Adrien woke up the next morning to snickers and whispers echoing around him. He groaned as he stretched his neck, trying to work out the crick that had set in over night from sleeping with his head propped up on the arm of the couch. Doing his best to ignore the noise and light surrounding him, he started to roll over and go back to sleep.
The boy didn't get very far because he suddenly realized there was a heavy weight lying on top of his torso. He hadn't noticed it before because it was so warm and comfortable, it felt like it belonged there. Slowly, he inched his heavy eyelids open to see what was preventing him from moving.
Adrien blinked a few times in confusion, before his eyes shot open wide as he registered the small girl who was lying on top of him. His arms were loosely hooked around her, keeping her in place with her cheek pressed into his chest. They were both covered by the blanket they had sat under while watching Tangled the previous night, which made sense, but Adrien had no idea how they had ended up in such a compromising position.
Okay, think, Adrien told himself. What's the last thing you remember? He wracked his brain for the answer. Okay, I remember singing and having a lot of fun, and putting my arm around Marinette. I'm pretty sure I just left it there since she was warm, and she didn't seem to mind. I don't remember seeing the end of the movie, so I must've fallen asleep somewhere in between. Maybe Mari fell asleep around the same time? In that case, I probably slipped backwards at some point, since I'm lying down now but I wasn't before, and my arm around her dragged her down with me. That doesn't explain how she ended up between my legs, but it's close enough, I guess.
Adrien felt slightly better having solved the mystery, but he still didn't know how to handle the situation he was in currently. As he considered the best way to remove the girl without waking her up, he saw some familiar faces peeking over the couch.
"Uh, morning?" he tried to sound as casual as possible, but it was hard to do when Nino and Alya were clearly highly amused by the position he and Marinette were in.
"Morning, lover boy. Sleep well? Sure looks like it." Alya winked at him as she raised her ever-present phone and snapped some pictures of her friends on the couch.
"I guess? This was unintentional, though."
"Suuuure." More pictures were taken.
"Hmmphnf," Marinette mumbled into Adrien's shirt, reaching down to pull the blanket up to better cover herself.
"Ah, she awakens. Morning, Mari. Sleep well?" Alya asked, sounding entirely too innocent.
"Hmm," Marinette sighed in agreement, burrowing closer to Adrien, who instinctually tightened his arms around her.
Nino chuckled. "How red do you think she's going to turn when she becomes conscious enough to realize what's going on?"
"I think she might explode from having to deal with something this intense so early in the morning. If she passes out be sure to catch her, Adrien. Oh, wait, you already did."
"Hey, like I said, I don't even know how this happened!" That doesn't mean that I'm not enjoying it, though, Adrien admitted to himself.
Marinette finally started to wake up more fully. She yawned and stretched her arms out in front of her before rubbing the sleep from her bleary eyes. Blinking them into focus, she turned them to the two friends hovering over her. "Mornin', you two. Where's Adrien?"
Adrien couldn't stop the rumble of laughter that escaped him at the innocent question. It was cute how Marinette hadn't figured out who was acting as her literal body pillow. He smiled as he told her gently, "Good morning, Mari."
Slowly, Marinette craned her neck until she could see him. "Morning, Adrien." She yawned again, covering her mouth with her hand, then suddenly froze when she realized what she'd said.
She scrambled out of Adrien's arms and into a sitting position between his legs, face blazing red, as Nino had predicted. As she tried to stutter out a question, Adrien took a moment to thank the heavens that he didn't have any morning wood that would only further complicate the situation.
"I-I-I h-how, I mean, I'm, huh? Wh-when did, but w-what?!"
"Okay, breathe, girl, you're not making any sense." Alya patted her friend gently on the head as she struggled to inhale.
"H-h-how did this happen? Oh my gosh, I-I'm so, so sorry Adrien! I didn't mean to use you as a p-pillow!"
He chuckled again laying a hand on her shoulder. "It's fine, don't worry about it. Besides, I'm pretty sure it was my fault we ended up like that. Really, there's no need to apologize."
Marinette hardly seemed reassured as she grabbed a nearby pillow to moan into. Adrien moved his hand down to her back and began rubbing gentle, soothing circles, hoping to calm the distressed girl down. Briefly, he wondered if she was embarrassed because she thought he'd be mad at the invasion of his personal space, so he made sure to mention, "Mari, it's fine. It wasn't uncomfortable or anything, and to be honest it was a pleasantly warm way to sleep."
Slowly, the anguished moaning stopped, and Marinette lifted her blushing face from the pillow. "I'm so, so sorry," she whispered again.
"No worries!" Adrien did his best to make his voice bright and chipper, hoping if she saw he was really unbothered she'd return to being the real Marinette, the one he'd gotten to know the day before. "It's really not a problem, and it's pretty funny if you think about it. Besides, it was the best night of sleep I've gotten in a while, so I should really be thanking you," he finished with a silly grin, poking her gently in the ribs.
