04.16.19

He was surprised.

Why in the world did Marinette have his schedule on this large chart? 

Maybe she had charts of all her friends?  

Or is she just interested in my schedule as Adrien?

Chat Noir was downright shocked and confused. It was honestly really odd and creepy to have someone's schedule; he didn't think she was that type of person. But he tried not to jump to any conclusions or assume; he was sure there was a reasonable explanation for this.

He also shouldn't have meddled with her things. She did tell him not to touch anything.

Chat Noir snapped out of his thoughts, hearing Marinette climbing up the stairs. He pulled the chart back up and sat back on the girl's chair, trying to act natural.

He fidgeted with his baton, acting as though nothing had happened. Marinette opened the hatch, and he sniffed something celestial.

She closed the hatch and brought in the pastries. There was one donut glazed with delectable chocolate, topped with sprinkles. There were two chocolate-filled croissants and four glossy, strawberry macarons. Before he knew it, his eyes were closed after having smelled the heavenly scent.

Marinette giggled and put the plate full of pastries on the floor. He got off the swivel chair, and they sat in front of each other while the treats were in the middle.

"Eat up," said Marinette cheerfully. He didn't hesitate, grabbed the chocolate-filled croissant, and started eating it. He groaned at how delicious it was.

If one compared this to the baking of the chefs at Adrien's mansion, Marinette and her parents were a hundred percent the better bakers.

Only, the pull-down of his schedule lingered in his mind. It was right in front of him. Even he couldn't memorize the whole thing. But she happened to take note of it. He desperately tried to get it out of his mind and prevent himself from asking anything. A slight crunch brought Chat Noir back from his thoughts. Marinette had taken a macaron and started eating as well.

Chat's curiosity and he simply couldn't help it. He mustered every inch of his courage and finally asked. His lips slowly unsealed. "Hey, Mari?"

"Hmm?" she hummed absentmindedly. 

"Uhm, what's that dangling thing under your bed?" he asked, pointing to the pull-down. Do I sound casual enough? He thought urgently. Marinette's face went from calm and curious to shocked and nervous.

"O-oh, that?!" she exclaimed suddenly. Chat Noir nodded in response. She went in front of it as if trying to hide it. Nevertheless, the sweating and looking extremely anxious gave him a certain message that the reason for having it was somewhat embarrassing. "J-just something for...school! Yeah, school!" said Marinette sheepishly. 

Why is she lying? Why wouldn't she tell me? 

Subconsciously, he stood up and walked toward her. Before he knew it, his claws found themselves gingerly lifting her chin until their faces were only inches away; their noses were barely touching. 

At this closeness, he could take in every detail — the beads of sweat rolling down her temple, her flaring nose, her trembling bottom lip, and the tinge of bright pink painted onto her cheeks.

"School..." he trailed off. Her minty yet sweet breath fanned the bridge of his nose, stirring a peculiar feeling in his chest. "Is that so?"

At this point, she blushed madly and seemed uncomfortable, so he backed away and sat back on the floor. He took a doughnut and popped it in his mouth. He glanced at Marinette's face, and she was knitting her eyebrows, crossing her arms, and looking to her right. She tried gluing her eyes at any random things as long as they weren't his own.

The sight caused the green-eyed boy to chuckle a bit. She sat in front of him again, getting a croissant, and smiling at him awkwardly. They acted like nothing had happened, and they continued to eat, while he was restraining himself from asking her about the chart again.

Chat Noir began, "So..." He caught Marinette's full attention, he looked at her and continued. "You want to play a game?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Sure," she replied with a smile, "what's on your mind?" 

He grinned from ear to ear. "How does Truth or Dare sound?" It was as if Marinette's ears perked up. She smirked. She was starting to scare him. However, he didn't let that bring him down.

"Truth or dare Chat?" Marinette bit her lip in a rather menacing way.

And at that moment, he regretted even opening his mouth.

*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*

That was a nightmare.

