Watching Miraclebound

Something Old, Something New

"Well?" Chloe shouted over the roar of the engines. She spread her arms and grinned snarkily at them, her hair whipping past her face as the billows of the jets shot past her. "How'd I do, losers?"

"Whoa..." Nino gasped, clamping a hand down on his cap, struggling to hold it in place as he stared, open-mouthed, at the plane. "Okay, now I'm impressed! How...how did you pull this off?"

"My daddy's the mayor, Lahiffe," Chloe retorted with a dismissive wave. "Anything I want, he gets for me. Like, when I said I wanted a jet plane to take my lame classmates to New York, he did it instantly. No questions asked."

"I'm slightly concerned about how the mayor has this much power to throw around willy-nilly," Alya whispered to Marinette, loud enough that Nino could hear it, and so could Chloe.

"Can it, Cesaire! Who's the one giving all you nobodies a ride to the United States again?" Chloe barked, glaring coldly at the redhead who merely held her gaze without a word. "That's what I thought," Chloe snorted, rolling her eyes and turning her gaze upon Adrien who was hovering near the back of the group, checking his phone with a frown. "Adrikins! Come on! Come look at the magnificent plane I got for you!"

"Oh, yeah," Alya scoffed. "The plane's for Adrien. Of course."

Marinette sighed and Nino only shrugged. Chloe had proven long ago that there was no changing her. Their best opportunity not to clash was to take her personality in stride and just learn how to work with it. And if that meant letting the girl think she was doing everything because Adrien asked, then so be it.

"Of course!" Chloe scoffed. "What? You thought I would do this for any of you, superhero losers?"

Marinette froze instinctively, but the blond's eyes were focused on Nino and Alya, a knowing smirk etched wickedly across her lips. Nino blinked, but when he looked again, the smile was gone and the girl spun on the balls of her heels, flipping her hair and strutting back toward the plane.

With an exasperated shake of her head, Marinette signaled for the others to follow. Ducking under the powerful mini gales created by the engine's turbines, the four heroes darted onto the ramp and, throwing open the hatch, Chloe ushered them inside. Immediately, Nino scanned the room, gasping as he took in the plush couches, expensive furniture, and fancy television.

"Oh," he breathed.

"My," Alya inhaled deeply.

"Goodness," Marinette finished.

"Hey, not bad," Adrien commented, stepping inside behind them and closing the hatch.

"'Not bad'?" Nino echoed. "Dude, this is epic!" He hurried forward, throwing himself excitedly into one of the chairs and stretching out with a contented sigh.

"Nino approves," Alya translated as she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend questioningly. He only smiled in response, closing his eyes and reaching lazily for the bowl of chocolates on the table before him, missing and upsetting the entire container, spilling several across the floor.

"LAHIFFE!" Chloe snapped. "No! Bad! No making a mess out of my perfectly clean jet!"

"Sowfry," Nino apologized through a mouthful of chocolate, sharing an unimpressed look with Alya as she and Marinette moved to the furthest corner from the blond and settled to wait as Adrien readjusted his backpack and started to join them.