Archive of Our Own ^beta

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Standing before Marinette, arm outstretched, was Adrien Agreste. While this action was something she had fantasised about, never had she imagined him holding a pharmaceutical package in his hand. Nor his confused and slightly hurt expression.

Wait, what?

‘Marinette? Did I do something wrong?’His voice was soft. She groaned.

Oh god, I said that out loud. Nuts.

‘No, Adrien, you didn’t. Ugh.’ She rubbed her face with her hand out of frustration. ‘It’s my fault - I gave you the wrong note.’

She pointedly ignored the groans and muttered outcries of disbelief from her friends behind her.

‘That,’ she continued, gesturing at the package still in Adrien’s hand, ‘was the prescription for M- my honorary uncle. I thought I lost the prescription.’

‘Oh.’ Adrien seemed less hurt and confused and instead more concerned and curious. ‘Is he okay?’

Marinette offered a weak smile to the boy.

‘I managed to get him some over-the-counter stuff which has eased things somewhat, but the medication would definitely help.’ She accepted the proffered package. ‘Thank you for getting it for me.’

‘You’re welcome, Marinette. I’m glad I could help.’ The warmth emanating from him threatened her fragile composure. He hesitated, as though he was about to say something, but with an imperceptible shake of the head his eyes found hers, and with a, ‘See you in class,’ he turned and walked through the school doors.

‘Disaster!’

‘Oh Marinette,’ Alya patted her shoulder as she sunk to the ground. ‘At least he was thinking of you all weekend.’

‘And he went looking all over London to help you feel better! Surely that tells you something?’ Mylène looked at her with soft hopefulness that Marinette had to bite her lip to distract her from wanting to screech in despair.

‘So what did you need to get for your uncle?’ Alix inquired.

Part of Marinette wanted to curl up into a ball, hide the medicine from the girls and wither away, but she supposed they would find out sooner or later anyway.

‘Constipation capsules,’ she grumbled out before letting out a mournful groan. ‘Adrien thought I was constipated all weekend!’

‘What a beautiful display of pure love,’ cried Rose sweetly, the group laughing at the endearing response before making their way through the school doors. Trust Rose to find something romantic about constipation medication.

~/~

Adrien was relieved to know Marinette wasn’t constipated. He had been worried sick all weekend that she was in pain and suffering, but he had been determined to respect Marinette’s wishes (honoured that she had entrusted him with this) and didn’t let anyone near her prescription nor did he mention it or its contents to anyone else, not even when Kagami expressed her concern and offered her help with whatever was bothering him. He couldn’t’ve been very good company for her - between his work obligations, the Royal wedding (that he did his best to commit to memory for his classmates who would no doubt have a million questions for him when he returned), and trying to sneak away whenever he could to find a pharmacy that could fill the script for Marinette, he didn’t end up with much time to hang out with his friend. He would have to make it up to Kagami at some point.

Despite this unintentional neglect of Kagami, he found he didn’t regret his decisions…which was a strange notion. As he pondered on this, half-listening to Ms Bustier’s exposition on their upcoming French Literature assessment, he came to some interesting observations that he wasn’t sure how he felt about. The first was that if he had to repeat the weekend all over again, even knowing that the medication was for her honorary uncle, he wouldn’t change a thing. The second, a thought that had repeatedly made its appearance over the course of his trip but one he hadn’t entertained due to his concern for her, was that he wished he could’ve invited Marinette to the Royal Wedding. She would have loved to have seen all the outfits on display up close and personal, so he had paid painstakingly close attention to as many note-worthy outfits as he could so he could tell her all about them if she wanted. Now that he let himself dwell on the idea, he couldn’t help but wonder what it would’ve been like if she were there. She would have no doubt won over whomever she’d have met - her warmth, authenticity and genuine kindness would have endeared her to the upper echelons of high society, any faux pas in etiquette could surely be overlooked when greeted by her sweet, gentle smile. She probably would have stuck close to him, and once she and Kagami got to know one another better, he was sure the three of them would have had a better time together. He would’ve loved for her to have relaxed enough to whisper commentary on the frocks and suits that passed them by (some of which had been rather questionable in his opinion) and hear her witty and sassy remarks. He would have danced with her. He wondered what Marinette original ensemble she would have created for the event - no doubt something amazing that his father would approve of and she would look great in. The third thing on his mind was the one that was bothering him the most - if she hadn’t meant to give him the script for the capsules, what was the note she had meant to give to him?

Once class broke for recess, Alya all but pounced on him for all the “deets” on the wedding, which pulled the curiosity of the rest of the class. Spending the break fielding questions from his classmates, he was glad he devoted close attention to the proceedings and the people around him. Naturally, he couldn’t divulge everything - it was a high-profile event, after all - but he did his best to recount the events in such a way so they could get a feel for what it was like to be there. He had noticed Alya’s seemingly unconscious firm grip on Marinette’s arm throughout the short break, most likely from her excitement about the wedding, and Marinette seemed intrigued too. He supposed there wasn’t enough time for Marinette to deliver the medication to her uncle and be back for the start of class.

Ms Mendeleiev was covering physics theory that his tutors had covered a couple of months earlier, so Adrien let his mind wander once more.

What was Marinette trying to tell me?

~/~

I hope Adrien forgot all about the note.

It was all Marinette could do to not bang her head on the desk as Ms Mendeleiev lectured on energy transformations and transfers. Even though she knew the girls were trying to reassure her, all it did was reinforce the fact that Adrien thought that she was constipated all weekend, which was super embarrassing! Adrien must now be thinking of her as Constipation Girl, and that’s not attractive at all! He’ll never want to go on a date with her, let alone get married and live in a house together with three kids, a dog or a cat, or have a hamster named-

‘Marinette! It’s time for lunch.’

Her head snapped up at Alya’s prompting, noticing everyone packing up their things as she looked around the classroom. Hastily following suit, she hoisted her bag onto her back and followed her friends out of the classroom to the entrance of the school. She almost invited her friends over for lunch when she remembered the errand she had to run.

‘I have to take my, uh, uncle’s medicine to him. I’ll see you guys-’

‘Can I come with you, Marinette?’

