#mlsecretsanta2k17

[minimuii]

Oh yeah! So my giftee dropped out but this was for @mlsecretsanta !! May it be a gift to the whole fandom uwu

[furoushka]

Ok, so I was kinda late to finish this piece so I think I was excluded from the event (my bad uhu), but I already finished it, so here’s a gift for @meowxerz ! Happy holidays!!!

[plvdoodles]

I’m late ;-; but here is my gift for @broccoliemiley for the @mlsecretsanta!  the dance will forever make my heart ache 😍😍😍

[verrelle]

Hi @luckyspacelions! I was your secret santa for the @mlsecretsanta exchange! You asked for some Marichat so I hope you like it and Merry Christmas!!!

[perditaalottachocolate-blog]

“Clearing the Friend Zone” - a ML Secret Santa story

Merry Christmas @sombramalamutt !  I'm your @mlsecretsanta this year. I hope you’ll like your gift!

(huge thank you to @cinnamon-apple-roll and Remasa for betaing this)

Read it on AO3 / fanfiction.net

Summary:  When Adrien friendzones Marinette once again, their classmates decide enough is enough and the time has come to do something for the Tripping Queen and King of Denial. This will be their Christmas good deed. Plagg is 100% on board.

He did it again

Plagg was snoring peacefully in Adrien’s locker, when the whispers started.

‘He did that again, didn’t he?’

‘Our Sunshine child? Sure he did.’

The little black cat perked up. That was his Chosen’s nickname. And his Chosen’s classmates.

‘I have honestly had enough. How can he know four languages and Morse code and still be so dense?’

‘My man can’t be best at everything.’

Ah, Plagg thought, that was Bubbles and his girlfriend. What did Adrien do this time?

‘True. But if he keeps this up Marinette will run out of tears and dry like a raisin.’

‘Come on, babe. You know he doesn’t do this on purpose. That’s just his basic reaction. He really is very friendly.’

‘Yeah, yeah, a human equivalent of a Labrador.’

Plagg snickered quietly among Adrien’s clothes. Too bad he didn’t have anyone to take a bet, because he would wager a week's supply of camembert, that his charge declared his eternal friendship for Pigtails again. Probably patted her affectionately over the shoulder or if he was really lightheaded maybe even gave her a hug. The boy was an A-class master of mixed signals if Plagg ever saw one.

There was a clatter of metal and a thud.

‘Oh, crap,’ Bubbles called. ‘It wasn’t me!’

‘Relax,’ Red chuckled. ‘Marinette’s locker sometimes opens itself like that. Apparently her maladroitness rubs off on her things. Just pick it up, will you?’

‘A dictionary?’ The rustle of paper told Plagg the boy did as he was told. ‘Why would Marinette need one in her locker?’

‘Beats me,’ even confined to his current hideout the kwami could hear the girl shrug. ‘Never seen this in her hands before. Just put it back.’

Was it Plagg’s imagination or did he hear an exasperated sigh from Pigtails’s locker?

‘Wait!’ Red exclaimed. ‘Show me that! I think I saw a bookmark.’

The sprite narrowed his eyes. He could definitely pick a scheming vibe. After a few moments of rustling Bubbles cackled and his girlfriend snorted.

‘Friend!’ They both cried.

‘Oh, Nino,’ Red sighed through the laughter. ‘You should put it in Sunshine’s bag. Maybe then he would learn what that word means.’

‘Nah, you could probably hit him with it, and he still would be as oblivious,’ mirth lined the boy’s voice.

‘Hmmm. Maybe we could do something about it?’ Now that was definitely a scheming voice, if you’d ask Plagg. And a tiny squeak of “Yes!” from somewhere near.

Clearly Red wasn’t the only one with a scheme here. And he loved schemes! The little cat chuckled again. He was almost sure it was Tikki’s paw that threw that dictionary out of Pigtails’s locker. So he listened very, very carefully. He already liked this idea. And maybe he could even help a bit. It’s not like he had anything better to do, and he could definitely use more company and a less dense Chosen.

‘We need to establish an automated reaction,’ Red said.

‘A what?’ Bubbles supplied eloquently.

‘We need to create a situation in which we expose and train Adrien to the proper reaction,’ how come this girl had so much patience was beyond Plagg.

‘Girl, my bro is not some Pavlov’s dog,’ the boy gasped, scandalized at her suggestion.

‘Excuse me, but it was you who said he was a human equivalent of a Labrador,’ she scoffed.

‘Okay. A – it was you who said it, and B – you’re sure this is even ethical?’

‘Well…’ Red clearly hesitated, ‘maybe we could think of it as a prank then?’

‘And if this behavioral crap actually works?’ Bubbles clearly still had doubts.

‘Then no one would care. Besides, he’s not that observant in these matters. We are practically doing him a favor.’

‘If you put it this way…’ A scratching sound told Plagg, Nino was probably rubbing his neck.

‘Good. Now we need to have more people aboard.’ Wow, Red was fast.

‘What for?’

‘Actors.’

‘Will we be needing a director too?’ Bubbles asked hopefully.

‘Probably,’ Plagg definitely could hear smirk in Alya’s voice.

‘Then I’m your man,’ Nino stated proudly and the black sprite was sure there was at least one finger gun involved.

‘You are anyway,’ the girl drawled in a seductive voice, definitely moving closer to the boy.

And then the conversation came to an abrupt end and all Plagg could hear to his utmost disgust were the sounds of good old face sucking.

Training the Lab

Nino and Alya needed only one afternoon to work through the details and they set their plan to action the next morning. Unsurprisingly every person they approached agreed to participate, some even enthusiastically. It was clear that everybody had had enough of watching those two idiots dance around each other, especially since it was obvious for everyone bar the said idiots, they would end together. Their classmates thought it would be a good thing to speed things up. It could count as their Christmas good deed. As for their motivation – some, like Kim and Alix did this purely for fun, others like Rose and Juleka would do anything for a blooming love, while Alya and Nino were just really tired of Marinette’s failed attempts to confess and of Adrien’s denial.

Alya’s job was to keep Marinette temporarily out of Adrien’s sight, going by the rule that absence makes the heart grow fonder. She was to keep her friend occupied at all times, so the only occasion Adrien would get to see his just-a-friend would be during classes, where no interaction would be possible and Adrien would be facing another way, so in fact he still wouldn’t get to see much of her.

Nino was responsible for navigating Adrien through the “exposition phase” as Alya called it.

They started even before the first lesson, with Ivan.

‘Hey, Dude!’ Nino greeted his colleague giving him a secret wink to start Operation Ceefizz (“Clearing the Friend Zone”). ‘Watcha doing?’

‘Nuffin,’ Ivan sighed putting on his most love-struck face and looking pointedly at Mylène. The boy wasn’t subtle, but again they were dealing with Adrien here. The blond politely smiled at his classmate.

‘Something’s on your mind. I can see it,’ Nino pressed on to Adrien’s surprise.

‘I’m just thinking,’ Ivan sighed again causing a small whirlwind of dust on the floor.

‘Thinking, huh?’ Nino nudged Adrien in the ribs, but his bro was still patiently waiting for the conversation to run its course.

‘Yeah,’ the huge boy boomed finally tearing his eyes from his crush. ‘Christmas is coming. I’m thinking what I should get for Mylène.’ He took a deep breath and Nino knew what he would say next. ‘You know, she is such a g-r-e-a-t f-r-i-e-n-d,’ he drawled like was talking to a half-brain. Well, in a way he was.

‘But Ivan!’ Nino gasped and stared. ‘Don’t you mean   g i r l f r i e n d? ’

‘That’s what I meant,’ Ivan’s cheeks covered with rosy hue worthy of Marinette and Nino made a mental note to congratulate him on his acting skills as soon as he ditches Adrien, and to cast him in a more significant role in his next film. One that would involve actually showing his facial expressions. Or his face for that matter.

Adrien remained politely quiet throughout the exchange, his features blissfully free of any reflection. Nino sighed. There was still so much work ahead of them. He would have to ask Alya to swap with him sometimes. He wasn’t sure how much of this he would be able to take in before he’d want to strangle his best bud. It wouldn’t hurt to distract Marinette from time to time instead.

Nino arranged the next setup at lunch deciding not to overload his buddy with stimuli. As scheduled Rose and Juleka were waiting for the two of them in the locker room. Them entering was a signal for the girls to start the scene. Juleka smiled at them, gave Rose a cute, shy wave and left for the girls’ bathroom.

‘Thank you!’ Rose called after her and blew her a kiss. ‘Hi guys! What do you think of my new shawl?’ The petite blonde twirled and the silky magenta scarf that she wrapped around her shoulders billowed after her.

‘It’s amazing!’ Adrien commented politely. ‘This must be quality silk. The fake kind doesn’t billow so nicely.’

