Up with the trapped heroes, after a few seconds of shock from their less than graceful launch towards space, they frantically tried to push and break the bubble as it shrunk, while it rose higher into the air-even passing the top of the Eiffel Tower-using their feet and hands to punch and kick the bubble. It took longer than she'd like to admit for Ladybug to remember Chat's power.
"Use your cataclysm!" Ladybug realized as she sat up and leaned against the shrinking bubble, causing Chat Noir to stop his attempts to escape as well, and focus his attention on her.
"Couldn't you have said that 500 feet ago?" Chat Noir sarcastically asked, while trying to hide the fact that he had spaced about his powers as well.
"We can't stay stuck in this bubble together forever," Ladybug said, causing Chat Noir to ponder the thought with a groan-worthy expression featuring wiggling eyebrows.
'Yeah, I walked right into that one,' She thought as sh placed her hand on her head to stop the oncoming headache, shaking her head. Thankfully, he did of course, do as he was told.
'She's right after all. We will run out of oxygen eventually. Or will we hit space first? I don't want to find out,' the feline thought before he called on his…
e
"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir cries out, before putting his hand on the bottom of the bubble, causing it to pop. They were then immediately free-falling. Which was quite a precarious position when you were several hundred feet above concrete with no parachute.
"Should we see if you land on your feet this time?" Ladybug shouts out against the roaring wind as they freefell towards the ground together.
"No thanks!" Chat Noir shouts back, not very keen on the idea. He might have been a cat-themed superhero, but he was still a normal human underneath.
But thankfully, Ladybug was able to quickly come up with a plan after looking at the Eiffel Tower to her right as they fell past it, forming a plan.
"Your stick… there!" Ladybug shouted as she pointed at the Eiffel Tower.
"Got it!" Chat Noir responded before taking out his baton and throwing it at the monument, where it lodged itself into the metal of the tower. Ladybug then grabbed his hand and pulled out her yoyo.
" Hold on!" Ladybug warned, right before she threw her yo-yo at the baton, where it wrapped around the staff, creating an anchor point for them to stop freefalling, and swing back into the air.
The staff and yo-yo followed after being dislodged from the tower, and thanks to the plan, they were able to slow themselves, land on the ground, roll to avoid landing on their faces and ended up back on their feet.
They would both thank their suits for protecting them, Ladybug especially. She was certain if not for the magic she would simply not have her arm anymore and they'd be pancakes anyway.
"Good thing cats aren't afraid of heights," Chat Noir confidently boasted before Ladybug tossed him his baton back.
"We've got to get to the bubble sword, that's got to be where the akuma is!" Ladybug said, determined to finish the job, just before Chat's ring offered its first warning.
"We'd better hurry," Chat Noir said after looking down at his ring. They then started to run back towards the Agreste Mansion.
Back at the Agreste household, the Bubbler was on the search for his missing party guests as they cowardly hid away from him.
"Where is everybody? Get out here and party!" The Bubbler shouts out, trying to get the captives to have fun when they had enough of his demands. But thankfully, they didn't have to say anything.
"Sorry to burst your bubble," Ladybug called out as she stood on the front gate archway with Chat Noir crouched by her side, much to the 'partygoers' relief.
"Ladybug!" Alya exclaimed, to the joy of those hiding with her, as they started cheering out in celebration, infuriating the Bubbler as he faced Ladybug and Chat Noir. Why did they have to ruin his plans?
"No one wants to party with you anymore, Bubbler," Ladybug taunted, which frustrated the Bubbler even further, as he turned to address the former party goers.
"What's wrong with all you guys? Why you gotta be such haters?" The Bubbler screamed, before he roared in rage and launched large purple bubbles that entrapped the remaining 'guests', much to Ladybug and Chat Noir's shock as the now green bubbles started to rise into the sky.
"Outer space is the next stop for your precious peeps, and they're never coming back!" The akuma said before leaping away from the courtyard. With nothing keeping him there, he fled the scene, making Ladybug and Chat Noir chase the Bubbler all the way back to the Eiffel Tower, dodging explosive red bubbles as they came up onto the first observation deck of the landmark.
'They apparently explode now! So cool! Totally makes sense!' Ladybug sarcastically remarked to herself.
Once they landed, the Bubbler–who was standing on one of the awnings of the deck–launched another red bubble at them.
They dodged it just before it exploded, ending up on opposite sides of the explosion, and Chat's ring was beeping down to its last pad.
