Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Marinette sat at the front desk absentmindedly staring at the ladybugs in the glass box in front of her. Why they even had ladybugs in the pet shop was weird, though she didn’t seem to mind them as there was something very beautiful and captivating about the red and black spotted bugs. However the ladybugs weren’t the only weird ‘pets’ in the shop as Marinette was fairly certain there were bees in some random corner, though she didn’t really want to check to see if she was right, if the loud buzzing was anything to go by.

In fact she was completely certain there were at least some bees, as not only there was buzzing sounds but there were often the sounds of girly screams from men and women alike as they ran from the corner she guessed the bees were in. It was often quite entertaining watching them run past with faces of pure terror.

The men even more hilarious as when they caught sight of her at the desk they often ‘discretely’ changed into a more manlier version of their earlier screeching or even better yet stop altogether and force themselves to walk ‘normally’ out of the door in hopes of not fully losing their dignity. It took all of Marinette’s control not to burst out of laughter right there and then but she’d always managed to hold it in until they were at least out the door, goodness knows how. The times when Marinette shared a shift with her best friend Alya however made the moments even more entertaining if possible as they always made fun of the customers together acting out their emotions and expressions and laughing there heads off while doing so. Marinette couldn’t help but smile at the memory.

Of course she and Alya weren’t the only people working in the pet shop but Nino, Adrien~, Chloé ,much to her annoyance as the girl was stuck up and just plain horrible to everyone part from her ‘Adrikins’ and people she was sucking up too, and of course Sabrina as wherever ever Chloé was Sabrina was sure to follow. The owner of the shop was a mysterious and rather short old man who had a rather questionable obsession with turtles and secret techniques which worked wonders on all the pets. No one ever really saw the man though. In fact Marinette had only ever seen him once after the initial meeting of him giving her the job and that was when she had come in for her shift to see him crouched in front of a sick looking ladybug, bang a symbol and then proceed to return the ladybug to it’s home deeming it better, before greeting her and promptly disappearing round a shelf and never to be seen again. It was strange and it made you question the reliability of the job but the man hadn't not payed her so far so she was perfectly happy with the job.

The shop bell rang as the door was opened and Marinette looked up to attend to the customer with a smile before promptly freezing as there in the entrance of the shop stood a messy blonde haired boy with beautiful green eyes who should be a model. It was no other than Adrien Agreste her co-worker and the boy she had a tinsy-winsy crush on. Who was she kidding, it was a massive crush that Madame act a lot more clumsier and foolish than normal with her not being able to say a simple sentence and blush wildly if she even talked to the boy which was mainly Alya’s doing. The poor boy had to try and work out what Marinette was trying to say by looking at the flailing hand signals she did unconsciously and using the few coherent words that he could hear through the stuttering.

Looking towards the desk Adrien spotted Marinette and flashed a bright smile her way and waving bore heading towards her. Marionettes face quickly went red and she awkwardly waved back at him with a weird smile on her face. In a few strides Adrien was in front of her leaning on the desk. “Hi Mari, how’s it going?” He cheerfully asked. “Good, how about you. What are you doing here anyway you don’t have a shift today?” Marinette asked, well that's what Adrien believed she asked using the only words he could make out of the usual stuttering she had supplied him. “I’m doing great thank you, I just came over to check up on the shop. I like hanging here and the cats and kittens are great to play with.” He supplied with a grin. Marinette nodded. The cats Adrien had mentioned where to the left side of the shop in a quite a large pen. Strangely all the cats had black fur which was bad luck though she supposed the ladybugs contrasted that as they were symbols of luck.

There was an awkward silence between the two neither knowing what to say until Adrien broke it.

“Hey Mari what do you think of cats? Black ones in particular” Mari thought about it she wasn’t really sure.

“ I guess they're alright, I find them annoying really and i guess i’m more of a dog person.”

