Alya and Marinette were chatting on their table, cracking jokes about nothing in particular. The class was calm and quiet. They were tired after the holidays. Having to actually wake up for school was something they didn't much enjoy, and everyone was either drifting back off to sleep, or quietly reminiscing about the party a few days ago. Tikki was struggling to keep her eyes open so she stretched out her arms and yawned wide. Almost as if she had seen her, Marinette mirrored her yawn, stretching hard too. In a domino effect, Alya yawned too. Marinette smirked. Alya chuckled. There was a real lazy mood in the air at the moment. At least there was until…
"WHAT?!"
The scream sliced through the entire school and made them jolt back awake in surprise. Marinette and Alya shared a shocked look. then loud frantic footsteps raced down the corridor towards them, getting louder and louder. Then they heard him slip, and Nino went catcalling straight into the door. He hurried to his feet, ignoring the bruise on his thigh and bleeding scraps on his arm, and raced to his table top. He thumped the table so loudly that anyone who hadn't been looking already (that was no one) looked up in surprise.
"THEY'RE SHUTTING DOWN THE ARCADE!"
There was a blanket of shock across the classroom. Marinette threw her hands over her mouth and gasped in horror. An appalled chatter rose louder than before. Now everyone was awake. Awake and annoyed. Alya looked on, bewildered by the extreme reaction of her classmates. Adrien wandered in seconds later, just as baffled.
"What's so great about the arcade?"
Adrien asked as he took his seat.
Niko was too outraged to sit down. "Are you kidding?! It's an institution! Everyone's had at least one birthday party at the arcade and it was the greatest party they went to! I've lost so much money and so many hours of my life trying to get enough tickets to win something off the top shelf! Now I never will."
Nino sighed dramatically and collapsed into his seat. Marinette leaned over the table to keep the conversation going.
"What was your aim?" Marinette asked.
"The PlayStation two," Nino smirked.
"PLAYSTATION TWO?" Alya snorted, "All this fuss for an outdated game console?!"
"It's about the effort you put in Alya! no one has anything from the top shelf unless they're the most spoilt brat in the world!" Marinette argued.
"This is pathetic. I got that console went I was seven!" Chloe scoffed.
"see what I mean?" Nino smirked under his breath and Marinette giggled.
"The arcade is old and dark and gross. It's outdated. Maybe we'll get something interesting in its place," Chloe sneered.
"You'd think someone who's as big a troll as you would like that it was old and dark and gross Chloe," Marinette countered.
Chloe gasped in horror, "how dare you?! You're just jealous I have the games console and the huge teddies!"
"Do you even have the panda? I always wanted the panda," Rose said.
"the panda! Ha! I have three!" Chloe sneered again.
"I always wanted that cat. I wanted it so badly, I waisted my pocket money there for nearly six months until papa brought me the cat from a shop. Now he's my pillow. But you're right Nino. It's not the same as winning it," Marinette said.
Nino raised an eyebrow as an idea came to his mind. "Do you still have your tickets?"
"is it sad that I do?" She smirked.
"no, because I do too!" Nino grinned, "If we combine both of our tickets and go together on Saturday, we can finally win something from the top shelf!"
"Deal!" Marinette laughed.
"Awesome! We'll start early. 10 am ok?" Nino asked.
Marinette beamed. "It's a date!"
Alya laughed. "You two are being over dramatic about this."
"Alya this was our childhood. I met Nino at the arcade!" Marinette argued.
"I thought you two met in infants," Adrien said.
"Nah we met like a week before when I annihilated him at air hockey!" She grinned at Nino.
"Oh yeah! Man I forgot about that. you were the first girl I ever met who could beat Pacman," Nino grinned.
"Pacman! Oh I hated Pacman!" Marinette groaned.
Marinette hated that she loved Pacman. She wasted hour upon hour of her life running away from the multicoloured ghosts trying to eat every last circle and fruit that they brought up. Once or twice her hand cramped up too much for her to write at school the next day.
"I wonder if anyone's beaten your score yet," Nino said.
"probably, it's been years!"
"We'll find out on Saturday."
...
Marinette leaned around a young boy who had just died on Pacman, trying to get a glimpse of the scores. She smirked smugly. Still firmly there at the top of the leader board. 8233791 MDC. Second on the list, 8232185 LUK. Luka. She smiled warmly. No one could beat him but her. Nino snuck up quietly, so she wouldn't notice, and grabbed her waist. She cried out in alarm. Nino burst into laughter as Marinette hit him, laughing too.
