A/N: Thank you so much for waiting for me! I got carried away with the future Felinette story (I know I said I'm not going to even start, but then I had a glass of wine and some camembert and I lost all my willpower) while working through the writer's block for this story. And I finally updated Issues! Sending you all some love!
XxThe-Crest-Of-AnubisxX - The phone call between Kagami and Adrien in last chapter is the same as the one from an earlier chapter when Kagami called from the bakery! I hope this clears up the confusion!
Ripened-reader - I totally get the longer chapters part! I'll try, but part of the reason they're so short is that I'm more trying to keep in the habit of writing daily and posting them helps me stay disciplined.
19.
Marinette was doing much better than she thought she would. So what if she had already blushed five different shades of red? Stumbled over trying to place an order? At least Kagami hadn't called her Marinette yet. At least Adrien had been so nice and understanding when Marinette had awkwardly excused herself, tripping over the words to use the bathroom.
The bathroom in which she had locked herself five minutes ago.
"You can do this," she told her reflection in the mirror. "You're Marinette Dupain-Cheng. You're Ladybug. You're strong. You're beautiful. You're confident. You've got this. I've got this."
A deep breath. "You can do this," she repeated, though she didn't feel at all convinced. But time was ticking and the longer she stayed in the bathroom, the more awkward it would be to join the two friends at the table. Marinette still wasn't sure why she was there. The conversation hadn't gotten past pleasantries when she bailed, almost running away.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
Taking one last look at herself in the mirror, Marinette exited the small room. She approached the table slowly, forcing a pleasant smile on her face, mind already working on a backup plan in case everything went wrong and she had to move continents, get a new identity and work three jobs to build her life up again from scratch.
"And she's just so wonderful," Adrien's voice reached Marinette long before she reached the table. "I bet you'd like her, Kagami. She's so energetic! Sometimes I wonder how anyone could have so much energy, but I absolutely love it. I love her."
"Your roommate sounds interesting," Kagami commented in the same cool tone she'd used when speaking to Marinette.
"She is!" He gushed, making Marinette's poor heart break. She hadn't heard about his new living arrangements, so she half-wondered if she wasn't intruding on the conversation, as she walked over to the unoccupied seat next to the fencer. "And she smells so great."
"Adrien was just telling me about his new roommate," she informed the bluenette. "She has apparently made quite an impression on our friend."
Our friend. As much as Marinette already considered herself Adrien's friend (and more) in her heart, it was a completely different thing for someone else to say it. The man didn't correct Kagami either, making Marinette's heart flood with warmth.
"Oh? Anyone I might know?" she asked before she could start doubting herself. Her face did its best impression of a tomato, not that anyone seemed to mind. Blushing Marinette seemed to be an ordinary sight.
"Doubtful," Kagami commented, waiving the waiter over. The man came immediately, aware of Miss Tsurugi's behavioral history, when she didn't get what she wanted quickly enough. Orders down, he rushed away just as fast as he had come. "Now that we're all here, let's get to the point."
Marinette looked at her in surprise. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Adrien look shyly down, cheeks tinted with the rosiest shade of pink. It looked adorable. It was tempting. But if he was sharing a room with another female, then even though Marinette wanted to get between the possibly budding romance (he said he loved her!), she wasn't that kind of girl. She wouldn't ruin something good just so she could have what she wanted. So she bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from turning his way.
"Ladybug, this is about what happened this morning. How did you know it wasn't Adrien on the picture?" It sounded like an interrogation.
"A good guess?" she offered. There was no way she could bring up the poster boy smiles. Not when Adrien himself was there. Not ever. "Really, it was just a guess. I only knew for sure when you, um… You went to make that call?"
The lie sounded so feeble in her ears, tasted so bitter in her mouth, even if it was a white lie just to cover up the embarrassing truth. It wasn't hurting anyone, not Adrien, not Kagami and certainly not Marinette herself.
Kagami frowned. "Are you sure?" She was sure Marinette wasn't telling the whole truth.
"Absolutely," the girl nodded enthusiastically. Overly enthusiastically.
"I believe her," Adrien chipped in with a warm smile. "Sorry. Kagami can be a little… intimidating."
Kagami shot him a look that spoke for itself. Adrien shrugged apologetically in response. He didn't want to scare the young designer away. For one, she seemed like a fun person and he really needed more of that in his life. Then there was the matter that she'd heard about his roommate. It just wouldn't do to have her speak with media about it. The thought crossed his mind but he pushed it back down, certain that he had nothing to worry about.
"Oh, that's okay," Ladybug rushed to soothe both. "I totally get it!" Her hand hit a salt shaker, making it topple over, and she regretted instantly her inability to keep her hands still when nervous. Blushing, she corrected her mess. Adrien laughed.
"I'm so sorry. I'm such a mess," she apologized profusely. If only dying on the spot was an option.
"Don't worry. I think it's cute!" His words made her heart stop before it kickstarted again, coloring her face. But it was his sweet voice that made Marinette feel like the happiest person in the world, floating on a pink, fluffy cloud, as the two sentences swirled around in her head while she burned them into her memory.
