SHIELD likes Miraculous

Chapter 16

"Just your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man," he begins, giving Marinette a nervous wave as he clings to the side of her window. He should talk to her while he's here, he decides, and make sure she's okay. "Can I come in?"

Marinette hesitates, her eyes squinting in her indecisiveness. She exhales, as if bracing herself, before finally giving him a welcoming smile. "Of course! Come on in."

She steps aside to let him in, and he flips onto her bedroom floor. "Impressive," she says, as he turns to her, in a tone that implies she's not actually impressed.

"I know," he states coolly, ignoring her tone and puffing out his chest. She jumps off buildings for a living, that doesn't mean his acrobatics aren't really, really cool. "I thought I should get your thoughts on Chat Noir, given your first-hand experience," he says before she can ask, moving to relax on her chaise.

"Why do you need my thoughts? Why not ask Alya? She knows more about him than I do," she sounds suspicious as she moves to join him. He can see the gears turning inside her head as  she tries to understand.

'Because I could use them to my advantage'  is probably not the best answer, but he's not one to mess up this opportunity.  His smile is hidden behind his mask as he gives a cheeky, "I had hoped for free sweets..."

Marinette lets out what he thinks is a sweet giggle, and he smiles to himself, relaxing farther into the chaise.

-

 What it actually is, is a nervous giggle, letting out her confusion and frustrations. Did he follow her here? Does he know who she is?

And, more importantly, why does he want to talk about Chat Noir?

She decides to ask him just that.

-

He hasn't thought of an answer for that. He'd made up his reason for being here on the spot! He scrambles for an answer and hurries out, "I know he and Ladybug are close, and he's very protective of her, but he's not as open as Ladybug, and I'd like to know what it is I'm getting myself into-"

"And what exactly do you think you're getting yourself into?" Marinette interjects, an eyebrow moving to join her hairline, and sounding quite annoyed.

"Not- not 'getting myself into' in a bad way,"  he stammers, trying desperately to un-offend her. Her other eyebrow joins its sister. "I- I just mean that- that he hasn't liked me very much before now, and I really don't want to mess this friendship up by offending him. Again." He tries to convey sincerity from behind his mask.

"That's," Marinette pauses, mulling his excuse over, "very sweet of you." He nods his head in solemn agreement, when she shoots up and informs him that she's going to bring them some croissants to eat while they talk.

This was not a bad idea at all.

He looks around the room curiously, trying to find anything that he might have missed. If anything, there is more pictures of Adrien posted on the walls. This should not be making his stomach twist in the way that it is.

He's just about to get up and investigate when Marinette pops her head back into her room. His mouth salivates when he sees her push the plate of croissants across the floor (being Spider-Man and swinging around Paris is a lot of work) and she rushes back into the room. 

He gratuitously takes the plate from her, yanking his mask up to his nose, and practically shoves the food down his throat. After he's gobbled down his first croissant and started on his second, he notices Marinette watching him intently, eyes calculative as she likely tries to figure him out, all while picking parts off of her own croissant to nibble on.