She blinked. Surely he didn’t just-

‘If that’s okay with you, that is,’ he said, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

She was internally squealing at the prospect of him wanting to spend one-on-one time with her. Her heart sunk to her stomach because what if he hadn’t forgotten about the letter? Her stomach churned - how would she explain this to Master Fu when they got there? She-

‘She would love for you to join her, Adrien!’ Alya didn’t even bother concealing her devious smirk as she nudged Marinette towards him. He looked at her with those beautiful eyes of his - it was a wonder that she managed to nod and send him some semblance of a smile. He smiled back.

‘Well then, lead the way.’

It was inevitable that at that very moment her feet would unwillingly entangle with one another, doomed to send her tumbling down the stairs that lead to the open road. Luckily fate seemed to have another plan as Adrien steadied her when her body lurched forward.

She made the mistake of looking at him. His face was close, too close, as his eyes locked onto hers, his gentle concern evident in his gaze, and he was entrancing. If she wasn’t careful she might scream, or melt into him, or maybe pull him close by the collar of his over-shirt and crash her lips onto his…

She jumped back with a little ‘meep!’

‘Are you alright, Marinette?’

‘Oh! Yanks, thes! Uh- yes, thanks!’

Thankfully, take two of descending the stairs was a whole lot smoother than take one. Quickly ducking into the bakery for some food on-the-go, the two made their way through Paris in companionable silence, croissants disappearing with every step they took. It gave Marinette the time she needed to collect herself enough to hold a light conversation with him - if she had something else to focus on, talking to Adrien was a little easier!

‘So,’ she began, feeling Adrien’s attention shift towards her. ‘How was your weekend?’

Please don’t mention Kagami.

‘Apart from having to work while I was there, I had a good time,’ he replied after a pause. ‘It’s not every day you get to go to a Royal wedding, after all.’

This I can focus on.

‘Oh? And what was that like?’

‘It was very formal, and even though I was a guest I felt like I could hardly relax!’ She could hear the exasperation lacing his tone.

‘Really?’

‘Yeah!’ He threw his hands out at the exclamation. ‘There are so many rules and protocols to follow and names and titles to remember that it was a little overwhelming - by the time father and I were face to face with the Queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, I almost panicked myself into curtseying to her!’

Marinette couldn’t help the giggles that spilled out of her as she imagined a flustered Adrien, dressed to the nines, curtseying to the British monarch and her husband. He joined in laughing with her.

‘You didn’t!’

‘No, thank goodness! I pulled myself together as Father greeted them.’ His chuckles began to subside and his smile dimmed somewhat. ‘I’m glad you found it as amusing as I did. When I tried to tell Kagami about it, she looked almost disapproving.’ He huffed out an uneasy laugh. ‘For a moment there I thought I had done it.’

Marinette winced as he sunk in on himself slightly despite his attempt to lighten the mood. From what little she knew of Adrien’s relationship with his father and the suspicions Nino voiced on occasion when the model wasn’t around, it seemed to her that disappointment was a big thing for Adrien. He always worked hard and went about his hectic schedule with minimal complaints, but she (and Nino) saw the frustration, the determination, the exhaustion, the pressure to succeed and the desire to prove himself that would crack through the surface every once in a while. This sweet, kind-hearted, intelligent and loveable boy simply yearned to make friends and sought the approval of the people that matter most to him. For Kagami to make him feel that way, especially when discussing a narrowly avoided faux pas on his part, was like a knife to her heart.

‘Well, it’s not every day I get to hear about the Adrien Agreste losing his composure,’ she teased with a playful shoulder nudge. ‘How could I not laugh when the radiant-’

‘No-’

‘-carefree-’

‘No-’

‘-dreamy-’

‘Nooo-’

‘-Adrien Agreste admits losing his composure and nearly curtseying to the Queen?’ She could barely suppress the laughter dancing through her veins as he groaned good-naturedly at the reminder of the… popular commercial. ‘Although, if you had curtseyed, I’m sure the Queen would have been flattered all the same.’

He perked up at the jesting, practically preening with a kittenish gleam in his eyes.

‘Naturally,’ he replied, his solemn nod undermined by his mirthful demeanour. ‘It’s just as well I didn’t - my curtseying skills would’ve stunned all who witnessed it, I would have become the envy of all in attendance and I would be taking the attention away from the newlyweds. It’s too powerful, I simply couldn’t.’

She bit her tongue.

‘How gallant of you.’

All it took was them catching each other’s side glances for them to dissolve into laughter. It was loud and bubbly and free and unrestrained and it felt good. They had to stop walking momentarily so they could let it all out. She stole a glance at him, his expression similar to the one he had that day in the rain when his umbrella closed in on her. Any residual tension from remembering the disappointment had all melted away, and all that remained was joy. It was beautiful.

As their giggle-fit eased up, they started to become aware of their surroundings. There were a few cafes nearby, and they had gained the attention of some of their patrons - some seemed disgruntled by the disturbance their outburst caused, while others regarded them with soft gazes full of reminiscence or knowing looks and secret smiles that held meanings Marinette couldn’t decipher.

Before the atmosphere they created could dissipate, she felt a hand hold hers and gently coax her to walk once more.

‘Besides,’ Adrien said, his voice imbued with a warmth that she could feel flooding her chest, ‘from what I understand, Prince Philip is more of an easygoing kind of person. Maybe he would’ve gotten a kick out of it.’

Marinette grinned. ‘You’ll just have to get yourself invited to the next Royal wedding and find out.’

His surprise at her proclamation transformed into a tender expression that made her heart skip a beat. ‘Yeah, we will.’

Before she could even begin to dwell on that sentence, his face cleared and he became bright and cheerful as he continued.

‘Until then, have you seen any photos of the wedding?’

She shook her head in the negative. Strangely, this only excited him further.

‘So you haven’t seen the outfits people wore to the wedding?’

Another shake of the head. He beamed.

‘Would you like me to tell you about them?’

Now this boy is speaking my language!

~/~

Adrien spent the next fifteen minutes of their journey regaling her with stories of fashion from the Royal wedding, detailing highlights from the good (‘That sounds absolutely gorgeous, Adrien! Do you think anyone took a photo of it?’), to the bad (‘You’ve got to be kidding, surely not?’ ‘He did.’ ‘Oh dear god.’), to the highly questionable (‘How did that even work?’ ‘Beats me.’). While it would have been more fun if she was there with him that weekend, he was happy he could share it all with her like this. Her every reaction to his detailed recount made all his efforts worth it.

