Chapter Text
"Sorry about that," Adrien said sheepishly. Ladybug unwrapped her arms from around him and stood him gently on the sidewalk beside her. "I didn't realize how close I was to the battle. It must have looked like I was running straight towards the akuma, huh?"
He laughed awkwardly because, of course, that was exactly what he had been doing. But there was no way Ladybug could know that, and sure enough her strained laughter soon joined his.
"This is like the fourth time I've had to rescue you this week, oh damsel in distress." Ladybug said, reaching out a hand to playfully flick his shoulder and Adrien braced himself for a touch he knew would send nerves tingling down his spine. But just before she made contact, a blush blossomed across her face and her arm faltered. She quickly withdrew it and tried to play off the movement by tying her yoyo around her waist, and then the two were left in painfully awkward silence.
The stifling quiet soon grew unbearable, and Adrien found himself opening his mouth before he even knew what to say.
"So-" Adrien began, and Ladybug cocked an eyebrow at him. "Thanks for the rescue?" He said as if it were a question, though he had no idea why. It made him sound so unsure of himself, even if he was only offering his appreciation. Ladybug was going to think he was an idiot (if she wasn’t already convinced of that fact by the four times that week that she had to stop him from running head on into danger).
Ladybug chuckled at his thanks and nodded her head at him, before the pair fell into yet another uncomfortable silence.
God, Adrien thought, as he imagined ramming his head against a nearby wall. Maybe that would knock a few brain cells into place. What's wrong with you? This is Ladybug. You're not awkward around Ladybug.
But he was awkward around Ladybug. At least he was when he didn't have a skintight leather catsuit to hide behind. He felt naked when he was talking to her like this, like all his deepest darkest desires were written onto his skin for her to see. Although by the way she was pointedly staring at the wall behind him, maybe she wouldn’t have even noticed.
Ladybug looked just as uncomfortable as he felt, her mask seeming to stretch across her entire face as the skin surrounding it flushed a deep red. She kept drumming her gloved fingers against her thigh, slightly rocking on her heels.
Oh lord, he thought to himself. You're making her uncomfortable. How is it that having a simple conversation makes her look like she's about to pass out?
He was racking his brain for something more to say when he heard screaming in the distance, and was suddenly very aware that somewhere in the city was an akuma hellbent on destruction. And unfortunately for everyone else, Paris's finest were far, far away from the action having the lamest conversation known to mankind. Ladybug even looked a little worried, and she had no idea that her partner was as removed from the battle as she was.
"I should probably get going, I've got people to save, cities to rebuild, you know - the usual." Ladybug said, unhitching her yoyo and aiming towards a far off building. "It was nice talking to you, I'm sure I'll see you again soon. Bug ou-"
"Wait!" Adrien shouted, and shot a hand out to grab her wrist. Unfortunately, Ladybug had already launched her yoyo into the air, and her eyes widened in absolute horror as she realized what was about to happen.
A split second later, Ladybug was launched off the ground, with Adrien just barely grasping onto her arm with the tips of his fingers. He shrieked as they flew through the air, a sound he was not at all proud of, and prayed that the wind had drowned the noise out. It was ridiculous that it was his number one concern at the moment and he scolded himself for it, forcing himself to focus instead on hanging onto the heroine's arm.
Ladybug managed to wrap an arm around his waist and pulled him tightly towards her, causing Adrien’s heartbeat to race, and not only out of fear of imminent death. Seconds later they made it safely to a rooftop. Ladybug quickly pushed Adrien out of her grasp, save for the hand that was still tightly gripping her forearm. Her breaths were coming out in rapid bursts, and Adrien squeezed her arm once before letting his shaking hand drop to his side.
"What the fuck was that, Adrien?" Ladybug said shakily, pressing her fingertips to her temple. He had never heard her swear before, not even in the midst of the worst akuma fights. Guilt twisted his stomach. "Do you know how dangerous that was!? I would have been outlawed if I had harmed the city's most beloved model. I could have killed you!"
"I trust you, Ladybug, and besides, it wasn't your-"
She whipped around to face him and pressed a finger to his chest. Her face was just as flushed as before, but Adrien knew her well enough to know that it was no longer a result of embarrassment. Ladybug was angry, and dear God was she scary when she was angry.
Especially when it was directed at him.
"You better have a good reason for almost making me a murderer, blondie."
Blondie? Was that a nickname? He grinned. She'd given him plenty of nicknames as Chat Noir before, but never as Adrien. It was a little unoriginal, but it came from her so it couldn’t be anything but perfect.
Adrien realized that he was grinning like an idiot when Ladybug's eyebrows furrowed even further, and his lovesick smile quickly dropped.
