Flashback Cutscene: Jealousy

9 years and 10 months ago

"Do you ever get jealous of other people around your boyfriend?" Adrien asked, ice cream in hand and a thoughtful look on his face.

Ladybug snorted. "Oh yeah! What I find so difficult is girls are always around him, guys too! I crave the days it's just us hanging at one of our houses. No other girls in the vicinity. Just me!"

"You did well for yourself then," he responded cheekily, her free hand coming up to give him a sharp shove on the shoulder.

"He is good looking," she laughed. "And quite the charmer too."

"Lucky you."

"Well, I am Ladybug." She presented herself to him and he started to laugh.

"In all seriousness though, I'm so lucky someone as wonderful and kind as him gave me the chance. He could literally have anyone."

Adrien scrunched up his nose in the way of an adorable little rabbit, and her heart beat in the melody of the most wonderful love song. Everything he did, most certainly, was magic!

"Coming from someone who's had far too much attention in their life... having that someone you know wants to be with you because of what's in here... it's quite an amazing feeling." He patted himself on the chest making his point known. It's what's inside that counts!

They sat beside each other on the bench, looking out over the Seine, eating their self representative ice creams. The warm, summer breeze swirled around them, caressing their faces as they sat and chatted carefree. When she was out with him as Marinette people seemed to not care about interrupting their dates, however, when she was Ladybug, no one dared to come near.

"Does it make you anxious?" Adrien asked, rotating himself to look at her, his eyes completely fixated on her as though he was wondering if she held the key to all his problems.

Ladybug shrugged. Did it make her anxious? She'd be clearly lying if she said yes, after all, she'd hung around him for weeks now in super form and it was obvious that he couldn't have been more devoted to her civilian self. Even defending her, again, against the likes of Lila Rossi.

It was clear, as far as the eye could see, that Adrien Agreste was completely and utterly besotted with Marinette Dupain-Cheng. He never even gave other girls a second glance. So, was she anxious...

"No." She shook her head, her answer concrete. "No, it doesn't. If there's one thing I love most about my boyfriend, it's his loyalty. There could be a thousand girls in a room and I know he'd only have eyes for me. It doesn't stop me getting jealous sometimes, but I trust him."

"You sound so sure," Adrien said, obviously marvelling at her answer.

"I am," she declared forcefully. "So many people have tried to separate us since we got together, yet he's never faltered. If anything, I'm the liability."

He laughed, licking the wilting top layer from his ice cream. "Now, I don't believe that for one second. Miss Goody Two-Shoes — a philanderess? No way!"

"I wouldn't class myself as a philanderess," she chuckled. "But sometimes..." She stopped herself speaking before shaking her head. "No, it doesn't matter."

"Oh, come on Ladybug. You can't leave it like that."

She sighed. "Okay, but do not tell this to the press, M. Agreste. I know where you live."

He used one finger to mimic crossing his heart, causing her to chuckle once more.

"My eye sometimes wanders. I'd never want to be with anyone else, but sometimes I can't help but enjoy the hugs with Chat Noir — probably more than I should. I don't know if it's because of the job, or whether there's some underlying feeling there, but, yes, sometimes I feel a little jealous of My Kitty being in a relationship."

"In what way?"

She shrugged again, looking out into the distance. "They seem so great together, so happy and in love, and I know this is going to sound crazy because I don't want to be with him; but sometimes I feel like I'm losing him to her. That our relationship is changing because we are, and I'm not ready for that. Things are changing and we're growing up, I know that. I don't want it to, though."

Adrien's hand reached out and grabbed hers, his thumb caressing over her gloved hand and leaving a trail of heat in its wake. He held her hand tighter, gripping it with a secure strength. She felt terrible for how her heart would sometimes beat that little out of sync for Chat Noir. She loved Adrien, she really did, he was everything to her and more. He was perfect.

"I'm sure you'll be okay," Adrien said, disrupting her thoughts. "You're an unstoppable team, your bond is what makes you undefeatable."

"I know, but if I ever did lose him, I don't know how I'd survive..."

*****

Level 4: With Friends Like These

Present Day...

