7. Got the Cream

People don’t really understand how much can change in six seconds.

Our brains are wired to make nonverbal decisions faster than the most advanced supercomputers. But like most sophisticated pieces of machinery, they’re prone to suffer crashes, hang ups, and errors. Even when they function as designed, particularly significant pieces of information require time to process, even if it’s only six seconds.

“I…I want to try playing with someone,” Marinette said, voice quavering just a little as she looked into his eyes. “And I want…I want that someone to be you.”

Six seconds passed between the end of the word you and Adrien’s response and it was only then that Marinette realized just how long six seconds was. For six seconds, they stared at each other in almost complete silence, both reeling in their own ways from the absolute atom bomb Marinette just dropped.

Six seconds that forever altered the course of their relationship as their minds worked overtime to process what had just happened.

One.

Holy shit did I just say that?

Holy shit did she just say that?

Two.

Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god fine! I said it! It’s out there! His problem now!

Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god be cool Adrien for the love of god be cool!

Three.

…okay he should have said something by now, right? It’s been like three seconds, shouldn’t he have said something by now?

Okay how do I say this without sounding like a complete drooling moron. I assume “hell yeah hell yeah hell fucking yeah” is out of the question?

Four.

Ohhhhh shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit I came on too strong! I came on too strong didn’t I?! Fuck why did I say it like that?! He must think I want to be his girlfriend or something…well I do but-

“Yes, Marinette, I would love to show you the proper use of a riding crop slash maybe go out sometime?” No she didn’t say anything about dating; don’t come on too strong!

Five.

Damage control, Marinette; damage control. Try and play it cool. Don’t scare him away. Play it casual; play it casual.

Okay deep breaths; just let her know you have feelings for her and see where things go from there.

Six.

I just have to tell him-

I just have to tell her-

“I would love to…I…well, honestly I’ve had kind of a crush on you for a while now so…yeah I’d love to,” Adrien said.

…or rather, that's what Adrien wanted to say.

And to his credit, that’s exactly what he would have said if it wasn’t for sonovabitch father who had somehow raised Adrien in a straightjacket of propriety while simultaneously making it incredibly difficult for him to accept the fact that someone might care about him. If Adrien had not been so concerned with the “proper” response or if he hadn’t been so surprised that someone might actually like him, he might have gotten what he wanted to say out before Marinette spoke.

As it was…Marinette beat him to the punch.

“I-I-I mean,” Marinette stammered as Adrien opened his mouth, trying to head off what was no doubt a sweet, lovely way of letting her know he wasn’t interested in anything romantic. “You’re such a good friend to me and I really trust you as a friend and I was…well I-I wasn’t suggesting that we start dating or anything I just…kinda w-wanted to be with a friend first, you know? Like with um...benefits?”

Oh. Adrien closed his mouth, blinking a few times. Of course…he had read too much into it. They were both busy people and they had been friends for so long…no if Marinette still liked him like that she would have done something about it before now. Honestly he wasn't even surprised either; if she had ignored his apparently obvious attraction to her in school, he wouldn't be too eager about romantically pursuing her either.

That being said...the disappointment he felt at Marinette’s insistence that they keep things casual was suddenly and brutally dropkicked by lust that managed to completely dry up his mouth. He was instantly assaulted by two distinctly different yet equally enticing scenarios which unfortunately gave Marinette enough time to assume the worst yet again.

“I’m…I’m sorry,” Marinette trailed off with a laugh, wondering if she was about to find out if a person could die of embarrassment. “I shouldn’t have-“

“No!” Adrien said suddenly, causing Marinette to jump a little. “I mean, yes! I-I mean uh…you shouldn’t be sorry?”

Marinette glanced back at Adrien as he rocked back and forth on his heels almost bashfully.

“Are you uh…did you mean that?” Adrien said. “The whole…trust thingie you said just now.”

“Well…yeah,” Marinette said quietly. “I don’t really know anyone else well enough to even consider doing something like this with them...”

