Marinette was hanging on by the tips of her fingers. Literally. Panic was beginning to set in. Her purse had been knocked away from her when the Akuma's claw had clipped her, cutting the strap, and was currently lost amongst the hordes of terrified tourists. Her purse. The purse that contained her kwami. The only saving grace for her situation. Unable to become Ladybug, she was stuck hanging off the side of the Eiffel Tower; and her fingers were slipping.
How had she managed to get herself into this mess? It had begun as a relatively good day. She had actually managed mostly intelligible sentences in Adrien's presence today and he had smiled at her (inner squeal!). She had aced the pop-quiz at school and Chloe had had the misfortune of ruining her shoes in a large, steaming pile of dog poo. Marinette wasn't usually a fan of people who let their animals do their business wherever they wanted in the city, but right then she could have patted whoever it was on the back. So, all in all, it had been a good day.
And then the Akuma had arrived. It was, of course, another giant one and she just had to be visiting the Tower with her classmates for an afternoon school field trip, putting the idea of transforming right away out of the question. When a giant purple Godzilla (that's right, you heard correctly, frickin' GODZILLA!) had come crashing into Marinette's so-far awesome day, everything had plummeted downhill from there. Speaking of plummeting, the Akuma had decided to stick its giant paw into the Eiffel Tower in an attempt to catch some screaming humans, which had ultimately resulted in her current predicament. Why, oh why, did Hawkmoth have to go and decide to Akumatize a monster movie nerd?! AND WHERE IN THE NAME OF CHEESE AND CRACKERS WAS THAT DAMN CAT?! He should have been there already!
Marinette felt her fingers slip again. Terror clutched her heart and she desperately tried to get a better grip on the metal, tried to pull herself up. Her muscles strained in her upper arms and for a moment she felt her body lift ever so slightly. Hope flared to life in her chest... and then she was falling. She had lost her hold and she was falling. Time seemed to slow down. She knew she was going to die. She had heard a lot of things about dying, like how your life flashes before your eyes, or seeing a light at the end of a tunnel. It was nothing like any of that. All she saw was the sky and the ground twisting together in a dizzying dance. All she felt was a mind numbing, soul crushing dread. All she heard was the wind screaming past her ears and the rapid pounding of her pulse. Was this really how her life was going to end? She closed her eyes and waited for impact.
BAM!
...Huh? That hadn't hurt as much as she'd thought it would. And she was pretty sure it should have been a 'splat' rather than a 'bam'. Then again, the impact had come from the side, instead of beneath her. Her tightly closed eyes snapped open, however, when she heard the voice.
"Don't worry Marinette, I've got ya."
Time appeared to resume its normal flow as she stared up in wonder at the blonde cat-boy that had just saved her life. They were flying through the air, wind whipping around them, as he used his baton to carry them to a rooftop that was a short but somewhat safe distance away. She wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his neck. After they landed, he readjusted his hold on her to bridal style and crouched, intending to set her down gently. Unfortunately, she didn't seem to have any intention of letting him go just yet and he could feel her trembling. He sat, still holding her in his arms.
"It's okay. You're alright now" he said softly, attempting to soothe her into releasing him. There was still a rampaging Akuma on the loose after all.
Marinette suddenly gasped for breath, only realizing she had been holding it after her lungs began to burn. It sounded suspiciously like a sob. But no, she was stronger than that. She would NOT break down in front of Cat Noir. She did, however, stay burrowed into his nape until she managed to get breath back into her body. Eventually lifting her head from his shoulder, she loosened her death grip on him and leaned back far enough to see his face. She stared at him for a long moment. And what happened next, Marinette would never be able to account for. Or forget. No matter how much she might wish selective amnesia was a thing.