Marinette giggled shyly. "If you say so…"
"I do. Now give me back the blanket, it's freezing."
Instead of doing as Adrien asked, Marinette boldly resumed her former position on top of him and pulled the blanket back over both of them. She blinked up at Adrien with innocent eyes, blush still apparent on her cheeks. "We said we'd share it, right?"
As his friends hollered "Go Mari!" and "Get some, girlfriend!" in the background, Adrien struggled for a reply. He came up blank, and with a shrug simply put his arms back around the girl. Purely to better enjoy her warmth, he tried to convince himself, but honestly, even he wasn't buying it. It seemed that after getting to know Marinette better, Adrien's feelings for the pigtailed girl had shifted into something slightly more than just friendly. He was really going to have to sit down with himself and have a chat about that soon.
"Smile, guys!" Alya had walked around to the other side of the couch and was holding up her phone again, clearly aiming to get another picture now that the cuddle bugs were both conscious.
The teens exchanged looks with each other before turning to the camera and grinning. Adrien thought that Marinette looked too nervous, so he shuffled his hands carefully to her sides and began poking at her ribs again. He did this until Marinette let out a giggle, snapping her head around to glare at him.
Oh, he thought in surprise, I didn't know Mari doesn't like to be tickled. An evil grin quickly grew on his face. Let's see exactly how much she dislikes it.
He started moving his fingers around again, steadily increasing his intensity as she twitched around, trying to restrain her giggles. Nino and Alya were looking on in confusion, not sure exactly what was going on underneath the large blanket that covered their friends, but Alya continued to take pictures regardless.
Eventually, Marinette couldn't contain her laughter anymore and it spilled out of her as she struggled for breath. "S-stop!" She batted at Adrien's merciless hands weakly, but to no avail. "P-please, Adrien!" She tried to climb off the couch, but the boy hooked his legs around her so she was stuck in place, unrelenting in his attack. "Adrien!" she shrieked, gasping for air. "Please, you have to stop! I can't take it!"
Finally, Adrien acquiesced, convulsing with laughter at the great reaction his ministrations had gotten him. So Marinette is super ticklish, he mused. I really must remember that.
Marinette's chest heaved as she sucked in air. Once she had caught her breath, she turned around and started beating weakly on Adrien's chest, not actually intending to hurt him. "You jerk!"
Adrien snickered at her feeble attempts, not even bothering to block them. "I bet you feel much more awake now."
"Unfortunately, yes." Marinette leaned her forehead against his chest and sighed. "What time even is it?"
"Nine-thirty," Nino piped up from his place behind the couch, grinning down at the scene before him. He sent his best friend a wink and a thumbs up, which Adrien returned a bit shyly.
A muffled "Too early!" came from the front of Adrien's shirt, and Marinette's friends all laughed.
"Not too early for breakfast, I hope." Alya put away her phone and headed towards the kitchen, presumably to scrounge up some food for her guests.
If the cat ears on Marinette's pajamas had been real, they would've perked up with interest to match that in the girl's voice. "Breakfast?"
Alya shouted from the kitchen, "We have bread, jam, and fruit. Come and get it if you want it."
Marinette shot off the couch, tripping over the blanket and only just managing to stop herself from face planting on the floor. She hurried through the doorway, leaving the boys chuckling behind her.
As Adrien stood up to follow her, Nino punched him in the arm. "Dude, you've got it bad."
"You may be right. I really like the Marinette I've gotten to know over the last twenty-four hours. I dunno, man, I've still got to sit down and figure it out."
"Plenty of time for that later, bro." Nino slung an arm over his bud's shoulder. "Come on, I want to get some food before the girls eat it all."
When they got to the kitchen, Adrien grabbed a banana for himself and headed over to where Marinette was sitting on the counter, munching on a piece of toast. He leaned against the edge next to her, peeling his breakfast and taking a bite. Nino headed to the opposite counter, where his girlfriend was busy putting jam on a piece of bread.
Alya finished preparing her breakfast and took a bite, turning to face her friends as she swallowed. "All right, now that everyone has gathered, we can discuss today's schedule of events. As Marinette told her father yesterday, we're going to go swimming, which means, Adrien, we need to borrow your pool."
Adrien choked on his banana. He pounded on his chest as he tried to cough up the bits that had gone down the wrong pipe. Marinette jumped off the counter and hurried to get him some water, which he gratefully gulped down. She thumped on his back as he practically hacked up a lung, not stopping until he was finally able to breathe again.
Alya winced. "Sorry, I guess I should've waited until you were done eating."
"It's fine," Adrien croaked, then cleared his throat. "It just surprised me."
Since her crush was out of danger of death by banana, Marinette took the opportunity to ask Alya what she was talking about. "Wait, I thought we'd just be going to the pool we normally swim at. What do you mean we need to borrow Adrien's pool?"
Nino jumped in. "Dude, Adrien has a totally rad indoor pool! Plus, his dad and Nathalie are out of town right now, so we can totally take advantage of it."
