Hope you enjoy some bromance-y pantsy banter
And some shippy first meetings!
Author's notes at the bottom
"We finally get a vacation, and you wanna spend it driving 5 hours out to the middle of nowhere, to walk around a bunch of middle aged dudes in tights. You, my man, got a few screws loose."
Adrien laughed at the rather pouty griping coming from the man in the passenger seat, Never taking his eyes off the straight and narrow highway road before them. Lush green fields, farm land, and sprawling hills dotted with trees blurred past the expensive black car as the two men made their way to the fair grounds a little ways past the outskirts of the village of Eguisheim where their hotel was. They'd checked in the previous night and had awoken early, by Adrien's plea of getting to the fair as soon as possible.
"Told you, Nino. I'm only dragging you along for one day. Besides, it's not like we're going all this way for a bunch of rental tents in a community park. This is supposed to be one of the biggest ren fairs in the country!"
"You keep tellin' me that, and all I hear is 'triple the amount of old dudes in tights'."
The blond snorted and couldn't help messing with his friend some "More like ten times the amount." the exaggerated groan from the man slumped in the seat next to him prompted another uninhibited laugh from the driver.
"Aaand ten times the amount of beautiful maidens, badass fighting events, and more greasy deep fried food stalls than you can handle." he snuck a quick and knowing look over at his friend as he put in that last bit, knowing full well that the fair food was what had gotten Nino to cave and finally agree to this road trip.
"Aaand you're payin' for every bite of it, dude." Nino playfully tapped his fist against his buddy's shoulder as a grin finally overcame his tawny face.
" 'Least you can do for the lame vacation plans you came up with."
"Heh,deal. But think about it, man. If we'd stayed in Paris and spent our time off going to clubs or some fancy getaway, it'd just remind us of work! And I recall somebody mentioning that 'if he heard one more club mix, he'd start punching walls'." Adrien could see his DJ friend shudder involuntarily out of the corner of his eye as he turned the car down a winding dirt road as the GPS instructed.
The blond's jaw tightened in a cringe he couldn't surpass either. "And you know fancy vacations aren't really my style anyway." too many cold memories went along with such places.
Nino fixed his friend with a sympathetic grimace and clapped him on the shoulder in silent support of the undoubtedly dark onslaught of emotions clouding his friend's mind at the memories he was reliving from just discussing it. The supportive hand snapped Adrien back to reality, and he shot Nino a thankful half grin before setting his bright eyes on the dusty road they drove once more.
"And what better place to forget about work, than a place that's the total opposite?"
Nino gave a relenting sigh and kicked his sock clothed feet up on the dashboard and tipped his favorite cap down over his eyes like a cowboy prepared for a lazy day nap in the sun.
"A'right, a'right. Yo, but I better get the biggest, greasiest turkey leg we can find as soon as we get there, bro."
Adrien's smile brightened even as his nose crinkled playfully. With one hand on the wheel he used his other to shove his friend's legs back down to the floor of the car.
"As long as you keep those toxic bombs you call feet away from the air vents, dude."
A short half hour later, (and one quick bet on how soon they'd run into an old man in tights when they got there), the dirt road gave way to an open grassy field dotted with painted wooden signs directing them to 'Ye Ol Parking Lot'. A few more 'lame' ribbings from Nino, and a brief maneuvering through the jam-packed lines of cars and volunteers in bright orange vests directing people where to park, and the two men were out and walking towards the crowded Fair entrance.
"Well, bro. You got one part right- the parking is definitely theme park level nightmare-ish." Nino griped half heartedly as he popped the tension free from his shoulders from the hour long car ride.
Adrien laughed and shook his head in defeat "Hey, I'd argue, if it weren't for the fact that I'm pretty sure I couldn't see the car now even if I had binoculars."
"Dude, the international space station has a better chance of spotting your car now, than we do."
The two weaved their way through the throng of tourists, and workers dressed in elaborate period costumes selling maps and event schedules at the front gate. It took a minute to find the correct line for the ticket booth but once in line it was only 5 minutes before Nino was back to griping.
"Shoulda brought my tunes, yo. I feel so... so naked without my headphones, ya know?"
"They didn't have itunes in medieval times, Nino. We're going full immersion, bro!"
