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It was a hot summer day, and no one was spared the horrid heat of the blazing sun. Times like those, Félix wished he was a girl, as that would have meant not having to wear the wool suit, instead allowing him to choose from a much larger variety of fabrics and designs.
The gazebo under which he was standing offered little respite.
Even though Marinette had reassured him several times over the past three weeks that wool was a good choice despite the high temperatures predicted for the day of the event, beads of sweat trickled down his back, moving excruciatingly slowly, passing the creases in his lovely dress shirt without getting caught.
A sudden gust of wind made Félix turn his head. He smiled widely, seeing it was his date who waved a light pink paper fan at him.
“How’re you holding up?” she whispered, holding out a glass of cold water. He accepted it, grateful and in awe of how she just seemed to know what he wanted.
Which was mostly her company, but still.
Marinette rose to her tiptoes to peck his cheek before he had the chance to drink the water. He took slow, carefully-measured sips, careful not to spill a single drop.
“Want to get ice cream later?” he asked distractedly. He slipped a hand in hers and intertwined their fingers.
Marinette smiled when he squeezed them.
“Only if you’re buying. I spent my budget on the dress.”
She gestured at it with her fan and he gave her a quick once-over, admiring her attire as much as when he’d first seen it. He’d made her twirl in the morning, and he was about to request she do it again when she took the glass from him, placed it on the wooden rail, where it would eventually attract a thirsty birdy, pulling him swiftly along to join the crowd gathering by the flowery archway.
Félix nodded, acknowledging her words and the sudden change in plans. He didn’t mind treating Marinette when he could. As far as he was concerned, she deserved everything good in the world and then some.
The rhinestones on her dress shimmered in the sunlight, creating an illusion that she was surrounded by fairies. The light reflected off the stones in the same serene way waves on the sea glimmered in the sun, dancing rhythmically, as the world passed them by.
Kwamis, she was beautiful.
More beautiful than the bride, if you asked him, but he was wise enough to keep his mouth shut on the matter, knowing it wouldn’t only be Marinette reprimanding him for voicing his honest thoughts.
“I hope you’re taking me to an ice chamber.” With his free hand, he pulled from his pocket a handkerchief and dabbed his forehead, stopping the sweat before it got to his eyes.
“The couple wants a couple of photos.”
Félix grumbled and complied unhappily, halting right behind Marinette when she came to a stop.
“Oh no,” she murmured, letting go of his hand. “Mousy’s in trouble.”
Félix looked over at the bride, whose whiter-than-snow dress was caught on one of the metal decorations they’d stuck into the ground hours earlier.
How stressed and frustrated it must have made their little Mouse!
“She’s going to rip it if you don’t go right now,” he ushered his girlfriend along.
Marinette touched his shoulder and left. He followed her with his eyes, sighing in longing. He didn’t like it when she abandoned him during events like these, even when he understood perfectly where her priorities lay.
“Your lady is a dear.”
Félix glanced up at the bride’s father, an elderly man who he’d always associated more with business than pleasure. He stiffened up, ready to flee, then relaxed once the words settled in his brain.
“She is, isn’t she?” In more ways than one.
“My daughter speaks highly of her—and you too, of course, but... She’s the one who designed the dress, isn’t that so?”
“And the decorations,” added Félix proudly. They’d both worked hard to help Mouse’s dream wedding come true, he with keeping the costs down, Marinette with everything she could, from the dress to decorations, from the floral arrangements to fixing any and all issues that came up,
“Ah.”
In the distance, Marinette said something that made Mouse laugh with relief, as she gently freed the dress from the sharp clutches of a wired flower. Félix couldn’t help smiling at the sight.
“How long have you been together?”
“Just a couple of months. But we were great friends years for before that.”
“How did you meet my daughter? If I may ask. I don’t think she’s ever told me...”
Félix didn’t answer immediately. He couldn’t tell him the truth, that all three of them were superheroes under the cover of night, pushed together by unseen forces.
“One of Marinette’s father’s events,” he relied the half-truth they had agreed upon. “A dance, if I remember correctly. They hit it off right away.”
The invitation came after the reveal; but it was another detail Mouse’s father really didn’t need to know.
“Thank you for... for being there for my child.” The old man’s pained tone surprised Félix, so he turned to face him. “I know... losing her mother was hard on her. I’m glad that she had friends like you to watch out for her.”
“Anytime.” Félix kept his expression neutral while his heart raged inside, upset with the man on Mouse’s behalf, with good reason, too. He knew all too well what it felt like to be left completely alone in a world falling apart.
At least he had Marinette. And at least, Mouse had them both.
“Oh no!”
Hearing the girls’ cry, Félix’s head snapped around just in time to see a white ball flying towards them. He reacted instinctively, catching it like a basketball before it landed on the grass.
“Nice catch. I guess we know who’s next.” Mouse’s father guffawed, patting his shoulder. “Excuse me.”
Félix blinked, blushing when he realized what the old man meant.
He had caught the pomander bouquet Mouse had decided on.