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knifedancer · 1 year ago

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Dancing In The Rain

Prompt: Rain In which Felix learns that Paris at night is much more beautiful when he dances in the rain…with Marinette.

~~~~~~~

It was a rainy Saturday in Paris, the city of love and magic, of superheroes and villains… One would expect to be charmed by a gentle sprinkle on such a lazy day! However, standing under the sopping café umbrella that threatened to snap shut under the weight of the current downpour, we find a boy who feels the polar opposite. Felix Fathom was unimpressed and just plain irritated with Paris – he didn’t even want to be here! It was not the city itself but his week that had put him in such a foul mood. He took stock of his life up to this point and was convinced he was on a bad luck streak – one that built with each passing day until this very moment.

Why, you may ask?

Monday he was shipped off to Paris by his mother to visit his oblivious cousin for two days. Two days of pretending he didn’t know Gabriel was Monarch. Sure, what could go wrong?

Well, he must have jinxed it or angered a random omnipotent god because this week must be divine punishment…

On Tuesday, he discovered his favorite fountain pen had exploded all over his new book and the contents of his book bag.

Wednesday his mother joyously announced he would be staying for the whole week due to work obligations on her part. Phenomenal.

Thursday he was targeted by an akuma – which, in all honesty, he had instigated the akumatization… but only because that damn waitress had dumped his iced coffee into his lap!

If the akuma seemed a little too hostile, well, Uncle was likely gunning for him…

On Friday, he discovered Gabriel had someone ransack his room – likely looking for the peacock miraculous. Felix suspected it was Uncle Gabe himself because half his clothes were ripped asunder by someone expressing a lot of frustration! And he was not sure what that awful odor rubbed all over his boxers was!

Although he was unsure what his uncle would have burnt to leave a random trail of ashes on the floor…

But this morning?

Oh ho ho, this fucking morning was the pièce de résistance!

Saturday brought forth quite a surprise! He awoke in Adrien’s bed, in his cousin’s pajamas, and a note on his forehead from said conniving cousin telling Felix to ‘fill in’ for him on a photoshoot while he spent the day with his friends. Felix had no idea how the model had gotten out of the house, although he assumed that he would find some of his own clothes missing from his closet if he checked. How did Adrien even get him from his room down the hall without waking him?!

That wasn’t even the worst part.

Halfway through the boring photoshoot on the outskirts of Paris, there was an akuma attack. Stormy Weather appeared after being slighted by the meteorologist at the news station – something about Stormy’s predictions being wrong? He didn’t fully know, he only caught part of her monologue before running for cover. They had been hit by hurricane level winds, sleet, and snow so suddenly that half the equipment had to be left behind. Le Gorille had rushed him to the car to make a quick getaway however, just eight blocks away, they had hit some black ice and popped two tires on the curb. Gorille sent him to go find a place to shelter while he called the auto club, but nothing was open due to the attack. So, Felix made the executive decision to walk back. He was about halfway across Paris when the wave of ladybugs purified the area. Finally, his day was looking up!

Felix pulled out his phone to call Le Gorille…only to find the battery dead. Great.

He was stranded, in the middle of Paris, with a dead phone and no money to even hail a taxi with. ‘This day could NOT get any worse!’ Felix thought in a huff.

That was when the rain started.

You see, Stormy Weather – Aurore, whatever – had predicted an unseasonable rain coming that day and the chief meteorologist had scoffed at the teen. Felix was suddenly very supportive of the akuma’s desire to correct the idiot! The blond ran down the street to a café, only to find it was closed due to a shortage of staff. Luckily there was a left-out patio umbrella that he could take shelter under until the rain lightened up.

