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Adrien smiled as Marinette blushed prettily. "I-I gotta go," she stuttered, after Alya called for her. "Bye." Before he could reply, she turned on her heel and scrambled away. Alya grinned at him before dragging Marinette away. Huh. He wondered what that was about.
"Dude, you're really obvious," a voice said from beside him. Adrien turned, giving Nino a confused look. What was he talking about? "Look, man, I'm not one to really push people or scheme, but you gotta do something. You can't just keep giving her soft smiles and longing looks."
Adrien was just more confused. What was Nino even talking about? Then, it clicked. He really didn't think his crush on Ladybug was obvious, and he didn't really know when Nino caught him smiling at her or staring at her. But something must've given him away, somehow. Who else would Nino be talking about?
"Well, what should I do? She doesn't feel the same way," Adrien stated simply.
To his surprise, Nino scoffed. "'Doesn't feel the same way?' God, you're obvious and oblivious. Well, at least you're past the 'she's just a friend' phase." Before Adrien could question that, Nino continued, "Whatever you do, she'll love it. Trust me on that. You just gotta make the first move because she's not gonna. Ok?"
Nino patted his shoulder before walking out of school, leaving Adrien totally lost. Clearly, Nino didn't know he liked Ladybug. Instead, Nino assumed Adrien liked Marinette. And while Marinette was brave, smart, creative, beautiful, and overall amazing, Adrien didn't like her. Nope. Not at all.
But, Nino had just let him know that Marinette liked him. Well, he didn't really say that, but it was implied. If someone would love whatever he does and won't make the first move, then that's gotta be it. Right? Or maybe Marinette's been wanting to hang out more? Maybe she wants to play Ultimate Mecha Strike III again? That sounded more plausible than her liking him.
Before he could think of it any further, a car honked outside. With a start, Adrien realized the courtyard was empty. Sighing, he walked toward his car.
After patrol, Chat Noir decided to ask Ladybug about it. Maybe she could help him. After all, she was an outsider who could give an objective opinion on things. He would have to be careful not to give too much away about his civilian identity, of course.
”M’lady, wait,” he called before she could cast out her yo-yo. She looked back at him over her shoulder, eyebrow surely quirked under her mask. “I have a question that I need an objective opinion on and you’re the only one I think can help.”
Ladybug nodded, sitting down and motioning for him to sit too. “So, what is it?”
”Well...” He wasn’t very sure how to word it. Instead of overthinking it, he decided to wing it. “I was talking to a female friend and then one of my male friends came up to me after she left. He said it was obvious I liked her, but I was confused on that. Before I could tell him that she was a very good friend of mine, he implied that she liked me. But I don’t think she does and I don’t know how to figure out if she does or not.”
The spotted heroine beside him hummed thoughtfully, “Well, how does she act around you? Is she flustered or seemingly unaffected? Does she laugh at your jokes, no matter how terrible? Does she blush a lot?”
Huh. He hadn’t thought of that. She did blush pretty often, but he figured that was from discomfort or unease around him. Though he never knew why she wasn’t comfortable around him. Could it be...? “But I’ve never told jokes,” he blurted, “so I don’t know if she’d laugh at them. And how would I know if the blush isn’t from discomfort?”
Ladybug simply laughed, “If she was uncomfortable, then she wouldn’t stay around you. My advice to you is to tell a really horrible joke. If she laughs, she definitely likes you.” Checking her yo-yo, his partner’s eyes widened. “It’s late and I still have homework to finish. Bye, chaton!”
After going back home and dropping transformation, Adrien laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling. A terrible joke? He didn’t know if he had any in him. All his jokes were great, after all, puns were the best source for humor. But not all people enjoyed puns, so maybe that would help him. If Marinette didn’t like puns, then saying one and seeing if she laughed would be the best way to figure out if she liked him.
“Plagg?” His kwami grunted in response. “Can I go ask Marinette if she likes puns?”
He turned his head to face Plagg who lay on his pillow. The kwami narrowed his eyes, “If you’re asking me to transform you again, the answer is no. You can just text her, can’t you?”
”That’s too suspicious.” He couldn’t ask her if she liked puns as Adrien then tell a pun in class. Besides, Nino had said she’d like anything he did. What if she lied? But then again, Marinette was an honest person.
