The Naked Truth

Written by: JuliaFC

Betas: Khanofallorcs, Agrestebug, Etoile-Lead-Sama, genxha and magicianofesperance. Thank you all so much!

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by (c) Thomas Astruc, TS1 Bouygues, Disney Channel, Zagtoon, Toei Animation. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

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Chapter 9 — Quivering in Anticipation

Adrien didn't even blink while the flash of pink light ran through Ladybug's body, eventually revealing Marinette. He noticed that she was doing the same too, her eyes glued on his face as the mask came off.

"I knew it was you, but it was amazing to see nonetheless," he whispered, not daring to speak louder, as if his voice could make Marinette disappear in front of his eyes.

"Likewise, Chaton. The most wonderful experience ever." She smiled warmly. They looked at each other for a long moment, until something black zoomed in between their noses and Adrien was left staring into Plagg's electric green eyes.

"All very nice, but where's my cheese, gamin?" the little God of Destruction deadpanned.

Adrien rolled his eyes and sighed, rummaging in his inside pocket to reveal a slice of Camembert, which Plagg snapped out of his hands at lightspeed. The time between the moment the cheese reached his paws and the moment it disappeared into his mouth was so short that Adrien missed the action of the kwami by merely blinking.

"Is that all?" asked the black furball.

"Plagg! Let them have their moment," whispered Tikki, zooming next to the black kwami and trying to pull him away.

"No, Sugarcube. If he thinks I'm going to be satisfied with one small slice of cheese after all the disgusting mating rituals that we've had to endure, he can think again." Plagg crossed his paws on his tiny chest and glared at his red and black companion, who sighed loudly and then zoomed into Marinette's purse, undoubtedly to eat her own snack.

Adrien felt his face getting very hot. "Hang on a second. Do you mean you two… were there?" Marinette's face had turned a deep shade of red too.

"Of course, genius! You may have been naked, but you were still transformed. We've been with you all along." Plagg smirked as the two teens became even more red in the face. "Come on, it wasn't any more embarrassing than what you do every night in bed while pining over Ladybug."

"PLAGG!" Adrien felt his face becoming even hotter.

"Yes, gamin? What happened to, 'I will tell the truth even if it's embarrassing'?" The smirk on Plagg's face widened, as the kwami's electric green eyes looked at his charge with a gleam of amusement.

"She didn't need to know," he muttered under his breath, as his gaze fell.

"Oh and instead you just had to know what she does every evening while looking at your pictures, didn't you? Call that fair?" He turned towards Marinette. "The things I can tell you, Pigtails."

Marinette's gaze darted several times from a super embarrassed Adrien to a super amused Plagg and back, and she couldn't help it. She started laughing. "He's got a point, you know," she managed to say in between fits of laughter. "But I'm sure Adrien will tell me, in time." She winked at him, a devious smile curling her lips.

Adrien pouted and then opened his mouth to say something, but Marinette looked at her watch and then exchanged with him a panicky look. "We can talk about it later, Chaton. We have five minutes to get to class!" That panicked Adrien too, as they weren't exactly round the corner from their Lycée. So he grabbed Marinette's hand and started running.

Obviously Marinette ended up being much faster than him. But she'd had years of experience in the fine art of running late to school, and didn't have a massive boner in her jeans to make it very uncomfortable to run.

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The school day dragged forever. Maybe it was because they had lost the habit of sitting down for the whole day listening to boring people explaining boring things, or maybe it was the adrenaline of the fight washing out of them? Marinette couldn't help feeling restless. She kept twitching and moving from one bum cheek to the next, her fingers fidgeting with any kind of thing that she had on her desk. Every few minutes, her gaze ended on Adrien's golden mop in front of her, and she would sigh and smile happily.

"Are you okay, girl?" asked Alya after the hundredth sigh had left her lips. "I haven't seen you having it that bad since the days at Collège."

"Huh?" Marinette seemed to have woken up from a dream and blinked a couple of times before turning to look at her best friend.

"You've been burning a hole in the back of his head all afternoon. How on Earth have you managed to lose all the progress you've made in the last few years? Are you telling me the truth about what happened during the akuma attack?" Alya wiggled her eyebrows to her and smiled cunningly.

