start notes—

"It is the east and fair Marinette is the sun!"

my tellonym: milkisande

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balcony

aphrodite, don't forget me,
romeo and juliet me!

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"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"

"Right here, milady."

Marinette turned, surprised at the sudden voice that pierced her balcony. She sighed, upon noticing the all-too-familiar hero leaning on the railings, a smirk on his face.

"Romeo?" She asked, walking up to him, almost only a hair's breadth away. His smirk faded as he gulped. "I'm surprised." She continued. "No wonder us Capulets despise you Montagues so— you're not worth going against an age-old feud for"

She suddenly pulled away, walking as the hero pouted. "Nice, Marinette." He muttered, unimpressed, following after her. "So, Romeo and Juliet?"

Marinette looked back at him, and rolled her eyes. "A requirement for class," she finally responded. "We're supposed to perform the infamous Balcony Scene."

"And you're playing Juliet?" He asked (though he already knew the answer).

She shrugged. "All the girls are. And all the boys, Romeo." Marinette responded, tiredly looking at the paper. "Miss Bustier— our teacher, said it'd be a good experience. We have to perform it next week. She'll pick out the names randomly to decide on the acting pairs."

Chat Noir nodded, as if hearing it all for the first time.

Marinette had no idea he was her classmate, after all.

"Sounds exciting!" He only responded, only to be greeted with a less-than-amused look. "Not a fan of Shakespeare, then?"

She only groaned in response. "More like, not a fan of performing." She shuddered. "I just get so nervous when I'm on stage. I prefer being in the background, you know? I asked Miss Bustier if I could just do costumes, but everyone has to perform, apparently."

Marinette frowned. "And I can't get into this character at all!"

"Maybe it'd work better if you had someone to practice with," Chat Noir responded. "From personal experience, it's better to do that rather than do it alone." He remembered going through the lines with Chloé— and though it was admittedly exhausting, it was much better than just reciting the words alone.

"Yeah," she responded. "That's what I thought, too, but everyone already had someone to practice with." She rolled her eyes. "Or more like, they wanted me to pair up with someone else."

Chat Noir frowned, as if in thought. "Who?"

She immediately turned red, before intensely shaking her head. "Nothing!" She muttered. "I just wanted to get someone as a partner." She sighed, somewhat irritated. "Someone else got to him first, though.

He tilted his head in confusion, before deciding to drop it. Being too curious about her student life might make her too suspicious, after all.

Instead, he had another idea.

"Well, if you still don't have a partner, I'm still available?"

Marinette only looked at him, disbelieving. "Oh, really? And what do you know about Shakespeare?"

Chat Noir smirked, then in perfect intonation:

"But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east and Juliet is the sun!
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief
That thou her maid art far more fair than she."

He had been practicing for Miss Bustier's assignment too, after all.

"Chat— I— help me out, please."

He smiled in apparent victory.

"Of course,my fair Marinette."

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They practiced that whole week (Chat Noir always stopped by her balcony, where they worked on reciting their lines late into the night).

For once, Marinette felt ready to perform.

She walked into the classroom with a rare air of confidence, something that didn't go unnoticed by the rest of her classmates. Alya stared at her with a look of approval as she sat down. "I honestly thought you wouldn't go to class, but you seem different today."

Marinette smiled. "Just feeling a little confident! A good friend helped me out."

To her surprise, Adrien suddenly turned to face her. "I like this new you, Marinette." He winked, before turning back— blissfully unaware of the girl's red face and Alya's not-so-subtle excited nudging.

Only to be distracted by Chloé's sudden entrance, irritation and anger evident in her features as she stomped to her seat, surprisingly not even attempting to move close to Adrien.

"What's with her?" Marinette whispered, before Alya smirked.

"I heard from Nino that Adrien asked if they could stop practicing together." She replied. "I think he found himself a better partner. Or decided to work alone." She shrugged. "Either way, she deservesit."

Marinette looked curiously at Adrien. Why did he stop working with Chloé?

Before she could ask, Miss Bustier appeared, a bright smile on her face. "Okay, everyone! Are we ready for the Balcony Scene?" She asked, only to get a cacophony of groans and half-hearted murmurs in response.

"Then, we'll pick the first pair to perform!" She continued, undeterred. Taking out two bowls, she fished around the names, somewhat dramatically, before revealing two thin papers.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng!" She read, from the first bowl.

Then, from the second bowl:

"… and Adrien Agreste!"

He turned back at her, then smiled. "I hope this Romeo's worth going against an age-old feud for?"

She ignored how strangely familiar that statement made her feel, and just smiled back.

"Prove it to me."

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end notes—

im p sure what they meant with the prompt was a literal balcony but u know what heck it romeo and juliet au. :DD hasdkfjs i think it just brought back not-so-fond memories of when we did r&j in high school (my untalented ass was relegated to apothecary lmao)

i wanted to add the idea of star-crossed lovers n write some / / but decided that i didnt want to cry today so fluff it is! angst may be coming up tho so if youre following my updates ,, ready yourselves nyehe

thank you for reading! ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～