So something went wrong during the first upload, and it made the story turn into something really scary. O.o Thank you to everyone who reviewed and told me about it! Sorry that I even let it happen in the first place! Dx
Anywho...
As I had said in the first version: this is my first ML fanfiction, so it might not be that great, but I hope it's at least a little decent. Thanks for giving it a chance!
Daydreams and Cologne
Marinette was suffocating, but in a good way.
The smell of Adrien's cologne had always put her in a temporary daze, triggering her favorite daydreams of being wrapped in his arms as he leaned in to kiss her. But only for a moment, as she mainly ever smelled it whenever he was walking past her, and she wasn't about to lean over desk to smell him from behind. That would be weird. Although, she did get lucky whenever he occasionally stood next to her, but then it was much harder to not look like a weirdo as she tried to smell his sweet cologne without being too obvious.
Now she barely had to try.
As soon as she stepped into Adrien's room, the scent of Adrien's cologne hit her like a ton of bricks, and it was incredible, yet nerve wracking, as she had to force herself not to succumb to her daydreams again while her friends set up their schoolwork on the table by the windows. She had to at least try to act like she wasn't daydreaming of Adrien getting her alone in his room so that he could tell her he was secretly in love with her and pull her in for a –
"Did you bring the flashcards, Marinette?" Alya asked as she took a seat on one side of Adrien's table.
Marinette jolted out of the daydream she had been trying so hard not to fall into, involuntarily letting out a small gasp. "Uh," she glanced at Adrien, who was sitting on the other side of the table with Nino, their backs to the window. He was laughing at a joke Nino had just told him, and the sound almost completely distracted her from answering her friend's question. "Uh, yeah!" Marinette hurried to sit next to Alya at the table.
"I even color coded them by vocabulary, important people, and significant events," Marinette added, pulling a banded set of flash cards out of her backpack.
"Wow, that's pretty cool, Marinette," Adrien said, flashing her a smile.
It was something so simple, yet it made Marinette speechless, and all she could think to do was smile.
"You don't even need flashcards for this, Adrien," Nino teased. "Face it. You're a huge history nerd."
Adrien flashed a crooked smile and shrugged as he rubbed the back of his neck, as if to say that he couldn't help it.
"Hey, I'll take all the history nerds I can get!" Alya said. With that, they all got to work.
An hour and a half later, the table had been pushed to the side to allow Nino and Alya room to lie down when they got tired of sitting on the floor. A giant space had been removed from between Marinette and Adrien, who were somehow sitting closer together now. On top of that, the smell of Adrien's cologne was still distinguishable in the air. Fainter, but very much there.
The scent added with the close proximity of her crush made it even more difficult to concentrate on studying, leading to her giving incredibly wrong answers when they started quizzing each other.
When Nino had asked her what a tsar was, she had been daydreaming about cuddling with Adrien while they watched a black and white horror movie, so she blurted out, "Dracula! I mean, an emperor!"
When Alya asked her what happened to the protestors on Bloody Sunday, Marinette had been imagining rescuing Adrien as Ladybug, and how he'd be so grateful that he would ask her out on a date, so to her haste to answer, she said, "Ladybug saved – ah, I mean, sorry, I meant that, uh, they could've used a Ladybug?"
"Okay, but why?" Alya asked, giving Marinette a look that said "snap out of it". Marinette took a deep breath and and gave her the answer.
But those were nothing compared to when Adrien asked her a question.
"Okay, Marinette, what's a serf?" Adrien asked.
"Huh? Oh! Uh…" Marinette tried to rack her brain for the answer. She remembered writing down the definition on one of her flashcards, but it was hard to think with Adrien's green eyes looking right at her. "Ah, green!"
Adrien and Nino friends gave her perplexed looks while Alya rubbed her forehead, feeling her friend's secondhand embarrassment.
"I mean, because the ocean can look green, ya know?" Marinette tried to explain with a shaky voice. "And that's where people…surf?"
