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Marinette had planned to sleep in this Sunday morning. Of course, if an akuma attacked, she would shoot out of bed and swing out of her window as Ladybug before her feet could touch her wooden flooring, but after the face-off with one of Manon’s classmates the previous night, an extra hour or two in bed wouldn’t be passed up. Just her, her bed and her long cat pillow...
A set of sharp raps on her trapdoor threatened the peaceful stupor that Marinette lay under like it was a second warm blanket. Her eyes remained closed but her brow furrowed.
“Oh, Marinette, dear! You have a guest,” came her mother’s voice from beneath the door.
The bed creaked as Marinette shifted. She sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes, holding in a yawn.
“Who is it?” she asked, expecting Alya, but it could always be one of her other classmates like Alix, Rose or Juleka.
To be honest, the hesitation before her mother answered should have given it away.
“It’s... Chloé,” said her mother.
Marinette tensed. She lowered her hands to shoulder level.
“Chloé...?” repeated Marinette. A pout puckered her lips. “What does she want?”
“I am here, you know!” Chloé piped up from the same direction as Marinette’s mother. “And I don’t have all day, so if you could move your butt, that would be great!”
Rather than incentivise Marinette, Chloé almost tempted Marinette into lying down again and maybe stuffing in earplugs too. However, resisting the urges that Chloé sparked in her, Marinette clenched her teeth and climbed out of bed instead.
“Just let me get dressed!” Marinette shouted, and once she stood up, she stretched her limbs.
“You’re not even dressed yet?” squawked Chloé, prompting Marinette to stop and narrow her eyes. Marinette took her time climbing down her ladder and padded over to her wardrobe with no sense of urgency.
After Marinette got dressed, she brushed her hair, and only then did she put her hairbrush down and call out, “I’m coming!”
She opened the trapdoor and descended the staircase, leaving behind the pink hues of her bedroom. Her mother and Chloé waited for her at the bottom in a white-walled section.
“Finally,” said Chloé, arms folded over her chest. “You took your time.”
“If you don’t want to be here, Chloé, you’re free to go,” defended Marinette’s mother, polite but with an edge to her voice.
“No! I want to be here!” Chloé said with a jolt, waving her hands. She got a hold of herself and faced Marinette. Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders unsmilingly. “Dupain-Cheng...”
Chloé paused with her nose pointed up. For a few moments, she looked very apathetic like a professional model on a catwalk, but the facade crumbled fast and she clasped her hands together, shaking them pleadingly.
“... I need you to help me make some macarons,” begged Chloé, sticking out her bottom lip at Marinette who quirked her brow and placed her hands onto her hips.
Call her petty, but even once Marinette comprehended Chloé’s request, she waited a little bit longer so she could bask in it all.
“I didn’t realise that you liked them,” said Marinette coolly, raising her chin.
“Yes. No. Well, that’s not the point.” Chloé shook her head. She exhaled stiffly and looked away. “As you might already know, today is my six month anniversary with Kagami.”
“How could I not know?” asked Marinette, making a conscious effort not to roll her eyes. “You’ve been going on about it all week, saying how Kagami was going to get you something amazing for the special occasion.”
“That’s all true, but see...” Chloé hunched her shoulders and winced. “I didn’t realise until Sabrina told me that Kagami is probably expecting something in return.”
Marinette could see where this was going and peered at her in disbelief.
“You didn’t realise?” asked Marinette, cocking her head. “How self-centred are you?”
“What are you, my lawyer?” snapped Chloé, and she flicked her wrist, momentarily haughty, but then she wavered. Her tone turned softer. “Listen... this is my first serious relationship, and I don’t want to mess it up.”
Chloé cupped her elbow and cast her eyes downward, as if anxious. She must have been, but she rarely ever showed it around people, and seeing her like that now, Marinette blinked, relaxing her brow.
“I want to make something special, and the truth is, your macarons are amazing. I can see why Adrien is so taken with you,” said Chloé with less venom than expected.
Marinette twitched. “Adrien’s what?”
The response rejuvenated Chloé somehow, and she pointed suddenly at Marinette.
“He re’s the deal. You help me make some special macarons for my girlfriend, and I’ll give you a tell-all about Adrikins!” Chloé said, and her other fingers on that hand uncurled. “Deal?”
No one spoke, or barely moved. Marinette eyed Chloé’s hand until her mother put a hand on her shoulder. They looked at each other, and finally, Marinette turned her attention back to Chloé.
“Okay.” She shook Chloé’s hand. “Deal.”
A wide grin flashed across Chloé face, though she quickly played it cool and jerked her head.
“Then let’s get started already!” Chloé drawled.
The duo were basically already where they needed to be, as the staircase to Marinette’s room was located just beside the corner of the room where the kitchen area was. Marinette’s mother parted with a smile to help in the bakery, leaving the two alone.
“Have you made macarons before?” asked Marinette. She stepped onto the rug in the kitchen area, patterned with circular pink flowers on a white background accented with grey.
Chloé gave her a look.
“... I figured,” sighed Marinette, and she grabbed a shiny blue apron off a hook. It was embroidered with a bright floral design. A few seconds after, Chloé sidled up to her.
“Have you got any in pink?” asked Chloé, examining the leftovers.
