For a moment, both of them stood in silence, watching the long car wind its way through the square and out of sight. Then Marinette suddenly realized what she had been doing, and quickly jumped back, feeling her face flush. But before she could do a thing, Adrien had reached out and wrapped her in an embrace.

"Marinette, you're a genius! I can't thank you enough - I thought I was doomed when I saw the car, and I don't know what made me come here, but I'm so glad I did!"

Marinette grinned at him, forcing her voice to stay steady.

"O-of course! Anytime - it's what friends do, isn't it?"

Adrien grinned right back at her, missing the shade of pain in her eyes she wasn't entirely able to hide. She was trying so, so hard to be his friend first and foremost, but it was so hard.

"I know, but still! You're the best, Marinette."

She turned away quickly and said, in a voice that was light and - hopefully - disinterested,

"So… what did you really leave home to do?"

There was a moment of silence. She turned back to him to see that his mouth was opening and closing, almost as if he was trying to come up with an answer on the spot. She laughed - she couldn't help herself. He looked so much like Chat Noir for a moment that she instinctively knocked him on the shoulder.

"I'm kidding! You don't have to tell me. I just… it might be easier if I knew, in case your bodyguard comes early and can't find you."

Adrien looked a little sheepish now, scratching the back of his neck in that familiar gesture she knew so well.

"Actually… I didn't have any real plans. It was just kind of a spur of the moment kind of thing."

"Oh… okay. I guess…" Marinette hesitated for a moment, weighing the risks involved, then forced herself. If Adrien wanted to be her friend, then by golly, she would do her part. "I guess you could come to my place if you need somewhere to stay? And don't have any plans, I mean."

Adrien's face lit up at that.

"Could I? That would be great! And also wouldn't involve lying to Nathalie anymore than I already have… thanks again, by the way."

Marinette finally laughed. A real, honest laugh. Adrien was so thankful for the strangest things, but she knew he truly meant it.

"Come on, then! I think my dad might have extra leftovers from the bakery, if you're hungry."

"I had dinner, but I think I can find room for a couple of your dad's macrons." Adrien said, following her across the street. Marinette led the way up the stairs, then hesitated. A part of her almost balked at inviting him in - it seemed so intimate - but before she could work herself into a frenzy, her dad opened the door with his big, hearty laugh.

"Adrien! Good to see you again. Come on in!"

He practically dragged Adrien through the door, leaving Marinette in the hallway, half smiling at Adrien's evident pleasure, and half wishing she could die of embarrassment.

Well, maybe more than half.

"Dad! Let him go! He's just coming for a… a study session."

Suddenly, her mother walked into the living room with a smile.

"A study session? Why didn't you mention that sooner, Marientte?"

Marinette was about to open her mouth and concoct some kind of ludacris explanation of a last minute pop quiz in the morning, but Adrien beat her to it.

"It's less of a study session and more of a social studies experiment."

"Social studies?" her dad said with a frown. Adrien nodded, his face taking on an expression that looked almost too innocent.

"Social studies. Basically, each one of the students got assigned a partner to work with one on one. We're supposed to be working on noticing social cues in one particular person - it's part of Madame Bustier's anti-akuma project. Since our class seems so susceptible, she wants each student to have an accountability partner who might be able to notice signs of heightened emotion before it becomes an issue."

Both her parents looked pleased by this.

"I knew that teacher of yours was a wonderful young lady." her mother said, while her father exclaimed jovially

"What a brilliant idea! So you two got paired up, did you?"

Marinette nodded, but her head was spinning. She loved her parents dearly, but right now she knew she wouldn't be able to deal with their veiled hints as well as Adrien's undivided attention to her for part of their "project". So she quickly jumped in before anyone could mention anything else.

"Actually, it's supposed to be just the two of us, so we can really dive deep and get to know each other. So if you don't mind, we'll just be taking a couple of snacks and heading up to my room.

Both adults nodded and beamed as Marinette quickly grabbed a few cookies and pastries, set them on a plate, and gestured for Adrien to go before her on the stairs. They were still beaming when she looked down at them with a glare, as if to say "Don't even think about it."

It wasn't until she got up to the bedroom that another wave of panic swept over her.

She was going to be alone.

In her bedroom

With Adrien.

Not that she could even have thought about anything untoward - she was far too nervous for that. She handed him the plate with a weak smile, and grasped onto the one subject she felt was safe to discuss.

