Chapter Text
Huh.
There was a solid ten seconds of the two of them just staring at each other, eyes wide, mouths open, silently processing the information.
“Y-you’re Ladybug?” Chloé repeated, aghast, heart thudding in her chest.
Marinette stared at Chloé, eyes darting around her face as though trying to peel away every hidden layer. “Kitten?”
“Wait a second,” Chloé squeezed her eyes shut, trying to work through this, “So if I’m Chat Noir, and you’re Ladybug… Then who’s Hawk Moth?”
Marinette tilted her head, “I don’t think that’s relevant right-”
“And wait, you’re dating Kagami?”
Marinette raised an eyebrow. “Uh, no? Where did you even get that idea?”
“Well Ladybug-” Chloé paused a moment, “Or you , I guess, said that she’s- you’re dating a fencer… who’s famous…”
“Famous as in the daughter of the mayor of Paris? Bourgeois is a big name, Chloé.”
Chloé’s eyes widened. “Oh my god I’m dating Ladybug.”
“Can we back up a second? To where you said you’re Chat Noir ?”
Chloé laughed. “Y-yeah?”
“My Chat Noir?”
Chloé leaned closer. “I thought you didn’t want Chat Noir to be yours?”
Marinette flushed red. “Not- uh, I didn’t mean it like that, but like, ‘Ladybug and Chat Noir’ kind of like, ‘my Chat Noir’, or ‘your Ladybug’ or uh, whatever, just confirming you’re that Chat Noir and not like, some other one?”
Chloé deadpanned. “’Some other Chat Noir’.”
Marinette waved her hands frantically. “I don’t know! I’m kind of freaking out a little! How can you be Chat Noir? She has curly-” Marinette frowned, “Oh wait you straighten your hair.”
“Freaking out? Are you like,” Chloé looked away, “Disappointed… or something?”
“Chloé,” Marinette put a hand on her shoulder, “This embarrasses me to admit, but the main reason I turned Chat Noir down was because I had a raging crush on you.”
“A raging-” Chloé sputtered, “But you said it didn’t seem like it would work out! And we had kissed by that point!”
“But I thought you hated me!”
“Do you think I would make out with someone I hated ?”
“Yes . And I thought that if you liked someone, you would go after them a lot more aggressively.”
Chloé groaned. “Okay, accurate, but there was a distraction at the time. I was sort of ignoring my feelings for you, because I was focusing on trying to woo Ladybug.”
Marinette’s jaw dropped. “Who is also me.”
“Thanks! I hadn’t noticed!”
“Well clearly you hadn’t, otherwise this would have been a lot simpler.”
“You didn’t notice either!”
Marinette bit her lip. “Well, no, I figured if Chloé Bourgeois was a superhero, she would be announcing it to all of Paris within a day.”
“Well you thought wrong,” Chloé pouted, “Or maybe a little right. I would’ve , if my outfit wasn’t the atrocity it is.”
“Atrocity?” Marinette frowned.
“Leather-on-leather , Marinette, if my mother knew the clown wearing that outfit was me, she wouldn’t hesitate to disown me.”
“But like, it works with a, uh, theme…”
“What theme? Sneaked out of a BDSM club?”
“It’s cute on you though,” Marinette insisted, hand in Chloé’s.
Chloé could physically feel her face getting warmer at the compliment. She had sort of distanced herself from the fact of her outfit after first seeing it, just sort of accepting that was the way it was and trying not to think too much about it. She thought it was weird and a bit of a fashion-disaster. But if Marinette Dupain-Cheng, future famous fashion designer, said she liked it… “Oh. Well maybe I will announce it to Paris then, if you like it so much.”
“Chloé ,” Marinette chastised, in a voice that was now becoming more recognizable as Ladybug’s, telling Chat Noir not to do something stupid.
“Just kidding.”
Marinette slapped her forehead. “Shit, we know each other’s identities. This is exactly what we were trying not to do.”
Uh-oh. Chloé had gotten used to tip-toeing around the identity issue with Ladybug, but being with Marinette made her forget her caution. Fortunately, now that Chloé knew she was dating Ladybug, she had free reign to do more things to her in order to calm her down.
She slid a hand around her waist and leaned a chin on her shoulder. She whined, “We weren’t trying to, but this could be helpful in it’s own way, right?”
Marinette’s face was frantic. “But now we’re in danger , just like I said if one of us gets Akumatized, we’ll know where to find the other-”
Chloé drew up Marinette’s shirt a smidgen, and started to draw circles on her waist. That made Marinette pause in her rambling. Chloé pushed closer to her. “We can’t exactly take it back, can we?”
