Chapter 7: The First Date
Just like they had agreed, Marinette and Adrien went on a date the day after. A date that was more of a babysitting session for the two of them, because they would have to keep an eye on Manon. Still, they were not going to let that spoil everything. After they finished their training in the Garden of the Ancients with the rest of the team, they went to Marinette's house. She was wearing the clothes she had picked the afternoon before, for that special occasion. And just like she had anticipated, Adrien had also chosen to wear something a little bit more stylish than his usual clothes for that date. He was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt with the phrase "Legends are born in August", a pair of black trousers, white and blue sneakers and tied around his waist, he had a black and blue jacket. As they walked, Marinette asked herself if that was really happening or not, and Adrien was also thinking the same. They each did not know, but they were both mad in love for one another.
Marinette had had the hots for Adrien ever since he was transferred to Colége François Dupont, while Adrien had begun to have feelings for her since the beginning of that summer. The silence between them was awkward to say the least. One would not even think they were on a date. Feeling that the two of them needed a little help to break the ice, Plagg decided to intervene.
"Hey! What is this?! A funeral?!" -Plagg exclaimed, but only loud enough for the two of them to hear. –"You haven't even told the girl she looks really pretty today, Adrien." -he told him.
"Plagg, hush!" –Adrien said, afraid that people would hear him. –"Do you want people to find out about you?!"
"Hey, I'm just trying to get you to compliment the girl on her looks." -Plagg told him. –"Come on, she gets all dolled up, and you don't even tell her she looks pretty."
"Would you shut up about it? When the time is right, I'll tell her, alright?" -Adrien stated. –"In the meantime,
Hearing them arguing, made Marinette giggle a little. It was funny to see that Adrien was just as funny as himself, as he was when he was donning his Chat Noir outfit.
"Tell him, he looks very handsome." -Tikki whispered to her ear. When she did not say a word, she insisted on the matter. –"Go on, don't be afraid to give the first step."
"S-So, Adrien… you're v-very handsome…" -Marinette giggled nervously, praying that he did not notice she was
"T-Thanks, Marinette. You're very hands… I mean, very beautiful today." -Adrien finally complimented her. –"I've never seen you wearing that top before. Is it new?" -he asked. –"Duh, what kind of question is that?! Come on, don't act like an idiot, man!"
"Oh, this old thing? I have it for a while now, but I never wore it in school." -Marinette smiled. –"He noticed my clothes! Oh, I'm so happy he noticed them!" -she thought to herself, as she tried her best not to burst from happiness.
"I see…" -Adrien said. –"Come on, think of something cool to say to her! Remember, don't let her think you're nervous, but at the same time, don't act like a jerk and just be yourself… only cooler." -he thought to himself. –"So, what did you think of the training today?"
"Oh, the training? Well… what's there to say? We came, we saw, and we mopped the floor with Kim and Chloé's face, of course!" Marinette answered, laughing. On that day, they had all tried to come up with new routines and new tricks to use in a fight, by having certain team members work with others they were not used to. Chloé and Kim had tried both to combine her skill with her trompo and his speed, but in the end, the result was far from perfect, and she and Adrien were able to take them down. –"Don't' say things like that! You're sounding like a jerk, right now!" -she scolded herself for that answer.
"Yeah, well, luck wasn't on their side." -Adrien told her. –"Sometimes, I think that because I got bad luck powers, I hog the good luck all to myself, without wanting to." -he stated.
"Oh, if that's true, then why is it that I always end up giving you the slip, when we're fighting each other in the arena, huh?" -Marinette asked him, sarcastically.
And with the ice broken, the two of them began to talk just about everything that came to their minds. Tikki and Plagg could not help but to notice that the two of them were talking the way they did when they had their masks on. All nervousness and all fear of saying the wrong thing and end that date before it even started were gone. And what replaced them were laughter and joy.
The day was a little cloudy and the strong wind that was felt, told them that it could start raining at any given moment. Picking up the pace, a few minutes later it began to rain, and it was not just a mild drizzle. It was raining cats and dogs, which forced them to take shelter under a shop awning. In a matter of seconds, the whole street looked like a small stream, with the water running down. Marinette had not brought with her an umbrella, because she thought it would not rain. But, Adrien on the other hand, had come prepared with an umbrella. Taking it off his backpack, he opened it, being careful about the wind to not take it.