“You could always get to know them,” Adrien said. “I mean, just because I’m the only person you trust doesn’t mean you couldn’t find someone else to-”

“Th-that’s not what I meant!” Marinette said quickly. Great; now he thought that the only reason she was approaching him was because she literally had nowhere else to turn to. “I…even if I did get to know someone else like that I would…I’d still want it to be you. I don’t just…want you because you’re the first guy I’ve talked to about this I…I want you because…well…you’re you.”

“Really?” Adrien let out a small, shaky breath halfway between a purr and a sigh.

“Are you…surprised?” Marinette asked. “I mean you’re…”

She gestured to Adrien with a small laugh that raised his eyebrows.

“I mean that’s…that’s not the only reason I think about doing this with you,” Marinette said, flushing red. “Thought! Thought about doing this with you! Logically; rationally! N-not like fantasizing or anythi-”

Marinette stopped as a soft, throaty chuckle slipped out of Adrien’s throat. She looked up at him, narrowing her eyes as he covered his mouth, shoulders softly shaking as anxiety gave way to rising indignation.

“Are you…are you laughing at me?!” Marinette squeaked as Adrien shook his head, biting his bottom lip.

“Uh-uh,” Adrien snickered, shaking his head.

“Oh my god I’m exposing myself over here and you’re…you’re…ugh!” Marinette growled, whacking Adrien against his shoulder with her coach bag.

“Can we at least get home before you start exposing yourself and smacking me around?” Adrien laughed, stepping out of range of Marinette’s bag. “Sorry! Sorry! I…I wasn’t laughing at you.”

“No you were just laughing in my general vicinity after I basically bared myself to you,” Marinette huffed, jabbing a finger at Adrien as he opened his mouth with a devilish glint in his eye. “I heard it!”

“I was laughing because quite frankly…I didn’t realize how cute you were when you’re embarrassed,” Adrien said so casually that Marinette hadn’t realized what he had said until a few moments afterwards, face now beet red and mouth hanging open as she had to grapple with the fact that Adrien Agreste had just called her cute. Verbally. To her face and with a look on his that could only be described as “cat catches sight of a fat wingless canary covered in cream.”

“…well I’m glad my humiliation is so satisfying to watch,” Marinette huffed, stowing her coach bag back on her shoulder and crossing her arms. “Look…if you don’t want to-”

“When did I say that?” Adrien said, cocking his head to one side with an almost teasing smile.

“You haven’t said yes,” Marinette added.

“You haven’t given me a chance,” Adrien said, taking a step closer as Marinette turned to look up at him. The smug beautiful bastard had the nerve to tower over her with those twinkling green eyes while she was trying to maintain some sort of dignity after basically admitting to touching herself while thinking about him on a nightly weekly occasional basis.

“What I was going to ask,” Adrien said, lip caught between his teeth as his smile fail to waiver. “Is what your definition of play is…or at least what you had in mind for us?”

Us. That was a word that set Marinette’s heart racing again, any pretenses of irritation evaporating in the cool spring air. It was such a heavy word, full of possibilities that Marinette had mulled over since she was a teenager. And now it was in her reach; all she had to do was grab onto it.

“Uh…” Marinette scratched the back of her neck. “I uh…don’t really know…just like…standard stuff?”

“Is there such a thing?” Adrien chuckled.

“I guess not,” Marinette sighed. “See…this is what I wanted help with! I have…no idea how to do this whole kinky…bondage…spanky…relationship…thing!”

“Well…what do you want?” Adrien asked, leaning against a tree and crossing his arms. “I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess what you’re asking for is purely…sexual?”

“More or less,” Marinette admitted. “I mean I’m not looking to be someone’s slave or anything more than just the whole…bedroom side of things.”

“So...you want any Dom/sub overtones contained within certain scenes,” Adrien nodded almost thoughtfully.

“I just…I want to be able to get into this without any pressure to perform or fear that someone is going to judge me,” Marinette sighed, crossing her arms across her chest.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Adrien said quietly.

“I know you wouldn’t,” Marinette said with a small smile. “And I…I wouldn’t feel any hangups about…asking you to try something or asking you to stop if we were going too far. I know you wouldn’t think less of me for that.”

“No,” Adrien said, stepping forward almost eagerly before holding himself back. “No I…I wouldn’t do that to you. You’re…well, you were one of my first real friends, you know? I mean, besides Chloe but she was…well…”

“A harpy sent from the underworld to sow havoc and chaos amongst mortals?” Marinette snorted.

