Marinette woke up to a tickling sensation on her face leading her to sleepily swat at the cause. Amused giggling followed.
"Wake up, fledgling, before the morning is over!"
"The morning can go screw itself," Marinette muttered and turned around.
Snickering came from the other side of the room.
"Told you," a voice she recognised as Adrien's, said.
"Marinette, pleeeeeease wake up? We have a surprise for you!"
The voice was squeaky and high, but still not unpleasant. She had heard it before, but it had been a while…or had it?
Tikki?
She was instantly awake and had to suppress her disappointment when instead of a red ladybug kwami, she found Duusu floating in front of her with an expectant grin.
"Good morning!" She chirped.
Marinette sighed and ran a hand through her no doubt messy hair.
"Morning," she then muttered before her eyes fell on a grinning blond in the doorway.
"Good morning, Princess. Slept well?"
She blushed when remembering that she had just woken up and probably looked horrible with her hair a mess, lines from the linens imprinted across half of her face and maybe even drool sticking to the side of her mouth. Yet still, despite all that, she couldn't help but smile. This was the first time since everything had fallen apart that Adrien had called her Princess. It felt nostalgic.
"Surprisingly, yes. How about you, KitKat?" She answered in kind while rubbing sleep out of her eyes.
"Likewise. We have Duusu to thank for that, though she promised not to do it again without asking first."
"I'm sorry for charming you both. I swear I only had the best intentions in mind and wanted to give you a restful sleep with peaceful dreams!" Duusu said with drooping feathers and teary eyes.
Charming. An innocent word that shouldn't warrant this kind of reaction until her sleepy brain finally spit out the fey definition for it. It meant a magically forced emotional manipulation and Marinette honestly wasn't surprised that the literal goddess of emotion was capable of it too. She was glad that, by the sounds of it, Adrien had already had a talk with Duusu about when not to use it without consent.
"It's okay," Marinette therefore said. "Anyway, you said you had a surprise for me?"
Duusu's entire expression brightened up immediately and she nodded. "Yes, look to your right!"
Her eyes fell on a familiar basket that was yet again filled to the brim. Instead of flowers, it now contained a wild array of all sorts of things. Marinette gently picked up a witch glass with blue swirls from the top.
"What is all this?"
"Just a few souvenirs we thought you'd like," Adrien said as he sat down at the foot of the bed. "Duusu and I went downstairs when you were sleeping and since we already had the basket with us, we thought we could gather you some things in it for inspiration. What do you think?"
Despite the glamour making him look completely human, she had no trouble seeing the eager kitten eyes shimmering through. A soft smile graced her lips as she set the witch glass back into the basket with the rest of the things—teacups, figurines and other such trinkets.
"I love it," she said and then leaned forward to pet Adrien's head.
"Will you look through it now?" Duusu asked excitedly, flying circles around both of them.
"Later, Duusu. I just woke up after all," she said while stifling a yawn and was tempted to let herself fall back onto her pillow again. As much as she wanted to catch a few more minutes of sleep though, she knew that being lazy now would just frustrate her later. "How about I get ready and make breakfast first? I know Félix left lots of pastries in the fridge, but what do you two think about pancakes too?"
On any other day, that might have been overkill for breakfast, but this wasn't just about food. After not being able to handle frozen pizza the day prior, she considered it a matter of utmost importance to prove to herself, and maybe also to Adrien, that she was better now and could be useful again!
Marinette had no idea how exactly it had started, but at some point, while making pancakes and listening to songs from Adrien's phone—the radio's selection had turned out to not be lacking—she and Adrien had started humming and eventually singing along. One song had turned into two and then three. Now she was in the middle of belting out the refrain to "Last Friday Night" with Adrien—as much as she remembered the lyrics—not caring how off-key she was in comparison to him. She felt light and happy, like the metaphorical burdens had been lifted from her life and she didn't need to worry about them anymore. It was a carefree feeling she hadn't felt for what felt like months at this point, so she wasn't even surprised when she wiped away happy tears after the song ended.
"Wee! That was fun!" Duusu cheered once the song ended and Marinette couldn't help but let out a short laugh of delight herself.
"It really was! Next song?" She asked Adrien whose eyes were pretty much glowing with unrestrained glee.
"Next song!" He eagerly agreed and wiggled excitedly.
And that was how they ended up going through several more songs, their singing often interrupted by laughter when they—mostly Marinette—mis-sung lyrics, hit an odd note or just because they felt like it. They continued until Marinette felt herself going hoarse, even though she really wanted to continue singing. At least she had produced a commendable stack of pancakes to make up for it. And what a spectacle that was.
