start notes—
"So, what human torture show are you putting me through this time?"
my tellonym: milkisande
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anime
水鏡照らす光跳ねて 、
今が特別に感じた。
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ADRIEN makes it his mission to introduce Marinette to all the wonders of the human world.
He invites her out to try human activities, goes with her to try different human meals, encourages her to listen and watch various human media:
His most recent point-of-concern— anime.
"I just think it's an absolute crime that you've never seen the in wonder and beauty that is Japanese anemonetion," Adrien explains, putting on a dramatic face.
"... Japanese what?"
"Animation," he amends, then noticing her judging expression, continues. "Look, I'm running out of puns! We're hanging out way too much— I can't catch up."
Marinette finds herself laughing. "I mean, we could hang out less if you wanted to."
"No!" He argues; says it a bit too loudly, really, as she evidently looks taken aback by his reaction. "I mean," he coughs. "I just found someone to watch anime with me. You're not getting off the hook that easily."
(Adrien looks proud of himself. "Cool, I haven't used that one yet!")
She rolls her eyes, then stretches back upon the bed. Adrien casually sits on the chair, propping his head back upon the back rest. "So, what human torture show are you putting me through this time?"
"You say that like you didn't cry over Moana."
"If you did not cry while watching Moana finally accept herself and proclaim her love for both the sea and her people then I do not trust you—."
He laughs, then nods in understanding. "It is a pretty good Disney movie," Adrien points out. "A lot better than the earlier films.
"You mean, unlike the Little Mermaid?" Marinette responds dryly, visibly cringing in distaste. "The only thing that film got right about us mermaids was that we really don't like mingling with humans. Ariel would be a one-in-a-million. And insane, probably."
"So you're Ariel, then?" She pointedly glares at him at even the mere suggestion of it, and he raises his arms in fake surrender. "I meant your interest in the human world! You are with us now, after all. And I like to think that you enjoy my company."
"Eh," Marinette only says offhandedly, lips tilting up the slightest bit at his unimpressed expression. "But I sure wouldn't be the type to sell my soul to a— well, they don't even exist, evil sea witch, just to flirt with someone. Especially one that's human."
"Yeah, you don't need to do something as dramatic as sell your soul to get a human to fall in love with you," Adrien says easily.
And what exactly does he mean by that?
"I— uh," she flounders, takes a deep breath in, then shakes her head. "Anyway! What are we watching?"
(Yes, a smooth change of topic.)
"I figured that we could watch one of my personal favorites." He grabs the remote and presses play on the stream— a pun that goes over his head and not hers, which makes Marinette truly wonder if she is spending too much time with him; if she's already thinking of puns without even thinking about it.
Instead, the mermaid nods absentmindedly and decides to try and sit through the first episode— at the very least, to have him leave her alone. (Though the real reason may be that she just wants to spend time with him; though she'd never admit it.)
In any case, the decision doesn't matter: because they end up binge-watching the entire series.
And Marinette cannot stop crying as the final scene cuts into view.
Adrien had somehow made his way to the bed halfway through watching, as she leans against his arm while staring helplessly at the screen.
"That's it? It's over?!"
He smiles in slight amusement, then nods. "Come on, it's a sweet ending. And it ties up everything nicely."
"No, it was perfect but I— I'm just," she trips over her words, evidently conflicted and frustrated over the finale. "It's done, right? There aren't anymore new episodes or anything?"
"Nope," he replies easily. "That's all of it, since you inseasted on watching everything this morning."
"What do you mean 'this morning', it's only like 8PM—," she pauses as he shows her his phone screen, the time 3:47 PM displayed front-and-center. "It's almost 4AM?!"
She pauses, looking outside to see the moon slowly fading from view. "No but I— last time I checked it was— how did that happen?"
He's full-on laughing now, and grins. "Power of anime; it gets you hooked, so you won't be able to sleep until you finish all the episodes. Then you basically black out and only realize how many hours have passed when it's already over."
"You've introduced me to a cursed medium," Marinette only mutters, running an exhausted hand down her face. "I'm supposed to be studying today."
