ANSWERS TO REVIEWS:

Marichat4ever: Oh, thank you so, so much! Honestly, your reviews made me feel a lot better :3 (blushes) and thank you for the sweet compliments, there are so many other amazing writers out there and to hear such compliments really melts my heart :3 BTW: Definitely my new ship is Penny X Jagged! Hmm…ship name…Jenny? Pagged? Oh! Rolling Stone? (a comibation of their last names Penny Rolling and Jagged Stone)

Elea30303: Thank you! I confess it's not my best work, but I really missed the m interacting more in Glaciator, it's such a shame too. Very true! Thankfully Thomas blessed us with a few ship moments! And I love all the theories about Chat possibly seeing Ladybug with half her mask off! :3

Prompt: Adrien tends to let his "inner Chat" out whenever he feels threatened or challenged….but he couldn't explain this.

Rated: K+

Enjoy!

NOTE: I just noticed someone added this story on a Community "Miraculous ladybug", I just felt so surprised and honoured, so whoever did, thank you very much! ^_^ (bows)

His Puns or Mine

Nino looked at him as if he had grown a second head, "…Dude…did you just hiss?" Adrien's back straightened suddenly, imaginary shackles lowering at the presence of his best friend suddenly beside him.

"Uh, no, I-" he scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment, "Um, hey, isn't that Luka over there? Juleka's brother? What's he doing here?" he rose an eyebrow, pointing at Marinette and Luka, talking, laughing.

Hiss.

Nino's eyebrow rose, "You did it again,"

"What?" Adrien blinked, tearing his gaze away from the pair.

"The hiss. You did the hiss again," Nino crossed his arms and shook his head, "Look, I get you're a fan of Ladybug and Chat Noir, but idolizing him can only go till so much,"

Adrien sighed, "I'm not…yeah, you're right," he shook his head, feeling Plagg's claws gently tickle his chest, warning him to stay focused.

Had he truly hissed? He only did that as Chat and rarely then too.

But…why? He usually only ever hissed at akumas, or when he landed a bit too roughly on his backside after being flung across half of Paris.

But here were no akumas here, he wasn't in danger, his butt wasn't in danger of being brutally hurt and he didn't feel threatened.

His skin crawled when he saw Luka casually touch Marinette's arm and the girl smiled kindly, as if…inviting him to do that.

Nino watched his friend carefully, connecting the dots when he followed Adrien's gaze and landed on Luka and Marinette.

He grinned and looked toward his girlfriend, who only smirked proudly at him as she stood to the side and observed her friend getting flustered by the older guitarist.

"Hey dude, c'mon let's go say hi to Luka!" he grabbed Adrien's stiff arm and dragged him behind, noticing he was actually a lot heavier than he remembered being, "Woah, dude, where did you get all this weight from?" he dumbly noticed, not for the first time, Adrien's arms not being so skinny anymore as of late, "You know, you gotta tell me at what gym you're working out in, I could use the exercise," he frowned at his own slightly skinny arms.

Adrien bit his lip. How was he going to explain he had gained all the muscle from being Chat Noir? Think fast, Agreste, think.

"Ah, well, err…I don't really know if father would allow you to uh, join me in training because…I have a special nutritionist and trainer who coaches me! Yeah!" phew, sometimes he needed to listen to Plagg more often and work on his 'communication' skills as the little sly cat called the act of 'deceit'.

Nino deflated like a balloon, "Awww man! And I thought we could be awesome gym buddies too!" he sighed dramatically and due to concentrating on Nino all this time, Adrien didn't even realize they were already standing in front of Marinette and…

Luka.

Adrien widened his stance unconsciously, appearing slightly bigger than he was, yet the older boy was still taller than him.

Nino greeted the pair like he was the sun itself, "Helloo dudes! Rocking that style Luka!" he fist bumped with Luka and very briefly, Adrien wondered when had they had the time to actually establish their own greeting, which was actually their customary greeting! They invented the fist bump before it got cool!