Ladybug was going to hate him if he didn't have a really good reason for why he had accidentally hitched a ride on the world's most dangerous zipline. And the truth was, he didn't have a reason at all. He just hadn't wanted Ladybug to leave and acted irrationally as a result. It wasn't very Adrien Agreste of him.
And now he had to deal with the consequences.
"Uh, well, I was just wondering-" He stammered.
Say something smart, say something smart, say something smart.
"If you're free for dinner tonight?"
NOT THAT NOT THAT NOT THAT
Ladybug stumbled back as if she'd been burned. "Dinner?" She managed to say.
"Um, yeah, it's no biggie if you can't, it was a stupid idea after all- you're a superhero and I'm... well I'm definitely not a superhero haha so we can just forget this whole thing happened and-"
"Yes!" Ladybug shrieked, surprising both of them. She cleared her throat, and said "I mean yeah, that sounds gate- I mean great, I would love- not like love love you know- just like. I would like that." She grinned a smile that bared all her teeth, and walked backwards while chatting nervously.
"I'll meet you at the Seine at 8. You know what the Seine is, right? I mean, of course you do, I was just thinking with you always being in your house and all that, maybe you didn't see the river? Even though it's big? And famous? I don't think you're stupid though, no, I-"
She gasped as she stumbled backward off the roof and Adrien started to race towards her, but she had already cast her yoyo off into the distance.
"GOTTAGOSTOPTHEAKUMASEEYOUTONIGHT!" He heard her yell as the wind carried her words to his ears, a ridiculous-looking grin stretched so far on his face that his cheeks began to ache.
"Uh, kid?" Plagg peeked his head out from inside Adrien's jacket and rolled his eyes when he saw his holder's dopey smile.
"Do I have to do everything around here?" The kwami groaned and grabbed a handful of Adrien's shirt, yanking him over the edge of the roof.
Adrien yelped as he plummeted towards his death for the second time in ten minutes, and was forced to quickly transform and vault off to help his lady before he splattered onto the concrete.
***
The battle was a hard one. Not because of the akuma, Trafficman had been akumatized before and was little more than a nuisance, but because Chat and Ladybug were completely and utterly unable to focus. Ladybug got so distracted by an Adrien the Fragrance poster that a traffic light almost wiped her out, and Chat almost cataclysmed himself when he went to put a hand over his heart while watching his partner in action.
Alya was going to tear them to pieces on the Ladyblog later.
Eventually though, as always, the akuma was stopped and Chat and Ladybug did a very brief version of their signature Post-Battle Fist Bump. While usually he'd be offended, the excitement plastered on Ladybug's face just amplified his own joyous feelings.
He quickly vaulted home and jumped through his bedroom window, grabbing a piece of camembert off his desk and tossing it in the air for Plagg as he walked over to his closet to pick out an outfit. (He tended to wear the same thing every day, and felt like switching it up a little for his date night.) He heard the camembert hit the floor, which was unusual, as Plagg didn't often miss when it came to his favourite cheese. He looked around for his kwami, neither seeing nor hearing him, and upon catching a glimpse of his gloved hands quickly realized that he was still Chat Noir.
This was also very strange. He almost always timed his entrance perfectly so he detransformed as soon as he entered the house. But who could blame him for being a little off his game today?
"Plagg, claws in." He said as he turned back to the closet, waiting for the whining of the tiny God to fill his ears. But his hearing remained clear and unmarked by Plagg's shrill voice.
"Plagg?" He asked a little warily. Too much quiet was never good when it came to his kwami. "Where are you?"
He looked around his room and saw nothing, and his pulse sped up as he began walking around. The heavy sounds of his footsteps on the floor as he paced confirmed his fears. He was still wearing boots. Chat Noir's boots.
"Plagg?" He said again nervously. "Claws in?"
Nothing.
This was bad, this was bad, this was so very bad. Someone was going to see him in Adrien's room, and figure out his identity, and then he'd have to give up his ring and-
His ring!
He grabbed the black band around his fingers, still displaying five green glowing toe pads. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember it beeping after he used his cataclysm. Maybe it was malfunctioning? He didn't quite know what to do about that, now that Ladybug was the guardian and he had no idea how to get it to her, but that was a job for later. For now, he just had to turn back into Adrien to get ready for his date.
He yanked on the ring, eager to get it off his hand, but ended up only gasping in pain as the ring stayed firmly in place.
It was as if it had molded to the suit, which in turn was practically molded to his skin. He yanked at his mask, but that felt as firmly attached to him as his own ear. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, flustered and frightened and most definitely still Chat Noir.
He couldn't stay in this room. He needed to leave before anyone found him out.
He needed to find Ladybug. Now.