start notes—
She pauses for dramatic effect (has no idea why, even), and stares him down. "This was… saboatage."
my tellonym: milkisande
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game night
see the thing you've been chasing,
you'll never find it wearing a life vest.
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THE NEWS of Adrien's apparent date with the new girl— no, that mermaid, spreads like wildfire.
(Not wildwater apparently, as Alya points out. Marinette has to scoff: how does wildfire make sense, then?)
In any case, it only takes a night and the morning after, before classes start, for the information to receive a certain group of students who are less than delighted over the news.
"Let's just douse her with water as soon as she gets here," someone whispers. "Can't show up to date if she can't even get up."
A sudden whack on the forehead. "Ridiculous! She'll have that guard girl of hers fixing that in a minute. Besides, she has all the time in the world to get ready after."
"So what do you suggest, then?"
The girl smiles, a scheme already forming in her mind. "Leave it to me."
(If it's a game for Adrien's heart, after all, Chloé Bourgeois and the Francois-Dupont Adrien Fanclub sure as hell aren't losing.)
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The look on Adrien's face is nothing short of pure horror as they enter the restaurant's interior.
Marinette is equally taken aback with the setting before her, before turning his way, offering a shrewd smile and the most dry tone-of-voice he's ever heard. "Really? This is where you thought we'd have dinner?"
"I— uh," he only manages to mumble, evidently panicked as they're handed menus to browse through. Marinette flips through the pages, humming lightly to herself as she points at one of the picture. "Hey, I think he used to live at the coral reef near our place," she starts. "Used to have dreams of travelling the world one day…," she takes an excruciatingly-long second to take in her surroundings. "At least he got that part right."
"I didn't—!"
The aquariums grandly display all kinds of exotic fish and sea creatures, even reminding her of the aquadiversity back home. "The fishes are cute," she only continues, swallowing down the amused smile that threatens to escape her as she watches her companion get increasingly more flustered. A sudden and loud chop! attracts their attention, as one of the chefs expertly cuts through one of the animal carcasses. "Desecrating the dead bodies of my family, not so much."
"Your family?" He exhales, eyes widening at the revelation. "Marinette, you have to know that I— I never meant to—."
"Yes," she sighs, bowing her head down in apparent sorrow and respect. "Sebastian and Flounder… may they rest in peace."
Adrien nods, immediately bowing down his head as well. "To Sebastian and Flou—," he pauses, then narrows his eyes at her. "Wait."
At that, Marinette can't quite stop the light laugh that escapes her lips, as his figure finally relaxes, looking at her in evident unamusement. "You know you deserved it," she points out easily, before nodding to the waiter as they lead her to their table.
Adrien chases after her. "Okay, so you don't mind the sushi?" He pauses, gesturing at the rows of sea animals before them, as he follows her pace. "Aren't they your family or something?"
Marinette only rolls her eyes, before turning abruptly and pushing the menu to his chest. "Are all land mammals here related?" She points out, then grins. "Besides, what is it that you think mermaids eat?"
He opens his mouth to protest, pauses for a moment, then stops in his tracks. "You… have a point."
(It's only at that moment Marinette realizes the close proximity she has to her so-called date for the night, and immediately pushes back.)
"I know I do," she only responds, a bit hastily taking a seat as they're led to their table. "And you're the one not making sense here. If you thought I hated sushi, then why would you bring me here?"
It's a valid question, and Adrien's eyebrows furrow as if even he's not even sure of the answer.
"I'm confused myself," he finally responds. "I was asking around for first date recommendations, and a friend suggested that I take you here. She said it was the perfect place for someone like you." He pauses. "Well, I guess they know their mermaid lore more than I do."
Marinette can't quite stop the suspicion that crawls up her spine, but ushers it away. "Guess it worked perfectly, then?"
"Dolphinitely."
(Somewhere in a far-off table, Chloé slams the menu on the table and stands to attack— blissfully unaware of the 'CAUTION: WET' sign upon the floor, and falling flat to the ground.
The tray of sushi soon follows, perfectly slipping over and falling atop her head. She bites back the need to scream.)
Marinette - 1, Fangirls - 0.
