LadyNoir One Shots

She Ran Deep [part 2 - requested]

A summer's evening in Paris was settling like a gentle rain. The sky was alight with pink and purple with a royal blue band stretched right across it. The first stars were beginning to gleam and the moon swung out to a fully stunning glow. It was warm, not uncomfortably so, just enough to make everyone sigh in content as a breeze rippled over them like a soft stream.

Marinette sat upon her balcony, sketchbook in hand and pencil between her teeth. Chewing the end irritably, she stared down at her sketch with distaste. It wasn't like it wasn't good, on the contrary, it was one of the best she was capable of, but she didn't really come to terms with who she was absent-mindedly doodling.

Chat Noir grinned up at her from the charcoal on her paper and she pouted back. She didn't understand what kept leading her to draw her partner; only a week ago had she rejected him as Ladybug, so she assumed it was the guilt. It must be! She'd not been able to think of much else but his words to her. The way he said he loved her, she was spectacular, and he knew he was going to be rejected but he said it anyway, because he needed to. Honestly, she thought as she squirmed in her seat, she admired that in him.

Her stomach kept backflipping as she remembered that wistful look in his eyes, his desperate longing for acceptance, his need to be loved. He wasn't self-centred though, she realised, he needed attention purely because he was so used to giving and he never received anything in return. He needed to be loved, and she half wanted to grant him that. She wished she could help him, help make him see his worth to her.

That night she dreamed of kissing a blonde boy in a black mask, of whispered words and a gentle goodnight on top of a Parisian roof. His breath was warm on her lower lip and his eyes glowed green as she clasped onto his suit. "Don't you fall now," he smiled, a devilish glint in his eye, "or I'll have to catch you." She didn't say anything to him, merely traced his jawline with her fingertips, calloused from work in her sketchbook and constant pricks from her sewing machine. His lips loomed closer and she only registered one thing as she pressed her lips against his, her name, whispered on the wind as light and delicate as a yard of silk, uttered as a question, a plea, a realisation, she wasn't sure and she didn't care.

She didn't once think of Adrien Agreste.

The next day was a Saturday and Marinette now had a purpose; she had made her mind up.

"You want to kiss Chat Noir?" Tikki positively squeaked. Marinette glared ahead of her as she focused on her trigonometry. The kwami hovered closer, directly in front of her face, demanding to be noticed. "You can't just do that Marinette! It'll hurt him horribly, you still have feelings for Adrien! That's what you told him, remember?" Marinette threw down her pen and placed her head in her hands, the trigonometry paper she was supposed to be revising totally forgotten.

"How else am I supposed to figure out my feelings?" Marinette implored, utterly stricken. "I'm torn, Tikki. I've liked Adrien for at least a year, practically forever, and I feel like I've been falling for Chat as well and I don't know what to do, I don't know how to feel about either of them, it's so ridiculous I swear, but anyway, Chat wouldn't like Marinette, she's boring and clumsy and she's not Ladybug, and everyone loves Ladybug! Why can't I just live as her permanently? My romance problems would be completely solved. Ladybug's cool, I'm just clumsy and I can't do anything without turning someone into a bloody Akuma! And then - "

"Marinette," Tikki said calmly, realising Marinette's dilemma, "I understand, I do. This has happened to generations of Ladybugs and Chat Noirs. Now, let's go through your options. You could tell Adrien about your feelings for him -"

"And risk losing what tiny friendship we have right now?" Marinette groaned, "I can't do that. I can barely even say his name without stumbling over my shoelace."

"Well, you could tell Chat tonight when you're on patrol -"

"I suppose so, but realistically wouldn't that confuse him? I just told him he's like my brother, it'd be really weird if I just lept up and said 'hey partner, not to bother you but d'you fancy a quick snog up the Eiffel Tower if Hawkmoth isn't too busy tonight?' I don't know how well that'd go down -"

"I think," said Tikki with a smile "that he'd definitely rather know that you were thinking of him. Even if you don't do anything. He'd still like to know."

That night, Ladybug felt more nervous than when she'd first worn her suit. She'd got there early out of nerves, and when Chat finally did arrive, her stomach felt as if it was on a highwire course. He was downcast, no grin, just a small, fleeting smile before looking down again. She couldn't stop looking at him.

"Evening."

"Chat -" she was already breathless; how was this going to work?

"Yes?"

"Look, before we, you know, go patrolling, I just, I needed, I thought I should, you needed to know - "

Chat looked up, brushed his fringe out of his eyes, a little more hopeful.

"What is it?"

He was closer than she'd anticipated. She took a step forward, only a little one, but she felt him monitoring her proximity to him with every movement she took. She could tell he was getting breathless already.

"I was thinking. About last, you know. And, I -"

"It's alright. Honestly. I shouldn't have mentioned it."

"No! I mean, you should. Because, argh, I don't know how to phrase this - I think, oh god, this is so awful -"

"What?"

"I don't want to be falling for two people at once."

A/N omg i haven't updated this in forever but do you want p3? I kinda like it lol