Hey, guys. Sorry it's been so long, but I've been dealing with some personal stuff that made it hard for me to write. Hopefully I'll be able to update more frequently in the future. I promise I'm not going to abandon this fic, but school and my personal life have to come first most of the time. Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think!

Marinette jolted awake with a shiver. Her neck. Her neck was exposed and the cold air of what she assumed to be very early morning was touching it, causing a chill to creep down her spine. She tugged on her blanket in an effort to pull it up to cover her neck, but a heavy weight lying across her waist kept the fabric annoyingly in place. She whined and tugged harder, but to no avail. Finally, she gave in, cracking her eyes open to find the culprit that was stealing her warmth, and as she glanced down her gaze landed on a ladybug-patterned arm that draped over her, pulling her towards the warm mass behind her.

She blinked a few times in confusion before the events of the previous night surfaced in her mind, images of Adrien smiling and laughing flitting through her thoughts. She smiled sleepily as she carefully reached behind her and tugged her hood up, trying not to disturb the boy behind her with the movement. Warm once more, she tried going back to sleep but found herself too awake. With a sigh, she grabbed her phone and started playing minesweeper, biding her time until Adrien woke up.

Adrien sneezed suddenly, unwittingly startling himself awake. He groaned in annoyance as he was snatched away from his lovely dream about having a picnic with his three closest friends, laughing in the sunshine without a care in the world. He sighed, keeping his eyes stubbornly closed as he pulled the pillow he was cuddling closer to his chest and buried his nose in the soft fabric. The boy inhaled deeply, enjoying the cinnamon and vanilla notes that permeated the cloth, and he sighed again, this time in satisfaction.

A giggle from right in front of his face caused his eyes to snap open and Adrien froze as he realized that what he was nuzzling was not a pillowcase but rather familiar black fleece. Looking farther down, he realized that he was snuggled up to his hostess quite closely, one arm slung carelessly across her waist as his legs tangled with hers. Peeking over her shoulder, Adrien could see that the girl was already wide awake and playing a game on her phone. He blushed as he wondered exactly how long she'd been putting up with this compromising position.

Marinette noticed the boy's movement and turned her head to look up at him. "Morning, Sleeping Beauty."

"Morning." Adrien cringed as he started to extract his limbs from her side of the blanket. "I'm so sorry you had to put up with that. You should've just woken me up. I guess I'm in the habit of cuddling something since I sleep with a body pillow at home."

The fact that it was a Ladybug body pillow was irrelevant.

Marinette grabbed his arm, holding it in place against her side as her cheeks turned slightly pink. "No, no," she murmured, giving his hand a gentle pat. "It didn't bother me. In fact, if you hadn't been there, I probably would've gotten too cold and frozen during the night."

"Guess I'm a hero then." Adrien laughed awkwardly, resisting the urge to rub the back of his neck in favor of continuing to cuddle his classmate.

"Guess so."

The teens lay there in silence for a minute, Marinette working on the game she was playing as Adrien tried to think of something to say that didn't sound totally dumb. He was finding that he was becoming more self-conscious in front of the girl, which was throwing him off because the only person he'd felt this awkward in front of before was Ladybug.

Marinette interrupted his thoughts by pinching the back of his hand gently. "Did you hear what I said?"

"I, uh, sorry, no," Adrien admitted sheepishly.

"I was asking if you wanted breakfast. We can go down to the kitchen and make something if you'd like."

As if on cue, Adrien's stomach rumbled loudly. The sound of Marinette's adorable laughter simultaneously created butterflies in his stomach and made him want to melt into the floor.

"Mr. Tummy, so nice of you to join us again."

"Oh, hush," Adrien muttered in embarrassment.

Marinette giggled again as she rolled out from under his arm and pushed herself onto her hands and knees. "Well, I guess I'll take that as a yes. Let's go downstairs."

Adrien nodded, following her through the entrance to the fort and down the steps to the living room area. They stepped into the kitchen and Marinette hopped up to sit on the counter, swinging her feet gently as she pursed her lips in thought. Adrien, not knowing what to do with himself, hovered awkwardly in front of her.

"So, what do you normally like to eat for breakfast?" Marinette asked, cocking her head to the side as she looked at him intently.

"Well, most days I just have some fruit."