‘Oh! We’re here!’

He looked away from her and took in the modest apartment block in front of him. Apart from some small balconies, there wasn’t much to the building’s facade - he could easily walk past it and hardly register it was there. With a slight tug of his left hand - how long have we been holding hands for - she led them inside. She guided them with ease as they scaled the stairwell and down the hallway, only faltering a touch in front of the very last door. He could’ve sworn he spotted a glimmer of uncertainty in her eyes before it vanished and was replaced with a sense of conviction. She raised her hand to knock-

-only for the door to swing open to reveal a middle-aged man.

‘Thank you Mr Chan! Same time next week, right?’ Adrien quickly ushered Marinette and himself out of the way as the man walked through the doorway, not noticing their presence until he turned away from the apartment’s occupant. ‘Oh, sorry kids - you here to see Mr Chan?’ They nodded and the man held the door open for them before making his way out of the building. As the door drifted to a close behind them, Adrien spotted Mr Chan.

Master Fu? He could feel his eyes widening. Master Fu is Marinette’s honorary uncle?

Master Fu had his back to them as he fussed about with a tea set. The elderly man turned to greet them and froze in…horror? Before anything could be said, he hurriedly closed the balcony doors, ensured the front door was shut behind them and came to stand in front of them once more with a steely gaze.

‘What on earth were you two thinking?’ Adrien was taken aback by the anger that bubbled through the Guardian’s voice. He could tell Marinette was too, so he subtly shifted himself to be in front of her, to protect her from whatever it was that had riled her uncle up. She hastily dug into her purse.

‘We-’

‘I cannot believe you two were so careless enough to reveal your secret identities to each other!’

Time stood still. Adrien’s heart lurched into his throat in a panic - he hadn’t done anything to reveal himself, hadn’t he? He was careful! In his walk with Marinette from school to here, there were at least 37 opportunities to slip in a pun that he hadn’t taken, 18 times he could’ve tapped into his Chat Noir charm but didn’t, and 9 instances where he had to stop himself from calling her “Princess”. He was always meticulous in making sure he didn’t slip up - it was expected of him as an employee of Gabriel, so he had redoubled his efforts to ensure Chat Noir couldn’t be linked to him…well, outside of his work obligations, that is. Was that what outed him? And there was no way Marinette knew, right? But what if she did? She’s smart enough to put the pieces together, and their paths have crossed while he was suited up a number of times. Did she tell Master Fu? Or did she not know about him being the Guardian of the Miraculous? Or-

Hang on. He said “you two” like he was talking to both of us, and “secret identities” as in plural , and “to each other” as in to…each…other…

~/~

Tikki knew this was all her fault.

Okay, maybe not all her fault, but she knew her chosen! She knew how disastrous each attempted confession Marinette made to Adrien would turn out to be, that she was somehow doomed to fail - throw in the time constraints and the multiple letters to be delivered and the result was inexorable. Tikki was in that very purse that held all the notes - she should have helped her Ladybug by passing the correct notes to her as she flittered around Paris!

Now, as Marinette stood as still as a statue, her arm extended with the bag of medicine she had held out to Master Fu when he had made his presumptuous accusation, Tikki ached. She wanted to tell off the Guardian for his complete lack of faith in her bug and Plagg’s kitten and comfort Marinette from this devastating blow, but by doing so she would destroy any potential for the situation to be salvaged and their identities to remain protected. With the silence dragging on, she tried to come up with a way to soften Marinette’s loss of confidence from her mentor and prevent the inevitable panic when she realises Adrien is Chat Noir-

‘Excuse me?’

I was focusing on the wrong thing, Tikki realised. I should’ve anticipated her fury at the injustice of being falsely accused.

‘What exactly is it you think we’ve done? We came here to bring you your medication-’ Marinette shook the package, ‘-because in the letter mix-up that you already knew about, it turned out Adrien ended up with the script and spent his weekend in London getting the script filled for me because I entrusted him with the wrong note and told him that all I ever wanted was on that piece of paper and only he could give it to me! Do you have any idea how mortifying it was when I realised Adrien thought I was constipated and that- oh god, I’m not even going to go there!’

Tikki had to admit that even she wasn’t sure where her chosen was going with this.

‘He volunteered to come with me to deliver this to you when he found out the truth. He was probably concerned about you even though he’s never met you because I told him you were my honorary uncle and that’s the kind of wonderful person he is! We barely get through the door and instead of greeting us and letting me explain what’s going on, you accuse us both! I don’t know whatever I might have done to make you doubt me, but I will not stand by as you attack Adrien who has done absolutely nothing to deserve it!’

Dumping the prescription on Master Fu’s table, silence fell in the room that was only broken by Marinette’s audible breaths. Tikki had to say she was impressed. Marinette managed to keep her wits about her and pull apart Master Fu’s blunder without explicitly addressing the topic of secret identities. As she heard her chosen’s breaths slow and even out, Tikki let out a silent sigh of relief.

‘Wait - “identities” as in plural?’ Tikki saw Marinette’s head snap to face the boy on her right as she spoke.

I sighed too soon.

‘But that would mean-’

‘No, you couldn’t be… Chaton?’

‘M’lady?’

‘Ha! That one was all you, Fu!’ Hearing Plagg’s cackles, Tikki supposed there was no use hiding herself now. And Plagg was right; while she could’ve done something about the letters, this reveal was entirely the fault of the Guardian.

~/~

Marinette was spiralling. Or maybe she was surrounded by white noise. Or maybe she was drowning. Or numb. Or charged with electricity. Whatever she was, her brain was not computing.

Adrien is Chat Noir.

Chat Noir is Adrien.

Plagg is floating next to Adrien.

Plagg is Chat Noir’s kwami.

Plagg came out from Adrien’s over-shirt.

Adrien called her “m’lady”.

Chat Noir calls her “m’lady”.

Adrien called her the “everyday Ladybug”.

Chat Noir told her that she could be his Ladybug.