Adrien insisted on creating a sugary monstrosity filled with nutella, caramel, cinnamon sugar and chocolate sprinkles—he had blatantly ignored Marinette's remark that the chocolate sprinkles would melt and that he wouldn't be able to taste them among the nutella anyway. Duusu, on the other hand, had opted for honey and banana slices on her pancake and now wore an expression on her face like she had ascended into heaven. Marinette, meanwhile, had kept it simple with hers, opting for her usual choice of cinnamon-sugar—she would have added cherries but they didn't have any.
"I missed your pancakes so much, Princess. They're the best!"
Marinette beamed, both because he was calling her Princess again and for the compliment.
"They really aren't complicated to make," she said with a shrug and a smile.
"For you maybe. You know I can't cook or bake."
She paused with the spoon in the sugar bowl to look at him. Adrien had sat down on the chair opposite her as best as he could and was forgoing cutlery in favour of eating his rolled-up pancake straight from the plate. It looked a little odd with the glamour, hilarious even, but she by now knew better than to comment on it—it would only embarrass him.
"What's up with that actually? I think after three years of denying to help in the kitchen you owe me an explanation," she said with a grin and expectantly raised eyebrows while rolling up her own pancake.
Adrien chuckled awkwardly. "Well, you see, it's a fey thing, especially for Unseelie fae. I don't know why, but the universe really hates it if I try to create food, especially when it comes to baking. So, it sabotages my progress every single time and things don't stop going wrong until I give up. Cooking works better than baking, since I'm a halfling, but that's about as much as I'll be able to manage. Trust me, I tried and I absolutely wasn't kidding when I said that I'm useless in the kitchen."
"That's weird," Marinette mused while cutting off a piece of her pancake—it really was delicious and just the kind of breakfast that she needed right now.
"Oh, I know why!" Duusu said, face smeared full of honey. "The fae crave sweet things but to find something to match the sweetness they hunger for is rare and difficult to attain in this realm's nature. So, instead, they search for crafted sweets like baked goods or other delicacies that don't exist in Tír na nÓg yet still almost match its native food in flavour. That's why the universe forbids them from creating earthly food so that they can't bring it back to Tír na nÓg and upset the balance of the two realms. They found a loophole by bringing ingredients and humans there who could create confections and other things, but their inability to create, to sate their cravings, is still there."
"I don't get the universe," Marinette decided after little contemplation, which drew a quiet laugh out of Adrien.
"It's basically its way of telling us that it doesn't want us here and that we should go back to Tír na nÓg where fae originated from. Along the lines of: 'You want sweet things to eat? Then go where you belong!' Which isn't an option for Fé and me because we don't intend to ever leave this realm. Alas, depending on bakeries it is," he said, his shrug and grin taking off the serious edge the topic might have otherwise had.
"Well," she said with a grin of her own to keep the mood light, "at least you're lucky enough to have my parents and me as your pastry suppliers."
"My lifesavers! You have no idea how grateful I am for that." His tone had something reverent to it and while such an exclamation would usually be pure dramatics, she had a feeling that he was serious about this one.
"You're welcome," she therefore replied just as seriously, with the small addition of a wink.
"I agree!" Duusu said. "I loved the cake from yesterday and these pancakes are divine. If that's the norm from now on, I'll live in beatitude!"
"Glad to help," Marinette said with a grin and lightly poked the kwami, making her giggle.
"By the way, I adore the way you're wearing my Miraculous, fledgling! It's wonderfully incorporated into the braid and your outfit even fits its colours!"
Marinette shyly tucked a loose strand behind her ear. Today, she had opted for a light grey pair of Adrien's sweatpants—her own jeans or sweatpants didn't fit over the splints—a black cardigan and her dark blue favourite shirt from the Camargue trip. It made her feel more comfortable and at peace, both things she needed right now after the nightmare that had been yesterday. To fit the outfit and to not let it get in the way, she had decided to put her hair up into a side-braid. To add the brooch to it like a hair pin had been a spur of the moment decision but she ended up being quite happy with the result.
"I was mostly improvising because I didn't want to make a hole in my clothes with the brooch. On this shirt in particular since it…it means a lot."
At the last part, she couldn't help but glance at Adrien who was giving her a soft look in return. It was the kind of look that always made her heart beat faster, an effect that still came into play even now.
Get it together, girl! She thought in a voice that sounded eerily like Alya's. You're taking a relationship break right now in favour of your mental health! No making googly eyes at each other!
"Aww, that's completely fine, don't worry!" Duusu said and flew up to pet her hair. "I've had chosens who modified my Miraculous in its inactive form greatly just so that no one would notice it. After all, peacocks are flashy and my brooch is no exception. When it comes to an inactive Miraculous though, it should be anything but. With your knack for creation, you could modify it into a pendant or an even better hairpin. For now, this should suffice though."
