Proposals and responses
Disclaimer: I don't own Miraculous Ladybug, either Love o2o and the novel.
"Really?!"
"Yes, that's the condition of your friend."
"So... the blood was because of that..."
"Her menstrual cycle was more than a week late and her blood pressure dropped tonight."
The girls in the dorm were in a nearby hospital listening with relief to the nurse who had taken care of Rose. By then it was already four in the morning and the blonde had been given a small room to rest for a couple of hours until dawn. The nurse told them that Rose only needed a little rest, fresh air and a better diet. It seemed that she had been overlooked this month with what she ate and she lacked exercise. Being university students, it was understood that students inadvertently neglected their health, so the universities, especially those with better positions, demanded a couple of hours a week of exercise, offered good lunches and had closing hours for the dormitories. Of course, you can't control absolutely everything. It's not as if the authorities supervise everything they eat or force them to eat in the university cafeterias, just as they couldn't control everyone's sleep habits. Rose was going to be scolded by her friends even if she didn't want it.
With the hospital's permission, the girls stayed to accompany Rose in her room and curled up on the small sofa. Without realizing it, the four of them had fallen into a deep sleep.
A couple of hours later, Marinette wakes up to the heat of the sun's rays on her face. She rubs her eyes and stretches slowly to not waking up the person her side. With her gaze still a little blurry, she slowly scans the room remembering what happened.
"Oh, you woke up," Alya says in a low voice. She was peeling some tangerines at one of the small tables. "The nurse brought us some fruit, but I wanted to go buy food at least for Rose." Alya said while offering her some fruit that she had served.
"I'll go. I'm the only one who brought clothes." She was lucky that the hanging clothes had entered the bag next to her wallet. "I'm going to the bathroom to change and buy something at a nearby store."
"Don't take too long because you're without a cell phone. When do you think about buying a new one?"
"When I have time."
Alya shakes her head. "It takes you a day to fix your computer, but you go without a phone for about a week. Isn't it a bit contradictory? Here, take Rose's cell phone now in case I want to call you."
"Yes, mom…"
"Hey!"
It turns out that in the end, Alya did end up calling the blonde's cell phone to tell her to bring coffee or something for breakfast, which she had already thought.
Marinette returned to the room with a couple of bags and containers. Rose was just getting up and looking much better than a few hours ago. She passed out the food to her friends and handed the containers of chicken broth and vegetables to the girl in the pink pajamas. Rose said nothing but accepted the food with a small wince, which didn't go unnoticed by the rest.
"Don't even make that face," Marinette tells her. "These days you have only eaten snacks and other sweets. Also, you eat them at strange times. I bought the broth for you to drink at lunchtime, for now, eat the bread and fruit juice in the bag."
"It's not only about the food." Alya backs her up "Marinette runs our weekly laps, but Chloè and I go to the gym at least once a week. I understand that you don't like running, but the only exercise you do is walk from the bedroom to the classes." Alya reprimanded Rose as if she were a mother, but the brunette in the middle of her speech had sat next to Rose taking her hands with hers. "We are only concerned about you. Please think a little more about yourself."
Rose lowered her head a little but nodded and the two hugged.
Chloè spoke a little later. "I already called Juleka and she said she would watch over your meals whenever we are not there. Stay healthy ok? I don't like to worry and you have to be healthy to work together on vacation, okay?"
"Chloè..." Rose smiles at her as she notices Chloè's slight blush. "Thank you, girls."
They smile back.
"Oh, it's already past eight." Marinette looks at the time. "We better get back. The hospital must be busy with other patients. Chloè, can you call a taxi? The two of them are still in their pajamas." Marinette told her when she realized that the blonde had a jacket that covered almost all of her pajamas.
"Don't worry about that." Alya turned her head in her direction. "I already called to pick us up, he said he would be here in like... five minutes now."
Marinette understood and brought a bottle of water to her mouth. "I forgot that Nino has a car."
"Oh no. He is in class now." Alya denies by waving one of her hands. "The one coming is your boyfriend."
It seems that Marinette's new hobby was getting choking on water.
"Sorry for the inconvenience," Marinette said grieved.
"Don't worry, I woke up early."
Ten minutes after the hospital incident, the group of friends was in Adrien's car. Marinette in the passenger seat, Adrien at the wheel and her friends in the back. Unable to see the blonde, Marinette apologizes for Alya's request to pick them up. Apparently when the brunette called Nino who was about to go to his classes Adrien, who was next to him, heard part of the conversation and offered to pick them up.
Now the four girls were returning to the bedrooms in the comfort of the blonde's car.
Adrien drove peacefully while Marinette felt a little embarrassed. Her friends, huddled in the back, covered themselves with the same blanket that she had been able to buy in a store since they were still in their pajamas, while the two sitting in the front wore similar clothes by mere coincidence.
They looked like a family of a couple with three girls.
And it seemed that her friends were enjoying it.
She looked at the watch on her wrist and realized it was already nine. The campus library should already be full. Her first date, or second? Had been a failure.
