Chapter 15: Praises and Face-Paints
Inside Le Parc des Princes, several crews were working as fast as they could to assemble the stage. This one was massive, like every other stage used by rock bands and its assemblage was something that required almost a full day to be done. Between the main structure, the lights, the props, the sound system, there was work that never ended. As the Sun set, another truck, carrying four huge generators, arrived at the docking area. Even though the stadium's electric board was quite powerful, because of the number of concessions stands that were being assembled outside of it, it was decided by the promotor of the concert, that these were needed, to prevent a case of electrical overload. It was when one of the crews began unloading the generators with the help of industrial forklifts, that Reptile, decided to inspect things. Using his powers of camouflage, he disguised as someone who was working inside the arena. Changing between a crew member and one of the many security guards that were working that shift, the lizard man inspected every nook and cranny of what was going on, and what was going to happen in each section.
"With a place as massive as this one, filled with people, it will be easy to find some poor sap to akumatize. The people who come to these concerts are the kind of people who likes a good fight, especially when they have a couple of drinks. And more importantly, they usually only need a couple of beers to get drunk, before getting themselves into a fight. One or more of those idiots will likely have enough rage in its hears to create a powerful Akuma… or even more than just one! Imagine, a whole gang of Akumas. Master hawk Moth would be very pleased if that happened." -Reptile thought to himself, not realizing just how twisted his version of the facts was. –"The day after tomorrow, those kids will finally die, and then, my master will rule the world, and I will finally have revenge against all of those who think they're so high and mighty. Society will finally pay for all those years of negligence towards me." -he thought.
Friday went by in a flash, and before they realized it, it was already Saturday. When she woke up, Marinette felt terrific, ready to seize the day. After all, she had more than one reason to not stay in bed that day. She was going to a concert, where she was going to see Jagged Stone wearing the face-paint she had designed for him, as well as meeting the members of one of the most famous rock bands in the world. But above all, she was going to spend the day with her friends, and with her boyfriend, who were finally going to be able to celebrate their two-week anniversary, the way they wanted to; to attend their first rock concert as a couple. Plus, as the icing on the cake, all her friends had agreed to go to the concert, wearing the official face-paints of KISS, as well as the ones she had come up with, while designing Jagged's. They had all chosen one, including herself, and she could not wait to wear hers. It had been Adrien who had chosen hers, and she ended up choosing his.
"Can't wait for this afternoon." -Marinette thought to herself. –"This will be one day that I will surely remember fondly for many years to come… especially because I'll have Adrien by my side." -she mused to herself, as a loving smile showed up on her face.
"Marinette? Marinette?!" -Tikki called her.
"Oh, sorry, Tikki. I was…" -Marinette said.
"With your head somewhere else? I figured." -Tikki giggled, as she finished Marinette's sentence. –"I was just saying that I think I heard your mom calling you." -she said.
"Really?" -Marinette asked her, as she went down the stairs, making her way to the trapdoor. –"Mom?! You there?" -she asked, as she opened the door and saw her mom looking at her.
"I was just asking if you were already awake, honey." -Sabine smiled at her. –"I know it's a special day for you today, so I wanted to know if you were still asleep." -she said.
"I just woke up." -Marinette smiled back at her mom. –"Do you need any help?" -she asked her.
"Well, if you don't have anything to do, would you mind helping me making lunch? Your dad was going to help me, but we just received a big order of cupcakes and he has to get it started." -Sabine told her.
"Sure. Just let me change, and I'll go help you." -Marinette said. She loved to help her mom making any meal. –"What are we having for lunch today?"
"One of your dad's favourite dishes… Chicken fricassee with sautéed vegetables." -Sabine said.
"Mine too. Nobody cooks a chicken fricassee like you, mom." -Marinette told her. –"Like I said, let me just get changed, that I'll go help you." -she said.
