Marinete was half sure that she was choking, the taste that clung to her tongue was terrible, bitter and harsh on her tongue.
She knew it was a vegetable and just the slight pressure on her tongue was soft though the look on her face was pale as she turned to face her best friend, "This is gross." She whined.
Alya had long since gotten used to the way that Marinette hated the tastes that often planted themselves on her tongue; she had a major sweet tooth which was definitely a benefit from living in a bakery, but her soulmate on the other hand either hated sweets or never ate them.
Alya bit back a laugh at just seeing the upset on Marinette's face, "It's worse, because I've never had that before, and I definitely don't like the taste of it."
"Is it a salad?" She leaned towards Marinette with a light smirk.
"It's bitter. Why?" Marinette looked downright miserable, eyes flickering closed slightly, before they opened to stare at her glazed donut that she could not really eat with the taste of kale in her mouth.
"May be he's on a diet." Alya's eyes were lit up as she leaned back in her chair before she sighed, "Mine has a latte, so good."
Marinette rolled her eyes, "You're absolutely lucky." She glared down at her donut before leaning forward and taking a bite, letting the sweet pastry drown out and get rid of the taste of kale on her tongue.
She sighed in bliss though had to bite back a laugh at whatever her soulmate must be thinking about her, "Alya, what do you think he likes?"
"To eat?" Alya turned to her, "May be veggies?"
"Oh, the horror." Marinette rolled her eyes at her best friend, "We can't be soulmates anymore."
Alya laughed, "What if he actually does?"
"Then he's seriously missing out." Marinette grumbled as she glanced over at her best friend before she smiled, "He's finished whatever he was eating now."
Alya laughed, "What did he do have a glass of water?"
"Yeah," Marinette smiled wistfully as if water was the best tasting drink in the world.
"He's more of a stereotypical teenage girl than you are." Alya teased as she watched the quick way that Marinette retaliated.
"Just because he doesn't often have anything sweet to eat, does not mean that he's a teenage girl." Marinette leveled a glare her way, and Alya smirked playfully.
"Want to explore every coffee shop in Paris with me?" Alya asked.
"What if he's not in Paris?" Marinette asked her with a slight smile.
"What if he's in our class? I should make the grossest thing ever and bring it in to share with our class and see if he's there." Alya smirked, looking pleased with herself.
Marinette rolled her eyes, "I'd have to pass, and you'd have to make each one differently."
Alya groaned, "You ruin my fun, Mari."
The fashion designer to be giggled, "Only when you make it that easy."
"Should I try one thing a day for months to see if whoever I share with is my soulmate?"
"What if he's allergic?" Marinette was just teasing her now that Alya well knew.
'Hey, Alya, I'm on my way over.' Alya smiled at the gentle chirp of her phone.
"Is it your soulmate?" Marinette asked her, leaning closer to her friend, and just seeing the message that was on the screen.
"Doubtful." Alya rolled her eyes as she pocketed her phone, "It's just Nino."
Marinette shot her a playful look regardless.
Nino hurried into the bakery moments later, three cups of cafe bought coffee in his hands.
"So what's up?" He slid one over to Alya that Marinette was almost certain was Alya's favorite as if it had grown so familiar to him.
She sipped at her own black coffee; she only tended to like the stuff if she had a sweet to pair with it.
Nino grinned over at Alya as she took a sip from her coffee before she caught on and rolled her eyes; Marinette smiled and quietly excused herself.
He had to be Alya's soulmate to glance over at her like that while she was enjoying her coffee, plus Nino had just came from a cafe with a half finished latte that he'd been drinking; they'd probably want some time to themselves anyway, she rationalized as she she slipped into the bakery to help out her parents.
Marinette had always wished that it had been as easy for her to find her soulmate as it was for soulmates that already knew each other; she knew that she hadn't met her soulmate yet by the types of things he ate though some meals of his were so mouth wateringly good that she practically salivated at just the taste of them on her tongue.
She smiled at the thought as she bustled around the little bakery working with her parents; it felt as much like home to her as being upstairs did.
Marinette dimly wondered if her soulmate had a best friend kind of like her own that he could share little things with and that often teased him or speculated with him over who his soulmate could be; she wondered briefly for what was probably the millionth time whether he thought that whatever she ate was weird.