The girl clucked her tongue, eying him up and down. "You are a growing boy, you need much more than just fruit." She tapped her chin, considering her options for a moment. "You seemed to like what we had at Alya's the other day. Since it's almost lunch time anyways, why don't we make some pancakes and omelets again?"

"Sure. I don't know how much I'll be able to help, though."

Marinette hopped down from the counter and headed towards the fridge, tossing over her shoulder, "Don't worry, I'll teach you."

Twenty minutes later, Marinette was almost starting to regret her decision. It turned out that when Adrien said he knew nothing about cooking, he really meant it. He was doing his best to follow her instructions, but the little nuances that made the process easier and cleaner were escaping him.

"Gaah!" Adrien yelped as a large splatter of flour and water hit the apron Marinette had thankfully had the foresight to lend him.

"What happened?" she called over her shoulder as she diced vegetables for the omelets.

"I just put the flour in the bowl and everything exploded!"

Marinette giggled. "Maybe you were too forceful. Did you put it in before or after the liquids?"

A beat of silence. "After?"

"Well, there's your problem."

The pout in his voice was obvious as he asked petulantly, "How was I supposed to know it would do that?"

"You're the physics expert. What did you think would happen?"

Adrien turned back to his bowl, muttering under his breath about unhelpful girls as he scooped up another cup of flour and dumped it harder than necessary into the bowl. Immediately, a huge cloud of white puffed up and hit him in the face.

"What the—?!" he sputtered as he wiped the powder from his eyes.

Marinette turned to see what the commotion was about and began laughing, leaning over and clutching her stomach as she fought to catch her breath. "You—haha—you totally look like a raccoon!"

Adrien crossed his arms, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for her to calm down. When a minute had passed and she was still giggling, the boy swiped some of the flour off of his cheek and wiped it on the tip of her nose.

Marinette stared down at the white streak, eyes crossing comically as she tried to catch a glimpse of Adrien's work. After a moment, she glared at him, pouting and crossing her arms as she muttered, "Big meanie."

"You're the one who was laughing at me so much you nearly started crying!"

Marinette giggled reflexively. "It's just because you always seem perfect, because you're good at everything, but it turns out you can't cook to save your life."

"Sure, rub it in." Adrien swiped a white finger across the girl's cheek. "Just know that every time you make fun of my cooking skills, I'm going to put more flour on you."

"Fair enough." Marinette raised her eyebrow, smirking as she asked, "You burn even water, don't you?"

Another streak of powder covered the girl's forehead. "You're really asking for it."

"Am I? All I remember asking for is a batch of pancake batter."

Swipe.

"Hey!" Marinette pouted. "That wasn't even an insult technically."

"I get to decide what counts." Adrien drew one last line in white from her ear to her chin and stepped back to admire his handiwork. "There, now we're even."

"We should get back to work then. Try to keep the mess to a minimum, Monsieur Agreste." Marinette stuck her tongue out with a grin as Adrien shook his fist at her in fake anger.

The boy gave a relenting sigh. "Fine. But I'm blaming you for your terrible teaching skills if these pancakes turn out badly."

"As you wish."

They worked in silence for a few moments, and Adrien was concentrating so hard on following the steps of the recipe correctly that he almost didn't hear the sniffles start up behind him.

"Marinette?" He whirled around to find the girl sniffing as she rubbed at her eyes with the back of one wrist. "Hey, what's wrong?" Adrien set down his whisk and hurried over, gently grasping her arms and rubbing his thumbs in comforting circles. "Talk to me, are you okay?"

Marinette turned towards him, eyes red and tears streaking down her face and his heart broke. Before she could speak, he carefully removed the knife from her hand and set it down, wrapping her up in his arms and patting her back soothingly. "I'm sorry, is it because I wiped flour on you? You're okay, it'll wash off, so please don't cry."

Her body started to shake and a worried Adrien hugged her tighter, whispering apologies into her hair and wishing he knew how to comfort her. After a few seconds, the shaking intensified and Marinette began giggling loudly from within his embrace. Adrien froze in confusion as Marinette pulled back slightly from him and he saw her bright smile.

"I thought you were—huh?"

Marinette used his apron to wipe her still-watering eyes. "Adrien, I was cutting onions. The fumes make you cry—that's all it was."

