A/N: Sorry for the long delay! I contracted a bout of writer's block. By the time I overcame that, work got super busy.

Not a lot happens in this chapter, so it feels a bit drabbly (at least it does to me), but the next chapter will be less so. This chapter is largely to help transition from retelling mode to more original plot territory. Thanks for your patience!

Chapter 7: Conversations

Eleven weeks later...

"Chat Noir!" Ladybug shouted from the opposite side of the street. Both heroes were running parallel to one another at breakneck pace.

"Bring it!" Chat yelled back.

The girl flung out an arm, yo-yo flying from her palm and across the abandoned road. Chat Noir held out his baton to catch the polka-dotted disk.

"Got it!" he called.

"NOW!" his partner yelled as she dodged around a lamp post to secure her end of the string. Chat Noir pivoted sideways and dug his heels into the pavement, yanking back on his baton to pull the line taut. Unable to stop its forward momentum, the akuma – a twelve-foot behemoth with massive limbs and rope-like muscles – tripped over the line and was flung face-first into the road with enough force to buckle the asphalt.

Wasting no time, Ladybug darted forward to snatch up the akumatized object. At least, that had probably been her intent, but as the item happened to be a gym towel wrapped around the massive villain's waist, she settled for tearing it in half, instead.

"Bye, bye, little butterfly!" she called sweetly a moment later, watching the small creature flutter away.

"That was definitely a new time record!" Chat Noir declared excitedly as he joined her. The girl turned to grin up at him.

"We didn't even use our powers," Ladybug enthused. A groaning from the latest akuma victim drew her attention and Chat had a clear view of her face as her expression morphed from a contented smile to wide-eyed alarm. Every inch of visible skin turned red as she whirled around, hand covering her eyes.

"Ladybug..?" Chat asked, a little concerned.

"H-he's naked!" she squeaked.

"He's-" the boy glanced back over his shoulder. "Oh. Um... I got this. You, ah... stay like that."

"Chat?" Ladybug questioned as he reacquainted the man with his towel.

"Hmm?"

"I didn't use Lucky Charm."

"... yeah?"

"How are we going to fix everything the akuma broke?" Ladybug questioned.

Chat blinked at her back before looking around. "That's a good question."

0o0

"Just look at her," Alya gushed. She did that a lot when it came to Ladybug, actually. Marinette found it a bit embarrassing. Her friend paused the video she was sharing, pointing to the phone screen. "See? Her entire face goes red. Aw, our cute little bug is so shy. Isn't she adorable?"

"Okay, dude, you have got to stop saying that to me," Nino was saying that same moment to Adrien as the boys made their way up the front steps of the school. "I get it, man. You think Marinette is perfect. She's beautiful, she's nice. Awesome. So, tell her."

"What? I can't just say that to her!" Adrien protested. "I get all tongue-tied when I talk to her. She'll think I'm an idiot."

"'But she's nice'!" Nino mimicked. "Dude, first of all, you're a sap. Secondly? You're starting to sound a bit like a stalker."

"She was embarrassed!" Marinette protested back in the classroom, fighting back a return of the blush in question. "The guy they just saved was naked – I'd blush, too!"

"I know. It's adorable when you blush, as well," Alya replied. "That doesn't change the fact that Paris' number one heroine is bashful."

The brunette made a face. "Oh, yeah? And how do you come to that conclusion?" she challenged.

"Hours of video as proof for one," said the blogger. "Just look at the way she interacts with Chat Noir. Either she's got a major crush on him or she's shy. Probably both."

"I do not sound like a stalker," Adrien protested. "I'm sure loads of people like Marinette. There's entire billboards with her face on them. All of Paris knows she's pretty. But she's also-"

"'So nice!'" cut in his friend, echoing the words he'd said dozens of times before. "'She could be vain and stuck-up, but she isn't. Actually, she's really sort of shy, if you think about it. She acts like she isn't, but that's really just a front she puts on to maintain her image.'" Nino gestured a bit over-dramatically as he spoke, causing Adrien to roll his eyes and sigh.

At Marinette's dubious expression, Alya continued, undeterred. "It's not just her interactions with her partner, though. Like, yeah, she gets a bit bashful when it's just them and the danger's passed, but the way she responds when anyone wants to ask her questions? She practically hides behind Chat Noir. She's nice, of course, well-spoken, but given the chance, she always lets him do the talking. It's obvious she doesn't like the attention being on her. She's probably not used to it," she theorized.