"I'm going to switch back soon! Hurry!" Chat Noir calls out causing Ladybug to stand up and summon her…
"Lucky charm!" Ladybug cries out, summoning her powers, which gave her a… giant wrench? Like a seriously massive wrench. It was almost as big as she was!
"Your… plumbing skills are going to help us out?" Chat Noir asked, confused as to how that monstrosity of a wrench could save their hides. Ladybug could only shrug. One of these days she'd figure out how lucky charms worked.
At present, she had more pressing issues. Like exploding bubbles, the Bubbler was launching at them. At least Chat Noir was keeping him busy and drawing fire, climbing up the Eiffel Tower to avoid becoming a barbecue roasted cat, but she needed to figure out the wrench soon.
"Needs some work. Is that all you got?" Chat Noir taunted after he managed to land on one of the rafters above the deck, catching his breath. Dodging exploding bubbles would not become one of Chat Noir's new favorite pastimes, but his taunting had seemed to help Ladybug have time to make a plan to do… something.
He had been joking about the plumbing thing but he didn't realize how helpful that was. Looking around, she saw a vent, a tube connected to it, the large nut that kept the tub in place, and the wrench in her hands, immediately coming up with a plan.
"Got it," Ladybug said before she ran towards the vent, and made quick work of taking it apart, using the wrench to loosen the large nut while Chat Noir continued to draw fire from the Bubbler up in the rafters. Soon enough the tube Ladybug had set loose was flapping around wildly.
"Chat Noir, cover me!" Ladybug called out, catching Chat Noir's attention, where he noticed the flailing tube. He leaps off of the rafter, and gets a hold of the tube- landing on the deck- which thankfully had a strong enough airflow to push the bubbles away from them.
"Go on!" Chat Noir shouts out, as his new defense against the explosive bubbles worked like a charm, angering Bubbler enough that he raised his wand high into the air, opening it up to be snatched by Ladybug's yoyo. The Bubbler was shocked as she then pulled it towards her and broke it over her knee, throwing the remains to the ground.
"Get out of here you nasty bug," Ladybug said, just before the akuma flew out of the broken bubble wand.
"No more evildoing for you, little akuma!" She said as she opened her yo-yo up to reveal the pool of cleansing energy inside. She then let it drop and started to swing it behind her, intent on capturing the akuma.
"Time to de-evilize!" Ladybug cries out before she throws her yo-yo towards the escaping akuma, catching it in her yo-yo, as it closes back up, before bringing it back towards her. A second later, she released the purified akuma, setting the white butterfly free.
"Bye, bye little butterfly," Ladybug said as the butterfly flew away. She then grabs the wrench and throws it into the air.
"Miraculous Ladybug!" She cries out, and no sooner than she did, the miraculous cure sweeps through the city, returning things back to normal. Adults were suddenly transported back to where they had been taken from and the Bubbler fell to his knees as the darkness fell from him, transforming him back into Nino, who was confused as to why he was at the Eiffel Tower.
"Where- Dude," Nino said looking around, trying to piece together what had happened. But it only took seeing the heroes to figure out what had happened.
"Pound it!" The two heroes said, feeling proud of themselves for taking care of another supervillain.
Meanwhile in Hawkmoth's lair, he was less than thrilled to see that he was once again defeated, while the white butterflies fluttered around the lair, blissfully unaware of the man's frustration.
"You can't run forever, Ladybug. And when I catch you, I will crush you," The heartless purple reptile of a man snarled as he clenched his fist in anger.
"I will destroy you both!" Hawkmoth shouts out as the lair window closes up, leaving the loonie man in total darkness.
(Time skip)
Things had returned to normal, but on the account that the akuma had attacked during the afternoon, the classes after lunch were canceled, leaving the students an early day with more time on their hands. That meant Adrien was stuck in his house for that time, having no excuse to hang out with his friends, especially after what had happened.
But at the moment, he was enjoying his dinner, while Nathalie was in her office, catching up on the work she missed during the akuma attack, when 'Father of the Year' Gabriel Agreste showed up on her intercom.
"Nathalie, did my son like his gift?" He asked, much to Nathalie's shock, pulling her away from her computer to speak to her boss.
"Actually… I was going to check right away sir!" Nathalie replied, trying to hide the panic in her voice and cover the fact that… she hadn't given it to him yet. Thankfully, Gabriel didn't seem to notice.
"Good." The anti-Santa said before signing off, leaving Nathalie to her panic. She then frantically looked around her desk for the gift, but then saw it next to her computer. She grabbed the gift from his classmate, but then noticed- there was a sticky note that wasn't there earlier. It must have been left during the akuma.
