Work Text:
It all started with a candy cane.
Normally, Marinette and sweets went hand and hand, so much so that no one ever commented on why she always had cookies in her purse or pain au chocolate in her lunch bag. Only Alya knew the real reason and she didn’t plan on telling anyone, but even she grew worried when her best friend seemed to be sucking on a candy cane every time she turned around.
“Girl, what is with the candy cane? That’s like the third one you’ve had today,” she demanded one afternoon, staring at her friend over the top of her glasses. “Do we need to hold a candy cane intervention?”
Marinette slid the candy out of her mouth by the hook with all the elegance of a golden era actress taking a draw at a cigarette.
“They’re my favorite Christmas candy,” the girl said with a shrug. “Besides, you know how cold I get in the winter. The sugar and mint helps me warm up for some reason. As much as I would love to catch up on sleep, I would rather be awake and smell of peppermint than hibernate all season.”
Alya couldn’t argue with that, but it still felt slightly odd to see her best friend with a candy cane sticking out of her mouth in every free moment. It wasn’t just the hook end curling down towards her jaw all the time either.
Marinette played with them. She would twirl the hook in circles while focusing on a project like some girls twirled their hair. She would tap the end against her lips or teeth when trying to puzzle something out. She would purse her lips or smile around the sweet in a way that was too adorable for words. And, worst of all, she somehow managed to spin it with her tongue.
In short, Alya’s best friend looked like a mix between the epitome of childhood innocence and the teasing lead in a Hallmark holiday romcom and she was doing it all unknowing.
And Alya wasn’t the only one who noticed either.
Adrien seemed fascinated by the candy cane as if it was some sort of performance art - or, at least, that is what Alya had assumed at first. But as her bestie’s holiday addiction continued, she began to notice signs of a different sort of attraction from their resident summer child.
It was most evident during a free study period they had in the library together. Marinette was on either her fourth or fifth candy cane of the day and so absorbed in her sketchbook that she was completely oblivious to the way her buttercup boy was staring at her mouth.
Meanwhile, Alya and Nino had a front row seat. Marinette would twirl the candy cane absentmindedly while her hands were busy with her sketchbook and pencil and Adrien would swallow hard enough to be heard by all of them. When she got stuck on a design element she pulled the sweet out to tap it thoughtfully against her lips, leaving Adrien to blush and lick his own as if his mouth had suddenly gone dry.
Oh, and when Marinette smiled in satisfaction around the red and white stick, Adrien forgot his perfect posture and gave such a huge sigh that he slumped over the table towards her.
Alya had all but dragged Nino out of the library after that.
“What is up with Sunshine, babe?” she demanded, trying desperately to keep her voice to a whisper. “Is he just that sugar deprived or does this mean what I think it means?”
Nino blushed, embarrassed, pulling the bill of his cap low over his eyes. “I’m not sure, but I think it’s a… um… flirting thing.”
Alya froze, staring at her boyfriend as if he was a nervous woodland creature and she didn’t want to scare him away. “What do you mean ‘a flirting thing’?”
He gave a nervous, stuttering cough before continuing with a sigh. “You… you know how I always kiss you a lot when we’ve gone to get an iced coffee together?”
She nodded, watching as his hand crept up to scratch at the back of his neck. It was cute how he was picking up his best friend’s nervous tells. Cute and useful.
“Well, let’s just say it’s not about the coffee.”
Alya looked at him, confused by his evasiveness. “Just spit it out, Nino! You’re leaving me hanging here!”
He flinched and his blush deepened. “You play with your straw,” he said in a rush. “You twist and turn it between your fingers and it pulls at your lips and I just can’t help but want to kiss you.”
Alya had never understood the word ’poleaxed’ in terms of being taken by surprise before, but she did now. “So… you’re saying that Marinette has been going through candy canes like a test rat bar-pressing for caffeine and Adrien is… is…”
“Obsessing about her lips, yeah,” Nino finished.
Alya covered her mouth to smother her excited squeal. Nino gave her a lopsided grin and shrugged.
“I knew it!” she whisper-shrieked, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. “I knew he would fall for her sooner or later! I mean, no one can stay that oblivious forever, right?”
Nino chuckled. “Yeah, but who would have thought that it would take a candy cane obsession to get him there?”
Alya grinned so widely that Nino flushed darker. “Now all we need to do is wait,” she said, rubbing her hands together eagerly.
“You mean we wait to see how long he can hold out, babe?”
Alya chuckled. “Well, that and make sure Marinette doesn’t run out of candy canes.”
***
It seemed that even Adrien Agreste had his limits in regards to obliviousness and patience, for the next morning before school their resident golden boy just snapped.
Alya, Nino, and Marinette were talking on the steps about their upcoming tests before the holidays and the new jacket Marinette had designed for Jagged Stone’s New Year’s Eve concert when the silver luxury town car pulled up next to the curb.
Nino jumped down the last three steps to greet his friend while Alya and Marinette stayed where they were. Adrien stepped out of the car, greeted Nino with a dazed fist bump, then zeroed in on Marinette.
Alya watched avidly as her bestie smiled around her candy before pulling it out and giving Adrien a little wave.
Something about that motion was enough to drive even the reserved, quiet, gentlemanly Adrien over the edge. A determined, hungry glint in his green eyes, he surged up the steps, grabbed Marinette by her free hand, and drug her off into the school. Alya heard the poor girl call out, “Adrien, what-“ before she disappeared.
Alya looked at Nino in astonishment. “Did that just happen or am I dreaming? Alya asked, rubbing her eyes and staring in the direction her friend had gone.
“If you are, then I’m having the same dream,” Nino muttered. Grabbing her hand, he started dragging her up the stairs. “Come on. When someone as reserved as my bro loses it about something, there is no telling what he could do.”
They dashed into the school, searching every nook and cranny they could but to no avail. Adrien and Marinette were nowhere to be seen. Alya finally had to admit defeat, tucking her phone into her bag before allowing Nino to escort her to class.
“Where could they have gotten off to?” she thought, now more concerned than excited. “Ugh! When I catch up with that girl I’m going to wring the details out of her like water from a wash rag!”
It wasn’t until ten minutes after the bell rang for their first class that the objects of Alya’s curiosity and concern wandered in. Marinette’s hair had been released from its pigtails and the girl was in a starry eyed daze, completely unaware that she had walked smack into the front desk until Adrien guided her to her own seat with a possessive air that looked positively smug - a look completely at odds with everything Alya knew of the guy.
Adrien caught Alya’s staring gaze and had the audacity to wink, Marinette’s candy cane sticking out of the corner of his mouth.
For once, Alya didn’t need the details - even if she still wanted them anyway - though she was a tad miffed she hadn’t been able to catch the moment on video.
And when Nino arrived at school the next day with his own candy cane… well, she could definitely get used to this particular holiday treat.