"Oh." Adrien was relieved that she was okay, but embarrassed to the point where he wanted to melt into the floor. "So you're not mad at me?"

"Of course not, silly." Marinette poked him in the nose, so strongly resembling his lady for a second that he had to catch his breath. "You were so sweet to be worried about me, but I'm really okay."

Adrien blushed, suddenly releasing her and rubbing the back of his neck feverishly. "T-that's good. I'm glad."

Marinette sensed the need for a subject change, not wanting to embarrass the kind boy any further. "So, how are the pancakes coming?"

"They're ready to be cooked, I think."

"Perfect. I'm about done with the omelet veggies, too. Give me one minute and I'll teach you how to cook a proper meal."

True to her word, sixty seconds later Marinette was prepping two pans for cooking, multitasking magnificently as she started pouring a large circle of pancake batter into one while whisking together omelet ingredients for the other. Adrien watched in fascination, trying to pick up on all of her tricks. He refused her offer to let him try flipping the pancakes, figuring he'd had enough excitement for the day without the addition of getting their brunch stuck to the ceiling.

In no time at all, the food was stacked high on plates and set on the table. The teens sat next to each other, just like the night before, so that they could share the food easily. At Marinette's word, they began to dig in, neither having realized exactly how hungry they were until that moment.

"Oh my gosh!" Adrien exclaimed with his mouth full, manners nearly tossed aside in his excitement over the meal. He forced himself to swallow before continuing. "This is amazing, Marinette!"

"You should give yourself some credit. You made the pancakes, after all."

"Yeah, but I made a complete mess of it. I'm sure it was your cooking that saved it all."

Marinette giggled. "Whatever you say."

They finished their food in silence, and Adrien thanked his hostess again at the end of the meal. "Really, thank you, Marinette. It was so much fun staying over here, and the food was fantastic."

"Any time, Adrien." Marinette winced. "Well, my parents probably wouldn't let you just sleep over whenever, but you're welcome to visit any time. I can teach you how to cook more if you'd like, too."

"That would be great!" Adrien exclaimed as he helped her carry their dishes to the sink, pushing up the sleeves of his onesie so he could assist in washing them off. "It was a lot of fun, even though I was awful at it."

Marinette smiled, nudging him with her elbow. "You weren't awful, you just need more practice."

Adrien smiled back at her, about to agree when he noticed the flour still covering her face and began laughing. "Yeah, hopefully I won't make such a mess next time."

Marinette turned the water off, wiping at her cheek and frowning at the powder that came off on her finger. "I'm going to go wash off in the bathroom. You can use it after if you want, Monsieur Raccoon."

"Very funny. Just go already." Adrien grinned teasingly as he made shooing motions, laughing when Marinette stuck her tongue out at him and flounced off.

She entered the bathroom, humming one of the songs they'd listened to the previous night. Quickly grabbing a washcloth from the linen closet and wetting it, Marinette began removing the flour from her cheeks. A minute later, once she was sure she'd gotten all of it off, she rinsed and wrung the cloth out, hanging it from one of the towel racks on the wall. She dried her face, then grabbed a clean washcloth and placed it on the counter for Adrien. The girl was about to leave the room when she noticed an unfamiliar pile of cloth resting on the counter. Curious, she turned back and lifted the top piece of fabric up.

A familiar scent wafted out as the shirt unfolded and Marinette let out a small gasp as she realized just what she was holding. Apparently, Adrien had been in such a rush to show off his onesie the previous night that he had forgotten his clothes in the bathroom, thereby presenting Marinette with this golden opportunity.

Though she knew she was alone in the small room, Marinette glanced around before lifting the black cotton to her nose and taking a deep sniff. She sighed happily as the scent of Adrien's cologne mixed with what had to be his unique smell clouded her mind. If only she could bottle this scent and spray it on all of her pillows.

A sudden knock on the door startled her. Adrien's voice called through the wood, "Did I really get that much on you, Mari?"

She quickly set the shirt back in its original position on top of the rest of Adrien's clothes before hurrying over to open the door. "Sorry, there was a little in my hair that I had to wash out."

Adrien smiled as they traded places. "No problem. I'll be back in a minute."

As he disappeared to wash his face, Marinette headed back to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. As she was filling her cup, a sharp scream from outside startled her and she nearly dropped her drink. She hurried to the window, groaning when she caught sight of the akuma a street over. Of course there would be an attack on such a perfect day.