“More or less,” Adrien laughed, scratching the back of his head as he looked down at her for a moment as though he were weighing his options. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Marinette repeated hesitatingly. “So…we’re doing this?”

“If you’re willing,” Adrien said with a much shyer smile. “Then I’m in.”

“Really?” Marinette said.

“Are you surprised? I mean you’re-” Adrien laughed, repeating Marinette’s earlier gesture.

“O-Oh please I’m hardly-” Marinette gestured to herself.

“No; you’re-” Adrien said, gesturing to her again with an emphatic nod. “Let’s just get this out of the way; you are definitely-“

Adrien repeated the sweeping hand gesture a third time as the pair of them burst into nervous chuckles. Was it really that easy? Marinette wondered. She couldn’t quite believe it happened the way it did but…she asked. He said yes. Called her cute; waved at her in a way that suggested that he was as attracted to her as she was to him…

Was it really that easy?

Most of her sexual history had been spur of the moment; completely unplanned. She would meet someone cute, go on a few dates with them, and then end up back at someone’s apartment where Netflix and chill turned into awkward, clumsy sex on the couch while The Vampire Diaries played in the background. It was never something planned; something she explicitly sought out. It was a byproduct of isolation, homesickness, and a desire to get out and see what she had been missing pining over Adrien.

And ironically the sex life that had begun in an effort to get over Adrien Agreste had looped full circle to a sex life that apparently succeeded in getting under him.

“So-” Marinette’s line of questioning ended with a small beep that came from her purse, signaling a text message had just been sent.

Alya: home yet?

“The missus,” Marinette said in answer to Adrien’s questioning glance as she fired off a reply. “Wants to know if I got home okay. I told her I was”

“Ah,” Adrien nodded. “We should definitely make sure of that then. It’s my ass Alya is going to destroy if you don’t.”

Not before I get my hands on it, Marinette thought. Adrien stopped, slowly turned around and fixed her with a bemused smirk that confused Marinette for a split second before she realized-

“Oh…” Marinette blinked as she stared up at Adrien’s suddenly scarlet complexion. “Shit I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

The tree above them shook as a flock of sleeping pigeons was suddenly roused and took flight at the sudden, sharp gale of laughter that came from Adrien as Marinette wished a passing meteorite might fall from the heavens and strike her in the head.

“Right,” Marinette said, swinging her leg up over the guard rail separating the sidewalk from the river. “Well I’m just going to…you know…drown myself now.”

“No!” Adrien snickered, reaching out for her. “Alya’s going to kill me if you do.”

“Nah, gonna drown myself,” Marinette said, teetering on the railing, feet not quite reaching the concrete foothold on the other side that separated her from a twenty foot drop into water. “Seems like a good idea.”

“Seriously…seriously come on,” Adrien said, holding his hand out as he took a step closer. “Let’s get you home.”

“Don’t interrupt my dramatic suicide, Adrien,” Marinette said as gravely as she could manage, holding a hand up to her face as she feigned falling.

“Marinette!”

“Oh come on; I’m not actually going to fall,” Marinette said, giggling at how quickly Adrien’s smug, sexy expression had been replaced with one of concern. “I used to sit on these all the time while my Dad-”

Unfortunately, she had been much smaller then and had her father’s hands at her back to steady her and keep her from falling. Unfortunately, she was much larger than she had been, despite what her five-four frame would suggest, and was badly out of practice at riding imaginary rail horses.

And unfortunately, she lost her balance.

“Marinette!”

In all likelihood she could have probably corrected herself but for a split second she felt herself falling a little too far to the right a little too quickly. She flailed her arms, throwing her weight right and crashing into something warm and soft as, inexplicably, she found herself rising in the air.

“A-are you okay?” A very pale Adrien stammered as Marinette looked down and realized that Adrien had effectively plucked her off the rail and was now holding her, flush against his chest, one arm supporting her back and another wrapped around her backside.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine,” Marinette said, arms wrapped around Adrien’s neck. “Sorry, that was-”

She trailed off as she realized the position they were in, his face inches away from her chest with one hand firmly cupping her bottom. They locked eyes for a brief second, an unmistakable twinkle in Adrien’s eye despite his sudden flushed expression.

