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“Ok, I have one more!” Adrien said, holding a finger up. Marinette’s mouth was already hurting but they needed just a little more. “Why is it so hard for a leopard to hide? Because he’s always spotted.”
It was the momentum of the previous jokes that made her burst into laughter again. Maybe this would work.
Then Adrien surprised her by dropping one last joke.
“ Why did the cat run away from the tree? It was scared of its bark.”
Clutching her belly with her hand, Marinette doubled over with laughter. Just in time, Adrien caught the tear from her eye in the vial they had prepared.
“Got it!” he said triumphantly as she tried to catch her breath.
“This is much easier with you around,” Marinette said when she recovered and took the vial from him with a kiss. She added it to the rest of the potion and then filled a bigger vial with it.
“I know, m’lady,” he beamed at her.
“Shush with the pet names, we’re going to the kitchen,” she reminded him as he followed her downstairs.
It was another day as the Guardian and another batch of magical macarons were waiting to be baked. Adrien was helping her with that as well and not only with the potion because he was part of the reason why they needed them. Or so he had told her.
“Fetch the mixer,” she called to him as she took the egg whites she’d prepared earlier.
“Are you sure? These are not just for the looks,” he said. When she turned around, she was not surprised to see him striking a pose, flexing.
“I totally appreciate your big muscles,” she giggled. “But I don’t want to wait half an hour for the batter to be done.”
“Fine,” he huffed, taking the egg whites from her and reaching for the mixer.
“Don’t forget the apron,” she said as she draped it over him and he rearranged it around himself while already beating up the egg whites. She smiled as she took him in. “Cutie,” she cooed, rising on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.
“Yeah, yeah, keep up with the compliments and I won’t mind being used,” he smirked.
“What are you two doing?” Her father asked as he entered the kitchen.
“Macarons,” Marinette smiled at him.
“The colourful ones?” he asked when he spotted the colouring drops on the counter.
“Yep.”
“Adrien, my boy, I hope you’re no longer fazed by my girl’s strange habits.”
“Not at all,” Adrien said over the whir of the mixer.
“Once upon a time I thought that her baking just a single passion fruit macaron every week was strange. And then she started with the colourful batches.”
“A single passion fruit macaron?” Adrien shot her a look, just as she groaned.
“Thanks, daddy. He really didn’t have to know about this.”
“Oh but I do,” he said immediately. Of course he wouldn’t drop it.
“It was one of my plans to impress you by giving you the perfect macaron in your favourite flavour and showing you how special you were to me,” she explained with a sigh. To think that she’d laughed at him for being over-the-top.
“This sounds very sweet,” Adrien smiled softly at her. “I’m sorry I never got to try them.”
“You almost did once. And then it got in the wrong hands and caused an akuma and… yeah,” she made a face, remembering.
“Oops. Maybe this can be our next project?” He asked hopefully.
“Sure.”
“You have everything you need, right?” Her dad asked.
“Yes,” Marinette said as she helped Adrien add the sugar to the egg whites.
“Maybe you’ll have better luck than me with knowing why she makes these tiny, colourful macarons,” he told Adrien. “She insists it's for her friends but I don’t know. Maybe it’s another secret project she has to impress you?”
“Maybe,” Adrien played along.
“Then again, you two look like you’re in cahoots about the whole thing. Doing super secret things. Like a superhero duo,” he added, already at the door.
“Very funny, daddy,” Marinette laughed, hoping that she didn’t sound as nervous as she felt. Sometimes an offhand comment hit too close to home.
“Sounds too complicated for us,” Adrien laughed as well. “We just want to experiment with how dark this purple can get,” he noted as Marinette added the colouring to the mixture.
“Good luck!”
Once the door closed behind her dad, Marinette sighed in relief.
“So many questions,” she grumbled as she took the ready mixture from Adrien to add to the dry ingredients.
“He might not be as suspicious as your mum, but he’s not blind,” Adrien shrugged. “Let’s hope he doesn’t pay attention to news reports that have us using power-ups, though.”
“You didn’t even tell me why we need the macarons,” she reminded him. They moved in sync, Adrien handing her the piping bag just when she was ready with the batter.
“I need to go away for the weekend.”
She almost dropped the piping bag in the tray.
“You’re telling me now?” She cried out. “On Friday afternoon.”
“This is why we need the macarons. You can come visit me,” he said, making kitty eyes at her.
“Ugh, I should have guessed.”
“Only if you want to,” he added as she put the future macaron shells aside to dry out. He did sound as if he doubted that.
“Of course, I do,” Marinette said as she turned around, using the apron strap around his neck to pull him to her. “I’ll miss you,” she whispered before kissing him.
Two days apart wasn’t even that long, she knew that. But she was glad that Adrien didn’t even question her sappiness. He knew that she’d want to see him and had worked on the solution before presenting her with the news about the trip.
“Now you get to choose the filling,” he smiled when she pulled back. “And add the potion.”
“Yay!”
“If only I could be this enthusiastic about magical Camembert,” Adrien chuckled. A very indignant sound could be heard from Marinette’s room. This was what Plagg got for eavesdropping.
“I’ll leave a few ordinary macarons for you out of this batch, kitty, don’t worry.”
His happy grin warmed her heart. Yes, doing Guardian business was so much more fun with him.