Marinette couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief at the reassurance. If she could modify the brooch into something else, then she'd have to think about a piece of jewellery equally secure as the Ladybug earrings. With her clumsiness it was way too easy to lose something like a hair pin, as pretty as it was. The suggestion of a pendant wasn't half as bad, though she needed to find a strong chain that wouldn't easily rip but would also be long enough so that she could hide the Miraculous under her clothes. She could also try to make a bracelet, though that might get in the way when she was drawing or sewing, especially with a charm as big as the peacock fan was bound to be. Besides, she already had a treasured bracelet, even though it was still in Paris—and probably used by Bri to avoid suspicion. So, no bracelet then. Maybe there was a way to switch it up, so that she could wear it as a hair pin some days and as a necklace on others. Or...
"I know that look," Adrien said, making her snap out of her thoughts.
"What look?"
He grinned. "Your idea-face. How many options so far?"
She returned his grin. "Three and ongoing."
That tore a chuckle out of him. "Then I guess I better get your sketchbook before you lose track."
He was halfway out of his chair already when she leaned over to push him back down.
"After breakfast, KitKat. I haven't even finished my pancake yet. And how about we go to the living room after and watch a movie while I sketch? We deserve a mental health day."
His eyes shimmered with delight at the suggestion.
"Yes! That sounds amazing! Oh, can we please watch 'The Cat Returns'? Fé dumped most of our DVD collection into the living room the other day, so what do you say, should we have a Studio Ghibli marathon?"
"Sounds perfect. Let's do it," she said, quite liking the idea. "Besides, Duusu doesn't know any Studio Ghibli movies so we need to catch her up on those."
Adrien gasped. "You're gonna love them, Duusu!"
The kwami, who had devoured the rest of her pancake while they've been talking, looked up from wiping the honey off her face with a napkin, excitement in her eyes.
"I don't know what Studio Ghibli movies are, but seeing how happy and excited you're about them, I'm sure I'll love them too!"
The three of them kept discussing the order of movies to watch while slowly decimating the stack of pancakes—she might have made three times as much as she usually would, even taking Adrien's bottomless stomach into account. He had no trouble eating three quarters of it all on his own though, trying all kinds of topping variations while doing so.
When he laughed at Duusu's story about how one of her past chosen had used her brooch on a hat, only to have the hat blown off by a strong breeze once and ending up with her chasing it across a market, Marinette listened to the sound of his laugh rather than looking at the illusion the glamour wanted her to see. The familiarity and realness of it was comforting and it took her back to when things had been…less complicated. It was easy and a kind of normal that she had yearned to achieve again for weeks now.
Apart from the trauma and their injuries, her dynamic with Adrien hadn't changed at all. The smallest tells still revealed more to her than a thousand words ever could and they weren't always visible ones either. The length of pauses between sentences or words, the intonation in which he said certain things and, most especially, the genuineness of his laugh.
She didn't dare to rely on visible tells too much lately, as he was wearing a full glamour now instead of the partial one she had always seen before. He had explained the difference to her a couple of days ago and it was honestly pretty simple: before, there had only been a few feline features he had had to hide while the rest of him could stay as it was; now though, all of his features had to be altered. Sometimes she caught glimpses behind the glamour by accident and she always quickly averted her gaze when it happened before it could trigger anything. Apart from those small hiccups, it was almost like the past half year hadn't happened at all and she was facing the carefree and happy version of Adrien from the honeymoon phase of their relationship again instead of the troubled soul she had spent more time consoling and comforting than laughing with lately. That, too, was a good reason to take a break and sort themselves out. Seeing how much better they were already in comparison to these gloomy times, her resolve weakened though. They weren't ready yet, but seeing him laugh so freely made her realise that they might be getting there faster than she had originally anticipated. Just like she had told him on that night of their Camargue trip: she was happiest when he was happy.
It was a happiness that persisted over the next hour as well with Adrien laying sprawled out on the couch next to Marinette, his head laying close enough for her to pet him with her left hand while sketching with her right. She hadn't managed to design a lot, only five sketches of possible modifications for the peacock Miraculous, but was happy nevertheless. The only small progress had been completely worth it in favour of stuffing her face with one-day-old pastries and listening to Adrien's commentary of 'The Cat Returns'— "Ugh, catnip, my nemesis. Oh god, don't get any ideas please! It really works on me and it's embarrassing!" "You know, I tried balancing on my hind legs like that once and walk, but it was a catastrophe." "I want cake now. Wait, we have cake! Can we get it please?!"
A lazy Thursday morning spent on the couch watching a movie was exactly what they both had needed. Today, finally, was a good day.
"We're having a mental health day. Just a mental health day. Absolutely nothing to worry about," Marinette told herself while she was trying her very best to concentrate on cooking lunch. Unfortunately, the chili wasn't currently in need of close supervision, most cooking supplies had been cleaned up already and the bread in the oven still had a good few minutes until it'd be ready.
There was a crash from the living room.
