Adrien ran his hands through his hair. How was he supposed to make friends if everyone thought he was friends with Chloe, the person who sabotaged his attempts? Adrien continued walking and thought. Adrien was wandering one of the popular places in Paris, but his mind kept distracting him. Adrien had taken the precaution of hiding his hair under a hat, and wearing off-brand clothes, bought with cash.
Adrien was currently walking around the Eiffel Tower, looking at all the people wandering around. Adrien had seen the Eiffel Tower enough, since many of his photoshoots were centered around the massive building. No, he cared about the people. They were always fascinating to him. So, Adrien forced his thoughts out of their deliberation and focused on the people.
Adrien could always tell who was a tourist, and who was a local. Tourists always took pictures at all angles, trying to get large masses of people in the shot. Adrien tried to avoid those pictures, since he didn't want to get recognized through his disguise. The Locals, in contrast, were always just walking through, some only glancing up briefly. Adrien liked the place. It was always so full of a different kind of energy than anywhere else he had been. However, he had been to the Tower many times. Maybe he should try going somewhere else that was a popular tourist place. The Trocadero was right next to the Eiffel Tower, maybe he should go there.
Adrien started across the street, and stared up at the large building. It was very large, and impressively built. Adrien had seen several works of great architecture, and the Trocadero was one of the best ones in his opinion. Adrien started to go up the steps to see the Eiffel Tower from that view. It was a sight he had never seen, and he had heard that it was a sight to see. Adrien made it to the top and stared out. He turned to go up the next set of stairs, and froze. The girl with the dark-haired pigtails was sitting right there, drawing in a sketchbook. She was hunched over, apparently in an intense bout of concentration, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, her mouth set in a line. Adrien thought about if he should approach and interrupt or not. This was possibly the one and only time he could approach a member of the group of friends away from the school. But, she was so immensely concentrated. It would be extremely rude of him to interrupt her, and possibly ruin the flow of thoughts.
Adriens decision was made for him when he felt his phone suddenly shock him from his pocket. He also heard the distinctive pops of frying electronics from everyone else nearby, including the girl, who gave out a small shriek and fell back. Adrien looked around and saw a strangely dressed woman at the top of the stairs. Of course. Just when he was beginning to enjoy his day. The akuma was dressed in an outfit similar to the ones worn in "Tron", except that she had on a headlamp, which was used to short out electronics, it seemed. She laughed evilly, exclaiming "I am Technomonger!! And the age of technology is at an end!!"
Adrien immediately jumped into action. He looked down, and saw that the girl was already gone. Adrien felt a small pang of... something, but he wrote it off and ran to a nearby door, trying to find somewhere easy to transform. He still wasn't too used to the whole 'find a secretive area to transform' thing.
Plagg came out of his shirt with a big grin on his face. "Missed your chance to talk to the lady, did you?"
Adrien shot him a quick glare. "No time. Claws out!" Plagg was sucked laughing into the ring, transforming Adrien into Chat Noir.
Adrien ran to a window and jumped out, giving the illusion that Chat Noir was not at the Trocadero to begin with. He landed where he had last seen the akuma, and saw that she had moved on already. He heard a zipping sound, and Ladybug landed next to him.
"Have you seen it?" Ladybug raised an eyebrow. "I was pretty close, but I didn't see where it went."
"Same here."
Ladybug looked over. "You were at the Trocadero?"
Adrien glanced over at her perplexed look. "Come on, My Lady. We all have lives to live. Are you saying you were here too?"
Ladybug straightened. "Let's go find this akuma!" throwing her yo-yo, she jumped away. Chuckling, Adrien followed.
The akuma didn't prove to be too much harder to find than Adrien had thought. The akuma was taking out any and all technology around it, leaving a trail of cars that crashed in the absence of traffic lights. Ladybug suggested that they split up, so Adrien took to the left of the trail, while Ladybug took to the right side.
Adrien followed the line until he started hearing the electronic pops, and found the akuma standing in the middle of the street, shining her headlamp at various objects. Adrien pulled out his baton and called Ladybug. She answered quickly, and Adrien explained the situation. "She is just standing there, shining her-"
Adrien suddenly felt his baton shock his hand, just like his phone had done to his leg. The screen went black, and the slider slid shut without a seam. "Shit." Adrien looked down and saw that Technomonger had spotted him, but still wasn't moving to catch him. Adrien extended his baton and jumped down, helicoptering his baton over him to slow his fall.
Only, it didn't slow him at all. Only some quick reflexes and a well-timed roll saved him from being severely hurt from the fall. Adrien looked at his baton, and saw that it was still small. He tried extending it, but nothing happened. That was when it hit Adrien. His baton was useless. It was fried. Now, he had a nice little metal stick. Yay.
