During the weekend, Matthieu was at Luka's place preparing for a chemistry test. Chemistry was not among his strong points but Luka was kind enough to help him out. Even though Matt generally preferred to ask the girls in their class to study together, Luka didn't mind spending some time with his school friends. Even if it was a study session. And even if Matt constantly asked him about Danielle. Luka wasn't stupid, he caught up to his friend's attraction toward Dani almost instantly, but said nothing about it yet. Matt was a nice guy, but when it came to his dating life… Well, it was rather eventful. Luka likes Matt and he likes Dani as well. But he was not sure if Matt was the right kind of guy for Danielle.
"I don't understand any of this" Matt whined, sprawling out on the floor as a protest, making Luka chuckle.
"Come on, it's not that difficult" Luka smiled. "Just try to use all the elements from this side to make some compounds" he started explaining when his sister entered the room, murmuring a hello to Matt, looking at the boys with a confused face.
"Oh, hey Jule" Matt grinned, waving enthusiastically. "How are you doing?"
"Fine, thanks, I guess" Juleka said quietly. "I didn't know you had other plans for today" she said to Luka, staring at her shoes.
"Oh, did I interrupt some sibling plan? Sorry" Matt apologised, looking at Luka with a questioning face.
"Is it already time?" asked Luka, checking his phone.
Today was the day when the Couffaine siblings finally had a chance to visit Danielle's new home to watch the infamous The Attack of the Teenage Zombie Aliens. Luka thought that he and Matt will finish with their studying by the time they had to leave but Matt seemed to be really struggling with this topic. So what is he supposed to do now? Just ask him to leave? Or ask him to join them to Dani's place? He didn't really like the idea of Matt personally meeting Dani. He can be really pushy around girls and he was not sure how Danielle would react if they just unexpectedly show up with an unknown guy who wants to pick her up the first time they meet. But before he could react, Matt already convinced Juleka to ask Dani if he can go with them to watch the movie.
As Dani was reading an ancient Chinese book about different kinds of potions and spells, her phone buzzed.
J: *Hi.*
Checking the time, she saw that Luka and Juleka should arrive for the movie-time in about half an hour. She was hoping they didn't want to cancel their plans. She was waiting for this all week.
D: *Hey. Sup?*
J: *We're about to leave home…*
D: *Awesome. Can't wait!*
J: *Luka's friend is here.*
J: *They were studying…*
D: *Cool.*
D: *Did they finish?"*
J: *Umm… Idk. I guess.*
J: *Would you mind if he tagged along?*
J: *Watching the movie and stuff…*
Danielle was a bit confused about this unnamed friend of Luka. She wasn't very fond of meeting new people, especially inviting them to the new house even without knowing them. Well, technically she didn't invite him, but still, it was a weird situation.
D: *I mean… Idk. Would I? :D*
J: *?*
D: *:D Do you know him as well?*
J: *Yeah. He's okay, I guess…*
D: *Okay. If you don't mind him being here, then sure. Why not.*
Juleka watched the message and felt really happy. Danielle considering Juleka's feelings even though they wanted to bring an unknown guy to her place made her feel special. Like Danielle cared about her. With an almost unnoticeable smile, she replied with a like symbol before informing the boys about the decision.
"Awesome! So, let's go. I'm sooo stoked" Matt exclaimed excitedly.
"Anything just to leave chemistry behind, huh?" Luka asked with a fake smile as they left the Liberty, just to make Juleka talk about how the zombies in the movie are made by some kind of failed chemical experiment.
"You see?" Matt asked triumphantly. "It's a movie about chemistry" he grinned ear-to-ear, but Luka had a feeling that not the chemistry-related movie was the reason for his happiness.
ˇˇˇˇˇ
Closing the book in front of her, Danielle sighed, with a smiling Buzzy eyeing her.
"What?" Dani asked the kwami, raising her eyebrows, earning a light chuckle before Buzzy disappeared into her drawer.
After getting ready to greet her first guests, she looked around her room for a final check. The projector in place, movies all lined up, just in case they wanted to watch something else, the popcorn was almost ready in the kitchen, the drinks in the mini fridge. All set. Hopefully. She'd never had any friends come over before. Not just this house. Like, ever. So she was very excited and anxious at the same time. And then the bell rang.
"Wish me luck, Buzzy" she smiled, earning a thumbs up from her kwami friend as she ran to the door.
Hearing the guests talking outside, she took a deep breath before opening the door. Along with Luka and Jule, there was a boy, similar in height to Luka. He had long black hair up in a manbun and mischievous hazel eyes. He was wearing a grey shirt with some band logo Danielle didn't recognise, a zippered black hoodie, a darker shade of ripped jeans and black-and-white sneakers. The cool kid, Danielle thought.