"That's not funny!" She laughed.
"So? Have they beat you?" He asked.
"Nah, no one can even beat Luka," she grinned.
"I'm not surprised. Luka was almost as stubborn as you when it came to Pacman," he said.
Marinette smiled warmly. "Yeah. I miss him."
Nino chuckled. They all missed Luka. He was like a big brother to everyone who knew him until he went to stay with his mother after the divorce. But they weren't here to reminisce about him. They had to get more tickets.
"How many have you got?" Nino asked eagerly.
Marinette blushed sheepishly. "Almost six thousand."
Nino gasped like she had given him the sun. "I have three thousand four hundred! They cut the prices of the top shelf down to fifteen thousand each."
"If we get another... five thousand six hundred, we can get that play station for you," Marinette grinned.
Nino grabbed her hand and declared, "To the hockey table!"
Nino led Marinette by her hand over to the air hockey table by a wall. They had to run to it when they saw it was empty, to ensure that no one else would get in the way. Marinette slipped a euro into the slot and hurried to the opposite end to Nino. Nino yanked his hat to the side, and began to bounce, competitively.
"Ready?" He grinned.
She grabbed the puck as it fell into her pot and held it between her fingers like a throwing star. "You're going down Lahiffe."
He sneered, "bring it on."
Marinette pressed the red puck against the white table top and it immediately began drifting across the air. She angled it all up, and slammed the puck dramatically to the side. Nino moved like lightning to slam it straight back. She threw her striker across the gap, and narrowly blocked the pucks path.
"Almost got me then!" Marinette grinned, "but you're not fast enough!"
She hit the puck hard so it struck the edge of the table and bounced across to his corner with a ping. It ricocheted off the corner and back to Marinette's side of the table. It came to a stop just over the plastic guard. Marinette threw herself over the table to hit it back towards Nino. Quick as a flash he shot it back. Marinette didn't have time to react, and dunk.
Nino punched the air. "SCORE!"
Marinette scowled at him. "It's first to six you know! And the longer we play the more tickets we get."
Adrien frowned. "Then why don't we just leave it running and wait for an hour?"
Marinette knocked the puck across the table again. "I think that's what people are doing."
Nino knocked it back, "Now I get why this place is going out of business."
The puck pinged back and forth between the sides for ages. It pinged and clattered repeatedly, drowning out the chatter and electronic music of the video games that filled the air. Every now and then the puck crashed so hard that it leapt straight off of the table and onto the fuzzy maroon and crazy patterned carpet underfoot. Every time it did they both made a dart for it, so they could get the extra shot. Between the clatters there were cries of victory or yells of panic as the puck headed towards them.
Nino twirled the puck in his fingers like a coin, bouncing slightly to try and psych her out. Her had, and her striker, did not move from the centre of the gap.
"One more to go, and I win," he sneered.
She smirked back, "bring it on."
He set the puck on the table top. She tensed. He sneered again. He readied his striker. She twitched. Nino flicked his wrist.
CLASH!
The puck bounced off of her striker and back to Nino. He shot again. She darted to hit it back, and missed the gap by millimetres. Nino over shot and the puck bounced off of the corner. It slowed until it stopped halfway over the line. At the same time both of them threw themselves over the table to hit it back. Marinette grunted as she did, and Nino almost caught her finger with the puck. Marinette fell back and accidentally dragged the puck with her. It crashed into her goal. She screamed and crumbled to the sticky carpet as Nino roared. even Tikki wasn't sure this was the best place for them to be. They seemed to be incredibly competitive. That wouldn't end well in a place like this.
"Tickets!"
Nino cheered as they came spilling from the machine. Marinette leapt to her feet and scrambled over to them too.
"How many'd we get?"
"104."
"Only five thousand four hundred and ninety-six to go!"
"What next?"
"Skee-ball always gives out loads, let's go skee-ball!"
"Let's go!"
They had to run past the cotton candy machine to get there and the smell threw Tikki back to a carnival her last bug had taken her to. It was the first time Tikki had tasted pink clouds and she was hooked. The smell made her eyes shine and her antenna droop. She wanted it. She wanted it enough to crawl up to Marinette in broad public view and hiss at her to get her attention.
"Marinette?!" Tikki squeaked.
"What is it Tikki? An akuma?" Marinette gasped.
"The pink clouds!"
"What?"
Tikki pointed at the source of the smell that made her mouth drool. "The pink clouds!"
"I need money for tickets Tikki," Marinette sighed.
"But please?! I don't ask for much!" Tikki begged.
