Thank you everyone who leaves a review! They really make my days! Bathroom is almost done too so my skin color will no longer change from day to day due to the things I've had to handle. Ive gone from white (tile glue/mud dust) to purple (Plumbing primer) to cinnamon (Tile cutting dust) to creme (Wood dust) to just about every other color but blue and green... its been a trial. On with the show!
Some one asked and cant find who it was... Last chapter was 7,800 words give or take. This chapter is 5,882
Devious Purrloin... Of course there is a price. Cant have our heroes getting off scott free can we?
wolfrunnerable12... You are in luck! This story will be going for a good long while. Now if only I could get enough of a buffer to post more than once a month...
(Slow Burn Detective AU!) Marinette is used to working alone on the streets of Paris as she strives to take down the Hawkmoth gang. When the thief Chat Noir comes crashing into her life things are bound to get magical, especially when co-detective Adrien returns to Paris and seems to want to be her new partner. Will their fated partnership end in a capture or a kiss?
Tag Along
The next morning Adrien woke up tired, since he had been up later than usual packing his meager belongings. The furniture in the apartment had come with the place, he actually didn't have any furniture except for the futon-like bed he had designed himself. Ever since becoming Chat Noir, Adrien had found most beds too hard or soft and some nights he just liked rearranging the futon 'just because'. Plagg said it was a 'cat thing' and Adrien was inclined to agree. The good thing about having no furniture was that when he wished, Adrien could move everything in one go with no issues. The only problem Adrien could see with his lack of furniture was that it could raise some questions as to why he had so little, but again Adrien was fairly certain he could make something up.
"Are you going to move everything today?" Plagg asked, stretching himself out on the futon as Adrien shifted into his shirt.
"No, I'll leave it for now since we need to go shopping to find some furniture. That flat has nothing in it so we need a couch, table, dresser and at least two chairs," Adrien replied, deciding to leave his tie off for the day since his father wasn't present.
He didn't have a true suit on today either, simply choosing to wear a pair of slacks and a loose button up top. The bag he carried had a t-shirt and pants in it to change into later when he went with Marinette. Finally, he slid on a nice comfortable lightweight jacket and held out a hand to Plagg.
"Come on. It's time to go."
Plagg grumbled, rolling onto his back and Adrien sighed, scooping him up off the bed before sliding him into an inner pocket on the jacket. The two of them made their way to the precinct, only stopping on the way to get some coffee and a croissant. At the last minute Adrien decided to get a few extra and some tarts since he wasn't sure if Juleka or Rose liked them. Even if they didn't, Adrien knew Marinette enjoyed them, and he had a feeling that she would probably hunt him down at some point that morning. By the time Adrien got settled in the back room, he only had one croissant and two tarts left. It turned out that both Juleka and Rose liked what he had brought and they were more than happy to share in the spoils. Marinette had run into him on the way down, and she had promised to come down to get a tart herself once she had figured out what she needed to do for the day. It was less than an hour later Marinette visited him, eyeing the pile of files his father had given him.
"That seems to be a bit overkill," Marinette muttered, glancing through some of the tabs once Adrien waved an 'after you' sort of gesture at the mess.
"I'd rather be reading anything but this," Adrien confessed, passing her one of the remaining tarts. "Unfortunately, I don't know any of these people and since they'll all most likely be present at the ball, I should really know who I'm speaking to."
Marinette shrugged, nibbling on the tart as she read over the speech he had to give. "I'm guessing you're not allowed to spice this up a bit?"
Adrien shook his head, "No, my father was rather adamant about not switching anything up in that speech and he demanded that I do it from memory. I don't think he appreciates how the mayor reads from cue cards all the time."
Marinette snorted, flipping the file closed and then passed him a new file that she had brought down with her. "You might want to go over this before we head out later this afternoon. You don't have to memorize it or anything, but there are a few paths that we'll take in there, and a few other issues that were present the last time I went out."
"Issues?" Adrien asked, opening the file to find a missing kid report.
Seeing the paper, Marinette tapped it while explaining its presence, "That one was a runaway-turned-kidnapping. I found the kid but one of the people holding them got away. I'm pretty sure they've vacated Paris, but the underlying kidnapping trade is still alive and well. I have some Whisperers on it but they're like a Hydra. Cut one head off and two more sprout somewhere else. The Hawkmoth gang is always an issue, although I helped one member find their missing dog a few weeks ago. That was a weird day. There are some other things in there, too. And if we can, I want to see if I can check on Mime, although that might not be possible depending on where they stashed him."