Stumbling forward like a bull in a China shop, Marinette moved her way around the tables to where Luka was already seated waiting for her. With her arms full of folders, she couldn't control the swing of her bag, apologising to anyone it collided with as she moved. Finally reaching Luka, Marinette dropped the folders on the table, slamming her side bag on top, before dropping herself into the seat. She blew her hair from her face in a big puff which made her fringe bounce up and down rather unattractively.

"Hard day?" Luka laughed, lifting a hand into the air and calling over the waitress.

"Hard week," Marinette replied, closing her eyes and throwing her head back with a groan. She would do anything to just go home, crawl onto her couch and take a nap – but unfortunately the day wasn't done yet, and the week had only just begun.

"It's only Tuesday," Luka said, raising an eyebrow at Marinette and making her smile. It felt good to smile. After two horrendous days, such an emotion seemed foreign to her, the movement of her lips in the upwards direction was a welcome relief. Until this moment, a smile and a laugh was nothing more than a distant memory.

"Don't remind me."

Grabbing the menu and giving it a quick look over, they placed their order with the waitress – who seemed a little taken with her dinner date. The waitress bent herself over into Luka's face, before turning and walking away, a wiggle in her hips which most certainly wasn't there before.

"It looks like someone wants to be giving you an extra something tonight." Marinette smiled at Luka, wiggling her eyebrows at her friend with a smirk placed over her lips.

Luka couldn't hold back the laugh in response, his eyes heading over to where the waitress was standing and glancing back. She was so into him. Marinette studied the scene curiously, Luka didn't show his feelings very often, but with the way he was looking back, Marinette was quite sure he was taken by her beauty.

"I don't know about that," Luka said, running a hand through his hair in almost embarrassment.

"Oh, come on Luka. How long has it been since you've been with someone? Go and have some fun. You're still young, free and incredibly handsome."

"Why don't you date me then?" he said, cheekily.

Marinette balled up her napkin and threw it at him, her super aim hitting him square in the face and causing him to yelp.

"So, what's all this? Is work busy at the moment?" With one eye still firmly closed, he signalled to the folders on the table.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you." Marinette frantically moved her bag before sifting through the folders attempting to find what she wanted. She hadn't spoken to Luka too much over the past few weeks and had forgotten to let him know about her latest news. "I've got a new project. Here!" Spinning the folder around, she presented Luka with her new designs, happy to see his eyes light up as much as hers had when she'd finally figured it out.

"These are amazing, Marinette." Luka skimmed through the pages, Marinette watching him closely as he twisted them side to side and followed the motion with his head. Pride growing in her chest everytime he 'ohh'd or 'aww'd.

"They are, aren't they!" Marinette was never one to brag about her own work, but this had really been a job well done, even if she did say so herself. "I hope you don't mind, but I used a lot of inspiration from the details you told me about the temple."

"Of course not, I'm just completely floored by this."

"Good!" Marinette smirked. "Oh, and whilst you're here, look at these too."

Marinette rummaged around a little before throwing another folder in front of Luka, but this one was a little different. "Nathaniel asked me to design some outfits for the game. I've already sent him Bubbler's, however these are for Stoneheart and Mr Pigeon."

She studied Luka's face closely as he flicked through the folder, his eyes dancing as he turned the page time and time again. "Wow! These are... wow!"

"I know," she giggled. Luka looked up and smiled at her. "I swear Nathaniel is my number one contact at the moment. He's constantly wanting updates on the outfits to pass onto Max. I swear he has me on speed dial!"

"He's really into this game then?" Luka asked, continuing his search through the folder in front of him.

"He really is! He wants me to do a couple more. I think he said Max wants to use Reverser and Silencer."

"He's putting me in the game? That's cool! Though, I'm surprised he didn't go for himself?"

Marinette shrugged. " I did question him about it, but he never gave me a straight answer."

As Luka continued flicking through her superhero sketchbook, a flash of red caught her eye. Oh, no!

"Hello, what do we have here?" he asked with a smirk. In a panic, Marinette noticed what he was talking about and lunged for the paper like a maniac, only for Luka to hold it just out of reach.