"I don't know, Nino. What if he finds out? Won't he be mad at Adrien for letting us come over and stuff?"
Don't do it, Adrien's common sense advised him. You shouldn't risk your father's wrath by saying yes just to impress a girl you're not even sure you like.
Apparently, Adrien's little devil had stolen Angel's frying pan and knocked out Common Sense before shoving him into a broom closet, because the boy hardly hesitated before announcing, "It'll be fine, Marinette. He won't be back until next week, so unless we make one of the staff mad he should never find out." Adrien turned to Alya and Nino, that devious grin Marinette loved so much back on his face. "Let's do it!"
"Awesome! All right, kids, finish your breakfasts and go get dressed so we can clean up and head to Adrien's place."
Adrien began chewing the last bite of his banana, tossing the peel in the trash as he thought to himself, Plagg will be excited to hear that we're going home where he can-
The blonde froze mid-step. Oh, no. Plagg. I forgot about Plagg! Adrien groaned quietly, running a hand through his hair. He is going to kill me.
With a sigh, Adrien turned around to ask Alya if she had any cheese, only to find all three of his friends staring at him. "Uh, sorry. I was just thinking how much I wanted some cheese. Alya, do you have any?"
Alya just shrugged, grabbing some camembert from the fridge, and Adrien thanked the heavens that she had some, figuring Plagg would be slightly less likely to try to maim him with a peace offering of his favorite food. He hurriedly left the kitchen, ignoring the fact that his friends were surely wondering why he was running away with a huge chunk of smelly cheese while muttering frantically to himself.
He made a beeline for his bag, swiping it off the ground and turning to run to the bathroom in one fluid motion. After double checking that he had locked the door, he carefully unzipped the pocket Plagg tended to hang out in the most, not even getting it all the way open before the irate kwami flew up to his face.
"Adrien! Where have you been? I've been dying of starvation for hours."
Adrien winced at the volume his kwami's tiny lungs managed to produce. "I'm sorry, Plagg. I fell asleep last night without realizing. I really didn't intend to forget about you."
The tiny cat huffed, crossing his nubby arms across his chest. "I hope you at least brought me something to eat."
Adrien held out the cheese he had gotten from Alya, and Plagg soared towards it to begin devouring it. As he chewed, cheeks stuffed like a chipmunk's, he managed to mutter out, "I can't believe you thought cuddling with that girl was more important than feeding me."
"It was an accident!" Adrien defended, waving his arms. "I was asleep, I didn't realize what was happening."
"Whatever. I'll forgive you this time, but you had better not forget about me again."
"I won't," the boy promised solemnly, relieved that he was being let off so simply. Then again, with enough cheese, Plagg was fairly easy to bribe into a better mood.
Adrien quickly changed from his pajamas to fresh clothes before shoving everything back into his bag, including a protesting Plagg. "We'll be heading home soon. It's not for that long, so just bear with it," Adrien pleaded. Once his kwami had grumbled a reluctant agreement, Adrien zipped up the final pocket and headed back out to the living room.
He found two of his friends already waiting, cuddled up on the couch. He dropped his bag on the floor before plopping down next to it. "Hey, guys, where's Marinette?"
The girl in question, it turned out, was changing her clothes in Alya's room. What her friends didn't know was that she was also busy giving her kwami the lowdown of the previous evening's events, as well as what had happened that very morning.
"Cuddling, Tikki! Can you believe it?" Marinette exclaimed as she balanced on one leg to slip her leggings on. "I'm pretty sure I turned a shade of red that scientists haven't even discovered yet!"
"That's fantastic, Marinette! It sounds like you were able to get much closer to Adrien. I'm so happy for you!"
Marinette gently grabbed her sweet companion from where she floated to nuzzle her. She planted a kiss on Tikki's tiny, red head. "Thanks! I can't believe things went so well. And now we're going to go swimming together! I hope I can keep it together after seeing him shirtless."
Tikki giggled. "You've got this, Marinette! I believe in you."
"Thanks, Tikki. You're the best."
The tiny being dove back into Marinette's bag as the girl began to repack her things. She popped her head back out to announce, "I know I am," before diving back inside.
Marinette chuckled softly as she left Alya's room and headed out to meet her friends in the living room. When she got there, she saw she was the last one to arrive. Nino and Alya were cuddling cutely on the couch while Adrien sat on the floor in front of them, busy attempting to fold all of the blankets nicely. Marinette set her stuff down and made her way over to him, snagging an errant comforter on the way before sitting down beside the boy.
"So, are you guys going to help at all?" Marinette teased the couple on the couch.
Alya pretended to consider the idea, before shrugging carelessly. "Nope, we weren't planning on it."
"Some friends," Adrien muttered, tossing a nearby pillow in their general direction.
"Come on, Adrien, we don't need them." Marinette huffed in pseudo-anger as she stacked her neatly folded blanket on top of the ones the boy had already done. She leaned over and tried to wrap her arms around the pile so she could carry them back to Alya's room, but her arms were way too short.
