Future Tales of the Miraculous

Chapter 4

*Back to present day*

Chat Noir watched the vivid city under him, wiping the remaining sleep out of his eyes.  When he had first awoken from his rooftop catnap, he thought someone was watching him from the sky. A woman shrouded behind some sort of barrier or veil, maybe? He could have sworn he heard a voice echo from her while he slumbered, a voice murmuring words too soft to understand. She also seemed familiar somehow. It must've been a weird dream, he decided, shrugging it off.

Soon his red and black clad partner would join him here on the rooftop; the thought of seeing her was sending a buzz of anticipation through him.  A week had passed since they revealed their identities to each other, yet there was little discussion between them since. It didn't help that this week was particularly quiet in the crime-fighting front. Regardless, Adrien determined that part of the problem was Nathaniel, who seemed to be constantly by Marionette's side at school.  Every daytime attempt Adrien made to pull Marinette aside for a conversation seemed foiled by the annoying redhead.  Just thinking about him brought about a brooding storm of a mood reflected in the blonde's sour face. 

At least he was somewhat successful in intercepting her today, if only for a few moments.  Earlier at school, he spotted the distracted bluenette alone at her locker. The blonde slyly approached her as she absentmindedly rummaged together a stack of books and materials for her next class. Faintly humming to herself, she closed her locker door and turned to leave, only to walk right into his hard chest.

"Oh!  I'm so sorry!"  Marinette immediately apologized, diving down to pick up her book and supplies without so much a glance at him.  The blonde chuckled softly, crouching to the floor and helping her with the fallen items.  It wasn't until they both rose from the floor that Marinette finally looked up and realized it was him, wearing a wide grin back at her.

"Adrien....." She stammered. 

After confirming they were alone, Adrien leaned into Marinette, forcing her to back into the locker door.  Her cheeks blushed lightly, highlighting the light freckles that spread across her nose.  When he gingerly tucked strands of indigo hair behind her ear, Adrien could smell the citrusy fragrance of her shampoo lingering in her still damp hair.  His hand left her ear and softly journeyed the outline of her shoulder down to her hand.   A wave of relief hit him when he was back in her presence.

"We should talk.  Meet up for patrol at the usual spot tonight?"  He requested, eyes rising back to hers after they followed his trailing fingers. 

Not budging, Adrien continued, "This week has been quite lonely.  Im starting to think you're avoiding me."

His gaze flickered down to her lips before he subconsciously licked his own.  Time seemed to stand still until the warning bell rang, snapping the bluenette out of her stupor.

"Yes! I mean, sure.  I, we, should get going to class now," Marinette replied while managing a quick nod, letting out a soft, nervous laughter. 

"Hmmm,  well I guess we should hurry, huh?"

Adrien freed her then, amusement crossing his features from the effect he was having on her.  She followed behind in the short distance to their next class, hugging her stack of belongings closely and doing a poor job of hiding her reddening face.

Without warning, the grinning blonde surprised Marinette with a soft peck on her forehead, something he would normally only do to Ladybug, and threw a wink at her before going ahead through the classroom door.  A frazzled Marinette stood frozen for a moment, attempting to process what just happened.  She looked around for a moment, relieved to see the halls were empty.  Once inside the classroom, the beet-red Marinette made a beeline past Adrien's row to her seat next to Alya, trying her best to keep her eyes off the blonde.  Adrien leaned back in his chair, turning to hold a leisured gaze back at her and replying to her darted, returning glances with a knowing smirk.