Heyo!

Yep, still in ladynoir hell. Still taking tumblr prompts. Nothing has changed.

Summary: Prompt - "Hi! If you want to, I recommend writing some Marinette/Chat Noir interactions! I love when they're together because there are so many interesting dynamics going on: Adrien getting to know Marinette but not when she's stumbling over every word she says to him, and Ladybug getting to know Chat but when he's reacting to her as a civilian instead of a superhero."

Word count: 1143

Warnings: none!

Disclaimer: you flatter me if you think for a second that I actually own them

Enjoy!

—

Chat Noir laughed as he flew through the air. Despite how much he grumbled about it, he really liked going on patrols - it gave him a chance to get away from his father and just leap around the Paris skyline like it was his own playground.

His mood dropped slightly as he caught sight of the park - the signal that his short burst of freedom was almost over.

Ah well, I was fun while it lasted, he thought to himself, before spotting a small figure climbing to the top of the carousel. Who on Earth would be doing something like- wait, is that Marinette?

Chat Noir stopped in his tracks and mulled over his options. Marinette was incredibly shy - she could barely say two words without stuttering! - so she probably wouldn't appreciate a superhero dropping by and asking her why she was up there… but… she looked so incredibly… sad.

Despite not knowing her well, he didn't want her to be by herself, in the middle of the night, upset on the top of the carousel. Even though that was a strange choice of location.

Without completely understanding what he was doing - what was he going to say? ask? do? - Adrien found himself swinging over to land next to her, making her jump.

"What's a mademoiselle like yourself doing up here at such a late hour?" he asked, falling back on the slightly cocky persona of Chat Noir.

Marinette stared up at him for a few seconds, which was enough for Adrien to completely regret everything he was doing. Of course she wanted to be left alone, and how was she supposed to react to a superhero standing next to-

"Just… needed to clear my head I guess," she responded softly.

She didn't stutter.

"What required the clearing of thoughts, if you don't mind me asking?" he murmured, sitting down next to her and swinging his legs over the side.

"I seriously doubt a superhero of Paris wants to hear my everyday problems," Marinette chuckled bitterly, eyes downcast.

Something inside Adrien ached for his classmate. To him, she had always been a upbeat, jumbly ball of nerves, and it didn't fit right, her looking like this.

"Try me," he told her.

Marinette raised en eyebrow at him skeptically. "Well… I really like designing clothes and things like that," she started.

Chat Noir nodded. You're really good at it too, he thought.

"So today I was wearing a jacket I made recently - my friend had convinced me to, but there's this girl in my class who really hates me-"

Chloe, Adrien thought, sorrowful understanding sinking to his stomach.

"—And she told Sabrina - this girl that always follows her around - to come a bit too close with scissors."

"What, really?" he asked her, shocked because yea, Chloe could be a bit mean sometimes but to go that far…

"Yea, not to mention I can't seem to be any form of coherent around the guy I like," she sighed "well… more non-coherent then normal anyway."

If she's that bad around me, I can't imagine how much worse it would be when she's around him, he thought to himself, feeling a pang of sympathy for her.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, it seems like my feelings are never going to get reciprocated, despite having perfect coherency," he told her playfully.

She giggled slightly, and Chat Noir perked up slightly - hearing her laugh was a lot nicer. "Yea, but isn't that because you're a flirt?" she smiled, "after all, I doubt Ladybug's going to want to date someone like that."

Chat's cheeks burned red underneath his mask. "H-how do you know I like Ladybug?" he spluttered.

"Chat, I think approximately half of Paris knows."

He groaned and brought his hands up to his eyes. "I'm not a flirt," he mumbled resolutely, "… I just don't know what to do around her half the time, stuff like that end up coming out."

Marinette did a double-take. "Really?" she asked, awe lacing her voice.

"Yeah, it's horrible - y'know when you say something really stupid and you just regret it as soon as it comes out?" he told her, "it pretty much started out like that, but now it's kind of just turned into some kind of system."

The girl next to him giggled again and the red flush crept down his neck. "Hey, I didn't laugh at you!" he pouted.

"I'm sorry," she apologised, smiling.

She was pretty when she smiled. It was nice to see her like this - without all the red-faced encounters, and awkward sentences; just… normal.

It felt weird, talking as if they had known each other for ages and taking turns trying to make each other laugh to forget what troubles they had ended up spilling on the top of the carousel at half past midnight.

Marinette yawned and he realised that most people didn't usually stay up this late.

"I'd better go," she told him softly, "before my mum walks in and realises I'm not there or something."

Chat Noir smiled at her. "Well, at least you seem a bit happier now," he hummed, "and I had fun as well, so it was nice talking to you…"

He remembered that she had never mentioned her name, so he kept quiet.

"Marinette," she supplied, before standing up, arms outstretched, "it was nice talking to you as well."

With that, she flipped over the side, waved back at him, and walked off.

Adrien was, in a word, stunned. To think Marinette - that clumsy, fumbling girl that sat behind him - could do something like that, or make him laugh like that or look so sad.

He had made two conclusions from the time he had spent with her. The first was that he would try to talk to her more in class, she seemed like a good friend and he liked the sound of her laugh, and the way she spoke without stuttering.

The second, was that he was definitely not letting Chloe off about this.

—

Yoooooo who doesn't know how to end things? Me. As per usual.

Please tell me what you thought, any major mistakes and if you got any prompts you wanna send my way, please do!

As always,

Thornsword.