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Adrien Agreste was going to ask out Ladybug, that was for certain, and he was going to finally do it on this particular day. After a considerable amount of time pacing in his room and mulling over the small details with Plagg, it became clear that the ideal way to play this out was to at the least try this in his civilian form instead of playing the cards as his black kitty counterpart. He had waited for the perfect weather and timing, knowing that he was supposed to meet her under the mask for a patrol in the evening. It was summer, and the sky was almost clear with just a little bit of coverage over Paris, and it was nearing 7. Adrien was well aware of where Ladybug would be. He eyed himself in his mirror. Really, he looked no different than normal, with his usual jeans and soft cotton t-shirt. He was wearing the jean jacket his father didn’t like that he said he gave away but kept. He thumbed the collar of it with one hand, feeling rebellious. Then he met his own eyes in the mirror again, scanning his face for something that might be off, and fiddled with the hair at the back of his neck. Ladybug would like this, right? She was going to think he looked okay, right? Yeah. It would be fine. He looked away and turned to walk out but stepped back hesitantly. Adrien observed himself in the mirror again. Okay, yes, fine, he thought, giving his head a shake. He was about to open the door when he hesitated above the doorknob. Right. His father would absolutely wonder where he was going. He sighed. If Gabriel had let up his grip after high school like Adrien initially thought he would, this wouldn’t be as infuriating as it was.
“Plagg, claws out please,” he drawled, sauntering towards the window. Maybe at a passing glance, he might have looked cool doing that. He brushed his velvety ears on and felt the leathery suit materialize down to his fingertips. He pulled up the windowpane and braced it with his baton, catlike reflexes aiding him in sliding out the window. Adrien was careful to close it quietly and gingerly removed his baton before easily swinging up to the roof. He skipped a few buildings and scaled down the wall easily, whispering “claws in” as he went. By the time his feet hit the alley pavement, he was already detransformed, and walking away as if nothing had happened. After 6 years of this he had gotten quite used to this and even reckless with it when he flip-flopped between identities. Plagg didn’t really do much arguing aside from a condescending glance after occasional close calls.
Ladybug was already there, punctual as usual. Not out of character for her to be on time at all. She hated to keep Chat waiting, and he knew that. Adrien leaned up on the wall, sinking into the brick a little. Pretend like you’re just walking by, he thought to himself.
“Oh, Ladybug,” he exclaimed as he walked out from behind the building, making an extravagant gesture with his hands as he did so. Ladybug visibly jumped and stood up from where she sat on the ledge of the building, putting herself on the same level as him.
“Adrien!” the dark-haired heroine responded, a hand of hers flying to the back of her neck. He willed himself not to stare at her mouth as she said his name and averted his gaze to the building behind her.
“Ah, hey!” he said, feeling clammy. He squeezed his hands together at his sides. Was this a lot more difficult than he had originally intended it to be, or was he just exaggerating? It was hard to tell. Needless to say, he pushed onwards, trying to shove his worries to the back of his brain. Ladybug interrupted him.
“Do you need help with anything?” she asked. God, her voice was so soft and warm, he thought. She sounded so much like she cared, and of course she did. Adrien’s eyes floated absently to the hair that had grown out a little since middle school, still tied in neat pigtails but considerably fluffier, little tangled strands. He imagined his fingers brushing through them and then caught himself doing so. He was painfully aware that this love for Ladybug just kept growing.
“No I’m okay! I’m okay,” he reassured her, placing one hand on her shoulder. She stared back at him with blue eyes full of an emotion he kept trying to read but couldn’t grasp.
Oh God. Was that too forward? He started to lift his hand but hers reached his wrist and held it in place. Then she looked embarrassed and pulled away, letting him have his arm back. Okay. That was weird. Press on, he thought.
“Hey we’ve never really. Ah. Hung out before. You know. Outside of hero duties—” he stopped himself. “I mean outside of your hero duties. And I’d really like to know you a little better and.”
He paused. Oh my God, he thought. Out with it already.
“Why don’t we go out for, something. Coffee.”
Ladybug’s eyes widened and her gaze dodged his, shifting to the hand at his right. His ring. Oh God, he thought, feeling nervous. She wouldn’t notice that, would she?
“Good.” Her shoulders shot upright and she laughed, sounding even more nervous than him. Butterflies twirled within his gut. “I mean. Yes. Yes is what I mean. For sure! I’ve—I would—okay. Yes. Let’s get ah. Coffee.”
She looked down at herself, turning her hands over to look at her palms.
“But my suit…” she trailed off. She looked at the backs of her hands.
“I have an idea for that,” he said, taking her hands in his. She jolted upright but didn’t pull them away. “Meet me back here in a half an hour and cover yourself. You can wear clothes over the suit, right? You can dress up!”
Ladybug’s eyebrows furrowed in thought, and she stared down at herself again before looking up to him. “I’ll do that! Yeah! I have a great idea actually.”
They smiled at each other.
“So, it’s a d—” said Adrien. Before he could finish, Ladybug’s voice joined in with his.
“Date!” she said at the same time as him. They laughed. He felt a blush creep up onto his face and he tried and failed to obscure it with his hand.
“I’ll see you back here in like twenty minutes?” Adrien asked her, willing his heart to slow down.
“Date. I mean! Deal.” She answered.
