The two men in Marinette´s life were driving her insane.
She considered herself lucky that Chat didn´t treat her differently when they battled, although, she had noticed he tended to choose his words more carefully during a fight. He stopped advising her to ¨look out,¨ rather he suggested more often that she ¨be careful.¨ He never doubts her abilities, instead, he took the information she gave him and found more ways to be useful to her. He would tap his baton against surfaces to give her vibrations to see. He takes special care to control any sounds he produces, avoiding being too loud so it doesn't affect her overly sensitive ears.
She appreciates his continued trust, but the thing that baffles her about Chat is his new habit of flirting with Ladybug. Admittedly, she had developed feelings for him early in their partnership, she had fallen for his humor, his courage, his blind faith in her and others. He was such a strong, warm force in life, it was hard not to become infatuated with him.
But he was in love with someone else.
He would playfully respond to her flirting, firing back some quick witted pun that she loathed to admit she loved, but it was obvious his heart was somewhere else. There were times during a fight when he would become distracted, his head frantically shifting back and forth, seeking out the crowds, trying to find someone in particular to make sure they were safe. Her heart would ache each time she sensed his agitation, but ultimately she wanted Chat to be happy. So she would capture his attention back, the faster they defeated the villain, the faster he could return to the object of his affections.
Since Ladybug had revealed her secret to him, she had noticed subtle shifts in Chat. He would find more excuses to keep his hand on her shoulder, not to assist her, simply to maintain contact. His responses to her playful banter became more genuine. When he would kiss her hand, as he had done so frequently before, his lips would linger for a fraction of a second longer.
It was maddening! She was driving herself insane trying to figure out the connection between her grand reveal and the change in his behavior, but to no avail. To make matters worse, even Adrien had been acting funny around her.
Adrien had reverted back to his old ways when they had first met. Unsure of himself and how to interact with her. He seemed nervous to touch her, something she hadn't sensed from him in years. Once he had realized how he could help her, he never missed an opportunity to extend his arm to her when she needed someone to guide her through a crowd, or manage a slippery staircase when it rained. When she reached her hand out to feel for his familiar arm, it wasn't there. Her hand would grapple air, his footsteps continuing ahead of her. She would make a small noise of surprise at his absence and he would realize his mistake, doubling back to take her arm and guide her.
She missed looping her arm through his, missed the comfortable routine the two of them had fallen into. Alya had noticed, but of course she noticed everything. They tossed around ideas as to what caused the sudden change in the boy. Alya, ever the voice of reason, suggested that Marinette simply ask him to avoid the headache.
Adrien walks with her down a hallway at school, the silence between them is no longer comfortable. She pauses at the top of a staircase, he goes two steps down, then immediately back tracks and carefully reaches out to grab her forearm.
¨Adrien, did I do something to upset you?¨ She rushes to get out before her nerves get the better of her.
¨No!¨ He practically shouts, his voice echoing loudly in the empty hall. ¨Why would you think that?¨
¨You´ve been acting kinda weird lately. Especially towards me, and I kinda thought maybe you were upset?¨"
¨No! Gosh, no! I'm sorry. I´ve just...¨ he searches for the right words, ¨I've been distracted lately. There's a lot on my mind.¨
¨Oh.¨ The idea of him dealing with something big on his own doesn't sit too well with her. ¨Well, you know you can talk to me about it if it's bad, right?¨
He squeezes her arm reassuringly. ¨I know, and I promise I will, but this is something I need to figure out on my own first. Trust me, it's not as bad as you think it is, it's just a little complicated and I need time to figure it out.¨
She trusts him. She can´t tell him everything- secret identities need to be protected- but she trusts him completely. She can only hope he trusts her too.
The two women in Adrien´s life are driving him insane.
And they happened to be the same person.
He had seen similarities between Ladybug and Marinette. Their personalities had been scarily similar, he had thought on multiple occasions if it hadn't been for Marinette´s blindness, they could have been the same person.
Then he discovered Ladybug´s blindness and everything clicked.
Undoubtedly, they were the same person. He´s disappointed in himself that he hadn't noticed sooner, but he´s presented with a far greater issue to dwell on.
Marinette was Ladybug. Mari had feelings for Chat Noir. Ladybug had been hitting on Chat Noir for years. He was Chat Noir.
The girl he had been pining for for so long had feelings for him, and he had been turning her down!
He wants to dig himself into a hole and just bury himself alive. He hadn't known about Marinette´s affection for Chat until recently, but he had known about Ladybug´s. He had been politely declining her advances for years because of his unwavering loyalty to Marinette. They were the same person! He had been turning her away!
Now he understands the real reason Marinette thought it silly for her to imagine herself with Chat. Not because of her blindness, but because Chat had refused her. He wants to go back in time and strangle his past self. Why couldn't he have realized sooner?
But how was he supposed to handle this? Does he tell her the truth? Does he keep it a secret? Protecting both their identities now. It doesn't seem fair for him to know while she doesn´t.
He gets distracted, during battles with Ladybug he has to watch his words. He has too many close calls where he almost calls her Marinette. With Marinette, he forgets her powers don't carry outside of the suit, he keeps leaving her behind, letting his feet fall a little heavier than normal so she can feel the vibrations and follow the sound. When he looks down and sees converse instead of steel toed boots, he whips around to help her, blushing madly at the mistake every time.