"Shall we go, milady?" -Adrien smiled at Marinette.
"If you insist." -Marinette giggled, as they began to walk. –"You know, I'm starting to think that you really keep the good luck all to yourself, Adrien." -she commented, always smiling.
"I think that luck had nothing to do about this. Just my dad's secretary putting the umbrella in my backpack, just as I was about to leave." -Adrien admitted.
"Well, then it was lucky she put it in your backpack, because otherwise, we would be completely drenched by the time we get to my place." -Marinette smiled.
About 20 minutes later, the duo arrived in front of the bakery, which was closed. Marinette noticed the written sign on the door, saying that the bakery would close earlier that day. She also noticed that Manon was nowhere to be seen, which meant that they had arrived ahead of her. Looking for the keys in her backpack, it was Tikki who found them and gave it to her. Opening the door, she entered first, followed by Adrien, who closed his umbrella. Like always, the whole place smelled heavenly to all sorts of breads and cakes. The smell was strong enough to make anyone who entered the bakery to forget any kind of worries it might have. Looking around, Marinette noticed a tray with several cookies, croissants and other goodies in it and a message saying "For you, Adrien and Manon. Try having a good time. Love, mom.". Reading it, Marinette smiled.
"My mom left us a treat." -she said, as Adrien approached her.
"Oh, that's so nice of her." -Adrien said. -"But she shouldn't have. I mean…"
"Don't worry about it. My mom loves to do this kind of things." -Marinette giggled.
"Hey, Marinette! Do you have some cheese, preferably Camembert?" -Plagg asked her, after jumping out of Adrien's backpack. –"Adrien here forgot to pack some today and I'm starving!"
"Plagg! Don't you have any manners?!" -Tikki asked him, as she also jumped out of Marinette's backpack.
"What?! I'm hungry!" -Plagg insisted on the matter.
"That's not an excuse for not having any manners? After all these centuries, and you still don't know the words "please", "thank you" and "you're welcome", do you?" -Tikki gritted her teeth, mad about Plagg's manners.
"Oh, please! So. I forgot to say "please", it's not the end of the world!" -Plagg exclaimed. He hated when Tikki pointed out his flaws.
"It's not the end of the world, but it certainly is the end of something…" -Tikki shot at him, with a sarcastic tone. It was clear she was really
Tikki and Plagg were at each other's throats. Marinette and Adrien, who were both watching it, had never seen their kwamis losing their temper before. But the way they were losing it, made the two of them laugh at the two kwamis.
"You two… are hilarious…" -Adrien kept laughing like crazy.
"Come on, let's stop that…" -Marinette said, as she tried to stop laughing. –"There's no need to start WWIII here, okay?" -she told them. –"Tikki's right, you have to improve on your manners, Plagg. And answering your question, no I don't have Camembert, but I'm sure I can get you a slice of Gouda or maybe, some Roquefort, or even, some Valençay cheese."
"With all those choices, I think I'm going to as you for a slice of each!" -Plagg exclaimed, making both Adrien and Tikki roll their eyes. The black cat kwami was a real glutton and he did not mind it, not even a bit.
After Marinette came back with the cheese, and placed it on the tray, Adrien grabbed it and followed her and the kwamis to her room. It was the very first time Adrien had entered her room, so he was a little surprised by what he saw. He did not imagine Marinette's room to be like that, except for its colour. Since one of her favourite colours was pink, he figured that her room would have that colour. Even so, he liked what he was seeing.
"Well, here's my room, my little corner, my Fortress of Solitude… and I would even call it something else, but I've ran out of ideas." -Marinette chuckled.
"I was right, you are a nerd."
"I am not! I'm a geek. It's way more fashionable." -Marinette said, speaking with a posh accent, before starting to laugh like crazy. –"Control yourself, Marinette. You don't want him to think that you're crazy." -she thought to herself.