A low growl caught Luka's attention and bright blue eyes met Adrien's hard green ones, "You okay there Adrien?" he rose a curious eyebrow at the model.

Adrien quickly pressed the back of his hand to his mouth and started coughing, as if clearing his throat, "Uh, y-yeah, I, ahem, sorry, I think I'm coming down with something," he wheezed out a last cough before clearing his throat.

Luka frowned in mild concern, "Ah, hope you get better soon, the weather's been crazy lately with all the rain and sun we had the past few days. Marinette and I got soaked yesterday since we forgot to bring umbrellas," he chuckled in amusement and Marinette blushed, giggling with him.

To Adrien's shock, instead of stuttering or shying away, Marinette did a Ladybug, "Well, excuse you but I remember a certain someone saying yesterday would be sunny. That's why I didn't bring my umbrella with me, Luka," she playfully poked his chest and the boy grinned cheekily.

"Sorry about that, I guess I thought I had it covered," he winked and Marinette slapped a hand to her face, smiling.

"Your puns are horrible," she grimaced but with a slight smile nonetheless.

Adrien's brain short-circuited.

Nobody was allowed to make such horrible puns in his presence! Especially around Marinette! Since she always appurreciated his purrfect Chat Noir puns!

With a set jaw and a hard look in his eyes, Adrien opened his mouth, "Heh, yeah, I saw it too yesterday, it's been raining cats and dogs all day, there's been poodles all over the road," Adrien laughed, grabbing Nino's shoulder, who slapped his own face.

"Here he goes again with his puns, give me strength," Nino peeked one eye open when he heard a second person laughing and couldn't believe his ears and eyes.

Luka was laughing too.

"Wow, great pun there Adrien, gotta write that one down!" he grinned, the last of his chuckles disappearing.

Adrien immediately stopped laughing, fixing the older boy's turned head with a stare that could destroy mountains.

Ohh, so he wanted to play that game, did he?

Adrien turned to Marinette, "Pretty funny, huh Marinette?" he grinned widely. Of course his princess would agree, she always liked his puns when he told them as Cha-

"Uh, yeah, it was really funny Adrien!" Marinette giggled half-heartedly, blushing at Luka's gaze on her.

Adrien blinked.

Wait…had Marinette just…forced herself to laugh?

Adrien watched, sadly and helplessly, as Marinette's entire attention was stolen by Luka and his…his half-tuned puns!

Nino's head whipped toward Adrien when he heard that noise again, "Dude, for the last time!"

Adrien was still hissing when Luka touched Marinette's shoulder.

Again.

Ladybug grimaced, flinging her yoyo in front of her to deflect another attack from her position literally glued to the ground, "Honestly, is Hawkmoth getting lazy? Seriously? A candy akuma?"

Chat Noir was currently trying to eat his way out of a large sweet cotton candy ball he's had the luck to get trapped in, the only thing visible from his body was his head and his tail, "If you're asking meow I think he made a pretty sweet deal," he licked his lips happily, eating away at his sweet prison.

His normal diet rarely allowed him the pleasures of indulging in such food, he was so going to take advantage of this situation.

His lady face palmed, thoroughly vexed with the situation and her partner's casual indifference of the whole problem, "Chat Noir! Focus!" as she blocked a stray candy cone flung toward her head.

"Hey, I am furrcusing m'lady! I'm fighting with everything I've got to get out!" with that, he redoubled his efforts, swallowing mouthful after mouthful of the pink fluffy clouds surrounding him.

It seemed like Hawkmoth's patience was running thin with this particular akuma, his voice echoing within her head, "Bounty Hunter (A/N: "Bounty" chocolate bar anyone?)! Get me Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous!"

The akuma, Bounty Hunter, looked like something out of a child's favorite candy fantasy.