"Come on," he says back, tilting her head in his direction. "I'll help you out. This is for Mme. Mendeleiev's class, right?"
At that point, she belatedly notices their altogether compromising position: lying together on her bed, his arm guarding her neck, and their faces only a few inches apart (she can see the green in his eyes: notice how they perfectly capture the shade of nature on land— beautiful), and almost falls over as she takes a quick step back.
The fact that she had been in such close proximity with a human, for an unknowable amount of time, makes her panic. The fact that it's Adrien effectively makes her panic even more— though of a notably more intense variety and degree.
(She refuses to expound on the feeling.)
"Yeah!" Marinette finally manages to splutter out, before getting herself off the bed as quickly as possible and making her way to her backpack. She pats it awkwardly. "Have a lot of research to do if I want to ace that test."
Adrien only stares at her for a moment, smiles, and she feels her mermaid-heart threaten to burst out of its chest. She doesn't know how to explain the feeling, but Marinette finds herself thrown into overdrive when they're together; unable to even conduct the most basic functions when he gets too close.
It's absolutely inconvenient and irritating.
But she finds that it strangely feels good as well.
"You're going to study now?" Adrien only asks, once again waving his phone in her direction. "It's 4:00 AM, you can study later," he says. "You just watched almost twelve hours of anime in the span of a day— that's too much screen time for your brain."
"But I'm not tired!" Marinette tries to argue, which would've held more basis if she hadn't evidently swallowed down a yawn that tried to escape her throat. "As her TA, you can't have Mme. Mendeleiev's worst student failing her test, right?"
Adrien sighs, standing up and walking over to her. Once again, he's at an extremely close distance, and Marinette's almost confident that he can hear her not-heart beating.
He looks at her, and they hold eye contact. "I may be her TA, but I'm your friend first. So go and rest, Marinette. I'll help you as soon as you wake up."
"Fine," she says resignedly, before walking over the bed. "What about you?"
"Well, I was just planning to hop over with you on your bed and—," noticing the panicked expression on her face, Adrien laughs. "Kidding. Nino lives nearby, so I'll probably crash at his to make it easier on both of us when I come back."
"You don't have to come back, you know," Marinette responds, suddenly feeling the slightest bit guilty about keeping him in the area. "I mean it— I can do it myself."
"But it'd be easier if we did it together, " Adrien only points out. "Besides, you'd be getting help from her star student. I don't think that's something you can pass up on."
"Ah right, the star who caused an accident to some poor faculty member for leaving water trails all over the outside of her classroom."
He grins. "I seem to recall that being someone else's fault," Adrien hums back. "I was just trying to help out a friend."
"Oh, so we're friends now?"
"I'd be open to taking it to the next level," He responds just as easily, echoing Alya's statement from weeks ago.
The weight of her words don't even dawn on her after a minute— with the panic consequently weighing in.
"Anyway," Adrien continues, "I'll be going ahead, so you have no excuse but to rest." He slings his backpack over his shoulder, then nods to her lightly. Sea you later, Marinette."
"You've used that already you know that right?"
"I think it's a classeac," he says easily, then opens the door. "I'll come back in a few hours, okay?"
"... okay."
He smiles, one last time, before the door effectively shuts, and she's left to her own devices.
Marinette calmly walks over to her bed, then flips over to lie down on it.
She remembers basically cuddling with him over these sheets.
And then she screams into a pillow.
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end notes—
like marinette, i too have bawled like a baby when i first watched moana… that scene when she's singing with her ancestors on the boat3 floodgates for my tears are Open /3
i wanted to keep this spoiler-free from other shows so yes we didn't go for any specific anime ! though if yor curious the anime in mind was nagi no asukara, one of my all-time favorites: it has ocean-and-land themes, as well as stunning animation/music, so i'd recommend checking it out if you havent!:D
sorry for the p short chapters, but a special treat (i hope you'll enjoy it !) in the next chapter so look forward to that ouo !
thank you for reading! ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～