Ladynoir July 2023

Flirting

We're one week in! Time is going by so fast! Another fluffier one today, although with a half-reveal this time. Enjoy! -Colorado

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It was funny, in a way, or at least would be funny in five years. Now, as Ladybug stood gobsmacked at her partner, it was less funny and more terrifying.

"What? What did I say?" Chat Noir, none the wiser to the life-altering shock Ladybug was going through, had the audacity to look worried.

"Um, you didn't say anything." Her voice came out two octaves higher than normal and she loathed it. It was just Chat! Why was she being so weird around him? There was absolutely no reason to!

But she glanced back at the string of pink and green beads nearly falling out of his pocket, and flushed again. There were 20,000 different explanations to why Chat Noir had Adrien's. It had to be one of those! But the miraculous glamor had already worn off. She saw Adrien in those eyes, hair, smile, that was him, through and through.

So really, you can't blame Ladybug for ending the patrol early and rushing home. She needed to scream into her pillow and Chadrien was being far too understanding for her head to handle.

"What's wrong, Marinette?" Tikki asked, floating up to her.

"Adrien is Chat Noir," she tried saying the words aloud, hoping it would make them sound less foreign. It didn't quite work. All it did was make Tikki's eyes grow wide.

"A-Are you sure?" It would've been missed by anyone but her, but Marinette could hear the tremble in Tikki's voice.

"I'm sure Tikki, I-," she stopped herself, biting on her lip, "I saw the lucky charm I gave him as Marinette in his pocket. And then the glamor wore off. It's him."

"Oh."

"That's all you have to say?" Marinette practically screeched. "Tikki! I thought we weren't supposed to know our identities under any circumstances! And it's Adrien! How am I supposed to keep a level head in battle when-." She fell silent, her face turning bright red.

"Marinette? Are you alright?"

"Adrien Agreste is in love with me," she whispered, her eyes shining. "Well, Ladybug me, but still! He's in love with me." A smile came over her lips that nearly hurt.

"I suppose he is Marinette, but it can't possibly be a good idea for you two to date as Ladybug and Chat Noir." All her warning got was a death glare in return.

"Alright, so I won't date him as Ladybug and Chat Noir."

"Not until Hawkmoth is defeated."

"Yes, yes, I've heard it all before." Marinette huffed, crossing her arms. It wasn't fair! How come Chat Noir got to fall in love with her all willy-nilly and Alya and Nino could know each other's identities, but how dare Ladybug want to have something a bit more than friendship with her partner?

Not for the first time Marinette loathed the rules with every fiber of her being.

"I mean, do you even want to date him? Sure, Adrien is Chat Noir, but Chat Noir is also Adrien." Tikki's rational voice shot through her like a bullet train. "You've never been interested in Chat Noir like that, have you?"

"I mean..." she remembered Oblivio, and how they had kissed without knowing, she remembered the night on the rooftop as he handed her a rose and kissed her cheek, she remembered all the times that he had told her what she needed to hear, he was magic like that. Every time she wished that she had met Chat Noir first. But she also remembered Adrien when he cat punned, or the look on his face when he snuck out. Every time Marinette craved to know Adrien more. "I wouldn't entirely say that."