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One of their evening patrols ended with the two of them after patrol on a secluded rooftop, with beer in cheap plastic cups in each of their hands, and two half empty bottles of it between the two of them. They sat on the balustrade, feet swinging as they looked out at the city, chuckling as they played a game of Two Truths and a Lie.
Aspik found that beer, if had in, er, generous amounts , could in fact make one tipsy, as well as loose-lipped. He was sure Multimouse would’ve figured him out if she hadn’t been a little tipsy and out of it herself...
People love photographing me, I hate that they do ( She had looked at him somewhat sadly at that ) and I love shopping for my own clothes.
My dad’s a dick, Ladybug is the uh worst and my bestfriend is a superhero. ( She had giggled uncontrollably. )
Modelling is my dream job, I enjoy piano and I love our patrols together. ( He suspected, in a very self-satisfied manner, that the flaming of her cheeks didn’t have much to do with the cold. )
…And well, If he didn’t already know Multimouse’s identity, after tonight he definitely would have....
My parents are bakers, I have a DJ friend and I’ve never dated a musician.
I have a journalist friend, I want to be a… singer and all walls in my room are pink
Chat Noir’s hair is as soft as it looks but don’t tell him I said that ( If Multimouse wondered why Aspik was blushing, she didn’t voice that ) . I like wearing my hair in pigtails and I’m allergic to marigolds. (Hard, because Aspik couldn’t possibly say that he’d seen her eat marigolds; he never questioned it of course.)
“Your previous suit design was awful, I love rose macarons and Chat Noir’s puns are amazing,” she giggled.
Aspike let out an amused snort. “You love rose macarons. And you love Chat Noir’s puns. So the lie obviously, is about my suit. My suit was the best .”
Multinouse giggled harder, cheeks flushed pink under her mask. The beer must be really getting to her, he thoughts, watching as she took another sip. “ False ,” she declared. “Chat Noir’s puns are awful .”
Aspik huffed. “My suit was just fine , little mouse.”
“Sure, snake boy,” she snorted.
“I’ll have you know I’m an expert on fashion,” he sniffed.
“I’m sure you are, Mr. Celebrity,” she laughed.
Multimouse reached over to ruffle his hair, laughing harder at his petulant look as he attempted to flatten his hair. Just as he was attempting to straighten his bangs, he caught her soft blue gaze on him. She was smiling at him warmly, almost a wistful expression on her face.
“What is it?” he asked, tilting his head.
She shook her head, almost as if she was snapping herself out of something. The softness left her face and she gave him a weak smile. “Your turn,” she said, downing her cup.
He watched quietly for a few moments, as she hastily refilled her cup. He cleared his throat and looked away, training his eyes on the city lights.
“I’m thankful to have you in my life and that we’re friends, your suit is super cute, grey and pink? Very you . And uh…” he floundered, when he sensed her wide-eyed blue gaze. “I… Uh, hate passionfruit?”
He heard her let out laughter, and he couldn’t help but turn to look at her. “You don’t hate passion fruit,” she giggled.
He snorted. “Well, how would you know? Maybe your suit is not cute. Maybe you’re not my friend.”
“You’re so silly,” she laughed. “Don’t think I haven’t seen you scarf down the passion fruit macarons I bring occasionally…”
“Well, only a fool would dislike those,” he said petulantly. “I can tell they’re baked with love,” he added teasingly, wagging his eyebrows at her.
She blushed and looked away, nervously patting one of her space buns. “...Er, well, m-my suit is amazing . I only ever wear top notch fashion, th-thank you very much.”
He grinned. “I’m sure you do.”
“And I… We’re…” She seemed to inhale deeply, before her gaze flickered over to his, a little wistful. “Friends. I know we are. You make sure to let me know.” She laughed, though it sounded a little hollow to his ears. “Everyday.”
Her eyes widened a fraction and she chuckled nervously. “I mean, everytime we patrol.”
Aspik frowned at the distant look in her eyes and the nervous fidgeting of her hands. He scooted a little closer to her and hesitantly took her hand in his. She stiffened, but only for a moment before relaxing again with a gentle sigh. She leaned her head against his shoulder.
“I’m glad we’re friends,” she said softly, and added almost as if to herself. “I’m happy we’re at least that.”
“Me too,” he said, before adding gently. “Your turn.”
“What? Oh, um right,” she said, and he felt her fidget lightly before settling down.
“I’ve been crazy in love with a boy for years,” she started, and Adrien froze. How had he forgotten about that . “I need to get over him, because I know he doesn’t see me that way...”
