The hazards of being a bakers daughter# adrianette & ladynoir

Casually talking

Please read my new book: once upon a friendship & the love square. I would really appreciate it!

His heart had stopped, but there was no use pretending now. Adrien let go of the transformation, his everyday pants and shirt replacing the tight-fitting leather and his mask vanishing. Marinette watched him in shock. Barely daring to breath, he told her, "At your service, My Lady."

Marinette's mouth was working wordlessly, looking back and forth between Adrien and Plagg, who was now hovering nearby. Hoping to ease things, even if only a little, Adrien shrugged and shot her an awkward smile. "It's hard to believe, right?" he asked. "I kept thinking I must have made some mistake. But your beautiful craftsmanship on the paper bags was impossible to ignore."

"Oh," she said quietly, her mouth forming a perfect circle. "Oh. Of course. I should have..."

She went quiet again, realization working its way across her face. Plagg drifted closer, taking up residence on Adrien's shoulder. Still looking stiff, Marinette glanced at the kwami.

"Right," Adrien said quickly, relieved by the distraction. "This is Plagg. I assume you also—?"

Marinette nodded distractedly, confirming what Adrien had already suspected—she had a kwami as well. Marinette shot a hesitant smile to Plagg. "Nice to meet you," she said quietly.

"Same," Plagg drawled, giving her a firm once over. "I've been hearing a lot about Marinette recently."

Adrien flinched, silently cursing Plagg for dragging them back onto the subject. "It really was an accident," he assured Marinette, desperately hoping she would believe him. "I know how important this is to you, and I would never purposefully try to go around you like this. But once I noticed the flour, other similarities just kept cropping up. I feel absolutely terrible, and I understand if you're upset with me. But I hope—"

"Adrien."

He snapped his mouth closed, surprised by how calm she sounded.

She hesitated, crossing her arms protectively in front of her, but managed a smile. "You don't have to apologize. Honestly, there are advantages to us knowing. I just ..." She trailed off again, but took a deep breath and pressed on. "I was worried. About how you would react, and about the knowledge being used against us. I would never want to hurt you."

"I know," Adrien replied quietly. "And that's why I'm sorry. Because I did."

She let out a breathy laugh, shaking her head slightly. "Don't be ridiculous. You may have scared me half to death, but you didn't hurt me."

She took his hand, squeezing it reassuringly as she looked up into his eyes. "I'm glad it's you. Just also a bit... surprised."

"A bit?" he asked skeptically, trying to ignore the tingling feeling spreading from the contact with her hands.

"Alright," she said, laughing genuinely this time. "A lot surprised. You never really came across as a smooth-talking cad in class."

Adrien flinched. "Yeah, I know I'm normally too quiet, and—" The full meaning of her words suddenly registered in his mind, cutting him short. "Wait, wait. A cad? Is that how you see Chat?"

Adrien could hear Plagg sniggering on his shoulder. Marinette looked surprised, and quickly threw up her hands in defense. "Well, no, I mean... kind of?" Adrien gaped at her as Plagg laughed even harder, and she hastened to add, "You know, you always came across like some smooth-talking, devilishly handsome stranger. Kind of like the Tramp from the Disney movie."

His heartbeat had suddenly jolted at discovering she found him handsome—devilishly handsome, no less. That's not what's important here. Forcing his mouth to start working again, he asked, "The Tramp? You're going to compare me to a dog?"

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Fine then. You remind me of Thomas O'Malley. Is that better, Kitty?"

Adrien was pretty sure his heart was going to explode any moment—she was still calling him Kitty. Struggling to pull his reeling mind back down from the clouds, he quipped, "Neither of those are very good examples of cads. O'Malley settled down with Duchess, and even the Tramp proved his love to his Lady in the end."

Even with the mask, it was impossible to miss the dark red flush blooming on Marinette's face. Wait, Adrien wondered with a jolt. Did I just accidentally confess to her? Staving off shivers, he searched for some way to reply that wouldn't put him in even deeper trouble.

"Oh my god, you must be freezing!" Marinette said suddenly, eyes widening. "I'm so sorry—I didn't even notice—you don't have your suit on anymore!"

Adrien looked down to discover that his clothes had become damp from the accumulated snow. Another, more insistent wave of shivers forced their way down his back.

"Took you long enough," Plagg muttered near Adrien's ear. He could practically hear the kwami rolling his eyes. "I was starting to wonder if you would catch pneumonia before you realized."

Adrien clenched his fingers, only now noticing how numb they felt. "Right. Plagg?" The kwami nodded, and Adrien quickly muttered, "Claws out!"

As the lingering effects of the transformation faded away, Adrien looked up and saw Marinette watching him with a frown.

"Still weird?" he asked cautiously. He felt a deep sense of relief when she laughed.

"Yeah," she replied. "Still a little weird, but in a good way." She frowned in concern, giving him a good once-over. "Are you still cold?"

"Not really," Adrien said breezily—a half truth. He did feel much better with the suit on, though the cold still lingered in his bones. Then, noticing that Marinette had crossed her arms, he added, "But you're probably starting to get cold yourself, huh?"

"Yeah," she said slowly, and he wondered if it was just his imagination that she almost sounded regretful.