That was true. Tikki was a very generous kwami and she rarely asked for anything but a cookie, which was always readily available. Marinette needed money for tickets, but Tikki deserved a treat too.
"Hey Nino? How much is candyfloss these days?"
"I dunno two euros maybe,"
"Two euros?" She wrinkled her nose. She could get two games of skee-ball for that.
Nino glanced up as the balls rolled down to him. He saw the uncertainty in her eyes as she clinked the coins in her hand together. He thought back to what Alya had said. She had to get comfortable in potentially romantic situations. There wasn't much that could be considered romantic about an arcade, but sharing cotton candy was close enough for him.
"Do it. Go get some," he said, encouragingly.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"Why not? Treat yourself. You're worth it," she smiled.
Marinette smirked at him. For some reason, knowing she had his permission was enough for her. She hurried over and stopped in front if the machine. Tikki was bouncing up and down eagerly. The coins clinked as they went in and Tikki squeaked. The machine had a clear door, so you could watch as it spun up your snack and wound it onto a stick. Fascinated, Tikki watched in awe. It went around and round and round until the cloud on the stick was as big as Marinette's head. Then it presented it to her, for her to take. Marinette did, and she grinned. She pulled off a chunk and handed it to Tikki who looked vaguely love struck. The wisp Marinette handed her was the same size as her, and Tikki savoured every second of it dissolving in her mouth. She was giddy with delight at this treat. Well she did love sugar.
Marinette wandered back over to Nino. He grinned at her, and reached out to steal a wisp of her cloud. She let him, but smirked back at him anyway.
"I don't remember offering to share."
"I don't remember asking." He winked back.
Marinette chuckled. It had already dissolved on his lips and now he looked like he was wearing chunky pink lipstick. Nino was hopeless sometimes. He picked up a ball as Marinette wound a wisp around her finger.
"Are we going to play normally or are we going to cheat?" She asked curiously.
Nino pretended to be offended at the audacity. "It's not cheating! It's creatively adapting to ensure your best chance of scoring high!"
Marinette blinked. Then she smirked. "It's cheating."
"You say potato," Nino shrugged
"Because that's the right way to say it!" Marinette laughed.
Nino folded his arms. "Do you want that top shelf thing or not?"
"Yes."
"Then we're cheating."
"So it is cheating?!"
Nino glared at her for a moment, but her smile was like sunshine and her eyes in this light were shining pools of mischievous joy and she made him smile even if he didn't want to.
"You are a wonder Marinette," he said.
She grinned. "Thank you."
"Now come on," Nino held a ball out to her, "let's get cheating."
There were very few games in which Nino was fully prepared to cheat. Moat of the time he was appalled by the idea. But monopoly would go on too long if he didn't see how much he could sneak from the bank without being noticed, charades with his mother would be too traumatising if he didn't know what she was miming, and skee-ball, well that was a cheat's game anyway.
Marinette balanced a bunch of the balls along her forearm for him to grab at will, and Nino stood at the end with the holes and threw them in from a closer distance. It was cheating of the highest degree, but it made the 100 hole much closer and much easier to get to. Nino got six in a row, and there were four left. He aimed right to the 100 but they bounced off and fell into the 50 zone. Out came a string of tickets.
"Two hundred!" Nino cheered.
"This is going to take so long," Marinette sighed.
"If there's one thing we have, it's time," Nino smirked.
Marinette looked down as Tikki practically threw herself into the cotton candy cloud. Marinette had to scoop her up and push her gently back into the bag, with arms full of pink. Pink gave he ran idea.
"We should call in support. Rose and Juleka probably have a bunch of tickets," Marinette said.
Nino froze. This was supposed to be a date. He didn't want to say that to Marinette, partly because he didn't want her or think he liked her because he was going out with Alya, and partly because she would... well she wouldn't react well.
"But then we'd have to share four ways," he said.
"I thought this was about getting something off the top shelf rather than sharing things," she said.
"Right, but, Rose and Juleka might not..." Nino trailed off as Marinette raised an eyebrow. He sighed. "Oh I can't lie to you. Alya wants to build your confidence at being in potentially romantic situations, and asked me to help. That's part of the reason we're here."
Marinette frowned. "A pity date?"
"No, see this is why I didn't want to tell you, no one is saying this is a pity date," Nino insisted.
"I am, this is a pity date!" Marinette cried.
"No! It's not! It's two friends hanging out. We can tell Alya it was a date, but nothings gonna happen," Nino insisted.
"I know it isn't. You're like a brother to me!"
