Chapter Text
Marinette had, on average, looked at the photo 3 times a day for the past week. Not that she would admit it, of course. She couldn’t wrap her mind around how it had happened. No matter how many situations she ran through in her head it never ended in them kissing. And so passionately! That may have been the worst part for her. She must have been on her toes to reach his face, and the position of his shoulder suggested heavily that one hand was on her waist and the other locked in one of hers.
Had she not studied this photo obsessively, she wouldn’t have noticed any of this. If she had simply moved on and blamed it on the akuma’s affects then she wouldn’t have been staring at her computer screen at that moment, lips pursed. But evidently she just wasn’t capable of putting the image in the back of her mind. How did they end up like that? It plagued her mind like a virus. “You’re going to hurt your eyes if you keep staring at your screen, Marinette.” Tikki said softly from Marinette’s loft.
“I know.” Marinette replied, her fingers gently tapping her lips subconsciously.
“It’s late.” Tikki yawned.
“Yeah...”
“Marinette.” Tikki said, her voice louder.
Marinette sighed and clicked her computer off before spinning her chair around to face her bed loft. “I really just can’t figure it out.”
“What is there to figure out? You’ve been looking at the photo non-stop, and you’ve dismissed every theory Chat Noir has suggested.”
Marinette groaned. She genuinely believed that at this point she had looked at the picture more times than Chat Noir had. Of course she was wrong in this assumption, but she had no way of knowing that. “Oh right, I’ve been meaning to ask you, why didn’t the picture Alya took get deleted after I used my lucky charm?”
“Well... Your lucky charm has trouble with technology. For almost all of my existence there hasn’t been anything like it. It isn’t reliable.”
“So could there be anything on my phone from during the akuma attack?” Marinette stood up and stretched her arms.
“Yes, but do you think you would have left anything for yourself?”
Marinette thought for a moment. “Probably not. I remember leaving myself the message on the elevator wall... But would I have even thought about putting something in my phone?” She crawled up to her loft. “No, I don’t think I would have. But I guess it wouldn’t hurt to look anyways, right?”
“If that’s what you want to do, Marinette.” Tikki tugged the blankets up around Marinette as she laid down before snuggling in beside her. Tikki, in all her infinite wisdom, was unsure how to handle the situation. Just like Marinette, she didn’t remember anything. She knew Chat Noir’s identity, but it wasn’t in her to tell Marinette. It was very, very difficult at times to keep herself silent. Adrien and Marinette could be borderline insufferable at times with their blindness. But she felt it wasn’t her place, and these sorts of things typically were best when no one interfered.
But this was an odd situation. The picture’s existence would certainly cause... something. Tikki knew she could simply push things along, move them faster, but one of the major factors holding her back was the confusion on what she would even do. Telling Marinette that she has known for a very, very long time the fact that her friend zoned partner in crime was also the boy she desperately loved might not go over well.
Plagg on the other hand simply didn’t care enough. It almost amused him to watch them fumble around. What had caught his attention presently was the sight of Adrien obsessing over every screen he could get his hands on. Oh, and the poorly hidden printed picture, too. Shockingly, no amount of teasing deterred Adrien from his never ending admiration. With this constant admiration came a million theories thrown Plagg’s way.
“What if I saved Ladybug’s life in there and that’s why she fell in love with me and kissed me?” Adrien said, coating his brush with toothpaste.
“Just as likely as everything else you’ve come up with.” Plagg lazed on the counter, his eyes shut. Adrien popped the toothbrush into his mouth with a frown. “You aren’t going to figure out why you kissed by spit balling ideas at someone who remembers nothing. But by all means, be my guest. Some of these are hilarious.”
Adrien spat into the sink and glanced down to Plagg. “Remind me to run more ideas by Ladybug.”
“I won’t.” Plagg waved his hand.
“Don’t you think it’s crazy? Plagg, we kissed!” Adrien nearly glided from the bathroom to his bedroom. “It’s been a week and it’s still all I can think about.”
“That’s a little sad, actually.”
“Say what you will, but it’s the best thing that has happened to me in a long time.” Adrien plopped onto his bed.
“Sadder.”
“You know my dad has been extra absent lately, always working. And to make it better he’s got me up and modelling more often. So this feels like a shot of fresh air. Better than fresh air even.” Adrien rolled onto his side to face Plagg, who had followed him, and was now poking around, trying to find a spot to sleep in.
“Whatever helps you, weirdo.” Plagg gave up and shot off, coming back with a dirty sock.
“Don’t bring that so close to my face.” Adrien swatted the sock away as Plagg approached. He wiggled into the sock and let himself drop onto the bed, humming with content. Adrien turned on his back and looked up to ceiling, his mind racing with more ideas to throw Ladybug’s way, hoping to soon recapture what brought them together so quickly.