The sun was going down on the horizon directly over the Seine river, the waters rippling with a golden light as usual for this time of day. Chloe hardly noticed it anymore, having lived here most of her life, but what she did notice was how bad it smelled. Why couldn't this Luka guy live in someplace less filthy or at least less reeking of sewage? At least it wasn't as bad as it would have been in warmer air. November carried with it the chill of the oncoming winter, forcing Chloe pull her puffy, glossy, gold jacket in tighter.
"I don't know, Pollen," she rolled her eyes, "This guy was kinda cute when I saw him that once, but if he dresses constantly in grunge and lives on a smelly river, he might be a little too uncouth for me to get along with. Why should I have to come and meet him here? He can't come meet me where I live? I really should have brought Zoe with me, too."
"You didn't call him, My Queen," Pollen floated out of the pocket of Chloe's jacket, "so you have the opportunity to introduce yourself in person. This is really meant to get you outside of your comfort zone; it's about going new places that you normally wouldn't have dared tread before becoming a hero and also finding a person to whom you can open yourself up. I would deem it wise that you trust Marinette's…and my judgements."
"Of course, I trust you, Pollen," Chloe grumbled, "but…"
"No buts, your highness," Pollen interrupted her, "This Luka guy is easy to talk to and a good listener. No matter what it is, you can lay it all out to this guy."
"I hope you're right, but I've not met him and don't know if he'll share my exquisitely refined style or tastes. Still, it would be nice to find another person to share my thoughts with besides…"
"CHLOE!" she heard Sabrina shouting from the top of the stone stairs behind her that lead to the main roads above the river's edge, "I'M COMING!" She then ran down the stone steps to meet her formerly bossy friend. "I'm so sorry, my Chloe! I forgot to bring the Dupain-Cheng macaroons for your date tonight!"
"This isn't a date!" Chloe snapped, "I don't even know this guy!…But that's okay, Sabrina." Her face winced as she said this; being nice still didn't come naturally. "I…Maybe I wasn't clear when I gave you that spa day with me. I don't want to make you feel like you have to wait on me hand and foot anymore. Even though I'm already an amazing hero…" She put her fingers to her chest and turned her nose up at this statement before continuing, "…I'm actively trying to be an even better one. And to be a better hero, I need to be a better friend. And for that, I'm…I'm s…I'm so…" Her stuttering made her look so awkward and out of character Sabrina had to fight her initial instinct to laugh.
"You're sorry, Chloe?" she asked.
"Yes," Chloe nodded, relieved of not having to say it in front of someone, "I'm that word. This is still hard for me."
"Aww, that's okay, Chloe," Sabrina chimed pleasantly and immediately wrapped her arms around Chloe so tight it nearly knocked the wind from her lungs, "You're still my absolute best friend, and I'd still do anything for you!"
"I…I feel the same, Sabrina," Chloe gave her a pat on the back and hair before the two of them let go of each other, "I think my awesome presence will make up for any welcome gift I could bring any new potential minions, er I mean friends. Now…" She handed Sabrina 100 euros, "Go get yourself a nice dinner or whatever with some other friends. Branching out would do you some good, too. And bring Zoe with you; she needs to get some experience dealing with Paris life."
"Oh, thank you, Chloe!" Sabrina leaped with excitement, "You're so generous!"
"I know!" Chloe turned her nose up again in pride, "Now go on! Have a good night!"
Sabrina ran back up the stone stairs and disappeared, leaving Chloe alone once more to walk to the Couffaine pier.
"You're getting better at being nice, my Queen," Pollen broke the new silence.
"Yeah, but I've conditioned myself to think one way for so long," Chloe replied, "I've been bitter so long, it's hard to just completely uproot my brain and have me think something completely different. But after what happened in the Catacombs, everything I saw and everything I felt down there…I just can't go back to how I was. I still have a strong reputation to maintain, so balancing that is difficult as well, when I know deep down that I'm a very weak person," She was trying to fight the urge to cry at those memories of last month.