During lunch, the subject they talked about at the table was what had happened to Marinette that week, along with the already usual praising of Sabine's cooking. Regarding the first theme, both Tom and Sabine insisted on Marinette telling them the whole story from start. They just could not get enough of all the details in that story. Not to mention that they also insisted on Marinette telling them about the reaction Alya had, when she offered her the hoodie she had made for her birthday. Lucky for them, Marinette did not mind telling that over and over. She herself liked to remember how her best-friend reacted to her present, as well as the rest of the class, who immediately wanted one. That alone made her make a decision, which was to create original hoodies for their friends, based on their superhero personas, while also going ahead with the idea of sell them to order on her webpage. But that would only happen, when she finished designing them and making one for each of her friends. Usually something like that would cost her an arm and a leg, but thanks to the money she had gotten from Jagged Stone, she would be able to do it, without having to worry too much about how much she was going to spend on that project. When they finished eating, Marinette helped her parents clean up the table, like she always did.
"As always, lunch was delicious, honey." -Tom said, as he grabbed the plates and took them to the sinker.
"Dad's right. Your chicken fricassee is way better than Alya's mom, and she's a chef." -Marinette praised her mom.
"Thank you both for all the compliments." -Sabine thanked both her husband and her daughter. –"Just for that, tomorrow I'm cooking up a delicious treat for both of you." -she smiled at them. –"What do you think if I told you that I'm going to make for the two of you some of my world-famous Bakes Coconut Walnut Sweet Rice Cakes?"
"I would say that I'm going to stuff myself with those, until my stomach bursts." -Marinette told her. –"No one can resist those sweet rice cakes of yours, mom." -she said, as she imagined Sabine taking a freshly-cooked, still warm, batch of them from the oven, as well as their sweet smell. –"They're the best."
"That's what you keep telling me, Marinette." -Sabine said, as she began washing the dishes.
"And she's right, honey. No one can resist those little delicacies of yours. Not even us." -Tom told his wife, as she handed him the first dish for him to dry.
Tom and Marinette loved to praise Sabine's cooking and baking skills, whenever they had the opportunity. They knew she loved to hear compliments, especially when it came to her cooking and her sewing skills. She was the kind of woman that if you would give her a tray with food, she would cook you a feast. Or if you would give her some fabrics and threads, she would make you a beautiful dress. She was that kind of person, and she loved it when both her husband and her daughter praised her. It made her feel both happy and inspired to try new things.
"Come on, both of you, stop it! You're going to spoil me with that much praise." -Sabine chuckled.
"Well, we're just telling you the truth, mom." -Marinette said, as she placed the bread basket in its place.
"You know, it's a shame that Adrien couldn't have lunch with us today. I'm sure he would have loved that chicken." -Tom declared. –"Plus, I was really hoping to show your boyfriend, a couple of your baby pictures, sweetie." -he joked to his daughter.
"Dad!" -Marinette giggled. –"I thought we had agreed that there would not be baby pictures, before Adrien and I completed three months of dating." -she said in a playful tone.
"She's got you there, honey." –Sabine playfully told her husband.
"But you were such a cute baby." -Tom told his daughter. –"I'm sure he would be
"Dad, you know I love you more than anything, but don't do that, please. And please, I know that you and mom have been shipping us together, ever since the first time I talked about him, but when Adrien arrives, don't point that out. Otherwise I'll be as red as a tomato, that not even the face-paint I'm going to wear today, won't be able to cover the redness." -Marinette asked her parents, always talking in a playful tone. –"If you can do that, you'll be the best parents in the world." -she smiled at them.
"Alright, honey, we promise." -Sabine said.
"And you better not be crossing your fingers, dad. I know you do that, sometimes." –Marinette warned her father.
"I'm not doing it, I promise!" -Tom smiled, as he waved his hands.
After washing and cleaning all the dishes, Tom and Sabine sat on the couch, to relax a little bit, before heading back down to the bakery, to open it, while Marinette went back to her bedroom, claiming she was going to read a little bit, before Adrien arrived, to come and pick her up for the concert. Seeing her go up the stairs, Tom could not help but to feel like time was slipping through his fingers.
"Should we be worried about this?" -Tom asked his wife.
"About what, honey?" -Sabine asked Tom, not understanding what exactly he was talking about.
"You know, about the fact Marinette is already dating Adrien." -Tom answered her in an amused tone. –"I don't want to be that kind of dad, but…"
"But you're worried that our little Marinette isn't as a little as you and I think she is, am I right?" -Sabine asked him, as she placed her arm around Tom.
"Yes." -Tom said, as he kissed his wife. –"Time goes by so fast. It seems like it was only yesterday that Marinette was only a baby. And look at her now, with a cute boyfriend, getting ready to go to a concert…" -he sighed.