Her hair was red and white spiraling into twin pig tails on either side of her head along with decorative candy sticks stuck into them as hair ornaments. Lips painted a glossy, sparkling pink, her face was strikingly pale, her eyelids a deep shade of pink and purple. Her outfit reminded the heroes of a figure in a comic they once saw, with a ripped skirt, candies of various sorts sticking to it and hanging from her bright pink belt. Her shirt had a tongue on it, licking a lollipop. Bracelets made from licorice adorned her arms and her legs were clad in a plethora of colorful candy-shaped forms on a black and purple striped fabric.

She had a large rainbow lollipop as her weapon, most likely where the akuma was stuck in.

And the staff was coming straight at Ladybug too.

Ladybug quickly grabbed the string of her yoyo and pulled it taut, hoping it was enough resistance to block the blow, her legs were unable to free themselves from the fudge-like substance coating them.

She had no choice but to at least try to block.

Until a black blur suddenly jumped in front of her and blocked the blow with a sleek, metal staff, relief flooded her face, "Chat Noir!"

Her kitty expertly pushed Bounty Hunter back before quickly slamming his staff on the hard substance keeping her hostage, shattering the candy on her legs, "Thanks chaton!"

And then, a thought hit her, "Wait…" she shot her partner a look, "…Why didn't you just use Cataclysm to break out of the cotton candy?"

At the sheepish look on his face, Ladybug crossed her arms and tapped her foot disapprovingly, "Uh…err…well, you see m'lady…" his ears drooped slightly on his head, "It was candy…and I guess I didn't want to destroy such a sweet work of art!" he placed a hand over his heart dramatically and Ladybug shook her head, turning back toward the akuma, who recovered from her confrontation with Chat Noir.

"We'll talk later kitty! Get ready!" Chat Noir immediately took a defensive stance, gaze trained on Bounty Hunter.

The girl looked livid, "Why you-!" Her lollipop glowed red as she aimed it at Chat Noir, "Let me tell you – getting candy stuck in your fur won't be such an easy task to get out of!" and she fired.

It was a large, pinkish glob.

Gum.

Damn.

Chat quickly leaped out of the way, "Ladybug! Don't get hit, that's gum!" Bounty Hunter continued firing off gum shot after gum shot, all aimed toward Chat Noir.

Which left Ladybug untargeted, finally.

"Argh!" her head turned at the sound of her partner's outcry of pain, her heart hammering in her chest in worry.

The poor cat was covered by a massive glob of gum, stuck to the side of the building. It didn't look like he could eat his way out either this time. It looked like Bounty Hunter looked all too delighted this time as she readied for another attack, "Heh, looks like you can't eat your way out of my little candy prison now can you tomcat?" Chat Noir struggled ferociously despite his disposition, legs kicking wildly.

Chat grit his teeth and sighed, "Well…this is a bit of a sticky situation," he tried tugging at his arms, only being able to slightly move his fingers which were covered entirely in gum. Great.

"Lucky Charm!" quickly calling upon Tikki's power, her Lucky Charm fell into her hands…

Ladybug blinked, "….Is this a…ice machine?" she inspected the weird design of the ice machine, it looked like a weirdly-shaped gun, only with a wider barrel. The only indicator it even was an ice machine was the cool chilliness coming from it.

Using her vision, Ladybug tried looking for anything to use the thing on.

When she looked at her trapped partner, she knew the answer.

The gum.

Sliding underneath the next flood of candies aimed at her torso, Ladybug quickly jumped to her feet and dashed straight toward Chat, dodging Bounty Hunter's flying candies.

Jumping up high on the building and holding onto the sticky gum for leverage, Ladybug aimed the ice machine pistol at the gooey substance, "Uh…my lady, is this a good idea?" Chat nervously looked down at the gun pointed at him, but Ladybug nodded reassuringly.

"Trust me kitty, I'll get you out of this in no time," clicking the small button next to her thumb, the machine came to life.

Chat instantly shivered when the cold cloud washed over him and his sticky prison, coating the gum in a fine layer of ice.

