Lunch dates
What Marinette intended to do during the lunch break was to go home for the lunch break, with Adrien, and try to deal with the problem of Nooroo and Duusu apparently fading away even while they were hidden in the magic world of the miracle box.
That morning, she tried to do it on her own, but she felt no distress, just tired, perhaps even exhausted, but nothing really life threatening. Tikki assured her that was okay, but the girl doubted her abilities to hod the duties of the guardian of the miracle box.
Adrien was very much in favour of her plan. The only problem he saw in it was the part when she proposed to take the jewels out and try to bring the two kwami out. He was as distressed as she was with the two kwami that were so numb they appeared dead.
"Don't worry kid, Nooroo and Duusu are fine." Plagg told Adrien during one of their talks in the bathroom. The tiny god of destruction did the best he could to sound certain and definite about that while he spoke to his chosen.
"Yeah, that is why you and Tikki wanted to sneak into the box." The boy was not persuaded. "The problem is I do not feel more than exhausted whenever I try to feel what it would be like for Nooroo and Duusu."
"Yeah right. That is actually immense success on your side." Plagg teased. The tiny black cat floated around and snickered at the memories when Adrien was certain that he was able to recognize Ladybug's civilian identity the moment he saw her.
"What do you mean?" Adrien frowned. He knew when his kwami was teasing him, there was a certain lilt in his voice, his tail flickered from side to side and his ears would move up while he tried to keep distance.
"Well, you do not have the best score in perceiving how other human beings feel about you, so to feel this much about how a kwami feels is actually success." The tiny black kwami floated slightly beyond Adrien's reach not to get swatted.
"But why the distress call then?" The boy was not convinced.
"It wasn't really a distress call, it is more like a cry for help … " Plagg trailed off, Adrien's face showed his concern only increased. "No! I'm saying it wrong, it is more like come and help us so we would heal faster or something."
"So you were just looking for an excuse to go back to the miracle box and your enchanted world. Am I right?" The boy smirked.
"Oh, that was actually Tikki's idea." Plagg smirked, he never missed an opportunity to blame someone else.
And Adrien did not believe him.
"I studied what I have about treating ill kwami and did not find anything better that the healing chant that Master Fu did when Tikki was ill." Marinette whispered to Adrien. They were walking over to the locker room together just after Felix and Chloe walked away.
"That worked really well, and I felt very sick and tired that day." Tikki chirped from the girl's purse.
"Let's try that, if it worked on Tikki, it should work on Nooroo and Duusu." Adrien beamed.
"It is just … the procedure is rather noisy, we would have to do it somewhere else." The girl noted.
"Not to mention that doing it once is not going to be enough." Plagg muttered. Then both kwami hid in the purse and the shirt pocket and kept quiet.
"Hey girl!" Alya called. "I hate to disturb your lunch plans with your boyfriend, but we do have some worksheets that we are expected to do together for homework." She smirked and watched as the blush raised in Marinette's face .
"I did not have any puch slans Alya!" She stuttered back.
"Oh, you so did, you're even mixing up your words again." Alya cackled.
"Actually dude, we could do our worksheets in the evening when you get back home, if you want." Nino offered. But Alya kicked him with her elbow lightly not to interfere and the boy adjusted his hat. Well, Alya did not have the privileges of an evening session.
"No, why don't we all go to Marinette's? I have such craving for something from the bakery for the lunch break. It had been forever since the last time I had a chance to eat there and … " Alya stressed her words with exaggerated movements of her hands.
Adrien looked at Marinette. He did not feel entitled to make a decision on that, but he felt like they might postpone the activity of recovering the two sick and exhausted kwami, especially after she noted they might need it somewhere else, where they would be able to make noise.
"Well, we could do it that way." Nino obviously suddenly felt craving for the treats from the bakery too. He rubbed his stomach while he continued to speak. "That way my dude over here will be able to go to bed early and catch on his beauty sleep."
"What can I say, old habits die hard. I used to be a model after all." He grinned, although his initial instinct was to protest against that claim, it was a good excuse to sneak out as Chat Noir and go visit Marinette in the evening and deal with the two ill kwami.