Marinette gulped, her cheeks dusting a soft shade of pink as she repeated the lie she had told Alya when they had sat down in the classroom again. "Uh, sure. Of course. I hid myself in a closet and stayed there until I saw on my phone that the path was clear. I don't know where Adrien went. Why do you ask?"

"I will come to your house this afternoon after school to tell you all that happened during the attack, girl. That akuma was, how to explain, 18 plus only?" Alya smirked when Nino turned around and gave her a stern glare. "Don't worry, sweetheart, she won't know absolutely everything that happened," she told him loud enough for him to hear but quiet enough for being unheard by the rest of the class and Monsieur LeRoy, their physics teacher.

Nino's embarrassed frown was so funny that Marinette had to fight with herself to keep a straight face, as she wasn't supposed to know what had happened to them in the bubble, so there was no reason to laugh. But sadly, Adrien didn't have as much self control.

"I heard you sniggering, Sunshine. What exactly is so funny?" whispered Alya, her eyes just slits in her face.

Adrien sniggered a bit more. "Well, based on what I heard on the news, I can only assume what you want to talk to Marinette about, Alya. The news didn't show a picture of the akuma, but they did say it was quite a sight to behold." He sniggered some more and turned around to look at the brunette. "I also read a couple of interviews with people so—"

He was interrupted by someone clearing their throat near his right ear. "Monsieur Agreste, would you like to share with the class what is so amusing about your conversation?" came Monsieur LeRoy's mostly un-amused voice.

"Uh… I—" was the only thing Adrien managed to say when his gaze met M. LeRoy's stern glare. His face felt on fire. "Sorry, sir."

"You've always been a model student, Monsieur Agreste, so I will forgive you this time. But don't make me repeat myself in future or we will need to have words."

"Sorry, sir. Won't happen again." Adrien moved back forward and opened his book, worriedly eyeing Nino's side of the desk to check what was the right page, and picked up his pencil to stick into his mouth, pretending to pay attention.

The rest of the lesson dragged on even more slowly. Alya passed a piece of paper where she'd written "sorry" to Nino, who passed it to Adrien. Adrien waves his hand to signal to Alya that it was okay. They didn't speak much more for the rest of the lesson, but Marinette certainly couldn't concentrate on what M. LeRoy was talking about.

All she could think was the sensation of Adrien's hands on her nipples. And inside her bits. His mouth sucking on her breast. The goosebumps that she'd had when he had been licking and kissing her neck and her bosom. The pangs of electricity running through her body when he had eaten her up. She wanted him again, she couldn't tear her thoughts from what had happened in that bubble. She silently thanked all the Saints that the 'truth' effect of the akuma didn't follow them outside the bubble. She wouldn't have been able to survive the day if she'd had to tell the truth to Alya. Oh dear God, no. She had to fight the temptation of running her hands in his golden hair that was so close, so easy to reach!

"—ette? Marinette?" She blinked as her brain switched back on enough to realise that someone was calling her. She looked around as if waking up from a dream, and her gaze met the worried brown eyes of her best friend.

"Uh, sorry, what?" she said, blinking pointedly.

Alya sighed and looked at her boyfriend in the front row. "I told you she looks off. Daydreaming again. You're worse than Adrien today, girl. We spent the last five minutes shaking him up, to then realise that you too were in dreamland."

"No, I was listening. Yes. Listening." Marinette frowned and sat rigidly, trying to stay still and stop fidgeting with her hands.

"Marinette, the lesson finished fifteen minutes ago. It's home time, we need to go." Alya's words registered in a part of her brain, but the other part had caught Adrien's gaze looking straight at her, and she was lost again in her daydream.

Those eyes—

Those…

"AHEM. Marinette! I said we need to go! NOW!" shouted Alya into her ear. "Lose the googly eyes and get up!"

Googly eyes? But that was enough for Marinette to finally stand up, mechanically, and start picking up her stuff. She dared give a glance towards Adrien and noticed that he was bearing an amused grin, but his eyes seemed to be glued on her. And she started feeling a bit hot under her collar.

"Come on, move!" Alya bumped her hips on Marinette's bum, until her friend finally finished to collect her things and walked down the steps to the front of the class. Alya put her hands on Marinette's shoulders and firmly guided her out of the class, then to her locker, waited patiently for her to collect the rest of her bits, and then guided her out of the school. "Will you be okay from here, Marinette? Do you want me to walk you home?" she asked then, looking evidently concerned.

