Had A Heartwrenching Daydream Where Nino At Age 22 Was Wandering Paris With A Guitar Singing Mostly To

Had a heartwrenching daydream where Nino at age 22 was wandering Paris with a guitar singing mostly to himself and he sets up in a park and he sees a little boy maybe 10 years old playing an accordion trying desperately for tips, so he walks over and puts everything he had in the little kids cup and the little kid almost cries before saying thank you and running away. Nino follows him because he’s really worried about this little guy he looks malnourished, and tracks him to a little crew of about seven of them ranging from 8-13. Five boys and two girls. They skitter at the sight of him and vanish into the city and he’s trying to find em but he can’t. He reports it to the police and checks in at the station every few days because that poor starving kid with the accordion just wont leave his mind, it really rattled him, but the police say they never found them or even seen them. They sort of think Ninos got them on a goose chase but on his own Nino goes back to where he spotted them at first, and he finds a couple bent guitar picks, some frayed bowstrings, and one broken string that could be from anything. He thinks its insanely weird, but he can see a few cups and things with pennies and nickles still left in them, so he starts asking around about kids playing for money. He gets Adrien in on it (who secretly uses his standing as Cat Noir to recruit Ladybug and find the children, however they run even from the heroes).  

A week or two passes and Nino keeps living his life, focusing on mixing songs and work and what not, but part of him is really stuck on those kids. He wishes he could find them and help them somehow, he wasnt a rich man but maybe something more than money. Everything he had by way of his apartment came from being roommates with Adrien, but he wanted to at least notify authorities that some kids looked like they were in a bad way. Alya suggests checking foster homes and orphanages but he doesnt have the heart, what could he even do if he found them then? It would be the foster homes responsibility not his. So finally, one day at night about two weeks later he takes his guitar and starts walking, playing softly and singing. He walks clear across the city, passing on purpose through every park and the place where he saw them. He plays and sings and never looks backwards, just walking along the river with the moon high and bright at a time of night where Paris came the closest to being asleep as possible. A very select few would see the small line of children following him, listening, each with an instrument in their hands. Nino doesnt turn around even when he hears them start to sing, playing with him quietly in an absolutely gorgeous show. Their voices are young and gentle but their playing exceeds their years, a small group of prodigies so he thinks. His feet ache and his hands are raw and his voice rough but he keeps going and loops all the way back around to his apartment, and pulls up in the alleyway beside it and brings the music to a halt, turning around slowly to face them all. 

They don’t run, they just lower their instruments and look at him like not a single one of them know what to say. But the little boy with the accordion steps forward first and says “You’re really good mister.”

“You’re all amazing,” he replies immediately. “Seriously. Some of the best stuff I’ve ever heard. Absolutely stunning.”

A few of them smile, a few others nervously look to the floor and fidget with their violins or guitars or ukuleles or tambourines or harmonicas, the list goes on. 

“I want to help you,” he says genuinely. “You all look like you could eat something” the kids look at each other nervously before nodding, and he smiles to put them at ease.

Adrien wakes up to hearing noise in the house, getting up and rubbing at his face blearily before freezing in the doorway, staring at Nino and seven rag tag children eating literally everything in the house. Nino smiles sheepishly and Adrien just blinks, standing there shirtless before sighing and turning around to say “Let me get dressed before you explain all of this…”

Nino gradually develops a relationship with all of these children, finding them again and again in the city and taking care of them. He starts saving up all of his extra cash and working really hard to buy them shoes and food and clothing. He manages to keep them around through this kindness and also taking care of their instruments, learning how to maintain them all. The kids all are runaways from orphanages and what not and do not want to go back, so he is stuck in a tough place where he wants to help but they refuse to go back to the places they came from. In an effort to raise money for them Nino starts organizing them to perform together, writing songs (with their help, he has a lot of study and theory and learning on his side but these kids are prodigies) to have more impressive numbers that earn them tips. Adrien also starts befriending these kids, showing them with as much money as he can slip by his dad (who still has control over adriens portion of the fortune for various reasons). Alya and Marinette fall in love with them all, and though the kids are skiddish they really grow close with them all. Marinette fixes their clothes and tutors them since they arent in school and Alya redistributes all of her little sisters handmedown things and clothes. 

Nino writes music for these kids for them to perform and earn money with, and it becomes a local phenomenon about a group of different pairings and combinations called “The Rag Tag”. A bunch of mismatched extremely talented kids and the man that sometimes plays with them. 