"I'll look it over now," Adrien promised. "I was getting very bored reading these dossiers, so this will be a nice break. I also have the Hawkmoth file to read."
Marinette smiled at him, popping the last of her tart into her mouth as she climbed to her feet. "You do what you have to do to stay awake down here. I have to go get my own paperwork done if I want to get out of here by this afternoon. Oh, and good job getting on Rose's good side. Juleka likes the chocolate-filled ones, for future reference."
With that said, Marinette departed with a wave making Adrien smile.
"Well, at least we know she wants you to succeed," Plagg murmured, poking his head from the pocket.
Adrien chuckled, "Can you imagine the havoc she could create if she didn't?"
For a moment the two of them sat there, able to clearly picture the shut-downs, missing files, and lord knew what else if Marinette had decided to work against them.
"Kind of makes me wonder how Roger still has a job," Adrien mused, although he quickly turned his attention to the files before him.
For the rest of the day, Adrien busied himself in the files. Somewhere in the middle, he even managed to memorize part of the speech for the ball that was in just a few short days. Just as he was starting to wonder if he should check on Marinette, she appeared looking a touch irritated.
"You ready?" Marinette asked, her voice a touch grouchy.
Adrien nodded slipping the files he needed into the bag with his clothes. "I can change at the flat as long as it's ok with you."
"That's fine. I wanted to change as well and I'm sure you didn't eat anything for lunch today," Marinette answered, her voice softening slightly.
"Heh… I lost track of time?" Adrien managed, sheepishly scratching at the back of his neck.
Skin pulled uncomfortably on his back when he did, but it wasn't bad enough to make him flinch. Even still, Marinette somehow noticed and she frowned.
"Your shoulder ok?" Marinette asked, then suddenly her eyes went wide almost making Adrien panic. "Did Roger hit you hard enough to actually hurt you last night?"
That made Adrien bust out laughing,, "Roger?! Ha! The only reason why his back-slap remotely fazed me was because of the sti- ah stupid bruising! I...um…was shifting furniture the day before and the dresser fell and hit my shoulder wrong."
Marinette crossed her arms, lips pursed as she listened. Something about Adrien's story wasn't ringing true to her but after a moment she shrugged, feeling that it really wasn't any of her business. "If he tries it again, threaten to break his fingers. That's how I got him to stop trying to touch me every few seconds. Although, I nearly did break his thumb because he pissed me off."
Marinette turned away, missing how Adrien's eyes narrowed while he thought of ways to wreak havoc on Roger without getting caught. He wouldn't mind getting Roger fired, either, but that one would have to wait a bit. They made it out of the building with no mishaps and the two of them walked into Marinette's flat together, although Marinette froze just inside the door.
"Marinette?" Adrien called, concerned, then followed her line of sight to the dress still in the middle of her living room. "Oh, is that your dress?"
Marinette sighed, then nodded, seeming to give in to whatever had briefly frozen her in place. "I've been finishing up the last minute tweaks and the beading it needed. Please don't touch it since it still has some pins in it."
"I wouldn't dream of it, Princess. It looks incredible, although I'm sure it will look even better on you," Adrien answered, grinning as he saw the blush heat up her cheeks.
"I-I'm going to get changed and then we can eat something," Marinette stated, her voice the slightest touch too high as she rapidly moved towards her room.
"Smooth, kid," Plagg snarked as Adrien moved towards the spare room.
"What? It will look better on her, and besides you're the one who said I should flirt with her more if that's what I wanted," Adrien hissed back, although the grin never left his face.
Swiftly, Adrien changed into his comfortable clothes, slipping two collapsible batons into straps in his jacket that ran vertically along his ribs. Plagg had his own little pocket in the jacket as well, and Adrien gave the grumpy cat some cheese before leaving the room. Marinette was already in the kitchen when he arrived and she had set out some fresh fruit, as well as sandwich mix-ins.
"I wasn't sure what you would want to eat and this stuff is fairly quick to make," Marinette said, waving a hand at the food, although she couldn't quite meet his eyes without her cheeks starting to go pink.
Adrien didn't force the eye contact, choosing to look over the spread. "Well I can say one thing. You're going to make me super fat with all you feed me."
