chemistry, of sorts (miraculous ladybug kim x alix)

1. eyebrows are for the weak

published June 19, 2018

     Kim glared at the board.
It wasn't his fault that his gaze kept drifting down and a little to the right.
Why did class have to be so boring? If Miss Mendeliev would just stop blabbing about chemistry and safety and closed toed shoes, he could focus on blowing things up.
Blowing things up was safer. Safer than looking at her, anyway.
Alix Kubdel's pink hair peeked out from beneath her usual black hat, the edges curling in wisps. She could really pull off that look.
     "Alix Kubdel! Take your hat off in class!" Miss Mendeliev berated in her hoarse voice for the fourth time that day. "We require respect in this school!"
Alix took off her hat for a moment. Kim could just see her rolling her eyes. The instant Mendeliev turned her back to scrawl "5. Waft" in large pointy letters on the chalkboard, she fit the hat right back over her (very soft looking) hair. Kim could definitely admire that.
He alternated between looking at the board, glancing at his classmates slumped in varying degrees of exhaustion and boredom, and sneaking glimpses at her head. Wow. He'd known she was pretty for a long time, but she had a really nice head.
     "What?" Alix turned. Had he spoken aloud?
     "Uhhhh," stammered Kim, "you, uh-"
     "That's it!" Miss Mendeliev cut them off, effectively distracting Alix, and for the first time, Kim found himself thankful for the harsh teacher's existence. "Kubdel! Turn around and face forward! One more peep out of either of you and you can work out your issues with Mr. Damocles!"
     Kim groaned, leaning his head into his hands as he once again slipped into a half conscious state, looking up only to admire Alix Kubdel's amazing head.
All too suddenly, he heard everyone around him begin to stand up. "Max, what's happening?" he hissed.
Max sighed. "I'm doomed. I'm officially doomed."
     "What?"
     "My partner for the lab wasn't paying attention, and now I'm going to have to pick up your slack."
     Kim shrugged. "I can catch up. I'm not that dim. Besides, you like the work."
     "Regardless of whether or not I enjoy the task, it's the concept behind the matter."
     "Could you please just stop talking like you're writing a paper? It's driving me insane."
"If it so pleases you. Let's begin on our lab."
"Hey Alix!" Alix froze. Kim looked to her, a massive grin on his face. "I dare you to blow it up."
"No." She slammed her hands down on the table. "Can't you just stop daring me things? If you want that danger, just do it yourself. As a matter of fact, I dare you to blow your own experiment up."
Kim spluttered. "But-"
"Do it." She looked to him, raising a single eyebrow.
"Fine," Kim agreed. He glanced over at Max, who was innocently examining the procedure.
Kim followed Max's instruction until the last moment. He picked up the vial of pink liquid and held it over the blue.
"Pour slowly, okay?" instructed Max. "If you go to fast the whole thing could explode." Excellent.
He dumped the entire contents into the beaker of blue. "Kim!" screeched Max, his voice going shrilly. "Hide under the table!"
Kim didn't register his voice. Alix was laughing at something Mylene had said, and her tinkling laugh sounded so light and carefree.
BOOM! Kim stumbled away from the table, his eyes watering but thankfully still in his head due to the safety goggles Max had forced onto his head. He lifted his head.
"Max, is my face burned?" he tried to say, but the surrounding sounds of giggles and jeers drowned out his voice.
He looked down to see Alix grinning up at him, her arms crossed. Whoa. She was beautiful. "Hey, Kim." Where was she going with this? "I dare you to raise both eyebrows."
"Uhhhhhh... what?"
Alix bounced down the aisle to where Chloe was fixing her lipstick, snatching the mirror out of Chloe's hands and ignoring the subsequent shriek. She passed the mirror to Kim, who looked down at his reflection before flinching and dropping the mirror onto the table.
"Be careful with that!" Chloe called from her desk as she sent Sabrina stomping up the aisle. "The reflective part is made of platinum!" Sabrina pulled the mirror away from Kim, who was still staring down in shock.
Kim groaned at the decision he was now faced with: the decision of drawing on his left eyebrow or shaving off his right.