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soc_puppetFandom: Miraculous Ladybug
Summary: Ladybug talks to Carapace about something important.
AO3 link: Not until it's done!
Wordcount: Let's find out!
Fic: Workplace Romance and Other Safety Hazards
Nino had only been working on his latest mix for a few minutes when his concentration was interrupted by knocking. He pulled back from his computer, settling his headphones back around his neck, and glanced at his bedroom door; while he usually left it open when he wasn't studying, his mom would still knock to get his attention. The doorway was empty. Shrugging it off, Nino turned back to his computer.
The knock came again; this time, Nino looked out the window and caught a flash of black-spotted red. He quickly closed the door to his room. Moments later, Ladybug slipped in through his window. "Ladybug, dude!" Crap, I am seriously no good at that! "Uh, I mean, ma'am. Miss?" Ladybug chuckled, and Nino rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Deciding it was okay to let the name thing drop for the moment, he forged ahead. "What brings you over here this afternoon? Did something come up on patrol? Do you and Cat Noir need my help?" He'd picked up the heroes' schedule from Alya's ramblings, figuring it would be useful to know now that he was a hero himself, and from what she'd said, Ladybug and Cat Noir didn't usually go for casual visits with fellow heroes.
"Something like that," Ladybug said. "I know he'd never say it, but Cat Noir has been really stressed lately, so I told him to take the day off." She smiled fondly and shook her head. "He made me promise that I'd take a day off myself sometime soon, but he agreed. Anyway, if you're done with everything tonight, I was hoping you could fill in for him."
Nino answered automatically, "Of course, dude! Um, Ladybug. My homework's been done for ages, so I've got the rest of the day free."
Ladybug eyed him shrewdly, seeming to sense that his answer would have been the same regardless of the state of his homework. Then, with a decisive nod, she held out her hand: In her palm was the Turtle Miraculous. "You know the drill," she told him.
Nino grinned and put on the bracelet. With a flash of green light, Wayzz appeared in front of him. "Wayzz, my dude! Long time no see, little buddy!" Nino said.
"Nino!" Wayzz exclaimed. "It's so good to see you!" Nino held his fist out and Wayzz joined him in their traditional hand jive greeting.
"You ready to help out Ladybug?" Nino asked.
"Of course, my friend!"
"Cool! Shell on!" With a flash of dark green, the tiny creature (a kwami, Ladybug had called him) zipped into the carved jade on the bracelet, and Carapace's costume materialized over his skin. "Man, that never gets old," Carapace commented.
"I know how you feel," said Ladybug.
Carapace looked at her in surprise. "Really? You've been doing this for, like, way longer than I have; you still get amazed by transforming?"
She grinned at him. "Any time I spend more than five seconds thinking about the fact that I'm a superhero I get a little blown away. Ready to go?"
Carapace grinned back at her. "You know it! Lead the way, dude! Uh, Ladybug."
---
LB takes Cara on a usual patrol, introduces him to Parisians, explains that she wanted them to get to know some of the new heroes, since they might be seeing them more often. Mentions she had another reason for doing this, as well. Cara asks her what that was, accidentally calling her 'dude' again. "It's related to that, actually," she says.
LB and Cara detour to a near-by rooftop that LB knows has good privacy. LB talks about the separation of hero and civilian identities, how it can be difficult to juggle, how Alya clocked him right away from his quirk of calling everyone "dude". Probably most other people won't notice from such little information, but it's still dangerous for Alya to know, and the fact that both she and Nino and Rena and Cara are publicly dating could also help people make dangerous connections, Hawkmoth among them. Hawkmoth already knows how important Alya and Nino are to one another, and has used that against them before.
Cara thinks for a moment. "Is that why you and CN aren't dating?"
LB flinches. Tries to deny her feelings, but Carapace makes sure she knows he's safe to talk to, becomes a very inviting person to confess to, and eventually she spills: "All this time we've been fighting side-by-side, all those times we've saved each other's lives, and he's such a goofball but still always there for me and always believes in me and—and how could I not start to fall for him after all that, just a little?"
(This is originally where the transition would happen; there's no discussion of CB at all. So the next paragraph's intro is still a little wonky and needs re-working, and also there needs to be the CB explanation somewhere in here.)
Cara is silent for a moment, partly to see if she's going to say anything else, partly to digest a bit and think of what he's going to say next. Talks about how he may not have as much experience as her or CN or even Rena, but he does know a thing or two about protecting the people he loves (and isn't that why LB picked him?). He also has a best friend whose family is over protective, and he's seen the damage that can do. He's not going to tell her she has to confess her feelings to CN, but even if it's still too dangerous for LB and CN to know each others' identities, even if they still won't be able to date, she should still probably tell CN about Chat Blanc and why she's hesitating. "Everything I've seen, everything Rena's told me and Alya's written about," and he takes care to name his girlfriend twice, "Cat Noir treats your boundaries seriously. He's not the kind of d-cat who would push you to do something that would make you feel unsafe, just because it might make him happy. And it seems like something it'd be important for him to know, you know?"
LB takes this all in, thanks Cara for his input. Something something winding down, any more patrol bits, dropping Nino back off at his house, all that stuff.
Possible epilogue: Short Ladyblog piece about LB and CN being seen being romantic in public? Nino himself seeing them being romantic in public? IDK.
All of this is subject to change, very much including the quotes I have the characters saying in the outlined bits.
