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“What’s that smell?” Adrien pulled his wife into a hug from behind as she poured coffee into mugs at her manual espresso machine—a birthday gift from him when Marinette insisted she needed to pick up another hobby.
“Pumpkin spice latte.” Marinette turned around in his arms, offering him a mug.
Adrien took it with a smile. “I like it.”
“We need to get into the spooky season vibes somehow.”
Yeah. It was October.
As a kid, Adrien Agreste lived in a high-profile Parisian mansion where Halloween celebrations were completely out of the question. Truthfully, the silence alone echoed louder than any ghost story could.
But as an adult, while he attended the odd costume party, Halloween was more of an excuse to party than to be spooky.
“Is Alex hosting a costume party this year?” Adrien asked.
“No, she’s too busy with her exams to host.”
Oh. He had been looking forward to it. It wasn’t easy to see all their friends together, as everyone had become so busy.
“That’s a shame.”
Marinette frowned, picking up on his disappointment. “Well, we could host something instead, if you want.”
Adrien’s eyes widened. “We can?”
While therapy had helped him move on from a frankly traumatic childhood, there were still so many things Adrien had never gotten to experience—and he resented that.
“Of course we can!” Marinette smiled. “I mean, I don’t have any Halloween party-hosting experience apart from one time at the bakery when I was seven, but why not?”
Marinette never failed to try her best to make it up to him, always ready to give him the pieces of childhood he’d missed.
Adrien sighed. “I love you so much.” He got up to press a kiss on her cheek. “I’ve never decorated for Halloween before.”
Despite probably already knowing that to be the case, a sad look flashed across her face before she stood up next to him, her hands on his cheeks. “Well then, we’ll just make this your first and best.”
He pressed a kiss to her lips. She tasted like pumpkin spice.
“With you, it already is.”
Marinette chuckled, wrapping her arms around his waist, her flushed cheek against his chest. He could feel her heart beating faster.
“Are you flustered, my love?” Adrien teased, a hand letting go of her waist to feel the heat on her cheeks.
“What? Nope. Never.” She turned away from him.
Yeah, right.
Adrien smirked, pulling away to brush a strand of hair from her neck before kissing the spot he knew made her melt.
“A-Adrien!” Marinette squeaked. “That’s cheating!”
“Is it?” he murmured against her skin.
Marinette escaped his hold, grabbing their mugs. “I’m gonna—dishes—go now do. I mean… I better dishes now! I mean—”
“I win,” Adrien grinned.
“Ugh,” Marinette huffed, spinning on her heel toward the kitchen. Adrien’s laughter followed her. Oh, how he adored her.
He loved that he could still fluster her like this.
Over the years of their relationship—and now marriage—Marinette had blossomed into a confident, bold woman, something Adrien was utterly obsessed with. But moments like this reminded him that his shy, stammering Marinette was still there, too.
…And that was something he just had to take advantage of every once in a while.
“As far as our costumes go,” Marinette called from the sink, trying to change the subject, “I won’t have time with my commissions to make anything this year. So I’m trusting you to secure something.”
“You got it.”
They always did couples costumes. Last year was Rapunzel & Flynn Rider. Before that, Nya & Jay. Then Mario & Princess Peach… admittedly, they were kind of running out of ideas.
They—as in them, as a unit.
Because personally, Adrien was just getting started. He had something up his sleeve.
“But I can help with decorating,” Marinette said, patting his shoulder. “You’re in charge, pretty boy. Just tell me what to do.”
Adrien’s smirk widened. “Bet.”
“I can’t believe you’re making me wear this.”
“What? You like this manga too! It’s the only one I’ve gotten you to read so far!”
Marinette spun around to inspect her costume in further detail. She was Yor Forger. And Adrien was Loid Forger—from Spy x Family.
Adrien looked at her reflection, proud of his choice. Yor suited her well. She looked every bit amazing, cute, and hot. Hopefully, Marinette would like this too, because Adrien had many more manga characters that would suit her.
“You just want me to dress up as your fictional crush.” Marinette looked at her form-fitting black dress and thigh-high boots that clung to her in all the best ways.
Maybe Adrien was drooling.
Sue him for liking seeing his wife in cosplay! She’s beautiful!
(Chat, is it gay to love your wife?)
