Author's Note: There's a poll up on my profile page to vote who you want to find out first and in which form (Marinette, Ladybug, Adrien, or Chat Noir). You can vote there or you can tell me in a review! Also, requests are still taken, so leave a review below if you have any!
Special thanks to wonderfulwizardofthozz and socksareforcavemen for editing this chapter!
04. Watering Cans Aren't Nice to Be Hit With
ADRIEN AGRESTE, YOU ARE THE SMOOTHEST PERSON I HAVE EVER HAD THE PRIVILEGE TO MEET.
Not.
So what if Adrien Agreste couldn't keep his cool even just watching a movie with friends? It was no problem; he couldn't be suave all the time. Besides, didn't girls like it when boys showed their vulnerable side once in a while and blushed and stammered and all that?
Yeah.
…..
Oh, who was he kidding?
Adrien let out a groan, burying his face in his pillow. "This is getting me nowhere," he mumbled.
Plagg hovered uncertainly. "Is this about your love life again?"
There was silence before a very reluctant "…yes."
"So, Marinette, huh?" Plagg tried before scoffing, shaking his head. "Oh, whatever, I'm horrible at this." With that, he flew over to his plate of Camembert, ignoring Adrien when the boy sat up, hair a mess and a determined look on his face.
"I like Marinette Dupain-Cheng," he spoke into the air.
"Not a bad person to like. She brings over great cheese tarts."
"But I also like Ladybug," Adrien continued slowly, swinging his legs off the bed. "Just, not as much as I used to, I guess, but like not really."
"You started to appreciate her more as a friend," Plagg noted helpfully.
"Yeah, that." Adrien flopped onto his couch. "So…what do I do?"
"….why in the world are you asking me?"
Adrien let out an unintelligible sound. "I don't know! You're the only one I can talk to about this!"
"Oh." Plagg stuffed a slice of cheese into his mouth. "Right."
"You're no help."
"Oh, you finally realized that. Great."
"Plagg."
"Adrien," Plagg replied in the same tone before huffing. "What do you want me to say? I don't know, uh, who do you like better?"
"I think I like them both the same," Adrien replied softly. "Well, maybe Ladybug more, since I've loved her for so long. I don't think my feelings for Marinette are quite there yet, but it could be."
"You're not making it easy to help you," Plagg hissed before sighing. "Then pick Ladybug. You like her more, don't you?"
"Well, yeah, I guess," Adrien said, arms dangling off the back of the couch as he kneeled on it to see Plagg better. "But Ladybug has never returned my advances. Why should she now?"
"Then pick Marinette," Plagg said just as easily. "Go woo her or something. Visit her on her balcony. Girls love that thing. Have for over a century."
"First of all, I can't admit you used the word 'woo'," Adrien started. "Secondly, I can't woo her! I don't know how!"
Plagg sent him a look. "Then what have you been using this whole time with Ladybug?"
"Not wooing, since it very clearly did not work." Adrien sighed. "In my defense, it's not from lack of effort from my part."
"Well, you tried," Plagg said bluntly, although not uncaringly.
Adrien was about to retort when his eye caught the time, and he blanched, nearly falling off the couch. "Shoot, Plagg, it's my turn for patrol tonight and if we don't get going now, I'm not going to make it back in time to finish up that essay."
Plagg's eyes darted over to the half-empty plate. "Wait! At least let me finish the—"
"Plagg, transforme moi!"
In a flash of green, Adrien Agreste disappeared, and Chat Noir stood in his place. Having learned from mistakes, he entered his bathroom to turn on the shower, locking the door before bouncing out the window. More than likely, no one would be searching for him, but just in case…
Chat Noir vaulted over the Parisian rooftops with a grin. If it had been day, he would have let out a loud whoop or two, but he didn't think the locals would appreciate that at this time of night, even if he was one of their heroes. He might not be meeting Ladybug during this patrol, but it didn't mean that he didn't enjoy himself. There was something about the cool night air and the feeling of free-fall that speed his heart and high lightened his nerves.
