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“Would you kiss me?”
The words were like a smack to the head, pulling Chat abruptly from his inattentive thoughts back to the girl who had previously been working over her desk, but was now facing him with her brows drawn in distractedly.
“K-k-...you...wait,” he stuttered, sitting up from his reclining position on the chaise. Marinette’s eyes dropped to his as his mind processed her question. “Are you- is that a request or a hypothetical situation?”
Marinette blushed, as though she had just realized she had spoken her thoughts aloud.
“I was just thinking- I mean, I was talking with some friends today… just playing a stupid game...” Adrien realized suddenly what she meant. Alya and Nino had started a game of would you rather that had quickly devolved into challenging one another on who the other, and eventually their painfully embarrassed best friends, would be willing to make out with - among other things. Chat Noir and Ladybug had been immediate affirmatives for both Alya and Nino, and eventually Marinette had agreed, though she was cherry-red and clearly uncomfortable with the thought. Adrien had had his own reasons to be embarrassed, since the fantasy of kissing Ladybug was one he spent considerable time refusing to indulge in, and kissing himself was just weird to imagine. The game had ended, however, when Alya had gotten a sly look and asked him if he would kiss Marinette.
“Alya!” Marinette had yelled, “that’s not the game!”
“Fine, fine,” Alya conceded, her smirk not diminishing in the slightest, “Would you rather kiss Marinette or Nino?”
Adrien had chuckled nervously, “Is this one of those no-win scenarios where whatever I choose one friend will refuse to speak to me forever?”
“Darn right!” Nino jumped in to try to alleviate the tension. “In fact,” he continued melodramatically, “I would probably swear revenge and murder you for my wounded pride.”
This time Adrien’s laugh was real. “Well then it looks like I have to choose Nino!” he smiled gratefully at his friend. “Sorry, Marinette.” His petite friend was beet-red and glaring daggers at Alya. She was saved from replying by the bell signalling the end of lunch, yet the questions raised by their game had lingered in Adrien’s mind for the rest of the day - and also, apparently, in Marinette’s.
***
Realizing from where Marinette’s question had come allowed Chat to find his footing in the conversation. “I see,” he grinned, “and you were wondering what it would be like to kiss a superhero.” He flexed cheekily at her.
Marinette laughed. “No, you silly cat. Although, that did come up,” she teased, and Chat knew that if he hadn’t (unbeknownst to her) been a part of the conversation the jab would have piqued his curiosity as she’d intended.
“As it frequently does, I hope.” He didn’t take her bait. “But if that wasn’t what had you thinking about kissing, what was?”
Marinette hesitated. She hadn’t expected to talk about this with Chat - too be honest, she hadn’t had any thought at all before opening her mouth. Her mind had been on Adrien’s reply, and his complete lack of interest in kissing her. But Chat didn’t know any of this, and it was tempting to confide in her partner with the added security of her civilian anonymity.
In the end, she caved to the temptation. “My best friend asked the boy I like if he would want to kiss me and… well, he clearly didn’t.” She laughed reproachfully. “I’ve been trying to make him notice me for months - acting like a stuttering idiot, I might add - and now I know that he’s not even a little bit interested. So… I guess I was just feeling a bit self-conscious and undesirable and….” she trailed off, noticing that Chat’s stare had frozen in an indecipherable expression. Marinette realised he may be uncomfortable with her confession, and self-consciously changed direction. “You don’t have to answer that question. It was silly, I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Meanwhile, Chat couldn’t reply or allay her discomfort. His brain was fritzing out on the fact that Marinette liked him. Marinette was uncomfortable around Adrien because she had a crush on him. The knowledge rattled him, upset the very foundation of what he had thought their relationship to be. And yet… the thought was centering, in its own way. He would have had to have been blind to miss how pretty his classmate was - and she was intelligent, capable, brave in the way she faced down injustice. In fact, she had a lot of the qualities he admired in Ladybug. Ladybug, who shut down his advances and scoffed at his flirtation. Ladybug was his friend, his partner… and his unattainable dream. Here was a girl, a friend, who liked - and wanted to kiss - both sides of him, even though she didn’t know the two were actually one. Marinette, who was suddenly very real, and very close. Chat’s spiralling thoughts found purchase on that one truth, and he didn’t want to pull away. In fact, he leaned in.
“You didn’t answer the question, princess: request or hypothetical?” He was close enough that his breath brushed her mouth as he exhaled.
Marinette’s breath caught as her mind stuttered to a standstill. His question echoed dully in her brain, but it couldn’t grasp their meaning. And Chat was so close, his expression open and questioning and interested. She remembered how to breathe, but that didn’t help clear her thoughts, because inhaling only drew her attention to the clean, sharp smell of Chat Noir, his soap mingling with the night air to become something intoxicating. He was midnight and mischief, and her most trusted friend - even if he didn’t know her in this form. Her partner was looking at Marinette, asking about kissing. And she couldn’t help herself, she leaned in, closing the last inches between them.
It was a brief kiss, sweet and chaste and no more than a few seconds, but it was as though the world stopped for the moments it lasted. Marinette whined involuntarily as they drew apart, then sighed as they drew back together with greater intensity. Chat breathed her in like she was the air he was suddenly desperate for, as his head swam and all thoughts of who he was or what he was doing scattered. A minute, or an eternity - he wasn’t sure- later, the kiss ended, and he came back to the present moment, to the room he was in and the girl who’s waist he had been gripping without realization. Marinette looked no more cognizant than he was; she didn’t seem to have realized yet that her arms had locked around his neck, and she appeared to have no intention of dropping them.
He pulled gently from the embrace, scratching at his black cat ear in a sudden burst of nerves. Later, he thought. Later he’d sort out the riot of emotions inside him, and figure out what this sudden interest in this blue-eyed girl meant. When he was alone and could actually think about something besides the oceans that had him enraptured.
“I… I’d better go,” Chat chuckled at the disappointment that flashed across Marinette’s face before she could mask it. He reached for her hand, and pulled it delicately to his lips. “It’s still a school night. But… thank you. Tonight was… surprising. But enjoyably so.”
Marinette laughed breathily. She cleared her throat, as her ability to speak slowly returned through the cotton that her mind had become. “For me as well,” she agreed hoarsely. “You’ll visit again?”
“Of course, Princess,” Chat affirmed, channeling the swagger that usually embodied his alter ego. “It’s hard to get rid of a stray once you’ve fed it.” He winked at her, and she flushed crimson. He almost apologized for making her uncomfortable, but then her eyes met his, and they were glowing with humor and affection.
“I’ll make sure to get some kibble and milk for next time then,” she sassed back, and Chat laughed outright. At her urging he vaulted up to the skylight, and extended his baton for the return to his home. Almost as an afterthought, he turned back to her.
“Oh, Marinette - that boy you like? He may not be as indifferent as you think.” He winked, then leapt off into the dark, leaving Marinette to try to decipher what he could have meant.