Awkward Dorks - Alya fixes things. Also a kitten.

Thanks to Psychic_Possession and Sheebi for listening to me and helping with this chapter, especially psychicpossession with a lot (most) of the puns - that was a huge help. They are both on AO3 and you should totally go read their fics!

Alya was nearing the point of screaming and pulling her hair out, she was just so done.

The two doofs that half of Paris was shipping had essentially declared their undying love for each other after an intense, nearly 10 months long flirt war.

But they had not done anything.

OH – they still flirted but things had gotten a little awkward and Alya could not understand why. She and Nino had multiple strategy sessions and tried to talk to their friends but they weren't making any progress. And it had been nearly 5 goddamn weeks.

It definitely wasn't that their feelings had changed because Marinette constantly talked about Adrien who in turn almost exclusively talked about Mari. Alya and Nino received gushing reports from both of the Art Dorks as their compatriots in the Great Flirt War

No. At this point, Alya believed that they were both a little scared. Because this was a very intense relationship and they still didn't know a ton about each other – really those two just need to Talk to each other and not just by flirting; god damn is it really that hard? – and it is hard to start a relationship on what they had. They would spend time together outside of work and would have normal, adult human conversations, but still parts of their knowledge of each other did not come first hand but instead from Nino and Alya. There were a lot of things that they hadn't discussed and it probably was making them nervous about how much there was still to learn about each other.

Plus, they are socially awkward nerds who flirted for months through ART for fuck's sake. Of course, they don't know what to do. They didn't even use spoken words to tell the other that they loved them. This was hopeless, they were hopeless.

That was when Alya made a decision, standing alone in their apartment she announced to the world, "That is IT! I am done with allya shit! … DAMN IT ADRIEN. YOUR FUCKING PUNS ARE CONTAGIOUS."

In the museum, at that very moment, Adrien suddenly felt very scared as a wave of concern for his continued existence washed over him though he had no idea why.

Giving her a couple days to prepare and plot, Alya texted Nino telling him that he and Adrien were coming for dinner on Thursday. Adrien received a similar text though it was more along the lines of "Get your ass to my apartment by 7 on Thursday. And Do Not tell Mari," than the much nicer order text that Nino received.

Alya reasoned that this way the dweebs would have a buffer with their best friends present while being in a private environment without [too much] pressure. It wasn't like the four of them had not hung out together before, in fact, over the last few months, it was a semi-regular occurrence.

Mari was alerted that they were having guests over that particular evening, to which she replied with a flurry of questions regarding the menu because, of course, she was going to cook dinner. She didn't question who was coming over for she was far more excited about the prospect of cooking for other people.

There was also an implication that this way nothing would be set on fire and that they were not ordering in and then pretending to have cooked the food. Alya acquiesced, especially since Mari's food tended to be better than anything they would have potentially ordered.

Adrien was wandering through Paris aimlessly later that night. He would go on walks to think and get out of his apartment. They were happening nearly every night at this point because he was constantly trying to figure out what to do about his relationship with Mari. Nino and Alya were apparently getting sick of his constant mooning without progress. HE was getting tired of not knowing what to do or how to handle moving forward with a relationship with the most wonderful woman he had ever met…

His love, his beautiful princess loved him and they had nearly kissed. Screw you, dad. I mean, COME ON! I was sooo close… But now he didn't know what to do. He didn't think she would like it if he kept giving her things to show how much he loved her, though he wanted to spoil her and treat her right and... He just wanted to talk to her, to hold her, to be with her as much as he could. Yet that wish, that place beside her, seemed to be across this giant chasm and he had no way of getting from just flirting and semi-casual conversations to a real relationship.

He let his feet take the lead while his thoughts focused solely on Mari when sharp mewls cut through his reflection. As he neared the opening of an alley they got louder. Curious – and hopeful that this wouldn't be a traumatic or scarring experience – he looked into the alley and saw… nothing? He looked around the alley but could not find the source of the noises he had heard.

