"Chloe!"
Queen Bee grinned, jogging across the rooftops toward the distant figure of Miss Pinky, standing on the edge of her roof and bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. Below them, the Seine stretched in either direction, the water flowing slowly with the current. A handful of boats drifted on the current, most of them moored along the edge, though Queen Bee could make out a couple of boats making their way upstream. Her brows furrowed, and she watched them carefully for a long minute, until one of them pulled up to the dock and stopped. A man hopped onto the dock and tied it off quickly. Letting out a breath, Queen Bee turned her attention back to Miss Pinky.
"How are you tonight, Rose?" she greeted her, giving her a quick hug.
Miss Pinky giggled, smiling brightly. "Jules and I went to look at dresses today," she confided. There's this one that was absolutely to die for–"
"Not literally, I hope," Queen Bee interjected, arching an eyebrow.
"Though I didn't really like the cut of the neckline," Miss Pinky continued. "But Jules took a couple of pictures with me in it and sent them to Marinette so she'd have an idea of what I like."
Queen Bee stifled a laugh. "Don't they say it's bad luck to see the bride in the wedding dress before the wedding?" she asked.
Miss Pinky's eyes widened in shock. "We didn't even think of that!" she gasped, covering her mouth.
"I don't think that counts in this case," Queen Bee pointed out after a long moment, her lips twitching. "After all, this wasn't the wedding dress, right?"
"Right…"
"So, there's no bad luck. Besides, if the living embodiment of good luck is making the dress, that probably cancels out any possible bad luck, anyways."
Miss Pinky let out a relieved breath. "That's good – don't scare me like that! I was worried that we would never work out, that we would fall apart before the wedding and I'd have to go crawling back to my parents to beg for forgiveness…"
Queen Bee's eyes widened. "Um…"
"And if that happens… I don't know what I would do!" Miss Pinky stared out at the Seine, wetness at the corners of her eyes, her hands shaking slightly.
"Uh…" Hesitantly, Queen Bee placed a hand on Miss Pinky's shoulder. "I'm pretty sure everything is going to be okay," she told her nervously. "You just… honestly, I don't know of too many couples that can say they work together half as well as you and Juleka. Hell, I wish I could say half as much for myself! So… I think you'll be okay."
Miss Pinky let out a relieved breath and blinked a few times. "I hope so…"
"I know so."
Miss Pinky nodded. Glancing up at Queen Bee, wryly she asked, "So, speaking of couples that work well together…"
Queen Bee blinked, slowly backing away.
Miss Pinky's eyes lit up, and she leaned forward. "Who was that guy with you at the wedding? And then there were those pictures of you and him and Zoe at the park… and the two of you at that cute little café – was that his idea, or was it yours? Seriously, you have to tell me all about him! He seemed so nice at the wedding! And such a gentleman! Did he give you the corsage you were wearing? I bet he gave you that corsage – it matched your dress perfectly–"
"Marinette got corsages for me and Alya – to match the dresses she'd made!" Queen Bee interjected. "Henri didn't–"
Her face took on a predatory look. "Oh! So his name is 'Henri'?" She grinned. "And does Henri have a last name?" She tapped her chin. "And how does it sound with 'Chloe' in front of it?"
Queen Bee gave her a deadpan look. "If I tell you anything else, I'll have to kill you. You know that curiosity killed the cat – or Pig…"
"And satisfaction brought him back," replied Miss Pinky snarkily. "So what's your point? I want to know everything about 'Henri'! How did you meet? How long have you been together? Are you serious? What does your family think of him?"
Finally, Queen Bee let out a heavy sigh. "Fine. But just to shut you up." Miss Pinky grinned eagerly and clapped her hands. "Work. The wedding. Don't know. Zoe loves him; Daddy's fine; Mother couldn't care less. Happy?"
"Well, I–"
"Because you'd better be happy." Queen Bee's eyes narrowed dangerously.