Adrien chuckled. "Here, let me do it. You can take the pillows again."
Marinette agreed, moving away to grab the cushions that were scattered around the room. Once she was sure she had them all, she followed Adrien to Alya's room, where she opened the closet and began replacing them.
"Is it bad that I'm already sick of them being a couple?"
Marinette laughed at the sudden question. "No, I get it. It's cute, but they're even more lovey-dovey now, and it was already hard to deal with before." She grinned as she took the first blanket from Adrien and reached up to put it on the shelf. "I am happy for them, though, they're really good together."
Adrien agreed as he leaned forward, using his free hand to help Marinette push the blanket onto the shelf, which she almost couldn't reach. When he looked down, she had turned around to face him, and both teens blushed as they were suddenly almost nose to nose.
If he just leaned in a little… Marinette's breath caught in her throat at the thought.
Just lean in a little, her lips look really soft, Devil suggested to Adrien. The boy looked to his angel for help, but the winged fellow just shrugged at him.
I mean, he's not wrong, they do look soft. Like tiny, pink pillows.
Adrien didn't know what to do. He definitely thought he wanted to kiss Marinette, but there was no way of knowing if she'd be okay with that. Besides, if he did kiss her, he wanted to do it right, not randomly in his friend's closet. He was frozen, desires conflicting inside of him.
Not now, Willpower declared, swooping in with a stolen frying pan to save the day. Another time, he whispered to Adrien as he dragged Angel and Devil away by their ankles.
Adrien silently thanked him before straightening up and clearing his throat. "Sorry, I didn't mean to invade your space, Marinette." He smiled gently and handed her another blanket.
The girl took it with a blush. "O-oh, no problem. Thanks for the help, the shelf was higher than I remembered."
They continued to work together, now passing the blankets in silence. That is, until Adrien started snickering. Marinette gave him a questioning look, and he smiled impishly at her.
"What did the blanket say when it fell off the bed?"
Marinette groaned. "Is this another lame joke?"
"Hey, my jokes are great! Just answer the question."
"I don't know, what did it say?"
Adrien looked positively delighted with himself as he answered, "Oh, sheet!"
Marinette sputtered with laughter. She didn't think the joke was all that funny, honestly, but he was just so enthusiastic about it and looked so absolutely amused with himself that she couldn't help but laugh. "You're adorable."
The words had slipped out before she could stop them, and she blanched as they echoed in her ears. Oh, no. Damage control, gotta get out of this somehow! she thought frantically. What will Adrien think since I said something like that?
To her surprise, when she turned to assess the boy's reaction, she was met with pinked cheeks. Adrien was definitely blushing at the compliment as he rubbed at the back of his neck, something Marinette now realized was a nervous habit. She thought, in wonder, I did that. She grinned, relishing the sight of her crush being the one embarrassed by her for once. Now, how can I make it happen again?
"I'm sorry," Marinette said innocently, "I didn't mean to embarrass you."
Adrien brushed it off with a laugh. "It's fine, you didn't embarrass me."
Yeah? Tell that to those cute rosy cheeks of yours, Marinette smirked to herself. She was surprised at how confident she was feeling around her crush now. Never before had she imagined that someday she'd be actively looking for ways to embarrass Adrien or spending so much time with him without stuttering. She figured, at this rate, she might actually have a shot with him.
Marinette tucked away the last blanket and turned around, accidentally bumping into Adrien's firm chest. Still riding her high from the moment before, she decided to do an experiment. She flattened her hands gently over Adrien's shirt, pressing her body a little closer to his, before widening her eyes in surprise as she looked up at him.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Adrien. How clumsy of me." Marinette studied the blonde's face carefully, not moving from her position.
Adrien froze for a second as his brain tried to sort out what was happening. Libido was in the corner shouting, Yes! Yes! Good!, which was distracting the boy from pretty much everything else. He was so muddled that he missed the next thing that Marinette said.
Adrien was pretty sure he was a lovely shade of crimson at the moment, but he tried to at least keep his voice steady. "Sorry, what was that?"
Marinette grinned slyly, enjoying the effect her hastily thrown together plan was having on the boy. "I was just saying that you'll have to step back so that we can get out." She winked at the boy, murmuring, "Unless you'd rather stay like this?"
"Right!" Adrien exclaimed way too loudly. He laughed awkwardly as his hand again attached itself to the back of his neck. "Sorry! I'll step back now."
Marinette waited another moment. "Adrien?"
"Oh, right! I have to actually move." More nervous laughter emanated from the boy as he carefully took a step to the side, causing Marinette's hands to fall from his chest.
As she stepped out of the closet, Marinette went for the kill, sending Adrien the sweetest smile she could muster as she fluttered her lashes. "Thanks, cutie." As much as she wanted to see Adrien's reaction, she decided that sashaying out of the room would be more impactful, so, hips swinging, she left the boy behind and headed for the living room.