"Check off another item on the Lame List for that. At least if you'd taken me to a sci-fi convention they wouldn't deprive me of my tech."
They were almost to the front of the line, and Adrien had taken out his wallet in preparation.
"Ha! I promise, Nino. Unless you change your mind and wanna stay longer, we're only here for just one day."
Nino shook his head in over exaggerated dejection as he waited for his friend to purchase their tickets. As they finally made their way through the colorful drawbridge style entrance, past the security men dressed in full barbarian attire, complete with loud boisterous persona's for the tourists, the two finally got a glimpse of what lay in store for them.
The inside of the impressive location was just that, impressive. Not only were curving dirt and cobblestone streets paved with two story medieval cottage buildings that overflowed with colorful and unique handcrafted merchandise, but the entire grounds were bursting with equally colorful characters. Street performers, artists, fairies, knights, gypsies, barbarians and people dressed as creatures that seemed to have burst forth straight from fairy tale books intermingled and set the place alive with joyous energy.
Both men were obviously impressed, and this caused the blond to fix his friend with a particularly smug, knowing grin. Nino took note of that smug look and schooled his own expression back to nonchalant boredom.
"Trust me, yo. Nothing here could possibly change my mind about stayin' any longer than I have to."
"Alya!"
Wavy hair that glowed like a bright flame fanned out around her round face as the curvaceous young woman turned her head towards the chipper voice that called out to her. Plump lips curled into a warm smile as Alya spotted the equally sunny girl the voice belonged to.
"Hey Rose, you on break already?"
The young woman named Rose flitted over to her taller friend and fixed her with her never absent sweet smile. Her daffodil blond hair, cut pixie short, barely peeked out from under a full crown of her namesake, pink roses woven together with small white daisies, and tied off in the back with a pink satin ribbon that floated behind her as she walked. Her large blue eyes, tiny upturned nose and full pink lips, accompanied with her soft pink and lavender knee length dress, made her fit in perfectly with any of the fairies that dotted the grounds. Even if she didn't have wings.
Rose lifted a paper bag that swelled a little too full for its size, and carried the sweet scent of cinnamon and sugar.
"Food run detail. Busy day at the stall today! Me and Mari have barely had time to stop moving since the gates opened!"
Alya nodded in sympathy, but couldn't help but smile as well. The fair had only be open a week and her best friend has already had more business than at any of the other ren fairs they'd worked at! She was ecstatic and more than a little proud of Marinette, but she did worry about her overworking herself so quickly with another 2 months still left to go of the fair.
"Well, don't let her work too hard, we've got to go dance for peeps in just a couple of hours and I don't want her falling asleep when she hits center stage."
Rose let out a tinkling giggle and gave an assured nod of her head. "That's what I'm here for! So, what are you up to til then?"
The bespectacled girl was still in her civies, and wouldn't need to get dressed for performing for another two or so hours. She grinned and held up her trusty smart phone and waggled it meaningfully.
"Gotta take some new pics for the Fair's website. It's still all the ones from last year and I gotta make sure customers know what's new and happenin' in Ye Olden Times."
Rose nodded and tapped her forehead as if she had realized she'd pretty much asked a rhetorical question. "Oh, Alya. Only you could find a way to make a Renaissance Faire a modern trend."
Alya laughed then shot the petite blonde a playful wink "It's what I do, girl. Speakin' of which, I better get to the doin' while I have time. Tell Marinette I'll see her before the show, wouldja?"
After a few farewell pleasantries and promises to meet up after closing like usual, Alya made her way through the labyrinth of stalls, shops, and attractions. She took snapshots of anything that caught her eye as something truly advertisement worthy. A barbarian play fighting with a group of kids with wooden swords, A fire eater as he blew flames far into the air, a stray fairy lounging in a perfect climbing tree. Anything that caught her eye.
However the next thing that grabbed her attention, wasn't part of the Fair's entertainment.
A low groaning curse followed by loud teasing laughter turned Alya's attention to two men dressed in street clothes. The one with too perfect blond hair was desperately rubbing at a large gooey stain on his shirt with a napkin as his friend failed to hold back his snickers. She herself winced in sympathy before giving a slightly repressed snort of amusement. It sure wasn't that guy's day. She was about to turn away when she caught the tail end of what his friend was saying.
"–ain't comin' off easy. Probably gonna need new duds for now, bro."
