Stuck In A Bakery (With You), Chapter 33
The morning sun arrived, and upon finding all virtues intact that ought to still have been, it rose approvingly over the Parisian skyline.
An uneventful breakfast led to Marinette tinkering with some dough-shaping duties back in the bakery's kitchen, while Adrien offered to take a tour of duty working up front with Sabine.
"Are you sure?" she'd asked him. "I wouldn't want your father's secretary getting upset about your being exposed to customers."
"I'll be wearing one of Marinette's masks. You said that you'd show me how to do contactless payment like you've been using out there, so I won't be handling cash or credit cards myself," Adrien pointed out. "And if I listened to everything that Nathalie told me, I wouldn't be here now."
"True enough. All right, then, you can be my new counter and register trainee," smiled Sabine. "Don't expect special treatment just because my daughter's crazy about you, now."
"I wouldn't dream of it," Adrien assured her. "By all means, no favors. Show me why you're the most dangerous bakery owner on Rue Gotlib."
Sabine gave him the eye. "We're also the only bakery on Rue Gotlib. But that still counts, smart guy," she winked.
About an hour later, Marinette wandered out to check on him, her apron displaying signs of wrestling with flour and powdered sugar. "How's he doing?" she asked her mother, who was closer to her than Adrien was.
"Not bad, not bad," Sabine replied, jokingly. "It's almost like he's pushed buttons or done basic math some time before."
Seeing her daughter react curiously to her jovial tone, she explained more quietly, "Adrien has a good sense of humor on him, so we've been trading some one-liners back and forth today. It's good to see that he's feeling that much more comfortable with us, that we can build up a rapport like that."
"Uh-huh! Cool," beamed Marinette, who then walked over to Adrien's side. "Hi," she greeted him. "I'd hug you, but, well..." she noted, pointing out her finely-coated apron. "I'd turn your outfit into a mess."
"I bet he'd take his chances anyway," Sabine called over.
"Honestly? It's tempting," Adrien laughed back. "This is pretty easy," he told Marinette. "It's been a moderate flow this morning, so it's keeping me occupied. Your mother's helping me whenever I need it."
"Sounds good. Papa and I are building some cakes. So far, we're doing all right, with a hiccup or two," she replied. "Do you find it easier out here than back there?"
"Not really? Just different," shrugged Adrien. "I can go anywhere they want me to be. I joked that I might be a tiny bit safer in the kitchen, but your kitchen might be safer without me in it."
"So, the first time that you have me over for dinner, I'd better plan on doing the cooking myself?" teased Marinette.
"You think that they let me cook around that place?" Adrien moaned. "For one, they've learned their lesson on that. Plus, Father runs around mumbling about 'what I'm paying some of the finest chefs in France for,' and similar things. I don't get a lot of practice because of that."
"I'm sure that we could arrange something. You and I can collaborate on a dinner together some night, and then see if we need to order a pizza when we're done," she suggested.
As she spoke, a familiar sedan pulled up to the curb. "Adrien! Looks like your bodyguard is here," called Sabine. "Marinette, we're not busy right now... why don't you go out with him in case he needs help carrying anything?"
"Will do," Marinette replied. She pulled her facemask out of her apron pocket and tied it on quickly, then joined Adrien on his way out the front door.
"What all did he bring?" asked Marinette, as the two of them approached the car.
"Hard to tell," Adrien replied. "One way to find out."
The Gorilla was hunched over the trunk, his own paper facemask in place, but they could see just from his eyes that he was happy to see Adrien looking well. He waved with his free hand, then made a brief "wait over there" gesture, which they obeyed. They watched as he lifted out a group of large blue plastic bags, effortlessly.
"Ah! IKEA bags!" noted Marinette. "That's smart. We can rinse them off and sanitize them when we've unloaded, so you don't lose them."
"Yeah... it is. But since when does Father shop at IKEA?" wondered Adrien, looking quite puzzled.
Him? No. Me? Yes, the Gorilla gestured. He reached over and placed the three bags on the sidewalk, then stepped back so that they could investigate.
"Okay," Adrien said, diving in. "This one's all clothes... okay, good. Good choices here. You got my pullover... I can always use more underwear... yeah, this will do nicely." He reached the second bag and his face fell. "Seriously?" he asked the Gorilla, who shrugged helplessly.
"What is it?" asked Marinette.
"Textbooks," grumbled Adrien. "For my Chinese language lessons. Here's one on the history of the piano. ...Sheet music? What am I supposed to do with that here?"
"Now, there we can't help you," admitted Marinette. "We have a lot of things here, but no pianos."
"All right. Let's see what's over here..." Adrien rummaged through the third bag with a look of intense curiosity. "This is... what is this?" he exclaimed.
"Can I see?" asked Marinette. He waved her over, and the two examined the contents.
"Settlers of Catan? Ticket to Ride?" she marveled. "Exploding Kittens? I've heard of some of these... they're board and card games."
"Yeah, I know of Ticket to Ride... I think that I have an app for that on my phone," Adrien agreed. "But there's so many of them in here..." He looked up at the bodyguard, who was grinning. "Where did these all come from?" asked Adrien. "I know that they're not mine."
