Shall We Dance?- A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction

Chapter 14

Marinette swore again as she accidentally stabbed herself with another pin. Normally, sewing was the one thing she was good and coordinated at but with her mind running at a million miles an hour, and her rushing because she was behind, there was just no way for her to solely focus on her work. Friday night had been magical. She'd kissed Chat Noir. She'd kissed Chat Noir. She'd been elated and on cloud nine all weekend but as Monday rolled around, her nerves started to get the best of her. Tikki tried to talk her down but it didn't do any good; she'd still woken up super early, paced her room, worried about what to wear, debated about actually trying a new hairstyle, and what would she say? She couldn't just walk up and go, "Good Morning Adrien Agreste. I know you're Chat Noir, superhero of Paris, and I know you know I'm Ladybug, other superhero of Paris, and we totally had a make-out session on the Eiffel Tower Friday night. Can we do that again like right now?"

Not that it mattered. Adrien was out again because of a modeling job and Mari deflated when Nino told them. Alya eyed her before shooting Nino a look. Mari was sure that she was going to be hounded with questions again about her response to the news but for some reason, the questions never came. Nino and Alya stayed silent all day.

After school, Alya came over to work on the project with Mari. They had a pleasant time, talking and snacking and working, until she finally went home closer to nine just so Mari could focus a bit on her dress (which she'd been severely slacking on for the last week since she hadn't been in the mood).

Then came Tuesday and still no Adrien. Mari was sure she was going to lose her mind with the anticipation. She wasn't as lucky today about the questions because as soon as lunch rolled around the three of them went off to grab a quick bite. Nino, surprisingly, started it.

"So are you and Adrien good now? Are you official," he asked around a mouth full of sandwich. Mari coughed, nearly spitting out the tea she'd been drinking. Alya patted her back until she stopped coughing then offered her a napkin to clean her chin.

"Official? Official what? You don't mean...."

"He means it." Alya leaned closer, eyes twinkling in a dangerous manner at her. "But spill girl. We've been watching and we know what's up. You've been real down since Adrien's been out for the last two days." Mari ducked her head, cheeks flaming, eyes shifting a bit.

"A-Adrien and I are alright," she finally said, "but-but we're not official or anything." Nino smirked and Alya narrowed her eyes.

"I'm still in."

"Yeah but I'm still going to win." Marinette eyed the both of them.

"You didn't." Both of them smiled at her innocently. "Oh god... you did. You made a bet on me and Adrien." Nino snickered and leaned back in his seat.

"Yeah but at least all of it's on you and Adrien." Alya kicked him under the table and narrowed her eyes at him before hissing, "Babe, we agreed to not share the details of anything remember? No cracks?" He flinched. Leaning down, he rubbed the spot she kicked. Now it was her turn to question.

"Alya," Marinette sing-songed, "what's the bet? You know you want to share." The brown-haired girl shook her head and stood up, refusing to say anything else and turning to Nino didn't work either as he was looking anywhere but at her. Plus, he was within his right mind to fear Alya's wrath. Marinette sighed but stood up as well, knowing that arguing wasn't going to get her any answers.

Not that she didn't try. She did. However, Alya was on to her and kept sneaking away with Nino or making it impossible to say anything. So, Marinette ended up going home without any answers and a sneaking suspicion that her friends were up to something; something that her and Adrien were going to regret.

"You need to be careful Marinette," Tikki trilled, bringing her a Band-Aid and back to reality. She took it gratefully and wrapped it around her finger with a smile. "If you keep this up, your dress will be more red than pink."

"I'm not spilling that much blood but I will be more careful," she assured her, giving her cheek a gentle poke. Tikki giggled and flew to the top of the dress model.

Mari's dress was coming along beautifully. The corset was already pinned and ready for sewing. She had decided at the last minute to add two low lying, wrap-sleeves made from the same, thin material as the skirt. They would wrap around the upper part of her arm before connecting in the back. The skirt, which was interchanging layers of silver and pink, was going to be the most work for her but she already had the first layer of the same satin material as the corset sewn and was currently working on the second. This layer was made out of silver tulle. The final layer was going to be the sheer, shimmery lace pink. In all, three layers. Three really annoying layers to sew and assemble. She sighed as she pinned the last piece of the tulle into place. She sat back on her heels before smiling up at Tikki who smiled down at her.

"You know, I've been thinking Tikki," Mari said, standing and moving to her desk. There was a plate of cookies and some drink, and she picked up one of the cookies to munch on as she continued with, "Realizing that Adrien is Chat was kind of... anti-climactic for me."

Tikki flew down to join her. Picking up her own cookie, she stared at her. "Was it supposed to be dramatic or something?"

"Well no but... I don't know. It just feels a little disappointing." She leaned back in her chair. "I want to do something to make it a little bit more interesting." Tikki giggled.

"What do you have in mind?" Marinette turned back to her friend, her eyes narrowed, a devious smirk on her face, and a plan already on her mind for terrorizing her poor kitty.

Starting with school tomorrow.

****

On Wednesday, Adrien had to be losing his mind. Or his sight. Both? Could he lose both at the same time? Of course he could. But god, what a way to go in one sitting.

He rubbed his eyes as he and Nino walked up the steps of the school. In front of them were Alya and Marinette. They'd arrived a few minutes ahead of them and were animatedly talking about something, missing the two of them arriving just behind them, greeting each other as normal, and then following them inside. Nino looked at him confused.

"You alright dude?"

Adrien blinked. "Y-yeah. I'm fine." He swallowed hard and pointed to Marinette's back. "Is she.... Is she wearing a cat outfit?"

Nino turned to see what he saw and he raised an eyebrow. Marinette didn't seem to be any different. At first. She still had her hair parted in her traditional pigtails but the ribbons weren't red, they were neon green. Looking lower, he then noted that her jacket wasn't gray, it was black with a matching neon green paw sewn onto the back. She had on a knee length skirt, a belted tail, and black ballet flats. It took him only a couple of seconds to realize what she was doing and he snickered before playfully tapping Adrien on the shoulder. "Yeah man. She totally is. Hey Marinette," Nino called. Adrien's face exploded red and he reached over to stop him. It was too late. The girls spun around, a knowing grin crossing Marinette's face. Alya raised an eyebrow but waved at the two of them as well.

"Morning," she called. She turned and stopped to wait for them, giving Adrien a complete view of her outfit. She wore a green shirt with angled black stripes on it. The jacket front had tiny green paw prints walking across it. She smiled brightly at them.

As they walked closer, Adrien's redness became more pronounced and he definitely could not meet Marinette's expression. Nino whistled. "So Mari. What's up with the wardrobe change?" She shrugged.

"Just wanted to. What? Alya's not the only one who can show her superhero pride."

"Didn't say that. Just didn't realize you were such a big Chat Noir fan."

She chuckled, "I'm claiming the number one fan title." She nodded and winked towards Adrien, "Without a doubt." The two girls shared a giggle as they turned to continue on to class and Nino tapped his shoulder again with a snicker before following. Adrien was left with his mouth hanging open once more.

He had no idea what was going on but whatever it was, it could continue for the rest of forever.