I am weak for ladynoir okay
(Also I'm American and have no real knowledge of European currency *nervous laugh*)
OOO
It wasn't even his father who told him.
Nathalie came into his room on a Tuesday afternoon as Adrien was studying for his math exam, giving him a curt smile and reminding him of his photo shoot the next morning before school.
He nodded, "Yeah, thanks. Um, do you think I could have some time alone? This exam is kind of stressing me."
She stood up straighter, "Of course Adrien. Oh, but your father suggested that you take some time this week to look for a place."
The blond teen set his pencil down on his open textbook, blinking at the woman in confusion, "A place? For what?"
Her gaze skirted away, obviously uncomfortable, "To live, sir."
"That doesn't make any sense." Adrien replied, frowning, "I already live- . . . Oh." Then he got it. He got it like a surprise punch in the gut.
His father wanted him to move out.
In many ways, it made complete sense. Adrien was eighteen, ready to graduate high school in the next few months. He still hadn't quite figured out what he was going to do about college but he was getting there. His father wanted him to go to a fancy fashion and business school about an hour outside Paris, which he knew Marinette had gotten a scholarship to so he wouldn't be completely alone, but there was still the huge problem of helping Ladybug protect Paris from so far away. And the fact that Adrien didn't really want to go to Ferguson. But still, for the big picture, moving out could be good for him.
He wouldn't have to hide Plagg or sneak out all the time or worry about his father being randomly overbearing. Adrien could get a permanent taste of being Chat Noir, he could finally have his freedom.
But at the same time, it stung.
It stung like hell, knowing his father didn't really care whether he was around or not.
Nathalie must have noticed the sad look in his eyes because she backed to the exit of his room, "I'm very experienced with calculus Adrien, if you need my assistance. Otherwise, I'll be in my office until dinner, okay?"
"Thank you." He replied softly, glancing at the carpet.
She shut the door behind her with a gentle click.
In the suffocating silence, Adrien took a big breath, rubbing his hand on his face, hoping to get the slight burning feeling away from his eyes.
"Don't the makeup people say that makes you oily or something?" Plagg piped up, whizzing from under the couch cushion and plopping in his usual spot.
He sighed again and forced himself to take his hand away from his face, eyelids stinging. There was a short silence as Plagg cuddled up and closed his eyes before his chosen spoke, "He wants me to move out."
The kwami didn't move but opened one eye, "Yeah, I heard through the cushion. My ears are like 25 percent of my body, you know."
Adrien breathed through his nose, blinking rapidly, "It would be better. I could transform easier. You wouldn't have to hide." He was trying to convince himself at that point and his black cat friend knew it.
Contrary to what the teen expected, Plagg didn't seem excited at the thought of not hiding in the crevice of the couch every time someone walked in, "But you don't want to go do you." He said flatly, completely unlike a question.
"I don't," He said immediately, then, "Maybe. I don't know . . . It just kind of, hurts that he would just . . ."
Plagg flew up to the math book, closed it and shuffled the boy's notes away.
"Uh! Plagg, I need those, I have to study! The exam is in a few weeks and--"
He dropped a thinner paperback onto where the math book was before, "Chinese." The kwami said, as if that made everything clear.
The blond tried to reach for the math textbook but Plagg slapped his arm away, "Hey! I know Chinese, but I have to--"
"Um, excuse me," Plagg interrupted, getting in Adrien's face, "But as your weekly planner states, you have your Chinese test this Friday, not weeks from now."
"But it isn't that hard--"
"Look, kid, math is weeks away and I know school has been putting a lot of stress on you lately so why don't you just focus on Chinese right now? It's less for your brain to process but still something productive."
Adrien considered it for a moment, "But I really need to study those math terms--"
Plagg crossed his small black paws, "This is me helping you. It's either studying Chinese or I force feed you Camembert."
His face broke into a only half sarcastic grin, "Whoohoo, Chinese, yay."
Completely smug, "That's what I thought."
OOO
Chat decided to head out early for his patrol that night, sitting on the Tower a good while before the sun went down to clear his head.
The spot above the city was always grounding to him, to stare down at the many many people going about their lives, safe and busy and happy. It put him at peace to see his city, as cheesy as that sounded.
The other reason that it helped him was because of all of the memories he had here with Ladybug. Especially the one from two months ago. He had bought her some red carnations on a whim and then all of his icky sweet love for her just rolled out of his mouth when she stared at the flowers and turned pink.