"It means you're growing as a person, your majesty," Pollen continued, "And that's why we're here." And what came into view next was the Couffaine house boat, barely moving as it was anchored in port. "If Marinette says this guy's a good listener, he should be able to help even more than I could." Pollen then ducked back into Chloe's pocket as she saw Rose and Juleka reading a Fangoria together at a table on the lower deck of the stern. The two girls then spotted Chloe and immediately got up and darted back inside the boat.
'So that's what it's come to,' she thought, 'You brought this on yourself, Chloe.'
When she rounded the corner of the port side of the boat, she found that same blue haired guy from that day she went insane as Miracle Queen. His clothes may have been grungy, but he still had that cute smile on his face as he tuned an acoustic guitar in his lap. He was listening to something on a small speaker set nearby. It was some electronic song about laying below the stars and losing yourself. As she walked forward, the wooden plank softly creaking under her designer heels, he turned the stereo off with his phone and began trying to emulate the melody on his guitar, though it didn't exactly sound correct.
"Hey, guitar guy," Chloe chirped in that pithy judgmental tone she normally had, "you're a bit off key." She then caught herself and realized this wasn't the tone she meant to use, becoming uncharacteristically self conscious yet again.
"You know, you're right," Luka stopped playing for a moment, laughed, and then readjusted his hands, "But if you're heading in the wrong direction, there's always a chance to course correct."
Chloe wanted to believe him.
"Okay, let me start over," she turned her nose up and held a hand out, "You probably already know me as…"
"As the infamous Chloe Bourgeois," Luka nodded and winked, "Also known as the amazing Queen Bee. Big fan, by the way!"
"You are?" Chloe was taken aback at this but then shook her head, "Well of course you are. I am amazing if I do say so myself."
"You're the villain turned hero," Luka responded, "I always admire people who can do that, look at their life, see what's not working with the song of their life, and improve their melody."
"So I guess everything's a song metaphor for you?" Chloe laughed scoffingly.
"Eh," Luka shrugged, "Not everything. Just in a music mindset, trying to see if I can't recreate this De/Vision song on acoustic…German dark synthpop group my sister introduced me to; not too commercially known, but that's her taste, the gothy underground stuff. Why don't you have a seat?" He pointed to another beanbag chair opposite him. She hesitated for a moment and raised an eyebrow at it. "It's clean and in near pristine condition, promise."
"Oh, alright," Chloe rolled her eyes, "I guess I've sat in worse." She walked over and sat, almost falling over having not anticipated how it would adjust to her. She eventually moved enough that she was able to get comfortable. "So a villain was it?…Where did you hear that?"
"Oh, just the tiffs you and Marinette have been having, and the news broadcasts, and what I heard happened after that hornet possessed me."
"Gee, way to make a girl feel better," Chloe crossed her arms and turned her head away, blushing, and then began to softly growl out something, "…I'm s- I'm s-…I'm s-sorry about that. Just don't tell anyone I said that, okay? I don't apologize for anything I do."
"It's okay," Luka chuckled back, "I don't hold it against you. I've been akumatized myself, twice in fact. You really aren't yourself when you're like that. It just removes all your inhibitions and amps all those negative emotions to the point where that's all you are, just a raging ball of blind chaos."
"But that's the thing," Chloe snapped her head back to look at him, just as she could feel a pain in her gut and a lump in her throat, "I WANTED to feel that. I didn't want to let that anger go. It's all the power I had. It's all I know of on how to respond to how unfair everything is. When my mom abandoned me…I just grew up thinking I was alone, it was me against the world. Adrien was the only one to break through that barrier, but he's the exception, not the rule. Everyone else…I just thought and knew they all secretly hated me, be it because of jealousy or because I intimidated them. It's the only strength I feel like I have, this rage that I need to get out of me and project so that everyone knows I'm not one to be messed with."
"It's a powerful feeling," Luka sighed, "I know what it's like to be frustrated and angry at everything."
