Work Text:
LB,
I saw a cockroach in my school water fountain today. I don’t like water much, anyway.
I missed you a lot more than usual this past week. I know you’ll probably yell at me for this, but I’ve been hoping that someone gets akumatized just so I can have an excuse to see you. Apparently, old Hawky’s on vacation or something. Who knew villains took breaks? Sorry this letter is so short, I’m having a huge brain fart as I write this.
Much love,
CN
Marinette giggled despite herself. Of course Chat Noir would find a way to flirt with her and make a horrendous joke all in one sentence. She wanted to run home and write back to him immediately, but unfortunately she’d stopped by the tree on her way to school, and she was, as usual, very late to class.
The Tree was vital to Ladybug and Chat Noir’s penpal experience. They decided that texting was out of the question, since they couldn’t give each other their phone numbers, but Chat Noir insisted that the two communicate outside of patrols and akuma attacks.
So they went on a walk in a busy park and found a tree with an opening in it; perfect for stuffing things inside. Their agreement was that one person would write a letter, leave it at the tree, and the other person would come the next. They had three days to respond to each other, so four days after leaving a letter, they would return for their response. It was very important that they follow this procedure in order to keep their identities a secret.
She ran to class, making sure the letter was stuffed securely in her bag. When school ended, Marinette dashed to her room, wrote a response letter, and waited. She had two more days to leave the letter at the tree, but in an attempt to escape her boredom, she dropped it off.
She recalled it as she stuffed it into the tree’s hiding spot:
Chat,
I also had roaches in my water fountain. Must be some Paris sanitizing thing. And you’re right, I am mad at you for wishing for an akuma attack...but I guess I miss you too. Just don’t go getting a big head about it. You know, today I had a weird thought. I imagined you trying to pay attention during class and I actually laughed out loud. My teacher asked me what was wrong, but I couldn’t control myself. I feel like you’re the type to be on your phone all class period and then complain about not understanding. Silly kitty. But don’t worry, you’re not fooling anyone. I know you’re super smart, no matter how hard you try to lessen your intelligence. Anyways, I should stop writing so much. You mentioned that you’re really busy, right?
Love,
LB
Marinette patiently waited for her partner to receive the letter. Sometimes, she wished she could see his face when he read them. She wanted to see the perk of his lips at any mention of affection towards him, she wanted to see his eyes scan each and every word before thinking of the perfect response.
She was thinking about this when she found herself running into another familiar blonde.
“Oh, gosh! I’m so sorry!” she apologized. Adrien smiled, waving it off.
“No biggie,” he said. “I was just on my way to class.” He stuffed something in his pocket that Marinette barely caught a glimpse of. “I could walk with you,” she offered, to which he accepted.
Lately, she found it easier to talk to him without stuttering or completely embarrassing herself, and she suspected it had something to do with a certain cat.
Adrien and Marinette parted ways once they got to class, and she noticed that he pulled out a piece of paper from his backpack. Assuming it was some sort of homework, she glanced away.
The incident only occurred once school ended. Marinette was the last to leave class because she needed to speak to Miss Bustier. She took her time leaving the school, giving herself a chance to walk leisurely around the school. But in the hallway leading to the locker room, she found something...peculiar.
It was a letter with her handwriting. Marinette froze. She recognized it immediately, she recognized the owner, but she didn’t want it to be true. Her hands shook as she crouched down and picked it up.
Her words dedicated to Chat Noir were written on the page neatly.
She heard the shuffling of a bag in the courtyard. The wind was thrown out of her when she saw Adrien, the last one left from his fencing practice, picking up after himself. His gym bag was next to him, but she recalled him stuffing something into his backpack when he saw her.
But she shouldn’t jump to conclusions.
Marinette tried to calm herself down before walking down the stairs. “Hey, Adrien,” she called. He looked up, the air stirring with electricity when their eyes met. Had that always happened, or was it a new thing now that she knew who he was?
But she didn’t. She didn’t know...yet. The letter could have belonged to someone else.
“Oh, we’re heading out at the same time!” He grinned. She hid her shaky hands behind her back.
“Is your backpack in the locker room?” she asked. It was straight forward and maybe weird, but she didn’t have time to think about being weird. She had to know. Adrien nodded. “Oh, then you better be careful! There’s a lot of trash in the hallway for some reason.”
A lame attempt at getting him to watch his step and notice the letter, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
“Thanks, Marinette!” he responded. If he noticed anything weird, he was really good at hiding it. If he really was Chat Noir, he probably just hadn’t noticed it.
She awkwardly said goodbye but waited right outside of the building until after he was upstairs, and then she ran to hide under the staircase, the perfect spot to spy on him.
By the time she got there, he had already picked up the letter.
He looked around before puffing out a sigh of relief. “Thank God,” he said. And he laughed to himself, like he knew that Ladybug would kill him if he lost that letter in his school. Marinette only caught a glimpse of him reading the letter, a small smile on his face as he scanned the page.
Well, she thought to herself, at least I’ve seen him read my letter.
;;;
Marinette didn’t know what to do with her new information. She didn’t want to confront Adrien, but she did, but she couldn’t.
As ashamed as she was, her first thought had been that she was glad. She was glad they had been blind idiots who had fallen for each other at different times and that they could finally be together if she just...told him.
To pass the time, Marinette tried to work out the similarities between Chat Noir and Adrien.
She’d previously said that Chat Noir was probably one to lack in effort in classes, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Adrien was a straight A student.
Chat Noir was bold, never ashamed to express his love, even if he was rejected. Adrien was confusing, quiet. He seemed disturbed with any flirty attempts.
Was Chat Noir a persona? Was the superhero the version of Adrien that he wanted to be? Or was Adrien the persona? The golden child who never misbehaved had a chance to be anything he wanted in the suit, and he chose to be himself. Marinette could cry.
Slowly, Chat Noir and Adrien merged into one person in her mind. They were both charismatic, good with press, intelligent, and always stood up for her. They were both always there for her, no matter what.
She loved them. Him.
;;;
LB,
Not to brag, but my grades are actually purr-fect. Straight As, can you believe it? Perks of having an insane parent. I’m glad I could make you laugh, though. You know how I love that beautiful smile of yours.
Much love,
CN
Marinette smiled. He’d always been one to write shorter letters and jam-pack them with a lot more emotion.
She decided to copy his style for once, simply writing:
Adrien,
I love you. I always have.
Yours,
Marinette