Chapter 7

Adrien and Nino walked through the town, the duo enjoying the excited whispers of the peasants, describing how Chat Noir broke in during a tax collection the night before and stole the money, of course got returned to them by Father Xavier during that morning's church service.

"Any plans for tonight?" Nino asked in a low murmur, casting his eyes about to see if anyone was listening.

Adrien stretched his arms above his head, the casualty of it killing the secretive mood Nino tried to establish, to which he rolled his eyes at. Adrien, on the other hand, ignored his friend's petty annoyance and cricked his neck before he answered.

"Of course. Tonight I'm going to try to intimidate the Prince into bringing back King Alexandre. My father says no one knows where he is except for Matheo."

"Working on a Sunday? That's blasphemous," Nino chuckled. The snickers eventually died down to make way for a solemn frown, his voice lowered again as he spoke. "But do you really think that could work?"

Adrien shrugged, staring at the dirt path ahead of them. Absently, he kicked a stray pebble out of his way with the toe of his boot.

"Truthfully? No, but it won't hurt to try. And it'll make him watch his back a little more, make him think that I'm always watching." He grinned, a spark in his eyes igniting. "Honestly, messing with his mind is quite possibly the greatest outcome of this. It'll show that I'm not just some other ordinary criminal; it'll show him that Chat Noir is a threat and is able to get past his defenses."

"Yes, and how are you going to break in, exactly?" Nino asked, crossing his arms.

Adrien shrugged again, the lazy grin never leaving his face.

"I'm not sure. I'll figure it out when I get there, I guess. I've always been told that I think well on my feet," he finished with a cheeky smirk, to which Nino rolled his eyes at.

"You're going to infiltrate the castle, alone, with no plan?"

"Well, I have some of a plan," Adrien countered, looking down at his feet. "I was thinking I can sneak in a window or something. I can hide in several places until the guards pass by during their rounds. It'll be easy!"

"Yeah, easy," Nino mocked. "And what happens when you get captured?"

"I won't get captured," Adrien vowed, picking his head up to meet his hardened eyes with his friend's. "I can't allow myself to get captured."

"Oh, right, because when you do, Theo is going to propose to Marinette," Nino surmised, nodding. He cast a doubtful look in Adrien's direction. "But do you really think she'll say 'yes' to him?"

Adrien exhaled through his nose, his lips pressed into a pensive line.

"No, I don't think she will. But Theo is a Captain; it'll be a great match for her, socially speaking. Her parents might take that into consideration and completely ignore their daughter's decision. I never met them, so I have no idea if they'll let her choose for herself or not. I don't want to take the chance of that happening."

"Then why not just ask to court her now?" Nino inquired, beginning to grow exasperated. "You're a Vicomte; you're up there on the social scale too, even higher than Theo!"

"I know that! But she hardly knows me, I don't want to force her to be around me. I met her as Chat Noir a few times, and she seems to like him, so I was actually thinking of-"

"No," Nino interrupted, holding up his hands in the universal gesture to stop. "No. Don't even think about it. Yes, you got lucky with not being caught last night, but that was it. You got lucky. What if someone sees you and Marinette together? Then you'll both be arrested."

Adrien remained silent at that, keeping his head bowed to the ground as he continued to walk. Nino eyed him as he went, his stare demanding an answer.

Finally, the young blond stopped, turning to face his friend with a sly grin.

"Then I'll have to be sure I won't be seen."

Nino groaned and shook his head, honestly done with his best friend's antics. If he wanted to risk it, fine. He wasn't going to stop him.

"Hey, Nino, your sweetheart is here," Adrien suddenly drawled with a teasing lilt, drawing Nino from his annoyed thoughts and prompting him to look up. As he did so, he did indeed notice the pretty girl from the bakery making her way down the street, basket in hand and looking at the few fruit stands that held even fewer fruits, another result of Matheo's hefty taxes.

Nino stiffened, his gut clenching with nerves when she began to walk closer to them.

"She's not going to fall for a statue, you know."

"Shut up!" Nino barked, snapping his head toward Adrien with a scowl and a glare on his face, which Adrien responded to with a snicker.

However, it became apparent that the tables were about to turn, because when Nino turned to look back at the girl, Marinette ran to her side, the two girls immediately giggling and striking up a conversation.

Suddenly, it was Nino who was wearing the mischievous grin.

"Yeah, and so is yours."

That made Adrien blink in puzzlement and incline his head to look in Marinette's friend's direction. His jaw unceremoniously dropped and his cheeks tinged pink when he saw Marinette was there with her.

Should he greet her? Try to charm her without the mask on? Did his hair look okay? Were his clothes tidy and pressed?

She was coming closer.

"She's not going to fall for a statue, you know," came Nino's sing-song voice.

"Shut up," he growled, a bit peeved that his earlier words were now being used against him. "At least I don't freeze up when talking to her."

"Oh yeah?" Nino shot back, pointing a finger at Adrien's chest. "Well, at least I don't try to confuse her by flirting with her using two different identities."

"I haven't done that!" Adrien cried out indignantly.

"Oh no?" Nino mocked, before severely deepening his voice. "'Call me Adrien'. Then later that night, 'Do you love me?'" He finished it off by an exaggerated eyebrow waggle that made Adrien's eyes narrow.