"You don't seem like the type who'd ever get angry," Chloe groaned, "How could you possibly know?"
"When someone who I admired constantly flakes out on me for no good reason," Luka replied, "When a music producer just won't listen to reason. When I grow up without a hint of who my dad is or any idea of why he abandoned us. He's trying to make up for it now, but I lived with that frustration for so long that it would eat me up inside."
"Your father is Jagged Stone, isn't he?" Chloe asked, "…Even I'll admit that's impressive. I'm guessing that talent extends to you, too?"
"So everyone tells me," Luka shrugged, "And your mom came back to Paris, right? Is she trying to do the same thing?"
"Well, she and daddy are getting along much better than I would have thought they could," Chloe sighed, "It kinda grosses me out sometimes. But that doesn't mean her old attitudes or behaviors have changed. She's still very judgmental and treats my sister, who I just discovered I had, like garbage…Okay, I don't think Zoe has even a hint of my fashion sense, but she's polite and can still behave refined when she wants. She has that level of kindness I only wish I had an inkling of. Being judgmental and critical of others just comes as second nature to me; it's just part of who I am. But after what happened in the Catacombs, seeing all that death and those disgusting dusty bones around me, and that…thing that Hawkmoth akumatized, I've had to reevaluate and process everything. A person can be even more fashionable and rich than my mom or Adrikins' dad combined, or they can be a smelly hobo that wallows in garbage in St Denis for fun. It makes no difference. We all end up the same way, a collection of bones and dust. And maybe those people in the middle, normal people like Dup…I mean, Marinette, aren't really that different from either of those groups. And I really should stop looking down on them, and I've been really pathetic for doing so in the first place. Just had to be like the mommy who abandoned me all those years ago. And here I am, focusing on the negative again." She began to cry but trying her hardest to choke back tears and failing, making a sniffling sound as she did.
"That in and of itself isn't a bad thing," Luka nodded, "Focusing on the negatives, you can help others work towards a positive. What I think you need is a different approach to it. It sounds like you're at least working towards being more empathetic at least, so you're taking steps in the right direction. And they can be baby steps if you like; you're free to go at your own pace, a compliment here, a gesture there. I'm sure, given time, your song can lose all its sour notes and turn into a pleasant melody."
"Again with the music analogies," Chloe rolled her eyes before wiping them, "Pretentious, utterly pretentious. You sound like a school counselor."
"But I'm right, aren't I?" Luka gave her a smirk and a laugh.
"Yeah, I guess," Chloe lowered her gaze and blushed. He did have pretty eyes.
"And do you at least feel better talking about it?"
"You know, I guess I do," she had more of an usual candid tone, "I guess I'm not used to opening up like this. I did open up to Ladybug once at a low point like this, but our relationship has bounced back and forth since then. We're at least on good terms now."
"Always good to hear," Luka remarked before looking out over the water and seeing the sun had finally set, leaving the dim twilight the last remaining hint of the day, the stars now gradually appearing overhead, "Well, I really should get back to practicing."
"Maybe…" Chloe looked down again, "I can stay a little longer? You're not that terrible a player." Her voice was oddly soft and sheepish, much like that rare time she had apologized to Ladybug and Chat when she had to give the Bee Miraculous back for the first time.
"Sure," he answered before playing again. She sat and closed her eyes, listening to some slow tune he was playing. When listening closely, she heard that he was half whispering, half singing to the tune, "And the sky is filled with light. Can you see it? All the black is really white, if you believe it. And the longing that you feel, you know none of this is real. You will find a better place, in this twilight." His soft speech trailed off as he continued to try and perfect the last few chords of whatever song this was.
Almost involuntarily, she found herself closing her eyes and swaying to the gentle melody.
"Glad you're enjoying," Luka chuckled.
"Like I said," Chloe caught herself and shook her head before turning up her nose, "You're not terrible."
"I'll take compliments where I can," Luka replied, "But it's late, I told Julika I'd help her practice."
