hello it's me

[unfurtunate]

Who| Adrien, Marinette, a cameo by RJ
What| Teenage superheroes who don't know they're superheroes pretending not to be superheroes.
Where| Medbay
When| Just before the Earth field trip
Warnings/Notes| Awkward teenagers.

Adrien was usually good at paying attention during lectures. But as wild and terrifying and exciting as all this stuff he'd woken up to was, he was having a hard time staying focused during the explanation, due 100% to the fact that he'd woken up with a very real tail and set of ears.

New ears, anyway. The old ones were still there, he'd checked. But right where those fake cat ears from his Chat Noir form would normally sit, there were new, very much not-fake ones. He was trying very hard to ignore them and listen to what sounds like a lot of very important information, but his hand kept creeping up without his even meaning to and fussing with one of the ears.

They were furry. And weirder still, he could feel his own hand on them, could feel them and the tail twitching and moving slightly like any of his regular limbs.

It was extremely distracting, to say the least.

In the middle of toying with one of those ears again, Adrien suddenly realized that the droning voice that had made up the background noise of his explorations had stopped, and he glanced up to find the mustachio'd man silent and staring at him like a teacher waiting for attention before bothering to continue.

Adrien's face warmed with embarrassment, and he forced his hand back down to his lap. "Sorry," he said, sheepish. "These are...new. Sort of."

Comments

[unfurtunate]

"I'm fine, just...trying to figure everything out. I thought supervillains in Paris was pretty crazy, but this goes pretty above and beyond all that." Literally, even. Y'know, given they're in space. But he really doesn't need to be making jokes right now when he has to address the highly suspicious powerset he'd landed himself with. "I got that heightened agility and strength, too. And a sort of destructive power, kind of like...uh. Well, Char Noir's. You know, the thing he does with the claws."

Adrien mimed a scratching motion, fingers curled like claws, his mouth twitching into a halfhearted grin.

"And these, I guess," with a vague gesture at his head. Mostly the ears, but he'd gotten a glimpse of himself in a mirror earlier and yikes, his eyes went pretty catty as well. "That's a bit harder to get used to."

[dupaindots]

Marinette's brows knitted together at that and while her expression wasn't suspicious (yet), it was clear that she was thinking about it, really sitting and taking it all in. How strange that he'd be given those powers just like she'd been given powers that made her even more Ladybug like. She had a luck power and strength and agility like back home, and Ladybug-like wings.

She tilted her head slightly, looking at him.

"You...really do look like him this way."

Reassuringly so, in its own strange way. It occurred to her that this would be the first time she'd be superheroing without Chat Noir, and to her surprise, there was a hollow little ache in her heart over that fact. But it was comforting to see those big cat eyes staring back at her even if they were part of a different face. Although it wasn't that different, as far as faces went.

In fact, with those eyes and ears, his face was a lot like Chat's...

"You look a lot like him this way."

And that was when she held up her hands, making little circles like goggles, trying to imagine a black mask on his face...just for curiosity's sake. She thought back to Alya's attempts at photoshopping Chat Noir's costume on Adrien and now that he had the cat eyes, she was trying to imagine it again.

Then she stopped and threw her hands up in the air.

"What am I thinking? You're not the real Chat Noir; that would be ridiculous! You're so..." She had no way to articulate what he was so she just made a flaily gesture with her hands. "And he's so..."

She had no way to articulate that either. Especially when she couldn't explain what he was like to work with as Ladybug. She could only talk about the times she'd met him as Marinette.

"He flexed. Like this," she finally said and though she was making fun of him a bit, her smile was not really that mocking. It was mostly amused and maybe a little fond. "When he protected me from Nathanaël."

She flexed her arms to illustrate it, making several self-important poses, imitating Chat's ridiculous flexing. Then she laughed, because she couldn't help picturing him doing it again, and covered her mouth with her hand.

"Also he seems to flirt with everything that moves. I can't imagine you ever doing that."

[unfurtunate]

"Heh, yeah," Adrien said, attempting a grin and hoping that didn't sound as lame out loud as it did in his head. If he turned his head to mess up her attempt at picturing the mask, well, he played it off decently enough. "I'm nothing like him..."

Chat Noir was free and fun. He answered to no one, and if people liked him then it was because of what he did and not who he was related to. Comparing himself to that -- to himself, maybe, but still -- was honestly a little depressing.

It was easier to smile, latching on to Marinette's reminiscing to distract himself. Innocently, he asked, "So...he had nice muscles, then?"

That's what he took from all that, anyway.

[dupaindots]

Marinette made a little squeaky noise that was distinctly scandalized.