‘Yeah!’ Nino interrupted. The last thing he needed was a discussion on types of silk, which he had no doubt his friend would happily provide. ‘Looks good on you,’ he complimented Rose and for better measure threw in a couple of finger guns. ‘Is this a gift?’

Their classmate nodded and hugged the shawl to herself. ‘From Juleka,’ she breathed dreamily, although Nino didn’t miss the cheeky sparkle in her eyes. ‘She’s really a  g-r-e-a-t f-r-i-e-n-d .’

Mr. Director and co-schemer smiled at her, both in acknowledgement of a line well delivered and in actual fondness, ‘Don’t you mean   g i r l f r i e n d, Rose?’ He raised a brow at Adrien’s polite blink. Were they getting somewhere?

Rose dissolved into giggles. ‘That’s what I meant,’ she chirped happily.

‘Oh,’ Adrien’s own brows quirked in surprise. ‘I didn’t know it’s official.’

Their classmate smiled sweetly. ‘A recent development,’ she confessed. ‘But we’ve always been close.’

‘Yeah, that’s nice,’ Nino piped in, afraid that Rose going off script might ruin their plan. ‘But don’t you need to go?’ He nodded in the direction of the bathroom and Rose squeaked when she remembered she should follow Juleka now.

‘Yup! Gotta go!’ She exclaimed rushing after her girlfriend. ‘To get some smooches,’ she said under her breath but loud enough for the two boys to hear her. Mr. Polite blushed to the tips of his ears. Nino took that as a good sign.

Adrien’s friends continued enacting that impromptu reality TV, as Max had called it, for the next few days, careful not to go overboard. The expositions took place once, sometimes twice a day. Plagg was utterly amused watching a more and more confused Adrien respectfully listening to various people explaining their relationship status to him. He quickly decided this was his third favorite thing in the world, right after cheese and cat naps.

A great friend

Adrien was having a hard time. It seems lately that not only everybody seemed to be getting girlfriends, but they all decided to rub it in his face too. Oh, how he wished he could acquire one of those for himself. Specifically one spotted red clad heroine that took his heart.

But he couldn’t help it, so he patiently listened to his classmates, and tried to show at least mild interest, although he noticed he started phasing out in such circumstances, his ears barely registering the repeated tune of “great friends” and “girlfriends”, when his mind wandered freely.

After the third person suggested they were thinking about Christmas gifts Adrien recalled the red hat Marinette had given him last year. He regretted a bit that he had passed it on, even if it was in a good cause. It didn’t change the fact that he had to personally cataclysm it to free the akuma, destroying his great friend’s gift. Now it occurred to him that maybe it would be in good tone to reciprocate to his benefactor. That night to Plagg’s silent facepaw he googled “perfect gift for a great friend” and started browsing through search results with a new vigor.

When next day he and Nino witnessed Aurore feeding Jean Luc grapes at lunch (just before pointing out what a good friend she was and being enlightened once again about another couple’s relationship status), he couldn’t stop thinking about how much fun it would be to share food with people he was just friends with. He had had a particularly good chocolate mousse lately and he remembered how Marinette liked chocolate. He wished he could take her to try it out. They hadn’t had lunch together in ages. Which was unfair, because it seemed that although Marinette was usually busy with the girls, she still managed to spend time with Nino. But whenever Adrien wanted to join them, Alya showed up with a scoop or a problem to solve, and she would drag him away from them. Strangely enough soon after they would stumble upon another person blatantly showing off their girlfriend.

One time Alya forced him to go to library in search for a history book that might contain something on the Miraculouses and they found themselves in the middle of Ultra Mecha Strike IV trial show. Those new features and attacks looked really interesting. He idly wondered why Marinette wasn’t there and what would she think about them.

Shortly afterwards Alya abducted him again and to his slight embarrassment they caught Mylène and Ivan in the middle of a cuddle session. At least that’s what it looked like, because Ivan swore he was just cheering Mylène up after a particularly snide remark from Chloé. Of course, she was his-great-friend-don’t-you-mean-g i r l f r i e n d, so it was perfectly understandable to give her a comforting hug. Adrien couldn’t get that image out of his head. Well, to be more precise, he couldn’t get the idea out of his head. For the remaining of the afternoon and evening he pondered upon how he’d like to platonically hug someone too – purely to comfort them, of course. Marinette seemed a bit sad lately. Maybe she could use a friendly cuddle hug? Provided he would actually see her outside of class, that is.

Oh, he surely thought a lot about Marinette theses days, Adrien noticed. Definitely more than Ladybug, even if he said so himself. Somehow Marinette sneaked into his thoughts and took the place usually occupied by his partner. It must have been because of how little time they’d been spending together lately and because of that perfect gift he finally found and couldn’t wait to give to her. These at least were the reasons he came up with when after one particularly affectionate display of feelings between Nino and his “don’t-you-mean- g i r l f r i e n d“ Alya Adrien’s thoughts ran straight to Marinette’s full pink lips presenting him with a detailed analysis of how perfect they seemed for kissing.

Although the explanation about recent difficulties in meeting her seemed totally plausible, Adrien couldn’t really ignore the heat that rose from his heart and crawled onto his face, stopping only at his ears. Maybe he was running a fever?

Don’t you mean g i r l f r i e n d?

To everyone’s relief about a week and a half before Christmas Alya announced the end of exposition phase. It was about time as they had used all their acting skills and those last few scenes came up rather thin. Now it was up to her and Nino to get to the last stage of their plan – inducing reaction. Gift exchange seemed like a perfect opportunity, although Adrien had some objections as he admitted to not feeling very well lately. Alya chalked it up to the training phase proving effective. Besides, if they waited longer, the effects of the exposition could wear off and all that hard work would be wasted.

That’s how the four of them ended up in the courtyard during lunch break and opening gifts. Marinette was on the verge of explosion from excitement. It was probably due to finally seeing Adrien up close after Alya and Nino kept them carefully separated for the time of exposition phase. The bluenette reverently handed Alya and Nino their gifts, complementing them with a hug.

Out of the corner of her eye Alya noticed, with no small amount of satisfaction, that their blond colleague stomped nervously from one foot to the other, a fresh coat of pink adorning his cheeks. He was (im)patiently awaiting his turn, while Alya and Nino opened their presents and Marinette ducked into her backpack to produce his gift. A glimpse of disappointment flashed over his face when their gifts turned out to be hand knitted scarfs. An intricate pattern of musical notes was scattered over staff woven into Nino’s green one, while Alya received a pink triangle shawl covered with ladybug yoyos. Marinette really outdid herself.

Adrien’s hand went to his neck, where a light blue scarf – his favorite – was wrapped in loose loop. Alya hoped Marinette had made something different for him, because he clearly would be in a lot of trouble trying to choose which one he should wear. And the redhead wasn’t disappointed when the girl finally pulled the last gift out of her bag. She smoothed a few wrinkles on the Christmas tree patterned paper and with a shy smile handed it to the boy. He did his best not to tear the wrapping into pieces on the spot, but his rather frantic movements as he fought with the paper were far from his usual calm and composed demeanor.

Adrien pulled the content of the pack out and sighed in awe as he spread the garment over his chest. It was a light blue vest, a few shades darker than his scarf, but complementing it perfectly, embroidered with a string of little ladybugs – along the right side of the collar and the left side of the buttons, including a stray one right over his heart. It was beautiful and Adrien was enchanted, hand sliding over the delicate fabric and ornaments. Marinette stared at their friend analyzing the final result. She seemed quite content.

Nino and Alya grinned so wide, their cheeks hurt. That was their opening.

‘Wow,’ Adrien whispered. ‘Thank you! This is amazing, Marinette!’

‘Yes! Wow!’ Alya interjected, before the blond would launch his trademark sequence. ‘This is amazing!’ She repeated after him.

‘You’re lucky…’ Nino added with a hint of mischief in his voice, and Alya knew what his next line would be. Now they would get to know if their plan had worked. ‘…that Marinette is such a g-r-e-a-t f-r-i-e-n-d …’

‘Don’t you mean girlfriend?’ Adrien supplied dreamily, still one hundred percent absorbed by his gift.

There were two heavy thuds of female bodies hitting the floor. One right in front of them, caused by a stunned Marinette and one right behind, by Chloé who clearly had been eavesdropping on them, while hiding behind the stairs.

‘…What?!’ Adrien was abruptly roused from his reverie at the sound and then his ears caught up with what had been said. ‘Did I just-? Oh my,’ he gasped at the unconscious form of his great-just-a-(girl)-friend at his feet.

That’s what I meant

Chloé was released from ER soon after the ambulance took her in (and after an epic tantrum she threw there). Marinette had to stay for observation as she banged her head really hard, but luckily she was back home the next day. And news traveled fast, so that week there was a surprising amount of angry fangirl akuma targeting her.

