle, I would not have an interest in her. I am calling dibs because I have finally found a woman worthy of me.”
Adrien chuckled at his classmates’ disbelief, “Yeah, Chloé is just about the most useless lesbian I have ever met.” He started cackling at her pouting, ‘Adrikins!’ “Seriously, though. This really shouldn’t be a surprise. She’s been staring at Marinette when she thinks people aren’t looking for as long as I’ve been going to school with you.”
Chloé blinked before turning with a huff, “Shut up.” She whipped her head around, levelling a glare, “And why am I ‘useless?!’”
The smile that broke out across Adrien’s face was akin to the sun rising in the morning, “Because for all your staring, you’ve yet to catch how much she stares right back.”
The sound of her muffled scream as she pressed a throw pillow into her face was like music to his ears.