A/N: i’m not sure if this is the exact cryptid/monster i’m thinking of, but it’s the closest I can get to
“When will you talk to me?” The skeleton faced man with antlers asked aggressively. “You were offered to me, you know the rules.”
Ah yes, the basic old traditions of fear. Every 70 years, someone is sacrificed to Mordeo to keep peace and to ensure he doesn’t destroy the local village. It’s not set in stone that it’s every 70 years, that’s an estimate of the human life span. It’s more like whenever the human dies, then another sacrifice must happen.
“Fine. Don’t talk to me. You can starve and rot.” The disfigured man slammed your door. He stormed into his own room and groaned. You were very good looking, he specifically chose you. It’s not often that someone like you comes into the village. In his centuries of living, he’s never wanted to hold someone more. It was frustrating that you haven’t uttered a word to him since you arrived.
You put your head in your hands. This wasn’t fair. Why does everyone bow to him? You can all just move villages instead of doing this shitty tradition. Your stomach growled, the affects of not talking to him. He was going to be your sole provider which you hated, but if you want to last, you need to talk to him. For now, you’ll sleep it off and talk to him in the morning.
________
You woke up and gathered your pride and put it in a box. You left your room and walked out to his simple kitchen. “Good morning,” you gritted.
If Mordeo could grin, he would. Alas, he lacks skin on his face. “Hello my dear, finally caving I see. The other one lasted 5 days before succumbing to their hunger.” He walked up behind you and pulled out your chair. “You’re putting your pride aside sooner than the others, I like that.” Mordeo couldn’t help but let out the little petty remarks. He wanted to be nice to you but bitterness was all he knew.
“Well I’ll be living with you till the day I die, I suppose. Better to get along than to die young. I will not hate a permanent roommate. However, don’t expect me to bend to your every demand.” You sat down and let him push your seat in for you. You nodded a thanks when he set a plate for you and did your servings. You hesitated a bit, even if it looked scrumptious, he could’ve done something to your food.
“Paranoid? Here I’ll try it first.” He grabbed his own fork and ate little bits from your plate.
You watched in curiosity to see how he eats. You wanted to gag and laugh since he didn’t have muscle, he just threw it in the mouth with his head tilted then swallowed. “Morbid,” was all you could say. It was kinda cool, if you could ignore that he was just a skull with a human body and antlers firmly placed on the top of his skull.
“I’ll take that as a compliment. Now eat. We have a day to complete.”
“A day to complete?” You raised an eyebrow as you started to eat. Your eyes then widened, holy shit he can cook. Your feet did a little happy dance that one does when they’re satisfied.
＿＿＿＿＿＿
Breakfast was done and Mordeo told you to put on a coat before you two left. He grabbed a basket and waited by the door, he tapped his shoe impatiently. You finally emerged and looked at up.
“So, what are we doing?”
“We’re going into the woods.”
‘Great. He’s going to kill me then feast on my body after just letting me eat breakfast.’
“You are aware I can read your mind right?”
Your face went blank with embarrassment. “I-“ You started walking. “I’m sorry. Let’s just go.” You wanted to think just kill me already, but you tried to make your brain stop thinking. That was so embarrassing to be called out. You wished the ground would just swallow you now.
Mordeo grabbed your head. “You don’t even know where you’re going. I’ll lead.”
‘His hand is so soft.’
“Thank you.”
“Stop reading my mind!”
“Stop thinking so loud.”
You huffed as he lead you deeper into the woods. You both reached a nice clearing where the vegation was thriving. It looked so peaceful and nice. You heard the birds chirping awfully close, you looked at Mordeo and stifled a laugh. Three small birds already perched themselves on his antlers.
“Everything in this land knows me as their protector.” Mordeo didn’t know why he was explaining himself. “So they just like to be close.” He shooed away the birds.
“You don’t seem like a big scary monster anymore, but why show me this part of you?”
“I’m lonely. I want a companion, it’s why I demand a sacrifice. Everyone is too scared of me to bother.”
You felt a pang of guiltiness. Damn. “Maybe you should be nicer.”
Mordeo laugher. “You’re an idiot if you think kindness will get you everywhere. Look at me, you even just called me a monster not that long ago. That’s all people will ever see, all you ever will see.”
You scrunched your nose. Maybe you should be nicer.
“I brought you here to show you that on the inside I’m human too. I do want to get along. I’ve seen how you’re nice to everyone, I want that too.” Mordeo looked away, if he had eyes he would’ve rolled them.
“I’m sorry.” You bit your lip nervously. “I didn’t see it like that.” You grabbed onto his hand passionately with determination in your eyes. “I will be the very best friend I can be from now on.”
Mordeo would’ve smiled if he had the skin. You were truly the nicest of all the other people he had gotten. Nobody had given him the chance, all the others tried to run when they got to the clearing. They didn’t last long without their legs being torn out. “Thank you. I appreciate that. Go and pick some fruits. I think I want to make some deserts.”
You grabbed the basket and nodded. “Okay! We haven’t been properly introduced. I’m (Y/N) (L/N). I will try my best to be your friend as long as you can be my friend too.”
Mordeo took your hand and bowed. “I’m Mordeo. We will be the best of friends.” He felt his heart swell, maybe you could be the one. The one to get rid of his sad lonely days and accept him fully, just like he was in the beginning. For now, he’ll let time do it’s own thing.
It’s finally here! Six months late! @adventures-in-mangaland Merry Christmas in June! Here’s the final chapter in your Secret Santa gift!
Also on Ao3
Marinette wasn’t able to fully process her discovery until she was finally alone the next day. She’d passed the last twelve hours as if she were watching a scene in a movie instead of actually experiencing it.
Looking back on the past ten years, there were plenty of signs. Adrien disappeared with thinly veiled excuses about as often as she did, and now she understood why. Not that she had questioned it much in the past. She had been too focused on getting away herself to think about what he was doing. And Cat Noir had shown signs, too. The feather allergy should have been the first indication, but lots of people had allergies! Why should she question that?
By that afternoon, she was wondering how she could have been so blind. It seemed so obvious.
Now that she thought about it, with Hawkmoth “defeated”--that’s what they were saying, at least, since he had been so silent for the past few years-- they didn’t have any real reason to hide their identities from one another. Not anymore. Though neither one had brought it up to each other in several years.
Maybe it was time to do so.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Adrien was ecstatic. The date was set. Christmas eve, he would make Marinette a nice, romantic dinner, then they would browse through the Christmas Market at the base of the Eiffel Tower. He would wait until the sun was setting, and he would get down on one knee and ask her to marry him. Then, they would return to his apartment where they would have dessert with some of their friends and family to celebrate. It was a simple plan. Maybe a little bit cliche, but he stood by it. After all, the only thing he cared about was spending his life with this lovely lady.
Now, all that's left was to wait.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
She was being weird. She knew she was being weird, but she couldn’t stop. The only contact she’d had with Adrien/Cat Noir in the last 24 hours since her discovery had been through a couple of quick text messages between his ever busy schedule. But it was patrol night, and she’d been forced to face him without the buffer of a screen between them. For some reason, the mask of composure she’d had the day before with Adrien left her. Something about the knowledge that it was her boyfriend, her supermodel, amazingly attractive, pun loving, ever supportive boyfriend poured into that leather cat suit made her brain short circuit. And she was having a hard time convincing herself that this was the first time she’d noticed how much she enjoyed looking at him in it.
She was sure he noticed how wildly she swung between tense silence and near incoherent babbling. Fortunately enough, even Cat Noir was used to her occasional strange moods and didn’t pry, trusting her to come to him when the time was right. It hadn’t always been that way. When they were younger, he had poked and prodded at her over every little thing. But at some point, he began to realize that the easiest way to get her to open up to him was to give her some space to sort things out on her own first, even if he really wanted to know.
Guilt gnawed at her. She wanted to tell him, she realized, that she had figured him out. She hadn’t been looking, but she’d found him anyway. Keeping this knowledge behind his back felt like a violation.
Unfortunately, she was never good at finding the right moments for revelations like these. They patrolled for an hour and a half, and the entire time, she couldn’t bring herself to broach the subject of their identities. So, she sent him off with a halfhearted, unenthused “see ya later” before swinging off to her own apartment for a late night stress snack and another fitful night’s sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Work kept Marinette blessedly busy the next day. She wasn’t sure if she could take much more of her brain turning over itself. Between the need to confess, the now obvious signs that she kept going over and over in her mind that her boyfriend was her partner all along, and the now growing excitement at that discovery, she was getting emotional whiplash. But, the office would be closed for the next few days for the holiday, and Marinette had quite a bit of work to get done before she locked up her desk for the break.
She was midway through making some changes that a senior designer marked on her sketches when her text tone buzzed on her phone. Tikki brought the device across the room so that Marinette barely had to put down her pencil to check the message.
Adrien: Date night. 1630 tomorrow. Don’t forget!
Adrien: And leave your design book at the office this time.
Marinette snorted. As if she would actually forget about their Christmas Eve date. Most families would be spending the evening together and having a nice, formal dinner. Adrien and his father hadn’t had such a tradition in years, and Marinette’s family opted to just celebrate on Christmas day when they could convince her grandparents to come together. So, for the past four Christmases, ever since they started university, Marinette and Adrien had spent the holiday-eve together.
And this year’s date would be the perfect setting for her to confess her recent discovery.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Adrien’s heart was officially pounding right out of his chest.
Dinner had been spectacular, of course. The restaurant he’d selected was a small, newly opened bistro within a short walk of the Eiffel Tower. They’d had roasted capon, greens, and potatoes that were all even better than his father’s private chefs had ever made, leaving the two of them stuffed. It hadn’t taken much to steer Marinette away from the dessert menu. He couldn’t very well tell her that her parents were at his apartment putting the finishing touches on their celebration sweets.
Fortunately, she mentioned a craving for mulled wine, allowing Adrien the perfect segue into the Christmas market.
It was already dark by the time they arrived at the base of the tower, and it was predictably busy, which did put a small damper on the idyllic, romantic picture Adrien had painted in his mind, but his plans were far from ruined. How could they be when his beautiful girlfriend looked so precious all bundled up, blowing on her steaming mug of wine?
Her hair was pulled back into low twin tails, a style he hadn’t seen her wear in several years. It reminded him of their high school years. Her little, upturned nose was rosy from the chill, and her delicate fingers clutched the souvenir mug tightly to leech its warmth.
In a few minutes, she was going to be his fiancée . If she said yes, that is. Plagg, Nino, Alya, and her parents had repeatedly assured him that she would say yes, would never even consider saying no. Even he knew his fears were baseless, but he couldn’t help the trill of anxiety that rang through him.
He took a deep breath, steadying himself, before leading Marinette a little bit away from the packed crowds of the Christmas Market. They walked quietly down the Champs de Mars , away from the tower, until it stood brightly over them. The crowd around them thinned out to the point that they had some measure of privacy.
The little velvet box was heavy in his pocket.
As the two of them approached an unoccupied bench, Adrien glanced up at the starless night sky, then to his girlfriend’s pink cheeks.
Her clear blue eyes met his, the corners crinkling with the brightness of her smile, and he knew more than ever that he wanted to spend his life with this woman. That thought pushed past all remaining anxiety that muddled his brain.
Without another moment of hesitation, Adrien placed his hands over Marinette’s where she clutched the mug of wine. Her eyes widened and the chilled flush of her cheeks deepened. Adrien gave her a reassuring smile as he took the mug from her hands and placed it on the bench next to them. He kept one hand on her’s, a serene feeling he hadn’t expected filling his very soul as he took a deep breath and reached into his jacket pocket.
“Marinette, the last five years with you have been some of the best of my life,” Adrien began, the words he’d been rehearsing in front of his mirror for days tumbling out of him. He pulled the small, green box out of his pocket and braced himself to get down on one knee.
Marinette’s wide eyes locked onto that little box. He heard her breath catch, felt the way her fingers tightened around his. The redness in her cheeks rose even more.
“They’ve been the best in my entire life, and that’s why I have something very important to ask you.” But just as Adrien began to sink to his knee--
“I know your secret,” Marinette exclaimed.
Well that was...not even remotely what he was expecting her to say. Adrien nearly toppled over as his balance faltered. Her firm grip on his hand kept him upright and he returned to full height. His brows knit together.
He opened his mouth to ask what she was talking about when she cut him off again, her voice much quieter this time,but still carrying that same heat as before. “I know that you’re Cat Noir.”
His eyes widened, and his heart stopped dead in his chest. Panic tried to rise, but at the moment he was too dumbfounded to even get that far. “I--” On impulse, he tried to come up with some kind of excuse. He was suddenly fourteen again, trying to explain his tardiness to a stern physics teacher. Say something, idiot!
But Marinette continued. “It’s not like you’re bad at hiding it or anything. You’re actually really good at keeping it a secret. And it’s not your fault that I know, either! I don’t want you to feel like you’ve done anything wrong, but I had to tell you because it isn’t fair that I know, and you didn’t know that I know, and you don’t know about me either. That would be so messed up, right?” She let out a strangled laugh and slapped her free hand against her forehead. “I’m rambling.” She took a deep breath to steady herself.
Adrien waited, not wanting to interrupt, and afraid to even breathe.
“I know you’re Cat Noir because I’m Ladybug.” Marinette tucked one of her ponytails behind her ear, revealing the same reddish-black earrings she’s worn the entire time he’s known her.
Earrings, he suddenly realized, that looked a lot like what Ladybug’s miraculous would look like in their dormant state.
Adrien’s eyes brightened as he took the woman in front of him in. Long, low pigtails that had once been Marinette’s signature look. That continued to be a part of Ladybug’s.
Deep, blue eyes that narrowed when she was lost in thought, and the little upturned nose that scrunched up when she laughed.
It was like a grimy film was suddenly washed clean and he could see Marinette for the first time. And what he saw was His Lady.
Marinette fidgeted under his gaze, but did not let go of his hand.
Adrien didn’t let go, either.
Instead, with the little green box still in his grasp, he clutched her hand with both of his. He was sure any outsider would think him absolutely manic with how broadly he was grinning, but he didn’t care. “Well,” he remarked, unable to stifle the giddiness in his voice, “I guess the cat’s out of the bag.”
