{+}{+}{+}
The Gorilla was kind enough to drive Adrien to the nearest costume shop. The blonde slid out of the limo then shut the car's door. The limo drove off, Gorilla having other errands to run since the staff is growing very short. Adrien's green eyes glimmered with excitement as he walked into the small shop.
Upon his entering into the costume shop, a bell jingled and making his presence noticed by the shop owner. An elder man wearing a red Hawaiian shirt sitting behind the desk looked up from the newspaper he is reading and smiled at the young model.
"Hello and welcome to Miraculous Costumes. Don't hesitate to call me if you need my assistance with anything," the old man kindly spoke.
"Okay. Thank you, sir," Adrien replied. He returned the smile that always made girls swoon and put on the front cover of magazines. Adrien walked deeper into the store, unknowing of the elderly man's smirk as he went back to reading the newspaper.
The teen slowly moved through the store, enjoying scanning the shelves at different accessories, props, makeup, and costumes. He even made a detour to pick up a plastic, sliver stick and pretend to fight off a monster costume nearby.
He spotted supplies to design or make personal costumes. There are many different fabrics, jewels, paint, headbands, and more. His green eyes caught onto the different styles and colors of plastic masks with a stretchy white string tied onto its sides. Reds, blacks, oranges, yellows, greens, purples, and blues. The teen picked up a black mask and examined it further, brushing his thumb over the plastic material.
A Cheshire smile spread across his lips before searching for the next item. The boy searched for quite some time before seeking some help at the front counter. He didn't think it would've been this hard to find but is proven wrong when he came with only a mask in hand.
Adrien cleared his throat to get the shop owner's attention. The old man lowered the newspaper and smiled kindly at the teen.
"Hi, sir. Sorry for being a bother but I'm having some difficulty finding something," Adrien explained, politely.
"You can call me, Fu," the old man said then asked, "What are you looking for exactly?" The blonde scratched the back of his neck before he answered, "I'm—uh, looking for some cat ears."
Fu chuckled at Adrien's nervousness. He hopped off the stool he was sitting on, appearing much shorter than what was lead on. Fu gestured for Adrien to follow him to the other side of the shop. The boy followed the short man until arriving at a basket full of different headband ears.
"You might find what you're looking for in here," Fu offered, presenting the basket. Adrien smiled and thanked Fu, who walked back to the counter. Adrien dug through the many different headbands. Bunny ears, werewolf ears, giant mouse ears, bat ears, antennas and just what he was looking for, black cat ears.
The cat ears are fuzzy and soft to the touch. He put the headband on his head to make sure it is comfortable and suitable. It'd be a long night if the headband continuously digs itself into the sides of his temple. Luckily, they are a purr-fect fit. Adrien chuckled quietly under his breathe at his cat pun.
He didn't notice the bell tolling at someone's rambunctious entry into the shop.
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Marinette had finished her homework and sighed in relief. Lately, homework has been piling up since the end of the semester is growing closer. This also meant exams are coming up, which Marinette dreaded. Teachers are trying to cram the last of the semester's lessons in before the big tests came.
So, it is the reason why she is in the library at the moment with Alya, Rose, Juleka, Alix, and Mylene. They are all using lunchtime to study a little while they ate (and sometimes got off subject to gossip a bit).
"Hey, Marinette," Mylene called, getting the bluenette's attention.
"Yeah?" Marinette replied, trying to scoop up the last of her peas.
"Can I borrow a pencil? I...accidentally broke mine," the short teen asked, showing a gray pencil split in half.
"Sure!" Marinette chirped, digging into her bag to find the only pencil she has inside is her sketchbook pencil. It gives her luck to come up with ideas along with inspiration from places, people, and objects.
"Just make sure you return it to me. It's my special pencil for designs," The bluenette explained, handing over the pink pencil.
"I will. Thank you, Marinette," Mylene replied, smiling.