Marinette snorted, "You won't become fat running around with me. I tend to use far more energy than I have most nights from running, and I'm sure you'll be the same way. Now, let's get moving or we'll never get where we need to go tonight."
Their late lunch was tasty and the two of them swiftly ate before working effortlessly to clean everything up. Marinette wanted to sigh in satisfaction as they walked out of the flat, some small bags in hand. Adrien, she was coming to find, never got in her way and he worked so seamlessly with her even in the most mundane situations that it was like magic. That kind of seamlessness should have been raising red flags since she had only achieved that kind partnership with Tiki. Instead of red flags though, it instilled a sort of peacefulness that she hadn't been able to find anywhere since Tiki's death. Adrien seemed to be able to read her moods as well as she was reading his and it made Marinette wonder if Adrien hadn't paid more attention to her in college than she had originally thought. Part of her really hoped not since her college days were fraught with embarrassing interactions that were able to turn her cheeks red, even now. Either way, Marinette decided not to waste the energy agonizing over it, at least not when she was out in public. To her surprise, Adrien remained silent as they made their way down the street before slipping into a blind alley that she often used as a shortcut. Two side-streets and one rooftop later, Adrien finally broke the silence between them.
"Who are the bags for?" he asked, skirting around a dumpster before managing to come up even with Marinette.
He was carrying two bags and Marinette was carting the other two. They weren't heavy, and one was decorated as if it were a present.
Marinette shrugged. "Mostly, they're snacks. The blue one is for Mime since it'll hopefully make him feel better. He likes my cookies and my parents dropped off some stuff at lunch, so I added a few things in I knew he would like. There're a few things in there for the kids, too. I finished making a doll I promised one of the kids, and the Whisperers will make sure everything is given out to the right people.
"Whisperers?" Adrien prompted, wanting to know more about this group even though he had already been sort of inducted as Chat Noir.
"They were Tiki's, and now my, informants. They keep me updated on things going on the streets and I make them cookies and help out if they have a problem I can fix," Marinette answered as she turned a corner and simply stopped in the middle of the alley.
Adrien shook his head as he came to a stop thinking that Marinette's explanation was the most bland, uninteresting thing he had ever heard. It's description was also nothing like the group he had met as Chat Noir. Marinette placed the bags in her hands down. Adrien followed suit, wondering why they had stopped in the middle of nowhere. The only odd thing he could see was a small daisy flower on the ground near the wall. Unable to figure out what had caused Marinette to stop, Adrien decided not to ask a million questions in favor of watching Marinette. She had pulled out a phone and hooked an odd looking connector cable to it. Once done, she glanced up at Adrien noticing his gaze and offered him a sly smile.
"I figured you would be asking a million questions by now. I certainly was the first time Tiki took me out," Marinette chuckled as she moved to the wall.
"I don't know what to ask, to be honest," Adrien answered. "Or, more accurately, I don't know where to start."
Marinette shot a grin over her shoulder as she tapped at the bricks lightly before shimming one out of the wall. "How about we start with why we stopped here."
"I'm all ears," Adrien answered as he moved to her side, feeling more curious by the second as she turned over the apparently hollow brick so a small object fell out. "Huh… a flash drive. That's actually really smart. It makes any tips you get completely anonymous and this way, no one ever gets caught snitching to you because you never see their faces. But how do you know to stop and check? Do you always stop no matter what?"
Looking up, Adrien saw the warm smile on Marinette's face. But he could also see the mischief, and he realized he had missed something. Holding up a finger, he stopped Marinette from answering his question and slowly he looked around the alley again. The alley was clean, as far as alleys went, and the only thing that remotely caught his attention was the daisy on the ground at the other wall.
"The flower?" Adrien guessed, and Marinette nodded, her delight obvious as she began her explanation.
"The actual type of flower usually isn't important since they can be moved or picked up at times. Flowers are usually used as a visual cue that the info is here, although I check no matter what. They usually drop them when they know I'm coming out since I don't check drop points every day, but sometimes I think they just like sharing the flowers they grow. On rare occasions, I'll even get a bouquet. The only time you shouldn't check these spots is if there is a rhododendron present. Those mean danger and we would leave immediately. That very rarely happens though, and most times I'll get a warning via text long before I get out here. Mostly on the drive, we just go by colors since trying to attach a flower picture would be downright silly. If it's just update stuff, it'll be white, red is for murders, black is for Hawkmoth or one of the other gangs but usually we use it for Hawkmoth. I can teach you all the color combos later. For now, let's see what updates we have."