"Absolutely nothing to worry about!" She repeated, this time with emphasis and through clenched teeth.
She managed to stay put for two more worrying crashing sounds before she got out the phone.
KitKat: so we're having a good day
a mental health day to be precise
which apparently means that Adrien GOES ON A DESTRUCTIVE RAMPAGE
HOW DO I STOP A PLAYFUL CAT FROM DESTROYING THE HOUSE?!
ADVICE PLEASE!
For a moment Marinette considered that she might have jinxed herself earlier by declaring today to be a good day. Well, at least Adrien was having fun and the one who'd have to tidy everything up would be Sabrina, so was it really so bad?
She flinched when she heard a noise that was definitely the scratching of claws on the wooden floor—or worse: a piece of furniture. That would definitely leave a mark.
Since Marinette still couldn't directly look at Adrien as his cat self without risk of getting triggered, Duusu had joyfully suggested that she play with him with the cat toys Félix had brought, while Marinette could cook lunch in peace. It had sounded like a good idea at first, but she was honestly starting to regret having agreed to it. Destruction of property didn't seem like it was a good way to repay Mélusine for her troubles after all.
The phone in her lap gave a quiet chime.
Coffee Cat: That's a mystery no one has solved yet.
There's a reason why Adrien's and my room doesn't have a lot of furniture.
Good luck ;)
KitKat: stop making a mockery of my panic!
SINCE WHEN DO YOU USE EMOJIS ANYWAY?!
SHOULD I BE WORRIED ABOUT YOUR HEALTH AGAIN?!
FÉLIX ARE YOU ALRIGHT?
Coffee Cat: Sorry, it seemed appropriate. What has been destroyed so far?
KitKat: idk
Duusu is playing with him in the living room
I'm cooking lunch rn
I just keep hearing things crash and I swear the wooden floor has countless scratches already
Coffee Cat: Mélusine can fix that, don't worry about it. It's good for him to play and get his energy out this way, otherwise he might become too wild to handle.
KitKat: ...do I want to know?
Coffee Cat: I'm sure you'll find out eventually. For now, just imagine a sugar rush multiplied by a thousand.
KitKat: dear god o.o
Coffee Cat: Exactly. I vividly remember the time where father kept us locked here and forbade us from shifting (that was the half year before we met you). If our room wouldn't have been fixed every month it would look like wild animals had been let loose in it.
KitKat: which doesn't sound like it's far from the truth
Coffee Cat: Ha ha, hilarious.
KitKat: I can hear your deadpan tone from here
see that's why you don't need emojis :V
Marinette looked up from the phone when she heard how the sounds of destruction…err…playing, shifted from the living room to the hallway. She briefly considered closing the kitchen door, just in case, but then decided against it. Playful or not, Adrien knew better than to get close to her while she was cooking and potentially risk an accident with hot pots and pans.
KitKat: uh oh kitty incoming
Coffee Cat: Try scolding him if he causes too much chaos. Only if you can take guilty kitty eyes that is.
KitKat: hnnng my one weakness! x_x
I dunno how much chaos is too much chaos by your definition but still thanks for the advice ;D
Not ten seconds later, Adrien, against her hopeful beliefs, came barrelling into the kitchen. Marinette closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath.
It's fine. We're just having a mental health day.
Her calm ended when there was a thud behind her and she could see something big, black and furry on the kitchen table from the corner of her eye. Enough was enough!
"Okay, that's it! DOWN, KITTY!"
While she didn't directly look at him—the glamour quickly made things weird as she had come to learn—the startled yelp was indication enough that he had heard her loud and clear—to be fair, the entire village had probably heard her. What she hadn't anticipated was that her sudden exclamation would startle Adrien so badly that he'd fall off the table and, in desperation of finding purchase, took the table runner and a plastic bowl full of sweets down with him. It all noisily clattered on the tiles before an absolute silence overtook the kitchen.
Now she was looking at him as he lay frozen on the ground, with the table runner slowly sliding off the side of his head and surrounded by a myriad of miniature chocolate bars. Adrien stared right back at her, his eyes like those of a kid that had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Marinette tried for her strict Ladybug-look that she had always thrown at him when he had goofed off during a battle, but ultimately failed. Those round, sparkly, guilty eyes really were her weakness and would be the death of her someday. She sighed.
"Look, I don't mind you playing, but can you maybe not jump on tables?"
His response was a miserable little noise akin to a whimper.
"Sorry," he said and visibly shrunk down in shame. "I was just looking forward to lunch and it smelled so good and I was excited about it and…sorry."
Marinette suddenly felt like she had kicked a kitten. With a sigh, she turned around to the stove again to check on the food.
"I'm sorry too, for snapping at you. But…can you try to destroy the house a little less? Mel has been so kind to let us stay here and that's a shitty way to repay her, don't you think?"
