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“When you walk away, you don’t hear me say, pleeeeeease, oh baaaaaaaaaby, don’t go!” he sang over the spray of the shower. The acoustics in his bathroom made his voice bearable. He knew his singing wasn’t the greatest, but there was nothing like being able to let lose and caterwaul in the comfort of a warm bubblebath.
“Simple and clean is the waaaaay that you’re making me feeeeeeeeel tonight, it’s hard to let it go—”
“Hey, kid—don’t scream, it’s just me—”
Adrien swallowed his shout as he dove under the bathwater. Soap went up his nose, and he coughed it back out.
“Plagg! What did I tell you about barging in while I’m in the shower?” He hugged his knees and scowled.
The kwami lounged on top of a bubble, his paws crossed behind his head.
“Relax, I’m thousands of years old. I’ve seen plenty of naked Chat Noirs before. And keep your voice down.”
“What? Is there an akuma? Plagg, claws—!”
Plagg flew up to his face, pressing a tiny paw to his lips. “Shhh! You’d be better off with her seeing you naked than suited up!”
Wait. Her?
“Why didn’t you tell me someone was here?” he hissed.
Plagg rolled his eyes. “I was trying to. Someone was too busy screaming and hiding in a pile of bubbles to listen.”
“Who is it?”
“Oh, no one important. Just your little lovebug.” He grinned.
“Ladybug?”
Oops. He probably shouldn’t have shouted that.
“Oh, uh—I’m sorry!” Her unmistakable voice filtered through the door. “I can come back later if this is a bad time!”
“N-no! It’s never a bad time to see you!” Even if he did want to just sink into the bathwater and drown at the thought of her hearing his wailing earlier. “Just give me a second!”
Plagg cackled as Adrien turned off the shower and hastily wrapped a black towel around his waist.
“Oh no,” he groaned, scanning the empty counter. “I didn’t bring my pajamas in.” From now on he’d always keep a change of clothes on him, just in case Ladybug ever decided to drop in.
“Eh, it’s not like she’ll complain at seeing you in a towel.” Plagg shrugged.
Adrien flushed from head to toe. Unfortunately, it wasn’t like he had much of a choice. If Ladybug was here, it had to be for something important.
Making sure his towel was tied securely, he cracked open the door.
“Ladybug?”
“A-Adrien!” She leaped back from his bed. Had she been… sniffing his pillow? Ugh, Plagg must have left his Camembert to ferment under there again. She probably thought he was a disgusting slob. He could only hope she’d catch a whiff of his freshly-showered scent and change her mind.
“Do you mind passing me my clothes?” he asked with a nervous grin.
“Oh, er—yes, of course! Clothes! That’s what people wear after showering…”
Was she okay? He couldn’t remember ever seeing her so flustered.
Before he could tell her where his pajamas were, she was rummaging in his dresser... and then she was pulling out his red-and-black-spotted underwear.
Was drowning in the bathtub still an option?
“Nevermind!” He stepped out from behind the door. “I’ll just, uh, wear this towel. It’s more comfortable anyway.”
She dropped his underwear back in the drawer. “Er, if you insist!” She grinned widely.
For a moment they just stood there, staring at each other, while Adrien slowly died inside. Then he noticed her eyes flicker to something on his shoulder.
“Huh?” He tried to turn his neck at angle to see whatever it was. He’d just showered; what could be stuck to him?
“Let me,” Ladybug said, rushing forward to brush off his shoulder. A red rose petal drifted to the ground.
“Oh, haha, where did that come from?” He ruffled his wet hair. There was no way he’d admit that he enjoyed bathing in rosewater. She’d think he was just a snobby rich boy for sure.
(Even if at least half the reason was so that he could smell nice for her.)
He cleared his throat loudly. “So, um, what can I do for you?”
“Right!” She smacked her face, and then she flipped open her yo-yo. “I just noticed that you left this behind at your photoshoot when the akuma attacked today…”
She pulled out a red string of pink, blue, and green beads.
“My lucky charm!” He nearly dropped his towel in his rush to take the charm. “Thank you so much, my—Ladybug. I don’t know how I lost it. This charm is so special to me.”
He cradled it to his chest in relief. Though at least part of it was probably silly superstition, he always felt better with the charm on him.
“R-really?” Her face reddened. “Why’s that?”
“A really good friend of mine gave it to me. I always take it to my photoshoots for a bit of extra luck.” He rubbed the beads between his fingers. He didn’t have any pockets to put the charm in, so he tied it around his wrist. “But… how did you know it was mine?”