Chat Noir had done so many things already. He got into a debate with a wall, talked two rounds without closing his mouth, dug through the trash, and named every single thing he found. To his surprise, there were discarded pictures of Lila Rossi. And to be brutally honest, he found it funny.

The only decent thing she did was ask him who he thought was the most powerful villain he and Ladybug fought. His dares to Marinette weren't that extreme though; all she had to do was wear her hair down the whole day tomorrow, and he asked her some random questions other than the chart because his mind was a bit blank. 

"Truth or dare, Mari?" Chat Noir asked her. 

"Dare," said Marinette confidently. He really hated that she let him dig through the trash, but he also didn't want her to do anything disgusting.

Maybe this is an opportunity to get to know her as Adrien? he thought to himself. 

"I dare you, to go on a date with Adrien Agreste, tomorrow."

...

Mouth agape, heart pounding loudly, Marinette shrieked. "A-Adrien?!" she stammered, face ruby red at the mention of the model. 

Chat tilted his head in fake confusion. "What's the problem princess? Are you a...coward?" asked Chat Noir in a condescending tone.

She scoffed, limping her wrist. "Coward? Of course not."

"Then go on a date with that Adrien boy. For someone who isn't a coward, that shouldn't be hard," said Chat Noir. He was enjoying this. 

"Why though?" Marinette questioned. Why and how did he get the idea of Adrien? she thought. It was a bit abrupt.

"Oh, I saw those pictures on your wall and figured maybe you wanted to...I don't know...hang out with him?" He shrugged. "You just seem like you'd want to get to know him a bit more."

False alarm. She'd nearly thought that Chat Noir saw Adrien's schedule. "W-well, you're not wrong..." She began fiddling with her thumbs.

"Oh? so you do want to spend time with model boy then?" asked the hero, grinning.

He was acting a bit strange to her. It's as though he was acting as if he was Adrien. Or maybe she was overthinking, and Chat Noir was just teasing her.

"Yeah," Marinette admitted, looking away in slight shame. Darting her eyes to him for a slight moment, his smirk grew wider. He was really befuddling the girl.

"Why are you smirking?" she asked with a raise of an eyebrow.

He didn't answer. "What do you like about him? Is he awesome?"

"Adrien? Oh, he's perfect, I mean"—Marinette caught sight of his evident, confused look and scrambled her head to look for the right words—"I mean, he's alright. Adrien's a cool person."

Way to go Marinette. Now Chat will non-stop tease you about your love for Adrien.

"You must be good friends then?" His eyes sparkled.

"Yeah...friends..." said Marinette gloomily, staring at one of Adrien's pictures.

"Are you okay?" asked the hero, concern laced in his voice.

"I'm fine," replied Marinette as she shook her hands dismissively.

"So, are you doing the dare?" he asked her.

"I don't know." She paused for a moment. "What if I make a fool out of myself?" After every interaction with that boy, she would want to slap herself repeatedly. She was so immature. She was childish, and would end up doing countless embarrassing things when it came to Adrien. It was painfully humiliating.

"Why would you?" asked Chat.

Crestfallen, Marinette said, "I just get a little nervous when he's around...so I'm afraid I say things that don't make sense or—" Chat cut her off.

"I'm sure you won't Mari," he reassured the other gently.

They shared a meaningful look, and she smiled at him in gratitude. "Thanks Chat, I still have my doubts, but I'll try." Marinette walked to him and hugged him. She was immensely thankful to have a friend like Chat Noir, how did I become so lucky?

He returned the hug.

Marinette laid her head on his neck, fingers fiddling with his collar. She felt the cold leather of his suit and the warmth of his body. There, she truly felt comfortable in his arms. Strangely, she didn't want to let go.

His arms wrapped around her was solace. Chat's occasional rubbing of her head, and fingers brushing her hair brought a strange feeling to her heart. She wished to stay, and fall asleep right then and there.

Reluctantly letting go, Marinette and he both stared at each other for what seemed like minutes. A slight blush crossed both their faces, but they shook it off. Marinette stood up, took his hand, and helped him get up as well.

