One-Shot Wednesdays!

Extreme Sports AU

(( A/N: This is a bit aged-up, about 17, and is meant for probably older audiences? It's clean, I promise! But it might have, you know, a kiss or two. Just fair warning! (: Also, it's a miracle that this was done before midnight, just sayin'. ))

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The cheap torches were only for effect; the mechanic's flood lights would have worked just fine for lighting up the makeshift arena. Adrien chewed on the toothpick in his mouth and surveyed the course through the flickering light. He absentmindedly tugged on his bandana-made-mask around his eyes. Not that anyone would even suspect that he would be here – or even care – but it helped displace some of the nerves attached to running out to play in the underground when he should be home, sleeping, preening. With a shake of his head that followed through to each limb, Adrien shifted the toothpick to the other side of his mouth. A cheap floodlight shown on him then.

"…and now the mysterious Chat Noir!"

Adrien raised a lose peace sign in the air, eyes still on the course ahead instead of on the cheering crowd. When the twin airhorns blared, he threw his skateboard down. It landed upside down and bounced once, twisting in the air; he leapt, landing his feet in perfect position as all four wheels landed.

He was off.

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There was something about this new contender that made Marinette's breath catch in her throat in an almost painful way. She had been following this group for years – practically grown up within the underground – but had never seen this blond skater. He was mysterious, yes, but it struck her that, maybe like her, he was using the disguise because he truly had something to hide – or hide from – rather than using the mask as some sort of intimidation tactic. His golden hair seemed to have been sprayed with a temporary black dye, a dirty mess that was splayed above a black and green bandana. The bandana had holes cut out for eyes, and, though Marinette tried, she couldn't tell exactly what color shone there. His clothes were obviously from the Gabriel line – Marinette should know, being something of a designer herself – but the standard "G" shirt had three huge slashes in it. The shirt underneath was bright green and seemed to glow through the tears in the over shirt. She had to admire the pairing altogether: the ripped black shirt, the green peering through beneath, the black skinny jeans with holes and rips in the knees…everything went together, right down to the all-black skateboard emblazoned with a bright green pawprint on the beat-up deck. It was intriguing, to say the least, and Marinette felt her heart pounding in her ears as she gazed, slightly open-mouthed, at his flawless run through the crude skate course.

Flawless.

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The cheering had died down, and Adrien was taking his breaths in steadying gasps. He didn't do this for the glory of it, but to say he didn't enjoy the thrill of the love of an audience would be a blatant lie. A smile escaped before it turned into a grin. With a short wave, he kicked his board up to his hand and headed back into the crowd. He glanced around and was about to disappear into the night when he saw her: blue eyes peeking through the wrappings of a chiffon red scarf with black polka dots.

She was staring straight into him and Adrien felt exposed just looking in her direction.

Though he was done with the skate run, and the attention of the throng of people was off of him, he felt the butterflies fly back into his stomach. Other than her scarf, the first thing Adrien noticed about the girl was her bright red roller blades. They were normal by any account, if one didn't know any better. But Adrien did know better: several wheels had been replaced, the body of the skates themselves were scuffed and chipped, and a few pieces of black duct tape tried futilely to hide a huge gash on one side. She used them, and, judging from the state of them, knew how to use them. From the roller blades, Adrien followed the sight upwards, up thick black leggings with holes everywhere, a fluffy red skirt that ended right above her knees and would have seemed out of place on anyone but her, a plain black shirt, and…and that scarf. Some blue-black hair escaped around the piercingly blue eyes and Adrien breathed out a small laugh that had nothing to do with finding her funny, but everything to do with him finding the ensemble – and the girl – anything but humorous; he was totally caught by surprise. She looked like a super-powered ladybug.

Her eyes seem to harden for a moment, and then she was gone.

And Adrien took off after her.

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A new kid was coming that day, someone that was famous, or so Marinette had heard. She was at her locker, focus on anything but putting her books into the metal space. The perfect blond coif was the first thing she saw. As she followed the perfectly-styled hair through the sea of faces in the hall, his own face came into sight and she took in a sharp breath. His features were beautiful, and though she still didn't know the color of his eyes, she recognized the intense look in them, knew the long and lean form of him. It was hard to forget someone that not only could keep up with you while racing through the streets of Paris, but had actually sought you out in the first place. Marinette's heart beat faster, finding everything he did absolutely stirring; as he pulled out his headphones and stuck the buds into his ears, Marinette could only stare. He walked passed then and she was thankful – in more ways than one – for the double take when he met her eyes.