“Weren’t you supposed to get your hands on my ass first?” Adrien chuckled, depositing Marinette to the ground at the very same moment she inexplicably found herself going weak in the knees.

“Y-Yeah,” Marinette chuckled, smoothing her skirt out. “Way to steal my thunder.”

“I’ll make it up to you later,” Adrien said with a small wink, offering his arm to her. “Shall we?”

Marinette glanced up at Adrien, eyes trailing from the crook of his arm to his mischievous smirk. She had fallen hard for sweet, innocent, too-good-for-the-sinful-world Adrien when she was a teenager; when he was a pure soul who didn’t realize he inhabited the body of a teenage sex-symbol. But sometime between the end of high school and now, someone had let him in on the secret. Someone (Marinette tried very hard not to think who) had revealed to him the secret of his own sexiness and he had in turn weaponized it. She had a hard enough time dealing with shy, sensitive, thoughtful Adrien but she had given him permission to flirt with her.

Now the tomcat was very much out of the bag and Marinette suddenly realized she was far more screwed than she originally thought.

“…okay,” Marinette said, threading her arm through his as they resumed their trek towards her apartment building, saying little to one another as they each seemed to be relishing the simple touch of their arms linked together. Marinette had to resist the urge to rest her head on Adrien’s shoulder, glancing up at him every few moments to see the almost dreamy smile on his lips. She couldn’t help but feel the tiniest tinge of pride knowing she had put that there; that Adrien was smiling because they were going to…wait…

“Um,” Marinette said after a moment. “When I, uh…asked back there I wasn’t…suggesting we do anything tonight.”

“Oh good,” Adrien sighed, glancing at her with a small smile. “I didn’t want to be the one to have to say it but I, uh…I didn’t want to rush things either.”

“No, no need to rush,” Marinette said with a small sigh of relief.

“We have all the time in the world,” Adrien said, taking a deep breath of night air as he resisted the urge to thread his arm around Marinette’s shoulders instead of her arm.

“Mmhmm,” Marinette said as silence lapsed between them again for a moment. “But uh…when, uh…when would be a good time for you?”

“You forget I’m technically unemployed,” Adrien chuckled. “You’re the one with the demanding schedule now; I’m completely at your service.”

There was no way he wasn’t doing that on purpose, Marinette thought to herself as the image of Adrien completely at her service flashed through her mind.

“Well…I’m good most weekends,” Marinette said, laughing after a moment.

“What?” Adrien asked.

“Nothing it’s just…you would think we were planning to go grab coffee or something not…” Marinette trailed off. “Just odd is all.”

“You’ve never planned before, have you?” Adrien asked.

“Not really,” Marinette shrugged. “Everything has been kind of…spur of the moment as far as I’m concerned.”

“Ah,” Adrien nodded. “Well in my opinion it’s always much more…enjoyable when you’ve planned it out to a degree.”

“Is that because you’ve developed a fetish for scheduling at this point in your life?” Marinette snorted.

“Believe it or not you’re not the first person to suggest I have one of those,” Adrien laughed, bumping his hip into hers.

“What did I say about hip bumps?” Marinette laughed.

“I think I’ve more than proven I’m able to catch you,” Adrien said, tilting his head back and forth. “I enjoy planning it because I have more time to…anticipate.”

“Anticipate?”

“Like Christmas,” Adrien said. “Except-”

“Everyone is on the naughty list.”

“Exactly,” Adrien said as Marinette chewed her lip thoughtfully, heart hammering in her ears.

“…what about Saturday?” She said suddenly, prompting a curious look from Adrien.

“Saturday?” Adrien asked. “This Saturday?”

“Y-yeah,” Marinette said, idly fidgeting with a button on the sleeve of Adrien’s coat. “Is that too soon or something?”

“That’s up to you,” Adrien said. “I’ve done this before so I’m more or less comfortable with it at this point…the only question is when will you be comfortable with it?”

