[[ Hmmm…okay, so it's a little past midnight, so technically a little late? Hope you enjoy! n.n;; ]]
Day 2 Prompt:
"It wasn't smart, it wasn't cute, and it wasn't pleasant. But it was the best option."
Adrien didn't think his first hickey would come like this.
Did it really count as a hickey if it didn't come, well, pleasantly? This information might be vital if he happened to be playing Truth or Dare at some point in the future.
Adrien stretched the skin around on his cheek as he studied his reflection in the mirror, a sigh coming out involuntarily.
"You only have yourself to blame for that little 'love bite'," his raspy-voiced companion said as he floated around the corner of the bathroom door.
Adrien scowled but resisted the urge to swat the cat-like pest away.
"Why the heck did you challenge her like that anyway?" Plagg went on, now speaking through a mouthful of cheese. His tone bugged Adrien to no end, and Adrien was about to reply with something witty and clever, but…he fell a little short. Because, well, he still wasn't exactly sure what possessed him to make that bet with Ladybug.
Maybe it was because it was getting boring just letting her win every time they raced to the Eiffel Tower.
Or maybe it was the fact that it was getting harder for him to make her blush. He'd been having to get more and more creative to get her face to match the color of her suit like he was used to.
Her suit…
The blond boy ran his fingers over the mark again.
…Or maybe the girl's suit itself was just starting to grow on him.
Definitely not the girl inside. Not the girl who singlehandedly made him scared to be alone with any girl outside of his superhero outfit. He definitely couldn't kick a normal girl off a building when he got frustrated with her. That behavior was usually frowned upon. But Ladybug…he couldn't help it. She brought out the worst in him every time she was around. Annoying her became a coping mechanism for Adrien. It made patrols and Akuma battles bearable.
So it definitely wasn't her that was attractive in the suit, that red suit with black spots was just attractive in general.
Wait…where had that thought come from!?
Adrien straightened up, looking at himself in his full glory, bite mark and all. Ladybug, to the public, was known to be lovely, hard to impress, hard to catch off guard. That was no secret. When Adrien looked at the mark again, the sight actually made him a little…proud of himself. He had inspired that out of Ladybug, seemed to 'succeed' in riling her up enough to finally get a satisfactory reaction out of her.
Suddenly the wannabe "hickey" didn't seem so ostentatious. Now, to Adrien, it looked more like a trophy. The thought made the secret superhero practically preen.
Until Plagg was, for lack of better words, the unlikely voice of reason:
"Puh. Live it up now, model-boy. What's your father going to say when it sees that?"
Adrien cleared his throat, eye widening slightly.
…Yeah, he definitely needed to cover this up.
Adrien pulled out his phone and dialed the first number he could think of.
It wasn't smart, what he had done. He could see that clearly now. And it definitely wasn't cute to him anymore, not when suddenly faced with having to show it to the world and not being able to brag about how it got it.
It wouldn't be pleasant, having to show this to Marinette…but it was the best option. It was his only option.
Not even five minutes later, Adrien escaped out his front door, shooting a text to Nathalie after he was long gone, heading for a familiar bakery.
Things Marinette expected that morning:
1. Waking up late.
2. Having a "fight" with her mom over having breakfast at the table vs grabbing breaky on the go for the sake of a few more minutes in bed.
3. Breakfast at the table.
Things Marinette did NOT expect that morning:
1. Anything to do with Adrien Agreste.
Okay, maybe a cat meme in a group text at some unnaturally early hour, but really. A personal text? Asking for help? From her? ASAP!?
Marinette took just one more minute to herself to scream into her pillow before finally getting up and tripping down her stairs to get ready. When the doorbell rang two minutes into getting dressed, Marinette mentally added another thing to her list of unexpected things for the day:
2. ADRIEN AGRESTE MAKING IT TO HER HOUSE IN LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES.
Marinette tried to calm herself down, patting her cheeks while Tikki zoomed nervously around her head. Tikki tried to comfort her, telling Marinette calmly as she could that Adrien was patient, that Adrien would understand that the girl just needed a minute to –
"Did Marinette ever tell you that she wanted to be a ballerina when she was younger? Here, let me show you a picture!"
The companions both squealed quietly when Marinette's mother's voice floated up from downstairs.
Marinette wasn't sure what she was wearing, or what her hairstyle actually was. All she could register was that she was dressed, and something was tying her hair back, and that was good enough. Good enough that she felt comfortable enough to barrel down the stairs like a stampede of clumsy elephants.
"ADRIEN!" Marinette practically screamed from the floor before hastily picking herself up. "HI! THANKS MOM WE'LL BE UPSTAIRS NOW BYE!"
The next second, ignoring the heat flaring up over her whole body, Marinette grabbed onto Adrien's arm and pulled him up to her room.
Only to panic once she was at the door.