Chat Noir also called her “Princess”.

If Adrien is Chat Noir and Chat Noir is Adrien, does that mean Adrien called her “Princess”?

Adrien said the girl he likes doesn’t like his jokes.

Chat Noir likes Ladybug.

If Adrien is Chat Noir and Chat Noir is Adrien, does that mean Adrien likes Ladybug?

And since she is Ladybug and Ladybug is her, does this mean Adrien likes her?

Does Adrien think she doesn’t like his jokes?

‘Marinette? Are you okay?’

‘Do you think I don’t like your jokes?’

He blinked. So did she.

‘What- um… no?’

‘I like your jokes, it’s the timing that needs work. Sometimes it’s distracting when I’m trying to come up with a plan, that’s all.’

‘Oh, okay.’

Marinette felt like her brain was imploding and being overloaded at the same time.

‘Uh, Marinette?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Are you, um, disappointed that Chat Noir is me?’

Now that got her attention. Her head snapped up and her eyes locked with his.

‘No, Adrien,’ she replied softly. ‘Not at all. It’s just, well, you behave very differently as Chat Noir than how you do as Adrien and I’m trying to piece it together, but no,’ she smiled, ‘not disappointed.’

She could see the tension that weighed him down just melt away as he released a heavy breath. But his concern now triggered her own.

‘What about you,’ she asked, biting her lip. Try as she might, she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. ‘A- Are you disappointed your Lady is little old clumsy me?’

‘What? No! Of course not! If anything, I’m ecstatic!’

She dared to look up at him through her lashes.

‘Really?’

‘Really! Oh, everything makes so much sense now!’

‘I- It does?’

‘Yes! I’ve always felt like you were more than just a friend to me, and now I know why. Hah, I even called you our everyday Ladybug!’ He ran his hand through his hair with a laugh. ‘How could I have been so blind?’ And as though struck by some realisation, he seemed to deflate right before her eyes. ‘But there’s a boy you like, isn’t there? I don’t suppose finding out I’m me changes anything, right?’

Adrien is Chat Noir.

Chat Noir is Adrien.

If Adrien is Chat Noir and Chat Noir is Adrien, then…

‘Oh my god! I’ve been rejecting you for you!’ She heard him gasp as she moaned in despair.

‘Really? I was the other boy?’

She nodded, her words failing her.

‘Do you still like me, knowing I’m…’ He imitated claws with his free right hand. Wait - how long have we been holding hands for?

She nodded again.

He swept her up into a hug, her feet left the ground as he spun them around. A couple of giggles slipped past her lips as his enthusiasm, and as he set her carefully back down on the ground, he swooped in to give her a kiss on the cheek, eliciting from her a gasp of delight.

‘I would love to kiss you properly,’ he said, and she could feel her cheeks burn, ‘but we only have a little over half our lunch break left and I have a few questions I’d like answered.’

How Marinette was still able to stand upright after Adrien’s declaration would forever be a mystery to her. Abandoning words for the time being, she squeezed his hand in acknowledgement - with how lightheaded she was feeling and all the blood rushing to her cheeks, nodding was not a safe option.

Oh dear kwamis, he wants to kiss me! Farewell world, for today I shall die a happy lady.

Adrien’s right arm relaxed its hold on her waist before reluctantly pulling away as he turned to face Master Fu, his left hand still entwined with hers as he directed his questioning gaze at the diminutive Guardian. She was going to have to postpone her identity-related freak-out until later.

‘Master, why do I get the feeling you don’t trust me as much as you do Marinette?’ She was a little startled by his blunt query. He must’ve noticed as he locked eyes with her. ‘Nothing against you, m’lady,’ he said softly, ‘I’m just curious as to why he trusts you with knowing where he lives, with assigning new temporary heroes, with the Miraculouses, with his medication, when the first and last time I’ve seen and interacted with the guy since his little character test prior to giving us our Miraculouses was after Syren.’

Marinette couldn’t hold back her gasp (even if she wanted to) for two very important reasons. First off, she was aghast at the notion that Master Fu had been neglecting her partner - she was hoping that he would be getting more information from the Guardian ever since she encouraged him to talk to Chat during Syren, and he might be training her Chaton one-on-one like he did with her, but she didn’t think that their meeting would be a once-off occurrence! It better have been a damn good debriefing! Secondly, Adrien calling her “m’lady” was seriously affecting her. In a good way. A very good way.

‘I didn’t like having those secrets from you, Chaton. I understood the need for secret identities, but not the other Miraculouses or the Guardian’s existence or the training-’

‘Wait - you were being trained?’

‘You weren’t? I thought Master Fu was going to bring you up to speed after Syren!’ She turned her hardened gaze towards her mentor and felt Adrien shift next to her to mirror her actions. Her blood began to simmer at the injustice committed against her Kitty.

‘I was training her to be a better Ladybug  in order to prepare her for when the time would come for her to become the next Guardian of the Miraculous,’ came the calm response from Master Fu, the man emanated a wisened energy befitting his age and life experience. ‘I was hoping to progress her to Guardian training in the coming months. It’s sensitive information not to be treated lightly-’

‘Have I not proved myself worthy?’ Adrien cut in. ‘Have I not kept my secret identity under wraps? Have I not proven time and time again how much I would sacrifice to keep Ladybug and Paris safe?’ Adrien’s eyes narrowed at the man.

Marinette thought Adrien was making some very good points, and would have contributed more if it weren’t for the fact that he was standing his ground and she was so proud of him for doing so. She knew how much he avoided confrontation, so this was probably taxing for him.

‘Why is it I couldn’t train alongside Marinette?’ Adrien continued. ‘If we trained together, we could share the load of the knowledge and responsibility of becoming Guardians and we be able to have discussions, make game plans, handle making our own transformation potions - we could help each other! If we were on the same playing field, we could become better and stronger as a team for it!’

‘But-’ Master Fu began, but Adrien didn’t seem to be finished.