Especially the little boy with the accordion (Evan) looks up to Nino like a father, and Nino finds himself so entirely committed to helping these kids. He fights so many long horrible legal battles (backed up by Adriens legal team and money the whole way, but the victories really come from Alyas ruthless cutthroat methods for getting their way) and goes to nearly a hundred court meetings and CPA hearings things like that, and it takes almost a year, but in the end Nino finally legally adopts all seven children. And how does he financially pull it off?

In the time of the legal battles Nino professionally recorded using his own equipment all of the kids and made an official album with all of their music. He features all of their original pieces, all combinations between them and also large group numbers where they all sing and play together. Their music is so beautiful and genuine, that as soon as its released it skyrockets in popularity. Alya does everything in her power to write the story of the seven children and the man who protects them in a way that won them international favor, utilizing her position as a reporter to make their story known. Through this, people from all over the world buy the album, beg for more, purchase tickets to shows and donate thousands and thousands of dollars to this incredible story, and it gives Nino enough money to buy a house and put them all in school while they pursue their love for music together as a family. 

Its a lot of work and not at all the direction in life Nino thought he’d take, but in the end he loves his kids more than anything. The day he finally legally adopts them all and gets them back from the system that took them away from him they crowd around him and hug him and they all cry. And little ten year old Evan hugs him and buries his face in Nino’s chest and says “I love you dad.”

And it was the first time any of them had ever called him that, and Nino is overwhelmed that he finally has them all back again. He remembers so potently when authorities really caught on to the fact that this group growing in popularity were essentially homeless though they often stayed crowded in Nino and Adriens apartment (the girls often took half of them at night) but it wasnt legal. Nino wasnt their legal guardian so one day the police showed up and took them all away from him. The kids were screaming and fighting them and Nino was desperately begging, going so far as to assault an officer and was imprisoned for only a night before Adrien posted his bail. But now he had them back, and no one was taking them away and Nino was going to give them as good of a life as he could. So he tells them that he loves them too, and lets them all refer to him as their father. They call Adrien their Uncle and the girls their Aunts, and Nino will push the couches aside in the living room of their modest home as they all crowd around him with their instruments and sing for them the same song he did when he first found them all, and they play with him. 

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A Little Light is a Miraculous Ladybug charity zine to benefit those affected by Hurricane Matthew. The zine’s motif is light and its theme is Winter Holidays. 

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Me: Don't cry. *Reads this* Me: Just shut up and cry, and also ship this some more.

Masterpiece (Part Four)

Hey Miraculors! I’m so sorry that it’s been ages since I’ve updated. School got insane and even though I’m writing now, there probably won’t be an another chapter up till December because I have exams :(. But don’t worry, I will still be working on the story, it’ll just take some time to complete. Thank you for all your support and comments! They really make my day ten times better!

Dedicated to: @tahciram, @angelscoeur, @miraculousturtle, @heir-of-rowena-ravenclaw, @ellelalee, @miraculyfe, @gigiree, @faith-xx-love and @thornsword for being the coolest human beings ever and letting me dump my teenage angst on them and @chatartistx and @angellecookiewingz for being new friends and talk to me about food.

Part one:https://vanilla107.tumblr.com/post/145917449960/masterpiece-part-one

Part two:

https://vanilla107.tumblr.com/post/146700932665/masterpiece-part-two

Part Three:

https://vanilla107.tumblr.com/post/147049922050/masterpiece-part-three

p.s. aND WHAT THE HECK. 800 FOLLOWERS. THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU. <3

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Nathanaël woke to the smell of something burning and he scrambled of bed and ran to the kitchen. “Chloe! Are you alright?” Black smoke invaded his vision and he coughed violently. “Chloe? Chloe!” he exclaimed. “Nathanaël!” he heard her cry. Groping around the room he finally found a jug and filled it with water. The smoke stung his eyes and he wiped away the tears. He flung the water onto the stove, where the smoke was at its thickest, and did this two more times until the fire was out. He looked around the kitchen and saw Chloe, curled up into a ball in a corner. She was trembling and he could see her tears.

“Nathanaël- I’m so sorry-I tried to make pancakes- And you can see how that worked out- Oh my God- I’m SO sorry!”

Chloe covered her face with her hands. Nathanaël walked over to her and gently tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. She looked up and swallowed uneasily. “I can’t believe you tried to make pancakes,” Nathanaël murmured as he helped her stand up. “I can’t believe you tried to make pancakes,” Nathanaël repeated, looking around the kitchen. “Yeah…it’s actually kinda funny…because why would I make pancakes when I’ve never made them before?” Chloe giggled. “And how many eggs did you use? There’s at least seven on the counter!” Nathanaël said trying to hold in his laughter.

