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"Chat look out!"
The black-clad superhero swerves just in time to avoid Gigantitan swatting at him like a bug. How rude, he thinks, then winces and remembers the poor villain is only a big baby. Though the extremely thin thread of his patience is quite close to snapping - does Monarc really have no consideration for his sleep schedule?! Sadly, this pointless akumatisation at 3 in the morning is just another exhausting day in his ridiculously busy life.
Despite his occasional complaints, his life really had become nothing short of incredible in the past couple of weeks. At long last he'd discovered the identity of his lady who, in a hilarious twist of fate, had turned out to be his remarkable, adorable girlfriend. Ha! Good one universe, really had him there.
And really, how could it have been anyone else?
Since then, he'd fallen even harder for the girl, which he hadn't thought was possible (Though he proves himself wrong everyday).
"Focus kitty!", ladybug suddenly snaps him out of his stupor, as she lands next to him, graceful as ever.
He watches her call her lucky charm, and though he's seen it a hundred times, he doesn't think he could ever get enough of the beauty of that moment.
Her face adorably scruntches for a second, as she stares at the rubber duck in her hand and takes a quick glance around - and damn he's really gone for this girl, he thinks for the billionth time.
Then, her eyes light up and she turns her triumphant smile towards him.
"Figured it out M'lady?", he asks, suppressing a yawn and attempting to keep his eyes from drooping.
"Yup! And I know you're tired chaton but I'm gonna need you to stay awake for a few more minutes okay?", she says, patting his cheek gently and grinning.
"Anything for you bugaboo", he replies, with a wink, which would have been slightly smoother, had he been a little more refreshed.
He laughs sheepishly, "sorry, you know I had that photoshoot early yesterday, and I hadn't managed to get to sleep yet last night before this"
Ladybug brushes off his apologetic tone with a firm but soft look, as she pats his shoulder reassuringly.
"I know kitty. I really hate that you have to do those so early you know", she frowns, but is interrupted from continuing by a sudden wail from Gigantitan.
The baby had ripped a lamp-post clean off the street, and had immediately been disappointed in discovering that it's not the sweet treat he'd hoped for. He would feel sorry for him, but apparently lack of sleep dampens his ability to sympathise with the baby that's currently keeping him from his bed.
"Come on!", ladybug calls and he shakes the tiredness from his bones almost immediately, snapping into action.
He's exhausted, but he'll be damned if it keeps him from protecting his girlfriend from any and all harm. He'd never forgive himself.
He fights, and dodges and distracts the giant villain as ladybug spins her plan into action. Minutes later (as his lady had promised), it's over, and swarms of ladybugs are repairing any evidence of battle, and they are handing a tired baby to his thankful mother.
Ladybug all but carries him home (he's dead on his feet and he'll apologise in the morning, he thinks), and drags him to his bed after he mumbles the detransformation. He watches her smile and place a feather-light kiss on his forehead, through half-lidded eyes.
"I love you", he whispers and hopes she hears the utter sincerety he pours into the three words.
Her tinkering laugh lulls him to sleep like a sweet lullaby, and the last thing he hears is "I love you too minou", before he drifts into blissful unconsciousness.
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Adrien startles upright - and absolutely does not shriek - to the sound of his alarm blaring at him just a few hours later. He ignores the sound of Plagg snickering somewhere to his right, groans and flops back down onto his invitingly soft pillows.
His eyes feel like lead as he attempts weakly to open them; he fails to make out anything but dull, blurry ceiling.
"Plagg? What day is it?", he mumbles, barely coherent.
"A school day", comes the amused reply, "so hate to say it kid but you should probably get out of bed before-"
He hears a rush of air as his kwami cuts off and dives for cover, before his door bursts open.
"Adrien! It's time to wake up for school. Your father suggested you leave early, as he'll be having important guests over", Nathalie's cool voice echoes through his room, and he slumps in defeat.
"I'll be ready Nathalie. Thank you", he replies, impressively sounding somewhat composed.
The door shuts with a click behind her, and he sighs heavily, rolling off the end of his bed; catching himself just in time before an unpleasant meeting with the floor.
