Red Strings And Markers

f o u r t e e n

"I forget you speak Chinese." Marinette hummed, remembering when her uncle came and visited.

Alya had set up Adrien to come in and help since he was fluent in Mandarin. "What made you study the language?" She asked as they were leaving the museum and walking back to the station to head off to the next museum.

"My father always insisted for me to know as many languages as I can... Better for me as an Agreste, I suppose." Adrien didn't really like to talk about anything regarding his father, but it just came naturally with Marinette.

"I guess it's easier, if you travel out of the country and you are fluent in the native language." Marinette hummed thoughtfully. "How many languages do you know?" She asked.

"Well, there's our French, Mandarin, English and I'm learning Spanish."

"Wow. That's so cool."

Adrien looked down at her, a chuckle slipping out of his lips. "I guess?" He shrugged.

"No really, Adrien, it's truly admirable. Even though your father may be... A prick, I'm sorry." Adrien rose his hand to dismiss her apology and she continued. "You really shouldn't shoot yourself down like that. You are truly an admirable person."

Adrien couldn't help the real smile. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you're the best." He took her hand and twirled her close, a giggle rising from her lips.

"You flatter me." She said as they were now face to face.

"A pretty girl like you deserves it. After all, you are the cat's meow."

It was about half an hour to the Tower Hill station and since it was late morning, not many people were around, so the two were able to sit. They sat comfortably close, Marinette leaning her head on Adrien's shoulder as they rode, their legs bumping into each other occasionally.

"Are you getting hungry?" It was a fifteen minute walk from the station to the Design museum and they were both starting to get hungry.

"I actually am." They made it closer to the museum and stopped at an Italian restaurant. "I'll have... The Spaghetti Al Pomodoro." Marinette handed in her menu and Adrien groaned.

"You're going to kill me with all this food." He said, eyeing Marinette as he closed his menu and handed it to the waiter. Ravioli Marittimi, please." Marinette giggled.

"Am I that bad of an influence?" She asked, leaning into her open palm.

Adrien leaned forward, looking at her natural smirk and the way her blue eyes sparkled in the sun. "You're the best worst influence I've had so far." She threw her head back in a laugh, Adrien admiring her.

They were provided with food and they are in silence as they ate. They were times where they made eye contact and Adrien would take a generous mouthful of pasta, his eyes telling her that she was the reason he was eating like this. Marinette simply smirked, taking a small bite of her pasta.

They finished and the two got into an argument on who would pay.

"I'm paying." Adrien said.

"No, you paid for breakfast, I'm not going to let you pay for lunch too." Marinette starting digging in her purse, careful to not squish Tikki.

"Too late." Adrien handed the notes to the server and Marinette half-glared at him and he stood.

"I feel like I'm taking the advantage of you." She said as she watched him come around her and pull her chair back. Marinette stood and Adrien offered her his arm.

"Not at all."

Marinette took his arm and hummed disapprovingly, walking out of the restaurant and to the museum.

Marinette was enjoying herself to the fullest. The Women Fashion Power was in London and Marinette was practically running around everywhere, Adrien in tow, enjoying her small childlike antics. She would talk to others about seams, patterns and many other things Adrien didn't know about, but he enjoyed being with her nonetheless.

Adrien liked the way she went from childlike excitement to looking at the designs thoroughly and critically, often picking up a very professional like manner to speak to other adults whenever she had questions or comment about something.

"You really are something." The two were walking towards the London Bridge station, Marinette looking up at him as she hummed curiously.

"Why is that?" She asked.

"You're just... You." Marinette got confused, but she had a slight feeling that she knew what he meant. "No one ever really gets close to me, except for Nino. Nobody gets to know me personally and I don't get to see everyone's true self. I guess I have a bunch of bad luck, but once I've met... Several people, my life has had a turn for the better." He gave her a smile.

"Some people don't try and look at the little things."

"And sometimes it's the little things that make a difference."

"I couldn't agree more." The two smiled and made their way to the National Maritime Museum.

It was about a half an hour trip to The Maritime museum and by the time they arrived, the sun started to go down. They made it in the museum, yawning halfway through the first exhibition.

"History isn't my thing." Marinette yawned.

Adrien chuckled, grabbing her wrist. "Let's get out of here. There's one place I want to show you." Adrien and Marinette walked out of the museum and went out back, into Greenwich Park.

They continued walking, in silence, past Time Ball, General James Wolfe's Statue.

"The Observatory?" Marinette asked.

"Nope. The planetarium." Adrien looked down at her with a smile as they rushed the rest of the way to the Peter Harrison Planetarium.

Adrien didn't let go of Marinette's wrist as they walked inside, being taken to one of the shows with a group of people. They were sat towards the middle of the room, sitting in red velvet cushions that leaned all the way back to lay down.

"What are we watching?" Marinette whispered, leaning close to Adrien so the others wouldn't hear.

"The Sky Tonight." He replied.

The lights darkened and small specks of white started to appear on the ceiling, glowing with intensity as color started to bloom on the panels. It was breathtaking, Marinette had never seen anything like it before.

Adrien looked over at her and admired her as she watched the stars, her eyes sparkling like the stars did. His hand slowly let go of her wrist and she looked over at him. She started to pull her hand away but Adrien didn't allow her, weaving his fingers through hers.

"What do you think?" He asked, looking up at the stars.

"T-They're beautiful." She whispered, looking up at them.

Adrien remained silent for a while, examining the stars, before looking down at Marinette and giving her hand a small squeeze.

"Do you know what they remind me of?" He asked.

Marinette remained looking at the stars for a while, before looking at Adrien, shaking her head.

"No, what?" She asked quietly.

"You."