Marinette flipped through her little cookbook of family recipes, trying to figure out what she wanted to make for Adrien first. It had to be good; she had to prove she really could cook. If she chose a bad one, or even one that he didn't like, it could ruin future times where she wanted to cook for him. She paused at the thought, looking up and staring blankly across her kitchen.

She was going to be cooking for Adrien Agreste.

Holy shit.

With newfound vigor, she continued flipping through the book.

When her roommate and best friend Alya came home an hour later, that was how she found her. She had already gone through three different cookbooks, and was at her wits end.

"No, no, no! All of these are crap!" She cried, shoving the books over the end of the counter and groaning in despair.

"Woah, girl, chill out. What's the issue?" Alya chuckled, putting her purse on the table in the entryway.

"I'm trying to figure out what I want to cook for A- for my new sugar daddy, because that was one of the things we agreed on, but none of these are good enough!" Alya beamed. "So you finally found a good sugar daddy?"

Marinette huffed. "Yes, but that is not the point. The point is that if I don't make something good this first time, he's going to think I was lying, and that I can't cook, and then he'll hate me because I lied to him, and then he'll fire me!"

Alya blinked at her friend before giving her a soft smile.

"Marinette, relax. It's not a real job, you don't get fired. It's more like, 'I'm really sorry, but this just doesn't work for me. Here's a small check for your trouble, good luck!'"

Marinette frowned at her. "That sounds an awful lot like getting let go at work."

"Ok, maybe it does, but the point is, it's not going to happen! You're an amazing cook, and I know whatever you decide on will be fabulous. Why not just do something fun and simple for the first time. Is he picky?"

Marinette thought for a moment. "No? He didn't say he was, but he does have to follow a strict diet."

"Oh? Is he vegetarian or something?"

"Well, no…" Marinette looked away. Adrien hadn't explicitly told her she couldn't tell anyone about him, and considering his best friend was her best friend's boyfriend, Alya was likely to find out sooner or later anyways. "He's… A model."

"Ohhh." Alya said in understanding. "I had one of those once. Was kind of annoying that he didn't eat like a normal person, but hey, I got to go to nicer restaurants for it, so. Would I know him?"

Yeah, you and practically the rest of France. "It's, uhm. Adrien Agreste."

Alya blinked at her once, twice, and once again. Her mouth popped open as she stared at her pigtailed friend. "You're kidding!" She exclaimed, and at Marinette's blushing face, squealed, "OhmyGod, you're not!" She let out a loud, excited shriek and fist pumped the air. "Oh, this is the best thing ever. Remember when you used to have the most massive crush on him in Lycee? Ohhh, you had all the posters! Did you tell him? Can I tell him?"

"Wha- No! We are not saying anything!" Alya snickered. "Nothing at all, Alya!"

"Ok, ok. I'll be good. But only if you can convince him to go on double dates with Nino and I."

"That shouldn't be too hard, I mean, they are friends." Mariette said offhandedly as she turned and got off the island stool, searching for her cookbooks.

"What?!" Alya nearly shrieked. "Nino is friends with Adrien Agreste, and he didn't tell me?!"

Marinette's eyes grew wide as she slowly stood back up from her crouch.

"Uhm, I'm just gunna…" She made a quick escape to her room, cookbooks in hand, as Alya went running for her phone.

"Hello, Little Lady." Adrien greeted her with a smile. He wore big, dark, designer sunglasses and a cozy looking grey sweater with the hood flicked up to hide his face. She could still tell who he was, so she doubted his disguise was really all that effective. She'd have to help him come up with a better one.

She smiled back and held up her bags of groceries. "Ready?"

"Of course. My apartment's only a couple blocks from here, we can just walk. Here, let me take those." He tried to take the bags from here but she held them away from him.

"M mm. I can carry them."

He frowned. "I know, but I want to. Just let me hold a damn bag of groceries for once in my life." When she didn't respond, he huffed. "I'm trying to be a gentleman here."

She giggled at his kicked kitten face and handed them over. "Okay, just don't hurt yourself. It can be hard carrying groceries for the first time; let me know if you need me to take them back."

He stuck his tongue out at her with a badly contained grin. "I'm perfectly capable of-"

A bag ripped, sending veggies rolling across the sidewalk. They both stared at them in silence, before Marinette threw her head back and nearly cackled.

"Here, we can probably fit some in this bag, and we can just hold the rest," she said, taking the surviving bag back from him. "That was some pretty rotten luck." She said with a grin as Adrien collected all the veggies. "We're going to have to wash those really good, but since they've got skin and they're getting cooked, they'll be fine."

He wrapped them in the ripped plastic bag and then held them safely against his chest, cheeks pink. "Sorry."

She giggled and bumped her shoulder against his as they started walking again. "S'okay. No harm, no foul."

Adrien grinned crookedly. "Well, does that mean you didn't get any chicken?"

She stopped. "What."

"No harm no fowl." He grinned at her as if he was proud of himself.

Marinette groaned, letting her head fall back. "God, please no."

Adrien's expression fell and his cheeks pinked again. "Ah, uhm, sorry. I can't help it, sometimes they just slip out, and-"

"No, I didn't mean it like that! It's okay, really; I like puns!" She rushed to soothe him, feeling bad for reacting rudely. "It's just funny 'cause my dad is always making jokes like that, and that's just how I respond to him, and I- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, like, hurt you feelings or whatever, and now I'm babbling and-" Adrien cut her off with a laugh. "Ok. No need to worry. I just… I'm not the best at social stuff. I'm a little awkward."

Marinette smiled and they started walking again. "That's alright, I'm a lota awkward." She paused and then thought of something else. "Oh, by the way, I uhm… I told my roommate the other night about you, I hope that's ok?"