"Uh, sorry, Marinette," Adrien said with an apologetic look. "A serf is a person who gave their land to a lord and offered their servitude in return for protection from the lord." He gave her a supportive smile when he saw how ashamed she looked for getting something she should've known. "Don't worry, Marinette. You'll get it next time."
Even though she was embarrassed, the smile did make her feel a little better.
By the last round of questions, they were getting tired of studying, and Marinette was getting tired of succumbing to her fantasies just because she could still smell Adrien's cologne. Except, she couldn't smell it because that was how the air in his room smelled, more so it was because Adrien had somehow ended up so close that he was directly in front of her, and every move he made caused the air between them to smell even more like him.
As much as sitting that close to Adrien caused her to feel permanently on edge with her nerves, she still couldn't get enough of it.
"Okay, Marinette," Alya said loudly, thinking if she spoke louder, she could pull Marinette out of whatever trance she could possibly be in. Marinette jumped to attention and forced herself to focus on completely on Alya..
Marinette got the question correct, but now it was her turn to ask Adrien a question. "Ah, okay, Adrien," Marinette said in an unsteady voice as she ruffled through her notes. She could feel his green eyes on her, as if he was studying her the way he studied his history notes.
Or maybe her nerves were altering her senses to sense things that weren't real. Probably that one, she thought, why Adrien ever look at me longer than he needed to?
"Who was the Nicolas the–" she looked up and locked eyes with Adrien, sending a jolt of electricity down her spine. Adrien looked surprised as well, as if he had suddenly realized he'd been caught staring. He looked down at his notes and his cheeks turned a pale pink, an action that confused Marinette.
"The second," Marinette forced herself to finish.
"The second of what?" Adrien asked, forgetting his embarrassment for a moment to look back up at her.
Adrien's sudden confusion shocked Marinette so much that she forgot about any nerves she had before.
"Nicholas," Marinette answered. "Nicholas the second."
Adrien seemed to blank out for a moment, but for only moment. He jumped back to reality and blurted, "Oh, the last tsar of Russia!"
Marinette glanced over at Nino and Alya, both of whom looked equally perplexed at Adrien suddenly acting…well, Marinettey.
"Well, I'm beat!" Alya said, changing the subject. She began to sit up. "What do you guys say we go out for some pizza? I'm starving."
"Same, let's do it," Nino said, sitting up and stretching his out his back. "Will you come, Adrien? Or do you have to stay here?"
Adrien stood up and stretched his arms above his head, causing his shirt to rise high enough to expose of portion of his midsection. Marinette didn't even try not to look, and the sight was enough to make her go crazy.
Images of a shirtless Adrien fluttered through her mind at a rapid pace.
A shirtless Adrien modeling a nice pair of jeans.
A shirtless Adrien that just got done with a workout.
A shirtless Adrien dressed to go swimming.
A shirtless Adrien that just got out of the–
Marinette forced herself to pry her eyes away before she could finish the thought, and just in time for Adrien to finish stretching.
Adrien leaned down and offered Marinette his hand. "Will you come, Marinette?"
The act made Marinette blush profusely. Her hand shook as she tentatively placed it in his hand, and he helped her up. He was giving her such a hopeful look, and he was so close to her that he was all she could see, and his cologne smelled even stronger now. Her heart was racing, and she wanted to say yes to him so bad. On any other day, she would've gone with him anywhere, but she remembered she had to meet with Chat Noir later for their nighttime patrol. Being with Adrien was a luxury, but watching over Paris was her duty.
"Actually, there's something that I have to do later," Marinette answered, proud of herself for forming a coherent sentence with Adrien so close to her.
"But you're not busy right now, are you?" Adrien asked. "Come on, it won't be as much fun without you," he added with a hopeful smile.
Hearing that gave Marinette a surge of confidence. Adrien wanted to hang out with her! Marinette decided she had plenty of time to eat at least one slice of pizza before the sun began to set.
"I-I'll come for a little while," Marinette said, doing her best to keep her cool.