“What? You have black hair, I have blond hair, and we’re married. It’s perfect!” Adrien declared. “And you look beautiful and amazing.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and sunk his chin into her shoulders.
And they also had the whole secret identity thing in common with the manga. Really, there wasn’t a better-fit couple to dress up as!
“You’re lucky the party’s in an hour, and I can’t pull off a costume change in such little time.” She placed her hands over his, cuddling her waist.
“My lady, be grateful I didn’t go with my initial plan of you being a vampire and me being garlic.”
Marinette turned her head to him. “How does that make any sense for a couples costume?”
“There’s romantic tension!”
“…between garlic and vampires?”
“Yeah!”
“No!”
Tikki floated beside Marinette, laughing, “I… don’t think vampires and garlic is the kind of tension you want.”
Plagg swooped over Adrien’s shoulder, grinning. “I dunno, Sounds deliciously dramatic. And tasty with some cheese.”
Their conversation was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell.
“Are they here already?” Marinette said, already walking out to the living room as the kwamis hid.
“They must be early.”
Adrien opened the door halfway, smile ready—
But it wasn’t their friends at the door.
It was…the police.
“Uh—good evening?” Adrien blinked. “Can we help you, officer?”
“Evening. We’ve had a few complaints from the neighbours.”
Marinette furrowed her eyebrow. “Like noise complaints? We’ve been decorating. The loudest thing in here was a balloon popping!”
“Yeah,” Adrien added, “we’re not even playing music yet.”
The officer shook his head. “No, not noise. We’ve had a few calls from neighbours about your Halloween decorations.”
Marinette blinked. “Our decorations?”
“Yes, ma’am.” The officer cleared his throat. “Apparently they’re… a little too realistic for some of the local kids.”
Adrien frowned, glancing toward the window where their carefully arranged zombie hands and skeleton babies glowed under orange lights. “You’re kidding. They’re plastic.”
“I figured as much,” the officer said, “but someone called it in, so… I’ve got to check.”
Marinette groaned. “Let me guess—it’s the chopped-off feet, isn’t it? I told you the blood looked too fresh.”
Adrien laughed under his breath. “It’s raspberry syrup, Marinette.”
“Yeah, well, tell that to the five-year-old who apparently thinks we’ve done a foot massacre."
The officer sighed. “The report says schoolchildren walking past kept bursting into tears. Mums are posting about it on the local Facebook. Something about ‘Halloween decorations getting too realistic for the kiddos.’”
Marinette crossed her arms. “Is it Mrs. Dubois next door? She complains if a pigeon lands on her balcony. It’s Paris!”
“Can’t say names, ma’am,” the officer said, “but we’re going to need you guys to adjust your display. For the sake of keeping the peace.”
Marinette sighed. “Of course. We’ll make it less intimidating, bring some stuff inside.”
“Thank you. Happy Halloween.”
“You too!” Adrien closed the door.
Marinette sighed, half exasperated, half amused. “Great. Our first Halloween party hasn’t even started, and we’re already on record!”
Adrien laughed. “Hey, at least we scared someone.”
She glared at him, though her lips twitched. “We’re getting egged by facebook mums. I can feel it.”
He shrugged. “Worth it for artistic integrity.”
The party went well. And they didn’t get egged (though that would be an achievement considering they lived on the 4th floor).
Adrien was so happy to see all his friends in their costumes, the biggest highlight being Juleka, Rose, and Zoe dressing up as the K-pop Demon Hunter girls (why didn’t he think of that?).
By the end of the night, after everyone had left, the couple settled in to watch Coraline—because Adrien had never been allowed to see it, which made Marinette gasp as she turned it on while they dug into Chinese takeout.
“Thank you, Marinette,” Adrien murmured, resting his head on her thigh. “Today was perfect.”
Marinette absentmindedly played with his hair. “We can do the same thing every year if you want.”
“Please,” he whispered, eyes closing. “And we have to do pumpkin carving too.”
“Okay,” she agreed, smiling. “I’m gonna carve a turnip. More traditional.”
Adrien reached up and pulled her face down just enough to brush a soft kiss across her lips. “Best Halloween ever.”
And it’ll only get better each year.
(Hopefully without any more complaints
(Maybe they’ll have to bake Mrs. Dubois a pie or something.)
Because from now on, Adrien gets to decorate. And he’s got 23 years of Halloween to catch up on.
But the best part is that every single year will be with her.