Work Text:
On Monday, Marinette had one week until her creative design final project was due. Between studying for finals in other classes, the deadlines her internship was imposing on her and juggling the rest of her busy life, she had completely forgotten to work on it. It was 4:15 pm when she remembered with a jolt. By 5:15 she had exhausted the campus library, her own room, and even Alya’s looking to relax and get inspired. Neither of those things happened, and she was beginning to become seriously depleted of energy. So, following Alya’s advice, Marinette trudged into the small café tucked neatly into a street corner, a block away from her best friend’s apartment, for a much-needed caffeine kick.
On Monday, Adrien was bored during his evening shift on a particularly slow night. There were only two customers when the jingle of the door alerted him to the arrival of a third. Pushing off the counter, he turned to greet the new customer just in time to see the dark-haired girl almost run into a table on her way to order. He winced slightly but she assured everyone she was okay, cheeks burning slightly from embarrassment. She gathered her bearings before ordering the sweetest, milkiest and largest abomination of a caffeinated drink he had ever had to make for a customer in all his years working there. He tried not to judge, though. Besides, she made up for it with her pretty blue eyes and cute blush. The name for the order was Marinette. He would try to remember that. He would also try not to stare as she sat at a table in the corner for the next two hours, drawing something or other in a large sketchbook she brought with her. His shift ended before she left, though, so he never got to find out if she ever completed her little project.
On Tuesday, Marinette finally had some rough outlines of designs sketched after a long battle with them the day before. But she made sure to thank Alya for her suggestion since the change of scenery helped her stumble out of a major designer’s block. She wasn’t sure if it was the ambiance of the place, the breath of fresh air that comes with changing your setting to somewhere you’ve never been before, or the cute barista whose eyes she would sometimes feel on her as she worked (before he left, anyway, to her slight disappointment). Maybe it was even the coffee (he was too nice to say anything, but she could feel the judgement in those green eyes. Hey, she was stressed to the max). But something told her that that little coffee shop nestled on that quiet intersection would be the key to getting this project submitted on time. So, after her classes let out for the day, and after answering some important emails from her boss, she grabbed her sketchbook and headed back to the café. Her task for the day was to make more detailed drawings and sketch out the patterns to go off of when she began sewing. She didn’t even realize that she was kinda hoping for that cute barista to be there again until she was glad he was.
On Tuesday, Adrien didn’t expect to see her again until she walked through the door. He correctly guessed that her order would be the same as the day before. He noticed a slightly mischievous twinkle in her eye. She knew she had probably the most ridiculous order and she embraced it shamelessly. He thought that was oddly cute. She was drawing in that sketchbook again and this time, she left before him (though to be fair, he also worked a longer shift that day). He once again tried not to let his attention shift to her, though today he was caught a few times (but if that meant that those blue eyes were on him even for a second, he didn’t mind. Nor did he mind that it made her blush).
On Wednesday, Marinette had a light class load so she took the time to buy the fabric she would need. All her sketches were done, but the final for a class that was giving her a particularly rough time was fast approaching, and studying in coffee shops was something normal people did, right? That one in particular wasn’t too busy the two times she’s already been there so it wouldn’t distract her, plus one of the benefits of having a paid internship in college was the ability to afford a cup of ridiculously sweet coffee a day. The barista (Adrien, she noted from the nametag. She would try to remember that) read her order back before she could even open her mouth to recite it. She teased him back by asking him if he had a life outside of this place. He deadpanned that he didn’t.
On Wednesday, Adrien realized that he did indeed find laughter attractive. At least when it came from a pretty and sweet girl. He honestly hadn’t even realized that he said something funny but he was glad he did. He was also glad that she had a good sense of humour and took well to the joke he made intentionally the second time (he did have a whole life, which included classes, outside of his job, thank you very much). No sketchbook this time, but she seemed like she was studying so he tried not to look over at her too much to try to not distract her. He did make sure to catch her eye and smile at her as he was leaving though, if only to make her face do that adorable thing again where it turned red.
On Thursday, Alya wondered why Marinette would rather go to a café to study than to her place, so after hanging out as Marinette began putting together the physical prototypes of her collection, she accompanied her. It didn’t take her too long to figure it out, from the way Marinette blushed as the blond with the apron already seemed to know exactly how she took her coffee and giggled as they bantered. She elbowed her in the ribs as they made their way over to a seat and teased her best friend for the way her cheeks heated up and the way she tried changing the subject as quickly as she could. Marinette hoped that he would be too busy to notice those moments.
On Thursday, the new highlight of Adrien’s day didn’t come alone. Marinette’s friend and their schoolwork kept them busy enough, but he didn’t mind listening to her laugh and seeing her light up in conversation with someone who was obviously close to her. He wondered what it would be like to be someone like that to her before the jingle of the bell announced the presence of another customer he had to attend to. He did make sure to wave goodbye as the girls left, and was even brave enough to shoot his favourite recently turned regular a wink before he could stop himself. He didn’t look long enough for a reaction, though. He cringed at himself internally instead.
Friday was Marinette’s busiest day. Between classes and putting overtime into the project with the looming deadline, she couldn’t find an excuse to come by. This disappointed her greatly.
Friday was Adrien’s slowest day. Even besides the café not being that busy today, the hours were extended by constantly waiting for her to come by, but she never did by the time he clocked out. This disappointed him greatly.
On Saturday, Marinette worked twice as hard as she had the previous day, and had all her designs for the project finished by late afternoon. She realized she had an excuse to take a break and reward herself with a trip to what has become her favourite place for her sugar (and certain green-eyed worker) fix. Did he even work weekends? She had no idea but the hope that he did pushed her to find out. The café would close in two hours. She had to hurry.
On Saturday, Adrien waited once again. All day, nothing. He was growing disappointed once again. But, lo and behold, there she was. Did she run over here? She seemed out of breath. Well, she was here and that was enough to make him smile. No coffee this time. A puff pastry. Those were good, he recommended them. He didn’t mean to make her stay until closing but she insisted she didn’t mind. She said her project was near finished, the write-up was all that was left. He was proud of her and glad that his workplace had helped her, if she wasn’t exaggerating that it did. He parted ways with her at the intersection only because they had to go in opposite directions.
On Sunday, Marinette’s coffee cup had a few extra digits written below her name and a single-worded question: Date? :)
On Sunday, Adrien’s phone received a text from an unsaved number with a single-worded answer: Yes :)