Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Starved for Socialization

Marinette was on cloud nine.

She was going to school today, which was just nothing more than another regular school day, but this time? She was sitting with Adrien Agreste. Life had finally thrown the poor, clumsy girl a bone, and now she gets to sit next to Adrien all day. Marinette actually skipped to school with a bounce in her step, happier than she had ever been in her recent days. With each bounce, she hummed a tune to Nightingale's It's Ladybug song. Tikki giggled as she took the opportunity to poke her head out of Marinette's purse.

"Wow Marinette, you're really excited today, huh?"

She smiled down at her Kwami. "Of course I am Tikki! I get to sit next to Adrien! It's like a dream come true! I finally get a chance to talk to him! To be close and have actual conversations instead of—"

"Sounding like you got struck by lighting?" Tikki quipped.

Marinette seized in her skipping and made an appalled gasp at her Kwami. "Tikki," she scolded.

She merely giggled in response as she shrugged. "Can't say I'm wrong."

"Well today's gonna be different!" Marinette confidently shot back. She could handle talking to Adrien. Even if she was nervous and still had a bad track record of keeping a conversation going for over five minutes, she knew she could do this. It was because she had to. If she simply ignored him for her sake, she'd feel guilty and like a jerk, which basically meant her only option was to socialize. She was chucking herself into the deep end, sure, but there was no other pools open for swimming. She could handle it.

Right?

Her confident smile faltered as she realized how deep this pool was. They'd have to talk for about 14 hours a day. Sure, they didn't have to sit together for every class, but if Lila's "condition" was what led her to the front, then who was to say her classmates wouldn't offer her the front of every class they had? And if Adrien said they're in it together, wouldn't that mean he would offer to sit next to Marinette every single time? When would she get a break? When would she get a chance to breathe and collect her thoughts? There's no way she could survive talking to and thinking about Adrien for so long. What if she messed up saying hello and ruined his entire day because the one person he interacts to for every class didn't say a proper hello to him—

"—nette? Marinette!" Tikki's voice shook her out of her rambling thoughts. She blinked down at her quizzically, and was met with a frown. "You were freaking out internally again weren't you?"

Marinette felt herself shrink at Tikki's accusation. "Maybe…" she quietly answered.

"Aww, but you were so confident just a minute ago!" Tikki shot back. "Come on Marinette, you can't let yourself overthink any of this!"

She nodded. Tikki was right. That wasn't going to help her at all. "You're right Tikki. I gotta focus! I can't overthink everything just because I'm worried about ruining my greetings!"

"That, and," the warning bell rang throughout the school, startling the young fashion designer, "class is about to start soon. Don't want to be tardy." Her tone was dripping with amusement, but Marinette still took the sound advice and rushed up the steps of the school and dashed through the courtyard and up into Madame Bustier's class.

Upon entering, she noticed the vacant spread all around the class. Kim and Max were at their desk and seemed to be engaged in a conversation with Alix from across the aisle. Chloé and Sabrina were minding their own business at the front, but aside from them the rest of the class hadn't trickled in yet. No doubt because they were busy being enamoured by another one of Lila's "stories." Marinette couldn't have been bothered to go back outside and check if everyone was on their way to class. Sure, she was class rep, but that didn't mean she had to hold everyone's hand 24/7.

Instead, she made her way up the steps, bidding quick greetings to Alix, Kim, and Max, then made her way over to the window seat of her desk. She sat down and began taking out her notes from her backpack, sparing a quick small wave to Tikki in her purse. She readied her notes for their first class within seconds. With everything prepped, Marinette's gaze flew straight to the front of the class, as if on cue. Adrien walked straight through the doors, with a smile on his face and suave stroll, he made his way up the steps. He spared his greetings to those in the class—Chloé included of course—and made his way up to Marinette.

Her world was in slow motion. The way he climbed each step, smiled at everyone, and maneuvered his hand to wave—it was all so smooth and clean, it felt like the star of a movie was walking out of the screen and toward her desk. Her eyes swooned as she watched his light smile found its way over to her, with a small wave accompanied with it, just for her. He was perfection ascending towards her.

Or at least… that's what she would've been thinking.

But instead, concern was all that reached Marinette's face. The way Adrien entered the room, greeted about, and made his way over; something about him felt off as he moved. She noted the tiredness in his eyes, the pained effort behind his polite smile, and how exhausted he seemed as he made his way up the classroom steps. He looked… different.

