Adrien Agreste peered up from his phone as he waited for his friends to arrive, anxious to say the least. There was no reason for him to be anxious to see his friends, and therefore, it could be concluded that it was not at all what he was anxious about. His anxiety had perhaps stemmed from the contents of his phone, which he seemed to be surveying rather intently. A screen of pink and red could just be made out, and upon further inspection, it could be seen that Adrien had been looking through a set of photos on a particular website; a particular blog. If there was one thing that his friend Alya Cesaire was good at, it was sly news photography. At this moment, it was her photography skills that truly caught his attention, for in no other way could he possibly obtain photos of his Ladybug.
And in no other way could he quell his nerves.
He really didn't need Nino or his other friends to discover his unrequited love for the superheroine, but he couldn't help it if seeing Marinette made him feel just a little bit anxious. Alright, perhaps seeing his friends was causing him some anxiety.
On the very first day he had become Chat Noir and met Ladybug, he fell in love with her confidence, levelheadedness, and willingness to always do good. And it was then that he discovered within himself this flirtatious behavior that expressed his desire. He knew immediately that he wanted to be with her always and that he would do anything to keep her happy and safe. It had been well over three years since then, and he still saw in his heart that there was nothing that could tear him away from that feeling.
However, it was as of the last year or so that he began to truly wonder. His love for Ladybug in no way lessened, but his growing affection toward another did concern him.
Adrien's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when Alya attempted a glance at his cell, leaning her head between his face and phone.
"Hello! What have we here…" she greeted, directing her attention to the contents on the screen. Adrien quickly stashed his cell into his pocket but he knew that it hadn't been soon enough as Alya turned to give him a very telling confused expression. He tried to smile as if what he was looking at was really no big deal but it was difficult to hide his embarrassment.
"Yo Adrien!" Nino called out, walking not far behind Alya. They had probably both just left one of their homes, since they seemed to enjoy each other's company in secluded spaces more than anything else.
"Hey Nino, Alya," he replied, waving to them. He hoped that because of Nino's presences, Alya would drop her questioning. Of course, there was no such luck. He saw a sly smile begin to stretch across her face as she pieced together why he would be looking through her blog. He had done so well to hide it for all these years but apparently had become too careless in the comfort of his friends. Quickly, he attempted to deviate from the impending topic. "Where's Marinette?" he inquired.
"Oh she'll be here," Alya replied confidently, though she still appeared to be eager to pry at his thoughts.
"Haha yea, she seemed pretty excited to go," Nino added. He shared a meaningful glance with Alya and Adrien began to wonder.
"She likes fish?" asked Adrien.
"I don't think so?" said Alya, wondering to herself as well. Although she knew full well of her best friend's intentions for the day, she could not seem to answer whether or not she liked fish. Such a trivial matter, but it frustrated her none the less.
"I think she just wanted the four of us out. I've been taking up all her time with Alya." Nino chuckled as he spoke. As happy as Adrien was for his friend's budding romance, he could sometimes be a bit oversentimental. Of course Marinette would miss her best friend, just as he would. He personally couldn't decide whether or not having Plagg to talk to drove him crazy or not. It was a benefit to not be lonely in his large home, but talking to the kwami was not always the most entertaining thing. If Marinette was missing the time she spent with her friend, he could begin to sympathize. However, he and Nino did have the opportunity to chat in the classes they shared, and he wondered if the girls did the same.
Marinette arrived not long after, approaching nervously, as if forcing herself to walk slowly. She adjusted the red bow in her shortened hair as she neared, apparently insecure about having worn it at all. Adrien waved casually as per the norm and she appeared to stiffen and look away, causing him to be concerned over whether or not his feelings would be reciprocated. It seemed to be a habit of his, falling into unreciprocated love. Well, he wasn't sure if he could call his interest in Marinette love. Maybe more of a crush. Just a small and simple case of interest. He was allowed to wonder if she liked him back. Or at all.
