Chapter Text
Powers were used, kwamis were recharged, and the antics continued.
Every so often, a pair of heroes would approach Multimouse and Andrenidae seeking permission to swap Miraculouses with each other. She denied the first few groups, too rattled to risk further catastrophe. Ultimately, though, he convinced her to allow him to facilitate blind exchanges in the restroom. He did so quickly each time, eager to return to her side.
All the while, she sat on the grass just off the midfield line, one arm wrapped tightly around her raised knees and the other absentmindedly running gloved fingers through the manicured lawn. She simply stared forward, not really seeing much, as the mid-afternoon breeze tousled her dark hair. He spent some time narrating the action around them but after a while simply surrendered to comfortable silence, unable to take his eyes off the girl that he was only now truly seeing for the first time.
Eventually Andrenidae realized Multimouse was talking.
"Huh?"
"I said, thank you for sitting with me." She smiled hesitantly, like she was scared of breaking something. Or being broken. "And then I said, what do we do now?"
They'd reserved the stadium for the afternoon, but he'd long since lost track of time. Not that it'd be weird if someone poked in and saw the heroes, but they should clear out before overstaying their welcome.
"I say we give them one more hour. Everyone needs to leave here transformed and then you'll have to collect their Miraculouses." He thought for a moment. "I can…" He was taking a chance with this offer, but he wanted to prove she could still trust him. "I can help with that, if you want."
Multimouse didn't respond for a while, continuing to stare straight ahead. He followed her gaze just in time to see the Dog hero use his ball to deflect an attack from the Cat hero and then use Fetch to pull the Cat's staff right out of her hands.
"That's not what I meant," she said, quiet as a mouse.
God. He hated that she felt reduced to being quiet.
"I meant," she struggled through her words, "what do you and I do?"
Andrenidae considered what she was asking, but there wasn't much to it.
"You're the guardian," he said. He shrugged like it was no big deal, talking past the bitter acid in his mouth. "Master Fu always said we'd have to give up our Miraculous if one of us learned the other's identity. You could… You could demand the ring back from me."
She scoffed, but said nothing.
He obviously didn't want anything of the sort. He wasn't perfect, but he was a good Chat Noir. As far as he was concerned, Plagg was his, and his certainty that the Miraculouses were theirs was further cemented through every hard-won battle. Losing it now, after everything? After he'd found her? He didn't expect it from her, and fortunately she didn't disappoint.
"You know what's stupid about that rule?" she finally said.
"Besides that it'd break up a perfectly good team?" Andrenidae said leadingly.
"Yeah, yeah, besides that," she said impatiently, and he relaxed at her easy agreement. "What's stupid is it doesn't even make sense. If I took away Plagg just 'cause you learned who I was… you'd still know who I was! It doesn't actually fix anything. And you're my partner! If some stranger figured me out, they wouldn't even have a Miraculous for me to take away. So what then?" She shook her head and sighed. "Honestly, it'd make more sense if I gave up my Miraculous."
The idea coursed through his veins like ice. He frankly never wanted to think about that. He shot her a don't-even-joke-about-it look, but she continued on her own.
"Me giving up being Ladybug while still being guardian doesn't make sense either, though. And you? Who I trust more than almost anyone? I'd be an idiot to make you give yours up."
It would make him less of a target, especially if he wasn't in the line of fire, but Andrenidae wouldn't point that out.
"Are you sure you're not just looking for an excuse to let me keep it?" he asked, more playful than he felt.
She chewed her lip, mulling it over.
"I might be," she admitted. "It's still my decision though." He didn't have any response to that, and she eventually turned toward him, frowning slightly. "I thought you'd be happier about this."
"Who said I wasn't happy?" he asked, genuinely baffled.
"You're moping."
"I'm not moping, you're moping!" he rebutted, pulling up a fistfull of grass and throwing it at her. "I'm worried about you, and, like I said, I'm kind of angry with myself. But believe me, I'm thrilled."
"Of course you are," she sighed, brushing herself off.