Chat rose an eyebrow, warily eyeing the fast approaching Bounty Hunter, "What now?"

Ladybug smiled and jumped back, "Chat! Use your strength!" not needing to be told twice, Chat redoubled his efforts, legs kicking wildly and arms wiggling within the gum while his lady distracted the akuma. Of course! Ice hardened gum and made it easy to break!

A crack.

'Finally,' Chat grinned and with a cry, broke free from his restraints.

"What?!" Bounty Hunter jumped back, lollipop staff glowing bright red, readying another attack.

Ladybug's vision focused in on Chat's hand and the lollipop, "Chat Noir, do your thing!"

"Gladly, Ladybug! Cataclysm!" calling upon his own power, tendrils of dark smoke appeared in his hand and Chat Noir sprinted for the akuma, dodging every chocolate bar and cotton candy ball aimed at him.

With a high backflip, Chat Noir stretched his arm out as far as it could go and his fingers just grazed the akumas weapon, immediately disintegrating it.

The familiar dark butterfly fluttered out of it and with a anguished cry, Bounty Hunter fell to her knees.

"No more evildoing for you little akuma! Lucky Charm!" Ladybug did her thing and with the cleansing of the city and the akuma, the fight was over.

"Bye, bye little butterfly," Ladybug smiled and waved at the white insect fluttering to its freedom.

Hawkmoth's Super Secret Lair:

Hawkmoth sighed heavily in disappointment, shoulders sagging, "One day, you will not get in my way anymore! Your Miraculous shall be mine, Ladybug and Chat Noir!" Hawkmoth clenched his fist in his hand, "And victory shall be even sweeter," with that the room grew dark.

"Pound it!" they did their customary fist bump and Chat smirked, heh, now at least this was something that stupid Luka couldn't steal from him.

"Ow…wha…what happened?" the akuma, now Madeleine Couin, blinked at the two heroes questioningly.

Ladybug kneeled down and reassuringly squeezed her shoulder, "It's alright now, I promise you're fine."

The young girl looked distraught, "Oh…have I been...akumatized? I'm so sorry, I swear I didn't want to hurt anybody!" her shoulders slumped, "It's just…nobody wanted to celebrate and eat some candy with me, everyone kept complaining how I have a sweet tooth and sweets were bad for my health, but don't even eat that much you know!" she hung her head down sadly, "I…just wanted to celebrate with my friends,"

Chat Noir's hand lightly grabbed her own and pulled her up, Ladybug standing up as well, "Hey, it's fine if you have a sweet tooth, I have one too," he grinned widely and Ladybug rose an eyebrow, "But, I'm not allowed to always eat whatever I want, so it's always something really special when I do get to eat something sweet. I think you should think like that too. Because, the rarer you eat sweets, the more special it will feel when you eat it with your friends on occasion, right?"

Madeleine's eyes flew open in realization and she placed both hands on Chat Noir's shoulders, a wide smile on her face, "Th-that's right! Wow, that's amazing! Who knew the Chat Noir had a sweet tooth?" the girl giggled, smiling appreciatively, "Thank you – both of you – for saving me." She bowed her head briefly and left.

Chat smiled and Ladybug shook her head, "Good job kitty,"

A beep.

Oh, right, their Miraculous…

"Well, see ya soon LB!" Chat waved and Ladybug returned his call before swinging her way toward home.

What she found in her room nearly scared her soul from her body, "L-L-Luka?!" Marinette, Tikki thankfully hidden in her purse, stumbled down the stairs from her bed, painfully falling down on the floor.

"Woah! Marinette hey!" Luka quickly pushed himself from the chair and cradled Marinette's head, supporting her shoulders so they weren't touching the floor anymore, "Where were you? What were you doing on your balcony? I was sure you weren't here," he grimaced in sympathy when she winced in slight pain.

Marinette slowly, with Luka's help, got up off the floor, her heart calming when she saw Tikki's was safely out of sight.

What a close call.

"Marinette?"

