LadyBugOut AU (Snippets)

Summary:
Ms. Mendeleiev is so sick of Miss Bustier's garbage.

Chapter Text
“Caline, lift your head off the table. It’s extremely unbecoming of you.”

In response, Miss Bustier sniffled. “My students hate me.”

Ms. Mendeleiev sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I’m aware. I heard the shouting from all the way in my own classroom.”

Miss Bustier let out a noise that chided Ms. Mendeleiev for her lack of sensitivity. Ms. Mendeleiev let out a snort that told her she didn’t care.

Ms. Mendeleiev rapped the table, watching as Miss Bustier practically laid on the table in a pathetic heap. Unbothered and used to Miss Bustier’s emotional tendencies, she grabbed her own personal container of water, watching the water swirl about with her movements.

Mumbling under her breath, but purposefully loud enough to hear, she said, “I did warn you, Caline.”

Miss Bustier raised her head, looking at Ms. Mendeleiev with a mixture of hurt and offense.

“Don’t look at me like that. You know I’m right,” Ms. Mendeleiev said. “I’ve been telling you this for years and you never listen. You’re deluded and refuse to understand basic reason.”

Miss Bustier slumped on the table, muttering with a bit of disdain, “I don’t want to be like you…”

“Did I ever say that you had to?” Ms. Mendeleiev asked with a hiss, pointing at Miss Bustier with the hand holding the container of water. “No, I did not. I said you needed to be more strict, or else the troublemaking students won’t hesitate to step on you. Don’t act like I misspoke, because I know for a fact that you just don’t want to hear that you have to be ’‘mean” to your rude students.“

Miss Bustier avoided all semblance of eye contact, staring off at a wall. "W-well… Chloe got me such a nice gift. It was the good students who–”

“You just proved my point,” Ms. Mendeleiev interrupted.

Miss Bustier met her gaze, looking puzzled.

Ms. Mendeleiev rolled her eyes, baffled by her co-worker’s naivety. She paused to take a sip of her drink, then set it off to the side. “…Caline, have you ever had to put out a fire?”

“W-what?”

“A fire,” Ms. Mendeleiev repeated. “Do you even comprehend what’s you’re doing? Because instead of putting that fire out or smothering it, you’re forcing your inexperienced students to try and keep it from spreading. You’re not putting anything out, you’re just containing it, and it’s going to do nothing but spread because your students don’t want to keep that fire going. Do you think they enjoy keeping a fire lit when they don’t have to? No, they don’t. It wasn’t a matter of if they were going to get angry with you; it was a matter of when.”

Miss Bustier wavered, currently in a state of shock. “…B-but–”

Ms. Mendeleiev slammed her hand on the table, silencing Miss Bustier. “Do your job, Caline. It’s not a student’s responsibility to keep the other students in line. I don’t want to hear about how you think you’re doing a great job because your pushover students were on board with your misinformed ideology. In the end, you’re just forcing them to do the work that you’re supposed to be doing. My students don’t cause trouble because they know I won’t tolerate it, and they’re all the better for it.”

Miss Bustier hunched over at Ms. Mendeleiev’s gaze. “B-but I can’t be ruthless like you–”

“You think I’m ruthless?” Ms. Mendeleiev asked. “You think I never let students off with a pass? I’ll have you know that Marinette–your student–has been late on multiple occasions, and I’m not ’'ruthless” about it because I’m aware that she’s going through a lot of personal problems, some of which are brought on by you, I might add.“

She raised a hand, counting off offenses. "But drawing and sleeping in my classroom? Spraying perfume in a science lab? That is unacceptable. When students know you won’t put up with their behavior, they keep themselves in check without the other students needing to play up how good they are for you.”

Miss Bustier said nothing, staring quietly down into her lap.

“…Caline.”

Miss Bustier raised her head, just enough to meet Ms. Mendeleiev’s gaze.

“I know you only want your students to be at their best, but you’re a fool if you think this will help them. The next time you want to tell students to ignore how they feel to cater to their bully’s issues, think about what happened today and how those students looked at you.”

At the mere mention of her student’s angry faces, Miss Bustier became crestfallen. She slumped forward, her head bowed so low that Ms. Mendeleiev couldn’t see her face.

Finally, after a few seconds of silence, Miss Bustier pushed herself up, taking a small breath. “I think… I need to think about some things.”

She picked up her long-forgotten drink, started to walk off, then paused.

Ms. Mendeleiev raised a brow, not knowing what was wrong.

Miss Bustier looked back at her, then approached and reached into her purse. She pulled out some money, then dropped it onto the table.

“Here,” she said, her voice sounding dull but just a little bit grateful. “Please, get yourself something nice.”

Ms. Mendeleieve eyed the money warily, as if believing it to be some sort of trick. With a glance at Miss Bustier, she pushed the money back to her. “Don’t thank me. Use that to apologize to your students.”

Miss Bustier’s shoulders slumped, as if the thought was unpleasant to her. Ms. Mendeleiev knew she had a lot to learn.

Still, Miss Bustier gathered the money back up and returned it to her purse. “…See you tomorrow.”

Ms. Mendeleiev didn’t watch Miss Bustier leave, instead focusing on taking another sip of her drink, but she took note of the sound of Miss Bustier’s footsteps as they got quieter and quieter.

“Nice” teachers were such a hassle, honestly.