He pulled up outside her hotel.

Within a few minutes she came out.

It was clear that she'd put a lot of thought on how she dressed.

Black legging and quite the interesting blood red jacket.

She must have made that one.

The point was that she melted in perfectly with all Gothamites and still managed to look truly beautiful.

She even walked like a native.

Always on guard.

Another point in her favour.

But how?

He put his questions on the back burner as she came up to him.

It had been a small risk coming with his motorbike.

Not everyone felt comfortable riding one.

Marinette was looking at their vehicle as much as she was looking at him.

"I might marry you just for the bike." And that was the exact kind of attitude that made her so interesting.

Many girls might want to get close to him for his money, but he could hear the difference in her comments.

He could play the game anyway. "Does that mean you'd be open to marrying me?"

Her eyes might have rolled, but she was smiling like the sun as she winked. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I can't marry a man I just met."

He handed her a helmet and snorted. "Are you quoting Disney at me?"

"I wouldn't take you for someone who'd recognise that."

"Disney marathons are mandatory in my family I'm afraid."

"Huh," she shifted, "doesn't change the fact that Disney has some good points. Agreeing to marry someone you've just met is crazy."

"True. People do crazy things when they're in love or at least so I've heard."

She laughed. "That they do."

And she put on her helmet and got ready to hop on.

He followed her example.

They were both aware that they didn't love each other.

He hoped he wasn't the only one that hoped that might come to change.

Because Marinette was extraordinary and he knew he would never find another girl like her.

He'd picked a small family own restaurant.

It was a good choice.

Marinette loved it.

He'd gotten a feel for what she liked and homey was definitely on the top of the list.

They were soon seated at a table in the corner with great view of the whole place.

"So what have you been up to today? Run into any other lost girls?" she asked as she opened her menu.

"Not even close. No, I've been working today."

Marinette hummed. "I didn't know you had a job. Anything fun?"

He opened his menu for show since he already knew what he was going to have. "That depends on your definition of fun. I'm working on a project to sponsor up and coming talents."

"Doesn't sound boring. It would mean making someone's dreams come true or at least help them getting there." And there was that smile again.

"I... hadn't thought of it like that. You do have a rather good point."

"Glad to be of service." Her head did a tiny nod and her smile was teasing. "Do you know who you'll be supporting yet?"

Instead of answering he brought up his phone from his pocket.

When he found what he was looking for he handed it to her as he pressed play.

One of Luka Couffaine's videos played on a low volume to avoid disturbing the rest of the guests.

Marinette went through a couple of expressions.

Her blue eyes were wide as saucers. "Remember when I said the only date I'd ever been on was with my best friend?"

"Yes."

"Yeah, that's him."

Really?

"You dated Luka Couffaine and now he's your best friend." That needed to be clarified.

She shook her head. "It was one date that we didn't even make it half the way through and he's somewhere between best friend and pseudo brother."

"Can I expect a shovel talk from him?"

"Let me put it like this." He made sure to listen carefully. "I have two best friends and I see them both as siblings. My sister might be the violent one that's going to threaten murder, but Luka's the big brother of three. He'll be the one that makes sure they get away with it."

He could see how serious she was.

She fully believed every word she said.

It was a side of her he had seen hints of some times.

This confident side of hers.

It suited her perfectly.

"You'll have to introduce me. They sound like my kind of people."

"You three would take over the world," she chuckled.

"Three? You mean you wouldn't be joining us in our bid for world domination?"

"Me?" Hand on her heart. "I'm a perfect angel thank you very much."

He gave in to the urge to laugh.

It was too great even for him.

"Try that on someone that hasn't been hit by one of your flying shoes."

"That was an accident!" And then they were both laughing hysterically.

He must have gone mad, but he wasn't complaining.

It was the most fun he'd had in ages.

When they finally were done she wiped a tear. "Will I be getting any shovel talks when I meet your family?"

When.

Not if.

When.

He took that as a good sign.

"When you meet my family somewhere in the far future they'll spend a few minutes with you and then hand me the shovel talks."

"Far future. Are you ashamed of me?" The glint in her eye made it clear she was joking.

Probably.

"My family's a constant circus with too many clowns. Hopefully you won't have to deal with that madness for a very long time."

Their waitress chose that moment to come and ask for their orders.

That was fine.

Their date had just started.