She squeaked, "U-uh, I-I…I was…gardening! With…my earphones in my ears so uh, maybe I didn't hear you when you moved up!" she giggled nervously, "W-what are you doing here anyways, Luka?"

The older boy gave her a calm smile, "I uh, I was just in the area and thought to check up on you. I wanted to see if the date's still set for Friday? You know, for that movie," he scratched the back of his neck, smiling.

Heat flooded Marinette's cheeks and she could hear Tikki snickering in her purse, that devious little kwami… "Uhh…s-sure! Yeah! Totally set, date uh I mean date seat!" she groaned at her slip ups, until a calm, heavy hand settled on her shoulder and Luka's amused chuckles hit her ears.

"It's fine Marinette," he patted her shoulder before taking back his hand, "Friday's gonna be awesome, I can't wait," he grinned.

Marinette smiled shyly, "Y-yeah…me too,"

Luka smiled and excused himself, saying he needed to pick up Juleka from Rose's place.

Marinette could still hear her mother saying goodbye to Luka and packing a few baked treats for him before the bell chime signalled his leave.

She sighed in relief, sagging against the wall.

Until a knock on her window made her jump.

Just what-!

Marinette's eyes narrowed, "Chat Noir…"

Quickly climbing up the ladder and onto her bed, Marinette opened the hatch and climbed out onto her balcony, meeting the cat's gaze.

How did he transform again so quickly? Did his kwami already finish eating?

"Hello purrincess!" he grinned and bowed with a flourish.

Marinette mentally rolled her eyes but smiled, "Hello to you too kitty, how comes you're here?"

Chat feigned being hurt, "Meowch! Did I catch a bad time?" he tilted his head to the side and Marinette couldn't lie and say it wasn't adorable…maybe.

She cleared her throat, "No, stay if you want,"

He beamed and she couldn't help but giggle at his enthusiasm, "So, how was school? Anything… interesting happening?" Chat casually crossed his arms behind his neck, looking down at her expectantly.

Marinette rubbed her chin and thought, "Uh…not really, I guess. Oh!" she clicked her fingers, "Luka came over today, he wanted to bring Juleka's lunch since she forgot it at home," she smiled and to Chat's eyes, the smile was far too dreamy.

"Uh-huh, what about that model? Uhhh…Adrien was it?" he inspected his nails.

Marinette spluttered, nearly bending her back in half, "W-w-wha-what? H-how did you think of him!?"

Chat chuckled nervously, "Oh, uh, you know, he's one of those civilians I save a lot of times," he grinned, hoping he sounded sincere.

Marinette frowned, not remembering Chat saving Adrien 'a lot of times' at all, but she didn't comment on it, "Oh…I see," she blushed, "And…what about him?"

Chat leaned his back against the metal railings, "Oh nothing…say, what's he to you?" his eyes shot to her flaming face.

Marinette felt her heart skip a few beats, "….Huh?"

Chat patiently waited for her to answer and after having what looked like mini-seizures, Marinette finally said, "H-He's just a really, really awesome, totally perfect-I-I mean dreamy, no wait uh, I mean a great friend!" her voice dropped slightly at the end, but nonetheless she seemed elated.

Chat frowned, "A friend huh…what about that Luka character?" he rubbed his chin, feline eyes narrowing at her curiously.

If she thought of Adrien as a great friend, surely she couldn't think more highly of Luka, right?

The girls' face resembled cherries and she shyly played with her fingers, "Um..uhm…well I don't really know him all that long and well…he did ask me to watch a movie with him on Friday and he's really sweet and I find his jokes really kind and he's amazing with the guitar and-" Chat held a hand up and Marinette's mouth slowly closed.

Slowly, he approached her, his towering height looming over her as his face leaned down ever so close to her own.

None of them said anything for a few heart beats and Marinette was about to snap from all the tension until Chat whispered quietly, "…What do you think of his puns?"

Marinette blinked, "….What?"