Adrien was quiet for a moment, the only noise being the light plonks of the candy being put back into the bowl one by one.
"You think she's kind?" He eventually asked, in a tone like he was inquiring about the weather.
Marinette hummed. "She made sure our injuries were treated and that we have a safe place to stay. I'd say that's kind. Oh, and the portal to your house too!"
"That wasn't kind, but a bargain," Adrien said.
"What do you mean?"
"When there isn't a concrete price, fae ask for favours as payment. They're unpredictable and risky, but when there isn't anything else to offer, they're a good compensation. Mélusine owed mother five favours and we're allowed to use them in her absence. Now she only owes four more."
"So, the portal was a favour?"
"It was paid with a favour. Mother did something for Mélusine in the past and this is her way of paying her debts. Usually we wouldn't have gone that far, but we don't really have anything more to offer right now."
"I think I get it. But just because she demands payment for some things doesn't mean she isn't kind."
"Well, I never said she wasn't, but I thought you'd rather find her eccentric or creepy. She might be a halfling too, but she's much feyer than us."
"She's that too, definitely," Marinette agreed. "Anyway, please don't jump on the dining table again? Clean paws or not, what has been on the floor doesn't belong on a table!"
Adrien let out a guilty whine. "I said I'm sorry, okay?"
"Apology accepted."
When she reached out with her left hand as if to ruffle his hair, Marinette was once again reminded of the glamour, which sometimes made it easy to forget what he really looked like. Luckily it didn't matter if she aimed for the top of his head or intentionally the spot between his ears as it stayed the same favourite scratching spot. He let out a quiet purr as he leaned into the brief touch before going back to his task of picking up the candy bars.
"Oh, that smells good!" Duusu's voice suddenly said from behind them and Marinette turned around to see her phase through the balcony door.
"Duusu, were you outside?! What if someone saw you?!"
The kwami giggled. "No worries, fledgling. There are so many birds flying around that one more really wasn't noticeable. I still made sure not to be seen, but I was just so curious! The fresh air is wonderful around here and I love watching the wind blow through the wide corn fields and meadows!"
"I thought you were playing with Adrien."
"She was, but then she told me to go check on how lunch was coming along and…well," Adrien said and trailed off, looking at the floor from where he was still picking up separate pieces of candy.
"You're good, KitKat, don't worry," she said and patted his head. "Now, Duusu, help Adrien pick those up and then we eat."
They were about halfway through their meal when the phone rang. Félix had never called them before and only texted after she started conversations, so she very much hoped it wasn't an emergency. Marinette immediately set the phone down on the table and put the call on speaker.
"Is everything alright?" She asked instead of a greeting.
"Yes, everything is fine, don't worry. Seeing how you were panicked about house destruction, though, I thought I'd check on you. Is the house still standing?"
"Fé!" Adrien whined.
Marinette sighed in relief. Not an emergency.
"Yeah, we're good and the house is still intact. I haven't been in the living room yet though, so I'll just have to wait and see about that one. We're eating lunch right now, are you on lunch break too?"
She shoved another fork full of food into her mouth and glanced at the clock on the wall. Yep, definitely lunch break.
"I am. In fact, someone insisted on dragging me to your place for it. Not that I'd object to Sabine's cooking but—"
Félix suddenly cut off and there was the sound of scuffling.
"Gimme that!" A female voice in the background demanded.
"Hell no! Are you crazy?!"
"You haven't seen crazy!"
More sounds of fighting.
Marinette threw Adrien a puzzled look which he returned in kind.
"Ha! Got it!" The female voice said triumphantly, suddenly much clearer than before. "Hi, it's me. Sorry not sorry for stealing the phone—did I say that right?—but I just wanted an opportunity to talk to you."
She stared at the phone for a moment in silence.
"You're…Bri?"
"Yep!"
Was this really how her voice sounded like on the phone or did she have a different voice than her?
"Is it just you or is Adrien listening too? I mean, he probably would anyway. Cat ears and all."
"Yes, I'm listening," Adrien grumbled, a heavy frown on his face. "You're on speaker phone."
"Oh, good!"
"Bri, give me the phone and get down from the ceiling!" Félix could be heard in the background.
Marinette could see Adrien mouth "How is she on the ceiling?" and she just shrugged. If he didn't know, then she sure as hell didn't either, but she'd definitely text Félix about it later and ask.
"You know, out of everyone, I didn't think you would be that panicky this quickly, grumpy cat. What's the worst that could happen?" Bri said.
"You could scar them for life with your disturbingly extensive knowledge about all kinds of questionable things," Félix said.
"Aww, there you go being a prude again. But no worries, I didn't steal the phone to embarrass two virgins."