He´ll eventually tell her, he decides, he needs to end the madness. He just needs to wait for the right moment.
There are times when he´s glad she can´t see, especially now that he´s grown so possessive of her. Before he knew her secret, he had always been subtle about turning away other boys he saw taking an interest in her. She was beautiful, as both Ladybug and Marinette. A sad fact she might not ever realized. Now that he carried the burden of her secret, he snarled at the lingering glances, scaring them with the fire in his eyes. He feared they would put the pieces together if they looked at her too long. He actually starts gowling one day, luckily he manages to convince Marinette there's a cat nearby that doesn't look very friendly and they should probably move.
Their art teacher announces that they´ll be creating portraits of each other. She asks them to partner up. Nathanael rotates in his seat to address Marinette but quickly turns back when he catches Adrien´s glare. Adrien desperately whispers to Alya, begging to be Marinette´s partner. Alya offers a sly winks and switches seats with him, telling Marinette that she´s gonna partner with Nino so she can paint her boyfriend´s face. Marinette laughs as Adrien nervously takes the seat next to her.
They have a week to finish the project, so they plan to meet at Marinette´s house where she has all her supplies. She´s going to embroider her project. She's never tried embroidering a portrait before, she's excited and curious.
He grows more nervous. He had meant to prevent someone else from staring at her face for too long, but now he realizes how long she'll have to feel his face. He had barely survived the fittings for the shirt she made for him. Surely, this time she would feel his face heat up, and he would have no excuse to offer her.
In her bedroom, after he's eaten his fill of croissants and sweets, he starts sketching her. He's not very artistically inclined, but he wants to do her justice. She sniggers every time she hears him brush away eraser shavings and curses.
"Need some help?"
"Shut up..." He mumbles. "I'm almost done."
He spends a little too long tracing the shape of her lips. There's something hypnotic about them, they've effectively captured his attention. He can't accurately capture her cute button nose, or her bright, deep eyes. The least he can do is pay tribute to her lovely lips.
"Done!" He flips the sketch pad towards her.
She gasps, "oh Adrien! It's beautiful!" She bites her lips to contain her giggles.
"Oh. Sorry," He mutters lamely, laying the pad in his lap.
"It's fine. Show it to Alya, she'll make sure you made me look good. " She rolls her desk chair closer till their knees touch. He tenses at the contact, she raises her hand tentatively. "My turn now?"
"Don't you need your embroidery stuff?" He goes cross eyed focusing on the slender fingers inches away from his face.
"It's gonna take me a while to finish it, I was gonna do it based off memory." He leans back further. She draws her hand back for a moment. "Does this make you uncomfortable?"
"N-no... no... I've just... I've never done this before." He admits.
"Alya was a little nervous too the first time she let me see her. It's definitely not common for most people."
"I don't mind, honestly."
She smiles. "We'll take it slow."
Marinette reaches forward slowly, letting her hands hover in midair. Adrien breathes in deeply before reaching for her hands and pressing them gently to his cheeks. They sit still for a moment, she cradles his face, his hands pressed over hers. He lets his hands fall, closing his eyes and reveling in the contact. There's something calming about Marinette's presence and her gentle fingers tracing his skin. She glides her fingers from her chin to his jaw, feeling for the shape of his face. She traces along the sides of his face until her fingers touch his hair. She runs her fingers through the soft locks and she ruffles it
He bats her hands away playfully. "Hey! You're supposed to be looking, not messing up my hair, " he laughs.
"Sorry, couldn't resist" He doesn't hesitate to guide her hands back to his face.
Her thumbs follow the curve of his nose and the outline of his eyes. The pads of her fingers linger over his lips, or perhaps he imagines her hesitance. He breathes in the feeling of her skin on his.
"Now I get why you're a model, your features are so defined!" He gives a short humorless laugh, he'd trade his sharp features in a heartbeat for a chance of normalcy. For a chance with her.
She moves to pull away, but he halts her hands, keeping them pressed against his skin. She knows he's starved for affection, with a father like his, who wouldn't? She offers comfort countless times, for that, he's eternally grateful. She leans forwards, his breath catches in his throat, expecting a miracle, but she simply brings her forehead to rest against his. He closes his eyes and presses back gently. As much as he'd like to close the distance between them, he'll take this opportunity and enjoy it for as long as he can.
Her embroidery work is impeccable. As always, the teacher praises her for her creativity and skill, while she denies such claims of greatness. While Adrien's project isn't as grand, he still receives some welcome praise, the teacher greatly admires that he attempted a new medium. He had taken his original sketch and meticulously carved the details into clay. Marinette could run her fingers through the grooves in the flat tile and visualize Adrien's work. It was the only method he could think of to let her see.
She runs her hands adoringly across the work, a small smile etched on her face. "Can I keep this?"
"Why? It's not that good."
"It's special," she decides, "and it was obviously made for me. I've never had art of my own face before."
"As long as I can keep the one you made." The trade doesn't seem fair. Her piece is worth a thousand of his.
"Deal." She steps away from the project, her hands seek him and he instinctively reaches for her. She grabs his arm and cautiously runs her hand up until she finds the curve of his neck, then the softness of his cheek. She tip toes and brings his face closer to hers, placing a quick kiss on his opposite cheek. "It's beautiful, Adrien. Thank you."
His face flares up. He presses his fingers against the tingly skin, but it does nothing to stop the sensation.
"O-of course!"
