Dabble in Drabbles 28: Night Markets
Oh gosh your reviews are hilarious! I love reading them all! You all make my days happier, you have no idea how much they mean to me. Also, shout-out to Kaito-neechan who made a very lovely (albeit sinful) marichat fanart from DiD 26 in Tumblr (username: almighty-kai)! Thank you so much! I love seeing ml fanarts! And yes, the previous chappy was mean XD so a sweet fluffy one for you all! I love you guys!
Summary: When Adrien and Marinette bumped into each other after an akuma attack, he offered to hang out with her (after almost sending her flying off to her death)
"Pound it!"
Chat Noir looked at his beeping ring and gave Ladybug a two fingered salute and a flirty goodbye ("See you in my dreams, my lady") before leaping off into an alley way, just in time for his transformation to wear off. Plagg groaned as he flopped on Adrien's hands. "Cheese…"
Adrien patted his pockets, but then came back empty. He grinned apologetically at his kwami. "Sorry, Plagg. I forgot to bring extra."
"The horror! I'm going to die! I feel my life ebbing away!" Plagg gasped as he moaned and rolled around on his palms. "Goodbye my precious camembert…I will miss you dearly…Say sayonara from me to all your cheese relatives and Tikki too…"
The young boy rolled his eyes at his dramatics and tucked him back in his pocket. "You'll last ten minutes without your cheese."
Ignoring his kwami's protests, Adrien stepped out of the alleyway to head home. Just as he was about to turn at a corner, he bumped into his classmate. She flailed and almost stepped out into the streets and in the way of a speeding car, when Adrien grabbed her arm and pulled her in.
"I am so sorry, Marinette! I wasn't looking where I was going!" Adrien apologized a great deal, his heart beating wildly in his chest. "Are you okay?! No broken bones?! You're not hurt right?! I almost killed you! Sorry!"
Marinette blinked in surprise. This was…different. And then she laughed. Adrien gave her a funny look, not amused at the almost disaster that he caused. Marinette giggled. "I-I'm okay."
"But-"
"It's alright, Adrien." Marinette said. "I'm okay, no broken bones."
He gave her a skeptical look, looking at her up and down, making sure she really meant it. Finally finding what he was searching for, he sighed in relief. He smiled guiltily. "I'm so sorry."
"That's okay." Marinette said happily. Adrien looked around and he spotted a cluster of booths and tents off at the park. He turned to her and said, "Let me make it up to you. As an apology."
Marinette gave him a questioning gaze with a tilt of her head that sent his heart skipping a beat. Taking her hand, he pulled her towards the night market.
They passed through the iron gates of the park and inside where sparkling white fairy lights dangled around the trees, while booths selling different merchandises scattered around the compound. The smell of food wafted around the cool air, giving off the impression of a cloud that enveloped the whole market.
"Well then, where do you want to start?" Adrien asked her. Her eyes sparkled as she drank the image in front of her. Then, she spotted a fabrics booth and dragged him towards it. He stumbled after her, a chuckle escaping from him.
"Look at this collection!" Marinette gushed as she felt the materials and tilted them in the light, checking out how it shimmered around in her hands. Both Adrien and the saleswoman watched her in amusement as she went on a tirade of what she could make with several of the patterns and colors combined. Grabbing several rolls of fabric, she handed them to the seller. "I would like to buy these!"
Just as Marinette was about to take out her wallet, Adrien pulled out his and handed the saleswoman the payment. Marinette stared at him in shock, her cheeks red. "Adrien! You didn't have to!"
"I want to." Adrien said with a smile as he took his change and picked up the bag containing the materials inside. "Think of it as an apology."
"T-thank you." His smile grew wider as she turned an even darker shade of red. She was cute – ahem.
"So, where else do you want to go to?" He asked her.
"I want to see everything." She blurted out and then clapped her hands on her mouth, staring at him with wide eyes. "S-Sorry! You'll think I'm-"
Adrien held up a finger to her lips, shutting off her trippy words, his eyes laughing. "Let's go see everything."
Waving goodbye to the saleswoman, who gave a knowing look to the boy, they began to wander around the market.
There were plenty of booths selling jewelry and even more selling food. When Marinette found out that Adrien had a strict diet because of his modeling career, she proceeded to stuff his mouth with hot buns, caramel popcorn, and steamed sweet potatoes. He accepted all of them, his heart as warm as his cheeks.
One of the booths they spotted was an art booth with several sketches, watercolors, and paintings displayed. And the seller was none other than their classmate, Nathanaël! They exchanged looks and went towards him. "Salute, Nathanaël!"
The young artist looked up from his sketchbook. A small smile graced his features as he waved shyly back to them. "Salute, Marinette. Salute, Adrien."
"I didn't know you were selling your works." Marinette said as she squatted down to his level and admired his paintings. "These are great!"
