No room to swing a Cat?

11 - The second attempt

"Good morning!" Marinette greeted Adrien the next day. She was a bit confused finding him in the kitchenette.

"Morning, Mari!" he smiled in reply. "Did you sleep well?"

"Surprisingly well, considering the evening!" she laughed. "What are you doing here?"

"Breakfast?" he winked at her. "Please, don't tell me you're surprised I can cook..."

"Of course not..." she muttered, trying to hide confusion.

Adrien glanced at her, amused. Yet, he didn't comment her astonishment but said in an indifferent tone:

"I've heard that you served breakfast recently. I thought it would be nice to prepare one for you. Especially, when you've been through so much..."

Marinette smiled evasively, still wondering why he'd changed so suddenly. She didn't care about discovering he could cook, but about his talkative nature that didn't fit to the nowadays-Adrien. Rather to the old-time-Adrien. "Old-time" – that was a key to solve this puzzle. Adrien began to behave like his teenage version.

"So, what are you cooking?" she asked, sitting down at the countertop.

"Pancakes."

"Uhm, Adrien? They don't look like crepes..." she noticed, glancing at the pan on the oven.

"Because they're American pancakes, not ours."

"You're sure you want to serve something like that in France?" she joked.

"You'll change your mind when you taste it. When I was in New York I lost my head for them. I went directly to the chef in the hotel and begged him to teach me how to cook it."

"You've been in New York?" she asked in astonishment.

"Two years ago, I guess... After lycée my father sent me there because of his plans of conquering the fashion world in the States." Adrien admitted and winced unknowingly.

"But..." she murmured not understanding.

"When I came back I told my father that I quit. I left it all..." he explained staring at the pan. "Besides... Not only modelling..." he added under his breath and winced again.

At that moment Marinette realised that his grimace was quite similar to hers whenever someone mentioned Luka. And to Cat Noir's when he had been talking about his ex-girlfriend. Could it mean that Adrien was thinking about Kagami right now? Did it mean that he'd dumped her right after coming back from New York? Why?

"I suppose your father wasn't happy?"

"He was furious." Adrien admitted and turned over pancakes on the pan.

"Because you quit? Or because you came back with a new habit of eating American pancakes instead of our French crepes?" she joked, and he laughed.

"Yeah! It was all about pancakes!" he commented ironically.

Marinette burst out laughing and Adrien glanced at her sideways. He smiled warmly and instantly focused on cooking again. After a while he put a plate with pancakes in front of the girl.

"Do you want maple syrup?" he asked.

"Stop teasing my French soul..." she muttered, but he only chuckled in respond.

"Your French soul will be delighted." he assured her. "Or at least your French palate... Fine. Without topping they're delicious too."

"You're not too humble, aren't you?"

"I'm just certain about the quality of the meal. Try it and then tell me where I'm wrong." He looked at her provocatively, and she raised her eyebrow ironically.