Almost immediately after setting the timer for the dough, Adrien's phone rang again.

He flinched, but upon picking up the phone, he realised, 'it's Nino.' He said aloud. He looked at her. 'Do you mind if I answer?'

She blinked at him. 'Of course you can answer.'

He did so, and Nino's grinning face filled the screen. 'Hey dude!'

'Hiya, Nino. How's your event?' He grinned back. He sat down heavily on the couch, and Marinette hovered in the kitchenette area awkwardly.

'Dude, we are not here to talk about me. Alya said you got to Marinette's ok?'

'Yes, safe and sound.' He turned the phone in Marinette's direction. 'Say hello!'

'Hey, Nino,' Marinette said, approaching. 'We're making bread.'

Nino looked between them. 'You sure that's a wise idea?'

'He's actually doing great.' Marinette stuck her tongue out. She sat down next to Adrien. 'Better than your first attempt.'

'Marinette, you're biased and we both know it.' Nino winked at her, and she pulled a face at him.

'Now now,' Adrien grinned. 'Just because I have talent doesn't mean I want to cause any fights,'

'I'm sure you'll be inheriting the bakery soon enough.' Nino grinned right back knowingly.

'Nino!' Marinette shot at him.

'I'm just telling it like it is.' Nino's smile held out a little longer, before turning his gaze to Adrien. 'How're you holding up, bro?'

Adrien's smile clouded over. 'Better, thanks for asking. And thanks for covering for me.'

'Of course! By the way, Nathalie called me, like, super late last night. I swore up and down you were with me, but didn't want to talk. Sound fair?'

'Sound's fair.' Adrien's face did not lighten. 'Thanks, Nino.'

Nino gave him a thumbs up with a grin. 'Listen, I'm going to get you some merch from this thing. What do you want? Hats? Mugs? Shirts? The most godawful lanyard I've ever seen in my life?'

'You don't have to do that,' he shook his head.

'Sign me up for that lanyard!' Marinette grinned.

'Fair warning, orange and pink are not colours that were ever supposed to mix.' Nino raised his eyebrows, then shrugged. 'That's easy then. They're practically paying people to take them. Adrien?'

Adrien let out a breath. 'Well if you're offering, then surprise me. Anything but the lanyard.'

'Deal.' There was a noise from off screen, and Nino glanced up at it, before looking back. 'I gotta go, duty calls.' He looked at Adrien. 'Love you, man.'

'You too,' Adrien replied, and Nino ended the call.

'"Surprise me"?' Marinette grinned at him. 'You're going to end up with a pink and orange shirt with those fighting words.'

Adrien grimanced over a smile. 'Well, here's hoping. Listen,' he got to his feet. 'I might just go for a walk. Clear my head. If you don't mind.'

She watched him head towards the door. 'Sure, don't worry about it. If you're a little late the bread won't spoil.' He put his hand on the doorknob. 'When you leave the building, if you turn left and head towards the river, there's a nice garden, if you were interested.' She added, wringing her hands together.

He smiled at her. 'That sounds nice. I'll be back soon.'

He stepped through the door, and closed it behind him with a click.

Marinette found herself letting out a breath.

Tikki flew over to greet her, looking anxious. 'Are you alright?'

'I could ask him the same thing.'

Tikki shook her head. 'There's something big that's up.' She looked at her. 'Hey, why don't we go for a run as well?'

Marinette frowned slightly. 'What, now? What if Adrien gets back and we're not here?'

'Then we can just say we slipped out for a second. Come on, you need to work out that pent up energy.' Tikki grinned.

'Well, alright,' Marinette stood, once again grateful for having her own place. 'Transforme-moi!'

A flash of pink, and Ladybug headed for the window, throwing it open.

In a few deft movements she was swinging across the street, and taking deep lungfuls of the fresh Parisian day.

Tikki was right, she had been spending too much time inside.

Yet, she was only a few streets over when she caught sight of a flash of black.

She changed course easily, eager for her cheerful feline friend, and found him hovering near to where she had suggested to Adrien not a few minutes ago. Perhaps she would catch sight of him?

'Salut, Chat!' She called out to him, and he started, spinning on his toes.

He relaxed upon spotting her, grinning with a hint of relief. 'Good afternoon, my lady! It's always a pleasure to see you. What brings you out on this fine sunny day?'

'Oh, I've been trapped inside all week.' Ladybug leant against the chimney a few paces from him. 'There's nothing like getting outside on a day like this. How about you?'

He shrugged. 'Hey!' He pointed along the riverbank. 'André is down there, shall we get some ice cream?'

She smiled ruefully. 'This suit doesn't exactly fit my purse, I don't want to take advantage of him.'

'No, no,' Chat was already starting towards the icecream vendor. 'After the whole Glaciator incident he insisted that we can stop by anytime. Come on!'

'Chat!' She exclaimed as he leapt off the building, and she hastened to follow.