"Okay, a geek then." -Adrien laughed, as he looked around, when he noticed something near Marinette's laptop. –"Hey, is that a photo of me?"
Hearing that, Marinette panicked. She could not believe she had missed one photo, when she took everything else related to Adrien off the walls.
(Flashback)
After dinner, Marinette left Manon playing with her mother, saying that she had some homework to do. But what she had to do was something much more important. She was going to clean up her room. Her room had not been cleaned the last few days and she refused to receive Adrien in it, looking like that. Grabbing a cloth and a feather duster from the pantry, she went upstairs to clean it up. Plus, it also gave her an excuse to take off the walls and furniture every single photo and poster with Adrien in it. Seeing her doing that, Tikki could not help but to ask her what was going on.
"What's the matter, Marinette?"
"I've got to clean this!" -Marinette said, as she grabbed every last photo and poster of Adrien she had on her walls. –"I can't let Adrien see any of them."
"Marinette, take it easy." -Tikki told her. –"I'm sure that if you leave one or two things on the wall, Adrien won't mind."
"Are you kidding, Tikki?!" -Marinette exclaimed, almost terrified about the idea, as she took the poster she had of Adrien off her wall. –"If he sees one of these on the wall, he might think that I'm actually a stalker! Or worst, one of those fans who have a shrine with things that belong to the person they are obsessed with like a hair lock, a vial of blood or even their fingernails in tiny vials!" -she began to imagine something utterly creepy in her mind.
"Marinette, you've been watching too many criminal series." -Tikki told her. –"There's no way Adrien would think that of you. You're his friend and teammate."
"I'm not going to take that risk, Tikki. Everything must go!" -Marinette said, as she took out all of the photos she had glued to her wardrobe's doors. She had taken those of Adrien with her cell phone, and later printed them, stating that they were too pretty to just keep them on her cell phone. –"Could you give me a hand, and use that cloth to clean the dust from the shelves and from my desk, please?" -she begged her kwami, while smiling.
"Fine, I'll do it." -Tikki said. –"But you should really keep one picture of him around. You wouldn't be called a stalker for having a photo of a friend of yours, who happens to be the boy you like, you know?"
/End of flashback)
She had had so much work making sure she had taken out every single picture, photo and poster with Adrien on it, and in the end, she missed one. She did not even remember to take that one out, because she had it framed. It was a photo taken during last year's Spring festival, when Adrien won the 50 metres race.
"I can't believe you actually photographed that moment." -Adrien told her. –"Do you mind sending it to me?" -he said shyly, surprising Marinette.
"Uh… of course." -Marinette said. She was surprised that Adrien did not ask her why she had a photo of him, and before he could, Marinette decided to change the subject. Noticing just how fast Plagg was eating the cheese, she said –"Uh, Plagg, don't tell me you're going to eat all that cheese alone?"
"Why? You or Tikki want some? I'm not offering Adrien there, because I know he hates cheese." -the black cat kwami asked her, as he gulped down a slice of Gouda. –"Because if you do, you'll have to get it for yourselves. I'm not leaving a single crumb behind." -he said, laughing evilly at them.
"You really have no manners…" -Tikki slapped her own head, seeing Plagg being his typical self. –"Save some for the others, you greedy cat!" -she yelled at him.
Plagg wasted on time in answering her back with a couple of insults, which Tikki had a few comebacks for. Ignoring them, Adrien kept looking at the stuff Marinette had in her shelves. When he stopped in front of one. This one was filled with numerous books, but there were a selected few that sprung his attention. Those selected few had a few trinkets in front of them, but you could still make out the title. It was the Harry Potter saga. Turned out Marinette was a big fan of it.
"You're into Harry Potter?" -Adrien asked Marinette, who had taken a seat in her chaise-longue.
"Proud to be a Potterhead." -the blue-haired girl declared. She had read all of the books and seen all of the movie. –"What about you? Are you also a fan?"
"I, actually only watched the movies. Didn't have the time to read the books." -Adrien admitted.
"Oh, but you should. They're way better than the movies." -Marinette said. She loved the movies, but the books were sacred to her. –"Which one is your favourite?"
"I'm going to say The Goblet of Fire." -Adrien told her. –"And yours?"
