This is going to be complete and utter AU. Miraculous Ladybug has become a popular web comic. Marinette cosplays as Ladybug and meets a Chat Noir cosplayer *coughADRIENcough* who sticks with her for the duration of the con. No, they will not be asking each other their names because I've been to conventions where people have only gone by the handle of the character they played as.

So enjoy?

She remembered her first convention. She had been afraid. It had been her first time at a convention and she had handmade her costume. She was going as a character named Ladybug from an up and coming web comic series called Miraculous that had taken off. Ladybug was the main character. She lived a double life as a college student and a superhero. Naturally inspired by a character that she could relate to Marinette did her best to recreate Ladybug's costume – a red spandex polka dots. Luckily her hair was naturally like Ladybug's so she did not have to bother with a wig, which thank goodness she did not have to bother with a wig cap.

So when the convention happened, she Marinette was afraid. For once she was putting herself out there, her skill with sewing put to the test against others who had worked far longer on their costumes than she did. She expected to be shunned, laughed at and mocked for her costume choice or a few inaccuracies by the costumed purists. Instead, she found the whole convention to be rather freeing. Dressing up and pretending to be Ladybug brought out a sort of confidence in her that she did not have in her day to day life. She was normally an outcast because of her exuberance over certain shows or the passionate look in her eye when discussing the detail she went into for redesigning a costume.

She found that this is where a lot of other people took on new personas and identities that allowed them to be as geeky and nerdy as they wanted to be, if only for a few days at a time. However, her first con, she had bought her tickets and gotten separated from her group. She later learned this happened frequently and there was nothing to be done about it aside from set up meet up/check in points throughout the day and eventually make it back to their hotel room – or if in the case a convention was nearby someone's home – a base of operations.

As a newbie at the con, she had shyly stuck to the sides of the hall. When someone asked for a picture, she gave them a shy smile, uncharacteristic for the super heroine she was dressed as. A few 'veteran' convention goers gave her tips and complimented her for her costume. They were friendly, comfortable to talk to her as if she were a friend of theirs even though she knew they had never met before, costumed or not. When she nervously readjusted her mask, she saw a woman in a trench coat with black wings behind her. The woman was watching her from across the way.

"Oh my gosh! You're Ladybug!" she gasped.

"Uh, yeah," Marinette said shyly, "I am."

"That's so cool! Your costume is spot on."

She could feel her cheeks heating up. No matter how many compliments she had already received in an hour over her costume, she was still embarrassed to hear the praise. However, that did not mean she was not happy to hear it. It meant her hard work had paid off. A pleasant warmth spread through her chest as she thought about it. But then she realized the girl's pun. Spots, ah yes, that was a clever one. The series she was from was littered with them.

"Thanks."

"Are you going to the photo shoot? There's going to be a shoot for Miraculous."

Photo shoots… Her friend Rose had explained that to her. It was where cosplayers gathered and photographers took their pictures. It was simple enough to understand. Some photographers charged for professional pictures whereas the ones they told her to go to where run by the fans for the fans and eventually someone would post a picture of her online though she was not sure how comfortable she was with having her picture going online.

Marinette frowned. "Um, when is it?"

"An hour. Outside of the Dealer's Room," the woman said.

"Dealer's Room?"

Now if that did not sound shady, Marinette did not know what did. Her friends had not explained what a Dealer's Room was before ditching her to go off to some panel regarding the history of a video game series that Marinette did not play. She had tried to keep up and go with them anyways but the crowd was too thick to cut through. Her friends walked with a purpose that Marinette could not compete with when it came to the panel. It had obviously been important to them because she had not received one text asking where she was or if she was lost.

"First con?" The woman asked.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Nah. You'll be fine. Hey, if you're not busy we can go together. That way you don't get lost, okay Lady?"

"Lady?"

"Ladybug? Lady?" the woman grinned. "I'm Casey from that show Devil Among Us."

Marinette smiled uncertainly and nodded. She did not watch the show but apparently because of the attractive male actors it had been signed on for another season. But because it was in the beginning stages of the series, Marinette could always go back and watch season one before the second was released in the fall. As far as she knew though, Casey was a guy on the show.

"C'mon, it'll be fun!" 'Casey' said.

"Okay," Marinette agreed.

Going around with someone else would probably end up being more fun than waiting for her other friends. 'Casey' seemed pretty friendly enough. She was chatting her up like the two of them had been friends for a long time. It was a little strange for Marinette, but she was growing more comfortable with them. Besides, her friends had better things to do. Their panel was supposed to run two hours anyways. She was not sure how someone could get so passionate about a video game to talk about the history for two hours straight but the more power to them for committing to it.

'Casey' took her hand and started to lead her around, pointing out a few characters here or there, pausing for pictures and taking a few of their own. The two of them started chatting, first about the con, then about the shows they watched. It was, after all, what they were the most passionate about and what drove them to the convention in the first place. So they found common ground in a show they both watched, laughing and mourning the plot twists and turns the writers and actors had thrown at them the most recent season.

"And when they killed Eric… Oh, I thought I was going to die!"

"But they brought him back." Marinette reminded her with a smile.

"Yeah, but this is all the reason why you can't have nice things. The writers in the show will kill them off." 'Casey' said. "To give us feels."

Marinette laughed. That was a very good point. Every time she developed a certain level of attachment for the character, something tragically horrible happened to them. The fan favorites always died. A recent following on a zombie show threatened to riot if one of their favorites died. She dreaded the day it happened, if it happened. Though a small part of her would probably be rather smug and she would get to laugh over the varying reactions.

The two of them wandered until they were outside of the 'Dealer's Room'.