"Sorry, little bug. I'll bet you got used to Adrien feeding you nice and early." Marinette replaced the water in Tikki's cage and fed her. "I hope that's better. I'll be home after today to play with you. I promise." She gently rubbed Tikki's back with a finger, closing the cage when she was done. "Missed you. Love you."

Marinette got out the leftover yarn from the sloth project and sat down to finish August's scarf. She wasn't in love with the colors, but they would complement his eyes nicely. Mari murmured to herself while she counted the stitches and tugged on the yarn with the hook, relaxing all the while.

Someone knocked on the door, breaking her out of her crocheting trance. "Maribug, it's me."

"Coming! Just a second!" She finished her stitch and ran over. "Adrien, hi. What are you doing here?"

Adrien held up a cat toy. "Plagg never plays with it, and Tikki liked it, so I thought it would get more use with you two."

"Oh. Thank you." Marinette took the toy and moved out of the way. "Come in. We can chitchat while I crochet, since you're over here."

"But only since I'm over here."

"Yep. That's the only reason."

Adrien closed the door and checked his watch. "You've eaten lunch, haven't you?"

"No, why?" She settled herself back into her chair and resumed crocheting.

"It's past two."

Mari stopped, dropping the loop on her hook. "Are you serious?"

"You were busy crocheting and forgot, didn't you?"

"I-I…maybe…"

"Put the crocheting down and come make yourself lunch. I'll help." He pried the hook out of her fingers and set it aside with the scarf and yarn. "Come on."

"But I only have five more rows left!"

"They will still be there after you eat. It's not like Plagg's around to mess it up, and Tikki's asleep in her cage. Did you feed her this morning?"

"I fed her. Not as early as you probably did; she was whining a little."

"I'm up early for shoots a lot. Come on, kitchen."

Marinette followed him, a wrinkle in her brow. "Then how do you stay up so late?"

"Cat naps, Lady. I didn't pick Chat Noir for no reason. I've never kept a regular sleeping schedule." He opened a few doors until he found a plate and some peanut butter and set them on her counter.

"That's not good for you, Adrien. That could have long-term consequences on your health." She got jelly out of the fridge and a spoon out of her drawer. "Get yourself a plate. I'm not eating alone. Bread's over there. Wait, how did you know what I wanted to eat?"

"Alya told me it was your go-to. I forget how it came up." He handed her the bread and leaned back on the counter. "Not eating regularly isn't healthy either, you know."

"I just get distracted with creating. I have alarms set so I don't forget to feed Tikki, so I go to work on time, so I don't run out of gas…" Marinette waved the spoon around, trying to gather her thoughts. "I just never find most things as intriguing as making something. Tikki is one of few exceptions. Friends and family, too, but other than that, almost nothing." She shrugged and centered the top piece of bread on the bottom one. She licked excess jelly from her finger and got a knife out to cut them into little triangles. "Besides, it keeps life interesting. Here you go." Mari handed the second plate to Adrien, who accepted it with a thank you.

They ate in relative silence, both lost to their own thoughts. Marinette scarfed hers down and cleaned her hands, swiftly working the last few rows. "Adrien?"

"Hm?"

"What got you into graffiti?"

He laughed for a brief moment. "When I was, like, thirteen, my dad told me I had to take a painting class to become more cultured or something like that. He said it could be any painting class of my choosing, so I went and found one on street art. I signed up, he was furious. I told him he said it could be any painting class, and he grumbled about it but let me. I was taught by some old guy. Made us call him Master somebody. I got pretty good at it, for a kid."

"You have some of the best I've seen. I'm sure you were wonderful." Marinette started snipping threads to add fringe.

"Yeah. Kinda funny that the few things I've seen from Papillion are just as good. Anyway, I kept it up and ran into you that night."

"I'm glad you did. Crocheting keeps me sane, but it always made me nervous to yarnbomb by myself."

"Sure. You're going into secluded areas at night. It scared the hell out of me, too."

Marinette nodded and stared at the scarf. "This fringe looks weird. What do you think?" She held it up so he could see the portion she'd done.

"Just leave it off. He'll notice, but tell him it was a statement on life's rigid nature."

