Marin walked down the street holding a magazine in his hand, one that had Adrien on the cover as he read through the articles. He eyed one, in particular, that was about Gabriel Agreste. Familiar feelings of distrust began to bubble to the surface as he skimmed over the parts where repeated cookie-cutter phrases.
I work alone.
The only inspiration I have is my muse.
The fashion world is a cutthroat industry, however, the rewards are worth it.
Of course, my son will continue his career in modeling. He shows great promise so long as he can hold his composure; he is his mother's son after all.
Marin hummed for a moment, gripping the magazine in his hands as he then sighed, placing the magazine in his bag.
"You're not still thinking about Gabriel Agreste are you?" Tikki asked as he popped out of his bag just as Marin arrived on his doorstep. "I thought you decided that he wasn't a suspect anymore." She remarked as Marin averted his gaze.
"I can't directly link them..." He admitted. He promised himself that we wouldn't pursue the idea anymore a few weeks ago, but the idea never left him. If only he could maybe find some clues in his house, or try and track down an Akuma's source... "UGH!" Marin groaned as he ruffled his own hair in frustration, his bed head only getting messier as a few of his hairpins came loose.
"I've been Ladybug for months Tikki and what do I have to show for it?" Marin grimaced as he rested his head on the front door. Tikki hovered nearby.
"Plenty, you've saved so many people, you've been a positive influence on the city, you've become very good at sensing Akuma's, not to mention that even the Master has praised you many times for your skill."
"Yeah, but I've given Hawkmoth a way to track down the Master, my partner is losing trust in me because I don't want to place him in danger, not to mention I'm slowly going crazy over the one person who I think is Hawkmoth- who is the man I admire greatly. Not to mention the fact that I can't even think about seriously investigating Agriel Agreste without my stupid heart racing every time I think about him." Marin groaned as he banged his head on the door a few times.
He was seriously some kind of creep, picking up the habit standing before the Agreste manor, always standing on the edge as he thought about breaking in and searching everywhere for any trace of Hawkmoth. But he couldn't because Adrien was his friend, he was the only hurdle that stood between him and a serious investigation. Marin then sighed heavily, "This is getting to be some kind of bad addiction." He remarked as Tikki sat on his shoulder for a moment. He smiled at his Kwami, petting her head as he then walked into his stop, but suddenly was met with a gator knocking him to the ground as he wagged his tail happily.
"Wha- Fang?" He questioned as he heard multiple footsteps, reacting quickly as he turned towards his Kwami. "Tikki, my room, now!" He harshly whispered as his Kwami obeyed, just in time to see Penny walking towards him with worry on her face.
"I'm so sorry! Fang down!" She apologized as she pushed the gator off of him as she pulled Marin to his feet.
Marin yelped in surprise as Fang curled around his legs, wagging his tail so hard that it wiggled his entire body. The sighed was so adorable that any previous negativity faded as Marin knelt down to pet the little cutie, who soaked up the attention.
"What are you doing here Miss Rolling?" Marin asked as Fang nuzzled his face.
" is shooting a show in this shop at my suggestion," Penny informed as she picked up Fang's leash. "Were you not informed?"
Marin stared ahead blankly for a few moments, then grimaced in realization, yes, he was told there would be filming in the shop today. But he didn't think it would be some big celebrity. He chuckled nervously as Fang nuzzled his bag. "Who wants a treat?" Marin asked as he took out a pink macaroon with white spots as he stood up. Fang's eyes lit up as he rolled onto his belly, still wagging his tail happily. "Gentle." Marin said as Fang licked up the treat from his hand, licking his lips as Penny sighed.
"Why can't he always act like that?" She sighed as she couldn't help but smile at the young boy fondly petting Fang.
"No! I invoke my right to be silent!" Plagg proclaimed as he flew up to the second floor of Adrien's room, much to his partner's annoyance.
"Come on Plagg," Adrien called out, "what's so secret that you and Ladybug can't even tell me?" He asked as Plagg's ears flattened.
