A/N: I don't think you're ready for this wish-fulfillment trash landslide. I proudly present you chapter 4, in which I fuck up very badly.
A couple of notes:
1. I actually looked up the menu of the restaurant they had dinner in.
2. The first Stromae song is Tous le mêmes.
3. The playlist to this chapter is Alors on Dans, which you can find in Spotify ( user/spotify_france/playlist/34yDEWwKE8oX1MbccPpuHq)
4. Would you believe if I told you I've never been to Florida?
Also, again. Thank you guys SO much for your kind words and support, reading your comments and asks on Tumblr make my days so much brighter. You're all so amazing and I love you!
Thanks for reading!
Disc.: Hawkdaddy and Zag own everything.
"Marinette, Mari…"
Marinette moaned and pulled the blanket over her head.
Someone, she didn't recognize who yet, but someone had the decency to try and wake her up. He kept whispering her name and gently poking her. Who this was, she wasn't sure, all she knew was that she wanted them to stop talking.
"Mar-."
"Shhhhhh."
He chuckled. So she's definitely not a morning person.
He tried again. "Mari, we're almost there."
Marinette poked her head out, ready to death-glare at whoever had the nerve to wake her. Except when she met with his emerald eyes and kind smile, she forgot. For an instant she even forgot her name, or where she was.
Adrien grinned at her. "Look out the window."
"Oh my god!" She gasped and pressed her face against the glass. It was so green, a different green than anything she had seen in France. Livelier, messier, unruly. The landscape was dotted with wetlands and mangroves that combined dark and bright colors, and then, among the vines, and shrubs, and tropical trees, there rose the American city of Orlando. Marinette wondered what the view would be like if she swung around town as Ladybug.
"Look Adrien!" She pointed at the horizon, where Disney's castle and Epcot's trademark Spaceship Earth orb were recognizable. "The window is so warm," she noticed when the plane finally landed and the pilot gave them the official welcome.
"Welcome to Orlando, Florida! Today is Tuesday, July the fifth. It's eleven thirty a.m. and the temperature is 86 Farenheit. Perfect for a dive in the pool. We hope you had a pleasant flight, enjoy your stay."
"Thirty degrees," Adrien declared, after mentally making the conversion to Celsius.
"That's hot," Nino said.
Adrien, in a flair of sudden cockiness, grinned and winked. "I know."
Nino rolled his eyes and laughed. "Your model is showing, you piece of trash."
As they waited for their luggage, Adrien and Marinette gravitated towards their respective confidants and casually allowed enough space for their conversations not to be heard by the other pair.
Alya did not say anything, though. She just had this very smug smirk plastered on her face. "Soooo… Marinette and Adrien's Playlist, huh."
"Shut up."
"It was so nice of him to hold you during the turbulence!"
"Weren't you two asleep?" she exclaimed.
Alya winked. "You two definitely were, though."
"Oh my actual god."
"Oh, that's my suitcase!"
Marinette made use of her small size and squeezed in between the crowd to the front of the luggage carousel and yanked Alya's things from under a moving pile. Moments later, hers emerged, too: A medium size red suitcase, which she ironically decorated with ladybug dots.
"Dayum," Alya commented. "You grabbed them like they were a bag of cotton."
Marinette blushed, not knowing what to say. True, most of her strength came from the Ladybug suit. But jumping around Paris was as good as any other workout, especially if you practiced on a daily basis for four years.
They walked to the taxi area, where the boys were already waiting and desperately trying to discard every single piece of clothing off from them without sacrificing their public decency.
"Humid. Too fuckin humid." Nino panted.
Adrien practically ripped off his jacket and the hoodie he had underneath, messing up his already bedraggled hair. Something about his mannerisms reminded Marinette of a cat that's been forced onto a bath.
"Anyway, you should check your snapchat soon," said Alya before taking a picture of them.
"Wha…"
"When is the shuttle coming?" Adrien complained.
"Oh shush, pair of babies, it's not that warm."
"You're right," Nino said. "Warm is like Paris summer. That's warm. This is straight-out hell."
"Think of it as practice," Alya joked.
"Ha. Ha."
They stormed into the shuttle when it finally arrived, only to find it was colder than a freezer.
"I can see how this could be a problem," Nino said, putting on his jacket again.
The road to the hotel involved a thorough session of Alya's infamous paparazzi photo-shooting for her Snapchat account. Adrien was especially careful when she set out to hunt, as he usually was her prey of choice. She would take these very unflattering shots of him and give them ridiculous footnotes.