‘And even if, for whatever reason, that Marinette should be the only one being trained as a Guardian, you could have given me training around supporting her as she takes on this new responsibility - only telling me what I need to know and what I can do to help her! Like, for example: knowing who you are, where you live and how to contact you, as well as what other Miraculouses exist and their functions, which gives us both the flexibility to leave battle - depending on who has the opportunity to do so - to run the errand to obtain Miraculouses for temporary heroes. This way, we both know who the temporary heroes are, in case we need to find them quickly, and the pressure isn’t all on Marinette. I didn’t need to know absolutely everything, but just knowing this much would have been enough for me to support her, and for you to learn to trust me - even though you already should. You trusted me to wield the literal embodiment of destruction at my very fingertips, but you couldn’t trust me with knowledge that could help me support my partner?’

He found out that secrets, knowledge and training was being kept from him, and his - very logical - arguments are based on how he could’ve supported me ? How pure and selfless is he? I would’ve been furious to know I’d been kept out of the loop! I would have wanted to know everything but he just wanted a little trust so he could be there for me? I could kiss him.

‘But your secret identities-’ Fu began again.

‘Wouldn’t have been a problem,’ butted in Marinette. Fu’s attempts to reassert control with hole-riddled rebuttals were starting to irk her. ‘Even with his hectic schedule as a civilian, Chat always makes time for patrols, and when I ask to meet up, he’s ready to be there as soon as he can be. Adrien could have easily supplied you his timetable if you asked and you could have organised to meet up with him at a time convenient for you both. Adrien takes his role as Chat Noir seriously, and it’s only because of him that I stayed on as Ladybug after Stoneheart.’ She ignored the gasps from the males in the room. ‘We could have had our training separately but still covering the same content, ensuring we both were learning what the other was and that our secret identities remained intact.’

‘And even if we did know each other’s identities,’ Adrien continued, ‘it would have actually helped us work together. We are already close as civilians - so it’s not like we suddenly have new people entering our lives that we’ve become alarmingly close to basically overnight with no explanation, Marinette and I are not only in the same school, but we’re in the same class and in the same friendship group! Not only would knowing we are each other’s superhero partner help strengthen our friendship outside of the masks, it opens up so many ways we could  support one another: from coming up with better excuses for suddenly needing to leave from classes or outings with friends, to covering for one another, planning tactics and such outside of the masks, diverting suspicion away from people figuring out our identities - you do realise our friendship group also consists of the Ladyblogger and her boyfriend, right? Besides, building a better and wholistic understanding of one another would strengthen us as a team, and we’re going to need every advantage we can get so we can defeat Hawk Moth.’

Marinette knew she was openly admiring Adrien as he stood firm, his being radiating self-assurance as he almost methodically pulled apart Fu’s argument. What could she say? This confident, logical, and slightly assertive side to him was a new experience for her, and it was about as effective as a Cataclysm to her self-restraint. She bit her lip.

Damn, Hot Stuff. If you don’t kiss me soon, I might just do something about that.

It was only because she was directing heart eyes at him that she noticed his face flushing with a soft pink as he turned to face her.

‘Did I say that out loud?’

He nodded, his expression tender, but the slight pursing of his lips and the gleam in his eyes belied the mirth he felt at her blurted admission and the promise to fulfil her wish soon. She would’ve panicked if it wasn’t for the fact that she was sure she had just boosted his ego. She’s never going to hear the end of this.

‘If I may contribute to this conversation?’ Adrien and Marinette’s attention was drawn to the green kwami that just emerged from behind Master Fu. ‘Firstly, it’s an honour to finally meet you, Chat Noir. My name is Wayzz, and I am the kwami of Protection.’

‘Nice to meet you, Wayzz. I’m Adrien.’

‘Secondly,’ the tiny turtle god faced the ageing Guardian, ‘both Adrien and Marinette are quite correct in their reasoning.’

Marinette had to admit, it was funny to see Master Fu’s jaw drop in indignant shock from Wayzz’s proclamation.

‘The Miraculouses of Creation and Destruction are meant to always work together in balance, as are their chosen,’ Wayzz elaborated, not waiting for Fu to recover. ‘By manufacturing an imbalance in their relationship, such as training one to become a Guardian and not the other - additionally enforcing that they keep their training secret from their partner, it will no doubt have a detrimental impact on their abilities, their efficacy, their communication, and their bond as a team.’ Wayzz let out a weary sigh. ‘I had warned you time and time again that this course of action was not only unwise but also extremely dangerous. Be glad this issue is being resolved now than gone untouched and allowed to fester and grow.’

‘Wayzz is right.’Tikki zipped up to hover a little in front of Marinette. ‘My chosen is capable and strong go mind and body, but she has a tendency to take on more than she can handle and pushes herself to ensure everything she’s committed to is executed to the best of her ability.’

Is this a compliment or a criticism?

‘If she couldn’t confide in Chat Noir, she would burn herself out, and keeping everything a secret from him would eat her up inside. It’s already doing that!’

‘But that doesn’t mean anything bad would have happened!’ Master Fu exclaimed, exasperation in his voice.

‘Fu, I think you’re forgetting that Tikki and I have seen countless wielders over the eons,’ Plagg spoke up, lazily floating his way into view. ‘While each one has something new or interesting to offer, history can - and does - repeat itself. Tikki’s bug has been following your instructions to the letter while my kitten is being starved of the trust he deserves to be placed in him. Sooner or later, tensions would have exploded and everything would have come crashing down. If they were lucky, they might’ve been able to rebuild their relationship, but it was certainly not guaranteed.’

‘Be that as it may, as I have faith that Marinette and Adrien could overcome such an obstacle, it doesn’t change the fact that the Guardians of the Miraculouses have operated under strict secrecy for centuries - a necessity when handling hundreds of powerful magically-imbued items.’

‘Hundreds?’ Marinette yelped. She certainly hadn’t heard about this before. ‘Why haven’t we come across more Miraculous users?’

Master Fu flinched.

‘I am not yet ready to tell that tale.’

‘Putting that to the side for a moment,’ said Adrien, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers, ‘I don’t think this…Order of Guardians - or whomever they are - would be so stringent as to only give one side of a partnership information and withhold it from the other. Sure, power can be dangerous and secrecy can be a useful tool to manage and protect that kind of power from people with bad intentions. I’m not disputing that. I just don’t think they would separate the very two people who need to work together.’

‘You’re the last Guardian of the Miraculous, Master Fu,’ she added. ‘Wouldn’t it be a better idea to train up two people for the role of the Guardian instead of one?’