The soft crunch of grass underfoot alerted him to another holder approaching and Andrenidae quickly shhed her. It was Viperion, back to actually being Viperion.
"So much for trying new things," Multimouse deadpanned.
"Someone else wanted to try the one I had," Viperion said, unconcerned, plopping down on Andrenidae's other side. "That's fine with me. I could use a breather."
All at once it hit Andrenidae that he was sitting between Marinette and her ex-boyfriend. Ladybug's ex-boyfriend. The thought that Luka recognized something in Marinette that Adrien hadn't left him feeling sick. Not that it mattered. He'd always hoped Ladybug might give him a chance if things fell through with her crush. Well things had certainly ended with Luka, but Marinette's love confession rehearsal with Chat Noir suggested there was still someone else.
"Y'know," Viperion said. "I don't think 'contemplative' is a good look for you. 'Carefree' is much more Chat Noir's style."
"Yeah, well, some of us are mourning here," Andrenidae replied dryly.
"I get it," Viperion sighed. "Sometimes you think you know someone well but then discover a side of them that makes you realize you didn't know them as well as you thought."
Andrenidae felt Multimouse bristle. He didn't know if Viperion was talking about Marinette or whether he'd dare say something if he knew who Ladybug was. Either way, he wasn't keen on anyone interrupting their… well, maybe mourning wasn't quite right. He snuck a glance at his partner, once again watching the temporary heroes vacantly. Maybe it was.
"We're not talking about this right now."
"You should. Your—"
"What happened to letting us sort ourselves out?" Andrenidae asked sharply, running a hand through his hair.
Viperion sighed, exasperated.
"Fine. Can I switch with you and borrow the Bee?"
Andrenidae's hand stilled.
"I'm not done with it," he said evenly.
"You're not doing anything with it."
"I will."
"Well, why can't I borrow it until then?"
"I just don't want to, okay?"
He sounded petulant, which was hardly how he wanted Ladybug to see him, but it was nevertheless a handy strategy. He absolutely couldn't swap with Viperion. Not with her around.
"Why not?"
"I'm not leaving my lady's side right now," he declared.
"There's a dozen other heroes to protect Ladybug," Luka said, amused.
"A baker's dozen. I can protect myself," Multimouse said, looking over at them, eyebrows furrowed in apparent confusion over her partner's stubbornness. "Kitty, it's only temporary. Since when are you so attached to Pollen?" She prodded his shoulder. "Should I tell Plagg he has competition?"
"You didn't want to switch either."
"That was different," she said pointedly.
I had something to hide, she implied.
So did he. He just wasn't sure how. Maybe he could run away. While Ladybug matched him in rooftop races, he could lose her in the alleys and sewers. Then he'd just find her another day to retrieve his ring. Surely she wouldn't ask a single question about why he'd run off for no good reason.
Multimouse slapped her hand on his knee and hit him with a reassuring smile.
"Switch Miraculouses, then you and I can chat, kitty cat."
It was a promise that this conversation wasn't worth worrying about. Except the conversation would never take place if she saw him as Aspik.
Viperion was already off to the restrooms. With no viable excuse, Andrenidae felt himself rise and follow like a marionette. Once her attention had turned away, he waved at the other heroes, hoping to grab someone's attention and swap with them first. All were too preoccupied to notice.
"Take the stall," Viperion said, leading them into the restroom, ignorant of what he was endangering. "You can lock it so there's no chance of me accidentally exiting before you're ready."
Andrenidae approached the toilet stall like a man condemned to the guillotine. He shut the door and heard Viperion call off his transformation. Adrien followed suit, and they exchanged miraculouses over the top of the stall door. Once he'd relinquished the hair comb and received the bracelet, Adrien continued to hold his hand out.
"I don't want to use Sass again," he said pleadingly. "Can you ask someone to come switch with me?"
"Hm. I don't know," Luka said pensively after a moment. "Seemed to me like everyone out there was having fun."
It was Luka's normal casual tone, but Chat Noir was too familiar with diversionary tactics and Adrien was too familiar with polite dismissal for him to hear it as anything other than the No it was.
