what’s in a name? @adrinetteapril
Prompt 27 & 28: Marinette and the Agrestes & Adrien Dupain-Cheng
She didn’t know what she expected.
No, that wasn’t entirely true.
The awkward silence, clinking of silverware against white plates, echoing throughout the too big dining room was exactly what she expected. Marinette just thought (dreaded) that it would be punctuated with some conversation.
Aside from his initial greeting and cold inspection of her dress, Gabriel had said nothing. And Adrien, damn him, didn’t seem any more eager to break the silence.
She glared at him from across the table.
It was a miserable affair all around.
When someone came by to collect their empty plates Marinette hoped their miserable evening was coming to an end.
Then Gabriel cleared his throat and she knew the worst was just beginning.
Even now, hours later, as she slumped down in her bathtub, letting the water come up to her nose, she could still see her boss’s cold, expressionless face as he lectured them on things like propriety and decency and discretion.
“If this relationship if going to continue,” He said, blatantly ignoring the fact that both she and Adrien were adults and capable of making their own decisions. “Then keep your… romping… out of the press.”
The evening quickly devolved from there.
Several heated words, a not-so-vague threat against her career, and a dramatic exit later left her trailing after her raging partner as he stormed down the cobbled streets.
“Absolutely ridiculous,” He said.
Marinette, despite herself, smiled. “I think your Bourgeois is showing.”
Adrien’s look was scathing.
“How can you be so calm about this?”
She shrugged, taking his arm and pulling him to slow down and walk with her.
“Because it’s what I’ve come to expect from your father.” She squeezed. “You know what he said wasn’t true right?”
He laughed, a hollow, angry thing. “Which part?”
“All of it,” She said. “But mostly about you being a disappointment.”
“I am a disappointment. To him at least.” He shook his head. “Not behavior fit for an Agreste. Hah.”
“You are an Agreste,” Marinette said, stopping him. She met his eyes with a steely determination that made him melt in spite of everything. “Whatever you do is therefore Agreste behavior. Your father isn’t the first and he won’t be the last.”
“I guess,” Adrien said, but he was smiling now. “Although maybe he will be. Do you think your parents would adopt me?”
She laughed. “In a heartbeat.”
“Adrien Dupain-Cheng has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”
His expression was lighter, eyes soft as he gazed down at her. Marinette’s heart, the traitorous thing, felt like it was trying to leap from her chest to his.
It’s probably why she said what she did next.
Marinette blew out an agitated stream of bubbles into the bath, skin heating more from memory than from the steaming water around her.
They were in dangerous territory now.
But that didn’t stop her from saying, grin on hand, as she turned away to continue walking down the street.
“I don’t know. I’ve always been partial to Marinette Agreste, myself.”