Well, she wasn't completely wrong. Marinette did hate when attention was focused on her, but it wasn't due to being unaccustomed to it. Just the opposite actually. She received too much attention practically every day of her life. It made her self-conscious. The only difference was that as Ladybug, there were fewer people telling her she wasn't allowed to avoid it.

Meanwhile, the boys had started climbing the stairs to the second floor. "Ha ha, very funny. You're a regular comedian," Adrien grumbled.

Nino rolled his eyes. "Not trying to be funny, bro," he declared. "Just trying to make the point that you've told me this stuff so often that I can repeat it, now. You've had crushes before, but this? This is sad, dude. It's almost pathetic."

Marinette was feeling a bit flustered. "I still don't understand why you're so focused on Ladybug," she said, trying to redirect the conversation. "She and Chat Noir are a team, aren't they? Shouldn't your blog reflect that?"

Alya looked at her in surprise. "It does. I have entire sections dedicated to Chat Noir. If you're talking about the name, well... nothing else I could come up with would have the same ring as 'the Ladyblog.' Besides, everyone knows I report on the both of them, even if he's not in the name."

"Then, maybe he should be! I hear the name 'Ladyblog' and all I think of is Ladybug," Marinette argued. "It just doesn't seem... even, that way." Her friend's eyes lit in amusement, but before she could make a remark, another voice drew their attention.

"Look, I'm going to tell her, okay?" Adrien was snapping at Nino as they entered the classroom.

"Tell who what?" Alya asked in amusement, resting her chin in one hand as she gazed curiously at them.

For a brief moment, Adrien's eyes widened "Uh, my mom. That I don't like the new tort she made," he answered hurriedly. Nino and Alya both eyed him skeptically, while Marinette's brows drew together slightly. "I don't want to hurt her feelings. She takes pastries very seriously."

"Right," Alya replied, obviously not believing a word of it.

"Seriously, bro?" Nino muttered to him.

"Hey, Marinette!" Adrien greeted a bit loudly, by way of changing the subject.

"Good morning, Adrien,"Marinette returned with a small smile, "Nino." Beside her, Alya was looking amused again.

"Hey!" the blond repeated, a hand scratching the back of his head. Nino elbowed him, prompting the boy to give himself a mental shake. His friend rolled his eyes.

"So, what are you girls talking about?" Nino asked.

"Just how someone seems to think the Ladyblog out to be the Kitty Blog," Alya drawled.

"That is not what I said!" Marinette protested.

"Are you a Chat Noir fan, Marinette?" Adrien asked in surprise.

"Well, yes," the brunette conceded, cheeks flushing faintly. Her shoulders squared a bit, chin lifting a little defensively. "Chat Noir is very dependable, isn't he? Any time Ladybug needs him, he's there to do his part and support her, whether it's during an attack or dealing with the press. He relates very well to people and he's nice – and funny. He's very witty. He's every bit as – w-why do you have that out? Are you recording?!"

"Nope," Alya blatantly lied, having been doing just that. She leaned away from the brunette, holding her phone as far out behind her as possible when Marinette made a grab for it.

"Alya! You know how I feel about pictures!" Marinette exclaimed, a petulant note to her tone.

"It's not a picture!" countered Alya, flinching a bit when her friend's hand inadvertently grazed the ticklish spot on her side during her attempts to seize the phone. "I'm not going to post it anywhere, I swear! I'm just gonna keep it on my phone."

"And show it to everyone we know! Why were you even recording that? Delete it!"

The boys abandoned the girls to their struggle, sliding into their seats across the aisle. As he pulled out his class supplies, Nino shot a sympathetic glance over at his best friend, doing a double-take at the blond's expression. "Uh, bro? What are you smiling like that?" he hissed. "Your crush totally just went on about another dude right in front of you!"

"I know," Adrien said. He sounded way too happy about it. He knew he sounded too happy about it, but he couldn't help himself. Not just then, anyhow. Sighing, he propped his chin up on one hand. "Isn't she adorable?"

"Totally besotted," Nino muttered to himself, shaking his head.

