After briefly studying the 5 main types of love language, I was inspired by physical touch. Also, this particular theme is a personal favorite of mine. If you remember reading something similar from a previous story on my profile (different fandom), cookie for you!

Adrinette April 2023

Day #11: Love Language

Adrien was so excited to be taking Marinette out on a proper date. No sneaking around, no nosey parents or guardians, and no drama.

They were going to the movies. Granted, they had been to the movies together before, but they had been with other friends or it just hadn't been considered a date. This time, it was. He had asked her to go out on a date with him and she had said yes. Or, she had raised her right hand after stuttering too much to give a coherent response.

She was getting better at that but the hand signals were still useful.

When he arrived at the bakery, her parents were busy baking and helping customers. The couple had wanted to greet him properly and make a fuss of letting him in and see the adorable couple off as they left, but it was a busy afternoon. So they simply let him into the apartment through the bakery and told him that he could head right upstairs where their daughter was still getting ready.

Adrien ascended the stairs and let himself into their cozy apartment. Marinette wasn't in the living room/kitchen so he figured she must be up in her bedroom.

"Marinette?" he called up from the bottom of her stairs to the trapdoor in the ceiling.

"Ah! Agh-What?!" he heard her slightly panicked, muffled voice from above him.

"It's me. Adrien. Are you ready to go?"

"Uhh…almost! Just give me a minute or two."

"Take your time," he reassured her.

If she was nervous, she must have been stressing over small things like what to wear or if her hair and make-up were perfect. He wished she didn't overthink like that and stress herself out for no reason, but she was getting better about not putting so much pressure on herself. He wanted her to feel relaxed and at ease while they were together.

He'd give her a few minutes if she truly needed them. But if she took too long over simply not being able to pick which shoes to wear, he would intervene. Reassure her that she was perfect no matter what she wore.

They had a movie to get to after all.

Just encase, Adrien brought up the movie times on his phone while he waited. They had plenty of time before the next showing of the movie they intended to see. But if they were late, there was another slightly later showing they could go to.

"OUCH!"

Adrien jumped and nearly dropped his phone when he heard a cry of pain from the floor above him.

Was that Marinette? Was she hurt?

Instinctively, Adrien ran up the stairs and burst up out of the trapdoor.

"Marinette?!" he hollered as the door fell to her bedroom floor with a bang.

There she stood, in front of her full-body mirror, startled, with a brush in her hand and her hair down.

Down and tangled quite noticeably.

"Adrien!" Marinette exclaimed, embarrassed, while turning away and trying to cover her messy hair with her arms.

"I'm sorry. I heard you yell and I thought you were hurt," he explained softly, walking the rest of the way up into her room. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, still turned away in shame. She really didn't want Adrien to see her like this, but since he was already up there and saw anyway… "I just…I took a nap earlier and I woke up with this really bad knot. I've been working on it for almost half an hour but it's just not coming out," she explained. "I said 'ouch' when I pulled a little too hard on the brush."

Adrien nodded. Poor Marinette. Having difficult hair tangles was no joke. He remembered his mother hollering in pain because her brush was almost useless in getting out horrendous knots.

Then Adrien straightened up, a somewhat selfish thought coming to mind.

"I could help you."

Marinette jumped a bit again and slightly turned back around to face him but turned back again right away. "W-what?"

"I used to brush my mother's hair all the time. And she had much longer hair then yours. I've helped her get out the toughest of snarls," he said confidently.

It wasn't selfish that he could help Marinette get her hair untangled. It was just a bit selfish that he was also using this as a chance to actually touch her hair.

Adrien always found Marinette's hair beautiful. Then after the first time he say in down—out of her usual adorable pigtails—he often imagined how soft it would feel if he could touch it. Even if they were dating now, he thought it might be weird if he just asked her out of the blue to touch her hair, but now. Now he had an excuse to. Provided that she agreed.

"Um…okay," she said slowly.

Adrien smiled, trying not to look too excited.

After carefully removing her brush from her hair and handing it to Adrien, the blonde boy proceeded to sit on her chaise. Marinette hesitated at first but Adrien just smiled at her and patted the space on the decorative couch beside him, then she sat down.

Marinette turned away from him, allowing him access to the back of her hair.

"Don't pull too hard," she told him over her shoulder.

"Wouldn't dream of it, princess," he promised. Adrien set the brush down on the chaise, next to his leg. He didn't need it just yet.

As he had dreamt of doing for almost as long as he had known this girl, he reached up with both his hands and gently grasped her hair.

"What are you doing?" Marinette asked, confused. Was he using his hands?

"My secret to getting my mother's knots out was using my fingers first to get the worst of it, then use the brush," he explained, already starting to gently tug at the main knot.

"Oh. Cool," she said quietly. Marinette held her hands in her lap, doing her best to stay still while feeling Adrien's fingers in her hair.

They were firm and moved with purpose, tugging away the hairs caught together in a way that was strangely soothing. She didn't even mind the occasional somewhat painful pull to her scalp. He was still gentle.

Overall, it was nice.

The room fell into a comfortable silence as Adrien worked and Marinette just sat there.

Marinette's hair was everything Adrien dreamt it'd be; soft, silky, and aromatic.

Her shampoo was very floral. Like sweet pea or cherry blossoms. He also always noticed the bakery smells that always stuck with her when they hugged. Vanilla, cinnamon, and fresh bread mostly. He could smell all of that so much clearer while this close.

The sensation of her hair running through his fingers with every stroke was memorizing.

Adrien's mind wondered, loosing himself as he silently continued the repetitive process.

When he did this for his mother it was quite relaxing—for both him and her—but with Marinette, it was different. Still relaxing and still enjoyable, but…more intimate.

Like a labor of love. A physical show of affection.

The loving touch of Adrien's fingers in Marinette's hair. And for Adrien, the fact that Marinette allowed him access to handle her bluenette tresses, to remove her tangles as carefully and painlessly as possible said a lot without words.

Before his very eyes, without even noticing at first, his fingers stopped catching on anything. He knew what that meant. Like he did with his mother, he grabbed the brush and started combing it through her hair, finishing the job.

Eventually, Adrien found the will to stop and put the brush down. "Did I ever tell you your hair looks beautiful down?" he said to her.

"You might have, once or twice," Marinette giggled, turning back to him while quickly brushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

Unable to resist, Adrien reached up to her again and repeated the motion on her opposite side; brushing a lock of bluenette hair out off her face then over her ear.

For a minute, the two just gazed at each other. Until they both remembered that they had a movie to catch.

"I'll give you another minute to put your hair up and then we can go," Adrien said, standing up and making his way over to her still opened trapdoor.

Marinette stood as well, ready to get her hair ties from off of her desk and put her hair up in her signature pigtails. But she paused as she passed her body mirror. Her reflection with her hair down smiled.

"Actually…" she said, instead reaching for her tiny purse hanging off her desk chair and slinging it over her shoulder. "I'm ready now."

Marinette took Adrien's hand and the two proceeded down the stairs and out of the bakery for their date.

Untangling her hair with his hands with a way to communicate Adrien's love to her without words. Marinette's was to leave her hair down after what he did.

Next one will be posted the 14th. See u then ;D