Adrien would have never thought the time would come when he would be thankful for so many attacks. They provided him with a perfect excuse to postpone confronting Marinette about his words. Unfortunately they also provided Chat Noir with numerous occasions in which he had to escort her to safety before Ladybug was able to reach the scene. Somehow the red clad heroine was extremely late to every battle that week. And running over the rooftops with Marinette in his arms at least once a day did very funny things to him. He was suddenly very aware of her, his mind helpfully supplying him with flashbacks from all of their previous encounters. Every wink, every smile, every friendly pat on the shoulder. Every hug, every word whispered in her ear, every dance, every occasion they spent time together, just the two of them. He almost face-planted on bare concrete one time, when a particular almost-kiss scene from Nino’s film popped into his head just as he was leaping to Marinette’s rescue once again.

It couldn’t end well and it didn’t.

‘I can’t do this anymore, Plagg,’ the blond whined, confined to his room after the school was closed due to the intensity of the attacks. ‘What am I going to tell her?’

‘Who?’ Plagg raised his head from the wedge of camembert he had been devouring.

‘Marinette!’

‘Your great friend Marinette?’ Plagg asked with a sly grin. An exasperated groan was all the reply he got. ‘Oh,’ he snickered, ‘you mean your great girlfriend Marinette?’

Adrien buried his face in the pillows on his bed.

‘You could, I don’t know,’ Plagg tsked as if considering Adrien’s options, ‘give her the present you picked for her and explain that you didn’t mean that?’

A beat of silence.

‘Unless,’ the black sprite drawled in a low murmur, ‘you did mean that?’ He flew to his Chosen and settled just beside his ear.

‘Admit it,’ he whispered and was rewarded with another groan. ‘Admit that you liiiiiiiiiike her.’

Adrien pressed his face harder into the pillows.

‘Admit that you want to kissssssssssss her…’ Plagg honestly didn’t remember when he had more fun. He turned his back to the boy, hugged himself and started making smooching and sucking noises as his paws travelled up and down his sides and he wiggled his backside. ‘Oh-oh, Marinette, oh-oh,’ he moaned. ‘You’re such a great friend…’

‘Oh, god,’ Adrien growled.

‘You called?’ The black cat turned around. He scooted closer to the blond mop of hair. ‘Admit that you- Holy cats, kid! You have a fever!’ He exclaimed running a tiny paw over that patch of the boy’s forehead that was accessible over the covers. ‘You’re hot as hell!’

Adrien raised his head and looked at his kwami with glassy eyes. ‘I suppose,’ he mumbled swaying a bit. ‘That must have been that time when I went to the battle straight from the shower. All that running over the rooftops in December cold wasn’t doing me any good either.’ He flopped face first to his bed again.

‘Lovesick just gained a new meaning,’ Plagg sighed sourly, covering him with a blanket.

Adrien dreamt of Marinette. Even in the middle of a fever he saw her clearly. Her blue eyes, her midnight blue pigtails, her full lips smiling invitingly. He could smell her scent too. He hadn’t even realized he knew it. But he did. Too well. He definitely had it memorized, even before the last week, when every breath he took as Chat was full of it.

In his dreams he did everything he previously wanted to do with Marinette. He gave her the present. He invited her to lunch and they ate a mountain of chocolate mousse, and chased it with raspberry lemonade. They discussed the new Ultra Mecha Strike features and tested them at her place. He took some pictures of her wearing the hat and gloves he gave her. He comforted her with a hug (and there were cuddles involved too, because his dream - his rules). He walked her home from a stroll down the Seine. He held her hand. He tilted his head to press his lips to hers but just as they were a hair width apart Adrien woke up.

He was clutching the blue vest to his chest. He didn’t remember taking it to bed. It smelled divine. Lavender, vanilla and lemon grass. Marinette.

‘Feeling better, loverboy?’ Plagg greeted him from his perch on the shelf.

‘Yes,’ Adrien realized he did. His head was no longer reeling and he was no longer feverish. He felt better than in days and he knew exactly why. Without any fuss he ran to take a shower and then threw the blue vest over the black Gabriel turtleneck and grabbed Marinette’s gift.

‘What’s the rush,’ the black sprite grumbled yawning ostensibly. ‘Is there a fire somewhere?’ He teased, but Adrien was too lightheaded to notice.

‘We’re leaving, Plagg,’ he announced putting on his coat and scarf.

‘Hey! My cheese!’ The little cat spluttered, as he was unceremoniously separated from a fresh wheel and shoved into Adrien’s pocket. ‘Where are we going anyway?’

His Chosen grinned at him. ‘To see my girlfriend.’

***

Lessons were resumed the next day and Chloé landed in the ER once again, after a fit of fainting spells. All the time she mumbled something about blue vest with ladybugs and pink beanie with cat ears. Which was exactly what the newest couple at school was wearing that day.

* The End *

[powerdragonmoon]

Bright Lights and Lit Candles

With the holiday season fast approaching the last place Nathanael thought he would end up is out on a shopping spree with Chloe Bourgeois.

This is my @mlsecretsanta gift for the ever lovely and super sweet @vanilla107, when I got my assignment I jumped for joy and then days later I received such a wonderful message from you and was immediately suspicious because of the timing of it all...i was like, “SHE KNOWS!!!” XD but now I’m so happy to call you a friend! I hope you had an amazing, happy, and merry Christmas and are enjoying this lovely holiday season!!!

(ao3 link)

Nathanael peeked out from under the massive pile of boxes and bags he had cradled in his arms. Each one was tied up in elaborate ribbon and tastefully wrapped in various shades of gold. Barely able to keep his balance, he entered the boutique, not surprised to find under the soft lighting that it was just as glamorous as all the other stores they had already visited.

Its interior was decorated in subtle, yet chic touches of the holiday season. White and gold accented the window displays while black and white striped wallpaper lined the walls. Clothing racks showcasing the latest fashion, straight off the runway, filled the store and Nathanael immediately could tell that they would be here for awhile.

As he had for most of this odd journey, Nathanael felt completely out of his element…Chloe however, seemed to be in her natural habitat.

Albeit, the whole afternoon still seemed to be some sort of unfathomable daydream. In a whirlwind of determination and stubbornness, Nathanael had been dragged along into Chloe’s white limo and lead across Avenue Montaigne. With a manicured hand clawed around his wrist, he had been lead through stores where price tags weren’t even on the clothes or items, it was just accepted that you would need the most platinum and elite of credit cards to even think about purchasing such things and if you had to ask for a price, then you couldn’t afford it.

And so Nathanael stood at the entranceway, buried under a mountain of Chloe’s earlier acquisitions as she moved through the store with the power and authority fit for some sort of overseas duchess or a famous movie starlet…

Or a queen.

Perhaps it was the warm lights or the fact that his vision was half-obscured by the items in his arms, but for a short moment, a flash of yellow and black brought a very sudden and unexplainable redness to his cheeks.

Blinking away the image of black and gold, Nathanael glanced around, wondering for not the first time how he had got himself into this situation.

School had just ended and he had been stuck pondering the sprinkling rain from the school doorway when Chloe Bourgeois had walked by, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards her private, white limo that gleamed under the gloomy Parisian rain.

“I—wait what?! CHLOE!”

“We’re going shopping!” was the only reply he got until they settled into the backseat of the limo. “Plus,” she had added, “you don’t want the rain to ruin your hair right?”

Nathanael had been too stunned to offer an answer at the time, equally shocked at the fact that he was now sitting beside Chloe in her limo and by the almost considerate gesture of being saved from the rain. He had in fact been a little more than just concerned about his hair getting wet on his walk home.

But most of all, he was most surprised that she was still holding his hand.

They both seemed to realize it at the same moment, their clammy hands releasing their hold on each other as they moved as far apart as the leather limo seats allowed them.

“Kurtzberg,” she spoke harshly, her eyes not meeting his as her voice dropped into a uncharacteristic whisper, mummering a fast few words that Nathanael hadn’t been able to hear.

“I’m sorry?”

Chloe brought a hand to her mouth, muttering something so quiet that Nathanael had to lean in closer in an attempt to catch it.

“Uh…?” was all he could answer with.  

With a glare and deep breath of exasperation, she finally spoke up, perhaps much louder than anticipated as Nathanael jumped back at the sound, “I need your help!”

“Oh!” he responded, still terribly caught off guard, as silence filled the space between them.

Chloe pursed her lips, her eyebrows raising as if waiting for more of a eloquent reply.

And if an eloquent reply was what she was after, Nathanael was not the person to deliver.

“Uh, I…OK?”

She grimaced and he flinched. “OK?” she repeated, and in a fit of nerves all Nathanael could muster was a frantic nod.

Chloe let out a sigh, one that bordered between frustrated and relief. And then, with a quick, yet surprisingly polite, call towards her driver they were off, driving through the streets of Paris.