Marinette didn’t bother answering, instead getting out all the necessary ingredients. In the end, after some deliberation, Chloé reluctantly picked a plain navy apron with the Chinese symbol for ‘love’ printed onto the front in black. They washed their hands and situated themselves at the large wooden counter, where Marinette had placed what they needed. One of the last things that Marinette set down were several bottles of food colouring.
“Right, let’s weigh everything out,” said Marinette.
That didn’t take too long. Chloé didn’t say much and let Marinette do it by herself, watching shrewdly. Marinette dusted her hands together afterwards.
“Okay, in this bowl, we’re going to mix the salt, almond flour and powdered sugar together until it’s really fine,” said Marinette, motioning to the bowl in question. “We can use an electric mixer for that part. Let me show you how to use it...”
Except when Marinette turned to it, Chloé piped up, “I said I’m making this! I’ll whisk it by hand.”
Marinette raised her eyebrows.
“Are you going to cook them in your hands too?” she asked dryly, but Chloé ignored her.
Chloé grabbed a whisk and began vigorously blending the mixture, splattering some onto the counter by accident. It would have taken less time if they just used the electric mixer, but as Marinette watched her, she suspected that nothing and no one would be able to quell the determination blazing in Chloé’s eyes.
When the mixture was sufficiently whisked, Marinette pulled another bowl closer to her.
“So here, we’ll beat egg whites with half a teaspoon of salt until it soft peaks, then add granulated sugar and mix until it stiff p-”
“You mean I will beat that whatever whatzit,” said Chloé sharply. She put down the bowl in her possession and dragged the other over.
Part of Marinette felt rubbed the wrong way, but another part was impressed, and it was the latter that melted into Marinette’s features, coming out on top. Marinette gave a small smile as Chloé got the next lot of ingredients together. For a while, Marinette kept a supervisory role, telling Chloé what and how much to add and when, and Chloé for once didn’t complain about being told what to do.
“So... how did you and Kagami become a couple?” asked Marinette while Chloé added in vanilla extract and red food colouring.
“Oh... you know,” said Chloé vaguely, but Marinette really didn’t. One day, Chloé just flounced into class and boasted about her girlfriend loudly like they had always been dating. Fortunately, Chloé rambled on. “We met again at a party that you weren’t at, of course, because otherwise you’d know. We got talking and...”
Chloé trailed off. Marinette leaned closer.
“And?” prompted Marinette.
“What do I do next?” asked Chloé, which made Marinette hesitate.
“Combine about a third of the first mixture with the second mixture and fold it in. Then do it again,” said Marinette hurriedly. She patted the counter with both hands. “Now tell me! I thought you both liked Adrien.”
First, Chloé did what Marinette said, and then she answered.
“Well, yeah, but me and Adrien are like, good friends. I mean if I had to date a guy, I’d feel safe with him because I’ve known him since forever, and he’s perfect for my image, but I’m more comfortable with girls.”
She added in more of the second mixture, not looking at Marinette.
“Boys are annoying. Anyway, we talked about our families... like... like our mothers.” Chloé sounded uncomfortable, but she pushed through it. “And I was showing off a bit,” a lot, knowing her, “and like... she invited me to go ice skating because I said I was really good at it. Which is true. And we like, went on more of those outings. Skating, bowling, birdwatching, movies... restaurants, and like...”
Chloé had to transfer the macaron batter to a piping bag next. Marinette supported her through that with minimal dialogue as well as helped with the parchment paper.
“... so yeah,” finished Chloé. “Kagami’s actually really cool. She says what’s on her mind like I do, and we’re both no nonsense people. She’s going to teach me martial arts and braille. And we’re going to England next weekend with my dad, and I’m going to show Kagami all the sights worth seeing. It’s going to be so totally spectacular.”
Marinette smiled, gazing at Chloé sidelong. “You really like each other, huh?”
“Of course!” Chloé huffed. “You’ve got eyes, right? She’s gorgeous! And she is like really impressed by my hard work as Queen Bee. Kagami has to be all serious all the time, but I can help bring her out of her shell and she goes so red at my pet names, it’s absolutely adorbs. She appreciates my frankness too and like, we just say whatever, you know? She calls me out and I call her out. We’re such a good balance.”
They really were. Marinette nodded.
“That’s what Adrien said. He encouraged Kagami to give me another chance after our bomb of a first meeting,” elaborated Chloé. She grinned into space. “And like, sometimes, Kagami doesn’t want to speak up or make a fuss, and I’m happy to do it for both of us.”
“Wow, I’m so pleased for you, Chloé,” said Marinette warmly, genuine.
The two of them worked in silence for the next part, and soon the macarons were done for now. Though they still had to cook them and make the buttercream, the macarons weren’t ready for that yet.
“We have to let them sit for an hour,” Marinette told her. She turned to Chloé fully. “Um... while we wait, do you want to watch TV or something?”
“I’m a very busy person, Dupain-Cheng,” said Chloé. “But... sure. Do you like fashion shows?”
“I love them!”
“Good! We’ll watch them then!”
And the rest of the morning wasn’t half-bad. In fact, as they sat on the couch together, gushing over the models and their outfits, Marinette thought it looked like it was going to be actually kind of alright.