Adrien ducked down behind a car, trying to figure out what to do. He could just throw his baton, but that was a one and done thing. He could try to cataclysm something, but he wanted to wait for Ladybug to do that. She would have a plan. Problem was, Adrien had seen the background of Ladybugs' call, and she was nowhere near where he was. She would take several minutes to get there.
Adrien was about to stand up, when there was a call from the rooftop.
"TECHNOMONGER!!"
Looking up, Adrien was surprised to see Ladybug standing on top of the roof. She held up her yo-yo, ready to throw it, but it Technomonger aimed her headlamp at it, frying it in Ladybugs' hand. Ladybug jumped at the shock, but did not back down. Adrien did a mental facepalm. He was still thinking in terms of driving places. Ladybug could just go OVER the buildings in her way.
"The thing about yo-yo's is that they don't use technology. Just a string. Mine uses a little bit of magic, but that's still not technology."
Ladybug swung down, ready to kick the akuma, but Adrien had a frame of reference that Ladybug did not. From his position, he could see that the akuma was holding a streetlight behind her back, ready to swing at the approaching Ladybug.
Adrien launched himself forward, tackling Ladybug in midair, throwing her aim off, and also forcing the akuma to miss the initial swing.
"Chat!!" Ladybug looked at him in shock, but it quickly turned to anger. "Why did you do that?"
"She has a streetlight, she would have swatted you out of the sky!" Adrien pulled her to her feet, keeping an eye on the approaching akuma. "Goodness, she walks like a corny horror movie villain."
Ladybug smirked, stepping forward. "So, the akuma is in the headlamp?"
"Yeah. Although, you being here might shed some light on things, My Lady."
Ladybug turned back around, looking incredulous. "Seriously? Are you joking in the middle of an akuma fight?"
Adrien merely grinned, pulling out his baton. By instinct, he tried to extend it, but it didn't work. He looked at Ladybug and shrugged. "That's why my baton cut out. I got hit."
Ladybug nodded, and turned back around. "It's time to end this. Lucky Charm!!" Casting her yo-yo into the air, Ladybug summoned her special object. What landed in her hand nearly made Adrien burst out laughing. It was a buckle! Just like the one on his belt-tail-thing!!!
Ladybug looked around for a few minutes, and then jumped into action. She grabbed some rope from an overturned cargo truck, and tied it into a loop, with one end attached to the buckle. Then, she jumped forward, avoiding the streetlamp narrowly, and tied the akumas' arms to her sides.
Adrien saw that the akuma was still going to try swinging the streetlamp again, using just her wrists, so he threw his baton, knocking it out of her hand. Ladybug grabbed the headlamp off of the akuma, slamming it down onto the ground. The black butterfly was released and purifyed by Ladybug by the time Adrien had picked up his baton. With her cry of "Miraculous Ladybug!", a burst of ladybugs flew around, fixing the damage. Adrien extended his baton to the ground, launching himself upwards a little bit to test it.
After making sure the victim was OK, Adrien and Ladybug went to the side of the street before leaving. Adrien tried to say bye to Ladybug, but she merely grunted and jumped away, leaving Adrien wondering what was up.
Adrien launched up, heading back home. His father might check in on him (or rather, send Nathalie to check on him) after the akuma attack, so he figured it would be better if he was actually there. Adrien landed in his room and transformed back mere seconds before the door opened, and Nathalie stuck her head in. Adrien smiled at her, and Nathalie merely nodded and closed the door.
Slumping down onto his couch, Adrien sighed and opened his jacket for Plagg to come out. "What do you think was up with Ladybug today?"
Plagg shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe she didn't get the right type of cheese for lunch!"
Adrien scoffed. "Not everything is about cheese, Plagg. Maybe I should introduce you to some other foods."
"NO!! You will not feed me anything other than cheese. Camembert would work best for all of us."
Adrien ran a hand down his face. This was going to be rather interesting.
Marinette
Marinette sat back in her desk chair, throwing her pencil down in frustration. She was supposed to be doing some history homework, but her mind was just spinning out of control. Her thoughts kept returning to Chat Noir, and the fact that he seemed to really enjoy saving her at his own deficit.
Marinette stood and started pacing, trying to get her thoughts back in order. Tikki zipped up, a curious expression on her face.
"Marinette? Why aren't you doing your homework?"
Marinette placed her face in her hands. "I can't stop thinking about Chat Noir, and how he keeps getting himself in danger for me."
Tikki giggled "Sounds like you care about him."
"I don't even know him, at all!!" Marinette flung her hands up in the air.
"You don't always know the people you care about to begin with."
"But... Chat Noir!! He has a terrible sense of humor, and... and..." Marinette tried coming up with something, but her mind was too turbulent. "And that's not all!! I saw Adrien today, right before the akuma. He was just wandering around the Trocadero, and he saw me! I tried to ignore him, and not let him know that I saw him, but he just stayed there, watching me until the akuma attacked!! What was with that?"
