Skin Like Magma

Adrien didn't dislike Nathaniel at all. He was actually rather impressed by the talent the artist had. He had an incredible skill for artwork, and what little of it he had seen impressed Adrien dramatically. And Natheniel wasn't a bad guy either. He was rather quiet, and Adrien had no personal problems with him.

But damn him if he didn't find himself feeling irritated by the fact that someone he knew full well had a crush on Marinette had been able to interact with her, while he was stuck thinking what the hell he could even say to her. Something inside him, like a small, little ball of anger had formed, and had sat heavily in his chest when he saw that.

Adrien wasn't the type to get jealous - Honestly. He got somewhat upset when he was denied the opportunity to go to a school, and he was envious of those who got to go, but he was never jealous. Well he was, but never in a possessive sense. That was always in more of the sense of longing from afar to be part of a world he could never really belong to. This was more something he wanted to rip away from Nathaniel.

Something inside him, seeing someone he knew could try to steal Marinette from him...

He blinked a few times, looking out his window. The sun shone as per usual, birds flew past his window, and Adrien had to take a deep breath.

He was getting ahead of himself, wasn't he? The way he thought about things made it seem like he and Marinette were already in a relationship. That wasn't the case whatsoever.

But the more he thought about it, the more convinced he was getting that Marinette was who his soul was linked to. The more these poems made sense. The more things fell into place, only further making him more certain. Each bit came together absolutely perfectly, forming this perfect, complete picture.

He felt the need to see her. To talk to her again. To see more of her, to understand her more, figure out what makes her brain work. To learn more about Marinette. To get to know her more. He wanted to get to know her more. He really did. When could he speak to her? It still seemed too early for a visit from Chat Noir. He'd be spotted in broad daylight, and that was a dangerous prospect. Adrien didn't want to put her in danger.

He'd have to give it a few more hours, a fact that irritated him, and he felt only served to stall him from seeing her.

He couldn't get why he felt so eager to see her though. Yes, he wanted to. Yes, he was interested in her. Yes, he wanted to confirm if they shared a Soul Link... But never before had he been this excited to see someone. Not even Ladybug. He felt like the longer he stayed away from her, the more insane he would get, until he became some sort of mindless beast. He felt like he was losing his mind just sitting here, doing nothing, thinking about this sort of thing.

"Aaaargh!" He groaned, rolling onto his side. "I'm going mad just sitting here!"

"Seriously kid, I'm starting to wonder if you're even sane at this point." Plagg commented with a hint of sarcasm, a hint of genuine concern.

"I can't stay sat here, Plagg. I need to do something." Sitting here, thinking about Marinette, was driving him insane. He needed a distraction. A reprieve. A task. Anything to kill time before it was safe to go see her.

"You get me some food..."

Adrien considered this for a moment, before he came up with his own idea. " I could go on patrol..."

"I like my idea better."

Ladybug couldn't handle being cooped up in Marinette's room any longer. She had needed to get out of that place. The room was too small, and images of her and Chat were seeping into her brain. She had transformed and gone on patrol, swinging around the Champs-Élysées and the Louvre Palace, with no particular destination in mind. She went wherever her whims took her, without questioning how or why she wound up where she wound up.

For whatever reason, the city seemed abnormally busy today, so there certainly wasn't a shortage of onlookers who viewed Ladybug's patrol. Many of them reached for their cameras or smartphones to take videos or photographs. Ladybug didn't particularly mind, but she didn't stop to let them get those images either. She refused to slow down for anyone.

Marinette had been so close to Adrien all day. He had been right there, and how her heart was burning every time she saw him. Her skin felt like magma around him. And yet... She was convinced they weren't soul linked... At least not anymore. Or were they? Or was the miraculous messing with her again?

Ladybug's focus was so completely divided, she came close to slipping on a rooftop partway through a leap, which would have earned the award for the most '' of her Ladybug career. As it turned out, flying through the air at high speeds, and thinking about boys, wasn't the best combination she had ever come up with. She managed to regain her focus quickly though, reflexively throwing her yo-yo onto a grappling position, which gave her added mobility.

She couldn't think about Chat right now, or it could result in a very high, very painful fall to the streets below.

She landed herself atop another roof, atop a cafe, specifically, and allowed herself to sigh. This had been why she had not wanted their superhero identities and their civilian identities getting all mixed up like this. As soon as it happened, their minds had become so completely crossed and confused and mis-matched, that Ladybug was barely even certain of what she was thinking of anymore.

Why in the hell had Marinette asked Chat Noir to come back to her house when he left? What had possessed her to think that was a good idea?

Well... She had come to a sort of conclusion as to why she had done... But she couldn't accept it yet.

There was no way she'd managed to start on Chat Noir.

Was that even possible? Had all those rescues, all those fights together, all their work saving Paris from Hawkmoth, everything they had done together, had she developed feelings for the black cat?... Was that reasonable?

She still didn't know, but she did roughly hazard the guess that Chat wouldn't be as bold as to try and visit her in the middle of the day, so she at least had that going for her. He was reckless, but not an idiot.

"My Lady."

Or he could appear right now. That was also a possibility.

Ladybug turned to face her cat-themed partner, whom had made himself quite comfortable by perching himself on the edge of the chimney the cafe had atop it. This was the first time the two of them had met, at least since Ladybug had straight up rejected him then. He had seemed very okay with it... But part of her now regretted that.

"There you are, Kitty." Ladybug greeted. "I was wondering where you had gotten to." The fact a mask covered her face was crucial in her ability to talk to him right now. She couldn't image what she'd do in this situation without her mask. All she knew right now was that the mask felt like lava, but taking it off meant a hell of a lot more complications.

"Well, the knight in shining leather had arrived, LB. Does my mistress hath a command for me to follow?"

"Stop talking like you're in medieval Europe for a start." She commented slyly. "And enough with the funny accent too."

"Done." Chat smirked. "I can do an American accent if you prefer."

"Oh for God's sake, please don't."

"You don't like my accents?"

"About as much as I like your puns."

"So.... You them?"

"Like I like being set on ."

"How cruel."

In spite of the exterior she was displaying, Ladybug couldn't stop her beating heart right now. She had gone on patrol today to avoid running into Chat for a bit, expecting him to show up in her room later today. What she hadn't been expecting, or rather, had been hoping for, was that Chat wouldn't show up to complicate the matters further. The relationship she and Chat shared as Ladybug was still a bit rocky, given the rejection a few days ago, and the female hero still felt uncomfortable with him right now. Yet Marinette didn't. Why was that? Was it because Chat saw Marinette as she was, and still came to see her. Maybe it was because she didn't have to hide...

"You'll have to forgive me for cutting our meeting short, LB." Chat spoke, standing up, with his staff around the back of his neck, and his hands tugging at it. "I'm expected somewhere else in a bit, so I'm gonna have to cut out short."

'.' Ladybug could only think. She wondered, why... Why was this what she had become? Why was this what had happened to her? Why was she having these feelings regarding Chat Noir? Willingly ignoring his pun, Ladybug nodded and smiled, slightly nervously. "Oh? Busy, are we?"

A smirk from Chat. "I'm just meeting a friend."

"A close friend?..." Was she seriously fishing for information from Chat? She didn't even realize she'd done it until she'd already done it. She had to fight a compulsion to slap herself in the face. Was this ethical?

"Very close." Chat grinned, before leaping away.

The blue haired hero was lucky her red costume made her blush indistinguishable. Hearing Chat referring to her as such... For some reason, hearing that made her feel so happy, and her legs went weak.

"What am I doing?" She asked herself, covering her blushing face with her hands.

What was going on inside her head?

Not to mention her heart and soul.