After another moment of silence, Nathanael recovered some hidden courage to finally voice his curiosity. “So…what do you need my help for?

With a haughty flip of her ponytail Chloe turned to face him, her previous hesitancy molding back into her signature Chloe Bourgeois-esque…haughtiness? Arrogance? Charm? Whatever it was, it was entirely Chloe and something Nathanael just couldn’t name, it was just something he knew at this point.

“I need help Christmas shopping…Daddy gave me money to buy presents for myself and I need someone to hold my bags.”

Nathanael’s mouth fell open. That something he couldn’t quite name, suddenly flashing clear in his mind.

Selfishness™.

“Yes, and since Sabrina was sick, I just saw you, all sad and pathetic, looking at the rain…and I thought perhaps I would do you a favour…”

Nathanael glanced down at the limo door to his side, contemplating the harm of jumping from a moving vehicle, but at the sudden blares of car horns as they passed through a busy intersection, he decided against the idea.

“OW!”

He turned back at the shout, staring in surprise as Chloe rubbed her arm.

“Are you OK?” he asked.

“I’m fine.”

Still concerned, although a part of him wondered why, he continued, “W-what happened?”

“I umm..” Chloe bit her lip before replying glaring down at her bag, “I think I got stung by a bee or something.”

“Oh, ouch,” Nathanael replied awkwardly. “I’ve never been stung by a bee before…”

Chloe laughed dryly, “Well, then consider yourself lucky.”

“I’m usually not.” Nathanael smiled, shrugging slightly.

With a frown Chloe glanced his way, before pointing her chin up in the air. “Today you get to accompany me on a grand shopping extravaganza! I’d say you’re very lucky! Plus bee stings are the worst.” She glared down at her purse for a moment before meeting his eyes once more. “So you can count your lucky stars for that!”

Nathanael’s smile grew. He still wasn’t sure her definition of lucky quite fit his, but as he saw Chloe turn away, staring out her window with an expression he was completely caught off guard. Suddenly the need to jump out of the limo for freedom didn’t seem like the most logical answer.

Which is how he had found himself, hours later entering yet another posh store by Chloe’s side, when usually he would be home amd holed up in his room, sketching out comics on his tablet. He glanced out the windows to the darkening sky, the rain glistening off the streets and sighed.

But if anything Chloe’s Christmas Shopping Extravaganza had been quite the curious adventure. And as Nathanael reflected over the contents of her purchases, he couldn’t help but wonder see how clearly obvious it was that Chloe was not buying gifts for herself.

Thus far, Chloe had bought a pair of the latest noise-cancelling headphones, a special, limited edition Ladybug and Chat Noir figurine set, the most expensive pair of running shoes Nathanael had ever seen, a matching set of necklaces, each with its own jeweled flower pendant, and a pair of bright green rollerblades. He stared around the boutique and wondered if Chloe was going to be buying something bright, pink, and fashionable for a certain classmate of theirs.

“OK done!!”

“ARGH!” Nathanael jumped that the sudden sound, tripping over air and flailing as box after box fell from his hands.

“Oh wow, you are jumpy,” came Chloe’s reply as she bent over to collect some of the dropped bags, Nathanael reached out to help as well.

“Yeah, sorry,” he muttered, reaching to tuck his hair behind his hair reflexively. However with his hands full of bags, he instead settled for hiding behind his fringe with a shy smile.

Chloe glanced up at him with a frown. “Why are you sorry? I scared you…shouldn’t I be apologizing?”

“I—” Nathanael balked at the idea of her apologizing to him, “I’m…I don’t know…”

“Well, I’m sorry Nathanael,” she said.

“Oh,” was all he could offer as a reply.

Together, each laden with her many purchases, they walked out of the store, a store attendant running to open the door for them as they both had their hands full. The rain had stopped, and the late afternoon had morphed into early evening as the lights of the city lit up against the darkening sky.

This coupled with all the strings of Christmas lights across the buildings and the wet sheen left behind by the rain had the city aglow. Nathanael couldn’t help but notice the way it brought out the blue in Chloe’s eyes and he told himself it was the cold night air that had his cheeks burning.

He especially couldn’t help but notice it when she stopped and turned to face him head on. Almost tripping over himself, Nathanael came to a not-so-graceful stop, staring at her with wide eyes. She looked almost angry and Nathanael felt a rising fear build up within him to run lest he be victim to another one of her rampages.  

But what he didn’t expect was her soft, almost self-conscious whisper.

“I mean it, you know. I am sorry.”

“Oh…I know…” Nathanael said back almost reflexively.

She shook her head, making him pause. “No, no, no, not about scaring you!” and she jumped at that as if surprising herself. “No, I mean yes about that…But…I mean…”

Nathanael’s eyes widened, not quite used to a stammering Chloe.

She met his eyes again and paused, so bright and blue, Nathanael wondered if he could ever capture such a colour on paper. Would it be better on his tablet? Perhaps paint on canvas, he supposed…the colour…it was something akin to fire in ice, something so cold, yet alive and burning.

It was all he could focus on as she took a deep breath before finally saying, “What I’m trying to say is that I’m sorry for being so mean to you.”

That caught his attention.

If it was possible Nathanael’s eyes may have widened even more.

“I’ve been really mean, and to you especially…well to like everyone really,” she shrugged, “…I have a lot of work to do, I think.” She glanced down to a puddle at their feet. “And I, well…thank you for helping me today…I didn’t really give you a choice, but I hope one day I can earn your forgiveness.”

Nathanael was in awe. They stood their for a few moments, him completely frozen in shock and Chloe shyly glancing back and forth between him and that random puddle.

Finally, with the Christmas lights around them glimmering off the soaked city and Chloe’s soft blonde hair, Nathanael’s limbs seemed to unthaw. With a shy hand he nudged Chloe softly with some of the bags in his hand. Her eyes locked back onto his immediately and he smiled.

“Merry Christmas, Chloe.”

She smiled, a wide and bright smile that lit up her face, her eyes crinkled and her cheeks flushed, surely from the cold weather as well. Nathanael couldn’t recall ever seeing her like this and together they shared twin, big smiles as the city bustle of shoppers walked past them and the lights twinkled off like stars above them.

“Happy Hanukkah, Nathanael.”

He blinked in surprise, once again caught off guard.

“Oh! I—thanks! How did you know?”

“What?” she offered back, mildly offended, “I know things!” It was a flash of the Chloe Nathanael was more familiar with. He laughed.

Blushing even more so, she continued, “Oh, well…I noticed you weren’t apart of the Secret Santa thing too…I asked Sabrina and she said it was because you didn’t celebrate Christmas?”

“Yeah, that’s right…you’re not apart of it either?”

She frowned, shoulders slumping. “No one asked me,” she said with a soft whisper.

“Oh…”

“I…I don’t,” she grimaced and Nathanael was taken aback by the slight sheen on her eyes. “I don’t think anyone likes me.”

“Ah…” Nathanael fumbled at words as he swore he saw a tear streak down her face. “I…”

“I’ve been so mean to you and everyone…and now even Sabrina doesn’t want to hang out with me!” she continued, not even trying to hold back the tears now.

On impulse Nathanael said the first thing to pop into his head, anything that would somehow help in this situation.

“I like you!”

“W-what?” Chloe glanced up, another tear falling and Nathanael wished his hands were free so he could at least offer her a tissue…or whip the tears away with his hand. She laughed, no sound of genuine humour filling the noise as she sniffled slightly. “No you don’t!”

“I…well…” Nathanael struggled, “I maybe…yeah.” Chloe let out a broken sob at that and he stepped forward, his hand bumping bags against her side, in what he hoped was a nice gesture. She glanced at him with watery eyes and he sputtered, “B-but, I…from what I’ve seen today…I can see y-you’ve grown Chloe!”

“Really?” she asked, her eyes wide with wonder. Nathanael blushed.

“Y-yeah, I mean…you kinda brought me here against my will,” she glared, and he couldn’t help but laugh. “But you’ve been nice…and I do appreciate your apology…and I know who these gifts are for…It’s a nice gesture. I think you’ll surprise a lot of people.”

“W-what?” she asked, suddenly indignant, “I…these—I told you! These are gifts for me!”

Nathanael smiled despite himself, lifting up and waving one of the many bags in his hand. “These rollerblades are for you?” he asked.

“I…I…” Chloe tried to answer. “Maybe I’ve suddenly taken up the sport! You don’t know me!”

He laughed at that, surprising himself and Chloe, who raised her eyebrows at him. “I guess you’re right…maybe I don’t” And she frowned at him. “But I think I would like to.”

Chloe stared at him, her mouth hanging open.

Nathanael smiled, not sure if he could ever remember seeing Chloe ever look so vulnerable. He remembered that mass text during Kim’s akumatization…when Sabrina had texted everyone a picture of Chloe covered in dirt and despair. But this was different. Rather than defensive and angry, she seemed open and in awe, frozen in shock.

