She slid past him and he continued to follow her like a lost kitten. She sighed and tried to ignore him, even though he was suffocating her. She abruptly stopped and turned around on her heel, shaking her index finger in his direction. "You need to backup a little, you know that? Too close." She whispered and hoped that no one around her had heard her talk to thin air.
She watched the man nod in response and turned back around to continue her search. She had been hoping to find some new vintage clothing. She loved it to look at it and feel the textures of the different materials that were used so long ago.
He walked around her with grace and phased away, before popping back up again on the other side of the white lace dress that she was currently looking at. Her fingers doing as much as her eyes were, taking it in like a fine wine. The lace was delicate along her fingertips and she touched the collar to peer at the label. Something about her gentle touch intrigued him and her warm smile caught his heart on fire. This woman was special and all he wanted to do was go home with her. He felt safe in her hands. She was different than the others that had tried to take him home before. She cleared her throat and headed up to the front, leaving the dress behind. She would buy it another time if it was still available.
Marinette walked up to the clerk that was busy putting stickers on to merchandise for the booths. She worried her bottom lip and fiddled with the silver band between her fingers and thumbs. Her heart beat faster, the more she held the trinket. She just wanted to know the story behind it. Although, Marinette knew that the clerks didn't always know the stories behind the items in the shop. It was a combination of booths rented out to sellers. They just had to keep logs of what sold from where, so that the sellers could keep track of their sales.
"Excuse me." Marinette's voice came out small and she felt the ring grow hot, as if, it was reassuring her to gather courage.
"Sorry, I was distracted. Hello. How are you?" The clerk smiled at her and set the sticker gun down.
"I'm good. You?" Marinette smiled and gently set the ring down, not wanting to part with it long.
"I'm good, dear. What did you find today?" She smiled at her and then her gaze went down to the item on the table. Marinette watched her smile fade and she suddenly became worried.
"Do you, by chance, know the story behind this ring?" Marinette quietly spoke and the clerk cleared her throat.
"I'm afraid I don't. Usually, the items come in here from the sellers and only the sellers know the stories behind them. Sometimes, they don't. However…" The clerk didn't know if she should tell her or not. She knew that the ring had been there for so long, about six years to be exact, but she didn't want to scare her off. She tapped her long red nails on the wooden counter and seemed to get was lost in her thoughts.
"What is it? I know it's been here a while. I kept walking by it and I've been wanting to buy it, but I never did." Marinette peered from the ring to the woman. She was confused as to why this woman would change her mood so suddenly. She was radiating anxiety and Marinette didn't understand why.
"Well… it's been here much longer than a few years. Customers have come in here and carried it around, thinking they're going to buy it, but…" The woman bit her nail and contemplated not telling her anymore about it.
"But what?" Marinette was curious now and she felt him around her. Felt him against her back, peering over her shoulder at the woman at the counter. He hoped the woman wouldn't scare this person from buying his ring. He liked her and wanted to go home with her, after all.
"Well. Everyone had put it back before they even brought it up. Either they would trip and fall, or their fingers would burn, or they would feel sick, scared. They would speak of seeing something out of the corner of their eye. Cursed by a mean spirit were the exact words they used. But you have made it the furthest with it." The woman regrettably fessed up to her.
The male spirit rolled his eyes and huffed at how silly she made him sound. He wasn't mean… He was just picky. Marinette caught a glimpse of him crossing his arms and his face held an annoyed expression. She held back a giggle and smiled at the clerk.
"Well, I'd love to take my chances, please." She opened her purse to grab her wallet and held out her euros for the clerk to take them.
"Suit yourself." She typed the sale into the register and hand wrote a receipt on old transfer paper. She passed her the yellow copy of the receipt and pushed Marinette's outstretched hand away. "It's free. I don't want it here anymore. Do you want a bag for it?"
"No, I'll wear it out. Thank you very much." Marinette smiled warmly at her and took the ring with her. She walked out of the shop and took her dainty silver chain from around her neck. She slid the ring onto it and clasped it back around her neck for safe keeping. She clutched it into her hands, brought them to her chest, and closed her eyes with a smile.
The man with blonde hair put his hands in the pockets of his plum coat and followed her, as she walked towards her apartment. When she had finally dropped her hands to her hips, he had tried to hold her hand, but she had pulled it away from him. He pouted and tried again, but once again, she pulled away from him.
"Would you stop?" She scolded him like a child and he rolled his eyes. "I need space. I just saved you from that shop! The lease you could do is be polite and give me some breathing room. What's your name anyway?"
The man sighed and ran a hand through his hair, as he walked beside her with a foot of space between them. He didn't even know if he could talk to people. He had never tried to. But for some reason he found himself wanting her to know who he was. For her to know his story and help him move on. She turned to look at where she knew he was walking.
"Adrien… Adrien Agreste…" His voice ran through her mind and ears like warm chocolate, causing her heart to pound hard within her chest. The world seemed to stop around her, as she froze up with parted lips. She looked into his eyes, an invisible wall keeping them together yet separate. Once again, wind blew through his golden locks and she got lost in his broken bright green eyes in the fall light. It contrasted with the stark white pallet of winter around her and she pulled her long pastel pink coat around herself more.
"I'm Marinette… Marinette Dupain Cheng." She watched him reach out and take her hand in his. She raised it to help him and he bowed down with his eyes never leaving hers as he brushed his cold lips along her knuckles. It felt like cold air was being swept along her warm skin and she gasped at the sensation.
"Nice to meet you, Marinette." Adrien smiled at her and stood up straight. He brushed his hair from his eyes and his cheeks flushed a beautiful coral color.
Marinette felt her cheeks warm up and she knew that a blush had settled in along her cheekbones. She hid her face in her coat and continued to walk through the snow to her apartment.
He followed her, peering up at the falling snow to catch them on his tongue. He chuckled and spun around with complete utter joy. She watched him take in something so mundane with such curiosity and wonder. Hadn't he experienced snow before? She decided to hold her questions inside until they got to her apartment.
Adrien peered over at her with a smoldering expression. "To answer your question… No, no, father would never approve of me going out to play in the snow. Said it was too dangerous. I'd get sick easily." He went back to kicking the snow along the ground and Marinette watched gusts of snow flying off his black dress shoes. It surprised her that he was able to control that side of him already. That he had already figured out how to touch objects and make them move with his energy.
She giggled and bent down to make a snowball from the ground. She gave him a mischievous expression and threw it at him. It phased through him and he laughed triumphantly; before, he made one and threw it at her. It hit her in the chest and she gasped as she watched him laugh behind his hand. His cheeks flushed a deeper rose as he held his stomach and laughed harder. He had never felt this happy. Not since he was a small child. She shook her head and laughed with him as she finally reached the front of her apartment building. "Welcome home, Adrien." She whispered and he peered up with parted lips at the tall white building with gold details.
"Home…" The word played around in his head and fell from his lips like a sigh. Marinette turned to look at him and caught a glimpse of a tear falling down his cheek. She instantly wanted to help this lost soul find his way home. Whether it be with her or somewhere else. She needed to help him.