This one was fun to write. Proud when I thought of it.

Takes place during Season 1 episode; 'The Bubbler'

Ladrien June 2023

Day #10: Slow Dance

The fireworks that exploded into bubbles lead Ladybug to the Agreste mansion to find the Bubbler. Why he was at Adrien's house, she wasn't sure exactly. When she arrived, crouched down on top of the perimeter wall, she saw a party going on in the courtyard.

The Bubbler was indeed there, standing behind a DJ mix table, providing music to a group of kids from her school, along with decorations and a refreshment table.

A birthday party? For Adrien?

She spotted said blonde model on the dance floor with Chloe. They and the others were currently in the middle of a slow dance. Ladybug couldn't help the spark of jealousy inside of her at the sight of her life-long bully with her hands all over her crush. It even looked like she was trying to lean up and kiss him.

"Errr! There is no way this is happening," she growled under her breath. She had to put a stop to this immediately.

Ladybug stood up on the edge of the wall for all of them to see.

Everyone looked up at her, including the birthday boy.

"Ladybug?" he said, surprised. A small spark a joy came to his mind. She was at his party. This would be a dream come true if it weren't for the akuma possessing his best friend.

"Sorry, Bubbler, but the party's over," she said to the akuma.

"Why you gotta be like that?" Bubbler replied.

"You made all the adults disappear, that's why. And now, you're imprisoning anyone who isn't having fun."

"You will not bust up my party!"

Bubbler drew the bubble wand sword from his back and launched a blizzard of bubbles at her. Ladybug spun her yoyo to shield herself while jumping down onto the ground of the courtyard. With all the bubbles coming at her, Ladybug didn't notice the Bubbler himself coming at her behind the bubble swarm. Catching her off guard, Bubbler swung his bubble sword and knocked her yoyo away, across the courtyard.

Ladybug stumbled back from the force and landed on the ground. Now, with no weapon or protection, she sat there as Bubbler raised his sword again, ready to trap her as well.

"Wait!" Adrien shouted, running up to stand between the heroine and the akuma. "Please, don't," he pleaded to the villain.

"She tried to ruin your party, dude! She's a party pooper," Bubbler sneered.

"Well, yeah…but now she's defenseless without her yoyo. She can't do anything now," he tried to reason. He had to convince him not to bubble her yet. He'd been foolish to party with him instead of transforming and fighting him like he should have. Now Ladybug was here without her partner. But he could still protect her another way. "Plus…I want her to stay," he added.

"What?" Bubbler, Ladybug, and everyone else watching said.

"It's my birthday and I'd like to dance with her," he said. "You threw this party to make me happy and letting me have my first slow dance with her would make me very happy."

Chloe was a bit offended that he seemed to have forgotten that they had technically been slow dancing together first just a minute ago, but she was still Ladybug's biggest fan. If anyone else was going to dance with Adrien, she'd allow it to be her hero. But just this once.

It wasn't just a ploy to get him to leave his lady be or another excuse to keep partying while he could, Adrien really did want to dance with her at his birthday party. This was basically his first real contact with her while he wasn't Chat Noir, so he at least wanted to make a good impression.

Besides, as long as she was still free, he could help her come up with a plan.

"Hmmm," Bubbler tapped his chin, thinking about the proposition. "Alright. She can stay and party," he eventually said. Adrien and Ladybug both sighed in relief. "But just encase, I'll be taking this." Bubbler sent a bubble over to her discarded yoyo and trapped it inside. Then he directed it to float over behind his DJ booth. "So, Ladybug," he turned back to the heroine as Adrien helped her stand up. "It's my bro's birthday. Whatever he wants, he gets. If he wants you here to slow dance with him, I suggest you stick to that. And if you try anything again, I'll bubble you too and send you up with the other party poopers. Understand?" he warned her grimly, pointing his bubble sword at her.

Adrien stepped partially in front of her again. He knew it wasn't a great idea to do this while he wasn't transformed but he knew that this was still Nino. He wasn't going to hurt him.

"Yes," Ladybug reluctantly answered.

Bubbler smirked. "Enjoy the party," he said before shouldering his bubble sword and walking away, back to his mix table.

When they were left alone, Ladybug breathed with relief again. "Phew. Thanks," she said to Adrien.

