Author's note: Thanks for the reviews!
/
It's mid-November when Ms. Mendeleiev calls him over at the end of class. His grades are poor and need to be pulled up. Thankfully, there's someone in the class they've approached and she's more than willing to help.
Why's he not surprised when he sees Marinette standing there?
She has a little study group going apparently. Whilst they can't force him to attend, it's strongly recommended that he does. Faced with the prospect of losing what little sympathy he has from the teacher for not putting any effort in and Marinette following him around even more, he agrees.
That's how he ends up in this strange situation, in the Dupain-Cheng bakery, specifically the youngest member's bedroom. He had rather been expecting a more mixed group of individuals: Nino, Ivan, maybe Kim or Max… Not all girls. He happens to be the only guy in the room and is immediately put off. He spots Marinette, Alya, Rose, Juleka and Alix. A part of Adrien really doesn't care. On the other hand, he's instantly suspicious. This smells to him like some kind of plot. He can remember sometimes interacting with the other boys in his class the previous year, they would sometimes talk about how the girls liked to group together and scheme. At the time, he'd brushed if off as paranoia. Now, faced with a wall of curious faces, he's not too sure.
He tries to act as nonchalantly as possible, dumping the school bag he had slung over his shoulder unceremoniously onto the ground.
"Hey!" As always, Marinette greets him enthusiastically. "Good to see you made it!"
"It was that or fail chemistry..." Dylan mutters giving another uneasy glance around the room. "We going to get started?"
"We started 20 minutes ago after we got bored of waiting for you to arrive!" Alya informs him, not quite as patiently as her friend.
"Dylan lives right at the other end of town." The baker's daughter informs them. "You guys know how bad the metro can be."
"I've known cows to travel better." He declares settling down.
As soon as he gets the opportunity, he sends Nathalie a text. He figures that she might be able to get him out of this one. She's clever like that. Good at coming up with excuses and ways out of problems. It's a Saturday morning, she doesn't have work. That means that in theory, it shouldn't take her long to answer.
10.34 AM : Hey, I need your help.
10.34 AM : What's wrong?
10.35 AM : I'm at Marinette's. It's all girls here.
He has to stop for a few moments whilst Marinette does her best to explain the principles of ions to him. Again, he knows this. Physics/chemistry was one of his better subjects in school. Trust Nathalie to have him struggle with the subjects that Adrien was somewhat good at and be decent in those which had bored or frustrated the teen. He plays the part, grumbling that this stuff's never going to be much use to him in the real world but slowly getting to grips with the exercises they've been given none-the-less.
He manages to glance back down at his phone a few minutes later.
10.35 AM : Am I supposed to be concerned?
10.48 AM : There's a lot of them. I didn't sign up for this!
Periodically, there's a break in the studying for some chatting and that's what's bothering him. In some ways, he can see similarities between what the girls and boys would talk about. In all honesty though he's really not all that interested in how Ivan and Mylène's relationship is doing. Apparently, it's going well. Good for them. Does it really warrant a ten minute discussion?! He tries his best to ignore those parts and to bury himself in his work, reasoning that the sooner he finishes the sooner he can get out of the door.
Nathalie is less than sympathetic.
10.50 AM : You're getting bullied by a skinny 5 foot tall girl, that's what you're saying?
10.57 AM : What do you want me to do? Punch her in the face?!
11.02 AM : I have better things to do with my time than read about your insecurities.
She will be of no assistance. That much is evident from the increasing length of time between her texts. If she thought the matter was serious or urgent, she would be replying much faster. He'd seen her tap: be it on a keyboard, a tablet or a mobile, her fingers can move like grease lightning when required. If she's being quiet it's because this is beneath her level of contempt. She's made it clear that she doesn't want to be involved with any teenage melodrama. This must be pushing things a bit far.
He can feel Plagg inside his pocket. The kwami isn't much help either. He seems to find all of this decidedly amusing and a bit ridiculous.
His phone vibrates once more:
11.05 AM: Have fun whilst they braid your hair!
Now he's certain she's making fun of him.
Defeated, Dylan slips his phone back into his pocket. The others are discussing what questions are likely to come up in the brevet. Alya's checking the previous years' exams to see what they were like. Opinions are torn between "that doesn't sound too bad" and "oh God we're doomed!". For his part, the boy's not all that concerned. The brevet, Nathalie assures him, is largely to ensure that kids can read, write and have a basic grasp of how the world around them is held together. The Bac is somewhat more of a challenge but one he needn't face for a good few years yet.
He grows a little bit bored. Marinette's occasional attempts to bring him into the conversation are met with either failure or exasperation:
"Do you keep in touch with your friends down south?" She asks him.
"Kind of."
"What about a girlfriend?" Rose questions, genuinely curious.
He doesn't even answer that one.
The teen finds his gaze travelling around the girl's room. It hasn't changed all that much since he was last here. There are more photos. She seems to have a wall of them with her classmates. It's cute really. He might have done the same back in his own room at the mansion. In his new life however, he can't afford such things. He's not meant to be that close to them. His attention falls on a notebook or rather a sketchbook. He's seen it before. It's where she keeps all of her designs and projects.