"The Philosopher's Stone." -Marinette declared. –"It's the one movie that is closest to the novel that was based from." -she said. –"Don't get me wrong, the others are also good, but only the first one has that real sense that it was done exactly by the book. Well, that one and the Chamber of Secrets, but I don't like that one very much, because the Basilisk gives me the creeps."
"I know what you mean. With its eyes plucked, he looked even more gruesome." -Adrien told Marinette, before popping the question that most Harry Potter fans asked. –"What's your house?"
"I'm Gryffindor. When I took the test, I had to choose between that or Hufflepuff. My sense of adventure led me to Gryffindor." -Marinette proudly declared. –"What about you?"
"I'm Slytherin." -Adrien admitted. –"But I'm a nice Slytherin, not like Malfoy or Crabbe or Goyle." -he laughed.
"I believe that." -Marinette chuckled. –"But, you don't look like a Slytherin. If I had to guess it, I would have put you in Hufflepuff."
One thing let to another, and the two began to talk about who in their class would belong to which class. Marinette said that Alya would definitely be a Gryffindor, and the same thing could be said about Ivan, Kim and Alix. The two of them lived for the danger, the glory and the excitement like all Gryffindors. Nino, Rose, Nathaniel and Mylene would be Hufflepuff. Chloé, Sabrina and Juleka would feel right at home as Slytherins, and Max would be the only Ravenclaw.
"Yeah, Max would totally be a Ravenclaw." -Adrien laughed.
"With that big brain of his, he would feel right at home with the other Ravenclaws… although, I think he would find Luna Lovegood to be too loony for his taste." -Marinette commented, between laughs.
Marinette and Adrien had talked in the past, but never like that. It was the very first time that they were not just talking about themselves or about school in general. They were talking about things they loved. They found out they had more interests in common than they thought, and through their conversation, not once, any of them stuttered or ended up nervous.
"Okay, okay, in a fight who would win? Batman, or me as Ladybug?"
"Mmm… tough one. But, I'm going to say Batman, because no matter how strong or resourceful you might be, he's Batman. He's always three steps ahead of everyone."
"What? You're telling me that I couldn't defeat Batman?" -Marinette asked him with a playful voice.
"Hey, you wanted to be honest, I'm being honest." -Adrien told her.
"I could defeat Batman in two swoops!" -Marinette joked.
"And I say that's impawssible…" –
"Please, no more cat puns!" -Marinette giggled –"If you throw one more of those lame cat puns one me, I swear…"
"You'll do what?" -Adrien said playfully, while raising his eyebrow.
"I… I… I don't know, but you know me. I'll improvise!" -Marinette declared, laughing. She really did not know what she would do to Adrien if he used another of his cat puns, of which the list seemed infinite.
"You can't stop me… for I'm unstopawble!"
"There you go again!" -Marinette said sarcastically, before breaking into laughs. –"You're too funny for your own good, Adrien Agreste." -she chuckled.
"Well, I do try." -Adrien said. He was usually super shy, but on that moment, he felt like he could go on forever, cracking jokes and just being funny.
At the same time, the two of them were enjoying themselves, the school bus carrying Manon had just stopped. Little Manon grabbed her things and prepared to exit the school bus, which stopped right in front of the bakery. The driver had been instructed that that was going to be Manon's stop for the next couple of weeks, but he almost forgot that, while driving each of the kids' home. When bus door open, it had stopped raining, so she did not even open her umbrella. Still, the wind was blowing really hard, making her shiver. Right then, she wanted to get inside, where it was warm. Looking around, she did not see Marinette anywhere. Sabine had told her that Marinette would be waiting for her, but she was nowhere to be seen. Not having much of a choice, Manon went to the bakery's door and looked inside, where she saw no one. She then used her umbrella to reach the doorbell, ringing it nonstop. If Marinette was already home, she would hear that.
Upstairs, Marinette and Adrien heard the doorbell, and Marinette immediately assumed it was Manon. Cursing herself for having forgotten about her, she told Tikki and Plagg to get out of sight, while she went downstairs to open the door.
