Panorama | Miraculous Ladybug

Chapter 9 - Interrupted Truths

Marinette smiled and waved with a sweet tilt of her head as she hung up the video call with her best friend. The second the brunette's face disappeared, Marinette breathed out a long sigh of relief as she slouched in her chair. 

"I don't know if I could've taken another minute of interrogation. Nino got home at just the right time," She said, letting herself begin to process all the events of the day.

"She was pretty aggressive, but what did you expect? She does run the Ladyblog after all. I doubt you would've gotten away with kissing Chat Noir right in front of her," Came a small voice from above her. Tikki flew out from her hiding spot in Marinette's bed and laughed.

"More like making out with him," Marinette muttered under her breath dreamily as she looked in her mirror to fix her hair after Chat Noir had messed it up.

"Making out with who?" A voice asked from behind her. Marinette jumped and fell out of her chair, rendering all of her progress on her hair wasted. Adrien laughed as he set down the containers of Chinese food on his desk before offering his roommate his hand. 

"Ah, Adrien. You startled me," She laughed as she used his hand to pull herself off the ground. Once she was standing, Marinette spotted the takeout boxes and licked her lips delicately. "Ooh, Chinese!"

Adrien followed her as they got their food and moved back to their window-side chairs. It was dark now, the stars glimmering beautifully as a tiny sliver of moon showed itself in the sky. His roommate all but gracefully shoveled down her dinner before seeming to realize how fast she was going. She smiled sheepishly and slowed down and turned to stare out the window at the starry dark.

Adrien watched her and couldn't help but smile. He had no idea how she always seemed so calm after something happens with Chat Noir. Even as Adrien, he hardly knew how to act around her. He wished he knew what was happening in her mind.

"You never answered my question, by the way," he asked nonchalantly. He could see her tense up but Adrien could tell that she was trying to act calm, so he didn't say anything about it.

"Wh-What question?" She stuttered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and taking another bite of her rice.

"Well, when I walked in, I heard you talking to yourself about making out with someone? You sounded kind of concerned. Is something wrong?" He asked, trying himself to act totally and completely chill as if he wasn't prying for information about his alter-ego and was simply worried for his friend and roommate.

She paused for a moment and stared at him as if he had just grown another head before turning back to her food. "You know, this isn't as good as the Chinese my mom makes. I should see if she can-"

"Marinette," Adrien interrupted, knowing full well what she was doing.

"No really. I bet if I gave her a call she could send over some-"

"Marinette." He spoke a little more sternly.

"Now that I think of it, I might have her recipe for-"

"Mari," He whispered, placing his hand on top of hers. Her hand was sweaty and shaking but he paid it no mind. She finally stopped rambling and looked up to meet his eyes. "What's wrong?"

Marinette sighed. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing is wrong. In fact, everything is perfect. I just- I don't know that I'm ready to talk about it... It doesn't quite feel real yet if that makes any sense."

"I can understand that," Adrien replied, taking in a breath of relief. "You'll let me know if anything is wrong with this mystery guy, though, right?"