She bent down, took the empty plate with crumbs, and wordlessly went down the trapdoor to wash the plate. Marinette washed it along with other dishes. She went back upstairs seeing the loft hatch open. He wasn't around anymore, so perhaps he was already up the balcony. She scurried up to her bed and went up.

Chat Noir was resting his arms on the railing, looking at the rather aesthetic view. He appeared relaxed. A bit timid, she stood behind him and patted his shoulder softly to get his attention.

His back stiffened and he quickly looked behind, momentarily surprised expression morphing into a calm one. "Thanks for those tasty treats, Mari," said Chat Noir.

She merely nodded in response and stood beside him. They both admired the scenery in silence for a few minutes. Stealing a glance at her phone inside her sling bag, Marinette checked the time. 8:28, I'm going to be late for patrol.

"You should go now Chat. You might have things to do. I told him.

He acted offended, feigning being insulted as he put his hand on his chest. "Me-owch purr-incess, do you not enjoy my paw-mazing company?"

"Ew." She stared at him blankly. "Do you genuinely think you're funny?"

"You have cat to be kitten me, how do you not find my claw-some puns a meow-sing?" said Chat Noir with a tilt of his head.

Marinette glared at him. "Chat, you should really go, and no, I don't find your cat puns amusing."

He laughed like a child. I didn't want to admit it, but it was quite adorable. "I was kidding Mari, I know you're just worried," said Chat Noir. There was a part of Marinette that worried his parents might be mad at him for being missing all of a sudden.

"I might as well leave now, until next time princess." Out of the blue, the hero kissed her hand and jumped into the night. She smiled to herself and opened her sling bag. It was time to start patrol.

Her kwami flew out and nodded, indicating that she was ready. Marinette nodded as well and said the words that would turn her into Paris' superheroine.

"Tikki, spots on!"

Ladybug swung her yoyo to get off her balcony and start patrol. Tomorrow Chat Noir would be joining her since it was his turn yesterday.

She swung to a building and stood there, ready to face akumas, or possible incidents that could cause them to appear.

About an hour later, the heroine landed on her balcony smoothly and detransformed. "Tikki, spots off..." The red kwami flew in front of her.

"Great job comforting the boy Marinette, you prevented him from being akumatized!" She beamed.

"Thanks, Tikki." Marinette smiled at Tikki and went down the trapdoor. She took off her sling bag whilst Tikki floated beside her.

Marinette took her backpack and opened it, revealing Adrien's beautiful bouquet of roses. A smile encased my lips knowing Adrien cared about how I felt. "It was nice for Adrien to give you those roses Marinette." The kwami of creation said.

"Yeah...he's perfect." She swooned.

The girl grabbed an empty vase on her desk. She put the roses carefully, and filled it with just the right amount of water. Marinette settled it beside her diary. She went up to the stairs, and her bed. She rested her head on her pillow, hand tossing over her cat bolster, as she covered herself with a blanket.

The kwami and her owner said their good nights, and Marinette slowly drifted off to dreamland.

*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*

Lying in bed, Adrien's mind was in turmoil thinking of a certain girl. Whereas Plagg was eating his Camembert with the promised treat. The thought of Ladybug's confidence, intelligence, and beauty happened to get him smitten.

He loved her. Everything reminded him of her. Chat Noir was willing to sacrifice everything to make her happy and to keep her safe. Only, his love was terribly one-sided.

But Marinette. There that feeling is again, thought Adrien. It was strange, and he couldn't decipher it. She was smart, funny, and absolutely gorgeous. Being with her was like a breath of fresh air.

Oh. Now, this was odd. He was thinking of two girls at the same time.

"Why do I feel like an unfaithful boyfriend of Ladybug?" he thought aloud. Although, he didn't even like Marinette in such a way. He was supposed to love Ladybug and Ladybug only. He loves only Ladybug, and no one else.

Right...? 

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~2263 words~