But Nathanael had meant what he said, so he decided to take another step forward, both literally and figuratively. Walking down the street and glancing back at Chloe as he went.

“Do…do you have any plans for the break?” he asked, pausing and waiting for her.

Jolting forward, Chloe stumbled slightly as she caught up to him, the pair walking down the street side by side. She nodded.

Nathanael smiled waiting for her to further elaborate before deciding to fill the void between them, “I’m excited…I’m going to my dad in Johannesburg.”

A pause passed as they took their streets. “South Africa?” Chloe asked, her head tilting to the side causing her ponytail to swish in the evening breeze.

“Yeah, he moved there last year,” Nathanael nodded as they walked in no particular direction. “I got to visit him last year for Hanukkah…it was pretty great. It was warmer than I was used to…but with all the lights in the city at night, it still feels like the holidays.”

Nathanael paused, looking over at Chloe, who stared  at him, her eyes, now dry, still glowed as overhead the sky darkened.

“Wow,” she whispered, and Nathanael couldn’t help but notice the smeared lip gloss on her lips.

“W-what?” he said, caught off guard once more.

She blinked, as if somehow brought out of a trance. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk this much,” Chloe said, still with that look of awe on her face.

Nathanael hesitated, another apology on the tip of his tongue before Chloe continued.

“You have a nice voice.”

“W-what!?” Nathanael shrieked slightly, flinching at the crack in his voice.

Chloe smiled, small, yet beautiful, and Nathanael couldn’t stop the blush from rising to his face. “What sort of things do you do for Hanukkah?” she asked, changing the subject, a relief for both of them.

“Oh, ah, well…My family usually comes over and we eat a lot of food and stuff.”

“Do you have lots of family?”

“Y-yeah, with my aunts…and all their kids, and my grandpa and my cousins and everyone…It’s a lot of people.”

Chloe smiled.

“We used to have a cabin in Switzerland.” She glanced up at the night sky. “We would go there a lot when I was younger, especially for Christmas. It was at this really nice ski resort…but none of us skied really…but my mom would make hot chocolate and we would watch movies or sit by the fire…”

Her smile fell and they both came to a stop.

“But now we stay here in Paris. Daddy has work so…” she shrugged, letting the sentence hang.

Nathanael tried to think of something to say, a little unsure of what he could offer, but before he could muster up the courage, Chloe looked past him, her eyes lighting up so suddenly that any words he had were fast forgotten, especially when she reached out to grab his hand and pulled him along towards another shop.

“Come on!” she called, her grip tight in his, ignoring the awkwardness of all the bags between them. “One more store and then I think we’re done!”

“Oh, alright,” Nathanael answered, “I guess I can handle one mo—”

He froze, looking up at the windows of the store as they made their way to the entrance. Paint, pens, easels, and canvases of all sizes were arranged in Christmas themed bunches of red and green along the storefront.

“Yeah, for a bit there, I kinda felt bad, thinking about how you probably don’t get Christmas presents? But then I read that you get eight days of presents?!?! So I stopped feeling so sad about it.” She shrugged as they entered the store. “But that just means, I need to get you eight times the presents!”

She waved at all the aisles, gesturing to the vast selection. Nathanael stood there frozen at the plethora of art supplies before him, thinking of his almost full sketchbook in his bag and slowly becoming overwhelmed at the possibilities before him.

“This…this is too much Chloe!” he gasped as she pushed him towards the first display.

“Nonsense,” she said, waving a hand in his direction. “Now come on! I have like five days of Hanukkah to catch up on!”

He followed her to the front counter where she quickly convinced the shop clerk to hold their bags for them. Once free of her earlier purchases, Chloe turned to Nathanael with an excited smile, one that was almost contagious and Nathanael felt himself smiling just as bright. She held out her hand to him and he didn’t hesitate to take it as she pulled him through the store, picking his brain about what sort of art supplies he liked and asking him all about his current and past projects.

Before they left the store, Nathanael insisted on buying Chloe a sketchbook of her own, with the promise of finding some time to sketch together in the future.

Five Years Later

“OK! I want to do it tonight!”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I think I go this,” she said, reaching for the lighter, to which he simply raised his eyebrows. “What?” she asked?

“I—nothing! Please, by all means! Go ahead!” he laughed waving for her to continue.

She glared, her mouth twisting into a rueful smile, before she bumped him with her hip as she walked up to the window. Outside, the evening sky darkened and while the lights of the city shone brightly. Inside their small apartment, Nathanael switched off the lights, the only source of light coming from the windows and their lamp on the other side of the room.

Standing by the coffee table they had set by the window, Chloe picked up the candles she had set out, placing 5 of them, one by one, into their proper place on the menorah. Once she was done she looked up to see Nathanael holding out another candle to her with a smile. She took it with a kiss.

Looking down at her hands, one holding the the shamash and the lighter, Chloe suddenly faced a predicament.

She didn’t want to ruin her manicure trying to light the lighter. And it was made even more difficult with just one hand.

“Uh…honey?” she asked, turning to Nathanael with an all too sweet smile.

“Yes, dear?” he answered back sarcastically, albeit with a smile of his own.

“Would you mind?” she said, passing him the lighter.

“Not at all.”

Nathanael took the lighter with a wink and Chloe held out the candle towards him. With another shared glance and a spark, Nathanael leaned forward, catching the wick with the flame of the lighter.

With the shamash lit, Chloe cradled the flame as she turned back to the unlit candles. Slowly and ever so gently, she brought the lit shamash towards the candle on the end of the menorah.

“Oh! Wait!” Nathanael said, a soft hand reached for hers, guiding her to the candle just off to the center of the menorah. “You start on this side…then move to the right.”

“Right,” Chloe repeated, tongue poking out of her mouth slighting as she focused on lighting each candle. Nathanael’s hand still held hers.

She could feel him move closer behind her as she lit the last candle, his other hand moving to her waist. He smelled like paint and coffee and she couldn’t help but lean back against him, smiling as he lightly squeezed her.

Once the last of the candles was lit, Nathanael helped her set the shamash into the center holder. Chloe worried for a moment as the candle wobbled in its spot, but Nathanael steadied it.

“Oh f—!” a car alarm outside went off, and Nathanael flinched, waving his hand in the air.

“What happened!” Chloe asked, turning to inspect his hand.

“Ahhhhh,” Nathanael ended off with a hiss, blowing air onto his hand. “Candle wax.”

“Are you OK?”

Nathanael smiled through his grimace. “Yeah it’s fine, a common Hanukkah hazard, I guess,” he laughed, bring his hand to his mouth.

Chloe reached for his wrist, bringing his hand towards her for further inspection. His fingers, already slightly calloused from his art classes, were long, his hand a bit bigger than her own, and on the tip of his pointer finger the skin was slightly red.

Licking her lips, Chloe glanced at Nathanael, bright blue eyes meeting bright blue eyes, eyes that shone brilliantly in the candlelight, twinkling almost green like the sea, a beautiful turquoise. Without hesitation, she brought his hand to her lips, kissing his slightly warm finger.

Nathanael’s eyes locked onto the motion, a flush rising to his cheeks and Chloe smirked before coyly swiping her tongue across his skin, finding victory in the bob of this Adam’s apple, the lights of the candles of the menorah sparkled against his red hair.

His hand returned to her waist, and she had no problem stepping forward until she was flush up against him, smiling despite herself.

“T-thanks,” he said, tripping over his words in a way that made her think back to years before, to first dates and holding hands for the first time.

“You’re welcome,” she whispered as their foreheads met, breaths mingling in the space between them. Her arms wrapped around his neck, while his other hand found her waist and they stood there in a silent dance.

“You know....” she finally spoke, grazing her nose against his, to which he hummed a happy reply. “Five years ago today was our first date.”

Nathanael leaned back, “What?”

“Yeah, exactly five years ago!”

With a crease in his forehead, Nathanael shook his head. “No…our first date was in the summer…four years ago…remember?”

She laughed, “But that’s cause it took you so long to finally ask me out! I think our first real date was that time I dragged you out to go Christmas shopping with me.”

Nathanael laughed, “I don’t think that counts, Chloe.”

Chloe leaned her head against his shoulder, smiling as he held her closer. “Well, regardless, I was an important day for me, I think.”

Her eyes fluttered shut as she felt Nathanael’s lips on her forehead. “For me too,” he replied. She felt his hand leave her waist and then this thumb on her chin. She smiled, tilting to his touch until her lips met his.

His hand cradled her cheek as if she were something fragile and delicate, and her hand reached up to tangle in his hair to yank him closer to prove him wrong. She hummed as he sighed, her tongue running over his lower lip as her hand continued to play with his hair.