It was a good question but now that they had agreed to give it a go, Marinette knew she couldn’t hold it off for very much longer. Her impulse control was, for the most part, terrible; she was used to going out and getting what she wanted for herself and now that Adrien had agreed…well, she wanted it.

“I’m…comfortable with it Saturday,” Marinette said, nodding after a moment. “If you are that is.”

“I think I can be ready by then,” Adrien said as Marinette nodded to a building across the street, steering him towards it as they approached her apartment. “Is this going to be at your place or-”

“Yours,” Marinette said quickly. “Sorry but…well I work fifty hours a week and my apartment isn’t exactly…guest ready.”

“Fair enough,” Adrien chuckled. “I suppose I have more space to play around with as well.”

“Yeah thanks for rubbing that in, rich boy,” Marinette snorted, bumping her hip into his.

“Sorry,” Adrien said, holding a hand up. “My place it is.”

“Good,” Marinette said, lingering in front of the door to her building as she didn’t want to untangle from Adrien’s grip just yet.

“This you?” Adrien said, nodding at the building.

“Unfortunately,” Marinette said, pulling Adrien off to the side of the building as one of her neighbors brushed past them with a small nod and a smile. “Guess you’re in the clear with Alya now.”

“Thank God,” Adrien laughed, glancing down at their linked arms for a moment before slowly sliding his arm out of her grasp almost reluctantly. “So um…I had fun today.”

“Same,” Marinette said, almost wishing this was the end of their first date. “I would invite you up but uh…seriously, it’s like a post-apocalyptic fallout shelter of manniquins and take out boxes up there.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Adrien said, scratching the back of his neck.

“Sure,” Marinette said, glancing at her phone. “I may be working late so just shoot me a text before you call.”

“Can do,” Adrien nodded. “I just wanted to…well just to talk about a couple of things if you’re up for it?”

“Nothing too serious, I hope,” Marinette said.

“Not serious but…important I guess,” Adrien said. “In the interest of getting a few things taken care of before Saturday.”

“Of course,” Marinette nodded. Already it seemed like Saturday was too far away for her taste all but quivering in anticipation already. But if she was going to do this, she was going to do it properly which meant waiting…no matter how bad she was at that.

"Great," Adrien said with a small smile.

“I’ll look forward to it,” Marinette said, teetering back and forth. At this rate, they were both going to freeze to death before either of them said goodnight so Marinette bit the bullet. “Well…goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Adrien said with a small nod as Marinette turned to head up the steps into the building. “Oh, I almost forgot!”

“Yes?” Marinette asked, turning around to see Adrien on the steps behind her, almost nose to nose with her despite the fact that she had a whole two-step advantage above him. She had never pegged herself as someone who liked tall guys before but she wouldn’t have wished Adrien any shorter if she had been paid to do it.

“You never answered my question all those weeks ago,” Adrien said, green eyes transfixed on blue. “At least not…definitively.”

“Which one?” Marinette asked, thankful they were alone on the front steps. "You ask a lot of questions."

“Fair point but I asked…if you considered yourself more of a domme or a sub,” Adrien said, letting the question hang in the air between them as his lips widened into a smirk. “And if we’re playing together well…I’d like to know which position you’re playing.”

The chilly spring evening suddenly felt much warmer as Marinette forced herself to hold Adrien’s expression.

“…do I have to pick?” Marinette said after a moment, lips slowly curling into a smile to match Adrien’s.

“Never,” Adrien said. “It’s a lady’s prerogative to have the best of both worlds if she chooses.”

“Well…despite having absolutely no experience…” Marinette said softly. “I have to say that the answer to your earlier question is…yes.”

“If I can be perfectly honest, that’s my favorite answer,” Adrien admitted, gaze flickering between her lips and her eyes briefly. They were a scant few inches away from one another and Marinette bit her bottom lip in a way that made Adrien want to completely smother her mouth with his. He licked his lips, clenching his hands behind his back as he reminded himself that this wasn’t going to be that kind of a relationship...as much as he’d like it to be.

“So…” Adrien said, trying to refocus his attention on the positives. “If that is the case…what exactly did you want to happen on Saturday?”

