Chapter Text
“Alya! I finally got it!”
Alya smiled up from the screen as Marinette scrambled back and forth between the desk and dresser, getting everything into place. “Which problem are we working on today?”
Marinette blinked for a moment before whispering. “Chat Noir?”
Her best friend inhaled slowly as she started typing again on the screen. “Ah. This is the Fox issue then?”
“Yes,” Marinette nodded, setting the phone down on her desk, she was more neatly wrapping a ribbon around the edges of a small bakery box. “I swear. He keeps pestering me after every single battle.”
“You say that like it’s a surprise that your partner is stubborn.” Alya laughed. “I think it is just sweet that he wants to spend time with you.” She lowered her voice a little. “On either side of the mask.”
Her eyes softened. Alya wasn’t wrong, but she wasn’t dumb enough to agree with her best friend out loud. There was no way that Alya would ever let her forget it.
“Besides, it must be lonely when he has to pick up all the patrols solo.”
Marinette grinned. “That’s actually something I’d planned on solving.”
“Oh?” Alya breathed. “Well, that’s really good.”
“It is,” Marinette agreed, tapping the pink anklet. “You see, a certain hero in red visited me earlier tonight.”
Alya arched her brow. “Was she in the mirror?”
“Alya,” Marinette warned , as her brows furrowed. “My parents aren’t asleep yet…”
“Ah,” Alya whispered. “Sorry.”
“Anyways, she’s heard about how creative I am…”
“Let me guess,” Alya smirked. “From your partner.”
To her credit, Marinette didn’t take the bait. “And since I redeemed myself a little while working with the new Ladybug, she wanted my help. You see, she was going to be busy working with Scarabella on some Guardian things.”
“All while you work on expanding the powers for the new holders in secret.” Alya finished, snickering. “I knew you’d like that idea.”
“I really do.” She beamed.
“Anyways… she promised to drop off a Miraculous for me to work with each night and detail the results. I just have to go out and spar with Chat Noir to work out whatever powers and improvements we can puzzle out together.”
“Great!” Alya grinned, leaning back in her desk chair. “Are you going to need to borrow Trixx again?”
“Not anytime soon, at least.” Marinette anxiously let her fingers linger over her pink anklet. “Do you think he’ll buy it?”
Alya shrugged. “Honestly? I think he’ll be so happy that Ladybug finally allowed it so that he won’t think about it too closely.”
“What?” Marinette blinked. She’d spent hours trying to ensure she’d planned this all just right.
“Marinette,” Alya sighed, looking at her not unlike what she'd done when explaining something to her twin baby sisters. “That boy has a crush on you. He just hasn’t figured that out for himself yet.”
“All the more reason to finish this exercise up quickly.” Marinette sighed heavily. “None of us can afford for him to really figure out who I am.”