Except that it didn’t. It grew heavier by the passing minute and Felix found himself huddled under a flimsy, soddy, dripping umbrella in seemingly the worst rainstorm to hit Paris since the Great Flood of 1910. The wet blond mused over the fact that somehow, someway, this was not caused by an akuma. If that were the case, then could all these linked bad events just be coincidence? Or was he simply that unlucky? Once he returned back to London, he would definitely need to ask Duusu if kwamis could curse people…

Just as Felix was about to settle for getting drenched in the rain, a flash of pink caught his eye. There, across the street, moved a lone hazy figure with a polka-dotted umbrella and pink galoshes. As he turned to look at them fully, he realized this figure was not walking down the street but dancing; kicking up puddles on the sidewalk while humming a little ditty as they crossed the intersection nearby. As the figure got closer, he could make out dark hair pulled back into pigtails… pigtails that reminded him of…

“…Marinette?” He hadn’t seen her since that disastrous night at the Diamond Dance!

The girl jolted with surprise when she heard her name, her bluebell eyes taking in the damp blond boy huddled beneath the dripping canopy. He looked exhausted and just as shocked as she was.

“Ad-Adrien? W-what are you doing out h-here?” she squeaked, a light blush dusting her cheeks.

‘Ah, she thinks I’m Adrien again…perhaps I could trick her into letting me borrow her umbrella,’ Felix thought strategically.

He plastered on his imitation model smile and approached her as far as his sparse covering would allow. “I uh… I had a photoshoot today, but then there was that akuma attack? Then my phone died! And, well, it’s a long story...” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“Wow, talk about bad luck. But are you lost? Your house is this way,” the young designer pointed in the opposite direction that Felix had been headed.

The blond blinked and muttered a curse under his breath. “I guess I got lost with everything going on… Would you mind if I walked back with you?”

“Oh…um…s-sure,” Marinette lifted her umbrella to accommodate his taller frame. He ducked under but quickly discovered that she would shrink slightly from their proximity and cause the umbrella’s armatures to smack him in the head. With a gentle smile disguising his irritation, he offered to hold it for her, and she quickly acquiesced. They fell into a companionable silence as they walked. He knew he needed to say something, Adrien would obviously be chatting with her…

“So…what were you doing out in this storm, Marinette?”

“Oh…uh, I was out running a delivery for my parents.”

“Really? In this dreary weather?” Felix asked with obvious surprise.

“Dreary? No, I love the rain! There’s something magical about it…like having a million sparkles falling from the sky!” He watched as her eyes twinkled and he could almost imagine the raindrops glistening just from the brightness of her smile. “It’s special to me,” she finished with a blush.

“Is that why you were dancing in it when I saw you?” He chuckled remembering her hops and twirls on the sidewalk.

Her cheeks flushed dark red, her eyes dropped to her fidgeting hands, and her smile faded with her embarrassment. “Ooh…you saw that? I just…,” Marinette paused, unsure of how to proceed. “I’m not any good at dancing but…it’s fun,” she finished with a whisper.

Felix frowned at the change in her behavior, he clearly recalled their short dance together and her natural grace on the dancefloor. Perhaps she was just self-deprecating because she was intimidated by his cousin? Adrien would surely attempt to cheer up his friend – perhaps girlfriend – wouldn’t he? With not a second longer in hesitation, he stopped and held out his hand to the bluenette. She stared at it for a moment before turning her impossibly blue eyes toward him. “Could I have this dance?” Her eyes widened and she blushed, taking his hand bashfully. He handed her back the umbrella to hold over his shoulder as he wrapped her in his embrace. With a soft hum he began to lead her in a gentle waltz down the sidewalk.