"You're not afraid that we're losing her, are you?" -Sabine asked him, with a light-hearted voice.
"What?! No!" -Tom exclaimed, trying not to show just how afraid he was that the relationship Marinette had with them would change, and she would not want to have anything to do with them. –"I'm just… you know, thinking that time doesn't stop for any of us, and that our little Marinette isn't so little anymore." -he told her. –"She already has a boyfriend… a good kid, no doubt about it. And now, she began being commissioned by rock stars, and has plans to create her own line of hoodies, based on the heroes that protect our city. And, that's just the first step. One of these days she'll be going to college, and we won't see each other like we do now…"
Sabine knew that despite his physique, her husband was a big softy, and he was not afraid to show it, especially in front of her. That was just one of the reasons why she had fallen in love with him two decades earlier.
"You really are thinking that we're going to lose her, just because she's getting older, and like every teenager, she might not want to hang out with us, honey." -Sabine giggled, -"But I can tell you this… that won't happen. You know our daughter. She's passionate, she's kind, she's caring; she's got all the qualities that most parents would love to have in a daughter. And even if she goes through a phase like that, she'll always come back to us. After all, she had someone who was always there for her, and who taught her everything she needed to know, when she got herself in a pickle. But most importantly, that family is always there for you, whether you remember it or not." -she said.
"Do I know those people? Because if not, you could always introduce them to me." -Tom joked, making Sabine laugh.
"Oh, stop being silly!" -Sabine giggled. –"You know I'm talking about us." -she kept giggling. –"But seriously, I want to believe that we've raised our daughter to be able to do anything she puts her mind into, as well as to always remember her to keep both feet on the ground, and that no matter the adversities, we'll always be here for her."
"It's true." -Tom sighed. –"Still, part of me can't help but to feel sad about seeing her growing up." -he said.
"It's the part of being a parent. No matter how old she is, for us, she'll always be our little girl, and nothing will ever change that." -Sabine said. –"Even so, don't think about that. Think about everything that we'll still be able to do with Marinette, before that time comes. And believe me, we're still going to have lots of fun with her. I believe that with all my heart." -she said, which made him smile.
"Okay, I will." -Tom said, as she kissed his wife. –"When was the last time I told you that I'm incredibly lucky to have married you?" -he asked her
"Let's see… this morning. But don't let that stop you from saying it again." -Sabine said, as she kissed Tom once more.
After choosing what she was going to wear that night, Marinette went through her personal library, trying to find a book to read, while waiting for Adrien to show up. She did not know what to choose. She was not particularly inclined towards a specific genre that afternoon. So, she asked Tikki for a little help. Happy to oblige, the little scarlet kwami looked at all the books in the bookcase, and tried to find one that screamed "I want to be read, right now!". Examining the book spines, one by one, it took Tikki less than ten seconds to choose the book she felt was the one Marinette should read, or read again, in that case.
"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone? Again, Tikki?" -Marinette asked, while raising an eyebrow at the little kwami. She was a big Harry Potter fan and she had read all the books telling the young wizard's tale more times than she could remember.
"I like to read it, and I know that you also like it. Besides, it's a fun book." –Tikki said.
"You're just saying that because it's got magic in the story." -Marinette joked, as she grabbed the book. –"Look at it. It's been read so many times that I'm need to buy another copy of it." -she said, as she looked at how folded the corners were, as well as how marked the pages were.
"That's how you know that you like a book." -Tikki giggled. –"Being like that, it shows the love that you have given it, every time you read it." -she told her.
"Okay, alright, you win. Come over here, and let's get started." -Marinette told her, as she sat on the chaise-longue, with Tikki resting on her left shoulder. –"It's time for us to go back to Hogwarts and relive the adventures of one of my favourite characters ever." -she smiled at Tikki, making her giggle, as she opened the book and began to read it. –"Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense. Mr Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache. Mrs Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbours. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere."