Miss Pinky sighed. "You don't have to be such a sourpuss," she told her, raising an eyebrow. "You should be happy! All the photos of the two of you together make it look like you're having the time of your lives. And I saw you with him at the wedding. You looked like you were having so much fun together there – he looked positively smitten with you…"
Queen Bee's lips twitched in amusement. "At least some of that has been for the cameras," she pointed out. "The more time they spend focused on us, the less attention they pay to Zoe."
"How positively protective of you," quipped Miss Pinky, stifling a laugh. "But clearly that's not all there is to it."
Queen Bee looked away. "I suppose not."
Miss Pinky grinned in triumph.
"But that's enough of that," Queen Bee told her curtly, turning away from the Seine and taking off at a brisk jog down the street parallel to the river. "We have a city to patrol."
"Fine." Miss Pinky quickly raced to catch up to her. "But I still have so many more questions."
"They'll have to wait."
"About Zoe."
Queen Bee froze, her eyes widening. "What do you want to know about her?" she asked, turning slowly to face Miss Pinky again.
"What's it like, having a little sister?" asked Miss Pinky, raising an eyebrow curiously. "I've always wanted to have a little brother or sister. And all of those photos of you two online make it look like you're having so much fun together."
Queen Bee frowned. "Surprisingly, I'm glad to have her in my life," she admitted. "And a lot of those times we really were having fun together. But it's… been a bit of an adjustment period, figuring out how this whole 'family' thing is supposed to work. It's different, having to share my – our - father's attention. Mother has been even more of a witch – not that I'm surprised…" she muttered under her breath. "Especially since the campaign ended."
"That is too bad that your dad lost," Miss Pinky interjected sympathetically. "I actually liked him as the mayor – though maybe a little more lately than a few years ago."
"Yeah…" Queen Bee winced, looking away. "It did have its perks. And especially lately, having him as Mayor was really nice for us. But I'm not too disappointed to see that over. It's a lot less pressure – at least at the moment. And it's meant less paparazzi following me and Zoe around – so much easier to train her without the cameras. And no more of those stupid campaign events." She frowned. "Throwing Zoe into the campaign right away was so stupid – she didn't know anything about us, and she had to figure out on the fly how to pretend that she liked all the attention. Or at least that she liked Mother and Daddy."
Miss Pinky arched an eyebrow. "You mean you don't like the attention?" she asked, the corner of her lip twitching in amusement.
Queen Bee gave her a look. "I liked it fine at one point, I think. But any more I've realized just how fake and performative it all is. This right here – the Heroes of Paris – this is what I actually enjoy doing. Especially now that I have this back." She flicked her top out and spun it around her once before catching it again. "The campaigning is the thing I'll miss the least now that Daddy's no longer Mayor – at least for now. No more pretending to enjoy shaking hands with so many people, or dancing with the Italian Prime Minister's nephew, or that I'm not bored out of my mind while Daddy is cutting the ribbon to dedicate a new train car."
"It can't be all that bad," Miss Pinky pointed out. "Didn't you say you met Henri through work?"
Queen Bee's mouth twitched. "I did. And for as much 'work' as it was, being the Mayor's daughter, it wasn't 'work.'" Miss Pinky's eyebrows furrowed, and Queen Bee stifled a snort. "I'm more relieved that Zoe doesn't have to put up with that scrutiny anymore."
"All this protectiveness…" Miss Pinky raised an eyebrow. "It sounds like you actually enjoy having a sister!"
Queen Bee nodded slowly. "It took a while, but… I'm happy with this. I wouldn't have agreed to let her live in my penthouse if I didn't enjoy having her around. But I'm glad we can just spend time with the two of us, instead of having to do it in front of the cameras." She smirked. "For as much as I enjoyed driving the paparazzi crazy all summer, I would rather do it by myself – or with Henri," she added under her breath, "than by pulling Zoe into the crosshairs. She doesn't deserve that."
Miss Pinky hummed. "I never would have thought that Chloe Bourgeois could feel like that about another person," she mused. "Maybe having a sister has been better for you than you thought!"
Queen Bee smiled. "Maybe it has. Or maybe being one of the Heroes of Paris has helped with that!"
Miss Pinky nodded. "I am glad that you became a hero," she told Queen Bee. "It… actually suits you really well."