"But—"
"You better get back to your lady."
The restroom door swung closed and Adrien grimaced. Marinette's ex, he helpfully reminded himself with a renewed jealous stab. If Luka had any notion who Ladybug and Chat Noir were, that'd be an asshole move. He slipped on the bracelet and Sass appeared.
"Hello again, Adrien," the kwami greeted with a bow.
"Hi, Sass. Hopefully this'll be better than last time."
Worryingly, the kwami didn't respond.
Alright. He'd done this before. Adrien focused on clearing his mind. Just like he'd learned from Plagg. If he could tap into a different part of himself, he could sway the magic into conjuring a different suit that would preserve his identity.
"Scales slither."
He looked down at Aspik's familiar teal form and cursed. He'd worried about this earlier, and now he knew exactly how his lady must have felt: utterly exposed. Not that he didn't want her to know who he was, but she wouldn't be happy about it. Especially not now. As soon as she saw him, she'd—
Nope. He couldn't let that happen.
He detansformed.
"Hey," he whispered to Sass. He kept his voice low in case Luka was still within earshot. "I need to transform with a different outfit. I just tried and it didn't work."
"What'sss the problem?"
"The problem is she doesn't know I'm Adrien! She'll recognize me instantly if she sees Aspik," he hissed. "I've done this before, so I know I can."
"It'sss not that sssimple. A holder'sss disssguisssed formsss ssstem from one'sss sssubconsssciousss desssiresss and sssense of ssself. You might feel under duressssss at thisss moment, but otherwissse it'sss not dissssssimilar from how it wasss the previousss timesss."
"I just— Wait. You remember the last time?"
"I remember all timesss," Sass said flatly.
Adrien winced. Sass can't possibly be impressed with him then.
"What can I do?"
Sass shrugged.
Adrien cursed again then retransformed, unsurprised to find his appearance no different. He might be a Snake right now but he wouldn't shake off the Black Cat's bad luck so easily.
One thing was clear: he had to leave.
Aspik paused just outside the restroom, where the hallway stretched off in two directions. He could go right, back to the field, back to his lady and catastrophe, or he could go left, further into the stadium underbelly to locate another exit and slip out. He'd send Ladybug/Multimouse/Marinette an apology and make plans to regroup later. Easy decision. He headed left and got no more than a dozen paces before—
"Where are you going?"
—Luka, now in Bee regalia, stepped out from an alcove. An ambush didn't seem like Luka's style, but he'd obviously been waiting for him, which meant he knew Adrien was trying to escape. Had Luka always been a sneaky snake or did he grow into it?
"I have to leave," Aspik said. "I detransfomed and checked my phone and… I'm needed at home. My… mother called. I need to run."
The excuse sounded feeble even to his ears, but Luka's face betrayed no indication of whether he believed it. Luka nodded to the bracelet.
"Ladybug will probably want that back, then."
Aspik covered it with his palm.
"I hope she knows she can trust me with a Miraculous."
"If she hasn't learned already, she sure will now."
They stood watching each other, a silent standoff. Luka wasn't outwardly stopping him, but his expression betrayed that he knew something. Finally he cracked.
"Listen," Luka sighed, "I know you know. With Ladybug's reaction, it's obvious you figured something out earlier. You two have to talk."
"I can't talk to her like this."
"You need to. You can't keep this from her. Both your melodies are all over the place. You're completely out of harmony. You've got to make things equal for your partnership's sake."
"I'm leaving," Adrien said impatiently. Luka held out an arm to stop him. "Luka."
Luka closed his eyes and exhaled, tired.
"Please know I don't take pleasure in this," he said seriously.
"What—"
Luka yelled louder than he'd thought Luka even capable of.
"LADYBUUUG!"
The shout reverberated off the cinderblock walls and down the hall, easily carrying out to the field. He should run. He knew he should run. But within seconds, slapping footfalls announced his lady's arrival. He'd already run away from Ladybug too many times. How was he supposed to run away from Marinette too? Multimouse dashed into the hallway and skidded to a halt upon drawing close enough to see him properly. The screech echoed around them before diffusing into pointed silence. With a sigh, he turned to face her, and any doubt about whether she recognized Aspik was pierced by her ashen, wide-eyed shock.