"Don't look at that one!" Marinette pleaded, but Luka brought the page back in front of him and started to examine it closely. Giving up and flopping back into her seat, Marinette sighed in defeat and brushed one hand over her forehead. "Fine, have a look, I'm too tired to fight you."

"Hmm." He held the page out in front of him, tilting it and twisting it as his eyes grew more and more interested. "What inspired this?" Luka asked, placing the sketchbook back down in front of them.

"The original was so bland and basic. I don't know, I just wanted to make it more... well, just... more," Marinette replied sheepishly.

Placing the page down, Luka pointed to the drawing of Ladybug in a new fashionable suit. "That costume suits you. It's definitely more, and definitely a beautiful style."

A blush coated Marinette's cheeks. The new design was a lot more mature and slightly on the sexy side. The fitted corset which lay under her breasts, added to the over the elbow gloves and thigh high boots – the black leather design a homage to her partner. Closing the book before anyone else came near, Marinette pulled it closer and positioned another folder over the top, hiding it from the outside world.

"It's only a thought."

"I'm not going to lie, I'd like to see Ladybug in that."

Before Marinette could respond, the waitress returned with their drinks and a little extra for Luka. The waitress turned to walk away and Marinette looked over onto the napkin placed alongside his coffee with a smirk. There – in plain sight – was the waitress's phone number.

"Told you!" Marinette gloated, looking at Luka with a confident smirk. She crossed her arms and sat back in the chair, wiggling her eyebrows at her friend.

Luka picked up the napkin and studied it before balling it together and throwing it into the middle of the table, Marinette reaching forward to open it out and flatten it back out in front of him.

"Oh, come on, Luk! She's pretty!"

"I know you're looking out for me, Marinette, but I'm fine alone at the moment. I don't need a girlfriend."

"But it wouldn't hurt, would it? Just imagine, cuddles, kisses... late night strolls along the Seine."

Marinette moved forward and took her drink carefully from the table, hiding her smile behind it and looking at her friend.

"I know what you're doing! You're deflecting!" Luka said, mirroring her actions.

"I'm not deflecting anything!"

"I'm quite sure you are. Talk to me, you know I'll listen."

The smile suddenly dropped from her face. He'd once again read her mood perfectly. Sighing, Marinette placed her mug down, taking a folder from the top of the pile and beginning to flick through.

Softly speaking, Luka stretched out. "Come on, Melody. Talk to me." He placed a hand over hers, giving Marinette the comfort he always did as she spiralled out of control.

"I don't even know where to start," she huffed. "Everything is a mess right now. Everything."

"I'm not quite sure I believe it's everything."

"Okay, maybe I'm being a little dramatic. But now ..." she trailed off, looking around in hopes they weren't being overheard. "Since I saw him again, he's been playing on my mind all the time. When I sleep I dream of our last argument before he left, when I'm awake I'm thinking whether I should 'you know' and try and find him. It's affecting me in every single way; plus now they want us around more after Aurore's death to calm the city, and he can't even bear to stand on the same rooftop as me." A slow tear rolled down her cheek, one she'd attempted to hold in.

"My best friend hates me," she continued. "The one person who knows more about me than anyone else, who can understand me more than anyone else, wants to remain professional and just 'do our jobs'. I miss him so much, Luka. Some days the pain makes it hard for me to breathe. Not seeing him for so long had given me hope that if we did see each other again it would be like the old days. Now I know it'll never be the same again."

"The way I see it, Marinette, you have two choices: either call it quits and move on — only seeing him for duty and forget rekindling your friendship, or you can make him listen. But either way, you've got to be prepared to be hurt."

She studied him. His smooth, long features were settled and at ease, where she knew she looked like a frantic mess.

"Hurt?" her small voice asked.

Luka nodded before turning to look in the direction of the waitress, who was balancing both of their orders on her arms and in her hands. He launched to his feet, moving towards her and catching a plate about to fall.