"Hey" Dani greeted them, with Luka and Jule responding and the cool kid just staring at her with wide eyes and open mouth.
For a second, Dani panicked. Quickly checking behind her if maybe Buzzy followed her to the door, she was relieved to see nothing and nobody behind her. Looking back at Jule, Luka and then the other guy, she shifted uncomfortably.
"I… uhh…" she started. "Are you okay?" she asked him with a concerned voice.
"Yes" he breathed out with a rather stupid grin, making Jule chuckle while Luka just watched his friend in confusion.
"You must be Luka's friend" Danielle tried.
"Yes" he replied again, just eerily staring.
Danielle looked at Luka with a questioning face, who finally decided to speak up.
"He's Matt, my classmate. Matt, she is Danielle" Luka said, nudging Matt with his elbow.
"Ohh, yeah. Hi" Matt grinned awkwardly.
"Hey… So, how about you guys come in?" she asked, inviting them inside.
After getting the drinks and snacks from the kitchen, they headed to Danielle's room and started watching the movie. Laughing and commenting on the old-school effects and the stupid characters. At about half of the movie, Dani got up to make some more popcorn, with Luka following her to help.
"You could have stayed, you know" Danielle said, eyeing Luka from the corner of her eyes. "Making another portion is not a big deal and now you will miss some epic parts of the movie" she added with a silly voice.
"Are there any epic parts in this movie?" Luka asked with a smile.
"What do you mean by that?" she replied with a fake offended voice. "All parts of this movie are epic" she finished, making him laugh.
"Thank you, Dani" he said with a low voice after he stopped laughing.
"Hm?" she turned to him, confused. "For what?"
"Well, for everything. Everything's been so confusing and difficult lately" he started, looking at his shoes. "This dating with Marinette, then the break-up, finally finding out who my father is… And him being Jagged Stone…?" he sighed, looking back at a sympathetic Danielle.
"I'm sorry that you had to go through all this" she said with a sad voice. "But, you know, if you wanna talk about… well, about anything, I'm here."
"I know" he smiled. "That's why I'm so thankful to have a friend like you."
Friend like you… Friend like you… Friend… the words echoed in Dani's head, as she stared and smiled at Luka awkwardly.
"Umm… yeah" she finally said. "That's what friends are for, right?"
ˇˇˇˇˇ
"Maybe you guys can hang out or something while we talk about the details of our project, right, Gabriel?" Mr. Proulx said, looking at Mr. Agreste for affirmation.
"How about you show Danielle around your room, Adrien?" he finally asked after a few quiet seconds. "Meanwhile we can discuss things in my study."
"Alright, dad" Adrien said happily, grabbing Dani by the hand, rushing to his room.
"Follow me, Jules" Gabriel said, showing the way to his study room with the sketches. "I can show you some of the designs I came up with."
"I can't believe my dad agreed on you staying here while they're having their meeting" Adrien said excitedly, making Dani grin.
"My dad can be very persuasive when he wants to" she replied. "And this new electric car project they're working on will be a huge opportunity for both the university and your dad's company."
As they got upstairs, Adrien opened his door, leading Dani inside, looking around before closing the door.
"Wow. Nice room" Danielle commented, looking around, seeing there basically anything someone of their age might need and more. "Your dad wasn't kidding when he asked you to show me around. You need a tour guide to see all the sights and attractions" she joked, checking out one of the arcade consoles.
"Thanks" he replied sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I bet your room looks nice as well" he said awkwardly.
"Umm… It will, when it's finished" she grinned, taking her phone out of her pocket to show some photos. "The movie corner is already done but, like, I still don't have a proper desk."
"Priorities, right?" Adrien asked, laughing.
"Of course" she laughed back. "I can write homework on my bed. Or on the floor. But I need a proper place to watch movies."
"It looks really good so far" Adrien said, checking the pictures.
"Thanks. It turned out quite nice" Dani said. "We had a movie afternoon with Jule, Luka and umm… one of his other friends the other day. And I must say… having a projector instead of a TV makes it sooo much better."
"I guess it's a bit like having a mini cinema in your room, huh" Adrien wondered.
"Mini cinema?" Dani asked, laughing, making Adrien a bit confused. "That sounds so cute" she continued, making Adrien more at ease, chuckling.
"Yeah. Danielle's mini cinema" Adrien said, grinning, making Dani laugh even harder.
"Oh my God" she said when she finally stopped laughing. "That's totally how I'm calling it from now on. Ladies and gentlemen" she started with a deep voice, imitating a circus ringleader with her movements. "Let me invite you to the great opening of the one… the only… Danielle's mini cinema."
