Marinette was standing at her bedroom door, conflicted.

She had been adament about letting the disasterously attractive (even in his sleep) guy on her couch sleep as long as he needed to, but it was starting to push into the afternoon.

'It's probably not good for him to sleep the entire day away,' Tikki hissed at her from her shirt collar.

'But what if he really needs it? He just looked so exhausted when he came in last night,' Marinette stressed. 'I don't know if I could. If he's really only here to rest and recoup, shouldn't we let him do that?'

Tikki hummed, looking at the mess of blonde hair. 'Why don't you give it a bit longer, and if he doesn't wake up by himself by then, then do it? He'll need to rehydrate, and eat something, if nothing else.'

Marinette frowned slightly, before moving to tiptoeing past him.

Yet right as she passed him, she hit the coffee table, causing him to shift.

'No, Nathalie, I can't wear that,' he mumbled, 'it's a fish.' He buried his face into the cushion. 'Not for the school dance,'

Marinette was intrigued, yet in her haste to get her balance she stumbled, and landed on the couch next to him.

'I can't, I don't want to embarrass Lady-' His eyes snapped open at the motion, and he sat up, blinking. '-bug?'

Marinette flushed to her roots, jumping back to her feet.

Adrien looked around, before looking up at her.

His hair was mussed, reminding her strikingly of Chat's, his clothes rumpled, and his cheeks were flushed from a heavy sleep. He raised one hand to rub at his face. 'What time is it?'

Hell, if she didn't want to kiss him right then and there.

A tiny nudge from her collar brought her back to reality. 'Oh, um, it's, nearly one.'

He stared at her blankly for a moment, before frowning. 'Really? Wow, I'm so sorry,'

'You don't need to apologise,' Marinette flapped at him. 'You obviously needed it. Are you feeling alright?'

He rubbed one eye, before pausing, and his shoulders slumped slightly, like he'd taken on a heavy weight. He smiled brightly up at her, one she didn't believe for a second. 'Yeah, thanks for asking. Can I use your bathroom?'

She nodded, gesturing to the door, and he sprang to his feet.

As soon as the door closed, Tikki flew out and landed on her shoulder.

'Maybe he's stressed from work?' Marinette questioned, looking at the closed door.

Tikki shook her head. 'I think there's something else at play.' There was a hint to her tone that Marinette missed. 'It's good of you to let him stay.'

'Of course, Tikki. I wasn't going to turn him away!' She turned towards the kitchenette. 'Before anything else, he's my friend. I'll do anything I can for my friends.'

Tikki eyed her. 'It's not because you have that massive crush on him?'

Marinette coloured, before opening the coffee container. 'It's not to do with that at all.'

Tikki pulled a face at her. She floated over to the cookie jar, flipped open the lid and took a cookie.

However when Marinette went for the milk, Tikki went for the cheese.

'Cheese, Tikki? That's unusual,' Marinette noticed.

'Oh, yeah, uh, I felt the desire.' Tikki replied quickly. 'I'm going to eat by the window, ok? I'm sure Adrien will be out in a minute.'

Confusedly, Marinette watched her float off to the livingroom window overlooking the street, where Marinette kept a few potted herbs bathed in sunlight.

Shrugging, she went back to her coffee preparations, and indeed it was only a few minutes before Adrien appeared.

'Do I smell the essence of the gods?' He questioned, drifting towards her, looking much more lively.

'It's only instant,' she said a little breathlessly.

'The gods do not care.' He said solomnly, taking a mug from the counter.

He winked at her, causing her to suddenly need a bracing hand on the counter, before he returned over to her couch.

She watched him for a long moment, sipping at her own coffee, as he once again made himself comfortable amongst her cushions.

'Hey,' she said suddenly, 'in a little bit, do you want to make some bread with me?'

He paused, before looking up at her.

'Fair warning, I've never baked anything before in my life. I'd hate to destroy your oven.'

She turned to face him and smiled widely. 'Oh don't worry, we won't even get to the oven part until much later. For now, all you have to do is make the dough, and there's nothing like it after a rough time of it.'

He stared at her blankly, upon which his phone took the opportunity to start ringing.

He started, pulling his phone from his pocket so quickly that he nearly dropped it, before almost throwing it facedown onto the coffee table.

Marinette watched him with a hint of confusion, as he tried to settle back casually into the couch. 'Who is it?'

'Oh, it's Nathalie. Don't worry.' He attempted a wave of his mug, which threatened to spill its contents. 'What were you saying? Something about making bread dough?'

She nodded slowly, and he sprang to his feet, obviously eager to be away from the device. 'What do we need? Milk? Eggs? Sugar?' He strode over to where she was, and opened a cupboard door at random. Marinette's carefully stacked crockery stared back at him stubbornly.

'Um, you don't need to worry about any of that,' Marinette said, unsure how to react to his behaviour, 'It's not a cake, just bread. Flour, water, yeast, salt. It's actually pretty easy.'

The phone cut off, and Adrien visibly relaxed. He closed the cupboard door slowly.

'Are you alright?' She questioned, and he looked at her tiredly, before shaking his head.