"Good morning Marinette!" came his contrastingly cheerful greeting.

It sounded genuine too. Marinette soaked it up for all its worth and nodded back. "M-Morning Adrien! G-Good! Yes!" she hastily replied. He merely chuckled at her as he slid into his seat, tucking his bag beside him. She watched him as he sorted his notebook and pencil out onto the desk. The sluggish motions motivating his movements were very noticeable up close.

Would it be too rude to ask?

The smile on his face seemed to be his only selling feature that attempted to say, "Hey I'm fine! I swear!" Marinette took a moment to observe her new seatmate a bit longer then decided to screw all her nerves because the poor boy looked like he was about to keel over. At least internally it seemed. "Adrien?"

He perked up at his name and turned to her, eyebrow raised in interest. "Yes Marinette?"

"Are… are you okay?" she hesitantly asked.

Confusion contorted in his face as he cocked his head at her. "What do you mean? I'm fine," he responded.

There was something about his response that sounded so… rehearsed. She noticed how his curious look was staring at her intensely. She was about to falter, to let it slide and return to staring at nothing, but… Marinette didn't want to. She steeled her nerves and randomly said, "You look terrible." Her eyes grew wide in shock as she immediately added, "I-I mean, you-you don't look very… energized this morning. Not that you look bad or anything. Because you don't. I mean, you kinda do—I mean—" she shut her mouth and shook her head. "Never mind," she mumbled out.

"Wait… what do you mean by 'energized'?" Adrien asked, obviously confused by her choice of wording.

Marinette sighed out of relief, thankful he didn't say anything about her blunders. "I mean…" she stared in confusion as well. To be honest, she wasn't even sure what it was herself. She just knew something was up with Adrien.

Then, amidst their silence, a loud growl erupted from Adrien's direction.

Both their faces lit up in surprise, Marinette glanced down at Adrien's stomach. It sounded like it originated from there. But surely— "Oof, you heard that, huh?" came the boy's shy response.

Her eyes shot wide open as her mouth fell. "That was you?" she whisper-shouted. She was half convinced an early morning Akuma was lurking nearby.

Adrien's cheeks flushed as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I don't… have breakfast."

Marinette's shock remained. "Wait… you 'don't'? As in, this is a routinely thing you choose to ignore?" the surprise in her voice wasn't dropping, much to Adrien's discomfort. The boy looked like he wanted to talk about anything but this, his eyes darted around in concern hoping that no one was listening. But there was no way Marinette was ignoring this. "Adrien, breakfast is the most important meal of the day! Our lunch break is hours away from now. You need energy to stay awake in class." Her words had come out with a motherly chastisement, but judging by the regretful look in Adrien's face, they still made their mark.

"I know, I know," he agreed with a tired face. "But… I don't get to."

Her face blanched at that. "'Don't get to'?" she repeated. "Wh-What? What do you mean by that?"

Adrien had the decency to look embarrassed, realizing the more he spoke the worse things sounded. "I uh, don't have time for breakfast…" he shyly admitted. "I sleep in a lot, because my schedule so packed I barely wake up with enough time to get ready for school and everything." He offered a small smile. "So I wait for lunch," he innocently stated.

Marinette was about to say something, but whatever response she had died in her throat once she realized something. "You don't… you don't eat much…" she muttered. Thankfully, it seemed just to be quiet enough, as Adrien leaned a bit closer and raised a brow.

"Sorry what'd you say?"

She straightened her back. "N-Nothing!" Adrien stared at her for a moment, curiosity wandering in his eyes. And for that moment, in spite of herself, Marinette's stiff shoulders fell. "I… I said, 'you don't eat much…' right?" The words seemed to make the model tense up, shooting a strained smile against his face.

He forced out a chuckle and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Yeah… I suppose not."

"No," Marinette shook her head, "I mean… you're actually really thin." A splash of red formed on Adrien's cheeks, leaving Marinette to wince at her words. "I-I-I don't mean to insult you! Honest! But…" she stopped herself from pushing the idea any further. Instead, she fell back onto the cause of their topic. "No breakfast, huh?" she lightly asked.

Adrien's reddened face had sunk as he shook his head in silence.

The designer sighed. "Sorry… I… I really didn't mean to offend—"

"...l's diet," came a muttered reply.