Marinette squeaked and felt her cheeks warm while Adrien couldn't meet her eyes. She definitely hadn't expected…that. There was a long, suffering sigh from Félix with a mumble that sounded like 'that's exactly what I meant.'
"Anyway, you two, I actually just wanted to say that I'm glad you're safe and recovering," Bri continued.
There was a silence.
"This is supposed to be the part where you thank me, you know? I'm no fae, I can accept some gratitude without being bound to a favour in return!"
"And why would we thank you?!" Adrien hissed. "You kidnapped Marinette and caused this whole situation in the first place!"
He was almost snarling at the phone now and Marinette had to reach over to put a hand on his head to calm him.
"I'm sorry for that misunderstanding then, because you surely don't think that I'd have been the only one to try to take her, right? Others could have sent changelings too or even enthralled humans who could've gotten through Tikki's wards and then what? I never intended for any harm to come to Marinette and honestly, I think when we look at what the Folk usually does to Danu's chosens, I most certainly saved her from being dragged to Tír na nÓg and becoming a bride. You're welcome."
Marinette, again, didn't know what to say, but tensed when Adrien did. She quickly felt the comforting small weight of Duusu on her shoulder though as the kwami rubbed her head against her neck with soothing crooning noises.
"Thank you, Bri," she eventually said quietly. "But what do you mean with bride?"
With her hand still on his head, she both felt and saw Adrien tense further and subtly shake his head.
"Oh, they didn't tell you? Well, a bride is—"
"We are not talking about brides!" Félix cut in loudly and it sounded like he and Bri were fighting for the phone again.
"Yeah, what Fé said," Adrien said hollowly. He looked like he had seen a ghost and she made it a point to scratch his ears as a small comfort.
Bri sighed heavily. "Alright, faux-pas, sorry. I have a somewhat higher tolerance when it comes to traumatic fey experiences, so I sometimes forget that it's not really a conversational topic. We might talk about that another time but for now better don't dig, Marinette. It's very horrific. I'm talking from gruesome experience here."
"Okay," Marinette said, gladly dropping the topic—traumatic didn't bide well in her current situation to begin with.
"Anyway, there's someone who very desperately wants to talk to you," Bri said and then there was a sound as if she had jumped down from somewhere high and then put the phone down.
"Marinette?" A high voice asked worriedly.
"Tikki!" She sat up straight so abruptly that Duusu almost fell off her shoulder. "How are you doing? I miss you so much!"
It was hard to believe that it had been almost two weeks since she had last seen Tikki. To just hear her voice unwittingly brought tears to her eyes.
"I miss you too and I'm sorry that I couldn't do more to prevent all this."
"This is absolutely not your fault, Tikki!" Adrien cut in before Marinette could.
"He's right! Please don't beat yourself up about this Tikki, you did all you could."
"I didn't though," Tikki said quietly. "I should have put up more wards or at the very least filled you in immediately after the incident so you could put protections on yourself."
"In that case it's rather my fault for not bringing up the courage to tell her that day…" Adrien said.
Just when Marinette was about to point out that it wasn't his fault either and that they had gone over this already, it was Duusu who snapped.
"NO ONE is to blame here!" She yelled so loudly that Adrien almost flinched himself off his chair. "The Court does what the Court does! That's how it's always been and how it'll always be. If you want to blame anyone, then blame the Court!" She crossed her arms and huffed, hovering over the phone. "I can't believe that I am the voice of reason, Tikki. Have the last few centuries softened you or is the shock of almost losing your chosen still too deep? Either way, you seriously need to step up your game! Marinette is safe and recovering, as is Adrien, and Paris is in capable hands with your new old chosen. Stop whining about what ifs and think forward, you stubborn bug!"
Marinette stared at Duusu for a few moments, speechless, as did Adrien. Judging by the silence on the other end, Tikki didn't know what to say either.
"We'll come back to Paris eventually," Duusu continued when it became clear that no one would answer her any time soon, "and Marinette will be the most marvelous peahen there has ever been, just you wait and see! Rest assured that she is under more than capable care so you can stop your senseless worrying."
"Duusu?" Tikki eventually asked, sounding confused and hopeful.
"Yes?" The peafowl kwami still sounded aggravated, her tail feathers agrily flared.
"I…thank you. For taking care of her. Also, where have you been and how did Marinette get hold of your Miraculous?"
"Oh, Félix hasn't told you yet? He found my Miraculous and brought it to the Guardian. He approved that Félix would deliver my brooch to Marinette and now here we are. By the way, what in the world have you done to the poor catling?! He was beyond terrified when he met me yesterday and since Plagg isn't usually one to threaten people, especially not his own chosen, I can only assume that this was your doing!"
"D-Duusu, it's fine, really," Adrien said meekly.
She ignored him in favour of glaring at the phone.
"No one is allowed to hurt my fledgling's flock, not even you, Tikki!" Duusu snarled.