Chat remained where he was, voice as serious as it could be, "What do you think of his puns Marinette? Are they better than Adrien's?" Better than mine? He desperately wanted to ask.

The girl looked lost, "Uh….wait, are you serious?" she shot him a look.

Chat crossed his arms defensively, "Well….I only want to make sure my princess is in the company of people that can make decent puns,"

He looked cute with that pout of his. Marinette's eyes flew open, wait what?

She coughed awkwardly, "Err…well, I mean…they're…both funny?" she shrugged helplessly, "I mean, both Luka and Adrien make me laugh so…"

Chat suddenly caged her against the window and Marinette's heart suddenly raced all the way up to her throat at the intense gaze in his feline eyes.

In a low voice, incredibly close, too close, to her ear, Chat whispered huskily, "…Are my puns better than Luka's?"

That. Was. IT!

With deadly precision, Marinette grabbed the squirt bottle from beside her small table and mercilessly splashed the mangy cat with them, her face on fire, "You stupid cat!"

Hissing, Chat jumped around her balcony in a wild frenzy, trying to escape his age old enemy from hitting him, "Just answer the question princess! This is a question of life or death!"

Marinette rolled her eyes, "And exactly why do you care if I find Luka's jokes funny or not?"

Alright, this was a sticky situation. He couldn't reveal how she forced herself to laugh at Adrien's puns, because Chat hadn't been there, but he really, really needed to know whom she found funnier.

Chat took a deep breath and jumped in front of Marinette again when the devil bottle was empty, his was a mask of seriousness, "Because…" he suddenly took her hands in his, the squirt bottle of death falling noisily to the ground at their feet.

"…I don't want you forcing yourself to laugh at my jokes princess…" his gaze seemed sincere but Marinette didn't quite know how he figured it out.

"Wait…why would I be forcing myself to laugh at your puns kitty?" he seemed suddenly a bit uncomfortable but he looked at her again.

"Uh…well…I heard that Agreste guy liked cat puns too and all and he told me today that you forced yourself to laugh at one of his puns, a pun I suggested," his gaze dropped to the floor, "Yet you genuinely laughed at Luka's ones,"

Marinette's gaze softened and she gently grabbed Chat's chin to make him look at her, "Silly kitty…" she playfully flicked his ear, "Trust me, I wouldn't laugh if I didn't find it funny, okay?" she suddenly smirked, an expression which oddly reminded him of his lady, "Besides, since when is the great Chat Noir so insecure about his mastery of his infamous puns?"

Despite the teasing atmosphere, Chat grew serious once again, "Since it involved you not liking them,"

Marinette was taken aback, heart hammering wildly in her chest. The next thing she did surprised even Chat Noir.

She leaned her forehead on his chest and giggled lightly, "Oh chaton…what am I going to do with you," he smiled down at her head and purred softly.

"…Does that mean my puns are better than Luka's?"

"Chat…"

"I need to know princess,"

She sighed heavily, "…They're not…not equally funny as Luka's,"

Well….she didn't say there worse than his either. For now, that was enough for him.

Wrapping an arm around her shoulder, Chat grinned, 'No matter how many puns that guy made up, my princess was still on my side," he mentally squealed in delight.

"You're scaring me, Adrien," Nino watched the way the model son beamed unusually brightly.

Adrien turned his sunshine smile to his friend, "Why, Nino? It's such a beautiful day today!"

Nino deadpanned, "It's raining buckets out there man," he pointed toward the window, gesturing at the pouring rain outside.

Adrien smiled.

He hadn't really liked the rain before, but ever since that one rainy day that made Marinette and him friends, he didn't think it was too bad now.

"Besides, it is a good day because my purrincess likes my puns better than Luka's! And he isn't here!" it may be Plagg's influence, but as long as the male didn't come unnecessarily close to Marinette, he could see himself liking the guy.

Nino's eyes nearly bugged out of his head, "Dude, are you freaking purring?!"

Thank you for reading! :)