Work Text:
The drained creak from the dorm’s door revealed the just as drained girl standing by the threshold.
Marinette groaned all the way to the couch and slouched over the other body sitting there. It jumped the slightest bit before going back to its original position, not minding the soulless body of what once was a college student flopped on him.
“Mme. Tenórie’s back from vacation with more blood in her eyes,” she said to Félix’s sweater sleeve. “I swear, the way that woman smiles when she assigns papers after papers is pure sadism.”
Félix hummed, head falling on the crown of her hair.
“And my dumb co-worker called to ask me to cover for him so that he can spend time with his little sister five minutes before we opened the bar. And it wasn’t a last-minute thing! He’s taking her to the new theme park at the center and the tickets were sold out last week.”
“Yes, they were,” Marinette felt Félix’s lips moving against the top of her head more than heard his reply.
She pulled back a bit and rested her head on his shoulder to look at his face, brows furrowing.
“What’s up with you?”
He blinked, then leaned his forehead on hers, eyes downcast. “Nothing.”
Marinette squinted at him and poked his cheek. He didn’t even scrunch his nose cutely at it.
“No, it isn’t.” She pulled back, confusing him for a second. “Come on, spill it.” She crossed her arms and dropped her back on his lap, head on the armchair. “You stuck till you talk.”
Félix leaned back on the couch pillows, exhaling through his nose, and looked at the ceiling. The only sounds filling the tiny flat were the muffled country music of their neighbor’s radio, the swipe of the janitor’s broom on the corridor, and the crickets that seemed to always appear in moments like this to make sure no one drowned in a deafening silence.
Marinette had started to doze off when Félix, somehow, managed to overpower the crickets, the broom’s swipe, and even the obnoxious music with his soft voice:
“Tomorrow’s my birthday.”
“What?” Marinette shot upright and snapped her head to him. “Why didn’t I know this?”
“I never told you,” he said simply as he pressed his forehead on her shoulder, arms wrapping around her.
Marinette frowned a bit at the blond strands tickling her cheeks.
“Well, congrats.” She smiled, raising a hand to his hair and tilting his head back to look at his gray eyes. It took way too long for them to focus on hers for Marinette’s liking. “How do you want to celebrate it?”
He shrugged, averting his gaze.
“Félix?” Marinette raised her other hand to cup his face.
“I’m sorry, I–” He shut his eyes, head shaking a bit. “Think I’m having another one of those.”
Marinette nodded, brushing a strand behind his ear. “You know you don’t need to apologize for that. I’m gonna change then we can watch something together. How about that? Your pick.”
He hummed again.
Marinette gave him a light kiss before standing up and kicking off her sneakers in the middle of the dorm.
Any other day, Félix would have scowled and complained about her lack of care for her belongings, but today was one of those days, so he just flickered his eyes to it, lips pursing up a bit, before turning his attention back to the selections on his phone—if he was even paying it much attention.
They were halfway through Knives Out when Marinette smashed her soda can into a disc and threw it on the center table.
“So,” she said, leaning on his side, “Do you feel like talking now?”
He shuffled around and squeezed his head under her arm and Marinette’s hand automatically went to his hair.
“Tomorrow’s my birthday.” He half-shrugged. “And I guess it just... dawned on me.”
“What?” Marinette asked softly, gently running her fingers through his soft strands. “That your one year closer to the tomb?” She half-smiled. “‘Cause that’s an overused one.”
“I guess it could be phrased like that.”
“How would you phrase it?”
“That I’m one year older, but I still have no idea what’ll be of me.”
“You’ll be with me!”
Félix chuckled and nuzzled her neck. “Yeah. That I’m sure of.”
“What do you want to do tomorrow?” she asked to his hair, hand still stroking it. “For your birthday.”
“Nothing, really.” He sighed. “Just... stay with me? You’ll have the day off, right?”
Marinette smiled and said softly, “Of course.”
Even if she didn’t, she would have skipped all her arrangements—even if they had a test, or it was a filled day at the bar—to stay with Félix on his birthday, but she suspected he wouldn’t appreciate that information very much.
“Thank you.” He pressed his face on her collarbone, shaking a bit. “Though I apologize in advance if I seem absent or aren’t a very good company, I don’t know what to do when I’m like that–”
“Hey.” Marinette poked his side. “I already said, no apologizing for that. I know it’s not personal.” She kissed the top of his head, then rested her cheek on it. “Do you really think I would be mad at you because of them after all this time?”
He took in a deep breath and relaxed a bit in her hold. “No. You’re too amazing for that.”
“Heck yeah, I am. And you’re too amazing to miss any more birthdays, so I’ll make sure to imprint the date on every surface I can so I never forget it.”
He lowered his head, but Marinette recognized the way his shoulders shook in a quiet laugh and considered that her first birthday accomplishment for Félix.
Next on the list, making sure the smile stayed there all day tomorrow.