"…Do you ever have nightmares?" Chloe seemed to ask out of nowhere.
"Funny you should ask," Luka responded with some hesitation, "I've actually had one on repeat for the past week. Been finding myself in front of some ancient Aztec temple. I walk closer to it and hear some hissing sounds in the darkened entrance. The hissing grows louder until I notice there's a boa constrictor two feet in front of my face. I hear him in my head saying, 'Luka, you should feel honored. Great Father Yig has found favor with you; you are blessed among your species.' And then I wake up. Why do you ask?"
"I keep having a reoccurring dream myself," Chloe replied, "I keep finding myself in front of a rugged looking mansion. It's one that I imagined living in when I would grow up and move out of the city to be alone, away from everyone. It was supposed the be the most lavish dream house I could imagine. But in my dream, it looks condemned. I hear this buzzing sound, like an endless swarm of bees are inside. I recently had another dream about facing some akumatized version of myself named Queen Hornet; I'm expecting to see her in there, that she's been watching me from one of the mirky windows the whole time. I reach the door, but before I can turn the handle, I wake up. Thankfully, since I really didn't want to set foot in a musty old place like that."
"Sounds similar to what we were talking about," Luka commented, "Maybe you'll have better dreams tonight?"
"I hope," Chloe commented before turning to go, "It was…It was nice meeting you, I guess."
"Nice to meet you, too, Chloe," Luke smiled before picking up his guitar to go below deck. But out of nowhere, he felt a pair of arms wrap around his mid section from behind. Chloe had raced back to hug him.
"…And thank you," she muttered.
"Anytime," Luka replied after turning around to face her and pat her shoulders.
Chloe then quickly ran off the dock, her face completely red, while Luka headed down the wooden stairs. He already heard some slightly off guitar chords coming from his sister's room. He walked in to see Julika trying to tune her guitar before attempting the note again, Rose fully prepared to sing when she was ready. Luka then had a seat and started playing along with her. Having done this, it felt like they had synched perfectly.
*.*.*
Chloe walked quickly into her room, Zoe sitting at the glass table and messaging Marinette on her phone. She passed her sister without saying anything and fell face first into bed, pushing the pillow up around her head to hide her still beet red face.
"Hey, I was waiting up for you," Zoe chimed while walking over, "Did it not go so well?"
"No," Chloe said, her voice muffled in the pillow, "I think it went too well."
"Well, isn't that a good thing?" Zoe asked.
"Not for me," Chloe replied, still muffled, "I don't know what to do with these feelings."
"She might need a minute to recover," Pollen flew out to meet Zoe face to face, "Not always easy for a person to process all this if they've never experienced it."
"Oh, I get it," Zoe smiled, "I had a crush myself at my old school, but that sadly didn't go anywhere. I'll go ahead and head to bed and give you your space. Goodnight, sis. Goodnight, Pollen."
"Goodnight Zoe," Pollen replied, "I'm sure she'll feel better by tomorrow." As Zoe made her way out of the room, Pollen flew next to Chloe and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You are going to be okay, aren't you my queen?"
"I don't know, Pollen," Chloe looked up at her from the pillow, "I'm still learning this whole niceness thing. That Luka guy was so cute; I'm worried I'm going to screw it up."
"Well," Pollen followed, "he did seem pretty understanding. He seems like the type who isn't easily offended. It'll take more than a few off comments to get under his skin."
"We'll see," Chloe sighed, "I'll just…lie here until my brain can take all this in."
And so she did and in no time at all, she found herself in front of the dilapidated mansion again. She walked to the door, the feeling of being watched ever present. The sound of bees buzzing became louder and louder as she walked towards the door. This time, she was able to turn the knob and open the creaking door. The bees grew louder in the dark hallway, the evening sun barely illuminating the scene from the windows. Chloe thought she could make something out in the darkness. The thing began to move and then…she woke up to the morning sun streaming through the large glass windows of her live-in luxury suite.