Say for example in that very moment, when he was actually in a state of awe, watching out the window and his phone buzzed with a notification from the app. Alya caught him doing this less-than-graceful gawking expression and zoomed in so his face would take the whole screen. He was both glad and unsettled that Alya had this ability of taking outrageously horrid pictures of him. He saved the particularly ugly ones -like this one. They gave him a strange sense of satisfaction. But Alya would be the last to know that.
"majestic," she wrote on that one.
Judging from Nino's sudden cackle, he'd say she sent it to everyone.
He glared at her. "That's not nice, Alya."
"Your face's not nice." She grinned, able to make him laugh.
"Guys!" Marinette squealed, when they finally arrived at the gate of Walt Disney World. "Oh! I can't believe we're actually here!"
Nino and her squealed the whole way to the hotel, as they walked into the lobby, as they toured around the main areas…
"Nino, look!" Marinette dragged him to see the pool area, which was themed with Finding Nemo and Cars.
"You're sure as hell I'm dipping in! Ah, this is amazing, Mari!"
"I know! This was the best idea ever!"
He nudged her. "And you two pair of sourpusses didn't want to come."
"Ehehe, thanks for convincing us?"
Alya and Adrien met at the pool area with them soon, wearing mortified expressions.
"Uh, dudes, we got a problem," said Alya.
"What happened?," asked Marinette.
"Well." She eyed Adrien. "My English is not the best, but I think they didn't book our rooms right."
"What," Nino and Marinette exclaimed in unison.
"So we don't have a room? We're stranded?" Nino asked.
"No, they did book us, just not the way we asked," Adrien said. "We just wanted to check with you guys before we registered."
"So… I don't get what's the problem," Nino said.
"It's a family suite. It has two separate bedrooms but technically it's still the same room," Adrien glanced tentatively at Marinette, expecting exactly the reaction she displayed: red as a tomato and looking like she'd faint at any moment. He knew she was uncomfortable sharing so much space with him. But little did he know, for once he wasn't on the top list of her problems.
Tikki.
What was she going to do with poor Tikki? Hiding her from Alya was going to be hard enough already. If there was a chance she'd be able to float about a bit just to stretch and such, it was completely gone.
Look on the bright side Marinette, it could be worse. Couldn't it?
Nah. This pretty much is as bad as it gets. Tikki's going to murder me.
"Here, no, I'm sure they can fix it," said Adrien. "Just gimme a sec."
Adrien went back to the desk and to everyone's surprise, he had this weird sober look on him. Polite, yes, but also strangely serious. Well, he was his father's son, after all.
Marinette forced herself to stop thinking of everything that could go wrong if they didn't change the room and went to see if she could help Adrien negotiate. Tikki depended on this. Besides, over the years she had learned the subtle art of noticing when Adrien was in a bad mood, and this was one of those moments.
"Alright, so then just tell me what you can do for us," Adrien said, in a spotless English, pinching the bridge of his nose much in the same way Gabriel Agreste did, actually. Marinette once had the misfortune of watching Mr. Agreste scold one of his employees and Adrien had that same exact look of annoyance on him. She knew he was above it, but for an instant she wondered what it would take to make Adrien tick like that.
"There has to be a way for us to get back the differential deposit. You booked us with a cheaper room but get to keep the deposit we made?"
"I'm sorry," said the hostess. "Unfortunately, we have a no-refund policy on high-demand seasons."
"Yes, but this was not our mistake, miss."
Marinette swept in. "Hello," she said with the sweetest smile she could. "My friend just told me about this little issue and I was wondering if there's any way we could talk with a supervisor, please? This is our first time here in Disney, and we'd really hate to have our trip ruined by a silly system mistake."
The hostess seemed to be a little annoyed with the pair, but she could not really say now to Marinette's sugary tone.
She gave her the fakest smile in history and said, "Of course, just wait a moment."
Adrien smirked at her. "Nice."
She winked. "Kill them with kindness."
Moments later, the hostess came back with the manager in turn, a blonde woman with big blue eyes and even a bigger smile.
"Bonjour guys! What can I do for you today?"
Adrien and Marinette looked at each other trying not to wince at that very, very American "bonjour".
"Uh… Well, I was telling your, um… coworker here that we were hoping you could help us to settle this down. Because…" she looked at Adrien, making faces so he'd fill in the blanks.
"You booked us in a family suite but we reserved two separate rooms. We're okay with taking the suite since you're already completely full, but we'd like our deposit back."
The manager gave her employee a slightly irritated expression and made a motion for her to move away from the screen. "Sure can do, peeps! Just a second."
"This is the first time you visit us?" she asked as she typed. Adrien took the opportunity to take a bit of water and let Marinette do the talking.
