"Have you lost your damn mind!?"
It's not what Ladybug expects to say when she speaks to Adrien for the first time as her superhero self; she always imagined that, should they ever meet, she would be cool, or suave, or flirty. As Marinette, she knows she's awkward around him, but as Ladybug… the possibilities had been endless in her imagination.
Sadly, reality doesn't quite live up to her expectations. And, by the look of shock on his face, Adrien's expectations had been pretty different too.
Because in her head, Ladybug would save the day, say something witty, and leave Adrien starstruck. Instead, she's snapping at him because he put himself in harm's way and she only just made it in time to prevent him becoming part of the akuma's statue collection.
I did make it, though. He's alright, Ladybug thinks, taking a breath to calm herself. She's feeling a level of stress usually reserved for when Chloé is involved in an akuma attack - which is on a semi-regular basis, so the experience isn't exactly new - and is getting in the way of Ladybug and Chat Noir's work.
She never expected Adrien to be an issue during a battle. He's usually absent when akumas were around (a pretty impressive talent in her opinion, considering most of the akumas are their classmates), which had always been a source of relief to the superheroine.
So when she saw him, charging towards the akuma to keep its eyes away from his -their - friends, she'd been surprised, to say the least. She'd seen the akuma take aim, and had only just managed to grab him, swinging from her yo-yo, before he was turned to stone by the Ceramicator.
Ladybug pulled him to the rooftop of Le Grand Paris (all too aware that she's carrying Adrien Agreste oh my god oh my god oh my god), landing carefully by the pool before releasing Adrien and snapping at him, fear and stress causing her words to sting.
But now he's just standing there, looking at her in complete shock - probably because of the cursing, Ladybug thinks - and she doesn't know how to react to this turn of events. Deciding that yelling at her crush probably isn't the best idea in the world, she shakes her head and places one hand on her hip as she rubs her forehead with the other.
"I'm sorry, that was rude of me. I'm a bit stressed at the minute," she says, gesturing behind her to where she's left the akuma, a wry smile playing on her lips as he continues to stare at her. "What you did - trying to distract the Ceramicator - that was really brave, but next time just run, ok?" She grins at him. "You'll put me out of a job otherwise!"
Her grin turns into a frown of concern as Adrien doesn't move, the only indication that he isn't one of the akuma's statues being the occasional blink as he gapes at her, eyes wide with awe.
Ladybug winces as she hears shouts from the street, and starts to whirl her yo-yo as she takes a step back.
"You'll be safe here, so head inside and stay there - your friends got away, so you don't need to try and tackle the akuma on your own." She gives him a wave and a smile before twisting away from him, walking towards the edge of the roof and wishing she had a better speech to end on than alecture.
"Ladybug!" she hears him call, and she pauses to look back at him. His arm is outstretched, as if to stop her, and drops to his side awkwardly as she turns back around. His other hand shoots to the back of his head, and a shy smile forms on his face as he looks to the ground, then back up at her.
"Thank you - for saving me," he says, and Ladybug is shocked to see a faint pink stain start to spread on his cheeks. She bites back a grin, and winks at him.
"No problem, handsome," she says, seizing the opportunity to say something which Marinette can't, and blows him a kiss before throwing her yo-yo upwards. "See you round!"
She only has time to see his jaw drop at the compliment before she leaps away, back to the akuma and (hopefully) her partner, if he's arrived yet.
Ladybug's all smiles for the rest of the fight after managing to leave Adrien starstruck (a feeling she's all too familiar with when she's around him).
And if Chat Noir seems to be even cheerier than usual when he turns up to the fight, baton twirling as he lands beside his lady, she doesn't notice - she's in too good of a mood herself.