Chapter Text
Félix had fallen asleep beside Arnoux, his cheeks were itchy with the fur rubbing on them but he didn't turn back.
Arnoux was a baby at this point and he wanted his warmth very much, as could be seen as to how he kept sticking to him all the time. So when he woke up and didn't see Arnoux, he almost went into a frenzy.
He searched under his bed, his duvet was on the floor as he searched on top of the bed. He wasn't in the box either.
And just when he was on the verge of collapse and started calling for the little creature, Arnoux appeared on the bed with a puff of grey smoke.
"Arnoux!" He whispered harshly as he picked up the rotund kwami, "Where did you go?"
Arnoux to his credit didn't seem scared at all and answered chirpily, "Arnoux went to say hi to his friends!"
He didn't know if these friends pertained to other kwamis or maybe some imaginary friends, "Oh? And where are they?"
Arnoux twisted his body, eating something crumbly, "In the box. Arnoux went to show them he's alive!" He was eating a big piece of cookie.
"Arnoux," He felt as if he was a dad, "Where did you find that cookie?"
"Tikki gave it to Arnoux." The kwami replied muffledly as he gnawed on the cookie, "Tikki is the ladybug!"
Okay, so the ladybug's kwami somehow knew Arnoux and they were friends. And she was the one who gave Arnoux this cookie. No matter how bizarre the concept of kwamis was to him, he decided to take good care of Arnoux.
"Arnoux told Tikki about Félix!" His eyes widened at Arnoux's words, "But Tikki already knew that Félix had grey eyes and yellow hair?" Arnoux tilted his head at admission, looking at Félix innocently.
"That's probably fine." He sighed and just rubbed Arnoux's head softly, putting him down on his table.
"Stay here Arnoux, okay?" He pointed at the table and only went off to change his clothes once he saw Arnoux nod his head in reply.
When he came back from changing his clothes, deciding that he should embrace his grey and dress up in grey and white, his jeans were dark grey while his t-shirt was pure white with a light grey jacket to tie it all together, he saw Arnoux sleeping on top of the desk curled into a grey ball of fur.
He rubbed the ball a few times, liking the soft touch on his fingers, before packing up his school bag. He especially took a small box full of blueberries for Arnoux coupled with a few strawberries and grapes. Who knows what the little guy would like more.
He had spent about half of his morning trying to find a place he could have Arnoux stay during the day as he attended his classes. But all he could come up with was setting up a small place inside the inner pocket of his bag. He laid out a few of his handkerchiefs and placed the box of fruits just beside it, opening it slightly to make it easier for Arnoux to open it by himself later on.
"Arnoux," He shook the little kwami up who just yawned in turn, "Arnoux look at me."
He saw the small grey eyes looking at him curiously as he spoke out slowly, "Arnoux, please stay inside this bag and don't come out until I take you out, okay?" He saw as the baby wolf nodded in affirmation before he scooped him up and placed him inside the bag.
"I have placed the berries inside this box," He opened up the lid and saw Arnoux take out a blueberry and gnaw on it lazily, "If you come out before I call for you, then someone will take Arnoux away from me." Arnoux's eyes widened in fear as he registered Félix's words.
"Who?" The little kwami's mouth was agape in horror.
"A bad guy," Félix remarked softly, staring at the weariful kwami in seriousness, "And I won't be able to get Arnoux back again."
"Arnoux won't go out!" Arnoux nodded with full confidence and Félix smiled at the little guy in satisfaction.
He didn't know about other kwamis but Arnoux seemed to be more like a baby than an elder, a gluttinous baby.
Good thing he packed lots and lots of fruits for him. Because he was actually scared the guy would run out when he saw something to eat.
He wiped off the crumbs on his desk, he felt himself more to be a babysitter than he was a guy with powers.
This time he simply hung his bag off his side, only on one arm in fear that he would end up losing the sight of the kwami if he hung it on his back as usual.
As he glanced at himself in the mirror, he found his eyes drawn to the silver cuff on his ear. With the inclusion of this accessory, he more or less looked like a street thug.
He sighed under his breath, glancing quickly inside the bag, the weight hadn't changed and there was no movement, which probably meant that Arnoux was sleeping soundly.