She took it off, crumpled it, and threw it away. She did feel guilty getting rid of it, but not guilty enough to lose her job. Nathalie ran to the dining hall where Adrien was having dinner… regrettably alone. She stopped just short of the door, to compose herself before walking in-grabbing Adrien's attention-and holding the gift out to him.
"A birthday present. From your father," Nathalie said before Adrien gently took the present from her-shock clear across his face-before immediately turning to leave. It wouldn't help the poor kid if she started tearing up.
"Oh! Thank you! I mean, please say thank you to my father for me!" Adrien requested, obvious to Nathalie's inner turmoil. But she turned her head back around and nodded.
'He's so genuine,' Nathalie thought to herself. She then left the dining room, leaving Adrien to open the gift that 'his father' gave him, with a wide smile.
(Time skip)
Night had fallen, and Marinette had considered the day pretty successful, all things considered. She got Adrien his gift and was even able to sign it. She beat an akuma, they didn't have their second half of classes so her science homework was technically done on time, and she cleaned her room, it all went quite well.
But now, she was once again in her pajamas, and at her desk, ready to call Jim and Toby like she did every night. Tikki was now resting on a pillow near the computer, while Marinette pulled up the call app, and dialed Jim's number, where they waited for the boys to answer.
Meanwhile in Arcadia, the bell had just rung, and Jim and Toby took the chance to run out of English class, excitement running through their veins as they raced to the bike racks.
"Do you think Marinette will skip the details? I mean, this akuma was pretty personal," Toby remarked as they ran, while Jim just shook his head.
"I don't know, but let's hope she does. Alya hasn't updated the Ladyblog yet, so let's see if Marinette is up for it," Jim said as they slowed down and found themselves at the bike racks. Once they sat down and leaned against them, Jim's phone started ringing.
Just as he and Toby pull out their lunches; homemade cheeseburgers with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, extra cheese, ketchup and mustard with carrot and celery sticks and leftover cookies for dessert; Jim answers his phone, allowing Marinette to appear on the screen.
"Hey, sis," Both boys greeted at the same time, causing Marinette to smile, feeling better than before.
"Hey guys, how was your day? Just get out of English?" Marinette asked, seeing as they had a little sweat on their brows. For some reason, Jim and Toby always ran out of English when the class was over, even when they had another class afterwards.
"Yep. Our day has been good. But enough about our boring lives… tell us what happened with Bubbler. Alya hasn't updated her blog and we are dying to know what happened!" Toby said, right before biting into his burger, ketchup and mustard spilling out in droplets.
"Your lives aren't boring, Tobes. In fact, I sort of envy you guys. You don't have to run out of what you are doing at the drop of a hat, just because someone got angry at someone else for giving them a hard time, or getting a bad grade. It's a full-time job," Marinette admitted as she leaned back in her chair, stretching her arms above her head with a yawn.
"But to answer your questions, the Bubbler was an… interesting akuma," Marinette refelected, just as Jim bit into his own burger.
"How so?" Jim asked, his mouth full of the homemade lunch, while Marinette rolled her eyes at him.
"Your manners are atrocious, Jim. But I might as well start from the beginning," Marinette said, setting her arms down, and placing them on her desk as she leaned forward towards the screen.
"Go ahead. I missed the first catch up, so tell me the details," Toby said, making Marinette smile. Toby would totally get along with Alya if they met up.
"Okay. So that morning, I got up and got ready for school, ready to give Adrien his birthday gift," Marinette said, while Jim took another bite out of his burger and smirked at Toby.
"Ask her how that went," Jim slyly suggested with his mouth still full, much to Marinette's annoyance.
"All in due time, brother. Now let me continue," Marinette sighed out, growing a bit impatient with Jim's interruptions.
"Right, sorry. Continue," Jim said while Toby continues to eat his burger and Marinette continues to tell her story. From there, she recapped all that had happened before Nino had been akumatized, going from that mornings attempt to give Adrien the gift she made, Chloé's rude interuption, and then her and Alya decidin g to cut the middle man and send it through Adrien's mailbox.
"But when I put it in the mailbox, Alya asked if I signed the note, but at that moment, I realized that I didn't even have a note on it, to begin with," Marinette admitted, causing Toby to laugh as soon as he swallowed his food, to which Jim joined in as well, while Marinette just deadpan glared at them with a pout.
"Yeah, laugh it up. Laugh at my misfortune. Are you done now?" Marinette deadpaned, not enjoying their laughter at her expense.