"Yeah," Marinette said. "It's our first time in North America, actually."
The woman grinned at her, wrinkling her nose. "That's great! You're gonna have so much fun. You guys are getting married here, right?"
Adrien choked. Marinette found a way to trip over herself. And somehow, they both forgot how to make human sounds.
"No! uh… we're no- not yet- what? heh."
"It's just… kind of-what- no!"
The manager smiled at them. "Oh, it's just we have a wedding reservation coming in today, we've been waiting for them. Anyways, you make a cute couple." She finished typing and winked at them. "And we're done! Here are your key cards and coupons for a complimentary dinner to make up for this whole confusion."
"Th-thank you," Marinette said, trembling. For good measure, it was Adrien who picked the things.
"You two look redder than Ladybug's suit." Alya smirked. "What happened back there?"
"Do we look like we're getting married?" Adrien asked as they boarded the elevator.
Nino and Alya laughed the whole way to the room.
"Eh, dunno man, kinda- whoa," said Nino. "Whoa, It's Nemo!"
The entire place was decorated like the ocean. Bright colors, coralline forms, and subtle yet obvious decorations of the main characters. The kids let out a collective gasp. If anything, at least the suit was nice and big enough to fit everyone, that was for certain. Luckily, it wasn't as tiny and crumpled as Marinette made thought it would be. Like Adrien promised, the suit had two separate rooms, a small living room and kitchenette. And then, the problem. One bathroom.
Alya leaned to Marinette and whispered, "Hey, at least we're not on our period."
Marinette made a face of horror. "True that."
"So, ladies," Nino said, rather chivalrously. "Have your pick."
They stayed with the adult bedroom, the one where the bathroom was, and because the bed in the children's room was too small Adrien and Nino flipped a coin to see who'd sleep in the room and who'd get the futon in the living room.
And because Adrien always had such good luck, he obviously got the futon.
"Don't worry man, we can take turns," Nino said.
By the time they were fully installed the jetlag started to kick in. Nino was still unpacking and the girls were practically dead on the bed.
Adrien didn't know how they could sleep without showering first. They had been traveling for over a day now.
"You think they'll mind if I use the bathroom?"
Nino shrugged. "Well it's the only bathroom, they'll have to deal."
Adrien grabbed a fresh set of clothes, his toiletries bag, and a Camembert pack that Nino did not see.
Once in the shower, he sighed and closed his eyes as the water started running down his body, finally feeling the exhaustion of the flight.
"I don't want to hide for two entire weeks," Plagg complained.
"You mind?" he said, still trying to relax.
"Two weeks. It's crazy! I rather stay here the entire time."
"What if someone sees you?"
"They won't."
Adrien threw him a glance. "Of course. Because of all things, you know how to stay put. What if there's an akuma attack?"
"All the way here?" Plagg said incredulously. "Akumas can fly only so long, you know? Nooroo would run out of energy before crossing the sea."
"Nooroo?"
"Hawkmoth's kwami?"
Adrien frowned at him. "This is what I mean when I tell you I hate when you keep secrets."
"You never-."
"Yeah, yeah, I know I never asked." He sighed. "Well at least it's nice to know things are going to be quiet." He looked at the right and gently rubbed it with his thumb. "Do you think Ladybug made it alright to her vacation?"
Plagg rolled his eyes. "I thought you liked that Marinette girl now."
He frowned. "Yeah, but… It's complicated."
Adrien finished his bath ritual applying his usual lotions and treatments to his skin and hair. When he came out of the bathroom, he realized everyone was asleep, including Nino. He himself felt like taking a nap, but his phone rung with his lunch alarm. He could ignore it, of course, but that would mean that he'd get very hungry for dinner and he'd eat more than he's supposed to. And yes, hypothetically he could get away with a few missed meals, but he really didn't want to go through the meal plan lecture with his dad if he gained weight.
"Come on, Plagg," he whispered at his kwami, who was still in the bathroom stuffing his face with the smelly Camembert. "Let's find something I can eat."
As he passed by the girls' bed, he noticed Marinette's purse was sliding off the bed and caught it midair.
He did not see Plagg wince.
"Close call, huh?" he told to Plagg.
"Just leave it there, let's go find your leaves."
In the middle of his lunch, Adrien finally felt the entire weight of his exhaustion hit him. He had to support his head with his hand to keep awake. When he came back, he passed out on the futon out of exhaustion. He had forgotten how tiring jetlag could be.
After what felt like five minutes to him, Marinette was already up and about, gently shaking him so he'd regain consciousness.
"He looks cute," Alya commented.
Marinette blushed. "Yeah, a bit."