"I told you a hundred times, I'm not supposed to tell you!"
"Why? Did Ladybug put you up to this?"
"No of course not. I have more agency than that!" Plagg spat back as he crossed his arms.
"But not enough to actually tell me how Ladybug knew of a way for us both to transform. Something that you've apparently done before?" Adrien pointed out, growing annoyed. "All I want to know is why it's origin has to be a secret. Ladybug's hardly talked to me these past few days, more than usual, now you don't want to be your usual chatterbox self?"
Plagg grumbled to himself, flying down towards his partner. "Hasn't anyone ever told you knowing the truth isn't always the best?"
Adrien looked away for a moment, thinking about his Kwami's works before sternly facing him again. "It's better than being abandoned like this." He said as he then took notice of Plagg's body language. His Kwami's ears were lowered instead of being at attention, and he was almost curled up into a ball, giving off a feeling of defensiveness.
Adrien sighed heavily.
"Alright, I'll stop asking for now, but I do want to know what's going on." He remarked as he turned on the tv, flipping through channels as Plagg hesitantly landed on the table nearby. Adrien suddenly stopped flipping through as he saw Marin's father on television with Jagged Stone of all people, along with announcer Alec.
"Welcome to Fill My Shoes! You're joining us live in a new episode, and our guest today is the one and only Jagged Stone!"
"Rock and Roll, yeah!" Jagged Stone sang out, playing an air guitar as he radiated charisma.
"Filling the shoes of...a baker!" Alec announced as he turned the attention towards Marin's father who looked nervous on camera, a far cry from his own stone-faced dad. "And a big thanks to Tom Dupain for having us here in his bakery, the best in Paris, I might add."
"Uhh...hello!" He waved nervously. "Uh today, we will be...making some bread!" He remarked, taking out some dough out of a bowl.
"OH! I know this!" Jagged remarked as he started punching the dough aggressively much to Tom's chagrin.
" You have the right energy, Jagged. But you just need to be gentle." He remarked, gently pushing the rock star away, starting to kneed the sough. "More like this." He showed as Adrien watched intently, his mouth watering as he could almost smell the bread.
"Oh, come on! Are you going to put cheese on that bread or what? Since when do you have any interest in this show?" Plagg asked in annoyance as the tension between them was dissolved.
"The show's being shot at Marin's." Adrien said with a smile as he rested his head on his hands watching with great interest. But even more so as Jagged waved to someone off-camera.
"Yo, Marin! My favorite little buddy, come over and rock out with us!" He said as the camera pointed towards Adrien's friend who was on his knees fondly rubbing Fang's belly before he looked up in surprise, stunned by all the attention now on him. He nervously chuckled as he complied, rubbed the back of his neck as he walked over to the rock star who greeted him with a half hug. "Marin's really talented, Alec; he did the artwork for my latest album, and he's only in high school!" Jagged said as the album appeared at the bottom of the screen.
Adrien smiled happily as he glanced at the same CD sitting on his shelf, signed by the original artist, one of his best friends.
"Wow, impressive! A true family of artists. A talented young designer and a gifted patissier." Alec announced.
"Not to mention my son is the best baker in Paris." Tim boldly claimed as Marin's face reddened with embarrassment.
"He's, exaggerating-" Marin said trying to backtrack but then Jagged's eyes lit up.
"Really?! That's so metal!" He proclaimed as he ruffled Marin's hair playfully.
"It's true, my bakes the best macaroon in all of Paris." Tom continued to praise as Jagged listened intently while Marin looked like he was about to faint. "Marin, why don't you give us a demonstration?" Tom asked as his son's eyes widened like a deer in the headlights.
"Oh, very rock and roll!" Jagged proclaimed as he pushed Marin in the center frame as he chuckled nervously.
"Uh well," He mumbled folding his hands together. "The most important part of baking macaroons is deciding the flavor, so you can prepare the filling while the cookies themselves rest." He said clapping his hands together while clearly trying not to fall apart on live television.
