Like Nobody's Watching

2b: in which marinette is uncomfortable being flirted at

"Marinette?" 

He called me intelligent. 

"Marinette . . . ?" 

He called me graceful. 

"Marinette." 

He called me . . . beautiful. 

"MARINETTE!" 

I snap my head up, seeing Alya standing in front of me with her arms crossed, smiling fondly and shaking her head gently. "Girl, I've been calling your name for the past three minutes! Snap out of it, silly! Don't you have your first-ever rehearsal with Chat Noir in a few minutes?" 

"Yeah," I realize, digging around in my bag for my Ladybug outfit. As I dress, I gush to Alya. 

"And he stood up for me in front of Chloe! He was so brave and valiant and noble! And he called me beautiful and graceful and intelligent and - my heart! I can't take it anymore! I just - I cannot believe I'm partners with Adrien Agreste! THE Adrien Agreste! I cannot believe that my partner is someone so good and talented and famous!" 

"You know, you've got two famous partners, girl! Not only have you ensnared the Chat Noir with your womanly wiles, but you've also snagged Adrien right out from under Chloe Bourgeois's nose!" 

I pull on my polka-dotted tank top, cargo pants, and high-tops, ponytailing my hair while Alya helps me speedily apply my makeup. Giving me a quick smile, Alya slips away while I make my way into the studio. Chat Noir hasn't showed up just yet, so I pull out my iPod and scroll through, looking for my practice playlist. I plug it into the dock and begin doing my stretches. 

A Taylor Swift remix that Alya designed comes up, and I sing along as I slide neatly down into a perfect split. I reach forward, feeling that pleasant burn of muscle stretching in my back and my thighs. Singing along, I'm so totally engrossed that I barely notice anyone else is in the room until the gap between songs. 

"What a beautiful voice to match your beautiful moves, my lady," someone purrs, the words rolling off his tongue the way water glides off an oil-slick surface. I pull myself to my feet to see a living shadow, smirking at me from underneath his cat-eared hood and smoky black face paint. Green eyes glow with delight as I approach him, clicking the iPod off as I pass it. 

"Careful with the flattery, kitty-cat," I tease. "Someone's gonna think you have a crush on me."

"And could you blame me if I did?" he says, a strange note of honesty in his voice. 

"You barely know me!" I retort, turning around to hide the blush that I can feel on my cheeks. "I out-danced you and took pity on you. How could that possibly generate anything?" 

"You're beautiful, you're kind, you're intelligent, you move like no one I've ever seen before," he soothes, approaching from behind and reaching out to wrap his arms around me. Startled, flick my hands out and hit the iPod again by accident, which begins to blare a nightmare remix of a Victorious song. 

"Get your hands off my hips, 'fore i punch you in the lips, stop starin' at my - hey! take a hint, take a hint - " 

I slam it off again, definitely blushing now, but Chat Noir is laughing now, doubled over and giggling loudly. "How appropriate, eh princess?" 

"Listen here, kitty-cat," I say, feeling the blood burn under my cheeks and knowing that I'm going to need to make a rule about this before I lose my mind. "If we're going to be partners, you have to stop all this. Or at least, tone it down. Like, a lot." 

"All what?" Chat Noir looks genuinely confused, as though he doesn't have any idea what he's doing. He probably doesn't, I think to myself. He doesn't seem like a guy who gets out much.