by ratcouncil
Papillon hadn't been seen in Paris for almost a year. Ladybug and Chat Noir--long since gone stir crazy in his absence--had muscled forward, finding new routines and adopting different responsibilities: from engaging in almost entirely illegal squatting, to breaking into the amateur vigilante business, to becoming increasingly prolific Papillon conspiracy theorists. Life had been alright.
But Papillon was no longer the duos only threat. And when he reappears, he sets everything else into motion, like the flap of a butterfly's wings.
Through growing tensions from the Masters of the Miraculous and Paris' police force, not to mention the decline in social acceptance of rogue superheroes or the pair's own internal conflict, Marinette and Adrien struggle past new discoveries, old wounds, and learned lessons.
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AKA, what if the whole world of MLB was slightly different, what if our superheroes were slightly older, what if when they discovered each other's identities, life went on?
AKA, Marinette and Adrien actually get to know each other Challenge: impossible (?)
Words: 4600, Chapters: 2/?, Language: English
Series: Part 1 of Cat and Bug
- Fandoms: Miraculous Ladybug
- Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
- Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
- Categories: Gen
- Characters: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug), Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug), Gabriel Agreste
- Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Plagg, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Tikki, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Gabriel Agreste
- Additional Tags: Slow Burn, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Banter, Identity Reveal, like almost immediately, Angst