Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is a little late! But things are (hopefully) going to be picking up! Also, the events in this story won't exactly fit the dates in real life, so yeah.
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!
O7. One Should Never Be Seen in Boxers in front of Their Crush
IF ADRIEN AGRESTE COULD GO BACK IN TIME, HE WOULD TELL HIS PAST SELF THAT CHECKING ON THE LADYBLOG BETWEEN 9:30 AND 10:00 IN THE EVENING WAS A BAD IDEA.
Granted, he would tell his past self a lot of things, but the aforementioned was certainly on the list.
Somewhere.
For that matter, leaving the window open – no matter how stuffy the room was – between the mentioned times was also a bad idea.
No, no, wait. Actually, scratch that. Leaving the window open was a brilliant idea. A fantastic idea, even. After all, he wouldn't want his Lady to end up with a broken nose or something, would he?
… yeah.
The Ladyblog thing still stood though.
Maybe he should start over.
It had been a dreary Wednesday. The morning was announced with a drizzle, making the start of the day wet and dreary and bringing down everyone's moods. All around Paris, people were turning in for the night, looking forward to resting after a hard day's work.
As for Adrien Agreste?
Well, he was sitting in front of his computer monitors, dressed in a ratty, old T-shirt and boxers, because, well, his pajamas were the only thing his father hadn't fought for control over, and Adrien … Adrien could wear what he pleased without anyone saying anything about it, thank you very much.
The Ladyblog was open, taking up all three of his computer monitors. A video of the akuma attack earlier in the day (Miss Sunflower had been an … interesting akuma, to say the least) was brought up. He had been running it in the background while completing his homework when he heard it – a soft scream that was somewhat familiar and growing all the while louder with every passing second.
And then a blur of red and black tumbled through the window, narrowly missing the TV and crashing into the couch, toppling it over.
Adrien was out of his seat before he knew it. Although, if he had to be honest, he wasn't exactly sure if he was going to run and transform or offer his assistance to the prone figure. None of that mattered, though, because, at that moment, the red and black blob untangled itself and two, very familiar, blue eyes blinked at him.
Adrien … may or may not have choked.
Ladybug?
She opened her mouth – to say what, exactly, he wasn't sure – but then her eyes darted to his left, and her expression changed. "Is that—"
With amounting horror, Adrien realized that the Ladyblog was still up on his multiple screens, impossible to miss (the full picture of Ladybug took up nearly a fourth of one of his screens, so yeah, impossible to miss). With a speed that he would later ponder over, he spun on his heel to yank out the power cable to the CPU. Not before letting out what could only be described as a squawk, however, because, well, how else could he be more embarrassed?
His ears burned as he faced Ladybug again, monitors black and evidence erased. "No!" he said in response to her earlier question, if a tad bit too loudly and late.
And that, was what led him to the situation he was in now – staring at Ladybug as both of them tried (and failed) to work something out, and wishing all the while that he could just crawl into the floor and die.
Fun times for all.
Ladybug recovered first, taking the lead, and Adrien was only too happy to follow. She righted herself, brushing the dust off and clearing her throat. "Sorry about that."
Looked like they were going to ignore the Ladyblog thing. That was completely fine with him.
"No worries," he managed to choke out, somewhere between flailing around and resisting the urge to scream. "Um, are you all right?"
Good job, Agreste. Keep the conversation going. Whatever you do, just don't stand there gawking like a cow, capiche?
"You're great! I-I mean, I'm great! I'm fine! Totally!" Ladybug blushed, biting her lip.
Adrien floundered. "Y-You're great too!" he squeaked out.
Ladybug gaped at him, eyes darting down before pinking and flying back up, and Adrien was suddenly aware that he was wearing a Ladybug themed shirt (Nino had brought him one for his birthday as a gag gift, and Nino shall never know that Adrien wore it to bed) and boxers. He made another strangled noise and all but ran to his closet, grabbing the nearest pair of pants and a jacket before tugging them on.
To Ladybug's credit, she didn't seem too fazed. Instead, she cleared her throat – the noise loud in the quiet room – and turned to push the couch back to its original position. "Right, um, thanks."