Adrien was floored by this set of information and all he could do was watch in silence as she plugged the drive into the adapter on her phone. Moments later, files downloaded onto her phone making him move closer so he could read more easily over her shoulder. Adrien could tell Marinette had been doing this for a while because she sped through the files fast enough that even he couldn't keep up. Random colors coded each file, although a few seemed to contain more than one color, and there were various shades outside of the basic primaries. Stopping on a few highlighted files, Marinette slowed down enough for him to catch a glimpse of titles before she was off again.
"I promise I'll go over some of this loose-leaf stuff later, but most of this is just gossip and a cookie order apparently. I'm going to kick Scrub in the butt for that one. He knows better than to highlight stuff like that, even if he attaches it to something that is actually important." Marinette grumbled and wiped the flash drive clean before she returned it to the hollow brick.
"Why did you wipe the drive, and what kind of name is Scrub?" Adrien asked, his curiosity getting the better of him as she returned the brick to its spot in the wall.
"It's the one he chooses to use. I don't actually know his real name, but I do know he is a semi-permanent Cataphile, and he wants some of the cookies that I baked the other day in return for his information. Apparently, one of the tunnels he was wandering through has started to collapse and he needed to get word up to us so the street doesn't suddenly drop into the tunnels below. I'll have to let Gabriel know and let someone in that sector know so they can get the city officials working on a solution. As for wiping the drive, it's so that I know if someone tries to accesses the info on the drive. Each time I reset the drive, it tallies when someone comes and accesses it. I can also see if the information added has been tampered with or if someone was simply adding more information. We have key codes for different people that you put in at the beginning, so if anything is suspicious I can see which person added or changed that info. Not many people know about the hidden access points, and only those who hold the key codes know about them. So, if there's no key code, we can tell if one of these info points gets compromised," Marinette answered, sliding the brick back into position in such a way that you couldn't even tell that it was removable in the first place. "Also, these spots are constantly watched. So if the drive does get compromised, we'll have a date and time to cross-reference. It's not an air tight system but its safer than other ones I've come across."
"That's really smart, actually. You do this a lot, don't you?" Adrien guessed, following her back to the bags. "Passing along information about the city and helping people before things break or go wrong."
"It's just paperwork and I rather hate paperwork," Marinette retorted, her tone nonchalant as she scooped her two bags up. "This shouldn't be too bad this time since my last rotation down below was just before I got busted to desk duty. I can just add this info to that paperwork and save myself some hassle on the witnesses down there. Shall we continue on?"
Adrien nodded, realizing that Marinette was becoming a tad embarrassed by his questions. "Yes, let's."
They hit three more spots and Marinette pointed out how to tell the hidden brick from the others. On each hidden brick, there was a small ladybug carved into one of the top corners. Adrien was fascinated by the network and since Marinette seemed totally comfortable with his previous questions, he decided to just start asking the ones that were burning in the back of his mind.
"Ok, don't get me wrong. Tiki was an amazing person and everything, but seriously how did she organize all this and get people to participate?"
"You want to know the Whisperers origins?" Marinette clarified.
Adrien nodded, "Yeah, if that's something you feel comfortable telling me, that is."
Marinette paused in her walk, her lips pursed as she seemed to weigh the information up in her mind. With a bit of a shrug she began, her voice dropping a bit even though there wasn't anyone around. "The Whisperers were born in retaliation of the Hawkmoth gang. Before the Hawkmoth gang popped fully onto police radar they were out here stealing, killing, and really just gathering their strength. The people of this city who were being directly affected by the Hawkmoth gang started working together to try and put a stop to Hawkmoth's rule. Tiki got in on the action, working with the people and finding ways to get information in and out on the streets. She started training people in fighting and parkour to help them get around faster and after a while they picked up the name 'Whisperers' as a group. Back before we switched over to the thumb drives, things had to be passed along by word of mouth or good old-fashioned paper. It still is when necessary but much of my information comes from the drop spots, and I always double check anything important in them. Tiki was friends with a lot of people out here so the group really came together on its own. When I became her partner, everyone looked out for me once they decided they could trust me and I've been doing his ever since. The Whisperers are more than just an information network at this point, though. They have grown so big and complex, Alya calls them my personal gang. Although, who uses who is sometimes up for debate."
