1054/The Broken and the Whole

The Broken and the Whole
Date of Scene:	27 January 2024
Location:	Four Clover Mall
Synopsis:	Marinette discovered that Adrien has a new girlfriend. She finds some good wisdom in Cat Noir.
Cast of Characters:	Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien Agreste

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Marinette Dupain-Cheng has posed:
"Oh Tikki what am I supposed to do! He's with somebody else! SOMEBODY ELSE! He's probably going to be with her and get married and have two kids and a hamster..." Marinette is on the roof of Four Clover Mall. She is practically in tears. She just found out about Adrien and the fact that he has a girl friend.

"Marinette, you could have talked to him so many times. You should have known that he would eventually find a girlfriend." Tikki flies in front of Marinette trying to calm her down. "Besides, It might not last long. You have time to not be all, 'I err what...'" She crosses her arms and makes a cross-eyed silly face.

Marinette laughs knowing that Tikki is right about how she acts. "Thank you Tikki but there must be something I can do! Maybe I can break them up!"

"You know that you shouldn't do that. You are Ladybug. Even when not powered up." Tikki responds and looks a little disappointed.

"But Tikki, I... I think I love him. Thats why I can't talk to him." She frowns and sits down on the edge of the building. Tears start flowing. She doesn't try to hide them. They flow down her cheeks and onto the ledge. "I just don't know what to do."

Adrien Agreste has posed:
It wasn't the same here as in Paris but even here Cat Noir enjoyed going out on patrol. Even if it meant he was usually alone lately... It was okay. The freedom of leaping from roof to roof was still thrilling, and his mood was greatly improved lately since he'd allowed himself to take a chance with his current girlfriend instead of moping over Ladybug the entire time.

A small pang of guilt comes at that, but he squashes it down for now. He was allowed to be happy. Ladybug had made it known numerous times she wasn't interested in him--And while that hurt, he still cared. Even now. That he could care about more than one person was almost a relief.

Even as he allows the rooftop run to help clear his thoughts on the matter yet again he finds himself heading for the familiar roof of the mall. It was a great place to check for trouble, or stop for a quick bite before heading out again. What he isn't expecting as he leaps over head is to glance down and see a familiar figure on the rooftop.

"Marinette?"

He overshoots as he'd already jumped and ends up on the far end of the mall with a thud and skid of dust kicking up from the rooftop asphalt. Spinning back toward his friend he jogs back in that direction with a cheery cry of, "Marine~ette!" in greeting with one clawed hand lifting to wave.

The smile he wears falls as he sees the expression on her face to one of concern. Slowing down on approach he asks, "It's ah, it's been awhile. Are you... Is everything alright?"

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has posed:
Marinette blinks a few times. "Cat Noir?" She states as she stands up. "Hide Tikki." The red and black kwami quickly flies into Marinette's purse and hides there. Marinette turns her attention back to Cat Noir.

"I... I'm sorry you have to see me like this." The bluenette wipes her eyes and sniffles a little as she tries to fight back tears. "Its been since Paris." She states making note of just how long its been. "I'm not so good, Cat Noir. There is this boy. I really like him. I maybe even love him but I don't know how to tell him. Now he has someone he is seeing and I'm just panicking."

She frowns. "Everytime I try to tell him something happens and I just... I can't do it." Tears flow yet again. She quickly wraps her arms around Cat Noir and cries on his shoulder.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Cat Noir pauses to listen because he really is worried. It wasn't often her an across Marinette while she was upset. Since Paris? Yes, it had been that long since he'd seen her as Cat Noir though Adrien had at least met up with her a few times. He has to remind himself of that. Keep the two seperate.

"Oh, that's..." He begins only to bite his tongue. There's no cheery banter or quip at the moment as she steps in to hug him. He just wraps his arms around her in turn letting her have the moment she clearly needs.

It's only after a few moments that he finally speaks again.

"I'm sorry you're hurting, Marinette. It sounds difficult."

