Day 4. Miraculous

'Look what I've found,' Nino withdrew his head from a huge container with old DVDs and pulled out a box with a somewhat familiar looking spotted heroine on the cover.

'Oh my god, you need to destroy this abomination,' Marinette gasped from the kitchen where she was preparing popcorn.

'I'd rather watch it, thank you very much,' he theatrically wiped the dust from the plastic cover. 'It's practically a classic.'

'It's a pretentious and cliche anime that decided to cash in on our success, oh the mighty guardian,' Marinette deadpanned. 'Alya made me watch it once, and that was more than enough, thank you very much,' she parroted.

'It says here,' he pretended he didn't hear her, 'it says here, "Miraculous" is a romantic story of seemingly unrequited love from times when Bad Luck meddled with people's lives, with additional bonus of unexpected plot twist…' he advertised.

'Unexpected plot twist?' Marinette snorted. 'Really?'

Wayzz and Tikki plopped themselves on Nino's shoulder and inspected the cover as well. They chuckled happily, whispering in each other's ears.

'Because the main leads by day are also the main leads by night, but… picture this… they are not the same main leads because they put on masks that make them totally unrecognizable to everyone including themselves!' Nino lowered his voice, as if he was telling a secret. 'So apparently the male lead looks in the mirror and thinks it is a poster of someone else,' he burst into laughter and Marinette followed.

'But anyway, I digress,' he drawled sauntering to the kitchen and putting the DVD case on the counter. 'I just wanted to show this to you,' he added in a conspiratorial whisper, 'because the female lead looks just like you,' he teased tapping his finger over the anime Ladybug on the cover.

Marinette fluttered her lashes coquettishly. He knew this was all banter but he couldn't help noticing that she looked pretty hot when she wanted to appear flirty. Actually she looked pretty hot whatever she did. Woah brain, where did that come from?

'Well,' she drawled, unaware of his inner stupefaction, 'I can tell you a secret, Monsieur.'

She beckoned him with a crooked finger and when he complied she climbed to her toes as whispered right into his ear, sending electrifying shivers all over his skin, ' Just like that female lead I also used to have a debilitating crush on an unattainable blond guy,' she confessed.

'Used to?' Nino echoed still stunned with the sensations her closeness evoked.

She returned to the pan to stir the popcorn, so he couldn't see her face, but her ears colored a lovely shade of pink. 'Yeah,' she shrugged. 'It passed quite some time ago.'

A beat of silence, filled only with random pops of the grains on the pan.

He often wondered what had happened back then, but he never dared to ask. Adrien was a gentleman and even if there had been a moment when Nino suspected something was bothering him, his friend never said a word.

'Can I ask you something, Nettie?' he muttered, watching their kwami as they ducked in the DVD container and pulled more interesting items to the light.

'Sure,' she mumbled back, though he didn't miss how her back stiffened.

'Why did you and Adrien... ' he hesitated, but his curiosity got the better of him. 'Why didn't you become a couple? I mean after the reveal… well, you already knew how you felt about each other.'

He noticed Marinette clutched at the edge of the counter.

'We did,' she said after a while, voice small, 'We dated for a while, but we never told you guys.'

'Oh?' he supplied eloquently.

That was new. How had he missed his best friend and his girlfriend's of that time best friend dating under their noses?

Marinette sighed. 'No one knew. It lasted only a couple of months,' she confessed.

'What happened?' Nino prompted her to continue. He knew how close Marinette and Adrien became since the reveal. It was hard to imagine two people more perfect for each other. They understood one another without a single word. Better yet, they could finish each other's sentences. They were the yin and yang, the Ladybug and Cat Noir wielders. As the guardian he knew what that meant. They shared the same energy and they would always drift towards each other.

'I guess it turned out we work better as friends?' she offered. 'It had been nice at first, but then… I don't really wanna talk about it,' she shook her head, as if trying to dismiss memories the topic had brought. 'Don't get me wrong. Adrien is a wonderful person and I love him to pieces. You know I do. We still talk almost every day, even if he's on a different continent. He's the best friend and partner I could ever ask for. He would jump into fire for me.'

'He has jumped into fire for you,' Nino pointed out.

'Yeah, that was part of the problem,' she muttered under her breath. 'Anyway, that story was over even before it begun for real.'

'Is there anyone now?' he uttered and instantly regretted his nosiness. His heart raced and he had no idea if this was because of the embarrassment at his stupid big mouth, or because of anxious anticipation what her answer might be.

Marinette smiled and stirred the popcorn again. 'Yes,' she said softly, delightful blush returning to her cheeks and making her freckles pop. 'Yes, there is.'

'... ' Nino opened his mouth trying to summon back the courage that suddenly evaporated at the sight of her flushed face.

'So what are we watching, Master?' Wayzz called from the couch.

'Popcorn's ready!' Marinette chirped unnaturally cheerfully fleeing out of the kitchen. 'Show me what you got there,' she dived into the DVD container.

The boy shot his mouth and tried to calm his heart rate. The moment was lost.

Tikki smacked Wayzz in the head with another DVD case so hard he squinted indignantly at her. Nino couldn't remember when he related to someone more.

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