About two weeks after the Collector incident, Bloom's mentally relaxing for a minute as Tom Dupain-Cheng shows everyone how he puts cream in the chocolate ganache to make it extra velvety - if there was only ever one class there's no risk of someone being akumatized in, it's a baking Dupain-Cheng lesson. Mainly because everyone gets to eat what they made afterwards. She leans over to Marinette's ear, and whispers "I love it when your father comes to the school and gives baking lessons." She loves the pastries, she loves the detail that she doesn't have to worry about any of her classmates getting upset and running out only to come back as the next Akuma, and as of recently she loves that it takes Adrien's mind off his father's alter-ego. It's an all-around win in her book, and the detail that they all get to keep what they make is a bonus.
Even if Marinette's planning on giving hers to her best friend to - and Adrien's planning on splitting his with her! As much as she loves that they're concerned, and appreciates the effort...even she can only eat so many Macaroons at once!
Marinette giggles, and says "So does he." Not only is it great advertising for the business, he genuinely loves it. And she fully plans on stuffing her Macaroons into Bloom's bag the instant they're alone for more than a minute.
The only person that isn't thrilled about the class is Chloe, who's complaining about how she won't be getting her hands dirty baking and risk splashing herself and ruin her Chanel pants. What a surprise, as per usual.
Whatever, not even Chloe Bourgeois at her very finest can bring down her mood right now.
Bloom and Marinette trade eye-rolls, more for them after everything's said and done - including the extra batter, since Bloom can absolutely sneak the bowls away, save the extra batter, and share it with Mari and Tikki up in her room.
And then the two girls notice Chloe dialing on her phone, and she talks on it for a moment before hanging up. Bloom internally groans, because you've gotta be kidding - Chloe is such a brat. Why she feels she has to go and ruin a perfectly enjoyable activity she doesn't even need to participate in, though, is beyond Bloom. If she doesn't want to make anything, she can just go sit at a desk!
Tom finishes the Emulsion, and sends Marinette to the cafeteria to put it in the fridge for half an hour. As soon as Marinette's out of the room, Tikki comes flying out - she's been all but drooling about the macaroons, having an enormous sweet tooth, and wants to get a taste.
Rather, she wants to dive headfirst into that bowl and go from there. Probably swim a bit, mouth open - Kwamis don't need to breathe, after all.
Before she can attempt to do so, though, the fire alarm goes off - meaning she needs to get back in Marinette's jacket or purse before they accidentally get separated. Tom says he hopes its just a drill as the students all file past, but Bloom sees the self-satisfied smirk on Chloe's face and just knows otherwise.
All because she didn't want to bake?! Are you EFFING KIDDING ME?!
It's a good thing the building is open, along with big, because if it weren't the place would be boiling hot right now. As it is, it takes Marinette bumping shoulders with her to snap her out of her angry thoughts.
Once the entire student population is gathered in the courtyard, Mr. Damocles demands that the guilty party apologize for wasting the fire captain's time - and Chloe pipes up saying Marinette left the classroom just before the alarm went off.
Before Bloom can promptly explode at Principle Damocles' immediate belief that Marinette is guilty, Adrien says "Excuse me, Mr. Damocles? It couldn't possibly be Marinette, why would she disrupt her own father's cooking class?"
Bloom semi-sarcastically adds "Add to it, her hands were full with the bowl of chocolate emulsion he'd asked her to take to the cafeteria fridge, and her phone was in the bag she'd left behind…"
Damocles relents with a huff, and the Fire Captain tries to leave. Damocles, however, insists on keeping him here so whoever did it can apologize...for wasting the Fire Captain's time, at that.
Chloe immediately pipes up with "Well, we all know it can't be me."
Bloom whirls around at once, angrily asking "Why, exactly, do we know it can't be you, Bourgeois? You had your phone on you in the class, you were constantly complaining about how you weren't going to be baking, and you made a phone call just before Marinette left the classroom. So, really, why couldn't it be you?" Marinette subtly puts a hand on Bloom's arm, fully prepared to hold the red-head back should she go off and try to attack Chloe - she really wishes Cat Noir were here right now, though, he's the one that pries her off the Akumas that've managed to blow her fuse!
Adrien, meanwhile, is gearing up to tackle Bloom to the ground if necessary - she'd probably throw him off in under a minute, but Chloe would have that much of a head-start if she has any survival sense left in her. And he really doesn't want his sister to get in trouble because Chloe's acting like this - as she likes to say, usually to blow Chloe's fuse, it isn't worth it.