“Oh” Adrien said with a hint of sadness in his voice. “I guess not everyone thinks the same as me then. Oh well I guess I will have to show you the amazing things about black cats, come on Mari!” And Marinette was pulled from behind the counter and towards the cats by Adrien, who was now determined to prove to her that the black cats were better than dogs, while blushing furiously.

A few seconds later they had reached the cat's area and were now standing in front of their pen, more precisely the kittens pen watching them fumble around before Adrien pulled her into the pen. Marinette couldn't help but aww at the cuteness of the kittens (who wouldn’t after all, all baby animals are adorable). Hearing her aww Adrien sent her a cat like smirk before carefully bending down and plucking a small black kitten from the floor by his feet. He then turned around and promptly placed the kitten into Marinette’s arms before she even realized what was happening.

Feeling the warmth and softness of the kitten Marinette couldn’t help but hug the kitten closer, running her hand through it’s soft fur and smiling softly. She didn’t notice Adrien gazing at her in awe but if she had she would have been in heaven or sprawled out on the floor unconscious. When she finally looked up though she was greeted with a smirk clearly saying ‘I thought you thought they were annoying’. Huffing Marinette glared playfully at him, feeling a rise of confidence so she could defend herself from his teasing.

“This is unfair, all baby animals are adorable. I remember saying cats were annoying anyway not kittens.” She said while carefully putting down the kitten somewhat reluctantly and moved to leave. Adrien smirked even wider

“Seems I've still got to convince you on how purrfect black cats are then purrincess!” Marinette felt a slight blush come to her face before a look horror came across her face realizing what he had just said. Had he just made two puns, cat ones at that.

“Aren’t you feline confident?” She asked feeling quite proud of herself until she saw his look of amazement and awe and then the cat like smile that spread across his face in a flash. Oh she was going to regret that pun.

“I knew you liked it!” He grinned at her and laughing at her face as it quickly turned back to horror as he continued to say more of his endless supply of cat puns. He had never felt so at ease with Marinette before and he liked it, no he loved it after all he got to use his beloved puns. What more could a person want?

Chapter Text

“Mari. Why are you looking at the Ladybugs.” Adrien huffs, folding his arms over his chest. Marinette looks back at him with a sheepish smile.

“They’re just so cute!”

Adrien looked at her with a confused look. “Cute? They’re bugs, Cats on the other hand are cute!”

“Cats? Yeah right” Marinette scoffed but at Adriens disbelieving stare and raised eyebrows she quickly amended her statement “I mean the kittens are but the cats no way anyway ladybugs have an innocent look about them and their so small and sweet. They also don’t scratch at you all the time like cats do!”

“Cats don’t scratch all the time and anyway i wouldn’t really class ladybugs as a pet. They’re so small you would probably kill them without realising it!” Adrien replied.

“No i wouldn’t and don’t you know ladybugs also symbolise good luck. Everyone needs some of that. After all who wants the bad luck black cats give you, when you are more likely to get things to go your way?” Marinette countered. Walking towards where the ladybugs are and opening up the box to get one out. Smiling as one landed on her hand followed quickly by another. “They also seem to like me a lot!”.

Adrien soon realised that was the understatement of the century as he watched her from where he stood in the cat pen. They were flocking to her side. She had about 20 on her already and more were coming to land on her as he watched. Marinette seemed to enjoying it but Adrien couldn’t help but feel a bit creeped out watching the red and black spotted bugs crawl all over her. (AN- I’m totally not getting this idea from a specific comic or anything ;) )

Marinette slowly lowered herself down to the floor and crossed her legs carefully to make sure she didn’t disturb the steadily increasing number of ladybugs that were landing on her body, crawling around it, or flying around her. She couldn’t help but smile a bit smugly over at Adrien who looked a bit confused yet awed at the same time. He was wearing a gobsmacked expression and Marinette couldn’t help but giggle.

Adrien suddenly snapped out of his daze of staring at the mass of bugs at the sound of a soft giggle and looking around he realised it came from Marinette, afterall they were still the only ones in the shop. He couldn’t help but smile with her and chuckle before realising the reason this was happening and that she was going to win if he didn’t do anything soon.

