of bookstores and cute cashiers
this one's for @milkisande and @nerdypanda3126 !! they both requested adrienette + bookstore. thank you and i hope you guys enjoy this <3
@auyeahaugust day 18: bookstore
It was a bright, sunny day, and Adrien Agreste was out on an errand.
He smiled as he walked leisurely to the corner book shop, enjoying the coolness of spring. He was off to buy a book his father had been wanting to read, and he planned to buy a few books of his own, too.
If it had been another Gabriel employee who'd been tasked to do such a trivial thing, they certainly would've been quite resentful of stooping so low. At least, that was how other people would have probably viewed it.
But Adrien felt the exact opposite. Instead, he relished this brief, much welcomed respite from work and his father's steely-eyed stares.
Sometimes, he thought, being an errand boy felt better than being an Agreste.
Adrien shook those thoughts away as he neared the book store. Now was not the time.
He heard a little bell ring as he pushed the quaint little door open, and then the smell of ink, paper, and—was that coffee?—assaulted his senses. Adrien inhaled again, breathing in the scent of the book shop.
And then he looked upon the rows and rows of bookshelves, stuffed with a dizzying amount of books. Eyes wide, his starstruck gaze flitted from shelf to shelf, gleefully taking note of the sheer volume of literature. Fantasy! Physics! Mysteries! Astronomy!
The list of topics grew ever longer as he took in the entirety of the shop. Surely there were at least a hundred—no, a thousand!—books in this store!
Are we in heaven? his dazed, book-loving mind asked him.
"Hello, and welcome to the Book Nook!"
Adrien's head whipped to his right, and for a moment it seemed like the world had stopped turning. Because there, behind the counter, was the smiling, cheerful, beautiful Marinette.
"I don't believe it," he breathed.
Marinette's eyes widened—sparkling, surprised sapphires.
"Adrien?"
With what was left of his garbled senses, Adrien marveled at the sight before him. He'd been right earlier. He really was in heaven.
"Hey!" he said. Immediately he felt like slapping himself. That was so lame!
"Hey!" Marinette laughed, and Adrien thought that this must be what angels sounded like. "It's been so long since I last saw you. How've you been?"
Better now that I've seen you was what he wanted to say. He blushed. Instead, he settled for a simple "good," grinning like a maniac.
"That's great!" Marinette cheerily replied, her blue eyes sparkling so prettily as she spoke. "Moving on—how may I help you, Mr. Agreste?"
Adrien stifled a giggle. "Well, Ms. Dupain-Cheng, I need…"
He leaned forward, feeling giddily adventurous all of a sudden. Marinette's cheeks turned just a shade pinker.
You. I need you.
Adrien instantly straightened as he felt the tips of his ears turn red. Where did that come from?
"Sorry, I meant—" He coughed, hoping Marinette hadn't noticed the abrupt pause. In a more controlled voice, he said, "My father sent me to find a certain book. All the other bookstores don't have it in stock, but he sent me here saying that he was certain you would."
Marinette blinked, her cheeks still a delectable shade of pink. "Wh— what book is your father looking for?"
Adrien quickly rattled off the title and author.
Marinette started nodding even before he was halfway through. "Oh, yes. Follow me, I'll show you where it is."
She slipped around the counter, and for the first time since he set foot into the shop, Adrien noticed her uniform.
"Did you make that yourself?"
"Yep!" Marinette gave a little twirl. "You like it?"
"Of course," Adrien said, a smile on his lips. She blushed.
Her blouse was a riot of red and black, with swaths of cloth artfully arranged to give it a fashionable look. A black pair of pants paired the blouse, the look as a whole so chic and cute and so Marinette.
It seemed the bookstore owner was more liberal with their employees' choice of dress—because if that was what Marinette wore to work on the daily, his father would have fired her on the spot.
(Father would probably just rehire her as one of his designers, though. So in the end it probably didn't matter.)
As she strolled past him towards the endless rows of bookshelves, he found he couldn't look away from her. The way she moved, the way her short hair swished around her face—it mesmerized him. Time passed quickly, with Adrien lost in the moment, and all too soon Marinette stopped and turned to face him.
"Um. We're here. The thing is..." She bit her lip and flushed. "I can't exactly reach the shelf it's on."
Adrien couldn't help the small snort that escaped him. But when Marinette gave him a look, he quickly backtracked. "Sorry! Sorry, I just—"
A giggle cut his apology short. "No, no, it's okay, Adrien," Marinette said, another giggle punctuating her words. "You're too sweet, really."
Adrien went red.
"Th— thank you?" he said faintly.
Marinette's giggles increased in volume. "You're welcome. Now can you give me a lift? I don't think even you could reach the top of the shelf alone."
A… a lift?
Adrien swallowed. No. No, no, no. He was in trouble now. How was he supposed to be in such close proximity with her without melting?
And yet he found himself agreeing, just to please her. "Sure."
He suspected it was his being a hopeless romantic that had done that—and it didn't help that the sight of his old classmate had stirred up long-forgotten memories of teenage love and longing looks.
At least, if this giddy, fluttery feeling could be called love.
He crouched a little and interlaced his hands to form a foothold, all the while trying not to freak out. He watched as Marinette daintily slipped her stocking covered feet out of her shoes, and stepped over to him.
She laid a hand on his shoulder. "Ready?"
No.
"Yes," he said instead, biting his lip in an effort to keep calm.
She braced herself with the help of his shoulder and put a foot in his hands, the feel of the smooth cloth of her stockings against his skin sending a thrill through his veins. She wasn't even that heavy, Adrien thought.
Once Marinette had stabilized herself, Adrien gave her a boost, pushing her higher until she could finally reach the book that rested on the uppermost shelf.
"Got it!" she called out, waving the book in the air.
"Okay, ready?"
"Ye—" Marinette's head bumped into the overhead lamp, and she immediately recoiled. "Ow…"
Adrien's eyes widened as her body started teetering dangerously, unbalanced by her sudden movement.
"Marinette!"
When she noticed her precarious position, Marinette shrieked. "Ahh!"
Her arms flailed panickedly, and the book slipped from her fingers with a loud thud as she desperately tried to right herself.
"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!" she cried, instinctively turning around to face Adrien. "I—"
That… was a mistake.
Time seemed to slow and Adrien watched in horror as Marinette fell. He instinctively abandoned his pose and tried to position himself underneath her, hoping to at least cushion her fall if he couldn't catch her.
Marinette crashed into his unsteady arms with a scream, almost causing him to drop her.
"I'm… I'm alive…" Marinette said faintly, dazed. She looked up at him, fear turning into gratitude. "Thanks, Adrien."
"Normally I'd say along the lines of 'you've fallen for me.'" There was a relieved smile on Adrien's lips as he set her down on her feet. "But I thought you probably wouldn't appreciate it after that nasty fall."
Marinette laughed, still breathless. "Are you sure?"
Adrien picked up her shoes and handed them to her, trying to ignore the blush blooming in his cheeks. "How about we get dinner together and find out?" he ventured.
She took the shoes and looked him in the eye, a grin breaking out on her face. "It's a date."
———
Adrien had come to the bookstore with money in his pocket and a book to buy. He left with a slightly damaged purchase and the promise of a date.