Marinette sputtered at the pun, but he ignored her, continuing, “And since I already told Ladybug the rest of my secrets, I’m sure you already know what I was going to ask you.”
“Ask me?” She blinked at him, a look of confusion crossing her face.
“That big, important question that I’ve been planning on asking my girlfriend. On Christmas Eve.” All anxiety about popping the question disappeared the moment she told him who she was. Whether they knew it or not, Ladybug and Cat Noir had always been a matching pair. He pulled her close to him and wrapped his arm around her waist. He flipped the lid of the ring box open and presented it to her for what he realized was the second time.
Marinette suddenly remembered the circumstances of her discovering his identity in the first place. She had been so wrapped up in figuring out how she was going to tell him she knew that she completely forgot that Cat Noir had been planning on proposing to his girlfriend on Christmas Eve. And if Cat Noir was Adrien, that made her Cat Noir’s girlfriend, which meant….
Marinette swallowed, her heart now racing for a totally new reason.
“So, Ladybug,” Adrien said, his feline grin making her brain short circuit, “The past ten years with you have been the absolute greatest in my life. Now that I know our history together goes so much deeper than friendship and romance, I know that there is no way I can live without you by my side. You are the bravest, smartest, strongest, most beautiful woman in the world. All I want is to build a life with you. A family. Marinette, My Lady, will you do this pitiful stray the honor of marrying me?”
Marinette’s eyes burned. As if he even had to ask. Throat tight, she finally managed to speak again. “Yes.”
At her breathless response, Adrien’s heart soared with joy. He closed the distance between them, tightening their embrace, and sealed the engagement with a kiss. He couldn’t for the life of him figure out what he had done to be so lucky as to marry the one true love of his life.
She ducked behind a pillar as Adrien walked past, laughing at something Nino was saying.
She was such a coward.
They were friends-- good friends. They made jokes and hung out--heck, she even helped him run from his crazed fans. Yet, for some reason, this was still happening. Sometimes, her nervousness around Adrien overtook her and it was either make a fool of herself of hide.
Today, she chose to hide.
What was wrong with her? She was a confident person, even more so since she started donning the spotted mask of her alter ego. She could face down akumas all day long. Monsters made of her friends and family throwing everything they had her way, she could handle it all.
But one smile from her blond haired classmate and her brain turned to mush.
Marinette peered around the pillar.
There he was.
The sunlight highlighted his golden hair perfectly, his smile shining twice as brightly as usual, making Marinette wonder if something good had happened to him today. He seemed to be in a really good mood. It was a nice change from the rain clouds that seemed to be following him the last few weeks.
That thought brought a grin to Marinette’s face and made her wonder what had him so uplifted. Seeing him like this, laughing, relaxed, and just really happy drew her in. She wanted to be a part of his good day, too.
“What’s the matter, Marinette?” Tikki whispered, peeking out of Marinette’s purse. “Why don’t you go talk to him?”
Marinette sighed dreamily. “He looks so happy.”
“That’s a good thing, right? So why are you hiding?”
“I don’t want to embarrass myself again. I don’t mind watching today. He seems like he’s in a really good mood today. It seems like he’s had a lot of bad days lately, so I’m glad to see him smiling again.”
Tikki smiled and shook her head. “Marinette, when you’re in a good mood, don’t you want to share it with your friends? I’m sure Adrien would be happy to talk to you.”
Marinette glanced at Adrien again. He was poking at Nino with a sly grin that made her heart jump. “You’re right, Tikki. Days like these are even better with friends.”
With a steadying breath, Marinette adjusted her school bag. She slapped both of her cheeks and pulled a smile onto her face before stepping out from the shadow of her pillar.
It was already a good day, but she had a feeling it was about to be even better.
I am so excited to participate in this year’s @mlsecretsanta exchange, especially because I had the honor of writing for the amazing and talented @ming85! I have been a fan of your art for ages. This piece was partially inspired by this piece of your art from the Paris Landscape series. I know you said that it was based on another fic, but this scene was so powerful I had to write my own version, as well. By all rights, this should have been a multi chapter fic. Unfortunately, I had to cut a lot out. It still ended up being double the originally planned word count. I sincerely hope that you enjoy reading this as much as I loved writing it!!
Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays <3 <3 <3
Musical Inspiration: Perfect by Ed Sheeran
Also On AO3
Marinette sighed and sank down into her chair even further, tuning out whatever it was Alya was talking about. She felt a little guilty ignoring her friend, but her worries were assuaged by the knowledge that Nino at least was paying attention.
Marinette just didn’t have the mental capacity to focus on anything today, not after what happened this morning.
Her eyes flicked to Adrien, sitting across from her at the library table, and accidentally made eye contact. She felt her cheeks burning and turned away as quickly as possible, feigning interest in her best friend’s story.
Even without looking, she could feel his eyes on her still. It made her want to fidget, to somehow squirm away from his intense stare. She turned her head again, blue eyes meeting green, and the whole world spun around her.
Because Adrien was Cat Noir.
They never intended to reveal themselves to one another.
At least, not anytime soon. Ladybug said it was safer for both of them to remain anonymous, even to one another. Cat Noir may not have liked it, but he had to agree. It was for the best.
They never intended to reveal themselves. Which is why it came as such a shock when it actually happened.
Ladybug was racing over the rooftops, zigzagging between buildings and alleyways to shake off any remaining media and de-transform in peace.
She dropped down into a familiar alleyway, near the school and away from prying eyes. There were mere seconds left on her transformation, and suddenly Ladybug realized she wasn’t alone.
On the other end of the alleyway, eyes wide as saucers and the last pad on his Miraculous beeping frantically, was Cat Noir.
There wasn’t time to process what was happening, no time to turn away or close their eyes. They could only stare, frozen in place, as their transformations wore off, and suddenly they weren’t Ladybug and Cat Noir anymore.
In their places were Marinette and Adrien, classmates, friends, and apparently partners.
All of that had happened after an early morning akuma attack just before the start of classes. Now, just a few hours after a jarring reveal, the two of them were forced to act natural, like nothing had changed, like they hadn’t just discovered that their superhero best friend had been so close all along, while they worked on their history project.
There hadn’t been enough time to process everything.
Adrien?! He had been Cat Noir the whole time?
Sure, the two of them were friends. They hung out all the time, whether it was alone or with other friends. She was finally starting to act like a regular person around him, slowly getting over the way her words turned to soup in front of him. Now she had to deal with the fact that her amazing, smart, kind, handsome, perfect crush was also her silly, brave, kind, amazing partner, too! How could she possibly be expected to act like a normal person in front of him now that she knew both sides of him?
Adrien, for his part, wasn’t much better off. Ladybug was right there. He’d looked for His Lady in every blue eyed, dark haired girl he’d come across in the hopes of finding her, only to have her sitting behind him in class the entire time. He lamented the missed opportunities, but they didn’t really matter any more. What mattered was that they knew now.
“Hello,” Alya said in her sing-song, are-you-paying-attention voice. Of course neither of them had been. “Did you guys hear me? The Holiday Gala at Le Grand Paris?”
“What about it?” Marinette asked, hoping to distract herself from the blond boy across from her.
Alya rolled her eyes. “Are we going?”
“Isn’t that one of Chloe’s dad’s parties?” Nino wondered. “How are we even going to get in when she hates most of us?”
“My mother is the head chef,” Alya pointed out. “She has her ways. Besides, I’m sure Mister Adrikins Agreste over there is already on the guest list.”
“Yeah,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck, “Chloe’s been talking about this party for a while. My father’s all for it because it will be a good networking opportunity. There won’t be many people our age there, so it would be great if you guys can make it! I bet even Chloe would enjoy the company. These things can get exhausting when it’s just businessmen and company representatives.” Adrien turned to Marinette. She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but something in his eyes seemed more...heated, more intense than usual. It made heat rise from her neck to her cheeks. “There will be a lot of people in the fashion industry there, too. You could make some good connections, Marinette.”
Marinette made a quiet, strangled noise in the back of her throat. “Really?” She managed to squeak out, “That’s wait! I-I can’t the great to a party!” Oh, no, of course the word soup would come back at a time like this! She groaned and took a steadying breath. “I mean, I can’t wait to go. To the party.”
Alya gave her a strange look. It had been quite some time since Marinette had been this nervous around Adrien. Alya must know that something was up for her to suddenly revert to this kind of behavior again.
If Adrien noticed, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he simply smiled at her, the same way Adrien always smiled at Marinette, as if their whole world hadn’t changed just hours ago. “It might be a good opportunity to show off your design skills.”
Marinette gave a single stiff nod. She did have a few works in progress that she could have done in time.
“Great!” Alya said, clapping her hands together twice, “it’s settled, then. I’ll tell my mom we’re all on board. The Gala is in two weeks, so clear your schedules. Nino, my dress is going to be orange, just so you know.”
“Why are you telling me that?” Nino asked.
Alya groaned. “So that your suit can match, obviously.”
“This isn’t some American high school prom, Al,” Nino pointed out, “dates don’t need to buy each other corsages and match perfectly.”
“What’s so wrong with matching? You look good in orange!”
“It’s a white tie event! I’m not showing up to a high class event like this looking like I just walked off of an American teen rom-com…”
Marinette giggled as she watched her friends argue playfully, swinging her legs idly under the table. She had nearly forgotten about her earlier revelation until her foot casually brushed up against Adrien’s leg.
The heat returned to her face immediately as the two of them made eye contact. They stared at one another for just a moment before quickly averting their gazes.
This whole identity reveal thing was a disaster, after all.
Marinette flung herself onto her chaise lounge with a groan.
That had to be the longest school day she’d ever been through.
She couldn’t stop staring at Adrien--even more than usual. She’d been trying to match him up to her image of Cat Noir, and she was finding it easier and easier to do the more she thought about it. Now that she’d been stewing the entire day, she was thinking a bit more clearly and it actually made sense. She and Adrien were practically the only people that hadn’t been akumatized. Besides that, he and Cat Noir were more similar than she realized, for good reason. Beyond the fact that they were both tall, blond haired boys with green eyes, they both had terrible senses of humor. They were both extremely skilled in a fight, with Adrien’s fencing skills and Cat Noir’s amazing reflexes with his staff. And both of them were quick on their feet, able to catch her quickly when she fell.
That last thought made her heart skip a beat.
She’d always been in love with Adrien, that was an undisputed fact nearly since the two had met. And Cat Noir had always held a special place in her heart as her partner and best friend, maybe even a little bit more than that if she was being honest with herself.
To have those two incredibly precious people suddenly morph into one amazing, funny, handsome, kind, smart, miraculous package was just...too much.
How could she possibly be expected to face them both at once?
“It’s Marinette,” Adrien sighed, flopping onto his bed.
He hadn’t really had time to process the sudden reveal of Ladybug’s identity that day, not with school and work and activities cramming his schedule, and his brain.
But now that he had a couple of hours to himself, his mind began to wander.
Marinette was Ladybug.
Ladybug was Marinette.
It made sense, really. He could kick himself for not seeing it sooner. It wasn’t like the signs weren’t there, he just hadn’t noticed. Hadn’t been looking at what was right in front of him--or rather, right behind him.
Now that he knew that his amazing friend and beloved partner were one in the same, he couldn’t keep the grin off of his face. He didn’t think he could love Ladybug any more than he already did, but apparently he could. Knowing the girl behind the mask had made his love for her grow tenfold.
“Gross,” Plagg said from his perch on Adrien’s desk, “would you stop sighing like that? It’s ruining my appetite.”
“I can’t help it, Plagg,” Adrien said, picturing Marinette’s blushing face from that afternoon, remembering the way her lovely bluebell eyes caught the light in the library. “She’s just so great.”
Plagg made a gagging noise. “Just ask her out already, then. If you’re going to be this disgusting, at least do something about it.”
That was it!
Adrien hopped up out of bed and grabbed Plagg off of the desk. “Plagg, you’re a genius!” He said, dropping a kiss to the top of his kwami’s head.
The little black cat made a hacking sound, but Adrien ignored it in favor of spinning around in a circle. He just had to confess.
Marinette tried to pass the next week at school as naturally as she could.
Unfortunately for her, “natural” didn’t come easily to her. It never had.
If she thought her word soup had been bad around Adrien in the beginning, it had nothing on this. It was as if her tongue turned to lead any time she saw him, which was literally all the time. It was like he was purposefully getting in her way any chance he got.
Forget discussing the aftermath of their revealed identities, Marinette couldn’t even holding a friendly conversation with the guy. It was like she was in middle school all over again, and she absolutely hated it.
How was she supposed to fight off akumas if she couldn’t even say “hello” to her partner in the hallways?!
To make matters worse, Adrien had developed this habit of touching her any time he saw her, something he did regularly as Cat Noir that seemed to carry over into their civilian lives. Every time he brushed her hand with his, or nudged her with his shoulder, an electric current would run through her body, temporarily short circuiting her brain.
“I don’t know what to do, Tikki!” Marinette complained after an especially stressful day. “What if I can never talk to him like a normal person again?”
“You can do it, Marinette.” Her Kwami encouraged. “How did you learn how to talk to Adrien the first time?”
Marinette considered that. There had to be at least some reason she’d started talking to Adrien normally, didn’t there? “I guess...it was because I got used to him? We started to talk more outside of class, and we spent time alone together, and eventually my words did what they were supposed to.”
“Then maybe you just need to get used to him again!” Tikki suggested. “This was quite a shock to you, right? It’s a lot to handle, and your brain needs time to connect everything. If you spend time with him, as Adrien and Cat Noir, then maybe your words will do what they’re supposed to like before.”
It was a possibility, for sure. Marinette still worried what might happen if something went wrong, though. What if she said something totally weird and ended up chasing him off? She’d had enough close calls with that. What if she called him “hot stuff” to his face this time instead of to his voice mail? Or something even more embarrassing? It was bad enough to say those things to Adrien when he was just Adrien, but Cat Noir, too? She couldn’t even begin to imagine how mortified she would be.
She couldn’t let this setback get in the way of protecting Paris though. She had a responsibility to her city first and her heart second, so for the sake of her city, she had to figure out how to talk to Adrien/Cat Noir like a normal person ASAP.
