"So, what'll it be?"
After watching a few rounds of DDR from the side-lines, Marinette finally volunteered herself and Adrien for the next game. In the interim she made sure he was introduced to a number of her fellow club members, who all greeted him cheerily. Marinette kept an eye on him, making sure he was enjoying himself, and was relieved when he seemed to start relaxing. He even cracked a few jokes, though she couldn't hear what they were from her spot beside the console set-up. Judging from the fact that he found Nino's 'French Eat Pain for Breakfast' shirt hilarious, she guessed he had the same ridiculous humour as the other men in her life.
Boys were weird. But she couldn't fault them. After all she'd always been a lover of a bad pun herself.
Adrien was... sweet. Truth be told, he was completely different to how she'd imagined the son of her idol to be. Aside from his exceedingly good looks, you wouldn't have been able to tell he was a former teen heartthrob. He was too humble even, dare she think it, shy. He seemed not to get out much, which made sense given his post-grad status.
Despite that, Marinette was determined for him to have a good time. After all, she'd been a member of the Gaming Club since her first year and was incredibly proud of the club it'd become in the years since. It had taken a lot of hard work on her part, along with her friends' efforts. They'd worked as a team and the benefits had sewn themselves into a club where every type of gamer was welcome and celebrated. It was why one week they could have a DDR competition and the next week a classic board games night, and the week after that a table top tournament.
"Earth to Mari?"
Marinette blinked, dazed, snapping out of her musings when Nino waved a hand in front of her face.
"We good to go with the song choice?" Nino asked, waving a controller in his hand. In response, Marinette clapped a hand to her forehead, eyes swivelling to Adrien. He was on the other side of the classroom, back turned, as he conversed with a surly, short guy with long black hair. Marinette recognised him as a second-year student who'd recently joined the club himself.
"Crap I forgot to ask him!" she cursed, "hold the fort for a second Nino?"
"No problem boss!" Nino saluted, almost dropping the controller in the process. Turning away, Marinette giggled under her breath as she traipsed through the small crowd towards Adrien and the black-haired guy (what was his name? Tom? Toby? Ted? She was sure it began with a T).
It was as she was a metre away from the pair, awkwardly sandwiched between two girls having a conversation, that she caught what the black haired second year was saying, and why his face resembled that of a wet paper towel.
"So, what makes you think you'll have time for this anyway?" he was saying, arms folded tightly across his chest.
Adrien shuffled from foot-to-foot and, though Marinette couldn't see his face, she could tell he was uncomfortable. Call it instinct.
"Well, I've set time for it aside in my schedule," Adrien replied, his voice far too guilt-ridden for Marinette's liking. "Of course there might be some weeks where it's not possible to come because of deadlines and stuff but I made the decision earlier that I can't spend all my time working hard or I'll burn out."
"Uh-huh," the black-haired guy's (Terrance? Tony? Seriously what was his name?) tone was so flat, it could have been used as an ironing board. He rolled his eyes. "Sure, rich boy. You're all the same."
Marinette felt the beginnings of rage flutter in her chest, like a dozen tiny embers ready to converge into an unstoppable blaze at any moment. She stepped forward, her icy smile a contradiction as well as a warning.
"Is there are problem here?" she asked, standing by Adrien's side. He seemed startled by her sudden appearance, but didn't say a word beyond that. Perhaps he was trying to prevent a scene, unaware that Marinette had a fair idea what had been going on.
"Nothing, we were having a conversation," Black-Haired Guy replied with a shrug. "It baffles me, is all, how rich assholes like this-" he gestured with his thumb towards Adrien- "can get away with slacking off on something like a PhD. Guess it must be easy to not take life seriously when you have all the money in the world right?"
The embers in Marinette's chest roared to life and her hands curled into fists. Her gut reaction was to kick this guy's ass to the curb, and if she'd been a little younger and more rash, that would have been her course of action.
But she was older now. She wasn't a dumb sixteen-year-old just getting used to having superpowers. No. She was a young woman with responsibilities, and a reputation she was trying to build outside of her Ladybug persona.
So she tried a different approach. A quiet, seething sort of anger.
"Look Tim-" she began, her voice dripping with venom. As predicted, he didn't heed the sharpness in her tone.
"My name is Lloyd," he corrected with a scowl.
"Listen Todd," she countered, making it very clear she didn't give a damn what his name was, "if you want to be part of this club, you better start treating your fellow members with the respect they deserve. I mean who do you think you are to judge Adrien just because he's wealthier than you? Nothing gives you the right to make such snide comments and, to be honest, I don't want that kind of attitude in a club I'm president of. So either buck up or get out."
