The hazards of being a bakers daughter# adrianette & ladynoir

Normal conversation

The request was for a scene from Hazard from a different character's POV. Part of the joy of writing this story was doing the entire piece from Adrien's POV. I love getting to dive into his head and watch as everything plays out. However, I was really excited to get the chance to see what Marinette is thinking, especially in this particular scene. (And somehow it ballooned and became three times longer than the original scene from Adrien's POV? Hahah...) Because I was so happy with how it turned out, I decided to share it. I hope you all enjoy!

Marinette took several deep breaths as she opened her locker. It was just going to be a normal first day back after break. She was probably getting herself all psyched out for nothing. She would go to class, sit down, wave at Adrien when he walked in, and everything would be perfectly normal—

"Good morning," a familiar voice chirped behind her.

Marinette jumped, her heart stopping. She spun around to find Adrien standing right behind her with a heart-melting grin on his face.

"Oh, hi!" Her voice came out as a squeak, and Marinette winced. Stupid, she scolded herself. There's nothing different about him, he just also happens to be...

Chat. Adrien was Chat. Eyeing his broad grin, Marinette had to wonder how she had never noticed before. Sure, he always seemed so reserved and put together at school, but their smiles were exactly the same.

She had spent most of their break trying to fit the pieces together in her mind. Surprisingly, it had been much easier than she expected. Adrien was kind and gentle and talented. Chat was dashing and protective, if sometimes a bit over the top. Two sides of the same coin.

Oddly enough, she found her own emotions on the matter split right down the middle.

Normal conversation! her brain shouted at her. Stop being so awkward in front of Adrien!

But another part of her mind pushed back. What are you so worried about? she found herself thinking. It's just Chat. Which wasn't quite true. Adrien could never be just anything—nor, really, could Chat. And yet somehow, together, he was just ... himself. Her classmate, her partner. One coin, she reminded herself.

For some inexplicable reason that thought put her at ease, and Marinette found herself asking—in a perfectly normal voice, thank you very much—"How was your break?"

Adrien shrugged. "Eh, it was okay. How was yours?"

See? Nothing to worry about. Marinette struggled to hold back her giddy relief and focus on not messing up the easy air of their conversation. "I wish it weren't over," she replied truthfully. "I'm not ready for homework again."

"Yeah, me either," Adrien replied. He chuckled, and the sound hit her square in the chest. Oh god. He was too perfect—the way he crinkled his eyes happily, and the way his voice sounded deep and smooth, and the way his lips curved. The whole gesture was so ... so ... Chat-like. She could perfectly picture his black cat ears poking out of his gold locks, even now, and she had the sudden urge to scratch him under his chin. The instinct jolted her memory. Oh god—she had scratched Adrien under the chin. In public. Marinette struggled not to turn beat red on the spot

"You know," Adrien continued, thankfully distracting her from that line of thought. "I was pretty surprised that things were so quiet over break."

The comment dragged her back to reality, and Marinette frowned as she quickly cast her gaze around the locker room. Just because they knew about each other didn't mean that Marinette was ready for any of their other classmates to find out. But no one was nearby, and Marinette let her shoulders relax a little.

"Yeah," she agreed. The absence of akuma attacks over the holiday had been bothering her, too. "I was expected at least something to crop up."

"Hm," Adrien hummed thoughtfully, tapping his chin. "Perhaps the fact that I'm so devilishly handsome scared them all away."