"NOOOOO!" she heard when she entered. Nino had apparently just been hit by a blue shell while Adrien sat there smirking.
"The king of Mario Kart has won again!", Adrien boasted and struck a pose.
Marinette grinned as well and hugged them from behind startling them in the process.
"I think you guys are forgetting the ultimate goddess of this game…. ME!"
Marinette grabbed a controller and snuggled in between the two. The ache and stress of the day seemed to vanish in the comfort of her home with her friends. The boys tried but neither could best Mari at the game. It had always been a favourite of hers and her parents.
When they were done being losers a half an hour later Nino and Adrien smirked at Marinettes grumbling stomach.
"Someone's hungry!" Nino teased and checked his phone. "Alya'll be here in ten minutes probably. She said five but we all know her. Never on time that woman."
"Well I already had Pizza but I'm down for more? And you definitely didn't get time in that place to eat properly… Wait! You cannot be serious!?" Adrien stared at her. He had made her a bowl of cereal and tea. At the fashion label you had absolutely no time to take a break or eat most days.
"Tell me you had more than that bit of cereal this morning?!"
Marinette shrugged and thought a bit:
"Well if the cookie counts that I always eat at work?" Adrien almost went crazy.
"You know how dangerous it is to eat so little! That's less than I normally get to eat even with the diet my dad insists on?!" He had noticed her getting thinner but had not acknowledged it properly.
"Well, it was good for today. This one model couldn't make it and I had to stand in for her. I swear I don't understand how or why people want to become models. It is just so uncomfortable." Adrien gawked and tried to imagine the ever moving and active Marinette having to stand still and smile docilely for the camera. He was now for some reason really interested in what she had to wear. He was not one for fashion normally as you could see through his graphic tees.
"We are so making you eat tonight!" was all he could mutter when the doorbell rang.
"Oh, Alya got here fast! That's new." Nino got up to let his girlfriend enter.
She, like the angel that she was, had her hands full with groceries. She had decided to make Ratatouille and had made it her quest to get the boys to learn how to cook. Nino was actually really good at housekeeping and cooking. His siblings had always looked to him to help their parents even though they were older. Alya kissed Nino sweetly and made a beeline for Marinette and hugged her.
"Girl you need to eat. I can feel it. Let's do this. I've got everything for Ratatouille and we'll have the boys cut up most of the stuff so we can chat."
Having Marinette around was like a warm blanket, thought Adrien. Alya was the exact opposite. As soon as she was around you, it felt like someone kicked you out of bed but in a good way. And she sometimes really did kick them. He grinned.
Nino and Adrien started on the veggies while Alya dragged Marinette to the couch.
"I swear. I really love it. You guys living together. OMG! It is so perfect!" she was clearly very excited. Marinette giggled. She loved Alya.
"Yes and we can make sure the other eats like this. He told me how his father started his 'diet' for the shows even earlier than the other models and I am so angry how anyone can do something like that to their child. Ugh. I really need to look for an agency that has a little something called integrity."
Alya loved the idea and in her mind Marinette already owned a company that stood for exactly the kind of approachable, healthy models and locally sourced and dyed clothes. Of course her designs would rock and make every other designer look boring and stuck up.
Curiously in Alyas head whatever Mari would do, the website Alya would want to design with her always had elements of the ladyblog in it. Somehow she connected the two just for the reason that Marinette had always been her moral support even though she wasn't with her at the scenes.
Marinette was mulling over the fact that Alya knew and supported her love for Adrien.
She was less expressive than in school and that Mari was grateful for. Who likes it when you have to fear your best friend announcing - accidentally- your crush to the school while they are trying to whisper some clever remark. Alya had never been subtle.
"So how is work?" Alya, sweet Alya, she wanted her to talk her frustrations out. Marinette groaned.
"God. I swear I do not understand why people want to be models. I mean it is so." she shrugged her shoulders. Alya nodded in understanding:
"You had to fill in? I told you you eat too little." Marinette looked at her arms and shrugged again.
"I know that's why it's good to have Adrien around permanently. He'll check on me."
Alya after that prodded her to tell more of her one day as a model and when the boys shouted from the kitchen that everything was cut Alya and Marinette were still immersed in their conversation and almost reluctant to go cook.
The small group put together a meal that looked a little funny as Alya only instructed and let Nino and Adrien do most of the chopping, but tasted amazing.
"So…" Nino pointed to Adriens room with his head: "should we help you with anything in your new room, Adrikins?" he imitated the old Chloe and made everyone shudder how accurate it was.
With a laugh Adrien pointed out: "You know, maybe I would have let you sort my underwear but now after that I'll let you nowhere near my room for quite a while!"
The rest of the evening went fabulously. They munched on some cookies and watched an episode of the avatar just for fun and cuddled and relaxed together.
They were very comfortable with each other, it was something they had gotten from some kittens Marinette had to catsit for a while. It had just been a joke in the beginning.
They really just lay on top of each other, limbs entwined and napped and actually found it awesome.
This was at first quite difficult for a certain girl with a crush on one of those on top of her. It had been a giggle fest for Alya and Nino when she was so flustered she went limp as soon as Adrien got close to her. When it was finally a common occurrence she adjusted and reveled in his closeness.
He really quite enjoyed her body close to his as well. It was as though he finally had a real friend ;). Something always felt right when she was next to him. Quite similar to Ladybugs friendship but he really loved the way her eyes sparkled. Well Marinettes had a fire in them when she was raging against injustice that he loved as well.
And how brilliantly his Lady could fight! Marinette though was the sweetest and clumsiest person he had ever met. Even if she sometimes seemed to be quick and athletic when no one was looking.
Only his work tomorrow was hanging over his head like a dark cloud. Mari noticed as it got closer to 11 p.m. and questioned him on his mood.
"Well... ", he squirmed a little and then decided honesty was the way to go:
"I really don't look forward to having to work tomorrow. Not that it's something extremely hard, just because I really want to finally be done with it."
His friends nodded in understanding. He had been saying that for a while now and all of them wanted him to be free as soon as possible.
"So how much longer does your contract go? You know, so you can work towards that as a way to get it over with?" Alya had done so with the finals each year and was super structured and content when they were over.
He actually didn't know and had to get up, disrupting the whole group and go look through his papers in his trunks.
Maybe ten minutes later he emerged from his room holding a batch of papers up victoriously.
"Got it!" Going through it his smile brightened considerably.
"I swear my dad is going to be so pissed. He probably would have handed me the next contract this or next week. This one runs out in two months! And it is a fixed term so I won't have any trouble getting out of it!" He did a little victory dance that everybody answered with groans at how dorky it was.
"Adrien. We love you, but that was embarrassing as hell!", Mari blurted out and made the others giggle and nod.
Adrien just pouted and sat down again. As soon as Marinette stretched her legs over his stomach his frown/pout disappeared and Nino and Alya almost couldn't stop themselves from rolling their eyes.