Sunday: Food

#lettheboyeat2k16

If there's one thing he could say about Marinette, it's that she was one of the kindest people he had ever met. She would make things to give away for no reason in particular, spending hours knitting some gloves or a hat or stitching together clothing (rarer, but it still happened) for someone in their class, or out of it on some days. And it wasn't just little charms or clothing, either. No; Marinette often brought in treats that she had helped her family make. She claimed they often had extras – some days were slower than others and while they usually had a pretty steady customer flow at certain times on certain days, they never really knew when there would be a sudden spike or drop. So sometimes her parents would give her some of the extras they had from the day before and let her share them with her class.

Croissants, macaroons, cookies, traditional French goodies and Chinese ones too. Sometimes she even brought in more exotic treats, depending on what Tom and Sabine learned from various people around the world, or tourists who gave them recipes of their favorite cookies, were they not already in the bakery (American gingerbreads were an odd treat, more spicy than sweet, but still delicious).

Adrien treasured each bit. He wasn't really allowed many sweets at his house (it hasn't really been home for a while, he was noticing), but at school there was no one watching him and hawking over everything he ate. Plus, he figured he was allowed to cheat – Chat Noir was nothing if not "active". Not even Chloe stopped him (she didn't partake, he noticed, though he chalked it up to the vendetta she had against Marinette. He knew her father got most of the sweets for his hotel from the bakery).

So every time Marinette came in with a large, pastel box and handed out the treats inside, Adrien always made sure to give her a genuine grin and a polite "Thank you!"

Every time she turned red, but she's recently stopped tripping (he had wondered why she had gone to the other side of the classroom first whenever handing out treats. He figured it was to avoid the results of her tripping). It was progress, though, and he wasn't complaining.

"Way to someone's heart is through his stomach, eh?" Alya asked teasingly, noticing how delightedly he ate his cookie- a macaroon, this time.

Adrien just swallowed and grinned. "It's really good! I can see why they say your parents have the best bakery in Paris, Marinette!"

Marinette turned slightly redder, but beamed anyway. "Y-yeah! Maman and Papa both work really hard to get all these treats just right." She made a gesture with her hands that Adrien couldn't make heads or tails of. He just chalked it up to it being Marinette and let it be.

"Well, it really pays off," Adrien declared. Class started soon after, though, and so the conversation was cut short.

And it wasn't just his "Adrien" side that loved sweets, either; his "Chat" side did as well. He had discovered that while some things did affect him more since he got his Miraculous, some things hadn't. For example, higher-pitched noises bothered him more than they once did. Violin solos he could listen to for hours at one point were now only enjoyable once through, and even then it caused a wince. Chloe's voice was another thing, making him even more uncomfortable when she invaded his space. One thing that he kept, though, was his human diet. He didn't have to worry about avoiding any foods that cats couldn't eat, according to Plagg; the cat informed him that several Chat Noirs before him had gone to formal parties and eaten the different foods there and not been worse for wear, except for maybe a stomach ache from eating so much. (He never did tell Adrien why these previous beings had even been at these parties.)

So when the Dupain-Chengs offered free treats to the heroes of Paris after Animan, Chat took them up on the offer. Ladybug, however, said she had somewhere she needed to be, but thanked them for the offer before swinging away.

Chat's ring started beeping not too soon after, and he looked up regretfully at the bakers.

"Offer's open anytime," Thomas grinned, clapping a hand on the superhero's shoulder.

Grinning in thanks, he sprinted away, hiding in a nearby alley and giving Plagg some cheese before the kwami could complain.

Oddly, the cat didn't say much of anything, simply eating the cheese before giving Adrien a look that the teenager couldn't dechiper.

"Ask if they have cheese bread," was what Plagg said without his usual snark. Adrien blinked as the information processed before summoning Plagg into the ring and heading back the way he came, guaranteed at least a few hours as Chat. He was a little disturbed that Plagg was as quiet as he was – by now, the cat-like being's complaints were par for the course – but as he felt the kwami in his head he felt the kwami's mild concern and understanding.

Chat wondered how many previous hims had suffered from similar issues. The luck of a black cat, after all. He abandoned the thought quickly, deciding he didn't want to know.

He made his way back to the bakery to be greeted by Marinette, who was working the counter.

"Erm, Chat?" she asked. Her father had apparently heard her question, as his head appeared from the back and said "Ah, welcome back Chat Noir! Pick what you'd like; on the house."

Chat inclined his head, bowing a little. "Thank you, sir."

Despite his love of the treats, he only picked out a few pastries and some cheese bread when he caught sight of it in the display case. He heard Plagg purr happily in his head, an odd sensation to say the least.

"… Are you sure that's all you want?" Marinette asked suddenly, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Wha- oh, yeah. Yeah! I'm sure." Shoot, his Adrien was showing. "It's the purr-fect amount." Nice save.

Marinette wrinkles her nose a bit at the pun, but scrutinizes him anyway. He just stands there, smiling, as if he wasn't taking some treats from the bakery in full costume.

Marinette swiped a box of… something, tucking it neatly into the bag before handing it to him with a look that practically screamed "I dare you to protest".

Chat's unlucky, not stupid. He didn't challenge her, simply thanking her with a little bow and leaving with the bag in hand. It was a little more difficult to navigate to his house with the bag in his hand and trying to use both hands on his staff, but he managed.

First order of business: Adrien handed over the cheese bread to his kwami, who took it with his usual snarky "thanks" before swallowing one whole. Seeing that the magical being was lost in his own world, Adrien proceeded to open the box of treats that Marinette had put in his bag.

It was a box of macaroons.

Adrien smiled as he bit into one, savoring it.

Oh yeah. Definitely one of the kindest.