Lloyd's scowl deepened, his lips curled as he looked from Adrien's surprised face, to Marinette's angry one.
There was a tense moment of silence before any of them said anything. Those nearby had turned to watch the drama unfold.
"Fine, whatever, I didn't want to be part of a club ran by a dumb fake girl gamer who lets rich assholes in anyway," Lloyd snarled, spinning on his heel and stomping away, cursing as he left.
Marinette almost saw red. Almost. Admittedly, the fake-gamer comment struck her ego and struck it hard. She wanted nothing more than to drag Lloyd back into the room and let rip all her righteous fury towards him Ladybug-style. But her anger was trumped by a greater need so, instead, she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to calm herself.
"You ok?" Adrien asked.
Marinette's eyes flew open, her eyebrows raised high.
"Am I ok?!" she spluttered, shaking her head in disbelief, "what about you?! That guy- he just- I mean he totally- UGH!"
"Yeah I know," Adrien rubbed the back of his head with a chuckle, somehow understanding her nonsensical sentence. "I get that more often than you'd think. It's not great but... I handle it you know? You just gotta rise above it. Besides, these people don't know the real me so- yeah."
He dropped his hand, looking at her with a warm smile, the same smile he'd given her when they fist bumped earlier.
"Thanks though- for defending me. That was... nice."
Marinette felt her heartbeat quicken and a part of her, a very small part, thought that it might be nice indeed- to get to know Adrien a little better.
The image of a black-clad superhero filled her mind, a charming smile, a cheeky wink, a determined catlike gaze reminding her who held her heart- who'd held her heart for four whole years. Even if he'd never love her in return.
Her heartbeat slowed again and she patted Adrien on the arm. Friendly. Safe. Easy. It was better that way. Besides, Adrien could have his pick of anyone on campus. The guy practically had his own fan club, and Marinette had never heard of him so much as looking at another girl, even though he could've chosen anyone. What chance could she have even if she wanted to pursue something?
It was a non-starter. She couldn't fall for another person so utterly out of her reach. Not again. No matter how cute or sweet he was.
"OK!" Nino's voice called out through the din, breaking through Marinette's internal monologue for the second time that night. She glanced up at Adrien, who was giving her a strange look, before she realised her had was still on his arm. Withdrawing it quickly, she turned her back on him with a red face. Way to be weird Mari. "ARE YOU ALL READY FOR THE FINAL DANCE OF THE NIGHT?"
The rest of the Gaming Club cheered and Marinette was relieved for the distraction. She beckoned Adrien to follow her and the pair made their way through the crowd to their dance mats.
"I got bored of waiting so I picked the song for you, hope that's ok!" Nino grinned, shooting finger guns to the both of them. Rolling her eyes, Marinette took the dance mat on the right, closest to the desk Nino was half-hidden behind whilst Adrien took the mat by her side. "The fact you're trying to take mine and Lillian's high score had absolutely nothing to do with it. I totally didn't select one of the hardest songs on here."
"Sounds like you're threatened by us, dude."
Nino's jaw dropped and when Marinette glanced over to the side, she understood why. All traces of the shy, withdrawn Adrien had vanished. Instead, the smirk on his face was downright cocky. His eyes glistened. The look sent a pleasant thrill right up her spine and she grinned back at Nino.
"Don't worry, Nino, was it?" Adrien went on with a carless flick of his wrist, "it's not like I've had a DDR machine in my bedroom since I was thirteen or anything- or that I was obsessed with it for years. Not at alllll."
He turned to Marinette and winked. A few seconds later he seemed to realise what he did. The shy Adrien was back and he stared at his feet, face aflame.
Marinette poked her tongue out at Nino, motioning for him to start the round.
This was going to be fun.
As the music started, Marinette fought hard not to laugh at the sheer irony of Nino's choice. She remained silent instead, getting her head in the game. After all, it would be hard to explain the reason why she found his choice of song (Butterfly by Smile) so funny was because once upon a time, butterflies were part of her daily life in the form of akuma.
The first few step-prompts appeared on the screen. Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right. It was easy, a slow pace, and both Marinette and Adrien were able to keep up. But Marinette knew when the beat dropped, all hell would break loose.
She waited, following the slow steps, her partner copying in perfect sync. Behind her, people cheered and yelled support. Marinette blocked it all out.
There was only the music, the mat, and her partner by her side.