"No, I'm okay, Alya, sorry," said Marinette, blushing profusely under her amused gaze. "I'm gome hoing. Uh, I mean, I'm going home."

Alya frowned and messed with her phone for a second. "That's another thing I haven't heard hardly at all since Collège. I'm walking home with you, girl, I just texted Nora that I will be home late. God forbid that you start daydreaming again in the middle of the road and get killed. Come on, let's go." She grabbed her hand and started moving towards the bakery. Marinette could only follow.

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Marinette knew that Alya meant well. She was actually grateful to her that she had walked her home, because she had risked a couple of times to get lost in her daydream in front of a couple of billboards featuring the newest Gabriel underwear collection (Adrien's abs looked so enticing in those pictures! And now that she'd had an actual feel of the real thing, how could Marinette not just stop and gawk at that wonderful vision?). Had Alya not been there with her, she would probably have been found at 3 AM, drooling in front of the first billboard.

Instead, luckily now she was at home. Unluckily, listening to Alya's rambing about her wonderful experience inside the bubble. Looking forward for dusk to come, so Alya would go and maybe a certain kitty would decide to pay a visit, as he had promised earlier.

At least, Marinette hoped with all her might that he'd remember his promise. Either that, or she would break his legs in teeny tiny pieces the following morning. Or if she had too many witnesses at school, maybe she could hang him up upside down at the top of the Eiffel Tower the following night during patrol.

Better not forget your promise, Minou.

Yes, better not.

"—at's how we realised that we couldn't lie. Are you listening, Marinette?" Alya's vibrant voice brought her away from dreamland again.

"Uh, yes, Alya, sorry. You were saying?"

Alya smirked. "So very distracted today, Marinette. What happened exactly in that closet of yours? Are you sure you didn't end up there with Adrien?"

"Yes, sure. I'm sure. Why do you even ask?" said Marinette and as she said so, she saw her phone vibrating and picked it up, to read the message she just received.

Adrien: [Can't wait to continue where we left, M'lady! :3 ]

Marinette smiled softly as she read the message. Okay, maybe her Minou won't be found hanging upside down from the top of the Eiffel Tower the following night. He attached a picture after the message of a cat with the nose in the cream. Ha. Pretty descriptive. Her smile turned into a smirk and she tapped to her contacts, clicked on Adrien's name and changed it to Chaton. Yep. That sounded good.

Marinette: [You better not get too hot and steamy during your fencing lesson, Chaton. Keep your energy for me.]

The smirk didn't leave her face as she eyed Alya, who was still talking. "Back in a minute," she said and she walked up the stairs to the mezzanine that contained her bed, took a picture of it and hit send. Then she went down again, sat on the chaise near Alya and looked at her pointedly. "You were saying?"

"So Nino says, 'What are we going to do now?' and I look at him and point out that we're naked, and also the red dim lights by the side of the mattress we were on, and say, 'I think it's quite self explanatory, honey. We have fun!' I tell you, Marinette, that was the best akuma ever. You should have gotten hit, girl. You may have ended up in the bubble with Adrien."

Marinette's phone buzzed again.

Chaton: [Don't know about that... can't lower my guard for a minute here, or there won't be much left for you to play with tonight!]

Marinette frowned as she opened the picture he had sent to her, portraying four girls in fencing uniforms, looking very stern and ready to fight.

Chaton: [My honour's being threatened, you know. I have a reputation to uphold. You don't become the best student in M. D'Argencourt's class by just standing there looking pretty!]

Marinette's frown deepened. She would give him something else than his honour to worry about. But suddenly, she felt her phone being taken from her hand and thrown away the other side of the chaise.

"Are you listening, Marinette? Stop messing with your phone!" said Alya sternly. Marinette sighed and folded her arms over her chest.

"Alright, so were you saying?"

Alya raised an eyebrow. "How much of what I said did you actually listen to?"

Marinette looked down. "Uh, not much sorry. My… maman was telling me about the wedding they went to, I got distracted."

Alya brought a hand to her chin. "O-kay," she deadpanned. "Then let me start again from scratch. I told you that the akuma looked like a big massive dildo…"

The conversation washed over her without Marinette paying much attention to it, but this time she took care to listen a bit more carefully. Well, she wished she hadn't, because Alya's attention to detail was devilish and her friend started describing what had happened in the bubble with such a fervor that Marinette's heart sped up its beats. Nope. Listening to Alya talking about making out with Nino definitely wasn't the best way to forget about her make-out session with Adrien. Definitely not. The more she listened to her friend talking, the more her mind wandered again to the experience she had earlier.

