Chapter Four – Slow Service
"Hey," A hand brushes against Adrien's shoulder and he turns around, beaming when his eyes meet Kagami's. "Sorry I'm late."
"No problem." He gets up quickly and kisses her cheek in greeting, before offering her his chair. "Have you ordered?"
She shakes her head as she sits down. "I wasn't sure if I would have time to eat."
Adrien frowns, grabbing a spare chair from the empty table next to them and positioning it at the head of their table. "I'm sure you'd have enough time. Do you want me to go up for you?"
She hesitates and her eyes flick to the other occupants of the table. Marinette doesn't notice, once again caught up in her own thoughts as she stares mindlessly at her coffee, but Nino and Alya both smile in greeting – the latter's a little too tense to be completely friendly.
"I wouldn't know what to order." She says rather than answering his question.
"The sandwiches are good." Nino offers.
Kagami raises an eyebrow. "Which sandwiches?"
He frowns. "What do you mean?"
"I doubt all of the sandwiches are equally good." She doesn't miss the look Alya and Nino share with each other.
Adrien shifts nervously. "W–Would you like to share with me? I ordered a quiche and salad."
The smile she gives him is dazzling, and he feels the mild panic in his chest die down. "I'd love to."
"Great!" He sits down, beaming at her. She grabs his hand and interlaces their fingers, her eyes locked with his. "What about coffee? Do you want one?"
"No thank you. Mother wouldn't want me to have one; it may make me too jittery."
"You could get decaf." Alya suggests.
The look Kagami gives her confuses Adrien, although he doesn't let it bother him because it's neither a particularly rude look, nor his place to tell his girlfriend how to look at his friends.
"Or, I could just . . . not." Kagami says, shrugging. She opens her mouth to say something but is interrupted by Alya pushing her chair back from the table, making it scrape loudly against the floor.
"Why don't we go look at the bookshelves? Don't you want to read The Cursed Child?" She looks at Nino pointedly.
"Okay. Yeah." He shoots Adrien a brief smile before hopping up. He hesitates as Alya walks to the back of the café, where the bookshelves are. "You wanna come, Mar–Bear?"
"Hmm?" Marinette blinks up at him and he smiles kindly.
"The bookshelves." He points in their direction. He smirks. "They may still have that princess book you read all the time when we were kids." Adrien's ears perk up at the 'P' word, being reminded of his – well, Cat Noir's – nickname for her.
Marinette rolls her eyes but gets up. "I doubt it." Her gaze falls on Kagami and her smile widens. "Hi Kagami!"
"Hey." She smiles at Marinette and strokes her thumb across the back of Adrien's hand.
Marinette's gaze follows the movement and her smile falters slightly before she looks back at Kagami and forces it wider. "Sorry I didn't say hello earlier."
"It's fine." Kagami waves her hand dismissively and smiles at Adrien.
Marinette and Nino share a look and Nino rolls his eyes in the direction Alya went. "Last one there . . ."
"Goes to hell." Marinette finishes, her tone the same as one would use when simply discussing the weather.
Nino snorts. "Right. See you, dude, dudette." He nods at them in turn and walks with Marinette to the bookshelves.
Adrien grins at his friends' antics and turns back to his girlfriend. "Sorry, what were you–"
His words are cut off as Kagami cups his cheek and presses their lips together. His eyes slide closed and he tilts his head to deepen the kiss, bringing his free hand up to cup the back of her neck, entwining his fingers in her hair. She smiles against his lips and wriggles closer to him, her knee coming in contact with his thigh. Her tongue brushes against his bottom lip and he moans quietly, before pulling back. They both pant for breath, their cheeks flushed with exertion at their mini make out session.
Adrien grins at her. "Hi."
"Hi." She giggles and scoots her chair closer to his. His knee slides between hers and he drops his hand from her neck to rest on her thigh, his fingers just grazing the hem of her skirt. "You know," She has to clear her throat when he kisses the pulse point on her wrist. "You know, I'm kind of glad the service is slow here."
He smiles. "Yeah. It gives us more time to do this." He kisses her left cheek. "And this." He kisses her right cheek.
"And this." Kagami presses their lips together again. A plate being set on the table pulls them apart and they smile sheepishly, cheeks flushed with embarrassment, at the waiter.
"I've got a quiche with salad?" He asks, gesturing to the plate he put down.
"Thanks." Adrien slides it in between him and Kagami.
"And a salad sandwich with sour cream relish?" Adrien indicates to Alya's spot. "I'll be back with the other sandwich."
"Thanks. Oh, wait." The waiter turns back to him, tilting his head expectantly. "Could we have an extra set of cutlery, please?"
"Sure thing." He walks away before Adrien can thank him again.
