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In hindsight, Adrienne should have gone straight home after her patrol that night. She should have made a beeline for the mansion with no detours whatsoever, and she most definitely should have avoided taking the route that accidentally-on-purpose crossed past the best bakery in Paris.
But by then she’s already made the mistake of glancing at the balcony, only to see Marinette pacing back and forth, muttering under her breath like she’s about to tear her hair out. Who would be able to ignore such a clear cry for help? Could Chat Noire truly call herself a good superhero if she didn’t stop by to check in on innocent civilian girls in their times of need?
She’s just performing her responsibilities as the city’s guardian, she tells herself. Ladybug is always talking about getting more involved with the local community.
“Salut, Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” Adrienne says, as casually as possible, extending her baton upwards to bring herself up to eye-level with the balcony. Marinette shrieks.
“Wh– Chat Noire?! What are you doing here?” Marinette composes herself almost immediately, glaring at her. “It’s almost midnight!”
Adrienne hops onto the railing on all fours. “Well, I was on my way home after a long and gruelling night of keeping the city safe, when I saw you pacing around like you were about to claw someone’s eyes out… so I decided to swing by to hopefully prevent any unfortunate akumatizations!”
She beams at Marinette, who starts to look irritated until she finishes her sentence.
“Thank you, Chat,” she says, sighing, seeming less annoyed and more just tired. “It’s nice of you to keep an eye out for civilians, but I’m fine. No akuma risk here.”
“Ah, but you’re not just any civilian, Marinette.” Adrienne makes a big show of checking her surroundings like she’s about to share a huge secret. “You’re my favourite civilian.”
Marinette laughs, a clear sound that rings through the otherwise quiet air, and finally something eases in Adrienne’s chest. She can’t stand seeing her friends look upset.
“And my favourite civilians have the pleasure of getting extra attention from none other than moi. So, tell me. What’s bothering you?”
She tries to convey as much earnestness as she can through her mask, but Marinette looks away.
“It’s nothing,” she insists. “It’s not a big deal at all. Regularly scheduled Marinette crashout. You definitely have more important things to worry about.”
Adrienne tilts her head to the side. “Hey, I was the one who wanted to check on you. You can trust me, remember? I’ve helped you with your problems before!”
“Yes, but that was—” Marinette suddenly cuts herself off, eyes widening as if she’s just had an epiphany. “Oh my god, you’re right! You’re completely right! You’re a genius!”
“Uh… thanks? What am I right about, exactly?”
“Chat Noire,” Marinette says, ignoring her questions and grabbing her hands instead. There’s a look of newfound determination in her eyes. “Will you kiss me?”
Adrienne nearly falls off the balcony. “What?”
“I need to kiss a girl,” Marinette explains, still holding her hands, as if this is a completely normal conversation to be having with a superhero she’s barely acquainted with and there’s absolutely nothing out of the blue about what she’s asking. “And you’re the best choice!”
“You skipped at least fifty steps in the middle there,” Adrienne points out, willing herself to sound unfazed and not like there are ten million alarms going off inside her head at the same time. “I repeat: What? Also, why? ”
Marinette huffs and pulls away, like Chat Noire is the one who’s acting abnormally. “You have so many questions.”
“I feel like I’m allowed to have questions if you’re asking to kiss me,” she argues. Her voice very bravely does not break on the word “kiss.”
Marinette sighs again. “It’s embarrassing,” she says, avoiding eye contact.
“I’m in no place to judge anyone,” Adrienne points out. “I’m wearing cat ears and a bell and hanging out on strangers’ balconies at midnight.”
That gets another laugh out of Marinette (not that Adrienne’s keeping count). She takes a deep breath before continuing.
“It’s just that… I’ve never really kissed anyone before, at least not like a serious kiss, and I didn’t think it would be a problem or anything for me to worry about because everyone goes at their own pace, right? I just never really thought about it. But then yesterday, we were playing a game and all the girls were discussing their experiences with kissing and then she …” she breaks off, cheeks reddening. “This is so embarrassing!”
“It’s not embarrassing,” Adrienne assures her. She knows what Marinette is talking about, of course. It had been Rose’s turn to host their monthly sleepover last night, and Rose being Rose, was quick to turn the conversation topic onto everyone’s love lives.