Marinette swallowed with a heavy intake of breath. There were a lot of things she wanted to happen on Saturday; five years of lurid fantasies had given her more than enough ammunition to work with. Right now she wanted to reach across the step, grab Adrien by his loose tie and smash her lips against his without a care if she was “coming on too strongly.” She wanted to come on strongly; she wanted to completely rock his world. She wanted him breathless, sweating, clinging to her for dear life after she was done with him while her fingers slowly wound their way through her hair.

So much of her wanted her to mark him, fuck him so hard he couldn’t sit down for a week without remembering what she had done to him. She wanted all of that…but…she also wanted his fingers trailing down her back, hands secured in a way that couldn’t stop his wandering touch. She wanted his hands in her hair, his teeth at her shoulder, his voice rasping soft commands in her ear. She wanted to be taken breathless and screaming into his sheets, left a soft, hazy mess on his mattress while he stroked her hair and rubbed her shoulders. She wanted to remember Saturday for the rest of the week every time she sat or lay in bed without him.

And for once, she wanted to be the one to just show up and have someone completely invested in her own satisfaction for just one night after so many disappointing trysts in showers, bathroom stalls, and dorm room couches. As a woman who had never been satisfied for once she wanted the night to go completely like she wanted it.

“You uh…don’t have to answer right now,” Adrien said after a moment of silence, scratching the back of his neck. “I just asked because-”

“N-No, it’s okay,” Marinette said, looking into Adrien’s eyes with a deep breath as she wondered how to best say what she wanted to say. “I just…w-well there are a lot of things I’ve wanted to try but…I guess I don’t really have any practical experience to fall back on.”

“As is typical for someone’s first time,” Adrien laughed, stepping back a little as Marinette stepped closer to him, dropping almost four inches until she had to look up at him to meet his eye.

“Right…s-so I find myself in need of some…instruction,” Marinette said tactfully, reaching out and straightening Adrien’s tie as he swallowed heavily. She watched his Adam’s apple bob as she drew back, taking comfort in the possibility that he was as nervous and excited as she was. He seemed to hang on her every word, so she let him hang for a moment as she gathered her thoughts.

“You had mentioned,” Marinette cleared her throat. “Earlier that you had…bottomed for a bit before you topped, right?”

“That’s not uh…mandatory or anything,” Adrien said with a nervous chuckle. “I mean there are…plenty of ways a sub could theoretically teach his-their dom from the bottom.”

“I just…” Marinette sighed. “I don’t want to hurt you because I was inexperienced or something."

Her hand reached out, smoothing the lapels of his coat as she tried to find the words to say

"And as much as domming is…something I would like to try-” (Adrien had to resist the urge to pump his fist extremely hard.) “-I would…prefer it if you were to take charge on Saturday,” Marinette said, glancing up at him to judge his response. He bit his lip, blinking as he stared over Marinette’s head before looking back with a raised eyebrow.

“And what do you mean by that?” Adrien asked.

“…really?” Marinette asked, cheeks pinkening. “I thought I was clear?”

“You weren’t,” Adrien said simply. “What exactly do you want me with you on Saturday?”

“You know…” Marinette trailed off uselessly.

“I actually don’t,” Adrien said slowly, stepping up until he stood on the same step as she did, feet on either side of hers as she suddenly found herself nose to chest with him. “I’m don’t fancy myself a very demanding person...but there is one thing I’m going to need from you if we’re going to do this.”

“A-And that is?” Marinette stuttered, so close to his chest she could count the threads in his shirt. Before she knew what was happening, he had slowly reached out, cupping her chin and slowly raising her eyes to meet his. Well this is something I didn’t know I liked, Marinette thought to herself, blinking up at Adrien.

“I need your honesty, Marinette,” Adrien said as Marinette tried not to faint at the firm tone of voice belied by the soft smile he sent down at her. “I’m not going to guess at what you want and what you don’t want…you need to tell me, in absolutely no uncertain terms, what it is you want from me…can you do that?”

“Yes,” Marinette said after a moment, swallowing as her fingers trailed up the inside of his wrist. His thumb was so close to her lips that any slight movement across them would completely erode the last bastions of self-control Marinette had erected.

“Then I need you to say what it is you want me to do with you,” Adrien said in the same low, almost purring tone. “Explicitly. So there is absolutely no confusion between us.”

