They were both pretty dead on their feet. Marinette had one of her infamous "three in the morning bursts of inspiration" and Adrien had gotten pulled into a book and read it all night.
This was, of course, a complete lie. What they actually did was track down a rather sneaky akuma, which had taken most of the night. Being the heroic duo of Ladybug and Cat Noir sometimes left them with little time in their schedules. Sacrifices had to be made, like sacrificing eight hours of sleep.
The important thing to note here was this: neither of Marinette nor Adrien were aware of their crime-fighting partner's identity. This was especially humorous due to their crushes. Marinette loved Adrien, but pushed the ever flirtatious Cat Noir away. Adrien as Cat Noir had made it abundantly clear that he loved Ladybug, but thought Marinette was afraid of him.
Love-squares which were not actually squares aside, they were both running on little to no sleep. It was a miracle that they had made it through the school day. The sandman didn't dust their eyes, so much as carpet bombed them. Their individual beds were calling their names like a siren's song in a storm. Unfortunately, they were not the type of people to say "dude, I'm going home and I'm getting some sleep" when asked if they would help their mutual friends with some homework.
It was this fact that lead Marinette and Adrien, tired enough to come off as shambling corpses, to sit in a secluded corner of a coffee shop waiting for Alya and Nino to return from placing their orders. The tired duo hadn't really wanted anything, aside from sleep, so they were selected to guarded the table.
No sooner than Alya and Nino left did Marinette lay her head down.
"I'm just gonna rest my eyes for a second," she mumbled.
"Good idea," Adrien said through a yawn. He folded his arms on the table, using them to cushion his head. "I could use a little cat nap."
He hadn't even meant it as a pun, so the response he got was mildly surprising (or would have been if his mind wasn't half dead).
"Shut up, Cat," Mari whinned. "No puns while I'm trying to sleep."
It was a testament to just how tired he was, that he didn't shoot up at that. His mind, in it's sleep-addled state, sped through a variety of factors (and likely skipped a few steps) to arrive at a simple conclusion.
"Huh," he thought. "So that's a thing."
The combination of sleep deprivation and her voice seemed to flip a switch and he subtly realized that it was not just Marinette and Adrien at the coffee shop but Ladybug and Cat Noir.
"I didn't even mean it as a pun, Bugaboo," he drawled.
"Don't call me Bugaboo."
"Are they aware of the secret they just learned?" said the creature in Adrien's shirt pocket.
"Shush, Plagg!" hissed something in Marinette's purse.
"I just thought this would be a bigger deal."
"Plagg, I love you, I really do, but if you ruin this moment, I will tie your tail to a dog's and make him chase it."
He glanced down to Marinette's purse where a red and black sprite sat. It waved at him, throwing him a bright smile, before turning it's attention to the kwami poking out of his shirt.
Plagg grumbled. "Fine, but only cause you said you love me."
"I know," she giggled. "That's why I said it."
"Tikki,"
"We'll talk later, Plagg. Bye, Adrien, good luck," she said before ducking back into her purse.
Plagg floated back into his hiding spot. Adrien closed his eyes again.
"Huh," he hummed.
The ramifications of what he had discovered was finally able to work it's way through the haze, just enough. While it wasn't enough to startle him, it did cause him to tap Marinette's shoulder.
"Cat," she whinned.
"Marinette."
"Adrien."
"Ladybug."
"What," she pouted. She turned her face in his direction, but refused to open her eyes.
"Just wondering if my lady was aware that we are in a coffee shop."
"Of course. We walked in here together."
"Marinette and Adrien walked in here."
"I'm too tired for riddles, kitty."
"I mean that Marinette now knows that Cat Noir is Adrien, while Adrien now knows that Marinette is Ladybug."
"Yep,"
There was a lull in the conversation. Adrien turned his head towards her, opening one eye.
"Can't help but feel this should be a bigger deal."
"Too tired," she mumbled. "Sleep now. Freak later."
A beat.
"Are you sure we should-"
"Adrien."
She lifted an arm, intending to put a finger to his lips. However, as her eyes were closed, she missed and just ended up feeling around his face before she found them.
"Shut your handsome face. Like I said, sleep now, freak later."