"I didn't -- well, what I meant to say is he was -- see, the thing is --"

Her face turned beet red. This was not really a subject that she'd even really consciously considered before. Oh sure, sometimes she was a little curious and thought about whether or not she might give Chat Noir a chance if Adrien wasn't around, but she didn't sit around thinking about his muscles.

But because Adrien had brought it up, for just a tiny moment she did.

Honestly, Chat really wasn't that bad to look at physically. She never would've admitted it, but it was true. It was mostly his ridiculous personality that got in the way.

"I didn't really pay attention. To those -- to that," she quickly corrected, her face still flushed. "I just meant that he's very, um. Outgoing! And...gregarious."

[unfurtunate]

It was hard to say whether Marinette's red face was a good sign or not. On anyone else, he'd take the blushing at the mention of Chat Noir's physique as a compliment. But Marinette was always getting all blushy. She just seemed easily flustered, really. So it probably wasn't a fair way to judge.

"Well, that's why people like him, right?" A pause, and Adrien's grin went just the slightest bit sly, though his tone was as innocent as ever. "That and the muscles."

Who said Adrien Agreste didn't have a sense of humor? It was just...quiet. Very quiet, when compared to Chat's.

[dupaindots]

She made a garbled little inarticulate noise at that.

What people? she wanted to ask. What people?

But she wasn't Ladybug right now. She couldn't really whip out the sass so she just held a hand over her blushing face and tried to move the conversation on before she said things that accidentally made Adrien think she was admiring Chat's muscles even more.

(Why was he even on this topic? Why?)

"Anyway," she said. "Did you get everything explained to you? Mr. Brande was the last one to come to me. He's the one that asked all of us if we wanted to join the team. They really do need people and the people I've talked to that have been here longer, that've had time to look into it, think the Legion is telling the truth about everything."

[unfurtunate]

Hey now. Chat Noir had his fans. Not as many as Ladybug, but still.

"Why wouldn't they be telling the truth?" he asked with a little frown and ears perking up, all earnest confusion and curiosity. The idea hadn't even occurred to him. "I mean, yeah, he told me everything. I was about to tell him I'd join up when you...uh, came in."

Not "stumbled in" or "fell on your face in". Adrien was too nice for that.

[dupaindots]

He definitely had his fans! She just had a lot of trouble thinking they were fans of his muscles in particular.

"Well, don't you think it's a little convenient?" she pointed out. "The Legion loses most of its members and then all of a sudden people just start falling out of this -- this hole in dimensions and have powers so they can recruit them?"

She looked over her shoulder to make sure none of the nurses or doctors was nearby.

"There are some people that worried a little bit that maybe the Legion themselves did this to us somehow." She shrugged. "But most people think they're telling the truth because of how we're bound to this universe -- apparently, it's so complicated that it probably wasn't a normal person that did it."

It was something that worked on a very different scale to mortal beings, if it was a being at all.

"Still, we are all keeping an eye out. Just in case."

They wanted to make sure they weren't being taken advantage of in this situation. It didn't hurt to be vigilant.

[unfurtunate]

"Well, when you put it like that..." The cat ears drooped, and he had to glance away upon feeling it. The damn things made him feel way too obvious. "I don't know. It still seems like that's over-complicating things. It sounded like they just need help."

He hadn't thought too much beyond that. He hadn't needed to, not now and not when all the Miraculous shenanigans began. It was something he could do, something positive and something he had control over. Why would he want to dissect it and try to find reasons it might not be that great after all?

[dupaindots]

That just made her smile a soft -- and slightly dreamy -- smile. He was so sweet and thoughtful and just wanted to see the best in people...

She didn't like how what she said had made his ears droop like that.

"They probably are telling the truth," she acknowledged. "And one thing is for sure, there are definitely people in this world that need help."

She flashed her Legion flight ring.

"I don't really know what I'm doing," she lied, looking bashful, "but I know I have to do something. So I said I would help."

She needed to figure out the right way to ask this, that didn't pressure him. He was just a civilian, after all.

"Are you going to join the team? They definitely could use someone like you. Because you're -- er --" Oh no, she didn't even know where she was going with that. "But it would be understandable if you didn't want to. They said it's going to be very dangerous. I know it's a lot to take in all at once."

Especially given the physical changes. Even his own body had betrayed him by shifting into something new. She knew what that felt like.

[unfurtunate]

The droopiness eased as she talked. It really was somehow comforting, her agreeing that there was probably no reason to distrust anyone here. He didn't want to, and it seemed wrong for a sweet, ordinary girl like Marinette to be so cautious. She should be able to trust anyone. It was a cruel world where she couldn't.

