Red Strings And Markers

e l e v e n

Blinded by the spotlight, he was just looking aimlessly into the auditorium but his words rang deep within him and he started to turn to a person whom he felt his words were deemed to be directed to.

"Abandon thought and let the dream descend! What raging fire shall flood the soul? What rich desires unlock its door? What sweet seductions lie before us? Past the point of no return. The final threshold..." He reached out his hand towards Marinette, his eyes gleaming darkly and seductively. "What warm, unspoken secrets will we learn? Beyond the point of no... Return!"

Marinette had been listening to his words the whole time and she realized something – He was right.

Marinette had always liked Adrien, she could consider it a crush, but now? It was an irresistible and undeniable flame that she had succumbed to.

She let out a shaky breath she had been holding in, her heart pounding in her throat and drumming in her ears. With her breathing as a signal of mild acknowledgement, Adrien shot her a wink, before looking towards the shadow of a figure he saw sitting below the stage. Claps echoed along the auditorium and Adrien was snapped back to reality, his shyness taking over the better of him. He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Whoa dude, that was awesome!" Nino went to Adrien and gave him a rough pat on the shoulder. "Who knew you'd be so great at acting!"

"That's my Adrikins for you! Hey, you should let him take the role." Chloé bugged Leanne and Professor Bustier had to step in.

"These shows go on for several weeks and up to months. Surely, you wouldn't want us to leave Adrien behind?" Professor Bustier hit the nail on the head and Chloé quickly declined and told Leanne that she could not keep Adrien.

The rest of the day went by and there were some roles that couldn't be filled due to Chloé's quick shoot down if she didn't like the person.

Adrien and Nino finished setting up the stage with a couple of the other boys and Marinette had gotten so caught up designing with the costume designer Shaun, that she didn't notice whenever Professor Bustier had starting calling everyone up to go to the hotel for the afternoon.

"You know, you're really good at designing." Shaun told Marinette as they sat side by side on the floor with designs all over them.

"Thank you! I dream of becoming a fashion designer." Marinette smiled.

"Well, you got the knack for it. Wanna stay here and become my assistant?" He teased and Marinette laughed.

"I would love to but I'm sure I have to talk this through with my parents."

"Marinette?" Her head turned to the call of her name. Adrien was standing before them, Adrien seeming to purposely avoid looking at Shaun. "Professor Bustier said it's time for us to go."

"Aw. Well, I hope you take me up on that offer. If you do, you know where to find me." The designer gave Marinette a wink as she stood and brushed herself off with a giggle.

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind, Shaun. Thanks!" Marinette began to climb off the stage and Adrien had stayed behind just for a fraction of a second, sending a death glare over at the designer still sitting on the floor.

"Paws off. She's mine."

"So where are we going now?" Marinette asked as she sat in a seat in front of Nino and Alya. The class had been filed into a travel bus, Alya and Nino looking into a map.

"It looks like we're going to Sir John Soane's Museum." Nino replied and Alya peeled herself away from the map to look into her phone.

"Eccentric 19th century collector's home packed with classical sculptures, paintings and other curiosities." Alya said, reading off of her phone.