Obviously she was perceptive enough to recognize a hero she'd once enlisted for help.
"He was trying to run away," the traitorous Bee informed nonchalantly, like he wasn't surprised by her reaction. "I'll excuse myself."
Luka stepped past her and headed back toward the field, leaving behind two heroes in suits neither expected to ever wear again. Still reeling from having her own identity exposed and now this, Multimouse looked like she was seeing a ghost.
"No," she breathed. "You can't be."
His stomach dropped. Whenever he dared to imagine the day they finally shared identities, it was always one of enthusiastic celebration. She wasn't supposed to look shaken. The fact that it was Marinette, someone he'd grown closer to, who he'd hoped might understand him better, stung far worse. Reconciling Ladybug and Marinette had been easy. This was clearly much harder for her, and now he'd ruined everything.
In moments of panic, people fall back on old habits.
Aspik reached for the bracelet.
"Second chance!"
She physically flailed.
"Why would you do that?!" she demanded, shocked.
Panic, for sure.
"Because I don't want to screw this up."
They typically invoked Second Chance before leaping into the fray, in the calm before the storm. Here, the storm was already upon them. Multimouse was hyperventilating, but her shock took a backseat to her Ladybug-like desire to control the situation.
"Is this the first loop?"
"Yeah."
"Oh good," she said, dazed. "That's reassuring. If you reset, keep telling me that."
"Lie to you?"
"Yeah. Totally." She nodded fervently, continuing to stare as she tried to process the fact of his presence in front of her. "You're Adrien. You're Chat Noir and you're Adrien." She clutched the sides of her head, desperate to hold in these two competing facts. "So earlier when I said you get a pass on how well you know me because we don't see each other every day…" Multimouse trailed off, distraught.
"I wanted to laugh 'til I cried, yeah."
She looked like she might do just that.
"So when I say that I apparently didn't know you well enough…" she added, wringing her hands anxiously.
"Then I say that's also nonsense because you know me—me—" he said, placing a hand over his heart, "—better than absolutely everyone, full stop, no competition. Who else is there? My father? Nathalie? Nino?"
Multimouse blanched.
"Oh, please tell me Nino knows you well enough."
"W-well, not as well as you do…" Aspik said, rubbing the back of his neck. The familiar action drew her attention.
"It's really you," she whimpered. "I can't believe it. At first I thought you deliberately chose Adrien's Snake form to poke fun at me and my— b-b-but then I realized that couldn't be right because…" Multimouse left the thought incomplete, then her expression fell. "Because you have no idea." She hung her head. "It's just my luck."
Ouch. Was this really that bad? He tried to hide the sting.
"You knew I had to be someone else."
"Of course I knew Chat Noir had to be someone else, but I never thought that you—" She shuddered, once, violently. "It wouldn't have occurred to me that Adrien was anyone else at all!"
Her hands moved up to grip her space buns and he recognized she was starting to have another panic attack. Aspik stepped forward and placed steadying hands on her shoulders. Her eyes flicked to his left wrist, then back to his face. Before he could offer any kind of reassurance, she spoke first.
"I need a favor from you, kitty," she said, staring fire in his eyes. Chat Noir furrowed his brow, ready to do whatever she asked of him. "I need you to get us out of this safely."
And she reached up and flicked his bracelet.
"Why would you do that?!" she demanded, shocked.
He went to pull away but they were already standing apart. He didn't understand why she was confused. She flicked the bracelet, didn't she? It took a second to realize she was remarking on his initial activation.
"Because we need to survive this conversation," he told her.
"Is this the first loop?"
"Yeah." Aspik ran nervous fingers through his hair. "It is."
"Oh good. That's reassuring," Multimouse exhaled, rubbing her eyes. "I don't want to hear you've been at this for months again." Then she stilled, slowly removing her hand to reveal a horrified stare. "Oh. That's why. That's why you did it."
