"Hey, Marinette, get in here", shouted Alya. "We need your opinion. Who is better, Ladybug or Chat Noir?"

"Ugh, again?" said Marinette, looking up. She knew it was a popular discussion topic, but she also hated it. Why couldn't people just accept that Ladybug and Chat Noir were a team, and both were equally important?

And in particular, why couldn't people see how much work Chat Noir did? Her Kitty was no mere sidekick, thank you very much. Yes, she was the one to purify the Akumas, but having him around was the reason why she was able to fight in the first place. Part of her knew that she should just stay out of these debates to protect her identity, but Chat deserved better, dammit.

"Well, the thing is that Chat Noir…"

"Chat Noir is better, obviously," said Adrien. "He provides the suave charm and glamour for the team. Ladybug is great, of course, but Chat Noir is the elegant sexy gentleman."

Marinette whipped her head around and saw Adrien standing there, with a grin on his face that she could have sworn she'd seen somewhere else before. What the hell was that comment about? Chat Noir suave? Elegant? Sexy? That was… well, she was talking to Adrien, so she would have to really make an effort to be polite respectful…

"Bwuahahahaha!", she laughed out loud. Well, that effort had been doomed to failure anyway.

"That's what that Kittynova thinks of himself, sure," she continued, still giggling. "Always repeating the Knight In Shining Armor lines from whatever movie he watched last. It's adorable, really, but elegant? Come on! Hehe."

She wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes and looked up to see Alya, Nino and Adrien all just staring blankly at her. Oh god, had she made a huge mistake? Now Adrien thought she hated him and she would have to be all alone and her hamster would be called inopportune laughter…

But then she saw Adrien smirk. No, not smirk. That was a downright grin. One that somehow seemed incredibly familiar… and one that put her in a very much not Adrien-struck mood.

"Oh, is that so? So would you say that Ladybug is the suave, elegant one?", he asked.

"There is no suave one," replied Marinette. "There is graceful, inspiring, professional hero who everybody looks up to, and then a silly alley-cat who joins her to lighten the mood."

"Finally you say something useful, Dupain-Cheng," said Chloé, passing by. "I've always said Ladybug doesn't actually need that sideki…"

"Don't you dare!" shouted Marinette, so loudly that Chloé actually physically recoiled. "He's not a sidekick, he's a partner! Ladybug couldn't do any of what she does without him!"

"Yeah, him and his suave elegance!," added Adrien, but Marinette shook her head, suddenly calm again.

"No, that's still not a thing. Ladybug is the elegant one. Chat Noir wishes he could match her style."

"Well, Chat Noir has the better outfit," Adrien said. And there was that damn grin again. Marinette was almost certain that she hadn't seen him do it before, but it still felt so damn familiar. And worst of all, she had no idea whether she wanted to wipe it off his face, or see more of it.

"Chat has got all these details. Zippers, pockets, a bell. Ladybug is just shrink-wrapped in red with black dots. As a genius fashion designer, you should recognise his superiority!"

Marinette shook her head, only slightly distracted by Adrien calling her a genius fashion designer. That was awesome, yes! But that was no excuse for getting sloppy and letting Chat get away with boasting. Or, well, not Chat per se, but… eh, something like that anyway.

"As a model, you should know that it's all about the audience. For the Akuma fights, the audience is generally far away, if they know what's good for them…" she gave a very pointed look at Alya, but of course her best friend just grinned and shrugged.

"You can recognise Ladybug really well from a great distance. If she shows up yo-yo swinging at the Place de la Concorde, she'll inspire people all the way to the Arc de Triomphe. Meanwhile, when Chat Noir's out and about, with his black suit, all people see is a trash bag on a stick."

"Ouch! I thought Chat was a friend of yours?", said Adrien, still grinning. "And maybe his goal isn't to look great to everyone. With that shiny, black leather clinging to every curve, maybe he wants to appeal specifically to the people close to him…"

Dontblushdontblushdontblush… Well, there was some heat in her cheeks, but what can you do?

"Yes, his bell is great for calming down pets and small children when he carries them to safety," she said. "Makes them think he's one of them."

"Oh come now, Mari, you're not getting away from that. I know you used to have a crush on him."

"What!? No, absolutely…"

"He told me that you told him yourself."

Alya stared at her with her mouth open. Oh great. Marinette needed to buy some time.

"Wait, when did he do that? Are you two close?"

Adrien scratched the back of his head nervously. "Oh, erm, sure… I mean, he saved me a few times, and then we got to talking…"

Okay, that sort of made sense, Chat had spent some time talking to her as well… but wait, what had Adrien said about that sexy costume? Had there been moments where Chat had carried Adrien in his strong arms, holding each other tight? And then they stepped on an empty rooftop, Adrien full of admiration, Chat Noir doing one of his exaggerated bows that Adrien seemed to love so much, and then Adrien would thank him in the way he always did, Chat would play it off, Adrien would ask how he could repay him, as they walked ever closer to each other, the silky skin of Adrien's hand touching the clawed, smooth magical polymer of Chat's glove…

Abort! Abort! Abort! Marinette was fairly certain she was as red as a tomato now, and that was unnecessary, embarrassing in front of her crush, but most importantly, it meant that Chat was winning this. Without even being here! That could not stand.