"I don't have any spare shirts in the car, and I really don't wanna drive all the way to the hotel and back just for a shirt, man."
"So? Just buy a new one. There's gotta be a shop that sells shirts or somethin' close by. And it's not like you're ever low on dough."
A wicked grin pulled at Alya's lips at this little tidbit of knowledge. She may worry about her friend overworking herself, but ever the helpful best friend, she was not about to let what sounds like a well-off tourist pass through her fingertips without a little up selling.
Spinning on her heel, the driven young woman put on her best helpful smile and strode over to the not-so-poor men in need. As she approached the two, the taller of the pair wearing the ballcap was already in the midst of jogging over the concessions to no doubt grab more napkins.
Alya approached the blond man covered in what looked like the Fair's popular fried ice cream, the black garment dripping with white cream and caked on cinnamon sugar all the way down the front. She tapped him politely on the shoulder to get his attention before going into her casual promo mode.
"Hey! 'Scuse me, I uh couldn't help but notice your little… dilemma there. If you're looking for something to change into there's a costume booth just around the corner there. The owner sells some real quality stuff. Ya know, if you wanted to get into the spirit of things and out of the uh, stickiness of things?" she gestured to his front with a sympathetic crinkle of her nose.
The far too perfectly handsome blond frowned at his shirt then offered Alya a bashful smile with a relieved sigh. "Well, this is pretty uncomfortable. And hey, I'm all for immersion! Thanks for the tip! Uh, what's the name of the place?" he cocked a curious brow at her as he rubbed his neck awkwardly.
Alya smiled in success and pointed just over her shoulder. "Lady Luck's. Just up this hill on your right. Can't miss it." the man followed where she was pointing with his eyes before offering her a movie star smile and a thankful nod.
"Cool! Thanks again. I'll uh, head over there once my friend gets back."
"No problem, hun. Oh! And tell the shop owner that Alya sent you," she shot him a friendly wink, "They'll treat ya good." this was the only thing she spoke before strolling off, more than pleased with herself.
She paused a little ways away and looked back to make sure the guy held true to his word. Sure enough he and his friend were heading right for Marinette's shop. A sly smile curled on her lips as she deviously thought of how good of a friend she was. Not only for sending a solid customer her friend's way, but a guy that was definitely her poor repressed friend's type. Marinette could do with a good looking customer. Alya's gaze lingered on the profile of the blond's friend as they moved farther away from her line of view.
'...or two.' she thought with a mildly intrigued little smile.
"So where are we going exactly?" Nino inquired as he followed his friend up an incline of stores and specialty shops. All his friend had said was he got a tip on a place where he could get a replacement for his gloppy shirt.
"Uh, a place called Lady Luck's. The girl said they sell some cool clothes there."
"Dear god… you're buying tights aren't you? I knew it. I knew we wouldn't be here long before you went full 'Shakespeare in the park' on me. Du-hude, you are the worst kind of tourist." Nino said in a teasingly woeful tone.
Adrien snorted and shoved his bro by the shoulder playfully. "Hey, I may be a geek, but I'm still a geek with good taste."
"Uh yeah, your collection of bad pun T-shirts say otherwise."
The sticky shirted man didn't even get a chance to defend his precious T-shirt collection before he spotted a slightly raised building with stairs leading to an open front shop with a wooden porch and awning that allowed costumers to window shop in the comfort of the shade the painted canvas fabric provided. Above the awning, a pink wooden sign with swirling black calligraphy read Lady Luck's Princess Shoppe. Colorful, tasteful gowns with intricate embroidery and expert stitching were displayed at the entrance, men's shirts and children's dresses of varying styles fluttered from their hooks along the top of the many open doorways. A blissfully happy young girl pranced down the creaking wooden steps dressed like a true renaissance princess in a unique shimmering green gown, her proud, doting mother following just behind her.
Adrien gave a low whistle in awe of the place and jutted thumb towards the building, fixing his friend with an excited grin and wagging his brows. "This is the place."
So the adorably eager blond and his fondly incredulous friend strolled up and entered the shop in hopes of finding something for the young model to change into.
The shop seemed large enough from the outside but was really just long and slanted thin, the structure jam packed with racks and racks of period clothing. It was so full that the two young men had to turn sideways and shuffle and weave between some of the racks of merchandise.
