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“You’re sure that you’re okay?”
Toby is worried that he’s being an annoyance for following Claire home when she never expressed a desire for him to do so, but what he’s more worried about is the fact that she’s been growing distant lately. And the fact that she doesn’t even seem to notice it happening.
Toby picked up on it early. After they defeated Monarch, Claire drew away. He thought it was normal. After all, despite the fact that she had been a supervillain viciously terrorizing innocent people for her own ends, quite literally trying to kill Toby and Claire at every chance she got, Ophelia was still Claire’s mother in the end. So he didn’t pry, didn’t pressure Claire to open up about her feelings or go to therapy or anything weird.. like that. Maybe he should have said something, anything at all. Maybe he shouldn’t have let her spiral herself into a corner, a never ending run on the treadmill of her superhero duties coinciding with her life as a civilian. Did it even matter? Toby highly doubted she would have listened to him. To Claire, after the passing of her mother, the most important thing was suddenly being an upstanding citizen and even more of an overachieving individual than before.
”I told you before, everything’s okay. I have AP exams to study for, and Barbara gets upset with me when I stay up too late, so… I’ll see you later, okay? Night, Tobes.”
And should Toby be offended about the fact that Claire didn’t even look into his face when delivering these last lines? Nope, that’s not what she needs.. of course, that’s it! Walking back from Claire’s new home to his own house across the street, Toby pumped his fist into the air. He had a great idea.
It had been a month or two now since Monarch was defeated, and of course the loss of a parent is something difficult, and Toby doesn’t expect Claire to get over it quickly or anything, but… enough time should have passed by now that if he throws a party for her— not that she had to know it was for her— she should at least be able to let loose and enjoy herself a little, right? And he knows just how to go about it.
Well, after the first few weeks of being a superhero, Toby did genuinely realize there wasn’t much of a way he could use the newfound status to his advantage, especially not in his day to day life. Usually, all it meant was that he got to suffer a few beatings a week, maybe multiple times a day if he was really unlucky, and just barely get away with whatever’s left unscrambled of his brain intact each time. Now though, for a case as specific as this, him being Fennec— the widely more recognized and celebrated individual (not that he thought that was fair, because Claire worked just as hard as him and-) of a pair of superheroes— provided the perfect amount of status to be able to get together a decently sized gathering for a party.
He didn’t think twice about abusing this ‘status’ for his cause. The only setback would be if Apiarius found out, because she’d definitely let him have it if she knew that he did such a thing, especially for a reason she probably wouldn’t deem worth it at all. But Claire was all about professionalism, and to Toby, well…
Let’s just say, he was failing a good chunk of his classes and sacrificing much of his physical safety for the good of the city, and the people in it should rightfully appreciate him at least enough to do something as simple as have fun at a party for a couple of hours at his whim.
So of course, the first thing Toby did after getting home was to transform and call on all the people he’d lent a miraculous to.
On his way to Mary’s house, he did momentarily pass by the arcane book store, which made him wonder if the guardian would approve of the way he was currently using the powers granted to him… but if the guardian didn’t want the teenagers he chose as superheroes to occasionally try to uplift each other in times of struggle, he could suck it for all Toby cared.
Fennec rapped on Mary’s window with the back of his hand, knuckles making impact with the hot glass, burning up under the summer sun. It only took Mary a minute to notice the presence looming right outside her window.
“You need me right now? You realize there aren’t any more akumas around?” She had a hand on her hip as she spoke, natural confidence kept her back straight when many people would have faltered simply from looking directly into the eyes of a miracle-powered hero, as a simple effect of the magic infused in the jewels.
“I do need your help with something,” a mischievous smile tugged at Fennec’s lips, he felt more fox-like by the minute.
“Can you have a whole bunch of people at this address for a party this weekend? I mean like, a whole bunch.” He handed Mary a slip of paper with directions to an abandoned apartment complex that stood at at least a 10 minute drive to the outskirts of the city.
“Why would anyone want to go that far just to party? I mean, I can make it happen, but,” she shrugged. “It had better be a stupid good party.”
”What if you told them there might— would— be superheroes there? As in, miraculous wielders.”
Mary’s eyes widened just a bit, no visible drop in her cool, charismatic aura, but just enough for Fennec to be able to tell she was already liking his idea.
Now to just get Claire there without raising any suspicion.