Author's note: I am reimagining the characters as a few years older. Closer to 17 or 18. Please enjoy!
Marinette was sitting in class on a chilly afternoon in the fall. Her head was resting on her hand, and she had to keep herself from falling asleep listening to the geography lesson. Last night was an adventure- another day, another akuma. It wasn't like she hated it though, most of these baddies were pretty harmless (so far, at least) and had been defeated countless times.
Most evenings Ladybug patrolled Paris alone. If Chat Noir went on patrols, he didn't do it with her. Contrary to popular belief (those pesky news channels!) Ladybug and Chat only met up sparingly during the month, but made sure to work together when there were dark butterflies involved. Marinette never minded this, actually preferring to have time alone to reflect and practice. And Chat could be annoying. The girl looked under her desk to check her phone; The weather looked rather cold tonight but she had told her partner that they could meet at 21:00… She then felt a nudge on her arm and looked up to see Alya eyeing Marinette's phone and quickly looking back up at her with wide eyes. Marinette's phone started to buzz and they both looked down to see "No texting in class!" sent by Nino. She looked around to see where he was and the three friends giggled silently.
When class was finished, Alya and Marinette found themselves at the front doors to the school. It was just chilly enough to create frost on the grass.
"Ah, Geography really is my favourite subject," Alya joked, leaning against the black gate. She had her hands in the pockets of her red coat.
"Me too, I mean, what is more interesting than learning about the Earth's crust and water currents? It's really intriguing stuff," Marinette laughed.
"When you put it like that it seems at least mildly okay."
Marinette looked at her watch. 17:13. She still had a while until tonight. She could feel Tikki moving around in her purse, obviously wanting the girl to get to a place more private.
"Hey girls!" Nino yelled from a few meters away. Alya winked at Marinette and turned to motion to Nino and his friend to come over. The girl was sure her best friend had a little crush on Nino but she just had more confidence about it. Whereas with Marinette's own crush… She could feel her heart jump up in her chest and butterflies form in her tummy so powerful that she swore they could be little akuma butterflies. The girl would have chuckled to herself if she hadn't seen Adrien in the distance walking over. Oh no. Why does seeing Adrien always do this to her? How come this didn't seem to happen to anyone else? How is it humanly possible to be so attractive?
"So I was thinking," Alya started when both boys had come closer, "We should all go to karaoke. I know of a great place that has some good hits! The owners are Japanese and don't speak any french, so sometimes they'll let you have alcohol if you're underage. Sound fun?"
Her friend met Marinette's eyes for a brief, sly moment before smiling and nodding enthusiastically to Adrien and Nino.
"Sounds fun!" Nino said.
"Sure, I'll go," Adrien smiled.
"Tomorrow night. Be at my place at 18:00," Alya beamed, "It's a double date!"
Before the group could ask any more questions, Alya ran off to her older brother's car.
"Who's dating who?" Adrien laughed.
"You and me, bro," Nino fist bumped his friend and they laughed. The group gave each other a little wave and everyone walked off in different directions.
Marinette's heart was still beating madly when she arrived home, having texted Alya a hundred question marks and blushing emojis. Alya simply wrote back a winky face.
18:42. Tikki finally flew out of Marinette's bag and stretched.
"It's so dark in there! I had a good nap though," Tikki smiled at Marinette.
"I'm glad."
"Everything okay?"
"Alya invited Adrien to hang out tomorrow! I don't know how I'll do it…"
"Oh, Marinette. If you like him then you should want to see him."
"I want to see him but he can't see the true me when I'm too nervous to speak," The girl cried. She gave herself a little hug and tried to breathe steadier. Tikki flew over and sat herself on Mari's head. She gave her friend a little hug.
"Thanks," Marinette sighed, feeling a little better.
8:55. Ladybug was sitting on the roof of a patisserie near the downtown core. It was the time of the year where everything got dark fast, and at seven Paris was only lit by street lights and the Eiffel Tower. This was the best place to meet her partner, she had previously told Chat Noir, because the smell of bread and pastries filled the air while you watched the night crowd walk to bars and late-night cafes. Tonight particularly was a nice night to smell baked goods. They reminded her of home and calmed her worried thoughts.
When the two heroes met up they liked to either watch Parisians or play fight and chase each other around the city. It was nice. Marinette wished she could be as comfortable around Adrien as she was around Chat. Maybe one day.