"Adrien?" she tried again, gently rubbing his back.
Alya rolled her eyes and went to wake up Nino. "YO, THE ROOM'S ON FIRE!"
Marinette heard Nino's yelp from the living room. She chuckled.
"What even, woman?" he exclaimed. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!"
Adrien stirred at the tumult and fluttered his eyes open. "Mari?"
She smiled. "Hey, we're gonna go get dinner with the coupon they gave us. Turns out we can use it in any restaurant in the resort and Nino and Alya wanted to go to the Disney Springs waterfront."
"Oh…" He sat up and scratched his head, confused by the lingering orange light in the window. "What time is it?"
"Around six p.m."
He nodded. "Okay, just let me get ready."
Honestly, Marinette thought he was ready enough but Adrien insisted on ironing his shirt and combing his hair.
"It's just the model in him," Nino said, smugly. "Right bud?"
Adrien simply chuckled at them.
As they went down to the lobby to wait for their cab, Adrien noticed Marinette's outfit and what good taste she had. She was wearing a white crop-top, a sky blue circular skirt that reached just below her knee with a thin red belt that matched the ribbon on her bun, and a pair of red velvet flats. She looked… he wanted to say amazing, beautiful, stunning, feminine, sweet, delicate. He settled on lovely. Yes, Marinette looked lovely. Even more once they got to the waterfront, where the soft golden light of the waterfront boardwalk bathed her in a delicate glow. Her eyes were electric under this light.
Both girls, actually, looked prettier than usual. Alya herself wore a flower-patterned romper with sandals and a braid, no doubt confectioned by Marinette, because Adrien recalled seeing her wear it before.
"What's wrong, Adrien?" Alya asked, knowing the reason for his flushed face.
"N-nothing. You girls just look pretty today," he said, scratching the back of his head. "Prettier than usual I mean, I don't mean you're usually not pretty but, you know…"
The boys didn't look so bad themselves, but they weren't going to tell them that- yet.
They smiled.
"And you ain't seen nothing yet," Alya muttered to Marinette. Both girls giggled.
Little did Nino and Adrien know, there had been a reason why Marinette and Alya had been meeting up to shop so much before the trip. They geared up on their wardrobe, that's why. Alya and Marinette made a point of teasing the boys -Alya more than Marinette, to be honest, but she still was game. Alya's reasoning was that if Marinette used her amazing fashion powers with her, she'd be able to seduce Nino. And so far, her reasoning proved correct. He trailed behind her like a puppy.
Marinette smiled to herself, pleased that she got to do a bit of matchmaking even if they were already dating. In contrast to her failed attempts to get Adrien to notice her, Alya and Nino never really needed any help to get together, and though Marinette was happy about that, she was glad she could help them bring them closer, if anything.
Before getting dinner, they walked around the shops to see if they could find anything worth buying. Marinette had a list of all the souvenirs she wanted to get. It included her parents, of course, but she also wanted to get something for Manon, and Volpina, since in one of her personal detail spills she revealed her birthday was at the end of July. And okay, yes, if she was honest with herself, at the top of the list there was Chat Noir, mostly.
One of the shops caught her interest. They had these cute little keychains with all kinds of Disney characters. Browsing, she found a few with the characters of The AristoCats. She giggled to herself and picked the one that had Berlioz, the little black cat. It was all kinds of right, not only the name of the movie was a pun itself, but it was also in Paris.
She snickered as she waited on the queue to pay. This is definitely your movie, Chat Noir.
"Having fun?" Adrien asked innocently as he sneak behind her, nonetheless prying a gasp from her. "Sorry, I think I gotta stop doing that, heh."
"N-no, you're okay!"
"You found something?" he asked, hoping to move the conversation elsewhere.
"Yeah." She handed it to him. A tiny smile spread on his lips.
"And you say you're not a cat person."
"It's not for me," she said immediately. "It's for a friend. It's kind of an inside joke."
He nodded, secretly jealous that Marinette would share inside jokes with other people but not him.
"You?"
Adrien showed her another keychain, a ladybug one from A Bug's Life. Marinette laughed. "You really have an obsession with ladybugs."
"What, it's for a friend." He laughed, too. "We better join Alya and Nino before she bites his face off."
They decided to dine in House of Blues. It wasn't too crowded and they had nice live music going on. Some people even were dancing.
"Ugh, finally! I'm starving," Alya said as their waitress handed them menus. She came back to take their drink order.
"Everything looks so good," Nino said. "What are you guys ordering? I'm gonna have that- oh my god it sounds so dirty- Juicy Lucy burger. How do they even come up with these names?"
