Chapter 5 – Preparing to Leave
"And we are reaching the final few minutes of the Morning show. Thank you to our caller Lila for giving us ALLLLL the deets from last night's event. Make sure you stay tuned after the break to hear the latest news and join my good colleague and DJ, Nino!"
[Breaaaakfaaast with Tiffanyyyyyyy]
Tiffany 'T' Martin, 27, strawberry blonde and tall, stood up from her seat to greet her colleague with quick tilt of the head. Contrary to her voice settings during the breakfast show, the lady was the epitome of cool, calm and collected.
Gathering her backpack and helmet from the floor, the DJ made her over to the exit where Nino waited until the morning crew completed their handover. A duck down later (the studio beams had met her head more times than she cared to count), she met his fist with her own as she passed by.
"Hey."
"Hey."
"You're still set to pick up Leon today, right?"
"Totally." Walking into the studio, Nino did a double turn as if remembering something "Oh ya, I need to speak to Thea about a trip. She home today?"
"Sure, I'll call her down when you come to collect the kid."
"Cool, see ya Tiffanyyyyyyy- OW!" The helmet met its target, resulting in a smirk and laughter from the others.
Walking slowly back to with the arrogance of a lioness, the striker picked up her helmet and spoke softly with a glint in her eyes.
"Laugh all you want; the job pays well." A second strike to the head and she was gone.
"Seriously, with all these hits I'll lose my mind!"
"We thought you already had; with the stupid comments you make. Just imagine, the first man to die from his own words"
"Here lies to rest Nino. A man after his own heart. Literally" The following guffaws made it into the first section of the show.
Welcome to Nino's Best Hits with Eiffel FM, where we play the best music. I'm your host, DJ Nino, with you every weekday 12 til 6! If you are hearing in the studio today, that is because I have again tripped over my tongue, leading to flying insults and a hit in the head.
Laughter continued in the background. Shaking his head dryly at the crew, the DJ continued.
My dignity and health aside, we are kicking today off with one of the most requested tracks of this week! This is 'The Songs of Strays' by Leo!
"I swear, one day, you'll face T's wrath." Having muted the microphone, Nino pointed accusingly at the crew. "And I'll watch on, laughing at the mortality of you peasants."
"A sexy fox, like T? She can choke me and I'll accept!"
"What the fuck, Joe?!"
"Too hard, dude."
"Wow, choking?" Popcorn had suddenly appeared in the hands of sound engineer Lucille. "Talk about hard-core. I wonder what T thinks?"
"…"
"…"
"…"
And that was 'The Songs of Strays' by Leo! This song has stayed at number 1 for three weeks straight so far, can it go another week with the crown? Make sure to tune into the Top 40 hits tomorrow to find out!
"Joe said that about T?" Snorting was heard over the loudspeaker as Nino regaled the story to his fiancée on the way to collect Leon. "Sure, T can choke you but she will choke you. You ain't gonna live through that, I can tell you now!"
"Knowing Joe, he'd be begging for more."
"Oh T, yes T! More – gag – T!"
"HUFF HUFF, CHOKE ME HARDER T-BONE. THAT'S IT, YEA- Hi T!" The lady at the door just watched with eyebrows raised. Snorts turned to cackles which Nino tried to silence by hanging up without looking.
"My name getting you off, Nino?"
"Hell no! I mean, no, Aunt T." The hoots indicated a live audience still on the line. "We were just talking of Joe's… Fascination with you. He dreamt of being held by you….from the throat… Tight..ly?"
"I like Uncle Joe" Leon appeared from behind his aunt, smiling up at his dad and offering his thoughts on the discussion. "He showed me how to a lasso a neck"
"Excuse me?"
"WATER! I NEED WATER!" He was going to kill Alya later.
"I'm going to quickly speaking with Mama, so stay here for 2 minutes, okay?" After calming down and getting the full story from his son (Uncle Joe had helped with a project on cowboys and farming), the man left to hold speak with his ex-girlfriend regarding the change in his schedule. Treating the child and aunt to a tub of Haagen Daz that he had brought over, Nino made his way to the top floor where Thea was situated next to a large Canvas and trays of colour.
"Hey girl" The 32-year-old artist looked up from her painting and gave a wide smile. Initially making a move to approach, Thea Martin remembered her paint filled arms and chose to stay put.
"Nino!"
