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Deflagration

The car ride to the shop was mostly silent. At the very end, Adrien started talking to Marinette.

"Thanks again for doing this. I really owe you one."

"It's fine," she replied, looking out the window. "Don't worry about it."

He smiled. "I don't have my lesson until five so we'll have about an hour there."

"That will be plenty of time. It should only take about twenty minutes or so to get you the fabric."

A pause. "Right, of course."

"What do you need it for anyway?" Marinette asked, finally looking at him. "Are you making something?"

He put his hand to the back of his neck. "It's... hard to explain."

She nodded, then turned back to the window.

Thirty seconds later the car pulled up to the curb. Both teens climbed out and made their way inside the shop.

Upon entering, she waved at the guy behind the front counter.

"Good afternoon, Marinette," he called out to her. "How are you today?"

"I'm fine. Uh, this is my friend Adrien," she said, gesturing to him. "We're here to get some Belgian linen."

"Well you know where it is. Just let me know if you need any help!"

While they were speaking Adrien looked around, trying to see if there were any other customers in the shop.

"This way," he heard Marinette say, snapping his attention back. He nodded and followed her down the rows.

"So the Belgian linen is over here," she continued, pointing out the area. "And there's French linen right next to it, which is pretty similar but cheaper." She paused. "But I suppose that's not an issue for you."

"Uh, no it's not," he said awkwardly.

"Right. So here it is. Do you have a certain color in mind?"

He instantly thought about the beret. "Black."

Marinette nodded. "As you can see, the dark colors are here. Believe it or not, there's actually different shades of black. Some are richer than others, and some have other shades woven in." While she continued speaking, a smile started to creep across her lips as she talked about something she was so passionate about.

Adrien noticed, and watched her whole demeanor change as she kept explaining the differences. It was nice to see her happy again.

"...And it really depends on what you want to make." Done talking, she finally looked at him and was surprised to see him staring at her.

"You really know a lot about this, huh?" he asked.

A shrug. "I guess. I've been making stuff for a long time, and you just kind of pick it up as you go along."

Adrien smiled. "That's amazing."

Her cheeks flushed. "Do you... have something specific that you're looking for?"

Yes he did. And now it was time to get to work.

"Um, this one," he said, pointing at the fabric that matched the closest to the beret. Then he paused momentarily as she picked it up for him. "Do you come to this store a lot?"

"Uh huh. It's one of my favorite places to get supplies."

"That's cool. Do you ever see any girls our age here too while you're shopping?"

Marinette scrunched up her face at the odd question. "Uh yeah, I guess so."

"Really? When are they usually here?"