Not a few moments after they'd entered the quaint little shop and begun browsing the men's shirts on display, did a dainty blonde girl almost completely in pink practically skip up to the two with a dazzling smile.
"Good morrow, gentle noblemen." she chirped, fully in character for her potential customers like all those who worked at the fair were. "How may I be of service to thee on this blessed day?"
Adrien smiled politely and pinched at his thoroughly stained shirt in a way that drew the shopgirl's gaze. She gave a surprised little squeak and place a dainty hand to her mouth.
"Had a bit of bad luck today, a girl told me you might be able to help me out?" he perked and added hopefully "Oh! And she told me to tell you that uh... Alya sent us?"
Realization shone in the girl's large eyes and she considered Adrien with a new look of understanding. A cheeky grin pulled at her lips and a tinkling giggle bubbled forth from her.
"Oh, then I am not the one to help thee, my lord. Thou must see my mistress. The owner of this humble shop."
Despite the two men's confused expressions, the girl offered no further explanation but instead flapped a wrist giddily and turned to leave.
"Please, wait here a moment whilst I fetch mine mistress. She shan't tarry long."
With one last knowing grin in their direction she scurried off, humming a happy tune as she disappeared behind a velvet curtain into what was undoubtedly a back room. Adrien exchanged confused looks with his friend and offered a relenting shrug before going back to their browsing.
The girl was right, not half a minute later, the back curtain shifted and another woman, surprisingly no older than the two males, emerged. Adrien had been expecting a seasoned seamstress possibly in her golden years, if the quality and level of experience that showed in the garments were anything to go by. What he wasn't expecting was a fair skinned young woman, with dark hair pulled back in a fetching french braid, her blush pink dress and darker matching corset fitting her toned yet lovely figure like a glove. The full skirt swishing with every move she made that held the natural grace of a dancer as she glided over to them and offered a bright smile that had Adrien's heart twisting and head reeling with a strange sense of deja vu. Her bright professional smile faltered as she got a good look at her client, her lovely blue eyes shying to the side and her thick dark lashes fanning them becomingly.
Nimble pale fingers came up and tucked a strand of shining dark hair behind her ear shyly. After a moment of hesitation the young woman collected herself and fell back into her work persona. Although a slightly more demure version, even if the two men didn't know it.
"Good morrow, my lords. My assistant tells me thoust require my services?"
Silently, Nino spectated the unspoken first impression between his best friend and the young stall owner. Brows raised in intrigue, he considered Adrien's unusual reaction first.
Usually his friend treated all women, cute, gorgeous, sexy, or otherwise as if they were no different than any man he talked to. Even if they threw themselves at him, which most of the women in his circles tended to do, his oblivious friend was none the wiser to their advances. But based on the slightly dumbfounded look on his friend's face, he was certainly taking notice of this girl. And if the shop owner's adorably bashful expression that first instant was anything to go by, she'd definitely noticed Adrien in a similar way.
The tawny skinned male failed to repress an amused and knowing smirk. This trip was finally getting interesting.
She was so going to kill Alya for this.
Marinette could normally treat all people with the same amount of kindness and courtesy no matter their class, race, personality, or appearance. Even if that person happened to look like a greek god come down to earth, she wouldn't be phased. Sure she'd show interest if there was any, but she wouldn't be so... flustered by them. But, because her best friend had sent this gorgeous person to her intentionally, she knew this was meant to be more than just a regular commission. Her friend was trying to play matchmaker, and now, based on the giddy smile she'd given Marinette before sending her out to meet her fate, Rose was also in on the setup now too.
And that pressure and well meaning nosiness insured that any interaction with the beautiful stranger would be far more embarrassing than it would've been otherwise. Because Marinette could feel expectant eyes on her every moment she was in his presence.
But this personal dilemma of hers shouldn't stop her from helping a customer to the best of her abilities. So she stubbornly pushed her annoying bashfulness aside in favor of being the best medieval stylist she could be for her customer.
"Well, we can't very well have a handsome young lord walking around all sticky, can we? I'm sure I can find something far more agreeable to thine lord's pallet."
She commented with a friendly lilt whilst she stood on her tiptoes on a step latter, pulling multiple items she thought suitable in the handsome man's desired size down.
