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He wasn’t going to come to his bloody cousin’s bloody party, but the only person whose opinion mattered asked him to, so Felix couldn’t say no, okay? His mother had insisted that Felix keep in touch with Adrien since he moved to Paris, and although he was sure that her goal wasn’t to make her son get close to her nephew at all, but rather to take care of the runaway model, Felix agreed.
Ever since Adrien had moved out from his father, he seemed to go a little wild with parties, which often happens when a person was kept locked up for a long time and then was allowed to break free. He continued to model, though now not only for his father’s brand, was dating a new girl every week, and also threw parties every weekend, where he probably picked up these girls.
In the endless variety of frequently changing faces in Adrien’s party life, there was a small group of friends who always remained the same, so in a few months in Paris and several times when his mother persuaded Felix to attend these dubious events to look after his cousin, he learned their names, although their communication remained distant and often unfriendly.
First of all, Felix didn’t understand why they supported Adrien’s belated protest against his father, or rather the form of its expression — a form of gaining all freedom at once, very reminiscent of anarchy. Primarily because it meant that Felix had to play the role of liaison between Adrien and the remnants of his family, which he didn’t like to do, although he fully supported the fact of his cousin’s separation from Gabriel itself.
“I need you to do something.”
Felix abstracted away the music that was playing in the spacious dim room with multi-colored lights — wouldn’t it be easier to go to a nightclub than set up a party room in your apartment, Adrien? — and focused on the girl standing in front of him. Marinette. Her friends considered her an angel — friendly with everyone, but she always remained a little distant from others, as if not wanting to mix with their undivided group completely or as if leaving something only for herself.
Felix almost respected it, the key word being ‘almost’, because he could hardly respect anyone in this crowd of party-goers.
“Excuse me?” Felix spoke, hardening his face so as not to give the impression that he might be drawn into the local plans any more than he was already drawn into, which was limited to his passive presence and observation, to make sure his unchained cousin doesn’t get into drugs or other forms of seeking freedom that will have to be intervened.
“My ex-boyfriend.” Marinette stated, as if continuing the conversation they had just had, although she appeared in front of him only a couple of seconds ago.
“Are you drunk?” Felix clarified, although she called him her ex-boyfriend with such certainty that for a moment he even doubted himself, not that he would ever admit it.
“What? No! I don’t drink!” The girl exclaimed, shaking her head disapprovingly. “The guy I once dated, he still hopes I’ll return to him,” She explained, and yes, that was the place to start, or rather, Felix wasn’t sure that she needed to start it at all, because the conversation obviously didn’t concern him. Or so he thought until she continued. “And since I haven’t dated anyone else since then, I need to show him that I could start dating someone, or something like that, so he could move on and start building his life.”
Felix narrowed his eyes on her. “And I’m listening to this touching life tearing story, why?” He asked, hoping his tone showed enough of how uninterested he was in the details of her private life.
The girl rolled her eyes as if he should have figured out his role himself, which was completely insulting because Felix Fathom wasn’t the type to guess slowly, he just didn’t want to have anything to do with this farce, and very frankly hinted at it to her. “I need you to kiss me, obviously.” Marinette explained impatiently and glanced around quickly, probably checking to see if her audience was ready for the performance. “It would be more than enough.”
Felix had to admit that her approach had to be effective, except perhaps the fact that her co-actor wasn’t ready for the show, and that was the biggest factor here. “Why not ask Adrien?” Felix suggested, hoping that his clue would help her quickly leave to look for a solution to her problems elsewhere. “He changes girls like gloves, surely this won’t be a problem for him.”
Marinette shook her head decisively. “Too much history there, for me at least. Not going there anymore.” She explained. “You’re the best choice, ‘cause you won’t care. Besides, with your reputation, my friends will think that I've gone crazy, or that I’m a terrible person like you are, but the main thing is that they will finally leave me alone with their beliefs about how Luka and I fit together and that I should return to him. And the other part of them maybe even calm down with this whole story that I have to save Adrien from his endless search.”
For some reason, Felix didn’t like the idea of her saving Adrien, probably offering herself as the one on whom he was supposed to stop his search. But even more he was offended by the way she described his role in her plan, and while Felix didn’t mind the way people saw him, encouraged it even, somehow it didn’t sound especially thrilling coming from her.
“Wow, when you put it that way, I’m practically flattered by your insults.” He responded with cold irritation. “So I, as the absolute evil that I am, should scare away your wonderful friends, ex-boyfriends and potentially future ones too, right? How incredibly much I dream of playing this role for you, darling.” He added venomously.
Marinette tilted her head to the side, something like curiosity in her eyes. “What’s the problem, Fathom, did I hurt your feelings?” She asked in a playful tone, or would be considered playful if it didn’t sound so tough. Then she narrowed her eyes on him. “Oh wait, you don’t have any.”
“I don’t even know what to say,” Felix replied coldly, skepticism erupting from his voice. “You know everything so perfectly well yourself.”