"Hey, Lovebirds, you guys coming or what?" Alya called from the door where she and Nino were waiting.
It was then that Marinette and Adrien realized that they were still holding hands. The pulled apart in surprise and hurried to the door with blushes on their faces. Nino and Alya had already started down the hallway, leaving Adrien and Marinette behind.
"Oh, wait! My purse!" Marinette exclaimed, stopping as soon as she crossed the threshold to the hallway.
"I'll get it!" Adrien said, quickly running back into his room to fetch the pink purse sitting on his couch. Marinette was too surprised to do anything but stare.
Adrien jogged back to her. He was wearing a playful smile that was new for Marinette to see him with, and she liked it more than she'd admit to anyone. It was terribly attractive, yet it was somehow familiar…
Adrien got down on one knee and bowed his head, holding out the purse to Marinette with both hands. "Your purse, my lady."
My lady.
Marinette's heart skipped a beat out of shock and confusion.
That was what Chat Noir always called her.
Marinette forced the thought out of her mind. Adrien was much sweeter than Chat Noir, and she didn't want to think about anyone else while her crush was paying her way more attention than she usually got from him.
Marinette giggled, and Adrien looked back up, still wearing that playful smile.
"Why, thank you, Monsieur," she said, taking the purse from him. "Who knew you were such a gentleman?"
Adrien stood up and offered her his arm. "Always, for a princess."
The words made her heart flutter and her cheeks redder, but she didn't hesitate to link her arm through his.
They walked like that until they reached the stairs in the foyer. Marinette was about to start the descent to catch up with Alya and Nino, who were talking by the front door, but Adrien held her back. "Uh, Marinette?"
"Uh, yes, Adrien?" Marinette asked, unsure of what he wanted. Her mind rattled through all the possibilities–or rather, the possibilities she was hoping for.
I like you.
Will you go out on date with me?
Want to cuddle and watch a black and white horror movie sometime?
The reality was none of those, but it still made her heart race.
"You smell really good."
"Bye bye, little butterfly," Ladybug said as she released white butterfly from her yo-yo. It akumatized one of the cooks at the pizza place after he got in a fight with his boss. The cook had put a strong fight with the pizza slices as sharp as knives, but he was finally subdued by Ladybug and Chat Noir.
"Pound it!" They exclaimed as they bumped their fists.
The press was quick to surround them, hoping to get a word from Paris' superheroes before they dashed off once more, but they wouldn't get much.
"Ladybug, can we get a comment on tonight's villain?"
Ladybug's earring beeped as the last spot disappeared. She rushed to answer, readying her yo-yo to take her leave. "The villain is always Hawk Moth. Tonight, we saved one of his victims, just like we always will. Bug out!"
Before anyone could say anything else, Ladybug threw her yo-yo and swung away to building's roof across the street, landing behind a chimney. She was about to take off again when someone landed behind her. On instinct, she judo-flipped them.
"Me-ow!" Chat Noir yelped. "Jeez, you might be Ladybug, but you're as feisty as a cat."
"Chat Noir, what are you doing? I have to go before I detransform!"
"I know, I know," Chat said, brushing himself off as he got to his feet. "I just really wanted to tell you something."
"What could be so important that you have to tell me now?" Ladybug asked in frustration, her anxious to get away causing her to bounce from foot to foot.
His playful smirk was gone, he was looking at her with his big green eyes in a way that Ladybug couldn't tell if they looked hopeful or afraid, and he said, "You smell really good."
Ladybug froze. "What did you say?"
Chat Noir's signature smirk returned. "See you soon, my lady."
With a final salute, Chat ran past her to the roof to jump off the side, his staff ready to catch his fall.
As he ran past her, she she caught the smell of something in the air – something she had never noticed around Chat Noir before, yet it was so familiar that it made her heart skip a beat.
There it is! If you would be so kind as to leave a review telling me what you thought, I'd be really grateful! Thanks for reading! :)