"Make yourself at home. I'll be right back." -she said, as she opened the trapdoor and went down the stairs.
It only took her a couple of seconds to reach the bottom floor, and when she did, she saw Manon waving at her. Hurrying, she unlocked the door and opened it.
"Hey, Manon!" -Marinette smiled, as she opened the door and let the girl in.
"You forgot about me!" –Manon shot at Marinette. She did not like to wait, especially on a rainy day, when the wind was blowing like crazy outside.
"Oh, I didn't forget about you." -Marinette lied, as she helped her take off her backpack and her raincoat –"I was just… talking to Adrien, and took me longer to get here."
"Adrien? You mean that boy who's your boyfriend?"
"No!" -Marinette practically yelled in panic. –"I-I mean, no, Adrien's just a good friend, who decided to come spend the afternoon with us."
"Does that mean, he's also going to play with me?" -Manon asked eagerly. Having Marinette as her playmate was good, but having someone else to play with as well, to Manon, that was fantastic.
"Yes, well, I guess he's also going to play with you." -Marinette answered her. –"But, before that, you have to promise me that you're going to play nice and you're not going to do anything that upsets Adrien or me, or that embarrasses me, okay?" -she told Manon. –"If you do, you can forget about that new dolly I'm making for you. I'll finish it and I'll give it to some other girl who's been nice, understood?"
Marinette usually did not make that kind of threats, but in that case, she had to make sure Manon would not ruin everything by doing or saying something she should not. The little girl made the most innocent face one could, before looking at Marinette and saying:
"Okay, I promise I'll be good."
"Alright, I believe in you." -Marinette smiled warmly to Manon, as she kneeled in front of her. –"Now, let's go and get you a warm jacket and then, we're going to see what kind of homework you brought with you today."
On that day Manon had brought tons of homework, so naturally, Marinette had to help her out. Adrien also helped her a little, when Marinette went down to the kitchen to grab them all something to drink with the goodies her parents had left them, for when Manon finished her homework. Opening the cabinets, she finally found what she was looking for. Chocolate milk for the three of them. Grabbing three cartons, she closed the cabinet and hurried back to the bedroom. When the little brunette saw what Marinette was carrying, she immediately wanted to drink one, but the blue-haired girl told her that she had to finish her homework first.
"Oh, but I want to! I want to!" -Manon said, as she began doing baby doll eyes at Marinette. Luckily, unlike what happened with Marinette, Adrien was not affected by that trick of her.
"Now, Manon, don't be like that. Let's finish this first, and then we'll eat together, while watching something cool on the TV, okay?" -Adrien smiled at her.
"Okay." -Manon smiled back.
It was incredible how Manon would just obey anything he told her. To Marinette, that was a feat of pure magic, because she usually would have to promise Manon multiple things to get her to do what she wanted, not to mention that her baby doll eyes trick would end up screwing her best attempts. Smiling, she thought:
"Not only he's handsome and kind, he's also great with little kids." -Marinette thought, as she kept staring at the two of them. –"I'm sure he's going to be a great dad to our kids… imagine, the two of us, having three, no, four or five kids, all of them playing with each other, while we look at them and wonder just how lucky we are…" -she kept imagining it, when she was called back to reality by Adrien.
"Marinette?! Marinette?!" -Adrien called her. –"Marinette!"
"Uh, w-what?! What happened?"
"Spaced out again?" -Adrien smirked.
"I-I guess I have." -Marinette admitted, as she her cheeks blushed lightly. –"Sorry. What was it you were saying?"
"I was saying that while I help Manon finish this, why don't you pick a movie for us all to watch?"
"O-Okay." -Marinette waved her head. -"Any preferences? I mean, you were the one who was going to choose it." -she pointed out.
"I trust you to choose it for me." -Adrien winked at her. When he did that, Marinette's heart skipped a beat, just before starting to pound at full speed.
"He trusts me…" -Marinette mused to herself. –"Please, if this is a dream, don't let me wake up." -she told herself, still thinking about the daydream she had a few seconds before. Just thinking that one day she and Adrien could end up married, made Marinette's heart beat even faster.