"Did what?"
"That's why Adrien endangered himself for three months! Because you're you!" she said, punching his shoulder. "And you're an imbecile! And you were just trying to impress me!"
"Of course I was!" he said, rubbing his shoulder. "You picked me! I didn't want to let you down. I wanted to make a good impression."
"Yeah, because you love Ladybug." she spat, placing some unfamiliar emphasis on her own name. "So congrats! You finally found her!"
"No, I love my partner," Aspik shot back. Her eyes widened. "Why'd you insist I was perfect for that anyway?! It obviously wasn't because you love me."
Multimouse's cheeks flushed scarlet and she gaped like a fish. Not the expected reaction.
"Marinette?"
She swiftly reached forward and reset the bracelet.
"Why would you do that?!" she demanded, shocked.
Adrien could be oblivious but he wasn't that oblivious.
"You're in love with me?" he blurted out.
She recoiled backward. Her eyes flicked to Aspik's bracelet and back.
"WHAT DID I SAY?!" she screeched.
So much for pretending this was still the first loop. Multimouse dove for the bracelet again but he was too fast for her. He quickly raised it out of reach, and she scrabbled after it, trying to tug his arm down.
"That won't even work!" he protested, holding her off with his free hand.
"Shut up!"
She put her foot on his knee to boost herself up, but he twisted sideways, throwing her off balance. She swirled around him, seeking a new angle, again wrestling with his arms.
"I'll still remember!" he said. He eventually seized both her wrists and pinned them to her sides. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"It's a good thing I didn't," she said, squirming, "now knowing you would've rejected me!"
"No I wouldn't!"
"YES YOU WOULD!" she cried. "I've only been a friend to you since we met. Of COURSE you would."
"No I…"
She was right. He faltered. Multimouse yanked herself free and his arms dropped limply to his sides.
"Yes, you would have, Adrien," she said, much softer. Like she regretted her outburst. Like any indelicate words might crack him. "And you would've been so kind about it too."
Multimouse quickly reached out and flipped the bracelet.
"Why would you do that?!" she demanded, shocked.
Aspik drew a shuddering breath.
"Please don't hate me."
She again flinched away from his quiet plea, but her shock dissolved instantly as her Ladybug Resolve took over and focused all on him.
"Adr— Kitten. I could never hate you."
And now he knew why.
"You hate me sometimes."
"No. Not in a million years," she insisted. "I'm mad at you sometimes," she added. "Like when you don't listen. Right now I'm just… surprised." She collapsed backwards against the cold cinderblock wall. "You're really him."
He sensed her putting the pieces together again, and knew he needed to head her off and allay her fears.
"Marinette, I know this isn't the best moment, but you should know that I really like you."
Multimouse's eyes widened she squeaked.
"Really?"
He nodded.
"You're right. This isn't the best moment," she said, despite flushing. "Why do you always have the worst timing?"
"If you think that's bad, I confessed everything to you while fighting Desperada too," he admitted sheepishly.
"Of course you did," she said, palming her forehead, "because that would also have been the worst possible moment to do that. Anything else you want to confess?"
He could think of several things, honestly. His bracelet beeped. Aspik glanced at his wrist and placed his finger over it. Worst case scenario…
"I was Cat Walker," he said, looking back up at her.
"HA!" she scoffed at his audacious lie. "Like you could—" She paused, realizing, and swallowed like her mouth was full of sand. "How do you— Plagg told you, right? Or it was on the news. Or the Ladyblog! There must've been something…" Adrien just sadly shook his head and her hands rushed to her temples. "You can't— Oh god. This is karma." She sank to her knees and groaned into her hands. "Haven't I been a good Ladybug?!"
Aspik hated seeing her like this. His finger touched the bracelet. He knew he should reset, but he selfishly wanted to be sure where they stood. For nearly a minute, she simply stared at one spot on the cement floor. He yearned to say something, to offer some tepid comfort, but didn't dare.
"So what was the plan?" she eventually asked. "You pretend to give up the ring, adopt a new persona, then try to win me over with that one?"
