The kids take some time to shop for each other - and someone finds themself turning a little green.


A/N: Moooooore shiptease~ Plus a cameo from a character I wish I've been writing more of!


"Ugh!" Juleka scoffed to herself as she thumbed through a rack of clothes. "Do every one of these stupid shirts have to be size large?"

"Let me see." Marinette looked over as she pulled a blouse from the lineup. Narrowing her eyes at the garment, she ran a finger down the sleeve and clicked her tongue. "That one's polyester, it wouldn't work anyway."

Shaking her head, the goth girl put it back and continued her search. "Why does clothes shopping have to be so hard?"

The other girls in the group murmured their agreements. Mireille heaved a sigh as she inspected a baby-blue wool sweater. Nearby, Mylene talked quietly with Colette as the latter hesitantly showed her a pretty cream dress. Ange rummaged through the jackets with Alix and Aurore, gesticulating grumpily as she recalled some story about a classmate.

Alya looked over from where she was picking through a display of hats. "Finding anything good?"

"Nothing that I couldn't just make myself," the designer huffed. "Not to mention everything is too big. I saw a really nice blouse, but even if I took it in, it would still fit strangely..."

Alya hummed her sympathy. "I'm not having much luck either," she admitted.

"Why don't we just go to a thrift store or something?" Alix boredly chimed in, folding her arms across her chest.

"I guess we could - there's not much to sort through here anyways." Giving one last longing look towards a black blouse, Marinette took Alya's hand and nodded towards the door.

The group made their way out of the store, murmuring to themselves. The streets, though cold with winter, were alight and abuzz with anticipation. Children tugged at their parents' sleeves, begging to go to this or that store, young couples walked together giddily, hand-in-hand, and the streetlamps made the snow sparkle like diamonds.

"I love December," Mireille sighed dreamily to herself.

Juleka's eyes brightened when she noticed a certain girl walking through the crowd. "Rose! Hey!"

The blonde turned, squeaking excitedly and running over as soon as she lay eyes on her friend. "Jules!"

When she made her way to the group of girls, she hugged the noirette tight - and pulled away with a big grin. "I found the perfect present for my Secret Santa! Any luck yet?"

"Ah, no..." Juleka grimaced. "We're still trying to figure that out."

"Oh... well, can I join you?" She turned to Marinette with a pleading look. "Pleeeeeease? I don't really wanna go home yet, and I still have to get something for Mama..."

"Of course!"

She squealed again, and Juleka coughed in surprise as she was almost lifted off the ground. "Yay!"

"Rose, wait," a voice came from the crowd in the street, and Juleka watched smugly as Marinette's cheeks flushed even pinker, eyes locked onto an older boy approaching.

Luka shook his head in amusement as the girl giggled sheepishly. "Oh, hey, Jules."

"Sup." She nodded to her brother, discreetly nudging Marinette's shoulder. "We were just looking for Christmas gifts. You wanna come?"

"Hmm... sure, why not?" He shrugged. "If you're all okay with it, that is. Don't wanna intrude if this is a girl thing."

"Oh, no, we don't mind!" Mylene reassured him with a sugar-sweet smile.

"By all means," Alix chimed in with a grin.

"We'd love your input," Mireille added.

"Yes! Uh, I mean, s-s-sure! If you want," Marinette stumbled over her own words, laughing awkwardly when he turned his attention to her.

Nearby, Aurore poked her friend and whispered, "What's happening?"

Mireille whispered back, giddily, "Marinette has a mega-crush on Luka - and we're all waiting for one of them to confess already!"

The blonde's eyes grew comically wide, and an equally-big grin spread from cheek to cheek. "You're kidding."

"No." The dark-haired girl looked from him to her, cupping a hand over her mouth as Luka fell into step with a jittery Marinette. "She's liked him for, like, forever. Juleka isn't really sure how he feels about her besides that he likes her company, but you know what they say..."

"Whatever you're doing, count me in," she declared in the same hushed tones.

"What's going on? What are we doing?" Ange murmured. Nearby, Colette tilted her head curiously.

Mireille gathered them around her as they walked. "Okay. So. Luka, right? He's Juleka's older brother, last year in collège..."


"Are you sure you're well enough to go shopping today, Felix?" Amelie fretted over her son, sweeping his bangs to one side again.

The boy irritably swatted her hand away. "I'm perfectly fine, Mother. Whatever I had is gone."

"And just in time for Christmas shopping," Adrien added with a chipper smile.

Felix scowled in response.

Amelie clapped her hands together. "Oh, I'm so happy you're both making friends. I knew sending you to that school would be the right choice in the end. Do you both know who you need to buy presents for?"

The younger of the two hummed a happy response, while the older nodded quietly.

"Ivan," he thought disdainfully to himself. "I hardly even know him. How unlucky that I was given someone I know nothing about."

Well, he supposed it didn't hurt to try. Ivan's list of possible gifts had been helpful, in any case.

The car came to a stop, and Adrien eagerly pushed the door open and stepped out. Felix followed, adjusting the scarf around his neck.

"We'll be back to pick you up in two hours," Nathalie piped up from the front seat. "Don't spend too much money, and don't get into trouble."