Slowly but surely the warm smile returned and brightened before his eyes as he guided her into bigger and faster spins, keeping them both in tempo to the steps long ingrained in his limbs by dance instructors his mother had insisted he learn from – much to his dismay at the time. ‘I guess I’ll have to thank her now that those silly lessons were finally of some use,’ he thought while a grin spread unwittingly across his face. He lost himself to the movements of their dance, a comfortable warmth growing in his chest. In a rather large puddle he spun Marinette, her foot fanning out in a way that caused the standing water to splash in a great wave over the curb before she settled back into his arms for another set of steps with a giggle. The warmth grew as Felix dipped her, watching as her radiant smile turned up towards the heavens as raindrops danced across her face.

They progressed down the street, both of them smiling and laughing as their hair and shoulders were moistened by wayward drops that missed the umbrella. Eventually they slowed to a stop as they waited for the crosswalk light to change; he gazed down at her – noting the flushed pink cheeks, sparkling eyes, and wide smile. Felix wasn’t sure what came over him. He glanced down at her lips, parted and panting from their energetic dance, and suddenly wanted to know how they felt. With hooded eyes he leaned forward, his arm tightening around her waist as he felt her rise up slowly on her tip toes as if to meet him halfway…the umbrella dropped from her fingers as they slid to the short hairs on the back of his neck, but neither could find it in their minds to care about the rain falling on their heads…

Just as their lips were about to touch, a car came careening around the corner and hit the large puddle forming at the blocked drain. Felix quickly rotated them so that he would shield her with his body. Within seconds a massive, brackish tidal wave splashed over them both and left them drenched. Feeling the cold, dirty water sliding down his spine, the blond let out a string of English curses that even his mother would be ashamed of. Marinette seemed to jolt at the noise and stared at him while he pushed the very wet hair from his face – unconsciously putting it back into his normal style – as the heavy rain continued to pour on their heads. He missed the calculating look she gave him before that gave way to a small smile, then to a chuckle, then a full belly laugh. Felix looked at her dumbfounded before he, too, began to crack up at their situation.

“You look ridiculous,” she giggled out.

“You look like a drowned mouse!” Felix laughed back, unable to contain himself.

“At least I don’t look like an overgrown komondor!” They laughed harder, tears springing to their eyes as the rain plastered their hair to their heads.

‘When was the last time I laughed like this?’ both thought to themselves wryly.

They both eventually calmed down, wiping tears and hair from their eyes. He fished the umbrella from the sidewalk and shook some of the water free before offering it to Marinette. She shook her head and motioned for him to keep it. “My house is just a couple doors down from here. You need it more than I do. The mansion is just up this street,” the blue-eyed girl pointed down the adjacent road.

He furrowed his brow slightly, realizing that their stolen time was coming to an end; he found the warmth in his chest had turned to an ache – he would miss her presence. “You’re sure? At least let me walk you home.”

Marinette quickly shook her head, her wet pigtails flinging droplets of water with the motion. “I’ll be fine, besides you need to get back, so you don’t catch a cold. We’re both soaked to the bone!” He watched as she hesitated for a moment before sliding in close, pulling him down by his shirt collar, and kissing his cheek. “Th-thank you for the dance, Felix.”

With a distant clap of thunder, a red flush crept up his neck and onto his face as her soft lips pressed against his cheek. In the seconds that it took for him to register her words, she had taken off at a full sprint and disappeared into the heavy rain – returning to the pink blur he first saw by that café. Felix stood there in the rain, speechless and flustered as he touched his cheek. He couldn’t say how long he stood there, staring off, but it was long enough that the downpour had finally become a light drizzle. He looked down at the umbrella in his hand as if looking for proof that this had not been a dream… He gripped the handle a little tighter. It was solid, tangible, real.

A small smile spread across his face. Perhaps his luck wasn’t so bad after all.