Well there was no chance of avoiding confusion. Marinette was already plenty confused for the pair of them, torn between wanting to kiss Adrien, tie Adrien down, and get tied down by Adrien. Confusion had defined her feelings towards Adrien since they were teenagers; even now she was unsure of almost everything except for the fact that she just plain wanted him.

“You…you just want to make me say it,” Marinette said softly.

“Why would I want that?” Adrien asked, cocking his head to one side.

“Y-You like embarrassing me,” Marinette said matter of factly. “Don’t you?”

“That’s neither here nor there…though I have to say that red is definitely your color,” Adrien said as Marinette rolled her eyes with a small snort. “Are you embarrassed to say it?”

“…a little,” Marinette admitted.

“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Adrien said, biting his lip as Marinette shifted a little under his gaze. “Do you want to tell me why?”

“I’ve just…never really done it like this before,” Marinette said, swallowing as her chin quavered under Adrien’s touch. “I mean forget the...kinky stuff...I’ve never even asked someone for something I really wanted in bed.”

“Mmhmm,” Adrien said. “And how has that worked for you?”

“Not spectacularly,” Marinette chuckled.

“Maybe it’s time you gave that a try then,” Adrien said with a small wink that drew a giggle from Marinette in spite of herself.

“…okay,” Marinette said, eyes locking with Adrien’s. “I…I want you to uh…g-give me a second?”

“Take your time,” Adrien said, stowing his hands in his pocket as he patiently waited for her response.

“Okay,” Marinette said, shaking her hands out and taking a deep breath. “Okayokayokay I can do this…”

“Gambatte,” Adrien said with a small thumbs up.

“Weeb,” Marinette chuckled.

“I actually lived in Japan though,” Adrien pointed out.

“Doesn’t stop you from being a weeb,” Marinette said, folding her arms in front of her and looking back at Adrien resolutely. “Okay…Adrien…I…I want to...no, I want you to um…uuuuuuuuuuum…dominateme or wh-whatever.”

Dominate me or whatever?! Marinette thought as she leaned against the stairwell in what she hoped was a casual and cool gesture. Did those words actually just come out of my mouth?!

“Did you want me to dominate you or whatever?” Adrien said, feigning confusion.

“You do like to see me squirm,” Marinette grumbled.

“Guilty,” Adrien shrugged. “So? Which is it?”

“…the first,” Marinette said.

“Which is?” Adrien prompted, prompting an exasperated growl from Marinette.

“Fine! On Saturday I…want you to dominate me,” Marinette said with a small sigh as she waited for a laugh, a roll of the eyes, a “you’re so bad at this Marinette” from Adrien.

…but they didn’t come.

Adrien looked her over with a closed mouth smile and a small nod. “As you wish,” he said like he was auditioning for a goddamn remake of The Princess Bride or something. He didn’t even have the common decency to stammer or do anything other than mildly blush to suggest he was as much of a hormone addled wreck as she was. She didn’t know if it was an act or if she wasn’t affecting him like he was affecting her. If it was the former then she wanted to take Adrien to Monte Carlo and hit the poker tables.

If it was the latter, she needed to step her game up.

“Was that so hard?” Adrien asked after a moment.

“Shut up,” Marinette laughed, pushing him back off her step so he wasn’t looming over her like a sexy tree. “You know you can be a real pain in the ass sometimes.”

“Oh you have no idea,” Adrien snickered.

“Is that a threat or a promise?” Marinette asked, tip of her tongue poking out between her teeth.

“Whatever you'd like it to be,” Adrien shrugged with a lopsided smirk. “I’ll…talk to you tomorrow then?”

“Yep,” Marinette said. “Again I would uh…invite you up but-”

“Fallout shelter?” Adrien snorted.

“Well that,” Marinette admitted, glancing down at him with her lip caught between her teeth. “But there’s also the fact that if I did…well…let’s just say I don’t think we’d make it until Saturday. Too much…temptation.”

There it was, Marinette thought, watching Adrien’s placid expression of serenity lapse, eyes glinting and breath catching in his throat. A chink in the armor; at least now she knew she wasn’t the only one with butterflies in her stomach.

