Viscous Cycle

• Couldn't Get Any Better •

"So I was thinking-"

"That's dangerous."

"U-Um, what about skipping the fancy dinner crud and doing something else?"

"It's your date, I'm just along for the ride, Adrien."

"Yeah, o-okay then. To the bowling alley!" Adrien screeched as his motorcycle scorched the rubber below it. "Wait! I hate bowling and Alya just paints my nails, so they'll get ruined!"

He paused at a red light, glancing backward at the girl with an air of confusion. "Since when did you care about meaningless things like fingernail polish?" She smirked. "I don't. I was just testing your awareness. I've noticed that my proximity seems to frazzle you at times and I wanted to see how far gone you were."

He scoffed. "You do not! I'm cooler than a refrigerated cucumber in the snow!" Leaning close, Mari breathed on the skin of his ear as Adrien obeyed the laws of traffic, taking off once the light turned green. She kissed the nape of his neck, one hand reaching up to tangle in the strands that hung out from under his bulky helmet. Moving, Mari brought her pink lips to his ear, "You sure about that, Adrien?" She latched her teeth to his earlobe, nibbling slightly. "Your red cheeks say otherwise, Monsieur."

"Fine! Quit it, Princesse, I'm trying to get to the alley in one piece here!"

Marinette listened, moving both hands back to wrap around his muscular torso, cheek resting on his back. The ride would clock in at nearly twenty five minutes, so she easily grew bored. Rapidly, the girl yanked up the side of his shirt, spotting his rib tattoo. "Hey! The hell?!" Adrien protested over the pounding wind. "Relax. I'm just looking at your ink."

"Why are you so fascinated with them?"

She allowed the question to hang in the small space between them, drawing a final conclusion. "I'm obsessed because they tell your story. No one else's, but yours," Mari breathed.

The pad of her index finger ran along the permanent mark, Adrien nearly falling asleep from the sheer magma of her gentle touch. He was oddly both relaxed and beyond flustered around her. Maybe that's just how they were.

For the remaining ten minutes, Marinette played with his tattoo under his shirt, as the others were too difficult to reach from their seated position. "We're here!" Adrien announced, pink cheeks and a cracked voice in tow. "You know exactly how to ruin my fun," she pouted, waiting after hopping off the bike for Adrien to gather his things.

As they walked into the center, he possessively grabbed her hand, giving a small kiss to the back of it. Mari was mentally lost. They had walked past all of the lanes, straight into a suspicious looking curtain. "What the?"

Adrien sucked a breath inward. "Trust me, Mari." And that she did.

He pulled the pooling fabric backward, revealing a loading area for laser tag. Along the wall were supplies, as well as a front desk toward the middle for payment of equipment usage. "Two adults, please," Adrien spoke to the employee, still holding her hand.

The next thing she knew, she was forcefully shoved into a pitch black arena with the occasional neon hiding place, toy shotgun in hand. The girl was suddenly glad she wasn't packaged in a girlish dress. She took cover, hiding behind a barricade. Adrien and her were not the only two players in the room, there were multiple others too. It was a little overwhelming with the shadows and strangers. Somehow, she wasn't discovered and went unnoticed.