A Masked Game

Level 8: Fall Damage

Flashback Cutscene: Slow Dance

9 years and 8 months ago...

"You want me to... what?"

"I know you heard me, Adrien, don't act like you didn't!"

Adrien smirked as he stepped towards her and if she wasn't in costume she would have met him mid stride and kissed that tantalising smirk right off his face. He was enjoying this far too much.

"Please, I really need your help. I'm attending this party with my boyfriend and every time I dance with him, I bruise his toes."

"Tell him I know exactly how he feels," Adrien laughed.

"Is your girlfriend as useless as me then?" she asked, causing Adrien to stop laughing and place a huge smile on his face.

"Neither of you are useless, you both just need some practice — for all the males in the world's sake."

Of course he was sweet about it. It didn't seem to matter that she'd nearly broken his toes numerous times in the past, all that he cared about was that she had tried. And she most certainly did — unfortunately though, that never helped.

Ladybug gave herself a little shake as she prepared. She just needed to relax, and follow Adrien's lead, and then when she went to the next party with him she wouldn't be such a disaster. The poor guy constantly had black and blue toes from dancing with her, adding to the rare bruises on his arms and face. She had no control over her arms. She'd even asked her mother to make a doctor's appointment to help her.

Though he had claimed he didn't care to dance at parties, that he never really liked to, Marinette knew full well it was because of her and her clumsiness. She'd practised a couple of times with Chat Noir recently, but she was fine with him; they moved naturally in sync, no effort needed. It was as soon as she was close to Adrien that everything went pear shaped.

"Just relax, okay? Deep breaths and follow my lead."

She closed her eyes and did exactly as he asked — she succumbed to his movements allowing him to dance with her around the room. She kept her eyes closed and imagined it was her partner, for some reason over the past few months, since Monarch's defeat, Chat Noir had wormed his way into her subconscious, joining Adrien in her mind on very merry outings. There were times where they'd merged into the same person, the thought both terrifying and comforting. Life would become more simple, yet more complicated at the same time.

"Good," Adrien whispered gently into her ear. "Now open your eyes and look at me."

She'd been so caught up in her Marinette mind that as she opened her eyes she was quite sure she was looking at Adrien as though he'd just gifted her the moon and the stars, his instant reaction to stop and step back a hint that maybe she was right. Damn!

As he reached up to rub the back of his neck, Ladybug jilted away from him, embarrassed by what she'd just allowed to happen. Although she knew she was playing with fire anyway, this was just the icing on the cake, luckily she hadn't done anything disastrous, like try to kiss him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Adrien shook his head in response. "Don't sweat it! It's okay." He smiled awkwardly at her and she knew she'd overstepped the line. This was getting far too dangerous, and far too complicated. Maybe she should hold back her visits as Ladybug? This was only going to end badly if he ever found out.

"I – um – I better go. If that's okay with you, of course?"

Adrien began to nod his head in response, the action making her want to laugh with the over pronounced movement.