She didn't know what on Earth made her to do it, but one second she was gazing into his green, green eyes; the next she was kissing him! She was kissing CAT NOIR! Hard. On the mouth! You'd think she would have stopped there, saved herself from total humiliation, but no. NOOO! Of course NOT! Instead, she proceeded to thoroughly kiss his whole face! What was she thinking?! What was she doing?! Her lips had made it all the way back to his before her brain finally caught up with her body. Her eyes popped open and she jerked away from him. Sometime during her assault, Cat had slid down the parapet his back was against so that she was practically on top of him. He was panting, wide-eyed and red faced, staring up at her with an utterly baffled, yet enticingly vulnerable expression. Her own face exploded into an alarming shade of scarlet. For more reasons than one.
Marinette practically catapulted herself off of him, scooting backwards at a surprising speed. "I-I-I" she stammered, scrambling for words and coming up blank. "I-I'm s-sorry! That-that...I... sorry! That was...? I-I just...I am so sorry!" Not waiting for him to reply and sinking ever deeper into the pit of embarrassment and despair, she fled the scene, running for the door that lead off the roof.
"W-Wait!" Cat called, getting up to go after her. But she was already gone and for some inexplicable reason his knees buckled and he faceplanted into the cement. If someone had been watching, they might have noticed the little curls of steam rising up from around his head.
Marinette lay on her bed that evening staring up at the ceiling, the events of the day running through her head. After running away from Cat Noir earlier, it had finally dawned on her that she needed to find Tikki. And, of course, the Akuma that was continuing to tear up Paris in the absence of Cat Noir and Ladybug. Oops. Luckily, Tikki had come looking for Marinette herself and had found the still blushing girl soon after the, uh... incident. Rather than take the time to grill Marinette for the meaning behind her obvious distress, Tikki urged her to suit up and get to work.
Facing Cat as Ladybug had been a lot easier than Marinette had at first expected, thank the fates. She'd kept herself together fairly well and had acted her part with minimal emotional interference. After all, it hadn't been Ladybug who'd just made a fool of herself in front of him...to him...on him...with him? Whatever the correct usage may be. Honestly, she'd never been more grateful for her mask than right then. The only time she'd really faltered was during their customary victory fist bump. She had apparently been unable to rise to the challenge of meeting his gaze for more than two seconds. Other than that, she felt she'd managed pretty well.
Cat Noir, on the other hand, was quite a different story. When they had met up as the dynamic duo once more, he'd looked extremely dazed and distracted. In fact, he'd nearly missed a step when he landed beside her. And even during the fight he'd seemed frazzled, disoriented. She'd had to repeat her instructions to him several times before he even appeared to hear her. As Ladybug, it had been phenomenally frustrating. She'd probably snapped at him more than she should have, given that it was her fault he was even in that state. Guilt had come nipping at the heels of irritation every time she'd scolded him for not paying attention.
While Cat Noir's disarrayed state of mind may have annoyed Ladybug, Marinette's feelings on the matter ran more toward...giddy? Flattered? Dare she say...happy? No. Definitely not. Besides, his discombobulation might not even equate to something good. If anything, he was probably super mad at her for what she'd done. So there was absolutely NO REASON for her to be happy about Cat Noir's reaction to her kiss. Es. KissES. Plural. A flush shot up her neck to her cheeks and she squealed, slamming a pillow over her face. NO! Stop thinking about that. Stop thinking about it RIGHT NOW!, Marinette fiercely admonished herself. It didn't help. The memories stubbornly rose up to haunt her once more. Why, oh why had she done that?! What must he think of her?! As far as he knew, they'd barely had a decent conversation together the few times they'd even shared the same air space; and then she'd thrown herself at him on that rooftop like...like some kind of French floosy!
But, then again, there was that moment they'd shared when he had shown her the surprise he'd prepared for Ladybug. Marinette sighed wistfully, tugging the pillow off her face and rolling onto her side. That...that had been beyond her ability to describe with words. It was beautiful, magical even. It must have taken him hours to put all that together. And to think he'd gone to so much trouble for her! Well, for Ladybug anyway. Marinette chose to ignore the slight twisting of her insides at that thought. He was just...he was so much more than she'd ever given him credit for. Maybe that was part of the reason she had gone temporarily insane. Yes, that was indeed the theory she was going with. Temporary insanity. It had to be. There was simply no other explanation.
