Jingle Bells
Hey guys! Here's day eleven of my Christmas Countdown. :)
For some reason I keep naming the Ladrien ones after songs and I don't know why.
Prompt: bells
...
Marinette's class were going to be performing some Christmas carols at the park a few days before Christmas and everyone had a part, except Chloe, who had complained to her father and had gotten out of it. It was not an activity she deemed worthy of her attention so she would not be helping in any way.
Most of the class would be singing, as that was the whole point of Christmas carols, but a couple of people would be doing the instrumentals, such as Adrien who would be playing the piano. They hadn't yet had a practice all together yet, and Marinette wanted to hear Adrien's piano playing. She hadn't heard him play before. She had known he had piano lessons, but she had never been around when he did happen to be playing outside of his lessons, which wasn't that often.
She had heard that some of the music was more complicated than it usually was so she was curious to see how Adrien was going with his practise of the carols. It was this that led her to the building across from his room that night. Now that she was out there, and the cool breeze swept over her, she wasn't so sure that it was a good idea after all. How was Ladybug going to explain to him why she was there? It was highly improbable that he'd believe she'd somehow find out about his part in the Christmas carol and decided to just drop by, not without her giving her secret identity away.
As she perched on top of the building and glanced across, she could see straight into his room. He happened to be sitting at his piano and she could tell that he was practising. Well, at least, trying to practise. He seemed to be frustrated at something. She chewed on her lip and debated going in to see him. Why had she come out here in the first place?
Just as she decided to keep moving on, Adrien glanced up and spotted her. He gave a little smile and lifted a hand in a wave. She jumped up in surprise, stumbling back as she floundered about trying to figure out what to do. Eventually, she raised her own hand in a slightly awkward wave. Then, since he had seen her and she couldn't very well just run off and risk him thinking she was sitting outside his window for no reason, she swung down to him.
He jumped up off his seat and opened the window for her. She swung in then straightened up. He looked a bit confused that she had come to visit him but he smiled at her anyway. "Is... is everything alright?" He asked, slightly concerned.
She nodded. "O- oh yes, I was just passing by a- and I saw you and you were looking kinda frustrated at something so I thought I'd see what was wrong." She waved her hands around and she tried to explain.
Adrien blinked at her, slightly surprised that Ladybug would care about his civilian self. But then again, his lady was so kind so of course she'd care, even if she didn't really know him. "Everything's fine." He told her, because it wasn't really something she could help with.
Ladybug tilted her head. "Are you sure? You looked irritated at something when you were at the piano." She pointed out.
He shrugged, scratching the back of his neck a bit sheepishly as he glanced at her. "It was nothing much." Then, when she stayed silent waiting for him to continue, he said, "I was just practicing for when my class perform some Christmas carols at the park near the end of next week but it's just been changed so I'm the only one doing the music." He sighed. "I just feel like it's missing something with only the piano."
"Can I hear it?" She asked curiously.
Adrien's face tinted pink but he nodded anyway and led her over to the piano. They sat down and he began to play the first carol. He obviously had done it before as he knew what he was doing. She watched, entranced, as his fingers flew across the keys. All too soon, he played the last note and the song finished. It was good, but he was right. The tune was lovely but it did seem to be missing something extra that would add that extra Christmas oomph. It was silent for a minute while she thought about it. Then she brightened up suddenly. "How about bells?" She suggested.
"Bells?" He questioned, clearly confused about what she meant.
She nodded. "Yeah. You won't have to use them but a few of the singing people can have bells. It's easy if you know when to ring them. I can show you." She explained. "Wait here." She said, even though she knew he had nowhere he could really go right now, except other parts of his house. She swung away out his window.
He waited patiently and a few minutes later, Ladybug returned holding several different bells. She passed them to him. "You really only need two bells but you can have more." She said, then put her hands over his to show him how to create the basic tune that would go with most of the carols and add a bit of extra Christmas feeling while they sang.
He tried to pay attention and remember it, but it was hard with Ladybug's hands over his like they were. He was used to touching Ladybug's hands, of course, but he wasn't used to Ladybug practically holding his. It was nice.
She repeated it again so he'd know what to do, then stepped back. His hands felt strangely tingly when hers left his but he ignored it in favour of smiling at her. "Thanks Ladybug. I'm sure that will really help."
Her cheeks seemed to turn a bit pink as she smiled back at him. "It was no problem. I'm glad I could help." The two stared at each other before Ladybug shook herself out of her daze. "I should go now. Goodbye." She paused. "I hope the Christmas carols go well. It sounded really nice tonight."
She turned and waved goodbye to him before taking off out of the window.
He watched her go then murmured, "Goodnight, My Lady." And blew a kiss after her retreating form.
...
And there we have it! I hope you enjoyed! :)
Christmas countdown question: What's your favourite Christmas song? I currently like 'Six White Boomers' which I'm pretty sure is an Australian one because it's about kangaroos and Santa Claus. It's really catchy. What's yours?