~~~ BONUS SCENE ~~~

On Friday after school, while Adrien took care of his extra Chinese lessons and the others were out of the house, Plagg decided to do a little reconnaissance. He carefully zipped across his holder’s room and phased through the wall, floating down the empty hallway until he got to the end. Once there he passed through the door and ducked behind a garbage can while he surveyed the room. A wicked gleam and mischievous grin lit up the kwami’s face; the room was empty!

It had been about two months since Tikki told him about the Adrien knockoff showing up with Duusu and making a mess of things. The London blond had been very combative with Ladybug but oddly protective of Marinette. Tikki was hopeful that Felix might be reformed and join their side – his other half was so optimistic like that. The cheese wheel was always half full with her!

Plagg though? He was a ‘it’s a half a damn wheel of cheese’ type of cat – he jokingly liked to say he was an ‘optipissed’: pissed off optimist. Could things go right? Sure, but things could also just be what they appear.

Plagg didn’t know if Adrien’s cousin was redeemable and didn’t care to figure it out; planning was Tikki’s thing. He preferred results. That’s why he decided to curse that fluffed-up popinjay with a little bad luck! Well, that was mostly because the tiny cat god wanted revenge. Tomato, potato. Right now, the cat kwami intended to get results by taking the peacock miraculous and get it to Pigtails ASAP. Plagg hoped that Felix had left it behind in a hidden compartment or spot in the room while not in use. If it was on his person, the black cat wasn’t sure what to do!

“Duusu!” the black cat called, “Hey Duusu! You in here?” There was no answer.

“Tsk. If I was a feather-brained, pompous, jerk face, where would I hide a broach?” Plagg asked himself as he looked around the room. He decided to check the desk first – rifling through the neat stacks of paper and pens – before dive bombing into the bed to phase through the mattress and pillows. No dice. He proceeded around the room, passing through lamps, tables, and books with increasing irritation. He didn’t even sense the miraculous nearby! He swatted a pillow with his tail in agitation.

Well, if he wasn’t going to get what he came for, he might as well enjoy himself…

Just then the door opened and Plagg hid himself inside a lampshade, watching with great suspicion as Gabriel entered the room to do his own snooping. The cat kwami stayed silent as his holder’s father dug through the closet and dresser, ripping apart jacket and suitcase linings in search of something. After about five minutes, Gabriel let out a soft growl and stalked back across the room to the door. With one last glance around the room, he slammed the door behind him.

‘Seems he didn’t find what he was looking for either!’ Plagg thought suspiciously, he wondered what the kid had stolen this time.

The black cat kwami slowly exited his hiding place, making sure no one would be near to hear his next actions. Then he phased into the closet and began to toss the remaining collection of trousers, vests, and pristinely pressed shirts all over the floor while he cackled with glee. When it was in proper upheaval, he gathered up one each of Felix’s socks from the dresser, called upon his cataclysm, leaving only a small pile of dust on the floor as evidence of their existence. Plagg then burrowed into the underwear drawer, intent to claw some holes in the materials there when the door opened again…

“Plagg?” came Adrien’s hesitant whisper.

Popping his head out the leg of a pair of boxer briefs with a cheesy belch, the kwami called back, “hey kid, I’m over here!”

Adrien quietly closed the door and stalked across the room, tripping on a shirt and unconsciously kicking up the small pile of ashes as he recovered his balance. Plagg watched with satisfaction as the ashes settled to litter a bigger portion of the floor. “What the hell are you doing in here? Felix will be home any minute!”

“Just lookin’ for the miraculous, kid. Figured we know sourpuss has got the peacock, perhaps he’d leave it unattended, then we could get it back to the guardian.”

“Did you have to make such a mess?” the blond pressed his hand to his forehead as he looked over the random piles and ripped items on the floor. “I’m already stuck doing that photoshoot tomorrow instead of hanging out with Nino; if Father thinks I destroyed Felix’s room, I’ll probably be grounded for life!”

Plagg landed on Adrien’s shoulder, “About that kid… I got an idea. Why don’t we…,” as he whispered quietly in his ear.

Adrien’s eyes lit up and he chuckled, gathering up a few pieces of clothes from the floor to use as his disguise in the morning. “That’s sure to put him in a fowl mood!”

~~~Author's Notes: yes I referenced a historical event (Great Flood of 1910), a specific breed of dog, and made a peacock pun.

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