She quirked a brow and leaned her head over an inch. "P-Pardon?"

"It's a model's diet…" he quietly whispered, shame backing his words. It was as if echoing the answer would create a backlash of a mob that would swarm on him for even daring to speak the words. "I… I have to follow it. My father—"

"Makes you," she finished, staring at him in shock, "Of course." She mentally wanted to slap herself and shout in frustration. It was obvious it was a model's diet. Clear as day. And it was even more obvious who was the cause of his suffering. No doubt Adrien's father had a dietician sit down with him and explain his limited calorie intake. But even then… "Not to… be rude…" she replied, matching his hushed tone, "but, if you're aware of this diet… why are you so thin? Are you exercising too? I-I know you fence, but is it really that extreme?"

Adrien's face washed over with a sense of… Marinette didn't know what to make of it. Worry? Nervousness? "Y-Yeah, something like that," he awkwardly uttered. "A-Anyways, I tend to burn out a lot of energy… doing that sorta stuff. So yeah…"

The vagueness of his response was questionable, but Marinette decided she pushed enough for one morning and sighed. "You shouldn't do excess workouts or anything with a strict diet that makes you so—" she stopped herself before she could say it. Though, the boy winced as if he knew what she was going to say.

Skinny.

He probably hated hearing that so much.

Marinette glanced up at the clock, noticing only about seven minutes before class started. There wasn't enough time. At least, not for today. She turned to Adrien and shot him a warm smile, moving a comforting hand to his shoulder. "At least try to get some sleep though," she politely pleaded.

Adrien smiled back. "I'll try." He seemed appreciative she tried to veer off the topic a bit.

She grinned. "Great!" She glanced down to her sketchbook and flipped it open to a blank page. "In the meantime, how about I draw you an imaginary steak to eat?" It was a weak attempt, but…

He laughed, nodding in agreement. "Please! It's been awhile since I've had one!"

…at least it got him smiling again.

::::

Adrien's stomach was hurting… again.

Plagg had already moaned about his stomach pains—of which dissipated instantaneously right after a mere slice of camembert was shoved in his face—and practically reminded Adrien how much he'd been starving. It was unfair beyond belief. A late night Akuma with a fixation against stop signs, a mountain of homework due the next day, and an early rise in the morning were all that occurred in Adrien's past twelve hours. The worst part was what didn't happen. Despite waking up early, Adrien dedicated what little time he had to finishing off and double checking his homework, which left a graceful five minutes for him to spare. Five minutes, in which were rushed to getting into his limo and driving to school early, rather than enjoying a breakfast.

Sure it was five minutes, but a bagel could've been swallowed in that time at least. A five minute bagel would have made his morning, probably even his entire day. Adrien frowned at the thought as he walked into Collège Françoise Dupont's courtyard. With no sign of any other students, Adrien took the opportunity to audibly sigh.

"Yeesh, I get it," Plagg muttered, poking his head out from Adrien's shirt, "You're hungry. You're starving, boo hoo."

Adrien rolled his eyes. "Of course you aren't complaining! I fed you in like five seconds."

"Not my fault you have your priorities mixed."

"Oh? So you're saying your camembert can wait?"

His kwami's eyes shot wide open. "Whoa whoa! No way! I'm saying to be smart about your time management!"

Adrien playfully scoffed. "What time management?" he sarcastically asked as he climbed the steps to the second floor. "Nathalie manages my entire day! I don't even think my breathing is under my control!"

Plagg snorted. "If you have time to dance and flirt with your Lady, you have time for a five minute bagel."

He raised a brow. "Oh yeah? And eat while I'm patrolling? No thanks." After shooing Plagg back into his shirt, Adrien walked into class and sighed at the empty room. He supposed he could call Plagg back out, but he'd rather have the quiet room for a moment. With a slow trudging motivation, Adrien ascended the steps to his spot, situating himself beside Marinette's empty seat once again.

He smiled at the vacant spot. It was nice to talk to Marinette for a longer period of time. She really had a genuine concerned side of her that Adrien admired dearly. Their discussion the day before was sort of a personal topic for him, but he found no reason not to delve into it with her of all people. But the best part was that she saw no reason to push either. It felt like she knew what it meant to him, and decided not to touch that topic anymore.

She was very considerate.