Jagged hummed for a moment. "Why not make Fang's favorite flavor? He loves the cookies from this bakery especially." Jagged remarked as the camera turned to Fang happily eating pink polka-dotted macaroon cookies off of a plate on the ground.
"Oh, those are just regular cookies that I decorated," Marin said as he put a pastel pink apron on. "They're a little complicated to make, but once you have it down it's actually quite simple."
"Wow, seems like our special guest is full of surprises," Alec remarked as he popped on screen for a moment.
"No, not really," Marin said humbly, not trying to attract any more attention than necessary, but it was a rather hard feat when on live television. "First things first, you need the basic ingredients; eggs, almond meal, and powdered sugar." He said as he walked off-screen.
"While my son is getting the dry ingredients, I'll show you how to whip the eggs into a meringue, which can make or break how the cookies themselves turn out." Tom explained as he placed a carton of eggs on the table along with a blender. Jagged looked on in excitement as he picked up one of the eggs. "Now, for beginners, the best way to separate the yolks from the eggs is to break all three into one bowl and then remove the yolks by hand. Remember everyone, always keep your hands clean within the kitchen." Tom informed as he followed his own instructions. But as he was about to start whipping the yolks, Marin suddenly tripped back into the frame as the camera showed Fang jumping onto him, making him spill the powdered sugar and almond flour all over the rock star.
Adrien couldn't help but chuckle at the scene as Fang was licking Marin's face, not letting him escape while Jagged Stone laughing heartily.
"Hey, look! I look like a ghost! Rock and Boo-Hoo!" Jagged laughed as Marin profusely apologized from the ground.
"Making pastries is obviously no piece of cake! Stay tuned; we'll be right back after this commercial break!" Alec announced as Jagged then jumped on him playfully.
"Boo!"
The show then stopped for a few moments as Adrien laughed aloud. "That's Main for you." He remarked as he lost track of how many times his friend caused an accident due to his own clumsiness. But no one ever really minded except for Marin himself.
Adrien picked up his phone as he texted Alya and Nino.
(Adrikins: Hey, you guys seeing Marin on TV right now?)
A new seconds passed as he saw his two other friends furiously typing.
(Cupcake: WHT. WHAT CHANNEL?!)
(Cookie: Why's he on TV? Did he ever mention this? )
(Adrikins: No, I don't think so. I just happened to see it when I was flipping through channels. Also, it's on Kids+) Adrien typed as he wished he could text Marin as well. (Adrikins: You guys need to see it, Marin is baking macaroon with Jagged Stone. He's being super adorable-) Adrien stopped himself for a moment as his face burned red, quickly erasing the last sentence.
Sure his friend was cute, but no one wants to hear their friends calling them adorable. That was weird. Maybe Chat Noir could pull it off, but Adrien Agreste? No way. Besides, Marin probably didn't even think about him outside of their school interactions. Even when he visited him as Chat Noir during the night, Marin always seemed to successfully diverge the conversation from his friends and to something else. He was quite skillful that way, distracting him with snacks.
Adrien sighed heavily to himself for a moment as the show went came back from commercial. Alec was on the screen as it appeared that they were taking the camera's upstairs.
"And we're back on the air with Jagged Stone filling the shoes of a baker. Let's see how this rockstar cleans off all that flour."
Jagged: Hey, there are more photos of this dude than of me! I think the baker's son's got a little crush." Jagged Stone said as he winked playfully.
Adrien's mouth dropped in shock as he was surprised by all the photos Marin kept of him surrounding his desk. All of them, magazine clippings from his monthly shoots. He knew that Marin kept a collage of pictures of himself and all his friends next to his bed, but he had no idea that he had amassed quite the collection.
Adrien felt immense guilt as he continued to watch what seemed like a serious invasion of privacy. There would be no way that Marin would ever allow anyone in his room without permission, let along a live TV crew. But he couldn't tear his face away as everyone admired the clothes that were on display, especially a bright red bomber jacket that was still midway through assembly.
