Continuing Tales

Smoulder

A Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir Story
by MidnightStarlightWrites

Part 12 of 35

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Adrien vaulted over the sofa, landing softly next to Marinette, a triumphant look on his face as he brandished his newly won crossbow. Marinette beamed up at him, quickly tucking back behind the sofa, crouching low. Her new partner followed suit. Every nerve in her body felt electrified. She shivered, half anticipatory, half wildly amused by their current predicament.

"I got you these," Adrien whispered proudly, whipping two nerf pistols from his belt with all the grace and charm as a child playing tag. It was so hopelessly endearing that Marinette felt dizzy. Their fingers brushed as she took the guns from him, and her heart flipped traitorously in her chest at the skin-to-skin contact, remembering that she (for all intents and purposes, no matter what suspicions she held) had been kissing another guy earlier that same day.

Ignoring the guilt, Marinette chose not to look for Adrien's reaction. Instead, she surveyed her new weapons.

"Duel wielding, I like it…thank you," she replied, her eyes widening when she noticed an extra feature on the guns, "whoa are those laser pointers?"

Before she could test them out, Adrien's hand snapped onto hers, gently preventing her from taking aim.

"Ah- let's not use those," he stammered, unable to control the slight panic in his voice, remembering Plagg was nearby in his school bag. He hoped he was asleep. Still, if the Kwami discovered the laser pointers (based on what happened the first and definitely last time he'd ever tried it) the cat would literally be out of the bag. He couldn't let that happen.

When Marinette tilted her head at him, gazing at him with her large curious eyes, he became acutely aware of his hand resting on top of hers. He pulled it away, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly, "we- we don't want to give our location away right?"

Marinette's eyebrows crinkled and suddenly Adrien had the feeling he was being sized up. It wasn't an unusual occurrence in his life; being a model, he was sized up every day. But this was different. It wasn't his looks that were being picked apart under the gaze of another. This, the way she was looking at him, made him far more nervous than any top designer or photographers poking and prodding ever could. He gulped.

And then she smiled, a faint pink tinge to her cheeks. Marinette shuffled backwards, sitting back as she tried to listen for any signs of Alya and Nino.

"Ok, no laser pointers," she agreed, and Adrien heaved a quiet sigh of relief. She tried not to giggle.

Cats go crazy for laser pointers she thought, then shook her head roughly, no stop that brain!

Adrien was about to ask what their plan of attack or defence was, when a loud battle screech echoed around the room.

"ATTAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!"

Nino and Alya had managed to sneak downstairs without them knowing. Adrien grit his teeth, heart leaping in panic at his friends' triumphant poses on either side of the sofa. Without thinking, he hurled himself forward, rolling out of the way of the nerf bullets. He planted a palm on the floor and launched upwards, surprised (and yet not surprised at all) that Marinette was already standing by his side. All four of them turned their guns on each other; Adrien's crossbow pointed at Nino, Nino's large blaster gun at Marinette, Alya's tri-strike at Adrien, and Marinette's duel pistols at Alya. They stood stock still.

"Ok pals, we can do this the easy way or the hard way," Adrien said, trying to keep the laughter out of his voice. Marinette smiled, her chest warming at his words, although she was unsure as to why.

"What's the matter Agreste? You scared?" Alya mocked, holding her gun up higher, aiming at his head. Marinette, in retaliation, thrust her guns further in Alya's direction.

"Give me a reason Césaire," She growled a mock threat and, despite knowing it was fake- that it was just a game, Adrien's heart fluttered at her protectiveness.

"You wouldn't DARE hurt my girl Dupain-Cheng," Nino warned, the worst poker face of them all, his face lit up with boyish glee. Alya rolled her eyes fondly.

Adrien watched the quick upturn of Marinette's lips, the challenge in her stare, how she stood tall and confident. She laughed once, lowly, dangerously, her chin lowered. He wanted to turn away, he wanted to, every reasonable part of his brain telling him to stop ogling this instant. But there was something in her countenance that held him like glue, made his mouth open, made his skin flush hot. His fingers twitched on his crossbow, the grip on it slackening. Then she spoke, confidence oozing from her voice like golden honey, and Adrien almost forgot himself entirely.

