MrNoir: Come over to my place tomorrow

Marinette stared at the screen for a moment, slowly setting down her glass of wine. She so rarely indulged, and now she was worried that it had cause some sort of hallucination or stroke. We were just talking about embarrassing memories, why the hell did he write that? There's no way he wrote that. But he had, indeed, written that. But surely, he doesn't mean it, right? Cause that would mean he wants to know my identity and he knows I'm not ready.

Lady: ….what do you mean

MrNoir: Sorry if that was abrupt. I've been trying to broach the subject for a while but kept back pedaling. Figured I'd just hit send before I could second guess myself again.

MrNoir: I know you're not ready for me to know who you are…that requires a lot of vulnerability that I haven't necessarily earned. But I'm ready to be a little more vulnerable. I want to test the waters of what we have and I think we've hit a wall on what we can do online. I'm open to whatever rules you have for meeting in person, but I want to be physically present with you again.

Well that's a lot to process. Holy shit yes! He wants to be vulnerable! He's taking initiative! I'll get to touch him again! But shit, how the hell can we do this?

Lady: Ok, I've gone from a heart attack to excitement. I guess let's try to brainstorm this out. I guess you wouldn't really need to change anything about your place since I already know your identity. So you can just be there and I show up. But how do we conceal my identity? I've still got the mask, although I don't know how much I trust it in a well-lit room rather than a moonlit garden.

MrNoir: I could wear a blindfold ;)

Marinette's cheeks flushed deep crimson as she took another sip from her wine glass. Picking up her laptop, she padded across the smooth floors, opened a door to a protesting shout, shuffled up to Alya's bed, and simultaneously collapsed into a puddle while shoving the conversation in her roommate's face.

Her frazzled friend adjusted her glasses to focus on the laptop screen, and then snatched the device from Marinette's hands. "GIRRRRL! He's getting kinky!"

"What am I going to do?" Marinette wailed from the floor. Her head shot up and blue eyes pierced brown over the edge of the comforter. "You need to help me. I can't do this alone. I can't think straight when he talks like that. And then I can't trust myself to make rational decisions! And then I'll blow this whole thing by making stupid mistakes!"

"Ok, ok, ok!" Alya exclaimed with a smile, hoisting her friend up onto the bed so that the two of them could lean against the headboard and look at the screen together. "Ok, so you need a way to go over, and stay over, without spilling the beans. A blindfold isn't the worst idea although there's always the question of if that will be a problem for whatever date activities you do. So why don't we ask him what he has planned for the night." A resolute nod.

Lady: As tempting as that offer is, I suppose it depends on our plans for the evening. I wouldn't want you wielding any knives if we're gonna cook after all.

MrNoir: I could always have dinner pre-made. Or I could order in. I suppose a blindfold could also cause issues with eating, but I would hope you'd be willing to help me out—maybe hand feed me some strawberries. Ooh or cheese. I could get us a charcuterie spread.

Marinette reclaimed the laptop from Alya's hands, the other girl keeping a close eye over her shoulder.

Lady: Charcuterie sounds lovely.

Marinette began typing out 'I do love a good salami,' but a decisive "No." from Alya had backspacing.

Lady: How do you know I won't steal from you? I mean I obviously know I won't, but in your eyes I'm someone just a step above a stranger. If this were to work, I would need your address, any keys or passcodes, and you unable to see. Are you ok with that?

MrNoir: I see your point and it's very valid. But this is also dangerous for you. I know that I don't have any security cameras, but you can't know that. What if I just invited you over and check the theoretical footage the next morning?

Lady: You're not doing a good job of convincing me to do this

MrNoir: My point is that we both have things on the line. I'm willing to take the leap of faith that you're not going to rob me blind (pun intended) if you're willing to trust that I won't cross this boundary you've set.

"What do you think, girl? Are you ready to trust him?"

She sat there for a minute, biting her lip anxiously as she stared at the words in front of her. The Tether hummed in her core. Sincerity. "Yeah…I want to see him again."

Lady: I trust you. And I want to see you again. So I guess we should set some ground rules. Here are mine.

1. You have to have a blindfold on before I arrive, and you're not allowed to take it off until I leave or give you permission. Unless you go to the bathroom of course. I'm not coming in there to be your seeing eye date.

2. I'm going to wear the mask in case there are any blindfold malfunctions.

3. We both turn our phones off.

4. You need to provide me with some kind of reasonable excuse so that any doorman or receptionist doesn't think I'm some lady of the night visiting you. Even if you don't have cameras, I'm sure your father has a deal with the workers to report suspicious activity. Especially since you're getting married soon.

You have any rules?

MrNoir: First of all, that is a good point about my father that I hadn't thought about but now sounds undeniable. So thank you for that. Second of all, I was honestly psyching myself up so hard getting ready to ask you to come over that I didn't think too much on logistics. How about we plan on meeting this Thursday. That'll give me a few days to come up with anything and let you know.

MrNoir: So this is really happening? I'm gonna get to see you again?

Lady: Yeah, this is really happening. I guess I'll need to change up my goodnight.

Lady: Sleep well. See you soon. I love you.

MrNoir: See you soon. I like you.

Alya lowered the laptop, shutting it with a click and leaving the two women in lamplight. "Well? Are you excited? This is such an awesome step forward!"

Marinette's face was bright pink, a smile stretching from ear to ear. Her eyes sparkled and her Tether sparked with anticipation.

"I need to figure out what I'm going to wear" she whispered to herself as if in a trance.

"Well just make sure it doesn't have a bunch of buttons. That'll be hard for him to take off blindfolded."

"Alya!" the girl shouted, pulled from her stupor.

"What?! It's not like you two haven't already done the deed. Do you not want to go there again? Cause if I had a blindfolded date you can bet I'd be going there."

"Huh. I uh…I guess I hadn't thought about it." I wasn't ready when we first started messaging. Am I ready now? "I guess we'll have to see."

"Well if you're on the fence, better to bank on ease of access. Being overprepared is better than underprepared you know." Alya received a lighthearted shove to the shoulder as Marinette scrambled out of the bed and giggled all the back to her closet. Her roommate's words were loudly exclaimed as Marinette disappeared to contemplate her fashion crisis.

"Let's consider Operation Sleepover officially started!"