The beat dropped.
It was like an explosion of energy. Both Marinette and Adrien's footsteps doubled to keep up with the insane number of combos, their score increasing with each 'PERFECT' or 'GREAT' step. Blood rushed to her ears, pumped through her as the intense part of the song ended and the verse began, a little slower, and she had a moment to collect herself.
Adrien was laughing, breathlessly. It caught her off guard, yet she still didn't miss a single step. The laughter was contagious however, and soon she found herself giggling too. She leaned her torso towards him, flicking her hair as she did a double-arrow combo and he copied her hair flick with their next combo move- acting as every bit as dramatic and posturing as she'd expected a model to be.
Tears of laughter pooled in her eyes.
As the song neared its end, and the arrows began to slow once more, a wild idea shot through Marinette's mind. It was risky, but damn would it give them a lot of bragging points if they pulled it off. She just needed Adrien to be on the same wavelength.
The next time a one-foot arrow popped up on screen, Marinette dipped low, using her agility to half-shimmy onto Adrien's mat, simultaneously completing the move for both herself and Adrien.
In the split second before she was fully back on her mat, Marinette felt the heat radiating from Adrien's chest, and was consumed by a feeling of utter rightness- of perfect synchronicity. Somehow, she knew Adrien felt the same, because when she dared to tear her eyes from the screen for a moment (during a two-step combo they held for a few beats), he was smiling at her.
She bobbed her head in a silent question and he responded with a twinkle in his eye. If Marinette hadn't been so completely taken by the game, she might have questioned how two people who'd just met could work so harmoniously- as though they'd known each other their whole lives.
The final combo of the game arrived and, without even pausing to think, Marinette and Adrien grabbed each-other's hand, gripping tight and tugging. Using the momentum, the pair did matching leaps, switching mats just in time to land the final move perfectly, twisting so they were back-to-back in a perfect ending pose.
And with that, the Gaming Club exploded.
People began to scream, stamping their feet, arms raised as the whooped and cheered both Marinette and Adrien's name. When the score loaded, indicating that they had indeed beaten the high score, Marinette leapt in the air, arms above her head.
"We did it!" she called above the din, half-gasping for breath.
Adrien was beaming again, grinning from ear-to-ear. His chest was rising and falling heavily and his cheeks were dangerously red, but he looked as happy as Marinette felt.
"Yeah! We did!" he chirped as the cheering died down and people began to walk up, congratulating them, before heading back home for the night.
"Dudes! I'm not even mad that was the most insane thing I've ever seen!" Nino cried, hurrying over to them both when most people had left. He lifted an open palm to Adrien. "You guys were awesome!"
"Yeah, we made a pretty good team," Adrien replied, smacking his palm against Nino's whilst looking at Marinette again. He was wearing that same expression, the one she couldn't place, as though he was considering something she'd never be able to fathom. In response, Marinette smiled shyly.
No. Bad. Not shy. Don't be shy. Shy means you like him and you absolutely can't like him.
"So!" Marinette chuckled far too loudly for it to be genuine, stretching her suddenly aching limbs, "Nino! We better get started on tidying this stuff up of we'll be here all night."
Stepping off Adrien's dance mat, Marinette rushed back towards the computer- where the console was hooked up. Unfortunately, she wasn't quite looking where she was going, and her legs tangled up in the jumble of wires. Before she could stop herself, she fell to the ground with an unholy screech, landing on the floor in tangle of limbs and wired.
Adrien rushed forwards.
"Oh my gosh, are you ok?!"
He offered her a hand up, and she took it, scowling at Nino- who was howling with laughter.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just clumsy when I'm away from a DDR mat," she grumbled, raising her eyebrow at Nino. "Are you done?"
"It was funny when we were kids and it's funny now," Nino replied wiping the tears from his eyes.
Marinette pouted.
Ignoring her annoyance, Nino faced Adrien instead. "Anyways we're going to see you next week, right?"
For some strange reason, the question made Marinette nervous. Playing with the ribbons in her hair, she tried (and failed) to give off an air of nonchalance. Her stomach clenched, hoping Adrien had had fun enough to erase the earlier encounter with Lloyd from his mind. Mild attraction or not, he was cool, and she wanted to see him back.
His eyes were back on her- the blush on his cheeks not yet faded, a few strands of his pushed-back hair damp with sweat, and Marinette swallowed, eyes wide and full of hope. Her playing with her hair ribbons faltered, pausing completely when Adrien turned back to Nino to give him his answer.
"Definitely," he replied.