Gotham's Lucky Charm (Daminette)

Ch 15 - Denial

"Non non! No no!" Marinette covered her ears with her hands for the fifth time that afternoon. "Tu te trompes! You're wrong! I do not have a crush on Damian Wayne!"

Seven hours had passed since Damian drove Marinette to her apartment on his motorcycle, and Tikki was INSISTENT that Marinette had a crush on the green-eyed boy.

"It's so obvious that you're in love with him!" The little red kwami shouted as she attempted to push Marinette's hands away from her ears. "WHY ARE YOU IN DENIAL? THIS IS GOTHAM, NOT EGYPT!"

"BLAH! BLAH! BLAH! I can't hear you because I'm so busy thinking of things that have nothing to do with having a crush on my new friend! HE'S JUST A FRIEND!"

Tikki suddenly flew in front of Marinette with the most serious expression that an adorable kwami was capable of making. "Then you leave me no choice."

"Huh—"

Tikki zoomed across the apartment room and dove into Marinette's pink purse.

The other kwamis— Kaalki, Trixx, Mullo, Wayzz, Stompp, Roarr, Ziggy, Xuppu, Barkk, Orikko, and Daizzi— floated near the miracle box that Marinette had placed on the table in the center of the room. They watched the entertaining drama unfold between their guardian and the ladybug kwami. Trixx and Mullo even started betting snacks on who would win the argument... but that stopped as soon as Marinette glared at them. The guardian's glare could be very scary.

After rummaging around for a few seconds, Tikki reappeared and flew out of the pink purse. She held Marinette's phone between her tiny red hands. A devious smirk stretched across her face.

The other kwamis hid behind the miracle box.

Somehow... Tikki's smirk was scarier than the guardian's glare.

"Marinette~" Tikki waved the phone. "Do you remember how you and Damian exchanged phone numbers this morning? And you promised to send Damian a text. His number is right here in this phone. I'll send the text for you."

"Tikki, what are you—"

"Hmmmm what should I write?" Tikki turned on the phone and swiped the screen. "Hi Damian Wayne, this is Marinette Dupain-Cheng and I'm in love with you. Or maybe I should make it more poetic? Afterall, this is a declaration of love."

"No!" Marinette jumped on a chair in an attempt to grab the phone. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Oh yes I would dare!" Tikki flew higher into the corner of the ceiling that was out of Marinette's reach. "I refuse to sit back and watch this turn into an Adrien 2.0 situation!"

"Damian is not an Adrien Agreste 2.0!" Marinette's feet slipped off the seat of the chair. Her leg bumped against a small desk that was covered with sewing supplies, spools of thread, and folded fabric. She managed to catch her sewing machine before it slid off the edge of the table.

The kwamis behind the miracle box clapped their hands and cheered for Marinette's lucky last-second catch.

Tikki glared at them.

The room went silent as the kwamis cowered silently behind the box.

"Tikki, this is ridiculous," said Marinette. "You don't need to text Damian something so embarrassing. He's just a friend."

"Is he?" Tikki's eyes widened. "IS HE REALLY JUST A FRIEND, MARINETTE DENIAL-CHENG?!"

"Y-yes." Marinette said, but her eyes couldn't meet Tikki's gaze. She stared down at the sewing machine.

"You're the one who's ridiculous! You're lying to yourself!"

Marinette fidgeted with a spool of green thread— the same color as Damian's eyes. Was Tikki right? Was she lying to herself?