The sunlight filtered through the tall windows, dousing the bleak light of the library in morning light. The dust particles floated lazily like morning mist on a warm day. For all the vexations of this assignment, of being forced into this place for school purposes, the two teens sharing the space couldn't help being somewhat enchanted by the atmosphere. Marinette put her free hand into one of the rays, flicking her wrist slowly, watching the disturbed specks flutter in ethereal circles. Her other hand held her tired head, sluggish eyelids blinking above watery eyes.

Another yawn escaped, but it wasn't from her. When Marinette looked over at her partner, she saw moisture gathering in his own eyes as he stretched toward the ceiling, all pretense of "model behavior" gone with the tired action. The sight brought a smile to Marinette's lips…and another blush to her cheeks.

Taking advantage of his diverted eyes, Marinette pulled her hands to her cheeks, patting them hotly, wishing the betraying expression to vanish. It was a futile effort, but her nature quite often demanded action, useless or no. She didn't see Adrien's eyes turn to her until a chuckle from across the table necessitated her attention. Adrien was smiling, a tiredness in his eyes.

"Tired too?" he mumbled, another yawn, albeit smaller, pulling out from him.

"Mmm…" was all Marinette could utter. She didn't trust her words at the best of times, and a tired Marinette was even more of a weirdo than a fully-awake Marinette. She didn't want to take chances at actually formulating a response.

She was lost again to the ambience of her surroundings as she watched Adrien. Two years had been insufficient time to be used to his presence, to get used to the presence that was him. Gall, it sounded cheesy even to her – and she knew cheesy, thanks to Chat. There was something that had grown between them, though…some semblance of friendship. It wasn't from a lack of trying on his part, really; he did try to make conversation. But Marinette, while her stuttering had all but cured, still became markedly flustered when she was within the same vicinity as her current desk partner. Frustration didn't even cover the feeling of wanting to move on from this point.

And it was true for both of them, unbeknownst to either.

Adrien glanced at Marinette for the fourth time in the last five minutes. He had gathered as many books as he could make an excuse to get, trying in both parts to stay awake and stay mentally sober. Because sitting and watching Marinette, especially in this sleepy state, was making him close to losing consciousness. She had resumed playing in the fluttering light, and he could only stare as the small smile touched her lips again. That smile that he adored so much. The smile he had grown to lo-like so much. The smile that he caught on Marinette multiple times…and then had appeared on Ladybug just last night.

This morning?

What was it? He couldn't remember the time.

He shifted again, completely uncomfortable in his crawling skin. The want – the need – to just…touch her was stronger than he had anticipated. Thankful for the public area rather than something more intimate–

NO, no, HAHA NOT intimate. That was the, er, wrong word….

Adrien's leg shook under the desk while his face set itself aflame again. He covered his face with his hands. A breath he didn't realize he'd been holding puffed out with more force than he had anticipated. He tried to switch gears, tried desperately to get her out of his mind.

A stupid endeavor, really.

Instead, his mind floated back to the events of the pre-dawn morning.

The Akuma had sucked all the happiness that could have been a restful slumber out into the streets of Paris. And a bedhead Chat Noir (hardly a difference, really, to his normal Chat hair), and a fluttery-haired Ladybug jumped from building to building, silent, waiting for a moment to strike rather than immediately make their presence known. When they had finished, Chat quipped a pun. It was a pretty bad one ("Sleep comes so naturally to me, I could do it with my eyes closed."), and when he'd gone for a fist bump the next second, he was especially surprised to see a giggling Ladybug. A hand was pressed to her mouth, eyes gazing away from him. And when he looked more carefully, there it was…that smile. Hair down (a mess, but still beautiful), small smile, mirth-filled eyes, dainty frame….

It reminded him of his Princess.

And when he had decided to stop by Mari's house to see if she was, well, there…

…he totally by accident saw Ladybug drop into the skylight just a pink flashed shown through the windows. And when he peeked in his normal window he used for spying – no, observation – he saw Marinette and a little red…Kwami. He had nearly passed out. Instead, he just dropped to the concrete sidewalk below her window. And laid there. For quite a while.

