Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Marinette, as scatterbrained as she could be sometimes, was observant. Observant enough to know what the perfect gift for everybody’s birthday would be, even if she forgot to make it and had to pull an all nighter to have it in time. She stored small details mentioned in passing conversation deep in her brain, watched gestures to never forget, kept charts for some people. She knew how her friends liked to be hugged, what type of encouragement her team best responded to, who was more of a waving-greeting type and who was more of a bisou one, even if she messed up in practice from time to time, plagued with the stress from her daily life to properly react.

Thus, when Ryuko began leaning into fleeting touch, it didn’t go unnoticed by her.
It began quickly and almost imperceptible, a little more pressure on her Ladybug-patterned hand from Ryuko’s side during an end-of-fight fist bump, a little less distance between the girl and her partner of the day. A little unusual coming from Kagami, but entirely harmless. Marinette could use an update on her tabs for the girl.

”Add a little more physical contact”, mentally noted.

Handshakes, leaning on her and allowing it back, maybe even a quick greeting or goodbye hug. A little more warmth poured into her life.
Admittedly, Marinette was more than happy her friend was finally allowing herself to search for others; the last few months had been tough for everyone. Between Kagami learning of her secret and how she had massively screwed up when it came to the situation –as she called Monarch’s win in her thoughts to avoid tears prickling at her eyes whenever she remembered–, Marinette constantly worried their bond would never be the same. Or worse, completely shatter. It was nice to know she wasn’t hopeless, at least in one thing.

Maybe that little piece of information could be the clue to ensuring she never lost her friend.

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“Ow,” Marinette gasped, instinctively grasping at Ryuko’s offending horn to block its way to her eye. She shouldn’t have dived so far in for a simple pound it, or at least not as carelessly; her movement in combination with Kagami’s almost gave her eye a tragic ending. “You know, you should just ask me for a hug if you want one or something, not my eye,” she added in a teasing manner that would have made Chat proud, if it weren’t for the cold that had knocked him out for the week.

Ryuko lowered her head subtly as an apology, and Marinette realized she still had her hand on her head, so she retrieved it quickly.
“I would actually… like a hug.”

Marinette blinked under her Ladybug mask. Did she just..?
However, there was no way she could deny a request like that, even less given it was the first time she had done it outwardly and out loud.

Maybe it was good that she was starting to come out of her shell a little. Maybe she had actually made Kagami comfortable enough for that. Maybe, just maybe, all her time of closely observating and documenting was starting to give fruits. Was it the touch? The lack of a reprimand? Something else entirely unknown? She would probably have to observate a little more.

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Marinette, of course, went straight back home to a nice and lengthy overthinking session, supervised by Tikki as a safety measure, just in case she attempted anything reckless. A very necessary precaution.

“Kagami has never been a very touchy type, Tikki! Sure, she doesn’t push you back or anything, but she doesn’t precisely look for it, you know?” The little Kwami limited herself to acknowledging her Holder’s thought train with a tiny nod; she knew Marinette needed to get to a conclusion before she could peacefully stop on her tracks and think of anything else, at least for a few hours. “I don’t think she has leaned in as much out of the mask, but maybe we just haven’t hung out enough lately? I don’t know, things have been weird since… you know. I didn’t even think she would want to speak to me again with the way she looked that day. And we’re both quite busy as well…”

The cutoff sentence announced she might be getting somewhere. For the sake of the girl’s already tortured sleep schedule, Tikki hoped it was in fact that.

"Do you think she felt it like a pat on the head? Like, I definitely rested my hand on her head way too long and I kind of accidentally just grabbed her horn, but could it be that? It made her feel relaxed or safe or something? Should I just like, do it again? But, head overall or specifically the horns?"

She replayed the events of the evening one more time, just to make sure, and siddenly a realization struck her. Maybe she was just remembering incorrectly, but...

"Her horn felt weird, Tikki."
Sure, it wasn't as if she was particularly familiar with their shape, but she was pretty sure that ridge was far too pronounced, far too specific to be a coincidence. If she squinted in her memory and prayed to every Kwami on earth she wasn't just altering her memories to fit her new theory, maybe...

Before the Kwami could even figure out what to reply, the idea hit her.

Could it be that her amok ring was hidden there?

She was frankly amazed sometimes at her ability to remember small details such as that and yet keep forgetting what day it was. Be it her touch trained to retain the feel of a specific yarn or fabric when looking for more, or her desperation to fix every mess she had caused lately in any way she could try, it was working wonders.

She was starting to craft a plan that finally allowed her to sleep, much to Tikki's relief.

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She wasn't sure for how long the accidental command would hold. However, Marinette was pleasantly surprised to find out it hadn't gone away by the next day.

With Chat still out and his cold not giving any signs of going away anytime soon, Ryuko was the next go-to for patrolling. They leaped over buildings for what Ladybug felt as hours; even the short patrol route felt too long for her to wait to execute the next stage of her plan.

Some more eternal minutes later, they arrived on top of the Arc de Triomphe, their final stop before leaving for the day. Ladybug was suddenly extra grateful she had made it a habit for her team to have some minutes of rest and chatting before saying goodbye. The new Unnamed Operation was starting right there and then.

She saw Ryuko awkwardly shuffle before speaking. "Would it be okay to hug again?"

For once in her life, she felt like the true Holder of the Lucky Ladybug; Kagami had just made the entire thing ten times easier without having a single clue. "YES, OF COURSE!" she replied, relief washing over her and warming her embrace up. Now, if she could just reach a little further up without drawing suspicion-

"I'm glad we're getting to do these chill patrols together, we really needed a break from the last weeks, don't you think? Make sure to relax a lot now we can, you know."

She hoped her wording had been right. And, she didn't want to get her hopes up, but she could almost swear the girl’s shoulders held themselves looser, less tense, by the time they broke apart.

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She had no way of asking for an official confirmation without giving herself away, but she lost nothing by trying just one more time. It was just a tiny, little, harmless, one time revenge plan. Kagami was a little hesitant to help, but...

"Look, it's gonna be quick! Pleaseee..."

The lining of Ryuko's mask made her deadpan cut sharper.
"We're not supposed to prank each other as superheroes, Marinette. Besides, on such a big scale, it's going to be visible to the entire city. They're going to ask, you're going to have to answer, and I doubt you want to explain it was purely revenge-fueled."

"But we can say it's a belated April Fools! It wouldn't even be a lie!" Technically speaking, she was right. Her first instinct was to step on Chat Noir's tail as soon as her heart stopped threatening to jump out of her body.

How on Earth he had decided a good prank to pull was to use a post-akuma news coverage to say "claws oub", emphasizing the labial pronunciation of that B instead of his actual detransformation words, it was a mystery to her.
The least she could do was throw a bucket of paint on him, made with a plant Tikki assured her was capable of staining their hero suits for at least a month, even if they detransformed, but to catch him off guard she needed help. And Kagami was her best chance.

Unfortunately, she wasn't budging. Maybe using the Eiffel Tower as a trap wasn't as clever as she thought, but wasn't it worth a shot?

She had one chance, and...
"helpmeprankchat"

A light smack towards Ryuko’s head.
The girl stared, dumbfounded.

"Sorry! There was a mosquito and I didn't want it to get you so I got it first! Anyways, as I was telling you, your wind dragon should make sure it only falls on him and that's the perfect plan! Super quick."

Ryuko sighed and smiled
"Fine."

There was the confirmation.