Marinette knew her kitten very well. So she knew that he was constantly hatching plots to get her to kiss him.
She also knew how important her attentions and affections were to him – and not just because he is Chat Noir. But because he is also Adrien. And she knows all of him. She loves him.
Besides, she liked kissing her boyfriend, thankyouverymuch. It was just more fun sometimes to make him work for it a little. Besides he always got this dopey look on his face, his eyes would brighten, and he was just happier after he earned Mari Kisses™ - his term, not hers.
(She liked the term but wasn't going to tell him that anytime soon. Or ever.)
Marinette thought it was adorable, if slightly ridiculous, how many kisses he squeezed out of the hello/good morning and bye/goodnight reasoning. It started with waking up and when they first saw each other at school, and after school, after patrol, or right before they fell asleep. But then it was when he left for lunch or a modeling job. And then when they had different classes or activities. Then it was when he went to the bathroom or his locker or the kitchen. If she didn't put her foot down soon it was going to be every time one of them stood up or moved away even a bit from the other.
She was still deciding.
She kept band aids on her at all times. They were in her purse, her backpack, her jacket, Adrien's bag... They were everywhere.
Sometimes Nino or Alya would beat her to a band aid and Adrien would get his booboo kissed by one of them instead. It was always entertaining how he shifted from being surprised to flustered to pouting. The pouting usually got Mari to give him a kiss through her giggles.
The mistletoe at the mansion was comical. There was a bundle about every 10 feet on the way to his room. That isn't to say it wasn't elsewhere, because it was – just in a normal, more reasonable amount, and really only in entryways. Mari was relatively certain she saw at least one member of the Agreste staff giggling as they very slowly made their way to his room. Not that she minded the excuse to kiss Adrien.
Her silly kitty watched way too many movies. She might have had something to do with it but he was already a romantic sap before they started dating so it was pretty much part of who he was already. The dork did all of the stereotypical gentleman things and while, yes, it was very cute Mari felt the need to remind him that she is an independent and strong woman. That she is freakin' Ladybug, not that he ever really forgot that, but he would get swept up in the romance and the desire for Mari Kisses™.
The flowers. He was starting to get her flowers nearly as often as they kissed hello and goodbye. Mari put her foot down on that one and told him he needed to ease up. It was getting to the point where she could almost open her own flower shop with the number of flowers that were in her room, the apartment, the bakery. He pouted a little. It was cute and he still got a kiss. All was right in the world again.
He liked getting her gifts, not just because of the potential for rewards in affection but because he liked to spoil her when he could (part of the reason the flowers got out of hand) and he had the resources more than most. She knew he also delighted in reminding her how beautiful he thought she was because she would typically blush because whaaaat the actual model in this relationship thought she was Beautiful.
It was precious how surprised he always was when she had a gift for him. Hers were typically handmade but he seemed to cherish them even more and would brag about them to just about anyone who would listen. Nino's cap was 20 times before he threatened bodily harm.
Her gifts were usually when he kissed her. Those were some of her favorite kisses.
Except for the ones where he just needed to kiss her for whatever reason and would grab her and their lips would meet more intensely than normal. Sometimes more than once. Sometimes he would then just hold her after the first one, almost as if he was assuring himself that she was still there. That she was his.
Which she would always be. And that is why she would sometimes remind him that she loved him with surprise attacks.
Chapter 3: In which Adrien cries
Because people love him and Sabine is #BestMom
Thank you to DJMirnum for the suggestion! I have about a page of notes outlining the chapter already... I got excited.