Adrien shivered in the wind.
It was clutching sporadically at his clothing and keeping the roof of the school slightly chilly in the face of the approaching storm, clouds just barely visible on the horizon. The rain would probably be finished by the time their patrol rolled around, but the humidity in the air and slickness of the roofs would still be unpleasant. He grimaced slightly at the slightly cat-like thought; his aversion to all things water had been a new development with the emergence of Chat Noir. He was sure his Lady was enjoying the springtime.
They'd been brought here by a field trip. Supposedly, looking at the plants in the gardens up here was supposed inspire them for their next writing assignment. While Adrien didn't mind writing or flowers, he wasn't all that excited about shrubbery, which was what seemed to take up most of the space around them. A bell-like giggle drew his ear. Glancing up, he caught sight of the pretty, bluenette girl talking with Alya and pointing at one of the pink Azaleas that was blooming more or less out of sight. The girls were on the opposite side of the roof, much too far away for him to accurately admire his lady love. He sighed. Now there is a topic he could write sonnets about. Sighing dejectedly at lost opportunities, he turned away from the gorgeous view glanced towards Nino, who had given up on even pretending to be productive. He had laid back on one of the benches spread out along the sides of the roof, one knee bent and the other leg trailing on the ground, fingers tapping on his chest to some unheard beat that was blasting through his headphones.
Seeing as his best friend was distracted, he turned and picked his way toward the girls, nearly tripping over Rose where she was crouched down near some sprouts, and weaving around the arguing Alex and Kim. Approaching them, he overheard the tail end of their conversation and paused.
"- wouldn't get me flowers; he's much too obsessed with his 'tunes'." Alya sounded irritated about whatever they were talking about. Marinette just looked amused though she appeared to be trying to hide it by leaning in to examine the buds in front of her.
"Mm-hmm, sounds like someone I know who's obsessed with Ladybug." The ends of her lips twitched up. "Ring any bells?" Alya switched from glaring in Nino's direction, to glaring at her best friend.
"You know, not everyone gets to end up in perfect relationship like you and model-boy. How did you do it?" She leaned in close to Marinette, grasping her shoulders and staring into her eyes. "What is your secret?" The smaller girl easily broke out of her grip and stepped back, laughing. Then her smile turned sly, eyes twinkling.
"I don't know, maybe I'm just lucky." Oh, how he loved that girl. Alya deflated.
"Yeah, you have to be some kind of lucky to end up with actual Disney Princess Adrien Agreste." Marinette snickered and then flushed when she caught Adrien's eye from where he was standing a few feet away. "I mean -" He stepped up to her, grinning, and Alya yelped from behind him.
"Aww, Princess! Were you talking about me?" He ducked down in a low bow, catching her hand and placing a light kiss on her knuckles. Her breath hitched, but she stood firm underneath her blush.
"Not at all, we were trying to figure out how to get rid of this mangy stray." She tutted. "The poor thing just won't leave me alone." His smile turned soft as he swept her close, trapping her hand between them. He leaned in close so the tips of their noses brushed.
"Perhaps he just can't look away from your beauty." Closer. "For you shine brightly as the sun with all the grace of stars, M'lady." She sighed and was stretching up to kiss him when the moment was broken by Alya clearing her throat loudly. She pushed between them and ignored the squeak Marinette gave and the dark red color she'd just turned.
"If you guys are being gross, I'm just going to go bother Nino." She flipped a wave behind her as she walked. "Bye lovebirds." Once she was out of earshot, Adrien glanced over to his Lady; she looked back after a second and they both burst into laughter.
Giggling, she tried to talk. "Perhaps we should save the PDA for later, Kitty. I'd prefer to spend my time with you without any interruptions." He pouted, but her sparkling eyes showed she wasn't fooled. Then he smirked and gestured vaguely at the pot beside her.
"Don't you mean that you wished they would leaf us alone?" She groaned, putting her face in her palm.
"Why did I decide to date you?" He didn't bother to answer, just kept grinning at until she looked up. She dropped her arm and then grabbed one of his, pulling him toward one of the more secluded seating areas. "Come on, I already have most of what I need. Help me fill this paper out." He trotted after her willingly, never losing the lovestruck expression he was sure covered his face.
-/-
Faint screams woke Adrien up from his doze, and Marinette's legs tensed from where he could feel them underneath his calves. Hastily, he sat up, his knees knocking into her work and everything spilling to the ground, taking him with it. He sprung up again instantly, but not without hearing her quiet snort at his clumsiness. He glanced at her, and she smirked before turning serious.