She startled the lovebirds out of a kiss as she plopped down on the couch and leaned her head back, cackling evilly. As they stared at her, she started reliving in her thoughts everything that had just happened.
Amazing work, Marinette praised herself as she mentally high-fived Confidence and Devil. Take five, guys. Adrien's going to need at least that long to calm down, I'll bet.
As she finally stopped laughing with a sigh, Alya decided to take the chance to question her. "Okay, what the hell was that about?"
Marinette shrugged. "I did an experiment to see how much I could embarrass Adrien." She casually buffed her nails on her sweater, as though what she'd just admitted was no big deal.
Alya jumped on her. "Girl, you did not!" As Marinette nodded impishly, her best friend squeezed her in a hug, proclaiming, "I never knew you were so bad! So what happened?"
As Nino peeked around his girlfriend, Marinette gave them the short version. "Basically, I accidentally called him adorable and noticed it made him blush. Then, when I turned around and unintentionally bumped into him, I kind of pressed up against him until he finally moved away, and when he did I said, 'Thanks, cutie' and just left him there. He was blushing so hard; I've never felt more powerful!"
Nino whooped, reaching across Alya to high five the pigtailed girl. "That is amazing! I wish I could've seen his face."
Alya shushed them suddenly. "Guys, I think he's coming. Act natural."
When Adrien entered the room, he found Alya and Nino making out in one corner of the couch as Marinette squealed and covered her eyes at the other end. Business as usual, he sighed in relief. Marinette must not have told them about whatever that was just now. Speaking of, he continued to himself, What on earth was that about anyways?
The boy didn't get to dwell on his question for long. Alya suddenly broke off her kiss with Nino and looked up at him. "The gang's all here!" She untangled herself from her boyfriend and climbed off the couch, clapping her hands. "Alright, guys, it's time to head out."
Everyone crowded into the front hall to put on their coats and shoes. After Alya ascertained that Marinette and Adrien had their bags, she shuffled her guests out the door and locked it. The group carefully picked their way down the icy sidewalk and started walking in the direction of Adrien's house.
Nino and Alya kept up a steady stream of chatter during the trip, their breath coloring the air above their heads a milky white. Adrien and Marinette trailed slightly behind their friends, listening to the conversation without giving much input.
Adrien was mostly thinking about what Marinette had done in Alya's room, trying to puzzle out her motives. He wondered optimistically if she'd been flirting with him because she liked him, but he didn't have much experience with flirting—outside of Chloe's uncomfortable attempts—so he couldn't judge if that had been the case. He did find, however, that the thought that she might like him sent a tingle down his spine. Another thing I should assess further later.
As he snuck a peek over at the girl next to him, he was shocked to see her lips were a light purple. "Marinette, are you okay?"
"Yeah," the girl shivered. "I forgot my scarf at Alya's, so I'm just a bit chilly." Understatement of the year. Internally, she cursed her Ladybug side for making her weaker to the cold than the average person. She had on a thick sweater and her coat, but the occasional breeze would slip beneath her collar and make it feel as though she wasn't wearing anything.
Adrien gently placed a hand on Marinette's shoulder so she'd stop walking. He quickly slipped his scarf from around his neck and wrapped it around hers, making sure to tie it tight with no gaps for air to seep in. As he finished, he took a moment to admire what an angelic picture she made. Her cheeks and nose were lightly flushed from the cold, and the baby blue scarf really made her bluebell eyes pop as they blinked up at him.
Entranced, he asked softly, "Is that better?"
Marinette nodded slowly, a grateful smile forming on her face. "Thanks, I'm much warmer now. Will you be okay though?"
"I'll be fine," the boy reassured her. "I'm glad I could help."
A lightbulb went off in Marinette's head, and she tried her best to contain her devious smile. "Actually, if you wouldn't mind, there's something else you could help me with."
"Oh? Of course, what can I do for you?"
Marinette pulled a small, bare hand from her coat pocket. "I managed to lose a mitten somehow, and now this hand is cold. I think it would be a lot warmer if you held it for me."
As Adrien stammered and turned red, Marinette congratulated herself on how smoothly she'd pulled that off. It had been a trick getting her mitten off inside of her pocket, but, with some clever thinking and a seamstress' dexterity, she'd managed to free her hand in a timely manner. After a moment, when Adrien still hadn't responded, she sighed and started to put her hand back in her pocket and resume walking, figuring maybe she'd been moving too fast.
In reality, that wasn't the problem. Adrien wanted to hold Marinette's hand, even if he couldn't convince himself it was purely to help out a friend. He was just so flustered by the suggestion that he almost couldn't force himself into coherent thought in time to grab the girl's hand, stopping her before she could tuck it away.
Now that he held it, Adrien wasn't sure what to do with the tiny thing. Glancing at the couple ahead of them, he decided to take a page out of Nino's book. As he and Marinette began to walk forward again, he linked his fingers through the girl's and tucked their connected hands into his coat pocket.
"I-Is this okay?" he asked her nervously.
Better than okay, this is fantastic! Marinette squealed to herself. I can't believe he actually went for it!
