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Adoration

Chat Noir wasn't going to Marinette's house because he wanted to.

Quite the opposite. This was purely a professional visit. He needed a holder for the Turtle Miraculous, and Marinette would make a great holder. Yes, they had a deal, and he would honor that deal. So he would simply bring the bracelet with him, and if she happened to change her mind all on her own, then he would already have the Miraculous ready for her.

He wasn't going because he wanted to see her. Nope, he was just doing his superhero duty.

When he thought about it, there was a big chance that he wouldn't even see her anyway. It was late, and they had school the next morning, so she might already be asleep. So with that thought in mind, he made his way over the rooftops.

Not only was the light still on, but Marinette herself was on the balcony. Sitting in a chair, she was sketching something in her book, and she looked up at him when he landed in front of her.

For a split second, she just stared at him. Then a smile erupted across her face. "Hi."

There was a pang in his chest. He was definitely getting sick. "Hi."

"I'm so glad that you're here."

"You are?"

"Of course." Marinette paused before continuing in a softer tone. "You didn't stop by last night."

Now he was confused. "Was I supposed to?"

"No. But you did the nights before so I was just... I don't know, expecting you to stop by. Then when you didn't, I thought that maybe something bad happened, and I wanted to make sure that you were alri... okay."

Chat Noir couldn't breathe. She really was too wonderful. "I'm okay."

She smiled again. Then she held out the book to him. "Do you want to see the new sketches?"

A nod, but he couldn't get himself to actually move closer to her.

So after a second, she stood up from her seat to hand it to him. And in the process, he got a full view of her in her pajamas.

With another pang he involuntarily took a step back, causing her to stop. Then she tilted her head as her smile fell. "Is something wrong?"

Chat Noir shook his head. "N... no. Everything's fine. I'm fine."

A moment went by as Marinette stared at him. Then she slowly nodded. "Right, of course. You... you don't have to look at the sketches if you don't want to. I know you're really busy, and you're probably tired from all of the akuma attacks lately. So uh, why don't I just keep working on them? And then when you have some free time you could stop by again?"

That's not what he wanted. He didn't want to leave at all. But leaving was the right decision to make at that moment. "Yeah, that would be great."

She gave him a weak smile. Then she watched him press his hand against his chest before meeting his gaze again. "Have a good night, Chat Noir," she said quietly.

"You too," he whispered.

************************************

Adrien felt so defeated as he put the gift bag down on the table. "This is taking too long," he complained to Chat Blanc. "I don't get it, what happened? What happened last time? How did you find Ladybug?"

Chat Blanc blinked at him. "I figured it out from a present she gave me."

"I already know that," he replied in exasperation. "I know you figured it out from the beret. You have to tell me how..."