Marinette raced to the bathroom, quickly shouting to Adrien that there was an akuma and she was going to go check on her parents. She instructed him to stay upstairs, not listening for a response before dashing away, heading for her balcony as she called Tikki and transformed. She clambered up the stairs to her bed and out the door, swan diving off the side of the building before slinging out her yoyo and letting it carry her to the akuma.

Meanwhile, Adrien waited until he was sure the girl had left to check on her parents, then exited the bathroom. He raced to where he'd left his bag, shaking Plagg out of his sleep and transforming before unknowingly following Marinette's path out of the bedroom.

The two met up a few minutes later, huddling together on a rooftop near the attack zone to plan. Ladybug made the first comment, muttering, "Let's get this over with. I have a friend over and I don't want him to realize I'm missing."

"What a coincidence. I'm hanging out with a friend today and sooner or later she'll come looking for me, so I want to finish quickly as well."

"Let's get down to it then." Ladybug scanned the giant, vaguely man-shaped blob that was currently devastating Paris. "Uh, any idea where the possessed item is?"

Chat Noir winced as he spotted the only thing that could possibly be hosting the akuma. "There," he stated reluctantly, pointing at a spoon that hovered in the middle of the gelatinous purple mass.

Ladybug shook her head, already dreading the battle. "Of course." She reached for her yoyo, hurling it out to attach to a chimney across the way as she instructed Chat, "You distract him, I'll figure out how to get the spoon."

"Roger that!" Chat saluted as she swung off, grabbing his baton and extending it to lower himself to the ground.

He approached the monster, not bothering to be stealthy, and began yelling to get its attention. "Hey, big guy! Down here."

Crude, but effective. The blob turned what appeared to be its head and "looked" down at the hero, who had begun banging his staff against its body.

"Yeah, over here! Look at me, grape-face!"

Across the street, Ladybug snorted at her partner's antics, shaking her head as she began to summon her lucky charm. She tossed her yoyo up, shouting out, "Lucky charm!" and caught the large, spotted hose that fell down in response with a slight grunt.

"What am I supposed to do with—" Ladybug cut herself off as she caught sight of a nearby fire hydrant. "Oh! Chat, lure him this way!" she instructed as she dashed over to the hydrant and began attaching her hose, her hands somehow knowing exactly what to do and having the strength to do it despite the fact that this was a first-time experience for her.

Chat did as she commanded, taunting the huge blob monster into following him towards her. Once it was within range, Ladybug let the water rip, directing the flow straight at the center of the monster. Because of the cool weather, the water shouldn't have been warm enough to dissolve the sugar of what Ladybug had realized was grape Jell-O, but somehow her magic hose heated it to the point where it was able to melt a hole through the middle of the monster, making it easy for Chat Noir to leap up and snatch the spoon. He tossed it to her and she dropped the hose, snapping the cursed item in half and using her yoyo to catch the akuma before it could flutter off.

"Bye bye, little butterfly," she cooed, releasing the insect into the air before hefting her lucky charm upward with a shout of "Miraculous Ladybug!"

Magic washed over everything, causing the gooey purple streets to return to normal as the grape monster transformed into an elderly man. Chat Noir helped him up, asking if he was okay.

The gentleman nodded shakily, thankfully seeming to be fine despite the gaping hole he'd had through his torso only moments before. In a wavering voice, he told them, "Oh dear, I was just so upset that there was only orange Jell-O for lunch today. Grape is my favorite, you see."

Ladybug tapped her foot impatiently as her partner left the man with the paramedics and headed back over to her, extending a fist for their traditional "Bien joué!"

Bumping her fist quickly against his, she reached for her yoyo. "Sorry to dash, but I really have to get back to being a proper hostess."

"Of course, my lady, and I must get back to being a proper guest." Chat winked, gracing the knuckles of her free hand with a kiss. "Have a lovely day, Bugaboo."

"You too, Kitty." With that, Ladybug swung away, making a beeline for her balcony. As she leapt over a nearby rooftop, she imagined she saw a flash of black zipping through the trap door. Cautiously, she touched down and headed inside, looking around for the possible culprit, but, after finding no one, she ultimately decided it had been a trick of the light. She de-transformed, heading to the bathroom to see if Adrien was still hiding out in there.