Well, until a seemingly impatient me-OW caused him to look down at his feet and into the eyes of a young red and black tortoiseshell cat. The bright blue eyes that stared imploringly at him reminded him of… OH. Ooohhh this was going to be great.

With a giant, exceedingly happy smile, which was interlaced with just a smidge of mischief, Adrien scooped up the kitten and began walking again, but this time with a direction and a plan in mind.

Thursday night rolled around and Marinette was working on supper when there was a knock at the door. Leaving the food to simmer and bubble for a minute she ran to answer, flinging the door open in her rush she was greeted with –

A kitten? Which had the cutest pink bow around its neck…

When she uncrossed her eyes as the kitten was practically pushed into her face, Mari was able to focus on Adrien who was holding the kitten and Nino standing behind him wearing a bemused expression and holding a bag. Alya who had followed her made cooing noises at the kitten while smirking at Nino.

As they waved the guys inside Mari had the thought I really should have seen this coming, Adrien explained how he ran across the bundle of fur on a walk and took her to a vet who gave the kitten a clean bill of health and had cleaned her up.

After checking on the food, Marinette turned and stared at Adrien, who had followed her to the kitchen. Under her scrutiny, he started to blush and couldn't make eye contact as he told his story. He then stepped towards her and gently placed the red and black bundle in her arms, "She reminded me of you, uhh, in a number of ways… and, um, I thought you two would fit well together. But I know you haven't had a pet before and I didn't want to give her to you while you were completely unprepared and so I bought a bunch of supplies and got information and Ireallyhopeyoulikeherandwillacceptallofthis," as he spoke his words sped up coming faster until it was one very long word as he tried to get all of it out without embarrassing himself too much.

An amused Marinette looked from the kitten in her arms to the much larger one standing in front of her who was practically quivering with anticipation before she beamed at him. "Yes, Adrien. And I think I am going to name her… Tikki! Thank you so much – this was very sweet and thoughtful."

As she smiled at Adrien the newly named kitten meowed sweetly. The blond was practically glowing as he declared, "You are the cat's meow, Marinette!" getting a glare and a huff in response.

The puns kept coming after that and nothing the other three did seemed to deter Adrien – groans, glares, threats of bodily harm. There were so many cat puns and Adrien almost exclusively referred to Mari as "Purrincess," There were numerous baking and dessert puns because her parents were bakers and as such it was a requirement – at least according to Adrien. As they ate the pasta that Mari had made he stated, "I hope I am not making a pesto myself…"

He pouted when they all told him he most certainly was.

Even with all of the less-than-punderful jokes made by one specific person the four had a fantastic time. Adrien and Mari actually talked, with proud parents Alya and Nino looking on and joining in with stories to keep it going and for laughs. They made plans to get together to watch movies and play video games, Marinette declaring that she would completely annihilate everyone with Alya confirming it, much to the concern of the guys because Alya supported her announcement meaning they were actually going to die.

Adrien kept up the puns until they were sitting around and playing with Tikki and Mari finally reached her limit, deciding that, at least for tonight, she was going to win whatever this had become. She got up grabbing Adrien and dragged him to the door. At which point, Mari promptly forced him out of the apartment, and then closed the door in his surprised face. There was a small pause before they heard "But Mari I a-door you!"

It is unclear who of the group was most surprised when she reopened the door. Most likely Adrien as she gave him a small kiss on the lips before she slammed the door shut and very forcibly locked it.

That was when she said loud enough that he would hear her through the door –

"I knead you to know something I've been wanton to say for a while…

…

I will cat-ch you at work tomorrow, hot stuff."

I'm honestly not sure where this story is going but I definitely enjoy writing it so I will do my best to continue if people are interested. Feedback and suggestions are very much welcome! (Please talk to me and give me writing suggestions )

Edit June 6: I SWEAR TO WHATEVER DEITY OR BEING YOU WANT I AM WORKING ON THE NEXT CHAPTER... It is just taking longer than expected but once it lets itself be written I will have an update for you all...

Update 8/3/2016: So this puts us at 11 months after the first meeting and flirt ;) I am hoping that the changes I have made make the timeline/story a little more clear but let me know if there is more I should change...