Chapter One – First Impressions

Maybe, Cat Noir admitted as Oblivio knocked him back once again, maybe it was his fault. Just a little. But in his defense, Ladybug was at the top of her game today, and it was absolutely irresistible. His focus and his eyes had been wandering her way all day. Which, of course, meant he wasn't paying enough attention to the akuma. Unfortunately for his partner, it meant couldn't seem to keep his mouth shut, either.

"Cat Noir, we need to retreat," she said as she narrowly dodged yet another ball of purple light and her timer beeped loudly. Only a minute left for each of them.

"A couple's retreat?" He glanced around as he leapt, trying to find a good hiding spot.

"Stop calling us a couple!"

Taking advantage of Cat Noir's momentary distraction, Oblivio lobbed a light straight for him. Ladybug yelled out a warning, and he twisted just in time to deflect, though the force of the blow dazed him, knocking him out of his flip and straight to the ground.

Ladybug must not have realized he was safe. He heard her call for him as he fell, felt the tug of her yo-yo as she flung him to the safety of an open elevator, watched helplessly as she was struck by Oblivio as the doors closed. She collapsed to the floor, unconscious, like the all others.

"No!" Cat Noir was too late to catch her before she fell. This is bad, he thought, as he hovered over her. I can't do this without her! But before his fear could swell to panic, her eyes flew open.

"Who are you?" Ladybug's arms flailed, pushing him away, like the stranger he now was to her.

"Cat Noir," he answered immediately, backing into the elevator's opposite corner. She obviously needed the space. "We're-"

"That's nice!" she squeaked. "Who am I?!"

"You're my-" He could say girlfriend, and she wouldn't know the difference. This was a fresh start, a second chance at a first impression. He should try to make the most of it. He would have, except their miraculouses started to beep.

"What's happening now?" she asked. "Why is our jewelry making noise?"

"Close your eyes!"

"What?"

"Just trust me." He followed his own direction, so he didn't see if she did as well. It didn't matter, he decided. If she found out who he was, that was fine. But she didn't want to know who he was, so he wouldn't peek. A quiet part of his conscience, almost drowned out by the rush of power as he detransformed, reminded him that she didn't want to love him either, so why was he planning on tricking her into it?

"How long do I need to keep my eyes closed?" civilian Ladybug whispered.

Would face look even brighter without the mask obscuring it? Adrien shut his eyes tighter to ward off the temptation. "Until we transf-"

"What's going on?" said a voice Adrien didn't recognize. It was high and sweet.

"Who's that?" not-Ladybug said. She shuffled closer, grabbing his foot and then pulling herself blindly forward until she found his arm and holding on tight.

"That's Tikki," Plagg said. "Some might say she's my sugar cube. My other half. My-"

"Uh... really?" Tikki asked timidly.

Adrien's stomach churned, imagining a greedy look on Plagg's face. New plan. He would NOT be lying to Ladybug today. He would have to find a different way to take advantage of his situation. Preferably one where she didn't hate him for it later.

"I'm pretty sure no one says that," Adrien cut in.

Plagg protested, but they had more important things to worry about at the moment. Footsteps echoed above them as Oblivio landed on the roof of the elevator.

Still sitting on the floor, Ladybug leaned into him. Oh, how he wished he could see her. "What is going on?"

"I'll explain as we go. Plagg, get the door."

Grumbling, the kwami did as he was told, while Adrien helped Ladybug to her feet. "We're going to have to move fast. Tikki, stay close." A bang shook the entire elevator, and Adrien had to squeeze his eyes shut even tighter. Oblivio had found them and was about to punch its way through the ceiling, from the sound of things.

"Without looking at each other? I'm not going to run into the hallway blind. I'll trip." Her voice started to tremble, but she held it firm. Memory or not, she was still his Lady.

The doors scraped open. "We just won't look at each other, okay?" he said, and he grabbed her hand, dashing away from the danger.

Tour Montparnasse was a monstrosity of a building, almost 60 floors, and it was completely deserted. With a little help from the kwamis, it took only a few minutes to lose Oblivio and feel completely alone. And Ladybug hadn't taken her hand out of his the whole time.

"Okay," he said. "Close your eyes again."

"Sure," she said.

"Making your girlfriend close her eyes so you can kiss her, huh?" Plagg said. "Smooth."

"No!" Adrien spluttered. "I was just going to explain and-" Though she couldn't see it, his face started heating up.

"Wait," Ladybug said. "Are we-"

"No." He rubbed his face over his hands, trying to keep in the "yes" he wanted to say. "We're superhero partners. You probably have some food for Tikki in your pocket or a purse, if you have one. She'll need it to transform you back." While she dug around, he found Plagg's emergency cheese.

"Cookies!" Tikki said.

"The words are 'spots on,'" Plagg said.

It was a relief when they were both transformed back. They'd be able to defend themselves, but Cat Noir was finally free to look around without jeopardizing her identity. He was able to look at her.

"So what's going on?" she asked. Unlike her usual self, she was timid and unsure, shoulders hunched forward. "We have to fight that thing, don't we?"

Heavy-handed flirting never really worked on her before. (He guessed there was no accounting for taste.) This was a fresh start, so he would try a different style. Do it right. "We always fight," he said. "But we always win."

She didn't look convinced. In fact, she shrunk back until she hit the wall, hands over her head to protect herself.

The only time he'd made her blush was when he'd given her that rose after the date-that-wasn't. Honest helpfulness, soft sweetness. That's what he would try here. It looked like that's what she needed the most anyway, reassurance, to know that she wasn't alone.

"Don't worry, Ladybug." He stepped forward until he was close enough to lay a gentle hand on her shoulder, light enough that she didn't flinch away. "I've seen you win over and over again. We'll figure it out. And in the meantime, I won't let anything hurt you. Cat's honor." He bowed.

Ladybug giggled.

Cat Noir's head snapped back up in surprise. A blush crept up around the edges of her mask, soft and delicate like her laugh.

"O-okay. Let's tho gen. I mean, g-go then."

She turned and sprinted for the stairwell door, checking back over her shoulder before ducking her head in embarrassment and disappearing with a click of the door's handle.

"Wow," Cat Noir whispered. His flirts had never gotten anything more sincere than a smirk out of her, so he hadn't expected that to actually work.

Thank you, Oblivio!

...

Author's note: Hello! This is being written for Ladynoir July, though I'm using last year's prompts, and I have zero intention of finishing in July. Oh well.

I am going to try to get these out more quickly than usual, so forgive me if the chapters aren't as polished as they normally would be.

I hope you like this story! I've been excited about writing it for MONTHS now!