"Atta boy," Sabine said.
"Fuk dem op!" A voice cheered from beside her.
Sabine jumped a bit, surprised at the sight of the small, redheaded toddler standing beside her and waving towards Chat Noir. A little ways behind was a familiar redheaded woman.
"Morning stranger," Caline said. She was in her aquamarine tracksuit, and her hair was up in a messy bun. "I saw on the Ladyblog that you two were out for a morning snack and I said to myself, 'why, that's a block from here,' so I asked Camille if she wanted to come by and say hi."
"That's on the Ladyblog?" Sabine asked.
Caline nodded and pointed towards a shrub about twenty meters away. "You're being livestreamed. Someone is frantically narrating theories on what you may or may not have been talking about with Chat Noir."
Sabine glanced over to see Alya poking out of a bush, her phone in hand and a ridiculously large grin on her face. The young girl waved.
Sabine waved back, which caused Alya to squeal.
"Figures." Sabine said. She grinned and knelt down to Camille. "Hey there, beautiful. How are you this morning?"
"Fuk dem op!" Camille chanted. She stumbled forward and hugged Sabine.
Sabine blinked. "Did she just say what I think she said?"
Caline nodded. "Big sisters are great, let me tell you."
"Woof, this one's getting big herself, Caline. What are you feeding her?" Sabine asked as she picked the toddler up.
"Pastries, apparently," Caline said. She looked Sabine up and down. "I'm guessing someone roped you into work this morning?"
"Not at all," Sabine said. She lightly bounced Camille in her arms. "I wanted to give someone a much-needed break, but it didn't work. She got up early and is helping her dad, which means I should probably get back and mitigate things." She glanced at Caline. "Honestly, I think you look better in this."
"Honestly, I think you do better in this. I saw you talk down the akuma this morning on the news. Nice work," Caline said.
Sabine shrugged. "It just felt like the right way to handle things. Poor Anarka is struggling with the potential of paying for her son to go to University."
"Couldn't he get a scholarship?" Caline asked.
"Well, he's got an offer to study overseas, but the college in question is apparently really expensive." She looked to Caline. "I don't suppose there are any grants available through the city? Maybe an arts scholarship? I promised I'd ask."
Caline frowned. "No, but… Wait. To be clear, this is for Anarka? Anarka Couffaine?"
Sabine nodded.
"And this is because Luka has an opportunity to study music abroad, but the issue is money?"
"That's what this morning was about, apparently."
Caline rubbed her forehead. "Okay. Okay, so, I'm about to do something that you can't breathe a word of to anyone, understand? Not a soul."
Sabine nodded and made a zipping gesture across her lips. "My lips are sealed."
Caline took a deep breath. "Okay, give me a second." She shook out her hands. "Not sure if I'm going to need to go full-bitch or not. Might need to channel my daughter for a few minutes. Gonna try the sweet approach first, though." She took out her phone, scrolled, and selected a contact. "Here we go."
Sabine watched in confusion as Caline stood slightly straighter, her form now a little more rigid. She had effortlessly slipped into professional mode without even realizing it. "Good morning, Sabrina. How's the front desk treating you? Wonderful! No, no, I'm fine, but I do need you to put me through to suite 6969. Yes dear, yes. Yes. I'll hold."
Caline tapped her foot as she waited. "It used to be room 5027," she whispered to Sabine. "They asked us to change it and… Hello! Good morning, Penny. It's Caline. Yes, your neighbor. I'm good! You? Wonderful. No, you two weren't loud at all, and you know I wouldn't say anything, anyway. I love his playing, you know that. Yes, I did you see the akuma attack this morning. Yes, it was scary, wasn't it? Well, on a somewhat related topic- Forgive me for calling so early, but I have a request for Jagged that maybe you can help with. Remember that conversation we had on the balcony a couple months back? The one where Jagged was passed out inside and it was just us girls? Well, it just so happens I'm here with a mutual red and black spotted acquaintance, and she just informed me that Luka Couffaine has been given an opportunity to go to University overseas, but the cost is too much for his family. Yes, dear. You heard the name correctly. Yes. It's Luka. What? Hold on, I'll ask."