"We're good. Sorry for that. Please, continue," Toby said, wiping a stray tear from his cheek, while Marinette took that as her opportunity to continue. As the boys ate, Marinette then told the boys all that had happened after hers and Jim's lunch time call. She told of what she gathered from Bubbler's reasons to become akumatized, finding out he threw Adrien a birthday party and captured their class to attend as guests. She also mentioned how Chloé used the event as an advantage to 'get closer' to Adrien.
"What did you see?" Toby asked as he chomped through his veggie sticks to get to his cookies, while Marinette looked back at the screen with a tense smile.
"I saw Adrien slow dancing with Chloé. So… I used my Lucky Charm to change the music," Marinette embaresdly admitted, while Jim and Toby's eyes widened in shock… before bursting out into laughter again. This was way worse than anything Jim had done to embarrass himself in front of Claire. Once again, Marinette watched her brothers laugh at her with a deadpan glare.
"You done?" Marinette deadpaned again as the two of them calmed down from their laughter.
"Sorry, it's just… you are handling your first crush so badly," Jim said as he held his aching sides, trying to catch his breath.
"Yeah, I know. Anyway, after that…" Marinette said while Jim and Toby smiled at the news while finishing off their veggie sticks. The designer then explained how she got a chance to rectify her earlier mishap with the present, and then being forced to finally deal with Bubbler, as well as Chat Noir's impeccable timing of arrival, before they defeated Bubbler together. But after hearing some of the more… dangerous details, Jim and Toby just looked at her in shock. She had mentioned said details so nonchalantly, that it scared them that Marinette was already used to this type of life-threatening danger after only a week.
"The way you just said that… are you doing okay? And I mean mentally?" Jim asked, worried that his little sister was already used to the… less than ideal situation Hawkmoth had forced them into.
Sure being a hero seemed like a great gig, but it did have many downsides that not many people knew of or experienced.
"It's only the second week on the job. I'm doing fine right now. But admittedly, today was a bit of a challenge, since this became very personal for us. All in all, we defeated the Bubbler, and things went back to normal. I'm doing fine now," Marinette said, trying to assure her brother that she was doing good.
"Even then, even if Hawkmoth could take advantage of your emotions, you know you can talk to us… right? We'll always be here for you," Toby said, just as he finished eating his cookies, which Jim nodded in agreement, making Marinette smile. Leave it to her brothers to know how to make her feel better.
"I know, and I appreciate it. I promise that if I do need someone to talk to, you guys will be the first ones I go to," Marinette promised, which brought a smile to their faces as they wiped them clean.
"Thanks, sis," Jim said, just before the bell rang, which meant they had history class with Mr Strickler. Hooray.
"Aw man, I hate history with Strickler. He makes it so boring!" Toby groaned while slouching backwards, making Jim and Marinette chuckle at his antics.
"Looks like I got to go. Bye boys," Marinette said with a wide smile as she waved at them through the screen.
"Bye sis," The two boys replied before hanging up. After the screen went black, Jim put his phone away in his bag, while they made their way to history.
"History with Strickler isn't so bad, Tobes. It can be a bit fun at times," Jim admitted, trying to defend the subject he enjoyed.
"Easy for you to say, that's the one class you share with Claire. Plus, you're Strickler's favorite student. You're biased," Toby pointed out as they neared the classroom, with Strickler waiting outside as he greeted the students walking in.
"Maybe. But I am worried about Mari. She seems to have a lot more on her plate than she's letting on. I just know it," Jim said, not knowing they were in earshot of Mr Strickler.
"Sounds like someone else I know, Jim. It seems that your little sister has inherited your talent of taking on too much at once," Strickler noticed, knowing full well who Jim was talking about. He had known Jim's mother, Barbara- and to the same extent, Jim-for years, and became like a sort of uncle to the boy, knowing all about what had happened between Barbara and the Dupain-cheng all those years ago.
To say that he was a huge help to her was an understatement. Not many people understood the story completely, and took it the wrong way, but Strickler seemed to not care about that at all. The whole family liked him, Tom especially since he was helping Barbara and Jim when he couldn't.
Even Marinette liked him, more so when they got into deep conversations about textiles and historical influences for fashion. Last summer, Jim and Toby could barely get the two to stop talking since they were too deep in a conversation about the famous Chinese 'Silk Road'.
"You have no idea, Mr Strickler," Toby said before he and Jim walked into the classroom, leaving a fond smiling Strickler behind to close the door.