Their first patrol since their accidental reveal was definitely a bit...strange.
Typically the night began with Cat Noir prattling off a number of jokes, some light hearted banter and flirting, and maybe a spar. This night was different, though.
Because now they knew who it was under the mask.
They had tried to tell themselves that knowing the person under the mask wouldn’t change anything. Cat was still Cat and Ladybug was still Ladybug.
Yet as much as they reminded themselves of that fact, things between them were still strained. Cat Noir was more careful with his words, and Ladybug more guarded with her previously casual physical contact.
After an especially quiet circuit around the city, the two of them found themselves sitting on a rooftop with a calculated amount of space between them. They hadn’t spoken much that night, or that day at school. Or really in the entire week following the accident.
Things were starting to get awkward, and they both hated it. But of course, neither of them knew how to make things right, either.
They just couldn’t figure out where they stood anymore.
“It’s been really quiet tonight, huh M--my--Marinette?” Cat Noir winced. Real smooth.
Ladybug jumped at his sudden use of her real name. “Y-yeah! Super quiet.”
“Maybe Hawkmoth decided to retire?”
“We can only hope,” she giggled.
Then it was quiet again.
Marinette could kick herself. This was Cat Noir. She should at least be able to crack a joke with him or something, but instead she was sitting there not sure of what to say and making a complete fool of herself. She was so stupid!
Unable to take the pressure anymore, Ladybug began to rise to her feet.
“Hey, um, Ladybug,” Cat Noir said hesitantly in a tone so un-Cat-like, but so very Adrien that she couldn’t believe it. “Before we call it a night, can I ask you something?”
Ladybug paused. “Of course.”
Cat Noir scrambled to his feet in front of her in a move that was so unlike what she expected of Adrien. She was beginning to see that the reason she had such a hard time connecting the two of them in the beginning was because he really did act like a different person with the mask on. When he was Adrien, he was this picture of perfection: well groomed, well behaved, well mannered, always smiling that model smile. But when he was Cat Noir, it was like he could really let his hair down. The wild streak that Adrien occasionally hinted at with a stray wink and a sly grin, or a particularly well placed pun came out full force.
Marinette both understood why she never connected the two and wanted to smack herself for not seeing it sooner.
Standing in front of her was both well mannered, poised Adrien Agreste and the silly tom cat, Cat Noir, wrapped up into one phenomenal person that she got to call her best friend and partner.
Her best friend and partner who had apparently just asked her a question that she had completely missed. He looked at her expectantly, and Marinette rattled her brain to figure out what he had just said, but she just had not been listening at all.
“I’m sorry, what did you just say?” She said with a flush.
“I asked if you would go to the Holiday Gala with me.”
Marinette though she was imagining the question. Had he really just…
Looking once again at the way he glanced at her before quickly glancing away, not so casually rubbing the back of his neck in his usual nervous habit, Marinette knew the question was very real.
“Aren’t you going with Chloe?” She asked, immediately wanting to smack herself. That was so not what she should be saying right now.
“What?! Chloe?” Cat held up both of his hands and shook his head. “No, no, Chloe isn’t...I’m not...I’m not going with Chloe. No.”
“Then…” Ladybug averted her eyes, not quite able to meet his dead on. “Yes, I’ll go with you.”
Cat Noir’s grin was blinding under the dim city lights. “Great! Then, I’ll pick you up at your house before the party?”
Ladybug nodded. “That sounds good.”
“Alright,” he laughed. “Great!” He pulled out his staff and extended it, already ready to take off. “I”ll see you then!” With that, Cat Noir jumped off the side of the building and vaulted on to the next one, heading home without any further adieu.
“You know, I’ll still see you at school tomorrow, too, right?” She called after him.
His only response was a distant whoop. Ladybug shook her head. She should be following the alley cat’s example and heading home as well. She had a dress to finish, and only seven days left to finish it.
In the days leading up to the Holiday Gala, Marinette should have been working on her dress, but as the day approached she couldn’t seem to take her mind off of her partner. The snow kept patrols short, and he had been pulled out of school more often than usual to attend networking events with his father.
So instead of working on the gown she would be wearing to what was likely going to be one of the most glamorous nights of her entire life, Marinette found herself working on Adrien’s Christmas present.
There were two things she knew Adrien loved: sweets and handmade gifts. All these years later, he still carried around the lucky charm she’d given him. Not that she was much better. She’d fastened the one he made her to her purse so that it was always with her.
Fortunately, Marinette was skilled at two things in particular: making food and making gifts.
She’d been planning this gift for a while now, ever since Adrien started complaining about a sore back, supposedly from all of the photo shoots his father had him doing this season. Now that Marinette had a little more perspective on the matter, she had a feeling his sore muscles had more to do with being thrown off of buildings and battling supervillains than with posing for cameras, though that probably didn’t help much. Fortunately, she’d recalled a conversation with Cat Noir on a similar matter only a few days before the reveal about how much of a pain the cold weather was moments before he draped himself around her and begged her to be his hot water bottle for the rest of the winter.
She grinned to herself as she finished sewing a zipper into her gift. Working on finishing this had taken some time away from finishing her Gala dress, but she had a feeling that his reaction would make it all worth it.
Marinette quickly wrapped the present, tossing in some hand made Christmas chocolates and tying the bag off with a bow.
“When are you going to give it to him?” Tikki asked, landing on the bag’s stiff, straw handles.
Marinette was focused on the card, sticking her tongue out as she drew out the careful calligraphy. She hummed thoughtfully. “I think I’ll do it tomorrow.”
“Aren’t you guys exchanging gifts next week, though?” Tikki asked. Marinette and her friends typically exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve, but things were different this year.
“I think it’ll be worth it to give this to him a little bit early this year,” Marinette explained. “Things have been a little tense ever since our...little accident last week, but I think he’s trying to make things normal again. That’s probably why he asked me to the Gala with him.”
“Are you sure he didn’t ask you because he genuinely wants you to be his date? Like, in a romantic way?”
Marinette paused over the front of the card, pondering over how to address it. “We’re friends, Tikki. We’ve been friends for years, and I’m pretty sure that he just wants to go to this party as friends.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Tikki warned. “Have you forgotten the way Cat Noir flirts with you?”
“That doesn’t mean anything. We’ve always played that game with each other. Besides, he never flirts that way with Marinette, and he hasn’t done it at all recently. I guess it’s weird now that we know each other.”
Tikki gave Marinette a skeptical look, but didn’t press the issue further.
Marinette sighed and scribbled down the address on the front of the card without any more hesitation and shoved it into the bag, unintentionally knocking her kwami from her perch.
“Hey!” Tikki protested.
Marinette winced. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
Her kwami grumbled, causing Marinette to giggle. She glanced at her mannequin and the nearly finished gown. The Gala was only a couple of days away, and Adrien was taking her as his date. She couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Tikki was right. She didn’t want to get her hopes up for anything, but if something did happen…
Marinette shook her head. She couldn’t get caught up in thoughts like that.
She turned off her light and headed up the ladder to her loft bed. She would just start small, take things one step at a time. She would give Adrien his Christmas present tomorrow, put the finishing touches on her dress, and go to the gala with Adrien. He would take one look at her amazing dress and decide that he couldn’t live without her anymore. Her kitty cat would sweep her off her feet and propose on the spot, and they would get married, have three kids, and a cat. The power of their love for each other would overwhelm the entire city, and Hawkmoth would have no choice but to surrender, and they would live happily ever after...
Marinette groaned as she flopped on her bed, heart racing in her chest again. She pulled her stuffed cat from the top of her bed and cradled it against her chest. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t help herself from dreaming.
“Dude,” Nino said, smacking Adrien on the shoulder when they met up on the school steps, “why didn’t you tell me you were taking Marinette to the Gala?”
Adrien winced and rubbed his shoulder. He’d overdone it on patrol the night before. Ladybug had the night off, and he’d been going solo. Unfortunately, even though she hadn’t been with him, Adrien’s thoughts had been thoroughly consumed with Marinette the entire night. He’d been distracted and taken a pretty bad tumble when he tried to land on a ledge that was just a little bit out of his range. “You knew she was going…”
“Yeah, but I thought we were just meeting up there. You never said you were bringing her as your date! I had to hear about it from Alya!” Nino complained. “Are you finally making your move, dude?”
“What do you mean ‘finally’?” Adrien asked, removing his scarf as they passed through the school entryway. He felt his cheeks heating up.
“I mean have you finally realized that you and Marinette are made for each other?”
In an uncharacteristically clumsy moment, Adrien stumbled. “We’re what?” Sure, Adrien had always thought that, about Ladybug at least. The two of them were Yin and Yang, two halves of the same whole. Of course, since Marinette was Ladybug, it went without saying that the sentiment extended to the girl behind the mask as well. In fact, the feeling that they belonged together had never been stronger. But there was no reason for Nino to know about all of that.
His best friend shrugged. “It’s obvious, my guy. You and Marinette would be a great couple. Everyone thinks so. I’m proud of you for finally making a move.”
“Everyone thinks so?” Adrien repeated.
“Everyone since college, bro.”
Adrien didn’t have time to mull over that revelation as the two of them entered the classroom. His attention first landed on Marinette, who was unusually early to class, bent over her desk as she sewed fabric flowers to a hair clip. He wondered how late she’d been up working on her dress. He knew she had a tendency to hyperfixate on her projects.
He was just about to greet her when Nino nudged his arm and pointed at Adrien’s desk.
On his desk right in front of Marinette’s was a large green bag with a carefully tied silver bow and small card nearly hidden in a ton of carefully arranged silver tissue paper.
Adrien glanced up at Marinette again, but she was very deliberately not looking at him. She just carried on looping the thread through the fabric flowers and securing them to the clip in her hands.
He sat down at his desk and plucked the card from the tissue paper. The card was hand painted, with little pictures of holly decorating the border. The address in the center written in delicate red calligraphy brought a huge grin to Adrien’s face.
“To keep you warm and ease your pains. Merry Christmas, mon chaton.”
The card wasn’t signed, but it wasn’t hard to figure out who had left it there.
“Are you going to open it?” Nino prompted.
Adrien glanced at his friend and resisted the urge to turn and look at his Lady behind him.
He carefully untied the ribbon and began pulling out the tissue paper. Inside the bag was a small package of chocolates, decorated with little white chocolate cats and snowflakes that warmed his heart. He dug a little deeper in the bag until his fingers brushed against soft, plush fabric. He gripped what felt like a pillow with a hard center and lifted it out of the bag.
In his hands was a clearly hand stitched, cinnamon roll shaped pillow that was about half the size of his torso and plump with stuffing. He traced his fingers along the spiral in the center and the bronze, shimmering threads of cinnamon sugar that made the plush look good enough to eat. He ran his thumbs over the seams, wondering how long it had taken her to make such an amazing gift, when he felt a hidden zipper. Curious, he opened up the cinnamon roll from the side.
Inside of the delicious looking bun was a large, empty hot water bottle. Hadn’t he just told Ladybug the week prior that he was looking into getting one of these? When had she found the time to put this together? And in the shape of one of his favorite sweets, too…
“Dude,” Nino gave a low, impressed whistle. “That thing looks good enough to eat! What does the card say?”
Adrien pressed a finger to his lips and grinned conspiratorially. “That’s a secret.”
He could hear Marinette stifle a giggle behind him, which only made his grin grow wider. Nino glanced between the two of them, his confusion evident on his face. “What…”
Adrien winked at his friend. “Don’t worry about it.”
Nino cringed and took his seat next to Adrien. “That was gross, bro. Don’t do that again.”
Adrien chuckled and clutched the cinnamon roll to his chest, savoring its warmth even without the hot water bottle.
Only one day left until the Gala.
Adrien had pulled Marinette aside after classes to thank her for the gift, and she was right when she predicted that the extra time put into it would make his reaction worth it. As he held up the cinnamon roll pillow, his eyes had sparkled in a way that she typically only saw when he was Cat Noir, soaring over the streets of Paris. It had sent her heart soaring to see so much joy bubbling out of him. She even felt a little bit closer to him now. She was thankful that her gift had fulfilled its purpose.
The only problem was that she had put herself more behind schedule than she originally thought. Marinette cursed her inability to do things simply as she sewed a few last minute rose embellishments into the bodice of the gown. She’d had some extra shimmering thread left over from Adrien’s present, and she wanted to put it to good use. The extra touch would definitely be worth it, but at what cost? She was working so quickly that she’d inadvertently stabbed herself six or seven times with her embroidery needle in the past hour and a half. Her fingers were covered with bandages. If this went on, she’d have to wear gloves at the gala just to be presentable.
“You should take a break, Marinette,” Tikki urged.
“Can’t,” she muttered around a mouth full of pins. She pulled out another as she incorporated the tiny fabric rose into the embroidery pattern. “Need to finish.”
She only had a day to finish. Alya had already booked them for hair appointments that could take a couple of hours, so there would be no time to work the day of. Things had to be absolutely perfect.
Tikki watched as her charge pricked herself for the eighth time as she secured another flower to the bodice. There was no doubt that the dress was beautiful, but Tikki worried about Marinette’s health. Sure, she and Adrien were finally starting to warm up to one another again after the shock of the unplanned reveal, but had they rushed things a bit too much? Marinette swore this wasn’t a date, but Tikki still worried. Marinette was deep in denial about Adrien/Cat Noir’s feelings for her despite the fact that they were glaringly obvious. Now more than ever, he looked at her as if she hung the stars in the sky. When he finally confessed, Tikki had a feeling that it would knock Marinette completely off her feet.
The day of the gala snuck up on Adrien. He’d been formulating his plan for days, ever since Marinette agreed to be his date.
This was the night he was finally going to confess to his Lady.
In just a couple of hours, he would go to her house to pick her up. They would dance together, laugh at silly jokes, and when the moment was right, he would tell her how he had felt since the beginning and kiss her senseless. It was perfect.
“Tonight’s the night, Plagg,” Adrien said, ladybugs doing a giddy dance in his stomach. “I’m finally going to do it.”
His kwami rolled his eyes. “Just don’t make a fool of yourself.”
Adrien looped his cravat around his neck and tied a simple knot at his collar. “I wasn’t planning on it, but thanks for the confidence.”