"That wasn't awkward." Kagami says and Adrien smiles, stroking his thumb against the soft fabric of her tights.
"I should tell Alya her food is here." He says, but he makes no move to actually get up, not wanting to step outside of his and Kagami's couple bubble just yet.
She smiles. "Wait until your friend's comes. Then you can get them."
Adrien ignores the fact she doesn't appear to really know his friend's names. It's not worth getting into. "I suppose so." He leans a little closer to her and she lifts her chin expectantly, eyes drooping.
"I've got a ham and cheese toasted sandwich with a side salad." The waiter says, appearing at their table again. Adrien indicates to Nino's spot. "Is that everything today?" He sets the extra cutlery down beside Adrien's plate.
"Yes, thank you."
"Enjoy your lunch." The waiter shoots them a smile before scampering off, pausing a couple of tables away to collect some empty plates.
"Next time," Kagami says, drawing Adrien's eyes back to her. "We're going to find an alleyway and make out there so we don't get interrupted." He snorts.
"What's funny?" Alya asks, tugging a distracted Marinette and Nino along behind her, both engrossed in reading The Cursed Child.
"Nothing." Adrien says, reluctantly removing his hand from Kagami's thigh to pick up his cutlery. He nods at the book Nino's holding in between him and Marinette. "I take it he found the book."
Alya rolls her eyes fondly. "Yep." She nudges Nino's arm and he finally tears his gaze away from the book. "Come on, Potter boy. We need to eat."
Nino sends Marinette an apologetic smile. "I'll text you updates?"
"Please." She says, smiling at him.
Adrien's heart flutters when he realises it's a genuine smile, and he finds himself grinning inanely at her as she moves around the table. Kagami slides her hand onto his thigh and gives it a light squeeze to draw his attention.
She gives him a tight–lipped smile. "Perhaps we should look at the books later?" He nods eagerly.
"If you want to take one you need to bring one to trade." Nino says, finally releasing the book into Alya's hold so he can eat his food distraction–free.
"I wouldn't take one. I don't know where they've been." Kagami says a tad bluntly. Adrien bits his lip.
"I take it you don't use public libraries then?" Alya says, but before Kagami can say anything else she turns to Marinette. "Are you with us, girl? Or are you off with the fairies again?"
"I'm with you." She meets Alya's gaze briefly before looking back down at her lap.
Adrien tilts his head slightly to see what she's doing, but she's just fiddling with her fingers. Kagami nudges him again and he draws his eyes back to her, watching as she takes a bite of quiche.
"Great. So Lila was thinking that we should have a sleepover tomorrow night. She was going to have it at her house, but her mother is entertaining some of her work colleges – remember her mother's an Italian diplomate? – so Juleka's agreed to host with the help of Rose." Alya smiles, oblivious to the obvious glazed look in Marinette's eyes, giving away the fact that she is no longer listening. "I know you don't get along with Lila for some reason, but I think you should really start putting the effort in to be her friend." She smirks. "Plus, you'll get to see Luka." His name comes out in a sing–song tone and Marinette blinks herself back to the present.
"Luka?" She frowns, confused.
"I know, I know," Alya says, waving her hand dismissively. "You can see Luka whenever you want, but with him there it'll give you inducement to keep yourself in line." She props her chin on her hand. Nino glances between his girlfriend and his childhood friend nervously. "No girl wants to act like a bitch in front of their boyfriend."
Something flashes in Marinette's eyes that Adrien can't place and he frowns, leaning towards her a little. Kagami's hand drops back to his thigh and he leans back in his seat as she strokes her finger along the inside seam of his jeans modestly.
"You're right." Marinette says, smiling strangely at Alya. "But I don't think Lila would want me there."
"Of course she does!" Alya exclaims. Nino takes a massive bite out of his sandwich and chews quickly so he can take another. He avoids Adrien's questioning gaze. "Lila really wants to be your friend!" She pulls Marinette's hand out of her lap and gives it a squeeze, beaming. "You'll see! Lila's just amazing!"
Marinette bites her lip and stares down at their hands. "I don't know, Alya. I kind of wanted to just stay at home this weekend."
Alya frowns, hurt and confused. "But you did that last weekend. And the weekend before. And the weekend before that. And–"
"Okay." She rolls her eyes and pulls her hand from Alya's grasp. "I'll think about it."
"Yes! That's a yes!" Alya beams excitedly and picks up one half of her sandwich, taking a bite. She moans in pleasure at the taste, relaxing back in her seat.
"Babe?" Nino asks, swallowing the last bite of his sandwich – he's a self–proclaimed stress–eater – and turning to his girlfriend with what he hopes looks more like eagerness rather than desperation. "Can I have my book back now?" He gives her puppy dog eyes. "I finished eating."