Dear Bugaboo

Flour Incident

🎀 MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!! 🎀

{+}{+}{+}

Dear Bugaboo,

I'm sorry for the in-claw-venience of not replying, Milady. To let the cat out of the bag, my life has turned upside down. Everything is starting to change and with hope for better to come. Hopefully, by next week, everything gets better for you too.

I would hate to see any more paw-ful days crush you, LB, but I'll be here to listen and help you get through them all. You are the highlight of my week when receiving a letter from you. You are a very purr-ecious friend of mine and mean more to me than you know.

Right now, I could use some support from a claw-ose friend and lend you the same as well. Even if I don't purr-sonally know you, it would mean a lot.

~Chat Noir

   Adrien drew the usual cat face before exchanging Ladybug's letter with his own. He screwed the lid back on and placed it back in the grass.

The model came out of the bushes while putting on his sunglasses, making sure no one saw him. It would look weird for a teen boy (let alone a famous model) to be seen crawling out of some bushes without anyone having a suspicion. Yet, the area seemed clear of any human in sight.

   He walked away from the bushes and left the park, heading towards Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie on the other side of the street. Inside the building, Natalie waited for Adrien and ordered him some macaroons to eat.

   It had been a long time since the teen had anything sugary or sweet to eat. Being a model and all, his diet was strict with only the healthiest of foods. No candy. No ice cream. No caffeine, period. This was Adrien's chance to finally do things his way, having the freedom to be a normal kid for once.

   Once the blonde entered the bakery, Natalie waved him over to their reserved table. Adrien sat in the seat across from his new guardian then stared at the pyramid of sweets in front of him.

"Are these...for me?" He asked, cautiously. With a strict model diet from not only his father but anyone that worked with him disapproved of any junky foods.

"Yes, these are for you. Now that your father is temporarily behind bars, you have no reason not to eat sweets. Your modeling will continue, but I expect more a little more exercising to keep you in shape," Natalie explained, scanning her schedule.

Green eyes stared, stunned at the approval before shifting to thankful. A soft smile spread on his lips, happily.

"Thank you," Adrien said, grateful then getting a nod from the assistant. He picked up a pink macaroon and took a bite out of it. His taste buds were met with an astonishing and mesmerizing flavor all from one small macaroon. It could only be described as blissful and helped him feel a little bit better.

Adrien ate macaroon after macaroon and hoped to give the baker some compliments for these delicious cookies. The two sat peacefully by the window and enjoyed the warmth of the sun beaming through the glass. The day was beautiful and only just beginning.

The model spotted a large man with a warm smile come out from the kitchen to talk with the woman at the counter. The man had on an apron and a toque, making Adrien realize who the male was.

"I'll be right back," Adrien suddenly said, standing up. He didn't wait to get a reply from Natalie, seeing as he already left. The blonde hadn't noticed someone struggling to carry an open flour bag coming around the corner until bumping into them.

The person stumbled back and fell onto the floor. The now-empty bag covered their head while flour covered the rest of their body.

"Oh, sorry!" Adrien quickly apologized as the flour-covered person took the sack off their head to reveal it is covered in flour as well. Yet, this didn't stop the blonde from realizing that the person was a girl around his age.

"It's okay. You'd be surprised to know that this isn't the first time this has happened...or the last," The girl reassured, murmuring the last part under her breath.

Marinette didn't know the bag was open but thought she could help her father carry it out to the car. Her father was picked to bake some snacks and desserts at the school's end-of-the-first semester masquerade dance.

   Wanting to be ahead of schedule and have everything prepared to be ready, he decided to store the ingredients in the school's kitchen. Sure, the dance was still a month away but better to be safe than sorry. Still, she really did think it would be an easy task to carry a bag to a car.

   "Marinette, are you really sure you can carry the flour? It's pretty heavy," Tom asked his daughter, timidly. Tom did ask for Marinette to carry the lighter things to the car which would only leave some heavy things for him.

   The bluenette gave the baker a determined smile and neither noticed Tikki cutting open the bag with scissors. She heard her mother call and left in disappointment, not being able to get what she thought was magical snow in an ugly, brown bag.

   Before Tom could say any other words, his wife called from the counter. This leads the man out of the kitchen and the oblivious girl picking up an open bag.

   Marinette noticed the customer's hand reach out first before looking up to see a guy around her age with a hat, blonde hairs sticking out from underneath. He also had sunglasses on which was pretty odd since he was inside.

   Yet, even with glasses and a hat, Marinette thought he looked pretty cute. The hand not holding the brown bag gripped his, and she was pulled off the floor, back on her feet.

   "Thanks," The bluenette said, realizing that people were watching and that she probably looked like a girl version of Casper the ghost. Marinette turned and walked up to the apartment, embarrassed.

Adrien went up to the counter, seeing the woman had followed the girl to the back but not the baker. Tom's attention turned from his retreating wife to the teen on the other side of the counter.

"I'm sorry about the mess. Is there any way I can help you clean it up?" The model asked, feeling a little guilty. The baker smiled warmly at the young man before him and jollity chuckled.

"It's alright. It was just an accident," Tom replied, settling Adrien's nerves. "Did you need anything? I'm guessing you were coming up here before bumping into my daughter."

A wave of sadness and a dash of tension washed over Adrien for a split second before shaking it off. He complimented, practically praising the man's magnificent baking. Tom was pleased with his customer's joy for his baking and kindly thanked Adrien.

Adrien went back to the table to see Natalie with a box of leftover macaroons in one hand and a schedule in the other. He immediately knew that it was time to go. He followed the older woman out the door to where the Gorilla was waiting.

Green eyes glimpsed at the park one more time, then he slid into the car.

{+}{+}{+}