Marinette threw Adrien a questioning look. Now and again he and Félix had made remarks about how Tikki wasn't very fond of them, or at least hadn't been in the past. Just what had happened that had made Adrien terrified to meet Duusu? She'd definitely have to ask him about that later.
"And I won't," Tikki said, her voice more certain once more. "I'm sorry for what happened in the past, especially to you Adrien, and I promise to not make rash judgments like that again in the future. Then again, we can't all look into someone's head the way you can, Duusu."
"This has absolutely nothing to do with my abilities and everything to do with your unnecessary stubbornness!"
"Duusu, please calm down," Marinette said in the calmest voice possible. "Tikki apologized and promised to not do whatever she did again. Please just leave it be."
The small goddess huffed once more, sounding not unlike Chloé when she did. "I suppose I can let it rest. For now."
There was a small silence in which both Adrien and Marinette breathed a sigh of relief. Duusu certainly didn't bear the title of 'kwami of emotion' for nothing.
"Marinette, I promise I'll heal your legs as soon as I'll be able to see you again, so please hang in there just a little longer," Tikki said.
"Thank you, Tikki. I can't wait to get back to Paris."
"Me neither," Tikki said and sniffled slightly. "Now, lunch break is almost over so—"
Before Tikki could finish the sentence, the phone was taken by someone else once more.
"In that case, let me talk to you for a bit again!" Bri's voice said giddily and a frown immediately made its way back on Adrien's face.
While the sudden change gave Marinette a little whiplash, she quickly collected her thoughts again. In fact, there was one thing she had actually wanted to tell Bri for some time now.
"Bri, thank you for helping out by the way. With saving me and with taking care of my parents and friends. I really appreciate it," she said. "Please don't give Félix a hard time though, he's exhausted enough as it is."
"Oh, no worries! I'm taking good care of the grumpy cat and even offer my help. Alas, he's stubborn as hell."
Her voice had taken on a breezy tone with the last part sounding like a verbal shrug.
"Don't talk about me like I'm not here," Marinette heard Félix grumble in the background.
"That's what you get for being a sourpuss. By the way, Adrien," Bri said, making him look up from his plate, mouth full of food. The glamour, again, made it look especially ridiculous and Marinette had to suppress a snort of laughter.
"I just wanted to say that you're the most human fae I've ever heard of. I've seen actual humans act feyer than you, at least from what I saw in videos of you and read in Marinette's diary."
"You read my diary?!" Marinette screeched before Adrien could even say something, let alone swallow his food.
"Yes? I mean, I have to be you and your diary was a pretty good guide to your life. Don't worry, your secrets are safe with me."
She buried her head in her hands and let out a whine. This was extremely embarrassing. Some of the stuff she wrote down there were things she hadn't even told Tikki!
"T-thank you, for the compliment," Adrien eventually said quietly and she peeked through her fingers to see him a little hunched over but ultimately thankful.
"You're welcome!" Bri enthusiastically replied. "Oh, and Marinette? I normally wouldn't ever recommend a relationship with a fae, but that one? He's a keeper. Good job on helping him get to this point because heaven knows no halfling would ever achieve that without some human input."
"Thanks for your blessing then," Marinette said with a small smile.
When she looked at Adrien, he threw her a shy look, which she responded with by leaning over and petting his head. "He's being a good but still quite destructive kitty today," she said fondly as he leaned into her touch with a purr.
"Which is both a cat and a fae thing, so get used to it," Bri snickered.
"To a point I already am used to it," Marinette said, drew her hand back and threw Adrien a wink.
"Anyway, lunch break really is over soon," Bri groaned. "We should do this more often! It was nice talking to you two!"
"At the latest you'll hear from us again at the next Akuma attack," Adrien said.
"Wait what?"
Bri was cut off by the sound of the phone being taken.
"I haven't gotten the chance to talk to her about that yet, and now I have five minutes to explain it. Thanks," Félix deadpanned.
Adrien cringed. "Sorry, Fé."
"Have a nice day you two!" Bri shouted from the background.
"Please stay safe," Félix said.
"You too. Bye!" Marinette said and then hung up the call.
Her food was lukewarm at this point and she regarded it with a sigh. Microwaving, then.
"What do you think about Bri?" She asked as she took the plate and wheeled over to the other side of the kitchen.
"Definitely enthusiastic," Adrien said with a full mouth. Unlike her, he didn't seem to care about the temperature of his food.
"She sounded nice!" Duusu chirped. "And she's right with what she said about Adrien."
Marinette set the timer on the microwave to one minute and saw Adrien blushing shyly when she glanced over to him. Not for the first time she asked herself how purposeful the glamour translated his reactions.
"You really are the nicest fae I've ever met!" Duusu continued. "And I should know, I've had chosen with fae blood before and the fair folk they attracted were a handful to deal with! My fledglings had such beautiful voices though. One of them was a bard!"