At least this was a nice inclusion, he didn't have to worry as much because Arnoux was mostly sleeping throughout yesterday.
"Félix." His mother's voice rang from downstairs as he stepped down as slowly as he could, trying not to let the bag move much.
"Yeah?" He called back, tying his shoes as he sat on the carpet and saw Matcha sleeping on the edge of the sofa, with his head on top of it. That did not seem much comfortable to him but it was Matcha's favorite way of sleeping.
He heard footsteps that drew closer towards him and stopped just near his back. He turned his head and looked up at his mother in question.
His mother had somehow decided that spring arriving meant a new set of floral designs to hit the market and for the past few days, she had deigned it upon herself to make their house a living flower garden.
She carried a vase full of tulips, their colors vibrant against the peach of her dress as she settled it on top of the cabinet by the door.
"Can you bring back a few pastries from Sabine when you come back from school?" His mother was smiling slightly as she picked up her phone and soon enough, his phone dinged with a notification, no doubt an online transfer from his mother.
"Hm," He nodded as he tied the shoelace tightly and stood up, brushing the wrinkles away from his t-shirt, "Which ones do you want me to bring back?" He asked as he straightened his jacket.
She hummed a little in return as she helped him tidy up his clothes, he withdrew his hands letting his mother do what she liked, after all, she was the professional.
"Fit your tastes but do bring some of the more sweetened ones," She rustled his hair, "and would you please bring back a few of the groceries?" She asked as she took out a piece of paper from her pocket.
He narrowed his eyes at her as she simply smiled back, "Yeah, why not." He read through the list, there were a few miscellaneous items at most.
"Thank you for your cooperation." Emilie shook her skirt and bowed elegantly as he chuckled and bowed back with just as much elegance, "My pleasure."
His mother just ruffled his hair in return, all with a smile on her face as she waved him goodbye.
Félix kept his eyes drawn at the road, kicking away the slightly bigger pebbles as he walked towards Marinette's bakery-slash-house.
This was his everyday routine from a few months back.
Picking up Marinette from the Bakery along with a side of breakfast that Mr. Dupain-Cheng prepared for him. That man was an absolute tank and the first time Félix had been standing in front of him was nerve-wracking. If Marinette hadn't told him that he was a baker, he would have assumed he was a professional fighter.
He had been so scared he would strike him off based on how he initially treated Marinette, which he still didn't know if the man knew about. But the bigger man had just patted him on the back, in true dad fashion, and stuffed him with a few of his baked cheese scones which for a matter of fact had been divine.
While Mr. Cheng was the mellower character, Mrs. Cheng was a force to reckon with.
Even though the petite woman looked and smiled just like an angel, he had first-hand seen how she dealt with an unruly customer with a smile on her face, and even more impressive was how the customer left with a smile, spending more money than he had planned upon. The customer's hands were filled with all kinds of breads and whatnot and he almost looked like he was in heaven.
Marinette was a perfect amalgamation of her parents, that was what he observed during all of this time with the family.
She was kind and polite, bursting with sweetness and homely vibes just like her father while she also had a fiercer, determined side who was stubborn and strict in her principles just like her mother.
She may have been one of the more opinionated and expressive people he had met and he had met several characters throughout his life in London.
He heard a small burp and slight shifting in his bag as he looked blankly at the clouds floating by the sky, "Félix, you're early today." He saw Mrs. Cheng as she twirled the signboard in front of the door and opened it, gesturing for him to come inside.
He politely nodded at the shorter woman with a small smile, "Good morning, Mrs. Cheng." At his greeting, the short-haired woman just sighed with a smile as he smiled back sheepishly.
It didn't sit right with him to call Marinette's parents with their first names, he didn't quite like doing so and he was grateful that both of them didn't say anything to him against it.
"Tom is inside the kitchen working on his new cream filling, so I made the sandwich today," She smiled as she handed him a sandwich shining under the light coming from the window, "Hope that's alright with you."
He just looked at her in shock, "Of course, it is!" He quickly took over the sandwich wrapped over with a brown cover, "I don't mind it at all, Mrs. Cheng. You're a phenomenal cook as well, why would I deny the chance to taste your creation?" He smiled at the woman politely.