"I already said I would." Adrien paused, grin returning, and shrugged. "I was going to, anyway. I guess I'll tell Mr. Brande next time I see him."

"Are you sure about this, though? It really could be dangerous." His gaze softened, and it seemed like his face wasn't sure whether it should look concerned or proud. "I know you always stand up to the bullies. But this sounds a lot bigger than Chloe."

[dupaindots]

Between the look on his face, which was full of concern -- and maybe even admiration (she hoped?) -- and the mention of her standing up to bullies like Chloe, she couldn't stop herself from looking away, her expression slightly (pleasantly) embarrassed.

He'd noticed. He'd noticed those things. She always tried so hard to get him to notice her and worried sometimes that all she was doing was embarrassing herself and looking foolish in his eyes, but he'd noticed.

Maybe he'd noticed a lot more than she thought. It wasn't like she talked to him enough to find out. Most of the time he talked at her while she stood there fumbling with her words. This was one of the longest single conversations they'd had -- in part because there were no interruptions.

When she looked back at him again, her mouth was curved in a soft little smile and though her expression was gentle, her gaze was focused and determined.

"The Legion doesn't have enough people to stand up against all the horrible things that are happening. If they don't get help, whole worlds might be destroyed, and all the people being pulled here from other worlds might never get home."

She shook her head.

"I know it's dangerous. Even though they're going to train us, it still sounds even more dangerous than everything that happens with the villains back home -- but I'm not going to just stand by while innocent people are dying. I'm going to help." The corner of her mouth twitched slightly and her smile grew a little wider. The change in expression was subtle, but to some it might have seemed a little...mischievous. "It's what the real Ladybug would do."

Haaaa.

"Besides, at least here we don't have to worry about our friends running around in brightly colored costumes and attacking people all the time. Our teammates won't be turning evil every other day. That's one thing that will probably make things easier, right?"

[unfurtunate]

"Let's hope so."

Marionette was really brave underneath all her flailing. He's known that to some extent, seen her put up a fight against Chloe when no one else would and help him deal with an akuma when Ladybug was otherwise occupied, but still it managed to stun him a little. Adrien's smile was soft, quietly admiring, but it was tainted with a hint of unease and eventually he had to add to that.

"It's really cool that you want to help. Just...don't forget that you aren't really Ladybug. You're allowed to step back if things get too heavy."

If she ever got hurt trying to play the hero -- Marinette, the sweet ordinary girl from his class who could barely string together a sentence sometimes -- he'd never forgive himself.

[dupaindots]

It was really difficult trying not to laugh or betray anything with her expression. She had to bite her lip to hold it in. Fortunately, that was a pretty neutral gesture, that made her just look a little thoughtful.

If you only knew...

"Hey, look at it this way: even Ladybug had to start off somewhere. I bet she wasn't perfect in the beginning and had to learn how to be a superhero, too."

She would've bet a lot on it. On account of, you know, being 100% sure she'd win.

"Besides, you'll be new at this, too. You know the same thing goes for you, right?"

[unfurtunate]

"She seemed pretty perfect right from the start to me."

He almost sighed. almost, but luckily he remembered himself and who he was taking to and made a quick recovery.

"I mean, even with that first akuma that showed up back then, she still saved the day, you know?" Adrien tried for a grin, shrugging. "Seems pretty amazing to me." And, quick to move on and keep her from lingering too long on how awkward of suspicious he might have sounded, he went on reassuringly, "I'll be fine. I won't do anything stupid, I promise."

He was a damn liar.

[dupaindots]

They both were dirty liars, not that either of them knew it yet. Giant, shameless, dirty liars.

Since they were, Marinette could only smile at him deciding to take on everything the same way she was. Adrien was always kind but it made her heart flutter even more to see him willing to be as brave as the real Chat Noir.

Chat was silly and goofy and an outrageous flirt, and sometimes he drove her crazy, but as far as courage went, there were much worse people in the universe for Adrien to be like.

"It won't be easy. But at least we both have a friend fromh ome!" she said brightly. "And the other people here are good people."

She was slowly but surely talking to people and getting to know them -- something that wasn't the easiest for her when she was a little awkward.

"I wish there was a better way to welcome you, though," she went on, "It's the same for everyone, everyone finds out they're so far from home, and they're in these sterile Medbay rooms, and then when they're well, they do the oath and the Legionnaires give everyone a kind welcome -- but it always starts here in these hospital beds first and that's so unpleasant."

She tapped her chin, looking thoughtful. Then she looked at Adrien with a bright -- slightly conniving -- smile.

"What's your ring size?"