Green. His eyes were green.

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Adrien could not help the blush that he was absolutely certain was going to turn into a permanent fixture on his face. Everything – all the forces in the universe – were against him, and he really only had himself to blame for his current predicament. How did he get here? How was he here, wearing roller skates, at a roller rink. The pressure tugging both hands to help propel Adrien forward snapped his attention away from his betraying feet and back up to the glowing face and bright blue eyes of the girl in front of him. She held both his hands, skating backward, pulling him with her in more ways than one. When she swayed back and forth, he felt himself trying to move with her, not to match her movements but to complement them. Now he was moving in tandem with her. Her giggling features brought a smile to his face and, not for the first time, Adrien felt equal parts utterly fearless and hopelessly terrified.

This was how he got to this point, to this place. She was why he was here.

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The wind whipped through her loose hair as Marinette deftly swerved and dodge through the masses in the crowded streets of Paris. It was a thrilling challenge, a secret indulgence that was soon to be discovered. Suddenly there was another player in her real-life video game. He was there by her side again, matching her stride for stride. The harsh pounding in her ears drove her to speed up, to show off, but before she could, she felt a pull on her hand. When Marinette turned to look at Player 2, he held out to her something of a game changer: one of his earbuds. Music spoke so many languages, broke so many barriers; and each carefully selected playlist was as personal as fingerprints for each person. To share this was like trusting someone with a piece of yourself. Marinette spun around him once before reaching for the tiny speaker, but Adrien pulled his hand away for a moment so she couldn't catch it. Pausing for only a moment, he leaned down and, pulling her hair back gently, put the earbud in her ear himself. He took such meticulous care, and Marinette couldn't repress the shiver that passed through her when he touched her skin. An expression on his face floated between nervousness and excitement. Marinette was finding more and more how those two emotions seemed to go hand-in-hand. He took one last look into her eyes, dropped his skateboard, and started off at a leisurely pace so as not to pull out either's earbud.

It was a good thing his fingers were intertwined with hers, otherwise she might have still been frozen in place.

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They were on a precipice, both physically and metaphorically, and Adrien was ready to dive down deep. He watched Marinette eye the half-pipe warily. He had demonstrated how to carefully drop in and come up the other side, then back again, but Marinette did not seem wholly convinced of her own abilities. Cautiously, Adrien reached out and ran his fingers through her hair, gently palming her face. When she turned to look at him, he tried to give her his most reassuring smile. Something must have worked; she breathed in deep and grinned back at him. The sight warmed up his whole body. She tore her eyes away and he pulled his hand relunctantly away from her. The fierceness he had come to love entered her bluebell eyes as she looked out at her new challenge. His heart hammered against his chest as he took a step back to let her do this on her own, and she dropped down the ramp.

Down, then up, and down, and back up –

She didn't quite have the momentum to make it back up to him and she stumbled down back into the half-pipe. Adrien jumped in after her, sliding down on his knees before getting up and hurrying over to her slightly crumpled form. She twisted and sat up. Adrien saw the scuffs on her knees and watched her eyes grow misty as she rubbed the palms of her hands together. He pulled himself up next to her, taking her hands in his and looking at them. They were so close now, breathing deeply from the adrenaline rush following her spill. Her eyes leaked one tear but she barely blinked it away. She was a net, and he was caught, snared, and in that moment, he realized she had captured him a long time ago; and he would let her do to him over and over again.

Looking back down at her hands, Adrien placed a soft kiss on one, then the other. When he looked back at her, the fierceness was back in her eyes. She was pulling him in again, just like at the roller rink, and he matched her movements again and moved closer to her. One hand went back into her hair, the other around her waist, and he tried pulling her toward him…and she came willingly. When their eyes closed and lips touched, Adrien had dove in, and he never wanted to resurface ever again.

Fin!

(( Thanks for reading! *hearts* ))