"Wait, I thought I was the first halfling to use a Miraculous," Adrien said, now no longer flustered.
"Oh, you are. I say fae blood, but that's several generations removed from the fae they inherited it from. With that much human blood they didn't even hear the songs of Faerie, while you're a true halfling, with both sides in technically equal amounts in you. Well, until recently that is. Magic meddles with the contribution quite a bit, which is why more of it makes you less human."
"Hold on, does that mean that I have a distant fae heritage since Second Sight runs in my family?" Marinette asked.
Duusu tilted her head. "Possibly. Though it'll be so distant at this point that it's basically a naught unimportance, especially when it comes to using a Miraculous. The ability probably developed further by you using one though."
Now that was a fascinating piece of news.
"Some people have distant relations to the fair folk, but only few actually show traits. It all depends on how much magic the fae had and thus how much of it was passed down to their offspring," Duusu explained. "The fae in your bloodline must have been a very powerful one for traits to show up still after so many generations. Maybe an Aos Sí even!"
The microwave dinged and Marinette quickly got her reheated lunch out. When she returned to the table with it, she saw Adrien staring at his empty plate with a face as if someone had told him his birthday was cancelled.
"Adrien?" She asked carefully, which immediately made him flinch and look up.
"Sorry, what did you say?" He asked with the kind of smile she knew was fake.
"What's wrong?"
"N-nothing!"
"You might be able to lie, but you're not very good at it," she said while keeping eye contact with him.
Adrien didn't answer for a few seconds before he sighed. "L-let's just stop talking about heritage. It's not like I inherited much good from either side of my family after all."
"Except for the good looks, you mean," Marinette replied with a grin, hoping it would lighten the mood a little. He just threw her a perplexed look in return though.
"I… but this is a glamour and…"
"I know," Marinette said simply. "We just talked about my ability to see through it, didn't we?"
Adrien's eyes grew wide in horror. "I thought you couldn't see through it!"
She shrugged. "Not all the time, but I get glimpses now and again. Besides, I saw you without any glamour on Valentine's Day and all the time as Chat Noir. And honestly, it's not nearly as bad as you think it is, so please don't worry about it."
Like to underline the point that she wouldn't argue about this, Marinette took a demonstrative fork full of her lunch—and regretted it shortly afterwards as it was now too warm. At the same time she asked herself, with no small amount of embarrassment, if liking Adrien's half-cat half-human appearance made her a furry.
"Y-you can tell me if it bothers you. I wouldn't be mad," Adrien said quietly and Marinette almost choked on her food.
"What are you-"
"You know what I'm talking about," he interrupted her, not irritated but rather…resigned. "I'm not human."
"Yes, I know. We established that already."
"That means you can't have a normal life with me."
Now it was Marinette's turn to look perplexed. "And where did you get the idea that I want a normal life?"
Adrien raised his head, surprised. "B-but you've always been making plans, detailed ones even! A career in fashion, getting married…three kids…and all of that is normal and not…well…this mess here. Not that I'm assuming anything about my part in all of this, we're on a relationship break after all and it's up to you to-"
"Adrien," she interrupted him, putting care into keeping her voice calm and soothing. "Plans change all the time. I'll need to adjust them a little, but I would've had to do that anyway because you never know what cards life deals you. Before recently, I just didn't know that 'extraordinary' was even an option. Well, except for the Miraculous of course, but I always hoped we'd beat Hawkmoth before graduation at least."
"Extraordinary?" Adrien repeated quietly as if testing the word out but otherwise didn't say anything.
"By the way, the whole reason why we have a relationship break in the first place is to take stress off our recovery," Marinette continued as that clearly needed to be addressed, and pointed her spoon at him. "I'm not reconsidering my feelings for you, but rather how to deal with this new situation in a way that's healthy for both of us."
The two of them stared at each other until Adrien averted his eyes downwards in thought. Marinette took that time to finish her meal before it'd get cold again. She was chewing the last bite of bread when Adrien finally spoke up once more.
"Does that mean that you still want to give this a shot? Even with all of the unhuman weirdness?"
She smiled. "Definitely. Just be a little more patient while I learn to live with all the new things that entails now, okay?"
He perked up. "You made a pun!"
Marinette faked innocence while she picked up the plates. "I did no such thing."
"You did!" Adrien insisted and jumped down from the chair to weasel his way in front of her. "A cat pun even! Admit, it, you find them hissterical."
She couldn't suppress a grin but still said. "Unfurtunately, I have no idea what you're talking about."
They held eye contact for all of three seconds before bursting out laughing. Somehow, at that moment, she knew that despite a good part of recovery still lying in front of them, they really would be alright. And by the sound of his laugh and the glint of his eyes, she could see that Adrien knew it too.