Caline put her hand over the microphone end of her phone. "Does Juleka need her scholarship now, too? Because it'll be easier to transfer both at once."
Sabine stared, shocked. "Um, what? I mean, sure?"
"Why not?" Caline said into the phone. "Thanks, Penny. No, they don't need to know. I doubt Anarka would take it if she did. We can say it's from the, um, the Hero Foundation. Well, it will exist by this afternoon, how's that? Wonderful! Please pass along my thanks to Jagged, too. I will! I… Oh my. I'll see what I can arrange. Thanks again. Take care."
Caline ended the call. "Done."
Sabine stared. "How… How did you just do that?"
"I'm a Bourgeois now," Caline said as she relaxed. "We apparently get shit done. But seriously, don't tell anyone that just happened."
"What just happened?" Sabine asked, thoroughly confused. "No, like, I'm not being cute. Seriously, what just happened?"
Caline rubbed her eyes. "So, did you know Anarka used to tour with Jagged? She was his bass guitarist, but she quit about 18 years ago. For reasons."
Sabine's eyes went huge. "Oh. Wow. WOOOOOW. Okay. You… Wow. The more you know. Thanks, Caline."
"What are friends for?" Caline asked with a wink. "Also, I might have promised that Ladybug would come by sometime in the next week or so and sign a poster for Jagged." Caline shrugged. "Sorry."
When Sabine returned to the bakery, she found the counter still busy, but things seemed less stressed. Tom was now back in the kitchen preparing fresh additions, Marinette was working the register, and standing front and center, taking orders with an adorable pink apron on, was Adrien. He had a huge grin plastered on his face and was talking up a little girl who had her nose to the glass.
"Our special today is the Chat Noir themed macaroon. Chocolate and mint, with a little kick for fun. They're pawsome," he said.
The little girl snickered. "You sound just like Chat Noir," she said.
"Well, that's because I am Chat Noir," Adrien said with a wink.
"It's true," Marinette called out from the register. She looked like she was over the moon at having her fiancé helping her out. "This mangey alley cat was the voice of Chat Noir in the Ladybug movie."
"I knew you sounded familiar!" The little girl squealed. "Six macaroons, please!"
Adrien grinned and filled the order. "Here you go, purrincess!" He handed the little girl the baggie.
Marinette paused.
You know how sometimes you hear something? Something small, possibly trivial, and it just… Clicks? And when it does…
"Ma'am?" The little girl was waving a 10 in front of Marinette. "How much?"
"Oh! Um, three euros, please." She quickly made change for the little girl but kept glancing over at Adrien.
"Thank you!" The little girl said as she left.
"You're welcome," Marinette said, not quite as enthusiastically. She was still staring at Adrien.
Sabine grinned. "Well now, it looks like I didn't need to hurry back at all. Thanks for stepping up, Adrien. You're a real hero."
Adrien blushed and smiled back. "Happy to be of help, Ms. Cheng. In fact, with my schedule now being what it is, I can help whenever you need me. If you need me, that is."
Sabine stepped behind the counter and put on her apron. "Adrien, your help is always appreciated. And this morning, I'd hazard to say you are very needed. Thank you."
Adrien gave her a warm smile back.
"You're welcome," he said.
Notes:
This was a good arc. I'm not trying to be cocky or brag- it just felt good to write. I wasn't even going to do this one. Honest. I was gonna skip right to the reveal arc and that was that, but this popped up and, well... I'm glad it did. Sometimes, that's just how stories work.
NEXT TIME!
The final arc for this fic begins!
It all comes down to this. Every horrible joke. Every tease. Every single story. After close to four hundred pages and five (counting this one) massive stories, it's finally time.
They're gonna do it.
They're gonna tell each other.
Really.
Really-really.
Be here for the horrible, awkward, nonsensical mess as each of our heroes tries to outdo the other at being a moron.
It's going to be ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!
Dammit, now I've hyped it up.
Be here tomorrow! Same Bug Time...
GINA: Remember when I was in this story?
ZIGGY: Partner, I plumb forgot I was in this story.
GINA: Well, we're not. This is our cameo. Hi everyone! Don't forget us!
...Same Bug Channel!
