Adrien decided that next morning he wanted to perform a test. He wanted to push Marinette and see just how much she'd let him get away with when he wasn't Chat Noir. Since he was sure she liked regular him more than she liked Chat Noir, he was fairly certain there would be a lot more that he could do as Adrien.
He crept up behind her that morning before school, a cheeky little grin playing on his lips. Alya spotted him and shot a strange look, which gave him away. Not that he let that stop him.
"Adrien?" Marinette questioned as the boy slunk right up against her side.
"Morning, Princess," he greeted, dipping is head down and pressing a kiss to her cheek. Marinette froze where she stood, a blush working its way across her face. Adrien snickered and bolted off inside.
"What was that?" Alya asked. She was extremely surprised, but also ready to squeal and jump for joy with her best friend if that was what she chose.
Marinette, on the other hand, couldn't move. Adrien – or, rather, Chat – was going to pay. Once she had recollected herself, she and Alya made their way to class. They ended up beating Adrien to class, so Marinette was able to take her seat in peace. She plopped down in the seat and rested her head against the table, finally relaxing.
"So are you going to tell me what is up with Adrien?" Alya asked.
"I dunno..." Marinette mumbled. "I just really, really don't know..."
That's when the blond entered the room. He said his hellos to Nino and then went up a step to stand in front of Marinette. He grinned down at her while she matched his enthusiasm with an equally emotional glare. "Someone's grumpy," he giggled before dipping down and kissing her cheek once again.
"Adrien!" Marinette yelped before burying her face. The boy had his tongue jutting past his teeth as he hurried to sit down as the bell rang. He was right; she was letting him get away with more. Marinette would have already decked him if he had the kitty ears and tail.
After class he stood and waited for her, all the while Alya and Nino keeping an eye on the strange pair. Marinette stayed two steps behind him, urging him to keep moving ahead of her as she walked. The group all stopped in the hall to decide on lunch, and Marinette managed to stay just out of Adrien's reach.
"Are you OK, Marinette?" Nino asked. The question fell on deaf ears as Marinette was too focused on leaning away from the leaning blond waiting to strike. "Mari?"
"Huh?" She snapped back up straight and Adrien pecked her cheek once more. "Oooh!" She stomped her foot and turned to yell, but cut herself off before letting her emotions get too out of control. It wouldn't make sense for her to actually call him out on his behavior in front of everyone, so she snatched his wrist and yanked him off to the side.
"What are you doing?!" she fussed.
"Testing," Adrien answered simply, smiling innocently.
"Testing what?"
"How much you'll let me get away with, My Lady," he grinned and tried to sneak another kiss, but this time Marinette pushed his face away. "Chat Noir would have never gotten away with all of this."
"Uh-uh," she nagged. "Stop right there, Silly Kitty." He pouted a bit, but ultimately had to accept that he had gotten farther in one day than he ever had in their entire time fighting together.
"Fine, fine," he droned, "But it's lunchtime!" He snatched her wrist and yanked her along to get food.
"Plagg, for the last time, you've had enough," Adrien fussed. The little cat pouted in his bag, shaking the empty container of cheese in the air. "You're gonna get fat, and then what'll I do?"
"What's your problem?" Marinette asked, startling the blond.
"M-Marinette!" Adrien squeaked. He hadn't expected her to be there, that was all. She didn't actually scare him. Just startled. Plagg flew up out of his bag to greet the girl, landing on her shoulder and sniffing her hair. "What're you doing, Plagg?"
"Just a little meet-n-greet!" Plagg answered cutely. He drifted down into Marinette's hands and let out a whimper.
"Oh, what's your problem, little guy?" Marinette cooed, bringing him a little closer.
"Just hungry, is all..." Plagg mumbled. "It's been a while."
"An hour is not a while," Adrien deadpanned.
"All I wanted was a little piece of cheese!" Plagg wailed dramatically. "And what do I get? Lint! And cologne!"
"Cheese?" Marinette giggled. "Do you like cream cheese, Plagg?"
The kwami's eyes lit up and sat straight with a large grin on his face, nodding enthusiastically. Marinette pulled out a bagel coated in cream cheese, handing it to the cat. "There you go, little guy."
"She's a keeper, Adrien!" Plagg announced through a too-large bite.
"Ah, he's so cute," Marinette said in her best baby voice, receiving a child-like grin in return from the kwami.
"I see he's already got you brainwashed..." Adrien groaned.
As they all started to walk back from lunch, Adrien decided to press his luck again. He knew he was eventually going to pay for this, but at the moment he didn't really care.
He walked right behind Marinette, who was shivering and chattering in the winter air as she talked with Alya. The two were giggling and going on about whatever girls went on about, Adrien didn't really care. He wrapped his arms around Marinette's crossed ones, taking hold of her wrists and burying his face in her hair. She smelled like vanilla and cherry, which made him think of Ladybug.
So did the elbow he got in his ribs.
"A-Adrien, don't sneak up on me like that!" Marinette fussed, stuttering over her words as she tried to help him up.
"I think I deserve something for that, Princess," he smirked through his pain.
Marinette rolled her eyes and hauled the idiot back onto his feet. "No more kisses."
"Fine, fine." He thought for a moment, then did the next best thing to kiss. He nuzzled against her arm and rubbed his head against her like a cat, which flustered the girl to no end.
"What, are you a cat, now?" she quipped.
"Mrow?"
And Alya and Nino were sure their friends had lost their minds.