"No," he sighed pathetically. "I wasn't planning to come back. I really did want to quit. For both our sakes."
She wasn't looking at him, but he sensed, like a change in air pressure, her frustration shift to concern.
"I made it that hard?"
'Hard' maybe wasn't the best word for it. Ladybug always made him feel everything in extremes, from dizzying highs to shattering lows.
"Mutual complication. It was tough loving you and you just… didn't see me that way."
Aspik's bracelet beeped. Multimouse looked up at him and swallowed again.
"So… what?" she said, shrugging her shoulders. "You left me. Why come back?"
"Plagg convinced me. He said I could look different and act different and… be a better partner for you."
"I owe Plagg so much camembert," Multimouse groaned, running her palms down her face. "I really thought…" She looked down and huffed. "Plagg told me that when Master Fu was deciding who to give the ring to, he'd considered another boy that… that he said he and Tikki liked even better."
The bottom dropped out of Aspik's stomach. Someone else almost got the ring? Someone better? No wonder Plagg never told him. It wasn't hard picturing his life without his Miraculous; he'd lived it. Trapped in his house, shuttled endlessly between photoshoots and press conferences. Nothing to break up the tedium. Nothing to make his life more meaningful. No way to help his city. No way to meet his lady.
She wouldn't have been his lady at all.
He might have still attended school, but even that was propelled by supercharged determination to attempt sneaking off again. How different would things have been between him and Marinette if he hadn't met Ladybug first?
"Oh," Aspik said hollowly.
"Oh my god," Multimouse gasped, head snapping up to take in his harrowed tone. "No, kitty, he was lying. He was just giving the ring back to you."
"Oh," he said, strangled. "Really?"
"YES. Oh my god, your kwami's a manipulative little cretin but he loves you. He was just trying to keep it in your hands."
His bracelet beeped.
"Are you… are you sure?"
She held up her hands and he instinctively took them.
"I'm sure there's no better Chat Noir. God, even when I thought Cat Walker was perfect, you were still better."
Heat bloomed. While they'd never had a perfect partnership, they weren't strangers to celebrating each other's successes. Even if she hadn't seen him the way he saw her, her praise was sincere and encouraging and he'd always lapped it up. The look she gave him now, however, was nothing short of loving. And she wanted him to know it.
"You thought Cat Walker was perfect?" he asked, surprised.
She pulled on his arms, using him as leverage to hoist herself up to a standing position, then dusted off her knees, purposefully avoiding his gaze.
"Let's just say he might've subconsciously reminded me of someone."
"So when I said that you'd fall in love with the boy under the mask…"
"You were full of it, as always."
"Hey!"
She finished dusting and placed her hands on his shoulders, an act that gave her a full body shiver. She elected not to comment on it, so neither did he.
"But only because I already had," Multimouse said warmly.
This simple truth dramatically skewed his perception of the entire school year. He thought he'd gained a friend that first day, but apparently he'd gained something far greater. He never would've guessed Marinette felt that way, so how come she didn't trust him enough to be honest?
"We see each other every day. Why didn't you just… say something…"
Because he would have rejected her.
She laughed bitterly.
"Because I can't just say things like you can…? I tried writing a whole speech! I gave that speech to you." Her eyes widened and she pulled at her hair. "Oh god, I gave my speech to you to you!"
Aspik's bracelet beeped. With time almost up, he reached for his wrist.
"Wait!" she cried, and for her, he did.
"I should," he said, gesturing to the bracelet.
She bit her lip, furiously tugging on it as she waged some internal battle.
"I know." She said it quietly, cautiously, as she edged closer to him, like she feared startling him with rapid movement. "I know you should. Just… um… Let me? Let me do it?"
Multimouse walked up to him, looked into Aspik's eyes…
…and ripped his Miraculous off.
"What?" Adrien gasped as the teal light faded. "What'd you do that for?"
Multimouse stared at him, chest heaving, like she couldn't believe her own daring. Her lips twitched into a momentary self-satisfied smile before she resumed chewing on them.