"Oh? I wouldn't dare Lahiffe? Let's not forgot who the first one to pull the trigger was here hmm? And I'd do it aga-"

Mid speech, she was interrupted by a nerf bullet hitting her temple, and she leapt backwards with a jolt. Alya laughed victoriously, fist pumping. The standoff had officially ended.

It was pandemonium, chaos, insanity. The living room exploded with shouts and cries, grunts and squeals, laughter and yells of outrage. Nerf bullets shot everywhere. Limbs flew as Marinette launched herself at Nino, grabbing him in a headlock and shooting him in the stomach with one pistol, whilst aiming at Alya with the other. But Alya was quick, dodging the bullets in time, only to be in shot in the knee by a nerf dart from Adrien's crossbow.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU AGRESTE! PREPARE TO DIE BY NERF FIRE!" Marinette heard Alya roar, Adrien cackling with glee as she chased him around the room, screaming curses, harmless insults and nerf darts his way. Marinette laughed, shooting Nino in the stomach again.

"Sorry-not sorry Alya!" Adrien laughed, breathing erratic as he swooped down to collect some extra darts with which to reload his gun, "but I had to avenge my lady!"

Marinette's heart stopped.

Her head snapped up to where Alya and Adrien were sparring, the pair of them laughing as though he hadn't said anything unusual. Alya had a pillow which she was now using as a shield. The pair were using the coffee table as a barrier, circling around it like two birds of prey.

Marinette couldn't breathe, her grip on Nino subsided, her limbs loosening as her thoughts tightened, digging into her mind like witches' nails. Did he just say what I think he-no he couldn't have- I must have imagined it-

"AHA!"

Nino pulled himself free, aiming and shooting at her arm without a second thought. She stumbled backwards, startled out of her reverie with a yelp, the moment forgotten as adrenaline rushed through her.

"REVENGE IS MIIIIINE!" Nino hollered, shooting at her again.

"NO!" suddenly, Adrien was at her side, shielding her like he'd done in Nino's room, minutes before, "I'll save you Marinette!"

"Dude what are you talking about? She's doing a better job than you!" Alya ran towards them, reloading her gun and firing it straight at Adrien's chest.

Adrien gasped, reaching one arm up to the ceiling, he stumbled backwards, eyes wide.

"Oh no! This is it!" He choked, clutching where the foam bullet had struck, as though he'd been shot with an actual bullet. Kneeling on the ground, and then collapsing entirely, he reached up towards Alya like Caesar to Brutus, "I'm dying! Alya, I thought we were friends!"

"Emphasis on the were," Alya muttered darkly, even as she couldn't help the small giggle that escaped her lips. She aimed again whilst Nino clutched his sides, roaring with laughter, "goodnight sweet prince."

"NU-UH! That's my prince- I mean PARTNER! That's my partner you're shooting at!" Marinette stammered through her threat, garbling the words as she turned progressively redder. She chanced to peek towards Adrien. Unfortunately, his fake-limp body was turned away from her. Curses. She couldn't tell if he'd heard her. Now how would she know if she needed to bury herself for the next thousand years or not?!

Unbeknownst to her, Adrien had heard. He'd definitely heard, and was having a very difficult time keeping up the fake dead act as a result.

His mask was beginning to slip.

Marinette distracted herself by shooting Alya, who dropped her gun in shock.

"Marinette! You betrayed our sisterly bond! How could you?!" She laughed, falling to the floor to lie beside Adrien's 'dead' body.

"Don't act like you wouldn't sell my organs for a chance to spend a day with Ladybug and Chat Noir!" Marinette giggled, "you're no worse than I am."

"She's got you there babe," Nino reasoned fairly, pointing his gun straight at the back on Marinette's head "but it's ok, 'cause I've got her."

He fired, and Marinette fell to the ground, squealing and laughing all the way down.

"YES!" Nino fist pumped, "I am victorious! I am king of my own house! ALL BOW BEFORE DJ NERF GOD! I-"

The sound of three nerf guns clicking stopped Nino's victory speech in its tracks. Peering down, mouth slightly agape, his eyes widened at the sight of all three of his fallen friends pointing their guns at him. Nino barely managed a whispered 'oh shit' before three nerf bullets hit him at once.

"Well…you know what they say bro," Adrien chuckled, his tone a very specific one as Nino came to land beside Marinette. It was his 'I'm about to make a lame joke and I'm proud of it' tone, which caused everyone to brace themselves, "pride comes before a fall!"

