Viscous Cycle

• I'm Starving For Affection •

Self hatred clouded her once again, foolish for entertaining the idea of keeping Creep near. After all, he did have a nack for appearing spontaneously and performing quite inappropriately. Even though Mari knew that Adrien never intended to end up half naked or to offend her constantly, it always happened when they were with each other. The two, when combined, were set up for a dangerous equation.

She decided that it was for the best that she present Adrien the cold shoulder. Mari had blatantly ignored him once before, starting in the fourth grade and continuing until the night of that party.

With a brisk pace, she toweled off her wet body and changed into black denim shorts and a dark t-shirt on top. She let her midnight hair to air dry and applied simple hygiene creams and sprays to the indicated areas. Heading down the carpeted stairs, her stomach rumbled due to a period of starvation.

The sight bestowed before her eyes was one that she never, in all her years, could have generated. Perching on top of a barstool at the island was one Adrien Agreste. Standing on the opposite side of that island was Alya. Neither of her parents seemed to be home, probably at work. It appeared that the two had yet to take notice of Mari's presence as they spoke in whispers. From what she could gather, Alya was leading a tough interrogation with Adrien as the main suspect. When he stuck his hands up in the air and cowered down, her suspicions were actually confirmed. 

Marinette cleared her throat, singlehandedly pulling attention to herself. They both fixed their posture, straightening up significantly. "Good morning, Alya," she paused, "Adrien."

"Hey girl. I made waffles if you're interested," Alya spoke, offering her breakfast creation to Mari, hopefully distracting her. All effort failed anyway.

"What were you two talking about?" Mari asked, blank faced as she crossed the room, collecting a waffle, piling strawberries and syrup on top. "Nothing much, Mari," Adrien said. The gal of Alya and Adrien pissed her off so much, she slammed her plate into the countertop, creating a massive noise. The other two people jumped in surprise, wondering why Mari caused a racket so early in the morning.

"Clearly, it was something or else you would have continued your conversation. I'll go on a food strike until you both explain yourselves."

Alya sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose to alleviate an oncoming headache. "When I came over this morning, Adrien came out of your room in just his boxers. He claims that nothing happened, but I think something did, or else the dumbo wouldn't look so smug," she breathed, pinching her face harder. 

"We had sex Adrien? Well dang, you should have told me so I could walk around in your sweaty shirt from last night and a pair of lacy panties. Oh, how I hate missed opportunities." Marinette cracked an eye roll and sarcastic glance toward Alya, hoping she got the message.

Once again, Mari was presented with a golden chance to expose more secrets, yet refrained. It's not like she was protecting herself, Alya knew the girl was a little more than slutty. Maybe her motive wasn't to protect Adrien, more like to keep things between them and not spreading every bit of information to everyone she knows. Okay, all of two or three people.

"Fine. I'll back off for now, but I know something racy happened between you both. Don't deny, I'll find out. In the meantime, eat your dang waffle. Hunger is a stupid way to die."

Alya collected her things, heading out toward the front door, before shouting, "I'll see you hooligans at school."

"Uh huh."

"Now, why did you not tell her the truth?" Adrien asked, genuinely wondering what the answer was. "I didn't lie, I just navigated around what actually did happen. There's a big difference, my friend," she spoke with a mouth full of masticated fruit and waffle. He grimaced at the sight of chewed up food. He was also stung with being called her friend. The word made him sulk in his seat, wishing she would stop seeing him in that light. "What's wrong, Creep?"

"Even after last night, you still only see me as a friend. That's what's up."

"Adrien, you can't expect me to magically fall in love with you just because you finally got a good look at my boobs. Do you know how many guys have seen me like that? Too many to count." Marinette snorted, way too haughty with the statement.

Adrien stood up, kicking the stool straight to the ground, loud clank in tow. "That's what's angering me, Mari. It's how casually you treat your body. Men should be worshiping your figure, not taking it for granted!"

"And you're saying that you're the only man who can do that?! Pathetic."

"I know I am, okay!! I know how stupid I am for chasing after you when you keep pushing me away. Well, I'm done. Whatever psycho game you're running, count me out." Adrien ran out of the house, barely remembering to grab his belongings before doing so.

Just like that, what started out as a peaceful morning, grew into a raging, pulsating coldness that surrounded her. Gathering all of her school supplies, Mari started her daily walk to school, wiping one single tear from her ruddy cheek.