An idea suddenly came to Adrien as one of the cats rubbed against his leg purring contentedly. He lowered himself down to the floor also and rubbed the cat behind it’s ears smiling. Slowly the cat snuggled closer and a few moments later Adrien found himself with the cat curled up on his lap and with many other of the cats surrounding him purring.

Both Marinette and Adrien were a sight to see with cats and ladybugs all over them respectively and staring across the room at each other neither of them seeming to back down.

That position was were Alya and Nino found them in when they came in for their joined shift to replace Marinette at the shop counter. The silence was broken by a chorus of two wtf’s coming from the duo gaining the attention of the two pet ridden young adults who had somehow failed to hear the bell chime to announce a customer had come in.

Adrien and Marinette’s eyes widened comically when they noticed their friends. A bright red flush of embarrassment came across both of their faces and both stuttered incomprehensible phrases. Their garbled mess of words filling the room. Sighing Alya gave up.

“Ok ok. Stop talking both of you. We have no idea what you’re saying either of you let alone what you have been doing and are doing so can you maybe slow down and talk One at a time please.” Alya firmly interrupted.

Adrien and Marinette quickly quietened down and looked at each other nervously.
“Right. Now do one of you want to tell us what's happening?”Alya asked.
Both of them nervously fidgeted and Nino sighed.

“Dudes just tell us already!”

“Well..” They both started and then broke off staring at each awkwardly motioning for each other to explain.

“For goodness sake. Both of you are useless. Mari, explain now!” Alya ordered.

Marinette nodded quickly not wanting to annoy Alya more and quickly started to explain. “YouseeIwasworkingandAdriencameinandstartedtalkingaboutCatsandhowgoodtheywereandIdisagreedandmentionedhowLadybugswerebetterandwekindofgotintoanargument,thenthishappened. I don't really know how we got like this though, it all went kinda out of control.” Marinette rushed slowing down at the end to catch her breath.

“Whoa. Calm down girl. Can you repeat that please.”

“Right, sorry! You see I was working and Adrien came in and started talking about Cats and how good they were and I disagreed and mentioned how Ladybugs were better and we kind of got into an argument, then this happened. I don't really know how we got like this though, it all went kinda out of control.”

“Dude, is this right?” Nino asked with a weird look across his face.

“Yeah basically. What's wrong?”

“Uh, nothing dude. Just that can the both of you do something about your cats and ladybugs please it’s a bit creepy.” Nino stated Alya nodding, agreeing with him.

Marinette and Adrien looked down and said “Uh yeah of course. Sorry!” Before carefully detaching themselves from their animal and returning them back to their cage. As they did that Alya and Nino sighed in relief. “Thank god. It was so hard to talk to them when they were like that”.

When Adrien and Marinette returned both had a cat and a ladybug respectively. Alya raised her eyebrow at the but ignored the animals in her friend's arms. “Anyway Mari your shift has ended ages ago so I need to take over the shop with Nino.”

“Oh yeah, Sure. Thanks Alya. Oh can you leave a note to Master Fu that i’ve taken a ladybug and he can take it off my pay.”

“Sure girl!” Alya chimed walking over to the counter hearing a faint thanks in return along with a bye and a chime of a bell signaling she had left the shop.

“Likewise with me too Alya except with a cat if that's ok. Thanks!” Adrien called before waving and also leaving the shop.

Soon as both of them left Alya and Nino turned to each both with faces of wtf happened before collapsing into endless laughter which had some snorts and chortles as they struggled to breathe. One thing for sure, Adrien and Marinette were never going to forget that moment as long as they lived.

A few days later without the others knowledge Adrien and Marinette both brought the others pet. Both being won over by the others argument. However they weren’t given the most imaginative names. With Ladybug and Plagg for Adrien’s ladybug and cat and Tikki and Chat Noir for Marinette’s.

It was going to get interesting for sure. Especially since they didn’t want the other to figure out they had the others favourite pet. Oh dear.