It was finally happening. He was finally going to tell his Lady he loved her, and his pessimistic kwami was not going to bring him down.
Marinette wasn’t ready, but she was going to have to be.
The night was finally here.
Alya had left about an hour ago after they finished their hair appointments and doing their makeup in Marinette’s room. Nino would be picking Alya up soon as well. Marinette was staring at herself in the mirror, looking for anything left in her hair or makeup that she needed to fix.
“You look amazing, Marinette,” Tikki said. “Adrien’s not going to know what to do with himself when he sees you.”
Marinette opened her mouth to remind her kwami once again that, as much as she wanted it to be, this was definitely not a date, but she was interrupted by a knock on the downstairs door.
Marinette heard her mother answer the door and immediately panicked. It was never a good idea to leave her parents alone with Adrien for too long, she’d learned that the first time he came over. They were bound to say something embarrassing.
Marinette grabbed her coat and purse from the back of her desk chair. “Quick, Tikki!”
Her kwami nodded and zipped into the small bag.
“Marinette,” her mother called from downstairs, “A very handsome young man is waiting for you.”
Marinette felt the heat rush to her cheeks as she lifted the trap door. “I’m coming!”
Marinette gathered her dress and carefully descended the stairs, careful not to trip in her kitten heels.
She kept her eyes on the ground until she reached the bottom. When she finally stood on solid ground, she finally looked up. Adrien was sitting in the kitchen having a conversation with her father. He had on a suit that most certainly was from his father’s winter formal line: A five piece suit that consisted of perfectly tailored jet black pants and a jacket. The white dress shirt underneath was perfectly pressed, so much so that it didn’t look real, not that Marinette could expect any less from the son of a fashion powerhouse like Gabriel Agreste. But what really caught her attention was the waistcoat-tie-hankerchief matching set. It brought a pop of burgundy to his outfit. All three silken pieces were embroidered with the same, slightly darker red floral pattern, making the already eye catching suit appear even more distinguished. What was more, the colors were a near exact match to Marinette’s own dress, as well as the rising flush in her cheeks.
When Adrien caught sight of Marinette, his breath caught in his throat. He rose from his seat and rounded the island, his conversation with her father all but forgotten.
She looked...miraculous.
Her gown must have taken ages. On top of the amazing Christmas gift, Adrien wondered if she had gotten any sleep at all over the past week. The floor length organza ball gown was just formal enough to call itself white tie, without overdoing it. The off shoulder sleeves, adorned with fabric roses and golden embroidery swooped into a lovely sweetheart neckline that showed off Marinette’s prominent collar bones. Her hair was pulled back into a high, full bun, with the rose hair clip she’d been working on in school that week at the center. A few loose curls gently framed her face, softening her appearance slightly. The only jewlery she wore were her miraculous stones, black and inactive, catching the light and giving the appearance of black jade.
Adrien was glad he’d requested this color. After seeing the shade of the hair clip in class that week, he’d specifically asked his father to switch from the blue suit he’d been intending to wear to this one. Nino may not have been into matching, but Adrien wanted everyone at this party to know that Marinette was his Lady. By the end of the night, he hoped she would be for real.
Marinette’s parents watched as the two kids seemed to get lost in their own little world.
Tom nudged his wife slightly, “did they start dating already, and we just missed the memo?”
Sabine hummed, “I’m sure Marinette would have said something if that were the case.”
When it became obvious that the two teenagers had reached an impasse, Tom cleared his throat to bring them out of their daze.
Marinette shook herself off first, turning to wish her parents a good night. “I’ll be back before midnight, I promise.”
Adrien finally found his tongue. “I’ll take good care of her tonight,” he promised her parents.
Tom nodded, unable to hide the mirth in his eyes. “See to it that you do.”
Tom and Sabine both saw the kids off to meet Adrien’s driver downstairs, equally pleased and amused that, if the look in that young man’s eye was anything to go off of, their hopes for their daughter’s crush would likely be coming to fruition that night.
The ride to Le Grand Paris was...a bit awkward, much like the rest of their interactions had been lately, though it was blessedly short. It seemed that for all of the progress they had made towards being normal in the past week, it had all vanished in that evening. If they had been just Ladybug and Cat Noir, they could have bantered playfully, maybe even flirted a little bit on the way over. Cat Noir could have winked at her and said how purrfect that color was on her, and Ladybug could have booped his nose and teased him about looking so dashing for a tom cat.
If they had been just Marinette and Adrien, they may not have flirted, but at the very least Adrien would have complimented the amazing handiwork on her gown, and told her how impressive it was that she finished it in such a short amount of time. Marinette could have fought through her rapidly beating heart and subsequent nerves to tell Adrien that she was so glad he asked her to come with him that night. They would have been comfortable in either situation.
Unfortunately, instead of being just one or the other, they lied somewhere in between, simultaneously both and neither at the same time, leaving them at a loss for words. Which approach was the most natural for the situation? Which persona should they embody in the presence of their partner and friend?
They didn’t have much time to ponder that question before they arrived at the hotel. Their tense time on their own was abruptly brought to an end as they entered the ballroom, the party already in full swing. They were greeted immediately upon their entrance by a whirlwind of friends, acquaintances, and familiar figures of influence. People flew by in a blur; Jagged Stone, Nadja Chamack, Mayor Bourgeois, Alya, Nino, Kagami, even Chloe stopped by to say a civil hello.
By the next time Marinette even had a moment to breathe, her worries over how to behave had virtually disappeared.
She sighed in relief near the refreshments table as Adrien handed her a glass of sparkling cider.
“Are you sure this is your first time at one of these parties,” he asked, “you’re holding up really well.”
“Definitely never done this before,” Marinette said, taking a sip of her drink. “Is this what you have to do working for your father?”
Adrien nodded. “Sometimes. Get ready, future designer, the fashion world is all about networking.”
Marinette scanned the room, taking in the beautiful works of art some of the party guests were wearing. “Well,” She said thoughtfully, “if I get to see such amazing designs and talk to such awesome people every time, I guess I don’t mind that much. Besides, chaos is nothing new to me.” She deliberately tucked her hair behind her ear, letting her miraculous catch the lights from the dance floor.
Adrien caught her meaning and chuckled. “I guess you’re right about that.”
He looked at his flute full of cider and considered his next move as he watched the bubbles pop to the surface. He could do this. He wasn’t about to lose his nerve. He scanned the room and found a door leading out to a balcony with just the lightest dusting of snow and a beautiful view of their favorite spot in the city: The Eiffel Tower. “Hey, Marinette.”
She turned to him, bluebell eyes glittering and a soft smile painted across her face making Adrien’s breath catch at how lovely she looked with that expression.
He swallowed a deep breath and summoned a little bit of Cat Noir’s courage before he spoke again. “Do you mind if we take a step outside for a moment?” He indicated the balcony door.
Her brows knit together for a moment, but she smiled nonetheless. “Of course. It’s a bit warm in here anyway.”
She shifted her purse on her shoulder and placed her glass on the table, ready to follow him across the room to the balcony’s doors, when suddenly Chloe returned with an elderly gentleman in tow.
“Adrikins,” She said, ignoring Marinette. “I have someone you should meet. He’s a friend of daddy’s, and he is a huge fan of your father’s line.”
Adrien shot Marinette a look, apologizing for the interruption without words.
Marinette smiled, understanding what he meant to say. She silently assured him that it was fine by shrugging her shoulders good naturedly and shaking her head. As Chloe continued to prattle on about the man at her side, Marinette pointed down the hallway and mouthed, “I’ll be right back.”
Adrien nodded and watched her go. As he spoke with the man who’s name he had already forgotten, he realized just how easy things were with Marinette when they weren’t so caught up in their own nerves. The ability to communicate without words had been with them since their first Akuma. He didn’t share that kind of trust, closeness, and understanding with anyone else, so knowing that he still had it with Marinette even outside of the suit was an incredible realization. It was something he never wanted to lose.
When Marinette returned to the ballroom, Adrien wasn’t where she left him. He must have been dragged off by Chloe to meet more of her father’s friends and work associates. Marinette had done her fair share of mingling that evening, especially after Jagged Stone had introduced her to some of his acquaintances in the music industry and declaring her “the best up and coming talent in the design industry” that he had “personally discovered”.
She would be leaving the evening with a number of business cards as well as a few possible commissions for future projects. She would have to send Mrs. Cesaire a thank you gift basket for getting her the invitation.
She stopped to talk to Alya and Nino for a bit, neither of whom had seen Adrien in a while, before Nino took Alya out to the dance floor when their favorite song started up.
Marinette glanced around the room one last time, looking for any sign of glimmering blond hair. When her attempt to find him failed, she sighed and wiped the sweat from the back of her neck.
It was way too hot in there.
Marinette could feel the sweat in her hair. If she didn’t get away, all of her curls would fall completely from the humidity. She cursed her heavy Chinese hair for it’s inability to hold a style. When no one was looking, she snagged a bottle of sparkling cider and a glass and slipped out the door to the balcony.
“Marinette,” Tikki said, popping out of Marinette’s purse, “It’s freezing out here! You’re going to get sick!”
Marinette shook her head. “I won’t be out here long. I just want to cool off a bit.”
The night with Adrien and the rest of her friends had been absolutely magical, and she knew she would have to go home soon, but she wanted to hold onto the magic for just a little bit longer. The music from the ballroom poured out of open windows and balcony doors. Marinette gazed upon the Eiffel Tower, the symbol of her city, the city that she and her Cat protected together.
As beautiful as the view was, she could think of one that would be even better.
Tucking the bottle under one arm and shifting her grip on the glass, Marinette approached the ridged siding of the building and the heavy lattice that led up to the roof.
“Marinette!” her kwami protested. “That’s too dangerous!”
Marinette giggled, too busy riding the joyful high of the evening to be concerned with her kwami’s warnings. “I’ll be fine, Tikki. Besides, it’s plenty sturdy.”
She tucked her friend back into her purse and closed the clasp before putting her hands to the lattice siding. In the spring, there would be vines with climbing roses and ivy down the entire side of the hotel, but it was the dead of winter. Marinette was glad that she didn’t have to navigate prickly thorns and delicate flower buds. It took some maneuvering and a reliance on her Ladybug agility, but Marinette managed to climb over the balcony’s railing and scale up the side of the hotel until she was perched on the edge of the rooftop, looking over her city with its twinkling lights glistening off of a light dusting of snow. With her long skirt billowing in the breeze, Marinette took a sip of her cider.
As she looked over her city and listened to the music and laughter drifting up from the gala, she could only reflect on how much her life was changing. She was going into her final year of lycee, and soon her future would be ahead of her. Just tonight, she’d made so many connections with big names in her industry. Building relationships with any of them would make the path to success in the fashion world so much easier. And on top of all of that, her favorite black cat was at her side.
At first, knowing that Adrien was her partner had been terrifying. Even tonight, it had taken them some time to get used to one another.
But that didn’t change the fact that he was her’s, and her love for him was growing brighter every day. Even seeing the smallest things in him brought her joy, from the way he teased her on the battlefield, to their friendly banter during patrols, and especially that look in his eye that he got when he was just so happy, just the way he had looked when thanking her for the cinnamon roll the other day.
It had been scary at first, but Marinette quickly realized that she wouldn’t want anyone else for her partner. She was even thankful for the reveal happening when it had. The thought of her future was still a little bit scary, but with Cat Noir by her side, Marinette was sure she could face anything.
Marinette happily hummed along with the song pouring out of the window, and felt a familiar presence as the sound of footfalls behind her reached her ears.
“What have we here?” He asked, approaching her from behind. “What is this princess doing hiding away from everyone a top her tower?”
Marinette grinned at the way her old nickname fell so easily from Adrien’s lips. She had actually missed the nicknames from him in the past couple of weeks. “I just wanted some time to myself.”
A warm jacket suddenly draped across her shoulders, but it was too thin to be the winter coat she had worn to the party. “If you stay out here with nothing to keep you warm, you’ll get sick.”
Marinette pulled the jacket closer, realizing it was from Adrien’s suit. It smelled like him, like sunshine, grass, and the tiniest hint of camembert cheese.
“But how will you keep warm if you give me this?” She asked, finally glancing over her shoulder.
Adrien stood on the roof’s ledge slightly above her, hand extended towards her to help her to her feet. “I’ll manage.”
She took his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet.
“Sorry I was pulled away earlier,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “You know how Chloe can be.”
Marinette nodded sympathetically. She certainly did understand. “It’s alright.”
The moments passed, and the upbeat song that had been playing shifted to a slower, more intimate tune. Marinette didn’t miss the fact that Adrien still hadn’t let go of her hand, and wondered if maybe Tikki had been right after all…
“My Lady,” Adrien said, the use of her nickname startling her out of her thoughts and making her heart race in a way that only her name on his lips ever could. He bent over her hand in a move that was very Cat Noir and kissed her knuckles. “May I have this dance?”
Marinette giggled. Seeing him finally fall so naturally into the mannerisms of his alterego was simultaneously strange and comforting. “Of course, Chaton.”
He pulled her arm up to his shoulder before circling it around her waist. He set the pace by leading her in a slow dance to match the tempo of the ballad and guided her around their makeshift rooftop dance floor.
“I really wanted to talk to you tonight.” Adrien said conversationally.
“Isn’t that what we’ve been doing?” Marinette teased.
“I don’t want to just talk to you,” he clarified, “I mean, I do love talking to you, but I need to tell you something, something important. Will you hear me out?”
Marinette felt a tingling sensation in the tips of her fingers and her heart constricted in her chest. She felt as though there were a thousand little ladybugs dancing in her stomach. She didn’t trust herself to speak without making word soup in that moment, so she simply nodded.
“Marinette, you’re one of the most important people in my life, as my friend and as my partner. I’ve wanted to say this to you for a while, years, actually, and I’ve even tried a few times, but something always got in the way. But now that I know how amazing you really are, knowing you as Marinette and as My Lady, I can’t keep this inside any longer.” Adrien’s grip tightened at her waist, and a light flush rose in his cheeks. When he met her eyes, there was a heat behind his gaze, the same one she’d begun to notice more and more since the reveal.
