Marinette and Chat Noir stayed in consistent contact since that night. Their letters were coming and going, just like they'd been doing since he'd written to her the first time. As much as they were talking, though, it barely felt like enough. She knew they were talking as much as they could (probably more than they should), but she still felt like it wasn't enough.
Akuma attacks were pretty much just as common as ever and Marinette was glad that the hadn't been caught up in any of them as a civilian. There weren't any near her internship, and very few near her school, all of which she found herself thankful for.
She wasn't nearly as thankful for the part of each attack when Cat Walker came out of the woodwork. The absolute worst attack, though, she remembered vividly because it happened on Adrien's birthday. She didn't know what caused it, but she noticed that Cat Walker was trying to end the fight, by whatever means necessary.
She had seen him (well, Chat Noir at least) upset. She'd seen him annoyed. She'd gotten used to seeing a layer of depression behind his eyes, but she'd never seen him mad like he had been that day. Chat Noir always told her that he didn't like to be mad, he always told her there was too much anger in the world and he didn't want to add to it.
On Adrien's birthday, though, Cat Walker was mad . She couldn't understand why. There wasn't anything particularly maddening about the akuma, or the powerset, or anything happening between him and her. She didn't understand it, as much as she desperately found herself wanting to.
He didn't take his anger out on her. He didn't take the anger out on the akuma. He was louder with the few words he spoke and Ladybug could practically hear the grinding of his teeth. Usually, Cat Walker seemed to prioritize distracting and keeping the fight moving. This time, he made himself the center of the fight, as though he were trying to garner attention.
After the defeated the akuma, there was no goading, no taunting, nothing more to say. He just left. Ladybug took the once-akumatized civilian back to their house, then she went back over to Nino's, only to learn that Adrien had left not long after she did. He appreciated their effort, but he said he wasn't in the mood to celebrate.
Marinette sent him a text later that night, wishing him a happy birthday again, hoping he'd had a good day, and sending as much positivity in his direction as she could. He didn't respond with more than a brief 'Thank you,' but she was happy to get even just that from him.
The next day, she received another letter from Chat Noir and she found herself desperately wanting to ask what happened during the last battle. She knew, though, that Marinette wasn't even near the battle, so she shouldn't know the specifics of how he was acting.
Even Alya, as good of a reporter as she is, isn't able to pick out the specific details of a hero's emotions while they're in the throes of a battle. It wouldn't make sense for Marinette to be able to, so she let it go. She didn't ask, she didn't talk about it, she just moved on and found a new topic of conversation.
The rest of October came to an end and she was back to missing Chat Noir as much as she had when he first started writing to her. She knew, of course, that she'd been getting more of Chat Noir than most Parisians, so she should consider herself lucky, but she found that she couldn't.
'Would you be able to hang out again?' That wasn't the only thing in the letter, but that was the part her eyes were most drawn to. Kwamis, she wanted to hang out with him again, but that didn't mean it would be a good idea. In fact, she was willing to bet it was a bad idea.
Adrien had delivered the note, then went back up to his room so he could pace the floor. He took a breath, shallow as it was, and shook his head, trying to stop his brain from going a million miles a minute as he thought about Gabriel.
Gabriel was wanting to bring his mother back, which was an idea that Adrien supported. In fact, Adrien had been doing his best to help Monarch, as best as he could. Apparently, though, that didn't actually mean a lot.
At least, it didn't mean much to Gabriel. Gabriel couldn't even be bothered to remember Adrien's birthday and not send out an akuma. Adrien had asked nicely for his birthday off so he could enjoy his day, but apparently, that wasn't enough for Gabriel. Asking for time off to hang out with Marinette, though, that was approved no questions asked.
Every time Adrien thought about it, he would get more and more frustrated. He was Gabriel's son and felt he deserved more respect in Gabriel's eyes than the girl he'd been going out with. Hanging out with, he mentally corrected. He was hanging out with her, definitely not going out. Going out implied dating and she, most definitely, shouldn't be dating Chat Noir.
Dating Adrien , though. That was… an entirely different concept that he shouldn't be thinking about then. The forefront of his thoughts were still anger and frustration, which were feelings that he definitely didn't want to accidentally associate with her, just because both topics happened to come to mind around the same time.
Adrien didn't want to think about whether he'd asked Marinette to hang out because he wanted to spend time with her, or because he wanted a break from Monarch. He was worried about the idea of accidentally using her, but he also knew she was one of his best friends, whether she helped him avoid Gabriel or not.
After what felt like hours of pacing back and forth across his floor, Adrien sat down at his desk to do some homework. Well, the plan was for him to do homework, but he really wasn't good at planning. He opened his notebook and started brainstorming ideas of what he could do to spend time with his good friend.
Gorille had trailed them from afar, the night that they'd gone to the arcade, ensuring that there was no one who had specifically identified them as Adrien Agreste and pajama girl- Gabriel's idea. Since there was no one, though, Adrien was hopeful that he would be able to get away with hanging out with her without the chaperone.
Picnic
The very first idea that came to mind, was also the first to be decided against. He figured she would enjoy a picnic, but if they were going to spend time together around her schedule, doing something later in the day would be easier than trying to plan something earlier. He noticed she kept herself busy between classes, her internship, and helping her parents in the bakery.
Dinner
It wasn't a bad idea, so he kept it on the list. It wouldn't have to be a nice, sit-down restaurant. Just somewhere the two of them could stop for a while to eat, similar to the crêpe stand, but intentional instead of just a matter of circumstances.
Fashion show
The suggestion was practically crossed out before he'd had it written on the page. If she were dating hanging out with Adrien, it would've been a great idea. However, he figured that Chat Noir wouldn't have tickets to a fashion show just ready to offer up at a moment's notice.
When Marinette managed to distract herself from the request asking her to hang out again, she saw that he'd mentioned that his birthday had recently passed and that broke her heart not to know about. She didn't know it was his birthday as his friend, or as the girl who had once been his partner.
She'd understood that she wasn't allowed to know, but that didn't stop her from smiling at learning a little more about the guy behind her minou's mask. She immediately knew what she wanted to do when they hung out next, but it was going to have to be far less of a surprise than his idea had been.
