Plagg had told him. Plagg had told him this would end badly. But did Adrien listen to Plagg? No. so it ended badly. Like Plagg had said it would. A fact which Plagg did not let Adrien forget at any point for the rest of the week.
"The mayor wants to see Ladybug and Chat Noir, I have to go," Adrien sighed.
"You can if you want but remember what I said last time you ignored me?" Plagg challenged.
"I know but-"
"I said it wouldn't end well."
"I know-"
"and did it end well?"
"no, but-"
"No it did not. Neither will this. that Mayor is trouble. Just look at his daughter!"
"PLAGG! Can't you just be helpful for once?"
There was a long, stubborn silence from the both of them as Plagg folded his arms. Then he turned his head, flicking his ears, and huffed.
"if I must."
"I don't understand."
"What's to understand? Pass that hair clip please."
Tikki tilted her head as Marinette rushed back into the shower to find the moisturiser for her forehead.
"why does it matter what you look like? The mayor has seen you before and Chat doesn't care."
Marinette pushed her head out of the shower, making her damp hair cling to her cheek where it curled out from underneath her towel.
"I just want to feel pretty. There's nothing wrong with looking good just because you want to!"
"no…" Tikki agreed, thoughtfully, "no there isn't."
"right, so pass me the hair clip?"
Tikki picked up a ladybug spotted hair clip and carried it over to Marinette, placing it into her hand. Marinette smiled, thanked her, and curled her fist around it while she searched for a hair brush. Tikki buzzed with the effort it took to stop herself from giggling. She knew better than to listen to Marinette's lies. She knew why she was dressing up. To impress a certain jet-black kitty cat.
"You might want to hurry up. You're supposed to meet them in twenty minutes and you're not fully dressed," Tikki warned.
Marinette yelled urgently, and sped into hyperdrive. Chat Noir flashed Ladybug a grin when she finally arrived. There was a small guilty look in his eyes, but he powered through it.
"My Lady, if we're being given the key to the city, can I keep it?" he asked, hopefully.
Ladybug had no use for a useless key. "Sure."
"YES!" He pumped his fist victoriously.
Ladybug bit her bottom lip, trying not to giggle too much. he just looked so adorable when he was happy. He grinned at her.
"You look lovely, as always!" Chat winked.
Ladybug's cheeks turned rosy again. "I just rolled out of bed."
"You liar!" Tikki gasped in a tone somewhere between a laugh and horror.
They wandered down the street together, and found that they weren't entirely sure what to say. He wanted to crack jokes and flirt, but he felt guilty that he was developing feelings for Marinette. Ladybug was trying to think of things to say, but she couldn't stop thinking about dancing with Chat on her balcony. If she mentioned that she may as well have walked into school as Marinette. Although she was walking into school right now.
"why'd you think he wants to meet us here?" Ladybug asked.
"maybe there was a cat fight only a ladybug can sort out," he winked.
"Then why would they have called both of us?" She asked.
Chat Noir stammered. He couldn't think of anything to say that complimented her - which he was desperate to do, since he thought he'd fallen out of her good books after the whole "feelings for Marinette" thing - while reserving his own ego. In the end he settled for shrugging and declaring it was time to find out. He shoved the door open and went bursting in like he was strolling down a cat walk. Ladybug watched with amusement as he posed and grinned and waved at imaginary paparazzi.
Such a clever cat. So funny. And very handsome.
If she wasn't so hopelessly in love with Adrien, maybe she would have fallen for him instead. She could understand why someone would. Although she was annoyed with Adrien right now, so maybe she was just projecting the good of Adrien on top of the good of Chat. There was plenty wrong with him. She knew that.
By god did she know that.
"Ah Ladybug!" The mayor beamed, "Just the Lady we've been waiting for!"
"How can we help mayor bourgeois?" Ladybug asked.
Chat glanced at the headmaster who sat behind his desk watching them both intensely.
"As you may already know, at the end of the month there will be a dance here for all the students, including my daughter," the Mayor explained.