Gesturing for the man to take a seat, Leon's mother continued her painting of Leon while waiting for Nino to begin the discussion. Auburn haired, tall and slender, Thea looked very similar to her sister and only differed greatly in personality and style. A wandering soul, the painter spent her free time travelling the world and finding inspiration in the things around her. Her art pieces were popular, many receiving offers of purchase after their first showings and thus bringing in a sizable income to raise a child alone in the centre of Paris. Although there were many occasions during which she had taken her son with her to trips, with the start of school and desire to provide a stable learning environment, Thea had begun taking shorter trips away while Leon stayed with his father. So far, the pattern suited both families and 7-year-old Leon Lahiffe-Martin was raised wanting for nothing.
"Adrien invited Alya and I to Milan for a trip."
"Milan? Wonderful! Will you see the fashion shows?" listening to Nino talk, Thea placed her brush down and gave her full attention.
"I'm not one for fashion, more for moral support."
"And the after-show drinking." It seems nothing escaped her either. A toothy grin lined the woman's lips "Give moral support, go drinking, collapse in the alleyway and cry for your first love. A tale as old as time"
Nino's face turned a mottled red.
"Then show random strangers the ring you bought with your first job at 18, cry that you finally caught her and proceed to pass out in your own vomit."
"That didn't happen."
"Of course not, you hadn't gotten back together yet. You chased a poor homeless man down the street to ask why your life fell apart"
The DJ balled up in mortification.
"How did you ever think that was attractive?!"
"It was hilarious and adorable. A barely-adult howling the story of lost love to a bin, getting dragged away by his model friend and proceeding to read out your wedding vows to the world. I guess some affection grew after watching this for 6 months."
The groans grew as the DJ ball got smaller and tilted to land on its side. Grabbing a small sheet of paper to sketch the sphere of homemade tragedy before her, Thea returned to the topic at hand.
"How long are you going for?"
A red head popped up, glasses askew and hat tumbled to the side.
"I'm thinking 3 weeks? Alya and Adrien are working for 2 weeks and I have 30 days left to take before April next year. It'll give me a chance to finally mix some tunes too, you know?"
"Sounds great! I can watch Leon for that time. Just don't promise him too many gifts, he has the memory of an elephant."
"Dude you are sooo the best, thank you!"
"…and she gave me a prize for being so good!"
"Dude! You definitely get your mama's learning genes cos I did not do as well." Watching his son skip gleefully across the pebbled path, Nino could not help but match his energy and enthusiasm for school. Carrying the school bag in one hand and packed lunch box in the next, the man was still not over the idea that Leon, his child, was in the top 15 percentile for academics.
The idea made him extremely anxious, as he had never excelled in school or learnt the ways of effective study patterns. Thankfully, Alya helped regularly with the young boy's home projects and Thea always shared resources or advice on how to support Leon's growth without limits.
"For next week, we have a project on important people in Paris. Can I talk about the Miraculous heroes?"
"Sure! Alya has loads of information that you could use, as well as pictures and videos. How about we ask her together, when we get home?"
Crouching down to look into Leon's eyes, Nino saw confidence return his gaze. A secretive smile appearing on the younger one, his question was answered with a loud whisper.
"If I ask her, she won't stop talking!"
Laughter followed the pair the rest of the way home.
"Hey, it's Leon!" Nora's booming voice echoed through the Cesaire household; a fairly modest townhouse built over 3 storeys.
"Hi Auntie Nora!" A tackle and mini scuffle ensued, with the child play wrestling with his favourite kickboxer aunt. Standing over the play-dead body, he raised an arm victoriously. "I won! See, this is why you always get number 2."
"What did you say?!" Tickles and delighted screeches made their way into the fight.
Leaving the child to find his own way of escape, Nino moved through the corridor to the small closet space beside the kitchen. A wild Alya sat in her floor chair, hair tied into a haphazard half bun and secured with a pencil. Staring unseeingly into the screen before her, the journalist typed out her thoughts as they came and filling in a page of seemingly random words and phrases. Her fiancé peered into the screen before immediately pulling away and leaving the girl to her messy thoughts. He wasn't anywhere ready to open this can of worms.
Ladybug and Chat Noir Ladybug – teen, black hair, blue eyes
Chat noir – teen, blonde, green eyes Now both adults Married?
HEROES OF THE WORLD Disapper forEVEr Sadness
Hero+Hero = Superhero Kiddo LadyNOIR Chat Bug Lady in red
Man in Black? Green? I sad again Rena rOUGe X Carapace porn
Run away from ze butterfly! Chat Noir sexy shoot Nananananananana CHAT NOIR
Is it a bird, is it a plane, NO IT'S LADYBUUUG
Butterfly? It was a MOTH Ahhh moth! Get me a cat!