Marinette’s breath hitched. “N-no, I guess not.”
“So let’s focus on the positives, darling.” Chloé’s hand found the sensitive dip of Marinette’s hip bone, and rubbing there caused Marinette to get further distracted. “We can help each other out now. Helping with alibis, supporting each other when we’re stressed, not having to steal conversations between Akuma attacks and detransformation…”
“But Chloé,” Marinette’s voice was breathy, “Now when Chat Noir is going into danger I’ll know it’s you . I… I’ll be so scared.”
Chloé pushed Marinette down on the bed. “That is super f-freaking sweet,” Darn it Chloé one day you’ll have the gumption to swear out loud like Marinette does , but not today,
“But were you not scared when you just knew it was Chat Noir?”
Marinette stared up at Chloé, pig-tails mussy against the pillow. “W-Well, Chat Noir is a superhero, I trust her to take care of herself, but you’re like, a delicate civilian.”
Chloé snorted, towering over Marinette, “Chloé Bourgeois is a superhero.”
“I- I know that now,” Marinette tilted her head away, “But it might take some time to get it through my head.”
“Ladybug ,” Chloé whispered.
Marinette’s eyes snapped back onto Chloés, wide and frozen by her gaze.
“We could practice… calling each other’s names,” Chloé told her, bringing a hand to cup her face. “To help get it ‘through your head’.”
Marinette’s facial expression wobbled, like she was uncertain how to feel. “Are- are you getting turned on right now?”
“Darling, Ladybug was literally my lesbian awakening. And now I have both her and Marinette Dupain-Cheng lying underneath me, telling me that the only reason she rejected me was because she had a crush on me. So yes, I’m pretty turned on by learning my celebrity-crush and my civilian-crush are one and the same.”
Marinette gulped, face red. “I’m realizing that I know exactly how you look like in a leather body-suit.”
“All of Paris knows what I look like in leather.”
“But not all of Paris knows they’re looking at Chloé Bourgeois.”
“And you like that?”
Marinette grabbed Chloé’s face and pulled her down into a kiss. “I love that.”
As they descended into the familiar territory of each other’s bodies, Chloé couldn’t help but feel a fresh burst of electricity every time the thought of Marinette’s identity came through her mind. She would be running a hand down her arm, and remembering that it was Ladybug’s arm. Her lips were soft and warm and familiar, and Ladybug’s . Every gasp elicited from Chloé’s careful kisses against her neck was the sound of Ladybug coming apart underneath her.
Marinette gripped Chloé’s ponytail and pulled her back. Chloé whined at that, both frustrated at being separated and discovering that maybe she liked having her hair pulled. Marinette stared Chloé straight in the eyes. “Chat Noir .”
Chloé’s body flashed heat and excitement, so intense Chloé was practically paralyzed on top of Marinette.
Her expression must have shown her helplessness, since Marinette just giggled at her. “You said we should practice using each other’s names.”
Chloé’s mouth felt dry, but she was able to make out some words. “Y-yeah.”
Marinette seemed to realize Chloé was frazzled, because she sat up, pushing Chloé up along with her, before bringing Chloé back down onto the bed, letting Chloé rest among the sheets and the pillows as she peppered kisses on her face and neck. Chloé was pliant as wet clay beneath her, folding to Marinette’s every whim. She thought there was no way she could be more turned on than this.
Then Marinette (Ladybug) whispered in her ear, “Kitten .”
A shot of heat rang down Chloé’s spine, setting her on fire. She wrapped her arms around Marinette and pulled her closer, desperate to drink in every kiss and touch. Marinette was more than happy to oblige, pressing into her and searing her lips across her body. Chloé was again whining, (she knew people hated when she whined but Marinette wasn’t complaining in this case), calling out a mixture of vague praise, ‘Ladybug’s, and ‘Marinette’s.
How did she get so lucky? Every star had to be aligned to have brought together both Chloé and Marinette, as well as Ladybug and Chat Noir. As logical as Ladybug’s secret identity insistence was, Chloé also wished they had done away with it earlier. Then she wouldn’t have had so much trouble choosing between two pig-tailed girls.
Just as Marinette’s hands slipped below Chloé’s shirt, there was the abrupt knock on the door. “Marinette? Chloé? Do you guys want cookies?”
Marinette and Chloé jumped apart at the sound. Marinette’s hair was a mess, face red and shirt crumpled, and Chloé suspected she looked similar. Marinette patted down her body, trying to repair the worst of it. “That’s alright Dad! Chloé already ate!”
“No I didn’t,” Chloé hissed at Marinette.
“Alright, come down if you want any.”