Adrien snorted.
"Do you really have to make everything sexual, Nino?" Alya said, laughing.
To be honest, Adrien thought the exact same thing Nino did. Chat wouldn't have doubted to point it out, but Adrien was supposed to be quiet and decent.
"I'm having that lobster Mac and Cheese thing, it sounds good," Alya said.
Marinette noticed Adrien was a bit distraught, looking at the menu. He did not comment on anything, simply browsed quietly, as if he were making some really complicated math in his head.
"Here we go." The waitress came back with their drinks. "Are you guys ready to order?"
Yep. Nino would have the burger, Alya'd have lobster, Marinette wanted linguini with shrimp, and Adrien-.
"Just a market salad, please."
"What?" Nino chimed. "Come on man, you must be starving. I know I am."
"I had lunch while you guys were asleep," Adrien said with a sheepish smile. "I swear, I'm not that hungry."
He was.
Nino sighed, and if Marinette knew any better, she'd say this was a common exchange among the two. It dawned on her, yet another aspect she never really considered about Adrien's life. She assumed that, as a model, he would naturally have a strict dietary regime, but she never actually saw Adrien enforcing it. He used to complain about it when the four went to the movies or to a café, he never bought popcorn or sugary beverages. Just plain coffee or water.
"No one is going to notice, bro, come on. It's your vacation. Plus you ate at what, three p.m.?"
Adrien bit his lip.
"It's better to ask forgiveness than permission, if you ask me," Nino said.
"Nino's right, Sunshine," Alya said. "Plus think of it this way, if you get fat your dad won't have any other choice than to fire you. And you'll get to be a physics nerd in all your splendor."
He chuckled. "I guess…"
He ordered the greasiest, yummiest burger on the menu. Bacon, BBQ, onion rings, and a side of curly fries.
Marinette would never forget the face he made when the food actually arrived. It was about the cutest and saddest things she ever watched. For one, the enthusiastic glint on his eyes was endearing, but on the other side this enthusiasm also meant his life must have been exceptionally deprived of life's simple pleasures.
"No offense but you sound like you're having sex with that burger," Nino said.
"Nino!" the girls scolded him.
"What, it's true!"
Adrien smiled sheepishly at them and spoke with his mouth full, satisfied by the fact no one was there to comment on his table manners. "Ifs juss sho good!"
Nino smirked at the girls, but knew better than to push it. Both had this type of murderous glare on their face.
"Yours looks really good, too, Mari," Adrien said.
"Uh huh." She nodded vigorously, with her cheeks slightly inflated as she took another bite. "You wanna try some?"
"Sure!"
Without really thinking, Marinette twirled a portion with her fork and neared it to Adrien's mouth. Adrien, without thinking, let Marinette feed it to him.
"Oh my god!"
She giggled. "You have…" She pointed at the corner of her mouth.
"What? Here?" He only managed to smear the sauce.
"Wait," she said, in between her giggles. "Here." She took his napkin and wiped the smear herself. It was such a genuine gesture that Marinette did not find herself becoming a wreck of nerves for once. Actually, she managed to forget everything but the boy in front of her, and you could tell he did the same by the way he looked at her. Marinette couldn't shake off the feeling that she had seen those same enamored eyes once before, although she could not really tell when or whose they were. Maybe in a dream. It must have been in a dream.
"And you seriously wonder why people think you're getting married?" Alya teased, causing them to blush furiously and break contact as if they suddenly were a white-hot flame.
And like that, the moment was gone. Back to square one.
After their meal Adrien insisted they'd get dessert despite how full they were. They shared a chocolate cheesecake, although he ate most of it. They asked for the three extra forks only for his peace of mind.
Nino laughed. "You'd think your dad starves you to death."
Adrien glared. "You have no idea." He licked his lips and explained, "He literally hired Natalie to watch me twenty-four seven, meals included. It's freaking insane."
"You told me, yeah."
But he didn't tell Marinette, which is why the girls listened with intention.
"Insane," he repeated, looking at them. "Like, watching my meals is in her job description. I'm not actually joking here. You know what's that like?"
Alya felt tempted to record his rant. Here it was, she couldn't believe it was happening in front of her very eyes.
You see, Alya had this theory, that Adrien's life was not nearly as glamourous as Marinette thought it was and she constantly tried to convince her of this. She knew that if Marinette saw what he really was like, she'd be able to overcome her infatuation and talk to him as she talked to any other human being. But Marinette, stubborn as she was, refused to believe it.
"Mark my words," Alya said once. "One day that sunshine boy is gonna explode in this huge fucking rant about how much it sucks to be him, and you will have to deal. Just wait for it. One day, someday, it's going to happen."