The ladybugs in her stomach picked up the tempo as her heart attempted to beat its way out of her ribcage completely.
“The truth is,” he said, “I’m completely in love with you. I have been practically since we met. And knowing that you’re both my fantastic friend as well as my crazy awesome partner only makes me love you more. I don’t know if you feel the same way, but if it’s possible, I want to be with you. I want to dance with you like this, and kiss you under the stars, and share every moment I can with you, because the more I know about you, the less time I ever want to spend apart.”
Marinette felt like she couldn’t breathe. It wasn’t fair. Why did he have to be so good with words when she could barely string a sentence together?
“Do you think...that could be possible?” He asked, lowering his eyes in a shy manner that she wasn’t used to seeing from him.
“I, um” Marinette said, her voice cracking with the weight of the emotion she was feeling, “I think that I...I’ve always wanted that, too.” This was her partner, her best friend, the person who has had her back and believed in her since the beginning, even when she didn’t believe in herself. Here was this amazing person who was kind, smart, generous, and sometimes even funny. Knowing that he has been by her side this whole time was almost more than she could take, and suddenly this amazing person was telling her that he was in love with her? She felt herself growing light headed and wondered if this could even be real.
“I love you, too,” she whispered, sure that if she said anything more she would completely fall apart in his arms.
As soon as the words left her lips, Adrien acted on pure impulse and threw his arms around Marinette, crushing her to his chest. “Please,” he murmured, “Say that again.”
Marinette wiggled a bit so that she could speak up, “I-I love you.”
She could feel him practically collapse against her as his grip tightened even more. “I love you, too.”
It was like a dream. They stayed like that for some time, simply repeating those special words over and over again as one song changed to another and the moon rose high in the sky.
Marinette was definitely breaking curfew, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.
“Thank you for being here with me,” Adrien said.
The music had changed to a familiar tune that set them off dancing again. Marinette smiled as they swayed in a circle on the rooftop. “Thank you for asking me.”
He brought her close to his chest again, pressing his lips into her hair. “I love this song,” Adrien whispered against her. He began to hum the tune into her ear as he guided her in a more intricate dance.
“So do I,” Marinette said, savoring the way his heart thrummed against her fingers.
“We are still kids but we’re so in love, fighting against all odds,” Adrien sang along with the music, right into her ear, drawing an embarrassed giggle from Marinette as she buried her face in his chest. “I know we’ll be alright this time.” Adrien took Marinette’s hand, drawing her out to spin under his arm before pulling her back into him and continuing his serenade. “Darling, just hold my hand, be my girl I’ll be your man. I see my future in your eyes.” He took another chance and dipped her back, forcing her to clutch tighter at his forearms until he brought her back upright again. “Baby I’m dancing in the dark with you between my arms, barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song, when I saw you in that dress looking so beautiful, I don’t deserve this, darling you look perfect tonight.” At the end of the refrain, Adrien bent down and nuzzled his nose against her’s.
She smiled and pressed her forehead against his. “I love you.” She murmured for the hundredth time that night.
Adrien smiled like it was the very first time, and snuggled even closer to her.
Their reveal had definitely been nothing like either of them had expected. It had been unplanned, rockey, and awkward at times, but it had been what brought them together on this rooftop, keeping each other warm on a cold winter night. There was no where else either of them would rather be. Things were absolutely perfect just the way they were.
“Merry Christmas, Lovebug.” Adrien said, pressing a soft kiss to the top of Marinette’s head.
Marinette nuzzled further into his neck, never having felt more at home than in this moment. “Merry Christmas, Alley Cat.”
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH!!
This fic is a gift to my lovely little on her 21st birthday!
Back in February, I was scrolling through the Sidekick Adrien AU tag on @geek-fashionista‘s page, because let’s be real that AU is a gift, when @thisawkwardbitch looked over my shoulder and asked “Does that say Side-Dick Adrien???”
Thus, this idea was borne!! Enjoy this nonsense that started out as an inside joke and spiraled out of control!
((I can’t believe I wrote this with my two hands…))
AO3
Marinette is cheating on Cat Noir. What happens next will blow your mind!!
Marinette knew she was a piece of shit.
She didn’t like to admit it, but she knew it was true. She was cheating on the love of her life with the other love of her life, stringing along one while fooling around with the other.
But who could blame her? How could she be expected to remain faithful to a man whose face she had never seen?
She had never been a liar. In fact she hated liars with a passion, which was giving her some serious issues with herself. If her middle school self could see her now, she’d probably smash her face in with her yoyo.
Marinette groaned and considered locking her window, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
The visits had started up about a month after she’d moved out on her own for university. Cat Noir would swing by her place late at night, after patrols had ended, and Marinette had let him in.
Not for any kind of ulterior motives, or anything! Of course not!
Just for some milk and cookies, and small talk.
Then it progressed to some snuggling.
And kissing.
And then….
At first it had just been nice to talk to her partner outside of the mask. He’d always been soft hearted, but seeing him in her living room, snuggled up in a fluffy blanket with one of her pink mugs in his hands, his leather cat ears smoothed back in contentment and his eyes shimmering in the dull light… it made her heart race in a way she had never felt before.
Soon she was feeling it whenever he was near. It didn’t matter if he was battling an akuma like they did so often, patrolling together, or if he was tapping on her window at midnight. The sight of him made her fill with warmth.
Then one night, when they had been laughing at a stupid comedy on late night television, things between them had grown heated.
After three more instances, she knew they had to talk about it.
It wasn’t like she’d wanted it to stop. Sleeping with Cat Noir was an exhilarating experience. She just wanted to know where they stood. Did he still have feelings for Ladybug? Why did he keep coming to her? What exactly was their relationship now.
Two years later, and he’d still only answered one of her questions. Cat Noir assured her that while he still had love for Ladybug, his romantic feelings for her had faded.
It was like a double edged sword for Marinette. He’d rejected one side of her in favor of being with her other half just when she was ready to accept him with her whole self. For now, she’d have to be happy with the way things were.
Since then, though they’d never formally defined their relationship, Marinette considered him her boyfriend. She could feel that he thought of her in much the same way. She was happy with him just the way things were, and he was happy with her. She thought she had all she ever needed.
Until that fateful day at university.
Marinette shoved her face into a pillow and reminded herself once again that she was an absolute piece of shit.
She thought that she had gotten over Adrien years ago; thought that her feelings for him had faded into a high school memory. Unfortunately, she had no way of knowing how wrong she was.
They went to the same university, her for design and him for fashion marketing–he was still working under his father, after all. They had a few of the same classes where their general requirements overlapped, and after a particularly stressful exam, Adrien asked her to get a drink to decompress. She’d accepted without a second thought.
So they’d sat together in the dim light of the bar. Two drinks in, and Marinette had been far from being even remotely drunk, but she was decidedly more comfortable than she had been even an hour before. She and Adrien talked about their classes, laughed and joked, and she wondered why they hadn’t spent more time together before. It wasn’t like she was still hung up on her middle school crush. She was with Cat Noir. And she was totally, 100% over Adrien.
She thought she was, at least. Until he looked at her with his luminescent green eyes, warm under the dim light of the bar. The look in Adrien’s eyes reminded her so much of the way her cat looked at her that she momentarily lost herself. It was like he was there with her instead of Adrien.
She almost thought he leaned into her, that he wanted to kiss her.
And before she knew it, she was kissing him. She was leaning into him.
She wanted to blame the alcohol, but she knew she hadn’t had nearly enough for her to lose her sense that much.
For whatever reason, that night she hadn’t gone home to her apartment. Maybe it was her leftover feelings for Adrien. Maybe it was her projecting her love for Cat Noir onto Adrien. Maybe she was just feeling lonely, and he was convenient, she didn’t know. But that one night had been a mistake she couldn’t take back. Sometimes, she wondered if she even wanted to.
The only thing Marinette could be sure of was that she was a piece of shit for being with Adrien that night, and every night she had been with him in the months since, because after that first night, he kept calling. For some reason, whenever he called, she just couldn’t say no to him, or those green eyes.
“Tiki, I have a problem,” Marinette complained.
“You have several problems,” her Kwami quipped. “Are you going to lock the window tonight or not?”
Marinette glanced at the window one more time. She knew she should lock it. It was the right thing to do. She couldn’t keep inviting Cat Noir in if she was going to keep messing around with Adrien. But on the other hand, she couldn’t bear to lock him out if he came. It was rare to see him lately, and she wasn’t going to deprive herself of the opportunity to snuggle with her boyfriend if he wanted to stop by.
Instead of locking the window, she decided she would just go to bed. If he stopped by, he would stop by. He knew he was welcome to come in even if she was already asleep.
Adrien knew he was a piece of shit.
He admitted it freely, and without hesitation. He was a garbage person, and he wasn’t afraid to say it. He wasn’t even high quality garbage, like the kind that you might consider recycling. He was 100%, honest to goodness trash, because he had tricked his girlfriend into cheating on him with himself.
When it had first happened, he almost wanted to be mad at Marinette. He knew that wouldn’t be fair of him, though. After all, he had practically lured her into it. He’d initiated the whole thing thanks to his fucked up, over active libido. Looking at her dark blue eyes in the dim light of the bar, the way she smiled and laughed at his dumb jokes, her delicate fingers tucking her soft hair behind her ear, her every movement drew him in until he had forgotten where–and who–he was. For a moment, he forgot that he was actually Adrien, and not Cat Noir, and that she didn’t know that she was sharing a drink with her actual boyfriend instead of her classmate. So, with the warmth of a couple of drinks and the boldness inspired by the romantic lighting, he’d been the one to lean in first.
Then the next time it had happened, against his better judgment, he’d been the one to ask her to study together. Unable to help himself, yet again, they’d ended up in bed together. From there, it just kept happening. Whenever he was around her, either as Cat Noir or Adrien Agreste, he couldn’t help it. He felt so free when he was with her. He was at his happiest when he was in her company, and all rationale flew out the window. When he was with her, he wanted to show her how happy she made him.
In all of the confusion the last few months, only one thing was certain–somehow, he had to stop stringing Marinette along, either as Adrien, Cat Noir, or both.
“What do I do, Plagg,” Adrien groaned, turning over again to glare up at his high ceiling. “I should tell Marinette the truth, right?”
Plagg clattered about in the trash bin for a moment before lazily floating over to Adrien’s spot on the floor. “Which truth are you talking about, kid? The part where you lured her out to the bar to seduce her, or the part where you’re actually Cat Noir, or the part where you’ve been abusing your superhero powers to get close to her for almost three years now?”
Adrien turned his head away from Plagg indignantly–and noticed off hand that he should probably clean all of the dust from under his bed–before responding. “I don’t know. All of the above, I guess? Every time I think about it, the guilt is killing me, but I can’t just out myself to her. Telling her that I’m Cat Noir might put her in Danger. Not to mention, Ladybug would be pissed if I revealed myself to a civilian, especially without talking to her about it first. And can you imagine what would happen if Ladybug knew I was sneaking around like this? She probably already thinks I’m some kind of playboy. If she knew how I was messing around with Marinette–”
“Aagh! This whining is killing me,” Plagg finally shouted. He zipped up to Adrien and got right in his face, “You need to figure out what you’re going to do about this. I’ve been listening to your love problems for seven years now, and it’s giving me indigestion.”
“Plagg, this is serious!”
“It’s always serious. Figure it out, or I’ll take care of things for you!”
With that, Plagg gave a frustrated huff and flew off to the mini fridge Adrien had installed years back for Plagg’s cheese obsession.
“You suck so much, you dumb Kwami,” Adrien muttered.
A cheese container flew across the room and smacked him in the head.
“Ouch!!”
The next day, Adrien’s forehead was still sore. After the first cheese lid, Plagg decided to launch every container of cheese he had at Adrien. He figured it was to show just how displeased the Kwami was with what Adrien was doing. He was surprised there wasn’t a visible bruise.
He sighed as he pulled his laptop out of his bag for the lecture. He had to stop thinking about–
“Hey, Adrien.”
Marinette.
A huge smile involuntarily spread across his face as she approached her seat next to him.
“Morning, Mari.” He felt Plagg roll about in his pocket, probably already displeased with the interaction.
They didn’t speak any more than that during class, both of them emotionally exhausted from the night before of lamenting their love lives.
But no amount of rational thought, emotional exhaustion, or Plagg nudging him was enough to stop Adrien when he saw Marinette’s smile at the end of class. She looked tired, and all he wanted to do was cheer her up. So he did something he knew he shouldn’t and asked her to meet him for dinner.
“Nothing fancy,” he said, “just some takeout? We can work on that paper.”
Marinette knew she should say no. Going to Adrien’s apartment and having dinner together was dangerous. So so dangerous. She had already been betraying her masked boyfriend for a few months, and she felt herself sinking further and further every time she looked into Adrien’s impossibly green eyes. It wasn’t fair to either of them. It wasn’t fair to Cat Noir. He trusted her. Even though he never said it outright, he loved her. And she loved him. It wasn’t fair to Adrien, either. He had no idea that she was actually dating a super hero–no one did. It wasn’t fair of her to treat Adrien like her side dick while leading him on the way she was. But it wasn’t like Adrien was trying to be her main, or anything. Their relationship was always physical, after all. No emotions. He never tried to date her. He never gave any bold confession of love. It was just sex. Maybe that was why Marinette felt she could justify sleeping with him. Was it really cheating if it was just physical?
If Tiki could hear her thoughts, she would have slapped Marinette. As it was, Marinette wanted to slam her head into the wall repeatedly, shouting “Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid” until she gave herself a concussion. It was wrong. Being with Adrien was wrong. Having dinner with him was wrong. Studying with him was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong wrong.
She needed to turn him down, and put an end to this nonsense immediately.
“Sure,” Marinette said with a grin. “Is Indian food alright?”
Stupid! Wrong and stupid! Wrong, wrong, wrong, stupid, wrong.
Could she do nothing right??
Marinette walked back to her apartment from Adrien’s feeling dirty and low, but also satisfied and content. She hated herself for it, a feeling that was becoming more and more common every time they met up. Maybe it was time for her to cut Adrien loose. She couldn’t keep doing this to Cat Noir.
“Well well well, look what I found.”
