Adrien turned, his mind reeling with how he looked more in that moment then he ever had standing in front of a camera. Hair brushed, a simple white button up with the sleeves rolled up, no shoes just black socks and jeans. In his mind buzzed sharp unwelcome thoughts of rejection and anxiety, until his eyes fell on the window and all of those thoughts fell silent at the sight of a beautiful slightly nervous superhero hanging by a yo-yo string.

The two of them locked eyes, staring at each other for a long moment before Adrien jolted, remembering a second too late that he should probably let her in.

Adrien vaulted his couch, running to the window and surprising her a little as he threw open the window, laughing a little bashfully as an eager grin appeared even through his nervousness.

"Hey!" he said after a second, thoughtlessly extending a hand to help her in. "Uh, glad you found this place alright. Come on in."

She didn't say anything right away, hesitating a little before taking his offered hand and stepping onto the window sill, taking the extra step down to his floor before releasing her taunt grip on the yo-yo and drawing it back to her side.

"Thank you," she said in reply, hands close to her chest as she stepped away from the window to let Adrien close it. Once it was closed though neither of them were quite sure what to do.

There was a beat of awkward silence where both parties berated themselves for not knowing what to say, and both of them started to speak at once, cutting each other off.

"I'm glad you-"

"Thank you for-"

They both stopped, Adrien quick to say, "I'm sorry go ahead!"

"Oh no its fine I was- I just- I wanted to say thank you," Ladybug managed, hands twisting together behind her back, "for inviting me. Letting me come, I mean. Thank you."

Adrien stared, frozen to the spot when she looked him in the eye, caught off guard as he often was by her.

"You're good," he said after a moment's pause, shaking his head to break himself from his daze. "It's good I mean, it's- you're welcome. Thank you for coming. Getting to see you like this is really cool."

"Yeah," she replied, equally as dazed and quickly looking away, silence falling before she bit her lip and mustered up her courage.

"Uh, s-so. What would you like to do?"

Adrien instantly stood straighter, flashing a smile that was still just a tad nervous but a little more at ease all the same.

"Nino says you like video games, is that true?"

Ladybug brightened a little, smiling softly. "Yeah! You do? I- do you, I mean."

He chuckled a little at her flub, feeling a little hot in the face as he understood she was just as nervous as he was and for much the same reason. Thinking that still floored him.

"I love games, I have plenty if you wanted to play some. You can pick whatever you want but I did pull aside a few I thought you might like."

Adrien took a few steps away, signaling her to follow him onto the second level of his room where rows and rows of shelves stood waiting, burdened with the weight of hundreds of games. She actually gasped a little when she saw them, and he wondered if his wealth was a little... showy, but when he looked over she was smiling.

"This is awesome!" she said enthusiastically, looking up at him unhindered for exactly two seconds before her eyes widened and she giggled nervously, self-conscious once again. "It's cool. You have so many, for a lot of systems."

"Yup!" he agreed happily, finding confidence strangely enough in the lack of her own. It made him more determined to get a grip. "I've got a small stack based on what Nino has told me, if you wanted to look."

Adrien gestured to a pile of video games on a shelf, set to the side and on all different consoles, drawing Ladybug's interest as she pulled them into her hands.

She looked through the titles, intrigued by all of them but still a little distracted, looking up at him to ask, "So... has Nino told you a lot about me?"

Adrien stiffened before saying, "Oh no! Well yes but no, not a lot. He told me what kinds of games you like is all really, once I asked him what we should do once you came over. I uh, I never actually even knew you guys knew each other until I saw you with him after the akuma attack, he's never mentioned it."

She relaxed visibly at that, nodding to herself as if to confirm Nino's loyalty. She was sort of evasive as she kept picking through the games which he understood.

"Yeah I've run into him a few times after attacks and got to know him. He's nice."

"Yeah he's awesome," Adrien said, knowing full well that wasn't the truth but not pressing it. Obtaining the real answer from her was useless anyways. "He's an amazing friend."

"He is," she agreed instantly, both of them smiling to themselves.

There was a small space of silence before she said, "What is this?"

Adrien looked down, noticing the case for a game called Ni No Kuni in her hands and he grinned. "I figured that one would appeal to you. It's adorable, cool, an amazing story, and has totally awesome combat. Seemed right up your alley."

She smiled, looking up at him with a trace of that familiar Ladybug confidence. "You'd be right about that. Want to play it?"

"Yeah!" he said instantly, grinning happily and leading the way back towards the TV. He heard her giggle behind him and he swelled at the sound, his heart skipping a beat when she walked within even a foot of him. He never thought he'd have this moment, he had always dreamed but...

Just playing video games. Something so simple was so incredibly surreal.

He looked over his shoulder, watching as the superhero settled in on his couch and took a deep breath, turning to put the game in and grab a controller. He could do this, just be cool, just be friends. No pressure man you're already best friends right? She just didn't know that is all. No clue that he was her crime fighting partner. That's fine.