Adrien nodded vigorously.
Ladybug glanced at the window, cheeks still slightly red (this was a bad moment to realize just how cute she was). "Sorry about crashing into your room. I-I guess I'll be taking my leave now. Goodnight, Adrien."
"You know my name?" Adrien blurted out before he could rethink it. After all, they'd only met once, right? With him as Adrien and not Chat? During that one incident with the hypnotist. No, wait, there was that incident with Lila too. And his face was plastered all over the streets of Paris, why wouldn't she remember his name? "Oh, uh, never mind."
But Ladybug smiled at him gently (his heart skipped a beat or two). "Of course I remember your name, Adrien." Then she faltered. "Not that I was stalking you or anything! I just – I mean – we did meet before, and—"
"Thank you," he interrupted her softly.
She probably remembered everyone she'd met, all the akuma victims, etc. Ladybug had a lot of connections. Look at the way she addressed Alya and that little girl by name when they were stuck inside the ice globe thing during that incident with the weather girl. Or the way she gave Alya exclusive interviews even though Alya wasn't a professional reporter…yet (Adrien knew how Ladybug's interviews always made Alya's week). Or the time she asked Chat to watch over Marinette when Nathaniel was akumatised. And sure, Ladybug had her flaws and all, but she always fixed the problems she caused, and never denied them.
And Adrien was in love.
Ladybug smiled at him, before walking to the window. "Well, have a good night, then."
"Be careful," he said, a thought occurring to him. "You don't want to crash into anybody else's bedroom."
To his delight, Ladybug took his teasing well, laughing and making a face at him. "Hush you. It's not my fault Parisian rooftops are slippery." She frowned at her feet. "I'll have to see if I can do something about that."
"Slippery?" Adrien repeated, confused.
"Well," Ladybug began, hopping on the windowsill. "You know how it rains and snows? Yeah, well, when it freezes up, it's…icy. And they may salt the roads, but they certainly do not salt rooftops."
"Oh."
"So don't go around walking on rooftops, got it?" she teased (if only she knew). Ladybug swung her yoyo and gave him a two-fingered salute. "Well, see you later, hot stuff."
With the tug of the line, she was gone, soaring over the rooftops, outlined by moonlight. And Adrien was left gaping, staring until he couldn't see her silhouette anymore.
"You gonna stand there all night, lover boy?"
And…there was Plagg.
Adrien reached up to close his window, pausing for a second before stripping out of his pants (he had never put on a pair of jeans so fast in his life). "Isn't she great, Plagg?"
Plagg gagged. "Oh no, not this again."
Adrien stuck his tongue out at the kwami. "You just don't understand."
"You're right. I don't. And I don't want to either. I'll stick with my cheese, thank you very much."
Adrien leaned back into his chair, staring glumly at the pile on homework on his desk. "Urgh, I don't feel like doing this anymore. This sucks."
"It does."
"I was talking about homework, Plagg."
The kwami paused, having been ready to swallow a piece of Camembert whole. "Oh. Well, that sucks too."
Adrien had barely made it through one of the math questions when his computer beeped, a video call invitation flashing on screen. Alya? What did she want at this time of night? He accepted the call, and found himself face to face with both Alya and Nino.
Group video chat?
"Guys?"
Nino frowned. "Yeah, don't ask. A certain reporter has something to share with us, but she won't say anything until everyone's here. Don't understand why this couldn't wait until tomorrow."
"Where's Mari when you need her?" Alya complained, ignoring Nino and nearly bouncing in her seat.
As if on cue, Marinette's face took up another corner of the screen, slightly flushed and hair a bit damp. "What's going on?"
Next time on Inside and Out:
"Secret Valentines? We were talking about that?" Marinette asked, in an attempt to veer the conversation back on path. She yawned. "Personally, I'd like to finish sometime today?"
Alya made a face. "Fine. So you know Secret Santa, but like Secret Valentine instead. Like, between friends, cause, let's face it, Valentine's Day is just a single awareness day, and we should do something fun!"