"Of course we won't," Adrien promised, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Thanks for bringing us, Nathalie, Gorilla!"

The bodyguard stoically nodded, and Nathalie looked back to her agenda as the window rolled back up.

"Bye, darlings!" Amelie called with a wave.

The two boys watched the car pull away from the curb, and as it disappeared around a corner, Adrien shivered and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"I'm cold already," he admitted. "Where are we going first?"

"I wanted to look around that patisserie you mentioned earlier," Felix responded, adjusting his crossbody bag and letting his cousin interlock their arms together.

"You really have no idea what to get our classmates, huh?" he giggled.

"S- shut up, everyone likes food, right?" The Brit's cheeks burned and he turned scorching eyes on the snowy sidewalk.

"Not everyone likes sweets," Adrien pointed out. "I know of a few that do, though - are you getting gifts for girls?"

"No." He immediately answered. Then he paused, thoughtful. "Well... maybe."

"Do you like someone?"

"It's not like that," he dismissed, cheeks still pink. "It's not so much an 'I like you' as much as it is a... 'thank you'."

"Hmmmm~" Adrien mused to himself, smirking at the way his cousin's embarrassment bloomed on his face. "I think I'm getting some 'thank you' sweets too. Just so you don't have to buy chocolates alone."

The older of the two ducked even more into his scarf.


"Ooh, how about this?" Rose gasped, pointing to a beautiful assortment of brightly-colored pastries.

"Rose, I thought we were gift shopping," Juleka reminded her.

"I know, I know, but who says chocolates can't be a gift too?" She huffed, giving her a flat look. "Besides, wouldn't it be so romantic to get a box of these from a Secret Santa...?"

The goth's cheeks flushed, and she averted her gaze to the trays of sweets in the display window. "I... I guess..."

"Now that Ivan and Mylene are dating, it would be so cute if he got her one of those little specialty boxes!" She squealed, hugging herself. "Or, maaaaaaybe..." her voice lowered, and she pointed to where Luka and Marinette were sitting on a bench, the former showing her something on his phone, "... Luka could get one for Marinette?"

Juleka glanced back at her brother and her friend, smiling softly when the pigtailed girl laughed at one of Luka's stupid memes. "Mmm, nah," she disagreed, "Marinette works in a bakery. Feels in poor taste, doesn't it?"

"I guess you're right. If he wanted to give her sweets, he could just put in an order with her patisserie..." Rose hummed in thought. "And if he gave her clothes, too..."

"She could just make her own." Juleka finished. "Hm. Flowers, maybe? 'Nette has been going a bit crazy with marigolds lately."

"Or jewelry," the smaller of the two guessed. "I don't know why she never wears other studs, but maybe she'd like a necklace?"

"Maybe they were a gift from her parents or something." The goth shrugged. "I'll have to poke around with him, see what he's planning to do. It's my brother; I'm not sure if 'romantic' is even in his head."

"Nothing like what I want with..." she trailed off in her head, cheeks pinkening as she took in Rose's wistful gaze towards the two.

"Ooh, these look good..." Mylene's shy voice murmured from behind, and as they turned to look, they saw how she eyed a certain tray of colorful little cakes.

"Do you want some?" Mireille asked.

"Mmm... I shouldn't," she replied with a sigh. "I shouldn't use my allowance to buy candy when I'm supposed to be gift shopping."

"Maybe your booooooyfriend would get you some," Aurore popped up beside her with a sing-song voice.

Myelene poked her fingers together, longingly looking back towards the tray.


"Oh! Felix! The girls are here!" Adrien happily pointed towards the group inside the shop. "What a coincidence!"

"Indeed," mused the older with a thoughtful hum. "Well, it's not as if they'll guess who we're buying for, right?"

His cousin nodded, looking around the windows trying to find someone. "Oh, Marinette-" He stopped short, unconsciously tugging at Felix's arm as he paused in confusion.

"Adrien?" He inquired, turning to try and see what he was looking at.

The boy's green gaze was fixed on two people in the store, sharing a sample.

Marinette's eyes were bright as she held up a chocolate, and Luka gently caught it in his teeth before taking a bite. Her cheeks were a pretty petal pink, her eyes shy as she looked back at the plate.

Felix blinked, before turning when he felt the grip on his forearm tighten.

Adrien wasn't glaring, but his stare could have been a good facsimile. A chill ran up Felix's spine as he slowly looked back to the girl. She was now standing by herself, reading a menu of sweets.

"A- Adrien," he tried, pulling against his grip. "Hey, c'mon. Snap out of it. You'll attract an akuma."

The very mention of the hated butterflies made the boy blink, eyes wide. Shaking his head softly, the younger blond offered him an apologetic smile.

"Ah, s- sorry..." he mumbled. "You're right. Let's... let's try another store first."

Nodding warily, he pulled him down the sidewalk, giving the patisserie one last glance. Marinette was no longer visible from outside.

"What... what was that?" He questioned. "Adrien... being jealous? I didn't think he would feel that way about..."

His cousin stared straight ahead, an inscrutable expression on his face.

"Here's hoping that creep is busy today," he mourned with a pinched face.