Hawkmoth suck balls. Mothballz Ladybug to the rescue!
Carapace abs Ladybug porn
"Alya!" breaking out of her dreams, the journalist turned her head to see her step-son scooting beside her in the closet. Gazing up adoringly, the auburn head gave a chirpy "Hi!"
A perfect mix of Thea and Nino, the young boy was tanned with burnt orange eyes and lighter coloured hair. He smelled of baby powder and detergent, which the woman took in deeply as she returned his cuddle.
"Hey yourself!" Moving further along, she allowed him to sit properly beside her on the seat, which gave the child an opportune glance at the screen ahead.
"L-ady B-ug P-O-" The screen went down with a slam. Turning to face his step-mother, Leon asked the dreaded question "What's porn?"
"POM!"
"Pom?" Inquisitive head tilted to the side, the picture in front of head was just so adorable.
"I was going to write Pom… pom. Because once Ladybug's item was a pompom!"
"A pompom!" Glittering puppy eyes appeared. "How did the Ladybug fight with them?"
"It was a loong loong time ago on a dark rainy day….. The evil Hawkmoth sent out his evil minion, a purple butterfly, to transform a crying cheerleader who had missed the train to her competition in Lyon." The boy scurried to his bag to take out a pen and paper, not missing a word as he wrote cheer leader competishun. "Turning into the indestructible Cheerloser, the monster wreaked havoc in Paris, stopping all the trains and turning the other competitors into still statues. Then… along came Ladybug and her fellow companion Chat Noir who saved the day with their miraculous and magical pompoms!"
"How?"
Uuuuuuuhhhh
"They cheered and cheered, distracting the monster enough for Chat Noir to strike with a cataclysm and releasing the evil energy. Reaching ahead, Ladybug freed the butterfly and returning the streets of Paris to its beauty once again."
Taking in the story (which was true, in fact!), the little boy wrote down mirror cloos pompom Cat a clizm into his reporter's book before asking his final question on the topic.
"Why did you write it as p-o-r-n on the laptop?"
Fuuuuck
The day presented a rare sight. A mother, father, 4 siblings, and a DJ and son seated at the table to dine. A feast prepared by the female head, steaming and inviting the tummies to gurgle in anticipation. Roast chicken and seasonal vegetables served with gravy alongside fresh crusty bread and a platter of cheese. Buttery mashed potatoes, leftover beef stew and lasagne also lined the centre for the bigger appetites. For the sweeter tongues, a dessert of charlotte russe cake stood majestically on the side, waiting to be devoured.
Due to everyone working different shifts, it was rare for the Cesaire family to partake in a meal together. However, when Nino had moved in and introduced his son to the family, the members took every opportunity possible to make the boy's stay as welcoming as possible. A day with every family member came once a blue moon, so the occasion was celebrated to vigour and excitement.
Digging in with hums of appreciation amongst the small talk, the table was quickly cleared of mains, cheese and bread leaving behind pats of satisfaction and a small burp from the eldest daughter.
"Thank you so much for the delicious food, Marlena" Nino undid his belt to breathe, having consumed three helpings of food. It was a wonder he hadn't gained weight from all the treats.
"Don't get up yet, we still have dessert!" placing the first dessert plate in front of the youngest, Marlena Cesaire smiled gently. "Make sure you eat your fill, there's plenty to spare."
"Merci, Mami!" A pat on the head followed and eyes trailed to the DJ.
"So Alya says you're both travelling to Milan next week."
"Yes for 3 weeks. Leon's mother has agreed to look after him and I will have him for 2 weeks during her next trip to Lebanon."
"Papa said he will get me a keyring" With a mother who had travelled the globe, the young boy was owner to 60 keyrings so far. "And I asked for sweets."
"Wonderful! I'd like some Italian goodies too."
"Meat. Pasta." The words were said between bites of food.
"Clothes"
"Why don't you ask me to do the shopping? I'm also going"
"You're also the worst shopper I've ever met. Last time you got me men's socks." Ella stared down her nose in judgement. "In yellow."
"I received a dead cactus"
"And a stale sandwich from the airport."
"The tree branch that you bought for €30"
"The blue cheese that went grey."
"STOP. I get the picture. Honey, I leave the shopping to you."
"Cool!"
"The dead rat from the streets of Venice."
Alya slammed the door on her way out