“He’s an idiot,” huffed Aspik, illiciting a startled laugh out of her.
“He’s not,” she said. “He’s the smartest, sweetest and kindest person I’ve met. Second only to maybe Chat Noir.”
“So Chat Noir is first , huh?” preened Adrien.
“Don’t tell him I said that,” she laughed. “It won’t do his ego any good.”
“Pfft,” said Aspik dismissively. “He’s the humblest hero of them all.”
“Sure,” said Multimouse, rolling her eyes.
“But we digress,” said Aspike. “This debate is on hold until further notice.”
“Whatever you say, li’l snek.”
They were silent for a few minutes before Aspik finally cracked. “You only said two things.”
“What?” she asked, lifting her head off his shoulder to look at him.
“For the, uh, game. You said two things,” he said, holding up two fingers. He wiggled one finger. “That there was a, uh, boy you’ve been in love with for years,” then the other. “And that you want to get over him.”
“Hm,” she hummed, looking away again before letting out a soft self-depriciating laugh. “It’s going to be so easy to?”
Aspik wrapped a hand around her shoulder to tuck her further into his side, because what an idiot of a guy.
“I get that,” he said quietly, tapping a rhythm against her shoulder with his fingers. “Do you, uh, do you see him everyday?”
“More than he knows, I think,” she said, her tone a little sly, as if she was sharing an inside joke with herself. “He sits right in front of me in class, actually.”
Adrien felt his breath rush out of his lungs, as the world shifted in his mind’s eye. Like a fast replay of everything with a new filter, and he felt his chest start to warm. He tightened his grip around her and pulled her tighter against him.
He cleared his throat. “Have you, um, tried asking him out?”
“Only a hundred times,” she laughed. “It’s always gone wrong. Maybe that was for the best anyway. He doesn’t… He doesn’t see me like that.”
“And how do you know that? If you haven’t asked him out?”
“He says that we’re “just friends” at least once a week.” Marinette snorted. “I am starting to think that’s his way of gently letting me down without really having to reject me. He values friendships too much for that, I think.”
“You should really not make presumptions,” he said nervously, heart racing.
“Pretty sure I know what I’m talking about, Aspik. I’m sure I know what I’m talking about.”
“Including his feelings?”
“Feelings he’s made pretty clear,” she said as she drew circles on the back of his hand.
Aspik sighed, feeling like he was on the precipice of losing something he hadn’t even known he had. He really, really did not want to let go.
“My turn,” he said quietly. “I… There’s this… girl.”
Multimouse seemed to deflate a little next to him, which he couldn’t help but find a little perplexing. But he trudged forth.
“I realised I’m in love with this girl recently, I’m scared to ask her out and…” he floundered before finally tacking on a lie. “She knows exactly how I feel.”
“Well, that’s kind of obvious, snake boy,” she sighed. “I don’t see what you have to be scared about…”
“She… I found out only today that she’s trying hard to move on from me.”
“That means she still does have feelings for you.” Her voice was smaller than he’d like, almost a breathy resignation to it. “You should ask her anyway. I can’t imagine anyone saying no to you.”
“Yeah?”
She lifted her head off his shoulder, her gaze warm, smile fond. “Yeah.”
Aspik hummed. “Even you?”
“Of course! I just told you I- Well, I- I mean, if-if it weren’t for that guy I told you about, then um, yes. Definitely. For sure. Yep.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah.”
“Maybe I’ll leave a note on her desk when school re-opens after Winter Break. With a bunch of flowers.”
“Yeah, I’m sure she’d like that,” sighed Multimouse.
“Actually, maybe not,” he amended thoughtfully. “She sits right behind me, so it’ll be hard for me to see her reaction. And she’s a little prone to easily freaking out,” he chuckled fondly. “Maybe I should enlist my bestfriend’s girlfriend for help. Those two are bestfriends, you know, and she’s a schemer, that one. What do you think I should-”
He stopped when he realised Multimouse’s head wasn’t against his shoulder anymore. He turned to see that she was staring at him with wide eyes, head tilted curiously
“Did you say that she sits behind you? Like right behind you?”
“Yeah.”
“Huh,” she muttered. “Y-You said that she has feelings for you. And that you found out she was trying to get over them.”
Adrien unfortunately had always been just a little slow on the uptake. So he chuckled a little. “Yeah, found out today, in fact.”
“ Today ?”
“Yep, today.”