Tikki put on a thoughtful face. "Maybe you should give him a chance. Talk to him, maybe?"
Marinette glanced back. "No. He is a friend of Chloe, and so he will not he a friend of mine."
Tikki zoomed in front of Marinette. "That is not a good way to judge character. Maybe Adrien is a super nice person, who puts up with Chloe because he thinks that she could be better?"
Marinette thought about it, and looked down. "You're right. Maybe we should give him a chance."
Tikki spun in circles, spiraling up. "Maybe you should go out for a quick walk! That might help you clear your head!"
Marinette smiled. "I'll get some extra cookies for you when we get back."
Tikki giggled. "Let's go, then!"
Summoning her transformation, Marinette jumped out into the Parisian night. She swung around, heading for the Trocadero. She loved using that place for inspiration. In fact, that day, she was on the verge of one of her best designs, before Adrien appeared.
To her surprise, the Trocadero already had a superhero resident. Chat Noir was sitting exactly where she usually sat, looking at the Eiffel Tower. He sat with his chin in his hands, staring at the Tower wistfully. Marinette landed next to him, startling him out of his reverie.
"Ladybug!! What are you doing here?"
Marinette sat next to him. "I've had a sorta interesting day, and I like coming here."
Chat slumped down again. "Same here. I guess. You want to talk about it?"
Marinette took a deep breath. "I just saw someone that I am not on good terms with, and some other things are happening. I just needed a quick break to take a breather."
Chat nodded. "I'm in a similar boat. There's someone that I want to get to know better, but she keeps trying to elude me. I saw her here earlier, so I decided to come here. You know, get to know the person by the places they visit? Is that a thing?"
Marinette giggled. "I think that it could be."
Chat smiled. "I hope so. I don't really have any... friends. Well, I have one, sort of, but I think that one was ended very effectively. I just want to meet at least one more person who I can do all the cliché friend stuff with, you know?"
Marinette placed a compassionate hand on his shoulder. "I hope it works out for you, Chat."
Chat looked back at her. "I have a question. What if we became friends? It's something I have been thinking about for a little bit. Think about it, two people, heroes of Paris, also meet up in civilian form."
Marinette hung her head. "My kwami was pretty clear about the rules. Nobody can know our true identities. Nobody means, well, nobody. We can be friends with the masks, though."
Chat looked a little bit put off. "It won't be the same."
Marinette nearly glared back. "Well then we can just be coworkers."
She started to stand up, but Chat caught her hand. "I didn't finish. It won't be the same, but we can certainly make it work."
Marinette suddenly felt bad about snapping. "I'm sorry. I guess that I am just a little bit too wound up right now."
Chat smiled back warmly. "Let's go somewhere else, where we can relax without the risk of people finding us. Race you to the top of the Eiffel Tower?"
Marinette grinned. "You're on."
Chat bounded forward, followed closely by Marinette. Chat used his baton to propel himself up the tower in one leap, while Marinette had to follow with her yo-yo, which was slower than the baton. She lost to Chat by a mere two seconds, but she lost all the same.
"I guess that I will have to practice using this, so I can get faster than you."
Chat stood triumphantly. "I guess so. Right here is good."
He gestured to the ground, and Marinette looked after his gesture. "What?" Chat gestured again, and Marinette looked even closer, but still didn't find anything. "What?"
Chat rolled his eyes and lunged forward, grabbing her arm. Before Marinette could react, chat swept her feet out from under her and gently lay her on the ground. "Lay down. Relax. You know the thing? Where you just stop and unwind? This tower is above most of the light pollution. We can see the stars much better from here."
Marinette felt her face flush with embarrassment as she stared up at the stars. "I suppose that was pretty obvious, wasn't it?"
Now that they weren't doing anything, or talking about anything, Marinette was finding it harder to not think about Chat as he lay beside her. Marinette felt like she was going crazy, but her mind would not stop thinking about Chat. Then, unbidden, an image of Adrien bled into her mind. She saw his face as he watched her on the Trocadero, and her imagination kept making it seem like his face was one of longing, like he wanted to talk to her. But, she figured that it was just her mind inputting what Chat had told her into her mental image of Adrien.
Soon enough, it was time for them both to go back home. Marinette made her way to the balcony to her room, and dropped in, making a little bit more noise than she intended. She waited to see if her parents would notice, but nothing came up to check on her.
Figuring that her parents were asleep, Marinette sneaked down to grab some extra cookies for Tikki. Once she returned, she managed to fight her way through her history homework just in time to get a good nights' sleep.
Adrien
Meanwhile, Adrien was having a difficult time going to sleep. His mind kept wandering around from place to place. From losing his only friend, to having Marinette ignore him despite his best efforts, to becoming better friends with Ladybug. He lay awake for a few hours before forcing himself to go to sleep. He had a photoshoot the next morning, he had to be well-rested for it. It would not do to have him be tired for the shoot.