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The attacks don't stop throughout the night. They try to switch around the orders, mess with her meal, distract the waiters, get her wet (— There are literally aquariums everywhere. This shouldn't be as hard as it is for them to complete.).
However, whatever they try to do, they fail spectacularly.
They've lost count of all the so-called activities and points that Marinette's managed to win. They're still at zero, even when their opponent has no idea that she's even playing.
A formidable rival, they begrudgingly admit.
(Evidently, Marinette thinks something strange is going on. But she never has quite enough proof to make a scene for it.
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It's a Hail Mary when their dinner finishes, and the fangirls decide that there's nothing more they can do.
Well, majority of them do.
As Adrien and Marinette walk down parking, Chloé Bourgeois sneakily runs indoors, aims, and throws a single water balloon in the air.
She shoots, she shoots, and it looks like she's gonna make it…
Until surprisingly-quick reflexes result in the mermaid's date immediately pushing her to hunch downwards, shielding her with his trenchcoat, and—
A human shield (or sacrifice, really— judging by the amount of water dripping off his clothes.)
The remains of the water balloon now on the floor, Adrien carefully moves from a protective stance to help Marinette up; and to the fangirls' despair, completely 'human'— legs and all. (They're belatedly terrified in realizing that they just threw a balloon at their idol, and quickly scatter away as soon as they do.)
They escape, but the match is set:
Marinette wins.
(For this round, at least: as Chloé tells herself, this is nothing more than the beginning to all-out war.)
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After taking a moment to collect himself, Adrien looks at the damage caused around him. Their college-mates have long since evacuated the scene, and all he's really left with is the remains of a plain black balloon.
"What was that?" He finally asks, rubbing at his head in apparent shock. Marinette takes a handkerchief from her bag, then carefully wipes it across his face to help.
"Nothing new, at least," she only says, rolling her eyes in evident irritation. "Didn't expect them to follow me all the way here, though." Marinette pauses, looking down at the bits of balloon on the floor, and slowly connects the dots for the strange events of that night.
Alya's words (and warnings, really), from the previous day swim fresh in her mind: Ah. Fangirl club, then.
She looks at him unimpressed. "Dedicated fans you have."
He looks absolutely clueless. "What do you mean?" Adrien asks, eyebrows knitting together. "You're saying they stalked us here just to throw a single water balloon at you?"
"Not just the balloon," Marinette corrects. "Everything else too. Didn't you notice anything weird at dinner?"
"... I mean, I enjoyed it."
"So did I," she points out. "But something was fishy, right?"
When a flicker of recognition alights in her companion's eyes at the pun, Marinette realizes exactly what she has to do.
She puts it in words he can understand. "All of this?" Marinette finally says, gesturing grandly with her hands. "This was no acseadent."
Adrien looks like he's holding on to her every word.
She pauses for dramatic effect (has no idea why, even), and stares him down. "This was… saboatage."
He'd definitely be proud had the situation been any different. "You think my fans tried to ruin our date tonight?"
"No," Marinette corrects again. "I know they did— tried, at least. You land mammals are so quick to act on your emotions."
He hums thoughtfully, as the dots start to connect themselves in his head. "Ah, so this is the rebellion you didn't want to start, huh?"
She shrugs. "I'd rather not incite the wrath of humans, thanks."
"We are a pretty eelmotional bunch," he agrees, before carefully taking hold of her hand through the handkerchief. "I hope tonight was worth it?"
Marinette pauses, looking from their hands to his expression. She tilts her head, as if in thought. The answer is clear to her, of course: and definitely to him, too.
"Too early to be sure," she responds instead. "Whale see."
(She can practically see his face glow whenever she puns.)
"And so we shell."
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end notes—
hopefully this doesn't count as salt? just needed some rivalry to keep the story interesting! following the prompts for this longfic, im realizing, is not one of my brighter ideas (game night = game references during date night yes we r absolutely struggling)
hopefully will think up of a final plan on where this'll go for the upcoming chapters, and it'll seem a lot more coherent as we go along . ;u; remember that this is a 30-day fic im doing on the spot, so it really ends up as a quantity quality thing! (but i'll do my best to deliver quality content as well, ofc!)
spare a penny for you to comment your thoughts ? it really helps with motivation and inspiration :]
thank you for reading! ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～