Steampunk AU, they look like the picture attached.

Marinette wiped her brow on her sleeve as she fixed the generator. The oil on her hands wouldn't be good to get on her face, but then again, she always somehow managed to get a streak of the black liquid on her cheek or neck or somewhere.

She was the mechanic in the store she ran with Alya, selling bits and bobs and sometimes small machines, which Marinette would make. Marinette would also do repairs. Alya was simply the sales-person, and a good thing she was, because Marinette tended to be pretty awkward in some situations with strangers.

The power had been cut off and turned off the light globes and the music player. Their spare generator was broken, so it was up to Marinette, once again, to fix it. She stuck a screw between her lips and twisted the wrench to tighten a bolt before the machine sputtered into life. Grinning, proud of herself, she took the screw and screwed shut the opening to the engine.

"Marinette, you're a gem!" Alya yelled from the front room. Taking off her bulky gloves, revealing the tighter, more decorative gloves below, she stuck her head in the room with a toothy grin.

"I'm no brighter a gem than you, Als." She watched as her friend threw her a face and returned her bright grin.

"Yo, girls!" Nino, the owner of the stall next door, stuck his head in the entry before waltzing in, hands in his pockets and whistling a merry tune. He was wearing his signature top hat and black over-shirt. "Mind if I borrow Marinette? Need her to fix up my generator now." Alya rolled her eyes.

"She's all yours, Nino."

"And just like always, I don't get a say in the matter." Marinette sighed dramatically, placing one hand on her heart and the other wrist against her forehead. "Treated like a worthless slave, forced to do all the work, no wonder I'm stronger than you all! I'm not even paid!" Alya snorted and shoved her.

"You do so get paid. You get paid with three meals a day and a bed to sleep in." She pushed a giggling Marinette out the door. "Go! Be helpful! Catch you later, Nino!"

Nino laughed and waved before following Marinette out the door. She was looking over her shoulder, waiting for him to join her at her side. While Alya was her best friend, Nino was practically Marinette's foster-brother. The two grew up in an orphanage together, Nino immediately befriending her when she joined at the age of five, before finally leaving and meeting their friends Alya and Adrien.

Adrien was Nino's co-worker and best friend, who prided himself on his inventions. He always wore a smart white shirt with folded up sleeves, a blue vest, pine-stripe pants and a pair of goggles atop his mess of golden hair, when they weren't over his emerald eyes. Marinette had always fancied Adrien, but not in a serious way, as he was a total flirt and probably didn't reciprocate her feelings.

"So, Mari, how's your bird coming?" Nino broke the comfortable silence, asking about her bronze bird. She aimed to try to repair it and make it fly, but had yet to succeed.

"No luck yet, but I'm getting close! I can feel it!" She pumped a fist with determination and Nino laughed.

"You'll get there, Spots. If you want my man Adrien's help, you can always ask." Nino used an affectionate nickname as he opened the door to the shop, which made a bell jingle, holding it for Marinette. She scoffed.

"No way, Shell, this is my project and I want to get it myself!" She pouted as Nino laughed again, which melted into a confident smile as she folded her arms. "And if you don't leave well enough alone I'll tell Alya exactly why I call you Shell."

His smile faded into a face of horror and panic. "No, please don't, it'll ruin all my chances with her!" He waved his hands in her face as she snickered.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Alright, generator, point me in the direction and I'll be done in no time!" She took a spanner out of her tool belt and spun it through her fingers, catching it in her palm with a smile. "I expect lunch. After all, my services aren't free and I'm hungry."

"Thought your name was Marinette." Adrien walked in from the back room, goggles placed on top of his head as usual, with a grin gracing his handsome face. Marinette rolled her eyes. "Though it just as easily could be beautiful, seeing as that's the first word that comes to mind when I see your face."

The blunette sighed and tutted. "Ah, forever the flirt, Agreste. One day, it'll get you somewhere." Her face broke into one of excitement and determination. "But today is not that day, I have a job to do!" She grinned and bounced past him to the generator. "Yell if you need me or someone's on fire or something!"

"You're never going to let me live that down are you?" Nino yelled back. One time, Marinette was over with Alya for lunch and Nino had come into the room, screaming because his arm had caught fire. He didn't get burned severely, but it was still pretty funny.

"Nope!" Adrien chuckled as he heard her clearly amused voice cheerfully chime. He really liked Marinette, she was just so... alluring. So warm, so welcoming, so unlike the environment he grew up in. If her kind heart and positive outlook on life were adorable, her sarcastic and sassy ways were downright hot. And then there was her porcelain skin, her midnight blue hair that framed her perfect face, her captivating cerulean eyes that drowned him in their depths...

"Bro? You're making the face again." Nino poked his cheek and snapped him out of his daze. "You know, the real stupid one that makes your love-sickness really obvious."

Adrien huffed. "Not my fault she's perfect. Besides, weren't you the one who said it was painfully easy to fall in love with her?" He went back into the back room, followed by Nino.

"I mean, yeah, but I wasn't the one head over heels for her. You know Alya's the one for me." He smiled dreamily as Adrien shook his head, amused.

"We're both love-sick fools."

"That, my dear friend, is a very true statement."

~*~

"Add a little coolant, tighten that back on... Nino, power's back! Mission accomplished!" She cheered as the lights and sounds of the place burst into life. Nino poked his head in, grinning at the sight of the streak of oil across her cheek.

"You're amazing, Spots. Now, wanna go get Alya and we'll all eat together?" He said with a hopeful glint behind his glasses. Marinette giggled.