"I'm aware," Ladybug nodded.
"Dances are a volatile place as I'm sure you know. Children have wild emotions anyway, and somewhere like this, with their friends and dates, any embarrassment or jealousy or anger that will definitely get stirred up, is bound to encourage akumas," the headmaster explained.
"That sounds inevitable," Chat agreed.
The mayor hummed in agreement before continuing, cheerily, "We would like you there to chaperone."
Both heroes instantly started thinking of excuses as to why they couldn't go. They couldn't let their dates down. Well Marinette couldn't. Adrien would let Chole down time and time again, but he didn't like it.
"When is it?" Chat asked.
"On the twenty third," the headmaster said.
Ladybug groaned awkwardly. "That's not great for me, I have plans in the afternoon that will drag on."
"And I can't cure akumas on my own. We're a package deal. Sorry," Chat gave a cheesy grin as an apology.
As Chat Noir put his arm around her waist to illustrate his point, he expected her to peel his arm off like always, but she didn't. She just gave him a smirk of agreement. He grinned. She was finally falling for him too!
And just in time to steal his heart from Marinette! Hopefully.
"But we can't just let the dance be compromised because we have plans," Ladybug continued seriously.
Chat's tail drooped. He didn't want to miss the dance. Although technically he wouldn't be. And he wouldn't have to watch Marinette dance with Nathanael while he was stuck with Chole, because he'd be there with his lady. His lady that he loved more than anyone. And he'd prove it, at the dance.
"I'm sure I can switch some things around and get there for at least half the night. The first half, perhaps," Chat gave an innocent shrug, as if he weren't planning anything but being selfless.
Ladybug grinned at him. "Perfect, the drama won't start until the second half. I'll get there then, and we can switch!"
Chat frowned. "Switch?"
Ladybug nodded. "Then you don't have to upset your plans as much."
"Oh."
Chat tried to hide is disappointment. She was thinking of him and how to be helpful. She had no idea he was planning to dance with her to prove he loved her. That was his fault. She was being kind.
"Well ideally we'd have both of you there all night, but this is better than nothing," the headmaster grumbled.
For a moment the mayor looked like he was going to argue, but his face changed and he said, "At least it helps keep my daughter safe."
The headmaster glared at him. "As well as all the other children," he added, firmly.
"Hum? Yes, yes, of course," the mayor batted his hand in the air without a care.
Ladybug and Chat Noir shared a look. They were almost certain he'd let them both die if Chole asked it, which didn't fill them with confidence.
Out in the hall Chat tried to play catch up and see what was going on in her life right now, but Ladybug was giving nothing away. Nothing more than she was frustrated with this situation.
"If we knew how to find Hawkmoth this wouldn't be such a problem and we wouldn't have to chaperone!" Ladybug huffed.
"I'd rather be at home anyway. Too many people can make you feel alone," Chat offered.
She ignored this, continuing her rant. "Everyone's telling us what to do like we're talking a different language when we try to tell them we can't find Hawkmoth without them."
"they just want us close to protect them," Chat shrugged.
Ladybug growled in frustration. "sometimes it feels like they want to have us here, have us this near, just to hold us down."
Chat frowned. "To hold you down?"
"I can see the bright lights of the Paris skyline from my house, but every night I have to go out and make sure everything is ok out there, and I can't finish what I have to do in my own life because I'm too busy being ladybug!"
She folded her arms in a huff. Then she sighed and bowed her head. It wasn't like she was willing to give that up. Chat Noir ran a hand across her back to try and reassure her that he was there, and that he understood.
"why don't you talk to your Kwami? They'll understand. They'll help! Mine did," he encouraged gently.
Ladybug shook her head. "I love Tikki but she's so cheerful all the time. I'd rather talk to a person. Like you. You're in the same boat."
Her hand reached up to squeeze his arm, which made his stomach turn to butterflies. He gave a strange smile.
"Do I look like a person to you?"