Adrien stood and turned on the TV enjoying the pleasant chime of the system turning on before finally turning back to face his lady. He strode around the coffee table, sitting beside her, a little closer then he might have dared before. Then he held out the controller with a smile, watching her as she watched him.

"I'll watch you play," he explained, smiling at her as she slowly took it, both of them aware of the others hands in the brief moment then connected.

"Okay," she said finally, and he could see the slight tint to her cheeks beneath the mask before she swallowed and looked towards the TV. He withheld a chuckle, watching her for a moment too long and embarrassing himself, glad he wasn't caught in the act though he was sure she must have noticed how much he lingered around her. He couldn't help it.

It was great, and surprisingly easy, to just sit there and play with her. At first they let the game be their conversation, both of them occasionally commenting on the story and sitting quietly through cut scenes. The first break in tension came from Ladybug when she gasped dramatically as the main characters mother fell to the ground, a side character saying frantically, 'The poor dear has always had a weak heart!'

"The mom is not having a heart attack right now is she?" Ladybug said, eyes glued to the screen and wide with horror. "That's not for real is it!?"

Adrien looked away from the cut scene to examine her expression, unable to contain his laughter at how genuinely horrified she looked. He was giggling as he said, "Well the milk lady just said she always had a weak heart."

"No!" Ladybug burst out again as the Mom character stopped moving on the ground, Ladybug's mouth open in shock, so perturbed by what was happening that she forgot all about being nervous. "She can't just die Oliver is only like, six! What's going to happen to Oliver!?"

"Who knows," Adrien said evasively, snickering when she shot a glare at him, "maybe the events of the rest of the game? I'm pretty sure the whole plot is about his mom."

"What is there to have plot she just died!"

Adrien laughed loudly, getting a smile from her as he nearly doubled over. She started laughing too, chuckling a little nervously as she realized how silly she was being but ecstatic to have made him laugh.

"She just died!" Adrien mimicked her, laughing again as she just giggled.

They kept playing, the air significantly lighter for that little moment. Adrien made an effort to make jokes, finding it easier to be silly the more time he spent with her, and to his delight she not only seemed to enjoy it but she reciprocated. It took a while, but soon she was making lame observations just as often as he was, rolling her eyes at his puns in such a familiar way that he came dangerously close to outing himself as Cat Noir way too many times.

They found themselves laughing every few minutes, Adrien wildly entertained at the discovery that Ni No Kuni was one of the most punny games ever. She even made a joke like "Cat Noir would adore this game, especially this city. Ding Dong Dell? It's cat puns every three seconds. The king is King Tom! A Tom Cat! And everyone calls him your meowjesty."

Soon enough they didn't even need the game to present conversation for them, both of them just talking. Information shared was mostly one sided but he knew that couldn't be avoided, he just loved sharing jokes with her. She laughed and smiled, and he couldn't forget what he knew. She liked him, and seeing her there and the way she acted it just- it seemed true.

She had been there for several hours when he had a thought for the first time.

He loved this... he loved being her friend. It was everything to him he adored it, but he was also... worried wasn't the right word. They were comfortable now, that was great but...

Nino had said it, in the alleyway when they had both tried to confront him. "your long time crush." Nino had insinuated that Adrien liked her but, if he could doubt himself even when he had directly heard Ladybug admit it he knew that she would doubt herself too. He thought back to when he had seen Ladybug and Nino together for the first time, back before Nino ever even knew it was him. She wanted Adrien to care for her, the real her. She wanted to get to know him, because she cared about him romantically.

He wanted her to know he was interested.

But how the hell to do that was just, it wasn't just beyond him it was utterly concealed. She was in his room he couldn't just- make a move on her or something that was ridiculous. He toed a stupidly thin line. He wanted her to know that he liked her back but if he just said it it would intimidate her and she would also think that he was only saying that because she was a superhero which he wasn't. If he didn't say anything she might think they were just friends and lose confidence and not try anything else because she thought he didn't like her in the way that she wanted him to. If he tried to make it clear and it was too strong she might think he was a creep who only wanted her to come over so he could hit on her which was sort of true but not in a creepy way and not even like that per say he just wanted to spend time with her but saying that was also sort of creepy wasn't it?

"Um," he said suddenly, standing up abruptly from the couch as she was talking about some piece of the game. "Will you excuse me for just a sec?"

"Uh, sure! Yeah no problem," she said with a laugh, watching as he quickly jogged to the bathroom.

Must have really needed to go.

Adrien tried to refrain from slamming the bathroom door, immediately starting to pace as he continued his freak out.

If they were out somewhere together which was hard to manage since they were both unfortunately famous to some degree it might be different, but they were alone in his bedroom. It was so big it didn't totally feel like a bedroom which was kind of a saving grace but he didn't want to make her uncomfortable, also he was thoroughly unsure of what he would even do if he knew that he should try. Maybe this wasn't a thing that should happen all at once? Which it wouldn't anyway but like- He could invite her back, to keep playing the game. He had the excuse of completing the campaign together so there was that but he was afraid that she would think that he didn't like her as anything other than a superhero idol or a friend if he didn't try and make it sort of clear that this was a two way street, and he wasn't even sure if he should do that because they werepartners and he was Cat Noir which she did not know, and he was constantly terrified that if she DID know it would change everything. Which it shouldn't! Because he was the SAME GUY.