Adrienne had felt incredibly awkward, considering that the full extent of her romantic encounters consisted of helpless one-sided pining; she’d just felt worse when Rose asked about who she had kissed before. She had a feeling that this particular group wouldn’t take it too well if she answered honestly and said that she’d only ever kissed Chloe. So she kept deflecting, hoping that they’d leave it alone if she was vague enough, but everyone kept teasing her until Alya simply wiggled her eyebrows and said, “Keep your secrets, Agreste.” Adrienne didn’t fully understand why everyone kept giggling so much or looking at her with such knowing grins, but she was glad they stopped asking her about it.
She hadn’t realised that Marinette had also been feeling out of her element, though. Adrienne hadn’t noticed her acting any differently the night before; she’d just blushed and quietly admitted that she’d only kissed one person before everyone moved on to interrogating Zoe. A part of her feels bad for taking advantage of Marinette’s trust like this, finding out information that she probably wouldn’t want Adrienne to know—but the part of her that’s struck with burning curiosity wins out in the end.
“And then she… ?” Adrienne prompts her to continue, hoping that she sounds completely nonchalant and not like she has any personal stakes in the matter whatsoever.
Marinette buries her face in her hands. “She clearly has so much experience and I don’t and how am I supposed to ever have a chance with her, or even compare— which is why I need to kiss! A girl! And get better at kissing!”
Adrienne blinks, uncomprehending, before her eyes widen with realization.
“Wait. Is this about Buttercup?”
“Yes,” Marinette wails, “And you were so helpful last time when you let me practice confessing to you, so I’m sure you can help me out this time, too!”
And Adrienne still can’t do anything except stare at her, willing her brain to catch up with her words sometime soon. Sure, she supposes it does make sense for Buttercup to be someone Marinette is already friends with, but she hadn’t thought about it hard enough last time to realize that it would be someone she knows, too!
Marinette has been crushing on someone in their friend group this whole time! Adrienne helped Marinette practice confessing to someone that she knows!
“Come on, Chat Noire,” Marinette says, pleading. Her cheeks are still pink, but the same look of determination from earlier is back in her eyes. “Help a girl out.”
“I,” she starts, not sure what to even say. “Why me? Surely you have other friends you can… practice with?”
“Well, you’re definitely the most convenient option,” Marinette says, listing it out on her fingers. “You still haven’t run away screaming, so you’re not going to judge me. You’re h— you’re nice. And you already pretended to be my girlfriend once, so you can do it again!”
“That was different,” Adrienne says slowly. She’s pretty sure the tips of her ears (the human ones, not the cat ones) are burning red. “I kind of just sat there while you read your confession out loud. This seems a little more… hands-on.”
Marinette rolls her eyes. “Oh, come on, you don’t have to get all shy and pretend like you’re not a huge flirt to begin with. I’m sure you have plenty of experience in the girl department. Now it’s time to share the knowledge!”
Adrienne has no idea how to tell her that she literally could not be more wrong. She can count on one finger exactly how many girls she’s kissed—and she’s pretty sure that the experimental peck she shared with Chloe when she was just figuring out that she was a girl doesn’t count as “having plenty of experience in the girl department.”
“I’m really not as much of an expert as you think I am,” Adrienne mutters.
“Well, then you can get some practice out of it, too!” Marinette says cheerfully, like she doesn’t believe her but is choosing to humour her anyway. “Surely you have someone you want to kiss.”
Adrienne’s mind jumps immediately to Ladybug and the numerous times that they’ve supposedly kissed, just for her to have no memory of the fact. She thinks of her smile under the mask, quirked up in amusement at Chat’s antics. She thinks of how many evenings she’s spent staring at the same smile. And then—involuntarily—she thinks of another smile, one that she’s been lucky enough to see more of in the past month.
Her eyes dart quickly to Marinette’s mouth and away again. “I guess.”
This is probably a bad idea. Scratch that, it’s definitely a bad idea. She can’t even begin to explain how bad of an idea it is, because to Marinette, Chat Noire is nothing more than a friendly superhero acquaintance. Not someone that she’ll have to face every day.
But… Marinette seems so earnest, so ready to commit to this plan. Adrienne knows her well enough to know that she’s deeply serious about all of her schemes. She can tell that Marinette had been more affected by the constant teasing at girls’ night than she’s letting on, and Adrienne wants to help her friend however she can. If it means going along with her crazy ideas, then so be it.
(She also can’t deny the smaller, much more embarrassing part of her that keeps drifting off to stare at the other girl’s mouth against her best intentions. When else will she get the chance to kiss one of her best friends and not have to deal with any awkward consequences?)
Marinette seems to notice her hesitance. “I’m not trying to pressure you,” she says hastily. “Don’t feel like you have to say yes. It’s a stupid idea, anyway—”
“I’ll kiss you,” Adrienne interrupts, before she can think any better of it. Marinette’s eyes widen.
