Chapter Text
Prologue
Black boots splashed through the puddles that were gathering on the Parisian rooftops, while the wearer of those boots was bemoaning his lack of time management skills.
Why can’t I just arrive on time to these sorts of things, Adrien thought to himself as he vaulted over a chimney. Normally, Adrien’s schedule was managed for him, so he typically wasn’t prepared for the rare situations when he had to take the initiative with his timing.
Hopefully no one notices Chat Noir running across rooftops in the rain, with no Akuma in sight. I feel a little guilty using the transformation to boost my speed, but only a little.
Adrien grinned at the thought, and then he suspended his internal monologue as he picked up the pace. He didn’t want to be any later to the dance than he already was.
Chapter 1
Marinette suppressed the urge to anxiously smooth down the silky fabric of her dress yet again. The room around her was full of familiar people in fancy attire, with the girls showcasing bright, multicolored dresses and the boys begrudgingly draped in black coats and ties. Most people were gathered at the tables to one side of the wooden dance floor in the center of the room.
Marinette was sitting with Alya and Nino, and periodically the three of them would glance at the empty chair at the table. Adrien was late often enough for them to save a seat for him out of habit. Marinette pouted internally.
“So you’re sure he’s coming?” Alya asked for the second time.
“Yes,” Nino sighed. “You get used to it.”
“Well, you’d think he’d make an exception in this case!” Alya gestured to the dance floor, the buffet table (covered – for now), and the overall festive state of the room. “We’ve been waiting for this evening for weeks, practically.” Alya looked over at Marinette. “I’ll punch him for you if you want, Marinette,” she offered playfully.
Marinette cringed at the mental image of Alya assaulting her boy-crush, and made placating hand motions.
“No, there’s no need for that, but thank you for having my back,” Marinette said as earnestly as she could manage. But she couldn’t entirely hide her disappointment.
The evening was supposed to be a dance, a celebration, held as the culmination of their in class studies that term –mostly focusing on recent European history-- because there’s no better way to celebrate something than to force a bunch of teens into formal attire and then herd them towards a dance floor. And since the Mayor’s daughter was involved, they whole class got their own ballroom in the hotel the Mayor ran. Nepotism wasn’t so bad on the receiving end.
Over the last few weeks, most everyone in the class had been taking regular ballroom dance lessons after school so that they could have some semblance of competence on the dance floor. Not that anyone in the class had gotten particularly good at dancing, but they knew enough to keep from stepping on each other’s toes. Adrien, of course, excelled at it compared to everyone else. He’d said it was because he had been forced to take lessons as a kid.
Personally, Marinette thought it was because he was dreamy and perfect and it wouldn’t surprise her if he could flawlessly tango through an untrimmed rosebush and come out the other side with nary a scratch. At which point he’d ask her to dance and of course she’d say yes and—
Marinette’s meandering thoughts were cut short by her phone jingling in her purse. She pulled it out and looked at the screen.
“Sorry guys,” she looked around the table apologetically. “It’s my dad, I should probably take this.” Alya nodded understandingly and turned to engage Nino in conversation.
Marinette got up from her chair and grabbed her coat that was hanging on its back. She answered the phone as she was most of the way to the door. The signal was pretty bad inside the hotel, so she wanted to take this call outside, even with the moody weather.
“Hi dad, what’s up?” she said as she exited the main doors. She made her way to a nearby covered bench, as it offered some shelter from the light drizzle trickling down.
“Marinette! I was just calling to make sure you have everything you need for tonight.”
Marinette sighed; she had known her dad would worry about the sleep-away component of tonight’s festivities.
“Yes, dad. I think I have everything. And I’m sharing a room with Alya, so if I do need anything, I can probably borrow it from her.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure dad,” Marinette said with more than a hint of exasperation. She surveyed the cityscape and drew a deep breath in. “It’s just one night in the hotel, what do you think is going to happen?” she said jokingly.
“I’m just making sure my daughter is okay, that’s my job,” her father said affectionately.
She was about to respond when she noticed some movement on the rooftops down the street. It looked like a black smudge against the overcast sky…
The smudge became clear when it jumped one roof closer to the hotel, still about 3 blocks away. She’d recognize those cat-ears anywhere.
“Weird…” she muttered to herself.
“What was that, honey?”
“Oh! Uhhh… Thanks for the call dad and I’ll let you know how tonight goes! Love you!” Marinette barely heard her father’s “Love you too!” before she disconnected the call. She peered out at the rooftops.
What is HE doing here? She wondered to herself. She kept wondering until she saw him stop one building away, over an alley shielded from sight. She saw his head scan the street for pedestrians. Apparently satisfied, the blonde in the skintight leather outfit hopped down from the roof, out of Marinette’s line of sight.
A bright flash came out of the alley, over quick enough that to blink was to miss it.
Marinette didn’t blink.
A few seconds passed.
Then, Adrien exited the alley, whistling tunelessly. He walked casually towards the front entrance of the hotel, opened the main door, and vanished inside. And he never bothered to look over at the girl on the bench, who was staring openmouthed in shock.