Damocles says "Since nobody is owning up to this crime, the entire school will be punished!" Chloe immediately threatens to call her father, and that gets revised to 'the entire school bar Ms. Bourgeois will be punished.'
Meaning, Chloe sits on a bench on her phone while everyone else - Sabrina included - has to clean the courtyard. 'Everyone else' being…the entire student population. Including Sabrina, though that doesn't seem to bother Chloe one bit.
Luka is scrubbing at a patch of mold over one flagstone when he hears a semi-familiar melody get louder. It's a fast-paced melody, full of excitement and action, but with an undercurrent of warmth that would seem at odds with the rest of it if you didn't know how it fit - and there's the red-haired beauty it's coming from.
Though, right now, the melody of her heart sounds distinctly…angry. Not that he blames Bloom, given the circumstances - Marinette, her best friend, is also about to bow a fuse over the mess that Chloe Bourgeois made.
Because he can lip read, among other things, and he just saw Chloe say 'of course it was me who called the Fire Department' to Adrien Agreste.
Adrien fights down a wave of disbelief at Chloe's question of 'so what?' "And it doesn't bother you that everyone else is being punished because of you?" Including him and Sabrina, the two people in the school she actually calls her friends? Along with literally everyone else in the school? Does she really care so little about everyone else?
Chloe gives him a confused look, asking "No, why would it?" She gestures around, saying "They all seemed to enjoy getting dirty making cookies, how is it any different than getting dirty cleaning floors? They should be thanking me, if anything."
Adrien internally sighs, finally having had enough of Chloe's ridiculousness - making mean comments or laughing about someone's misfortune is one thing, bad as it is. But actively sabotaging something everyone else was enjoying, and them trying to frame it on the person she apparently hates the most? That is just, in Adrien's opinion, way too far.
Where did the little girl who shared her stuffed teddy bear with me when I was lonely go? When and why did she suddenly turn into an exact replica of her absentee mother?
With that in mind, Adrien asks "Chloe, how long have you and I been friends?" Sorry Chloe, wait no I'm not, but this is for your own good.
Chloe immediately says "Since we were adorable little tots, Adrikins!" She even makes a pout for good measure.
Adrien finds himself not the least effected by that pout of Chloe's, and says "I'm sorry, Chloe, but I can't be friends with someone who treats other people like this. You've gotta be nice to people!"
It wipes the pout off her face at once, making all the blood drain from her face in the process as she looks around at the angry glares directed at her. "N-nice?"
Adrien turns away, saying "Honestly, Chloe, it's not that hard." He knows she keeps a mask up in public…or used to, at any rate, but it looks like he's through with his friendship with Chloe if her behavior is just who she is now instead of the mask she developed to keep her mother happy.
Audrey Bourgeois is all the way in America, there's no reason for Chloe to keep treating people like this. Especially as bad as she treats Marinette.
Thinking of how she tried to frame Marinette - their Everyday Ladybug, so much like his Bugaboo that it makes his protective side reserved for her and his sister rear its head - makes any guilt wither and die inside him, Chloe's going to remember that her behavior mimicking her mother is a mask she perfected years ago or they're done.
Chloe, meanwhile, stares at Adrien's back as he goes back to the window he was cleaning in a stunned silence. Nice? She has to be nice to people? Chloe sits down on the bench, phone entirely forgotten as she tries to process that.
It only really hits her, though, after five of her favorite chocolates from Butler Jean - her friendship with Adrien is in serious jeopardy, and the only way for her to save it is to be nice to everyone.
And then Butler Jean offers to help her keep her friendship with Adrien, because it's the nice thing to do.
AN: Hey, everyone! Next chapter is up! And, to be perfectly honest, I couldn't resist taking Despair Bear and turning it on its head later in the episode - for starters, that has to be the most ridiculous Akuma Hawk Moth's ever created. And, yes, I do count Reflekta and Mr. Pigeon in that list. Yeah, I know he could control whoever's ankle he hugged, but...it's a teddy bear! All someone had to do would be pick the thing up by the head! Oh, yes, and he made a teddy bear as an Akuma. You could've punted it into Chloe's pool, or the ball pit, and that would've been that! I can assure you, I had a lot of fun writing out how that went.
And, incidentally, laying the groundwork for a real redemption arc for the brat that is Chloe Bourgeois.
Anyway, enjoy the update!