She was a lot of things. The rest of the day she seemed to shy away from the topic and managed to distract his distress with her artwork. She drew up some funny drawings of their teachers and some of Lila—he scolded her about it but it seemed to fall on deaf ears. But she most notably asked about him. Wondering about how he was doing, before and after lunch. She seemed to look over at him every so often, and Adrien figured she must've been really concerned for him. It was sweet. They didn't talk too much, especially since it was a busy school day, but it was definitely not a dull day.

"Adrien?" A voice shot him out of his thoughts and brought his attention over to the front of the class.

It was Marinette.

Early? Since when?

"Hey Marinette!" he beamed, despite his surprise.

"You're… you're earlier than usual," she noted, ascending the steps with a hesitant look. He noticed she had a paper brown bag in her hand as well, and seemed adamant about hiding it from his gaze.

Adrien laughed. "I could say the same about you! Alarm caught you on the right side of the bed?" he teased.

She rolled her eyes and stopped right before his seat. "Sort of. I was going to set up a surprise today," she explained, "but you ruined it."

His brows shot up. "Me? What'd I do?"

"Show up early," she answered, bringing the paper bag to his desk. She dropped it safely and made her way into her seat.

Adrien confusedly stared at the bag. "What? What's this?"

Marinette smiled. "Open it."

Tilting his head in confusion, Adrien peeled open the paper bag and was instantly met with an aroma he had missed dearly. Pastries. There were four plain croissants, three chocolate croissants, and a mix of chocolate and strawberry biscuits all stacked inside the bag. The model's eyes flew up toward the godsend angel who'd gifted him the container of sweetness. He could feel his mouth salivating but he couldn't hold back his curiosity. "Wh-What? I don't—"

"I know, a-a bit much." She shyly giggled. "But my maman got really excited when I told her it was for you and insisted on chocolate croissants and biscuits too." She shrugged then proceeded to place the rest of her belongings on the desk. She stopped and noticed his stilled stare and half frowned. "Do… do you not like chocolate biscuits? Or is it the strawberry?" she worriedly asked.

Adrien blinked himself out of his confusion and nervously chuckled. "N-No! Not at all! I love them! It! This! These," he shook the bag as he fumbled his words.

Marinette raised a brow. "So what's wrong?"

He stared down at the bag and soaked in the sweet smell once more. He didn't mean to, but his voice cracked as he muttered, "Why…"

A sudden hand on his shoulder darted his attention back at his friend. She smiled at him. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, Adrien," she softly spoke, "So I'll make sure your day starts out as important as possible!" He couldn't believe her. "Just promise me two things," she stated as she raised two fingers, "One, that you eat them. As much as you can before class starts. I'll make sure to get here early now too, the earlier the better I bet! And two, you give me recommendations. Depending on what we have available, I wanna make sure you also have a variety too!" Her smile somehow increased a tenfold.

He couldn't believe it.

She would trouble her parents for someone like him?

She would wake up early on school days for his breakfast?

She would give him… breakfast?

He couldn't accept it. It was too much. There was so much effort poured into it and he couldn't bother exhausting anyone else for the sake of him. He wanted the food. But as much as he wanted it, he felt as if it was better to say no and politely decline. He couldn't ask this of her.

And yet…

His eyes met her wondrous bluebell eyes. He saw the resolve and genuinity behind them. He saw hope for his hunger.

"Yes! Of course!" he agreed. He immediately rushed to take a huge bite out of the plain croissant that topped the pile. His saliva accumulated mouth trembled at the taste of the pastry. It was amazing. "Thanks Marinette!" came his mouthful cheer. She laughed as a few crumbs spilling out of his mouth, much to his embarrassment, and politely nodded at him. Adrien swallowed sheepishly as he wiped his lips. "S-Sorry. But I really mean it. Thanks. You're amazing."

She must've caught a fever all of a sudden because her face had swelled up with red. She stammered out a "no problem" and took a minute before her cheeks went back to normal. Adrien merely shrugged with a smile and continued to munch on his breakfast.

And with a few minutes to spare, the topic of lemon biscuits came up for the next order.

::::

"Evening Chaton!" Ladybug greeted upon landing atop the roof.

"Evening M'Lady," Chat bowed in return.

The spotted clad heroine blinked in confusion. "Are you eating a croissant?" she asked, pointing at his hand.