"Akuma." He made an affirming sound her direction as he scrutinized the rest of the roof, trying to see if there was somewhere they could transform. Unfortunately, it seemed they were out of luck this time. With the floorplan of the terrace so exposed, there was literally nothing to duck behind; the plants were all too small and spread out to provide much cover, their classmates blocking what little there was. They could try to sneak down into the stairwell, but the roof exit had an automatically locking door, and Mme. Bustier had the only key in feasible reach. Alya was already badgering the teacher about letting her get down to street level so she could "catch some of the action". The green-eyed woman was steadfastly refusing. He huffed, frustrated. Marinette spoke up beside him, likely following his train of thought.
"This is only a two story building. Maybe we could drop over the side and try to climb down?" She seemed hesitant, and he didn't blame her. Even taking into account that they retained most of their strength out of costume, it was going to be taxing and time-consuming trying to climb down a couple of stories without either of their weapons, not to mention they had to do it without drawing attention to themselves. He shook his head, wincing at a large crash that had come from the direction of the Eiffel Tower.
"No, it'd probably be easier to deal with them if we hung out here to be honest." Ruefully, he grinned. "They always seem to pass by our school." She sighed, annoyed at their predicament. The flashes of light and booming noises - fireworks, maybe? - were getting closer. They could see large objects getting launched into the sky only to come crunching back down. Barely, his improved hearing was able to make out an amplified voice. It sounded like the akuma was ranting about people being noisy while he slept, giving him a migraine. Who sleeps at in the middle of an afternoon on Tuesday?
Marinette was trying to sneak over to Mme. Bustier, maybe thinking that she could steal the ring of keys the woman was holding above Alya's reaching hands when a car drew his attention. It had flown over the roof they were on and crashed into the third story of the building across the street. A man, who had been leaning out his window trying to catch a glimpse of the akumatized victim, flipped head over heels out of the open space, barely catching himself on the sill of the window as he fell. A cut-off yelp escaped the civilian's mouth, and Marinette froze beside him.
They looked at each other quickly, startled horror quickly fading to determination, and sprinted toward the low wall at the edge of the roof. Pulling ahead, Adrien ignored Nino trying to grab his arm as he ran past. He reached the side barrier seconds before Marinette and crouched down, linking his fingers together like one of the bases on a cheerleading squad. She stepped into his hands and bent her knee, extending it as she was propelled across to the building opposite. The two of them were perfectly in sinc - him putting all his weight into the swing and trusting that she aimed herself true. Sure enough, as he spun and leaned forward over the barrier to watch her with anxious eyes, she landed perfectly in the open window above the new hole in the hotel facade. She reached down toward the frightened man and pulled him inside to safety.
Sighing in relief, he waited for her to look his direction before nodding once and smiling. She sent him a questioning look. Promptly, he scanned the rest of the building for other injured Parisians, trying to see if anyone else needed immediate help. The left side of the hotel had gone up in flame, people spilling out of the lobby covered in soot and rubble. A little girl, though, was desperately banging on one of the window panes up near the top of the hotel, only 4 rooms the the left of Marinette. He quickly looked around, searching for something he could use.
There!
A sturdy-looking shovel had been laid against the wall just to the side of him. Sparing a small moment to mentally apologize, he picked up the tool and broke the metal head off over his knee. Then, he hurled it as hard as he could, impaling it in the bricks midway between Marinette and the little girl. With a nod to him, she left the now-hyperventilating man behind with only a brief pat on the back on the back for support, and stepped carefully onto one of the lights that jutted slightly out of the building.
Balancing herself as best she could, she leaped up and forward and caught herself on the bar he had just placed, using her momentum to launch herself up to the little girl's window pane. Touching down on the sill, she pushed the glass up, reaching down to take the child into a tight grip. She dropped down a story, and pushed her way through the orange curtains of the window below, where the fire hadn't yet reached. She turned back for a moment, and Adrien gave the 'all clear' signal, grinning at her in relief. She returned the grin and picked up the girl, running back into the room out of sight.
Adrien turned around, brushing a hand through his hair and thinking that maybe he could use the fire escape to get down to street level. Unfortunately, as he spun completely around, he was greeted by 13 faces frozen in shock.
Frick. He had forgotten about them.
...
Thanks for reading guys! I have a whole list of self prompts I'm trying to get through, but time and motivation are fleeting and far-between as I'm sure you all know. I'm also on Ao3 under the same name with quite a few more stories! Come check it out!
On another note, reviews help me write faster, so please, please, please, leave me a comment. I don't care if it's constructive or mean or nice, I just need reminders that some people read these things. Thank you guys again and good luck on your own stories!