"I couldn't just stand by and let him bubble you," he replied bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck.

Ladybug smiled at him before looking back at her yoyo in a bubble behind Bubbler's stage. "I need to get my yoyo back," she said, determined, before turning back to Adrien. "But in the meantime, we should play along."

"My thoughts exactly," Adrien gladly agreed. Then he offered her his hand. "May I have this dance?"

Ladybug blushed and just looked at the offered hand for a minute. Adrien was really asking her to dance. It was a dream come true!

Nervously, she took his hand and he lead her over to the dance floor. So they could talk without the Bubbler overhearing them, they decided to dance on the further side of the dance floor, as far from the stage as possible.

Adrien placed his hands on Ladybug's hips as her hands went up to his shoulders.

As the sweet, slow music played, they swayed and took small steps from side to side. The blush on Ladybug's face was still almost as red as her suit. She kept her eyes down, staring at Adrien's chest area and only looked up at him every few seconds before glancing away again, because every time she looked at him, he was already looking right at her.

Yup. Definitely a dream.

"So…it's your birthday?" she finally said to break the ice for talk.

"Yeah," he replied. "My best friend Nino wanted to throw me a party but my father refused. That's why he's doing this," he explained. She should know this. It might help in defeating him. Then his face fell a bit. "He got akumatized because of me."

"No. This-this isn't your fault," Ladybug tried to reassure him. "Your friend was upset and Hawkmoth took advantage of that. He's the one to blame." She really wanted to blame his father for being so obtuse but she wasn't going to say that to Adrien's face.

His father wasn't the one making the akumas after all.

"Yeah, you're right," Adrien said, feeling a bit better. His head turned back to Bubbler for second then to the bubble behind him. "So, how can we get your yoyo back?" he asked. He could still help her, transformed or not.

Ladybug looked down in thought for a moment. "If Chat Noir shows up, he could cataclysm the bubble but Bubbler is too close. And if he does arrive, he won't know to go for that bubble first," she said. She couldn't assume he would and she couldn't call him to give him a heads up without her bugphone. But then her head perked up at another idea. "But maybe…If I detransform, my yoyo would disappear and then reappear with me when I transform back."

Adrien smiled at her. "That's perfect. And with Bubbler's back turned to it, I doubt he'll notice."

Ladybug nodded, smiling back. "But I'd need to get somewhere private to detransform," she added, less eager.

Where could she go? There was no way she could sneak away without Bubbler noticing. And even if they asked, she doubted he would let her go inside with the excuse to needing the bathroom or something.

Adrien's eyes looked around the courtyard, trying to think of somewhere hidden enough that she could use. Then his eyes fell to the table not far off from his left.

"What about behind the refreshment table," he suggested. Ladybug looked there too.

The table covered in cakes and snacks had a long white table cloth that draped almost all the way down to the ground. She'd be perfectly hidden behind or underneath it.

"Yes. I can duck down while he's not looking," she said, then looked back at Adrien. "But I could use someone to stand watch." She was supposed to stay by Adrien so it'll look less suspicious if they went over to the table together.

"No problem," he replied. He had her back. "But maybe we should wait another minute or two. You just got here so he's a little on guard now. If we wait a bit and let him think that you're really not gonna try anything, then maybe he'll let his guard down," he explained. His reasoning was sound but he also sort of selfishly wanted another minute of dancing with her.

Ladybug saw his point—and was also in no rush to end their dance yet—and nodded. "Alright."

So the two continued their dance, silently waiting for the right moment to make their move.

But after a minute, Adrien decided to pull her in more, leaning his head closer to her head. Ladybug blushed hard again but allowed herself to melt into him, leaning her head onto his shoulder and sliding her hands up to clasp behind his neck.

"You know, today might not be exactly the birthday I've always wanted, but at least I got to share a dance with the Ladybug. It's a pretty great birthday gift," he said to her in almost a whisper.

Ladybug had to bite her lip to prevent herself from squeak-screaming. She wanted to reply, say 'you're welcome' or something, but she didn't trust her voice at the moment. So she just let Adrien hold her and kept dancing to the slow music.

This was her gift to him as Ladybug, and later, he'll get his gift from her as Marinette.

Next chapter; the 15th. See u then ;D