Chapter Text
Even as a 4 years old child, Marinette used to scribble on the walls of her room or occasionally, to the chagrin of her parents, on her clothes. After they picked on her habit, she had an abundance of papers and sketchbooks to fill. Color schemes and designs covered every napkin in a two kilometers radius from her. So it was to the surprise of no one when she applied to a fashion program for the university.
The years of fighting akumas in every possible and impossible place in Paris caused the girl to flinch or jump into a fighting stance every time she saw a strange shadow or a suspiciously colorfully dressed person. Thanks to that, all of her university applications went outside of the city of love.
The first week at Gotham State University, otherwise known as GSU, Marinette beamed and pounced on the way to every class with what seemed like inexhaustible energy. The second week it was on a way to every class, save for the Mandarin classes.
In High School, Marinette's marks from languages were always one of the best. Moreover, her mum always insisted she should 'connect more with her heritage'. Based on this, Marinette should breeze through her Mandarin classes, right?
Except that no, she didn't.
"You said, that you wanted to cut your shower dress. Care to explain yourself?" said an annoying voice beside her. Her left eye twitched.
"Wayne, I'm fairly sure I didn't," she looked at her seatmate. She added through her clenched teeth: "And it would be greatly appreciated if you stopped. Laughing."
"And I'm fairly sure you did," he retorted. "Maybe you-"
"Mr. Wayne, can you please read the sentence on the blackboard?"
"Of course Miss Jones," he turned his head to the front. Then proceeded to read the whole sentence in perfect Mandarin.
"Well done Mr. Wayne, it's the first week and you already don't need this class!" their teaches smiled at him.
"Thank you," he answered and flashed a grin turning to Marinette. Her eye twitched again.
"Care to repeat what were you trying to say earlier? And correctly this time?" he asked. Marinette's knuckles turned white around her pen. You shouldn't punch a civilian. No matter they are annoying a-hole, you're a hero. " Or do you want to explain to me what is a shower dress and what did it do to you?"
On the other hand, civilians should have common sense. She would be doing him a favor.
"Listen to me, Wayne-" she started.
"Miss Dupain-Cheng."
"Yes Miss Jones?"
"Can you please read the following sentence for us?"
"Of course Miss," Marinette said. After the first few words of a sentence, she heard a chuckle from her left. She kept her eyes glued to the front. Inaudibly, she started counting from ten.
Which caused her to make another mistake. The sound next to her changed into something suspiciously sounding as if someone was laughing with their hand covering their mouth.
She didn't turn her head because it was still unacceptable for a hero to punch a civilian.
"Shower dress," she heard him murmur. This was her second week at the university. Which meant that she had still more than 28 weeks left.
"Thank you Miss Dupain-Cheng, that was almost correct, you had only few small mistakes," Miss Jones smiled again.
"To put it lightly," again she heard the voice accompanied by the chuckle. She eased the pen out of her grip when it threatened to break. She slowly turned her head. She's going to punch a civilian.
///
He wasn't paying attention to anything the teacher said. He came to class, took out his notebook, and started drawing. She wrote down another word from the board. Still more than 27 weeks left.
Her eyes flew to the open notebook next to her. It was a dog. He was drawing a dog.
She wrote down another word, determined to ignore him.
"Can you say a few sentences to your partner? Try complimenting them using the vocabulary we've been through." Miss Jones said.
Marinette looked at Wayne, who didn't even raise his head. She coughed. Nothing.
"Wayne," she said. He gave a non-committal sound in response. She sighed.
"I like what you're drawing. Do you like dogs?" she managed to ask in Mandarin.
"I don't think you meant to say what you said in the first part of the sentence and I didn't even understand what were you trying to say with the second part. Or were those two sentences?" he said, now shading a fur on the dog's stomach.
She started counting down from 20. By now, her body probably took the eye twitching as a natural reaction to being in the same room as Wayne. Jumping in the water? Hold breath. Smelling croissants from her parent's bakery? The mouth will start to water. Damian Wayne is sitting next to you in a language class? The eye is twitching and you try to refrain yourself from punching him in the face.
(Hotel? Trivago.)
All purely natural phenomenons.
Science.
///
"You couldn't have chosen any other language class? Maybe, I don't know, in a language you aren't fluent in?" Marinette was almost shaking.
"The university didn't - you have a mistake there - didn't offer a course in no such language," he said, vaguely waving his hand at her notebook.
"Excuse me?"
"Oh sorry, are your hearing problems the base of your language learning problems?" he asked with a neutral expression. And yep, there was her natural reaction.
"Don't you want to change a place with anyone else?" she exasperatedly asked.
"No, I like this place quite a lot."
Only 26 weeks left.
///
"Either my ears deceive me or you said this sentence sans mistake."
"Shut it, Wayne, that's not the only sentence I said correctly."
"Yes, I believe this was the second one."
"Ha! And the class has only started-"
"I meant from the beginning of the year, Dupain-Cheng," he said, wearing an infuriating smirk.
25 weeks left.
///
"I would greatly appreciate it if you could shut up for a second."
"But I want to hear a correct Mandarin and the only other person here is you."
"What are you even doing in the library?"
///
"Wait, you have siblings? And they aren't in prison yet?"
"Where are you heading with this, Dupain-Cheng, why would they be in the prison?"
"You've mentioned you live together, so I thought for a murder attempt."
He was still for a few seconds.
"You know what? I feel like you would get along like a house on fire. And I don't even mean it figuratively. I will make sure you will never meet them."
"Dami, don't be like that..."
"What did you just call me?"
"What, Dami? It's such a cute nickname, isn't it? Dami, Dami."
"If you'll continue with that, there would be one person in this room with a murder attempt," he slowly grinned. "But it would be successful. And no one would be able to prove me anything."
"Oh, Dami. Why do you have to be so mean."
"Dupain-Cheng, I swear-"
Oh, the next 23 weeks are going to be so entertaining.