Cataclysm

An exclusive party

Alya placed the macaroons on the table, just like Sabine asked her to do, then looked at the fruits of her efforts: A banquet fit for a party, which this little reunion was shaping up to be anyways. She smiled, feeling truly happy with the knowledge that in a few minutes her best friend and her boyfriend would come back home.

The bakery had been closed that day, as the weather was just too bad to make a profit. Not a lot of people were going out, and if they were, it was to buy essential things, not pastries, which was what the Dupain-Chengs were known for more than for their bread these days. Alya looked out the window and stared at the darkness for a while, the only source of light being the barely functioning streetlamps and the dimmed shine of the surrounding homes. The blizzard that raged all day long had calmed down a bit, she noticed, but if the frost on the window and the lack of people outside were any clue, the cold was still too much to make waiting outside worth it. It was almost april and winter should be making its way out, but she knew better than to trust that will happen at that point. She shook her head, thinking of all the problems her and her friends still had to deal with was a sure fire way of ruining her mood, and this was not the occasion for that.

''Alya dear, are there enough glasses on the table you think?'' Asked Sabine as she joined Alya near the window.

''I think it's fine, it's a very private reunion after all'' She winked at the woman, who just smiled at her in return. They had been keeping each other company for the whole evening now, and Alya took it as her duty to keep her from stressing too much over Marinette's trip on the way back.

''Honey, they're here!'' Called Tom's voice from the entrance of the bakery.

Alya and Sabine smiled again and went together to greet the newcomers. The group that was making its way into the cozy home was larger than what Alya anticipated. She knew that Marinette had picked one of the agents in Saint-Malo as a 'hostage, for now' (Her words), and she also knew that Adrien's bodyguard would be with them. What she hadn't realized is that they would be joined by Luka's little group too. They must have met on the way there, for she expected them to come later, not at the same time. All in all, it was a group of eight people uncomfortably trying to fit inside the small bakery, one of them in a wheelchair.

''Oh Adrien!'' Exclaimed Sabine, tears no longer contained, as she lowered herself to hug the boy.

Alya studied him while Marinette's parents pampered him with hugs and kisses. The ex-model's increasingly red face was thinner than what she remembered, and his hair was black, but if she didn't know the ordeal he had been through she would have thought he was completely ok, save for the wheelchair of course. That worried her for a good moment until he tried to get up to properly hug Tom, which everyone stopped him from doing. It was clear he could stand up, but that Marinette (And now everyone else, to the boy's further embarassment) decided to make him rest as much as possible until he was fully recovered. That included not letting him grab his own pastries, as Marinette prepared a plate just for him to pick from once the group finally moved on to the living room, where the space felt a lot less cramped.

The fox heroine grabbed her boyfriend and guided him to a little corner of the room for a second, making sure everyone knew they wanted to say proper greetings before joining them, so no one would interrupt. It was not a complete ploy to just interrogate him, of course, as Alya kissed him properly until neither of them could breathe. Then she attacked him with a rapid fire succession of questions.

''What happened, I want your point of view of things, who is that man?, How is Adrien, really?, How did Marinette handle everything?, What happened to the other agent?, Is this one trustworthy?, Why he knows who everyone is?, What will happen to balance?, Did Mari say anything about that?'' She would have continued, but Nino looked dazed enough already, and she truly wanted him to answer at least some of her questions right in that moment.