Marinette sounded almost rueful, an odd smile quirking her lips as she said those words. Adrien patted her shoulder, having switched the bags he was carrying to one hand. "They sound like a giant family rather than a true gang, and as long as they don't use you to cross moral lines, they sound like good people."
Marinette chuckled. But before she could say anything, a voice called out, "Isn't a gang just one big, rough and tumble family?"
Adrien and Marinette's heads jerked up in time to watch Stormy scramble down the wall using a gutter pipe for handholds. Marinette rolled her eyes as Stormy's feet hit the ground, "Your ears are getting bigger by the day, Stormy. I thought we were meeting you at blue point?"
Stormy shrugged, moving over to them with a wide grin on her face. "I wanted to see if you actually brought him out and was really explaining things to him. You know, Gram and the others are waiting at blue point so you can introduce him to everyone."
Slapping a hand to her forehead, Marinette actually growled, "Why in the hell do they think they need to meet Adrien right this second? You guys have never moved this fast on any of my other friends, much less partners!"
"Other than your cute little tomato partner, you've never brought any of the others out to the Zone, nor have you ever just hung out with them! Alya doesn't count here, and the others like Alex, know about the zone. Come on, Marinette, they're all curious as to who has finally managed to capture your attention," Stormy replied.
"Adrien is literally standing right here," Marinette deadpanned, then jabbed Adrien in the side since it was obvious to her that he was preening. "Don't let it go to your head, Adrien. I can, and will, put you on your back if you irritate me."
Adrien dodged the elbow, a cheeky grin slipping across his face, "I also invited Marinette to be my date to the Police ball."
Stormy gasped, her hands snapping up to cover her grin as Marinette stomped her foot, "Adrien!"
"She said 'yes,' in case you're wondering," Adrien continued with a chuckle as he dodged another jab from Marinette.
Stormy laughed outright at the interplay between them, making a red faced Marinette huff before brushing past the two of them, "Just you wait until I put this stuff down, Adrien! Then we'll see how good you are at dodging!"
Still chuckling, Adrien followed, politely offering an elbow to Stormy as he passed her. He was a touch surprised when she accepted, slipping right up next to his side and making him instantly wary.
"Oh, I really like you, I think," Stormy purred. "You know how to rile up our dear little Marinette and keep her happy."
"And you have been spying," Adrien commented, having noticed a presence before Chloe popped up last night. He hadn't said anything because the presence hadn't felt dangerous. Plus, he knew Marinette had noticed it too, when she rolled her eyes before settling down to eat with him.
"Of course we have. She's ours and we don't share well," Stormy chuckled, waving cheerily at Marinette when she glanced behind herself and realized that Stormy had painted herself to Adrien's side.
"Well, you guys'll have to learn how to share. I intend to be her partner, whether my father likes it or not, so you're going to be seeing more of me," Adrien murmured, hoping he didn't look as uncomfortable as he felt. From the rolled eyes and exasperated grin that Marinette wore, Adrien didn't think he was doing as good a job as he'd hoped.
Stormy made a sound so close to a purr that Adrien twitched, making her chuckle. "Mmmm too bad you like Marinette. I like a man with claws and I already know you could keep up with me."
"Marinette is the only person I'm interested in, but how would you know I could keep up with you?" Adrien managed, as he gently extracted his arm from Stormy's grip. She let him, figuring she had made him uncomfortable enough; and from the look Marinette had just shot her, she was less than a step from overdoing it.
"Marinette's the fastest person at the zone and everyone saw the merry little chase she led you on while playing tag. You did well matching her since she was probably running at almost full tilt. The only person I've ever seen her use the hole in the wall trick on was Tiki, but Tiki could follow her through. Although I did hear about the one guy who got stuck when she did it to them." Stormy danced away from him walking backwards until she hit even with Marinette, "By the way Marinette, we were contacted by Mylene. Mime's doing fine and they'll let you see him if you want."
Marinette's eyes widened in surprise, "Really? When can I go?"
"Tonight after we get the meet and greet done. You want someone to accompany you? You know, just in case?" Stormy asked.
Marinette shook her head, "I'll take Adrien with me. He needs to meet more people anyway and the Hawkmoth members will probably feel less threatened by him rather than one of you guys."