"Yeah, yeah, then I'll watch you get all flustered." Nino scowled as she went past, before smiling mischievously and reaching out to tickle her side. She jolted away with a laugh. "Okay, okay! I'm going, then I'm coming back. With company. There better be food, or I am breaking your damn generator and nit fixing it for a week." With that, she waved and headed out the door to get Alya.

Adrien was still in the back room, gears whirring and metal clinking against metal when the two girls came. His goggles were now protecting his eyes, and he was totally concentrated in his work. Which was making a metal companion, a cat. He was so engrossed in his project, he didn't notice when Marinette appeared at the doorway, leaning against the frame and watching him with a light smile on her pink lips.

When he finally looked up, he was startled to see her staring at his inventions and innovations, particularly a music box, which he made sure played constantly. Two figures spun on the top, made to look like they were dancing. Marinette was watching it, tears glazing over her eyes.

Her parents used to dance. They used to twirl and sing and laugh and lift her into the fray too. She was so young when that fire tore down her home. So young, yet old enough to remember that day as if it were yesterday.

A hand rested on her shoulder, connected to a muscular arm and broad shoulders and a handsome face and concerned green eyes. "You okay?" He asked, worried. He always hated to see her cry, even when he wasn't in love with her. She nodded, wiping her eyes.

"It's just memories." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, steadying herself before opening them again. "Come on, lunch is ready." She flashed him a smile to reassure him, and took his hand to pull him out to the table.

Adrien knew he shouldn't have let his heart race and his arm tingle at the contact with her. After all, she just needed support. But his heart was thumping wildly and his arm felt electric and her hand was so warm. Marinette was feeling much the same way. His touch had sent a shock through her body, and her arm tingled with the contact.

As they ate, Marinette was multi-tasking. She was eating, laughing, talking, and thinking. Thinking about Adrien and what he did to her. Why was she feeling this way? It was only mild attraction, right? But now, she felt like he was the North to her South - she mentally face-palmed. Only an engineer would compare attraction between people to magnets.

And anyway, he didn't like her in that way, right? He flirted with every girl, right? Except Alya, because she was Nino's crush, and Chloe, because she was too clingy, and Lila, because she's a liar, and that woman who came in yesterday, because she was married, and that pretty girl who flirted with him as he politely pushed her out of his comfort zone...

Holy crap, did he actually just flirt with her?!

Oh, nuts and bolts, this was confusing.

~*~

It was night. Marinette and Alya had gone home, well, not really. They had gone home, but Marinette had gone out again. She needed to purchase something, and the seller had specifically told her to meet them at night. Honestly, it was a little sketchy, but she needed this piece for her bird.

Adrien had been up late, working on his mechanical cat, and noticed her walking through the darkness. Brow furrowed, he took in that she was unarmed. With a concerned spark, he grabbed his gun and followed.

He watched as she ducked into an alleyway. He watched as she talked with a huge man and his two accomplices, and he gasped and ran out as they picked her up and threw her against the wall.

"Hey! Hands off her!" He yelled, aiming the gun at the three. Did he mention he's a really good shot? Marinette's head shot up and she stared at the blond who was fiercely furious. The crooks looked alarmed as he fired a warning shot, which barely scraped past one of their cheeks, and turned on their tails and ran.

Adrien immediately dropped the gun and ran to Marinette, checking her for injuries. She stared up at his face, his intensely green eyes so filled with worry and fear and lingering anger. Marinette finally absorbed what happened, and she burst into tears, wrapping her arms around his and pressing her face into his shirt.

His heart sped up rapidly, but he knew he shouldn't take advantage of her fragile state. Gently, he lifted her up and supported her as he walked her home. Her legs were trembling, and he had to ensure that she got in bed.

About 15 minutes later, Marinette's tear-streaked face explained what she was doing out there in the darkness instead of her warmly lit bedroom.

"They promised me that they would get me the last piece to my bird. I didn't know they were lying just to get me." She finished, leaning her head on Adrien's chest, listening to his heartbeat. It sped up. She was pretty sure hers did too.

He sighed, wrapping his arms around her soothingly and pulling her entire body close, so that she was sitting comfortably on his lap. "If you did know, you wouldn't have gone." He murmured into her hair, inhaling her scent. You'd think she'd smell like oil, but no, she has this constant scent of vanilla and cinnamon. She shivered slightly at his closeness but didn't pull away, oh no - she was enjoying this too much.

"Adrien."

"Mm?"

"I-I... don't know what I'd do without you. You're always there for me, and you're always there to protect me from anything and anyone, and... I want to thank you, but I don't know how." Her voice cracked and she closed her eyes, trying to stop the tears from falling. He was silent for a moment.

She felt his hand gently grip her chin, lifting her face away from his chest to meet with his sparkling emerald eyes. Her cerulean eyes glimmered with unshed tears, he found himself losing himself in their endless depths. He smiled softly, and dipped his head to press his lips against hers.

She stiffened at first but melted barely a moment later, hands that once rested on his chest now tangling in his golden locks. Responding to the kiss, she moved closer, if that was even possible, and opened her mouth. 

His hands moved without direction, eventually ending with one on the small of her back and the other cupping her face, angling it upwards to deepen the kiss. She was exactly how he'd imagined she'd taste - maybe even better, sweet and spicy and warm all at the same time. Finally, he was kissing the woman he loved.

When they pulled away to breath, neither wanted to spend the night away from the other.

That's how Alya found them - curled up against each other, limbs tangled and hair a pair of messes. Together at last, or at least, that's what I heard.

steampunk yo