A knock sounded on the door as a huffing Adrien released his transformation and Plagg flipped out of his ring, a complaint about a lack of cheese surely on the tip of his tongue. The boy quickly snagged his kwami out of the air, slapping a hand over his mouth as he shouted to who he was assuming was Marinette, "Is the attack over? How are your parents?" He patted himself on the back for sounding only slightly out of breath, considering how quickly he'd sprinted back to the bathroom after the battle.

"My parents?" Marinette asked in surprise from the other side of the door, slapping her forehead as she remembered her quickly thrown together excuse. "Oh, yes! They're good, all good. Everything's good now."

If you say good one more time— she threatened herself, screaming at her brain to come up with any adjective besides "good."

"The attack is over, so it's…fine." She sighed. "I'll be waiting in the fort."

Adrien agreed, telling her he'd be right there and let out a relieved huff of air as her footsteps echoed away. Once he was sure she was out of earshot, he released his enraged kwami.

"Why aren't we home yet?" Plagg whined miserably. "I want more food."

Adrien sighed. "If I get you some food, will you behave?"

"Maybe."

That was probably the best deal he was going to get, so Adrien grabbed his forgotten clothes from the previous day and quietly exited the bathroom to sneak off to the kitchen. He mentally apologized to Marinette and her family before opening the fridge and rummaging through it until he found some cheese. It wasn't camembert, but it would do, so he slipped it into the pocket Plagg was residing in before heading stealthily up the stairs to Marinette's room.

He entered through the trap door and deposited his dirty clothes near his bag before he padded over to the fort, dropping to his hands and knees to crawl inside, where he found Marinette waiting as promised. She was wrapped up in a big blanket, only visible from the chin up, and Adrien giggled at the sight.

"Hmm?" Marinette glanced up from her phone, which she struggled to hold through the blanket, to give him a confused look. "What's funny?"

He hid his smile, clearing his throat as he replied, "Nothing. You look cozy."

The girl stuck her tongue out at him. "I'll have you know that making yourself into a burrito is very in this winter."

"Well, you certainly pull it off." He winked at her as he grabbed his own blanket and settled down next to her. Once he was comfortable, he leaned over, a question about their afternoon's activities on the tip of his tongue, when his phone vibrated inside of the pocket of his onesie.

He pulled the device out, letting out a groan as he saw the name on the screen. Taking a deep breath, Adrien reluctantly answered the call with a somber, "Hello, Nathalie."

"Adrien, it is time for you to return home. I will be sending the car for you, so please be ready when it arrives. You have several appointments today and cannot afford to fool around any longer."

His eyebrow twitched as he tried to keep his tone civil. "Of course, Nathalie. Thank you." He didn't bother saying goodbye before hanging up, knowing his father's secretary was already past their conversation.

Marinette looked at him, lips pursed in concern as he let out a deep sigh and flopped onto his back. "Are you okay, Adrien?"

"Yeah. I've just been having so much fun with you that I don't want to go back to my real life."

The girl sank onto her side next to him, leaning on her elbow to prop her head up as she smiled sadly at him. "I wish you didn't have to go either, but you're welcome to come back whenever you want."

"Careful, I might just take you up on that offer."

She managed to keep herself from blushing as she replied, "Please do. I really love having you around."

Adrien smiled softly at her as he pushed himself back to sitting. "Thanks, Mari." Reluctantly, he shoved his blanket away and crawled out of the fort to begin packing his things. Marinette followed him, still wrapped in her comforter, and watched as he slowly placed items into his bag in an attempt to stall as long as possible.

Alas, in a few short minutes his bag was packed and his phone vibrated with a message from his chauffeur announcing his arrival. He sighed as he tapped out a quick response, sliding his phone back into the pocket of his onesie. In an attempt to lighten the bleak mood, Adrien quipped, "Dare me to wear this home?"

Marinette's frown shifted into a small smile. "What would your father say?"

"Probably something like, 'Honestly, Adrien, if you insist on wearing that gaudy getup at least make sure it's tailored properly.'" Adrien smiled as Marinette giggled at his imitation of the fashion mogul. "I'm not sure, really, but I imagine it would be funny. I'll let you know."

"Okay," Marinette replied with another giggle. "I suppose I should see you off now?"