"Look, that crush was never a serious thing," she tried to defend herself. "I guess I had a fever that weekend or something."

"Oh," said Adrien. Weird. Why did he look disappointed? "But still, you gotta admit, he has some moves!"

"Yeah, sure," she admitted weakly. "If he works really hard. But Ladybug can mess him up" - she stood up - "just" - she took a step towards Adrien - "like" - she moved her hand up to his chin - "this" - she traced his finger along his jaw.

He looked at her with big eyes, speechless, surprised, and very much blushing. She felt herself smirk. It was so much fun to mess with her kitty… her kitty… oh shit, this was Adrien!

"Sorry, I, that was, demonstration, justly," she babbled as she jumped half a meter backwards.

"Yeah, no, okay," stammered Adrien, "you, that, yes, point, proven, you can- Ladybug can definitely wrap me- him, I meant him- around her little finger anytime she wants- yes- great demonstration"

"Right, demonstration, that was just a-"

"demonstration, exactly, nothing else-"

"I mean it could- I mean, no, yes, totally, just-"

"Yes-"

"Yes-"

"Agreed", they finished in unison, both blushing furiously. They shook hands. Then, when they noticed that they were touching, they quickly sat back down.

Alya looked at Marinette quizzically, but quickly decided that she needed a minute to cool down first. Marinette was very thankful for that. Instead, the brunette decided to focus on Max, who had just arrived.

"Yo, Max! Who do you think is better, Chat Noir or Ladybug?"

"Hm…" He quickly discussed something in hushed whispers with Markov, then replied.

"Statistically speaking, Ladybug has won every single time they fought each other due to Akuma influence. There have been a surprising number of those, including last week, when he was somehow under the control of Monsieur Pigeon."

Adrien looked a bit sad at that, but Alya started giggling. "Oh yeah, that was really embarrassing, wasn't it? You're right, Marinette-"

"That wasn't his fault!", shouted Marinette, surprising herself and everyone around her. "He's got allergies!"

"Wait, are you on Chat's side now, or…?"

"And besides, when he's mind-controlled - which only ever happens because he wants to protect his Lady, mind you - he never fights at full strength."

Adrien looked up in surprise. "He doesn't?"

"No! I don't know if it's conscious or not, but you can see it in the way he looks. Alya, back me up on this."

Alya began frantically searching through her phone, but shook her head. Marinette groaned. How could she describe this?

"You know when he and Ladybug fight, he can read her mind, knows immediately what she's gonna do, just from a look. Say, she wants him to jump on the table and then climb up on the wall, all she has to do is this" - she tilted her head slightly - "and he will-"

"Dude, what are you doing?," said Nino to Adrien with utter bewilderment. Adrien was standing on his table, apparently preparing to launch himself against the wall, when Nino had interrupted him. When had that happened?

The blonde boy looked around for a moment, then rubbed the back of his neck and said, "well, I… eh… wanted to… help, with the demonstration, you know?"

Marinette smiled. Adrien was so cool!

"See? That! Anyway, when Chat Noir is under mind control, he can't read Ladybug, he just attacks at random. Because it's not him fighting!"

Adrien was beaming at her as if that was the most beautiful thing anyone had ever told him. Marinette did not understand it, but she would definitely take it.

Sadly, Alya had to ruin the moment.

"Wow, that's a great theory! I gotta write a blog post about that! Never knew you were so interested in the details of their interactions! Have you finally become a Ladynoir shipper?"

Marinette groaned.

"That again? Alya, I told you, it's not happening. And even if it were, which it is not, it's none of our business. But honestly, no, it's just not there."

Alya smirked, clearly not believing a single word. Meanwhile, Adrien actually looked kind of sad.

"I actually think they could be great together," he said, more to himself, as he climbed down from the table. "Is that really such a horrible idea?"

"What?", said Marinette, surprised. "Eh- I mean- not sure what you-"

"Don't worry, Marinette," said Adrien with a smirk. "Even if Ladynoir do get together, Chat Noir will still save you from danger whenever needed. He is always ready to help a beautiful lady, because he is the better one."

Marinette blushed a bit and rolled her eyes affectionately. Was that Adrien calling her beautiful, or was that Adrien quoting Chat Noir? Probably the latter.

"Are you so sure, model boy?", she asked. She had no idea where the nickname had suddenly come from, but in the middle of a discussion about Chat Noir, it just seemed to fit. "As far as I recall, Ladybug has had to save you rather often as well."

