The Set-Up

[mistkitt]

 Originally Posted: 02/20/18

IT’S @qookyquiche BIRTHDAY and she’s asked me to bring the teacher AU back from the dead. *claps hands* PLACES, EVERYONE. *bows off the stage*

~*~

Marinette knew it was a set-up. It couldn’t be anything else. She came to the cafe across campus at the same time every Saturday and the tables were usually vacant. So how was it that this Saturday, the day that Adrien just so happened to show up at the cafe, every single table was occupied by one of their students?

“I guess this place is more popular than I thought,” Adrien said. He stood beside Marinette as they waited for their coffee orders. It was the first word either of them had spoken to each other. “Most of the time when I come in here, it’s…”

“Dead?” Marinette offered.

“Yup.”

Silence.

Lucas Sancoeur, who stood behind the counter in an apron too big for him, gave the espresso machine an offended look, then turned his attention to Marinette and Adrien. “You guys might want to sit down,” he said. “There’s a table over there by the window with a perfect view of the river—oww! What?”

“Milking it,” Manon’s voice hissed from somewhere near the floor.

Out of the corner of her eye, Marinette saw Adrien wipe a hand over his face. He gestured towards the only available table. “Shall we?”

She giggled and followed after him. Well, if her students’ overt attempts at matchmaking were going to result in her having coffee with Adrien, how could she possibly complain? 

The place grew suspiciously quiet as they took their seats. Marinette opened her mouth to comment on the nice view, but got distracted by Adrien’s expression. Was it just her, or did he seem hopeful? “I…”

“Excuse me,” Lucas said as he set a vase full of bright pink roses between them. “I, uh, forgot to put these back when I wiped the tables down earlier.”

Adrien and Marinette watched him go, then both of them burst into quiet laughter. “Man, they’re trying really hard, aren’t they?” he asked.

Marinette buried her face in her hands. “I’m so sorry. If we were on school time, I’d lecture them about minding their own business…”

“Nothing to be sorry for,” Adrien said. His smile took on a mischievous quality that reminded Marinette so much of Chat Noir that she almost left to ceremonially cleanse herself. “What do you say we take our coffees to go and enjoy them at the park? It’s a beautiful afternoon.”

Marinette could imagine a dozen adolescent faces pressed against the cafe window, desperate to follow them. “That sounds perfect,” she said.