"Do you have a particular style that suits thine taste, Sire?"
The attractive male she'd come to learn was called Adrien, rubbed the nape of his neck bashfully at the flattering dialogue and gave a soft chuckle.
"I really appreciate the help, but uh I don't know much about what goes with what in this case. Um, so really whatever you suggest. You uh, obviously know your stuff."
Oh, how glad Marinette was that she was facing away from the gorgeous male so he couldn't see the blatant flush on her freckled cheeks at his flattery. Marinette took an extra moment to compose herself before stepping down to the floor with a few shirt options.
"Well then, good sir. These tunics should fit nicely. And they shan't clash with what else you already have on." she briefly flicked her eyes towards his the lower half of his outfit with a meaningful nod, "We have a dressing curtain just there if you'd like to try them on." with a small smile Marinette offered him the small handful of hangers bearing shirts of different colors and styles.
Adrien blinked in pleasant surprise and turned to look at the makeshift dressing room in question before turning back to the young seamstress.
"Oh, uh. Perfect! Yeah. Um, thanks so much for your help. I guess I'll go... Try these out then!"
Marinette managed to give him a genuine smile this time, and it caused that familiar heart twisting sensation in Adrien's chest and he had to clear his throat of the dry lump that had suddenly formed. He tried to return the smile with one of his own so he wouldn't continue to seem rude by staring like a dumbfounded fish with his jaw hanging slack.
The young shop owner bit her lip and considered the young man with a thoughtful scrunch of her brows. The look made Adrien feel unusually self conscious and he scrunched his brow curiously in return. Finally she smiled once more before turning to leave him to his changing.
"Though, if I may, I suggest choosing the green one. I think it would truly bring out the color of your eyes."
Quite satisfied with her suggestion, Marinette gave a small curtsy then turned to go assist her other customers while the handsome blond went through his choices. Unaware of the slightly flustered and completely dumbstruck state she left the poor boy in with that last line.
"…Kay."
Nino preoccupied himself by patting out a catchy rhythm against his thigh with one hand, and an accompanying beat against his hip with the other. He was leaning up against the railing outside of Marinette's shop, having left to give his buddy some alone time with the cute shop girl like the good wingman he was.
His impromptu body part drum solo ceased at the telltale creaks of someone descending the worn wooden step. Nino turned and let out a short laugh of disbelief at the sight of his best friend, no longer in a sticky black t-shirt. His once completely black ensemble was now limited to just his perfectly fitting black jeans and designer black biker style boots…. And now accompanied by a loose green linen pirate shirt a few shades lighter than the wearer's eyes. The collar lay open down to the center of Adrien's chest despite the crisscross laces of the same material that remained loose and unused.
"Of course. Oh man, only you could make that outfit look cool, Captain Puffysleeves."
Adrien plucked at the material with a fond little grin. He cast a slightly smug but mostly pleased look towards his amused friend.
"Well, thanks, First Mate Snapback. I do what I can."
It took all Nino had not to chortle at the obvious new jaunt in Adrien's stride. And before the spectacled male could even begin to interrogate his buddy about the short time spent with the cute girl that had obviously sparked Adrien's interest, the girl in question appeared over the railing and called out to the two.
"Wait!"
There was another repressed snicker from Nino as his friend all but sprinted back to the girl with just that simple call.
The shop owner flashed them a bright smile that crinkled her nose in the most adorable way.
"My parents run the fried ice cream stall. If you tell them I sent you, you'll probably get a free-be to make up for the one your shirt ate." gone was the medieval lingo from her speech, but the friendly flirtation in her tone still stayed.
A crooked smile slowly spread across Adrien's face and he gave a short laugh of amazement at the generous offer.
"Okay, I'll do that. But um, you never did tell me your name. Sooo... who should I tell them sent me?" this was a strangely smooth way to learn the girl's name coming from the man that'd been so dumbstruck at the first side of her.
The girl blinked her large blue eyes in surprise at the realization that she'd yet to truly introduce herself. But soon her heart-melting smile was back as she replied simply,
"Just tell them Marinette sent you, and they'll definitely treat you good."
*Author's note: Bet you're wondering when the belly dancing is gonna come into play, and why Adrien is already so awkward around Mari at just a glance?
Welp, you'll find out in the next chapter!
So you'll just have to be patient.