Dearly Despised, (I love you)

Glaciator (Part 2)

A/N:  Yk sometimes i'm like, I can't finish the chapter yet bc I wanna do art for it, then I don't do the art bc I haven't finished the chapter. And here we are weeks later with a chapter and no art but hey. We have Marichat and Ladynoir, so BE EXCITED 

Also the fact Marichat was canon for a sec what is happening w the show

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His enemy blinked those crystalline eyes at him with giddy disbelief. Before her excitement left a bad taste in his mouth and changed his mind, he pulled her into his arms bridal style.

"Close your eyes and hold on... tight, I guess. I don't want you to fall."

She did as he said and he leapt over townhouses, finding his makeshift dinner spot that was as miserable as he'd left it. In his head, a small voice – a loud voice actually, and quite a lot of them, were wondering what he was doing. He told Marinette, and the voices, to remain put as he re-lit a few candles and swept the scattered petals away so she wouldn't suspect the scene was intentionally romantic for Ladybug.

"Oh wow... Chat Noir. This is beautiful. I can't imagine with all this for a hang out what a date would look like for you."

The pins in his heart pressed. "It's nothing. Just a regular dinner rooftop for friends. But, hey, why put it to waste? Your boyfriend stood you up on your date, so why not enjoy a seat?"

He'd be getting a long lecture from Plagg, later.

Marinette scanned her surroundings, then squatted on a white pillow on the picnic rug. She spluttered some agreement; cheeks tinged a colour he could only rise out of her in their most heated arguments and closest moments. Yet here, her eyes didn't carry fire – they were lit with child-like excitement, and suddenly this wasn't Marinette – his commoner rival he'd never elicited happiness from – this was Marinette, the cute, stumbling-over-her-words civilian that he never got to see.

Besides, he wasn't technically Adrien, so it wasn't like he was losing his dignity by giving Marinette a sort-of-date with her celebrity crush... as if, to 'make up' for her 'boyfriend' embarrassing her. So, his conscience was doing just fine. He could be embarrassed later.

"I wish Ladybug could've seen this."

"Oh her, pshh, it's whatever." He took a seat beside her. "At least I'm not alone anymore."

Marinette giggled. His chest ached.

What was he doing?!

'Gotten himself stuck' was a phrase that might undermine the whole 'this was not part of the script!' vibe he was getting from a part of his brain not getting enough attention. Well, he'd gotten himself stuck now; stuck with a version of Marinette he hadn't earnt the right to see. Maybe that was it. Morbid curiosity. What was she like outside of being evil? How did she treat the people she wouldn't sell for a bag of pastries?

And then finally, everything made sense: He just needed a distraction from Ladybug and wanted to exercise his nosiness about the other side of Marinette, all with a healthy dose of pride – Because come on, being there as Chat, knowing she was a giggling mess for her enemy Adrien, was—in an understatement—absolutely hilarious. Of course anyone would capitalise off of that.

(Not usually while on a date-like picnic rug beside a date-like picnic basket besides very date-like rose petals he'd missed disposing of earlier.)

(But it wasn't a date as far as either of them knew: He had told Marinette the dinner set up was for his friend – good friend Ladybug, whom she did not need to know his love for.)