The Mini Menace (Hiatus)

Hands Where I Can See 'em

Adrien's hand clamped down on Marinette's mouth. "What are you thinking? Don't say my name out loud!" he hissed.

Peeling his hand away from her face, she twisted his wrist behind his back, dragging him out of the stream of people. She didn't want to hurt him, she just needed to stop him from slipping away; Marinette needed answers. What was Adrien - Paris' golden boy - doing in a shady place like this?

"What are you doing here? Did you follow me?" she asked, looking over her shoulder to make sure no one was eavesdropping.

He wriggled free of her grasp. "I could ask you the same thing," he whispered, massaging his wrist. "But, no. I'm meeting someone and I only have about..." - he checked his watch - "two minutes before he leaves, so… later." Adrien shrugged and pulled away.

"Wait!" Marinette called out.

Adrien stopped and spun on his heels. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he tilted his head so expressively that it spoke volumes. Yes, I am listening; do I care? Not a chance.

"We're not done here," she said, folding her arms.

"I think you'll find that we are," he said as he started to wade through the dense crowd in search of his own buyer.

Marinette trailed after him, almost losing him between two heavy-set thugs. He stopped, but not for her benefit; he had found his guy, allowing her to close the distance between them with a short sprint. Now in range, she watched as Adrien handed another boy something made of gold.

"How much do you think it's worth?" he asked the boy.

If she had to guess, Marinette would have said the kid's codename was 'Cat Ears' as two large velvety feline ears were attached to his hood. Other than this, he looked relatively normal with short, dark hair gelled up for volume.

"I dunno. It's got a nice weight to it," he said appraisingly, his voice was textured and playful. "But, man is it tacky!" he exclaimed, handing it back. "I'll see what I can do, but-"

"Is that Chloe's bracelet?" Marinette interrupted, drawing both 'Cat Ears' and Adrien's gazes.

Adrien sighed, pocketing the bracelet. "That'll be all. Thanks Plagg," he dismissed, turning back to Marinette. "Yeah. What of it? Chloé's fair game as far as I'm concerned," he said flippantly.

"What do you mean?"

"When you flaunt your wealth like she does, you're kind of asking for it. Besides, it's Chloé," he added as if that was sufficient justification - Marinette found she couldn't object to his logic.

"Fair point," she admitted.

The Shadow Market started to quickly dissolve as dealers broke their haphazard formation and filed out of the warehouse. Falling into the flow, Marinette and Adrien allowed themselves to be swept up by the current of bustling buyers. When the crowd thinned, they pulled themselves free to where the back alleys opened up to quiet streets.

"Look, all I'm saying is she had it coming," said Adrien with significantly less hostility. They stopped and Adrien checked his phone with a sharp intake of breath. "That is a lot of missed calls," he winced. "I have a photo shoot in an hour, so I'm kinda already late. You know how it is," he hummed.