The next 20 minutes are spent dragging himself around his room, stumbling through his morning routine; still barely awake. Plagg, in a rare bout of helpfulness (or pity), packs his school bag for him. Though he knows he'll regret not doing it himself, when he finds he has entirely the wrong things for his classes that day. But really that's a problem for future Adrien; if he manages to stay awake through said classes.
He somehow makes it down the stairs and out the door, with a piece of toast shoved in his mouth, without tripping over his feet. He would celebrate the feat, if he'd felt a bit more alive than a walking corpse.
He drifts off for a few blissful minutes in the car, but they're pulling into school all too soon and he's dragging himself to his feet again. The only thought that brightens his mood, is that seeing Marinette (who is now his girlfriend....wow), is a regular part of his day. And just that simple thought is enough to make every second he spends out of his bed, completely worth it.
He runs into Nino, who winces sympathetically, then launches into some animated retelling of last night's akuma attack that he barely hears. Nino doesn't mind his lack of input though, understands his less than social mood, and Adrien is really very grateful to have him as his best friend.
Later, he's sat folded over his desk with his head resting on his arms. Class is yet to start so Miss Bustier hasn't called him out; he gets the feeling she's throwing him pitying glances every now and then, but doesn't pay much attention to it.
"Well what do we have here, sleeping beauty?", he hears the unmistakable teasing voice of his best friends girlfriend; cracks an eye open and gives a small wave in response to Alya's playful taunt.
She's followed closely by Marinette of course who slides into the classroom behind her. She's beautiful. He pawns off all the added adoration on his exhaustion, but he really can't deny the way his heart threatens to take flight when he sees her. Scratch that, every time he sees her. Every time he realises; I'm dating this girl.
She immediately searches for his gaze and, right on cue, her smile steals the breath from his lungs. He lifts his head as much as he can, and returns the smile (hoping it doesn't look as tired as he feels).
"Long night huh?", Alya asks again, raising an amused eyebrow; sometimes he thinks her comments have a striking resemblance to Plagg's.
"Come on lay off", Marinette laughs, swatting her friends' shoulder lightly, who just shrugs and walks past him to her seat.
"Hey purrincess", he greets playfully, grins when a light shade of pink colours her cheeks.
"Dork", she mutters, rolling her eyes.
She reaches out to ruffle his hair, and it's all he can do to shove back an embarrassing purr. His friends would never let him live it down, he shudders. Apparently Nino had moved to sit with Alya at some point, because Marinette slides gracefully into the vacant seat next to him and gives him a quick peck on the lips, before starting to unpack her bag.
The daze she leaves him in really doesn't help with the exhaustion, and he finds himself lowering his head back onto his hands. Why hadn't he brought his pillow? Oh right...school. God he's so tired.
"Sleep okay minou?", his lady asks, throwing him fond glances he sees through hazy vision.
"Yeah. Just wish I could've carried on sleeping", he says, huffing a laugh into his elbow.
"Skip patrol tonight"
"What? No!", he replies immediately, then winces and drops his voice to a whisper. "I'm fine for patrol, really. M'not gonna leave you on your own Mari"
"I'm not asking", she says, voice just as quiet but stern as she raises an eyebrow at him. "I'll call you if there's actually an attack okay? Just please get some sleep kitty"
He can't help but lean into the hand she places on his cheek. Her quiet chuckle is music to his ears, and he really might just fall asleep right there, basking in the feeling of her warm and comforting presence next to him.
"What are you two lovebirds mumbling about down there?", a suspicious voice interrupts, and he shares a smile with Marinette; it feels like a precious secret.
"Nothing", she retorts, throwing a smirk at her friend.
"Do you want to borrow my notes later?", she whispers to him, when Miss Bustier begins the class.
He wonders for the millionth time how he could possibly have gotten this lucky, as he nods gratefully at her (his eyes probably conveying the awe he feels everytime he looks at her).
She grins and turns her attention to the front, but not before ruffling his hair again and sending pleasant shivers down his spine. And though he barely stays awake for the rest of the school day, the one thing that never leaves his mind is just how much he has fallen for a certain dark haired, bluebell eyed girl.