“Really?”
“Yes, really.” She grins, trying to regain some of that Chat Noire confidence. “I guess it’s only fair of me to share some of my lady-killer charm with you.”
Marinette mimes throwing up. “ Lady-killer? Nevermind, I don’t want to kiss you anymore.”
“You want to kiss me so bad,” Adrienne coos, ignoring the way her pulse rate is steadily rising. “Marinette wants to kiss Chat Noire so bad —”
“Oh my god, just shut up and come here.”
She pulls Adrienne off the railing and onto the balcony in one completely ungraceful movement, leaving her standing mere inches in front of Marinette, close enough to feel her breaths. She can see every freckle scattered across her cheeks like this.
Adrienne swallows the lump in her throat. She smiles.
“Salut, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”
“Hi,” Marinette echoes, mirroring her smile.
“Can I…?”
She nods, closing her eyes, and Adrienne leans in ever so slightly to press her lips to Marinette’s. It’s completely chaste; just a soft kiss for a few seconds. Adrienne can feel the remnants of day-old lipgloss clinging to her lips as she pulls away.
“Hey,” Marinette says, chastising, eyes fluttering open, “Come back.”
Adrienne laughs and tucks a strand of hair behind Marinette’s ear. “I wanted to see how you were feeling about that first.”
“Good,” she says impatiently. “That was great. That, I’ve done before. I need your help with what comes next.”
“Next?”
“Yeah, real kissing. With tongue. And—”
“Okay,” Adrienne cuts her off before she can say anything else. “Yeah. Sure. I get it.”
“Kiss me properly, then,” Marinette says, closing her eyes again. Adrienne feels something in her chest twist funnily.
She leans in again, still pressing their lips together like earlier, valiantly hoping that some kind of lesbian instincts kick in before she makes a complete fool of herself in front of Marinette. Something guides Adrienne’s clawed hand up to the base of her neck, gently brushing her thumb along her jaw to better angle their faces together before opening her mouth against Marinette’s. She lets out a little breath, somewhere between a gasp and a sigh, and finally relaxes into the kiss.
And—it’s not like Adrienne’s thought about what it would be like to kiss Marinette before, or anything—but if she had—this is exactly how she would have pictured it. Soft and a little clumsy, as Marinette snakes a hand into her hair. Adrienne brings her other hand down to rest at Marinette’s waist, pulling her closer, only for Marinette to let out another little sigh and tighten her grip in her hair. Adrienne pulls away, breathless.
Marinette’s cheeks are flushed, dusting her whole face with the same shades of pink she gets whenever she’s nervous or flustered. Something about this feels different, though. A small thrill runs through Adrienne at the thought that she was the one to put that blush there.
“Awesome,” she says when she realises that Marinette is looking at her expectantly, waiting for a reaction. “Great, even. You’re a real cat -sanova—”
This time, Marinette is the one to lean in first, laughing against her mouth. She keeps their lips pressed together even as she starts moving backwards, tugging at Adrienne’s belt to pull her closer until they reach the hammock on the balcony. She breaks the kiss for just a second, switching their positions around and pushing Adrienne onto the hammock maybe a little too enthusiastically.
“Sorry,” Marinette says sheepishly, drawing back. “Did I hurt you?”
Adrienne grins at her. “It’s okay, you can kiss it better.”
Marinette very predictably rolls her eyes before meeting her halfway, bringing her hands up to cup Adrienne’s face in a way that lights up all her nerve endings. She strokes Adrienne’s cheekbone with her thumb, gentle, feather-light, but Adrienne still feels it down in her stomach. Her hand somehow finds itself splayed across Marinette’s back, pressing her even closer, when she lets out a little gasp that is definitely going to be imprinted in Adrienne’s mind forever. She’s suddenly very aware of the sharpness of her claws and the thinness of Marinette’s shirt.
“Sorry,” she mutters between breaths, only to be quickly interrupted by Marinette’s “It’s fine” before she crashes their lips together again.
One of her hands drops from Adrienne’s cheek to the base of her neck, curling her fingers into her hair and biting down on her bottom lip. Adrienne exhales sharply, trying to keep her thoughts straight, but Marinette is much more interested in messing them up. She deepens their kiss; Adrienne tries very hard not to dig her nails into her back.
When she finally pulls away to catch her breath, Adrienne has to force herself to close her eyes and count through her own breathing. She can still feel the weight of Marinette’s body bracketing her own, radiating warmth that she feels even through the thick material of her suit.