"If you'd be so kind, my lady."

The back of her neck tingled at the familiarity of his words, and an image of Chat's flirtatious smirk flashed through her mind. Marinette glanced at the boy in front of her, squinting as she mentally compared his sweet smile to her partner's trademark grin.

"Uh, is there something on my face?"

The girl was startled out of her analysis by Adrien's uncertain question. She shook her head in an attempt to banish her strange thoughts, stammering out, "Oh, n-no, I was just caught up in my thoughts." She unwrapped the blanket she was wearing, dropping it on the trunk against her wall. "I guess we'd better get you downstairs before they think I'm holding you hostage."

Adrien agreed, grabbing his bag and slinging the strap over his shoulder as he followed her down the stairs. They paused to put their shoes on, before exiting the living area in silence and descending the main stairs to the ground floor. As they reached the ground level, Adrien mentioned his desire to say goodbye to Marinette's parents, so the two turned and entered the bakery.

"Hello, kids, did you sleep well?" Tom asked over his shoulder from the counter.

"Very well, Mr. D—Tom. Thank you again for letting me stay over."

Sabine appeared from behind them, apparently having run upstairs for a moment. "Oh, Adrien, are you leaving now?" She reached out to give him a warm hug. "We enjoyed having you here. Please do visit again."

Adrien smiled and hugged her back happily, replying as she released him, "I'd love to! Thank you for everything."

"Our pleasure, son," Tom assured him as he swept him up in a bear hug. "Now, I believe that your ride is waiting outside. You'd best get a move on, before they think we're holding you hostage."

Adrien chuckled. "That's exactly what Marinette said."

"Like father, like daughter." The large man ruffled said daughter's hair, ignoring her cries of protest. Adrien laughed as Marinette huffed, running her fingers over her pigtails in an attempt to make herself presentable again. The girl muttered something about life-ruining fathers before grabbing Adrien by the elbow and ushering him towards the door as he shouted a last goodbye to his hosts.

They stepped outside into the frigid morning, shoes crunching over the thin layer of snow on the sidewalk as they headed to Adrien's waiting car. The Gorilla immediately got out and rushed around to their side, opening the door for Adrien and standing stiffly as he waited for the boy to enter. Marinette thought she might've seen his lips twitch as though resisting a grin when he noticed his passenger's outfit choice.

"I guess I'll see you at school, Marinette," Adrien told her with a small smile as he made to get into the car.

"W-wait!" Marinette took a bolstering breath as those lovely emerald eyes rose to meet hers. "I was wondering if we could exchange phone numbers." She mentally high-fived herself for how confident that came out.

Adrien brightened up instantly. "Yeah, of course!" He quickly extracted his phone from his pocket, unlocking it and opening up a new contact before handing it over to her. "Here, just type yours in and I'll text you so you have mine."

Marinette did as he said, and mere seconds after returning the device she heard a ding from her pocket, signaling that she now had his number, too. With another promise to see her at school the next day, Adrien said his final goodbye and climbed into the car, waving as the vehicle pulled away.

Marinette waved until he was out of sight, a dreamy smile on her face. She tried to control her expression as she headed back through the bakery, but she saw her parents exchange knowing smiles as she passed them. Her father shot her a wink, and she scrunched up her nose at him, sticking out her tongue before leaving the bakery and dashing up the several flights of stairs to her room.

Diving into the fort, Marinette grabbed the nearest pillow and shoved her face into it, screaming in happiness as she rolled around on the floor. After a moment, she flopped onto her back, pillow falling to the side as she stared up at the blanket hovering above her. She couldn't believe how well the weekend had gone. If you'd told her on Thursday that by Sunday afternoon she'd be almost completely at ease with Adrien Agreste and even be brave enough to ask for his number, she'd have laughed in your face. She silently thanked past-Marinette for deleting Adrien's number from her phone after the voicemail debacle so that she'd have the opportunity for such an exchange.

"What's going on Marinette?" Tikki asked as she floated into the fort from wherever she'd hidden while Adrien had been over.

"I asked Adrien for his phone number, and I didn't even stutter!" Marinette sighed happily, snagging the pillow again and hugging it to her chest. "This weekend was so amazing."

Tikki giggled at the dreamy look on her charge's face as she watched her pull out her phone and add Adrien's number to her contacts, changing his contact photo to the selfie they had taken together the previous night. "I'm glad you had a good time."