To Adrien, she nodded, "Absolutely perfect, thank you."
When the group finally arrived at the Agreste mansion, Alya and Nino were surprised to see Marinette wearing Adrien's scarf, becoming even more amazed once they noticed the hand-holding that was happening. They had been so involved with each other that they hadn't even noticed the exchange occurring behind them, but now that they saw what was going on, they were full of questions.
As Adrien moved to the front of the pack to navigate the security procedures and enter the house, Marinette was dragged alongside him by their still conjoined hands. Nino and Alya trailed behind her, whispering excitedly about this latest development and extracting promises that she would tell them all about it later.
Finally, the door was opened and the teens breathlessly made their way into the warm interior of Adrien's house. Adrien quickly shut the door behind them, having to let go of Marinette's hand to do so, and Marinette breathed a sigh of relief at finally being out of the cold as she stepped deeper into the heated room. She took her remaining mitten off and began blowing on her freezing fingers as she marveled at the ostentatious entryway.
As Nino and Alya began wandering around the space, Adrien stayed where he was, simply watching Marinette. He thought back over the times she had seemingly made an effort to embarrass him that morning and decided that it was about time he got some revenge.
Stepping lightly, so as not to alert the pigtailed girl to his plan, Adrien crossed the few feet that separated them and pulled up right behind Marinette. As she gasped in surprise, he gently stretched his arms around her, effectively encasing her in a hug from behind as he covered her tiny hands with his own larger ones. He rubbed her fingers slightly, trying to massage away the cold, and though he couldn't see her face, he saw the tips of Marinette's ears turn red at his actions.
Nailed it, he crowed to himself. How's it feel to get a taste of your own medicine, little miss?
Had Marinette known what he was thinking, she probably would have answered his question with something like "Pretty fantastic." However, since she didn't know what she was thinking as Adrien extracted his revenge, she was somewhat of a panicking puddle inside.
What is he doing? she pondered. Is he just worried about me because I was so cold earlier, or does this mean something? Am I reading too much into it? Oh, help.
Once Marinette's hands were no longer like blocks of ice, Adrien decided his revenge was complete. He asked the girl gently, "Feeling warmer now?"
Adrien's voice emanating from so close to her ear sent a shiver down Marinette's spine. Wordlessly, she nodded, afraid to speak for the stutter she was sure would make its reappearance. She sighed in disappointment as the boy withdrew his warm arms from around her, almost wishing she had lied so that he would've stayed close longer.
Bad Marinette, she chided herself. You can't take advantage of his kindness. He was just concerned about you, don't overstep and make things weird. She shook away her thoughts of romance before returning her attention to analyzing her surroundings.
Adrien interrupted his friends' admiration of his home. "Hey, guys," he spoke, drawing his friends' attention back to him. "Let's head up to my room so that I can get a suit to lend Nino, and then we can hit the pool."
Everyone agreed amiably, following the blonde up the stairs and through a door into a cavernous room that resembled an amusement park more than a bedroom. Alya, having never seen the space before, was thoroughly awestruck, and Marinette did her best impression of amazement as well. After all, she'd only ever seen the room as Ladybug, so being completely nonplussed by the amazing area would have been a bit suspicious.
As Adrien headed straight for the closet to find his friend some swim trunks, Nino, of course, made himself right at home. He walked straight in and plopped down on the white couch, lacing his fingers together behind his head and effectively becoming the perfect picture of relaxation. Alya laughed at this, and went to sit next to him as Marinette chose instead to slowly wander the room.
When she had been there as Ladybug, Marinette hadn't exactly had time to take in the small details of Adrien's room, so she figured she'd take advantage of the time she had and see if she could learn anything new about him. She wandered over to the computer area, marveling at the fencing trophies surrounding the monitor. She had just turned to examine the banner hanging over Adrien's bed when her hip accidentally bumped the desk, jarring the mouse enough to awaken the monitors from their state of sleep.
As she rubbed her bruised hip, Marinette had to bite back a giggle when she saw what was prominently displayed across all four of Adrien's computer screens. Everywhere she looked, pictures, articles, and videos of her super hero alter-ego were visible.
"Gah!" Adrien choked as he re-entered the main room, two pairs of swim trunks in hand. As Alya and Nino turned towards the source of the noise, he rushed forward and frantically attempted to turn the blazing screens off.
"Polka dot kiiiiiink," Alya sing-songed from across the room. Adrien shot her a glare over his shoulder as he finally managed to set the screens to black. The girl wasn't bothered at all by Adrien's scathing look, simply telling him, "Welcome to the club, Agreste."
Adrien sighed defeatedly and rubbed his forehead, deciding it was best just to move on. He tossed one of the suits towards the couch, Nino somehow sensing this and reaching up with perfect timing to catch it. With another heavy sigh, Adrien called to his friends. "Come on, guys, we can all change at the pool."