'Those two seemed to be more alike than I ever imagined,' Mr Strickler thought. But he simply kept the thought to himself as he began his lesson.
Back over in Paris, Marinette had just crawled into her loft bed, ready to slip into the realm of dreams while Tikki curled up on the pillow with her.
"Good night, Tikki," Marinette sleepily said, her eyes closing as she slowly drifted off.
"Good night, Marinette," Tikki responded back in the same sleepy tone, as they both fell asleep.
The morning came, and Marinette had managed to not be late to school that day. She met up with Alya at her house, and the both of them walked to the school while Alya gushed about the up-close footage of the Bubbler that she had been able to get for the Ladyblog, which Marinette was sure that Jim and Toby would see soon. The good mood was put on pause when they got close enough to the front of the school to hear Chloe yelling at Sabrina on the front steps.
"What do you mean 'Not for a week'?!" Chloé angrily questions Sabrina as she leaned towards her servant to intimitate her.
"There were no adults yesterday to deliver it!" Sabrina fearfully replied, hiding her face behind her tablet, as she leaned away from Chloé to try and avoid her wrath, afraid of what Chloé would do to her, while Alya, Marinette and a few other students watched.
"So what? Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!" Chloé shouts out as she storms inside, Sabrina following after her like a kicked puppy.
"Serves Chloe right," Alya laughed, causing Marinette to smile as well.
"Hey girls!" A voice behind them said. They turned around to see Adrien's limo had pulled up behind them. All in all, he was wearing his usual T-shirt and jeans look, but with a new addition, which Marinette noticed immediately as Adrien closed the car door behind him.
"Hey, that's my scarf!" Marinette whisper yelled excitedly to Alya, smiling brightly.
"He's wearing my scarf!" The designer exclaimed, joy filling her entire body. This was the happiest day of her life! While she was drifting off into La La Land, Adrien had walked up to Nino-who was waiting for him at the front steps-with a smile.
"Hey dude," Adrien greeted his best friend with their usual fist bump, to which he responded in kind.
"Yo, nice scarf, Adrien! Off the chain!" Alya called over to the boys, turning their attention to them while Marinette waved, grinning from ear to ear.
"Yeah, can you believe my dad got this for me?" Adrien asked, to which Marinette stopped waving and her expression dropped.
'His… What now? Why would Adrien think his dad got him the scarf I made for him? There must have been a mix-up. Maybe the note fell off?' Marinette reasoned in her thoughts.
"It's so awesome. He's gotten me the same lame pen for three years in a row," Adrien said, not aware of Marinette's turmoil, and how sad that comment really was as he turned to face Nino.
"Wow, I guess anyone can change. Adults can be cool when you least expect it," Nino said, as he tried to be supportive of his new friend, even if his dad was a total jerk.
"Speaking of adults… I know my father said you were a bad influence, but-" Adrien began, trying to make things right between the two of them.
"We're good, Adrien. Don't sweat it. We're buds! Always and forever," Nino said as he placed an arm around Adrien's shoulder, and directed him to face the stairs before they began walking up.
Meanwhile, Alya waited until the boys were far enough away before she said anything to Marinette.
"You've got to tell him you're the one who knitted the scarf," Alya said, wanting Marinette to get the recognition she deserved, but all Marinette did was look wistfully after him, watching him laugh with Nino.
"But he seems so happy about his dad… I don't want to spoil it for him," Marinette said as she looked over at the boys, all while Alya was blown away by her words.
"Aw, Marinette," Alya said as she pulled her in for a hug which Marinette returned in kind a second later.
"You're amazing girl, you know that right?" The reporter questioned as she pulled back to look her best friend in the eye.
"And someday Adrien will figure it out, too. I promise," Alya encouraged as she placed an arm around Marinette's shoulder and they joined the other students walking into the school at the first bell.
Maybe next year Adrien would get the party he wanted and Marinette could give him a gift in person. They'd just have to wait and see.
(Time skip)
Soon, the lunch bell had rung and Marinette quickly found a bench to sit on. Once she was all set and had her lunch out, she pulled up Jim's contact to video call him. As soon as she placed her bag onto the floor, Jim's familiar face showed up on her phone, making her smile.
"Hey Jimbro, how are you?" Marinette asked as she got her lunch- a thermos of her mom's spicy chicken noodle soup, with a bowl to pour and eat it out of, chopsticks as her utensils, slices of baguette, and an assortment of macaroons for dessert-out of her lunch bag while Jim chuckles at the nickname.