Tikki loved to hear Marinette read for her. She had not told her, but this habit she had, of asking her holders to read for her, had begun with one of her first holders, who used to read her to bed. Ever since then, if she was lucky enough to get a holder who happened to know how to read, she would ask him or her to do that, from time to time. And even if they did not know how to read, she would ask them to tell her stories. Over the millennia, Tikki had learned hundreds, if not thousands of stories, thanks to her holders. And with Marinette she had learned dozens of them already, hoping to learn a lot more. Listening her reading to her, gave Tikki a warm and fuzzy feeling inside her, which she loved. She liked to compare it to the feeling of a warm and tender hug.
As for Marinette, she had read those lines more times than she could remember, but even so, the words and the sentences, they felt like fresh and mysterious, just like when she had read them for the first time. Such was the power of a great book had over her. Reading it, she began imagine all the scenes inside her mind, most of them not the way they were depicted in the film adaptation, and she was okay with it. Marinette's imagination tended to imagine things a little differently than most people imagined them, and she was glad that happened, because it provided her with incredible ideas. And just as she was finishing the third chapter of the book, an idea sparked inside her mind; a great idea. An idea that was so good that she felt the need to put it on paper, right then.
"I just had an idea! Tikki, do you mind continuing to read by yourself?" -Marinette asked her. –"If I don't sketch it right now, I'll probably forget about it, and this is one idea I can't allow myself to forget." -she told Tikki.
"It's okay. I'll continue to read, while you sketch it." -Tikki smiled at her, as Marinette placed the book on the chaise-longue and quickly got up. Grabbing the book, Tikki continued to read where Marinette had stopped. –"Alright… where were we? Oh, right…" -she said, as she started to read.
Grabbing her sketchbook, Marinette quickly began to draw the idea that showed up in her mind. And that idea was of a possible design for one of the hoodies based on the Miraculous Team; for the design of the hoodie based on Antelope. She did not know how the idea came to her mind, but she did not care. All that it mattered was getting it into the paper, so she would later be able to rework it a little, and use it. With each pencil scratch, the idea became clearer and clearer, until it was the way Marinette had envisioned it, in her mind. Looking at it, she was satisfied with what she had done, and she hoped that Kim would also like it. After all, that hoodie was inspired in him, and she wanted him to be happy with it.
"Kim will definitely love this. Not only it highlights the hood, it also matches the previous idea I had for it." -Marinette thought to herself, as she looked at the sketch. –"Uh? Yes?" -she asked, hearing someone knocking at the door.
"Can I come in?" -a voice asked. A voice which Marinette recognized as not being the voice of one her parents. It was Adrien's voice.
"A-Adrien?" -Marinette asked. –"No way, it can't be. I'm hearing things! Adrien isn't supposed to arrive for another two hours. But what if it's him, and I just lost track of time and it's time to go already?" -she thought to herself. –"C-Come in!"
"Hey, there." -Adrien said, as he opened the trapdoor and smiled at her.
"I-Is it that late already? I didn't even notice time passing." -Marinette stated
"Oh, no, don't worry, I'm the one who decided to come a little earlier, so we could spend one or two hours, just the two of us, before meeting up with the others. Gorilla will pick us up, when it's time to go to the concert." -Adrien said, as Plagg exited the pocket in his jeans. –"You want to know something funny? As soon as I entered the bakery, your dad almost jumped from behind the counter and came to give me a hug." -he chuckled, as he closed the trapdoor behind him.
"That's my dad for you. He loves having you as a son-in-law." -Marinette smiled, as she greeted Adrien, with a kiss on the lips. –"But not as much as I love you." -she continued to smile at her boyfriend.
"That I believe." -Adrien smiled at Marinette, as he placed his hands around her waist, and gently pulled towards him. –"So, what do you want to do?" -he asked her.
"Hmmm… I don't know." -Marinette admitted. –"I mean, I wasn't expecting to have your company, so I was only going to work a little bit more on some sketches." -she said. -"But now that you're here, about we go downstairs to the living room, and play a couple of rounds of Ultimate Mecha Strike III? I promise you that I'll let you win this time." -Marinette told him, with a mischievous smile on her face.
"No, thank you. Every time you say that, you end up beating my butt, even if you promise you won't." -Adrien laughed. –"But if you're up for it, I'll challenge you on a one-on-one in Mortal Kombat." -he told her, knowing that he played the videogame well-enough to be a match for Marinette. –"What do you say? My Scorpion versus your Princess Kitana?"
