Chapter Text
Marinette sat on her lounge chair on the terrace, checking the time on her phone every so often when she heard someone land softly next to her.
“Well, well, well. We meet again.”
Marinette rolled her eyes and lightly shoved Chat’s shoulder. “You sound like a villain when you say that.”
“I assure you, Princess, I’m no villain.” He stood and bowed.
She snorted. “So the all-black costume is, what, a fashion statement?” she said drily.
Chat shrugged. “I think it works for me.” He straightened, flexing his arms.
“Oh, it definitely works for you,” Marinette mumbled as she watched him pose. He didn’t hear.
“So, who’d you turn Nathanael down for?”
Marinette sighed, bit her lip. The only person she had told about her crush was Alya--and Tikki, she amended mentally, but Tikki wasn’t really a person. She wasn’t sure she could tell another person. Even if said person was masked and didn’t know who Adrien Agreste was.
“You can tell me, Princess. It won’t leave this terrace. Cat’s honor,” he said, holding up a gloved hand.
Martinette shook her head. “Nope.”
Chat grinned. “Okay,” he conceded. “Tell me something else then.”
Marinette raised a brow at him. “Like what?”
He shrugged. “Anything, Princess. I want to know about you.”
Marinette sighed. This felt like a bad idea, letting Chat know all about her in civilian form while wanting to maintain distance as their alter-egos. But there couldn’t be any harm in just telling him a few things about herself, could there?
“I’m waiting, Princess,” Chat said. “Favorite color? Food? Movie? School subject?”
Marinette sucked on her lower lip, glanced at Chat. He had lowered himself to the floor of the terrace, sitting cross-legged. She saw him lean forward in anticipation. She let out a sigh that escaped as a laugh. “My favorite color is pink. My favorite food is Maman’s scallion pancakes...or Papa’s macarons. I can’t choose between them. My favorite movie is a toss-up between Paris, Je t'aime and the Yves Saint Laurent biopic. And...I guess my favorite subject is literature.”
“You guess ? You mean you don’t know?” Chat asked.
Marinette laughed again. “I like school in general. Except when I get caught sneaking in late.”
“Is there a reason for the sneaking in late?” he asked.
“I like my beauty sleep,” she said, leaning towards him with a smirk.
“So what kind of sleep have you been getting this whole time?” Chat asked.
Her mouth dropped open. She had never heard Chat Noir be rude before. Even if he asked that question with the sort of shit-eating grin that made it clear he was joking.
“Bad kitty!” she exclaimed. “Just for that,” she said, unfolding her legs.
“Just for what?” Chat asked, the look on his face now the very image of perfect innocence.
“You know what,” she said dangerously before giving Chat a gentle-but-harder-than-strictly-necessary kick to his shoulder.
His response was precise and quick. He grabbed hold of her ankle, giving it a firm yank.
She landed in his lap.
His arms were around her waist now. She heard his breath catch.
There had been times when, as both Ladybug and herself, that she and Chat had been this close, but it had never felt as... charged as the situation she was currently in. She tilted her head to the side, never taking her eyes off his. Neither of them noticed the rain clouds that had been gathering overhead.
“Mari-” Chat Noir began.
Marinette felt the first drop of rain hit her cheek. She shrieked, throwing herself backwards out of Chat’s arms, onto the tile.
Chat sprung to his feet, crouched in a defensive position, baton at the ready.
“No, no, it’s fine!” Marinette said quickly as she stood up. “I just...rain...fell on me.” Her face was red with embarrassment. She thanked her luck that it was dark. “I’ve lived in Paris all my life and rain still manages to surprise me.”
As the rain began to fall more steadily, Chat grinned at her like he was enjoying his own private joke.
Her flush this time had little to do with embarrassment. “I’m going to take that as my cue that it’s time for bed.” She waggled her fingers at him in an awkward gesture of farewell. “Get home safe, Kitty Cat,” she said before dropping down into the trapdoor.
***
Had Marinette’s eyes always been that blue? Adrien wondered to himself as he raced across the rooftops of Paris, hoping he wouldn’t slip off in the rain. He thought of the last time he and Marinette had been in the rain together, right after he had been given his ring. He’d offered her his umbrella and she stared at him, just like she’d been doing tonight.
No one had ever looked at him like that.
Adrien dropped into his room with a sigh, releasing the transformation. He fell on his bed with a sigh. He thought Marinette was pretty incredible, so compassionate and kind and just good. She almost always ran after whoever Chloe had upset to make sure they were okay, and always tried to make things fair.
And she smelled nice.
He just wished she’d actually talk to him.
***
Adrien was running late. He almost tripped running up the stairs of the collége and skidded to a stop in front of the classroom door. He reached for the doorknob when a familiar-smelling someone crashed into him.
“OHMYGOD! I’m SO sorry, Adrien!”
Well, at least she managed to get a full sentence out in front of him.
***