Boredom makes him nosy, prompting him to pick it up. He gives it a quick flick through. It's good to see that her talent hasn't somehow vanished. A good yardstick in terms of the fashion world was if Gabriel Agreste liked something. He knows from personal experience that his father was a very difficult man to please. Yet Marinette Dupain-Cheng had succeeded where some of the world's finest had failed...
"Hey!" He's snapped out of his musing by Marinette's voice. "A little privacy?!"
"I'm just curious." He defends himself, again playing the "not bothered by anything" card.
"Put it down Dylan!" Alix is rather more assertive.
He gives them a challenging look. Sitting back in his seat, intent on playing the same role that he usually does. The Cat Noir side of him gets a certain kick out of winding Marinette out. He never pushes things too far, able to sense when the irritation is edging towards actual anger. Unfortunately, she's clever enough to realize that if she gets mad, she ends up playing his game. Her friends aren't quite so accustomed to dealing with him.
As such, seeing that he's refusing to relinquish the sketchbook, Alix gets to her feet. Alix is exactly the sort of person who shouldn't be mixed with Dylan. All it takes is one spark and the powder could go up. Adrien, who knows the girl, is fully aware that he doesn't stand a chance. He leans back in his chair, relying on his superior height to try and keep the book away from her. She struggles and he fails spectacularly, overreaching himself and tumbling backwards.
There's a massive crash and for the second time in only a few weeks, he finds himself looking up at the ceiling. Alix doesn't care. She's quick to realize he isn't seriously hurt and even faster to take the sketchbook from him. He lies there for a few moments before eventually muttering:
"Ow..."
"What's it with you and chairs?" There's a slight tease behind Marinette's question.
"I don't like them." An increasingly true statement.
"How have you not been akumatized yet?" Ayla's enquiry isn't entirely a joke.
"Five more minutes of this and I might be..."
Marinette just rolls her eyes. At this point, he's pretty much convinced that she thinks he's at best strange. Alix is quick to hand the sketchbook back to her. She flicks through it, somewhat mindlessly. Perhaps checking to make sure it hasn't been damaged. There's a call from her parents downstairs, eager to ensure that no one was hurt. A book was dropped. They inform them. A very dense book. She looks back to him a second later, seemingly somewhat bemused by his attitude.
"You could have asked you know." She informs him. "There's nothing secret in there."
"Could have fooled me." He winces rubbing the back of his head.
"It's the principle."
"So what, you're a fashion designer or something?"
She just shrugs, too modest to tell the truth. He struggles to hold back a slight smile at that. Adrien knew how talented she was. Dylan does not. So he's forced to simply sit there on the floor and look confused whilst the others start talking.
He tries to appear disinterested as if he's drifted back into whatever brooding world he spends so much time in. In actual fact, the teen pays a careful ear to what's being said. There's another contest coming up in the school it would seem. A fairly prestigious one given that it's being judged by Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale. Jackets, not hats this time. Marinette's got the designs, everything's right apart from one thing: someone to model it. Someone with a fair amount of free time and the right body-type…
Suddenly all eyes are on him.
"No way."
"Hey, come on…" Mylène looks to the others for support. "You're just the right size and shape."
"Have Lê Chiến help you!"
"Kim's already helping Chloe."
"It's the least you can do to repay Marinette for all the time she's spending trying to keep you out of trouble and helping you with your schoolwork!"
The teen pauses. A part of him does want to be talked into it. Another however is weary. Whilst people might not recognise him right now, that doesn't mean he can afford to be reckless. Modelling was something that Adrien did. The idea of creating that parallel to be drawn between them isn't an appealing one.
Right now however, he has another problem. They're going to be wondering just why his objections are so strong. He could refuse flat out on the grounds that he would ridicule himself but doesn't that run the risk of making him stand out even more. He wishes that Nathalie were here to help him. She could think about such matters with a clear head and help point him in the best direction. Adrien is lost however and looks decidedly panicked at their request. Only Marinette doesn't insist. If anything, her soft gaze only seems to say: don't if you don't want to.
Somehow, that only makes things harder for him.
"Two weeks." He lets out eventually.
"What?" Marinette raises an eyebrow.
"It's how long you're going to have to leave me alone for if I agree to this."
"The two weeks after the contest? Done."
She comes over to him, offering her hand. He contemplates it somewhat dubiously before taking it. They shake. Her friends watch, looking between the two of them somewhat uncertainly. Marinette is confident around him. She seems to know where she stands and even, perhaps a little worryingly, what's going through his head or at least what he needs. There's something of a mischievous smile that she's wearing however. It's a little unsettling.
"Looks like we've got ourselves a deal, Dupain-Cheng."
"A very beneficial deal for me." Oh… That doesn't sound good.
"What… Do you mean?" He asks uncertainly, the others are smiling, they've caught on.
"Contest's on the 20th of December." Oh. Alya spells it out for him anyway. "The next two weeks are vacation."
Dylan lets out a frustrated sigh much to the amusement of the girls. He can hear Plagg's laughter coming from his sweater, only just muffled. Somewhat defeated. Dylan eventually returns to his books but not before taking out his mobile and trying one last desperate plea.
11.42 AM : Please rescue me.
11.42 AM : No.