(@elaienar has some gr9 ideas and is an all-around rad person ♥♥♥)
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This was bad, this was very, very bad!!
Ladybug fled in a panic, Mockingjay right on her tail. The akuma chased her almost lazily, pausing every few seconds to zap someone else with their body-changing magic. If Ladybug could just find someplace to retreat—there!
She waited until Mockingjay was distracted by a group of tourists before swooping into the open window. That was when Ladybug realized she didn’t know how to land.
She crashed, hard, the impact knocking the air out of her lungs.
Pain.
Throbbing, disorienting pain, stabbing Ladybug with each move she tried to make. Tikki’s magic couldn’t protect her from falls when she was like this.
But his kwami couldn’t protect Chat Noir either if Mockingjay got to him too. She had to warn him.
She had to get—up—!
“Whoa, whoa! Calm down, I got you.”
The voice was familiar, but Ladybug was more concerned by the giant hands closing around her oh god—
She tried to struggle free, but whoever captured her had a firm grip.
Firm, but surprisingly gentle, Ladybug realized. They held her with one hand, careful not to jostle her as the other supported her feet. Gradually, she began to relax.
“Oooh, ouch. Looks like you sprained a wing there, little buddy,” they said, before sighing. “I really need to put up some window decals or something.”
Slowly, Ladybug was turned in their hands, and finally she could see the person fussing over her.
“I’ve never seen a bird like you before,” said Adrien Agreste, because the world couldn’t decide if it loved or hated her.
Ladybug wanted to die.
Adrien moved his thumb, stroking the top of her feathered head and, oh, that felt kinda—
“You’re pretty, though,” he said and, correction, she must be dead, because this was heaven.