Cut to the Chase

A pair of newly-gotten scissors sat in Ella's hands. The girls looked from the scissors to Marinette, thinking back to what happened in the movie. They gave her body a quick once-over, looking for some easy targets. It didn't take long to find one. Immediately, they noticed the drawstring on the outside of Marinette's sweatpants. It was noticeably taut, seemingly as much so as the pants would allow, with all the string tied into a neat bow. The twins looked at each other, their eyes meeting, and they knew they had just had the same thought.

Ella leaned in close, crouching down and aligning herself with Marinette's waist, while Etta stood sentry, keeping a watchful eye on their older sister's door. Ella reached forward with her free hand to grab at the string, gently pulling it toward her, before moving the scissors in. She cast a quick glance at Marinette's face, just to be sure she hadn't woken up yet. Ella could just imagine the trouble they would get in if they were caught. Thankfully, though, when she looked up, all she saw was Marinette's serene face, her eyes still closed. Taking that as a good sign, Ella snipped the string just under the knot in the bow. The result was instantaneous. The string dropped onto the couch, going slack. Ella was content with the result, but for extra measure, she decided to go a little farther. She let go of the end that held the bow, trading it out instead for the standalone string, pulling it closer to her, drawing more of the string out of her sweatpants before she snipped the string at the point it was exiting the pants. Ella grabbed the newly-freed piece of string and put it in her pocket, looking over her handiwork with a smile. The sweatpants were noticeably loose on Marinette now, clearly too big for her, and with Ella's work on her drawstring, Marinette wouldn't be able to rectify that by simply undoing the bow and retying it anymore. No, she would have to buy a new string for these pants if she wanted to wear them anymore. Her immediate task complete, Ella stood back up, looking to her twin, who seemed to be appraising her work. The grin on her sister's face told her she approved. With that settled, Etta's gaze turned back to Ella, a shared question in both their minds: should they stop here or should they continue on?