The, um, observation (NOT STALKING) of his classmate of two years had begun the year before. She was cute, sure. He had admitted that point to himself when he had first met her. But it was Nino's pointed (and somewhat incensed) confession of Marinette's crush on him that had kickstarted his true stalki–observation stage. He had dropped in on her as Adrien and as Chat just for further OBSERVATION points (whether she, er, knew he was there or not) and got to know his classmate quite well.

(Fun fact he had learned…being Chat gave him absolutely no enhanced skills on Mecha Strike III.)

He gulped slightly, wide-eyed, he realized he was actually staring at the big blue eyes he had been daydreaming about when she suddenly flicked her eyes on him. She did a double-take. She had caught him staring.

Their cheeks collectively flushed.

The red close to her blue eyes was even further confirmation of the superheroine alter-ego, as if he needed it.

"I, uh…" Adrien started, scratching the back of his head. "I f-found a passage here that is pretty interesting."

"Oh, y-yeah?" Marinette answered dumbly, mentally scolding herself for her darned stuttering making an appearance.

Adrien grinned then. "Yeah." His smirk suddenly turned mischievous, Chat-like, and Marinette wasn't sure if she wanted to smile back or run away. Since she didn't trust the use of her legs, she settled on the first option. Though she was sure it came out like a poorly-painted china doll.

"It's how to hypnotize someone," Adrien continued, giving Marinette an eyebrow waggle.

"BAH HA HOW INTERESTING!" Marinette said loudly, nervousness taking over. She punched herself with her own fist for a moment before trying to continue, despite Adrien's laughter. "I take it you found something on Mesmer, then?"

Adrien nodded.

"Well, you certainly collected have enough books there."

Ah…so she had noticed his many, many trips into the bookcases to try to "find books" (clear his head).

Adrien flushed.

Marinette flushed.

Adrien flushed further.

"Ok, sassy-pants," Adrien returned to his previous stance, dropping his (burning) face into his hands, staring at the relatively volume in front of him. He studied the page for another moment. He wasn't sure when he had actually picked up this particular book…and then he remembered, smiling to himself. It was not just another boring book about the psychologists they were researching, but a How-To. When he finished his mental discussion, the actual words that came out were messy, face stretched by his palms. But a new, smirk-y, smarmy confidence touched every part of him, chasing (slightly) away the uneasiness and awkwardness floating around them like the dust.

"So do you want to hear it or not?"

"Hit me."

Adrien chanced a glance up at her. Her voice had sounded muffled, and now he knew why: her face was buried in her arms.

"Are you going to stay awake?" He chuckled fondly.

"No promises."

Perfect.

"Oh, before we start, do you have any mental problems?"

Marinette's glaring eyes peeped at him through her crossed arms.

"Ok, ok! The book said I had to check." She rolled her eyes before dropping her head back down. Adrien cleared his throat of nothing in particular. "Heh, well, here goes:

"Mesmer was most famous for taking the ideals of Joseph Philippe Francois Deleuze and putting them into a successful practice. Many people, psychologists and plebeians alike, sought out to follow is Mesmer's footsteps. They called themselves Mesmerists, or Mesmeriseurs…" BLAH BLAH BLAH…Adrien skimmed until he got to the good stuff. 'Want to hypnotize your friends? Try these basic 5 steps and watch your friends became dazed under your direction!' The next part read, but Adrien left that part out, grinning inwardly. If this worked, Ladybug was going to kill him. But, Adrien didn't think it would work, and he thought the risk faaar outweighed the reward if it did.

Adrien skimmed the text quickly, adlibbing past the "Step 1s" and going straight for the steps themselves.

"Let my words wash over you..."

Marinette snorted.

"That's what the book says just listen!" Adrien spat before trying again. "Let my words wash over you, and take the suggestions as you desire them.

"Everything here is safe, calm, and peaceful. Let yourself sink into the chair as you relax deeply."

A brow on Adrien raised when Marinette seemed to slump slightly in her chair. He let his voice get lower, more drawling, almost like a whisper.

"Your eyes may feel heavy and want to close. Let your body sink naturally down as your muscles relax. Listen to your body and my voice as you begin to feel calm."