She smiled, just a light upturning of her lips while she thought and baked; they definitely ate vastly different things while she often had a sweet of sorts to content herself with or a home cooked meal which sometimes catered to her French side and sometimes to her Chinese side, her soulmate seemed to eat elegant meals made by a personal chef to little bits of veggies.
Surely, he lived somewhere far different than she did; she smiled when a cool taste of water graced her tongue again, delicately soothing it, and reminding her that water wasn't quite tasteless, had just a hint of an alluring taste.
Water had never been her go to drink yet as often as her soulmate had it, it had to be his; she really did gain a hint of a fondness for some of the things he ate.
Marinette wondered if he ever craved anything that she ate; surely while she hoped for him to have specific dinners, he hoped for the same from her.
Her smile was unwaveringly fond as she finally left the bakery when it became apparent that Alya and Nino weren't talking so much about being their soulmates anymore, just perfectly relaxed with hands gently clasped.
Marinette easily picked up her donut and imagined whatever her soulmate could be doing right now as she gingerly took a bite, humming fondly over the explosions of flavor in her mouth.
She hoped genuinely that her soulmate liked sweets in some way, that he liked the taste of whatever she was enjoying on his tongue, because whenever she met him, he'd probably have a lot of it.
Marinette sighed as she couldn't help the way her eyes flickered to Adrien, he was relatively new to her school, and once they'd gotten over the gum incident, she'd found herself rather fond of him.
She wondered vaguely over whether he could be her soulmate or even know her soulmate as she tried to relax at Nino and Alya's makeshift friend picnic in the park.
Marinette gingerly reached for a macaron and took a careful bite, eyes for now on her hands, a little too nervous to glance up; she'd missed the tell tale sign of a blush on Adrien's cheeks or the nervous way he reached for one, himself, as if he had to check that it was the same flavor on his tongue as well.
She sighed just after he took a bite, because suddenly the taste was back just as strong as before, so she peaked up and locked eyes on a rather relaxed though still sort of nervous Adrien beside her.
Marinette smiled, ignoring the way that Nino and Alya were sharing a sandwich and wondered if it always felt so right to be enjoying the same food side by side with your soulmate.
She nervously scooted closer though a part of her suddenly felt that she didn't need to be so nervous anymore.
Marinette locked her fingers softly over his one hand, the one not holding the macaron, and relaxed by his side, steadying herself.
She didn't care whether Alya had noticed yet or not just wanted to stay close to Adrien under this new kind of knowledge.
"Do you like sweets?" She whispered into his ear, half paranoid that Alya would hear and tease her about it, though relieved that she didn't stutter.
"Yeah, you seem to always have the best ones." Adrien's fingers tightened over her own, and she realized that he knew because of her already. "Father doesn't let me have sweets often."
"Oh," Marinette murmured, vaguely realizing that she couldn't help but smile, didn't want to wipe that smile off her face ever.
"Were those croissants that you had for breakfast the other day? They were absolutely delicious." Adrien asked her just as softly as they'd began.
"Yeah, I can bring some in tomorrow, and you can try them?" Marinette asked him, nudging closer against his side, emboldened by the fact that he did like the sweets that she'd grown up helping to bake.
"I'd love that." Adrien murmured with a goofy grin of his own that had a part of Marinette inwardly cooing at how cute he was.
Marinette decided about a week or so later that there was one thing better than sharing food with your soulmate and letting that taste last on your tongue for so long.
It was kissing him, tasting the hint of his mouth wash on her tongue, so minty, and yet tasting something that was just him, sort of sweet and yet so much more; it reflected back on her whenever his tongue brushed against her, her taste on him.
She was vaguely sure that she tasted like cookies or something sweet, may be fruit, and something a little more; it bounced on her taste buds like it belonged there.
Marinette smiled into the kiss, relaxing as the two tastes blended, and became so much more; she wanted to, longed to, taste this perfect blend every day of her life though she wondered if they'd somehow make that work beyond busy schedules and whatever else held them back.
She beamed at Adrien's goofy grin as they broke apart; it reflected what her own surely looked like, and she couldn't help but lean back in to get that taste that was slowly slipping away back on her tongue again.
There was definitely nothing better than kissing your own soulmate.