Stuck

Chapter Three: In Which Our Heroes Eat Their Food

Once we get down to the bakery, Chat goes slightly crazy. He's going around making, I assume, a mental wishlist of what he wants. Meanwhile, I go up to the counter and ask if I can check how much is on the card. Maman checks it and says that it has three thousand on it. I thank her and go back over to Chat.

'Mi'lady, I've got a bit of a dilemma.'

'What?' I can't tell if he's sincere or just messing around.

'I can't decide whether to get a cupcake or a croissant. I really like croissants but the cupcakes look amazing. See, that one? I like that one.' He points to one I'd iced this morning. It's one of the superhero ones, in particular, the ladybug one.

'Why don't we just get both of them?' I wave the card at him.

'Fur real? You're paw-some, mi'lady.' I can't help but cringe at the puns but smile anyway at how excited he is.

We go over to the counter, waiting in line for a couple to buy some bread.

'Uh, hi. Could we have two cupcakes and croissants, hmm, and a baguette?' I ask Maman.

'Of course. Which cupcakes would you like?' She brings out the tray and sets it down in the bench.

'Hmm, well, that one,' I say, pointing to the Ladybug one Chat wanted, 'and, ah, um, that one.' I point to a Chat Noir one I was particularly proud of. I suppose if he gets one of me then I should probably get one of him. Maman boxes up the food for us and I pay. The shop is full and there and there aren't any tables so I make the executive decision to find somewhere else to eat.

'So where should we go?' I ask.

'Eiffel Tower?' Chat suggests. It's where we hang out most of the time on patrol or when there's an akuma. I nod.

'Okay.'

'Race you!' Chat yells while flipping his baton out.

'No fair! I've got the food!' I get my yo-yo out anyway and start heading for the Eiffel Tower as fast as I can. It's not actually as hard as I thought it would be with one hand, although to be fair, I have carried several people across the rooftops at breakneck speed.

I catch up to him soon enough and my feet land on the top deck of the Eiffel Tower a millisecond before his.

'Aww! How'd you catch up?' he complains.

'Magic.'

'So a shortcut?'

'Yep.' I sit down and open the box. Apart from the icing being smudged in a couple of places, everything's fine. Chat takes his and bites into it.

'Ooh, yum.' He quickly polishes it off and starts eating his croissant. I eat mine slightly slower. Absentmindedly, I break off a bit for Tikki but then realise she's not there.

'Miss your kwami?' Chat asks. I nod.

'To be honest, I probably don't as much as you. I mean, I love him and all but all he eats and talks about is camembert and I don't like camembert. It smells terrible.' I can't help but laugh. 'So now I smell like cheese all the time.'

'Oh, my kwami likes anything sweet. Preferably chocolate chip cookies but just about anything goes. The bakery does great cookies actually.' I add.

'Lucky! Smelling like cookies wouldn't be too bad but this cheese smells disgusting!'

'I wonder what the other kwamis like to eat. You know, like Rena Rouge's.'

'Oh yeah. It's a fox, isn't it?'

'Yeah.'

'Well, maybe it likes.......pie?'

'What kind of pun is that, Chat? You're losing your touch.'

'I had an idea but it, well, disappeared obviously.' I laugh.

'I wonder if Hawkmoth will send many villains out?' Chat comments, 'I mean, what if he's stuck like this too?'

'Oh, maybe. I hope not though, it'd be kinda nice to just relax.' I say lazily, lying down.

'Yeah, but what would we do? I'm not saying you're boring bugaboo but there's only so much a superhero can do without looking weird.' I have a sudden flash of inspiration. I sit up and start packing up all our things up.

'What are you doing? Where are we going mi'lady?'

'Chat, we're going to see Master Fu.'