"Hello, my lady!" Chat shouted from a few roofs over.
"Don't you catcall me!" Ladybug retorted, standing up.
"Oh, I so do love your cat puns," the boy chimed, "Did you know about the full moon tonight?"
"No, I didn't see anything about it," she replied, looking off to the city.
"But it's too bright to see the stars from here."
"We don't have anything else to do. Let's go somewhere darker."
Chat Noir smiled at his partner and both of them ran off towards a different part of town. Soon enough, they had come across a tall abandoned building. Marinette looked around, curious. On top of the flat roof was a dead garden and old graffiti all over the ground with one nicely maintained bench sitting in the middle of the rooftop. Underneath the bench was a plastic bin.
"This is where I come to watch the city at night," Chat said, looking at his beautiful partner. He smiled at her, proud of his space. Marinette just smiled shyly. Chat was showing her a more intimate part of himself and the girl felt happy that her friend trusted her. Chat Noir walked over to the bench, his tail swishing behind him. He kneeled and pulled out the green, plastic bin. Inside he grabbed a blanket and a bag of candy.
"So you do patrol, in a way," Ladybug chuckled.
"What made you think I didn't?" Chat said, laying a blanket on the cold bench and motioning to her.
"I wasn't sure what you did in your spare time. I didn't want to overestimate you and get disappointed," She laughed, sitting on the blanket, "This isn't a date, right?"
"If it was a date, you'd know," Chat winked. He wrapped himself in a second blanket. Marinette did the same. It was still cold under the wool covers, but it was somehow perfect. Or purr-fect. Whatever. The blanket smelled nice, like mint and lavender. It must have been washed recently; Did Chat plan this? Her heart suddenly started beating a little faster. In a good way.
The moon was beautiful. Paris was beautiful.
Chat reached out to grab some candy, which was sitting between the teenagers. Marinette's hand slipped out of the blankets and she placed it on top of his, intertwining their fingers. She continued looking at the sky as Chat looked at her curiously. Marinette knew she shouldn't play like this but it seemed like a good moment to get closer to her friend. She did not know how deep her partner's feelings were, and she had always assumed his flirtation was towards all girls. Not that he would meet many as a feline hero. Or maybe he did? He couldn't be up here every night alone. Ladybug thought about how sad that was and how maybe he could see her at night when she hopped between rooftops.
Chat placed the candy bag on the ground with his unoccupied hand and moved himself to be closer to his friend. Neither of them were touching other than with their fingers, especially with all the blankets surrounding them. Ladybug leaned over and gave Chat a kiss on the cheek. That was all he would get. Chat tensed his shoulders and made a little surprised noise. He didn't ask for anything more than that. She didn't know if she felt anything for him more than friendship, but isn't that a type of love? Shouldn't romance be built upon friendship? And Ladybug and Chat were good friends. One completed the other, in a sense.
Oh, Adrien. If he wasn't there Ladybug would probably be looking at Chat the same way. They were both so different yet so similar; one boy was more quiet and contemplative, kind and talented. The other was rowdy, talkative, and wouldn't stop flirting. Not tonight though, it seemed.
1:04. It was late. Chat and Ladybug had been sitting above the city for hours in silence, occasionally with Chat pointing out characters on the street and both of them laughing.
"I should go, my lady," Chat Noir sighed, "Not to disappoint, but I have school tomorrow and practice before that."
"I better get home too," Lady said, getting out of the covers. Chat was always trying to talk about his civilian life when they met up, trying to hint at who he was. Lady had to force herself to be cold on the subject; She wanted to know as badly as he did but felt that it would change everything they had built.
"I practice fencing, if you're curious," Chat continued.
"Mmhmm," Ladybug mumbled, folding the covers neatly and putting them into the large bin. She could see a cardboard box at the bottom of the bin, and Marinette stooped down to lift the cover of the box. Before she could lift it, 2 more blankets were thrown into the bin. She looked up at her partner and raised an eyebrow.
"That's for another time, my lady," Chat told her. Ladybug rolled her eyes.
"Let's meet again in a week from now," Ladybug stated, "Unless any funny business happens."
"There's always funny business when I'm around, my love," Chat said as he jumped off the building.
Ladybug was left alone to think while she bounded home, but she felt a lot better about the karaoke situation.