Marinette turned on her side and curled into a ball, groaning into the pillow she still clutched. Seriously though, why did she do that? She couldn't have been in her right mind! She would never willingly cheat on Adrien like that! ...Okay, so that may be overstating things a bit. After all, one had to actually be in a relationship with someone before you could cheat on them. But that wasn't the point! The point was, she had a huge crush on Adrien NOT Cat, so the idea that she would kiss Cat Noir just because she wanted to was ridiculous. Because she didn't. Want to, that is. Nope. Not at all. Utterly and completely out of the question.
Adrenaline! That's it!,Marinette nodded to herself. It must have been the adrenaline rush from nearly dying that made her go off the deep end! It made sense, if you thought about it. Way more sense than her having any sort of subconscious non-platonic feelings for Cat Noir, anyway. Yep, definitely. Because, unlike all the other times he had saved her, there was no alternate ending. No floating bubbles, no zombification or brainwashing, no getting transported to a digital dimension. Only death had awaited her. And he had, quite literally, snatched her out of the jaws of death. Surely that could be seen as a plausible excuse for her behavior. Going through an ordeal like that was enough to fry anyone's brain she was sure. The very next time she saw Cat she would explain... ...explain...when...when she saw... In an instant her face was on fire once more. The mere thought of seeing him again after the incident was enough to send her spiraling into another fit of utter mortification. No. No no no! It just wasn't possible! She could never see him again, ever (as Marinette)! The only solution was to avoid Cat Noir (as Marinette) for the rest of all time! Or fake her own death (as Marinette).
While all of this drama was playing out in Marinette's head, Tikki had been munching on macarons as she patiently awaited the opportune moment to begin interrogation. She decided that now was as good a time as any. Floating up to Marinette's bed, she hovered in front of the distressed girl's face. One that was currently hidden behind a wall of hands.
"Marinette, did something happen today?" she asked carefully, as if speaking to a small animal that might bolt at any moment.
Marinette suddenly shot upright in her bed, staring at Tikki like she had forgotten her existence, before flushing a previously unheard-of shade of red and stammering out, "What? Happen? What-what do mean by happen? W-Why would anything have happened? Nothing happened! Nope. Not at all! No h-happenings happening here!"
She ended her string of word vomit with the most nervous guilty sounding titter that Tikki had ever heard in her long life. She wondered if maybe Marinette was starting to crack under the pressure of being Ladybug.
"Are you sure?" Tikki asked, again slowly and carefully.
"Yes! Yep. Definitely. No things-I-I mean nothings, nothing! S-So yeah! Long day. Godzilla! Super tired. Gonna-go-to-bed-now-bye!" And with that last bit of barely intelligible speed babble (complete with wild gesticulation), Marinette flopped on her side once more, back to Tikki as she yanked her covers all the way up to her chin.
"...Ooookay then" Tikki said as she floated to her own sleeping spot.
Marinette, meanwhile, was busy trying to force herself to sleep before she gave the little kwami anymore reason to doubt her sanity. Judging by the look on Tikki's face just a moment ago, she was becoming increasingly concerned for Marinette's mental health. As a matter of fact, so was she. Because no matter how much she tried to ignore the memories, shove them away, or bury them in a deep dark corner of her mind, she couldn't banish the searing heat that still lingered on her lips and carried on into her dreams.
Throughout all of her frenzied fretting and rationalization, however, there was one point, one part of the encounter that Marinette had refused to acknowledge in any way. She had no desire to deal with it or it's implications, what with her own feelings so badly muddled beyond recognition. Therefore she did not allow herself to even touch upon the fact that Cat Noir had kissed her back.
