Chapter Text
Marinette was working on her homework. It had been a normal day, and Tikki was resting on top of Marinette's bed. There hadn't been any people akumatized for a few weeks, the longest stretch of days Marinette remembered since she met Tikki in the first place.
“Ugh, why did they assign so much homework today?” Marinette grumbled as she pushed away her books.
“It is so you can learn Marinette,” Tikki hovered closer, watching as Marinette rested her head on her desk.
“But when will I even use this stuff in fashion?” Marinette grumbled.
“You can't just put off what you learn,” Tikki pointed out.
“I know.” Marinette sat up, “I just need a break, I feel like my head is going to explode.” Marinette dropped her pencil, stretching her arm up over her head. She spun around in her chair, glancing at her posters.
“You didn't procrastinate like this on days you transformed.” Tikki gently pointed out. Marinette narrowed her eyes slightly.
“I didn't have a choice,” Marinette mumbled. Marinette grabbed her purse and Tikki jumped in. “I'll just go for a quick walk and then right back to my homework, okay Tikki?” The little red Kwami nodded, snuggling into the soft handkerchiefs Marinette kept for her in the purse.
“Mom, Dad, I'm going for a walk! Be back soon!” Marinette called out as she walked out the door to her parents' bakery. Her parents waved goodbye.
Marinette walked the familiar streets of Paris. She loved the comfort of the familiar hustle and bustle, the sight of the Eiffel Tower in the distance. The perspective on the ground was different than when she was racing across rooftops, but it was still the city she loved. Marinette walked the streets, feet taking her to her favorite park, one she usually found all sorts of inspiration in.
That day, inspiration wasn't on the top of Marinette's list. Across the park was Adrien hanging out with his best friend Nino. Marinette ducked behind a tree with a squeal. She hadn't gone out to look for Adrien, but there he was. Marinette sighed. Tikki knew that sigh, she had heard it more times than she could count.
“Marinette, why are you hiding?” Though Tikki knew the answer, she hadn't lived over 5,000 years to not be able to read the person she was bound too.
“Adrien.” Marinette mumbled.
“Just go talk to him Marinette. He's not scary or anything.” Marinette nodded.
“I know,” her voice trembled. “But what do I say? How do I say it? What about Nino?” Marinette, in her panic, missed Tikki's eye roll. She was too busy talking quickly, and waving her hands around.
“Just say hi.” Tikki said. “Take a deep breath, walk over and greet him. Ask him why he's at the park. Talk about the homework, he's just another boy, and you don't have a problem speaking with people.” Marinette nodded, taking a deep breath.
“You're right Tikki. Like usual.” Marinette held out her purse. Tikki flew in, snuggling up for another nap. She was unusually tired today.
Marinette stood up, and started walking to the bench where Adrien and Nino were sitting. Her mouth became dry, her legs became stiff, and her brain became foggy as she approached. Luckily she remembered Tikki's advice.
“Hi Adrien, hi Nino!” Marinette awkwardly raised a hand in a wave, “Watcha doing about the homework here? I mean, how is what are you doing?” Marinette brought a hand to her forehead. “Did you guys finish the homework?” Marinette finally said, though super quietly.
“Oh hey Marinette.” Nino greeted her first.
“Hi.” Adrien quickly said, his gaze on the video game in his hand. He sighed. “I finished a while ago,” Adrien passed the game back to Nino. “That level is hard.”
“Right!” Nino held out the game, “do you want to try Marinette? Maybe as one of our resident champions, you can figure out this level.”
“Okay,” Marinette said, accepting the game. Nino moved over a little, gesturing for her to sit between him and Adrien. Marinette froze for a moment, before throwing herself into the seat, nearly dropping the game in the process. “Haha, oops.” Marinette managed to catch the game before it crashed to the ground.
Nino quickly explained the controls and Adrien added in a few tips before Marinette started. Even she struggled, and the three of them kept passing the game around for a long time. Marinette could see the end of the level, her character reaching for the flag, when her cell phone rang.
She nearly dropped the game again, passing it to Nino as she answered. It was dinner time, way past when Marinette had planned on being home.
“Bye guys, good luck!” Marinette started running, tripping on a loose cobblestone and nearly falling flat on her face.
#
The boys watched her leave.
“For all the coordination she has in video games, she sure is a klutz in real life.” Nino pointed out as he watched Adrien try, and fail to beat the level.
“Marinette? Well,” Adrien paused, “yeah, she is a little klutzy.” Adrien handed Nino back his game, “but she more than makes up for it in other ways.”
“True,” Nino sighed, “too bad she didn't beat the level before her phone rang.” It was Adrien's turn to be called.
“Sorry Nino, got to run. Extra lessons you know.” Nino and Adrien parted.
Adrien walked home, eyes more upward than where he was going. He sighed, it had been a while since he had a reason to transform, and thus see Ladybug.
“I thought I told you not to sigh about the lack of akumas!” Plagg's voice was muffled inside Adrien's shirt pocket.
“I know,” Adrien muttered, “but I can't help but feel Hawk Moth is up to something really bad in this lull.”
“No, you just miss Ladybug.” Plagg poked his head out from Adrien's shirt pocket.
“Do not.” Adrien turned his head slightly, trying to hide his face from Plagg. It didn't matter, since Plagg knew he was lying anyway.
“Do too.” Plagg yawned, “hey do you have any camembert?”
“You just ate like, three slices while I was playing with Nino and Marinette.” Plagg yawned again.
“But my stomach is still empty! I'm so sleepy.” Adrien sighed.
“You can have some more when we get home, so get back to sleeping in my pocket.” Adrien pressed a finger gently on Plagg's head, tucking him back into his pocket. Adrien walked a little quicker, worried about his Kwami. Plagg was pretty lazy, but even this amount of sleeping and the amount of camembert he had eaten was a little much even for him.
Adrien didn't get to ask Plagg much about it, being kept busy with his extra lessons, until he was too tired to really think.