'Oh, yeah, don't worry about it.'

His body language defied his words, and she only worried more. 'Well, alright. Can you get two mugs out of that cupboard next to you?'

He did so, looking at her with a hint of confusion. 'You use mugs to make bread?'

'You do when your measuring cups are currently full of pins and buttons.' Marinette smiled at him. She went to her pantry and pulled out a large packet of flour. 'Under the mugs, can you get two of the mixing bowls?'

'Now that sounds more like bread.' He managed the task, setting them onto the counter carefully.

While he did that, she poured flour into the two mugs. Little puffs of it spilled onto her counter, but she didn't seem to care. 'Alright, take one of these and put it in your mixing bowl.'

He did so, while she did the same, before looking at her. 'Is it alright to make a mess like this?'

'Oh honey, you haven't seen anything yet.' She smiled at him, then slamming her gaze down to refill the mugs, flushing hard.

They put another cup and a half of flour into the bowls, then Marinette pulled out the yeast. She put a well-practiced dollop into her bowl, before instructing him to measure out enough to cover the floor of his mug, then put it in.

'And look at that, you're well on your way to making bread!' She smiled at him. 'Now you need to quickly mix it through.'

He looked at the mix, then looked at her. She already was tossing her mix with expert fingers, something he couldn't help but admire.

With his non-ringed hand he mixed it through carefully, while she took their mugs and filled them with water. 'What are you doing now?' He asked her, watching her refill the kettle.

'I'm getting the water for the mix.' She sat it down on its stand and flicked the switch.

'Won't it be too hot?' He said with an air of panic.

'No, I'm not going to let it boil, I just want to heat it up slightly. The yeast is a living thing, and it needs warm water to thrive.'

'Oh, right.'

She stood with her hand against the side of the kettle, waiting for what was obviously peak temperature.

As she waited, she suddenly realised how close they were standing, his eyes expectantly on the silver kettle.

She could hear Alya's teasing voice now. 'Go get him, girl!'

'Um, so,' she started, and he looked up at her with green, green eyes. She felt her insides melt slightly. 'Are you feeling any better this morning? Today, I mean?'

He smiled slightly. 'That has to be the most amount of sleep at any one time I've gotten in months. Thank you. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.'

Her replying smile was nervous. 'So you haven't been getting a lot of sleep?' Not that she was one to talk. Between her fashion internship, her side work, and Ladybug, sleep was a rarity indeed.

He shrugged, with a trace of sheepishness. 'It's been, busy.' The glance he threw over his shoulder had sadness in it though. 'I've been pretty run off my feet trying to stop everything from falling apart.'

Welling her courage, she reached with her free hand and tapped him on the nose. 'Well, I'm proud of you.' She smiled warmly.

Moving quickly, she picked up the now warmed kettle and started pouring, trying to distract herself from her failing nerve.

He stared at her for a moment, wide eyed, with a slight flush rising unbidden to his cheeks.

He shook his head quickly, before peering down at the now filled mugs. She offered one to him, and he looked between it and her. 'What am I supposed to do with it? Mix it through too?'

'Exactly.' She did so with hers, pouring carefully. 'Then you want to mix it through with your hands.' She picked up her bowl and moved it over to the small dining table she had by the window, eager for the larger space.

Tentatively he poured his, before looking down at the mixture. 'Isn't there a mixer for this kind of thing?'

She shrugged, squeezing the mix between her fingers. 'When you work in a bakery or you have the cash. But this is better.'

He looked between his own mix and the ring on his hand, grimancing slightly. 'It'll come off, right?' He followed her carefully over to the table, placing the bowl down facing her.

'Sure it will. Go on,' she encouraged.

Hesitantly at first, he ran his fingers through the mix.

'This feels so weird.'

'I told you it was fun.' She had already brought the mix into something that could be considered a dough, and he couldn't help but admire her skill.

'I know it sounds obvious, but you're really good at this.' He smiled at her, before returning his gaze to his mix, and mixing with more vigor.

'That's the way,' she smiled at him. 'Mix it all the way through.' She paused, her eyes on his hands. 'Are you sure you don't want to take your ring off?'

'Oh,' he chuckled slightly nervously. 'Don't worry about it. Like you said, it'll come off.'

She looked at him for a moment, before looking down at her mix.

He'd never noticed it before, but she stuck out her tongue slightly as she concentrated. It was incredibly endearing.

They worked in comfortable silence, getting increasingly sticky fingers while the dough collected. He followed her instructions of making the dough into a ball, then running the ball around the bowl to pick up any excess flour.

Once completed, he looked at her with a hint of triumph in his eyes. 'What next?'

'Now, as my dad calls it, we just have to wait for it to bomf.' She smiled a mischevious grin.

'To what?' He said confusedly. 'Bomf?'

She went and washed her hands in her sink, then gestured for him to do so as well.

While he did, she grabbed some tea towels from a drawer, and placed them over the mixing bowls.

'Yup,' she said, turning her oven timer for an hour, as he dried his hands with a hint of fear. 'Bomf.'