They leant easily against the railing of a balcony above the Seine, looking out over the gleaming wather.

'I thought he was going to have a heart attack.' Ladybug smiled. 'He was so surprised to see us take him up on his offer.'

Chat admired his ice cream in the sun. 'Man, I love cherry ice cream. We could easily cure akumas just by militarizing this stuff.'

'It's too sweet for me,' she replied. 'Plus, it turns your tongue red. Nope, André has the best choice for me, me and my mint chocolate chip are going to get along great.'

'What's wrong with having a red tongue?' Chat demonstrated his. 'You worried I'm stealing your colour?'

'I'm not the one with the "charcoal activated vanilla". That tongue of yours will match my suit down to the ground.'

He shrugged easily. 'Well, suit yourself.' He winked.

'Har har,' she took a bite to distract herself.

He busied himself with his own ice cream for a moment, before pausing. He looked down at his feet for a moment, before refocusing his gaze on his cone.

'Hey, I know you said you're super busy at the moment,' he started, almost hesitantly. 'But I probably won't be able to keep up the patrols in your absence. Something's come up, I'm sorry.'

'What?' She asked, confused for a moment. 'Oh, right. Yeah, don't worry about it.' She had suddenly more piled on her plate what with Adrien, she knew how life could be.

His ears flattened. 'I mean! I know I said I'd help cover, and I'll get out when I can, but things got really busy suddenly, I'm sorry.'

'I need to get back out into it, I've put too much-' she started, but he was hunching in on himself in a way she'd never seen before.

'You were counting on me, and, I just wanted to give you a fair warning in case I couldn't live up to it.' He was gripping his cone too hard, it was making uncomfortable creaking noises. 'I-'

'Chat Noir.' Her hand landed on his shoulder, making him start. 'It's fine. I put too much pressure on you. I'll handle whatever patrols you need me to.'

He took in a shaky breath. 'Y-yeah, thank you. I, sorry,' he noticed the runny drip of ice cream over his knuckles, and carefully changed hands to try to shake off the droplets.

'Don't worry about it.' Ladybug looked at him carefully. 'Are you alright?'

He took a steady bite of his ice cream to consider his reply. 'I, yeah, sorry. The people I live with have been driving me crazy. I've just been trying to, clean up the mess.'

'The housemates again?' Ladybug bumped his shoulder. 'From the messes they've made over the years, you sound like the best one of the bunch.'

He smiled grimly. 'Yeah, it's a messy household.' He raised his cone to hers. 'But I get to share ice cream on a beautiful day with a beautiful lady.'

Her face was skeptical, but she raised her own to clink them.

'Do you have anyone to help you out?' She questioned through a moutful of mint choc chip.

He made to reply, before flapping his hand frantically in front of his face. 'Arg! Why doesn't superpowers protect me from brain freeze!'

Ladybug could only laugh, as her partner slowly found his composure again with flaming cheeks.

'Why, are you offering?' He managed. There was a sadness behind his grin, despite the bravado. 'Because there's a whole lot of eggshells that got left around. And then they blamed me for stepping on one!' He rolled his eyes dramatically.

'I don't know how you manage it.' Ladybug smiled ruefully.

He laughed slightly. 'I'm joking. No, I have a couple of friends helping me survive it. Don't worry. I'll be just fine.'

She looked at him for a long moment. 'Chat, have you considered breaking your lease and moving out?'

He paused, staring back. 'I, couldn't do that,'

'But,' her lips had made a grim line. 'If you're always the one on cleanup duty, then who's keeping an eye out for you?'

He was quiet, considering her, before letting out a breath. 'You know what? I'll think about it.'

'You can't talk to me about it properly; why don't you talk to those "couple of friends" about it?'

He smiled slightly, but shrugged. 'Maybe I will.' He languidly turned his shoulders towards her. 'Maybe I should introduce you someday.' He turned away again, facing an imaginary figure. 'Hello Friend A, I'd like you to meet my best friend. Maybe you've heard of her?'

'You're full of it.' She laughed regardless. 'You couldn't find a single person in Paris who couldn't recognise us.'

'It's the burden we bare.' He was nearly finished of his ice cream, and now took the last few bites. 'I should get back.'

'Still cleaning?'

'Oh, my lady, you have no idea. Though a late lunch may be in my future if I play my cards right.' He smiled, rubbing the napkin over his claws.

She finished the last of her own cone, and looked at him half-judgingly. 'Ice cream before lunch?'

'You know it.' He winked at her. 'I'll see you around, Buignette.' He stepped up onto the balcony edge.

'I'll take the next patrol.' She said, resting her hand on her arm. 'You look after yourself, ok?'

'That means a lot.' He shot her a lopsided grin, before allowing himself to tip over the edge, plummeted for a moment, before catching himself and was over the next building in a blink.

Ladybug watched him go, hoping things would work out for the best.