"And you know something, Tikki?" Marinette rolled onto her side to face the kwami, who had perched on another pillow laying nearby. "I feel like I got to know the real Adrien Agreste, and it made me realize I was being pretty ridiculous before. He's so normal, even kind of dorky, so why did I used to be so scared of talking to him?" She huffed out a laugh, shaking her head. "I wasted a lot of time being so afraid of what he thought of me when we could've been like this the whole time."

"So does that mean you're going to ask him out now?"

Marinette choked, coughing a couple of times before stuttering out, "I-I wouldn't go t-that far."

Tikki snickered at her charge's red face, flitting over to give her a pat on the cheek before flying out of the fort and leaving the girl alone to calm down.

Just after nine that night, Adrien flipped the light on and stepped into his room, gently closing the door behind him. Carelessly dropping his bag on the floor, he shuffled over to his bed and flopped face-first onto the comforter, letting out a content sigh as he was finally able to relax. The day's shoot had been stressful and way too long, and Adrien had never been happier to be home.

He had almost started dozing off when his phone chimed from within his bag, causing him to stir. With a grunt, he sat up and leaned over, tugging the bag closer and fishing the device out. He grinned when he saw Marinette's name displayed on the screen and quickly slid his thumb across the lock to read her message.

Marinette: Hey, how was work?

Before he had the chance to reply, another message popped up on her side of the screen.

Marinette: Uh, that's assuming you're done by now. But I figured this late you would be.

Adrien: Yeah, I just got home actually. You have great timing.

Marinette: Lucky guess.

Adrien: Haha. Work wasn't so bad, but I'm glad it's over. Now I can just relax for a bit. I was thinking of reading or playing some computer games.

Marinette: What games? Mecha Strike?

Adrien: Actually, there's this MMORPG I've gotten really into recently…It's kind of nerdy but the lore is really cool. It's about fighting evil dragons and elves and stuff to save a kingdom.

Marinette: Wait, are you talking about Mystic Story?

Adrien: Yeah, you know it?

Marinette: Know it? I'm only a level 103 Beastclan master ;)

Adrien: No way! If you're free, do you want to quest together?

It was then that Marinette had to take a break from texting to dance around her room in excitement. She and Adrien shared a common interest and he wanted to play together! She couldn't believe her luck, even if she was Ladybug.

"Tikki, quick, pinch me!" Marinette sang as she twirled around, narrowly missing stubbing her toe on her desk chair. She grinned as she flopped back down in it, turning to grab her phone when a sharp pain in her cheek startled her. "Ow!"

"What? You asked me to." Tikki smiled deviously as she pecked Marinette in the place where she'd pinched her previously.

Marinette couldn't argue with that, so she turned back to her thread with Adrien, tapping out another message.

Marinette: Yeah, I'm not doing anything. I can hop on now if you're ready?

Adrien: Give me two minutes, I'll text you.

Marinette sent back an "Okay" and scooted her chair over to her computer, waking it up and double clicking the icon on her desktop to launch the game. She put on her headset and hummed along to the music that played as it loaded, tapping her fingers on the desk as she eagerly awaited Adrien's message. She didn't have to wait long, and when her phone dinged a few seconds later she scooped it up instantly.

Adrien: I'm all set up. I usually play on Keriso, server 15 because it's quiet, but we can go somewhere else if you'd like.

Marinette: That's fine. I'll meet you in the inn in a sec.

Marinette logged herself in and selected the area that Adrien had mentioned, tapping her toes impatiently as the screen went to black before lighting back up as her character materialized in Oswald's Inn. She glanced around the area, but it was empty, so she had her character take a seat at the bar while she waited for Adrien to appear. She hummed along with the theme music as she scrolled through her inventory, biding her time.

A ping caught her attention, and she looked to the bottom of her screen to see that she had a new message, which read, "Hi. It's Adrien."

She friended him immediately, holding back laughter as her fingers flew over her keyboard, asking if he wanted to use the in-game voice chat. It was only after he said yes and they had been connected that she let her giggles loose.

"Oh my gosh, Adrien, your name is 'Monsieur Ladybug?' " Marinette was flattered that Adrien was such a big fan of her alter-ego, but she couldn't help but find the name somewhat silly. The fact that his mage was decked out in all red and black didn't help much. "You're such a dork."

