Miraculous Hunters Rewritten: Book 2

Chapter 18: Adventures in Trollsiting; The Sequel Part 2

The next day came sooner than Marinette expected, but she was glad not to have to wait so long to get back to looking after Rayla. Granted, she did need Tikki to wake her up after her first alarm went off, but Marinette still made it to Artemis's apartment an hour before breakfast needed to be served. As soon as she arrived, Marinette checked to see if Rayla was still asleep and wasn't disappointed when she saw the eight-year-old lying on her stomach all spread out on her bed, covers kicked away as she snored. Knowing that Rayla was still sound asleep, she went to the kitchen to start making breakfast for the two of them. It wasn't until she was halfway through cooking the bacon that she heard footsteps coming towards the kitchen, causing her to turn around and see a slightly groggy Rayla coming towards her.

"Good morning, Rayla." Marinette greeted her charge, followed by her flipping over the strips of bacon cooking in her pan.

"... Morning..." Rayla yawned as she stretched her back, followed by rubbing her eyes to clear up her lingering sleepiness. "I didn't think you'd be here so early." the eight-year-old admitted after her arms fell back to her sides, straightening her posture as she spoke.

"Artemis said that you usually have breakfast at 8:00, so I made sure to be on time today." Marinette replied, turning her attention back to cooking their breakfast.

"Fair enough." Rayla remarked as she walked to stand behind Marinette. "Can I help, please?" the Half-Troll asked, drawing Marinette's attention back to her with a concerned glance.

"Are you awake enough to not burn or cut yourself?" Marinette asked, causing Rayla to nod 'yes' in reply. "Then come on over." the pigtailed girl said, waving Rayla over before she lifted the pan from the oven top and took the already-cooked bacon off of it before putting more in.

"Have you cooked bacon before?" Marinette inquired, hoping to avoid Rayla hurting herself by cooking something she didn't know how to do.

"Yep. Loads of times." Rayla responded, recalling her times helping Artemis in the kitchen.

"Good. You can finish the bacon while I start the pancake batter. Then we can cook those together." Marinette

"Not a problem!" Rayla announced, followed by her going to get a step ladder to avoid needing her face so close to the pan while Marinette started making the pancake batter.

It took a few minutes, but the batter was ready by the time Rayla was done with the bacon and put it off to the side with the sausages before putting the plate back into the oven on low heat. From there, the two girls make the pancakes in no time at all and soon sit down to eat the fruits of their labor, Rayla taking the first bite of the delicious food.

"Mmh! So good!" Rayla squealed, quickly taking another bite of their breakfast while Marinette took her first bite.

"That's what teamwork gets you. It's always better to do things together than alone." Marinette replied, happy that Rayla was enjoying their shared work in their meal before taking another bite. It wasn't until they finished a good portion of their meals that Marinette decided to suggest a plan for the day ahead. "So, after we finish up here and you get changed, we'll go take the metro to the geode shop. Sound good to you?" the red-tipped-haired girl began after she finished another bite, almost done with eating her food.

"Sounds good to me! I can't wait!" Rayla exclaimed, starting to wolf down her food and leaving Marinette a little surprised.

"Whoa! Easy there! You don't want to lose a finger there." Marinette chided her ward, only to start finishing her plate.

Seconds later, they finish up their breakfasts and clean up, soon leading Marinette to wait for Rayla to get dressed for the day and change from her pyjamas into her usual attire. Just as Marinette finished putting away the pans, Rayla came out of her room and was now ready to head off.