"Tickets are available online or at the box offices" Adrien added, making both of them laugh. "I'm so glad my father let us hang out. He can be very strict about who I spend time with…" he said with a sadder tone. "He doesn't seem to mind Chloé and Lila that much" he continued with a wary tone, rolling his eyes. "… and maybe Kagami… But she doesn't want to see me since we… you know… broke up."
"Oh… I… I didn't know about that" Dani replied, sitting down on the couch next to the piano. "Sorry."
"It's all my fault" he admitted with a sad face, sitting down next to her. "You know, this is basically the first time I'm allowed to actually go to school and do things. Have friends and sometimes hang out with them. It's just so hard sometimes. You probably think I'm really weird now."
"You know… I actually understand your issues" Dani admitted with a sigh.
"Really?" Adrien asked with a hint of disbelief in his voice.
"With all the travelling my dad does… I rarely get the chance to attend school. And when I do, basically, I'm always just the new girl" she said with a shrug.
"Then I guess we're in the same boat, huh" Adrien sighed, acknowledging their similar situations.
"Sometimes we're not as alone with our problems as we think" Danielle with an exaggerated condescending voice.
"That's very wise of you to say something like that" Adrien added with a happier tone and a wide smile.
"What can I say? I might be the wisest person you know" she said, making Adrien giggle. "Ooor… I might be very good at reciting things that I read online… One or the other."
"Then I'll just accept that you're the wisest person" Adrien replied after a few seconds of thinking, making Dani grin.
Just then, Natalie opened the door, informing them that their fathers were finished with their meeting, and it was time for Danielle to go.
"See you at school, Adrien" Dani said while leaving.
"Yeah… Bye, Danielle… And thank you" he added, looking at her with hopeful eyes.
"Anytime" she grinned, waving as she left the room.
ˇˇˇˇˇ
Danielle loved animals. Big or small, hairy or scaly, it didn't matter to her. So when Alix was looking for someone to accompany her to the zoo to help out with cleaning and redecorating the cages and habitats, she was happy to tag along. They got their own nametags and uniforms from the staff who were excited to get help from local high-schoolers and they actually had a lot of fun working together with the staff. Obviously, Alix had to post some photos of social media of the in their uniforms and each of them petting some of the animals whose habitats they worked on.
"I didn't think you would actually hold that huge snake" Alix said excitedly, as they were packing up their equipment. "That was so awesome."
"Oh, she was a cutie" Danielle said with a smile. "A very heavy cutie."
"Hahh, I bet she was" Alix laughed. "Thanks for coming, by the way. Not everyone would be up to clean all that elephant poop."
"Ahh, I can't imagine a better free time activity than shovelling animal poop for hours" Dani added with a playful voice, making Alix laugh.
"That's the spirit" she replied. "Honestly, I think that was one of my favourite parts."
"I don't doubt that" Dani giggled. "Still, I think I preferred working on the red panda habitat."
"It was so funny when one of them got scared of the shovel" Alix said, as both of them started laughing.
"They are so adorable" Dani added.
Just then, they felt the ground shake beneath them, as they saw smoke above the trees not far from where they stood.
"What the…" Alix started, as they heard people screaming, their voices getting closer.
"This doesn't sound good…" Danielle whispered, finally seeing people running their direction, followed by some animals that got released.
Looking around, they could see all the cages' doors being enveloped by a purple smoke and being opened on their own. And obviously, they were standing almost next to the lion's habitat.
"Oookay… Nice kitty" Alix said as the lion slowly exited the habitat, roaring at them.
But just before it could attack them, the superheroes of Paris arrived to save the day. Ladybug took Alix to safety while Viperion took Dani away from harm's way, leaving Cat Noir to put the lion back into its cage.
"Are you okay, Danielle?" Viperion asked with a kind smile.
Danielle just looked at him with a strange look. Did… did he just slip up, calling her by her name? No way. He's a professional, he wouldn't be so careless. Besides, he always calls her Dani.
"Uhh… Yeah" she mumbled. "At least I think I am" she said checking herself, realising she had her nametag on.
"I thought we agreed on you not getting involved with any villains" Viperion said with a mischievous voice.
"I… I don't see any villains here" Dani replied, looking around, as if she was searching for a villain, making him roll his eyes.
"Maybe I should've been more specific then, huh" Viperion said, crossing his arms. "How about you try to stay out of harm's way?"
"Well, it's not like I'm trying to…" she started explaining, but was cut off by Cat Noir hopping down next to them.
"I'm glad to see you're alright" Cat Noir said. "But while you were just chatting here, I just defeated the king of the animals" he added proudly.
"One cat to rule them all, eh?" Danielle commented jokingly, as they looked at each other with Viperion.
"Please, don't boost his already high self-confidence" said Ladybug, arriving where they were. "You should get to a safer place, we will deal with this akumatised villain" she added with a kind smile and wink, before getting into action.