Speak of the devil…
Marinette peered up at the street lamp ahead to see her boyfriend/Cat-themed hero of Paris perched on the light, grinning down at her. Despite herself, she felt the tension in her shoulders ease. The sight of her partner always did that to her. He made her feel safe, even from her own worries.
“Look what the cat dragged in,” She said, putting a hand on her hip.
His grin grew and he lept off of the light, landing deftly before her. “Isn’t punning my job, Princess?” He took her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles.
“What can I say, you’re rubbing off on me.” Marinette took the opportunity to scratch his head right behind the leather of his ears. “What brings you out here at this time of night? Looking for damsels to rescue?”
“As a matter of fact, I am,” he teased back, sweeping an arm over her shoulders. “And look how lucky I am to have found a beautiful princess, wandering about the streets of Paris without a knight to accompany her. May I have the honor of escorting you home, fair lady?”
Marinette mentally kicked herself for being so flustered by his offer. She should not be getting this giddy running into her boyfriend as she walked home from her side piece’s apartment, but she was. For just a moment, Marinette shoved her guilt aside. Adrien wasn’t there right then, her boyfriend was. She only saw him so rarely, and she was determined to enjoy herself. “Of course! Oh, what would I have done if you hadn’t come along, my fair, brave knight?”
“Well then, Princess,” Cat Noir literally swept her off her feet, lifting her into a princess carry in his arms, “hold on tight. I’ll be sure to deliver you safely to your castle.”
Marinette wrapped her arms around her kitten’s neck and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you.”
He averted his eyes, but she saw his cheeks growing pink. “Hold on.”
So she did, and he jumped over buildings and streets to bring her back to her apartment.
It was time to come clean. After his latest fuck up, sleeping with Marinette as Adrien yet again, he had come to the conclusion that he was completely hopeless. He needed to confess to Marinette that he was Adrien and Cat Noir. It was only fair. Besides, once he came clean, they could be together for real. He could tell her he loved her, and stop sneaking into her window at midnight. They could date openly rather than rely on poorly veiled booty calls masked as “study” dates.
But before he did that, he wanted to tell Ladybug first. After all, they were partners. Even though he had long moved on, she was his first love. He trusted her with his life, and she trusted him. If he was going to reveal himself to anyone, he had to do so to Ladybug first.
He would talk to her on patrol.
“You want to what?”
Cat Noir winced, but quickly realized that Ladybug didn’t sound mad like he had expected. Maybe this was good.
“There’s this girl I’ve been seeing,” he said, conveniently leaving out the fact that he’d been “seeing” her as Cat Noir rather than his civilian self. “We’ve been seeing each other for a few years now, and I…I want to be honest with her. About everything. I want to really be with her, and I can’t do that with a secret this big. I know it might be dangerous, but I’m prepared to protect her. I’ll take full responsibility for her safety, and anything that happens as a result of her knowing about…well, this. But I know I can trust her.” Adrien sighed, hoping his explanation was enough.
Ladybug was quiet for a moment. She hoped he couldn’t see the flush on her cheeks. That was the closest to a love confession she’d ever gotten from Cat Noir. He wanted to be serious about her, and she was fooling around with Adrien on the side. Stupid, stupid, stupid. But if he trusted her with his identity, cared about her enough to reveal his true identity to her, she would never be with Adrien again. She would be with him, and she would give her whole heart to him.
“Okay,” Ladybug nodded, “you have my blessing.”
Cat Noir’s smile was brighter than the lights on the Eiffel Tower. He punched his fist in the air, gave a whoop of victory, then lifted Ladybug off of her feet and swung her in a circle. “Thanks, LB! You have no idea what this means to me.” He put her back on the ground. “But before I run off to see my princess, there’s something I have to do first.”
Ladybug tilted her head to the side. What more could he possibly want?
“I want you to be the first person I tell, LB. You’re my partner, and it doesn’t feel right to tell a girl I’m seeing before I tell you.”
If Ladybug thought her heart was pounding hard before, it had nothing on this. He wanted to tell Ladybug first. If that was the case, Marinette reasoned, maybe it was time for him to know who Ladybug was as well. After all, it was only fair. Ladybug stifled a giggle. She couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when she showed him that Ladybug was actually his Princess. ‘Surprise,’ she would say, 'it was me all along!’
Then, everything would be out on the table.
Well.
Almost everything.
Ladybug nodded. “S-sure. That's…Yeah. Th-that’s good.” Curse her nervous stutter!
Cat Noir smiled at her one more time and took a step back on the roof, so that she could see him fully.
This was it.
“Plagg, de-transform me,” Cat Noir said, feeling his transformation release around him.
Ladybug blinked for a moment, not fully processing what she was seeing. She shook her head, hoping to dispel whatever illusion was standing in front of her, but it didn’t go away.
Adrien Agreste stood before her, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly before holding his hand out for her. “Nice to meet you, my lady. I’m Adrien.”
Ladybug scrunched her whole face up in displeasure as the shocking reveal continued to register. Ladybug’s fist balled up in fury.
“You are Such An ASSHOLE!” Ladybug’s voice climbed in volume with every word, startling Adrien out of his skin.
Ladybug lunged at him furiously and smacked him in the arm.
“Ow! Ladybug, what the hell?!” He held up his hands in a feeble attempt to defend himself.
“I can’t believe you, you mangy cat!” She emphasized each word with a smack on his arm, his shoulder, his head, anywhere she could reach him, making him cringe away from her.
“Ladybug, what’s your problem?!”
“My problem is you, you mangy, philandering, asshole tom cat! How could you do that to me?”
“Ouch! Do what? You’re not making any sense!”
Ladybug finally pulled back from her assault–Adrien knew he would have bruises later. Her bottom lip jutted out and quivered, but instead of the former fury that had filled her eyes, they were filled with pain and tears.
“Tiki, spots off,” she murmured.
A bright light engulfed ladybug, surrounding her with a pink halo until Ladybug was no longer standing before him. In her place stood Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Cat Noir’s girlfriend, and Adrien’s lover.
Adrien’s brain suddenly shorted out. Of course, the plan had been to reveal himself all along, but he had never expected it to go like this.
He could hear Plagg stifling his laughter behind them, but couldn’t bring himself to say anything to the pest. He stared, instead, into the giant blue eyes before him; the same blue bell eyes that he had fallen for seven years ago and thought to be out of his reach were the same midnight blue eyes he had been gazing lovingly into for the past three years. Those beautiful eyes that so often soothed his soul were filled with tears over his betrayal.
“Marinette,” Adrien reached for her, “I am so so–”
Before he could even get the words out, Marinette opened her mouth and let out a deafening wail that could rival any alley cat’s midnight howls. Before Adrien could react, she launched herself at him, tears falling as she sobbed against him.
“A-Adri-en, C-Cat,’ she hiccupped, clinging to him and gasping between sobs, "I am s-so so-r-ry. I am horrible. I’ve w-wanted to t-tell you for months, but I was so a-afraid of l-loosing you–of-of losing b-both of you. I was s-selfish, and a liar, and I’m..I am sorry for ch-cheating on you, kitty.”
Adrien had never expected this out of her. He had been so focused on the weight of his own deception, he hadn’t even considered the effect the guilt would have on kind hearted Marinette. “Mari…”
“Adrien, you should dump me. Just leave me right now. I don’t deserve you. You need to be with someone who won’t lie to you.” On anyone else, the words would have seemed like self pity, but when Marinette spoke them, he could tell that she genuinely believed them. She truly and honestly believed she didn’t deserve to be with him.
“Marinette, I’m not going to break up with you.”
She pushed him away, turning away from him. “I betrayed your trust, chaton. I went behind your back with someone else. It doesn’t matter that the other man was still you. I wasn’t faithful.”
Adrien put his hands on Marinette’s shoulders and turned her around, “Marinette, I never even considered what we were doing cheating.” He wiped the tears from under her eyes.
She grimaced. “That’s stupid. Of course it was cheating. I didn’t know you were…well, you.”
Adrien couldn’t help but laugh. “I didn’t consider it cheating because it was me the whole time. I’m so sorry I made you feel like you were being unfaithful. I wasn’t thinking about that at all, and I put you through so much. I’m so sorry, Mari. Can you ever forgive me?”
Marinette sniffled. She wrapped her arms around his chest and buried her face into it. “If you’re alright with a cheating liar like me, there’s nothing to forgive.”
Adrien rubbed soothing circles on her back and grinned. “It’s okay, Marinette. I don’t mind being your side dick.”
She feebly smacked his shoulder blade, triggering a chuckle out of him. “Stupid Cat.”
Adrien pressed a kiss to the top of her head, relieved that everything was finally out in front of them. “I love you, Bugaboo.”
Marinette tensed in his arms, and Adrien realized that in their three years together he had never said those words to her, in or out of the mask. For a second, he worried she didn’t return his feelings. Maybe she was just after a physical relationship after all. Maybe he had just projected his feelings onto her. After all, their relationship was mostly physical, both with Cat Noir and Adrien. Maybe he’d overstepped after all–
Marinette’s hold on him tightened further. “I love you too, mon minou.”
He breathed out a sigh of relief, and said the words once again. “I love you, too, Marinette.”
Marinette finally lifted her head, eyes still puffy from crying. “I love you, too, Adrien.”
They could both practically hear their kwami cheering over their stupidity a few feet away as they kissed.
“Never in my life have I been stuck with a more stupid Chosen,” Plagg lamented, watching the two of them make out on the roof top.
“Oh calm down,” Tiki chided him. “They were meant to be together, with or without the mask. It was inevitable that there would be misunderstandings.”
Plagg made a face, sticking out his tongue, and held his tiny paw out towards the couple. “They’re both just…so stupid.”
Tiki chuckled. “At least they’re happy.”
And they were. Adrien and Marinette lived the rest of their lives together, stupidly happy and in love.
It was Friday and it was six o'clock and in four hours Ladybug would be having The Talk with Cat Noir.
Marinette was nervous. More nervous than she'd ever been in her life.
She spent her whole day pacing in her bedroom, worrying over various scenarios to Tikki, who watched on, munching on her plate of cookies.
"…and what if he's not interested in knowing anymore? What if he doesn't care who I am?"
Tikki shook her head. "Now you know that's ridiculous, Marinette. Of course he wants to know. He's probably just as lonely as you are."
"Okay, but what if he isn't? What if he has a girlfriend and doesn't want to complicate the relationship by meeting me? I know we've flirted in the past. And I also know we've both dated. Who is to say he's not in a committed relationship by now?"
"You'll always be his friend, right? Even if he has a girlfriend?"
Marinette pursed her lips. "Of course I will, but I just don't know if she would be happy about some random girl dropping into her boyfriend's life." Marinette gasped and halted her pacing. "How do I even bring it up? Oh, Tikki, I haven't thought this through at all!"
"You'll think of something, Marinette. You always do."
Marinette flopped onto her chaise, face down. She felt like a fifteen year old girl again. She wished she could call Alya for advice, but couldn't for obvious reasons. Her best friend always knew what to say. Marinette giggled at the idea of approaching Alya with this problem. How would she react to her eternally single BFF suddenly coming to her with boy problems? She would flip. Not to mention, Alya was Ladybug and Cat Noir's biggest and oldest fan. She would flip for completely different reasons if she found out Ladybug's alter ego was Marinette all along.
Marinette stayed in that position until her mother called her to dinner.
Tom and Sabine noticed that their daughter was unusually quiet at the table. Each of them tried to coax an explanation out of her, but to no avail. Sabine assumed it was just stress over her thesis project. Tom assumed it was some kind of existential crisis that neither of them would be able to understand.
Tom was half right.
After an excruciatingly awkward dinner with her parents, Marinette decided she couldn't sit idly any longer. There was an hour left before she was supposed to meet Cat Noir, and she was feeling way too restless. She needed to burn off some of this energy. She told her parents she was going out for a walk, and grabbed a couple of leftover macarons from the bakery for Tikki before heading out.
She walked to the Institut de France as a civilian, enjoying watching the tourists marvel at the city she was so proud to protect.
The wall took about a half an hour, significantly longer than it would have taken if she had been suited up, but she appreciated the time to clear her head. Marinette still had no clue what to say to Cat Noir when he showed up. It wasn't like she could just waltz up to him and say "Hey, hot stuff, you still wanna see what's under the mask?" then drop her transformation.
Marinette groaned and smacked herself in the forehead. She was getting ridiculous. But time was almost up.
It wasn't until Marinette was looking for a place to transform that she considered the worst case scenario. Hiding behind a bush, she opened her purse. "Tikki, what if he doesn't show up?"
The little Kwami shook her head. "He wouldn't stand you up intentionally, Marinette."
"I mean, the message I sent was super vague and awkward. What if he got freaked out? Or what if he hasn't seen it? Maybe he doesn't even transform regularly. And we've already met up once this week. Maybe he just doesn't know? Or doesn't care?"
"You'll never find out unless you transform and get out there. If he comes, you know you're ready to do this, and if he doesn't, we can stop somewhere to get some ice cream and watch a sad movie together." Tikki fluttered out of her hiding space in Marinette's purse and hugged her cheek. "Try not to worry so much, Marinette."
"Thanks, Tikki," Marinette rubbed the top of Tikki's head affectionately.
She quickly transformed before someone discovered her hiding spot and used her yoyo to scale the building. She was thankful that she'd come out so early. The extra time gave her an opportunity to stew.
Adrien was anxious to say the least. He hadn't heard from Ladybug since her strange, cryptic message the other day. She said it was nothing dangerous, but their definitions of danger had a tendency to differ…
Whatever it was she wanted to meet about, it was an opportunity to see her again, so he might as well appreciate it.
Once he was transformed, he headed straight for the Institut de France, where his Lady would be waiting for him.
He spotted the red and black clad heroine from across the street and used his baton to propel him into the air. He lept across rooftops until he found a good jumping off point to get him across to the cupola. He grinned at the sight of Ladybug watching the stars from her spot on the dome. There was a light tension to her form, a definite change from the last time he had found her napping on a rooftop. As he landed behind her, he wondered if what she wanted to discuss was dangerous after all. It was clearly causing her some stress.
