So, Adrien's easily distracted by just how pretty his Princess is, but can you blame him? He's still a teenage boy, after all.
I'm BACK (sort of)! Turns out I can macgyver my cord to functionality with a bit of electrical tape while I wait for my new cord.
As for the Jack and the Beanstalk reference if any of y'all actually speak French, please let me know if I got that right. I know the original tale is of English origin and Google is a shaky translation ally at best, so if it's got a different title in French, please let me know!
Adrien wasn't used to walking up to the side door of the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Usually, he came through the front door as a customer, or through the patio hatch as Chat Noir. But no, today he was calling on Marinette as himself, and it was wreaking hell on his nerves. Taking a steadying breath, he reached a shaking hand out to ring the doorbell, then quickly buried his hand back in the pocket of his jacket.
When the door opened, Adrien smelled the warmth of the bakery waft out into the coolness of the early evening air. He'd always loved the smell of bakeries and by extension, loved the way the smell clung to Marinette. It amazed Adrien that it had been dampened so thoroughly while she was Ladybug; he hadn't thought anything could erase its presence.
But it wasn't Marinette who stood in the doorway. Instead, her father looked down at Adrien with a curious look in his dove-grey eyes, and Adrien swallowed his sudden anxieties. Even if Tom Dupain didn't remember, or know his secret identity, Adrien remembered the last time he'd 'dated' the baker's daughter. Memories of Chat's fight with the lycanthropic Akuma and his and Ladybug's Jacques et le haricot magique rescue of Marinette (though, come to think of it now, Adrien mused, Marinette must have rescued herself while Chat had been distracted with the Akuma fight…) all flashed behind Adrien's eyes.
"Adrien Agreste!" M. Dupain boomed jovially, his eyes now glittering with his usual good-nature. "Come in, come in! Marinette is helping Sabine finish up in the kitchen, you're just in time for dinner!" Before Adrien could get a word in, the larger man swept him inside and firmly shut the door behind them, clapping his large hands together and humming happily to himself. "No allergies I hope?" He called back over his shoulder.
"N-no, sir!" Adrien managed, shucking off his shoes and shedding his outer layers. The inside of the apartment was very hot, though that was to be expected; Adrien assumed that the bakery's oven ran almost every hour of the day to keep up with demand. Nervously, he followed M. Dupain into the kitchen, where he found Marinette and Mme Cheng up to their elbows in flour.
"Adrien!" Marinette beamed, looking like she wanted to rush over to him. She even started to move, but thought better of it at the last moment, looking down at herself. "Ah…" She blushed, then grinned. "Sorry, we're almost done," She smiled apologetically, but Adrien held up his hands.
"No, please…" He looked curiously across the counter where Mme Cheng was kneading a dough comprised of what seemed to be simply eggs, flour and salt. "Can I do anything to help?" He asked at the last minute. Mme Cheng looked up then, smiling at him in a way that was so familiarly maternal that it startled Adrien for a moment.
"You can help Tom set the table, dear."
Adrien nodded and left the kitchen, wetting his lips hesitantly with his tongue before he poked his head into the dining room. It was only separated by a simple archway, so it wasn't as if he could hide but…
"Cat got your tongue, kid?" Plagg muttered in his ear, causing Adrien to jump.
"Plagg! You need to hide!" Adrien hissed in reply, glancing around to make sure that M. Dupain wasn't near enough to hear anything. Plagg gave him a deadpan look, then just floated up in front of his face. "Plagg!"
"What's got you so worried, kid?" Plagg asked, looking at Adrien intently. Adrien sighed, bringing his hand up to ruffle the hair at the back of his head.
"What if they don't like me?" He asked quietly, averting his gaze away from his Kwami. He heard Plagg sigh in exasperation and shot him a look. "Why ask if you're just going to-"
"Kid, you make their daughter happy," Plagg replied as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
"But last time-"
"Last time was different." Plagg cut him off, tiny black arms creating a slashing motion. "Just go help Marinette's dad with the table already. I'm going to go find Tikki." Adrien watched as Plagg disappeared up through the ceiling just as M. Dupain poked his head around the corner.
"Adrien, would you grab the cutlery?" He asked, as if having Adrien over were a common occurrence. "Just in that hutch on your left." At his instruction, Adrien found the cutlery easily enough and brought it over to the table. It was only by the grace of his own curiosity that he'd learned such things as setting tables, but he was grateful for it now; he couldn't imagine how embarrassed he'd be if he'd had to admit ignorance.
Suddenly, a petite albeit warm body pressed against him from behind, and arms wrapped around his waist. Adrien sighed in relief, his eyes closing for the barest moment.