“The mix looked really dry okay!” The whole scenario was so comical, Chloe trying to cook and failing. Chloe Bourgeois. Trying to make pancakes. Chloe had either made noodles in her microwave or bought cheap takeaways for the past month, had no idea how to make pancakes. Nathanaël and Chloe had doubled over in laughter and were on the floor. Chloe gasped, trying to get oxygen into her lungs and clutched her stomach. She sat up and wiped away her tears and grinned at Nathanaël, who had also stopped laughing but a light shade of red covered his face. There was a knock on the apartment door and Nathanaël stood up and went to answer it. He opened the door and a stern looking fireman stared at him.

“Your fire alarm went off and we came to check if everything is okay,” the man said gruffly. “Everything’s alright now, sir. Thank you for your concern,” Nathanaël said. The fireman nodded and Nathanaël closed the door. Chloe had gotten off the floor and was staring at him. “So what’s for breakfast?” she asked jokingly and they both dissolved into more laughter. 

•                                    •                                    •                                    •              Chloe took a deep breath and waited for the surface of the pancake to bubble. “Okay, now you want to gently move it onto the spatula and flip it so that the other side will cook.” Nathanaël instructed as he peered over her shoulder. “I can do this…I can do this…” she mumbled as she got the pancake and gently lifted it and flipped it to the other side. Chloe squealed with joy and nearly dropped the spatula. “YES. WHO’S THE PANCAKE QUEEN-?” she pointed to herself and grinned-“ME.” Chloe pranced around the kitchen while Nathanaël chuckled. “I wouldn’t say that yet,” he said as he took the spatula and placed the pancake onto a plate. Chloe spun around and placed her hands on her hips.

“And why would you say that?”

 Nathanaël raised an eyebrow and smirked. “You burnt your first five, then broke the next two and the other one was raw-“ “Okay! I get it! But…that one should be okay…right?” Nathanaël gazed at Chloe for a second and he froze. She was her eyes were downcast and she fidgeted. After the pancake incident that morning Chloe begged Nathanaël to teach her how to make one. Seeing her wanting to learn, made something shift in him and she looked so…vulnerable. After cleaning up the kitchen and airing the smoke out, they had changed out of their pajamas and into normal clothes.

 Nathanaël was wearing a light blue t-shirt, dark blue jeans and high tops. Chloe still had to wear Nathanaël’s clothes but she wasn’t complaining. His white shorts were a little loose but after adding a belt they were snug against her. The lemon yellow t-shirt she had on was quite long (dammit Nathanaël why did you get so tall?) so she knotted the front and it looked better already. Chloe had plaited her hair after she had taken a shower but her hair began to fall out of the plait in loose waves.

He dusted the pancake with cinnamon sugar and rolled it and served it on the table. “Here, try it and see.” Chloe sat down and hesitantly cut the pancake and raised a piece to her mouth and ate it. Nathanaël saw the way her eyes lit up and the flush of pride appear on her cheeks. “This. Is. The. Best. Pancake. In. The. Whole. WORLD!” Chloe exclaimed and offered him a piece and Nathanaël smiled. He took the fork and ate the piece. He chewed thoughtfully and looked at Chloe. “So? Do you think it’s good?” she asked.  

“I’d say with a bit more practice, you’ll be on your way to being the Pancake Lady.” Nathanaël felt a pillow hit his face. “The Pancake Lady? The Pancake Lady? What kind of girl do you take me for!” Chloe grabbed another pillow from the couch and threw it at Nathanaël. He dodged it and with a grin he ran around the table and tackled Chloe on the couch, caging her in with his body. Chloe already armed herself with another pillow and began to hit him repeatedly. “Get off-! How dare you insult me-! I’m the queen-!”

Nathanaël grabbed the pillow and ripped it form Chloe’s grasp and tossed it aside. He laughed and turned to look back at her and froze. He noticed how red her face was and how close her face was to his. They were both breathing heavily and their noses were just touching. There was a moment of silence before Nathanaël spoke. “I-I’m sorry-“ Nathanaël mumbled as he quickly sat upright. “Nath…it’s okay…” Nathanaël’s phone rang and he answered it.