Marinette couldn’t understand why her mentor was so resistant to bringing Chat Noir into the fold. She trusted him with her life, and Master Fu entrusted him with the Miraculous of Destruction, so why couldn’t he be trusted with knowledge that could help them work better together and could potentially lead to Hawk Moth’s downfall?

Master Fu grimaced and his shoulders slumped, before straightening his posture and meeting their eyes.

‘Very well. From today onward, I shall be training you, Adrien, to become a stronger Chat Noir and a Guardian. I look forward to working with you,’ he said, giving Adrien a soft smile.

‘Likewise, Master Fu.’

Marinette focused on holding her tongue between her teeth as Adrien and Master Fu exchanged contact details, not wanting her ire to spew out of her and strain this…truce-like state this had all come down to. With a reminder to take his medication, she gave her mentor and Wayzz her goodbyes, only waiting just long enough for Adrien and their kwamis to do the same and for Plagg and Tikki to hide once more before she led the boy out of the Guardian’s home. She needed to vent and the only person she could do that with without reservation was right next to her.

~/~

Once they had walked far enough to be out of sight from Master Fu’s apartment, Marinette exploded into a furious rant, the only restraint she was showing was to keep her voice just below normal speaking level and carefully ensuring her words were vague enough for the common eavesdropper to not pick up on the fact that the two teenagers were in fact Paris’ superhero duo.

Adrien was content to listen to her as she let out her feelings. He expended his own indignation and hurt during the confrontation - so he himself felt much more at ease - but he knew that Marinette had a tendency to prioritise others above herself and that she had focused on him and his problems back there, so it was now time for him to return the favour. Under the fire of injustice lay the undercurrents of shock, insecurity, doubt and a loss of trust - he knew a lot of it fell at the feet of the Guardian, but he couldn’t help but wonder if any of those feelings were directed his way, especially since the reveal.

She’s been going for 10 minutes non-stop. Has she taken the time to breathe?

‘-and the audacity of him to just accuse us right out of the gate! Even if he didn’t know you very well - which he should - he knows me! I know I can be madly clumsy but he should’ve known I knew better than to just blab it away! And- what?’

He couldn’t help the sniggers that came out of him when her words triggered an old memory that felt like a lifetime ago, nor could he help the slight smirk that he could feel emerging as she whirled around to face him, left hand perched on her hip.

‘I was thinking about the first time the other us met, m’lady. You almost told me your name straight off the bat before saying you were “madly clumsy”.’

She looked like the wind had been taken out of her sails as she paused in her monologue to remember their first meeting…before her face flushed.

‘Oh my god.’

Laughter bubbled up and spilt out of him. So preoccupied with the thought that they could’ve compromised themselves from the very beginning, he barely clocked Marinette’s smirk.

‘Well at least I didn’t go about flirting with civilians!’

That threw him for a loop.

‘What?’

Her smirk grew.

‘Evillustrator ring a bell?’ She teased, gently flicking his collar where the bell on his suit would be before coaxing them to continue walking. Oh dear kwamis, she punned!

‘I seem to recall a certain kitty who flexed his muscles at me, called me Princess, knelt to kiss my hand, bridal-carried me to safety, and wanted me to be his Ladybug.’

He hid his blush behind a grin. ‘I always knew I loved the girl under the mask and that just proves it - I never flirted with anyone else.’ He waggled his eyebrows as she blushed brightly. ‘Speaking of masks, you almost compromised mine so you and your grandfather could decide who’s bread tasted better, you know better than that, Bug.’

She held her chin up in playful defiance as she retorted, ‘You almost did that yourself with Clara Nightingale’s music video.’

‘So did you, Bugaboo - at least I had an excuse.’

‘Oh really?’

‘It was a work obligation, just like the voice work I did for that movie.’

She whirled around on him again.

‘Oh my god, you did! Weren’t you worried about exposing yourself?’

A horrified gasp drew their attention to a severe-looking elderly couple on a nearby bench, regarding him with undisguised displeasure.

‘Ah, just an awkward story about a wardrobe malfunction,’ he reassured with a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand. ‘Let’s just say that stunt work doesn’t always work out the way you expect it to.’

The couple seemed to buy the story, as with a sniff of disdain, they ignored the teens in favour of returning to their own little conversation.

Not wanting to hang around, they continued walking their way back towards their school.

‘So?’ Marinette prompted.

‘Yeah, true story, actually. I had to wear a harness for that perfume ad and-’

‘No, not that! Although you will tell me that story later. I was referring to your voice work - weren’t you worried?’

‘Oh, that, right. I was initially - I remembered Alya going on about that voice recognition thing and was worried she - or others - would try to use my voice in the movie and try to compare it to recordings of Chat Noir from the media. Even though the script wasn’t great, they did try to get me to do some recordings ad-libbing to try and get me into the character, and I was concerned that something would stick out then. Turns out I needn’t have worried - apparently my puns were too terrible to be believable for Chat Noir, and that I wasn’t “capturing the essence of Chat Noir”. After that, they had someone workshop the character with me for an hour or so before I went back into the recording booth, purely to work from the script.’

Marinette burst out with infectious giggles, building to the point where she ended up leaning into him and squeezing his hand for stability. She’s still holding my hand! Oh kwamis, I hope she never lets go. He looked at her - her nose was scrunched, her melodious giggles occasionally turning into little snorts of laughter, her grin was so big it might make her cheeks ache, her body relaxing to the point of inviting her clumsiness to wreak havoc - and to him, she had never looked so beautiful.

‘They- heh, th- they told you - you - that you were- pfft, too unbelievable to be you! To your face! Hah!’ Her giggles had subsided somewhat and she regained her balance, using her left hand to wipe the tears from her eyes. ‘Heh, then again, we told each other we were nothing like our other selves after Frightningale. Hah - how blind were we?’

Adrien chuckled. ‘Not as blind as me escaping home to set up a date for you when you were out with our friends - somewhere I would’ve been if Father had let me out of the house - only to get upset when you didn’t show, then confide in you about my feelings for you and then show you the date I had set up for you.’

Marinette groaned, tilting her head back to face the sky. ‘You had set up such a beautiful date too! And then I went and rejected you for you! Ugh!’

