Warning Bells shot off in Adrien's head. They were bright red and accompanied by an alarm that was practically screaming "This Girl Is Out Of Your League! This GIrl Is Out Of Your League!" on repeat. Before he met her, he sincerely thought that he would be able to live up to the greatness of Ladybug because, as a civilian, he was emtechnically/em famous.

News alert, being Chat Noir and someone who is just famous for being pretty doesn't even come close to being a viable suitor for Ladybug or Marinette Dupain-Cheng, let alone them being the same person. He really wanted to try asking her out, maybe she'd humor him by agreeing to one date, but apparently that would be super unrealistic.

In addition to the alarm that was blaring in his head, he could feel his braincells panicking like that one episode of Spongebob but instead of the room just being on fire, the braincells were throwing themselves out the windows of the office building of his brain. He still wasn't listening to the conversation that the others were having less than a meter away from him.

"You're so cool," he whispered about Marinette, but no one heard him. He bit his lip silently thinking if there was anything he could say that would impress her. He zoned back into the conversation to just in time place a breakfast order to the waitress at the same time as the rest of them.

"How do you two know each other," Juleka asked. Luka leaned in a little, curious about what their answer was going to be. Obviously, the Ladybug wouldn't tell them her identity, but he didn't know what she would come up with instead.

"Nino and Alya," Marinette said kind of quickly, putting some things together. "After Nino DJed at that show Adrien was talking about, the two of them became friends. You guys know Alya, she doesn't know how to stay out of my love life. They tried to set us up, but we couldn't get anything scheduled. We were talking yesterday and I mentioned that I'm kind of a designer, so Adrien invited me to the shoot."

"Did we crash your date," Rose asked guiltily as their meals got set on the table in front of them. "You could have just told us."

"No," Marinette and Adrien corrected in unison. She continued, "it isn't a date. We're just getting to know each other. This is like the first time we've actually been able to hang out."

"Yeah," Adrien added, "I'm always happy to get to know people and make new friends." Marinette was glad to see that Adrien was more relaxed after they left the photoshoot. She didn't think that his personality would be so different as Adrien when he was at the photoshoot than it was when he had his Chat Noir bravado.

Luka couldn't help but to wince at the fact that the two idiots in front of him revealed their identities without revealing their feelings for each other. He had assumed earlier, but he was basically just punched in the face with the confirmation. The 5 young adults ate their breakfast and got to know each other.

At the end of their breakfast, Adrien paid the check before anyone else could realize that's what he was doing. They finished at the restaurant and there was a light drizzle when they walked outside.

"We should get home before the rain picks up," Rose said as they first stepped outside.

"I'm so glad we got the chance to catch up," Marinette told them. "It's always great spending time with the three of you." They gave hugs all around then Juleka, Rose, and Luka left. Adrien watched Juleka and Rose holding hands while they walked and he couldn't help but to smile at how nice the couple was.

"So, my lady, are you doing anything else before your dinner plans tonight or do you still have time to hang out?" She looked at the time on her phone. It was earlier than she'd usually even wake up and she felt like she'd already gotten so much done with her day.

"It isn't even 9, yet," she informed him with a small giggle. "We should get out of the rain, but then I'm free until like 18h this evening. Are you any good at video games?" He smiled at her question.

"I am," he told her, "in fact, I almost qualified to go to the Collège Championships for Ultimate Mecha Strike III when I was 14. It's a shame I lost my spot to these kids who went to a real school. I got disqualified on the technicality that I was homeschooled."

"Really?" He nodded in confirmation and she couldn't help but to think about the fact that the story sounded like it was the opposite side of a story that she would usually tell about herself, on the off chance Alya made her socialize. "Do you want to come over to my place and see if your skills hold up against mine?"

"I'd love to," he responded with a smile, "before we do that, though, I'll be right back." He saw a small open pharmacy across the empty street and jogged over to go inside. He emerged about 2 minutes later with a full size umbrella. He jogged back across the street to her and opened the umbrella over the two of them. "Lead the way."

Marinette linked her arm through Adrien's while they walked to the apartment she shared with Alya. Adrien was holding the umbrella in the hand of the arm her's was linked through. Marinette sent Alya a text while they walked. 'I'm omw home with a guest so we can play video games. Don't embarrass me, pls. ~heart~'