Notes: Here's the song Marinette performs to 3 I recommend listening to it while reading

track/2mJh8C9JLns0I6Q73vVJDz?si=MHhTmcjxS9yl2UVO3ITmHw

Also I hope the descriptions make sense from the POV of people who have never done aerial silks..

It was Marinette's first time performing in front of her friends, although she knew she was good at what she did, she still knew there was always something she could improve on. Alya had been nagging since they were in middle school about seeing her perform, and since it was Marinette's opening night at the venue, she decided it was time to let her friends come. Now she stood behind the stage curtain, looking out at the lounge scanning for her friends. Her eyes rolled along the lavish chaises and dramatic wood carvings that lined the ceiling, finally her eyes landed on a small table where her two best friends sat. She slid a hand out from behind the curtain and waved at her friends, a giddy smile plastered across her face. Martinette came to the realization that her excited waving and childish grin didn't go along with the vibe of her new workplace very well and decided to hide herself behind the curtain once again, but not before the couple could wave back, their hands clasped together. If only she could have a love like theirs… She distracted herself from that thought by checking the clock on the wall, showtime was in 2 minutes. She made sure her black and glittering leotard was sitting correctly, hugging her body the way it was supposed to. She made a point to check her makeup too. She had gone with a red theme for her makeup. Red blush that blended into her faint red eyeshadow, on her lid there was a shimmering glitter and along her lash line was a cat liner. Her makeup look was finished off with a wine red lip. She had chosen red as it went well with the color of the red silks she would be performing in.

She could feel the nerves coming in over her now, her heart hammering away, why did she always get so nervous. Every time without fail, it was like clockwork!

She was given a thumbs up by one of the tech crew members, and on that cue she parted the stage curtains with delicate hands.

Putting one pointed foot before the other, making graceful moves towards the silks.

As she reached the silks the careful piano notes of the melody of the song she had chosen for her choreography escaped into the atmosphere of the lounge.

Her heart was beating fast in her chest.

Marinette held the two pieces of silk together as one with a firm grip, and hoisted herself up with the notes of the song. She twirled the silk around her shin and let it trail down along the inside of her foot, she pressed her other foot on top of it. She proceeded to climb further up using big movements as she lifted her arms above her head, raising her body up and sliding her feet up with her. As she was moving along the length of the silks she followed the pacing of the song. The further she came up the silks the longer away she was from the audience, from her anxiety, from the world. Now it was only her, the silks and the music that filled her chest.

When she reached the midway point of the silks, which was probably around three meters up in the air she pushed the fabric outward with her free foot and looped it around the other to create a footlock. Letting her body flow with the cues of the song she separated the two pieces of silk and slid her hands down the fabric to be placed at her hips, she straightened out her feet and leant back. She closed her eyes as she leaned her head back, shutting out the audience and their gasps, reenforcing the idea that she was all alone in the world. She was floating in the fabric with music enveloping her, she was in her own world.

…

She was hanging upside down, her hair was in pigtails which weirdly enough looked elegant when she was suspended in the air like she was, her back arched and feet in an L-shape following the silky fabric she was entangled in. He stood there stunned as he barely noticed her going into a new pose because of the fluidity of her motions, she had kept the two pieces separate as she twirled around one piece which she ended up leaning her weight against. Her hands waved through the air slowly, as if her arms were wings and she were an angel. Adrien Agreste had never seen anything like it, he stood frozen in the doorway, and remembered that he was there to meet his friend who he had recently met when he started university. He took his eyes off the beautiful girl floating in the air and scanned the room quickly until he saw him. He quickly made his way to the table where Nino stood with his girlfriend Alya.

"Hi, sorry I'm late," he whispered, his eyes having made their way back to the beautiful choreography happening above them.

"Fortunately you only missed the part where she climbed up," his friend whispered back. Adrien nodded.

The girl had loosened the part of the silks that had been tightened around her foot and was now turning her body around the fabric. Somehow the beautiful performer managed to end up in a pose where she was suspended in the air with the fabric wrapped around her thighs. With one of her free hands she grabbed the fabric that flowed below her and swiveled it around in the air giving her the momentum to spin around. As Adrien was watching this angel dancing in the air he knew he had to know her, and as the beautiful dancer danced through the air he was grateful that his friend had invited him to this lounge on this night.

The girl moved through pose after pose, her every move was so fluid Adrien barely noticed she was changing poses before she landed in her intended pose. When he thought her performance couldn't get more mesmerizing the music swelled with the sound of violins as she hoisted herself up into an upside down pose where she was in the splits with pieces of fabric on both feet.

While she was upside down she loosened the knots around her feet and held onto the fabric above her. Her movements became more swift as the music began to quicken it's pace and build further. She wrapped her legs around the fabric as she hung upside down, her legs were straightened out now. She crossed the silks behind her back and then put the pieces over her legs. She swung herself up into a seated position before crossing the pieces of silk in front of her and pushing her feet through the opening above the cross, where she ended in a balanced position on her stomach high up in the air. He felt himself gasp even before the performer flung herself forward and fell down, his heart dropped. The rest of the audience now gasped with him as she fell even further down the music making the fall even more impactful. The girl ended up at the bottom of the silks, fabric holding her up in her final pose, as the final note of the music piece played. The audience roared with cheers, a bit more excitedly than what was appropriate for the longue where they all found themselves.

The girl dropped down from her pose carefully and gave a shy bow as she took in the applause before disappearing behind the curtains.

Adrien's heart dropped, wondering when he would see her again, if ever.

He had to know her.

"Can y'all believe my bestfriend is that talented?" Alya said as if answering Adrien's prayer.

"You know her!?" he burst out. Both Alya and Nino giggled at Adrien's outburst.

"Are you in love with my childhood best friend now Agreste?" Nino raised an eyebrow.

Adrien blushed.

"I'm just messing with you bro," Nino laughed, poking Adrien in the side with an elbow.

"Oh," was all Adrien said in response.

"This is actually our first time seeing Marinette perform too," Alya informed him, this made him feel a bit less embarrassed at how he had reacted to the fact that his friends knew this beautiful… Marinette.

"Really?"

"Yeah she's been doing aerial silks for YEARS now, but she's always been really shy about people she knows seeing her perform. Always going on and on about how she wasn't good enough yet, how she just had some final things to perfect," Alya explained.

"We were actually kind of surprised she allowed us to come here tonight, even though it's a super big deal that she basically has a steady job doing aerial silks now!" Nino added with a chuckle.

"Speak of the devil-"

".. and he shall appear," said a girl who now stood by their table, Adrien turned to look at her, it was none other than Marinette. She was wearing a black dress now in place of the outfit she had performed in, and her hair was not in pigtails anymore, her hair was in a half up half down kind of style.

"That was an amazing performance, choreography, whatever you call it! I can't believe you are that talented and I was never allowed to see you in all of your glory before now!"

Marinette's red blush appeared to become more red.

"Kinda biphobic of you, honestly," Alya added, Marinette giggled at this comment.

Adrien had thought she was beautiful in the air, she was even more gorgeous up close, especially when she smiled.

"Marinette it was so beautiful, I can't believe you know how to do all that!" Nino exclaimed waving towards the red curtain that Marinette had been dangling from minutes earlier.

"You are very talented," Adrien commented, Marinette turned her gaze towards him.

"I don't believe we have met before?" she said with a smile.

"I'm Adrien," he introduced himself with a small bow, like a dork, he knew he would beat himself up about that later.

"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Marinette," she curtsied with a giggle.

But the pleasure was all his.

Notes: Hope y'all enjoyed my self indulgent AU that is very much a love letter to aerial silks lol, comments are greatly appreciated!