She moved her hand back, setting it on the table.
He chuckled. "You have no right to be this adorable."
Her face went scarlet.
"Stop," she whinned. "I can't sleep with my face as red as a tomato."
"I'd call it more of a 'Ladybug red'."
"Stupid Cat Agreste," she grumbled. "Can't figure out if I should swoon or roll my eyes."
A cheshire cat smile lit up Adrien's face.
"What's this I hear about swooning? All this time I thought you were intimidated by me."
She snorted. "You're pretty dense, kitty. I've had a massive crush on Adrien Agreste for half a year now."
"Oh," he breathed. "Oh, wow."
"Yep. What do you think about that?"
"Well," he said through a yawn. "I kind of promised to punch the guy that had your affections. Can't really do that now."
"I can do it for you."
"Seems Buginette has a violent streak."
"You won't let me sleep. Also, Buginette? Really?"
"Says the girl who called me 'Cat Agrest'?"
"It was either that or Adrien Noir," she said with a shrug.
"Adrien Black? Kind of has a nice ring to it."
"You're a dork," she giggled.
"But, you love at least half of this dork."
"More like three fourths."
"So what? All of Adrien and half of Cat Noir?"
"I can never love your puns, kitty, only learn to tolerate them."
"I know you meant that as a joke," he sniffed. "But that means a lot to me."
She fumbled around his face again.
"Kitty, please," she whinned. "I want to have this heart to heart, I really do, but I need sleep. So do you, for that matter. So let's just keep quite. Same for you, Alya."
As she took her hand back, he glanced up to see their mutual friends staring in shock.
"How long-"
"Three minutes, about the time you called me 'Bugaboo'," Marinette mumbled. "Hard to ignore her staring a hole in the top of my head."
"Girl, you better spill," Alya hissed, nearly slamming her hands on the table.
"Sleep now, spill later."
"Mari," she growled.
"I have to agree with my lady," Adrien voiced. "We were up all night trying to catch an akuma."
"Dude," Nino whispered. "How are you so calm? This is huge-"
Marinette shot up, slamming her hands on the table and glaring at them with bloodshot eyes.
"Guys, if you're going to keep talking, move, or I will drag all three of you kicking and screaming to the top of the Eiffel Tower and I know only one of you could get down."
"You heard the Princess," Adrien giggled. "My lady and I could really use a little cat n-"
"Finish that pun and you're dead to me, Agrest."
"You wound me, Princess Bugaboo."
"If by 'wound', you mean 'break your arm if you won't let me sleep," she grumbled as she settled back down.
"Would you kiss it and make it better?"
"Maybe."
Adrien laughed. "Alright, Sleeping Beauty. Sleep tight."
As her two friends shamelessly flirted, Alya's mind was in overdrive. He fist clenched as she ground her teeth. She wanted to be angry, to scream and shout and demand answers, but as she looked at the massive bags underneath Mari's eyes, she faltered. With a deep breath, she made her decision.
"Okay," she breathed. "Like Mari said, 'sleep now, freak later'." She sat down at the table and propped her head on one arm. "You two get some sleep, we'll finish this work."
"Way ahead of you," Marinette whispered.
Alya shook her head. "But as soon as you're caught up, I'm getting answers." She narrowed her eyes at Adrian. "From both of you."
Adrian just shrugged and let out a yawn.
"Sit down, Nino," the lady-blogger said, dragging down her boyfriend.
"But, this… I..."
"We'll get our answers when they can actually think straight," she sighed. " Now help me with number ten, before Mari carries through with her threat."
And so, all was well. Adrian and Marinette got an hour of sleep, before being escorted by their friends to their own homes. Snug in their own beds, all was calm… Until the next morning where Marinette woke up, remembered her conversation with Adrian, and promptly, as she had put it yesterday, 'freaked later'.
C.T.K: And so I join another fandom. Just… Why must I torture myself so? Anyway, you ever get so freaking tired that you just don't bloody care what's going on around you or what you're even saying? Yeah, that's the basic jist of this. Not sure if I'll write up a sequel. If any of you authors wanna continue it, go ahead. Just let me know, so I can read it.
May your writing implements never fail you.
Later!