Closer Than Before \\ A Miraculous Fanfiction

2.

Marinette leaned against the door of the oven, her breath coming out in a huff. The concentration that had been etched in her features for the past few hours was gone, and she slid off a pink oven mitt, tossing it on the counter next to her. She glanced at the display by the cash register of the bakery.

"Macarons? Check. Cream Puffs? Check. Cookies? Check. Meringues? Check. Tarts? Check. And Croissants?" Marinette bent over, at eye-level with the bread baking in the oven. "Check."

She then decided to go to her room and take a break, with a nice,-" Marinette spun around, checking the timer. "-eight minute nap." Groaning, she slumped against the counter. The last item she had made had to be baked for ten minutes, rotated, and baked for another ten minutes.

Dang croissants​, she muttered, deciding to text Alya about who-knows-what. Humming one of her new favorite songs, she hunted for her phone. The lyrics flowed in her mind, even though they were in another language.​ ​Sueño cuando era pequeño, sin preocupación, en el corazón..

Marinette had decided to listen to music from other countries as they studied different cultures in school.

"Ah! There you are!" She exclaimed, dashing to the couch, where she had spotted her phone.

I must have set it down on the couch when I was watching the news earlier.

Then she remembered once again. It had been nice, escaping reality for a little while as she baked, but reality was bound to hit her the moment she took her focus off of something. ​

Maman. Papa. In a car accident.
Marinette took a shaky breath and closed her eyes, shaking her head.​ I can't think about this right now.

She didn't want people asking questions. She didn't want to explain. She wanted to escape the situation entirely.

So she glanced over at her kwami.
"Tikki, Spots on!"

A burst of red light filled the living room of the Dupain-Cheng house as Marinette's transformation sequenced. Moments later, Ladybug dashed out of the front door, swinging off to the Eiffel Tower. ​A saturday afternoon, the perfect time to patrol the city, ​she thought as she flew through the air.

Ladybug's feet touched an iron platform with a soft ​thud ​as she landed. She walked to the edge of the platform, crossing her arms on the ledge and gazing out at the city below.

~~~~

Alright, father." Adrien agreed with a sigh, and Gabriel Agreste strode out of his son's room, pausing at the doorway. "I'll be back in three hours for another- ​improved​ - performance."

The door shut, and Adrien buried his face in his hands, breathing a sigh of relief. A few moments passed.

"So, Plagg, how about some anime?" he asked, a sly grin on his face.

"If you say so.... But.... I'll need a little something first."

The kwami flew over to the mini-fridge, where Adrien pulled out a wheel of stinky cheese and held it out for Plagg, rolling his eyes. Plagg eagerly devoured three-fourths of it before pausing to yawn. "Oh, by the way, there aren't any episodes left of that show you were going to watch."

Adrien gasped, running to the tv and turning it on. He found his show and scrolled down to the episode he had left off on, eyes filling with dread as he got closer to the bottom.

It's over.

Falling back on the couch, he groaned, knowing that the next season would probably take another year to come out.

Plagg was drifting around lazily, not a care in the world.

"YOU!!!!!" Adrien yelled, running after the kwami, who had tricked him just to get camembert.
It only took a few minutes of chasing after him before Adrien caught Plagg in his hands. "You will pay, you evil little devil."

Adrien sighed, realizing he didn't have anything to do anymore, now that there were no episodes of his show left.

"Well, Plagg, it looks like we're patrolling early today," Adrien announced with a smirk. "But I just ate!" The kwami groaned, but it was no use.

"Plagg, Claws out!"

A/N I hope you liked this chapter! It was a little bit of a ~filler~, I guess, because nothing really important happens (besides Plagg going to drastic measures to get his cheese), but fear not, because the next chapter really gets things moving ;) in case you were wondering, the song Marinette was humming is 'Sofia' by Alvaro Soler.
Thanks for 11 reads, lovelies!