First Order of Business | Adrienette

It Begins

"Nino I'm never talking to you ever again," Adrien tells him. He stares away from Marinette's table at a framed photograph of Nino and his extended family hanging on the restaurant wall. Nino's fingers are tapping on the table, and he's also looking away from the two women, also in the direction of the photograph where he was ten years old and wearing a red cap.

Nino lets out a fake, dramatic sigh and tells him, "You're just like Alya."

"It was one date four years ago. She probably doesn't remember you without your red hat."

"She's still ghosted me." Nino slowly turns his head to look back at Adrien. "But if we're being honest, she probably doesn't recognize me."

"Well she's going to remember you now that you've stared at them enough times for them to be able to get a police sketch done of you." Nino looks from the corner of his eyes to get another look of them, but Adrien reaches over to smack his hand. "Really? I don't mean anything to you?"

"I wasn't turning my head this time," Nino retorts. "And yeah. I was right. Your secretary is pretty and that's why you're all embarassed right now."

"Oh get over it." Adrien rolls his eyes, starting to take out his wallet.

"Mom isn't going to charge you. It's on the house. I thought she already told you."

"I'm going to pay for their meal because we probably already made them super uncomfortable. It's the least that I can do."

"You can't use money to make all your problems go away," Nino tells him. Adrien stands up in the direction of the cash register that's being manned by Nino's little brother, Chris.

"This time, I'll make an exception." Adrien goes over to Chris and leaves more than enough money to cover the possible bill for the two ladies. He tells Chris to pocket the change as a tip, and he's thanked with a huge smile. He walks back to his table, taking note of the intricate flooring tiles as he makes his way over.

Nino leans over the dirty plates and says, "Well. Are you going to introduce me?"

"Nino, she's off work. Let's leave her alone. She's already going to have to see me all the time."

"What? So you're just going to leave without saying hello to her? That makes it weirder." Adrien hates when Nino makes sense. There are times when he's sure the loud DJ speakers he carries around are doing damage to his ears and at the same time his brain, but Nino still has much better social skills than Adrien. Nino has people skills and Adrien has networking skills that aren't too helpful when building meaningful relationships.

Adrien sits up and readjust his tie, Nino eyeing the movement. "Fine. It'll be very quick, and then I'm saying bye to your parents and leaving." Nino smiles and stands up before Adrien does. It stresses him out a little bit how much Nino loves meeting new people and as charming as Adrien could be, he still needs a lot of inner pep talks to get somewhere with people.

They walk over to Marinette's table where he could see her mouth something inaudible to her friend, who Nino said was named Alya.

"Good evening, Miss Dupain-Cheng," Adrien tells her as he stands next to their table. Nino could not stand any closer to Adrien.

"Hello, Mr. Agreste," Marinette smiles up at him. She looked even smaller when sitting down. "It is such a funny coincidence to run into you here."

"Yes, it seems that we are always running into each other," Adrien gives a feeble smile. Alya and Nino both let out laughs, and Marinette does a polite giggle that kind of hurts Adrien's feelings. "This is my friend, Nino Lahiffe. His family owns this place, actually."