"I need my phone," she said suddenly, getting up and picking her phone up from the place where Alya had discarded it. Alya stopped talking and looked at her, raising both eyebrows. "Back in a minute," Marinette continued. She again climbed the steps to the mezzanine where her bed was. Alya saw her taking a picture of her skylight door. What was going through that girl's mind, she wondered.

Up on her mezzanine, Marinette looked with satisfaction at the picture she had taken. She attached it to her message and wrote down underneath it,

Marinette: [My latch is open, Minou 3 ]

She saw that he had seen the message and was typing, so she waited for a sec on the mezzanine before climbing down, and luckily she did, because Adrien's answer was,

Chaton: [Don't do that to me, M'lady. I just walked into a lamp post. Ouch.]

Marinette pictured in her mind Adrien banging his head against a lamp post and laughed so hard that she snorted a couple of times.

Marinette: [LOL did you?]

Chaton: [Not funny, Purrincess. I'll get my revenge later on.]

Marinette: [I hold you on to it, Chaton!]

When she climbed down, Alya was looking at her with a curious expression. "Who are you texting, Marinette?"

'None of your business,' Marinette thought, but instead she smiled softly and said, "My dad. He wanted to make sure that my latch was closed. You know, being alone tonight and all."

"Oh, I see," said Alya and Marinette saw that her friend was relaxing a little. "Actually, talking about tonight, Marinette. Do you mind if I take a shower here at your house? Tonight I'm watching the twins so I won't have a lot of time to have one until much later on, and after the events in the bubble, I really feel that I need a wash."

Marinette stood and went straight to the closet where she held her towels. She picked up a towel for Alya and made to close the closet's door, but then she looked at Alya and she opened it again, picking up a second set of towels. She wouldn't have done it with anybody else, but this was Alya. They had shared the same bed and drank from the same glass.

"Of course. The shower is all yours, take a towel," she said, tossing a couple of towels to her. "If you don't mind, I'll take a bath in the other bathroom. I too feel a bit sticky." She then noticed Alya's scrutinising gaze looking pointedly at her. "Eh, after the day in school. Yes. What are you thinking about?"

Alya gave her an even more untrusting look, but she eventually thanked her for the towels. She went down the trapdoor, then proceeded towards the small ensuite bathroom in the bedroom of her parents. Marinette instead gathered a few things and walked towards the family bathroom in the hall.

Author's Note:

So now you know what were Tikki and Plagg doing while their holders were in the bubble. They were listening to everything that happened (with popcorn!). Hope you enjoyed this chapter. The sexual tension is growing and growing the more they're far from each other. Hope that Marinette's home won't explode when they end up there at last ;)

A million of THANK YOU to all of you for the wonderful support and for the beautiful reviews and feedback, for all the kudos, reviews, comments, follows and bookmarks. I just wanted to take the occasion to wish all of you a wonderful Christmas and a fantastic New Year. Just in case I forget about it in the rush of posting the chapter on the 23rd. Also, I have recently posted a Christmas One Shot. It's rated T, but it's my present to all of you for Christmas, hope you will like it. If you go to my profile you will see it just underneath this story, it's called "The Fortune Teller".

For mepuppypro: yes, they're clueless even if they read a lot of things. There's a massive difference between theory and practice and they've just realised this very important truth. Hope you liked this chapter. Next chapter will be fun!

I have also been asked for permission for translating this story in Russian! I would never have thought someone would ask me this so thank you, translator! Hope the Russian community will like this story too :)

Hope you're going to tell me your thoughts, what you liked or made you laugh and such. Your comments are what keeps me going, so please give me some feedback and make my day!

In next chapter of Naked Truth (out Wednesday night GMT),

"Exposed!"

- Chaton: [Do you want me to come over tonight? Because at this rate, I won't come, I'll be dead. I just choked on my food. Badly.]

- "Plaaaagg? Can I transform now? Like this?"

- "Who's Chaton?" Alya asked as her eyes widened in shock. "Ugh. Is he really coming here naked?"

See you for the next update!

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