Adrien waited for her at the café, his own latte in one hand and hers perched elegantly on the table. That was when he saw her and for a moment, he had to put his own coffee and try not to laugh. She was dressed from head to toe in thrifted goods. A big coat, baggy jeans that looked a few sizes too big held with a belt of an awkwardly large width, and a big sweater. He had to cover his mouth with one hand. The sweater was emblazoned with huge block letters that read “this shirt is made of husband material”. When he finally got a hold of himself, he met her eyes above the oversized sunglasses sliding down on her nose. Her eyes were looking back at him and he was able to read it immediately. Despair at him laughing. Adrien caught himself. Between laughing, he reassured her.
“I’m not laughing at you,” Adrien said, warmness in his voice. He couldn’t hold back a smile. “I think you look… good, that’s all. You look good in everything, apparently. Even husband material.” She blushed, rosy red cheeks flushing the color of the mask she still wore.
They chose a bench in the park to sit on. Adrien chose to sit on the back of the bench, holding the already-empty cup lazily in one hand. He felt comfortable enough up there. Ladybug looked up at him in her awkward state, absolutely swimming in the clothes she was wearing over her suit. She hadn’t touched the coffee yet. Adrien kept his distance. Ladybug stared back at him. It was a few moments of shared silence but that felt okay.
Maybe about twenty minutes had passed, and he was sitting next to her. Maybe ten minutes passed, and her head was resting on his shoulder. It felt like she fit next to him as perfectly as he wanted to imagine. For years he’d imagined this. His eyes wandered to her. Her eyes were half shut and a smile was on her face that hadn’t disappeared for a long time. He leaned his head on the back of the bench.
“Are you sure we’re not going to be seen here?” Ladybug said, prodding him in the shoulder with her finger. “I was supposed to meet Chat and he stood me up and… well, he never does that.”
She was worried that Chat Noir would show up. Adrien tried to keep a straight face.
“Silly kitty,” he responded. “Maybe he got busy.” She looked somewhat satisfied with that and Adrien felt mildly relieved he hadn’t blown his cover.
“Can I say something?” he asked. She only nodded in response.
“I’m sorry if this seems like it’s coming out of nowhere, but I haven’t really talked about this to anyone. If I’m being honest, I’m a little bit scared now that I’m graduating. I really like everything I’m doing right now for school like Chinese and I love fencing, but I’m worried that my dad will place me in a school far away from Paris.” He paused and ran his hand through his hair, his fingers absently scratching at the nape of his neck. “I don’t really want to leave.”
Why am I telling her this, he thought to himself.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her tone quiet and honest. “That must be hard. I understand. Somewhat. I was like that too but, I took my baccalaureate exam here when I did it. I am doing what I want, but I’m scared. I sometimes think I should have helped my parents … out more. Instead of doing what I want to do.”
Her words very clearly dodged around details she held back. He didn’t ask. He learned not to question it anyways. Late night patrols ended in conversations that were like this. Mask or not, they could discuss stuff that was bothering them and work around the whole identity thing. It felt unbelievably natural, now.
He reluctantly wiggled out of her arms and stood up. It was getting late and his father would no doubt be returning from work out of town shortly, and he knew better than to push it. Oftentimes he would arrive earlier than planned. Ladybug stayed where she was, pushing up her sunglasses on her face. He had to laugh again. It was evening. This was ridiculous.
“Adrien,” she said as he stretched a little, stiff from sitting in that still position for so long. “Could- could we…”
He tried not to smile at this. It was a simple thing that he’d noticed about her presence sometimes, that she would take a little bit longer to form a sentence, take time to think of what she would say.
“Can we do this again sometime?” she asked, finally.
He extended his hand and she took it, standing up to look into his eyes. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from her. Adrien felt the heat of her face because she was so close to him. What was this? And before he could stop himself he was leaning into her, the smell of her hair goading him on, and he carefully, slowly placed his lips on her cheek. He felt her stiffen but relax back into him and it was so soft that his heart fluttered and his brain turned to static.
And then he made a mistake.
“Thank you Marinette,” he said, before realizing he said it, and his hand flew to his mouth, as though to keep the words inside that were already spoken aloud.
Ladybug made an unintelligible noise and covered her mouth with her hands, eyes darting towards the ground. Adrien felt dread race up his throat. Why did he do that? Of all things to say, why that? He and Marinette were friends, sure, but why did he think of her just now? There was no reason for that. He felt like an idiot. Adrien placed one hand on her shoulder and with the other he lifted her hair a little out of the way, craning his neck to get a look at her face, worried there were tears. She was laughing.
“Wh—what’s so funny?” Adrien asked, feeling absolutely lost at why she would be laughing right now. Before he could say anything else, she looked up at him, that beautiful smile melting him at first sight.
“It’s okay,” she said between giggles, “It was an accident. It’s okay.”
And she kissed him, right there, on the lips. She leaned forward into him and it was awkward and messy. Adrien couldn’t think inside his own head, but he let what happened happen because he wasn’t about to ask her to stop, and she found the collar of his denim jacket somehow and used it to pull him closer. They broke apart for a breath and their noses touched, and she pressed up against him, and he was finding it hard to fight back the smile that kept spreading across his face. When they pulled away, he took the glasses off her face and kissed her again and she let him.
“Yes,” Adrien said on the finish of another kiss, breathlessly. “Let’s do this again.”