“I would be extremely proud to leave you speechless, if I thought it was something to be proud of.” Marinette’s voice sounded just as cold, though Felix could tell that she was feigning hostility rather than feeling it. “You don’t have to say anything,” She declared. “Just kiss me.” Felix opened his mouth to protest, but Marinette beat him to it. “Oh, no need to start about how you don’t like it when your personal space is invaded. You can act touchy with others, but I won’t buy it.”
Well, this was something new. “And why is that?” He asked, trying to hide the sincere curiosity that he felt. All Adrien’s friends were aware of Felix’s preference for physical distance after several unsuccessful attempts by unfamiliar girls (not from his cousin’s inner circle of friends) to ask him to dance, to which they were rebuffed with varying degrees of rudeness.
“Well, if only because my acquaintances include Ladybug and Chat Noir,” she said casually, “And though you never hit on Chat, I have first hand information about you invading the personal space of a certain heroine in red. So you see, you can’t fool me. I know that for the sake of your pranks you are ready to break boundaries, including your own.”
“I am amazed.” Felix said in a tone that should have read that he was not in any way amazed. Marinette obviously knew about his meeting with Ladybug from the heroine herself, because no one else saw it, but he was hardly impressed with someone’s celebrity acquaintances. Although he had to give her credit, Marinette emphasized his behavior rather than bragging about her connections. “If you have such wonderful friends, why don’t you threaten me with their interference to get me to play along with you?”
Marinette took a small step towards him. “Oh, they wouldn’t be my friends if I couldn’t handle my problems on my own.” She spoke without taking her eyes off his, as if to add weight to her words.
Felix stepped back a little, just to keep a comfortable distance between them, but found that there was now a wall behind him, so he would have to push her away with words if she approached again. “The fact that you came to me for help shows that you can’t handle your problems on your own, doesn’t it?” He noticed.
Marinette smirked. “Not at all. This is a business proposition where both parties win.”
Felix raised his eyebrows. “I’m almost tempted to hear what exactly it is that I’ll win in this ‘deal’, barring the fact that the prettiest girl at the party is going to kiss me.” He said, including a compliment to confuse her a little, but judging by the smirk on her face, it didn’t have much effect. “But then again, as you might have noticed from your spotted girlfriend’s first hand information, I prefer to catch my prey myself, so this kiss would have been too easy for me, so I’m still not particularly interested.”
“But you’re interested in pranks, aren’t you?” Marinette smiled knowingly, eyes calculating. “What better way than to create confusion among your cousin’s friends whom you despise? When will you have another opportunity to do so?”
“I’m used to creating my own opportunities.” Felix retorted, but his eyes slid behind Marinette, where the guy with the guitar was sitting as if not noticing the music thundering around. For some reason, Felix was sure that the guitarist didn’t notice the music not because of the guitar, but because of the girl who was now standing next to Felix. “It’s the guitarist, isn’t it?”
“What?” Marinette asked, surprised. “Oh, yes. Is he looking at us?”
“From the moment you approached me,” Felix confirmed. “And in my opinion, he is sure that I am already teaching you something bad, because judging by his face, he’s almost ready to intervene.” He warned, assuming that this might make her change her mind.
“Good.” Marinette took a step closer to him. “It only means that you should hurry up with your decision while I let you make one.”
Felix raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Otherwise what?” He picked out the hint of semi-threat that sounded in her words.
Marinette smiled as if pleased with his question. “Otherwise I will take what I need myself.”
Unexpectedly, Felix felt a wave of excitement run up his spine, echoing in his groin. It was, to put it mildly, unforeseen — both the way this girl, whom everyone considered so nice, behaved, and the effect her words had on him. Felix really loved the feeling of being a predator chasing prey, but the way he’d just felt like Marinette’s potential prey seemed to be pushing him to reconsider his preferences, or at least expand them.
In any case, he was beginning to really enjoy this game, and the idea of attending this party no longer seemed so terrible.
“So?” Marinette prompted, glaring at him more seriously, as if to show she wasn’t joking.
“So?” Felix repeated, wanting to see more of a demonstration of how far she was willing to go. There was something intriguing about pretending to run away wagging your tail, luring a predator where you wanted to lure it, so the new game could be just as exciting as the familiar one.
“So,” Marinette moved even closer, now clearly invading his personal space. “Are you done doing useless things called thinking in that pretty head of yours and ready to kiss me already?”
Felix thought that every time she said ‘kiss me’, he became one step less and less resilient to not wanting it, an effect no one had ever had on him before. On the other hand, no one has yet approached him with an impudent demand to kiss them...
“Thinking is a very beneficial action,” he objected, half-teasing. “It’s a pity that among your friends almost no one does it.” Reacting to the movement, his gaze fell behind her back to the guy who had put the guitar against the wall and stood up clearly to walk towards them. Felix looked back at Marinette and realized that she had guessed from his expression what was going on behind her, if the way she moved closer to him was anything to go by.
“Listen…” Felix spoke up, her closeness making his heart beat faster for some reason, as if he really was cornered prey. “Marinette, right?” She licked her lips and he couldn’t help but glanced at them, feeling completely trapped. “I’m not the best option for…”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Marinette interrupted, “You’re just fine. Let me give you some courage…” She grabbed his shirt in both fists and pulled Felix down to her.