OH, THE POSTERS!
One look around, though, told her she didn't actually need to worry.
OH, BLESS YOU, TIKKI.
Letting out an audible sigh, Marinette hoisted herself up through the door, ignoring the last few steps, and stood on her feet, gathering her courage before turning to face Adrien.
"Thanks for helping me, Marinette," the boy behind her said as he climbed up the rest of the stairs. "I know it's short notice, but I really appreciate it."
"Oh," Marinette said breathlessly, wringing her hands together. "It's no problem, reall – OH MY CATS, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE!?"
Did that look like…? Was that a…? No…
"Uh…"
Adrien paused, and Marinette cursed herself. She'd made him uncomfortable. Nosy girl. That wasn't a bite mark on his face, and it definitely wasn't hers. This..this was just because that stupid cat-boy had been on her mind all night and she was obviously just thinking of him still and that's why her brain was trying to make this a comparison because obviously Chat Noir couldn't be Adrien Agreste and surely he had a perfectly reasonable explanation for what happened.
Marinette, at the end of her drawn-out freak-out, looked up into the comforting eyes of Adrien Agreste.
Except…
He was looking away.
And. Smirking.
"It's, uh," he started into an explanation again, though this time he looked more like he was trying not to laugh about something than worrying about being embarrassed. "It's just a…bug bite. Heh. Nothing to worry about, but I would just hate for anyone to see it and think…things. You know?"
Oh, Marinette knew.
'Bug bite', he says.
"Uh, ok. Yeah. I get it."
She gets it. Really.
"Um, let me just run and get some stuff, ok? I'll be back in a sec. Just, uh, have a seat."
Don't touch anything, she mentally adds, biting her tongue so the words don't actually escape.
"Hey, thanks a lot Marinette," he replies. And there it is. There's the model smile. The look Marinette offers in return feels painful on her face, like a mix between comforting, sweet, and, well, slightly crazed.
Bypassing her mother's teasing glance on her way down the stairs, Marinette, instead of heading for the bathroom and her make-up bag, went right for her backpack. A moment later, she pull out her sketchbook and a pencil. Something crashed above her but she ignored it. For now.
Marinette hesitated for just a moment more. Could this really be…him? And, more importantly, did she want to know? Pushing down her doubt in favor of satisfying her curiosity, Marinette, ever-so-slowly, sketched out a comic-book version of Adrien (she was quite practiced in this, but she'd never say why). Then, step by step, she started to add and take away a few things at a time.
First, she erased the signature "whoosh" that was Adrien Agreste's hair and made it a little more…vagabond-like.
Next, she added a mask, ignoring both the ball of yarn that suddenly made the trip down the stairs and her mother's wondering stare.
Then…cat ears. And, just for good measure, a little bell. Because, why not?
Looking over the project with a critical, hopeful eye, Marinette was finally satisfied. She sighed in relief. Nah…this definitely wasn't Chat…Noir…
A metal picture of Adrien winking at her a few days before entered unbidden into Marinette's mind. She looked back down at the sketch in front of her. Biting her lip, she tentatively erased one of Adrien's slanted eyes and replaced it with a playful wink.
"Marinette, honey," Sabine's voice behind Marinette made her jump slightly. "Is there a reason Adrien is upstairs in your room while you're down here drawing Chat Noir?"
"N-No, no reason, Maman," Marinette replied, turning and giving her mother the most innocent look she could muster. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go up and kick his butt for messing up my room."
Sabine looked surprised for a moment, then smiled and started for the door to head downstairs. "Okay, sweetie. Just make sure you say goodbye before you head to school." Marinette waved while she headed up the stairs. "And don't be late!"
Marinette waved noncommittedly from the stairway, eyes on the door above her. There were harsh whispers, and Marinette distinctly heard arguing voices.
His Kwami, she thought, and bit back a scream.
And when she saw the state of her room, she really regretted not saying to "not mess with her stuff" out loud.
Adrien and his companion jumped when the trap door slammed, the tiny floating cat rocketing into the boy's over shirt at the sight of her. As if she hadn't seen him already.
As if she didn't need any more confirmation in whom she was now dealing with.
And he would soon have an idea of who he was dealing with.
She jumped him.
And not in any nice way.
Marinette laughed when the cat-boy yelped.
She was quite determined to leave a mark on his other cheek.
Tomorrow's (Day 3) Prompt:
"When your OTP is in an intense argument and their faces get closer together but then they stop talking…
…and they look at the others' lips."
[[ Thank you, whoever you were (FF is NOT letting me look at reviews! D: ) for pointing out that Chat Noir got a BUG BITE. HOW DID I NOT REALIZE THAT? Hahaha seriously made my day XD
It's late. I'm tired. I take full responsibility for my barely-edited writing. And my weird sense of humor. X)
Thanks for reading! (3
xoxo – Maki ]]