A small frown fixed itself on Cat Noir's face as he approached her. In an attempt to lighten her worries, he flopped unceremoniously down next to Ladybug, lying down on his back with one leg stretched out and one bent at the knee. He tried not to show how worried her message had him and painted himself to be the same carefree cat he always was when he was with her. He folded his arms behind his head.
"Twice in one week, LB. We haven’t done this in years! Maybe we should do it more often."
Ladybug's laughter was obviously forced, and she didn’t even make eye contact. Cat Noir frowned, but waited for her to respond. She'd called him out for a reason. She wouldn't keep him in the dark for long.
"Good to see you, too, Cat Noir."
She fell silent again, causing the niggling worry in Cat Noir's heart to grow. He tried to keep his voice steady. "So, what's going on, Bug? You said you wanted to talk about something?"
Ladybug sighed. She took a deep breath and let it out again. The tension in her shoulders didn't ease. It was like she was trying to psych herself up. "Okay," she said. "Okay, okay, okay."
Cat Noir propped himself up on his elbows and stared at Ladybug.
"So, it's like this. All of the evil targeting Paris has been gone for like a year now. It's quiet now. I love being Ladybug. It's been a part of my life for so long now that I don't know who I would be right now without it, and…without you." She pulled her legs up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her knees. She still hadn’t met his eyes. "But it gets lonely lately. It's like, ever since we took down the last villain, life has been so predictable. And that's not a bad thing, necessarily. It's definitely safer." Ladybug sighed again. "I feel like I'm rambling." She bit her lip, and sat quietly for a moment. Adrien knew her well enough to know that she needed to gather her thoughts, so he sat up and let her think. She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, rubbed her temples, and squeezed her eyes shut. Finally, she turned to him. "I guess what I'm trying to say is…I just miss you."
Whatever Cat Noir thought Ladybug was going to say, that wasn't it. "I-I miss you, too, My Lady."
"I know we are supposed to protect our identities, even from each other. It was dangerous for us before. One of our enemies could have used it against us if they knew that we knew. But things are different now. We're older, stronger, and we've taken down all of our enemies."
"LB, are you saying what I think you're saying right now?"
"I mean, I don't even really know what I'm saying! I guess what I’m trying to get out with these," she made a vague but frantic gesture with her hands, "words or whatever is that I think it's okay, I mean if you want to and you're okay with it or whatever," she took another deep breath, "Ithinkitmightbeokayifwerevealedouridentities!"
As soon as the rush of words tumbled out of her mouth, she buried her face in her knees, like she couldn't believe what she'd said and she was terrified of them blowing up in her face.
Cat Noir fell back on his hands, nearly slipping on the dome, but catching himself at the last second. He never thought this day would come, yet here he was.
"That is," she whispered, "if you want to. I don't want to pressure you or anything. I just…miss my best friend."
Adrien slipped again, this time falling flat onto the dome. His lady, his Bug, was asking if he wanted to know the real him. She said she missed her best friend, that she wouldn't be who she was without him, and that she wanted to know him. How could he possibly say no to that? All of his teenage fantasies about this moment were going to come true.
Cat didn't realize just how long he sat in stunned silence until Ladybug shifted.
"Maybe this was a bad idea." She laughed and stood. From where he lay, still on the dome in shock, he could see a tinge of pink in her cheeks. "Maybe I should just…maybe you should just…forget I said anything. Sorry." She reached for the yoyo at her waist.
Cat Noir scrambled to his feet and grabbed her hand without thinking. "Wait!"
Ladybug turned to him, her deep blue eyes as large and wide as saucers as she stared at him.
"Don't say that! Don't…don't leave." Cat Noir adjusted his posture, and gripped her hand with both of his. "You took me by surprise, that's all. I miss you, too. I miss you all the time. Do you know how many times I've wanted to just call you and talk about my day? Or complain to you, or tell you a stupid joke I've heard? You know I've wanted to know who you are under the mask since we were kids. Of course I still want to know now!"
Ladybug's shoulder's finally relaxed, the tension finally seeping out of them. Cat Noir didn't let go of her hand. "Me, too," she said quietly. "I want to be able to call you, and text you, and send you stupid memes I see on the internet. And I want to hang out with you without the masks."
He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He knew, being a super hero and all, both he and Ladybug had a flair for the dramatic. To any outsider, this scene would seem like something out of a soap opera. But he couldn't imagine this situation any other way. He didn't want it any other way.
"So," he said, "How do you want to do this?"
Ladybug laughed and wiped her eye with her free hand. "I don't know. I really didn't think I would get this far."
Cat Noir chuckled at that. "You worked yourself up like that, and you didn't have a plan for what would happen next? I can't believe you!"
Ladybug pouted indignantly. "Look, it was enough for me to even initiate this conversation. Do I have to do everything?"
"No, you're right. Come, sit back down and let me think."
After finally releasing Ladybug's hand, they each took a seat at the edge of the cupola, legs dangling from the tower, staring out at the Seine.
Detransforming up here could be risky. They were in direct view of the public, and without their suits they could risk hurting themselves. So, immediate action was definitely out.
He wanted to take action soon, but the truth was, under the mask he wasn't prepared. Call him vain, but he at least wanted to be clean shaven before he revealed himself to Ladybug. He had been so worried, he hadn't done that, or even brushed his hair that day. Besides, he wanted his first look at his lady to be in the sunlight.
"Okay. Let's not be impulsive about this. This is a big deal, right?"
Ladybug nodded.
"So maybe we take this slow. Give ourselves some time to prepare."
"Y-yeah. That's a good idea."
"So then, can we meet again…Tomorrow?" Cat Noir scanned their surroundings and noticed a middle school with an open courtyard. He made the suggestion that maybe they meet there, after all, the students and teachers should be cleared out in the afternoon on a Saturday. Ladybug smiled, almost to herself, and told him that the school he suggested didn't have Saturday classes at all, so they should be safe to have a few moments of privacy there.
So, they agreed. That's where they would do it.
Tomorrow afternoon, their lives would change forever.
But for now, they simply savored each other's company and stargazed into the late hours of the night.
Marinette sighed wistfully for the hundredth time that hour. Since making the decision to reveal herself to Cat Noir, she'd been trying to figure out the best way to do it. Trying to find the perfect way to introduce her civilian self to her best friend-slash major crush was seriously nerve wracking. Under normal circumstances, she would call her other best friend, Alya, for advice. Unfortunately, this was a little bit outside of her friend's area of expertise, no matter how much the woman loved superheroes.
Marinette stitched some more of the beading into her latest commission and stabbed herself with the beading hook. She cursed and stuck her finger into her mouth.
"I hope I'm not bleeding," she murmured around her finger.
"Marinette," Tikki fluttered nervously about Marinette's work space, "are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?"
"No, I think I'm alright." Marinette put down her work and pushed back from the desk. Her finger wasn't bleeding after all. "Just distracted. I don't know what to say to Cat Noir."
"Well," Tikki said, settling on the edge of her desk, "you could just be honest with him. Cat Noir is one of your oldest friends, and he's your partner. Besides, Cat Noir has wanted to know Ladybug since you were kids. I'm sure he'll be over the moon."
Marinette smiled and pet Tikki's head with the tip of her finger. "I guess you're right, Tikki."
Marinette spun away from her desk, fell out of her chair and onto her chaise. She didn't remember when exactly it happened, but at some point she'd fallen in love with Cat Noir. When they were younger, she'd kept her feelings squished down inside so that they wouldn't interfere with her duty as Ladybug. She'd used the excuse that it wasn't safe. They couldn't be more than friends because it might interfere during battle. They couldn't reveal themselves because Hawkmoth or the other enemies might find out and use it against them; and how practical could it be for superheroes to be in love when they don't even know each other's faces?
So Ladybug forced herself to be the responsible one. Cat Noir continued to be his usual flirtatious self, and Ladybug never gave in. Sure, she flirted back with him and joked around, but that was as far as it went between them. For ten years they'd stayed that way, stuck in a flirtatious limbo that she had been too afraid to break.
But things were different now. They were both adults. They were better fighters, and the enemies were rare. They were more responsible.
And Marinette couldn't think of one single good reason to keep her identity--or her feelings--a secret any longer.
Marinette sat up on the chaise, a plan forming. "Tikki, I think it's time to patrol a bit. I need to get a message to Cat Noir."
"Of course, Marinette!" Tikki circled Marinette's head a few times before coming to float in front of her. "Just say the words."
Marinette smirked. Looks like she'd get to enjoy the sights of her city from above twice in one week. "Tikki, Spots on!"
Once her transformation was complete, she pulled herself up through her skylight and onto her balcony above. She needed a neutral background for what she was about to do. She climbed over her balcony to the roof of her building, the scent of fresh bread still permeating the air as it floated up from the bakery through the chimney. It smelled like home.
Once she had settled into her perch, she detached her yoyo from her hip and flipped open the communication device. She seriously doubted Cat Noir would be out and about in costume, but she could at least leave a message for him.
Adrien wiped down the counter the next morning to prepare for the morning shift that was coming in. He was getting tired of working the night shift, but at least it gave him something productive to do with his time.
Since his father had passed away, he stopped modeling. He'd gotten his degree in business at his father's request; despite the fact that he was now the primary shareholder, member of the board of directors, and de-facto CEO of Gabriel, he'd defaulted all of his duties to the board and become a silent partner. Instead, he'd taken jobs like the one at the coffee shop to support a much smaller lifestyle until he figured out what he really wanted to do.
He'd made that decision three years ago, and hadn't taken a step since. He couldn't carry on like this. He knew his parents would be disappointed at the way he was stagnating, but he couldn't help it.
The first shift came in not twenty minutes later to relieve him. He hung his apron before clocking out, wishing his team members luck with the morning rush and heading out.
Once he was out of the shop, he slipped into an alley and opened up his jacket pocket. "Hey, Plagg. You can come out now."
The tiny black Kwami zipped out of Adrien's jacket, holding a piece of cheese in his tiny hands. "When are you going to get a job with regular hours? These overnights and early morning shifts are killing me."
Adrien laughed. "Killing you? This lack of sleep is going to mess with my devilish good looks."
Plagg snorted. "Not full of yourself at all…"
"Anyway, I need to clear my head for a while. Patrol?"
"First you work until five in the morning and then you actually want to do more work. The more time I spend with you, the less I understand you."
Adrien rolled his eyes and called on his transformation.
Masked and magical-leather clad, he scaled the side of the coffee shop. He whipped out his baton and was about to use it to take off to the next building, when the blinking paw print caught his eye. A message from his lady this soon?
He hit the paw print and the small video screen popped out of the baton.
The image of his lady that appeared on his screen left him just as star struck as it would have ten years ago, making him feel like that same kid with a crush that he was when their partnership first began. Her hair was getting long. So long she had it pulled back into a high ponytail. She'd mentioned wanting to cut it last time they'd seen each other.
"I feel like I need some change in my life," she had said.
He could relate to that.
Cat Noir hit the play button, his heart stuttering with anticipation as he was met with his partner's stunner smile.
"Hello, um, hi…Cat Noir." Ladybug bit her bottom lip before continuing. "I don't know when you'll see this, but I want to talk to you about something important." Her eyes went wide for a moment, and Cat Noir wondered if he should be-- "It's nothing dangerous, though! So don't worry about anything like that." He sighed in relief as he watched a pink flush color her cheeks. Seeing her like this was cute. Even with how relaxed she'd become over the years, seeing this side of her was rare. "I guess I should have thought out my wording. Anyway…if you see this in time, meet me on the cupola of the Institut de France, the side facing Pont des Arts at 9 PM Friday. I…ah…I hope you can make it."
Adrien closed his baton. What in the world did she want to talk to him about? The message had come through last night. The sun was officially rising, which meant it was Thursday. Only two more days until he could meet his lady again. Twice in one week! And people said she was supposed to be the lucky one.
Adrien worked off his nervous/excited energy for a couple of hours until he'd worked up a nice sweat. He dropped down in a random alley way and dropped his transformation, deciding the weather was nice enough to walk home as a civilian that day.
"Are you done working me into exhaustion," Plagg complained. "Where's the cheese? Did you forget my cheese?"
Adrien shook his head as Plagg scoured his entire being for a scrap of cheese. "You ate it all already."
Plagg gasped, then faked a swoon on Adrien's shoulder. "How can you possibly expect me to survive without breakfast? And after everything I've done for you!"
"Look, don't be a drama queen. Why don't we just stop in a bakery. I'll grab you some breakfast."
"There better be cheese in it!" Plagg made some vague threats before stuffing himself into Adrien's pocket again.
Adrien emerged from the alley and took a look about his surroundings. He was back in his old neighborhood, and if he remembered correctly, his father used to send Nathalie out to get their bread from a bakery right on this street. Adrien spotted it not even 100 meters away: Tom and Sabine's Bakery and Patisserie. His stomach growled and he realized he hadn't eaten since his break around 3 AM. His mother always said they made the best bread in all of Paris, and it had been some time since he'd had truly good bread.
It was about 8:00, and the breakfast rush was going through the bakery. Some business men stopping in before work, students on their way to school, and parents picking up their day's bread.
Adrien wiped his forehead, making sure there was no leftover sweat after his transformation cleaned him up. When he was sure he was presentable, he pushed open the bakery door and was assaulted with the incredible smell of fresh bread and sweet cream butter.
Adrien stood in line and looked around at the display cases. Colorful pastries filled the cases, looking so perfect they couldn't possibly be real. There were even bowls full of candies and confections on top of the counter that looked like tiny gems. It was just…calming to immerse himself in the sights and smells of this boulangerie. At the counter stood two women: an older Asian woman with a short bob, and a younger girl--about Adrien's age--who looked vaguely familiar, clearly her daughter. In the kitchen behind them, a large mustached man was kneading dough and pulling macarons from the oven.
Adrien's gaze returned to the young woman at the register and finally recognized her. It was Marinette, the regular from the coffee shop who had drawn the black cat and reminded him of Ladybug. He grinned.
"Good morning," She said as he approached the counter, putting the last customer's coins into the register. "What can I do for you?"
"Morning," Adrien said.
Her eyes raised and met his.
"Marinette, right? You come into the coffee shop I work for a lot."
A smile brightened her features, and for some reason lifted Adrien's spirit along with it. "Of course, Adrien, right?"