"Why'd you do that?" he repeated, shellshocked.
A single tear escaped her.
"I don't want to forget this."
An ambiguous statement. She could easily be committing this disaster to memory, his standing in her eyes reduced to rubble. Instead she quelled his confusion with one unwavering look. She wasn't displeased. In true Ladybug fashion, she was confronting the situation with all the determination of a woman who would seize lightning and bottle starlight.
"It's really you," she said.
"You knew it was me."
"Yeah," she said, smile present but quivering. She could somehow look happy while still grimacing like she might throw up. "I need to sit down somewhere that's not a concrete floor. Will you join me?"
Multimouse held out her hand, with the bracelet still resting in her palm. He took it, slid it back on, and retransfromed, watching teal light dance in her eyes.
"You already know the answer to that," Aspik assured, then held out his arm, wordlessly leading the way.
They returned to the field and together sank back down onto the grass by the sideline. The other heroes didn't pay any notice to their reappearance, which suited them fine.
This second revelation would change things, and he emotionally girded himself for her to be more distant or uncomfortable. She did hesitate at first, like she feared he might pull away, but he remained still as a silent promise. To his relief, she eventually nestled closer and pressed against him, warmth radiating out from their point of contact. She dropped her head onto his shoulder and he risked snaking an arm around her waist. When she didn't object, he risked a little more.
"I have a proposal for you…" he said.
She hummed quietly, inviting him to continue.
"...Let's never do this again."
She cracked, and her body shook with silent laughter. He took that as a good enough sign.
"You don't have any more disguises, do you?" he asked.
Her laughter continued, and he was pulled along by its infectiousness. For several seconds they rode out their personal earthquake until the hills of their shoulders stilled. The warmth between them remained, and tucked into the trailing silence was a whisper barely louder than the breeze.
"I once dressed as a waiter to sneak into your mansion."
Aspik looked down at her and Multimouse pulled away from his shoulder to look up at him, cheeks flushed pink to match her mask. He never thought he'd see his lady so adorably bashful. Not the formidable strength he'd first fallen for, but another side of her he was delighted to discover and might just love even more. The Marinette side of her.
"What do you think are the chances that Adrien asks out Marinette next time they see each other?" he asked.
"Um. Like 0%, because it would be incredibly suspicious for you to suddenly demonstrate the slightest romantic interest in me?"
She couldn't mask the hurt in her voice. It was one more demonstration of how he didn't deserve her.
"I'm sorry," she said somberly, pulling her gaze down toward the grass. "That was unfair."
"No, I kind of deserve that."
"No, Adrien, you don't," she sighed, then she looked back up at him. "I was upset that you didn't see… what I wanted you to see in me. But it doesn't change the fact that you were seeing something else that even I didn't see in myself. It's kind of hard to be mad about that."
Even so, he'd make it up to her.
"If you're worried how things might look to our friends, I can pretend to not be completely head over heels for you at first. I can even act surprised that you like me, since I know how it feels." Judging by her reaction, his attempted expression of shock wasn't convincing. He just couldn't stop smiling. "So what do we do now?"
She exhaled like she was expelling every fear and worry held within her.
"We'll have to be careful," she sighed, and he shouldn't have been surprised—or disappointed—how her mind jumped to crisis management. "But… we can make the most of it, right? Help one another? Cover for absences?" She chewed her lip more, expression hopeful. "Take care of each other inside and outside the suits?"
The thought of being there for Marinette sent his pulse into orbit, and Aspik had to vigorously beat down those eager thoughts before they dragged him skyward with it. He tapped his chin, pretending to think.
"Hm. Not to brag, but I'm purretty qualified to assist you there."
She laughed, and finally it was her usual laugh again, bright and shimmering like moonlight on the river.
"You are. Purretty lucky of me."
"Okay, m'lady. Let's try this one more time then. What do you think are the chances that Marinette asks out Adrien next time she sees him?"
Multimouse laughed again and gently lowered her head back onto his shoulder.
"Like 10 out of 10?"
He laughed too, and then took her hand and laced their fingers together.
"I like those odds."