Neglect Me No More

m y s t e r i o u s

Sorry, this is late! (ᗒᗣᗕ)

A tense silence grew between the pair. Both Marinette and Felix stared into each others' eyes, waiting for the other person to say something. Eventually, Felix decided to talk first.

"Anyways, Miss-I-love-you, can I ask for the reason you don't trust me?"

Marinette smiled, but there no joy within her smile. "I have two reasons Mr.... um...." Marinette recalled the time Felix had asked her not to call him Mr. Graham de Vanily. What was she supposed to call him?

Felix calmly smiled. "Just Felix is fine."

Marinette nodded. "Then I prefer you call me by name as well." 

Felix's calm smile turned into a seductive grin. He didn't reply. Marinette squinted her eyes but then sighed. "A-hem. As I was saying, there are two reasons why I don't trust you. First of all, since this matter determines the fate of Paris, I cannot take your word so lightly. Secondly, I've learned the hard way of what happens when trust is betrayed."

Felix looked thoughtful for a few seconds. "Then we are at an impasse, Miss Ladybug."

Marinette looked straight into the gorgeous boy's eyes. "Precisely. Which means we still need to come up with the  terms of the agreement."

Felix gave a smirk. "So is there anything you want other than me keeping silent about your identity?"

Marinette nodded. "Let's meet like this every one or two weeks. I'm going to need to constantly make sure that you keep quiet."

"But I am a very busy person, Miss-I-love-you."

Marinette frowned. "Then I will visit your residence myself."

"Hmmm. I could have sworn you texted me that your partner told you to not visit anyone." 

"That is correct. However, I'm quite good at sneaking around. How do you think I've been Ladybug all this time without being caught by anyone?"

Felix tilted his head. Some of his pale blond hair was swept to the side. "Very well."

"Good. I will visit your resident every Thursday for two months."

"Why two months?" 

Marinette smiled. "Well, just a few weeks ago, I had gotten my acceptance letter to DelaCour lycee."

"I see..." Felix gave no reaction to her declaration.

"So what is it that you want in this agreement, Felix?"

Felix shrugged. "Well... I would ask you to prioritize saving the people I care about in a crisis... but that wouldn't be very heroic of you would it now?"

Marinette tilted her head. "I can't give you my word on that, however, I will do my best to save anyone from harm, regardless of who they are to you."

Felix nodded. He seemed to hesitate for a second before bringing up his second term. "Then what I want is for you to help me get back the remaining ring of the Graham de Vanily family from my uncle."

Marinette looked thoughtful for a while. "Isn't that considered stealing?"

Felix shook her head. "Think of it as giving it back to the rightful owner."

Marinette continued to hesitate. Felix sighed. "There are many shady secrets in the Agreste and Graham de Vanily family that even I don't know about. If you help me retrieve the ring, everything unjust will come to light." Felix said in a lowered tone. He and Marinette made eye contact.