Marinette jolted out of her dream, her eyes flying wide open and her dishevelled hair lashing out like the tentacles of a deranged squid. "Woah! Easy there, girl. It's only me," came a slightly amused-sounding Alya from her side. Marinette turned to find her best friend scowling over her and calmed down.
"A-Alya? You startled me….," she managed in between stifled yawns, "Wh-what time is it?"
"It's 6 o' clock," Alya replied matter-of-factly. She was dressed in a loose-fitting baby blue tee and sweatpants and on her feet were (quite possibly) the fluffiest bunny slippers in all of Paris. "Look it!" Alya proclaimed, brandishing her phone and waving it in front of Marinette.
A moment of silence passed between them and Alya slowed her phone-wagging to a mild jiggle. Marinette blinked, face completely deadpan, and nodded slowly. She slowly took in the situation in all of its entirety.
"So…. let me get this straight," she began, "You came into my home at the crack of dawn, dressed in what I can only guess are your PJs, so that you could pull me out of my sleep, thereby ruining the most fabulous dream I have ever had and probably never will ever have again so that you could show me your phone? Is it a new one?"
Alya raised an eyebrow and turned the phone's screen back to her. "Oh darn. Thumb must've slipped…."
It was then that they could no longer contain their laughter and erupted in a fit of giggles. Before too long, Marinette was clutching her sides and gasping for breath. "Oh-oh gods above Alya…. Gods above…," she managed when she was through.
"Alright… Alright. I-I'll pull up the chat logs I meant to show you," Alya exhaled, sliding her thumb across the screen in a blur. 'She really spends too much time on that thing,' Marinette thought.
"Here. Got'em."
Marinette gingerly took the phone from her and scanned through the texts on the screen. "Um… Alya? Why are you showing me your goofy way-too-early-morning conversations with Nino...?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking at her best friend.
Alya's cheeks coloured immediately and she crossed her arms, struggling to retain her composure. She cleared her throat and made a 'just keep scrolling!' gesture. Marinette sighed and smiled. They really made for quite the cute couple, Nino and her.
Ever since the incident at the zoo, wherein Alya had been locked in one of the animal enclosures with the boy, they had been going off and doing all kinds of things together, things couples would do. But they never did officially declare their relationship. Marinette had a sneaking suspicion that they potentially made up a force of intervention between her and Adrien though.
'Meddling matchmakers,' she thought vaguely. When her eyes glanced over an 'Adrien' in the chat, all thought of Alya and Nino were swept from her mind. She gave a startled little yelp and rubbed her bleary eyes, thinking they were the culprits behind this.
Alya smiled smugly. The Agreste boy and any mention of him always had this effect on Marinette. All the more reason for Alya to nudge her friend towards him at every opportunity. They would be the cutest couple in Paris. She just knew it. "So…? Go on, read it out loud, girl," she said to Marinette.
She complied, face now set alight. "Hey would it be alright if Adrien tagged along for breakfast at Pierre's later? OH! Bring Marinette along too! He's having a rough week and I think breakfast with his darling would cheer him up." Marinette's eyes were as big as saucers. "Alya- Is this- Did you…?"
Alya swiped the phone back and gave her a conspiratorial grin. "Yes. And I said you would love that and to keep it from Adrien because it's going to be a surprise! So now we have to get you all primped and posed for your little breakfast date with your favorite male model. Also, you're welcome," she said in a flurry and finished with a little bow.
Marinette could only sit on her mattress, utterly dumbfounded. 'This is a dream… this has to be a dream.' "Breakfast… with…," she muttered in a daze. She planted her face in her pillow and screamed. Alya shook her head in disbelief. 'What am I going to do with her?' she thought, smiling, and reached over to yank her brain-fried friend out of bed. "Okay, okay we will deal with the fallout after we get you dressed and ready for Agreste time. There is no time to waste!"
Marinette's head jolted back up before Alya could forcefully separate her from her oh-so-comfy cocoon. "Speak for yourself, Mademoiselle Pantoufles de Lapin," she retorted with a pout.
Alya looked to her quizzically, "'Miss Bunny Slippers' what are you- Oh." She looked herself up and down in Marinette's bedroom mirror. "Welp! That's what I have my backup clothes for!" she said cheerily, jabbing her thumb at her bag on the floor.
