Chapter Text
“I hear you were looking for me.”
Chat Noir nearly falls off the Eiffel Tower, spinning around to face the new voice. There, sitting in the crook of two beams, in his spot, is a figure who has wrapped herself in starlight. He can’t see her face, can’t seem to keep the sound of her voice in his head, can’t remember anything about the girl except that she is there, waiting for him, somewhere no civilian could reach.
“The Guardian, I presume?” He bows comically, taking her hand and laying a kiss on her knuckles. “Chat Noir, a pleasure to meet you.”
She quirks a lip, the slightest hint of a grin appearing on her face—the stars smile with her—and suddenly he’s falling. Oh, dear kwamis, he could fall in love with this woman, who he has never seen before, may never see again.
“I know perfectly well who you are, Chat Noir.” The way she purrs his name sends shivers down his spine. She stands (is she standing on the tower, or is she walking on air? He can’t recall) and bends down to look him in the eye. “Why did you want to speak to me?”
Chat’s mouth dries out as he stares into her eyes (it’s like falling up into the sky) and she laughs. She laughs and it’s like the bells of Notre Dame laugh with her. “Chat got your tongue, minou? If you find your voice, I will find you. Until we meet again, chaton.” And then she’s gone.
Adrien does not know how long he was left standing, speechless, at the top of the Eiffel Tower. He can’t remember how he got home, lying awake in bed in the middle of the night, the only thing he can think of are sky-deep eyes and a smile like starlight.
Adrien is nearly late to school the next morning. Not because of a photo shoot, but because he didn’t get a wink of sleep the night before, kept awake as he was by thoughts of the mysterious Guardian. The Guardian, who gave Carapace, Rena Rouge, and Queen Bee their Miraculous. And yet, she hadn’t deigned to meet him when she had given him his ring. Had it even been her that gave him the ring in the first place? He had so many questions he had planned on asking, only to be defeated by his tied tongue.
“Adrien, are you paying attention?” The boy blinks up at Mme. Bustier.
“I’m sorry, madame, I spaced out for a moment. I promise I’ll do better now.”
“See that you do, and please make sure you’re getting proper sleep, Adrien.” The teacher turns back to her lesson, leaving Adrien to curse under his breath.
“Plagg, we’re going to have words when I’m out of school,” he hisses, quiet enough that he knows only his kwami can hear him. His confirmation comes in the form of a wriggling cat god in his front shirt pocket.
The boy manages to survive the day, waving goodbye to his friends as he walks over to where his bodyguard is waiting. As he walks to the curb, he finds himself in step with Marinette.
The two of them have shared maybe ten words since Adrien started at Francoise Dupont. It isn’t because either of them is particularly unfriendly toward the other—they share polite smiles in the hallways; when Adrien misses class for photo shoots, it’s almost always Marinette who has copied her notes and assignments for him; when he hears Lila making up some lie or another to disparage the quiet girl, he is always sure to loudly and politely discredit it when possible—but rather because Marinette is so quiet and reserved, and Adrien never has time to attend class functions like he would wish.
“Uh, hey, Marinette,” he says as they walk through the school yard.
She blinks and looks up sharply, as if pulled out of deep thought. “Oh, hello, Adrien. You looked tired today. Long night?”
He glances over at her, and her eyes are sparkling with silent mirth, as if she knows something he doesn’t. “Yeah, you could say that I suppose. Had a hard time falling asleep is all.”
“When I was having trouble sleeping, my mother gave me a special tea that helped settle my mind. If you need any, feel free to ask.”
“That’s very kind of you to offer, Marinette.” He furrows his brow, honestly a little confused as to why she was offering. They were friendly, sure, but they weren’t friends. Although, he thinks as he glances over at her again, I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to being her friend. She’s quiet, Nino says she’s maybe a bit strange, but she seems kind, and maybe all she needs is a good friend to bring her out of her shell. “If I don’t sleep better tonight, maybe I’ll take you up on it.” He moves to grab a sheet of paper from his backpack but Marinette is suddenly handing him one, as if she had been holding it the whole time. Had she? “Oh, thank you.” He scribbles his cell phone number down on it and hands it to her. “Maybe text me sometime?”
Marinette smiles, just a quirk of her lip at first before it bursts outward into a smile that seems to light up the whole room. “I will, thank you.” She tucks the phone number into her pocket just as they reach the car where the Gorilla is waiting. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Adrien. Tonight will be more restful than the past few have been.” She says it with so much certainty, as if the future is laid out in front of her, that he almost believes her. Almost, being the keyword. There’s been an akuma every day this week (another factor that led to Adrien’s exhaustion, though the sleepless night the night before was the primary source, king of cat naps that Adrien was). He is going to thank her for the platitudes, but the girl is already on her way back to her parents’ bakery.