Once everyone had gathered around him, Adrien led his friends through a maze of hallways, finally ending up at the pool as promised. It was nothing terribly special, beyond the fact that it was a personal indoor pool, he supposed. A small lap pool for his morning exercises was accompanied by a hot tub that was more than big enough to fit Adrien and his friends. He led the other teens across the concrete towards a set of twin doors.
"You girls can change in there." Adrien pointed at the door on the right. "You can just leave your stuff in there if you'd like. If you need anything, let me know."
The girls agreed, entering their changing room, and the boys headed through the other door into their own changing area. Each quickly selected one of the five lockers and began disrobing, hanging their clothes up on the provided hangers as they did.
"Dude, your place is so fancy."
Adrien blushed at the comment. He didn't really like being noticed for his family's wealth, but he had to admit it came in handy at times like this. "Thanks, I guess."
The blonde paused as he slid his swim suit on, considering. "By the way, Nino, how did you even know I had an indoor pool?"
Rather than answering, Nino just tapped his nose with a wink. Adrien wasn't sure what that meant exactly, but he decided it wasn't important and let it go.
The boys headed out of the changing room together, noting the empty pool and figuring that the girls must still be changing. They exchanged a glance, then started racing across the concrete towards the pool, both leaping high in the air and crashing down into the water as Nino shouted, "Cannon ball!"
A moment later, the boys surfaced, sputtering with laughter that abruptly stopped when two pairs of feminine feet padded up to the edge of the concrete in front of them. Adrien slowly followed a slim set of porcelain legs up to a teeny, powder pink skirt that was accented with a slightly darker trim and a bow at the left hip. His eyes continued their journey up a toned stomach, past a tiny waist, to a matching halter bikini top which had darker pink ruffles on the tops of the cups, as well as another bow in the center where they met. As his eyes lingered there for just slightly longer than would be considered polite, Adrien felt something hot start to grow in his belly. He finally broke his gaze away and scanned up the rest of Marinette, feeling the heat in his stomach dip lower as he was graced with the sight of two twin buns perched atop the girl's head instead of her typical pigtails.
He hadn't realized he'd stopped treading water until he was choking and gasping for air as he tried to expectorate the liquid that he'd swallowed. Nino quickly grabbed onto him, pulling him over until he was close enough to cling to the side of the deck. As his chest heaved with his coughs, Marinette crouched down beside him to thump his back gently.
"Adrien, are you okay?" Her concern was very audible in her voice, and Adrien felt bad for worrying her by choking twice in one day.
He croaked, "Fine," as the coughing momentarily subsided, and Marinette stopped her pounding to rub soothing circles on his back. Alya and Nino were looking on with worried faces, and overall Adrien felt very embarrassed for causing such a ruckus over something so silly.
The blonde managed to cough up the last of the water, clearing his throat several times and taking a few deep breaths. He gave his friends what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "I'm okay, guys. Sorry about that."
As Nino and Marinette sighed in relief, Alya sent Adrien a wink that told him the reason for his choking was embarrassingly obvious. He cleared his throat again, turning to look at Marinette instead and pretending he hadn't noticed the gesture.
Marinette slowly dipped a toe into the pool, to test the waters before actually making the leap in. She squealed and pulled her foot back, surprised at how cold the pool was. Her friends all stared at her in amusement.
"It's not that bad, Mari, just hop in." Adrien splashed a little water up towards the girl's feet, causing her to shriek and jump back from the edge of the pool.
"No way! It's too cold for me."
Alya gave her best friend a sympathetic grin. "Come on girl, we can sit at the edge and put our legs in, that will help you get used to it."
Marinette pouted, considering her options. After a moment of thought, she sighed and moved to sit next to her best friend, finally slipping her feet into the pool with a grimace. She forced herself to leave them in—although she wanted desperately to pull them out—so that she could get used to the water and swim with Adrien.
After several minutes, Marinette was finally adjusting to the temperature. Granted, every time one of the boys made waves and caused the water to hit previously untouched parts of her leg she squealed, but she was at least making progress. She turned to Alya to comment on how she might be ready to get in soon, but, as she looked to where her friend had been sitting, she was greeted with empty space. Confused, she turned to ask one of the boys if they had seen Alya. Before she could get the words out, she heard a loud yell from behind her, followed by a streak of purple and black—the color of Alya's bikini, she realized too late—passing by her on the right.
An instant later, Marinette was soaked by the large wave her traitorous best friend's cannon ball had created. How Alya always managed such impressive damage while being of average size Marinette had never understood, but at the moment she was very much resenting the talent. The young seamstress squealed at the cold, wiping water out of her eyes so that she could properly glare at her laughing friends.
"Alya! How could you?"
The girl laughed. "Come on, Mari, you have to get in at some point. Just jump in, you'll get used to it really fast, I swear."
As much as Adrien was enjoying the view of Marinette's cute bikini, he thought they'd all have more fun in the pool together, so he chimed in too. "Yeah, come on, Marinette! It won't be that bad, really."
