Alright guys… I'm back! Time to make the end of these snippets less sour.

If you read my square story, then you'd know my NEW ACCOUNT (dundundun) is indefinitelyaerequets on fanfiction and indefinitely on ao3. I made a new account to post a story called Strong Woman Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Updates regularly, and I've prewritten it so I won't be abandoning it :) Check it out!

I posted it on a new account because… well, I don't really know, but it's too late now. I came back to this account and realized the stuff on here isn't all too bad, so I can keep posting if I write anything not related to that story I mentioned earlier which you should totally check out by the way.

So, what better to offset the frankly very un-classy previous chapter than one full of SICKENING SWEETNESS? It was going to be Lila salt because I hate Lila, but I tried writing that and kinda sorta failed because, unlike in Strong Woman Marinette, she's not… actually, I won't spoil it because that's not what an author does to something that their readers will read. 'Cus you will read it. Right? :)

Enough self-advertising. I'm actually going to write now.

(This is based firmly in my belief that Marinette fell super-mega-hard for Adrien when he laughed, like his loud belly laugh,and she has never heard Chat laugh...so… ;))

~Ladybug starts rating Chat's pick-up lines.~

She started doing it kind of out of the blue.

After witty comebacks, scoffing, rolling her eyes, pushing him back by the nose, even flirting back… after trying out lots of methods of responding to Chat's lame puns and pick up lines and none really feeling right, Marinette came up with a brilliant idea. She was ashamed to admit that the idea came to her through Chloe—watching Chloe rate a girl's outfit snidely, no less—but it was a good idea nonetheless. Or at least, she thought so.

"You're going to rate his lines?" Tikki asked skeptically. "That's… unique."

"Believe me," Marinette assured, "it'll work. I give Chat anything under an 8 and he'll, at the very least, do some research before trying again. His ego is like that when it comes to his puns." She made a victory fist, grinning wide. "It'll buy me some sweet silence."

If Tikki had eyebrows, she'd be raising one. "I thought you liked his puns. You laugh at them."

Marinette became unbelievably flustered for such an offhand comment. Her cheeks bloomed red. "T-that's not true!" She pointed at her kwami dramatically. "That's only sometimes when I'm off my guard! And sure, they're not awful, not all the time, but—" She paused as if catching herself. "No. I am going through with this. He should at least upgrade his puns, right?"

Tikki shook her head. "Whatever you say, Marinette. You're doing this to procrastinate on your homework, aren't you?" Marinette jolted before staring at the offending textbooks sitting on her desk innocently. She groaned and slumped down in her chair.

"I'll actually do it though," she muttered as she cracked a cover open. "I'll rate his lines."

Tikki shook her head again, sighing out with a smile.

…

They were in the midst of battling some mediocre akuma, nothing special, just the two of them like the old days. It was unremarkable; maybe a few months ago, when they were newer to the superheroing job, an akuma that could slam rocks out of the ground with their sword would prove intimidating. But now it was more like a chore. Do the dishes; clean your room; purify super-strong akuma with giant sword.

They dodged another flurry of rocks in synchrony. Ladybug was looking around for an opening when Chat's gloved hand extended into her vision. She sent him a questioning look.

"My Lady," he grinned. Oh, no. She knew what that grin meant. "Would you mind holding this while I go on a walk through the park?" He wiggled his fingers.

The akuma swung at them again, driving them apart as they dodged in opposite directions. "Give me your Miraculous!" Ladybug called on her Lucky Charm (a barrel of tar) and considered it as she glanced around the area. Meeting Chat's eyes from across the clearing, she darted in. Big swords were well and all, but harder to pull in on account of sudden close-range combat. The akuma might have been too strong, but he wasn't very fast. She hefted the barrel into the air and slid from between the akuma's legs. True to his nature, Chat understood in a heartbeat and leapt over the akuma's head, casting his Cataclysm on the barrel so that it disintegrated and the sticky tar glopped out, most of it down on the sword that the akuma held with both hands—rendering the villain nearly immobile, save for his legs. Before the akuma could think of kicking out with his feet, Ladybug darted in again and snatched the item, a photograph, from his chest pocket and ripped it in half.

Easy as pie. The akuma was purified and Miraculous Ladybug was cast upon the city, undoing any damage. Chat and Ladybug both had four minutes left. Their fists met in their customary fistbump. "Pound it!"

Ladybug retracted her hand. "Three things." Chat, who was making to leave, stopped and turned back to her with curiosity.

"What?"

"Asking for favors in pick-up lines doesn't leave a good impression. That's minus two points." His confused expression made her smirk widen. "Second, timing is very important when it comes to pick-up lines. The effect is lessened when both parties have to dodge a sword. That's minus three points." Finally, with the biggest shit-eating grin she could muster, she finished with, "Although, asking to hand-hold is very tame and could be endearing to some. I give you one point back for that."

She threw her yoyo out so that it caught onto a random building in the distance. Her earrings and his ring beeped down to three minutes each. "Six out of ten." She winked at him right as realization dawned on his face and pulled on her yoyo, flying off into the skyline of Paris.

Her plan should work.

…

Actually… her plan completely flopped on itself. Chat returned with puns and pick-up lines with vigor every time they met so that nearly everything out of his mouth was one of the two. In the past week, he must have told hundreds. According to him, he was trying to get a good score. "At least a nine," he'd grinned, "one for each life."

