The love dare

day1&2 (chapter-5-)

DAY1&2

Day one did not start right away, much to Tikki's dismay. But at the same point, Marinette rushed out of the house first thing in the morning and never talked to Adrien, who was out of the house even before she was.

"Because of that, I'm forcing you to go shopping," Tikki said, plan hatching in her mind.

Marinette frowned. "What for?"

"A cute notebook you'll want to write in."

Marinette cocked her head in confusion.

Grinning, Tikki nodded. "I'm going to make you write all this down and journal it."

"Oh, Tikki!" Marinette whined. "I'm so busy-"

"Nope," Tikki interrupted. "No, no, and no. You only think you're busy, but you're not. Not if you want to fix the box."

It was like watching a petulant child as Marinette crossed her arms and grunted under her breath. "You've been taking sass lessons from Alya, I swear."

"Trixx, but that's not the point."

So, after work, Marinette spent forty-five minutes shopping around to find a cute notebook that she liked. She ate dinner out while she was at it, mumbling about how there wasn't food at home and Adrien probably wouldn't make anything.

Tikki could only frown. She knew Marinette was hurt, and from that hurt spawned everything else. But that would change tomorrow. Tikki would make sure of it.

_________

Day 1

Marinette sat on the bed with the notebook Tikki had her buy in hand. She'd already written 'Day 1' on the page and was waiting for Tikki to give out further instructions.

"Alright, Marinette," Tikki began, floating in front of her.

"Day one. Love is patient."

Considering the pause, Marinette assumed Tikki meant for her to write that down. So she did.

Tikki grinned. "Love is communicated in a number of ways..."

Again, she paused, so Marinette wrote that down.

"But our words often reflect the condition of our hearts. So, for the entire day, demonstrate patience with your partner. Do not say anything negative to Adrien, and if you feel the urge to, don't say anything at all."

Marinette paused as she hesitantly looked up at Tikki.

But the kwami just smiled. "Marinette, trust me. You and Adrien have been fighting a lot. Be patient, even if you don't want to be. Better to hold your tongue than say something you regret."

Marinette looked down at the page nervously. But she could do this. One day of it, right?

After getting dressed, she headed into the kitchen. Adrien was already in there, finishing up his breakfast. There was cereal on the table, and she picked up the box.

"It's empty," Adrien said.

Sighing, Marinette tossed the box in the trash and looked in the fridge for something.

"We're out of milk, too."

Biting her tongue against a sharp comeback, Marinette shut the fridge door. "Could you go to the store today?"

"I don't have time. Just like you, I'm busy all day."

This is hard. Marinette sighed. "Okay" she said, tossing her keys in her purse and marching out the door.

_________

Dear Diary,

Tikki is making me do this. It wasn't my idea to journal at the end of the day and "reflect on my actions." But I don't want to argue with Tikki. She's scary when she's angry.

It's the beginning of this forty-day challenge to "fix the box" so to speak. Do I want to save this marriage? Maybe. I don't even know. Adrien hates me. It's irritating dealing with him. I don't need his sass. I didn't even know "we're out of milk" could be as sassy and have as much attitude as he put in it. It's like dealing with Gabriel, but almost more irritating because Gabriel was cold and Adrien

Marinette sighed, her pen drifting and making a line on the paper.

Adrien's Adrien.

I don't want to do this with him. I don't. It's frustrating because it's ridiculous and I don't know what I did wrong for him to act like I'm the bad guy.

My tongue hurts from biting it all day, but I guess we didn't fight, so that's good?

I'm tired and done with the day. Only 39 more days to go.

_________

Day 2

"Love is kind," Tikki said. "So, in addition to saying nothing negative today-"

"Wait." Marinette looked up, confused. "I thought the dare was over."

"Oh, Marinette," Tikki said. "The dares build on each other. They aren't dare dares. They're building blocks. You can't just do forty things for forty days then go back to where you were and expect there to be a change."

Marinette sighed, supposing Tikki had a point.

"So, as I was saying," Tikki continued. "In addition to not saying anything negative today, do one act of kindness for Adrien without expecting anything in return."

Marinette sighed, finishing the line then shutting the book. What was she supposed to do?

__________

If Adrien had to pick a word to describe the day, it would be weird.

It started out weird enough when Marinette took his empty cereal bowl from the table that morning, put it in the dishwasher along with her dishes, and told him to "have a good day" right as she left the house.

Then, he got surprised by the principal of the neighboring school who told him that he knew Adrien was in line to be on the National Fencing team and wanted a sure replacement for him should he get accepted. Apparently, he had taken the liberty of setting about finding a replacement and now had interviews lined up.

There were three people he had to waste the day interviewing, ending each interview with a spar to see if their skills were truly up to par. Three weren't.

And then number four came in.

Firstly, she was the only female of the group, which Adrien noted with some curiosity. But her skills were paralleled by him. He was reluctant to admit she may even be better.

Her demeanor was a little harsh, but it was clear she knew her way around the sabre. And her references were those he could not ignore. The Tsurugi family were known for being incredibly talented fencers.

"When can you start?"

She gave him a slight proud smile. "Tomorrow. I will come first thing in the morning."