Summary: Ladybug talks to Carapace about something important.
AO3 link: Not until it's done!
Wordcount: Let's find out!
Fic: Workplace Romance and Other Safety Hazards
Nino had only been working on his latest mix for a few minutes when his concentration was interrupted by knocking. He pulled back from his computer, settling his headphones back around his neck, and glanced at his bedroom door; while he usually left it open when he wasn't studying, his mom would still knock to get his attention. The doorway was empty. Shrugging it off, Nino turned back to his computer.
The knock came again; this time, Nino looked out the window and caught a flash of black-spotted red. He quickly closed the door to his room. Moments later, Ladybug slipped in through his window. "Ladybug, dude!" Crap, I am seriously no good at that! "Uh, I mean, ma'am. Miss?" Ladybug chuckled, and Nino rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Deciding it was okay to let the name thing drop for the moment, he forged ahead. "What brings you over here this afternoon? Did something come up on patrol? Do you and Cat Noir need my help?" He'd picked up the heroes' schedule from Alya's ramblings, figuring it would be useful to know now that he was a hero himself, and from what she'd said, Ladybug and Cat Noir didn't usually go for casual visits with fellow heroes.
"Something like that," Ladybug said. "I know he'd never say it, but Cat Noir has been really stressed lately, so I told him to take the day off." She smiled fondly and shook her head. "He made me promise that I'd take a day off myself sometime soon, but he agreed. Anyway, if you're done with everything tonight, I was hoping you could fill in for him."
Nino answered automatically, "Of course, dude! Um, Ladybug. My homework's been done for ages, so I've got the rest of the day free."
Ladybug eyed him shrewdly, seeming to sense that his answer would have been the same regardless of the state of his homework. Then, with a decisive nod, she held out her hand: In her palm was the Turtle Miraculous. "You know the drill," she told him.
Nino grinned and put on the bracelet. With a flash of green light, Wayzz appeared in front of him. "Wayzz, my dude! Long time no see, little buddy!" Nino said.
"Nino!" Wayzz exclaimed. "It's so good to see you!" Nino held his fist out and Wayzz joined him in their traditional hand jive greeting.
"You ready to help out Ladybug?" Nino asked.
"Of course, my friend!"
"Cool! Shell on!" With a flash of dark green, the tiny creature (a kwami, Ladybug had called him) zipped into the carved jade on the bracelet, and Carapace's costume materialized over his skin. "Man, that never gets old," Carapace commented.
"I know how you feel," said Ladybug.
Carapace looked at her in surprise. "Really? You've been doing this for, like, way longer than I have; you still get amazed by transforming?"
She grinned at him. "Any time I spend more than five seconds thinking about the fact that I'm a superhero I get a little blown away. Ready to go?"
Carapace grinned back at her. "You know it! Lead the way, dude! Uh, Ladybug."
---
LB takes Cara on a usual patrol, introduces him to Parisians, explains that she wanted them to get to know some of the new heroes, since they might be seeing them more often. Mentions she had another reason for doing this, as well. Cara asks her what that was, accidentally calling her 'dude' again. "It's related to that, actually," she says.
LB and Cara detour to a near-by rooftop that LB knows has good privacy. LB talks about the separation of hero and civilian identities, how it can be difficult to juggle, how Alya clocked him right away from his quirk of calling everyone "dude". Probably most other people won't notice from such little information, but it's still dangerous for Alya to know, and the fact that both she and Nino and Rena and Cara are publicly dating could also help people make dangerous connections, Hawkmoth among them. Hawkmoth already knows how important Alya and Nino are to one another, and has used that against them before.
Cara thinks for a moment. "Is that why you and CN aren't dating?"
LB flinches. Tries to deny her feelings, but Carapace makes sure she knows he's safe to talk to, becomes a very inviting person to confess to, and eventually she spills: "All this time we've been fighting side-by-side, all those times we've saved each other's lives, and he's such a goofball but still always there for me and always believes in me and—and how could I not start to fall for him after all that, just a little?"
(This is originally where the transition would happen; there's no discussion of CB at all. So the next paragraph's intro is still a little wonky and needs re-working, and also there needs to be the CB explanation somewhere in here.)
Cara is silent for a moment, partly to see if she's going to say anything else, partly to digest a bit and think of what he's going to say next. Talks about how he may not have as much experience as her or CN or even Rena, but he does know a thing or two about protecting the people he loves (and isn't that why LB picked him?). He also has a best friend whose family is over protective, and he's seen the damage that can do. He's not going to tell her she has to confess her feelings to CN, but even if it's still too dangerous for LB and CN to know each others' identities, even if they still won't be able to date, she should still probably tell CN about Chat Blanc and why she's hesitating. "Everything I've seen, everything Rena's told me and Alya's written about," and he takes care to name his girlfriend twice, "Cat Noir treats your boundaries seriously. He's not the kind of d-cat who would push you to do something that would make you feel unsafe, just because it might make him happy. And it seems like something it'd be important for him to know, you know?"
LB takes this all in, thanks Cara for his input. Something something winding down, any more patrol bits, dropping Nino back off at his house, all that stuff.
Possible epilogue: Short Ladyblog piece about LB and CN being seen being romantic in public? Nino himself seeing them being romantic in public? IDK.
All of this is subject to change, very much including the quotes I have the characters saying in the outlined bits.