Nino reeled back, "What, so I can't be romantic?"
"In an arcade that smells of sugar and vomit and is full of hyperactive kids?" Marinette asked, sarcastically.
A man in the arcade uniform came hurrying over. "Woah, woah, woah you two! Just because you have a lover's quarrel doesn't mean you have to insult the fellow customers!"
They frowned and stepped apart urgently, "No, no we're not-"
He glanced around and lowered his voice, "If I give you both five thousand tickets will you please stop fighting, we can't handle the bad press."
Marinette and Nino shared a look. This wasn't how they expected to earn their first ten thousand tickets, but it took the time out of it and pushed them closer than they were now.
"Yeah, sure," Nino grinned.
Ten thousand tickets later, the argument was forgotten, and they were pressed up against the glass of a ball drop game, waiting, Nino's hand on her back, hers hovering over the big red button. Their eyes were locked on the sparkly silver hole heading their way.
"wait for it… wait for it… NOW!"
His hand pressed down on hers as she slammed her hand down on the button. The ball plummeted straight down, through the silver sticky tape. Nino and Marinette yelled and jumped in delight. She threw her arms around him and he swept her off of his feet as a dozen more veiny rubber balls came crashing down. They clattered about, bouncing off of each other and the walls, and the frames around the holes, before rolling into each numbered hole, and adding up their total tickets to four times what it could be. Tikki groaned as Marinette's movement jiggled her. she'd scoffed the last of the candy floss as quickly as possible, and there was still some caught on her antenna like fluffy pink eyebrows, but Tikki felt incredibly sick. The bouncing made her feel worse.
"how much more?" Marinette asked.
"We have 19,704." Nino's eyes widened. "We have 4704 more than we need."
As it sunk in, Marinette's grin grew. "Awesome!"
Marinette grabbed his hand this time, and dragged him across the arcade over to where a large kiosk stood, covered in shining rainbow lights, and full of shelves that had various toys crammed together on display. Marinette and Nino wriggled to the front of a crowd, and stared up at the top shelf in awe. Suddenly they were five years old with shining eyes and open mouth, like they had just seen Santa for the first time. then, at the same time, they gasped in horror. No PS2. Just a square, free of dust, where the box had once stood.
"No! who took it?!" Marinette gasped.
"Who'd you think?" Nino gestured towards the door.
Standing in full view of the arcade, with an evil sneer, and an PS2 box lodged under one arm, was a sneaky little blonde girl who had gone out of her way to get the PlayStation she didn't even want, just to annoy them. Marinette's ears turned red with fury.
"What a little brat!" she hissed.
"Mari, calm down," Nino said.
She deliberately came to get that today so you couldn't! she's so selfish!"
"Mari-"
"She probably didn't even win it herself, she probably just got her servants to play for her! she's such a cheat!"
"Marinette." Nino took her hands in his so she had to face him. his gaze was gentle, his smile was soft, and his tone was kind. Marinette was transfixed. "It doesn't matter what we get from the top shelf, as long as it came from there. That was the dream, right?"
"Yeah…" Marinette still sounded disappointed.
"Hey kid, you're next," the guy behind the kiosk nodded at Nino.
Nino glanced over at Marinette, and stepped forward so she couldn't hear. "Can I have that?"
"that? you sure?"
"Yeah. It's on the top shelf, isn't it?"
"Whatever dude, it's your tickets. Here you go kid."
Nino beamed as he was handed a plush cat toy so big that he couldn't see over it as he turned back to Marinette. Instead, he had to settle for hearing her gasp of joy.
"Oh Nino!"
"You said you always wanted the cat," he grinned.
"I did and I love it!" Marinette wrapped her arms around the black and brown cat so it's front paws leaned over her arms, it's ears covered her face, and it's tail brushed against the ground.
"Glad you like it!" Nino beamed, proudly.
Marinette moved so she could see him, "I do. But my papa already got me one, and he probably won't want me to bring another one home."
Nino deflated. "Oh…" he shrugged. "oh well. I'm sure there's someone that'll want him."
A thought crossed Marinette's mind that turned into a smirk. "I know the purrfect person."
Nino ran a hand over his stomach. "I'm hungry now. have you got any money left?"
"About enough for a couple hot dogs."
"great! You're buying."
"I thought this was a date! isn't the guy supposed to pay?" she smirked.
"I thought you didn't want a pity date?" he teased.
"I TOLD YOU IT WAS A PITY DATE!" she laughed.
He elbowed her teasingly. "I'm playing dude, I'm playing. Come on, we'll split it."