The four of them left the locker room and chatted entirely unaware of Lila who eavesdropped to their whole conversation from the other row of lockers. She stole a few minutes alone from her chaperon under pretence she needed something from her locker and listened to the other teens.
"So, Adrien does not intend to continue his modelling career." She muttered to herself. "And if he plans to eat in the bakery the whole time, he does not intend to keep the shape he needs to be one. I was right, I need to get my hands on Felix."
She already had her hands and lips on the boy that morning, but then she thought he was Adrien, and she was offended by the boy who pretended to be the model she wished to date. But now she schemed how to use that to her advantage.
The homework got started on only after a considerable amount of pastries got annihilated. Marinette insisted on doing the worksheets then, if that was indeed the reason for the friends to have the lunch together. Besides, she knew she had issues in finding time later.
They progressed much faster than anticipated, and the conversation started to slip back to the class and whatever Felix and Chloe were doing. It started to get awkward even for Nino who got used to Alya's antics when the bell on the door rang.
It was officer Raincomprix with Sabine.
"Hi kids, I know you submitted your accounts on what happened through e-mail while we were on our way, but the police still wants to talk to you." Sabine smiled nervously. "Adrien, you should call your legal representative and let her know your decision."
"I'm really sorry to interrupt, but in order to complete to police investigation regarding Emilie Agreste, both of you are required to go to the Agreste mansion this afternoon and answer a few questions on the scene." Officer Raincomprix clarified.
"We … should go back … to the mansion?" Marinette stuttered and looked towards Adrien to check how he was feeling about this. They were discussing the boy's mother with such ease, it must have been awful for the boy.
"Yes, we have dug our way into the lair and we need you there to describe what you saw." The police man clarified. He adjusted his hat nervously, well aware that the boy in front of him had been through much, but the man did not know a better approach.
"Are you sure you're up to this, Adrien?" Sabine asked gently. She was definitely aware that going back to the mansion and talking about his mother was a huge emotional toll. "Tom and me can be there on behalf of Marinette and support you too."
"It has to be done." Adrien shrugged after a long quiet moment. "We can all go there straight after school today." But then Marinette motioned to Alya that this did not include an amateur reporter and her boyfriend.
Marinette held Adrien's hand firmly. She was going to be there for him, even her parents were going to be there for him. They had to go there, into the lair and face whatever they find there this time, hopefully the sarcophagus is going to be empty.
"Besides, I want to know what really happened to my mother and I am happy to help." He plastered his model smile over his face and neither Marinette nor Sabine were fooled. But that was sufficient for the police officer to thank the boy and leave.
Felix stepped out from the car and held the door for Chloe. As annoying and obnoxious as he found her, he was still a gentleman and he intended to keep that image.
"Thank you Felix." The heiress answered politely, but her face did not show any gratefulness and her nose was high.
The two of them walked to the lift together rather surprised that the other was walking in the same direction, each of them checked their phone.
"My mother asked me to join her for lunch today." Chloe smiled. "I have invited you to join me for sushi, but I will have to see what she wants first."
"That is okay, I guess." He smirked, it was becoming a chore to always find a way to lightly offend the irritating heiress by his side. "I'm having lunch with my mother too, but not in our room. She sent me the directions." He clarified with no intention of revealing his final destination.
Both of them went to press the same number in the lift.
"Top floor?" Chloe screeched. "But that's where I'm going." She huffed. That was also the place where she lived.
They glanced towards each other while the door closed and they started to move up, but only when the other was not looking, so their eyes did not meet. They arrived to the top floor and walked out only to be met and escorted by battler Jean to go together to the terrace.
"Chlorine, Claude .. I mean Chloe, so nice of you to join us for lunch." Audrey greeted. "And Philippe, no, Frances … I mean Felix, nice of you to join us too."
"Chloe, Felix, how was school today?" Amelie smiled and looked at the two kids.
"Oh, I got the best seat mate ever." Felix smirked with a tone of sarcasm in his voice.
"I got the worst seat mate ever." Chloe huffed and let herself drop onto the chair.
"Are you sitting together in class?" Amelie raised her eyebrows. Her eyes moved from one teenager to another and then back.
"And he asked for Sabrina to move, can you believe that?" Chloe whined.