The leather clad hero stared down at his hand and smiled. "Indeed it is M'Lady! A gift bestowed upon me from a godsend friend!" he sang with a cheerful tone.

Ladybug rolled her eyes. "Couldn't wait till after patrol for a snack?" she teased.

"Oh Bugaboo if you only knew where these came from! You'd understand why I'd need to savour them throughout my day!"

She chuckled. "If they're anything like my parent's baking, I beg to differ!" She made her way to the edge of the building and pulled out her yo-yo. "Same routes. East side for you, West for me. Call if you see anything."

Chat beamed a bright smile and nodded. "Of course!" he chirped with a gentle bow. "And maybe when we're done we can discuss me sampling these baked goods of your parents?"

Ladybug smiled as she threw her yo-yo. "Sounds like a plan, Chat." And with that she swung away. But she couldn't help but notice that tonight her partner's smile seemed a tad brighter than normal. Maybe those pastries really were a godsend.

Chapter Text

How to Art

Adrien didn’t often get bored in school. 

But today was one of his rare occasions of feeling a tad unmotivated. Today Madame Bustier’s lesson on history was taking a slight toll on Adrien—as did the early morning Akuma with a vengeance against traffic cones—and so his mind was a bit worked out. And it was only third period, so he knew he was in for a long one. The only thing that made his day bearable was walking into class just before the bell, where he bumped into Marinette who was also just as late as him. She quickly gave him his breakfast to munch, and told him she’d take his bag into the class and tell Bustier he went to the bathroom so he could have time to eat. He couldn’t help but gleam in joy when he munched on his chocolate and lemon pastries. They tasted so good and were a treat to have, especially after an Akuma fight. 

After he made his way into class and into his seat, Adrien instinctively fell into a feat of showering Marinette with compliments and praise. Her recent promise of bringing him breakfast every morning was something he cherished beyond her understanding. They had been doing it for at least three days now, today being the third, and each time Adrien sung off high compliments to her parents. But today’s meal was provided by the everyday Ladybug herself apparently. He beamed up when she said she made it herself because her parents were too busy with an order. He felt bad at first of course, but she amended that it was a piece of cake. 

And then she had to argue why cake for tomorrow’s breakfast wasn’t a good idea. Adrien disagreed, but Busier started a lesson so he had to put a pin in it. 

All of what transpired really got Adrien excited. Because throughout all of that, Marinette was talking to him! Like actually talking. He was glad that she wasn’t as nervous around him as she used to be, and that they now had a chance to really get to know each other. Marinette always fascinated Adrien, but he wasn’t exactly provided a lot of opportunities to get to know her very well. The Marinette he was coming to know was someone he enjoyed. 

Which is why his interest wasn’t on the lesson of the French Revolution, but the art gallery his seatmate had conjured up in her notebook. 

Marinette had her cheek resting in the palm of her left hand, wearing a bored look as her lazy eyes stared at her page. She had begun a new page, with barely one note written down, and was sketching away around the margins. Adrien was amazed at what she was drawing. She had drawn a doodle of what looked to be a ladybug, colouring in the body with a red pen and shading in the spots with her pencil. This particular ladybug had wide blue eyes that looked to be writhing in sadness with a small pout to accompany it. Adrien smiled as he tilted his head. It sort of looked like Plagg, if he was a ladybug anyways. The doodle came along with a speech bubble that said, We Want Treats, Not Worksheets.

Upon reading the text the young model actually released a snort, startling his seatmate from her bored trance. He felt a rush of embarrassment and guilt overwhelm him as he realized he had been invasively looking at her stuff. And judging by Marinette’s surprised face, she didn’t seem to like it that much. She seemed a bit flushed as she quietly stammered, “O-Oh, I was just uh—”

“Sorry!” he quickly apologized, matching her low tone. “I just noticed you sketching and… thought it was really funny.” His face dropped as he noticed her surprise nowhere near dimming down, causing him to carefully backpedal on his words. “I mean, the joke, not that I think your drawing looks funny. I mean it is, but a good funny! It’s really nice!” He wasn’t making sense was he?

Marinette’s eyes lit up as she asked, “R-Really? You think so?”

Relief filled within Adrien as his friend showed no sign of offence. With that, he nodded, “Yeah! It’s very cute. Is that a ladybug?”