"You mean they'll underestimate him the same way they do you," Stormy sighed locking her hands behind her head. "Fine, but you know Gram probably won't be thrilled with the idea. We can give you guys a ride to and from the site. Just try not to get into any trouble."
Marinette grimaced at her words, "You know, we're probably going to run into trouble now that you said that."
"You can find trouble in the most peaceful of situations. Take the other night, for instance," Stormy laughed quietly.
Adrien moved closer to them even as Marinette grumbled, "That was not a peaceful situation in the slightest. Did you guys find or figure out anything? Alya was reaming me earlier for the whole fake paperwork and such. I didn't think it would have caused such a ruckus, or did something else happen that I don't yet know about?"
Stormy shrugged then turned around to walk the proper way, jerking a thumb towards Adrien in a clear question.
Marinette nodded, "He's going to learn about this stuff one way or another. I'd rather him be prepared than find himself in trouble from lack of knowledge."
With a grin, Stormy looked back at Adrien who was pretending to not have heard a word. "Oh, Adriekins," she cooed, making Adrien grimace and realize that the Whisperers had been watching him for some time. "Come up here with us lovely ladies and be a part of our conversation."
"If you promise to never use that name again, I will," Adrien huffed, using his longer stride to catch up to them easily. "I'll only permit one person to use that awful nickname, and I'd rather her not use it, either."
"Mmmm, no promises," Stormy replied, not quite managing to dodge Marinette's bag slapping into her shoulder. Sticking her tongue out at Marinette, she continued, "Ok, so the other night we were set upon by these monsters at the Zone that we are now calling Akuma. Mime got injured, and while I pulled him to safety Marinette here kept the damn things busy while a mutual friend took them down. As of yet, we don't know how these things are being made or where they're even coming from, but we do know that they're dangerous. Unfortunately, the largest of the Akuma from last night managed to get away and we don't know where it is right now. We've collected all the smaller ones that were killed and they were nasty enough to deal with. The things are weird, though. The animals that I saw were easily double or even triple the size of the animal that was left up on the rooftops when we went to collect them. The corpses were all surrounded by this tar-like goo, that I guess bubbled off when they died. We don't know what the goo was or is, but the animals left were dogs. The poor babies were Rottweilers of the guard-dog variety."
"They have any tags?" Adrien asked, managing to ask the question before Marinette.
"Yeah… here's where it get weird. The thing is, these dogs belonged to Spike," Stormy answered, making Marinette and Adrien cry, "What?!" at the same time.
Stormy nodded, "Yeah, that's what we said, too, when we pulled the tags. Apparently, Spike raises guard dogs and from what we've found so far, he's fairly good at it. The thing is, we went and investigated and we can't find him. Spike that is." Stormy rubbed at her temples and Adrien noticed the darker circles under her eyes.
Marinette seemed to notice as well because she gently nudged Stormy with her elbow, "How long have you been hunting?"
Stormy growled in frustration, "Since yesterday when we found the tags. It's like Spike just up and vanished! No one has seen him since you two ousted him at the zone."
Marinette frowned but Adrien felt a cold chill pierce through him, Plagg's words at how the largest purple-striped Akuma had felt different running through his mind. As if in confirmation, he felt a prickle of claws press into his chest.
"Could Spike be controlling these things?" Adrien asked, his guess as to what happened to him a sick churn in the back of his mind.
"I don't think Spike is smart enough to make a creature like this, and even though he was a complete ass at the zone, he apparently loves his dogs. Everyone I've talked to has said that he was super loving and sweet on his babies. It was just people he didn't get along with," Stormy answered, her shoulders slumping a bit.
"So, Spike would never do this willingly to his own animals. And if Spike is controlling these things it's probably not by choice. Wonderful, another problem to be solved this week," Marinette grumbled.
"We are taking care of it, so don't go sticking your neck out," Stormy snapped. "Besides, we're going to get your friend in on the action as soon as we find them, too."
Somehow, Adrien managed to withhold his flinch and the two girls went silent as he mused over what he should do next. Part of him balked at the idea of having to report to someone, but in this case, the Whisperers had information he needed. He was supposed to go explain things to Marinette at some point tonight but he figured that she would forgive him if he went to hunt the Akuma first. The silence stretched between the three of them, each lost in their own thoughts as they continued to walk on.