‘Somehow I feel like we’re going to have a lot of moments like these over the next little while.’

‘Guess so.’

‘I can’t believe we’ve been chasing each other, not realising we were right next to each other all along.’

They had already reached the park by the school. With another fifteen minutes until the next class, Adrien wasn’t quite ready for this time with Marinette to end just yet, and suspected she didn’t either, so he gently led her to a bench under the shade of a tree. As they sat down he turned to face her.

‘So… what do we do now, m’lady? Where do we go from here?’

Her gaze fell to their entwined hands and started to soothingly caress his knuckles with her thumb, contemplating his words.

How does this simple action make me almost deliriously happy?

‘Well,’ she began, ‘we’re going to have to be careful, especially with the little things like nicknames. They’d be a dead giveaway to someone like Alya.’

‘So keep m’lady, Bugaboo, Bug, LB, Chaton and kitty to the other us, and…come up with new ones for this us? Which us does Princess fall under?’

She scrunched up her nose as she smiled, before angling her head to look at him.

‘Yeah. And I think we can keep Princess to Chat and Marinette.’

He raised his eyebrows. ‘I didn’t realise we were going to cater to all the different sides to - what is this, a love square?’

She snorted softly. ‘Guess it is.’

‘Oh, you’ve opened up so many possibilities.’

She giggled at his enthusiasm. ‘We can discuss our other us tonight if you’re free - the rooftop you set up our date on?’

‘Sounds purrfect,’ he purred, leaning close to her, only for her to push him back gently by the nose.

‘Down boy,’ she said, smirking at him. It did nothing to dim his grin. ’On that note, as much as I want you to be comfortable enough to be yourself on either side of the mask, cat puns are going to be another thing Alya will definitely pick up on.’

As much as I understand, that sucks.

‘It just means you’re going to have to work hard to build up your pun repertoire.’

He perked up again. I love this girl so much. 

‘Marinette, what about, well, us?’

A pretty blush graced her cheeks as her gaze dropped once again to their joined hands, her thumb still continuing its gentle motions.

‘I… I want there to be an “us”. I want us to go on dates and get André’s sweetheart’s ice cream, I want us to hold hands and everything that goes along with being a couple.’ She met his eyes once more. ‘But I also want us to be friends, to spend time getting to know each other, really know each other now that we have the full picture.’

‘So what does that mean?’

‘We go slow, let this grow naturally between us. There’s no need to rush - we’ve both fallen for each other, so let’s take our time and figure us out.’

He nodded. ‘Makes sense. So if this us will be dating, with the other us date too?’

‘Let’s keep the other us platonic for now, nothing needs to change on that side from how we’ve been until now.’

‘We really need ways to identify which us we’re talking about.’

Marinette chuckled. ‘Well, Alya actually has two sides covered for that.’

‘Alya?’

‘Yeah. For the other us, we’re Ladynoir.’

‘Ah yeah, I think I’ve seen that on the Ladyblog a bunch. Gotta say, I ship it.’ She laughed at his proclamation. ‘And this us?’

‘Adrinette.’

‘Adrinette,’ he repeated, testing out the name. ‘I like it. I think I ship it just as much as Ladynoir.’

She laughed again, shoving him playfully. ‘Dork. We’re just going to have to come up with the other two.’

‘Well, I was thinking-’

BOOM!

They quickly jumped to their feet, eyes searching.

BOOM!

Marinette tugged at his hand, directing them out of the park.

‘There’s an alleyway behind my house we can use.’

‘Lead on, m’lady.’

~/~

‘It’s going to be different this time, Nino, I’m sure of it!’

‘That’s what you said last time Alya, and she ended up covered in paint.’

They had watched their two hopeless-in-love best friends walk off together to deliver the constipation capsules to Marinette’s honorary uncle and decided to have an impromptu picnic date while they waited for the lovebirds to return.

Alya had been having a wonderful time with her boyfriend as they sat in the park with a quiche they had bought from Marinette’s bakery. They had shared the latest antics of their troublesome siblings, discussed some of the recent occurrences on the Ladyblog, swapped theories on Hawk Moth’s motivations, listened to some of Nino’s new mixes and some prototypes in the works, gossiped about the school’s social scene, and now they had moved onto one of Alya’s favourite topics - Adrinette.

‘But there’s something that’s different from that time and all the other times before!’

‘And what’s that?’

‘Adrien.’

‘Adrien? What’s my bro got to do with it being different?’

She lifted up her hand to count off the reasons. ‘He went searching around London to fill the prescription she accidentally gave him.’ She lifted a finger. ‘He didn’t judge her for what was on that prescription.’ She lifted another finger. ‘He kept looking at her throughout classes today and when he was telling us about the Royal wedding.’ Another finger. ‘He immediately offered to accompany her, jumping at the chance for one-on-one time with her.’ Another finger. ‘And you can’t tell me he wasn’t staring into her eyes just as much as she was his when he saved her from tumbling down the front steps - you were there, you saw exactly what I saw.’ All five fingers of her hand were splayed open in between them.

‘So you’re telling me my man is finally waking up?’

She grinned. ‘That’s exactly what I’m saying.’

‘Finally!’ Nino flopped back onto the grass, flopping out into a starfish as he soaked up the sun’s rays. ‘I was worried I would have to explain to the dude what “just a friend” really is and how Marinette is more than that to him. My bro can be perceptive about a lot of things, but when it comes to matters of the heart, especially when it concerns him… kid’s oblivious.’

Alya chuckled. ‘You got that right.’

‘Hey-’ Nino sat up abruptly ‘-is that them?’

Alya spun around to follow Nino’s eye-line. Sure enough, Adrien and Marinette were just sitting down on a bench under a tree near the girl’s home.

‘Oh my god!’

‘Do you think she confessed?’

‘Nah, my girl would be a mess if she had, regardless as to what his response would’ve been.’

‘So what do you think’s going on?’

‘Maybe she’s learning to become comfortable around hi- did he just lean in? And did Marinette just push him away by the nose?’

‘I think that’s what I saw.’

‘What is going on?’

‘My bro just deflated and a split second later looked like his birthday and Christmas had arrived all at once. What on earth did she tell him?’