Marinette laughed, but was the only one to do so.

"I would hit you for that, but Marinette is blocking me and also I probably deserve it," Nino replied, running his hand down his face in exasperation.

The four settled into a comfortable silence, regaining their breath and adjusting to more comfortable positions. Rolling onto their backs, they stared at the cream ceiling above them. The walls in the living room were high, the furniture mostly made up of light colours like Adrien's house, but he always found it homelier here, more lived in. Like Nino's room, the rest of his house was a little messy but in a way that made sense. It wasn't dirty or unkempt, but rather lived in. Adrien liked that, wanted his future home to be like that. The home he'd told Ladybug about.

His eyes shifted to the right, where Marinette was lying beside him. She was staring out into space, lost in thought. Judging by her soft expression, her thoughts must have been pleasant ones. One of the things he liked most about Marinette was how lively, how passionate, how very alive she was. She was so animated, and energetic on a day to day basis that he'd never really seen her looking so calm and content. Not this close anyway. If only he'd had more chances to, because he couldn't help thinking, however inappropriately, that she looked quite lovely in that moment. Adrien's hand rested on his stomach, hoping that the warmth from his palm would quell his raging insides. No such luck.

Then, quite suddenly, Marinette's head turned towards him. Their eyes locked and Adrien inwardly cringed at being caught gawking at her. Her cheeks turned a brilliant shade of red, as she seemed to realise he'd been staring at her too. Yet, she held her gaze firm. She didn't look away.

Instead, she smiled at him again, warm and gentle, and Adrien's breath caught at the sight of it. He wanted to return the smile, but found himself unable to do anything but stare at her.

He was wrong. He'd been wrong.

She wasn't just lovely. She wasn't just pretty, or cute. She was-

Beautiful, he thought, his eyes widening, truly beautiful.

"So," Alya voiced from his other side, her voice (though relaxed) cut through the silence like jagged splinters. He blinked and the moment had passed, "now that we're all dead, does that mean we don't have to do our history project?"


Marinette clutched her cat pillow, pulling it closer to her chest along with her knees. The evening sun filtered through her room, the light turning low, but not so low as to need a lamp. She buried her lips into the top of the cat cushion's head, thinking.

"Maybe if I wore it half up, half down?"

Tikki tutted fondly, shaking her head.

"He likes your pigtails; you don't have to change them!"

"I know," Marinette replied, suddenly rushing back down the ladder to her mirror. She ran her hands through her loose tresses, stressing herself out more as time went on, "I just want to look nice that's all."

"You always look nice!" Tikki countered, landing on her shoulder. Marinette turned to her, all sass as she placed her hands on her hips, channelling her inner Alya.

"Oh really? Even when I'm drooling in my sleep?" she quirked her eyebrow up at her Kwami, amused when Tikki looked away sheepishly.

"Ok it's hard to look glamourous when you're drooling! But it's cute, and your ladybug pigtails will be fine."

"Maybe just a little makeup?"

"Marinette," Tikki chided, "we're going to be late."

"I promise I'll be quick Tikki!" indeed she was already rummaging around her desk for a spot of light foundation and a little bit of her lip-gloss, before she remembered the shade she wanted was still in her purse. Dashing across the room, to the spot on the floor where her discarded purse lived, she popped the buttons open and was about to reach for the lip-gloss when she saw her phone.

Without thinking, she picked it up, her fingers skimming across her earlier conversation with Adrien. How daring her text had been…if he was Chat Noir. If not, she'd just sent a random cryptic text like a crazy person. That, surprisingly, didn't bother her. After all, she'd made many a worse blunder in front of Adrien, in her eyes at least.

What a weird mess her life was becoming. Even more so than usual.

"Hey Tikki," she called out across to her, "I should be patient right?"

"Yes I do believe that's what my advice to you was," Tikki replied, munching on a bit of cookie she'd left uneaten on Marinette's desk, "why do you ask?"

Marinette gripped her phone a little harder, it shook in her grasp, she looked down.

'Maybe there's a lot of things you don't know about me.'
'Well if it's as good as finding out how well you pun then I'm looking forward to discovering more about you :)'

She closed her eyes.

Chat… she prayed, I really hope you find me soon. I don't know how much more of this guessing game I can take. Even if it WAS my idea.