"That was quite a story down there."

He smiled sweetly back at her, again with that look of just barely unbelievable innocence.

"I don't know what you mean. It is our assignment, you know."

"Was our assignment. We finished that last week, and you were partners with Mylene!"

"Yeah, that pairing never really worked out. Maybe Mylene and I just didn't connect quite as well as we were supposed to - but we never really got a chance, either. I feel like this could be much better, don't you?"

Marinette felt a flush come into her cheeks and she quickly turned away, searching for something - anything - to change the conversation.

"Uhh… cards!"

"What?" Adrien said, glancing around himself as Marinette threw herself toward the desk for a deck of cards.

"Wanna play cards?"

"Sure, but I don't know much."

Marinette dropped to the floor - a bit heavier than she'd intended - and busied herself shuffling.

"It's fine, it's not that hard."

Adrien sat down opposite her and sat in silence as she shuffled… then reshuffled… then shuffled once more for good measure. When she was sure her face was no longer red, she raised her head once more.

"Umm… Do you know how to play War?"

He shook his head, so she quickly began separating the deck into two piles as she explained.

"It's a game of chance. Flip over the top card and the higher number gets to keep both. Aces are highest, I'll explain ties when we get to them."

Adrien took his pile and almost turned it over, but she grabbed his hand - trying to keep it steady as she did so.

"Don't! You don't look at your cards. Just flip it over on three. One, two, three!"

They both flipped. Marinette's was a six, while Adrien's was a ten.

"You win, you take both. Put them on the bottom of your stack."

He grinned and swept the two cards into his hand, saying as he did so,

"So… why the cards?"

Another flip. A queen and a seven to Marinette. She racked her brains for a moment, then landed on something.

"You said once that you've never really been allowed to play games, so I figure… This is a good way to get to know someone better, right? Seeing their tells, their little habits when they're nervous or triumphant. If we're supposed to be doing our experiment, we'd better have something to show for it, right?"

Flip, land. A king and an eight. Marinette reached for her cards, hoping her explanation had sounded plausible. But apparently Adrien didn't seem to find anything strange in it - he flipped his next card down gayly. Marinette quickly did the same.

"Tie!" Adrien crowed. Marinette smiled at his excitement.

"You've really never played this before? It's great!"

"I never really played muli-player card games. Just lots and lots of solitaire…"

She looked at him speculatively, then decided to call him on it.

"You know, I've never noticed before, but you have a tell when you're lying."

He looked at her in surprise.

"Huh? I don't-"

"You do! You get this expression of-" Marinette cut herself short, then cleared her throat awkwardly. "Your eyes get really wide, as if you're trying to convince the world that you're so innocent you couldn't possibly be lying."

He laughed then, straightening the pile of cards in his hand.

"Okay, you got me. I haven't really played cards all that much - it wasn't my thing, but I'm willing to give it a try. What do we do for a tie?"

Marinette smiled mischievously.

"This is my favorite."

She quickly put three cards face down on the floor, one after another, saying as she did so,

"I… de… clare…"

Then she gestured to Adrien to do the same. He did, confusion making him smile even wider. Then she flung down her last card, face up, with a gesture of victory.

"War!"

Adrien laughed and did the same. They glanced at the two cards face up, then she groaned.

"No!"

He reached forward with an evil grin on his face and grabbed the cards.

"I assume these are mine now?"

"Take them! I don't want to know what I lost!"

He looked at the cards and whistled.

"Are you sure about that? Because this is-"

"No!"

Marinette reached for her pile of cards, now sitting on the floor, but accidentally lost control of it. From the center outward, it flew away from her, scattering all over the carpet. She scrambled for them, sensing Adrien doing the same, until she managed to gather all of them.

Well, almost all of them.

Adrien handed her a few more cards she had missed, and his fingers brushed hers as he did. The tiniest of brushes, but she knew then that it was no use. She might be able to fake it tonight if she considered it an act of duty or mercy, but she couldn't keep this up indefinitely. She really had to get the thought of him out of her head, or else she might go crazy.

Hey, everyone! I'm back with today's submission. Hopefully you enjoy it. And yes, the card game they're playing is a real game - and a real pain to write, if I'm being honest. Hopefully it didn't drag on too much.

Also, Adrien's tell for lying is totally canon - I'm serious. Go look into it. It's on of several, actually.

I'll be back tomorrow with the next prompt - a little more deep this time. Until then, stay safe!