With both their eyes closed, she felt his hand on her lower back guide her in a turn, bending her slightly backwards. Chloe gasped in surprise, arching in his touch, totally trusting him as he leaned her back, exposing her neck to his lips.

He was so warm, and her skin was on fire, one that was sparked anew at his touch. Her hand in his hair tightened and he growled nipping at her skin before running this tongue up to just below her ear. She moaned as his lips wrapped around her earlobe, her head clouding even as he went back to peppering his lips along her neck.

After leaving behind a trail of kisses across her skin, he pulled her back up, standing them both up straight as they stared lovingly into each other’s eyes.

Chloe giggled, not even shy about the redness of her cheeks, or her neck for that matter, as she reached up to tuck his hair behind her ear. He smiled as he did the same for her. They wobbled for a moment, slightly tipsy from one another’s presence.

Their moment was interrupted when their bodies knocked against the table…the table on which the menorah had been placed.

“Oh!” they both shouted, turning to face the wobbling candles in fright.

A long second passed as the silver menorah swayed, trembling at their momentum before after a seemingly endless held breath, coming to a stop, not a single candle had fallen, each one miraculously still aflame.

Together they let out a collective sigh of relief, both amazed at their luck.

“Oh!” Chloe jumped in realization after a moment of shared silence. “You know what?”

“Hmmmm?” Nathanael asked, voice slightly dreamy.

Chloe untangled her hand from his soft, red hair, stifling a giggle at how messy it was after her ministrations. She stared down at her hand before glancing back up at Nathanael with wide eyes.

“I think I might’ve burned my hand too,” she said, holding back a smile.

Nathanael narrowed his eyes at her.

“Oh no!” he answered dramatically, taking her hands in his and quickly catching on to her ploy. “Are you alright?”

“Oh well, I don’t know,” Chloe laughed. “But I think a kiss would make it all better.” She blinked at him, biting her lips innocently. “Don’t you think?”

Nathanael smiled before stepping away, leaning down over the burning candles of the menorah and blowing them all out with one breath. He turned back to Chloe, taking her hand gently in his before nodding. “A kiss? That’s all you need?”

She nodded, shrugging a bit as she mulled it over. “A kiss, a hug, I’ll take whatever you have!” And she hummed as he bent over, taking her hand as if she were a queen and pressing his lips to her fingertips.

“Whatever?” he asked.

“Anything,” she confirmed, gasping as he turned her hand in his and pressed a kiss to her wrist.

He wrapped her up in his arms once more, guiding her hands back to his shoulders as he kissed her temple. “You know you have all of me,” he whispered gently in her ear.

She shivered, both at the warm air on her skin and at the sentiment. “And you have all of me, Nathanael,” she answered with zero hesitation.

And as his lips recaptured hers, the unspoken words floated between them, words that hadn’t quite yet been said in full, but had been understood in different phrases and gesture of their own making. Each one translated into the same three words.  

I love you.

[writinglittlelies]

Miraculous Secret Santa!

Hey, @ladyofacat, this is Livinglittlelie, and this is my Secret Santa gift for you! Adrinette was in your list, so here you have it! I hope you like it!

AO3 link! @mlsecretsanta Thou art is my inspiration

Marinette  fidgeted in her seat, unable to stay still. She started tapping on her sketchbook nervously, half-listening to what Mme Bustier was telling them. Alya, sitting beside her, elbowed her, trying to make her stop, and Marinette shot her a glance, biting her lip. ‘Stop it!’, Alya’s glare clearly said. However, Marinette couldn’t bring herself to follow her command.

Giving up on actually trying to listen, she looked around the room. Her gaze immediately landed on the high glass pyramid on top of their heads. She looked at the drifting clouds up in the sky, sighing. Okay, she felt a bit calmer.

Marinette’s class was in a school trip to the Louvre. They were waiting just outside the museum, as Mme Bullier told them their assignments of the day, something Marinette was clearly not listening to. She hoped Alya had paid attention, unlike her.

Suddenly, everyone started getting up, and Marinette looked around, startled. Alya grabbed her by the hand and tugged her up, too. Marinette followed her, managing to just stumble a bit before getting up. The class made their way to the entrance of the museum, and Mme Bustier nodded at them with a practiced smile.

“Well, kids. As we have said before, you have to return to our meeting point at 12. Make sure you finish your assignments in time, and, of course, make sure you behave. Did I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Mme Bustier,” all students answered in a chorus.

Mme Bustier nodded. “Well, then. Have fun in the museum!”

Everyone started going inside. Marinette stuck close to Alya, who regarded her with a tint of amusement. When they were out of Mme Bustier’s sight, Alya turned around, notebook in hand.

“Okay, what we need to do is analyze one of the paintings in the Louvre. We have to go to the different sections and try to find it, and when we do, we have to describe the piece. You got ‘Louis XIV’. Pretty easy, if I say so myself.”

Marinette threw her arms around her best friend. “Thank you very much, Alya! I don’t know what I would do without you.” She leaned away a bit. “Which one did you get?”

Alya scoffed. “Something called ‘Self-Portrait or Portrait of the Artist Holding a Thistle.’”

“What’s that?”

She grabbed her phone and showed it to Marinette. Marinette blinked at the portrait. An ugly-looking blond man wearing a weird red beret was staring back at her. For some reason, he was holding some plants in his hand.

“It’s… nice?”

Alya rolled her eyes. “Yeah, sure,” she said sarcastically. “Anyway, we’ve got a lot of time to waste in here, so why don’t you take this chance to… you know,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows, “mingle?”

“To what?” She frowned.

“Mingle. Talk to a certain someone.” Alya threw an arm around her shoulders and pointed subtly with a wicked grin to no other than Adrien Agreste, who was talking with Nino animatedly. “Maybe you’ll get the chance to talk to him, to get to know him better.”

Marinette gaped at the other girl incredulously.

“Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no, no. Not at all. Nuh huh.” Marinette shook her head violently as she shrugged her arm off. “I can’t. No way. I am Not Prepared. I don’t have a plan, and you know I can’t talk to him without a plan. Sorry, but no.”

Alya looked back at her, trying her best not to burst out laughing. Her shoulders shook, and and she was biting her lip tightly to keep herself silent. She shook her head, amused.

“Oh, god, Marinette, you’re sometimes too much.” She put her notebook away and adjusted her bag on her shoulder. “Well, I’m leaving. This… masterpiece is pretty far inside, and I want to finish this as fast as possible. So, see you around?”

“Sure.”

Marinette waved at the retreating girl and looked down at the map the museum had provided them. She tried to make sense of all the rooms without much success. Giving up, she started making her way through the different rooms, trying to spot the painting. She had a vague idea of what it was supposed to look like, so she would try to spot it.

After twenty minutes of roaming aimlessly and passing by the Mona Lisa twice, Marinette finally found the painting she was looking for, ‘Louis XIV’. She approached the painting, sketchbook in hand, ready to finish with her assignment as fast as possible. She just needed to analyze it and she was done, right?

But, she thought, after staring at the painting for a while, what was there to analyze? It was just a rather pompous portrait of the king, who held a cane for some reason, and his hair could rival the mane of a lion. And why was he holding his skirt up, as if he was a can can dancer? And he had a sword sheathed underneath them, apparently? The only thing that made sense in that picture was the crown, and it was resting on the bench beside the king, almost out of view. He even wore red heels, which clashed with his navy blue skirts.

Shaking off her sarcastic thoughts, Marinette started describing the picture in her notebook, trying with all her might not to let her scepticism show. When she had finished describing the evident, and was looking for details that would make her score higher, she heard soft snickering nearby. She ignored it at first, but when the snickering kept going, she turned around trying to find the source.

What she didn’t expect to see was a very familiar blonde mop standing nearby. Her heart skipped a beat, as usual, and she had to consciously make sure she didn’t drop her sketchbook to the floor. He hadn’t seen her yet, something she was grateful for, so she still had some time to try to calm her nerves. She breathed in and held her breath, then calmly breathed out. Okay, she was feeling better.

Marinette stood there, pondering what to do. Alya’s words immediately crossed her mind, and instead of immediately dismissing them, as she would have some months ago, she actually considered follow her advice. After all, Alya was right. This was a really good opportunity to get to know the other boy, something she had been dying to do for a while.

So, squaring her shoulders, Marinette made her way to Adrien, not letting her nerves deter her. Just as she was about to stand beside him, Adrien chuckled again, and Marinette cocked her head in curiosity.

“Hey, Adrien.”

The boy turned to the side in surprise, then smiled when he saw it was her. “Ah, Marinette! I didn’t see you here.”

She pointed back to the painting assigned to her. “I have to describe that painting over there. What about you?”

“Oh, I have to describe this one.” He turned to look at the painting in front of him, and Marinette read the tag. ‘The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds’. She had never seen it before. “I’ve been trying to do it for a while now, but…”

“What? What’s wrong?”

