"Save Me" | a Ladrien heart-warmer

Jump

Adrien peeked over the balustrade, wondering whether or not jumping down onto the ramparts would break both his legs, and whether or not he wanted to risk it.

Normally the answer to the second question would be 'no,' but Adrien had been stuck on the roof for—...

He checked his watch.

—about three hours now, and was getting both cold enough and hungry enough to reconsider.

This, he thought, irritated and despondent, is one good reason to never forget your phone. Or your kwami.

His quest to get up onto the roof while depowered had been a success — as it turned out, standing on the gaming room's windowsill and catching hold of the ivy was an excellent way up... with one small problem.

Ivy was much harder to climb down than it was to climb up.

(It didn't help that he felt like he'd forgotten something important throughout this whole venture, but he'd wanted to see the sunset from the roof and sunsets only lasted so long, and in his rush he'd decided it wasn't important enough to wait until the next sunset for, whatever it was.)

He grumbled in annoyance, folding his arms as he straightened back up.

It was at about this point that a light tapping started up on the dome behind him, only to peter off as the sound reached the top.

"...What are you doing up here?"

Adrien froze, face burning.

...And there was another good reason to never forget your phone or your cheese-obsessed Navi-knock-off.

Ladybug edged around into his line of sight, looking concerned and amused for what he could see of her face in the light reflected from the courtyard and what little came from the half moon high up in the sky.

"Watching the sunset," he gritted out, hoping she couldn't see his blush.

She regarded him silently for a moment, and if he knew her at all, her mouth was twitching with suppressed mirth.

"Sunset was three hours ago, you know," she pointed out unhelpfully.

"And then I decided to stargaze," he said quickly, unfolding his arms and putting his hands on his hips, subconsciously puffing up a little.

His stomach chose that moment to emit a traitorous growl.

Urk.

"...Are—" Ladybug started, laughter heavy in her voice. "Are you stuck?"

Adrien slumped. "Yes."

A distinctly unfeminine snort escaped Ladybug before she could clap it back down, and Adrien resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands, feeling the blush crawl up his ears and across his neck.

Adrien had a few seconds to reconsider every single one of his life choices before a bright red yo-yo secured itself around the railing next to him. He looked up to find Ladybug offering her hand in a distinctly Aladdin-ish fashion.

"Gonna show me the world?" Adrien asked, proving, not for the first time, that being around Ladybug shot his filter to hell.

She blinked at him, grin dropped in her surprise, only for it to slowly creep back up to the corners of her mouth in the form of a smirk. "Well, I was thinking your balcony."

She ducked closer, cocking her head, catching the golden landscape lights in her eyes and promising adventure in curve of that smirk. "Do you trust me?"

The moment would have been perfect if he could've untied his tongue enough to say 'yes.' Instead, he placed his palm in hers and hoped that was answer enough.

It was. She took his hand and wrapped his arm around her neck, snaked hers around his waist, whispered soft and intimate, "Hold on tight," and Adrien...

Well, Adrien tried not to swoon.

He had limited success.

One graceful little hop and they were down, not on the ramparts, but on his own balcony. For one heart-stopping second he was nose-to-nose with her — close enough to see the silver threads in her irises in the light pouring out of his room, close enough to count her eyelashes, close enough to spy a tiny scattering of freckles peeking out from under her mask — then she pulled away, setting him lightly on his feet and stepping back to rub the back of her head awkwardly.

Cute.

"Thanks," he remembered to say, if only just barely. He said it without hanging his head this time, embarrassment pushed aside in a rush of helpless affection.

"Any time," she said, unaccountably flustered as she backed up towards his railing. Then something seemed to occur to her, fluster calming for something a little more... smug. "But— well, uh."

He blinked at her, questioning.

She gave him a wry look. "You might want to keep a rope on you the next time you go climbing, yeah?"

That was it.

That was what he'd been forgetting earlier when he'd set out. He'd forgotten to bring a rope.

Nyaaargh.

What a thing to forget.

"Stay safe, good citizen, and remember the rope next time," Ladybug teased, and swung away before he was quite done hitting himself for the oversight.

Well.

He brushed his fingers over his waist, where Ladybug's hand had rested only moments before.

Even if it was embarrassing as hell, it wasn't all bad.

Although it was one more reason why she could never learn that he was Chat Noir.

(Of course, that was when Plagg burst out of the window, mildly concerned about Adrien but mostly concerned about the dwindling cheese supply in his nook, and the romance of that particular evening was destroyed.)