At the same time elsewhere in Paris, in an overly large mansion, Adrien Agreste sat on his overly large bed in the darkness of his room, knees pulled up to his chest and hugging a pillow. No lights were on except those of the city, shining through his overly large windows. Not that he would've needed a light even if he'd wanted one on. His face was shining brighter than Rudolph's nose. Every so often he would bury his head in the pillow and whimper. Plagg would have thought that something was seriously wrong with the boy if he hadn't already been aware of the cause. Which was why, instead of being worried, he couldn't stop laughing at Adrien.
"If your face gets any redder, your head's gonna explode!" the little kwami gasped out between guffaws. He was rolling around on the bed beside Adrien, pounding his tiny fist on the sheets.
"Shut up, Plagg," Adrien mumbled at him, "Go eat your cheese."
Never one to turn down cheese, but still chuckling and chortling to himself the entire way, Plagg floated over to his plate. Adrien huffed. He couldn't see what was so funny. Plagg had been laughing at him ever since he got home. Before that even. He could swear he'd heard some barely concealed snorts and sniggers coming from the vicinity of his school bag since the Akuma attack. So what if he was still blushing by the end of the day? So what if he'd blundered so many times during the battle that Ladybug must've thought he was drunk? So what if he could scarcely keep his cool around Marinette when the class had reunited? So what if he'd gone straight to his room after school and proceeded to flop onto his bed and scream into his pillow like a little girl because OMG, what was THAT?! Marinette...Marinette had...he couldn't even finish the thought without turning the color of ripe cherries and whining into his pillow again.
Adrien lifted his head and took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. Marinette kissed me today. Multiple times. And the world as he knew it was destroyed once more. Plagg was right. His head was going to explode soon. But...but...WHY?! Why did she...?! Well, actually the rational side of his brain could sort of understand. She had very nearly died mere minutes before. That thought sobered him up, as it also brought back the memory of how terrified he'd been when he'd seen her falling. He'd had a terrible time trying to find some place to safely transform and by then Marinette was already tumbling through the air. He'd nearly had a heart attack at the sight. Luckily, he'd been able to save her just before she hit the ground. He supposed an event like that could easily traumatize a person. Heck, it had almost traumatized him. Although he had no idea what kind of trauma made you kiss someone...and with that his face was burning again.
Once more, the memories pushed themselves to the forefront of his mind. This time Adrien didn't bother to try to stop them. He was far too mentally exhausted from keeping them restrained during the day and he was tired of fighting it. So he closed his eyes and let himself relive it. Marinette had looked at him with the strangest expression in her eyes. There was relief there, sure, and naturally the lingering fear that glossed them with unshed tears; but there had been something else too. Some emotion he couldn't name. Whatever it was, he only managed to catch a glimpse before her mouth had come crashing down onto his. To say that he had never been more startled in his life would be an understatement. He had frozen upon first contact. Not that she'd seemed very interested in giving him any time to respond even if he hadn't. That first kiss was desperate and needy, almost as if she were trying to confirm they were both still alive. If that was all she had done, if she had just left it at that one voracious kiss, he might have been able to recover himself, drop some flirty witticism in true Cat Noir fashion before fleeing the scene with at least a modicum of dignity intact. But then she had moved on from his lips and kissed his whole face. She'd kissed his cheeks, forehead, nose, temples-even his eyelids!-every last inch. And the things she'd said! The already crimson shade of Adrien's face darkened even more. Did she know, he wondered? Had she even been aware that she was breathlessly mumbling between kisses? He could still recall every word even now, hours later. Well, at least the ones that weren't too muffled.
