⚠️Spoilers for S4 and S5 of Miraculous⚠️
Marinette didn't mean to get addicted to coffee. She knew the risks of caffeine dependency, and for most of her life swore never to hop on that train. But when high school began to get overwhelming on top of her extracurriculars (being a superhero and Guardian of the Miraculous), she found herself drawn to the idea of an extra energy boost in the mornings.
Tikki was wary but understood that her holder's responsibilities were exhausting. As for Marinette's parents, they didn't suspect a single thing when Marinette asked for a coffee maker for her birthday that year. It turns out they'd been waiting for her to ask, considering how hard it was for her to wake up in the mornings.
And, well...maybe there was one other reason Marinette wanted to start drinking coffee. When Adrien had shown up to class with dark circles under his eyes and a thermos in his hand, she caught a hint of caramel-scented coffee. She'd overheard him telling Nino that he slept late that morning and wouldn't usually bring his morning coffee with him otherwise.
So she'd asked Alya to ask Nino to ask Adrien how he usually took his coffee, and through the grapevine, she learned his preferred method. But she picked up new flavors in the following weeks. Her grand plan was to ask Adrien to join her for coffee after school on a day when he had some free time. But as Marinette-- and everyone else for that matter-- knew, her plans never went smoothly.
Luckily, she spotted Adrien in a cafe one rainy morning when their teacher had given them a free period. He was waiting in line with Nino and Alya, and Alya was frantically texting someone on her phone.
As Marinette watched this, frozen across the street, her phone buzzed in her pocket.
You'll never guess who I ran into ;)
Marinette heard an inhuman squeak escape her lips, and a tiny voice from the bag on her left hip whispered, "You can do this, Marinette! Alya will be there, don't worry!"
So Marinette took a deep breath and mustered up all the courage she could before crossing the street and entering the coffee shop.
The bell above her head jingled warmly, and the bitter scent of coffee mingled with the savory smell of bagels. Alya turned to the door and beckoned her friend toward their little group. Marinette gave a little wave to the three as she stepped into the line with them next to Alya.
Sneakily, Alya swapped Marinette and Nino, placing Marinette between herself and Adrien. The blond turned to Marinette and smiled at her.
"Good to see you, Mari!"
Marinette's breath caught in her throat as her bluebell eyes met his emerald green ones. He'd never called her that before.
"M...Ma...Mari?"
Adrien dipped his head and scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, uh, I've heard everyone else call you that. I don't have to say it, I can just--"
"It's okay," Marinette heard herself say. "You're cute--I mean, it's cute! The nickname, that's what I meant."
With a nervous laugh, Marinette found herself mirroring Adrien's sheepish body language, internally kicking herself for fumbling her words. She thought after all these years she'd be over this stammering issue, but it seemed to flare up every now and then.
"Oh, great!" Adrien said, a bit relieved. As the group stepped up to order, Marinette's hand brushed against Adrien's, and she barely had time to register the feeling before the barista at the register asked for her order.
"I'll have a hot dark chocolate raspberry latte, please," she said, fumbling in her purse for her wallet. Tikki's wide eyes were the only thing that greeted her. "Uh, actually, never mind. I forgot my wallet."