Marinette couldn't resist the angelic smile Adrien was giving her, so with a groan she braced herself. Taking a deep breath, she pinched her nose and slipped off the side of the pool and into the water. Once completely enveloped in the water, she ended up losing all of her air to another squeal at the chill that enveloped her, quickly resurfacing to find her friends all cheering for her. She mimed a bow in the water, thankful to find that they had been right and she was already adjusting to the temperature.
"Awesome, now we have enough people for games!" Nino exclaimed with a smile that held a hint of evil. Marinette narrowed her eyes at him, suspicious of an ulterior motive, but he pretended not to notice.
"What games did you have in mind, Nino?"
"Why, I'm so glad you asked, Alya!"
Yup, Marinette thought to herself. They are definitely up to something, that sounded way too scripted.
Nino motioned for his friends to follow, and everyone made their way to the shallow end of the pool. Once they had gathered, he turned to address the group.
"Okay, kids. Our first game of the day will be the ever-popular chicken fight." Nino high-fived Alya with a grin. "Of course, Alya and I will be one team, which means you two are together. You know how to play right?"
Marinette nodded with a blush, sneaking a peek over at Adrien. Her teammate looked somewhat confused, so she decided to explain the game to him. "Basically, Adrien, the point of the game is to knock the other team down. The girls sit on the boys' shoulders and fight to push each other off, and whoever lasts longer wins."
The boy looked delighted at this information, which made Marinette's stomach flutter. "Oh, that sounds like a lot of fun!"
Marinette nodded. "It is. And we have to win, okay?"
"Roger that! Let's take them down."
The teams quickly arranged themselves into proper playing positions, Alya and Marinette clambering onto the boys' shoulders. Amazingly, it only took Marinette three tries to manage to get up without falling. She was trying her best to stay calm as she balanced herself by grasping Adrien's head gently, but she was barely holding it together.
This is the best day of my life! I can't believe my bare legs are touching Adrien Agreste's bare shoulders! she thought ecstatically.
Devil suddenly chimed in with, I'd been hoping my legs would end up on his shoulders while in another position instead, but this is pretty good. Besides, we have plenty of time for that later. Wink, wink.
Clearly, Marinette's little devil was hanging around Alya's too much, as she was starting to pick up on her personal colloquialisms.
Meanwhile, beneath Marinette, Adrien's mind was racing in several directions at once. Libido was murmuring to Devil some salacious things that Adrien would never repeat aloud, and Angel chased them both around with his ever-present frying pan. Common Sense told Adrien he needed to control himself better, to which the boy mentally responded, I'm doing my best, but a cute girl is sitting on my shoulders wearing hardly more than underwear, which is a first, so this is a bit of a trying time for me.
He then pulled himself out of his thoughts for a second in shock. I've given my imaginary personalities names and now I'm having full-on conversations with them. This can't be normal.
Startled out of his thoughts by a duo of loud yells, he looked up to see Nino and Alya surging towards him, apparently having decided to begin the game. He grinned, shouted up to Marinette to hang on, and began wading forward towards their opponents. The girls clashed, and Adrien and Nino struggled to stay upright with the shifting weights atop them.
"Get her, Mari!" Adrien called up to his partner, as he gripped her thighs more tightly—purely to keep her stable, of course. He was taking absolutely no pleasure in the action. Liar.
"I'm working on it!" The girl's voice was strained with effort as she attempted to dismount her friend. Though she was the smaller of the two, Marinette was fueled by a bright-burning competitive flame and fought with more strength than would be expected of her. She was determined to win because, for goodness sake, she was Ladybug, and Ladybug should never be beaten in such a silly competition. Chat Noir would never let her hear the end of it if he somehow found out.
With those thoughts lingering in her mind, Marinette gave one last mighty push and managed to unseat Alya. As the young reporter splashed down into the water, Marinette lifted her hands in victory and cheered. Adrien shared her enthusiasm, reaching up to give her a high five as they congratulated each other on a job well done.
Unfortunately, this left them open to an out-of-bounds sneak attack from Nino. One well-placed shove and the winning duo collapsed into the water. Sputtering, they rose to the surface, calling Nino all manner of names and accusing him of cheating. He simply grinned as his girlfriend gave him a kiss on the cheek for the brilliant execution of some petty revenge.
"You are such bad sports." Marinette scowled at the smirking couple and crossed her arms.
Adrien came up behind her, laying a hand on her shoulder and doing his best to ignore the small shiver the action sent up his spine. "Yeah, rude. Rematch."
Nino quickly begged out of that, knowing that Alya would be irritated if they lost again. "Actually, I was thinking we could go in the hot tub for a bit. Is everyone cool with that?"
Everyone nodded their assent and languidly began making their way to the edge of the pool. Marinette's tummy did flips as she entertained the idea of being in such close quarters with a nearly naked Adrien. As she waded slowly through the water, she let her mind float off into thoughts of what she and Adrien might do in a hot tub someday when Nino and Alya weren't around, grinning softly to herself the whole way.