"You're late-late-late, you big-dumb-annoying-dorky-sweet-cute-adorable-wonderful-beautiful-perfect kitty"
Sure, some of the longer words he'd managed to catch had either been slurred or partially unintelligible, since she'd seemed rather preoccupied with making certain no part of his face remained un-kissed, but he'd still been able to decipher the ones he'd heard eventually. Truth be told, it was this that had been his undoing. This was the reason why he hadn't been able to keep his legs under him for a good ten minutes after Marinette had left that rooftop. And why he'd been wobbly for a long time afterward. Just recalling it still made him feel weak at the knees. He couldn't believe Marinette thought that way about him. As Cat Noir! Nobody had ever said anything like that about Cat Noir before, not even his fans! Oh sure, he'd been called cute and adorable by others, as well as funny, or hot, or cool. But not the way she had said it. Like she truly knew him and he meant the world to her. Never like that.
Granted her monologue hadn't started out so flattering, but a hint of lingering fear seemed to color those words. Besides, throwing insults at someone you're busy kissing the daylights out of isn't very convincing and she more than made up for it by the end. ...The end...the...the... Again Adrien buried his face in his pillow and screamed. That last kiss, the one right before Marinette had come back to her senses when her mouth had found his once more after making the rounds... If he was being totally honest, it had been one of the most amazing experiences of his young life. Unlike the first one, that kiss wasn't frantic or half panicked. It was slower, more deliberate and through it he could feel that nameless emotion emanating from her. It was powerful and intoxicating and before he knew it he had melted into the kiss, into her, like warm butter in a frying pan. For a moment, the world had slipped away and all he could hear was the erratic thumping of his own heart, Marinette completely eclipsing his other senses. He'd never known she smelled so good! And even now, hours later, he could still feel the phantom of her hands cupping his neck, her thumb lightly caressing the line of his jaw, her lips devouring his.
Adrien leaned his head back against the wall and groaned. What was he doing obsessing over this? He loved Ladybug for Pete's sake! That's what he needed to concentrate on. Ladybug, wonderful, amazing, awesome, perfect Ladybug. Not shy, stuttering, stumbling Marinette...who could in one moment, in one incredible kiss make him feel like she had gut punched him off a cliff he didn't even know was there! In a fit of twisted emotions, Adrien threw his pillow off, flailing his arms and legs before falling face first into his bed cover. No! I have to stop this. I love Ladybug, I love Ladybug, I love Ladybug. The image of deep blue eyes materialized in his mind and he sighed, his shoulders relaxing as he let the bubbly butterfly circus that Ladybug always invoked in him ease his tension...until the red and black mask around those eyes vanishes and the confident, teasing expression in them is replaced by one of fear, vulnerability, and that unknowable something that he was beginning to worry would haunt his dreams that night.
"Noooooo! I love Ladybug!" Adrien screamed, popping up. This outburst brought a fresh wave of cackling from Plagg's vicinity.
"Just give it up kid" he said, between giggles, "You're so deep in denial you're gonna turn into a crocodile soon. That Dupain-Cheng girl reached right into your chest, grabbed your soft, mushy maiden's heart and ran off with it! I don't think you get a choice in the matter. Although, watching you agonize over it is funny as hell."
Adrien sputtered indignantly, unable to decide which insinuation to address first. What Plagg was suggesting was simply outrageous! He wasn't so fickle as to be swayed by one kiss...no matter how fantastically mind-blowing it was. Before he could manage a coherent response, however, there was a knock on his door.
"Adrien? I heard yelling. Is something wrong?" Nathalie asked in her usual monotone.
"Ah, yes! I mean, no! E-everything's fine Nathalie" Adrien yelled through the door scrambling for an excuse. "I was just, uh...p-playing a video game." He bit his lip and prayed she wouldn't come in and catch him in an outright lie. He had no idea how he'd talk himself out of that one.
"Remember you have an early morning shoot before school tomorrow. I suggest you get some sleep. Your father will not be pleased if you show up with bags under your eyes again" Nathalie warned him sternly.
Adrien winced. "Yes, of course. I-I'll do that" he responded. A moment later he heard Nathalie's retreating footsteps and sighed in relief. Dragging himself up off his bed, he changed into his night clothes and readied himself for sleep. He had a sneaking suspicion, however, that sleep would be a long time coming. ...He was going to need extra makeup tomorrow.