Day 16
“So, that was nice of Marinette last night,” Plagg began, lazing on Adrien’s shoulder while he worked.
Adrien couldn’t deny it.
“Maybe it would be kind to thank her for it.”
“But it’s weird.”
“Kid,” Plagg grumbled exasperated. “We have gone over and over and over this.”
“I’m sorry,” Adrien cried. “I just… we agreed to just be done with it. Suddenly, she’s being super nice and doing housework and making food and-and-and calling in the middle of the day for no reason. Something’s up, Plagg.”
Before Plagg could answer, a knock on the office door had him diving for cover.
Adrien waited until Plagg was hidden in the drawer before calling Kagami in.
“Was I interrupting something?” she asked, entering the office. “It sounded like you were talking to someone.”
“Oh,” Adrien said, his heart racing as he struggled for an answer. “Sorry, I was… working through something aloud.”
She looked at him knowingly. Which was terrifying considering how long he’d known her. “Relationship trouble?”
Adrien sighed. She was sharp. He couldn’t hide anything form her. “Yes.”
“Then leave the relationship,” she urged. “Honestly, if it’s going to be this bad, it’s not worth staying in.”
Adrien bit his lip. Something in his gut told him that wasn’t right, but he was also so confused over the whole thing.
“I should know,” she continued. “I was arranged to be married to a man back in Japan.”
“Really?” Adrien asked, surprised.
She nodded. “It was not a good relationship that, thankfully, my family called off so I would not cause shame to my family by leaving the man. Prior to my parents’ intervention, when he suspected that I was going to leave him, he started acting kindly to me. I only have a couple speculations, one being that he didn’t want me to leave him because he thought I was fully caught in the palm of his hand, and when I threatened to leave, he didn’t like losing the one thing he thought he had control over. My other speculation was he wanted to gain the money my parents would give him after our union, so by being nice, he believed he could convince me and my family that he was a good match and that he truly did love me. Either way, his motives were dangerous. Be careful Adrien. You’re a good man. I don’t know what you’re going through, but I urge you to be careful and think this through thoroughly.”
Adrien paused. “I… I didn’t know you had to face something like that.”
Kagami nodded. “It was not for me easy in any way. I don’t want you to suffer anything like that. I’m here for you, if you need anything.”
“I appreciate it,” Adrien said.
Throughout the day, her words kept coming back to him. He’d had his speculations, but hearing it come from yet another person…
“Adrien, you’re not really going to listen to that, are you?” Plagg challenged again on the drive home.
“You have to admit, Plagg, that this has been strange. It’s riding on the heels of us…” the words caught in his throat. He couldn’t say it, and if he thought about it, he’d start crying. As it were, all he could do was swallow, take a breath, and shove it down. He had to think rationally. No soft, fuzzy emotions coming up to make him question everything and risk putting himself out there to another copy of his father.
“You don’t want to do that,” Plagg said, concern clear in his tone.
“What if she goes back to acting like my father?”
“Then that’s where you come in,” Plagg said. “You are an equal part of this marriage, and nothing is going to change if you don’t do something about it.”
“I can’t change her, Plagg. That’s not how marriage works.”
“You’re right. You can’t force her to change. But you haven’t exactly been Mr. Model Husband to her, just as she hasn’t been Mrs. Model Wife to you.”
“Meaning what’s the point of staying?”
“You don’t think you can fix it?” Now, that was spoken as a challenge.
“You can’t fix your spouse.”
“You can talk to them about it, though,” Plagg pointed out. “Like a normal human being.”
“She’s not going to want to listen.”
“And how do you know?”
Adrien was silent.
“She’s not your father, Adrien. Don’t rope her in the same category.”
But when Adrien got home, she wasn’t there. And she wouldn’t return until eight that evening.
“Not my father, my ass,” Adrien grumbled. “I’m not going to compete with her job, Plagg. I can’t.”
“It will be worth it.”
“I’m not saying it wouldn’t be worth it, Plagg,” Adrien countered, his tone completely dejected and eyes hot with unshed tears. “I’m just saying there’s no competition in the first place. Apparently, I’m not worth it.”
_________
“Your bug messed up big time,” Plagg hissed at Tikki. “My kitten was this close—this close—to thinking maybe what I was saying about restoring his marriage was valid. And then she didn’t come home until late, and now he’s pouty because he feels she’s prioritizing work over him.”
“I tried!” Tikki defended. “But it was just ‘one more thing’ ‘one more thing’ until four hours later she was looking at the clock and realized maybe she should get home.”
Plagg sank to the counter with a heavy sigh. “We were so close, Tikki,” he repeated. “So close.”
“I know,” Tikki assured, sinking down beside him. “I did all I could, but Marinette wasn’t listening. I don’t know what it will take to get through her head that she’s clinging to the reins of a company that’s fine. That she needs help because she’s letting this company consume her.”
The kwamis were silent for a while before Plagg placed a paw over Tikki’s. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to get testy with you. It’s not your fault. I know you’re doing everything you can.”
She snuggled up closer to him as a response. “And I’ll keep that up, Plagg. It’s not over yet. Maybe this whole situation can be redeemed. Day eighteen is coming up. We’ll see what happens then.”
“I hope for their sakes that it’s just what they need to start flipping this around.”
YOU ARE READING
The love dare
Random⚓After Hawkmoth was defeated, Adrien and Marinette are both hurt, leaving their marriage strained. Worried, Tikki and Plagg decided to take matters into their own hands by issuing a series of dares in an attempt to help their charges fix their marri...