“Yes? Oh, that’s good. Okay…yes, this afternoon. Alright. Thank you.” Nathanaël ended the call and turned to Chloe. “That was the repairman, he’s coming later this afternoon, so we have some time to kill.” Nathanaël looked at Chloe with his deep blue eyes and Chloe bit the inside of her cheek. I want to stay here with you and kiss you all the time. She mentally slapped herself for thinking such things. “Well, it’s a beautiful day…and it be a shame to waste it…” Chloe said looking out the window to see a sunny morning. “Look’s like that’s the best plan. C’mon.” Chloe hopped off the couch and followed him out the door.

*                        *                        *                        *                        *                        *

Chloe was never a fan of window-shopping before because she could waltz into any shop and buy whatever she wanted…but that wasn’t the case anymore, since she didn’t have any credit cards or money to afford clothes. Since then, window-shopping had become her past time and it had helped her realize how expensive products were. She and Nathanaël were in a busy street filled with people buying and selling goods from the market further down the street but there were little shops decorating the sides.

Chloe stopped at a vintage store and looked at the display. Odd frilly hats, velvet trousers and lacey breeches were scattered on the floor and the mannequins were dressed. Chloe was about to continue walking with Nathanaël when a mannequin caught her eye. It was wearing a lilac dress, which hit mid-thigh on the mannequin. The hem was slightly ruffled and had the tiniest white flowers sewn on the bodice.

“Chloe?”

Chloe snapped out trance and flushed. “Sorry, I spaced out.” Nathanaël raised an eyebrow and gave her a small smile when he noticed the dress. “It’s beautiful.” Chloe nodded and quickly walked away from the store, not wanting to be reminded of how she was just making ends meet with her salary from the restaurant. It suddenly dawned on her how long she had been with Nathanaël and how in debt she was with him.

How was she going to pay him back for everything he’s done for her?

She felt sick and breathed. Paying off money is one thing but paying a person is another. Nathanaël caught up with her and decided not to ask her about the dress. “Chloe, you okay?” “I’m fine,” she murmured. Chloe sped up her pace and Nathanaël grabbed her hand. He started to zigzag through the crowd of people. “Nathanaël! Where are we going?” Chloe demanded angrily not enjoying bumping into people and receiving glares. Chloe noticed that with every turn he made, there weren’t as many people in the road and when he finally stopped they had reached a shady and secluded area with a bench and the smell of lavender in the air. Nathanaël let go of Chloe’s hand and looked at her.

“Chloe what’s wrong?” 

“I-It’s nothing-“

“-Don’t lie to me, Chloe.”

“You don’t understand-“

“Chloe, please.”

This caused her to look at him in the eye. She saw how hurt he was that she wouldn’t tell her what was wrong after everything they’d been through. “Okay, I’m just upset that I can’t afford to buy myself the stuff I want and the fact that I’m leeching off of you doesn’t make my situation any better! And how am I supposed to repay you for everything you’ve done? All you’ve ever done has taken care of me without charge and I feel so…worthless.” Chloe gulped and feared that she would start crying. Why was she being so emotional all the time? She sniffed and shuffled her feet in Nathanaël’s flip-flops. Like his t-shirt and pants, they were big as well, but like all of her other possessions, her other shoes were in her apartment.

She took a deep breath and tilted her head so that she would meet his eyes. “Chloe…you don’t owe me anything.” Chloe opened her mouth to protest but Nathanaël held up his hand. “Please, Chloe, think of this as payment for helping me paint Rage.”

“But Rage was painted because you were angry with all the torment I gave you in high school-!”

Nathanaël placed his index finger to her lips and silenced her. “Did you just shush me?” she mumbled. “Shush,” he whispered. Chloe huffed and her body relaxed a little. “Chloe let me help you,” he said softly. Chloe felt her legs wobble and her heart begin to beat a little faster. The trees blocked out most of the sun but little pockets of light caught Nathanaël’s hair, making it seem like a coppery fire. She had no idea how close their bodies had gotten and they were almost touching. She swallowed uneasily and nodded.

“Okay…I’ll let you help me.”

CHLOE IS CONFIRMED BEE KWAMI. ALYA ID CONFIRMED REAL VOLIPINA

I was thinking about making a new icon and figured this was the perfect time to for a lazy Queen Bee edit.

This is arguably Chloe’s cutest expression and I needed it.

Mysteries At Midnight update!

Mysteries at Midnight has been set up with a bit of a preface and an author’s note.

Chapter 1 will be posted soon so feel free to subscribe to the new thread for updates!

[Chapter 1 of Mysteries at Midnight will probably be posted once this story hits 250 Kudos {that’s only nine more!! :D} However I do have a date to post it should the date arise first.]

Allons-y!