"It was good for you, you were getting too attached to that girl, and she has no sense of fashion and no style, that brooch she is wearing really destroys that vest she put it on." Audrey tried to act as a mother who wanted to make her daughter feel better, in her own way.
"The brooch was an excellent choice, I gave it to her to improve that awful vest she is wearing." Chloe protested. "It is a designer brooch mum!"
Felix could not help himself but snicker.
"Well the brooch is totally out of her style, when it sits on her vest, it just screams distaste." Audrey concluded.
"But I gave it to her! It is the best friends brooch!" Chloe pouted.
"Felix, did I hear that correctly? You asked a classmate to move to accommodate you?" Amelie asked quietly. "That wasn't nice. I thought we agreed for you to try and be nice to your new classmates to make up for hurting them due to that prank you pulled the last time."
Felix stopped his snickering and schooled his face.
"And why are you dressed up as Adrien again? Did you try to fool anyone with the same joke again? I mean, it was funny when you did it to Gabriel, even Emilie and me laughed about it each time we remembered, but it wasn't funny to those kids you hurt the last time." She scolded.
"Sorry mother, I was just trying to fit in so I borrowed some of Adrien's clothes. He said last night he never intended to wear that again. My school uniform would really make me look like I do not fit in that school." And it would show the way he thought about himself.
"Well, Felix is right to copy Adrien's style. It is much better than a school uniform would be. I'm so glad we do not have to wear school uniforms in France. I couldn't stand it. Imagine for me to be dressed the same as my classmates? Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous." Chloe spoke with confidence.
"Actually, I disagree. The school uniforms are the best way to show who really has personality and style, because it is not just the uniform, it has to fit you, you have to wear it the right way and it is the proper way to address the educational challenges … " Felix was giving a speech.
"Please!" Chloe huffed. "Showing off my clothes is the best way to present my personality and style to the world. I mean, nobody in that class is able to dress up as me … save Adrien, and now you …" She trailed off, she really wasn't the only one.
"Come on, uniforms are far less annoying, Adrien was just a puppet for his father's brand." Felix frowned. "You can't really mean that his style was his own choice? It was predetermined and programmed by some company official, not himself." He glared at his friend.
"Well, there is nothing wrong in asking a stylist for a little help." Chloe pouted. "It is not trivial to look this dazzling, to have everything to match in style, my clothes and shoes and hair and make up. Besides, you copied Adrien's style, who are you to talk?"
"Actually, wearing Gabriel brand these days might be interpreted the wrong way, as if you are supporting the actions of the two supervillains. That man's actions really put a shade on all his design work." Audrey concluded.
"Actually, that is something I wanted to talk to you about. You see, I intend to take over the assets of the company on behalf of my sister. She did not participate in the crimes committed by her husband and we should lift that shade together." Amelie spoke softly.
"As far as I know from my husband, the city of Paris has currently frozen all Gabriel's assets due to an impending compensation. The role of your sister, Emilie, as well as anybody else, is still being investigated by the police force." Audrey recited.
"But surely, I could access some personal belongings of my sister from the Agreste mansion?" She did not mention the second ring explicitly. "And I would like to be informed if not involved in the investigation about what happened to my sister."
"That is not for me to decide. Besides, I thought we were having a friendly lunch, a lovely get together after we haven't seen each other in a long time." Audrey frowned. "Did you invite me here to try and influence what my husband is doing?"
"Why not? Your daughter does it all the time? She bragged about it on he way here." Felix teased. His own mother nudged his foot under the table to silence him. Audrey frowned first at Felix, then at her daughter. Chloe scoffed and turned away which let her pony tail swing.
"Andre Bourgeois is an elected mayor of Paris. The city is ruled by his wisdom and good judgement not by the whims of his teenage daughter. As far as my expertize is concerned, I can tell you that that outfit doesn't fit your personality at all." Audrey crossed her arms and looked at the side.
The four would continue to argue, about anything any of them could remember, save Amelie who tried and failed to persuade Audrey to let her have her sister's share in the house and other assets that belonged to her.
Finally, Chloe excused herself to go and work on the homework and Felix followed. They bickered and bantered but the worksheets were filled by the time battler Jean came to remind them it was time to return to school.