Dangerous Games

Despite his overwhelming exhaustion, Adrien wasn't able to get back to sleep as Marinette had instructed. Luka's obvious interest in her had not been a shock, but the vehemence with which he spoke made Adrien uneasy. It seemed unlikely Luka would harm Marinette, but it was another question entirely if he would extend such a courtesy to any would-be suitor.

Plagg drifted out of the bedroom. 'Cheese?' he asked, still half asleep.

Adrien pulled a wheel of camembert out of the fridge, then prepared some coffee and his own breakfast.

Sitting on his lounge, he flicked on the TV for background noise while he ate. Plagg remained on the kitchen bench, attempting to swallow the entire wheel in one bite.

Adrien finished his meal, cleaned up, and showered. Once he was clean and dressed, he slumped back on the lounge, laying one arm over his eyes.

'You look like a nineteenth century damsel in a faint,' Plagg observed.

'Shut up. I'm still tired.'

'What's eating you, Kid?' Plagg perched on the back of the seat to look down at him.

Adrien's arm slid off his face to lay on his chest. 'Did you hear what Luka said last night?'

Plagg tilted his head. 'Was he the guy who told you not to mess with the girl across the way?'

'Yeah.'

'Why are you worried about him?'

With a shrug, he replied, 'I don't know. Something about him just seems off, don't you think?'

Plagg cocked an eyebrow. 'As in, something legitimately "off," or you're jealous "off?"'

Adrien sat up. 'I'm not jealous. I have nothing to be jealous of.'

'So, you feel threatened by his prior claim on Marinette?'

'No, well maybe. I don't know. There's just something about him I don't like.'

Plagg regarded him carefully with his arms crossed. 'It could be a simple personality clash. Sometimes people just don't like other people. That certainly seems to be his case.'

'That's the other thing,' Adrien exclaimed. 'He acted like that from the moment Marinette introduced us.'

'Then he sees you as his romantic rival. He's competition, that's why you don't like him. The feeling's mutual, and that's all there is to it.'

Shaking his head slowly, Adrien maintained eye contact. 'I think that's an oversimplification. That guy gives me some seriously bad vibes.'

Plagg threw his arms up with a roll of his eyes. 'Whatever. Just don't do anything stupid before you have your facts straight.'

'Your constant faith in me warms my heart.'

'Tone down the sarcasm and get to the shops. I'm out of cheese.'

Heaving a sigh, Adrien made a list of the things he needed to get. He was still short on many basic food items, cooking paraphernalia, and cleaning products. Plagg hovered around his head, nagging  constantly for him to add cheese to the list. Piqued, he wrote Roquefort in bold letters at the bottom.

Plagg gasped. 'No, not that one. That mouldy abomination is a crime against cheese everywhere. It's a traitor to everything good in this world.'

Adrien turned to him, confused. 'You eat blue-veined cheese.'

'The problem isn't the mould,' he argued. 'There is a brand of Roquefort called Papillon, and it has ruined all of its brethren's good name.'

'So that's why you give all Roqueforts the stink eye when we go past. I just thought you didn't like it.'

'How little you know,' Plagg sniffed.

Adrien ignored the dig and set aside Plagg's unreasonable bias. He scribbled out Roquefort and scrawled camembert below it. He then gathered his keys, wallet, phone, and a shopping bag.

He stepped into the hallway as Marinette was coming back from the elevator.

'Hey, Marinette. Sorry I was a bit grumpy earlier,' he said, locking his door and turning to face her.

Marinette's face was flushed. 'Oh, no, you're fine. I mean, it was fine. We disturbed you, and I am so sorry about that. You should be in my bed, I mean, in your bed. You need to be resting in your bed.'

He had to bite his tongue. 'I tried to, but I couldn't get back to sleep. Once I'm up, I'm up. That's it. How're things with Alya?'

Marinette brightened. 'Great, really great. She wants to ask Nino to marry her.'

Her eyes widened as she clapped both hands over her mouth. 'I wasn't supposed to say that. Can you keep it a secret, please?'

He gave an easy chuckle. 'I can keep it a secret. I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise.'

She visibly relaxed, her hands lowering as she smiled happily.

She's the cutest thing I've ever seen, he thought, his expression softening.

'Thank you, so much. Are you going out?' she asked, looking at his bag.

'Yeah, just grocery shopping, though. Did you want to come?'

She blinked up at him. 'Would that be ok?'

'Of course,' he grinned. 'I'll wait here.'

She squealed in delight before darting inside to fetch her keys and purse. Her phone was ringing  when she came out again, but she declined the call.

'You're not going to answer?' he asked.

She shrugged. 'It's just a wrong number, or an automated machine.'

He raised an eyebrow. 'How do you know that?'

'The same number tried to call me last night, but when I answered, there was no one there.'

'Huh. Weird.'

'I know, right?'

They stepped into the elevator in companionable silence. Mercifully, they made it outside without running into Luka. Adrien breathed a quiet sigh of relief as they walked down the street.

Marinette babbled excitedly about Alya while they walked. When she was distracted, she could talk to him easily, as if she forgot about her crush on him. He grinned indulgently at her as they entered the grocery store. While it was fun to tease her, and reduce her to a flustered mess, this was nice too. If he let himself forget for a moment, he could pretend they were a couple.

'Hey, Marinette. Hello, Adrien,' said a new voice.

Adrien shook off the fantasy to see Nathaniel standing before him.

'Hey, Nath,' Marinette greeted him, with a friendly smile.

'Hey,' Nathaniel murmured in response, brushing his hair behind his ear as his gaze dropped to the floor.

Adrien held out a hand. 'Hey, Man. I haven't seen you in ages. How've you been?'

Nathaniel shook his hand, but it was weak. 'All right,' he answered, his eyes flicking up to Adrien's before lowering again.

Pulling his hand back, Adrien looked at Nathaniel closely. He had always been shy, and it was well known he had harboured feelings for Marinette when they were kids. Adrien wondered if Nathaniel had ever really moved on from his crush.

She's more popular than I realised, came the chagrined understanding.

Marinette, however, was talking to Nathaniel like she would any other friend. 'Last I saw you, you were about to have your own comic published. How's that going?'

Finally, he looked up at her, a timid smile lighting up his features. 'Really well. I'm contracted to write sequels now. There have even been mutterings of a movie deal.'

Marinette bounced on her toes and clapped. 'That's so exciting. Congratulations.'

Adrien nodded. 'Yeah, that's fantastic news. Good on you.'

Nathaniel's cheeks turned as red as his hair. 'Thanks, guys. How're you both doing?'

'Great,' Marinette replied, cheerily.

'Can't complain,' Adrien added.

Nathaniel's eyes passed between them for a moment, a question clear in his expression, but he didn't comment. 'I should let you both get on. It was nice seeing you.'

'You too,' said Marinette.

Adrien waved. 'Don't be a stranger.'

Nathaniel waved back, then headed out the door.

Adrien held a hand out, indicating she lead the way. Marinette's face turned pink, before she nodded and headed toward the fresh produce.

It was strange, Adrien thought, that Luka gave him such bad vibes, when Nathaniel didn't. They both fancied her, which made them both competition for her affections, but he only felt like Luka was a threat. Perhaps it was because he hadn't known Luka for as long, or because Nathaniel was so timid.

He shook his head, dispelling the thought. Neither of them should matter. He liked Marinette, and he decided he was going to pursue her. Whether she would welcome his advances was another question, but in the unlikely event she rejected him, he would accept her decision. But for now, he wanted her as his own, and he was not going to let another male scare him away.

He just needed to find an opportunity to broach the subject.