And completely destroyed all his rational thinking, because how else was he supposed to explain why he found himself across the Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie near midnight?
He wasn't, really. And, if he had to be honest, he didn't know why he had ended up there anyway.
But he was. And since the deed's already been done, he might as well see it through, right? Wasn't that how it went?
Moving on.
His night vision could make out a figure on Marinette's balcony, and upon closer look, Chat confirmed that it was indeed Marinette. She was staring out into the distance, seemingly lost in thought, but all Chat would think was why in the world is she out at this time of the night?
So naturally, he vaulted over to land behind her.
And was immediately met with a watering can to the face. And then what felt like a porcelain cup to the shin. He had time to think 'Marinette can take care of herself without seeing better than I can with night vision' before a devastating kick to the stomach left him crumpled and wheezing for breath.
"W-Who are you?" Marinette's stammering but ultimately firm voice broke through the night. "What do you want?"
Sounds of fumbling reached his ears before a bright light shone at his eyes, forcing him to squeeze his eyes shut as his vision went crazy, trying to adjust to the sudden light.
A gasp, then a hesitant, "Chat Noir?"
He tried to grin at her, relieved when the light was dangled away from his eyes. "The one and only."
Marinette gaped at him, and for a moment, Chat's rational thinking kicked in. He had the horrible thought that perhaps – just perhaps – this hadn't been the brightest of ideas, before Marinette spluttered, "W-What are you doing here? Is there an akuma?" Her eyes darted around.
"No akuma, Princess," he stated, shifting into a sitting position. "I was just up on my patrol when I saw your figure. Isn't it a little late for a night view?"
"I—your forehead!"
On instinct, he reached up and touched it, a jolt of pain flaring. He winced. "That's going to hurt even more tomorrow."
"It's bleeding," Marinette hissed.
Well, that was going to be hard to explain to Natalie. Marinette bounced on her feet, shifting worriedly. He aimed a grin her way. "No need to worry about me, Princess, this cat has handled worse."
Marinette hesitated, eyes darting to the trapdoor leading to her bedroom. "Would—would you like to come in? I can clean that up for you and, um, clean the wound? Sorry, I don't have much expertise in that area."
"Sure," Chat blurted out before he could think, and then immediately regretted it. Well, not really.
Marinette sent him an unsure smile, opening up the trapdoor. "Uh, just follow me, I guess."
Soon, Chat found himself in a situation he never thought he would see himself in – wiping blood away before it could reach his eyes, sitting awkwardly on Marinette's computer chair, and trying desperately not to stain anything in Marinette's room while wondering if so much pink ever bothered Marinette or if it was her favorite color.
On the plus side, he had always looked forward to trying new things.
At that moment, Marinette came back with a first aid kit in tow, a wet towel, and a frozen bag of strawberries in her hand. She offered the latter two items to Chat, grimacing. "Sorry, we don't really have much as far as frozen items go."
"It's no problem. You've done so much to help already," he offered back, wiping the blood away with the cloth and gently applying the makeshift icepack.
Marinette scoffed, flicking open the first aid kit. "Yeah, it's the least I could do after I put you in this situation to begin with." She hesitated. "I, um, should bandage it up now? Sorry, I don't have much experience in this but it doesn't look like it's bleeding anymore, so that's good. I just need to disinfect it first." She held up the antiseptic. "Fair warning, this is going to sting a little."
Chat shrugged the best he could from his position. "Your bet is as good as mine. Besides, it'll only be temporary, I'll get professional help back home," he teased.
Her lips twitched to a wry grin, and she rolled her eyes. "Laugh more, and see if I won't kick you out, injury or not."
"Princess, you wouldn't do something so cruel to a cat like me, would you?" He fixed her with his best kitten eyes.
Marinette didn't seem amused, applying the antiseptic without any more preamble. Chat yelped, resisting the urge to flinch back. "Me-ouch, princess! A fair warning would have been appreciated."
