The next day, Marinette was no closer to making a decision about whether or not to accept the internship position. She looked at her course load and at her overall schedule. Now that she didn't have Chat, she wasn't able to meet with him for patrol a few times a week. Maybe she would have a bit more free time to work for M. Agreste
' Hey, Adrien! I was wondering if you'd be free sometime to come by the bakery? I need some advice and I think your perspective might be more helpful than Alya's (don't tell her I said that). ' The two of them were friends, Marinette was certain of that, so why did texting him first make her feel awkward. This was the first time she had started a conversation that wasn't just 'what's the homework?'
The text came through and his heart stopped. He read the message once, twice, three times, and wondered if she'd managed to figure out his identity from the letter. No, though, 'asking for advice' would be a weird way of phrasing 'I know who you are.' Maybe, though, she needed advice on how to respond to the note? Why would he be able to help with that more than Alya, beyond just him being a guy? Alya probably knew the heroes better than any of their other friends.
' Sure. ' He sent the message before he could think better of it. He checked the time and it was only about 11h00. ' I can be there around 15h, if that's okay? ' She looked between the text and her practically empty planner.
' 15h would be great! Come on up to the apartment whenever you get here! ' Yeah, the time would be fine, but it also meant that she'd need to figure out a way to spend the next four hours of her day. Anything that wouldn't just be repeatedly checking the note outside, waiting to find out if, when, or how Chat would pick up her response.
' Will do! See you then! ' Adrien rubbed at his eyes with his thumb and middle fingers, wondering why he'd suggested meeting so much later in the day. He had nothing to do aside from sit, think, and overthink. He tried to get his mind off the idea of her needing his advice to respond to the note and thought about other possibilities.
Maybe, she was wanting to borrow a boyfriend to practice a confession again. The idea got a smile and a chuckle out of him before he shook the notion out of his mind. Maybe she needed a guy to try on one of her designs? She had never asked him before, but they were becoming closer friends, so he supposed there was a first time for everything, right?
What if she needed someone to distract her from getting emotional about Chat Noir's letter? He wondered if he would be able to do that? Could he comfort his princess after he had been the one who had abandoned her in the first place? Thinking about it like that made his stomach start to churn. He knew that he had abandoned her, but thinking about it like that made him feel like he was going to throw up.
It took him almost no time to regret his own suggestion of what time he should show up at their home. He was able to waste some time at home, but just after 13h, he knew he couldn't hold out much longer. ' My schedule cleared up. Mind if I come by now instead of in a few hours? ' He knew it was a lie. There was nothing on his schedule to get cleared, but he felt he needed to go.
' That's fine with me! Thanks for letting me know! I'll see you soon! :) ' The little smiley face accompanying the text made him feel a little calmer than he had a few minutes ago. He told Nathalie that he was going to Marinette's on his way out the door and practically ran to the bakery, thanking his years of superhero stamina for not sounding like he'd just run as far as he did.
"Bonjour," Adrien greeted Sabine and Tom when he entered the almost empty bakery, thankful that he'd come in during a lull between customers. "I don't know if Mari told you I'd be stopping by. Sounds like she wanted help with something."
"Of course, son," Sabine replied with a bright, motherly smile on her face. "Go ahead. You know the way up." Tom smiled from behind her and the two of them went back to working on the dough while Adrien went through the back door and up the stairs to their apartment.
' Headed upstairs.' The text came through on Marinette's phone within a few seconds and she stopped her frantic pacing from one side of her bedroom to the other. She bounded down the stairs and opened the door just as Adrien was raising his hand to knock.
"Hey," she greeted quickly. How she managed to make one word sound quick, Adrien didn't know, but Marinette was always able to accomplish interesting feats. "Thanks for coming by. I know my text was kind of odd, but I really didn't know who else to ask for advice." He noticed that she'd been holding a piece of paper behind her back, bending the corner with her grip.
His heartbeat steadied slightly at the fact that it didn't look like the letter that Chat had dropped off for her. However, that didn't necessarily mean that she didn't want him to look at her response letter. He was hopeful that she wouldn't trust someone with the knowledge that Chat was writing to her, but if she did, he supposed Adrien would be a pretty good choice, all things considered.
"Happy to be here," he assured. "Now, what can I do to help?" She held the letter out to him and he could see the 'Gabriel' branded letterhead at the top. She wanted to talk to him about the internship. That made plenty of sense, all things considered. Gabriel hadn't heard back from her about whether she was accepting the position or not, and she hadn't mentioned it.
"You got it! Congratulations!" His excitement for her was almost contagious, bringing a small smile to her face, even if she wasn't sure she felt like she deserved it. "What do you need my help with? Writing Nathalie to accept the position? Celebrating? Screaming the good news to all of Paris?"
"Deciding whether to accept or not," she said quietly. It was so quiet, in fact, that he wasn't certain he'd heard what she'd actually said or not. He looked at her with a quirked eyebrow, like she was speaking an alien language to him.
"Why wouldn't you accept?" He made sure that his voice didn't sound accusatory, just genuinely curious why his friend wouldn't want to accept the position. He knew why he wouldn't, but she wasn't aware that her boss would be Paris' supervillain.
She opened and closed her mouth a few times, as though she was trying to find an answer that he would accept. She pursed her lips and took a deep breath. "A lot of Gabriel's employees get stressed enough to get akumatized," she stated, factually. "I don't want to put myself in a position where I'm at a higher risk for that."
He wanted to hug his princess and comfort her, but he wasn't sure that he was close enough to her, as Adrien, to offer her that much support. "What if I'm there to stop that from happening?" The offer made his heart pound in his chest, and he was just hoping that she wasn't able to hear it.
It was her turn to be confused by his statement, and subsequent action when he reached out to take her hand. "Mari," he began to assure, "you're one of the most talented designers that I've met, especially for someone our age. I promise that if you accept the internship position, I'll do everything I can to help you stay happy and calm and out of risk of akumatization."
The offer touched Marinette's heart. "Only if I can do the same for you," she responded, biting her lip. "I've heard that he's not the easiest person to work for, so if you need anything, you have to agree to come to me, too. Deal?"
"Deal," he agreed, hating the fact that he felt like he was lying to her by working for the person who sent out the butterflies. "Anti-Akuma Partners."
"Anti-Akuma Partners," she agreed, shaking his hand. "Now, are you gonna come upstairs and help me draft my acceptance email to Nathalie?" He agreed and the two of them released hands to go up to Marinette's room. On their walk up, he noticed her eyes get drawn to the trapdoor to her balcony.
Once, he could excuse, but it seemed like she kept looking up there every few minutes while they were meant to be working. It was frequent enough that it was almost like she was expecting something. He had a pretty good idea of what… or who she was expecting. He didn't expect her to reply so soon, but he was hopeful that she did.
When the email was composed and sent, Marinette excused herself to go downstairs to get some macarons to celebrate. While she was gone, Adrien sent Plagg to see if there was a letter for Chat on the balcony. It didn't take long for the Kwami to return through the open window and bring his chosen the letter.
The two teens enjoyed macarons together before Adrien had to leave for the evening. He'd had more freedom than before, but he needed to ask a favor of Gabriel, so he knew it was going to be better to get home sooner rather than later.
