A/N: Thank you so much for sticking around! I can't believe it's already August! I was supposed to write all of this in May :D But better late than never, huh? Sending you all some love!
TurtleDucks11 (your username is so cute by the way) - thank you so much for your review! I swear, it was one of the things that pushed me to continue writing when I didn't really feel like it. Thank you for making this chapter happen!

Prompt: Blanket

Gabriel Agreste was not a man that was easily moved by other people. His opinions, once formed, tended to stay as they were, though there weren't many things that he cared enough to form an opinion on. For a week, he'd observed Chat Noir's friendship with Marinette Dupain-Cheng blossom. He remembered her name – she was one of Adrien's classmates and an aspiring designer, too. She wasn't anyone too important. There was no reason for his supervillain alter ego to exploit this newly discovered weakness.

Yet when his son, Adrien, ushered her into the villa with a wide smile on his face, Gabriel hesitated. He knew that look. He'd seen it numerous times on photos of himself and his wife before he'd started courting her. The look of longing.

It was a problem. Up until now, Gabriel had assumed the girl's affections towards his son to be nonreciprocal, but seeing that smile… He wasn't so sure anymore. It was certainly food for thought: would he risk Adrien's chance with the girl for an opportunity to get the miraculous? The short answer was: yes, he would.

But he didn't have to do it right away. Based on how cozy Chat Noir and Marinette were getting, their friendship was clearly not going to go anywhere. And if Adrien won the girl's heart, then there was still the possibility of her simply betraying the cat. If that failed, an akuma could simply take her hostage. There was no rush. Marinette Dupain-Cheng wasn't one to stop being friends with anyone once their friendship was established.

And it was safe to say, her friendship with Chat Noir was as official as it could get.


"Do you have your notes?" Marinette asked with a yawn. She'd barely slept the night before. With all the schoolwork, increased patrols, her new designs and Chat Noir's visits added to the mix, she was really cutting it low on sleep. She kept her eyes open only through sheer willpower, not even caring that she was in the presence of Greatness. Adrien Agreste looked more dashing than he usually did. He had put in effort, though he remained completely oblivious to that fact.

"Yeah! Here they are!" Adrien pulled them out of his bag, painfully aware of her presence. She liked him.

"So what we need," she rubbed her eyes in an attempt to drive the sleep away from them. It didn't work as well as she had hoped it would. "So what we need is…"

"To make a poster and prepare to present it," he finished her sentence, looking worried. "Are you okay, Marinette? You look a little out of it."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Another yawn. She would kill for a nap.

Adrien didn't look convinced. He thought for a moment and jumped up. "I'll go get some snacks."

"Uh-uh," she nodded, his voice sending only mild shivers down her spine, ones she didn't even have to hide. It would have surprised her, if she hadn't been too tired to notice.

The door closed with a click. Marinette shut her eyes, telling herself it was just for a moment, until Adrien came back and then they'd get started on the project and… Marinette never finished that thought. When the blonde boy returned with a tray filled with a variety of fruit, sandwiches and coffee which they both seemed to need so badly, she was already deep asleep, cheek against the still closed textbook she had brought.

Adrien placed the tray down on the table. He looked at Marinette, curled up on the white sofa, and felt blood rush to his face. He pulled up his phone to text Nino, asking for what he should do. Waiting for reply, he grabbed the blanket off his bed and covered her with it, tucking her in with fondness that surprised even himself.

You should let her sleep, Nino texted back. Adrien sighed, as he read it, glad that they agreed on the matter. Did Nino know that Marinette liked Adrien? The model hadn't dared to ask, but guessed the answer was yes. Alya definitely knew, so it was more than likely Nino was in the loop, too. Adrien felt a little stupid at the realization that probably everyone knew. And everyone had protected her secret.

What had he done to earn her love?

Lost in his trail of thoughts, Adrien didn't notice Plagg come out of his hiding place, enjoying his wheel of camembert in plain sight, thrilled with the risk of being caught by no other than Ladybug. A kwami was meant to live life dangerously, especially if said kwami was a god of destruction. However, destruction or not, he was allowed to be as observant as he wanted and he was not going to pass up on this opportunity.

"You're staring!" he cackled with well-concealed mirth. After all, this girl was same as the Ladybug and he was secretly rooting for them anyway. "Take a picture, it lasts longer."

Adrien's mischievous side raised its head.

"That's the best idea you have ever had," he said quietly enough not to wake Marinette. He opened the camera and turned on the selfie mode. His brilliant plan, concocted within seconds before execution, was to scoot closer and take a photo with her "Chat Noir" style. If she woke up in the process, well, she'd probably be too flustered by his proximity and that was a weakness Adrien found himself willing to exploit, if necessary. Though he hoped it wouldn't be.

Marinette didn't react. Adrien took a photo. And another. And another. He changed his expression, testing other looks and took photos to commemorate this moment with her. She moved very little.

Leaning his back against the sofa, he browsed the pictures he had taken, trying to choose one to post online. He settled for the sweetest one that he'd taken while Marinette had snuggled a little closer to him, catching him off guard. He liked genuine photos like that.

ChatNoir Might have stolen your Princess. She's pretty fun! Might just have to keep her! ;)

#princessdiaries #chatnoirstyle #adrienagreste

Once that was done, he got up and moved to his computer, getting started on their project, though he would have loved to nap, too. He helped himself to coffee. It was still hot and it burned his tongue. The sudden pain did its job better than caffeine, forcing him to be more alert.

