Cupid's Canvas《Marinette Dupain-Cheng》

˚₊· Our Mess

˚₊·

"MARINETTE, COULD YOU PLEASE check the oven for me?"

Marinette brushed the flour off her apron, boredly watching the white dust fall to the floor. "One second," she said.

It wasn't until a minute later that she checked. The cake wasn't burning. Good.
She closed the oven and went back to work. Or at least she tried. Her mother's concerned gaze was distracting her from successfully rolling dough flat on the table.

"Claire hasn't stopped by in a while," Sabine said casually. "How is she?"

"Um, fine. She's fine," Marinette replied. It was the first thing that came to her head, but it worked.

Sabine suddenly appeared next to her with a bowl of other ingredients. "I just noticed that the two of you seem to be more...awkward...these days. You didn't fight, did you?"

"What, no! Of course not."

"Then what's going on?" 

Marinette opened her mouth, then closed it again. She wasn't sure if she even had an answer for this. It wasn't like she was fighting with Claire, but she might as well have been.

Thankfully, Sabine accepted her silence and didn't pry anymore. "Maybe you should invite her over. You know, address the elephant in the room?" She cracked an egg on the counter before continuing. "I'd hate to see you ruin such a nice friendship."

All Marinette could do was sigh.

Ruin a nice friendship. Ha, if only my mom knew.

Ruining a nice friendship was what she'd been trying to avoid doing until the day of the date. She could still remember the moment, and the feeling of Claire's lips against her cheek.

Did Claire really feel the same way about her? And if so, why was she so nervous to face it?

Marinette hurried back to work before she could be surprised with any more questions. Maybe if she showed that she wasn't in a talking mood, her mom would leave her alone.

The door's bell chimed, offering the perfect distraction.

She thought she could return to her baking in peace, but she froze when a familiar voice asked "Is Marinette here?"

"Um, whoever it is, tell them I'm working!" Marinette said loudly, trying to seem as busy as possible.

She knew her plan had failed when she heard Sabine laugh. "Nonsense. Marinette has been distracted all day. She's right over there behind the counter. Talk as long as you'd like."

When Marinette looked up, she wanted to both crawl into a hole and sigh with relief.

Claire looked down at her and waved awkwardly. "If you really are busy," they said, "I can come back another time."

Now that she was here, she didn't want to turn her away. Finally, Marinette shrugged. "Well, there's an order I'm finishing. You wanna help?"

Claire smiled at that. "Sure. Just tell me what you need."

"Help me get the sugar, will you?"

Claire went to grab the bag in the corner, leaving Marinette to collect herself.

Relax. It's fine! You're totally overthinking right now--

A short scream pulled Marinette out of her thoughts. When she looked up, the bag of sugar was wobbling in Claire's hands, threatening to escape their grasp at any second. She rushed to catch the bag before it could slip out of their hands.

"Good?" she checked.

Claire quickly nodded. "Good," she said with a nervous laugh. "Thank you."

"No problem. Can you put some of that flour in the bowl over here?"

Claire did as she asked while she scanned the room for where she'd placed her measuring cup.

"Hey, Mari. Look at this."

Marinette had only turned around for a second before she was hit in the face with a puff of white powder.

After letting out a cough, she opened her eyes and saw Claire holding back a giggle.

Claire was so busy laughing she didn't even notice Marinette take a handful of flour and toss it right at her.

She wiped off the flour that had gotten on her face and smiled at Marinette's attempt to hold back her laughter.

That started it. One moment they were pointing at each other and giggling, the next they were tossing flour at each other without hesitation. Reach, toss, reach, toss. It was almost automatic. When Marinette reached into the bowl for another handful, she felt nothing.

"Hey, I think we're out."

"About time," Claire sighed, running a hand through her hair.

It took everything in Marinette not to let out a snicker. Claire looked like a disaster. There was flour on her face, in her hair, and all across her apron. Marinette didn't even want to think about how much of a mess she was.

"Oh, you still have something there," she said with a laugh. She reached over and brushed a splotch of flour off their cheek.

Claire didn't resist her touch, and yet, their teasing expression faded. "Mari," they started, "about the other day, I just wanted you to know that I--"

"What are you two doing in here?"

They quickly stepped away from each other and turned around. Sabine was staring in shock at the mess in front of her. Both girls were covered head to toe in flour, and there were various cake ingredients spilled onto the counter.

Marinette didn't say a word, waiting for the verbal beatdown she was sure she was about to receive. Instead, Sabine simply took a breath, held it, then slowly exhaled. "Problem solved, I guess," she muttered under her breath.

Marinette exchanged a glance with Claire. "We're sorry," she said, trying to sound as genuine as possible. "We'll clean it up right now--"

"No, no, it's alright. I've been meaning to give this place a quick cleaning anyway," Sabine said with a wave of her hand. "Why don't you two go get yourselves cleaned up?"

The girls nodded, too nervous to say anything more.

Sabine sighed again, and began to examine the mess while muttering under her breath in Chinese. Marinette couldn't make out everything she was saying, but she knew she wouldn't be allowed in the kitchen for a while.

She turned to Claire. "You wanna come upstairs with me?"

Claire nodded, her adorable smile making the butterflies return. This time, they were faster than ever. But Marinette only acknowledged them for a second before swallowing the bugs and acting like they were never there.

Returning the smile, she took her hand, and up the stairs they went.