When he went to this party, Felix could expect a boring evening, or that he would be able to entertain himself with some prank, or by having an argument with one of Adrien’s friends. What he didn’t expect was to feel the softest, most persistent lips in the world on his.
He found his hands wrapping around her waist reflexively, his lips following her lead and opening slightly at the demand of her tongue. Did they agree on a deep kiss? Did they agree on anything at all? And most importantly, did it even matter now?
Felix found that he didn’t quite remember how he got into this situation, a mind refusing to engage in the useless activity of thinking, just like he was told it was, and he had to admit that the alternative was much, much more fascinating. Her tongue slid over his, a sensation that reverberated through his core, causing his fingers to press into her body, preventing her from pulling away, as if he wanted his predator to eat him whole.
But her movements were an attack of a predator who wasn’t planning to retreat, her head changing position to let her tongue penetrate him deeper, take more of him, allowing her greed to be satisfied. Felix seemed to let himself make a low blissful sound, for suddenly her lips parted from his, and he found his head reflexively lowering, trying to catch up with her receding lips.
Marinette turned her head to the side and his lips rested on her temple, which made Felix finally straighten up and stop his pursuit, only now realizing he was following her. She didn’t pull away completely and didn’t kiss him again either. She stood in his arms, her face buried in his chest, and seemed to be trying to catch her breath just the way he did, so that Felix even began to think that this was something… something real.
“Is he still watching?” She asked quietly, not raising her face to him.
“W-what?” Felix asked, confused.
“Is he still looking at us?” She repeated. “Luka, my ex-boyfriend. The one with the guitar?”
Oh, right, the bloody guitarist. Because this kiss, it was a performance she put on as a prank, or a way to push this guy away, or help him move on, or whatever. The main thing was that it wasn’t anything real, like Felix had just imagined.
“Yes,” he confirmed, meeting a pair of intense blue eyes trying to incinerate him from across the room. “And not only.” Felix added, noticing that several of Adrien’s friends had stopped dancing or/and talking and were also glaring at him with varying degrees of disbelief on their faces. But most importantly, his cousin was among them, so perhaps Felix was entitled to his part of fun in this game. “I think one more time won’t hurt to consolidate the effect.”
He turned them around, backing Marinette against the wall and kissing her again without waiting for her response, between the two of them it seemed like the only proper way to proceed. And he was probably right, because her lips parted to meet him with even more eagerness than when Marinette kissed him herself.
She threw her head back to give him more access and raised her hands to dig into his hair, and Felix’s body shuddered with excitement at the feel of her nails running over his scalp. He clung closer to her, drawn by her fingers clutching his hair, his hands not leaving her for a moment, and it seems now she was his prey, but the prey that wanted to give herself to him to be torn to pieces.
The thought made his blood boil, and his body to tense up in all inappropriate for a party, but very suitable for such closeness places, and Felix wondered if this woman knew what she was doing to him. But the thought only crossed his mind for a moment, before Marinette arched up to meet him, pressing her hips to where the effect of her actions was already tangible, and his mind went blank.
It seemed to Felix that he wouldn’t stop kissing her even if a bomb exploded somewhere nearby, because this taste, these faint demanding sounds that she made, those thighs, on which his palms reflexively slid, and this perfect compatibility that seemed to him in the proximity of their bodies... It was an absolute bliss, and the antidote to every defense he ever had against people, and she was a being that was capable of driving him to insanity.
“For the cold emotionless type… you pretend to be all the time… you kiss really hot.” Marinette whispered, her breath still ragged, her forehead pressed against his, and Felix wasn’t sure when they’d stopped kissing and if they’d even stopped, because she was still wrapping her arms around his neck and he was still pressing her body against the wall with his weight, no space between them, so that he was still intoxicated by her closeness. “Now… I have to take you to the bathroom myself…”
“Bathroom…?” Felix muttered, not yet quite back to earth from where his mind flew. “Why should I…”
“If I walk away from you now… you will demonstrate to everyone that you’re not that cold.” She explained, smirking, her eyes slightly open and laughing at him from under her eyelashes. Felix’s cheeks even seemed to be flushed with embarrassment at the realization that she was hinting at his arousal, which would now be obvious to everyone once Marinette stepped away — and damn it, Felix had completely lost the habit of blushing in public, or showing any form of weakness, preventing such things many steps ahead.
Well, until now.
“We’re partners in crime now, you know. So before I leave you, I’ll help you to hide.” Marinette continued, staring at him with that predatory look that made him feel like her prey again. “Besides, I want to keep this secret knowledge only for myself. After all, I could still use it.”
Following Marinette, Felix didn’t even look around. He was little interested in whether their performance had the proper effect on the audience, and for some reason it seemed to him that she wasn’t interested in it, too, although it could have been only wishful thinking. But she was leading him by the hand from the crowd of her friends somewhere, apparently to the bathroom where he had to put himself in order, and Felix was no longer sure of anything, because how could he not notice this treasure among his cousin’s bloody friends?!
The only two things he was sure of were, one, Felix liked being the prey if Marinette was the predator, and two, coming to this party was the best decision he ever made.
Even if (so far) he only got a kiss.