School was over without a hitch. No-one had any problems that needed solving lest they be akumatised and in need of saving. Everything seemed the equivalent peacefulness of a traditional French postcard collection of country landscapes. Riveting. It was wrong for Adrien to think this way but he, no, Chat Noir was getting antsy and craved excitement. Okay, he admitted it was him. The urge often worried him as it was a personal reminder of how routine and monotonous his own life was, save the frequent need for a hero and the few times he ended up the one being saved. Hm, there was a thought.
He could be saved all day by Ladybug, he mused on these scenarios often enough during his private lessons. He wished to be held close to her slender frame, inches away from those delicate little lips, beautiful blue eyes, that cute little button nose he wanted to nuzzle so bad and that dark and soft, fragrant hair. He'd always wanted to 'accidentally' pull the pig tails out and watch her hair flow freely with the wind as she swung through the streets of Paris.
He could swear he smell it now, even after a whole day away from his Lady. A sweet cinnamon smell, one that was an intoxicating invitation to reminisce about her more, though a hard reminder of his complicated problem. Finding out who she was.
Whoever she was, she was amazing, his lack of descriptive ingenuity truly did her an injustice. But she was kindness and compassion incarnate and he wanted to know so badly who he loved, he was willing to give up his own identity to achieve it. But he'd never risk losing her trust like that or worse, disappointing her with who he was.
She must be curious and at least somewhat interested in him, with those little glances he convinced himself were checking out his butt. After all, he was in tight leather that left little to the imagination. It must just be that their master's strict rules didn't allow her curiosity to kiss the cat.
For now, he had to savour what he could, listening intently to her voice, loving the pun point system they shared and admiring the bounce in her step when she strutted into battle with a confidence he could only fake.
"Dude? Earth to Adrien? Class is over, man!" Nino's jab to his shoulder snapped him out of his reverie. Nino eyed him with undisguised concern as Adrien jolted back into the real world, shaking his head as though that would discard the questionable thoughts and hot blush on his cheeks. "You okay, dude?"
"Uh, yeah! Sorry, I'm just tired." Adrien lied. Badly.
"Huh, funny way to be tired. Look man, I'm sorry about tonight. I promised I'd take Alya out for ice-cream and totally forgot about our plans."
"It's okay, Nino." It really wasn't. That meant a direct sentence back to the gilded cage. Pretty, confining and ultimately just a prison by any other definition. There was no doubt after Sandboy's visit that it was his worst nightmare, besides Cheese Factories. "I understand, but what can I do now? I want to use the time Father gave me for something fun. He's not always this generous..."
Nino scoffed, "If that's his idea of generosity then I'd hate to see your Dad as Father Christmas." He waved away the bad aura, inspiring a small but significantly important smile on Adrien's face. Nino always wanted to make Adrien smile. He felt that sometimes it was the least he could do to bring back some happiness.
Alya, entirely coincidental in her over hearing the conversation decided on another one of her sure-fire plans to finally, finally, finally hook up the shy girl and clueless boy. "Hey Adrien!" Both Adrien and Nino, turned to her. "I have a great idea! Why don't you go to Marinette's house?" Marinette, who was half way through her 3rd afternoon energy drink choked at the suggestion, spraying her desk with the contents of her mouth. Panic gripped her, and she hurriedly straightened herself with a jaw breaking grin. Addressing Adrien with a brief glance of eye contact and said manic grin, she spun round to her sniggering friend.
"Alya! W-why you do this? I mean-why do you do the things? Ugh..." her face fell into her hands, an admittance of defeat. This was normal for Marinette, so their collective comments and thoughts were kept internal. A mixture of being grossed out and finding her utterly adorable.
"Marinette could give you baking lessons! Her parents will be out on a delivery today, so we were going to hang out, but then I remembered Nino asked me out. I'd feel a lot better if Marinette had some company." Alya flashed her best pleading face, the one she often used on Marinette for those 'favours one can't say no to'. Marinette scowled, remembering all of those little favours and disapproving of her using that weapon of mass compliance on Adrien.
It didn't seem like it was needed however. Adrien's eyes lit up at the offer and he flashed one of his wonderful extra shiny smiles that had Marinette checking her pulse to see if she'd died of happiness. "Wow, Marinette, is that alright? I'd love to learn from the best bakery in Paris." His childlike giddiness was too adorable for words.
"W-well, I don't see why not but I'm still learning myself..." Once again, anxiety struck when she most expected it, fingers fidgeted as she stared to the desk and tried to remain calm, steadily failing.
"Eh, we'll learn together. Plus, I've seen those treats you bring into school and Nino and I are so jealous when you eat them all."
Nino nodded along firmly, unable to keep the ruse of annoyance up for more than a few seconds, eventually smiling goofily to Alya, a none too subtle thumbs up and wink directed her way.
Marinette stared blankly a little too long, Alya was sure she was transfixed on the word that undoubtedly broke her brain a little. Together. All eyes on her waiting awkwardly, Marinette retreated in a smile slightly too big for her face. "Of course, you can come over. I'll happily teach you what I know." Marinette spoke through her smile, teeth still clenched to hide the nervous chattering.
"Awesome! Marinette, I'll be the most attentive student you'll ever have." Adrien held her hand in his, promising his complete attention on her. Her fierce blush came as a surprise to him, he pulled his hands away in the hope that he didn't offend her. For a second, he felt that she didn't want to let go, a brief glimpse of sadness in those kind eyes. Marinette was always very expressive with her emotions, one of many reasons why she made friends so easily, but this time her whole aura felt a little off. Even for someone like him who was a late bloomer in social conventions, it was obvious that something was up with her.
"We should get walking then if we're to have enough time to bake. Uh, shall we?" She smiled and hurried past him to the door and waited for him to follow. Adrien picked himself up and after a wave to his friends, set the pace for walking Marinette home, his companion briefly glances to Alya and miming "help me!"
Alya waved her friend off and made a heart symbol with her hands teasingly, more than confident that Marinette could manage alone. "What's your bet?" She murmured to Nino.
"I don't know, 10 on them at least getting closer."
"Nuh-uh! That's too vague. Doesn't disallow physical proximity."
Nino slammed the money on the table. "Fine, geez. 10 on them realising it's a date...eventually. 5 on Adrien realising he likes Marinette."
Alya nodded in consideration, it was a fair bet. "Confident, I like it! Those two are hopeless so…20 says Adrien remains clueless."
"Oooh, harsh. My bro's got some growing up to do, but I have the utmost confidence in him." Nino crossed his arms defiantly.
Alya's smug smile was both infuriating and gorgeous to look at. "Not harsh. I didn't say no success. My money is on Marinette making the move."
"Prepare to lose then!" Her boyfriend stood proud, a cute if not misled kind of pride.
"I won't lose. Even if you win, this money is for our next date anyway. I just hope they win." Alya reminded him that this was just a game, as he was beginning to look like he was taking it a little too seriously.
"Hmm. True." Nino calmed himself and gently kissed her cheek, receiving one back. "We'll have to text them later. Because we're concerned...right?"
"Right."