He looked back at her and scratched the back of his head, suddenly aloof. “It’s just… every time I look at the picture, I can’t help it but wonder what they’re saying to each other, and I don’t know why, but I find it hilarious. It’s stupid.”

Marinette smiled to herself. That was so endearing, in a dorky way. “Which kind of stories do you think up?”

“Let’s see. Take this painting, for example. They’re playing cards, right? And the woman in the center of the picture is giving the person to the left the side eye. So I can’t help but imagine her saying something along the lines of ‘stop giving me that look, I know you’re cheating, Mathilda. I’ve seen six aces on your hands already. I swear to god, if I see another ace in your hand, I’ll have you beheaded.’”

Marinette blinked at the boy, astonished, then burst out laughing. Remembering they were in a museum, she immediately covered her mouth with a hand, but she couldn’t stop her giggles. Adrien looked back at her with a proud smirk, clearly pleased that he got that reaction from her.

Once she got her giggles at bay, Marinette asked, “but how do you know that’s a woman? That looks like a man to me.”

Adrien looked back to the painting, getting closer to the character to the left, getting a better look at the picture. Then, he grinned at Marinette and cleared his voice theatrically.

“Oh my god, Mathilda!” he said with a high-pitched voice. “I can’t believe your name is not Mathilda but Matthiew! You have been fooling us all along with your feminine clothes and long hair, and you have the nerve to cheat on our game!? That’s preposterous! Off with his head!”

Marinette snorted at his silliness. Deciding to go along, she cleared her throat and started speaking with an exaggerated nasal voice. “But madame, it was you the one who decided to invite this treacherous man to our weekly poker game. Why did you even invite him, if you don’t know him at all?”

“Don’t make me order your execution too, Emma. You have no right to question my stupid decisions. Manon, more wine! I need to be drunk to deal with these two.”

Adrien and Marinette looked at each other and burst out laughing. They got dirty looks from the people around them, but they couldn’t care less. Drying some stray tears with her fingertips, Marinette giggled as she looked at the painting.

“That was really funny.”

“I know, right?” He grinned at her. “That’s why I haven’t been able to concentrate to do my assignment. I can’t take this story away from my head. I might as well give up completely.”

She eyed his notebook. “How long until you finish?”

“It shouldn’t take long. Mostly polishing some sentences and adding some details. What about you?”

“Mostly the same. I couldn’t bring myself to look at the painting anymore.”

“Too boring?”

“Too ridiculous.”

He grinned. “Ah, I know that feeling quite well.”

Marinette looked at him from the corned of her eye, nibbling at her lip. That was her chance.

“So… if you’re almost finished and you don’t have anything else to do… do you want to go around the Louvre? With me?”

He turned to look at her, and his smile was so bright that almost blinded her. “I’d love that! We’re making up more stories of the paintings, right?”

Marinette nodded, giggling. “Of course!”

Adrien looked around, pondering their options. “Maybe we can start going… that way?” he said, pointing to one of the exits.

“Sure.”

Marinette followed Adrien to the next room. Some tourists were looking at the paintings, but the room was mostly empty. They looked around, trying to find their next target to their improvised game, when Adrien grabbed her by her hand and tugged her to one of the paintings. Marinette tried very hard to keep herself from exploding.

Adrien suddenly stopped in front of one of the paintings, and Marinette almost ran into him. He let go of her hand, sadly, and Marinette missed its warmth instantly. She looked up at the little picture and read the nametag. Woman with a mirror. Huh, really imaginative.  

Adrien looked at her expectantly. “So?”

“It’s perfect!” She grinned. “Should I start?”

“Yeah, please.”

“Okay, here I go.” Marinette took a deep breath and tried to do her best imitation of Chloé’s voice, exaggerating her nasal, snobbish tone. “Oh. My. God. Jean Pierre, look at my hair? What is this monstrosity? I asked you for a soft perm. Soft perm. But my hair looks like a bloody scourer! What is the meaning of this!?”

Adrien snickered against his hand. Then, he straightened up and spoke with the same snobbish voice. “No, Jean Claude, don’t try to fix it. Don’t even touch my hair. You see this hair? It’s worth more than your life, Jean Antoine. So why don’t you- Stop it with the mirror, already! It doesn’t look better! I can’t even see my face on it, it’s so dirty! Do you even clean this place, Jean Jacques!?”

Marinette laughed at him. She was surprised by how relaxed she actually felt around him. It seemed that this dorky side of him actually managed to calm her jumpiness. There was also that sense of familiarity that Marinette couldn’t shake off… as if she had seen something like this before. But no matter how much she racked her mind, she came up empty-handed. Oh well, it was probably not important.

Shaking those thoughts aside, Marinette bumped her shoulder with his. “Hey, you’re really good at snob!”

“I’ve grown up with Chloé. At this point, I’ve got the snobby voice mastered. I got the name changing from her, too.”

“Of course.” She took his hand without thinking. “Let’s go look for another one!”

They wandered off again, stopping in different paintings and statues and making fun of them. Every time their story was more ridiculous than the ones before, and they had to stop themselves from guffawing in the quiet rooms. They let themselves laugh out loud in the rooms with more tourists crowding them.

They even met with some of their classmates in their way, and almost got in trouble when they approached Alix from behind, who was busy studying the painting ‘La Grande odalisque’ and mumbled in her ear, “paint me like one of your french girls, Jack.” That made her snort so loud that actually got them being scolded by one of the guards.

Adrien and Marinette finally got to the room where ‘The Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon and the Coronation of Empress Joséphine on December 2, 1804’ was. They both stared at the immense painting, taking in every single detail of the scene in front of them.

Adrien spoke first. “Tag yourself; I’m the woman in the central stalls that looks like she’s trying to blink but failed.” He cocked his head, deep in thought. “Or maybe she’s trying to hold in a yawn, I’m not sure.”

Marinette let her eyes roam around the painting, trying to find anyone else that looked ridiculous. “I’m the altar boy at the back that looks like he’s about to fall asleep- oh my god. Is that Frollo?”

“Who? The character from the Hunchback of Notre-Dame?”

“Yeah.”

“Where?”

She pointed at the picture. “There, just behind Napoleon. Can you see him?”

“Oh, my god. I do! What is he doing here?”

Marinette shrugged. “He got lost in his way back from molesting Esmeralda?”

“He was about to practice his Hellfire solo but Napoleon got inside his church?”

“Quasimodo got lost in the crowd and he’s looking for him, but he found a tiny man with airs of grandeur instead?”

“Maybe it was-”

Whatever Adrien was about to say was interrupted by a shrill sound. Both of them were startled by it, and Adrien quickly took out his phone, switching off his alarm. He winced apologetically.

“It’s time we go back to the meeting point.”

“Yeah,” she said, trying to mask her disappointment. However, she wasn’t successful, and Adrien placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry. We can come to the Louvre another day, or we can visit any other museum together. I’ve heard that Centre Pompidou has really weird collections.” He smiled kindly at her. “How does that sound?”

She nodded at him. “That’s really cool! I mean- that would be nice. When are you free?”

He hummed. “I think I’ll manage to have some free time on Thursday after class. Is that okay?”

“It’s perfect! I’m totally free.”

“Okay, on Thursday, then. It’s a date, then.” He winked at her.

He started walking towards the exit, unaware of the state of brain meltdown Marinette was at that instant. A date. Adrien had said a date. A date between two people. A date between friends or a date date? Should she start panicking? Who was she kidding, she was already panicking. Why was she back to nerve-wreck Marinette? Where was the Marinette joking around with Adrien some minutes ago? Where did she go!?

Adrien chose to turn then, and shot her a disarming smile. Okay, who gave him the right to look so good? That smile should be illegal.

“Should we go, Marinette?”

“Yes! Of course! Absolutely!”

Adrien smiled at her, fond, and Marinette actually relaxed a bit. Shaking off her lingering awkwardness, she went to join him, and both made their way to the exit. Marinette was sad that this improvised hangout was already over, but oh well, she had Thursday to look forward to, didn’t she?

[thenumberfour]

Merry Christmas Eve!

Hey there @risatherandom! I’m your @mlsecretsanta! Hope you enjoy this cute, fluffy story and have a very happy holiday!!

His father was livid. Adrien had missed another shoot while saving the city. Gabriel screamed at him, told him he was a disappointment of a son. Now Chat Noir was now prowling the streets, looking for a place to go. He couldn’t go home for the night. He wouldn’t go back to the prison his father had crafted for him. What he really needed was a friend. Nino was out of town this weekend and Alya was off who-knows-where tracking down stories on Ladybug.

That’s why he detransformed in a nearby alleyway and stopped outside Boulangerie Patisserie. Marinette was timid around him, but she had a good heart and would undoubtedly help him forget about his problems. Plus, she had sugary comfort food, and right now, he couldn’t care less about the meticulous diet his father had put in place for him.