Sabine just waved her hand, patting his forearm as her smile widened, "You're a charmer with words, Félix." Her eyes crinkled as her dimples deepened, "But I appreciate the compliment." He smiled back as he opened the covering while Sabine engaged herself with setting up the pastries as he sat on one of the chairs by the side of the counter.
The bread had been toasted nicely, the smell of fresh bread wafted off of it as it paired nicely with the slightly spicy sauce the refreshing tomato slices, and the cold lettuce.
It was a different taste than that of his mother's. Even though her mother made her sandwich the same way, minus the spiciness because god forbid Emilie Graham de Vanily couldn't handle it. But he loved how she always made his food a bit more spicier because he liked it.
Well, he loved his mum.
On his last bite, the sound of someone hopping down the stairs caught his attention, Marinette soon emerged out of the door and smiled first off seeing him. He tried to smile back but just couldn't with his mouth filled to the brim.
"Mom," Marinette walked towards Sabine who was cleaning off the counter, sneaking off a few pairs of lemon cookies and a strawberry tart off the plate, "Marinette! Don't eat sweets first in the morning!" Sabine chided the grinning girl as Marinette simply hugged the shorter woman and once again, ate a piece of brownie.
"Bye Dad!" She shouted towards the kitchen as she took the sandwich from Sabine's hands, "Bye-bye Mom." She kissed the side of the woman's cheek and skipped towards him.
"Let's go." She nodded at him with her blue eyes blinking innocently at him as he stood up, paying attention not to knock his bag on any corner.
"Have a good day, Mrs. Cheng." He spoke politely as he opened the glass door and helped Marinette get out first.
"Same goes for you, Félix." Sabine smiled at him as she waved her hand from behind the counter.
Stepping out of the bakery, the sunlight fell on his form as he felt warm instantly, before he could say anything to the blue-haired girl who was hopping on the gravel squares, she extended her fist towards him as he opened his palm under her fist.
A lemon cookie dropped on his palm as he turned to look at Marinette in confusion, "Keep it a secret." She placed a finger on her lips, a bit of the sauce smeared on the side of her lips as she blinked at him with a smile and accentuated dimples.
"Got it, Cheng." He mock saluted with two fingers as he wrapped the cookie with the brown paper, trying to avoid the sides where the sauce was coated.
He saw Marinette turn around with a grin, her body nimbly passing through the people rushing to their destinations.
He quickly opened his bag, his eyes meeting Arnoux's who was hugging a piece of strawberry while also eating it, the kwami had just ended up sitting inside the box of berries and seemed pretty comfortable doing so too.
He smiled at the little guy as Arnoux grinned back but still didn't say anything, he quickly opened the cookie wrapped around with the brown paper and placed it inside, placing it on the handkerchief, with the brown paper underneath it.
He had slowed down and eventually, Marinette walked back to him, looking curiously at his actions.
"Didn't want to eat it now." He shrugged at her and she nodded back, leisurely walking through the street. There were about twenty minutes left for the classes to start and he wasn't about to rush through the walk.
"Did you complete the mathematics homework?" Félix spoke up before Marinette could pay attention to him stuffing a cookie inside his bag while smiling like a lunatic, "Yeah, I rushed through it. I was about to tear my hair out with frustration while doing it though!" Marinette chipped humorously as she ate her sandwich in small, hurried bites.
Félix chuckled out of tune in the talk, "What's so funny?" Marinette looked back at him blankly as he just smiled and explained, "I'm just remembering when the first time I asked you about your homework, you just asked me back if I did it and then proceeded to cry that you didn't know we even had homework." Félix burst into snickers when he saw Marinette's cheeks reddening up in embarrassment.
She kicked her feet and lowered her head while nibbling on the bread, "Whatever."
He walked two steps behind her, her soft yellow beret seemed to mimic a sun over the blue of the sky, her wide-leg sage green jeans were embroidered with small dandelions while her yellow top seemed to be embroidered with many more of the dandelions along with the grass. Her cream short jacket seemed to blend it all into one of the most spring-very fits he had seen from the girl.
He did look like the grey sky to her accompanying sun.
And maybe she was the sun to his life?