He nodded.
"It's good to see you in the daylight this time," she joked.
"Back at you."
They laughed together before Marinette took Adrien's order. A croissant for himself, a cheese Danish for Plagg, and a baguette to go with Adrien's lunch and dinner.
He paid her, thanked her for the bread and pastries, then left the shop. The sound of her laugh resonated in his mind, sounding a little too familiar…
He shook it off and headed back to his apartment. He had a grumpy Kwami to feed.
Another day, another four emails from Nathalie about Gabriel HQ meetings.
Adrien was positive he'd made his stance clear, but that never stopped Nathalie from keeping him in the loop. Adrien set aside the catalogue she'd mailed him and skimmed her emails with little interest. Nothing new. Things were running fine. That’s all that mattered.
Adrien shut down his work email without checking the rest of the meeting minutes or bank statements that were cluttering his inbox. He wasn't about to deal with all of that.
This was supposed to be a good day for him. He was determined to keep it that way, and a good day did not involve looking over his father's assets.
Instead, he fed Plagg another round of cheese before approaching his closet.
He had just a few hours left before he went to meet Ladybug. He needed to get dressed. Adrien pushed his pair of thick rimmed glasses up his nose, forgoing contacts for the day. Typically, he didn't worry about his appearance, especially when meeting Ladybug. There was no point brushing his hair and wearing his best shirt when he'd just transform and be covered from head to toe in a magical leather cat suit. Besides, ever since he'd quit modeling, he hadn’t been as concerned with how well his shoes matched his belt.
This was different.
He was about to meet Ladybug.
Honest to god, real life Ladybug.
And on his life, he was not going to meet her in his coffee stained work shirt and a pair of loose fitting jeans. He was going to call back to the 18 year old Adrien Agreste who sold cologne on billboards wearing only the highest quality designer clothing.
He was going to have to go into his closet.
"It's been a while since I've seen you wear something that comes off a hanger," Plagg said as Adrien opened the double door walk in. "Getting all dressed up to see your love bug?" The kwami made a kissy face.
"She's not my love bug," Adrien quipped.
He flipped through the hangers, shifting through the pairs of designer jeans and pressed slacks. He laid out no less than five outfits, shuffled shirts around, considered his socks, then began pacing, much to Plagg's chagrin. The tiny pest flitted around complaining loudly the entire time.
Finally, Adrien settled on something to wear.
He donned a pair of tight fitting navy slacks, a soft, dark blue t-shirt, and a grey sports jacket. Not too dressed up, but not too casual either. He shoved his feet into a pair of Doc Martins and pushed up the sleeves of his sports jacket. Of course, his father hadn't raised a slob. Adrien folded a handkerchief and placed it neatly into his breast pocket.
After spending a half hour ensuring his hair was absolutely perfect, it was just about time. He wound a large, heavy knit scarf around his neck and shoved his keys, phone, and wallet.
"Are you ready?" Adrien ran his fingers through his hair and shut the curtains.
"Are you asking me or yourself," Plagg asked.
He rolled his eyes. "Plagg, transform me."
Once he was officially Cat Noir, he snuck out the back window of his apartment. It was finally time.
Marinette was ready. At least, she kept telling herself she was.
She was glad, at least, that Cat Noir suggested meeting today instead. It gave her time to style her hair--curse her heavy Chinese locks that couldn't hold a curl to save her life--and do her makeup. She had been too nervous yesterday to take care of any of that. She'd gotten dressed in a daze, and had spent more time tearing her hair out with nervousness than she had considering what would happen when she actually had to drop the mask and face the actual boy she'd had feelings for for her entire young adult life.
But this morning, she'd woken up with a strange sense of clarity. She wasn't nervous any more. She wasn't worried. Everything was just…serene. Because she was meeting Cat Noir today.
So she put on a brightly colored outfit to contrast the dreary February weather. A navy blue skirt with pink butterflies, a pink, long sleeved shirt, a pair of yellow tights with polka dotted heels and a red knitted scarf. Once her hair was pulled back into twin buns, she checked her appearance in the mirror one last time before turning to Tikki.
"Are you ready for this," She asked her kwami, who was sitting on Marinette's chaise lounge.
"I'm ready if you are," the tiny red bug said.
"I'm definitely ready."
"You seem way more confident today."
Marinette smiled and looped her purse over her shoulder. "I feel better. I mean, no matter what happens, Cat Noir is my friend. He still wants to meet me, so that's a good thing, right? Whoever he is under the mask, we're still going to be friends."
"Do you think he's someone you know already?"
"I mean, a while ago I wondered if maybe he was someone in my class. After Chloe repeatedly got everyone in school akumatized, and he was always on the scene so quickly, I had to wonder. I doubt it, though."
"Well, I guess you're about to find out."
Marinette grinned the type of sappy grin of a school girl in love. "I guess you're right."
She put on her coat and a pair of earmuffs, then let Tikki fly into her purse. She stopped into the bakery downstairs for some macarons, because bringing cookies along almost always led to a good first impression--as long as she didn’t drop them all.
Once she was out of the bakery, she slipped the cookies into her purse and let Tikki out of her hiding place.
"Ok, Tikki, the coast is clear."
"Just say the word, Marinette."
It was finally time.
Thank goodness the school was empty. Marinette had to double check the principal's office, but thankfully Principal Damocles never outgrew his habit of taking Saturdays as a personal day. As long as there were no students on campus for activities--and Marinette hadn't noticed any--the coast was totally clear.
Now all that was left was to wait.
She wasn't sure which direction Cat Noir would be coming from. Would he walk through the front doors? Unlikely, since they were locked for the weekend. Which meant he was probably going to drop into the courtyard from the roof. So Ladybug picked a nice spot on the overhang above the library to sit and wait.
She looked down on the basketball court and wondered what life would have been like if she and Cat Noir actually had gone to college here together. Would they have had classes together? Would they have recognized each other? Marinette liked to think she wasn't so dense she wouldn't see her partner right in front of her. Then again, she could be totally wrong. It was completely possible that she did know him in her everyday life.
She would find out soon enough.
She wasn't waiting long before the cat dropped in. Always the show off, he flipped over the rooftop of the side corridor, caught himself on the second floor railing, then landed at the center of the basketball court below.
"You can't do anything normally, can you?" Ladybug stood on the overhang and tossed out her yoyo. It wrapped around a railing, and she swung herself down to the courtyard to stand before Cat Noir. "You're always doing something to show off."
"What can I say," the stupid tom cat smirked, "I needed one last chance to show you just how purrfect I am before my true identity sweeps you off your feet."
"Somehow I doubt that," Ladybug lied. She knew he was right. Just the thought of seeing him without his mask had her heart nearly pounding out of her chest.
"I guess we're about to see, aren't we?"
Cat Noir stood to his full height, a solid nine inches taller than she was. She was a little bit salty she hadn't actually opted for the small heel in her boots when she'd redesigned her suit last year. At least then he only would have had eight and a half inches on her.
Maybe it was the strange silence between them, but Ladybug noticed that Cat seemed almost nervous. It was a rare occurrence to see him like this, but she understood how he was feeling. If she hadn't used all of her nerves up yesterday, she'd probably be on edge too.
"I guess it's time, then," Ladybug suggested.
"Wait." Cat Noir held up a hand. "Can I have, like, one minute?"
"What, are you a scaredy cat?"
"No! Yes? Look, this is…it's a big deal, alright?"
Ladybug looked down at her hands clasped in front of her. "I know. It is. You're right."
"It's just--I've been wanting to know you for, like, ten years now. And now it's about to happen. And this is just a big deal, you know?" He covered his mouth with his hand.
"I've wanted to know, too," she murmured. "I mean, it's not like I never wanted to know."
"I know," he said. "It wasn't safe. But I'm glad it's happening now."
"Me, too."
Cat Noir took another deep breath before finally meeting her eyes. "Okay. Are you ready?"
"Are you asking me or yourself?"
He scowled. "My kwami asked me the same thing this morning."
Ladybug giggled. "Well, I'm ready when you are. How do you want to do this?"
"How about this," he put a hand on her shoulder, "You turn that way," he turned her to face the basketball hoop by the library. "And I'll face the other way. Then when we've detransformed, we can turn back around and see each other."
"So complicated," she teased.
Adrien turned to face the opposite basketball hoop. "Okay. I'm ready."
"Me, too."
Unable to help himself, and in need of some grounding, Cat Noir grabbed Ladybug's hand. She squeezed his in return. He gulped. "On three?"
He felt rather than saw her nod. "One," she counted.
"Two."
He squeezed her hand, and together they said, "three."
Each of them called off their transformation, and two bright lights shone in the college courtyard, one a brilliant pink, and the other electric green.
The lights faded, and suddenly Adrien was holding Ladybug's hand.
Barely a few seconds had passed, and Marinette was touching Cat Noir's skin with her skin.
In a few more seconds, they would be looking at each other's faces, unobstructed.
And suddenly it was all too much.
All of the anxiety Marinette hadn't felt the entire day slammed into her at once.
A fine sheen of sweat appeared across Adrien's brow.
Both of them considered running.
But neither of them moved. They stayed rooted in one spot, too terrified of seeing, and too afraid to leave.
It was a good fear, though, Marinette rationalized. It was excitement, anticipation, and the unknown. It wasn't a bad fear.
So she took another breath to steady herself. She should really start doing those deep breathing exercises her father pushed her to do so that she wasn't always gasping like a fish every time she got nervous. But that wasn't relevant right then.
"Should we turn around?" His voice sounded higher with nerves.
"Yeah, that would make sense, wouldn't it, kid?" The response definitely did not come from Marinette. Instead, she turned her head slightly to the right to see a floating, black, cat-like creature that must be Cat Noir's kwami.
"Plagg, if you don’t…"
"Oh, stop it with your empty threats, and just turn around already!"
"He's right, you know," Marinette said, "we should just do it. Like ripping off a bandaid. Get it over with. Not that there's anything to get over, but just…get it done."
They squeezed each other's hand one last time. Marinette squeezed her eyes shut. She had no way of knowing, but behind her Adrien did the same. In sync, they released their hands and spun around towards each other.
"Oh would you open your eyes," Plagg complained.
"Give them some space, you pest," a small, high voice chided.
Marinette giggled. Leave it to her kwami to take control and try to deescalate the situation.
Feeling at ease after hearing her kwami's voice, Marinette felt brave. She squinted one of her eyes open, reminding herself that it was the same old Cat Noir, just without a mask. A glint of blonde caught her eye, giving her the courage to open her eyes fully.
Her breath caught in her throat. "Hey, I know you!"
The boy in front of her winced, and his eyes didn't open. "Yeah, I, um, thought you might…"
Of course she recognized him, Adrien thought, he was a model for most of his life. Why hadn't he thought to warn her about that?
"You're from the coffee shop!"
Huh?
"From the…coffee shop?" Adrien's muscles relaxed a bit.
"Yeah, you're my barista!"
"That's how you recognize me?" His voice was full of disbelief. "From the coffee shop?"
"Open your eyes, you silly cat!"
So he did. Slowly, and cautiously, but he opened his eyes.
What he saw nearly knocked him off his feet. He'd been right.
"You're the baker's daughter," he said, his voice filled with awe. "And I was right!"
Ladybug had a look of confusion on her face. "You were right?"
"I was right!" Adrien threw his arms around her waist and picked her up. He swung a very shocked Ladybug around in a circle, laughing all the while. "I was right!"
Marinette's hands went to Cat Noir's shoulders as she braced herself against the motion. "What do you mean, you were right?"
He finally stopped spinning, but he didn't put her down. "I was right! I've known since I was fourteen that if I ever met you in real life, I would recognize you, and I was right!" He finally placed her gently on the ground, hands resting gently at her waist. "That night you came into the coffee shop to work on your project, I knew you looked familiar. Everything about you was familiar, and I just, I had this feeling. And every time I saw you I kept feeling it, and here you are!"
Marinette's cheeks hurt from smiling so much, but she wasn't about to stop any time soon. "I guess you were right, then! And what do you mean, you thought I might recognize you? Conceited much?"
He groaned and bowed his head. "I'm not being conceited, I'm just used to being recognized. I, aha, I used to be a model."
"A model?" She deadpanned.
He took one hand off of her waist, just to rub the back of his neck. "Yeah…"
"Wait a minute," she said, taking a step back, "hold on, you were a model, weren't you? I recognize you now! I knew you looked familiar, but it's hard to tell when you wear those glasses, and your hair is so much shorter now! I used to see you in magazines all the time!"
He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Maybe I shouldn't have pointed it out…"
She laughed. "No, no! It’s fine! Everything's fine."
"Are you sure you won't go all fan girl on me," he teased.
"Dude," she said, putting a hand on her hip, "I'm literally Ladybug. Not to brag, but I'm pretty used to the celebrity life by now." She flipped a strand of hair over her shoulder and struck a pose, earning her a hearty laugh from her partner.
"Well that's good to know." A glint of mischief flashed in his eyes, and Marinette marveled at the familiarity of the look, even without the mask. He bowed at the waist, taking her hand. "It's nice to formally meet you, my lady. Adrien Agreste, at your service."
Marinette tried to quell the butterflies in her stomach, but to no avail. "Pleasure to meet you, good sir. Marinette Dupain-Cheng."
Adrien righted himself. "I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry. Would you care to join me for lunch, my lady?"
"That sounds lovely, chaton." She looped her arm in his. "And lucky for you, I used to go to this school. I know the back way out so that no one sees us sneaking out."
"You never cease to amaze with your impurressive tricks, Bug."
She began to lead him to the back of the school "What can I say, I've always told you I'm a genius."
"And so humble." He assessed her outfit. "And what are you, a fashion student? You're wearing, like, a hundred colors!"
"As a matter of fact, I am. Working towards a masters in design."
"Don't get me wrong, I love it. It reminds me of summer."
"Who dressed you today, Cat," she shot back, "you have on a big scarf like that, but no jacket? What happened to you, Monsieur Agreste?"
"It's almost 10C out. It's not even that cold!"
They bantered back and forth like that the entire way out, leaving their kwami to trail behind them, forgotten in the excitement.
They had a feeling that would become the norm from then on.