She opens her eyes to immediately meet Marinette’s searching ones. They stare at each other for all of two seconds, taking in the other’s disheveled hair and flushed cheeks in complete silence, before Adrienne cracks a tentative smile. Marinette grins right back at her, and suddenly, they’re laughing like this is the most normal thing for them to be doing.
“Okay,” Marinette says, still looking straight into Adrienne’s eyes like she can see right through her. “That was… that was good, right?”
Adrienne wants to press another kiss to her lips as reassurance. She valiantly does not. “Yeah. You’ll be winning over your girl in no time.”
Marinette makes no move to sit up or get out of her lap. “Maybe…” she hesitates. “Maybe I’ll need a few more rounds. Of practice. To really learn the ropes.”
“You can never go wrong with more practice,” Adrienne agrees, with a confidence she decidedly does not feel. “You know, rumour has it that practice makes perfect.”
Marinette hums in consideration, wetting her lips. Adrienne’s eyes track the movement against her will. Her throat feels extremely dry.
She’s expecting it when Marinette leans in for another kiss, but she still can’t help the embarrassing noise she lets out from the back of her throat. Marinette seems to take it as permission to lick into her mouth, sending a million different electric shocks racing down Adrienne’s spine all the way to her toes.
She doesn’t know how she’s supposed to be normal about this.
She also doesn’t know how much time they spent out there on the balcony, kissing and laughing and pressing against each other like this is just something they do, like it’s perfectly natural for them to know each other in this way. Adrienne can barely believe that the same Marinette who stutters and stammers her way through almost every sentence at school is the one dragging her nails through Chat Noire’s hair like she’s done this a million times before.
It takes an insurmountable amount of self-control for Adrienne to break away. Marinette looks dazed, eyes flicking down to Adrienne’s lips as she wipes away the remnants of leftover spit with the back of her hand. When she shifts to get up, Adrienne almost folds and pulls her back down.
Neither of them seem to know what to say. It’s not awkward, not exactly, but the air between them feels stretched taut.
Adrienne focuses on getting her bearings, fluffing up her hair back to its usual state of disarray instead of the I-just-kissed-Marinette-Dupain-Cheng state of disarray it’s currently in. She tries for a smile again—and, as sure as the sunrise, Marinette smiles back.
She reaches out to fix a strand of hair that Adrienne had missed. “Thank you. For, um, humouring me. You really helped. A lot.”
“Pleasure’s all mine, princess,” Adrienne says, faux-curtsying in an attempt to break any remaining threads of tension in the air. “Always happy to help out a citizen in need.”
“What if I need your help again?” Marinette asks, and her eyes widen as if she couldn’t have predicted those words leaving her mouth, either. She coughs. “Um. You know. For practice. Casual. Platonic. Super chill.”
Once again, Adrienne very bravely has to hold back from kissing the embarrassment off her face. This could maybe potentially, definitely be a little bit of a problem.
“Then I’m at your service,” she promises, if only to see the colour on Marinette’s cheeks bloom into something even redder.
“You are a flirt,” Marinette admonishes, flicking her bell. Adrienne grins at her.
“I didn’t deny that, did I?”
She rolls her eyes, but it’s hard to take seriously with the lingering blush on her face. “Time to go home, kitty cat.”
“ You’re the one inviting strays into your home at all odd hours of the night,” Adrienne points out, leaning in with another smile. Marinette pushes her away with a finger to her nose, smiling back.
“Don’t let it get to your head,” she says. “I can still take my invitation back.”
“And then who will you kiss?” Adrienne teases. Marinette squeaks in indignation, ready to protest, but Adrienne cuts her off. “I’ll only give up my throne to Buttercup.”
That flusters her all over again. “You’re so full of yourself.”
“Can’t help it if all the girls are paw -sitively falling at my feet asking for kisses,” she says, immediately making Marinette groan with exasperation.
“Please leave before you make me regret this any further.”
Adrienne grins and blows her a kiss, jumping up on the railing on all fours. She wants to stay for even longer—to keep annoying her with more puns, to bask in this teasing side of Marinette that Adrienne so rarely sees—but she’s made enough poorly-thought out decisions for one day.
Marinette blesses her with one last smile before she leaves. “Good night, Chat Noire.”
“See you soon, princess,” she says, waving goodbye with a two-finger salute as she launches herself back to the rooftops.
(And, well, if Adrienne has a harder time focusing in class the next day, for no particular reason at all, and completely unrelated to a certain someone who happens to be sitting right behind her—it’s no one’s business but her own.)