She smiled softly, but it faded quickly and she pulled her hand away. "I just gotta… gotta getaway. I have to find Hawkmoth so we can finally stop him."
"Do you think we can stop him?" chat asked, uncertainly.
Recently the akuma attacks seemed to be getting more powerful, and harder to stop. If they went straight to the source of the problem, that might be even harder.
Ladybug didn't seem to sense his doubt. She just shrugged like it was obvious, and smirked.
"sure. You and me can do anything together."
Chat cracked a smile as she took his hand, encouragingly. He felt his chest warm. How could he ever compare Marinette to the miracle that was his lady? She was everything he wanted. He wanted her. suddenly she let go of his arm and glanced around.
"There's someone who goes to school here that wanted to talk to you…"
"me?" chat frowned.
Ladybug nodded. "Let me go find her, wait here."
Chat reached out to stop her, but no words formed to help. He hated watching her walk away from him. she never looked back. Then he frowned. Someone who went to school here wanted to talk to him? who could it be?
Maybe Nino. He'd like it to be Nino. Nino never said anything about Chat Noir. Adrien liked the idea of Nino being a secret Chat Noir fanatic. Alya was obsessed with Ladybug, if Nino loved Chat they would fit together even more perfectly.
Or maybe it was Alya. Maybe she was finally starting to look at him as a hero in his own right. Or maybe she wanted to interview him about his lady. Either way he'd willingly give her an interview because she was awesome and she deserved an inside scoop. Chat ran a hand through his hair, trying to smooth it before he had to come face to face with whoever this was. He had a dreadful feeling it might be Chole, and that he did not want to face. Of course he didn't need to worry about Chole. She had no opinion on Chat Noir. It was Ladybug she adored.
"Oh, she was serious!" Marinette faked a gasp of surprise from the end of the corridor.
Chat's face fell and his eyes widened. Marinette! It had to be Marinette! She turned his knees to jelly.
"Good morning Princess," he smiled, queasily.
"Um, hi," she smiled.
She left a big gap between them so he wouldn't hear Tikki crunching the cookies that were a little too burnt to sell. Chat kept his smile pinned to him firmly as he screamed inside. Her bright eyes were blue and eager and her little freckles were cute and pale, and she was beaming at him, even as she bit her bottom lip. The complete opposite of the sleepy crying girl he had last seen.
"Ladybug said you wanted to talk to me," Marinette lied.
"Oh Ladybug said you wanted to talk to me," Chat said in surprise.
That Bug! She set this up.
Marinette's eyes could turn him gooey. She wouldn't close them in case she missed some part of the world she wanted to see. He couldn't stand it. he loved Ladybug. Not Marinette. But if she kept looking at him like that…
Chat grabbed his staff from his belt, "It can wait. Well it's been fun but now I've got to go!"
"But you just got here," she argued.
Chat fumbled on the staff looking for a button. "Life is way too short to take it slow. Especially mine. I've got to live it up."
Her hand touched his arm, and almost sent him into overdrive. He stopped and stared at it so intensely he almost missed her talking.
"Then I gotta know when can we do this again?"
"Um, pardon?"
"When can I see you again?" she repeated.
Chat stammered. He had no plans of visiting her again any time soon. How could he explain that well enough to let her down? "Ladybug and I are joined at the hip. She's like my sidekick and-"
Marinette's eyes flashed with offence and her smile wavered. "Is she? I thought both of you were heroes in your own right?"
"Oh, we are, but-"
"And she's the one who cures the akumas. Surely that makes you the sidekick, if anything," she demanded, coolly.
"I... I'll explain when we meet again," chat shook his head and stepped away from her.
"When can I see you again?" she repeated.
Chat sighed and scratched his head. He wanted to get away before he fell head over heels again. "Are you going to the dance?"
"I am."
"Save one for me. We'll see how well you remember my lesson."
"I'll see you there."
Oh that smile! That smile! No one could resist that. He could practically hear Plagg from inside his ring. He would never let Adrien live down not listening to him twice.