"I can kind of understand how you feel. That's how I feel about Ladybug. She's turned me down though, so many times." He glances down at the top of Marinette's hair trying to find the right words to say. "I was hurting for a very long time before a friend gave me some advice. I don't know if it'll be good for you, but... He told me that we all remember our first loves, even if they didn't work out. They will always hold a special place in our hearts. Even so, we can't live on the memories alone. There might be someone else out there that we find we also care about as time goes on."

"But if you *really* need to at least let him know how you feel, have you considered maybe writing a letter? If you can't say it out loud I mean."

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has posed:
Marinette listens carefully to Cat Noir. Its a hard lesson to learn. One she hoped she never would have to learn. She shakes her head. "I just always dreamed it would be us. Me and Him."

She listens carefully to the wise words of Cat Noir. "When did you get so wise?" She asks curiously. "I guess you're right though. Maybe I should just find someone else." The idea stung. She would have to talk to Alya later. Maybe she could give him a couple of ideas. Still she wanted to tell him. She needed to tell him.

Then as if reading her mind, Cat Noir makes his suggestion. "I've tried writing notes. I've tried giving gifts. I've tried doing so many different things but something always happens." She sighs and backs away. "I've tried and tried. It just never works out. I can barely talk around him." She sighs and shakes her head. "It doesn't matter now. I will just have to find someone new to date or something."

Adrien Agreste has posed:
"Hey now!" Cat Noir gives a little laugh as he relaxes his grip on Marinette so she can step away if she needs, or wants. "I don't just have fur between my ears, you know. I'm also purrfectly dashing and handsome." It's all said with a playful wink in an attempt to at least get a chuckle out of her for the horrible pun. Still, his expression softens a bit.

"As hard as it may be, as much as you may care, you can't force someone to care back. That's the lesson I learned. Heh, you know, I haven't seen Ladybug in awhile. I'm still kind of nervous I'm going to do the wrong thing around her now. But she expects me to be her friend. I can be that."

"Maybe even if you can't be more for him, you can be that, too."

"Though if I can offer *one* other small bit of advice? Butterflies in the stomach can be pretty exciting, but there's something to be said for finding someone that you can just be comfortably yourself around, too."

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has posed:
"Yeah yeah." Marinette chuckles a little as she listen's to The black cat talk about himself. "Thank you Cat Noir. You are a good friend. I'm sorry I broke down and dumped all of this on you. Its just a lot to think about you know."

"I know. I know. I never tried to force him to love me. He can't love me though if I can never even say 'will you go out with me?' or 'I really like you!'" She laments a little bit as she remembers all the times she completely failed at saying so much as Hello to Adrien. All the times she made a total fool of herself just trying to say a simple greeting echoed in her head. "I just never thought three little words could be so hard to say you know?"

She looks at Cat Noir and nods, "You are right. I can still be a good friend to him even though it may never be more than a friendship."

She listens carefully to the advice of the sorta wise cat. "If I find someone I will have to remember that. I just haven't been looking at any other boys. I only have eyes for him you know." She smiles and shrugs. "I guess I am just a love sick ladyb... Lady" She almost slips up but catches herself.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
"It's okay, I don't mind lending an ear." Cat Noir lifts a hand to flick a finger against the tip of one of his with another wink. "They're pretty big and plenty good at listening. I'm sorry you've had to go through all of that alone though."

"Maybe just be yourself for awhile, too. We're in a new city, in a new country!" His arms throw wide open as if to capture the entirety of the area. "There's *so* many things to go see and do. Did you know there's a park full of deer that bow to you and eat right out of your hand? So cute!"

"Not cat cute, but cute," he adds with a laugh as he looks back toward Marinette grinning broadly from behind his mask. "You'll find someone Marinette, I'm sure. Someone who will be just as lovesick for you."

A half-step is taken backwards with his hand raising to hook a thumb over his shoulder. "I should prooobably get going now. I'm trying to keep an eye out for trouble in case Hawkmoth starts something up again. He's been too quiet lately. Don't let him get hold of you because you're hurting, okay?"

With that he steps in to offer a hug, and a quick chaste kiss to her cheek in farewell. "Take care of yourself, Marinette."