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"𝚊 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜
𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛"

-𝖗.𝖍. 𝖘𝖎𝖓

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Marinette watched the live finale of the weather girl competition, though she didn't really care for it, her curiosity got the best of here since it turned out that the girls were from her school. 

Not to mention that one of the competitors is supposed to become the next Akuma, she needed to know who and for what reason. She needed to learn how Papillon's system works.

How negative do the feelings have to be. Should it only be anger or jealously? Or could it also be sadness and devastation?

She needed to know so that she knew how to fix it.

"Marinette, can I vote for Mireille on your phone?" Manon spoke up shyly from her spot on the couch. She had begun to behave after Marinette had made it clear that she was not going to put up with her running around and taking things that didn't belong to her.

It was Marinette's first time babysitting, Sabine had offered her up to a friend of hers apparently without her consent which she had frowned at but said nothing otherwise. She's sure her mother could tell she was genuinely upset simply by the fact that she has yet to say a word to her in over twenty-four hours.

As soon as the mother had left, her parents were down manning the storefront, Manon had immediately began running around her neat room and taking things from their rightful place and messing with her belongings.

("What the fuck do you think you're doing." Marinette hissed, eyes narrowed at the child who froze and turned to her with wide eyes.

"Y-you just said a b-bad word!" Manon pointed accusingly at her. Marinette pushed her hand down and scowled.

"I know what I said, answer the question."

"You're not the boss of me!"

Her eyes glinted, "You wanna fucking bet?")

It wasn't nearly as scarring as it could have been, she had simply threatened the girl with calling her mother.

Although she did have other ideas if Manon were to act up again, but those were far more traumatizing than her mercy from earlier. Children will be children, she couldn't change that. But she could help teach them how to behave.

"Sure," she unlocked her phone and and handed it to the girl, who smiled and fiddled around with it for a little while. As she was doing that, the doorbell rang. Marinette frowned and craned her neck to glance at the door.

She wasn't expecting visitors.

Standing from the couch, she gave a pointed look towards the child, "Manon, stay there."

"'Kay!" she quipped as she opened up other apps on the phone after she finished voting for Mireille. Her nose scrunched as there were no games on the phone.

Unlocking the door, she eyed the baseball bat that was leaned against the bookcase before she pulled it open. Bluebell eyes blinked as she met Alya's hazel hues.

"Alya? What are you doing here?" Marinette leaned against the door frame, and Alya gulped as her eyes flickered down to here attire than back up to her eyes, a soft flush spreading on her cheeks.

"Hey, Marinette, sorry, I should have called or texted first...uh, just wanted to know if you, maybe, wanted to, or have time to, go to the park...with me?" Alya finished lamely, shoulders seemingly drooping in defeat.

Marinette raised an eyebrow, a teasing smiling curling her lips. "Are you perhaps," she leaned forward, trailing a finger under the other's chin and tilting her head up only just slightly, "asking me out on a date?" 

Alya's eyes were wide, mouth ajar slightly and her face exploded with a furious blush. Her mouth closed, then opened, and the action repeated itself as she tried to find her words but her brain was failing and currently panicking.

Marinette let her do that for a few more seconds before patting her cheek with a roll of her eyes, "Calm down, I'm pulling your leg."

Alya released a sigh and noticed a head poking out from the other side of the couch, "Oh, are you babysitting?"

"Unfortunately," she grumbled, "come in."

Alya shuffled in, glancing around the clean living area, picture frames on the wall and shelf, but she couldn't see all of them from where she stood.

"Mama roped me into a favor with her friend without telling me, so my plans for today were ruined. I usually go jogging around this time."

So that explained the running shorts and muscle shirt that clearly exposed her sports bra.

Alya understood, since she had two little siblings of her own. Even if Marinette had taken Manon to the park with her, she would still have to look out for another person while she was out which probably defeated the purpose of these plans.

She perked up with a sudden idea.

"What if I go with you?" she suggested, earning Marinette's full attention. "I could watch her for a while while you jog?"

Marinette seems to consider this, but her lips tug into a minuscule frown, "I couldn't ask that of you, Alya."

"It's not an issue, really! I have two younger sisters, twins, I think I can handle just one who seems to be well behaved."

Manon perked up at the compliment, coming over from the couch, leaving Marinette's phone on one of the cushions. She peered up at Alya curiously, "Marinette, who is that?"

"This is my friend from school, Alya. Alya, this is Manon," she introduced halfheartedly, her thoughts more occupied with the pros and cons of Alya's offer. She didn't like missing her jogging days, they were crucial to her schedule and even rearranging a single day drives her insane.

Hence her grumpiness in having to cancel her usual jog in order to babysit a child.

"The pros and cons have been weighed," she announce, turning heel to send Alya a small smile, "I will graciously accept your offer. Let me grab my phone and keys and we can leave."

"We're leaving? Where are are we going?" Manon jumped in excitement, waiting patiently (although squirming in her spot) as Marinette grabbed her necessities.

"We're going to the park where you get to play and I," she quickly led them out, locking the door behind her, "get to jog."

Manon's nose wrinkles, "You're going to exercise?"

"Yes, that's the plan."

"But only old ladies exercise!" Alya snorts at the child's blunt statement, turning away to cover her mouth.

Marinette sent the small child an empty smile, her eyes glazed over as if remembering something and nodded knowingly.

"I've been told many times that I have an old soul."

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