"You're on. But I must warn you, I've been practicing my Fatalities, and believe me, when I tell you that I'm going to slice your Scorpion's head, before you get to burn my Princess Kitana to ashes." -Marinette told him with a mischievous voice.
"Really?" -Adrien asked her, as he pulled her for another kiss. –"How about a little bet to spice things up?" -he proposed her.
"What do you have in mind?" -Marinette asked him.
"Whoever loses three rounds in a row, has to kiss the winner." -Adrien suggested her.
"You're on. And don't you try to lose on purpose." -Marinette playfully told him, as she leaned forward and kissed him.
"There they go again." -Plagg whispered to Tikki, as he saw the teenagers going down –"They could at least invite us to also play." -he commented, slightly annoyed.
"Oh, stop being like that, and let them spend some time alone. You know the path they both had to go through, until they ended up together was not an easy one." -Tikki told him. –"And instead of being all annoyed by that, come and read with me."
"You're reading Harry Potter, again?" -Plagg asked the scarlet kwami. –"Don't you get tired of reading the same books, over and over?" -he asked.
"No. Just like you don't get tired of that stinking cheese you like so much, I don't get tired of reading these books… by the way, did you brush your teeth, before coming here?" -Tikki asked Plagg, as she smelled his breath. –"Phew… you shouldn't forget to do that! Otherwise, it's impossible to be next to you. I don't know how Adrien is even able to carry you around, with that stinking breath of yours." -she said.
After playing for almost an hour, and with both of them tied, when it came to the number of victories and losses, Marinette told Adrien that it was time for both of them to put on their face-paints, before went to meet the rest of the gang. Because Adrien was all thumbs, when it came to putting make-up on, Marinette volunteered herself to do it for him, before doing hers. Heading back to her bedroom, where they found Tikki and Plagg still reading, Marinette went to grab the face paints, she had bought the day before, as well as the brushes and a glass filled with water from her bathroom. She then asked her boyfriend to take a seat on the chaise -longue, next to Tikki and Plagg, as she herself sat on her armchair and began to paint his face.
"Just promise me, you won't paint a cute flower on my face okay?" -Adrien joked.
"You're such a silly kitty, you know that?" -Marinette teased him, as she grabbed one of the brushes. –"Now, let's see if I can do your make-up, without accidentally removing one of your eyes, with one of the brushes" -she joked.
"I trust you, don't worry." -Adrien smiled at her, before closing his eyes, and feeling Marinette applying the white paint to his face. –"I'll tell you something. Your hands are way smoother than those of my usual make-up artist." -she declared.
"Thank you." -Marinette said, as she continued to apply the white paint. –"You're going to look so handsome with this face-paint on." -she told him.
"You two… you're making me sick with all that lovey-dovey talk!" -Plagg said with a voice filled with sarcasm, when he was hit on the back of the head by Tikki. –"Hey!" -he complained.
"What do you think it was for?" -Tikki asked him. –"It's because you opened your mouth to say the wrong things." -she told Plagg with a sarcastic voice. –"You've got the same sense of romance as a piece of disgusting Camembert!"
"Hey! Don't badmouth my favourite cheese! I don't badmouth those cookies you like so much!" -Plagg protested.
Hearing their kwamis fighting like that, both Marinette and Adrien asked themselves if like them, they were in love with one another, but like it happened with them, they did not have the courage to say it to one another. They spent their time squabbling about the most trivial of things, and that was something that sometimes happened between those who loved each other. Both Marinette and Adrien knew a couple that was the perfect example of such thing, Alix and Kim. It was clear to them that they were in love with one another, but could not see it themselves. And the same thing could be asked about Tikki and Plagg. Neither Marinette, nor Adrien knew if kwamis could fall in love with one another, but if they could, then Tikki and Plagg were clearly in love.
"That much squabbling must mean that you two care a lot for one another." -Adrien joked.
"Either that, or they just love to squabble. Have you ever thought about becoming a comedic duo?" -Marinette asked them. –"You would be a success." -she joked, which made Adrien laugh. –"Hey, no moving, Adrien! I don't want to ruin this."
"S-Sorry."-Adrien apologized, as he tried his best to stand still, while Marinette continued to paint his face. –"Won't happen again." -he said.
"Never gonna happen." -Plagg told them.
