Black Alley

Life Adjustment

Marinette poked at her food while waiting for Bruce to say something. “Marinette you shouldn’t run off like that,” Bruce finally said, catching the attention of Damian, Dick, and Jason. “I heard knocking and got curious. I’m sorry for running off,” Marinette said,
Bruce nodded. The dinner was quite awkward after that. There was silence, the only thing being heard was the cutlery hitting the plates.

“Did you guys hear about the robbery at the museum?” Marinette asked, breaking the tension.

“Yeah, I heard it came out of nowhere. Whoever stole the bracelet must’ve had balls to do it in the middle of the day,” Dick said. “Adrien, you were there with your class today, right?” Damian asked.

“Yeah, I was. They had us exit the building since we were in a different room at the time. It cut the trip short," Adrien replied.

"Did you notice anything weird?" Jason asked. "No, everything seemed normal and then the alarms went off," Adrien answered.

Marinette poked at her food. "Are you okay Marinette?" Bruce asked. Marinette's attention was brought back to the conversation.

"Uh, yes, sorry. I must have gotten lost in thought again," Marinette said.

The rest of the meal was finished in a stale silence. Bruce was the first one to excuse himself, saying he had important paperwork to look over and that he would see them later tonight. Damian was the next person to leave, just not wanting to be around them if ‘Father wasn’t going to be there’ and he had to deal with ‘simpletons who waste my time’.

The conversation was light with Dick and Jason. She didn’t feel the need to be perfect or have a fake smile and pretend everything was okay. Jason had already known what she had felt and while she didn’t mean to tell him, she was still glad he knew. Adrien was smiling and laughing with the boys and that made her happy that her brothers were getting along with her boyfriend.

After she had finished her meal, she and Adrien had retired to her bedroom, laying down together. Marinette enjoyed laying down with Adrien after a full meal because it was then that they would lay in each other's presence and that was enough because it calmed them both from the duties.

In fact, most of the time, he would read her poems from a book he got from Nathalie last year for his birthday and had used the gift from his father (another pen) to mark down his favorite and read them to Marinette.

“Je suis allé au marché aux oiseaux
Et j’ai acheté des oiseaux
Pour toi
mon amour

Je suis allé au marché aux fleurs
Et j’ai acheté des fleurs
Pour toi
mon amour

Je suis alle au marche à la ferraille
Et j’ai acheté des chaȋnes
De lourdes chaȋnes
Pour toi
mon amour

Et puis, je suis allé aux marché aux esclaves
Et je t’ai cherchée
Mais je ne t’ai pas trouvée
Mon amour”

“What did you think about that poem?” Adrien asked, closing the book. “I have no idea. I could see the romantic side but I also found something creepy about it,” Marinette said, “What about you?”

“I think it’s romantic. He’s describing the relationship he wants or has,” Adrien said, “Why do you find it creepy?”

“I can see your point of view but I see it as a relationship gone bad and violent,” Marinette answered. “How?”

“It starts at the beginning where he is saying the relationship is more free. And then they start to get more serious and rooted, almost like a flower. And then he gets in more control. He's holding her down or back or both. But this is where she runs off, right. So there he is looking for her, trying to find his slave," Marinette said.