At least on the outside, she looked pretty normal. Or the other two simply chose to ignore it, falling into a conversation about some photoshoot. When Marinette snapped out of her daydream, their food had already arrived. Kagami and Adrien were arguing heatedly about something, though Marinette could only guess what, putting it together from bits and pieces that she was now catching. Absentmindedly, she picked up a fork and tried the food on the plate in front of her. It was pretty good.
"What do you think, Ladybug?" Adrien asked just as she had taken another bite. She nearly choked, trying to swallow before chewing.
"About what?" she smiled, looking up. Don't get lost in his eyes, you dolt.
"Which would go better with Jean-Claude's new design for the fall collection, black lace or white?"
Marinette pondered for a moment before answering. "Well, I haven't actually seen that design. But if he's insistent on using lace, white might be better with the colors he usually uses."
"You haven't seen it yet?" Adrien was surprised. He'd been forced to look at the designer's creation more times than he wanted.
"Well, I'm just an intern," Marinette shrugged, popping a cherry tomato into her mouth. She was fully aware of the difference between full-time professionals and students like her who had only recently got a foot in the door. It didn't bother her that much, though she remained curious about what lay ahead. Not even a little bit of the interest in her voice was feigned. "And Jean-Claude is kinda notorious about not letting interns see his work. Tell me," she leaned forward without realizing it. "What's he like? Does he really discard designs completely a day before the fashion show?"
"Oh yeah. Not regularly, but he has done that once or twice," Adrien nodded. "But you should see his work. It's in a class of its own."
Kinda like your roommate, Kagami felt like saying, but she didn't. Her friend wouldn't appreciate it.
"Perhaps you could convince Jean-Claude to invite her," she suggested instead. "He might listen to you, Adrien."
"That's a brilliant idea!" Adrien grinned. "I'll bring it up tomorrow when I see him. He should really loosen up."
"It's not necessary!" Marinette was quick to interrupt. "Please! You don't need to trouble him because of me!"
Jean-Claude despised a lot of things. He hated being pestered, being asked favors and he felt especially strong negative emotions whenever young designers were brought up. He was proud and arrogant and he had complete reason to. His work was out of this world. And that was one of the main reasons why Gabriel Agreste had hired him in the first place, though their relationship was stern and full of conflicts. They never seemed to agree on anything.
Marinette had often wondered about that, since from her experience, the men were quite similar. She admired them both and they both intimidated her.
"We definitely should," Adrien said, sparkles in his eyes. "Everyone has been bugging him about taking on an intern. Really, you would be doing us a favor."
Marinette blushed. She was a total mess. "I-if you th-think so."
"I believe it would be beneficial for the company." Kagami agreed with Adrien.
Marinette's phone beeped with a notification. She knew this sound by heart and knew she had received a text message. She pretended to be engaged in the conversation while struggling to open her purse. Her hand fumbled around, moving quietly things aside until she found the phone. There could only be three people who could contact her via SMS: her parents and the cryptic guardian, as she called him. Everyone else either sent an email or used a chat program.
This was terrible timing. Her eyes glanced down to see the message from the Guardian. It was short and concise, listing a name and a place.
"I'm really sorry, but I really have to go." She stood up abruptly. "A family emergency."
Kagami frowned. They hadn't even got to the important part of why they were there. Sure, they had started, but Marinette had spaced out and while Kagami could write it off as quirky, it didn't solve the problem.
"I'll see you on Monday?" There was a hopeful note in her tone.
"You will." Kagami confirmed against her will. Adrien, seemingly not at all bothered that they didn't get to discuss the important fact Marinette knew his secrets, waved, as he called out a friendly "Bye!"
Marinette waved on her way, completely forgetting about paying for the half-eaten food. Adrien and Kagami didn't mention it either, but Marinette would berate herself for it later. But for the time being, her mind was occupied with the sudden problem. She didn't even notice how she bumped into a wall nor how she got hit by a plant.
"She's weird." Kagami said, watching her go.
"It's not nice to call people weird, 'gami," he teased.
"It's true though."
Marinette remembered well when the Guardian had first approached her. She'd thought it was a joke at first, but when her friend Nino got roped into a mess, she knew she couldn't just stand back and watch the poor man's life fall apart. She had never learned how exactly Nino had gotten himself mixed up with Akuma of all things, but that's when she had found her resolve.
And the Guardian had brought the "job offer" up again. It had never been anything specific, just a silent plea of watch over the people of Paris. That was easy enough to do. That's what she liked about it. The Guardian never asked her to do more than she herself was willing to. It was easy for her to see that club Akuma, situated in the part of Paris opposite of the Miraculous, was trouble.
At least she got paid for getting people out of trouble, she reasoned with herself. Alya had helped her investigate and the Guardian was quickly linked back to the Miraculous. They couldn't find any dirt on the colorful establishment which led to the conclusion that it was safe, OK and perfectly acceptable for Marinette to make some money to afford all the fabrics she wanted to use for her own designs. It was a little tricky, but… If anything, she was resourceful. And she made it work.
Marinette checked the text again, sighing as she read it over.
She just had to make a quick trip to the dark side and everything would be alright.