Marinette wondered if it was luck he'd turned at that moment, or whether it had derived from the intense training at the Temple. He'd been back just over a year now, yet she was still to hear stories about his time there. He was very secretive about it and Marinette couldn't help but wonder if that was part of the training. She could understand that. Her own guardian training wasn't exactly something she could sing and dance about. The Miraculous were full of hidden secrets, those you held close to your heart or suffered the consequences.

The waitress placed the remaining items down on the table before thanking Luka with a rather flirtatious look, before turning and walking away.

"Enough about my mess of a life; how are you? Have you had your annual check in with your Su-Han yet?"

Luka shrugged before taking a couple of sugar cubes and adding them to his coffee. "Nothing yet, it's all been quite quiet on the Guardian front."

Marinette smiled. "That's because you're so good, they don't need to test you on anything — unlike me. Did you know it's the first time I've gone a month without a check in?"

Luka lifted his coffee cup and held it out to Marinette. "And to that, we must celebrate."

They clinked their mugs together before Luka stood and looked towards the waitress. "I'll be right back, just using the gents."

"I bet you are." Watching Luka leave she couldn't help but smile. She was almost certain he wasn't just heading to the gents.

Pulling the folder closest to her onto the table, Marinette began to flick through, giving a quick glance at the designs and the measurements. She had to present it later that day and it needed to be perfect.

Skimming over the page with her left hand, she used her right to pick up her coffee cup and move it to her lips only to be cut off by a small voice sounding from the bag.

"Marinette," the high-pitched voice said, Marinette moving forward and placing her ear to the bag to check. "Marinette!" Tikki said again.

Opening the bag, Marinette noticed Tikki was pointing towards her phone. It was going crazy – she must have left it on vibrate again.

Adrien.

The name continuously flashed on her screen as she studied it. Finally registering she needed to answer it, Marinette fumbled with the phone, almost dropping it as she lifted it up to her ear.

"Hello? Adrien? Is everything okay?"

A chuckle came from the other side of the phone. "No need to sound so frantic. I was just letting you know I'll be late to game night, I'm meeting with Kagami for a late lunch."

"Why are you letting me know and not Nino?"

"I've just tried to call him, but the line is busy. I'm about to go into a meeting, then I will be meeting Kagami in the office."

Marinette smirked, raising her eyebrows as if Adrien was right in front of her. "So you left the dirty work to me? I'm the one that has to tell your best friend you're going to be late."

"You know full well you're better with words than I am."

"And you don't like upsetting him."

"That too I suppose. Anyway, I better go, I'm already five minutes late for this meeting. Say hi to Luka for me, and see you later?"

Marinette could hear voices on the other side of the phone and she knew Adrien was being called in by his colleagues. She supposed that's what happens when you're the boss and you just took three weeks off.

"See you lat—" The phone line went dead, Adrien obviously ended the call quickly and headed into the meeting room. Pulling the phone away from her ear, she frown at it before breaking out into a smile.

She shook her head as she fired off a quick text letting him know she had everything under control. Smiling as Adrien's response pinged back quickly.

Looking around the restaurant, Marinette's eyes met the tv screen positioned in the bar. Her face was front and centre... well not her face, but her masked face. It was from the night of Aurore's murder. She was there alongside her partner talking to Sabrina.

God, she missed him, and it hurt so much to have such a distance between them. If she thought things had been bad in the past it was nothing compared to how it was now. She opened her phone once more, pulling up the Ladyblog and began to skim through their first photos and interviews. Life had been good then, so, so good. But it was fair to say she took him for granted, always believing he would be there, or, if ever separated, he would come back to her.

She pulled up the lone picture of herself with 'Catwalker'. She'd never forget the day he'd revealed it was him. They'd laughed, she'd cried, he explained, she shouted... It was a very emotional couple of hours. She understood though. What he did, he did because it was the only option, and, as much as it pained her to say, it was the correct option. She just wondered if he knew the depth of her lie, he'd be as forgiving. She doubted it.

Studying the picture once more, she allowed herself to smile before closing it down and putting it away.

"That costume suits you."