But Adrien overheard some dialogue behind the camera as Jagged turned towards someone off-camera, suddenly feeling anxious for his friend.
"Hey Marin, you want me to sign this poster of me?" The rockstar asked as the camera turned to Marin standing next to Penny, his face partially covered with powdered sugar, looking extremely anxious.
"No, thank you! I just need everyone to please leave!" He asked as politely, as he could, still wearing his apron, as Penny immediately cut off the feed without a second thought.
Adrien sat there, still stunned as the live footage was replaced with some kind of car commercial. Not even glancing at his Kwami who was laughing in amusement.
"Looks like someone, has another secret admirer," he remarked as Adrien's face reddened at the accusation.
"Hey Penny, you just cut us off the air!" A cameraman snapped but recoiled as Penny glared at him as she tossed the wires on the ground.
"Penny, give me that cable! We're live!" Alec said trying to grab the wires, but was stopped as Penny placed her foot over them.
Jagged then sneezed, "Choo! Penny, was that flour organic? You know I'm allergic to the non-organic flour."
"Penny, the cable!" Alec called.
"Penny, do you realize we've got no picture?" Bob snapped as he walked up the stairs, pushing Marin back into a corner as he confronted Penny who was clicking her pen more rapidly as more people surrounded her.
" Penny, do you have a tissue? Ah-ah-ah-choo!"
Marin glanced as Penny before him, wanting to reach out, but was too mortified by the entire situation to properly respond.
"THAT'S IT!" She suddenly yelled out. "EVERYONE OUT!" She ordered as she then herded everyone out of Marin's room and down the stairs, slamming the door behind her.
Marin rested his back against the wall as he placed his hands against his ears, hearing a buzzing sound.
"Keep calm, Marin; it's not a big deal." Tikki tried to console as she flew down from his bed, hovering before him.
He took a deep breath, trying to follow his Kwami's advice. "You're right, it's not like anyone would recognize my room anyway, right?" Marin tried to reason, trying to prevent the panic from taking hold. "It's not like Adrien watches shows like this and saw all those pictures and is going to reason that holy heck my friend is a total stalker-weirdo," Marin said as he paced in his room as Tikki watched him.
"Hey, but look at the bright side." She tried to reason. "...At least he'll finally know that you're in love with him." She said trying to be helpful, but was taken aback as Marin stared at his Kwami with an expression that screamed, why me? But suddenly grew defensive.
"I'm not in love with him!" He tried to defend, but his ears were growing redder by the second. "I just...we're friends, I just...admire him alot." He murmured as he then he laid down on the ground, curling up into a ball as he tried to regulate his hitched breathing.
"This is fine..." He muttered as Tikki landed next to him.
"Just breathe! Everything's gonna be okay!" She said as Marin focused on his Kwami.
"Is it?" He asked hopefully, but then his heart raced as he could feel a negative presence.
He jumped to his feet, quickly opening the door downstairs just in time to see an Akuma phase through the window, towards Penny who hung her head. Marin quickly nodded to Tikki who intercepted the Akuma swallowing it before it even had a chance to get close to Penny. Still holding the Akuma in her mouth, she phased back up into Marin's room as he walked down the stairs.
"Um, ?" Marin asked hesitantly as he knelt down next to the woman who had always been kind to him. She didn't respond for a moment but eventually looked up at him with tears welling up in her eyes. She wiped them away before they had a chance to fall.
"I'm terribly sorry for causing you so much embarrassment Marin, you're such a sweet boy." She said quietly as Marin averted his gaze for a moment.
"It's okay." He said, sitting down next to her, holding hugging his knees to his chest. "You looked like you were under a lot of pressure."
Penny nodded. "Yes, it's hard to please everyone, I always have to do my best for everyone and make them happy. I can't ever complain about it because it's my job." She sighed heavily.
"But what about what makes you happy?" Marin asked in concern.
"I'm just happy to work with Jagged." Penny said no longer clicking her pen. "He's an amazing man to work with."
