Merlin took a nap after meeting Kagami. He had to. There was no way his tired, caffeinated and buzzing brain could handle working on homework or talking to his normal friends for any length of time. Tikki just nodded when he said he needed some time alone after waking up, letting him stalk up to his balcony in strained silence.
Merlin pulled out his notebook, the one he kept under on of the potted plants, with all his evidence and theories on the identity of Chat Noir. It was Adrien. It had to be. Everything, from the timed absences, to the way Kagami had reacted, to Adrien's reaction to Merlin calling him 'Kitty'... all of it.
It had to be Adrien. Merlin would be extremely disappointed if it wasn't. Not just because it made his feelings toward both Adrien and Chat Noir a lot simpler. He really really didn't want to be wrong. It was bad enough being late to the game because of Kagami, bad enough not being the first to know like he had hoped. He just wanted to know, at this point; he didn't want to spend more long months chasing the truth.
His phone buzzed on the table, jumping away from the surface with a shocking force after the stillness around Merlin. It was Adrien, for whatever reason, sending him a text. Merlin from three or four months ago would have shit himself, tripped, and probably fallen off the balcony at being texted by Adrien but Merlin now was a little more reserved.
Not that he wasn't nervous. He wanted to talk to Chat or Adrien in person about his identity, but text might make things a little easier.
It turned out in person was just what he was getting. Adrien wanted to meet up.... on the Eiffel Tower observation deck, very close to the place that Merlin and Chat often chatted late at night. Merlin wasn't about to refuse, of course, so 15 minutes later he was walking up the stairs, still in his clothes from meeting Kagami, hair a rumpled mess that he hadn't had the patience to tame, and legs screaming from walking up the Tower so forcefully.
Adrien was sitting against the bars, idly running one finger along his phone case and gazing blankly into space. He snapped to attention when Merlin crawled, panting, over the top step and dragged his way to Adrien in the most ungainly fashion. "Hey, Merlin!"
Merlin nodded, pulling himself up and gathering all his remaining wits to make a reply. "Hey, Adrien. What was it you wanted to talk about?"
Adrien only smiled. "You know... I have a friend that I meet very close to here... It's on of my favorite places. Would you like to sit there instead?"
Merlin had a sneaking suspicion, that only made sense if he was right, that Adrien was taking them down to the ledge on which Ladybug and Chat had late night chats all too often lately. "Sure. Lead on."
Adrien smiled knowingly, hauntingly, at Merlin, before whipping himself over the railing and beginning the climb down to the Heroes' favorite beam. "Come on. This way. It's not .... on the beaten path but... well, it's nice and private. We can talk about .... stuff. Mkay?"
Merlin followed without further comment. It was surprising how familiar the spot felt, even out of costume in broad daylight, like coming back to a second home. He and Chat had spent more time there than he had thought. He seated himself the same way he always did, out of costume just like being in it, and settled against the currently very warm beam next to Cha... Adrien.
"So.. what did you want to talk about?" Merlin tried to keep his question from sounding loaded, but it was pretty obvious he failed, if the knowing and hopeful gleam in Adrien's eyes was anything to go on.
"I... wanted to know... if you were, you know, Ladybug." Adrien placed the hesitation perfectly, a master at persuasion and cajoling, tempting Merlin to spill his guts to the blonde right there. But the model wasn't done. "You know... you called me Kitty in class that one time, and you're always absent during Akuma fights, and you have the same hair and eyes and you're both trans men and... and..... Ladybug called me Adrien in costume one time."
He looked a little shell shocked after saying all this, slapping his hands over his mouth in shock and fear; he knew he had revealed too much. And Merlin hadn't missed the way he'd said 'in costume'. "So.... you are Chat Noir, then?" Merlin wanted him to say yes. Merlin swore to himself that if Adrien said yes, he would tell him the truth.
Adrien's next words didn't disappoint. "Yeah.... yeah, I'm Chat Noir."
Merlin nodded. "Good, that makes things.... simpler. I am Ladybug." He cringed at the way he said it, the way his voice juttered and broke over the confession, just like coming out as trans the first time.
But Adrien was glowing. "I KNEW IT!! Wait.... what do you mean 'makes things simpler'?"
Merlin was really hoping Adrien wouldn't ask that. Confessing his identity was one thing. Confessing his love was another. "I ... have a crush on you... and on Chat. And it's just.... easier if you're the same person, is all."
But Adrien was leaning closer, impossibly closer, his glowing face, and angelic hair coming into Merlin's vision from all angles. And then Adrien kissed him, just a brush of soft lips on Merlin's chapped, bitten ones. Tender and chaste and full of everything Merlin had ever hoped for.
He pulled back too soon, the impossibly long moment over in a second. An age had passed; a nanosecond had passed. It was too much and not enough.
"Good. Because I have a crush on you too."
The only thing that came to Merlin's mind was his next words, clumsy and rude and highly reminiscent of his old self, before he came out, before he was a little bit confident. "That's kinda gay."
Adrien laughed, a small snort, a giggle bubbling from within. Merlin laughed a little too, starting with a huff of air and his shoulders shaking softly. And in seconds they were both roaring with laughter, heads tipped back, basking in the joy of being alive, being themselves, being free of secrets and crushes and reveling in the pleasure of being honest.
"Yeah... yeah I guess we'll just have to be kinda gay then." Adrien's laughter died into the occasional snort, his hair askew and his eyes lit with merriment. "Please be my boyfriend, Merlin Dupain-Cheng."
Merlin could only nod, only smile, only vibrate with joy when Adrien crashed their lips together a second and third and fifth time. He could kiss Adrien forever.
He could kiss Chat Noir forever.
If this is what it meant to be a hero, Merlin would do that job for the rest of his life.