Later that evening, Ladybug stood watching the last rays of vanish over the city, the golden and pink hues of sunset making their way for the cool blues and indigos of twilight. Lights flickered on beneath her, cars and bikes zoomed past on the street below. She inhaled the cooling air, pressing her lips together, the lip-gloss gluing them together for a brief second. This was the evening where they were actually supposed to do a joint patrol, and Chat Noir had yet to show up.

He wasn't late, she knew that, but the mere fact that she had to wait caused her insides to bubble unpleasantly. Yet another thing she had to be patient with, and honestly she was starting to worry how long it would take for her patience to snap. Shifting from foot-to-foot, she willed herself to take deep breaths, to calm down.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she spotted Chat Noir's silhouette getting closer and closer.

He landed gracefully beside her, leaning against the chimney with one arm and twirling his belt-tail with the other. He winked.

"Good evening My Lady. You're looking as lovely as ever," his tone was light, playful, yet there was an underlying sincerity which made her body tingle. Even so, she still felt a lot calmer than she had before his arrival.

She flicked one of her pigtails, sauntering over to him.

"And you're looking just as dorky as ever," she replied fondly, flicking his bell, "come on, we've got a city to protect!"

Chat Noir beamed, hurrying to catch up with her. The air seemed lighter, Paris seemed to sparkle, everything in his world seemed to be connecting- a sense of rightness unfolding before his eyes. He stopped for a moment, watching Ladybug perch herself on the edge of the roof.

When she realised Chat wasn't beside her, Ladybug turned back, briefly flustered by his adoring gaze. She'd seen it so many times, but had never really known the depth of it until a few days ago.

"You coming, Kitty?"

He shook himself out of his reverie, chuckling.

"Always, LB, always," he said, slipping his hand into hers-

Only to be startled as she yanked it out of his grasp.

"S-sorry," she stammered, avoiding his eyes, her face matching her mask.

Chat was mortified.

"No! No I'm sorry, I should have asked," he apologised, kicking himself, "really I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have presumed-"

"Oh, no," she hastened to correct him, hating to see how he withered, how his cat ears drooped, "no it's fine! I- I do want to hold your hand but…maybe not in view of the public? I don't want our privacy to be invaded or anything."

Chat stood up taller, his head tilting to the side, his ears no longer drooping. She bit her lip.

"B-but, yeah like I said. I didn't mind you holding my hand. I just don't want photos of you holding it to be all over the Ladyblog. I guess I'm totally being selfish," stop rambling Mari, stop it, "but I want whatever this is to be between us, at least for now, n-not because I'm ashamed of it or I regret it or anything! I just…oh god, I'm making no sense. I'm going to shut up right now."

Although she could no longer see Chat, as she'd buried her face in her hands, she could certainly hear him chuckle, feel his warmth as he stepped closer.

"You know, it's clawful that we don't have a bit of privacy right now," his voice felt as smooth as satin in her fingers, as soft as the woollen scarfs and hats she'd made last winter, and she peeked up shyly from behind her fingers, "because I'd very much like to kiss you right now."

Her hands dropped back down to her sides, eyes flicking to his lips. Every fibre of her being screamed at her to close the distance, to kiss him again, publicity be damned. Love, love, love! You LOVE him! Kiss him!

Her voice of reason, the one which sounded like Tikki, told her to control herself.

"Well," she swallowed thickly, "I'm afraid we're both going to have to wait for that mon minou."

Chat brightened.

"So there's going to be more kissing?" he chirped, eagerly. God help her, why did he have to be so adorable?

"If you keep your tail out of trouble, yes."

Grabbing said tail, he proceeded to wrap it around himself, offering her a solemn (and completely ridiculous) salute.

"Tail is secure my lady!"

Ladybug nodded, keeping up the act.

"Good, any more questions?" she teased. He shook his head, "then let's head out!"

And they were off, racing across the rooftops, settling into the friendly banter that was common of their joint patrols. They challenged each other, scouted the streets for trouble, waved to passers-by (especially to children), laughed and made silly jokes. Once again Chat felt that sense of home, of the world slowly clicking into place.

He didn't even feel guilty that he'd lied to her, for there was one more question he wanted to ask her.

But that could wait until after their patrol.

Smoulder

A Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir Story
by MidnightStarlightWrites

Part 12 of 35

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