Adrien's heart continued to soar. She likes me, he thought optimistically to himself. Marinette likes me. She likes me...

0o0

Chat Noir crouched atop the high wall which surrounded the Dupain-Cheng mansion, where he found himself frozen. He had not thought this through, not even a little bit. Had the place gotten bigger? It felt like it had gotten bigger.

It had been easier for him the last time he was there. Last time, Ladybug had sent him to protect Marinette from Evillustrator, meaning he had a valid reason to even be at the mansion. It had helped that that day, Marinette had been coming out of the large dwelling as he arrived. There was no reason for him to be stopping in, this time. Or rather, there was a reason, but 'I found out as my civilian self that you might like my superhero self and since I have a crush on you I thought I'd say hi' sounded as stalkerish as Nino accused him of being.

Figuring he couldn't very well waltz up to the front door without good reason, he sighed. He rose to his feet and drew out his baton. He'd hoped that being Chat Noir would have made it easier for him to talk to his crush. Apparently, he was to remain uncertain in all matters Marinette regardless of how he was attired. The hero turned to leave, almost tripping directly off the wall in surprise when a voice suddenly called out from behind him.

"Chat Noir?"

His limbs pinwheeled a bit until he regained his balanced, looking back over his shoulder with wide eyes. Marinette was leaning out a side door, her face a mask of concern.

"Is everything all right?" the girl asked, stepping lightly across the grass. She looked around in all directions for anything amiss, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. "Is there another akuma? Surely Evillustrator hasn't returned?"

"No!" Chat was quick to reassure her, leaping down to stand in front of her. "No – nothing like that."

"Oh," Marinette said softly. She tucked her hair back behind one ear and Chat wondered whether the raven strands were as silky as they appeared. Her lips pressed into a line – a habit, he'd noticed, that she had whenever she was considering what she was about to say. "Th-then, why are you here? Not that I don't want you to be! Just... if there's no akuma, I'm not sure why you would..."

"Oh! Right. Well, I... I wanted to check in and see how you've been doing, Princess," the boy replied, managing one of his trademark grins with relative ease.

A quiet laugh breezed past her lips, a pretty blush blossoming across her face as she gave a pleased little smile. "You were checking on me?" she echoed. "That's... that's really sweet of you. Thank you. I'm well. Busy, what with school and lessons and modeling, but I'm doing good. And you? Have... H-have you been well?"

"Pawsitively purrfect," Chat responded.

Marinette gave a snort, shaking her head and wrinkling her nose. "That was awful. You really are full of puns, aren't you?" Despite her words, her smile was bright.

"I think you meant 'pawful'," the superhero informed her, "and I'll have you know that I resemble that statement."

She laughed, one of her loud, truly-happy laughs, complete with dimples and crinkly eyes. So, she actually did think he was funny. Chat felt like he had won a prize.

"Say, Princess," he began, only for his query to be interrupted.

"Marinette!" a voice called her name, drawing their attention.

"Oh, I have to go," Marinette said apologetically. "Thank you. For checking on me."

"Any time." It was Chat's turn to speak softly. He tried not to feel too disappointed as he watched her move back towards her house.

"Chat Noir!" She whirled around, looking a bit surprised to find he hadn't moved at all. "I'll see you around?"

It was a good thing he was in miraculous form, or his heart may have burst from his chest and soared off into the sky. He hadn't misheard her, right? She really did want to see him again?

"Absolutely!" Chat Noir agreed happily, smiling widely at her.

Marinette ducked her head, the color in her cheeks renewing. Taking a step backwards, she gave a small wave before turning, nearly tripping over the doorstep as she did so. She shot a look back at him and he returned the wave.

"Bye," he murmured belatedly as the door closed behind her. His mouth fell into a happy grin as he quickly vaulted away. Careful not to be seen, the boy soon arrived back home to his room, releasing his transformation as he flopped down atop his bed.

"I think she really likes me!" he exclaimed.

Plagg rolled his eyes. "You're a superhero, kid," the kwami pointed out skeptically. Adrien ignored him, rolling onto his side to press his blushing face into his pillow. She likes me, his heart sang, Mari likes me.

To be continued...

A/N: Probably my least favorite chapter, so far. Hope you still liked it! Hugs, Melly