‘More like what the hell happened in the last hour?’

‘I know, right?’

‘Nino! I need deets but I also want them to have this moment but I also need to know!’

‘For once, I want the deets too.’

‘What is going on?’

‘I don’t know, babe.’

‘Do you think an akuma transported us into an alternate dimension or something and we didn’t realise?’

‘No! Don’t! You’re gonna jinx it!’

‘No I’m not! Besides, how else are you going to explain- did she just playfully shove him?’

‘…the hell?’

‘Maybe it really is an-’

BOOM!

Alya quickly shot out her hand and found Nino’s, scrambling to come to standing.

BOOM!

She looked back to where Adrien and Marinette were only to find they had completely vanished. She turned to look at Nino to find him shaking his head fondly.

‘You just had to jinx it, didn’t you?’

~/~

When Chat Noir landed on the rooftop they agreed upon earlier that day, he was surprised to find Ladybug had decorated their meeting spot. Granted, it wasn’t the romantic setting he had created a couple of months ago, but she had a picnic blanket covering the ground, lots of big colourful squishy pillows, some fluffy blankets, little lanterns to light up the space and a spread of food to snack on. It was cozy, it was welcoming, it was homely, it was Marinette - and he loved it.

‘Hey Bugaboo,’ he said as he sat down next to her, pulling a fluffy blanket over his legs like she had done, his left hand finding her right one and entwined his finger with hers. ‘I love what you’ve done with the place.’

She smiled sweetly at him, hints of pink tinging her cheeks. ‘Thanks, Chaton. You did good today.’

‘And you were magnificent as always, m’lady.’ He noticed her blush deepening before she ducked her head away a little.

‘Eh, uh, um, w- well your allergies didn’t act up as much this time, so I think we’re getting better at handling Mr. Pigeon.’

‘That’s true. How many times has Mr. Ramier been akumatised?’

‘Nineteen?’

‘Sounds about right.’

‘Poor Mr. Ramier.’

They sat there in comfortable silence, letting the chaos of the day finally process through their minds. It was then Chat remembered a little moment he promised himself he’d come back to once they were alone.

‘Hey Bug?’

‘Yeah?’

‘What was it that made you say, “Damn, Hot Stuff. If you don’t kiss me soon, I might just do something about that”?’

With an adorable “eep!”, she buried her face in her hands. He smirked as he waited for her to lift her head - if he did something that made her desperately want to kiss him, he wanted to know what he did so he could do it again.

‘I enjoy your goofy and playful side - it helps me get out of my own head, especially in battle - even though sometimes your timing needs work; I have a soft spot for your sweet, sunshine self - it’s endearing and part of why I fell for you in the first place; but back there you had this maturity, this leadership quality to you that I don’t think I’ve really seen from you before, a- and I…’ she trailed off, biting her lip, cheeks flushing.

‘And?’

She blushed harder.

‘…and I really liked it,’ she near whispered, her gaze directed at the ground, not daring to meet his eyes.

He reached out and gently rested his finger under her chin, tenderly coaxing her to raise her head to meet his eyes.

‘Do you still want to kiss me? Because I really want to kiss you,’ he said softly, not wanting to shatter the mood that was settling on their moment.

‘Oh kwamis, yes!’ She almost seemed surprised at how enthusiastic and breathy her response was, prompting quiet chuckles from them both. He shifted to face her comfortably.

‘Then with your permission, m’lady…’

He slowly leaned in, leaving her plenty of time to back out should she change her mind, his eyes occasionally flickering to her lips. She met him halfway and his eyes closed as their lips met.

This was bliss.

Her lips were supple to the touch, he could both taste and pick up the faint scent of her strawberry lip gloss, his fingers laced with hers, the warmth of her body so intimately close to his…

It was intoxicating. It was worshipful. It was perfect. He was sure there was no better experience in the entire world, that there was no more wonderful lady in existence than the one kissing him. Boy, was he a lucky guy.

They could’ve been kissing for seconds, minutes, hours - Chat couldn’t tell, but all too soon their lungs demanded for air and they parted ever so reluctantly. He pried his eyes open, wanting to capture every detail of this moment that he could. His lady’s eyes were still shut, her lips slightly puckered from their separation from his, her head leaning forward as though hoping to reconnect their lips once more. Seeing her desire for him as much as he yearns for her as clear as day in her expression… it was indescribable. He couldn’t help but succumb to her silent wishes and placed a tender peck on her lips before pulling back.

Her eyes slowly opened, clearly savouring the moment as much as he was, and he was graced with the most beautiful smile he had ever seen her wear.

‘That was… amazing,’ came her breathy whisper.

‘You are amazing,’ he responded, his voice equally as tender, rejoicing in the blush his words elicited.

He lifted his arm and she snuggled into his side. They stayed like that for a while, revelling in their newfound casual intimacy, before Ladybug pulled the tray of snacks towards them.

‘I promised you that I would share everything I have learnt so far with you, and show you that I trust you.’ He looked down at her and saw a twinkle in her eyes. ‘So to start us off: would you like to know who Rena Rouge and Carapace are?’

~/~

To say that Hawk Moth was miffed would be an understatement. His first akuma after returning from London - where his son kept disappearing on him with no explanation - of course had to be Mr. Pigeon. Mr. Pigeon amused Hawk Moth to no end, and no matter how ridiculous Mr. Pigeon was, there was always a good battle between him and the pesky teen heroes.

But today was different.

For some reason, Ladybug and Chat Noir held hands the entire battle.

He doubted it was for some ludicrous reason like them supergluing their hands together by accident, and he knew Mr. Pigeon’s power set did not include the forcible holding of hands.

So why had they?

Maybe they were taunting him. This was the nineteenth iteration of Mr. Pigeon, maybe this was their way of challenging him to do something different. Maybe this was their way of throwing down the gauntlet. It had to be, what else was there?

The sheer audacity of those pesky teen heroes.

I’ll show them, Gabriel thought as he twisted and turned under the sheets as his alarm clock shone bright, proclaiming the fact it was well past 2 in the morning. Don’t know how, but I’ll show them… I’ll akumatise Reflekta again, yeah, that’ll prove I have range… that’ll show them.