Going through her DVD collection, Marinette tried to find a movie that was both good and suitable to watch with Manon. If she was not there, she would probably grab a horror movie or maybe a thriller movie, so she would have the chance to pretend she was scared, and then beg Adrien to hold her. But, because she was there, that would have to wait for another day. Instead, she was looking for an animated movie for them to watch. The problem was to find one that Manon had not watched yet. Every time she stayed at her place, Manon watched a different movie, and refused to watch again one she had already watched before.
While she did that, Tikki and Plagg were both hiding underneath Marinette's bed. The two of them had been hiding since Manon arrived an hour before, and were both starting to get tired of doing nothing. Feeling bored, Tikki decided to meditate a little. She usually did that when Marinette needed to study, or when she did not feel like watching something on the TV or her laptop. But Plagg, Plagg was going bananas from all that lack of action. He needed something to do, or h would go crazy.
"Please tell me you've got something to help pass the time." -Plagg asked Tikki for the umpteenth time.
"I already told you a thousand times, I've got nothing to help pass the time." -Tikki said, as she tried to concentrate.
"Can't believe your holder doesn't have a single comic book or a videogame console underneath her bed." -Plagg sighed out of boredom. –"Adrien has tones of things underneath his bed… all we have here is dust bunnies, a pair of slippers and… and that's pretty much it."
"Instead of complaining, why don't you do what I do?" -Tikki suggested him.
"Meditate? Forget it… I'm not one to meditate." -Plagg told her.
"Suit yourself, then." -Tikki told him, as she closed her eyes and went back to meditating. – "And please, whatever you do, don't make any noise. I'm trying to focus."
After nearly ten minutes, Marinette found one movie that Manon had not watched yet, The Thief and the Cobbler. It was a film so old that she was certain that Manon had never watched it. She herself could not even remember when she bought the DVD version of it. Smiling triumphantly, she was about to tell both Adrien and Manon the good news, when Manon yelled happily:
"It's done! It's done, I'm finally free!"
"Great, because I've found a movie you're going to love, Manon." -Marinette showed her the box.
"Looks fun! Put it on, put it on, Marinette!" -Manon begged her, after seeing the image on the box's cover.
"What's the magic word?" -Marinette asked her.
"Please?" -Manon answered her.
"Alright, that's better." -Marinette smiled. –"I'll put it on, while you sit down. Adrien, could you bring the tray?"
"Sure." -Adrien told her, as he grabbed the tray.
Already with the movie on, Marinette handed Manon a chocolate croissant and a chocolate milk carton, which she ate without hesitation. As the movie went on, Marinette took the opportunity to get a little closer to Adrien. She did not know where all that courage was coming, that enabled her to do such a thing without getting nervous, but she did not care either. She just saw that as a sign to keep going and enjoying the moment.
"This isn't how I imagined our first date would go… but I can't say I'm not enjoying myself." -Marinette thought. –"Today, I learned a little more about Adrien, and I hope that he has learned a little about me too." -she thought, while looking at him.
Unknown to her, Adrien was also thinking something similar about her, and about their date.
"Marinette is something else…" -Adrien told himself. –"She may not admit it, but not only she's pretty and talented, she's also a great babysitter." -he mused about. –"This is definitely how I pictured my first date with her, but I can't complain… this has been the best date I've ever had."
First things first... this chapter was totally not planned. I wrote it at first as a for a friend of mine, but then I liked how it was coming out, that instead, I decided to rewrite it and insert it into the story itself. That said, this chapter is dedicated to my friend Kelly Bernardo, who's a big fan of Adrien, and has done the best cosplay of Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir that I've seen in Portugal, until now. I really hope you like this birthday present I wrote just for you, and well, feel free to say wjat you thought of it... and that goes for you all too.
On another note, I've had a couple of people sending me PM's asking me when will Le Paon and the Collector appear in this series, or if they will at all. To answer them, and anyone else who might try and ask me that in the near future, here's my answer. They will appear, but not just yet. I have plans to use them in my stories, but before I do, I must find out how they operate, what is their goal and what kind of personality they have, alright? And to do that, we have to wait for season 2 to premiere in a couple of months.