“She told you herself, did she?”
He really should have noticed the careful neutrality in her tone.
“Yes, actually,” he nodded vigorously. “But you seem to think there’s still hope, so I… Wait a second .”
He whirled on her, eyes narrowed, to find that she was studying him too.
“Do you…. Know ?” she asked first, eyebrows set in a wary pinch.
Aspik hesitated before leaning closer to her, almost nose to nose now bodies twisted to face each other. He turned completely to her in a moment, one leg folded, the other hanging off the ledge of the roof.
“Do… you know?”
“I asked first, mon écailles .” The slight twitch of her eye gave away her faux serious facade though.
He smirked as he wrapped a hand under her knee to tug her closer, while her hands came up to hold his shoulders so she could stabilize herself. “Can’t argue with that logic ma petite souris ,” he chuckled, face towering over hers. “But I’m afraid I have the upper hand here.”
With that he kissed the corner of her lips ( Her. Lips. ), just as he decided to hell with it and tugged her onto his lap ( Oh, my god! ) fully.
“A-Aspik!” she squeaked as he looked up at her affectionately, before pressing a kiss to the other corner of her mouth.
“Multimouse,” he said, now his hands wrapped around her hips, zero room between them.
She was watching him with parted lips, face flaming, while her expression was of utter disbelief. Hesitantly, her hand went up to trace his mask, before it settled on cupping his cheek. Blushing, she looked at him with soft eyes before leaning slightly and kissing the apple of his cheek.
“How… How did you find out?” he asked quietly, as she started to draw back.
She looked panicked for a moment before relief seemed to wash over her.
“The game sort of gave you away,” she admitted, not meeting his eyes as one of her hands snaked ( snaked , heh) over his chest and over his shoulder so she could play with the hair at the nape of his neck. “Um, so what gave me away?” she asked shyly.
He froze for only a second before thanking the gods for having Marinette herself present the answer to him.
“The game,” he grinned.
She groaned before deflating in his arms ( In. His. Arms!!! ), forehead resting against his shoulder.
“I knew the beer was a terrible idea,” she whined. “It made us too loose-lipped!”
“Beg to differ,” said Aspik. “Best idea you’ve had, I think.”
Multimouse giggled. “Maybe.”
“Hey, Marinette?”
“Hm?”
“I do love you, you know. I meant that.”
She was quiet for some time before she finally drew away from him to look him in the face. She brushed his hair out of his eyes, dancing with a pure sort of happiness that made his heart burst with joy. She kissed his forehead, and then the tip of his nose, making his face heat up with anticipation.
As he watched, her eyes flickered to his lips, before she looked away nervously, biting her lower lip with worry. Adrien’s heart warmed - what, was this the hundredth time just that night? - and he brushed the tip of his nose against her chin.
“You know, you keep doing that and I might just kiss you,” he said teasingly.
He laughed softly as the tips of her ears turned red. “Well, you won’t hear me complain, mon écaille irisée ,” she muttered.
And well, so he kissed her. She seemed frozen in shock for a fleeting second before melting against him. Her hands locked around the nape of his neck as she pulled him closer, an almost mind-numbing tug at the base of his skull as she tilted his head back to get a better angle. He decided then and there that he wouldn't complain if they never stopped. He tried his best to cull the purr building in his throat because that would be dead giveaway, and wondered briefly if he'd develop snake-like tendencies as well if he wore the miraculous long enough. His teeth grazed her lower lip, where hers had been less than thirty seconds ago, and he bit it gently, greedily swallowing the moan she let out.
They finally parted for breath, and her buns sat skewed on the top of her head, messed up and unkempt, some strands straying loose and falling on her as she stared at him.
“You know, no one’s ever called me iridiscent before,” he said, eyes dancing with mirth as he swept back some of the loose hair off her face.
“Shut up, nicknames aren’t really my forte,” she pouted, leaning into give him another peck against his lips.
“No, I love it,” he assured her, making her look down at him again. “Will you promise to call me that forever?” he asked teasingly, an eyebrow quirked with mirth.
Everytime he thought she couldn’t turn any redder, she proved him wrong. And he loved her for it.
“You’re too much,” she complained. “You and Chat have been spending too much time together!
Adrien only laughed. “But you looooooove me.”
“Yeah I do.”
“I’m glad you didn’t get over me,” he said quietly.
Her smile faded and she looked at him fondly. “Thanks to you, you don’t make it easy, you know.”
“So I’ve heard,” he chuckled.