"I warned you it would hurt," Marinette shot back, but her touch was more gentle when she applied the antiseptic again.
Chat didn't say anything more as she applied a plaster over the wound, the girl nodding at her work. "I think I did a pretty good job with this."
"Well, you did cause the wound in the first place," Chat joked, rubbing his shin and wincing when he discovered a bruise.
He expected banter, not Marinette gasping and covering her mouth with her hands. "Oh my gosh, I did! That was a pretty hard swing. You could have a concussion or something! What was it they said? You shouldn't sleep for a few hours or something like that? You should really get medical attention—"
"Marinette!" he cut her off with a grin. "I'm fine. I didn't even black out or anything. It's just a cut; I'll be fine." He got up from the chair. "It's getting late now, Princess. I should be getting back soon. We do have school tomorrow."
"Urgh, don't remind me." She watched as he climbed the ladder up to the balcony. "W-wait! I—you can head up first but I want to give you something.
With no further explanation, she disappeared down into the living room, leaving Chat to climb unsurely up to the balcony. The cold winter air hit him immediately, and he took a deep breath, reaching up to touch the covered wound before chuckling quietly. He had only settled into the sunbed chaise longue for a minute or so when the trapdoor swung open again, Marinette pushing a tray out before climbing into the balcony herself.
She switched the fairy lights on, eyes darting before they fell on him. With a sheepish shrug, she lifted the tray and placed it on the table. "A gift for the road?"
He sat up straighter, making out two glasses of milk and a plate of cookies. His ears twitched. "Why, Princess! Is this a gift for your dashing knight?"
"Don't push it," she said dryly. "And besides, don't all cats like milk?"
He took a swig, licking his lips. "In any case, this cat does." He bit into a cookie, an appreciative sound making its way past his lips. "This is really good."
She laughed. "That's what my friend Nino says all the time."
"Well, you can tell him he's a hundred percent right."
The next few minutes were spent teasing each other and laughing. Chat didn't know what he thought when he had landed on Marinette's balcony – that it would be awkward? That there was going to be a near-palpable tension between them? But Adrien had been friends with Marinette for years, and Chat was pleasantly surprised to find himself at ease with her.
And Chat knew – deep down, he knew – that coming back was a bad decision. What if someone saw him? Or worse, what if Hawkmoth saw him? But those were highly unlikely, right? Would it hurt to be selfish just this once?
He didn't voice any of his worries out, instead downing the last of his milk with a satisfied sigh. "Thanks for feeding this cat, Princess."
"Enjoy it while it lasts. I don't make it a habit of entertaining stray cats often."
"Me-ouch, Princess!" He placed a hand to his heart. "There you go with those hurtful words again."
She shook her head, giggling, and gave him a light push. "Go home, Puss-in-Boots."
Chat froze, fixing her with a look. "What did you just call me?"
"Puss-in-Boots. You know, the story?"
He gaped before gasping. "What? I'm nothing like that ginger."
Marinette chortled. "Now that I think of it more, you really are. I mean, you are a cat in boots." She glanced down at his boots, and Chat ignored the urge to hide them. "And your personalities aren't too off from each other."
"Princess, I take offense to that," he told her gravely. "Obviously, this cat is much better." He hopped onto the rail, balancing easily. "And I'll be taking my leave now. Not—" he added when Marinette opened her mouth. "—because you told me to, but because I want to. So there. Besides, I'll be back, Princess. You've fed this stray, and he isn't easy to get rid of."
With that, he jumped off, catching his fall with his baton and springing away before she could protest.
Next time on Inside and Out:
Marinette Dupain-Cheng was in trouble.
No, she wasn't in the my-car-is-stuck-in-a-ditch trouble nor was she in the I-had-a-test-but-I-forgot-about-it trouble either. Instead, it was more of an I-accidentally-ranted-about-Chat-and-now-my-best-friend-thinks-I-have-a-crush sort of trouble.
In her defense, it hadn't started out this way.