"I don't sound like that first of all, and second, at least I'm doing something to try to win her heart, so far you did absolutely nothing!"

"I didn't get a-"

"Uh, gentlemen?"

Both men swiftly turned their heads to look in front of them, caught off guard by the abrupt interruption. In their little argument, they forgot they were standing in the middle of the street, where anybody could be watching. Moreover, they forgot that Marinette and her friend could be watching.

Marinette was looking between them with concern evident in her eyes, while her friend cocked her hip to the side, rested a hand on it, and raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"Or should I say," she spoke dryly, "children?"

Adrien and Nino cleared their throats, both looking a little red in the face at the jab.

"I remember you two," she went on, smirking at the way the men in front of her fidgeted nervously. "You were at the bakery, when Theo was there. You didn't back down to him and you," she said, switching her attention from Adrien to Nino, "were the frozen statue." She giggled to herself. "It's okay, I know my beauty can render men speechless."

As Marinette laughed, Alya took to twirling her hair in jest, acting very much like any haughty and conceited noblewoman.

Adrien and Nino simply stared back and forth from the women to themselves, unsure of what to say.

"I'm Alya," she finally introduced, dipping into a curtsey just low enough to be considered proper. "And this is Marinette. You both seem like interesting acquaintances to have, if you don't mind regularly accompanying a gossip-monger and an aspiring seamstress?"

Both men still remained silent, taken aback by the offer. Would it really be this easy to be around them? Granted, they weren't seen in the romantic light by either woman, but it was a start.

Alya took their silence as confirmation.

"Great! Speaking of," she trailed off to grab Nino by the sleeve of his shirt and roughly tug him towards her, to which the man reacted by letting off a small squeak of surprise. "I hear you're new in town and staying at the Comte Agreste's home, as the guest of Vicomte Adrien. You two studied together in Spain, right?"

Gradually, Alya dragged Nino off down the street, all the while engaging him with questions while he tried to find the right time to answer. Thus, this left Adrien and Marinette alone.

"I'm sorry about that," she sheepishly apologized, smiling widely and twisting her fingers together. "She gets really excited about new information and sometimes throws propriety to the wind. But she's really nice, and she does like your friend. She wouldn't walk with him and offer her acquaintanceship just for a story."

Adrien nodded, flashing a smile of his own.

"It's alright, I don't mind."

He looked back towards the pair that were slowly gaining more distance with a knowing grin.

"And I have a feeling that Nino doesn't either."

"Sir?" Marinette questioned, scrunching her eyebrows together. Did he just insinuate-?

Adrien turned back his head, clearing his throat in the process.

"Nothing, nothing. And you can call me 'Adrien'. I told you so in the bakery yesterday, remember?" he asked with a playful glint in his eyes, remembering in full of how her cheeks had considerably darkened when he said it.

Marinette's blush returned in full force at the memory, yet she was quick to dispel it with a shake of her head.

"Come to think of it, I don't think we've been properly introduced." She curtseyed low. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

He returned her curtsey with a bow.

"Adrien Agreste." Before she could even react, he took her hand in his and placed a kiss on the smooth knuckles. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"L-Likewise," she stuttered, not dwelling on taking her hand back. The only signs of Adrien's disappointment were the slight frown and the droop of his shoulders. Marinette took no notice, instead swiveling around back in the direction where she came.

"Well-uh-since Alya isn't here, and there aren't any errands for me to do, I guess I had better head back to the bakery." She paused, letting her lips curl into a smile. "It was nice meeting you, Adrien."

"You as well," he automatically returned without even thinking of it. What he was thinking about, was how short of a time he just spent with her. He wanted more, if she would allow it. But it seemed that she was bent on going back to her home.

An idea came to him; what if he walked with her there? It was a perfectly gentlemanly thing to do. Besides, he didn't want her walking back alone, a time when Theo could possibly strike.

"Marinette?" he called.

She was several paces in front of him by then. Nonetheless, she answered his plea by turning back around to face him.

She looked mildly confused as she said, "yes?"

He dared to take a step closer to her, to his pleasure she didn't back away.

"Could I, maybe, walk you home?" he asked, his hand going to scratch the back of his neck in the instinctive gesture of bashfulness. Sometimes he wished he could be rid of the bad habit.

To his relief, she smiled and nodded.

"If that is what you want, Adrien. But it's really not far from here, so you don't have to."

"No, no!" he interjected, taking quick steps to stand by her side. "I'd love to! It would be an honor."

Marinette raised an eyebrow, accompanied by an amused smirk.

"Shouldn't I be saying that to you, Vicomte?"

"Not at all," he replied smoothly with a grin of his own. "Because anyone would be honored walking by your side."

She chuckled at that, moving to walk ahead of him. As he caught up, she spoke airily,

"I have a feeling we're going to be good friends, Adrien."

He pretended not to be disappointed by her words of 'good friends'. Yes, he wanted to be friends; that was very important. But he hoped that one day she could see him as more. What if he charms her as Chat Noir, and then when he eventually reveals himself, she refuses anymore of his advances because she only sees him as a friend?

He'd be heartbroken, that was definite. However, if she wanted to remain only friends, then they would. He would just have to accept it and live with it.

He silently prayed it wouldn't come to that, though.

A/N: I hope to have this story finished by the end of the summer. I don't plan for it to be very long, it'll most likely be less than 20 chapters.