"Ditto!" -Tikki agreed with him. –"Not only because we can't be seen by anyone, but also because I don't find any of Plagg's jokes funny." -she said.
"Just proves that you don't have a sense of humour, that clearly understands my humour, Sugarcube." -Plagg said, calling the scarlet kwami by the nickname, he knew she hated.
"Why… you! I told you not to call me that, Plagg! Get back here, right now, so I can pull those whiskers as a punishment!" -Tikki jumped on Plagg, who immediately ran from her.
Once again, their kwamis' antics made the two teenagers laugh. It was amazing just how two little creatures such as them, could make them laugh like that. Unfortunately, by making them laugh, Marinette made an error, while painting Adrien's face, and was forced to correct that mistake; not that Adrien minded about it. He was okay with having Marinette taking as long as she needed or wanted, to finish his make-up, because that meant that he could continue to look at her, admiring her beauty.
After exiting her limousine, and telling Jean to wait for her and Sabrina, Chloe walked to the door of Sabrina's building and rang the bell. Waiting for someone to open the door for her, she asked herself who would answer; if Sabrina's mom, who her dad. Once the door opened, Chloe took the elevator to the fifth floor. Exiting it, she was greeted by Sabrina's mom, Lilian, who welcomed her and told her that Sabrina was in her bedroom, getting ready. It had been a while, since she was in Sabrina's house, and as she looked around, it had not changed much since her previous visit. The only things Chloe noticed were different at first sight, was the colour of the walls, which were previously white, and were now vanilla-white, and there was a new bookcase near the corridor that led to the Sabrina's bedroom and her parents' master bedroom.
"It's always a pleasure to see you, Chloe." -Lilian smiled at Chloe.
"Thank you, Mrs. Raincomprix." -Chloe thanked her. –"I love what you did with the place. Vanilla-white is such a pretty colour." -she said, being honest about it.
"Oh, we painted it a couple of months ago. It was Roger's idea to paint it with this colour." -Lilian told the heiress. –"If he had let me choose the colour, I would have gone for turquoise or aquamarine." -she declared.
"Just like Sabrina's eyes. A great choice, indeed" -Chloe thought to herself.
"Anyways, I know that you didn't come here to talk about that, so I won't bother you about it." -Lilian told her, with a light-hearted voice. –"Sabrina's in her bedroom. When I checked her a couple of minutes ago, she was trying to do that face-paint she's going to wear to the concert. I asked her if she wanted some help, but she told me that she could handle it." -she said.
"I see. Well, I better go and see if she needs a little help." –Chloe declared, as she headed down the corridor, on her way to Sabrina's bedroom.
"If you need anything, don't hesitate to call. I'll be in the kitchen, prepping some snacks for Sabrina to take with her. She's not a big fan of hot dogs and hamburgers, so I'm sending her some fruits and some sandwiches." -Lilian declared.
"You clearly don't know Sabrina, like I do. Over the last couple of months, she has gotten a healthy appetite for junk food. And either I'm wrong, or she's going to eat at least five hot dogs tonight, if not more, if Mika decides to compete against her, to see who could eat more hot dogs." -Chloe thought to herself, as she imagined her best-friend and her kwami chowing down hot dogs like there was no tomorrow.
Knocking at Sabrina's bedroom door, she waited for her to say something before entering.
"Come in! And before you ask, I'm still not ready, Chloe." -Sabrina said, as the blonde entered her bedroom.
"Having problems with that face-paint?" -Chloe asked her.
"How did you… oh, my mom must have told you." -Sabrina said. –"But yeah, I'm having a couple of problems with it. I wish I had your steady hands. I just can't sketch this lightning bolt properly… I suck, when it comes to putting on make-up" -she sighed, as she grabbed a baby wipe, that Mika was holding for her, and wiped her face.
"Don't worry, about that. I'll help you out with the face-paint." -Chloe told her, as she gently took the paint and the brush from her hands. –"Now, close your eyes, and let me handle this." -she said, as she began to draw a perfect lightning bolt on Sabrina's face, just like in Marinette's sketch. A few seconds later, she had finished it. –"There, perfect. Now, all I need to do is to colour it."
"The paints are on top of my bedside table." -Sabrina warned her. –"Mika, could you bring them here?" -she asked her kwami.