She shook her head and started cutting the fringe off. "That's just dumb enough to work."

Adrien smiled and picked her plate up. "Do I need to rinse these off before I put them in your dishwasher?"

"I think you're supposed to. Guess how I handle it."

"You don't." He walked into the kitchen and rinsed the dishes off anyway. "Thanks for second lunch."

"Thanks for Tikki's toy. Plagg's toy, I guess."

"No problem. I was this direction anyway. When's August's party?"

"He's picking me up at 5. I told him I could drive over, but he insisted on public transit. No idea why. Totally ruined my shoe plans. What a jerk. Is a blue bag okay for a present?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"He used a blue box for mine. Is there some weird thing where you can't use the same color gift receptacle the next day?"

Adrien snorted back a laugh. "Gift receptacle?"

"Shut up. I'm trying to impress my boyfriend. Is blue okay?"

"Blue's fine. I promise. He'll love it, and he'll love the scarf."

"How's this for the paper? Is it spaced well enough?"

Adrien turned Marinette around so she was facing him. "It's perfect. Quit worrying about it. August will be impressed, and he will love it." He kissed her cheek and pulled her into a hug. "I need to get going. Let me know how it goes. Text me if you need a ride—or anything else, actually. The Chat number, not the Adrien number. Damn, that gets confusing."

Mari giggled and hugged him back. "It does. Thanks for your help."

"You're welcome. Bye now." Adrien waved and shut the door behind him.

August knocked on her door a couple of hours after Adrien left. "Marinette?"

She rushed to the door as she pulled on her flats. "Hold on!" Marinette opened the door and smiled. "Hey!"

"Hey yourself. Ready to go?"

"Yeah, just let me get a sweater." She grabbed one from the hook beside her door and folded it over her arm. "Alright. Let's get going."

August offered his arm. "Shall we, my lady?"

She bit her cheek and accepted his arm. "Uh, please don't call me that. Long story."

"Why?"

"August, it's a long story. I don't really want to explain it right now."

He stopped, forcing her to stop beside him. "I was just asking a question, Marinette. No need to get so defensive about it."

"I wasn't getting defensive. I just don't want to talk about it." She pulled her arm from his and stared at him. "We're gonna miss it if we don't get going now." Marinette walked forward a couple of steps and jerked back when he grabbed her arm. "August, we need to go. It's your party." She yanked her arm out of his grasp and kept walking. "I'm not making a bad impression because you're determined to get into an argument." Marinette hugged herself as she waited a few feet away from him at the stop.

August stayed silent until they boarded. "Marinette, I'm sorry."

She shot him a look. "It's fine. I don't know why it was that big of a deal to you."

He shrugged, looking in the opposite direction.

Marinette leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Well, an argument was a great way to start the evening.

August tapped her knee when they needed to get off.

"Thanks." She gathered everything into her arms again and followed him.

He held the door open for her when they arrived. "Mom? I'm here with Marinette!"

A short woman came around the corner. "Marinette! What a lovely name. I've heard so much about you." She pulled Marinette into a hug.

"It's nice to meet you, Madame Mazet." Marinette returned the hug and stepped back.

"Just call me May. And you can call my husband Mars. Do you need me to take your sweater? Purse?"

"No, no. Thank you."

"Come sit with us, dear. And we'll have August open your present. You did a good job with the tissue paper, by the way. I can never get it to lay right." She took the bag from Marinette and led them into the living room. "Look who I found!"

Marinette introduced herself to everybody and perched on a chair while the other guests arrived. She ended up knowing a few of his work colleagues, but she wasn't sure why August directed her away from them. Marinette sat by herself much of the night, ending up at the snack table often.

"I see you like my cooking."

"Oh, May. Yeah, I do. It's excellent. It's all excellent."

"Are you enjoying yourself?"

Marinette smiled, and she hoped that May didn't notice that it didn't reach her eyes. "I am." That's what you're supposed to say, isn't it?

"You'll let me know if you need anything, right?"

"Of course! Of course I will." She nodded, praying the gesture would convey well enough.

"Alright, dear." May patted Marinette's shoulder and went on to her family and the rest of the guests.