And happen it did.
"Twenty. Four. Seven. Marinette. All the friggin time! It's so… frustrating to have people tell you what to do, what to think, how to behave, all the time. It's suffocating. And then there's all that attention, and the girls following you around - the boys, too. I can't go anywhere without being spotted."
Alya smirked knowingly at Marinette.
See? What did I tell ya.
"I honestly would've gone crazy if I were you," Alya said. "I don't know how you cope with it."
"He sneaks out of the house," Nino said as matter-of-factly, with a deadpan expression. Adrien jabbed at his ribs. "At night," he added.
"Isn't that a little dangerous, though?" Marinette asked, making a mental note of being extra aware on her night patrols from then on. She didn't want Adrien to get mugged, or something worse.
"With Ladybug and Chat Noir patrolling every night?" He said with a cocky grin. "Nah. Plus it's been like, four years since I started doing it and so far nothing bad has happened. 'Sides, I know karate and sword-fighting. I'm covered."
Marinette rolled her eyes amused at how much like Chat Noir that was. She couldn't believe Adrien was talking.
"You don't believe me, Marinette?" he said raising an eyebrow, equally entertained.
"I never said that, but I doubt karate and sword-fighting will get you far if you ever come across an akuma."
Oh, this was too good.
"Wanna bet?" He grinned.
"And risk meeting the wrath of Ladybug and Chat Noir? No thanks. Besides, even if you could fight an akuma off, only Ladybug could get rid of it. Every self-respecting Ladybug fan knows that."
"Well, but I'm sure she'd appreciate my help." He winked.
Marinette couldn't help herself from laughing. "I'm sure. And then Chat would cataclysm you, or something, for flirting with his lady."
Adrien laughed. Yep, too good in all kinds of levels.
Oh, if you only knew, Marinette.
You don't even know, Adrien.
As the night advanced, the restaurant's music changed to something more upbeat. By the time quartet had finished their third round of unfortunately non-alcoholic drinks, they weren't letting minors in anymore. Nino and Adrien exchanged mischievous smirks.
"I'm not saying it's worth the shot, but they probably think we're overage," Nino commented.
"Yeah, it's totally not worth the shot. But I think you're right," seconded Adrien.
"It's definitely not worth the shot because I'll personally deliver you two to the guard if you try anything," Marinette threatened. "And you'll be grounded for tomorrow."
Marinette had her share of taking care of drunk Alya before. Drunk Alya did not make very smart life choices. And judging by the fact that sober Adrien sneaked out of his house at midnight to find himself trouble -he called it adventure- and that sober Nino thought it was a good idea to try and trick the bar tender, Marinette did not want to be introduced to their drunken selves. She'd be damned if she spent a night at the police station, waiting on them.
"Fine, mom," Adrien said, jokingly.
And then, a first happened. For the first time in his life, Adrien was a direct subject of Marinette's infamous sass. He was both flattered and intimidated.
"Don't you fine mom me, I'm serious, Adrien." The intense frown carved on her face reminded him of the many times Ladybug reprimanded him for being too carefree. He knew better than to challenge that frown, and he didn't see a reason to not follow the same path of action in this situation.
They were distracted by the song the DJ started to play. It was in French, and was actually quite famous.
Alya squealed. "Stromae! That's my shit right there! That's my jam!"
"Say no more," Nino said, offering her his hand.
Alya grinned and let Nino guide her to the dancefloor. Adrien and Marinette watched as they twirled about, not really caring if they came off as graceful. And for a moment, it was really awkward. Despite the dim lights, Marinette could feel Adrien's painfully close presence. She didn't need to look at him to feel the electricity that emanated from him.
She found herself in a situation where she did not know how to proceed. Even though she was born with two left feet and could trip over flat ground if she tried, Marinette loved to dance. Dancing made her feel like Ladybug without needing to wear the mask. Dancing made her feel agile and capable, and if she had to admit it, sexy. True, she usually depended of a couple drinks, too, but she enjoyed dancing just as much when she was sober. But she really wasn't sure she actually had the guts to ask him to dance.
So what, now? Adrien was just standing there, looking uncomfortable. Plus, the thought of actually dancing with him… gosh, that made her dizzy.
Come on, Marinette. You can do this. It's just dancing. Just… ask. Okay, here we go. One… two…
"I have to go to the bathroom, be right back," he said, and pretty much sprinted out of Marinette's way.
She felt a heavy weight press against her chest. Of course he wouldn't want to dance with her. She's not Ladybug.
Thank god the bathroom was empty.