In fact, for a long while, he was under the distinct impression that Marinette disliked him. This was due mostly to the fact that she would hardly speak with him, but had no trouble speaking to anyone else.
Having had waited outside the aquarium, there was little time between greetings and entering the main lobby. The inside was tinted in a stereotypical blue and though there were not any tanks near the front entrance, the space had been decorated with statues and photographs of large sea life. It caught Adrien's interest to know that Marinette did in fact enjoy looking at fish as she floundered about the lobby excitedly, pointing at the models of sharks hanging in the center. Her particular favorites were the whale sharks.
"Are they whales or sharks?" Nino asked, clearly confused by their existence.
"Sharks. They're called whale sharks because they're very large," Marinette explained in a manner most matter-of-factly.
"I can tell," added Alya, raising an eyebrow while observing the model of the whale shark in comparison to the other fish. She had been certain it was a whale.
"They don't have teeth! Their mouth is a like a huge vacuum! What's so cute about them?" Nino went on.
"They don't have teeth because they filter feed! They're the most peaceful sharks and you can swim with them because they're not dangerous to humans," she gushed, clearly having dreamed of swimming with them. Adrien grinned at her excitement. It was always something to see another person talk about something they were excited about. They glowed. It was a different glow from when she spoke about fashion design but there was definitely a glow.
"How do you know so much about whale sharks?" Adrien inquired, making eye contact with her for the first time all day. She almost immediately looked away to rub the back of her head.
"I don't," she confessed, blushing. "That's all I know about them."
Their group walked through the aquarium with fastened looks of awe. The tanks they viewed were enormous and many of the life living in them well beyond the imagination. Both Adrien and Marinette were well aware to give the love birds their space and did their best to keep each other in good company. But even after having known each other for three years, Marinette still seemed to have problems speaking with him. It was painful to realize her ever present discomfort in being around him, even after three years of having been acquainted. He tried his best not to look at her too often but found himself doing so anyway, trying to check up on her and gauge her expressions. She was frantic. Or rather, frantically looking around for something to do beyond aimlessly wandering. Not that there had been anything wrong with aimlessly wandering.
"Look, there's a guided tour of the Deep Sea exhibit!" Marinette cried, pointing at a sign on the far wall. Adrien wasn't sure if she was truly interested in the exhibit or just wanted to find something to do so they wouldn't be forced to make small talk.
"Well, we've got some time to kill before we see the shark feeding," Nino considered. He looked over Alya with an eye of interest, as if he were asking permission. "Maybe we should check it out?"
"It'll be like going into a haunted house," Alya commented after having admired the photographs advertising the display, "except creepier. Let's go." She nodded and led the way with Nino in tow and the other two left to trail behind.
The Deep Sea exhibition was nearly pitch black. The only sources of light were provided by dark blue floor lights that dimly accented the walkway. The corridor was rather narrow given that the rest of the aquarium had very large open spaces to display their sea life. The enclosed and darkened space provided a spooky and mysterious atmosphere characteristic of the deep sea. Even with an entire exhibit's worth of deep sea life, much of the ocean had still yet to be discovered.
Adrien had never really had an issue with the darkness having had night vision as Chat Noir, though he had to admit that it had been perhaps something he took for granted. As they wandered further into the darkness and beyond the light of the entrance, he couldn't help but feel shivers when he saw briefly what was in the tanks. So far, the only thing that hadn't made his skin crawl were the jellyfish.
Glancing at Marinette, he noticed that even she, who had showed obvious enthusiasm for the general aquarium experience, was a little unsettled by her surroundings. A part of him wanted to reach out and comfort her, especially when he could make out in the dim light that Nino and Alya had had a similar idea. In their own way, they seemed to be encouraging them by separating themselves. They were either silently encouraging them, or being selfish and running off on their own. Either way, he couldn't be sure what to do. He couldn't be certain that Marinette would be comfortable with his taking her hand, nor could he be certain of his whole hearted and pure intentions. He didn't want to confuse her or himself with such a small action when he couldn't even be certain that he liked her. Well, perhaps he was certain that he liked her, but he wasn't sure if he'd date her. Dating her would take him away from his Ladybug and he could not bring himself to sway from his loyalty to her. Eyeing the silhouette of her hand however, it was tempting. Regardless of his restraint, Marinette seemed to have ideas of her own as she scooted closer to him in search of a sense of security in the darkness.