…
Marinette hooked the cat over her shoulders as she wandered down the street with a hotdog in one hand, and Nino's in the other. As a date it hadn't been traditionally romantic, but she enjoyed it. it was fun, and simple, and relatively cheap (if you ignored how much they wasted on penny machines) and she had gotten her cat from the top shelf. Even if she couldn't keep it, she was full of pride that it came from the top shelf.
"Hey, this probably won't be the last "date" Alya makes us go on. I gotta let you know, it's not out of pity. I want to see you happy, and if this is the only way to help you be able to talk to Adrien, then I'm down for that. but I don't pity you. Not at all. if anything, I admire you," Nino explained as they got close to the bakery.
Marinette smiled softly at her friend. they had known each other since they were small, and she was having a hard time imagining life without him around. Who cared if Alya was making them spend time together? they should have been anyway! Nino was one of her best friends. She liked spending time with him. they stopped outside of the back door of the bakery, so Marinette could go straight to her house without her parents seeing the cat. She wrapped her arms around him.
"Thanks Nino. Pity date or not, this was fun. We should do it again," she said.
"I'll let Alya know," he winked.
"See you later?"
"Night Mari."
"Goodnight Lahiffe."
Nino hovered around the door as Marinette went inside. He wasn't sure why, but he wanted to make sure that she was safe, even now. As the door shut and he turned to walk away, he heard the familiar sound of Mr Dupain-Cheng, in an unfamiliarly loud tone, yelling, "AFTER ALL I DID TO GET THE LAST ONE! YOU'RE NOT KEEPING THAT!" Which made Nino smirk. He chuckled to himself as he pulled his headphones back up over his ears. like always, Marinette was right.
…
Marinette waited on the balcony with a steaming mug of hot chocolate, under the inky sky full of stars, with the breeze rushing around her pyjamas, for Chat Noir to come past on patrol. Tikki was inside, on the bed, sleeping off the sickness of the candyfloss. She had very nearly vomited pink all over the floor so it matched the walls. She was safely hidden in the crook of Marinette's old plush cat. The new one sat on the table behind her, ready to be re-gifted. There he was! right on time!
"Kit- um- Chat Noir!" Marinette called.
He cocked his head and looked surprised to be summoned. Then he smirked, and showed off his gymnastic skills to swing himself from the other side of the street, to Marinette's balcony, landing flawlessly on the other side of the railings to her.
"Hello purrincess, how can I be of service?"
"I have a gift for you,"
His ears pricked in surprise. "a gift? For me? Why?"
"because papa says I can't keep it, and it made me think of you," Marinette turned around, put down the hot chocolate, and picked up the cat. Chat's eyebrows rose. She smirked. "what'd you think?"
Chat was taken aback, and it showed through. He'd never been gifted anything before, and this from Marinette was more than he ever imagined he would get. Marinette frowned as he continued to stare without saying anything. her shoulders sagged, and her voice dropped.
"you don't like it?"
"no, no, no, I love it!" he insisted.
He leapt over the railings onto the balcony. Marinette beamed and held it out. Chat reach out and take it, but hesitated, in case she wasn't serious. Like I said, he'd never been gifted something before. He wasn't entirely sure she knew what she was doing. Yet she insisted. So he took it. she draped it over his shoulders, so it hung around him like a scarf. He beamed in utter delight.
"I love it!" he declared.
"I'm glad. Look," she stepped aside so he could see hers under the skylight, "we match."
Chat's grin grew. "Pawsome! That you Marinette!"
Without thinking (he had been taken by surprise after all) he stepped forward and kissed her cheek to thank her. she blushed beetroot and took a step back. his cheeks flushed pink as he realised what he had done.
"It's really not that amazing, I mean, it's just a toy I can't keep, and it reminds me of you, so I thought you'd like it but I never thought-" Marinette stammered.
Chat Noir cut her off by taking her hands in his. "I love it. really. With all my heart. Thank you."
Her blush deepened. She muttered, "you're welcome."
He chuckled, and climbed back over the railings, and clung on there for a moment or two. Long enough to grin and say, "things like this are the reason you're my favourite citizen Marinette."
"You're a cool cat sometimes Chat, but right now, you're such a dork!"
Chat laughed brightly, "a grateful dork. See you around princess."
He leapt off into the night, to lay his new gift proudly at the end of his bed, and use it as a pillow, just like his princess did. Marinette blushed again as her hand moved to the spot on her cheek where he had kissed her
"silly kitty."