Miraculous: Tales of Scarlet Beetle and Ikati Black

🦋Magician of Misfortune🪄

Jean messed with his card deck for the fifteenth time since this morning, shuffling them over and over just as a stress relief. 'Relax, Jean. You've got this. This is what you've been training for.'

Not many knew this about Jean Duparc, but along with theater, he also did a little magic on the side as well. It was a requirement for a part he was auditioning for in a play when he was ten, and even after the show was over, he still practiced magic and has gotten pretty good at it over the years, moving up from simple card tricks to disappearing acts and his friends loved every trick he put on for them.

The thespian/magician looked down at their deck and shuffled them once more until he found the card that would either make them the happiest guy in DuPont or force them to switch schools out of humiliation... Well, it's now or never.

Jean placed the cards back in their box, and just in time, too as Lacey came out of nowhere and jumped on his back. "Jean! My love! What's up?" She got her answer when her eyes landed on the box of cards. "Yes! Finally! It's been a while since I got to see 'The Jean Show'! Please tell me you're making Chloe disappear," she pleaded, getting a laugh out of her friend.

"No, this is... For something else," he confessed. "I was gonna... Y'know, ask... Someone out." Seeing the blonde girl looking close to bursting, he slapped his hand over her mouth before she could scream and attract any unwanted attention. "But not until lunch, okay? So, don't say anything, please, Lacey."

She removes his hand and gives a reassuring smile. "Relax, Jean, you can always trust me... But just tell me who it is! Please, please, please?" She begged, dragging out the 'e' in the last 'please.' "I'm not gonna tell anyone! I 'Black eye' swear!"

'Wow, she's really serious.' The 'Black eye' swear was a pact made by Lacey and Jean when they were seven- the age where kids always did stupid things- and threw baseballs at each other, believing they'd be able to catch them, and they sort of did... With their eyes. They were so embarrassed that they lied and told people they got into a fight with some other kids and only got black eyes out of the fake fight. For a week, they were known as the toughest kids in school until Marinette beat up a ten-year-old for taking her cupcake.

"Alright, I'll tell you," he relented, making Lacey bounce up and down in excitement. 'God, I can't believe I'm doing this.' "... It's... It's Marc," Jean quickly said before looking away in embarrassment and some shame- Not because he likes a boy, Jean knew Lacey and the others would definitely support him whoever he ends up dating, but the thing is... Marc may or may not like someone else...

"... You like Marc?" She asked, her voice just a bit above a whisper. "Wow... Was not expecting that. For some reason, I thought you'd be all over Adrien." And with that joke, Jean was feeling a little less nervous and laughed. "Hey, you fainted when he shot you the finger guns! Don't deny it!"

"I'm not," he chuckled. "But... I didn't know how you'd react, so I was waiting until today, I had this whole thing planned-"

Lacey slings an arm around his shoulders and gives him a kind look. "Jean, I know we probably haven't been making things easy for you, what with us being all 'Hey, team NathMarc all the way,' but that was just to mess with the guy. Come on, they danced at Adrien's party, that gives us some teasing rights."

"True, but wouldn't you be freaking the absolute fuck out? Lace, this can either destroy our friend group or make it stronger," they asserted. "When Denise and Simon got together last year, everyone was so happy- Because come on, they're adorable together."

"I know," Lacey gushed. "Right?"

"But, who's to say that'll be the same with Marc and me if this works out? Hm?"