He didn't have much more time to consider when a man jumped out from the darkness, only to be noticed because of the bright light that hung from the top of his hat. The light hung from a wire that protruded from the middle of his head and bobbled just above the man's eyes. It resembled a famous fish whose name Adrien could not place.
"Welcome to the deep sea!" the man began. "My name is Peter and I will be your guide through the exhibit." Notably, Marinette perked up when Peter appeared. Her want of general knowledge regarding these creatures befuddled Adrien, though he could perhaps understand the general want of knowledge. She could just make out her silhouette in the glow of the room, and particularly appreciated it when she turned ever so slightly toward the tanks that gleamed a blue that nicely emphasized the blue of her eyes. Thinking about it, he seemed to have a taste for women with blue eyes, remembering that Ladybug also possessed the striking color. Adrien returned from his thoughts when Marinette looked excitedly toward him, checking to see if he was taking any interest himself. "Ninety-eight percent of ocean life lives on, or just above the ocean floor and most of it is generally undiscovered. And yet what we have here at the aquarium is still not all we've seen." It was not at all that he disliked fish and the splendor of life in the ocean, though perhaps the same could not be said for deep sea life, but he didn't believe that he could ever match the level of enthusiasm Marinette showed for them. Perhaps it should be clarified that Marinette was a most enthusiastic person, regardless of the topic of fish. And that it was not because of the particular topic that she was enthused, rather that she enthused most easily. Not that that was a bad thing.
"Many deep sea fish have life spans of an average 30 years! And some, like the orange roughy over here, can live as long as 150 years." The fish he pointed out in one of the larger tanks was roughly as long as Adrien was wide and was a reddish orange color. The fish was actually rather ordinary looking, considering the exhibit they were in, but there was something about the fish's large black eyes and unnecessarily large mouth that made Adrien feel just a little bit uncomfortable. "They grow slow, mature late, and reproduce very little," Peter continued. "However, all of these guys live so particularly in their undisturbed deep sea environment that they're more often prone to extinction." It was growing more and more difficult to listen to Peter's spiel. Obviously, the man was rather fanatical about deep sea life, which made the job particularly appropriate for him, but Adrien could not help but be completely distracted by the constant proximity of his friend as she drifted nearer to him with ever sway in her step. Her eyes were preoccupied with staring at the fish and she seemed to be unconsciously drawn to him; a belief of his which he hoped to be true. And yet still, regardless of that belief, their arms grazed one another. It was his own silent accomplishment that she did not flinch away from him. He often thought that Marinette disliked him because of how little she spoke with him and how often she ran from him. And yet he knew of what she could normally be like when he had seen her speak to any other of their peers.
Not that it mattered.
Because it's not as if he liked her all that much. Her feelings were her own. And if she truly disliked him, she would not be here today. Or perhaps it was her way of showing how much she loved her friend. Regardless of her feelings, he had his Ladybug. It was probably best that Marinette didn't reciprocate.
Despite what was best, it was not as if he could help but still wonder. He could not help but hope and perhaps be even a little bit curious. He was a cat after all.
Author's Note: All deep sea facts from this chapter are from the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition website. All facts about whale sharks are from Wikipedia.
Thank you for reading my first attempt at a Miraculous Ladybug fic! For all of those following Urging Merger, I must apologize for starting a new fic without having finished my last one… I promise you I haven't given up on it! I have a lot planned for this fic and I'm excited to get it started, so thank you very much for reading it and I hope to gain your support!