The blush stole across Adrien's face at this and he tried to keep his tone and not clear his throat. Marinette didn't move.

"You are in complete control of this time. You will only accept those suggestions which are for your benefit and that you are willing to accept."

"Now, take a deep breath…"

Simultaneously, the two teens inhaled deeply.

"…and release."

At the release, his classmate sat up brusquely. The sudden movement made Adrien jump. Her eyes were almost closed. She appeared to be in a straight-up trance. Adrien just stared, a guilty feeling overtaking him immediately.

Crap. Crap crap crap crap crap.

He leaned over the table and waved his hand in front of her face. She seemed to wince a bit, pulling her head dangerously away from the movement. That was a good sign, right? Right!? Adrien grimaced and bit his lip. Marinette's eyes started to close without him saying anything, and he relaxed a little. She was probably just exhausted – he certainly was, and she had worked just as hard if not harder than he did in the bleak hours of the morning. Marinette was just…falling asleep! On her own.

Adrien jumped again when a very ladylike snore broke through the silence. Adrien snorted involuntarily, hands clasping over his mouth to stop the sound. She was asleep! But her eyes were still open! Oh, gall, this was hilarious. Still bent over the table toward her, Adrien slowly and silently pulled out his phone.

Oh my gosh, this is too perfect.

After Marinette's impromptu photo shoot (she was going to kill him, he was sure), Adrien started recording a video.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty," he started, chuckling uncontrollably when she snored again, head wobbling from hanging on her chest to her neck. "Someone's a sleepy little princess today." Adrien leaned in closer. "Oh gosh, her eyes are still open! Princess, shut your eyes!" Adrien snickered again when Marinette batted away his hand that he reached out with to poke her awake. It was a fruitless battle; she was out. After another minute. Adrien, still recording (this was too good not to), reached up and pulled her head down onto her sloppily-folded arms on the desk. His fingers traced their way down the skin on Marinette's face, drawing her eyelids closed with the movement. It was something his mother used to do with him when he had trouble sleeping.

Though the simple gesture tugged at his heart in many more ways than one, it seemed to do the trick. With a thump, gravity took Marinette the last three inches and her head smacked against her arms. Her head jolted back up for a moment, sleepy eyes fluttering.

"Shhh…." Adrien soothed, and he reached out with a hand, pulling it smoothly down her face again, closing her eyes for the second time. "Sleep."

Marinette settled after that.

And…slept for the next hour.

She was his lady, after all, and he wasn't going to disturb her slumber.

He didn't want too much of her wrath upon him.

And he only took a few more pictures of her.

Like twenty.

Because that wasn't creepy at all.

Ten pages of notes, book references, and doodles later, Marinette still wasn't stirring. Not even after Adrien physically shook her, worrying that she might have died off in her sound slumber. Wanting to wake her up was close to the bottom of his list of things to do today, but he was getting bored. Bored enough to, after a straight half hour of message after message from Chloe, sighing and answering her.

Chloe: Adrihoney if shes sleeping jus com overrrr

Adrien: I can't leave her. I don't want to.

Adrien: I'm getting work done anyway.

Chloe: OOoooooOooOo when? What would YOU need to get work done on?

Chloe: I mean MAYBE your chin but srsly dont let those ppl touch anything else

Adrien: Oh my gosh, Chloe, SCHOOL WORK.

Chloe: lol I know, dork just giving u a hard time

Adrien: ….

Chloe: u know u luv me xoxo

At this, Adrien snorted.

"'Love me'…" he repeated out loud, shaking his head with a smile on his face.

Marinette shot up from her sleeping position so violently, Adrien nearly jumped out of skin. He did have to pick himself and his thrown phone off the floor. As he stood, rubbing his funny bone (not funny) he had hit on the way down, he looked over at Marinette…and was sorely tempted to take another picture.

A person can only drool so much before their entire notebook is stuck to their face.

Adrien had to look away, but he couldn't stop the laughter pouring out. Soon he was doubled over, and it was only worsened when he chanced a glance at Marinette – at wide-eyed, stock-still, completely oblivious Marinette.