He watched the Gorilla's pantomime with a practiced eye. "These are yours? For us to borrow?" asked Adrien, getting a firm nod in return. "Are you sure?" he added, getting an even firmer nod.
"Oh, wow! Thank you so much, Mr... um... thank you very much!" Marinette bubbled. "That was very kind of you! Adrien... I'll take these two inside for you. I'll put the clothes in your room... where do you want me to hide the textbooks?"
"Up in my... wait, hide them?" Adrien stumbled, getting a silent laugh from the Gorilla.
Marinette gave him a quick mask-to-cheek peck, then took off inside with two of the bags. Adrien watched her go, the heavier bag of the three at his feet... then turned back to the Gorilla, who appeared amused by what he saw.
The Gorilla pondered that for a moment, then gestured to Adrien, then to where Marinette had gone. He entwined his hands together, simulating two lovebirds holding hands, followed by a questioning look.
"...Yep. It's happening," confirmed Adrien. "She's just amazing. What do you think about that?"
He watched the Gorilla take a firm kendo stance, signifying Kagami... then give a firm thumbs-up gesture. Next, he flicked two imaginary pigtails... and repeated the thumbs-up, but more vigorously, with wide eyes and a distinct nod of approval.
"I'm finding it very hard to argue with that," smiled Adrien. "Thank you for bringing this... and for the games! We'll take very good care of them, I promise. Stay safe!"
With a small wave, the Gorilla climbed back into the sedan and headed back to the mansion.
"Games, you say?" asked Tom, looking intrigued. "What type of games?"
"A few different types," explained Adrien. "Some of them are board games... newer ones than your standard Cluedo or Scrabble, though there is a Monopoly set here now that I look more closely. These are games for two or more people; all four of us could play, if we wanted to. This one's about civilization-building, trading with other players, forming alliances..."
Marinette watched Adrien's face as he described the games that he recognized to her father. Cautious optimism on his face grew quickly into major excitement once he saw that Tom seemed receptive.
"This other one's a card game, basically a dungeon crawl played for laughs... very competitive," bubbled Adrien. "There's a base game and a ton of expansions... wow, he's got a lot of those here!"
"I'll be happy to go through them with you later, Adrien. I'm pretty sure that Sabine would be interested, too," smiled Tom. "How about we take a look together after supper?"
"Absolutely!" Adrien beamed. "I'll take them up to my room for now, and we'll be right back!"
"Well, you seem awfully happy all of a sudden," Marinette mentioned as she walked with him. "They're good games, huh?"
"Marvelous games!" Adrien declared as they reached the second floor. "There's been a real renaissance in recent years in game design. A lot of people think 'board games' and the same four or five come to mind, but there are some real gems out there now that are much newer."
He laid out the contents of that bag on his bed. "Okay, I have that one and that one..." he pointed out. "I've played that one once. These two I don't know at all. That... whoa!" Holding up a weathered cardboard box, Adrien had a look of amazement. "That copy of Illuminati... that might be a first edition!" he marveled. "We need to take extra-special care of that."
Adrien looked at Marinette with a startled expression. "I had no idea that he had all of these," he told her. "These could keep us all occupied for months, if you and your parents enjoy them."
"I'll be happy to try them out, of course!" replied Marinette. "And if you've played some of them before, you can walk us through how they work."
The unbridled excitement returned to Adrien's eyes. "That's just it, Marinette!" he exclaimed. "I have some of these... but I've never had a chance to play them."
It didn't click immediately for her, so he continued his explanation. "These are for at least two players, right?" said Adrien. "Most of them work best with around four people playing them. So... sure, I had a copy of Catan on my bookshelf... but who was I going to play it with?"
Oh...
OHHHH.
Marinette looked at Adrien in that moment, seeing the vulnerability joining the hope and joy in his eyes... and a wave of emotion passed through her as well.
Sometimes I forget just what it's like to be Adrien Agreste, she realized. How his feeling isolated and alone redoubled after his mother disappeared... but it certainly didn't start then.
How much of my own life that I take for granted sometimes. Not because my family's all that unusual... but because others' are.
And just how much he needs support. And lots of it.
Her will wavered for a moment, contemplating that. I'm... we're giving him a taste of family, perhaps like he's never had before. And I can see how happy that's making him, she told herself.
But once this whole crisis is over... once he's back at his house, and he's isolated again...
Kagami doesn't have the kind of family life we have. The same kind of comfort. Not even close. And I'm so not meaning that to seem catty... that's a big problem for her, too, thought Marinette. Maybe I need to do what I can to reach out more... once I can see her again.
It IS something that I can offer Adrien that she can't... as much as I possibly can. As much as his father will let him participate, and be with me.
But Kagami... might fit into his old life in ways that I can't. She understands that lifestyle better. She's living much of it herself.
Which of us COULD be better at lifting him out of that? At giving him what it is that he truly needs the most?
I... need to think about this.
But for now...
Adrien's momentary look of confusion, coming to him while watching Marinette process all of that, vanished as her smile returned to her face. She sat down on his bed and began rummaging through the game collection.
"Which leaves me with just two questions, Adrien," she said, warmly. "Which one should we pick for tonight... and how long will it take you to teach me how to play?"