"At this time, there will likely be no free spots in the library anymore." Adrien who hadn't taken his eyes off the track said as if he knew what she was thinking. "I know a quiet place not far from here. Do you want to come?"
Marinette tried to hide her surprise at the proposal with a little smile. Without hesitation she accepted and they began to talk about the courses they were taking.
The couple kept talking, occasionally giving little laughs and smiles, creating a small bubble around them. The three girls in pajamas watched from behind as they whispered among themselves.
"Look at those two, they are already in their own world." Chloè said first, "I'm going to get cavities if I keep seeing them."
"Don't play pretend, I just saw you smile a minute ago while looking at them." Rose, who was sitting between the two girls said. "It is so romantic… it seems as if I were watching a romantic movie on the front row when the protagonists are already comfortable together and speak as if they have found their soulmate. Now I need a kiss."
"...what a specific response," Alya answers surprised by the imagination of the short blonde. To have left the hospital a few minutes ago, she was very festive. "But I think you are asking too much with a kiss. Adrien is driving and according to them, they have just started dating since yesterday."
"And we are talking about Marinette," Chloè added. "Student-Marinette mode is different from the in-love-Marinette mode. I know we didn't talk to each other at school, but I remember the junior year incident."
The two girls think about it. All four had attended the same high school but because they were at different classes there wasn't much contact between them until the year of general studies at uni in which they began to share the dormitory. Despite that, gossip spread throughout the school regardless of grade or section. Marinette was more or less known, to the point that she could be said to be popular at least in her class and art club.
The rumor that she had a crush on one of the robotics club guys took everyone by surprise as they thought there was something between her and an art club guy in his senior year. The second surprise was that Marinette wanted to study computation instead of an artistic career. During high school, she never revealed who she liked, but all the professionalism she displayed as president of her class changed dramatically after that. She was more distracted, tripped in the air, forgot what she was doing, among other things. It was normal for everyone in the institution to have seen her hit a column or wall at least once.
During her senior year, "Marinette student mode" had returned, as her clumsiness had decreased. For that reason, everyone concluded that his crush was a year older and he had graduated.
When the four became close at the university and came to ask her about it, she confirmed that the person she liked graduated before them and a few months later she managed to forget about him without actually confessing. She never had the confidence to do it.
All three girls remember Marinette's story and knew that after that year she wasn't very interested in romantic relationships. Despite that, they were there, watching the couple inverse in their world. What was this, a movie like Rose said?
"In any case, we know there is time until Marinette makes the next step. If she doesn't, Adrien is going to have to." Chloè whispered in conclusion.
The car stopped at one of the red lights and the three girls watched as the blonde turned to Marinette with a smile and brought his hand up to the blue-haired girl's face.
"A KISS?!" The three thought in surprise.
To their disappointment, Adrien simply put one of Marinette's strands of hair behind her ear and when the traffic lights turn green, he returns his gaze to the front.
The three of them covered their heads with the blanket and looked at each other while having similar thoughts. "Have they heard us? Did we speak too loud? He did it on purpose?"
The three girls were completely silent the rest of the way.
On the other hand, Marinette stared out the window feeling her face burn.
"I'm killing these three today."
The five of them reached the entrance to the girls' dormitory. Alya, Chloè, and Rose got out of the car as soon as he stopped and stopped Marinette from opening the door.
"You don't need to come," Alya said when she saw that Adrien was also about to leave the car and Marinette rolled down the window. "We will take care of Rose, you guys go to your date."
Marinette opened her mouth to protest, but Chloè stepped forward and put her index finger to her lips to shut her up. Marinette, with her eyes wide open, saw how the blonde began to speak to Adrien and not to her.
"Don't think that we are going to accept you just like that. You have to invite us all one day to lunch to evaluate you."
"Chlo-" Marinette refused to be shut down by her forefinger again.
Adrien, somewhat serious, looked at Chloè and accepted her proposal. "I'll make sure to do it." He replied, then smiled a little. "You girls have my phone number, the day you are free you can call me to go out for lunch."
"Nino too!" Rose spoke this time. "We only saw him for a few minutes, we want to meet Alya's boyfriend a little more. Let him know too."
"Sure, I'll let him know."
Alya patted her friends' backs to hasten them to withdraw. "Well, we will let you go then." The brunette pulled the two girls into the bedrooms and then turned around for the last time. "Adrien! Don't forget to return her to us before ten!" And with that, the three ran into the building.
Marinette tried to hide her face behind the seat belt and once again avoided the blonde's gaze. She hadn't seen him, but she was almost sure he was smiling as he saw her.
"I apologize again," Marinette said revealing half of her face while the other was still covered. The performance of her friends as if they were her parents somewhat embarrassed her.
"Don't worry too much," Adrien reassured her and started driving again. "I'm glad to hear that you have good friends who care about you. Don't worry about the food either, I had already planned to invite them one day with the rest of the boys to get to know us better."
Marinette had finished calming down and was watching him speak. "Oh. I didn't know you had already thought everything up to that point."