"You must really love him." Marin remarked with a smile asPEnny quickly tuned towards him in shock.
"What? No I mean, I don't dislike him, and I just don't, like, him-" She said stumbling through her words as Marin smiled her innocently.
"Of course not, aren't you a fan of his?"
Penny then calmed down as she realized what Marin was originally implying, "Oh, yes of course." She said, with a smile, "He's...amazing." She swooned as Marin nodded in agreement. "So? Are you a fan of Adrien Agreste?" She lightly teased as Marin hung his head for a moment.
"He's one of my friends." He rambled. "I was actually making him something special because I missed his birthday, so I tried to get as many reference photos as I could to try and get his measurements without asking him directly..." He said sheepishly as Penny chuckled to herself.
"Are you sure that's all it is?" She asked playfully as she stood up, pulling Marin to his feet.
Marin only chuckled cutely, trying not to explode with embarrassment as Penny then hugged him, much to his surprise. "Uh, ?" He asked as the elder woman pulled away with a relaxed smile on her face.
"Penny," She said. "You can call me Penny from now on."
"Doesn't that seem a little disrespectful?" Marin asked suddenly growing uncomfortable once more, but for different reasons.
"Well, no more than me allowing cameramen to film on live tv in your room." She responded cheekily. Penny then stretched her arms over her head as she placed a hand on the door. "Are you coming down to continue the baking segment?"
Marin hesitated for a moment as every molecule in his body begged him to run back upstairs and curl up in his bed and probably search for airline tickets out of the continent. But he took a deep breath, nodding as he followed Penny down the stairs.
Adrien replayed the rest of yesterday's live show on his phone as he sat in the locker room. A small smile drew on his face as the live show ended with Jagged and Marin feeding a large macaroon to Fang who consumed it quickly. He quickly shut off the video as he saw Marin opening his locker, taking a deep breath before he walked, over, placing himself between his friend and the locker door.
A rush of amusement bubbled in his chest when Marin closed the door he yelled in surprise as Adrien was standing there.
"Adrien-" HE said just before he almost tripped over his feet while backing up. But Adrien caught his hand, pulling him back to balance just as he saw Marin's face redden with embarrassment.
"Hey, Marin!" He greeted normally. "How's it going? After what happened at your place last night, I was worried that—" He was about to say, he was worried about his friend, but almost immediately Marin covered his friend's mouth with both of his hands.
"Please don't tease me." He begged as Adrien's heart faced at his embarrassed face. But kept his calm composure, silently thanking all the modeling lessons he had been forced to take as he removed Marin's hands from his face.
"I'm not. I was just going to say," Adrien said with an innocent expression. "If you wanted pictures of me for your room you could've just asked." He said knowing exactly what he was doing as Marin then covered his own face, sliding down to the ground with his back to the lockers. Adrien sat down next to him thoughtfully.
"It-it's not what you think," Marin said meekly as he hugged his bag to his chest. "See...I'm really into fashion, and, umm..."
Adrien smirked, leaning towards his friend with a cheeky smile. "Are you lying?" He asked as Marin held up his bag between them to hide his face. "I'm not offended you know, it's actually kinda flattering that you're a fan of mine while also being one of my closest friends." He said earnestly as a light blush dusted his cheeks. But he snapped to attention as Marin suddenly stood up, his face still red, pointing a finger in Adrien's face.
"Listen because I'm only going to say this once." He said clearly still embarrassed but trying his best to put an authoritative front. "You absolutely cannot ask about this ever again!" He ordered as he didn't waste time walking away, still hugging his bag as he left Adrien stunned.
But only for a moment as he then called out. "So do I sign you up for my fan club or-?" But laughed as he heard Marin scream into his bag, still walking away as Adrien was extremely pleased with himself.
Notes:
- I care for Penny.
-No Akuma this time, but I hope the fluff will be able to make up for it.
- If you're wondering how this will affect Gamer 2.0, do not worry, I have a plan for that.