"No need for that. I'll use my own paints on you. I bought them online yesterday, and they arrived this morning." -Chloe said, as she opened her purse and took them out. As she did that, Pollen, her kwami, came out. –"We'll start with the white paint. Pollen, could you do me a favour and hold Sabrina's hair, so I can paint her face?" -she asked the little bee kwami, while opening the white paint bottle.
"Of course." -Pollen said, as she flew from the pocket in Chloe's pants –"Mika, grab one end, I'll grab the other." -she told the wolf kwami.
"On it." -Mika said.
With the help of both kwamis, Chloe was able to finish Sabrina's face-paint a lot faster than she would. And as soon as she finished it, she wasted no time in doing her own. To her surprise, the paints she had bought online were much better than she had anticipated they would be. In her case, she had decided to go with the Demon face-paint, which belonged to Gene Simmons. The hardest part was making sure she got the spikes right. Finishing it, the blonde was pretty impressed with the final result, and she was not the only one. Sabrina and the kwamis were also impressed with it.
"You look terrific, Chloe." -Sabrina said.
"I agree. You look fantastic." -Pollen said.
"Just like Sabrina." -Mika declared. –"You both look ready for the concert." -he said.
"He's right. We both look ready." -Sabrina said, as she and Chloe looked themselves in the mirror the redhead had next to her wardrobe.
"I have to admit that I like the result, on both of us. We look ready for war… which reminds me, selfie time! Get over here, Sabrina." -Chloe said, as she pulled her cell phone from her pocket, while placing her left arm around Sabrina's shoulder. –"Alright, say kwami!" -she exclaimed as she took the photo with her cell phone. Checking it, she was pleased with the result. –"This is probably one of our best selfies together. Not counting the ones, where we are as Queen Bee and Louve Grise, of course."
"Of course." -Sabrina giggled. –"Though, I'll be honest, and you already heard me say this before. I don't like the fact of you having those selfies in your cell phone." -she said. –"One of these days, someone might get a hold of your cell phone and see them, or worst, hack into it. And they will find out about your secret… or better yet, our secret, and everyone else's."
"Don't worry about it. I already told you, Sabrina, I don't keep them in my cell phone for long. Only until I have the time to transfer them to a pen drive, I have." -Chloe reminded her. –"They only stay there for maybe an hour, tops. And I'm super careful with that pen drive. Nobody knows about it, except the two of us, as well as Pollen and Mika. And as for its location, it's on the very last place anyone would look for." -she told Sabrina, trying to calm her down. –"Nobody will ever find out about them, ever."
It was things like that, that sometimes, made Sabrina tremble with fear. Still, she believed her best-friend, and she did not have any reason to lie to her.
"Okay. But it better be inside a vault, which only you have the combination for." -Sabrina told her. –"Anyways, are you ready to go?" -she asked her.
"I am, if you are." -Chloe smiled at her, as she slipped her cell phone back into her pocket.
"Absolutely. I just need to get my backpack and the snacks that my mom made for me, and we can go." -Sabrina told her. –"And let's just hope that this time we don't have a flat tire, or something, that will prevent us from getting to the concert." -she said, as she grabbed her backpack, and looked at her kwami. –"Come on, Mika, get in."
"Coming!" -Mika said, as he entered the backpack.
"Time to go, Pollen." -Chloe said.
"Yes, my queen." -Pollen smiled at the blonde.
Finally finished this one. You know, I had a reader on DeviantArt who asked me if this particular fic was more of a slice-of-life fic, than anything else, and I had to answer that this one was indeed that, but that did not meant it was a fic where important things would happen for our characters. In particular, this fic is allowing me to develop the relationships between certain character. This chapter for example, I decided to focus a little more on Adrien and Marinette's relationship, as well as Tom and Sabine (I've been wanting to dedicate a little time to them, and I managed to do so in this chapter).I also decided to finally introduce Sabrina's mom into this AU (just like it happened with Rose's mom, I came up with a name for her, and we'll be seeing more of her in the following fics).
Anyways, next chapter it's the concert, we've all been waiting for, so you can expect some crazy things to happen. And without anything else to say, feel free to comment, fav and leave your suggestions to improve this or following fanfics, alright? See ya, later!