"Yeah… that was great…" said Adrien with a dreamy smile. Now Marinette felt herself blushing even more.

"I mean, it is nice that Chat Noir does all the saving, that's true," she said by way of a sort-of apology. "Even if it can be a bit annoying at times. I mean, he's 'saved' Ladybug's real identity several times by moving her away from the fight as well. Or so I heard!"

Adrien looked at her funny, like she was a puzzle he was trying to figure out, and for a moment, she wondered whether she had said too much.

"Wait, when– no, I guess it makes sense, it's just pure statistics, isn't it? Better to save one person who doesn't really need it than to leave someone hanging." He was now smiling again.

"Besides, Ladybug has done the same to him, too."

Wait, really? When did– no, Adrien was right. That was bound to happen sooner or later just by random chance, and worrying about it would just lead to a whole rabbit hole of identity questions. Better to focus on something where she wasn't in costume.

"Well, you know during Evilstrator? I had a plan to take down the Akuma, but he ruined it by showing up too early to try and ‚save' me."

"Wait, you did?" asked Adrien, and for a moment Marinette panicked. What if Adrien started to think that she was going around making up stories about her superhero meetings? The thing she was always dragging Lila for? The only one who could confirm this would be Tikki, but they would all say she was biased, and also she couldn't come out, and…

But thankfully, Adrien just smiled warmly.

"Wow, you should have told him. I'm sure your plan would have been amazing. You'd make a great superhero! During Kwamibuster, you-"

He suddenly stopped, scared, as if he realised he was about to make a mistake. Weird.

"-I mean, I thought it'd be great if they had someone like you there to help them. But not you, obviously, you weren't there. And there were no mice around."

Wait, did that-? Marinette had no time to process this as Adrien hurriedly moved on.

"Anyway, you said you weren't that impressed with his suit. So how would you redesign it?"

"I- suit- mice- what?", Marinette brabbled. What did he know? Why was he talking about redesigning Chat Noir's suit? The suit was okay. There was nothing to redesign. Oh, but would she tell him that? Of course not. Maybe…

"Well, let's see. I think something in bright colors would be better, for recognisability. Right now, in black leather, he looks kind of generic. So, bright color, and maybe something more shaped…"

She grinned again as she realised where her thoughts were heading.

"You know, I think Banananoir was perfect for him!"

Alya seemed surprised and confused, but Adrien was fully into it.

"Yes! That banana costume is just the best. But you remember what other costume we saw there? Bikerbug…"

Marinette groaned. She knew where this was going…

"Bikerbug is basically the same costume as Chat Noir. Black leather, zippers, mystique…"

"It's what she had at home," Marinette snapped. "Sometimes outfits just are like that. Or are you telling me Chat Noir went through his giant costume selection at home before settling on the banana?"

"Well, you never know. He has many ways to impress his lady…"

They were both grinning madly at each other. This was fun!

"What the hell are you guys talking about!?", shouted Alya all of a sudden. "What is Bikerbug and Banananoir? What are you saying about a mice and heroes? Are you just making stuff up now?"

Wait, what? Wasn't that, like, public knowledge?

…and if it wasn't, and Adrien also knew it, then…

…and the things he said about Kwamibuster, and mouse heroes, which only one other person could know…

…the way he reacted to her demonstrations…

…the things Chat Noir supposedly had told him…

Oh. Oh no. There was a very simple, very obvious explanation. And now that she looked at him, really looked…

She looked in his eyes, carefully, and saw that he was having the same kinds of thoughts. He looked first confused, then afraid, then shy, and then… happy?

She felt the same feelings mirrored in herself. This was it, wasn't it? Was this a horrible mess? A giant mistake? …could she really be that lucky?

She smiled, and he noticed and smiled even more.

"You know, I think you're right, Marinette, Ladybug is better. Chat Noir absolutely loves her more, with every little moment, every glance, every Lucky charm she cast…" - he touched his sleeve, where a few beads and a little red string were barely visible - "…and the one she gave him to keep…"

Marinette noticed her eyes getting wet, but she didn't care.

"She's loved him, too, you know? Ever since he gave her the strength to be Ladybug… and since he gave her his umbrella…"

They moved closer, now both smiling and their eyes wet.

"It's true, isn't it?", said Adrien. Marinette could just nod and smile as they moved closer to each other.

"Can I-" he began as he cupped her cheek. Marinette launched herself on her tip toes and kissed him. Adrien wrapped his arms around her and kissed back.

Marinette did vaguely register Alya's incoherent noises that were somehow both delighted squeal and outraged scream, but she decided she was absolutely not willing to deal with that right now.

The last thing she consciously noticed for a long time was Nino asking, "So which of them won?"

Author's notes: Thanks to my sister Septdeneuf for beta-reading. You can also find me on Tumblr.