16. Trouble(2)
Needless to say, the trash talk was becoming unreal.
“Oh come on!” Adrien protested as the Ladybot sent an energy beam right into his Black Cat bot’s face. “That was a cheap shot!”
“Don’t blame me for your inability to dodge!” Marinette laughed as her bot ducked a blow from his bot, only to shove him back, powering up for a finishing combo.
“Every time I try to dodge, the button sticks!” Adrien protested, biting down on his tongue as he tried to muscle his way out of the situation, all to no avail. “You gave me the broken controller, didn’t you?”
“I don’t need my opponent to have a broken controller to win!” Marinette said, looking so smug as she landed blow after blow on him that Adrien couldn’t stand it.
“Fine, then switch with me,” he suggested, pausing the game and reaching over for her controller. Marinette moved it from his reach, staring at him as if he’d gone crazy.
“What? No!”
Adrien frowned, pursuing her to her side of the couch, groping for the controller even as she held it out to her other side, determined to keep it from him as her free hand pressed into his chest.
“Come on, if you’re so confident, what’s the problem?”
“It’s my controller, Adrien!” Marinette insisted stubbornly, though she was laughing as she shoved a foot against his abdomen now in an attempt to keep him at bay. Adrien grunted, putting his weight on her as he still continued to reach for the controller as she held it firmly out of his grasp.
“What’s the difference? Come on, Mari—”
“No way!”
As they wrestled for the controller, Marinette un-paused the game. Before Adrien could stop her, she rolled out a quick combo that finished his bot, grinning cheekily as he stared from her to the screen in horror.
“No fair! I wasn’t holding my controller!”
“Your fault for trying to take my controller in the first place,” Marinette chided with her tongue out at Adrien pouted down at her.
“And you didn’t even let me win once. You’re brutal, Mari,” he complained. Marinette seemed quite unperturbed by that, and she openly giggled at him and his plight. The sight of her laughter, even at his expense, was enough to soften Adrien, though he wasn’t too upset about losing to her in the first place; clearly, he needed to get better at Mecha Strike before making reckless bets he couldn’t win…
As Marinette laughed, Adrien suddenly became aware of the fact that he was lying on top of her, the warmth of her body soaking through the t-shirt he wore. He blinked, startled at this realization. He had been so busy trying to grab her controller that he hadn’t been properly self-aware, and now…
Adrien flushed, his mind panicking as it went into overtime trying to find a way out of this situation without making it awkward. But why did it have to be awkward? Marinette was too busy laughing at him to realize the compromising position they were in—
As soon as he thought that, Marinette glanced up at him…and then, by the sudden rounding of her eyes and the blush filling her face, seemed to register the same thing Adrien had. Her lips parted in surprise, and his eyes were immediately drawn to them, as if he couldn’t help it.
Damn it—he wanted to kiss her.
That was when his mind stopped working, rendering him useless; he could only stare down at her as she gaped up at him, the quiet between them growing tense and charged. As Adrien floundered with his suddenly non-responsive brain, an apology sprang to his lips, because it was probably appropriate here, and he should move, he should definitely move before he made this any worse or—
Outside, thunder crashed, probably the loudest it had been all night.
And then everything went dark.
Adrien froze in place, the sudden loss of light and power startling him. His eyes adjusted quickly—as Chat Noir, his night vision was excellent, but as Adrien, it was only slightly better than an average person’s night vision. Still, it was enough to see the shocked look on Marinette’s face, her eyes as wide as they could possibly go…though whether it was because she was trying to see him or because the power outage had startled her, Adrien couldn’t be sure. He did register the way her hands gripped his biceps, nails digging into his skin. Definitely startled, then.
Adrien let out a short huff of breath, shifting as he began to draw away from her. As startled as Marinette might be by the sudden power outage, him lying on top of her probably wasn’t helping matters—
As he prepared to back away, Marinette’s grip suddenly slipped from his arms, up to his neck. They rested at his nape, scorching the skin there as his nerves rioted, instantly reacting to the touch, making Adrien freeze in place. What was she doing?
Marinette bit her lip, her brow furrowing. She looked uncertain about something…but the moment Adrien dared to move closer, trying to read the expression in her eyes, something changed, too fast for him to catch it—
And then she was leaning up...
Her lips were warm and soft. That was the only thing Adrien could register as they pressed against his.