A wave of what Adrien assumed to be embarrassment (and maybe panic?) washed over the artist’s face as she flew her hands over her drawing, covering it as if it were a scandalous drawing. “N-No! I mean, yes, but I’m not!” A cute look swelled up in her small smile as she carefully whispered, “Uhh, yeah. It-It’s a ladybug. A cartoony one. Yup.”

“It still looks really good!” Adrien pointed out. 

“Aw, it-it’s nothing much, really,” Marinette countered. 

“Nah it’s nice Marinette!” Adrien lightly insisted, mindful of his voice level. Of course he could sense she seemed a bit bashful of her work, so he decided to move on. “Regardless, it looks like a lot of fun.”

Her brows quirked upward as she tilted her head. “Doodling?”

Adrien felt his cheeks slightly burn at the word. Was that what it was called? “Uh, um, yeah? To be honest I never knew it was called that. I thought it was just sketching.” He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. 

Marinette softly chuckled. “No, no, sketching is a thing. But for like, just pencil drawings. Sorta. Doodling is like… just,” her eyes drifted back down to her paper as she hurriedly conjured another drawing, “a sort of past time thing. To fill the boredom.” It was a small—“doodle,” Adrien supposed—of the shrugging emoticon but with adorable anime eyes. It wasn’t as neat as Marinette’s previous work, but he gathered that was her intention. 

“Wow…” he smiled. “It looks cute!”

“Thanks,” she smiled back, “but it really isn’t much. Just something to fill the boredom.”

Adrien stared at her two doodles and sighed. It looked fun. He wished he had a semblance of an artistic bone in his body, aside from just fashion. He wondered if this was another school thing people did that he missed out on. Was his home schooling so strict that he just never took the opportunities to… doodle? He had done silly sketches before, but nothing like what Marinette was doing. 

“Adrien”, her voice snapped him out of his trance. She stared at him curiously as she softly asked, “Would… Would you like me to teach you?”

His brows raised as his eyes shot wide open. “How to draw?” 

“How to doodle ,” she corrected with a small laugh. His cheeks slightly flamed as he realized how eager he sounded. “But yes! There’s a lot of fun little doodles kids in école learn to do and they’re easy too!” 

So it was a thing?

She seemed to pick up on his curiosity and proceeded to begin her first lesson. “Like this,” she drew two rows of three vertical dashes, then turned to him. He quickly gathered he was supposed to follow her and so he did the same. She smirked as she connected the bottom row’s first and last dash with two diagonal lines then the top row with the same thing, but mirrored. As Adrien followed he wasn’t quite sure what he was supposed to be looking at. She watched his paper as she, without looking, connected a few more dashes, creating a very cool S shape. Slowly and carefully, he followed her movements and—though very jagged—he managed to create the same thing! The model’s mouth dropped as soon as he realized that he made that. 

“Whoooaaa…” he gasped in awe. 

Marinette giggled as she bumped her shoulder against his. “See? Quick and simple!” 

Adrien lips upturned into a smile as he realized he liked Marinette like this. She seemed so confident and comfortable. Maybe she was finally warming up to him? Moments like these where she exposed a bit of herself, Adrien noticed she was excited. He liked that.

And he liked that she was sharing it with him. 

“What else?” he eagerly inquired. 

The artist in question mirrored his smile as she turned her attention back to her paper. “How about… oh! Do you know the English word for dog?”

“Yeah… why?”

“I learned this cool trick where you can make a dog from the word dog!” 

Adrien’s jaw dropped for the umpteenth time that day… and it wasn’t going to be the last time either. 

::::

Marinette did love literature. She was an artist, how couldn’t she? She understood a fair amount of all her subjects, but she had a difficult time struggling to keep up with the in-class lectures. Something about the teaching style just didn’t click with her. So she was trying to pay attention. It was hard, yes, but she was giving it her all and focusing on her notes, listening to Bustier’s current ramblings about poetry. It was only sixth period, but she was still powering on. Sure, it could be argued that the words were flowing in through one ear and out the other, but she was determined.

Though, it was a bit distracting considering the constant giggling going on to her left. 

Marinette was trying not to peek at his work, but she could tell he took her recent teachings into practice and was having a field day on his paper right about now. She had made side glances very so often, noticing him switch coloured pens and flip back to pencil. He seemed like a child. Very cat-like. It made her happy to see Adrien so… well, happy. 

It peaked her interest. 