The warm light still glowed through the storefront windows, and he could see Marinette inside sweeping the floor. The sign on the front door had been switched to “CLOSED” so he tapped lightly on the glass. She didn’t seem to notice the sound over the brushing of the broom, so he knocked a little louder.

The girl jumped a mile at the sound, and then another mile when she took note of the person who had made it. She rushed to the door and unlocked it, seeming far too concerned about why he was here to be speechless because he was here.

“Adrien, it’s 9PM! What are you doing here?” She exclaimed, her bright blue eyes wide. “Not that I’m not happy to see you or anything.” She tacked on at the end, her cheeks turning pink.

He put a hand to the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly. “I, uh… My father and I had an argument and I needed to get out of the house.” He spotted a tray of pink and green macarons on a table behind Marinette. “Also I’m kind of hungry.” “Kinda” was an understatement. He had probably eaten three leaves of lettuce, seven crackers, and nine grapes all day.

“O-of course!” Marinette said. “My family was just about to sit down to dinner. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind setting down an extra plate.”

Adrien’s eyes widened with guilt, “Oh, no, no! I can’t intrude on your family dinner.” He thought it was past dinnertime, but failed to take into account the possibility that a family with a busy bakery would eat dinner later than the rest of Paris.

Marinette pursed her lips. “Adrien, don’t be ridiculous. Stay for dinner. I’ll go ask Maman.” The girl rushed up the stairs. Adrien waited in the same spot by the door, tapping the toe of his orange sneaker on the floor and swaying with his hands in his pockets. Not long after, Marinette raced back down the stairs, grabbing Adrien by the hand and dragging him up the stairs after her, grinning the whole time.

The way his father yelled at him turned his insides to ice and dirt and numbness, but Marinette’s friendly smile made flowers bloom in that wintry patch in his chest.

“Oh, Adrien! How lovely to see you!” Marinette’s mother exclaimed once he plopped down in a seat at the dining room table. Marinette took the seat across from him while her parents sat at each head of the table. Her mother had made a chicken stir-fry, and her father had made an assortment of cookies for dessert.

Adrien scarfed down his first helping of stir-fry and didn’t go for seconds out of politeness. Mrs. Cheng, however, noticed his longing stares at the plate of chicken in the center of the table and encouraged him to take more food.

He loved this. He’d always wished for this, even when his mother was around. A home-cooked meal, light chatter at the dinner table, a cozy atmosphere like the Dupain-Cheng apartment. He even enjoyed himself helping clear away the used plates and silverware. Marinette’s family even made the chores that had always disgusted his father fun.

As he picked up a plate to hand Marinette, he felt a gentle hand on his arm. Mrs. Cheng pulled him aside.

“Marinette told us about your situation. It’s quite late, and Mr. Dupain and I have agreed that it would be best if you stayed here for the night.” Adrien opened his mouth to protest. He knew he could make it home as Chat Noir, though he didn’t plan on saying that outright. Either that, or the Gorilla would come to pick him up. His father would be furious if he knew he’d spent the night at a girl’s house.

Before he could get a word out, he felt a much larger hand clap him on the back. “Don’t worry about it. We have spare pillows and blankets. The couch is all yours.”

Adrien smiled fully at his friend’s parents, green eyes shining with gratitude. “I can’t thank you enough.”

After dinner was spent gaming. Two vs. two Ultimate Mecha Strike III Dupain-Cheng style. Marinette’s father certainly had a knack for the game and it wasn’t hard to see where Marinette had gotten her skills from. Her mother was surprisingly good at it as well, but neither of them were any match for their daughter.

Soon enough, though, it was time for her parents to go to bed. Her father needed to be up at 4AM to prepare the bakery. It wasn’t a school night, so the kids could stay up as late as they wanted, as long as they were quiet and didn’t get up to any “funny business” as Mr. Dupain had put it. Adrien’s face had gone Ladybug red at that. Tom Dupain was a jolly, kind man, but he was downright intimidating when he wanted to be.

“Papa!” Marinette exclaimed, her face turning a similar shade of red as Adrien’s own, darkening the subtle freckles that peppered her nose and cheeks.

“Goodnight kids!” Her mother said, dragging her father along behind her into their bedroom.

Marinette looked at Adrien and smiled, more relaxed than he’d ever seen her. “Up for another game?”

“I think I’ve had my butt handed to me enough for one night.” He chuckled, setting his controller down on the table before leaning back on the sofa.

“I get it,” Marinette said with the tiniest of smirks. “Winning takes a lot out of me.”

“Starting to think that lucky charm of yours doesn’t like me.” He said, and her brows furrowed in surprise.

“You still have it?”

He took the aforementioned charm out of his pocket, turning it over gently in his palm. “I might seem like I’m the luckiest kid alive, but I can honestly use all the luck I can get.”

She blinked at him, lips quirking into a concerned frown.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m completely grateful for everything I have.” Adrien added hastily. He wasn’t spoiled, and he didn’t want Marinette to think that.

“I understand that.” She affirmed with a reassuring smile.

“I have a great education, awesome friends, the job of a lifetime… But the first two almost didn’t happen because of my father.” He sighed.

“Can you promise me something?” Adrien asked and Marinette nodded. “When you become an awesome fashion designer, don’t shut your children out. Make time for them. Don’t imprison them in their own homes.” Marinette nodded again while Adrien paused. To lighten up the mood, he added, “And for the love of God, don’t ever make your supermodel children diet at fifteen years old.”

Marinette giggled at this. “You assume I’ll have children beautiful enough for modeling.”

“Are you kidding? Of course you will. If they inherit those pretty bluebell eyes, they’ll slay all of Paris.” Adrien froze, realizing that he had just marveled at her eyes aloud instead of in his head, like he’d planned. And he was just a sucker for eyes like that.

The girl next to him let out the tiniest squeak. She covered her mouth, but he could still see some pinkness in her cheeks peeking out from behind her hand.

“I – uh, I mean…” He sputtered, his cheeks heating. She put a hand on his.

“It’s okay.” She said, then hesitantly continued, “I think your eyes are pretty too.”

They were both quiet for a while after that, and Adrien felt himself drifting off to sleep.

He woke a few hours later, probably around midnight if the clock on the far wall was correct. He tried to stretch and shift to a better position, when he noticed Marinette leaning on his shoulder, snoring softly.

Adrien wasn’t sure what to do. Her parents probably wouldn’t be too happy to find out she’d spent the night down here instead of in her own bed. After a few minutes of deliberation, he finally came to a decision. He scooped her up gingerly in his arms, one hand under her knee, the other cradling her shoulders. He didn’t have his Chat Noir super strength, but she wasn’t too heavy.

Plagg took that moment to zip out from his shirt pocket and grin smugly at his chosen. “Oh, stuff it, Plagg.” He whispered, not wanting to wake Marinette and blow his secret.

She sighed and nestled closer to his chest. His face burned. Plagg opened his mouth to make some remark like “Just a friend, huh?” Adrien gave him a warning glare before he could say anything.

**

Marinette woke up feeling weightless. Her eyes were still closed, and her cheek was pressed against something firm. She knew her family sofa was old and hard, but she didn’t remember it feeling like this. She cracked one eye open to survey the situation.

A black t-shirt with colored stripes, a strong jawline, tanned skin… she was in Adrien’s arms.

She had to be dreaming. There was no way this could be true. Adrien Agreste was carrying her up the stairs to her room. She would have squealed if it wouldn’t make things so terribly awkward for both of them, so she continued to feign sleep as the boy of her dreams carried her to bed.

When Adrien reached her room, she felt him pause, most likely since carrying her up a ladder was no easy feat. He lowered her down onto the chaise on the side of the room.

“Plagg,” he whispered. Plagg? Was he speaking gibberish? “Pass me that blanket over there.”

“Only if you let me get a wisecrack in.” Another voice piped up, clearly not too keen on being quiet. Tikki, nestled in Marinette’s pocket, seemed to jolt at the voice. Marinette tried to rack her brain, trying to remember if Adrien had any talent for ventriloquism. Where did that voice come from?

She could practically hear Adrien’s eyes rolling as he sighed. “Fine, I got it.” She heard the rubber soles of Adrien’s sneakers mildly thudding as he moved further away, probably to grab the blanket she kept on her desk. Her desk! It had pictures of Adrien ALL OVER THE PLACE. She peeked open one eye worriedly and saw something far more concerning. A kwami. Hovering around Adrien, whose back was turned as he unfolded her blanket. Plagg. It made sense. The silver ring on Adrien’s finger brought itself to the forefront of her mind. He disappeared during akuma attacks like she did. He knew

How could she pretend to sleep now that she knew that the boy of her dreams was Chat Noir!?