"Plagg!" he cried, forcing the kwami out of his pocket. "I don't know how to dance! What do I do?"
Plagg yawned. "Don't look at me, I don't know how to dance either."
"Argh! Then what am I supposed to do? You saw her, she wants to dance." Adrien paced around the room frantically. He wished he could simply transform into Chat Noir to gather the courage. Chat Noir did know how to dance, Chat didn't care if he looked stupid in front of his crush. But Adrien did.
"Dunno kid, watch a tutorial?"
"You're not helping."
"What do you want me to say? Honestly, I don't think she'll mind if you don't know. She'll still drool over you."
"Are you- wait, what? Drool over me?"
Plagg glared at him and sighed exasperatedly. "Seriously."
"What do you mean by that?" She likes Chat, not me.
"The fact you're asking me that question is proof that you don't deserve to know the answer. Just go back with her already. You'll be fine."
Oh but Adrien was not fine. Not at all. He was not fine because on top of the fact he could not dance, he came back to a rather shocking sight. Marinette was not alone, not by the broadest definition, no. A pair of American boys were talking and laughing and… flirting with her? Marinette smiled nervously, in the exact same way she did when she talked with him.
Adrien was the opposite of fine in that moment.
His blood boiled and wished for his alter ego's claws. But looking at her smile like that, at the curiosity in her eyes, made him second-guess. He shouldn't intrude if she was having a good time, after all, what harm could a pair of foreigners do?
Yeah, but… NO! NO! She can't, she shouldn't. I was going to dance with her.
Except he remembered he wasn't Chat at the moment. He cursed at himself.
Get it together! You are freaking CHAT NOIR with or without the suit. Act like it!
One of the American boys touched her shoulder.
He hissed. Nope. Nope. Nope. He was not going to have any of that, thank you very much.
"Okay Adrien, let's pull a Chat Noir," he muttered at himself as he walked towards Marinette and her company. "You can do this, Chat. Come on."
He was glad -well, maybe glad wasn't the word, but at least relieved to see that Marinette wasn't exactly comfortable with the pair of flirty dudes. A real piece of luck, since he really needed the assurance to pull this stunt: He cut in the middle of both guys, snaked his arm around her waist, kissed her cheek, and spoke in French, "Sorry for taking so long, my lady."
Marinette became petrified for a second. What did this just happen? Did Adrien pretend to be her boyfriend to get rid of these two guys? It was a dream, she was sure. It had to be. That, or she died and went to heaven.
The pair of guys smiled sourly at Adrien, who gave them a well-practiced model smile, and after a bit of muttering between themselves, they waved Marinette goodbye and left.
Yeah, that's damn right. Fuck off, Adrien thought.
"Uh… thanks?" Marinette said, with a sheepish smile. " I was wondering how to get rid of them."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Heh, well. I'm glad I helped."
She smirked. "How'd you know?" You don't mean to tell me you were jealous, Adrien Agreste.
He shrugged. "Instinct?"
Marinette nodded, feeling slightly smug. "Hey, uh…" She couldn't believe she was actually doing this. "You want to dance?"
"I-." CHAT NOIR. YOU ARE CHAT NOIR. "Sure."
He took her hand and led her to the dancefloor. They started off a bit awkward, just swaying from side to side as if this was the first time they ever danced with a person of the opposite sex.
Marinette seemed to keep her cool fairly well, Adrien noticed. But if he could hear her thoughts, he'd know she was internally going mad.
I CAN'T DO THIS. I'M GOING TO FAINT. I CAN'T BREATHE. Shit, I just stepped on him! Oh no, this is bad. This is really, really bad.
But then, she reasoned.
Marinette, calm down. He literally scared off guys from you.
All she had to do was to get in the right mindset, as she usually did when she danced.
Just think of Ladybug. Think what she would do. What you would do. Come on, Adrien has a crush on her, doesn't he? Give him a run for his money.
Ironically, the light show colored the dancefloor in flashes of red and green. It casted a shadow over their faces, almost resembling a mask.
Try not to be obvious, though. She noted. If she managed to mistake Adrien's figure for Chat's with the green light, there's no telling what she looked like under the red one.
Adrien smirked confidently as the next song started.
ChatNoirChatNoirChatNoirYouareChatNoir. Don't chicken out.
"Shall we?" He purred.
The resemblance was uncanny, so much so that it inflicted a healthy dose of fear in Marinette. But she managed to push that aside for a moment.
She bit her lip, and finally got to call him the nickname that naturally bubbled at the tip of her tongue since the first time they started texting. By now it was safe, it did not stir suspicion. By now, it was an inside joke to his "my lady."