When the librarian finally came over to scold him (Adrien was raucously loud now, but he couldn't help it), he tried to breath out a "sorry", but it came out as wheezes, and he could only point over to his desk mate as an offered explanation. Madame Librarian started, and Adrien looked up to see the middle-aged woman pursing her lips, obviously trying to hold in a laugh.

"Uh," she started, but had to "cough" several times before she was able to control the shaky giggles in her voice. Adrien lost it all over again. "Hon, you've, uh, you've got something…j-just there. On your f-f-f-face."

SNORT.

And Marinette blinked.

And Marinette shook her head, a confused look on her face.

And then Marinette felt her notebook start to fall off her face, and she reached for it, pulling it the rest of the way. She tried to ignore the long line of drivel tangled between her mouth and her notebook. It was a good thing Adrien had taken notes as well…because hers were gone.

"Young man," the librarian had turned away from Marinette, and she could only guess why. "I really am sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to either calm down or leave.

"Mari," Adrien gasped out, breathless, unable to straighten up fully, but pulling books and things into his backpack. "M-Meet me outside, k?" And with that, he was gone.

Marinette wondered what the heck was going on…

…and then it just got weirder.

As Adrien walked away, she felt a distinct pull toward him, like a physical string was tied around her being connecting her to him. When he rounded the corner, Marinette yelped as she fell out of her chair. She hadn't realized she had been leaning that far in her chair, angled completely toward Adrien.

And now that he was gone, his absence really was a tangible pain, an ache inside her.

She had had a crush on him for two years, sure, but she never felt it like this before. It was almost as if she was being denied a basic need for existence, and she gasped for breath, clutching a hand to her chest.

"Sweetie," the librarian said more gently. "You should, uh, probably go clean off your face in the bathroom…."

I'm kinda in the middle of a crisis here!

…Why? What's on my face?

When Marinette raced into the bathroom a minute later, she saw what was on her face. It was her notes. Her penned notes had apparently bled due the salivation emitted from her sleeping mouth and had tattooed themselves on her face. Letting a loud groan escape, Marinette dragged a hand down her face while closing her eyes.

Ten minutes and some furious scrubbing later (involving, perhaps, a fiasco in the form of a broken paper towel roll and a now-clogged sink), Marinette emerged outside, red-faced from a sound scrubbing and a good dose of embarrassment.

Adrien was there, but hadn't noticed her yet. He leaned against the wall, a laughing smile still playing on his lips. He seemed to be scanning through something funny on his phone. When his smirk wasn't directed at her, she found it quite…endearing? She wasn't sure if that was the right word. It was playful, and somewhat uncharacteristic for the front he normally put on.

Without warning, that pull Marinette had felt inside the library started up again. There were no barriers this time, and Adrien was standing right there. Her face flushed, but she walked steadily up to him. A burning sensation sparked in her chest, and immediately her breathing quickened. Long lost words to some unknown rock anthem thrummed in her mind, her quick-paced heart providing the steady beat she knew would never die down. Not now. Not while he was there.

Even when she was so close to him she was almost touching him, it still didn't quell the unquenchable burning in her bones. Something inside her pulled her almost greedily closer. The more sane part of her brain reminded her over and over again how she was supposed to be shy, how she had a crush on this boy and she should be batting her eyes or something of the like, not being completely forward and irresponsible.

And then she heard someone laughing in her mind – herself.

I'm. Ladybug.

Adrien jumped for the third time that day when Marinette's touch was on his arm. Though he jumped back at least a few feet, Marinette stayed with him, a fiery look in her eyes, and…dare he say it? A smirk on her face. Adrien thought he might pass out.

"Whatcha got there?" she hummed to him, the ferocity behind her eyes playing a dangerous game with the sugary-sweet tone she used to almost whisper to him. She wrapped her arm through his as she pulled in closer, looking down at the phone in his hand.

Adrien realized faaarrr too late that he really shouldn't let her see what he was looking at.

"Uh…"

"Oh, Adrien," she mumbled, and the blond boy felt his face heat up beyond normal fever temperatures, he was sure. "Are they all of me?"

Marinette giggled, pulling the phone from his hand, brushing his fingers as she did so.