Adrien glanced at her from the side of his sunglasses. "Yeah, that's fine. I guess we should have talked about that before. Just as long as it doesn't get around that I'm… Uhm, you know, then it's alright. I just, if it got back to my father, he'd likely filet me and hang me out to dry. I've got to 'uphold the Agreste name,' and all that shit."

Marinette nodded. "Of course. I wouldn't want your reputation to be smeared. But what about when we go out and about? People are going to recognize you almost anywhere we go, and they won't hesitate to publish photos they take." "I was thinking about that. They'll likely assume we're dating, and well, that would be a good enough cover for me, and when people ask I can just tell them that we're friends through Nino, and not to read too much into the tabloids."

Marinette hummed. "That's really smart. Good thinking."

He grinned. "Thank you, M'Lady."

"Alya wants us to go on double dates with her and Nino." Marinette said as she stood at the stove, tossing veggies around in the pan.

Adrien seemed to brighten up at that. "That sounds like a great idea!"

"It will also back your Nino story a bit, if some reporters get pictures of us with them."

"Mhm. So are you going to tell me what you're cooking yet? It smells fantastic."

"Nope. Patience is a virtue."

Adrien grinned. "Curiostiy may have killed the cat, Little Lady, but satisfaction brought it back."

As if on cue, Plagg trotted through the kitchen, mewled at them, and then waltzed off.

Marinette laughed. "Well, you can die now from your curiosity and then later when you finally get to eat the satisfaction will bring you back."

"Or you could just, save me all that trouble, and tell me now?"

"But that's no fun. You must wait."

He sighed dramatically. "As my Lady wishes."

Marinette giggled, her cheeks heating up, and not from the heat of his stove.

It was silent for a few moments, not necessarily a bad silence, but Marinette tried to find a way to fill it anyways. "So, uhm. You're apartment is really nice." Adrien chuckled, thankful for something to talk about as well. "Yeah, it's a lot smaller than what I grew up with, but it's cozier. Well, at least when I've got other people over. Otherwise Plagg will just stroll though like he pays the rent and I'm just the help."

"Oh?" Marinette laughed. His cat was definitely a character, she couldn't argue with him on that.

"Yeup. But he usually disapears when people come over. I'm surprised at how much he's been checking meowt." She rolled her eyes at his silly grin.

"Oh, like you were last time?"

His face flared red and his smile fell into an embarressed cringe. "Ehe. Sorry." He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, the action causing Marinette to momentarily forget everything else in her life. The way his shirt pulled up and revealed just a tiny sliver above his hip, and how his arm flexed from the way it was held had Marinette feeling very flustered.

"T-That's okay…" She stuttered, shaking herself out of it. Shyly she turned back to the stove.

It had been nice, so far. Adrien was easy to speak to- something she had learned when she first met him- and carried conversations easily enough. He wasn't overly touchy like she had worried about when she first decided to become a sugar baby. In fact, she almost wished he would be more touchy. But he wasn't joking when he said just the hand holding, and there hadn't been much opportunity for that yet. A shame, really, cosidering how soft and warm his hands were, and how they practically swallowed up hers, and-

"I'm no cook, but I think you're burning something."

She gasped, yanking the pan off the stove. "Oh shoot! Sorry, I, uh…"

Adrien laughed, his eyes shining happily. A shot of pride went through her at being able to make him look so happy so easily.

"W-Well, it's done. Would you grab me two plates?"

"Of course, M'Lady." He said with a teasing grin, giving her a bow and all.

She waited for his back to be turned to her before she let her expression change as she fanned herself. He was just… Insanely attractive and sweet. She was going to get a tooth ache if she spent too much time with him. She smiled slightly to herself. She might as well make a dentist appointment now, because if there was one thing all sugar babies did it was spending a lot of time with their suagr daddies.

She took the offered plates from Adrien. She loaded the plates up with the grilled zucchini and squash from the stove before openening the oven, pulling out the lemon and spinach quiche.

Adrien 'ooo'd. "So that's what you made. That's one of the best looking quiches I've ever seen."

Marinette laughed. "Let's hope it's best tasting, too."

"So… Do you want me to call you Daddy?"

Adrien choked on his wine, scrambling for his napkin to wipe his mouth. When he looked up he was met with Marinette's teasing grin, her eyes squinted in the most mischievous of looks.

"Uhm…" He couldn't help the way the word had hit him in the gut. If he was honest, he really wanted her to call him Daddy. He cringed inwardly. That made him really weird, didn't it?

Marinette laughed at his red face and waved her hand. "Relax, I was teasing." and then she leaned across the table, her grin becomming more sly. "Unless you do, and then I was not teasing."

"Uhm…" He said again, trying to connect his brain back to the power source. He tugged at his collar and looked away. "That, uh… might be- nice."

Her smile changed once again, becoming soft. "Okay." a pause. "Daddy." She tacked on with a wink.

Adrien wheezed, tugging harder on his collar. "Ok, only when we're in private." He stressed. He had this mental image of her saying something like that when they were out and about, and he didn't think he was ever going to be able to control the way it made his face heat up or his knees feel like jelly.

"Of course." She said, and they went back to eating.

Adrien walked her to the metro, paying for her entrance, and then stood aimlessly outside the station for a moment. He hadn't wanted her to leave, but she had a class early the next morning, and had to go home and sleep. He made sure to drag his feet as much as he could on his way back home, knowing it was going to be quiet and empty again without his Ladybug there. He missed her already and it had only been five minutes. Standing outside his apartment building, he realized he was going to be in a lot of trouble.

He might be falling for her.