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M. Damoclès' announcement of the contest should've been exciting to hear, and it was for most of the school.
For Marinette, it wasn't.
In fact, all it did was make her pace in front of Nino and Alya in the school courtyard, staring at her sketchbook in disgust before tossing it on the ground at their feet.
"Why, of all things, a derby hat? There are so many unique types and that's the one I have to work with?" Marinette groaned and ran her hands down her face.
"You don't have to participate, you know. It's not a mandatory competition," Alya reminded her.
"Even though these drawings are sick and you would totally blow everyone else out of the water," Nino added as he flipped through the sketchpad.
"Thanks, but I wasn't the one that signed myself up for this," Marinette said, sitting herself dramatically down at Alya's other side on the bench.
"Really? Then if you didn't do it, who did?" questioned Alya with a crook of the brow.
"Who do you think?"
"Mr. Impartial Judge's Impartial Son?"
"Actually, I was taken off judging duty after Père learned Marinette was participating," Adrien corrected as he walked over. "Said my bias would be too overwhelming to be fair, so I'm stuck with simply modelling Marinette's hat now." He smiled innocently at his girlfriend and her BFF.
"Oh, you're lucky you have pretty privilege, Agreste," Alya quipped when she saw the metaphorical daggers Marinette was glaring at him with.
"'Pretty privilege?'" he repeated, unsure of what that meant.
Alya bit her lip to hold back a laugh and rolled her eyes at Marinette's distress.
"Relax, Marinette. Père's going to love whatever you come up with, I know it. Just think of it as a challenge of your amazing skills. After you impress him, maybe I can convince him to let us go out on a date later. How's that sound?" he suggested, kneeling down to rest his head on her lap cutely.
Marinette darted her gaze over to her BFF, who nudged Nino's side. Once he handed the sketchbook over, she passed it to its owner, who once more narrowed her gaze at her boyfriend.
Hairs prickling up on end, he jumped to his feet and scurried off as she chased after him.
Alya checked the time on her phone. "You think she'll finish him off and be done with her hat in nine hours?"
"Maybe," Nino replied as they watched their two friends playfully argue. "But I don't think Adrien will be out of the hospital in time to model it afterwards."
Phone; silenced.
Balcony door; locked.
Windows; avoided like the plague.
Headphones with music; on until the hat is done.
Adrien; left entirely on read after fifteen messages and five missed calls.
And, honestly, he knew why, but didn't care. He was certain Marinette would ace this competition in style. He just wished she'd have more confidence in herself.
So Adrien stood there, on her balcony, enjoying the unique view of Paris, while his kwami lounged on the railing like a lazy feline enjoying the sun. Tikki had come up once or twice to chat, but overall, Adrien was left to his own devices while he silently yearned and pined for Marinette to accept his support-- or what Marinette called "a distraction."
Then he sneezed once.
Twice.
Thrice.
After the fourth time, he glanced up and saw multiple flocks of pigeons flying in well-coordinated spheres in one direction.
Finally, after a fifth sneeze, he knocked frantically on the balcony door for Tikki to let him in.
She had to admit, she was playing dirty, but it had to be done.
Even if Adrien did look hilarious pouting on her bed like a petulant child after being told no a hundred times.
After learning about his little allergy problem, she realized the only way to protect herself, while also getting some hat shaping practice in, was to create a crown of pigeon feathers. Having just finished dealing with M. Ramier's pigeon uprising, Marinette's supply of the material was plentiful enough to spare a bit of time making one.
Now all she had left to do was focus on her work. Originally she thought about incorporating feathers into her design, but thought it too cruel since Adrien would inevitably be wearing it. Instead, she found a new muse to work with and refused to show her boyfriend when asked what new idea she'd come up with.
With an hour left, Adrien was forced to head home so he could arrive at school later to totally not judge the event.
That left Marinette free to check her design for imperfections one last time before packing it up mere minutes before the deadline and running off to finally have it be seen and judged.
According to Tikki, she had no need to worry. Plagg even told her he liked it, which was heavy praise from such a cheese-obsessed kwami.
Alya was impressed but concerned.
"What? Is there something wrong with it?" Panic struck Marinette as she picked up her hat and scoured it for anything she missed.
"Not that hat," said Alya while tapping at her own head.
Realizing what she meant, Marinette gasped and pulled off the crown of feathers, hiding them behind her back as Nathalie, Adrien, and M. Damoclès came over to see her hat.
Adrien's green eyes shimmered with joy as he realized the inspiration for her derby hat. The bright green band with pointed cat-shaped 'ears' were a dead giveaway. Even the little red bead with black spots pinned to one of the sides made him want to scream on the spot.
But he refrained, if only because his father would bury him personally if he caused such a commotion with him ‘present.’
Inwardly, however, he was gushing incoherently because his girlfriend based her derby hat design that he'd be modelling off of his alter ego and it was beautiful.
"Hey, M," Alya whispered after Nathalie and M. Damoclès walked away to discuss a winner. "What's up with pretty boy?" She pointed to Adrien, who was still staring at the Chat Noir inspired hat with an obscene amount of reverence. He even had tears welling up in his eyes.
"Oh, him?" Thinking quick, she smirked and waved the crown of feathers around mischievously. "Must be his feather allergy acting up again."
Though not entirely understanding what was happening between her BFF and Adrien, Alya still snickered and rolled her eyes. "You two are so weird."