Adrien checked the time then blanched at how late it was. Sure, Marinette stayed up late most nights, from what he could tell as Chat Noir, but it didn’t seem right to text her. What if she wasn’t comfortable with him texting her that late at night? And it was a school night, too. Sighing, he decided it would have to wait.
He wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad thing that he didn't have to wait long to get an opportunity to ask Marinette if she liked puns. On one hand, there had been an early morning akuma. On the other, he was able to find her walking to school early after the akuma was defeated. Either way, he would get his answer and figure out if she really liked him or not. (Plagg had asked him why it mattered so much late the night before when Adrien couldn't sleep. He hadn't replied.)
"Hello, purrincess," he drawled, landing swiftly beside her. She jumped slightly, her reaction a bit delayed and lacking of her usual energy. He grew concerned at that.
"Hi, Chat," she said, yawning widely afterward. "What're you doing out and about?"
She must've been really tired because she never talked like that. Who even said "out and about" anymore? "Well, there was an akuma so I thought I'd do a quick patrol afterward."
It wasn't entirely true. He figured it would be easier to get to school on time as Chat, and figure if he ran into Marinette then it would be a win-win situation. She didn't need to know that, though.
It was then that he realized Marinette had been walking from the opposite side of the area of which her house was located. Why would that be? And why would she have woken up early enough to go to that other side of Paris? He glanced at Marinette as she continued to walk sluggishly, rubbing at her eyes. It didn't look like she's bought anything from any shops, and not many were open before school started. So, what was she doing?
"Hey, Marinette," he called, getting her attention, "what were you doing on the other side of Paris?"
"Getting some fabrics," she replied automatically, despite her having no fabrics in her possession.
"So, where are they?" He pressed.
Marinette's eyes widened at that, only for a millisecond, before she composed herself. "The fabric store was closed. I forgot they don't open until later."
He wasn't sure if that was true. How could she forget what time a fabric store opened? She always bought fabric. But seeing how tired she was, he thought that maybe that had to do with the forgetfulness.
Seeing they were only a few blocks away from school, he decided to just ask. "So, quick question, do you like puns?"
Adrien's plan was ready to go. Now that he knew Marinette wasn't a huge fan of puns--"They're ok when they're told by parents or adults, but never when used to flirt," she'd said-- he knew what he had to do. The plan was simple, get the perfect opportunity, say a pun and try to use it as though he were potentially flirting, and then see Marinette's reaction. If she laughed, she liked him. If not, she didn't.
The problem was finding the right time to execute his plan. In the morning, by the time he'd arrived at school and found Marinette, she'd been asleep with her head on her desk. (It was adorable, really, how peaceful she looked, drool at the corner of her mouth. Platonically cute, of course. Nothing else.) In every other class after that, they were too busy or testing. But finally, the perfect moment came. Science.
Was he going to use a terrible pick-up line? Yes, yes, he was. Was it considered a pun? Maybe not. Was it directed at Marinette? No. Instead, it would be directed at Nino.
After texting him that morning, shortly after his talk with Marinette as Chat Noir, he had Nino on board. Of course, Nino didn't know Adrien was trying to see if Marinette liked him as he'd said. He just thought it was a much too elaborate way to get Marinette to laugh. Which was true, but not the whole truth.
They were going to do a worksheet to research the different infectious agents and types of pathogens. Thankfully, they would have partners, which worked right with his plan. So, he turned to Nino, and asked, "Can we be partners? 'Cause we've got chemistry." He waggled his eyebrows and winked at Nino playfully.
Glancing at Marinette, he noticed she'd blushed. (Blushed prettily, just like the day before.) Then, Marinette laughed. Like, really laughed. She laughed so hard that she held her sides, cheeks bright pink, and tears gathering in her eyes. Her joy was infectious and he couldn't help but join in.
But it was then that he realized the affection that bloomed in his chest wasn't platonic. It was then that he realized that the thought that entered his mind, I want to make her laugh like that all the time, wasn't platonic either. And he realized, with a start, that everytime she'd thought she was beautiful or amazing or smart, it wasn't platonic at all. So, it was then, at that very moment, that Adrien Agreste realized just how hard he'd fallen for Marinette Dupain-Cheng, without even realizing it.
And when he looked at Nino, he knew exactly what his eyes were telling him. "You're so obvious." That time, he knew exactly what his friend was talking about.