"Of course, kitty."
She had to admire for a second what her life had remitted to in these past few hours: Roleplaying Ladybug and Chat Noir with her crush from ages. The irony was incredibly satisfying.
Now, many things could be said about this first dance they had. Many indeed, but if Marinette had to summarize it, she'd say three things: it was shocking, revealing, and most of all, unexpectedly sexy. Not only he could dance, Adrien made an amazing dance partner. It was almost as if he knew what her next move would be. The twirls, the dips, everything. The same could be said of her.
One of the reasons why Marinette liked dancing with people was because she could get to know them better. She could feel them not just physically, if that made any sense. And what she felt with Chat- Adrien! Adrien, she meant Adrien. What she felt with Adrien was inexplicably familiar and comfortable. It was the type of vibe she got from Chat Noir after defeating an akuma, after perfectly performing a synchronized attack. She couldn't believe she felt that with Adrien, too.
"What?" Adrien asked, noticing her thoughtful yet excited expression.
"Nothing. I think a model can compete against Chat Noir, after all."
He winked. "You'd be surprised."
Their synchronicity got to the point that other people started noticing, and stopped to watch them dance. It got the point where Alya and Nino noticed.
Nino shrieked at the sight. "Look!"
Alya gasped. "Holy shit!"
"I told you, I TOLD YOU," Nino said. "Look at those two, goddamit. Look at them Alya. They should get a room."
She chuckled.
"Do you think they ever notice?" Nino said, incredulously. "Do they do it on purpose? Ugh, just. Look. That dumb pair."
"I know, bae, I know. But honestly, by now I just roll with it."
"Me too. At least Marinette brain doesn't go into a system error if he touches her anymore."
Alya cocked her head a bit. "You know what's strange? They kinda give the Ladynoir vibe."
"Ladynoir?"
"Ship name for Ladybug and Chat Noir. Don't you read the blog?"
"Apparently not as much as I should." He chuckled. "Sounds like a hooker name."
She smirked. "It does, doesn't it?"
"Which would be perfectly fitting right now, judging by how they're dancing."
"Didn't know they had it in them."
"Right?"
"Well, can't blame 'em." She winked at him and then stole a kiss. "They learned it from the best."
Adrien's heart did not stop racing, not after the dance, not after they went back to the hotel. Not even after he went through his long, tedious routine before bed. Nor after he laid on the slightly uncomfortable futon, looking up to the roof, unable to wipe this goofy grin off his face. Nemo and Marlin were grinning back at him. They shared his happiness.
He couldn't believe he actually gathered enough guts to dance with Marinette, that he actually shooed those two flirts away, that he behaved rather… indecently, is the word his father would use. But no, it was not indecent. It was… Chat Noir-ish, for the lack of a better word. The thought swelled his chest with excitement, that he could reconcile both parts of himself for once without being judged. And that Marinette had to do with it.
His phone buzzed with a new message. It was Marinette. His smile stretched wider, if that was even possible.
"Not bad for a cat person, kitty," she wrote.
He chuckled and sent a winking cat emoticon. "At your service, my lady."
Alya peekd over. She chuckled with a smug smirk, "Kitty? My lady?"
"Shush, it's an inside joke."
"Right."
"Gotta go, Alya wants to sleep. Nite nite chaton."
He let go of a sigh and pulled the covers over his head, trying not to squeal like some grade school girl in love. There were just so many things going on in his mind. And then, he saw it.
It crept slowly, and once it lodged in his head it was like riding down the hill of a rollercoaster. Timely as usual, there they were, his theories about Ladybug to make sure this perfectly blissful moment would be stained with doubt and confusion. Chaton.
It could have been a coincidence. It probably was, but his heart raced just imagining the word had actually been typed by Ladybug herself. As he told Volpina, he had a few ideas of who Ladybug could be behind the mask. He knew he attended the same college as him, the same lycée. He deduced that after many years of careful observation, but that quickly led him to some shocking conclusions because it really wasn't that hard to tie up loose strings once you paid attention. If A equaled B and B equaled C, that meant A equaled…
No.
The first time he thought about it he panicked and only went back to that theory of his when events were extremely unusual. It had felt like such an implausible scenario before that he was almost scared to admit it out loud. But really, he couldn't fool himself after that dance. Not even if he tried. Especially not with those innocent messages staring back at him.
The nerve to be using the irony, he applauded that. The best way to hide something is out in the open, after all.
His stomach sunk at the idea, at the implications of his theory being correct.
"Plagg," he muttered. "Is Marinette is Ladybug?"
a/n: Told ya. Trash landslide. See ya in the next chapter, minous 3