A Step at a Time

The rest of the week passed without incident. Adrien convinced Nathalie to move his schedule so he could contribute to the presentation properly. Although, he suspected Caline had had a quiet word with Gabriel who then had a not-so-subtle talk with Nathalie.

Lunchtimes Tuesday and Wednesday he had with Joseph, but after school he was free to join Nino, Alya, and Marinette at the bakery where they decided to present on the Viking invasion of France in 845 AD.

Thursday and Friday, his lunch time was spent in the library with the others, gathering resources and brainstorming ways to make it creative. Marinette offered to make costumes, to their delight, while Nino's suggestion to put it in song was unanimously shot down. Annoyed by his whining, they compromised and agreed he could make a musical accompaniment. Alya was particularly interested in the siege of Paris and said they could make replica weapons the class could hold and pass around. Adrien couldn't think of anything creative, so he focussed on research and offered to make the PowerPoint slides. They then agreed to meet at Marinette's place on Saturday morning to begin the laborious task of fittings, constructing the props and collating their information.

When Saturday arrived, Adrien was late. Plagg had turned off his alarm citing that weekends were for sleep.

'Not when you have a presentation that counts for thirty percent of your grade,' Adrien hissed.

He left the house with a hollered farewell, hastily stuffed bag strangling him, and loose pages floating in his wake.

Gabriel and Caline stared after him before returning to their breakfast.

Adrien entered the bakery and was greeted by Sabine.

'Sorry I'm late. My alarm didn't go off,' he apologised as he gave his bag a spiteful squeeze.

'I wouldn't worry, dear, I don't think they've gotten very far yet. Could you take these up with you?' she asked, handing him a tray of pastries.

He nodded and took it upstairs. The sound of his friends' laughter could be heard from the second landing and Adrien grinned in anticipation. He followed the sounds up to Marinette's room where he saw Nino and Alya pumping their fists as they cheered Marinette on. She was seated at her desk, her back to him, as she fiddled with something.

Sliding the tray onto one of Marinette's storage chests, he asked, 'what's going on?'

'Marinette's trying to see how many macaroons she can fit in her mouth without squashing them,' Alya cackled. 'She's up to four already.'

Adrien paused, staring.

'Tuck it in your cheek,' Nino advised as Marinette picked up her fifth macaroon.

'You look ridiculous,' laughed Adrien when she turned to glare at Nino.

Marinette turned to him, mouth wide open and filled with macaroons, one cheek bulging. Her face turned red and she let out a muffled shriek, spraying chunks into the air.

'Sorry,' she choked. Swallowing what was left, she repeated, 'sorry. I didn't hear you come in. You surprised me.'

'No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you.'

'How about you apologise to the rest of us,' Nino grumbled, eyeing the mess on the floor. 'You nearly got me.'

'Sorry, sorry, sorry,' Marinette begged, hands raised in a placating gesture. 'Let me get something to clean this up, then we can get started.'

Things went smoothly after that. Marinette had them try on their costumes - Nino and Alya as the invaders, Adrien as King Charles, and Marinette as a noblewoman.

'I think I object to playing the part of someone called Charles the Bald,' Adrien complained.

'You could wear a bald cap,' Alya suggested gleefully.

'No.'

'Aww, come on. It'll be funny.'

'He wasn't even bald.'

Nino played a mix he thought fitted the theme, making a note to add "big drums" when Alya said it needed to be more dramatic.

Adrien showed them the slides he'd been working on, backgrounds and fonts he thought looked appropriate, while Alya pulled out her Styrofoam swords and model siege towers. Together, they sifted through their information, pulling the most interesting facts out first, and practised reading aloud.

Finally, they had to stop for the day. The sun had lowered and Adrien's phone had been buzzing for the last ten minutes. He arrived home for dinner with Gabriel and Caline who both smiled and asked about his day. He played coy, hoping to surprise Caline on Monday. He was pleased with the level of productiveness he and his friends had shown, and still had patrol with Ladybug to look forward to.

Looking at her as he approached, Chat Noir couldn't help but notice the similarities between Ladybug and Marinette. Dark hair in pigtails, blue eyes, a penchant for stuffing macaroons in their mouths. Ladybug waved before greeting him with a quick hug. He squeezed her back, dismissing his earlier thoughts as purely fanciful.

Marinette had been practicing her part since Saturday afternoon and still sounded stilted and unsure. Adrien winced in sympathy, but Marinette caught the expression.

'I know I sound unnatural. I'm trying my best,' she said, crossing her arms and frowning.

'I'm not criticising you, I swear. Just take a deep breath and continue to breathe. You'll do great.'

Their class was going to make their presentations in first period, so last-minute practise in the library was a popular option.

'Yeah, Girl, just chill out. It's only us and a few other dorks,' Alya added.

They all chuckled as the bell rang and separated to go and change into their costumes. They met again in the classroom where they were met enthusiastically by the rest of the class.

'Adrikins, you look darling,' twittered Chloe as she circled him

'Thanks, Chlo. Marinette made our costumes; they turned out great, didn't they?'

'Yeah,' Chloe replied, one eye twitching. 'Really great.'

They took their seats and waited for Caline. When she arrived, they began their presentations without preamble. The groups were called, and one by one, made their presentations. They all performed well, even Marinette who only stuttered a little at the beginning of her section. She rallied after that initial stammer to give a speech that would have made Ladybug proud. Caline applauded them all, praising them by saying they had all exceeded her expectations. Adrien, however, thought his group had out-performed them all.