Adrien stops at the next light and turns to her again.
"It's because I want to show that I am serious." He started to say softly. "Not only to show them but you too."
The light changed to green and Adrien continued as if nothing had happened. In a pleasant silence, the two followed the path to their destination.
Each with a warm smile on their faces.
As Adrien said, the place they were going was relatively close and they arrived in less than ten minutes. They got out of the car and Adrien guided her into one of the tall buildings. They went up to the highest floor the elevator allowed to go, Adrien opened the door and let her enter first.
The place was spacious and the large windows allowed the sun's rays to light up the place. Due to the organization of the furniture, anyone would realize that it was an office, except that in the corner under some stairs there was a small kitchen. Before she could continue exploring the place, Adrien led her to the staircase she had seen to go up to the second floor of the apartment. On that top floor, there was only one regular size room accommodated as an office, but it seemed only for one person unlike below. There was a long desk with a monitor and a black sofa next to it. It was the main office.
The place also had plenty of natural light and she realized that the light came from the glass doors that led to the open part of the roof. Outside it was also accommodated with some awnings, seats and decorative plants although, unlike the rest of the apartment, it was not so decorated, it had a wide view of the city.
"Just this week we finished moving here with the rest of the team." Adrien began to explain to see the girl entertaining herself looking at every detail of the place. "We don't know much about interior decoration, so we have made everything very simple. This is my office."
Marinette turned to see Adrien who was resting in front of the desk.
This was Adrien's company.
On the walls of the place, there were some video game posters, many known to her, especially the Miraculous Voyage poster.
Adrien showed her more the office and then asked if she wanted to see a little of the project they were working on. After cheerfully accepting, Adrien showed her some progress on his monitor. He showed her the development of a new video game and then found out that ZAG Studios was looking to collaborate with a company to launch a new game. They wanted to launch a game with a similar Miraculous style. An RPG and fight game, but with new ideas that will differentiate it from MV. Adrien also mentioned that they were competing against Neo Akuma, and for the first time she was relieved that she hadn't been accepted to work there.
Sometime later, Adrien told her that she was free to come whenever she wanted and that she could study there in peace. The two of them were standing in front of the glass door facing the rooftop when Adrien took her hand to see her directly.
"I know we didn't say anything, but I want to be clear." Marinette listened to him in silence. "I am interested in you and I want you to be part of my future, just as I also want to be part of yours."
Marinette stared at him. Not knowing what to say, she blinked a few times thinking about how to answer.
Without hearing anything from the blue-haired, Adrien stroked her hand to say the following: "You don't have to answer now, but I have one more proposal. When the semester ends and the holidays begin, the guys and I will be working here on weekdays. We are not many and I know you are one of the best in the faculty, so I was wondering if you wanted to work with us here."
Her heart hadn't been prepared for all this. Marinette just had two of the best proposals of her life in less than five minutes and wanted to accept both, but her senses failed her just like that year of high school. Her friends were right, Marinette in love was completely different. Keeping in silence at the second proposal, she opted to nod with her head.
Adrien smiled more and Marinette felt her legs turn to jelly. The blonde released the hand he had been holding to return to the subject of the company, but the panic in Marinette made her react.
She had grown up in these years and wouldn't allow everything to happen the same as the last time.
With a quick movement, she took the blond's hand again to prevent him from turning. Adrien who had not expected it was going to ask her what was happening when he felt a pair of lips on his.
Marinette had stood on the end of her feet and her free hand had found a place on Adrien's shoulder. Adrien, surprised by the girl's sudden move, didn't take long to close his eyes and kiss her back.
There was nothing out of the ordinary. The kiss was a slight collision of inexperienced lips, hers warmer than his, lasting for a few seconds. But in that short time, Adrien seemed to have gotten drunk on Marinette's perfume to then blush at looking her with her cheeks flushed.
It wasn't a perfect kiss, but it was for them.
Still a little distracted, Adrien saw that Marinette was saying something to him that could barely be heard.
"What... what did you say?"
Marinette raised her head higher and spoke more confidently.
"That is a yes, a yes for both proposals."
Unable to take it anymore, Adrien hugged her around the waist. Today she had smiled so much that her cheeks were already starting to hurt. But he was happy, so he couldn't help it.
"Welcome to Lucky Charm Tech."
Author's Notes:
First of all, I hope everyone is in good health. COVID19 was something no one saw coming and expanded in a matter of weeks. Most of you are probably locked up in your homes for several days now, so I hope you enjoy this chapter. As I said on Twitter, I am fine but I´m trying to help more at home and family. There have been changes in our lifestyle and even though I had a little time to write I didn't feel in a good mood to do it. I apologize for making you wait so long.
Happy Anniversary Online Smiles! I say it again, I will not abandon history. It keeps me in a good mood by reading all your comments and answering your questions, so feel free to do so. Thanks also to everyone who reads these notes, I know it's a bit boring.
Take care of yourselves and thanks for reading.
Twitter: Little_Rain0048
-LR