Chloé started to get out of bed, fully intending to go down and claim the elusive Dupain-Cheng cookies.
Before she could get more than a step away from the bed, Marinette snatched her arm and pulled her back down. “We’re not done here.”
“But- but we both told each other our identities?” Chloé tilted her head. “Or was there another important thing you had to tell me?”
“We’ve said the important things we need to.” Marinette kissed Chloé again. “Now I want to do other important things.”
Chloé licked her lips, head already swimming. “Like me?”
By the time they were done doing important things, the cookies downstairs were cold.
Still tasted great though.
Chloé licked her fingers afterwards, not even caring about her etiquette or manners. The Dupain-Cheng house was the kind of household where they didn’t need three different kinds of forks for every dinner. Tom was thrilled with her hunger. “See Marinette? That’s how you appreciate those cookies, Chloé didn’t even waste a single crumb!”
Marinette rolled her eyes. “I said your cookies were good, as they always are, what more do you want?”
Tom pouted. “Actions are louder than words, Marinette.”
Chloé leaned on the table, urge to tease Marinette coming in strong with Tom’s influence. “She’s really not a great daughter, is she?”
Marinette turned to Chloé, betrayal on her face.
Tom clucked his tongue. “No, she doesn’t appreciate what she has.”
“You know,” Chloé spoke as she casually looked at her own nails, “If I were your daughter, I would clean my plate every night.”
Marinette glared daggers at Chloé. “But you’re not his daughter.”
“No, but she could be!” Tom interjected with a wide smile.
That made both Chloé and Marinette freeze. Was that…?
“Dad!” Marinette stood up, a mortified look on your face, “Stop trying to propose to people on my behalf!”
Tom chuckled, raising his hands in surrender. “Just thought I’d mention the possibility.”
Chloé couldn’t say anything. Her head was already full of thoughts of a domestic life with Marinette, enjoying a plate of home-made cookies as they reminisce about their silly school years and how they were unable to recognize each other even after getting together…
“We haven’t even graduated! It’s too early to be thinking about that!” Marinette declared.
“But if we were older,” Chloé interrupted, “Just out of curiosity, what kind of ring would you like?”
Tom looked absolutely delighted at the question, while Marinette just turned red. From anger? From embarrassment? From love? Chloé wasn’t sure, but she was willing to bet all three.
“Chloé, you can’t just say things like that! Especially not with him around-”
“How do you feel about a spring wedding?” Tom asked.
“Overdone,” Chloé decided, “It’s great for outdoors, but weather is always a factor, and I’d rather not leave something so important up to luck. I’d rather have a winter wedding in a beautiful heated building.”
“But Marinette would look so great surrounded by flowers, sun shining through her hair…”
“No expense will be spared, especially not the floral department. We’ll have the finest flowers ordered.”
Tom nodded sagely. “I think I can accept you as my daughter-in-law.”
“Chloé it’sgettingawfullylateI thinkyouneedtogohomenow!”
Marinette grabbed Chloé’s wrist and pulled her away, walking her outside. Chloé giggled. “But Marinette, we hadn’t even gotten into what kind of music we would play!”
Marinette rolled her eyes. They were outside the bakery now, out of Tom’s earshot. “I think it’s much too early to be thinking about marriage.”
“I’m not about to propose to you tomorrow,” Chloé told her, “But it’s a fun thought. Especially seeing your reactions. Besides, it can’t hurt to be optimistic, can it?”
Marinette went quiet at that. “Do… do you think we’ll last?”
Chloé smirked. “We literally save Paris together all the time. I think that’s a decent indicator for compatibility.”
That made Marinette smile. “I guess it is.”
With a goodbye kiss, Chloé started to walk away. Before she got far though, she realized she had to say something. She turned back and cupped her hands around her mouth. “I love you Marinette!”
Marinette, who had just opened the bakery door to go back inside, froze at the admission. Chloé watched her, face getting redder every second that passed. Finally, Marinette opened her mouth and responded, “I love you too.”
Chloé’s heart jumped, and even though Marinette hid herself back in the bakery after the confession, her mind was filled with thoughts of her. Memories of Marinette and Ladybug mingled in her mind, leaving nothing but an overwhelming fondness that made her skip all the way back to the hotel.
They were young, and so was their relationship. There was also the constant threat of Akumas until they could defeat Hawk Moth. But Chloé was confident in their future together, and her head was full of dreams. One day, if she could hold onto Marinette and keep being the better person she was trying to be, she could officially become part of the Dupain-Cheng family. The future looked brighter than it ever had before.
Chloé fell asleep that night dreaming of flowers, wedding dresses, and her beloved girlfriend amid it all.