Adrien thumped his head against the bathroom counter, trying to bite back a groan.

So what should he do? Nothing? Nothing seemed safest but...

He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment before turning sharply and opening the bathroom door, acting on impulse and giving himself no more time to doubt or plan. He should just roll with things right? That was probably the best plan.

Actually that was probably a horrible plan but he was already back at the couch, smiling at her nervously as she prepared to unpause.

"Ready?" she asked, looking up at him and noticing how stiff he was.

"Yup," he said more so to himself then her, sitting down perhaps a little closer than he had been before. He was sitting forward, his back off the couch and elbows on his knees, looking at the screen with a blank expression that confused her but she started the game anyways, cheery music filling the air as she started to check armor stats.

"Do you think I should give my new familiar the old armor set I have or just buy a new one all together? I have the money."

"Old," Adrien said simply, starting to lean back. Ladybug started to follow his suggestion when suddenly she felt a gentle pressure against her shoulders as ever so causally, Adrien slung his arm around her.

Both of them pretended not to notice but were both internally freaking out a little. Ladybug fought off hyperventilation as she blindly fiddled with the wrong menus, and Adrien doubted himself a thousand times in the space of a single second but persisted in the contact since she hadn't moved away.

'Why,' he thought to himself, fingers twitching a little. 'Why am I so impulsive? Okay yeah I wanted to do that but that doesn't mean I should have ACTUALLY DONE IT. She isn't moving, is she freaked out? Did I creep her out?'

This went on for a few more seconds and he was starting to try and find some excuse, when suddenly he caught a gasp in his teeth as she gently leaned into him, laying her weight against his side.

He couldn't help it, he looked down at her, his mouth slightly open as she looked up at him too, both of them quietly wondering what they were doing, but again neither pulled away. They both looked away after a moment, giggling nervously but both smiling, Ladybug starting to flip through the menus a little more coherently.

"That's good," Adrien said vaguely, gesturing to the screen when she looked up at him. "The weapon you picked. The new guy needed a speed boost."

"Yeah," she said back after a second, smiling a little at nothing in particular. There were a few seconds of silence before she shifted her weight again, and for one horrible moment he thought she was going to pull away before suddenly she laid her head on his shoulder.

He couldn't help but smile, his arm curling around her a little on instinct and keeping her close to him. He didn't try anything more and neither did she, but both of them smiled, enjoying the proximity and whatever it was that it meant for them both.

Ladybug didn't leave until it was almost 4:00 AM, both of them exhausted by dragging out their time together every second they could. They had been in contact with each other in one way or another ever since he had made the first move, and he felt the absence of her heat the second it was gone. The image of her stood at his window, yo-yo in hand and a tired smile on her face stuck with him as he tried to get to sleep that night... or rather morning. He replayed the sound of her voice as she asked if she could come back, taking his number with her when she went. And he held the typed out words "Goodnight Adrien" in his mind from the new number he listed as "B

He wondered if she was doing the same thing.

The last thing he texted out wasn't to her though, it was to Nino, answer a few grumbling texts from hours before about Plagg's poor behavior and a few others asking about the date. He just typed, "Thank you man," before crashing, grinning all the while.

When he woke up his phone was still in his hand, vibrating now not with a reply but with a phone call from someone else entirely.

Adrien groaned, blinking at the light and retracting his hand almost reproachfully before he noticed the contact, his heart leaping in his chest.

It said 'B

Adrien sat up too quickly, his head swimming as he scrambled to answer it. He glanced at the time, confused when it said it was only something like 7:15, but managing an enthusiastic greeting anyways.

"Hey Lady," he said with a sleepy grin, rubbing at his eyes and smiling to himself.

But the smile instantly dropped when he heard her speak.

"Adrien," she said, sounding exhausted as well but something else too. Tense.

Afraid.

"It's Nino" she said with no wasted words, Adrien growing incredibly still. "It's all over the news. I'm so sorry i-it's my fault it's all my fault. The akuma, yesterday. I was too familiar with him someone must have seen, I was stupid. I'm so sorry."

Adrien was already moving, stumbling from his bed and scrambling for the remote left on the couch, flipping on the TV even as she spoke.

"I'll get him back Adrien. I've been calling Cat Noir non-stop but as soon as he replies we'll go after him, I'll go after him alone if I have to. I'm so sorry."

Adrien stood there, in an unbuttoned white shirt and boxers with a phone in one hand and a TV remote clattering to the ground from the other. And in horror he read the words sprawling along the bottom of a news report showing early morning broadcasters stationed outside of Nino's humble apartment building, one window smashed out.

'Young boy snatched from home early this morning. Threatening ransom note left in his place. The price: The miraculous of Ladybug and Cat Noir.'