He looked so good in that outfit. It gave him the sophistication she always knew was hidden behind the rummaged hair and wild smiles. Chat Noir and Catwalker, though different, both filled her with a happiness in her heart and a safe feeling in her gut.

Wasn't life meant to get better as you grew up and had more control of things? Though, the control she had was limited thanks to the jewellery she wore in her ears. There had been many times, especially in the past few years where she knew she'd acted selfishly, that she'd been deceitful and dishonest, especially when it came to Chat Noir; but life had continued on and she hadn't wanted to be controlled by something thrown on her. On a life long burden, she could have gotten rid of — but would it have been worth it?

As Luka approached the chairs once more, glittering in his eyes and a pink tint on his lips, Marinette was one hundred percent certain of what his motives had just been.

As he settled opposite her once more, his smile faded and eyes dulled.

"What's wrong?"

"Just over thinking as usual, you know me."

"Are you thinking about giving up guardianship again? Listen, Mari, you've got to make sure you're happy in your life, you can't keep being ruled by what may or may not happen. If you ever wanted to stop being 'her' we'll all be there to help you through it."

Marinette scoffed. "You know as well as I do, that that opportunity passed a long time ago. Just sometimes I wish things were different, sometimes I think we should know who each other are and then develop a new relationship... I don't know... I suppose I'm just thinking out loud."

Luka reached out for her again, gripping her hand as he spoke. "You need to look to the future and maybe that would be for the best."

"Am I... interrupting something?" Marinette looked to the side to see Alya standing by the table, looking less than pleased by the position Luka and Marinette were in. Marinette reacted quickly, pulling her hand back and smoothing her hair down in a fluster.

"Nope," she said standing to greet her friend. "Nothing happening here."

Marinette took Alya into her arms, the journalist taking the opportunity to whisper in her ear. "I hope this was an announced outing and that you're not doing something stupid."

Pulling away from Alya, Marinette studied her friend's face. "Of course people know I'm here. Plus, I spoke to Adrien less than 15 minutes ago. He might be late for game night by the way, he's promised to take Kagami out for a late lunch."

"I love the way that girl demands time," Alya laughed, taking the spare chair at the table, inviting herself to join them. "Anyway, as we're all here I have news."

"You seem excited Alya, are you engaged, or are you pregnant?" Luka said.

Alya picked up the napkin in front of her and threw it at Luka's face.

"What is it with women attacking me today?" he laughed.

"Is that why your lips are covered in pink lip gloss?"

A sudden buzzing interrupted the conversation as Marinette's phone vibrated against the table.

Nathaniel.

"Again?" Alya asked, looking over her shoulder at the caller ID.

"Yup," Marinette said with a sigh.

"He's more obsessed with you than back in college!"

"He's just excited about the game. I finished Nino's Bubbler outfit by the way. Let's just say Gabriel Agreste has nothing on me." She went to drink her coffee before stopping and cringing. Why did she have to bring him up?

"I heard he's been let out," Luka said, Marinette nodding in confirmation.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Have you spoken to him?" Alya asked, leaning forwards on the table.

"Unfortunately, yes. It seems he wants to make amends, but I don't trust him. The way he studied my ears again freaked me out. I'm just glad he doesn't know who Chat Noir is, at least it'll keep him safe. Anyway, enough of my mood killing conversation. What did you have to tell us, Al?"

She shuffled on her seat like an excitable child at Christmas. "Well, unfortunately Marinette you will need to call Adrien back and cancel games night, because my man has an interview with a record company." Alya squealed, which in turn caused Marinette to squeal, which in turn had Luka placing his hands over his ears.

"That's amazing!"

"I know, he literally got a call 5 minutes ago to meet tonight! I'm so proud of him, he's worked so hard for this! Finally, he's getting his time to shine."

Congratulations were passed around the table, each giving Alya a hug and Marinette taking the quiet time to drop Adrien a quick message. As they all settled down, Alya turned her attention to Luka, one elbow on the table propping up her chin.

"So, Snakey, who have you been making out with?"

Marinette couldn't help the coughing fit which followed a fit of laughter as the waitress brought Alya her drink and Luka a little something more.