“Oh! I must have… ah… seen it fall out of your pocket?” She ruffled the back of her hair, disheveling her pigtails.
He leaned in closer. Why did her nervous face look familiar? His Lady usually seemed so composed.
“Are you lying?” He grinned, a bit of his Chat slipping out.
“What? Psh, no. It’s not like I know you in real life or anything—that would be crazy! I’m just—I’m a fan of fashion, so I might have been watching your totoshoot glosely before that akuma attacked—”
“Totoshoot?” His brow furrowed.
“Exactly, the grotoshoot. So—you’re charming, I mean—you’ve got your charm back, so I should put a shirt on—I mean—YOU should put a shirt on, and pants, and underwater—underwear! Which I’m not going to touch again, so. So I’ll—BYE!”
Adrien should’ve cut off her ramble sooner. But each garbled word out of her mouth felt so familiar. He couldn’t help trying to place it.
“Wait, Marinette!” He grabbed her wrist before she could unhook her yo-yo.
“What? Is something else wrong? Or did I just sound like such an idiot you don’t trust me to protect Paris anymore—”
His heart sped up as he enfolded her spazzing hands in his. Marinette. That’s who her frantic stammering had reminded him of. And she’d responded to his slip without missing a beat.
“Of course not, my—Marinette. I’ll always trust you.”
Her eyes blew wide beneath her mask.
“Wha… what did you just call me…?”
“Marinette,” he repeated, the name sweet in his mouth. “You’re Marinette.”
“N-no, of course I’m not! Marinette’s waaaay too clumsy to be a superhero, psh.”
“You gave her the mouse miraculous. You obviously didn’t think so.” He smirked and crossed his arms. The beads on his charm clinked together in her stunned silence.
“You—what—nobody knows about that! Nobody except—Chat?”
Oh. Crap.
“Hehe. Oops?”
She smacked her forehead again.
“Careful, bugaboo, I wouldn’t want you to hurt your mewtiful face.” He grinned against the rising panic. Why did he say that? Why was his gut instinct to pun in times of emotional crisis? Ladybug knew his identity! And from the blue-screening look on her face, she wasn’t thrilled about it.
“Oh yeah, you’re Chat Noir alright.” She groaned and pressed the heels of her palms to her forehead. “I can’t believe I’ve been staring at Chat Noir’s chest!”
“You—you were?” He giggled hysterically. “Like, staring because it’s a nice chest? Or because it’s just kind of there and I should really put a shirt on because this is weird, isn’t it—?”
“Adrien, your chest is more than nice. But it might be a good idea for you to put on a shirt before I drool all over your floor.”
They both locked eyes, equally shocked that she’d said that.
“I—you wouldn’t happen to have a bathtub I could drown in, would you?” she croaked out.
He laughed. “Not a chance, bugaboo.”
“Maybe he could kill you with his singing instead,” Plagg said from where he was hovering by the bathroom door.
Adrien and Ladybug both jumped. Of course Plagg had overheard all of that. Adrien found himself turning the same color as his Lady’s suit.
“Excuse you, Adrien has a wonderful singing voice,” she said with a pout.
“I—I do?” He blinked. “You’re sure you actually heard me?”
Chloé had always made fun of his voice. His father wouldn’t let him audition for voice acting positions with singing roles. Even Plagg, who had an… interesting voice himself, could hardly stand Adrien’s singing.
“Of course I did! I mean, um… what’s the answer that makes me sound the least weird?”
He laughed, shaking so hard the towel almost fell off. Again. He tucked the corner of it more securely against his waist. He should really go ahead and get dressed, but he was afraid Ladybug—Marinette!—would disappear the second he took his eyes off of her.
“I’m the one standing here in a towel, and you think you’re weird?”
At that, she laughed back. “I’m the one who didn’t let you get dressed!”
“I’m the one who didn’t let you get my clothes because I was too embarrassed about you seeing my Ladybug underwear!”
She collapsed back in his computer chair cackling. Both of them were redder than her suit by that point.
“Yeah, yeah, you guys are both disgustingly in love. Unless you’re going to smooch my kid while he’s practically naked, you should let him get dressed.”
“In—love?” Adrien squeaked out. “Ladybug? In love—me?”
“Can dish it but can’t take it, huh?” She stood and smirked while leaning into his space.
He licked his dry lips. If Marinette wanted to play that game, he wasn’t going to back down now.
“I can take it,” he said quietly, his lips centimeters from hers. “As long as it’s you doing the dishing.”
