The Downsides to Living in a Bakery

Marinette groaned as another needle snapped beneath her sewing machine, and she slumped wearily against the back of her chair in exasperation.

She had been trying to finish a new coat she had designed for Alya, hoping to have it ready for the beginning of the school year, but the thick woolen material was hard to work with and the oppressive heat made it difficult to concentrate on anything.

France was experiencing a massive heatwave, leaving everyone lethargic and isolated as they tried to avoid the heat.

Unfortunately that was impossible for her family.

While Marinette did admire her parent's dedication as they continued to crank out pastries and serve up freshly baked goods, the entire house seemed to heat up with every batch of cookies, and even the open windows had little effect against the constant fire from the ovens.

Her room wasn't much better. Even in a regular summer it would get hot in the loft, but now it was almost unbearable, the small fans on her desk and floors barely making a difference.

Marinette sighed as she laid her head on the table, half buried in the dense fabric, as her eyes wandered listlessly over to the window.

She almost wished someone else would be fed up with the heat too and get some rain powers or snow powers from Shadowmoth so they could cool things down for a few hours, or better yet this was the result of one of Shadowmoth's akumatized persons to begin with and all she had to do was de-evilize them to make all this go away.

"Marinette!" Tikki exclaimed indignantly, and Marinette realized she had said those last thoughts out loud.

"Okay, so I don't actually want him to akumatize people, but you have to admit, this heat is enough to drive anyone crazy."

Tikki tilted her head with a slight twinkle in her eye. "Well, I know it's not what you're used to, but we kwamis have experienced all different climates and it certainly can get much hotter than this."

Marinette sat up with a reluctant smile. "You're right, Tikki, I guess I should ease up on my complaining a bit, huh?"

Tikki flew up and nuzzled her cheek approvingly. "I know it's hard Marinette, but you'll get through this. The heat won't last forever and you'll be back to your old self in no time.

"Still," she added, "Maybe this is something being Ladybug can help with."

Marinette grinned and quickly folded up her project before announcing, "Tikki, spots on!"

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Ladybug let out a small laugh in delight, feeling the cool stream of air rush across her face as she swung herself over the rooftops of Paris.

Her sweaty t-shirt was now blissfully replaced by a magical suit, every inch of it light and breathable, allowing air to flow freely and somehow always remained the perfect temperature.

She pulled herself onto the highest rooftop she could find and gave a contented sigh of relief as she laid back against the sunbathed surface and felt an enchanting breeze brush against her hair.

She was only half surprised to see a familiar figure already stretched out across the flattened shingles slightly to the left of her, his eyes closed but a wide smile told her he wasn't asleep.

"Here to escape the heat too, Kitty?"

He opened one eye and turned his head towards her with a playful grin as he replied, "Actually I'm trying to soak up as much heat as I can before I have to go home."