all i want | a miraculous ladybug fanfic
A/N: I think I’m in love with writing established ladynoir.
Word count: 1.3k
all i want
The snow falling in Paris is light enough that Adrien is able to insist on walking, but he’s about halfway to the shop when he considers walking back to the mansion for the car. At least it’s heated. And it’s perfectly reasonable because he swears that it feels as if his nose is about to fall off already even when he buries his face in his scarf.
But priorities.
The bookstore he enters is warm and bustling with people who are eager to take advantage of the indoor café. Adrien scans the tables, looking for someone sipping—maybe hot chocolate? Marinette usually defaults to that, but he knows she loves trying out the new holiday flavors. She isn’t among the thickly dressed customers—there, it’s not just him after all—so he starts walking along the aisles of shelves. He finds her on the second floor at the fantasy novel section with her back to him and perusing a thick paperback.
And just because he can, he silently walks up behind her and pokes her in the side.
“I’m not ticklish there, you know,” Marinette says, closing the book and turning to him.
How his heart beats a little louder in his ears isn’t weird at all. Adrien’s already used to it. What’s strange is that even though he’s snatched away a few hours every night in between consecutive photoshoots and events to join her in their patrols, it’s like there’s a physical weight being lifted off his chest at the sight of her in civilian. As if he still needs the reassurance that she’s real.
And if he ever voices this to Plagg, he’ll never hear the end of it.
So Adrien smiles and laces his fingers through hers. “What gave it away?”
“You—well, being you.” She wiggles a finger at him. “And I’m not about to give up my only advantage whenever you try to sneak up on me.”
“Guess I’ll have to try harder then.” He looks around. “Alya and Nino aren’t coming?”
“Nope, and I quote—“ Marinette puffs up her chest and puts her hands on her hips in her best friend’s usual pose whenever somebody’s going to receive either good advice or a brutal telling-off. “’We’re not going to third wheel you two sweet poodles, so go and have a fantastic date with your boyfriend!”
“…Poodles?”
“Nino suggested it to her. So.” She leans on him and he wraps an arm around her shoulder. “Now that my boyfriend is here, how long is this ‘fantastic date’ going to be?”
He grimaces, feeling a very bleak future of coffee and pleasantries and socializing stretched out before him. “Only until six. I have a flight to Venice at nine.” And he doesn’t need to look at her face to know she’s at least the tiniest bit disappointed. Her breath escapes her in a loud sigh, so he adds, “Try not to miss my pretty face too much, my lady.”
That gets a snort from her. “Believe me, I’ve seen enough of your pretty face to last a lifetime.”
He grins, remembering that one time he got a glimpse of her room. “That’s not what your wallpaper says.”
“…Fine. You win this one.” Marinette picks up the book she read a while ago. “Come on. If we’ve got about three hours left, then let’s make the most of it.”
The book, as it turns out, is for Juleka who happens to be who Marinette picked out for Secret Santa (“She said something about wanting to try this genre.”), and it’s only then he remembers that he got Max’s name, so Adrien quickly gets a sci-fi book he’s already read and hopes that Max shares the same taste in books as him. Of course, asking Kim would be easier but feels like cheating during Christmas.
The cold hasn’t gotten any better when they step outside the bookstore, so they end up circling the boutiques in the area to take advantage of the free heating. They buy gifts for their friends and have a brief argument over their best friends’ music preference—and yes, Marinette might have known Nino for longer, but Adrien is very sure that the guy loves pop. They take more than a reasonable amount of selfies with the dancing Santa in front of a building. And when the sky starts to get dark, they duck into a café they both haven’t been to yet and because Marinette is adamant on splitting the bill and Adrien wants to treat the both of them this one time, they agree on an elaborate barter system over the holiday-flavored drinks.
And all in all, it’s probably their best date yet. Bonus points for not having a supervillain attack Paris today.
Halfway through her chestnut something latte, Marinette suddenly stands. “I just remembered something.” She jabs her thumb at a store across the street. “Give me five minutes?”
Adrien peers at it through the window. It’s a toy store. Maybe she wants to buy something for Manon? “Sure. Not going anywhere.”
Marinette nods and dashes out of the store, nearly bumping into some incoming customers.
With him left to his own thoughts, he thinks about the carefully wrapped gift, a charm bracelet, he left back in his room. He probably should have given it to her today, now that he considers it. He did ask Natalie to try and clear his schedule this week, but he doesn’t know if he’ll be even able to spend Christmas with her.
He sighs and fiddles with his scarf, looking for something to do with his hands.
Somehow though, in between sneaking a sip from Marinette’s drink and just staring off at random points in space, his eyes catch on a familiar pattern on the hem of the scarf. It reminds him of the one he’s seen on a particular bowler hat that gave him a sneezing fit. The thread is white on pale blue, and Adrien doesn’t dare blink as he slowly turns that piece of his scarf upside-down.
Oh Marinette.
As if she has heard him, Marinette puts her hand on the table, leaning on it instead of sitting, and takes another sip of her drink before talking. “Good thing the line wasn’t long—I thought I was going to be standing there for an hour and—hey, are you okay?” she asks worriedly, ducking her head to look into his eyes.
“Y-yeah.” He clears his throat. “I was just thinking about something.” More like a revelation decided to throw a brick straight at his face. “You were saying…?”
She dangles a pair of keychains in front of him. “I got us these,” she says with a bright grin on her face that seriously threatens to make him stop breathing even more. “If my partner’s going away to some other country for Christmas without me, well—you’re never going to be alone.” She pauses. “Be honest, how sappy was that?”
Attached to each keychain are two miniature knitted dolls of Ladybug and Chat Noir.
It’s at this point that his brain decides to shut down because really, the fact that he loves this girl so much is going to be the death of him, so it’s a good thing that they’re at the corner of the room. He rushes out of his seat and nearly tackles her in a hug, and Marinette staggers backward.
“Now I’m really getting worried, you cat.” Nonetheless, she returns it, her arms wrapping around his shoulders.
“Cheesy,” he blurts out.
“…What?”
He tightens his arms around her. “It’s cheesy enough for Plagg to eat.”
Marinette laughs, and he starts laughing too for no reason at all except that she is. And even if they’re going to spend Christmas through the phone a few countries away, he knows that the both of them will be alright.
They always are.