She caved in and decided to sneak a glance. Her eyes slightly widened in surprise as she found a collection of small Cool S’s and animal doodles all surrounding what looked to be a panel-like strip of a joke. The characters involved with the punchline? Ladybug and Chat Noir, a very well doodled Ladybug and Chat Noir she might add. His characters seemed very comic-like, with his Chat being more cartoonish and his Ladybug looking more modelesque. Ladybug seemed to, very animatedly, have her arms crossed as Chat Noir has a small fluffy dog in his hands. The first speech bubble went to him:

M’Lady, what would you call this drawing of a poodle?

She noticed Ladybug’s face seemed to hold that of a blank expression. What Chaton...?

A doodle!

Marinette rolled her eyes as she shook her head. That was a pun surely even Chat Noir himself would be embarrassed of. Well, as his sworn partner Marinette had a duty to defend his honour. Forgetting all about her notes, she quickly doodled a mock up of Tikki and Plagg—an inside joke only she would get—and laid out some speech bubbles. 

Feeling proud of her work, she tapped Adrien’s arm with her pen, gesturing to her comic of a drawing before smiling proudly. 

The strip had Tikki looking over Plagg’s shoulder, asking, You’re taking notes in class?

With Plagg holding up a notebook and saying, Nope, just doodling!

And Tikki smiling back, Ahh. I knew something sketchy was going on!

Adrien snorted. 

Like, actually, very audibly snorted. 

A flush crept up to his cheeks as he covered his nose, attempting to stifle his laughter. Marinette couldn’t help but feel compelled to laugh as well, nothing how silly Adrien looked with a flushed face and puffed cheeks. She burst into a fit of barley held back giggles, which in turn left Adrien to leak out in his laughter. The two proceeded to giggle like children, shamelessly laughing at their dumb puns as they pointed at each other’s doodles. 

“ Ahem ,” a voice spoke up. The two froze as they noticed Miss Bustier, and the rest of the class, staring at them. Alya and Nico had raised brows of what Marinette assumed was shock and pride on their face. Lila seemed annoyed, of whatever. Everyone else seemed generally surprised that the two were being disruptive, which to be fair, Marinette realized was justified. “Adrien, Marinette, would you like to share what it is you both found so funny with the rest of the class?” Miss Bustier inquired, jutting out her hip as she stared at the two challengingly. 

The two exchanged a look. Marinette immediately grasped at Adrien’s worry and spoke up, “Uhhh, A-Adrien just found it funny that you can make an ode about an haiku, but not a haiku about an ode.”

A look of confusion overwhelmed her peers, but for Adrien, relief, and for their teacher… a look of amusement seemed to take to her lips. “Oh! Yes, quite strange indeed! Though, do please keep comments like those till after I’m finished speaking. Or raise your hand if you do.”

“Yes Miss Bustier,” the two said together. 

Seeming satisfied, she carried on with her teaching. Adrien smiles at Marinette, whispering a thanks. She easily smiled back. 

He hurriedly wrote down, I like your pun . Would make Chat Noir proud. 

She chuckled. And your Ladybug would flatter the real deal herself . 

Who would’ve thought? Adrien Agreste loved puns. 

::::

“Evening Chaton!” Ladybug greeted as she descended on the rooftop. “What are you up to this fine evening?”

The cat seemed startled by her presence, sheepishly hiding his hands behind his back as he hugged it against the wall. “Uhh, nothing!” She noticed he had a black marker in his hand before he not-so-slyly hid it from her gaze.

She raised a brow at his secrecy. 

He easily relented, sidestepping away to reveal… a Very Cool S drawing?

Ladybug nearly laughed. What are the odds of something this ironic happening? “Wow, had no idea you were an artist, Kitty.”

His guilty look seemed to fade almost instantly as a smile replaced him. “Really? Well, I sorta just learned about this today.”

Ladybug’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

“Yeah… a… a friend taught me.” The words seemed to comfort him, as his newfound smile grew a smidge. She felt no need to question it.

“Well, would your friend get upset if I taught you some other cool doodles?” she asked, holding out her hand for the marker. His smile managed to grow even more.

“No, I don’t think she will. But, I’ll have to warn ya, she’s a great artist.”

Ladybug grinned at the challenge, stepping up to the canvas of a wall as she started to draw. “Well we’ll see about that, Chaton. Please, allow me to teach you… how to art!”