"I'm doing good. Another boring day here in Arcadia. I'm still sore from gym class with Coach Lawrence. He really put us through the wringer today, I thought he might have been an akumatized villain. Are you sure Hawkmoth can't akumatize anyone overseas?" Jim asked, as Marinette poured the soup into the bowl, and began to dig into her meal.
But when asked about akumas over on his end, she stifled a laugh at the thought of Coach Lawrence being an exercise obsessed akuma, to prevent any noodles shooting out of her nose, like Uncle Yang in the Kung Fu Panda Christmas Special.
"I'm pretty sure that he can't. Tikki even said that if he based his operations here, then the USA is out of his range," Marinette admitted after she managed to swallow her noodles and keep her laughter from slipping out, as she glanced down at Tikki as she ate some cookies, and Jim nodding in understanding.
The boy might not have been able to see Tikki through the phone, but considering that she was a magical creature that gave Marinette her ability to transform into Ladybug, he should listen to her.
"Fair enough. So how has your day been going? Did Adrien get your scarf?" Jim asked, causing Marinette to swallow her food down the wrong pipe in surprise before she started coughing to clear her throat. She had really hoped he wouldn't ask that question.
"Mari? Are you okay?" Jim asked as Marinette managed to clear the food from her throat and swallow it the rest of the way, while Tikki patted her leg in support since she couldn't pat her back without exposing herself.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Marinette reasured as she caught her breath and set down her bowl so she wouldn't spill it. After catching her breath, she picked up her bowl and held it nervously while looking down at it.
"He did get the scarf, but somehow, he ended up thinking it was from his dad," She admitted, which shocked Jim.
"What? How? You left a note on it," Jim said, not understanding how Marinette's luck could have turned from good to bad in such a short amount of time.
"I don't know. But he was so happy when he thought it was from his dad, I couldn't ruin that for him. So I just kept quiet about it," Marinette said, which brought more shock to her brother's face as she finished off her noodle soup and baguette pieces.
'How is it that Marinette was born with such a heart of gold? It seems physically impossible,' Jim thought to himself.
"Okay, I'm calling it, he doesn't deserve you. You need to find someone else to be in love with," Jim concluded, knowing full well that this boy, was either really stupid, or really oblivious to not seeing the gem of a woman that is his little sister was, and want to cherish her every day.
"I can't help who I fall in love with, Jim. Adrien is not who you think he is. And I could say the same about Claire. You've had a crush on her for how long? And she still hasn't noticed you. I've just started crushing on him, it's going to take some time, you know," Marinette argued as she popped a lemon macaroon into her mouth, while imagining romantic scenarios in her mind at the moment. Hey, it might take time, but that didn't mean she couldn't fantasize in the meantime.
"Good point, but seriously you are too good for him," Jim repeated, trying to get his sister to see herself the way that he and many others saw her… a good that was too pure for the world. But to Marinette, she would argue that Rose would most likely take that title.
"Either way, besides being massacred in the gym, how was the remainder of your day? History went well?" Marinette asked, eager to change the subject a bit from the topic of crushes.
"Trying to change the subject? Really? But to answer your question, it went fine. Strickler asked about you," Jim responded, much to her surprise to hear that Jim's teacher/pesudo uncle asked about her.
"How come?" Marinette asked, curious as to why Strickler would even ask about her while eating a peppermint macaroon. Sure they had talked during the summer, and he knew about their… complicated family, but it still made her curious.
"He overheard me and Toby talking about you having a lot on your plate," Jim said, clearing up any curiosity and confusion Marinette had.
"Well, you're not wrong. But it's nice that you are enjoying history. For reasons that aren't involving Claire," Marinette remarked with a smirk as she brought a raspberry macaroon to her lips and ate it, caused Jim's cheeks to erupt into a fiery red.
"I… I… oh alright, the fact that Claire is in my class, is amazing. It feels like fate wants us to be together," Jim gushed in a dreamy tone, and with a faraway look in his eyes, making Marinette smile and roll her eyes at him.
"Sounds like it," Marinette said, just as the bell rang, bringing her attention away from her phone and to the noise.
"Looks like I have to go. Talk to you tonight, bro," She said, looking back at Jim through the phone screen.
"Talk to you later. Bye, sis," Jim said as he waved through the screen, while Marinette waved back.
"Bye, bro," Marinette responded before she hung up and put her phone away. With that, she puts her lunch stuff back into her bag and heads off the class with a smile. But at the sight of Adrien's smile because of his birthday gift from 'his dad' made her smile brighter as she slipped into the chair next to Alya, ready for the next lesson.