Marinette got another handful of chips and spooned more dip onto her plate. The plate was starting to lose its stability from having so many wet things on it over the course of the night, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. She turned from the table and bumped into somebody, smearing dip over the front of her dress. Marinette froze at the wetness seeping through the fabric.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!"

"I-it's fine. It was an accident." Marinette threw her plate away and accepted the woman's offer to help clean up.

"I'm so sorry. I should've watched where I was going."

"It's okay, really. I do stuff like this all the time. Well, in when I was in school, anyway." Marinette shrugged and dabbed at the denser parts of the smear. "I'm Marinette, by the way."

"Steph. How do you know August?"

"Met him in London, happen to be from around here. Small world, huh?"

"Oh, Marinette! That makes sense. I was wondering how you didn't know anybody. Augie and I went to school together. We've been friends for ages. His sister was one of my best friends." Step handed over another damp towel and took the one Marinette had used all the way up.

"June?"

"No, the other one. Oh damn, he told you, right?"

"Yeah, August told me. That just sucks." Marinette looked at the spot. "I think my sweater will cover this."

"Yeah, if you wear it backwards!"

"What happened in here?" August poked his head into the kitchen.

"I bumped into your girlfriend and got dip all over her dress."

"C'mon, Steph. I'm trying to keep this one." He walked over and threw the pile of paper towels away. "Mari, you could go home if you wanted. I wouldn't be upset."

"Are you sure? That would be great. I don't want to be in this all evening."

"I'm sure. I'll just explain the mishap and everybody will understand. Oh, hold on a minute." He left abruptly, leaving Steph and Marinette to stare at each other.

August returned a moment later with Marinette's present. "I'll open it now, if that's alright."

"Go right ahead! That's what it's for."

He took the paper out and smiled when he saw it. "You made that for me?" He took it out and unfolded it to its full length. "I can't use this until winter, but it's beautiful."

"Well, you'll have one just in case it snows."

He looped it around his neck a couple of times, carefully hugged Marinette, and kissed her cheek. "Thank you."

Steph admired it for a moment before excusing herself.

"I'm so glad you like it."

August leaned down and kissed her quickly. "Of course I do."

Marinette's face brightened a shade. "I should, um, get home now. I don't want to, uh, you know."

"Right, right. Here's your sweater and purse, by the way."

"Thanks. Tell your mom I said thanks! And the rest of your family, too!"

August walked her to the front door. "Of course I will. Stay safe, Marinette." He waved while she walked down the sidewalk.

Marinette shrugged her sweater on and slung her purse over her shoulder. "Crap, how am I getting home?" She turned in circles a few times, searching for an answer. "Adrien isn't terribly far from here. He could at least give me a ride to his place." Mari dialed the number, happy when he picked up. "Adrien!"

"Hey! I thought the party wasn't supposed to be over for another hour or two."

"It's not. I got dip spilled on me, so I left to get my dress cleaned off. Uh, can I ask you for a favor?" Marinette ran her fingers through the hair she'd left loose.

"Depends on the favor, my lady."

"I need you to come get me. I'll text you an address. I can't possibly wear this all over Paris."

"Is ten minutes okay? I need to throw a shirt on."

"You can come without it if you want." Damn, Marinette. Where did that come from?

"Don't tempt me, woman. See you shortly."

"See you soon." Marinette plopped down on the nearest bench to wait.

Adrien arrived soon enough and rolled down the window. "You can hop in that way or through the back seat. Damn window works but the door doesn't, of course."

Marinette tossed her purse through the window and climbed in that way, buckling herself as he accelerated. "Thank you. I appreciate it. Wait, you missed the turn for my house."

"I have some stupid good stain removers that you can have. It's not that far, and I don't use them that much." Adrien turned down a few roads and into his driveway. "Do you want me to go get it, or do you want to use it here?"

"I have nothing else going on. Do you have a shirt I can borrow?"

"Sure do. Come on in."

A/N: Because doing emergency laundry at your partner-in-crime's house always ends well. Also, THANK YOU for all the nice reviews! I really love reading them every week! xoxo -wwot