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A yawn ripped from Adrien’s mouth as he made his way inside the school, bag slung over his shoulder and shoes padding softly across the rough ground.
His eyes wandered around and saw a familiar figure sitting by the stairs, sketchbook on her lap and drawing pencil skating across the page. Her eyes held concentration and a little pink tongue was poking out of the corner of her mouth, which he found adorable.
He noted at the back of his mind that Marinette was rather early today, unlike most times where she came in either a few seconds before the bell or a few minutes after class started. She must have had a good night’s sleep if that was the case.
Well, there was no harm in approaching and talking to her, right?
"Hey Marinette!" he greeted, making a beeline toward her.
Her head shot up from her sketch, eyes darting around in search of the one who called her name before her gaze landed on Adrien, a bright smile lighting up her features as she waved him over.
As he did walk closer, he saw how she tugged off an earphone that was plugged in her ear, which he didn't see before. Oh, how considerate of her to do that. It must mean that she was really looking forward to have a conversation with her and that she wanted to be polite.
Very typical behavior of hers.
He made his way to her and sat down a respectful distance from her.
"Morning good, Adrien!" she greeted before blanching at her jumble and correcting herself with, "No, I meant – good night! No, no! Good morning!" She facepalmed, groaning.
His lips quirked up in an amused smile though he didn't say anything in fear of embarrassing her further.
She smiled sheepishly as she said, "Gah, I'm sorry about that; sometimes I mess up my words."
He chuckled, shaking his head.
"No worries, Marinette. I personally think it's cute."
Wait what did he say? It seemed it wasn't able to escape Marinette's notice since she stared at him blankly, a little blush decorating her cheeks.
Well, he already said it. Might as well own up to it to avoid any misunderstandings.
"I mean, I don't find your stuttering annoying or a waste of time or anything. I just think it's one of the traits that make you Marinette and I'm glad I get to see this side of yours, even for just a little bit." She continued to gape, Adrien feeling self-conscious as a hand came up to rub his nape. "Sorry if I made things weird."
She blinked once before her mouth was opening and words were spilling out so fast Adrien had to try a little harder to decipher each word.
"No no it's – I don't mind!" Marinette said quickly, hands waving around. "I was just surprised but I never thought of my clumsiness that way and… um, thank you? You're so cute no wait I meant I never thought it was cute and well... yes."
She clamped her mouth shut after that, lips in a thin line that Adrien thought she looked comical.
He chuckled, glad that she thought his thoughts weren't weird. Personally, he thought it was adorable how she stumbled over her words from time to time.
"So how's that sketch going?" he asked, wanting to steer the conversation to safe waters so they wouldn't be stuck in awkwardness. Also, it was always a sight to see Marinette in her element. "I saw you drawing before I came over here and wanted to know if you have any ideas?"
Marinette lit up at the mention and excitedly showed Adrien her sketchbook, flipping through the pages in search of her latest idea. As she did so, he was able to catch a glimpse of a few pages and was instantly in awe at the creations, even if they were pencil sketches and some doodles. It meant that there was always something going through her mind and he liked that about her – always brimming with creativity.
"Ah well just this morning I got an idea for a sundress." She found the page at last and showed it to him. Granted, it still wasn’t complete and the lines that made up the dress were still a little light but Adrien had a vague idea on what she wanted to go with. “I was thinking a checkered pattern with the colors of light green and white while the skirt reaches the knee.” She tapped her pencil on her lip, Adrien’s eyes somehow fixated on the movement and the way the top of the pencil made her bottom lip bounce. She then turned to him and he made an effort to tear his gaze away from her lips to focus on her eyes. “What do you think, Adrien? Any thoughts on the length of the skirt?”
He swallowed, throat suddenly dry. He forced himself to focus on her question and smiled, though he knew it came out a little strained, if Marinette’s concerned gaze was anything to go by.
His finger landed on the page, lightly going over the lines and trying to give the best input despite his brain suddenly reduced to mush. Seriously, what was up with him?
“Well reaching the knee sounds great since the skirt wouldn’t be too long or too short. Also, if I could add, maybe a white belt could accentuate the color and the girl’s figure?”
Marinette’s eyes widened as she pointed her pencil at him.
“That’s what I was thinking too! And maybe a jewel neckline so it’s modest and comfortable?”
“That sounds great!” he exclaimed enthusiastically, internally reminding himself to search what jewel neckline was. “And what else were you thinking?”
Marinette spun her pencil around and flipped to a new page, hand flying across the paper as she created a new image, transferring her idea from her mind into something coherent and conceivable. Watching her like this, Adrien knew at once that he would never tire watching her with a glint in her eye, a focused expression on her face and her whole being exuding life and vibrancy.
Seriously, this girl was crazy awesome!
Then, she was done and showing her sketchbook, Adrien squinting to better see what she wanted to show him.
“I was thinking a sunhat with a wide brim might be a good accessory,” she said, replacing the sketchbook back onto her lap and rhythmically tapping the pencil on the page idly. She turned her eyes on him again and Adrien lost a breath at the vivid blue of her eyes, suddenly reminded of the time he lent her his umbrella one rainy day.
He cleared his throat, willing his mind to stay focused on what was happening right now.
Why did he keep being distracted? Friends don’t do that, right?
“Y – yes that would be perfect. And how about a ribbon with a wide width to design the hat in a simplistic and minimalist way?”
“Ooh I like that. You’ve got a good eye, Agreste.”
She winked at him, which prompted a blush to coat his cheeks and neck. Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on the way you look at it) Marinette didn’t see since she set to work on adding lines to the sketch of the hat.
“Well, perks of being the son of a prestigious designer,” he couldn’t help but reply, a snort her response. It was a cute snort. What can he say?
“There!” she exclaimed triumphantly, showing the finished product to him and beaming.
He took one look and nodded enthusiastically, throwing in a thumbs up for good measure.
“Awesome job!”
He held out his hand for a high-five and Marinette did meet his palm with her own but instead of retracting it immediately after a slap like that, she did something else that totally jarred his whole being.
Her fingers naturally found the gaps in his and laced their fingers together in a typical handhold, the grip warm and firm. His heart did a little stop before pumping erratically at the contact, Adrien blinking owlishly before he saw Marinette notice the expression on his face, the smile slipping off for horror to settle on her face.
“Oh my god I just did something embarrassing, right?”
“I mean I wanted a high-five but this is okay.”
To prove his point Adrien’s fingers curled to return the handhold, smiling innocently at Marinette as a steady blush coated her cheeks, eyes quivering in her pupils as she stared back at him.
“R – really?”
“Yes really.”
Then the bell rang, signaling the official start of the school day.
Adrien stood up, hand still holding Marinette’s own. He smiled down at her and asked, “Shall we, mademoiselle?”
Marinette stared at him a second longer before shaking her head and smiling, grabbing her things and slinging her bag over her shoulder.
“We shall.”
And so with that, they walked to their classroom hand-in-hand.
If Alya freaked out and the whole class was filled with buzzing whispers at the recent development, the pair didn’t say a word.