"Um, I'm sorry, who said that? Was it the lady in black and green who goes by the name 'Cat-whisperer?' " Marinette was silent, because he did have a point, and she could practically hear the smirk in his voice when, after a beat, he said, "That's what I thought."

"Shut up, pretty boy," she grumbled petulantly, finding it much easier to joke around when she wasn't staring at Adrien's perfect face.

The sound of a raspberry echoed through her headphones. "Make me, pretty girl."

There was a moment of silence as both parties froze and blushed in unknowing unison. Marinette's heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest as she wondered if he'd just been imitating her or if he actually meant it. Meanwhile, Adrien was somewhat less than surprised to realize he'd totally meant it, but completely mortified because he hadn't meant to actually say it.

Marinette recovered first, diffusing the awkward silence with a dainty clear of her throat and a quick, "So, Monsieur Ladybug, what level are you?"

With that, they fell into a conversation about what quests they could do together that would help Adrien advance the twenty levels that separated his character from Marinette's. They elected to first journey to find some dragon scales to be used in an anti-venom potion and quickly set off into the game's enchanted forest. They battled their way through several screens of various magical creatures, finally making their way to the area's boss level.

The two waited on a ledge at the top of the screen, watching the dragon boss roam the floor below them as they briefly discussed strategy.

Marinette proposed a simple one-two. "Okay, you go in from the front and draw his fire. My finisher is almost charged, so I'll come in from behind and try to end it quickly."

"Sounds good to me." Adrien, completely at ease in his familiar role, immediately hopped down in front of the dragon and shot it with a lightening strike. "Hey, small fry, blow me a kiss!"

Marinette laughed as the dragon shot a bolt of flame at him and he shrieked, jumping out of the way. As he continued to antagonize the boss and dodge its attacks, she snuck across the floating platforms at the top of the screen, sliding down a hanging vine to land behind the beast. She paused briefly, deciding which animal mode to use. Being a Beastclan master meant that she had the powers of several animals at her disposal, and choosing the right one could mean the difference between a quick win and a total defeat. Making her decision, she switched her character into wolf mode and began to hack and slice away at the dragon's rear end. In just a few seconds, her ultimate move was fully charged and she targeted the boss, releasing the power in a flurry of blue and purple slashes that completely engulfed it.

When the light cleared a moment later, Adrien and Marinette whooped in delight as it was revealed that the boss had been defeated. They quickly snagged the drops and exited the dungeon to deliver the potion ingredients and finish their quest.

Once they'd traded the scales for a reward, they picked a new mission and set out. Both of the teens found that they really enjoyed playing together, and time flew by. Before they knew it, it was nearing one in the morning.

"So now we can take the—" Marinette interrupted herself mid-sentence with a gigantic yawn that made her eyes water. Over the voice chat, she heard Adrien giggle, which was cut off by a yawn of his own.

"Holy cow, it's late," the boy commented, suddenly sounding exhausted.

Marinette rubbed her eyes, glancing at the clock. "Yeah." She groaned suddenly. "Ugh, and it's a school night, too."

"As much as I hate to say this, we'd better get some sleep."

"You're right." Marinette let loose another yawn as she stretched her arms over her head, smiling as she heard Adrien's answering yawn a few seconds later. "I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

"Definitely. We can plan our next quest during lunch."

"Sounds good. Well, goodnight, Adrien."

"Goodnight, Mari."

Marinette ended the call and logged out of the game before shutting her computer off. Her exhaustion hit her all at once, and she barely remembered to grab her phone before climbing into bed, extremely thankful that she had thought to brush her teeth and wash her face before sitting down to game.

Tikki flitted up to say goodnight, only to find that her charge had fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. The kwami chuckled, carefully grabbing Marinette's phone from where it lay on the mattress and setting it on the shelf. She checked that the morning's alarms were set; she'd hate for Marinette to oversleep when she was so looking forward to meeting Adrien. Tikki giggled to herself as she realized that, no matter her efforts, Marinette would almost certainly find a way to be late anyways.

Satisfied that she'd done all she could, the tired kwami floated back down to the pillow, placing a tiny kiss on Marinette's forehead before she, too, curled up in a little ball and drifted off to sleep.