He blushed. "Thank you."
"There're a lot of Ladybug paintings here." Adrien said. He gave a grin at him. "A fan?"
This time, he blushed even darker. "You could say that."
Adrien nodded in agreement. Ladybug was amazing. Marinette, on the other hand, was feeling embarrassed. Ladybug's right here guys. She can hear you two.
"Feel free to look around." Nathanaël said.
"Can I buy that?" Adrien and Marinette said at the same time, pointing at a particular artwork. It was a watercolor painting of Chat Noir and Ladybug in their traditional fist bump. The two secret superheroes looked at each other in surprise.
Nathanaël grinned as he said, "Sorry, but that's just for display."
"That's too bad." Marinette pouted.
Nathanaël rummaged in his bag and pulled off a folder. Pulling out two postcards, he gave it to his two classmates. "It's a sketch of the same thing, if that's okay with you."
"I love it!" Marinette said happily. She could frame this in her room beside Adrien's picture. "How much is it?"
"It's for free for both of you. Special offer for my friends." Nathanaël said. They both thank him profusely. His face glowed at their compliments.
"No problem."
After talking for a bit (and asking about homework) Adrien and Marinette waved him goodbye and continued the next part of their adventure.
There were game booths as well, one of them being a shooting game. Adrien tried to shoot a large teddy bear off the shelves, but failed miserably. Marinette took it from him, and with great accuracy, she hit it along with two other toys as well. Giving Adrien the large white stuffed bear and the others to some kids, they walked on.
"Adrien." Marinette tugged on his sleeve. Adrien, who was admiring a music box, turned to his classmate. She pointed at a particular booth. "They're selling Ladybug and Chat Noir merchandises."
His eyes lit up and they went there. Scarves and hats in ladybug and cat paw prints, key chains, figurines, jewelry, etc. were displayed. Adrien picked up one Chat Noir figurine and pressed a button. It spoke. "Check meow-t."
Marinette gave the figure a deadpanned look while Adrien snickered. He picked up a Ladybug figurine and pressed a button. "You're not punny, Chat Noir."
He guffawed while Marinette groaned and slapped her forehead. But there was still a smile on her lips. She hadn't seen Adrien laugh that much since…since the first day of school, really. It was nice sound to listen to everyday.
"What are you going to get, Marinette?" Adrien asked as he put his newly purchased figurines in his bag overflowing with other miscellaneous things. He watched her as she pored over the random items on display. Marinette picked up a black leather bracelet weaved within a small chain attached to a small golden bell.
"This one." Marinette said fondly. And then she smiled. His heart stopped right there. The curve on her lips was so warm, so heartfelt, and so beautiful, like she was amused by some kind of inside joke.
"A Chat Noir themed bracelet?" He asked. "Why would you pick that? How about Ladybug?"
Marinette gave her payment and put it on, looking at it with admiration. "Why not? I like Chat Noir better. I think he's pretty cool."
Oh his face was definitely burning now, add to the snickers of Plagg hidden in his jacket, he wondered if his skin had melted off already. Just as he was about to ask her to elaborate (and definitely not because he wanted to hear more compliment of his alter ego from her), the bell from the Notre Dame church rang.
"It's midnight already?!" Marinette gasped. "My parents are going to be worried!"
Adrien, at that moment, realized that his phone had been buzzing a lot for the past hour already. He checked his logs. 20 missed calls from Nathalie as well as 1 message from his father. He checked his message.
Dad: Come home now.
He was just gonna pretend that his father was worried about his wellbeing and actually doted him rather than wanting him home to keep an eye on him. Adrien smiled apologetically at Marinette. "I have to go back too. I'll walk you home."
"I-I couldn't – you have to – your dad-"
"Marinette." She stopped and he said, "I insist. Besides, it's not safe for a girl to walk out in the dark alone."
After contemplating for a bit, she nodded. They walked out of the market and towards the bakery, a comfortable silence settling between them. Finally stopping at the front door, Adrien gave her a wink and said, "Good night and sweet dreams, princess."
And he quickly left before he could see her reaction to his slip.
Later that night, he would gaze at the Chat Noir and Ladybug standing side by side on his desk, and sigh. Picking up the Ladybug figurine, he said softly, "Bonne nuit, my lady."
And then later that night, he would take out a small postcard that he had secretly purchased from Nathanaël and put it on a board along with several pictures of him and his friends. He wrote a small note at the back of the card and pinned it up before stepping back in admiration.
It was a sketch of a smiling Marinette beside Adrien, who was looking at her with a small grin on his face.
Princess and her knight.
If you haven't been to open-air night markets, I definitely recommend it! It's really cool! You get to see many different things people sell that you wouldn't see during the day. Also, it's nice to hang out and eat with friends, especially if the weather is cold. There's just something magical about them.
Anyway, thanks for reading! I love you all!
See you next time!