“The only dish I want is a nice dish of camembert,” Plagg complained. But for now, Adrien ignored him.
“Hmm. Let’s see about that.” Her arms wrapped around the back of his neck, leaving tingling trails where her suit brushed bare skin. He was going to pay for procrastinating getting dressed. If he was unraveling already, there was no way he could handle whatever else she planned to throw at him.
Her lips brushed his. It was just the faintest touch, but it set his heart pounding.
“Is this okay?” She asked quietly, her voice suddenly turning shy. “I know we always joke together, but if this is too weird, or—”
“Marinette.” It came out as a rasp. “If you don’t kiss me right now, I might actually die.”
Her laugh fanned out across his collarbone. “Well, we can’t have that.”
She kissed him. Really kissed him, her lips interlocking with his, hands roaming down his bare back, and oh man he was wrong. He might have died if she didn’t kiss him, but he was definitely going to die now that she did.
He held her tighter, tilting his head to allow her better access.
To think that just minutes ago, he hadn’t known his Lady was Marinette, or that she was in love with him. And now this.
He finally pulled back, needing to breathe before he melted into a vaguely Adrien-colored puddle. Another jolt of ecstasy shot through him when Marinette continued to chase his lips. She pouted when he laughed.
“Looks like I’m not the only one who might die without kisses,” he teased.
“If you’re trying to embarrass me, you’re going to have to work a lot harder than that,” she said even though her face was still bright red. “You already heard me say totoshoot. And you saw me sniff your pillow!”
“That’s just today. Don’t forget the time you kissed me while I was pretending to be a statue.”
Her eyes widened, and she pushed him back. His chest felt cold where she was no longer pressed to him.
“Too soon?” He asked, though he couldn’t help grinning. He should’ve known she was in love with him. Why else would she have acted like that?
“It will always be too soon. I vote we pretend that never happened.”
“But Marinette, don’t you want to be molded together in the plaster of destiny?” He batted his eyes innocently.
She dropped her head into her hands, hiding the adorable blush there. “That’s it. I’m leaving.”
“But I thought we were going to be entwined for eternity!”
She looked torn between laughing and punching him. He would’ve welcomed either.
“It sounds like someone doesn’t want any more kisses.” She crossed her arms instead, turning her back to him.
“Nooooo, Marinette! Anything but that!” He draped himself over her back, arms dangling over her shoulders. “I hope I didn’t upset you. I just think hindsight made it hilarious, but I’ll shut up if you really want me to.”
“I don’t think you could shut up if you tried. But that’s okay. I love you just the way you are.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek.
Warmth spread through him from head to toe. “Really?”
“Yes, really. You think I’d make out with just any shirtless guy?”
“Hmmm. I guess you have a point.” His hands played with the string of her yo-yo around her waist. “But I wouldn’t complain if you wanted to prove it again.”
She took hold of one of his hands, spinning him so they were face to face again. “Go put on some clothes so I don’t have to worry about knocking your towel off, and then we’ll see.”
He blushed again. He’d better get used to that though. If he got any more kisses from Marinette, the color of her suit would rub off on him permanently.
“I can live with that.”
He dug out his pajamas—including his Ladybug underwear—and darted into the bathroom.
“Are you happy now?” Plagg asked. It took a second for Adrien to spot him, snuggled up in one of Adrien’s black hand towels next to the sink. “I sure heard a lot of gross smooching noises back there. You think I can use this to plug my ears?”
The kwami held up a q-tip and snapped it in half.
Adrien cast a glance back at the door, where he heard Marinette giggling on the other side.
“Could you keep your voice down?” He hissed. “And no, don’t do that. You’ll hurt yourself.” He took the broken q-tip and tossed it in the trash.
“You better get me some real earplugs if you’re gonna keep this up, then.”
“Done,” Adrien said while pulling his shirt on over his head. “I’ll do that and get you that special sprucewood cheese if you leave us alone for the next hour.”
“Deal! Good luck, loverboy!” Plagg waved. “I think you’re forgetting something, though.”
“Huh?” Adrien’s hand was already on the doorknob, but he turned around and saw his pants still lying on the counter. That would’ve been awkward. “Thanks, Plagg. I’m kind of surprised you didn’t let me just embarrass myself though.”
“Nah. You can do that plenty well on your own.” The kwami grinned. “I still think she’s lying about your singing voice. You could scare off akumas with that.”
Adrien stuck out his tongue. It didn’t matter what Plagg thought.
On the other side of the door, Marinette was waiting. And no matter how embarrassing he was, she still loved him.