"Come on, Chaton," he heard Marinette whisper against his back, and Adrien couldn't suppress a shiver. "We have a couple of minutes before the food's done, and Maman doesn't need me anymore." Marinette's hand slipped down to catch his, and Adrien didn't miss the knowing glimmer in M. Dupain's eyes before Marinette led him into the living room.
It was only when Marinette turned to face him that Adrien saw how her brow had knit in her parents' absence. In two strides, he had her in his arms, and she hid against him, leaning into him as much as he did her.
"What did Master Fu say?" He murmured, his lips centimetres from her ear so he needn't speak more than a whisper. Marinette shook her head and sighed.
"I'll… I'll explain about all that later…" She replied, looking up at him. "I just… I've got a really bad feeling, Adrien, and it's not… I've been hiding it from my parents all day..." She sounded exhausted, Adrien thought, and he held her tighter.
"Come here then Princess," He murmured, leading her to the couch and sitting down with her. "You don't need to hide anything from me." She curled up against him, her already small body fitting against him and seeming so much smaller with whatever was weighing on her. Adrien pulled her closer and rested his cheek on her head, rubbing her arm gently. "We can talk about it after dinner if you want? If I can't stay as Adrien, I'll come back as Chat Noir."
"N-No, you can stay as you are. My parents already suspected that you'd be here for a while," Marinette blushed, and Adrien hid a smile. Now wasn't the time to be giddy at the prospect of going up to Marinette's room as Adrien with her parents' blessing.
"Kids!" Mme Cheng called from the dining room, tactfully refraining from poking her head in, "dinner!"
After a delicious meal was eaten and the washing up was done, Adrien and Marinette had retired up to her bedroom under express orders from M. Dupain to keep the hatch door open. Marinette had turned bright red and had stammered and stuttered the entire way up, but Adrien had merely grinned lopsidedly and bid her parents goodnight.
Once upstairs, Adrien caught Marinette around the waist, unable to resist the urge to tease her, and pulled her against his chest.
"So which one of us is going to tell them about all the times I've already been up here with the hatch closed?" He purred into her ear.
"Adrien!" As expected, she gasped and leapt away from him, reaching for one of the many stuffed animals and throwing it in his general direction. Adrien laughed and caught it, setting it down nearby.
"Sorry Buginette, you just make it so easy," he replied, holding his hands up in surrender. Marinette narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him but lowered the other toy she'd snatched up as ammunition, putting it back down on her dresser. "So, what did Master Fu say?" Adrien's tone turned serious as he approached her again. Her blush died down and she sighed, settling from her awkward pose and tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
Adrien rested his hands on her waist again once as he neared her, and she sighed into his embrace once more, letting him wrap his arms around her. Wordlessly, he led her to her chaise and sat them down, positioning them so that he sat behind her. Marinette hummed softly in contentment and leaned back against his chest, closing her eyes against the world.
They sat like that as she told him what the Guardian of the Miraculous had told her. Of the taxation their Kwami faced if they did not give them enough time to recuperate and of the old Master's theories about the damage that could be done to their Miraculous if they pushed too far.
When Marinette choked on her words, her voice thickened with guilt, Adrien held her while her emotions spilt over.
"I could h-have hurt Tikki!" She gasped as she wept, clinging to him while Adrien rubbed her back, nuzzling her hair and humming softly in as close an approximation of a purr as he could while not suited up. "I could have done something a-awful to her without even k-knowing!"
"But you didn't, Princess," he reasoned, rubbing small, soothing circles with his thumb between her shoulders. "Tikki's alright, and now we know better." He tipped her chin up, his breath catching slightly at just how beautiful she looked, even with red-rimmed and tear-stained eyes. "We know better now. You're not alone in this, Marinette. I'm right here beside you." He cupped her cheek in his hand, gently wiping her tears away with his thumb. "I'll always be beside you, m'lady." He felt her lean into his palm and felt his breath hitch again when she turned to press her lips to the pulse point at his wrist.
"I know you are," she breathed in reply, her voice still thick with emotion but thankfully steady. "Adrien, I… Uhm…" She looked up at him, but then looked away, whatever she was thinking causing a deep blush to creep it's way up her neck and stain her cheeks. Adrien stayed where he was, transfixed. It was as if he only just realized that they were close enough that he could see the different shades of blue in her eyes.
It took him a moment to realize that she'd asked him a question, and blushed at being caught.
"I'm sorry Princess, but your eyes were just so captivating… Could you say that again?"
"Oh, I um... " Marinette looked away from him again turned a few shades redder, fidgeting, but seemed to steel herself, and the determination in her eyes when she looked back at him was pure Ladybug.
"I… Can I kiss you?"