For Yunyin, serendiptitty, j_majka.
No betas this time. We post our Discord inspired madness unfiltered like women.
(And cry about / modify our occasional typos later...)
Edit: Big thanks to Kellarhi for taking a break from her birthday festivities to help check through the spelling and grammar. Can you tell what a big help she usually is? đź’–
Ladybug sighed, pulling away from the toddler who had suddenly stopped crying to look up at her in quiet awe.
She'd never expected to stumble onto this power. Especially not like this, anyways. It definitely hadn't been one that Tikki had ever mentioned as a power she might come into as she matured as Ladybug.
The little boy had been suddenly separated from his Mom in the chaos of the Akuma attack—he'd managed to fall down and scrape his knee well before his mother could come and collect him. She was clearly busy corralling his older siblings who were nearby, running around the park.
After babysitting Manon and Alya's sisters, she'd picked up a few "magic tricks" to help ease little ones through a bit of pain. Ladybug had only intended to blow near the scraped knee, but instead the little boy had wriggled when she neared and her lips had actually grazed his skin instead.
Something miraculous happened; it would have been no more than awkward, except for the fact that she watched the skin reknit itself before her eyes! Yet, there was no frenetic scurry of Ladybugs—not like after she would use her Lucky Charm…
She rubbed her eyes, half wondering if more than a few sleepless nights spent planning against all manner of attacks actually had her seeing things that were not there.
Chat Noir had peered over at her anxiously, tapping his own ring meaningfully. He'd just passed the Akumatized victim off to a worried friend.
Pasting on a smile of reassurance, Ladybug scooped up the boy before placing him back into his mother's waiting arms.
It was a fluke. It had to be.
That's what she told herself after that day. Tikki hadn't ever mentioned any kissing powers—she had actually chuckled about the 'kiss of true love' after they had to rehash the whole ordeal with Nadia Chamack on live television. So Marinette decided to put it out of her mind.
She might have even successfully forgotten about it had Chat Noir not been injured mid-battle. She'd needed his help, but he was as reckless as ever, jumping in front of a shock wave headed for her. They fell into a familiar tumble—rolling away as the rest of the team had clustered behind Carapace's shield to prepare for the next barrage.
She knelt above him, anxiety seeping deep into her bones. "C'mon, Chaton," she pleaded, tears welling in her eyes.
Chat Noir didn't answer her; there wasn't even a wince of pain as she shook him by the shoulder.
In the heat of the moment, Ladybug didn't think;she simply acted, hopefully pressing a quick kiss to his lips, then standing up to summon a Lucky Charm.
The battle had been tough, but felt like a blur. Finally, a well-timed Cataclysm at the end distracted the Akuma just long enough for Ladybug to break it's bracelet cleanly in two, allowing the butterfly to flit away for capture.
Ladybug breathed heavily, weary with relief.
She scrambled into the sky and sent the team off so she could recover all of their Miraculous individually. However, she failed to notice the very curious green eyes that followed her form until she disappeared along the horizon.
Chat Noir was on his best behavior after that—watching her carefully, and trying to anticipate her every need. Defending Ladybug physically, as fiercely as he ever had.
Of course, the Akuma were getting tougher, too. But he really hadn't needed to dive in front of that final blast…
Ladybug checked the scrape on his cheek, gently pressing one gloved hand to it before frowning at the skin now marred from an encounter with the rough pavement.
She sighed, lifting onto her tiptoes to press a thoughtless peck to his cheek. "Be more careful next time, Chaton…"
Patting his shoulder, she walked away, stooping to pick up the nearly forgotten Lucky Charm.
It was only after the next battle—the next needless, reckless dive he'd taken to protect her—that she'd stopped herself. He had gently tilted his cheek down for her convenience, a bright blush burning on his cheeks.
Ladybug narrowed her eyes at him, talking a half step back. It was a rather long scrape down on one side of his face, where the mask left it exposed.
"You're doing this one purpose, aren't you Chat…" she suddenly accused him.
He blinked his green eyes guilelessly. "Was I not keeping you safe?"
She rolled her eyes, one hand landing atop her cocked hip. "You didn't really answer me, Chaton…" she prodded.
He sighed, letting his shoulders slump dramatically. "Purrhaps…"
Ladybug shook her head before reaching up to pat his shoulder as she breezed past. "Then purrhaps, you shouldn't be so reckless next time."
"Ladybug?" He sounded hurt.
Fleetingly, she dared to peer over her shoulder, watching his aghast, betrayed expression as she let him deal with the little scratch that was left behind.
Ladybug bit her lip, trying not to let his kitten eyes get to her. It wasn't that she wanted him to suffer, of course. But he was just going to keep this up, if she didn't put a halt to it now…
However, Marinette never expected to see Adrien tenderly rubbing his cheek before heading into class after the last battle.
Wincing, he lifted his fingers, uncovering an angry, red, soon-to-be scar that couldn't have been anything but the exact match for the one she'd left on her partner.
She inhaled sharply, tugging his wheatgrass eyes over to meet her own wide eyes.
This wasn't good...
She nibbled at her lips. If she had noticed, someone else definitely would, too. Alya would, for sure, and there would be a litany of questions she'd want answered.
Squaring her shoulders, Marinette stalked forward, clearing the distance between them.
Lifting herself onto her toes, she pressed her lips beside the scratch on his cheek before she could let all the implications of what she was about to do set in.
Blinking, Adrien gaped down at her, blushing just as much as her partner had done with the mask. "Marinette… I—"
Frowning, she pressed a finger to his lips. "No time," she whispered, shooting him a rueful smile before tugging him along behind her, down what she was sure to be a quieter hall this period. "C'mon… quickly."
He shook his head. "I don't understand. I mean… why did you… kiss me?"
She tilted her head at him. "That's an interesting scratch you have there," Marinette's eyes darted down the hall, gauging the safest place for them to talk. "Your father is sure to have a problem with it."
Adrien flinched. "I'm sure he'll understand. Probably… I mean, these kind of injuries do happen, right?"
She crossed her arms over her chest, unimpressed. "Scratches on the face aren't all that common," she mused aloud. "Chat Noir just got injured in that exact same way after the battle."
Adrien gasped. "Marinette…" His eyes grew round, his hand reaching out towards her anxiously. "You can't tell anyone! It isn't safe..." he trailed off.
"Oh…" She smiled, airily, desperately trying to cover the fact that she was half shaking like a leaf. "The problem is that I'm sure Alya has already seen that injury and loaded it up onto her blog."
He groaned, letting his head fall backwards, hopelessly.
"Luckily," she smirked, channeling every spare bit of Ladybug confidence she could muster. "I think I might have a way to fix all this…"
Adrien blinked, gazing at her with a wary mix of hope and disbelief. "Really?"
She nodded, opening one of the supply closet doors. "Just step into my office," she chuckled.
His hand drifted down to rest on her arm, clearly worried but following her anyways. "Marinette, do you really have a way to help?"
The smirk resettled onto her lips, as she pulled the door to the tiny room closed behind them.
"Oh, Chaton," she chuckled, opening the latch on her purse. "I'm pretty sure you'll find it Miraculous."
When the pair finally slipped out of the supply closet a few minutes later, the only sign of injury remaining was nothing that a little lip balm couldn't fix.
And though Alya definitely did notice that both Marinette and Adrien were looking a little dazed and distracted—and were shooting adorably sneaky, blushing glances at one another—at least their real masks had managed to stay firmly in place.