And, well… she wasn't too mad about it. It was actually lots of fun. He came back sometimes with ridiculously bad, obviously-Googled dialogue that would serve for a good laugh, and rating his lines was more fun than she'd expected it to be. She had yet to give him anything more than a 7. She found it especially funny when he got offended over the super low scores his cat puns got.

If nothing is perfect, you must be nothing. 4/10.

Give me back my heart, thief! 5/10.

Come on, I amewse you at least a little, right? 3/10 for the pun (followed by, Are you kitten me?! Lowered to 2/10).

Are your parents bakers? Because you're a cutie pie. (She'd totally freaked out and yelled out 1 before he'd even finished. Oops…?)

One week later, he was still bent on getting at least a 9. In her opinion, it was an awfully high goal to shoot for, but she didn't really mind.

"You're awfully happy," Tikki noted. Marinette was humming as her pen hovered over algebraic equations; Marinette detested mathematics most of all. She paused in her homework and gazed at her kwami with a smile on her face.

"Really?" She set her pen down and leaned back in her chair contentedly. "I guess it's been a good day."

"Or a good week," Tikki commented. Marinette didn't deny anything and the little kwami's smile grew. "The rating seems to have been a good idea."

A snort escaped Marinette before she'd even realized. "He's trying so hard. I didn't think he would take it so far."

"He's stubborn like you," Tikki remarked. Marinette pouted at that. "Say, isn't it almost time for your patrol?"

Marinette blinked and lurched forward, checking the time on her computer. "You're right! I almost forgot. Thanks, Tikki." She stood up and faced her kwami with a grin, seeming more excited for patrol than usual. "Ready?"

"Just say the words."

"Tikki, transform me!"

…

They met at the Eiffel tower like usual. Chat was already sitting on a rung when she arrived, and despite her attempts at landing as quiet as possible, his ears still swiveled in her direction.

"Good meowrning, My Lady," he purred as he stood up. She cocked her hip.

"It's evening. Three out of ten." At his affronted look, she giggled and explained, "Timing."

"The lady doth protest too much," he sniffed, though clearly in good humor. She raised her eyebrows right as he waggled his and leaned in. "Dear saint, let lips do what hands do."

"Hah!" She pushed him back. "Now Shakespeare?" Secretly, she was a little thrilled. She didn't think Chat, who had previously proven to be some sort of physics-and-maths nerd, to be into Shakespearean literature.

"What can I say? He's the connoisseur of love and master of timeless tales."

"Except you quoted Romeo and Juliet, the tragic tale of star-crossed lovers," Ladybug said. He stiffened. "Another three, I have to say. Not very effective for a pick-up line."

He sighed melodramatically. "I tried. Brevity is the soul of wit, after all."

She grinned and placed a hand on her chest. My turn. It wasn't often she played along, but this was Shakespeare they were talking about. She couldn't not, not when literature was one of her most favorite subjects and the legendary Romeo and Juliet one story of many that she had reread countless times. "Chat Noir, Chat Noir, wherefore art thou such a nerd, Chat Noir?"

He stared at her. She suddenly felt prickly and embarrassed; an unusual feeling to be had while she was in suit. Did I go too far? Does he even get it? No, he must get it, he said something about Romeo and Juliet, and then quoted Hamlet. Unless he just googled those and isn't interested in Shakespeare… She dropped her hand and fidgeted, feeling her face begin to flush. However, she heard a snort and looked up.

His face puffed up before he finally let loose a laugh. A long, rich laugh that had him doubled over. She stared at him, eyes bugged out, as the sound of his laugh rung clear and loud around the top of the Eiffel Tower. The embarrassment in her chest quickly fragmented into small little warm pieces that melted the longer he laughed.

She'd never heard him laugh before. Not like that.

He straightened up and wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. "Hah, that was amazing," he chuckled. "Or should I say amewzing. Lots of people use wherefore as a substitution for 'where', but you actually used it right." Little laughs sprung forth from him as his laughing fit simmered down. "You amaze me more and more every time."

Now she was the one staring at him. She could still hear his laugh even though it'd died down. Why was it like this? All he'd done was laugh, yet somehow her being registered it as some big event; maybe because he'd never laughed in front of her before like that. His snickers, simpers and smirks didn't hold a candle to that whole-bellied laugh. She could hear him laugh like that all day.

Ten. Ten. Ten. Her fingers twitched as she returned from her reverie. That's a ten.

She didn't register much else until she realized he was gawking, eyes two green orbs in the night quickly settling in. "Ten?" He asked. "Wait, which part?"

She blinked once, twice, three times before realizing her internal mantra of Ten wasn't as internal as she'd thought. And now she was blushing. She quickly snapped her wrist and tugged on the taut string of her yoyo, sailing off. However, Chat was right at her side in an instant. He was the only one who could keep up, and so she couldn't escape her problems with her yoyo when it came to him.

"I need to know!" He sounded excited. "Was it the Romeo and Juliet line? Or the Hamlet? Or"—he gasped—"the cat pun!"

"No!" She blurted, willing herself to speed up. He was still at her side. Darn him—he was always a little bit faster. "I take it back. One! One out of ten!"

"You gave me a ten!" Chat shouted in glee, voice carrying over the wind slapping at their faces. "I got a ten!" He laughed again and she almost slipped.

Darn his laugh!

Awww how cute… now go read Strong Woman Marinette Dupain Cheng. Or else…

Or else nothing. I'm not like that Hope you enjoyed this snippet! Like I said before, I'll keep posting here if I make any new snippets. I guess I'm officially back from hiatus. But I'll be frequently updating my other story, so check it out if you want a multi-chapter read