About half an hour later, he checked his phone again. His instagram had blown up with notifications of likes and comments, but there were a couple of instant messages as well. He decided to read them first.

Nino: She's going to kill you for that, but DAMN! I didn't know you had it in you to challenge a superhero like that!

Alya: Sunshine, got more from where that came from?

Chloé: what. the. heck.

Adrien chuckled and sent Alya some of the other pictures that he had considered posting. There was one where Marinette's tongue was peeking out from between her lips and he'd copied that expression with eyes wide open, so it looked a little silly. He'd been tempted to lick her cheek, but if he had done that and been caught, Marinette would probably kill him for that. And then kill herself, if he had posted a photo of doing that.

Chat Noir could probably get away with that though. He shelved that thought away.

Marinette woke up an hour later, nearly falling off the sofa. As soon as she realized what had happened, she became mortified, blushing so many shades of red that it took Adrien quite a bit of self-restraint to keep himself from laughing. He reassured her that it was fine, that he didn't mind doing the project on his own and that they could go over it again before the actual presentation. She didn't check her phone before leaving.


Chat Noir arrived on Marinette's balcony around the same time as he usually did. The girl was already there, armed with two cups of hot chocolate, cookies and a pink blanket that she had wrapped around herself. It wasn't cold outside, but Marinette didn't seem to be hot under it either. The cat superhero landed on the balcony with a loud thump, knocking over a flower pot and catching it right before it would have hit the ground.

"Hey Chat!" she greeted him with a small wave. "I've already asked this a number of times, but… you haven't told Adrien about my feelings, have you?"

"Nope!" he answered innocently. The first couple of times, he was sure that Marinette would see right through him, but he wasn't exactly lying either, so he didn't feel too bad. It wasn't his fault Marinette didn't know who she was spilling all her secrets to. "I noticed he's trying to steal you away from me!"

Marinette snorted. "Yeah, right." She had begged Alya to get him to take down the photos. The journalist had sent her another photo, one that wasn't public, saying that if Adrien took that "super cute thing" down, she'd post that "equally cute, but not quite as flattering" picture. Marinette was forced to admit defeat.

"Come on, what's on your mind, Princess?" Chat Noir sat down on the floor in front of her. She gave him a look.

"Just kinda upset with myself," she told him honestly. "There's so many things I want to do and not enough time to do everything."

"Is that why you've got yourself wrapped in that cute blanket?" he wondered out loud.

"Yes."

"Oh really?"

"It's my comfort blanket. Once it's around me, nothing bad can happen. I'm protected from all the evil in this world."

"Can I get under the blankie too, then?"

The question was out before he could even think of the implications of it. Blood rushed to his cheeks, but Marinette couldn't see it. The mask concealed it a little too well.

Marinette shrugged, causing the blanket to slip off her shoulders. She grabbed one end of it and lifted it. "Sure. It can fit two people under it."

Chat stared at her dumbfounded. "I'm not sure the chair can."

"Oh. Hold on then." Marinette stood up to go back to her room, blanket flowing behind her like a cape. She returned, clutching some pillows to her chest. She struggled with holding them and keeping the blanket from dropping and even though Chat Noir jumped up to help her immediately, she still tripped on the blanket. Squeaking, she braced herself for the fall that never came.

The pillows landed on the ground, but Chat reached Marinette in time and caught her. Her face hit his chest, his hands flying to stabilize her, so they both wouldn't fall. Her body felt soft against his and he was suddenly acutely aware of her proximity. He gulped, letting go.

"Thanks," Marinette blushed. "I can't believe I forgot. I swear this happens every time I try to move in the blanket."

"You're going to hurt yourself one day," he frowned. "And that would be a catastrophe."

"Eh. I've survived so far." Marinette straightened herself and stepped away, busying herself with arranging the pillows on the floorboards and sitting down on one of them, the blanket securely around her. "You coming?"

Suddenly, Chat felt that it wasn't a good idea to get so close to her. Marinette was looking at him expectantly and she'd gotten the pillows just because he'd expressed a desire to be under the blanket, too. So he walked over slowly, plopping down on the pillow she'd got for him while avoiding her gaze. Marinette wrapped the blanket around them both.

"See?" she whispered. "Safe."

He blinked, surprised to feel her breath brush against his skin. He wiggled, trying to turn around and keep the blanket in place. He needed to know how close she was.

Marinette gave him a cheeky grin after greeting him with a "Boo!" once he was facing her. They were close enough to cuddle. Not that he wanted to, that is. Or so he told himself.

He was close enough to study the contours of her face, the sharp lines that made her her, the small upward curve of her lips, as she smiled at him. It registered in his mind that he was dangerously close to letting his mind wander into places it wasn't supposed to go. So almost instinctively, he lunged forward, hugging her close. That way, he didn't have to see the caring in her eyes. He didn't have to remember that he held her heart in the palm of his hand.

Marinette laughed, but let it happen. Gently and hesitantly, she reached her hand out and touched his hair. He leaned into the touch and she hummed, enjoying the feel of his golden strands. She wondered if Adrien's hair would feel something like that, too.

Chat Noir felt himself relax. Marinette was right: the blanket really did make you feel safe once you were under it. Or perhaps it was the girl and her warmth. He closed his eyes just for a minute.

Marinette woke him up half an hour later, telling him to get home. He didn't want to go. But even in his half-dreamy state, he knew he had to. When he was gone, Marinette opened her phone with a sly smirk, unsure where the bravery to do this had come from.

AdrienAgreste Sorry! We're kind of a package deal! I won't abandon this stray!