"How did your pencil break in the first place?" Alix asked, eyebrow raised in confusion. Suddenly, Mylene's smile fell and her eyes are drawn to the table.
"I'm just a little nervous," she admitted, "Ivan hasn't asked me to the dance yet. I know it's still a while away but—I don't know. Maybe, I'm just being paranoid."
"It's alright. I'm sure when he's ready, he'll ask. I just know it!" Rose chirped, optimistically and smiled brightly at the rainbow-haired teen.
"Speaking of the dance..." Alya said, turning towards Marinette, "...we all have our dresses, except Alix is going in a suit, but we still haven't heard anything about yours."
"I still have a few things to work on but it's not quite done yet," Marinette explained then added, "I'm not going to say anything else because it's a surprise."
"Bummer," Juleka said in her low, quiet voice.
"Can you at least tell us what color your mask is going to be?" Rose asking, pleadingly. Marinette opened her mouth until she began to freak out.
She forgot about the mask!
"Hey, everyone!"
Marinette snapped out of her frazzled state and her attention is brought to an unpleasant sight. All the girls, except for the narrow-eyed bluenette, cheerily greeted Lila.
"I was wondering if I could study with you girls for a little bit. My boyfriend is too busy to be able to talk with me right now," Lila said, lying straight through her teeth.
"Sure, but only if you lay some deets on having a famous model as a boyfriend and soon-to-be father," Alya said. Marinette tutted before packing up her things.
"It's a deal!" Lila said, sitting in an empty seat next to Alix. Marinette zipped up her bag, gaining the attention of her friends.
"Whatcha doing, Mari?" Alix asked. The young fashion designer stood from her seat and slung her bag onto her back. She dumped her trash from lunch into a nearby garbage can.
"I've got to go, but I'll see you girls later in class," Marinette lied, only wanting to get away from Lila. Marinette sighed in relief once she stepped out of the library. Suddenly, panic returned to the girl as she remembered she has to get a mask.
"I need to get a mask!" She said, talking to herself and heading towards the exit. Then, she paused and walked back, adding, "Right after school!"
Marinette headed up the stairs then entered her next class. She is super early but didn't care as long as she didn't have to go through with whatever Lila had to lie about. Much to her joy and happiness, Luka is sitting in the near back of the room tuning his guitar.
Luka looked up for a moment and smiled at Marinette.
"Hey, Marinette. How was lunch?" The musician asked, putting his guitar away. The bluenette froze, staring at her crush like a deer staring into headlights. Her mind kept screaming at her to say something and stop staring like a weirdo!
"L-Lunch was g-good. You're a r-real snack—act! That was a really cool act with y-your guitar and e-everything," Marinette fumbled over her words, eye twitching after she finished. Luka's eyes are wide in confusion before grinning a little. Marinette's cheeks were painted a soft pink.
"You're a really funny girl, Marinette. Also, thank you for the compliment," he said. The designer nodded, knowing her words would come out incoherent again and took her seat. She grabbed a pen from her bag and wrote a reminder to go to get a mask.
Once school ended, Marinette said a quick goodbye to her friends before searching on her phone for the closest stores. She went to many different stores and shops within close range but came up empty-handed. The bluenette was about to give up her search but still had one shop left.
With a heavy sigh, Marinette began to run to Miraculous Costumes. She burst into the small shop while heavily breathing. The shop keeper looked up at the sudden arrival and smiled kindly.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have burst through the door like that," the bluenette apologized. Fu chuckled.
"I'll leave you off with a warning," he said. Marinette nodded, thankful he isn't mad before she ventured off into the depths of the shop. She hadn't noticed the blonde in the front corner of the shop getting childishly excited over cat ears.
{+}{+}{+}
Hey, everyone! I probably won't be updating next Saturday, depending on the outcome of next week! I'll make sure to have two chapters up the Saturday after next week if it's the case! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and have an amazing rest of your day/night!