Adrien died. At least, that's what he felt like must have happened. Or he had been struck by an Akuma. Or thrust into some parallel universe, because this could not be reality, could NOT BE HAPPENING RIGHT NOW–

Marinette burst out in laughter just then, drawing his attention back to his current predicament (as if his mind weren't already reeling from the situation, but now he had something to focus on).

Yeah, they were all pictures of her.

And he thought she was going to kill him for taking all of those really, really embarrassing photos.

Though, as he thought about it, it really seemed, at the moment, that the photos were more embarrassing for him that for her.

Huh. Go figure.

"Haha!" Marinette leaned into him more as she laughed again, this time at the most recent picture, a drool-y face with pen marks trailing over her right cheek. "Oh, gall! I don't know if the picture really does it justice. Man, when I saw myself in the bathroom…" She looked up at him then. She was on his right side, and, in order to fully show him her brightly scrubbed right cheek, she took a step closer and turned slightly into him. Adrien was close to hyperventilating, and he wondered for one wild and crazy moment if she knew who he was and was paying him back for every flirt, every pun, every misstep he had ever made in his life.

It wasn't that the contact was unenjoyable.

The problem was that it was anything but.

"Did I get it all off?" Marinette whispered, and Adrien felt a shiver flow through his spine. But he forced himself to start responding, actually be engaged in the conversation. At least enough that she would hopefully initiate this contact again.

"Yeah," he replied, squeakily.

Hot, Agreste. So suave. Mucho suavisimo. Slow clap for you.

He nearly gritted his teeth in his massive, one-second-long fight within himself.

I am CHAT NOIR! I EAT SUAVE FOR BREAKFAST.

Channel the Chat.

"Yeah," he repeated, thankful she hadn't moved during his lingering two-second-long inward battle. "It looks purrrr-fect."

Marinette whipped her eyes up to his immediately and he regretted every single decision he had made in the last ten years, wondering what he had done so wrong – and so right – to deserve the look she was throwing at him in that moment.

"That was probably the hottest thing you have ever said to me."

Oh. Oh gosh.

He couldn't do it. The edges of his vision were darkening. He was going to pass out.

And then the irony of the whole thing seemed to catch up to him (pun ABSOLUTELY intended).

Ladybug hated puns.

But Marinette l-l-l-liked them?

There was too much thought process here, and Adrien's brain had short-circuited a long, long time ago.

Marinette, though, seemed to be a livewire.

He dared to look down at her again, having been trying to dart his eyes anywhere – anywhere – but at her shining face, her so, so devious eyes. His chest tightened, and so did his grip on her arm.

Wait, when did that happen!?

And then she was angling her face toward his…

And he knew he was a goner.

Looooong gone.

And just as his lips brushed hers for the briefest of moments, he felt the smile form on them, felt a little burst of warm air blow out in the gentlest of laughs.

"Your ride's here," she whispered.

Adrien didn't really care.

He brushed his nose on hers for a moment, enjoying the feel of her biting her lower lip against his own. Without looking, without caring about anything else, Adrien moved his hand from her arm up to her shoulder to pull her closer, to close the gap…

But as soon as his hand touched her shoulder, she pulled away.

And Adrien was left standing, alone, blinking, trying not to fall over at the sudden lack of support at his side.

She was gone.

He was a deer in the woods that had missed all the hidden bear traps but had had a rope around his neck the whole time.

And didn't notice until the hunter herself tugged on the other end.

Adrien pulled at his collar subconsciously.

Not a deer, he peptalked himself, a panther. A panther in the woods. Strong, lithe, cool–

Stumbling on nothing, Adrien tripped into the door with a sound smack. He rubbed his head furiously before clambering into the vehicle. No words were exchanged, and Adrien was thankful, not for the first time, for the Gorilla's silence on all matters, both to him, and to his father or Nathalie.

As the car pulled away, Adrien watched out the window as a red figure yo-yoed away, a familiar backpack on her back.

qpqpqpqpqp

Fifteen minutes later, Marinette and Adrien, in separate rooms, at separate houses in Paris, flung themselves on their own beds and internally screamed the same thought:

WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED!?