“Well uh,” Adrien cleared his throat. “I-In that case I should stop tempting you then.”

“You should,” Marinette said with a small wink. “Not all of us have the luxury of sleeping in tomorrow.”

“Would you believe me if I told you I have never slept in a day in my life?” Adrien snorted.

“Yes,” Marinette said with a small smile. “You should; you really earned it today.”

“Thanks,” Adrien said. “Here’s hoping I don’t cave under the tidal wave of e-mails and phone calls that await me tomorrow.”

“You won’t,” Marinette said.

“You seem pretty sure of that,” Adrien said. “I’m not even sure of that to be honest.”

“…maybe I know you better than you think,” Marinette said, savoring the look of confusion that flitted across Adrien’s face. “Goodnight, Adrien.”

“Night,” Adrien said, walking backwards down the steps as he watched her disappear into her building, smiling at the night receptionist as she passed. She glanced over her shoulder at she reached the stairs, offering a small wave as she disappeared into the building. He didn’t realize he had been holding his breath until she was gone and remembered what it was like to breathe without her. He stared at the door to her building for a long moment until someone brushed past him with a murmured apology and brought him back to reality.

And he realized he was going to be with Marinette…just not exactly in the way he wanted.

Adrien shook his head as he headed down the street, unable to keep the smile off his face despite the fact that he couldn't have everything he wanted. And there was the fact that it was possible that he was confusing desire for love as was his habit and as he had done with disastrous results in the past. He and Marinette had engaged in some rather…heavy conversation topics over the last couple of months. And of course she was a stone cold 10/10 when it came to looks so…perhaps he had rushed to judgment. Perhaps he had put the cart ahead of the horse and read too much into his own feelings like he so frequently did and once they got to playing around, Adrien would discover his aching affection for her was little more than friendship mixed with untapped lust that had been building up for too long.

He supposed Saturday would tell…and on that thought, Adrien’s face fell just a little.

“Ahhhhh man,” Adrien sighed, tilting his head back as he remembered he was in charge for the evening. “I’m going to have to plan this aren’t I?”

Still, as much work as it was going to be, he was going to enjoy the payoff immensely...though not as much as Marinette would if he could help it.

To her eternal astonishment, Marinette made it up four flights of stairs, said good evening to three of her neighbors, and unlocked her door before collapsing in a pile of lust, buzzing nerves and anticipation, slowly sliding down the door until she sat on the floor. Her heart thudded almost painfully in her chest, her breath coming in slow shaky gasps as her face stretched into an idiotic grin reflected in the full length mirror across from her. If someone had told her she was going to proposition her high school crush that day, she might have picked out an outfit that didn’t make her look like a librarian attending a picnic.

But he had said yes.

Yes.

Yes.

After years of living in mortal fear of the word no coming out of his lips, Adrien had agreed; flirted with her even. She all but jumped in his arms, his hand cupped her butt as he lifted her into the air, his fingers tilted her chin up as he asked her what it was he could do for her; asked her how he could best please her and on Saturday...in less than five days...they were going to-

Marinette shucked her boots off, tossing her cardigan on the table as she wobbled down the hall on shaky legs, singlemindedly focused on the box under her bed which she retrieved with shaking fingers, opening it and running her fingers over the ridged pink silicone as she flicked the switch at the base absentmindedly.

“Come on,” Marinette hissed, slipping out of her skirt with one hand as her toy failed to buzz to life as it should. Grumbling to herself, she padded back into the kitchen, pulling open her battery drawer and rooting around. “Double A…Double A…come on where are you-ahah!”

Her fingers closed around the corner of a box in the back of the drawer, stomach plummeting as she lifted it only to find it was just a little too light to be of any use to her.

“That’s…that’s not fair,” Marinette whimpered, shaking the empty battery box as though it would spawn batteries by magic. “That’s not fair at all…there was time now...”

It was going to be a long week. Marinette let her head bump against the cool tile with a small sob, rolling over and looking at the inert sex toy mockingly staring at her from its place on the counter.

"Alright," Marinette sighed, retrieving her toy and heading back to her bedroom. "Guess we're doing this the Amish way then..."