Ladybug had promised that first and foremost, they would be best friends for the rest of their lives, that nothing could take that away. She hesitantly confessed that she felt things for him too, though she wasn't quite sure what they meant yet. That there was someone she had liked for a long time and she didn't know if she would ever get over him, despite their new friendship.
One would think being shut down on a date would disappoint Chat but no way, he was over the moon. She had some kind of feelings for him. They were best friends. He had a chance. That was enough to make him ecstatic.
But Adrien was a gentleman so he was very careful in how he treated her after that, only genuine compliments instead of flippant flirting. Because she need time to sort things out, and not her superhero partner coming on to her every time she turned around. Ladybug was not meat to win and he would not treat her that way.
He still called her nicknames and made puns but he respectfully tried to tone it down, even more so than he had been for the past few months. And she seemed to notice and appreciate it, smiling when he said things like 'your eyes are as blue as the sky' or 'Ladybug, My Lady, red-spotted light of my life'. She even laughed and responded with 'Chat Noir, My Kitten, black-clawed pain in my ass'.
All in all, things were going good between them and Chat wouldn't trade it for anything.
Knowing she cared for him and she wanted to be friends for the rest of their lives eased an empty place inside him. Nino, Alya, Marinette and especially Ladybug all cared for him, even if his father didn't give a second thought to where he was.
He couldn't leave. His father was at home, his friends, all the memories of his Mom were at home. Leaving would mean that he was adult with adult responsibilities, expected to handle everything on his own. Adrien didn't know how to get a job or look for an apartment or make most foods or do taxes or anything. How the hell was he supposed to figure that out all by himself? Plus, he was supposed to be looking for colleges if he wasn't going to Ferguson. And he had the pressure of all his exams coming up.
It was too much all at once. He was only eighteen, he still felt like a kid. "Of course it is stressful Adrien, the stress matures you into an actual adult." His father had said multiple times.
Chat didn't feel like he was being matured. He felt like he was flying blind.
There was a small thump and whirl of a yo-yo behind him, "Hey Chat, I'll race you to the . . ."
He tried to turn away but she saw.
"Are you okay?" Ladybug asked gently, quickly moving to sit down next to him and wiping his frustrated tears away with her costumed thumbs, "What's wrong?"
Chat merely shook his head. This was all stupid anyway. He was supposed to be an adult, a hero. Not someone who cried over a school test, or something his father had implied.
"Please tell me what's wrong . . ." She said softly, watching him with wide sky blue eyes that suddenly made him feel extremely vulnerable and translucent.
"It's something in my personal life and you don't want to find out each other's identities." He mumbled, pulling away slightly to wipe his own face. He was better than this, damn it.
The heroine squeezed his shoulder, "Tell me vaguely then."
Chat didn't want to talk about it, not really, but he knew she wouldn't let it go. He sighed, "My father wants me to move out." He started, and for a moment he was unable to explain anything else.
"Oh Chat." She breathed. In a second, her arm was over his shoulders, squeezing him reassuringly and his hand went to her back. Side to side.
"And it hurts. Cause he wants me to go to a fancy school, far away from Paris and I don't really want to go but it's the family business and it's important to him. But my friends and my mom's things and you, I can't leave and all my exams are coming up and I'm scared out of my mind because I'll probably starve if I move out because I can't even make a damn omelet!"
Lady let out a small, sympathetic laugh, "You can't?"
"No!" He cried, waving a clawed hand out emphatically, "I can't! I don't even know what goes in pancakes!"
"Hey hey hey, lack of pancake knowledge is nothing to have a panic attack over." She soothed, rubbing his shoulder. If she didn't sound so serious, he might have laughed.
But instead Chat gave a long sigh, sniffling back his few remaining tears, "God, I'm sorry, I'm so pathetic."
"You are not pathetic Chat." Ladybug hissed stubbornly, frowning, "I don't know who's put that idea into your head but it's a lie. You're the bravest person I've ever met." Then a few seconds of silence, "Alright?"
"Yeah. Okay." Because she would never lie to him. Even if it wasn't true, even if he wasn't brave, she still thought of him that way. And for a while now, she had been the only opinion that mattered. So he gave her a small genuine smile, "Okay."
Lady returned it, squeezing his shoulder before letting him go and standing like a hero on a mission with her hands on her lean hips, "You and me, ice cream."
He blinked and stuttered, "B-But-But, what about patrol?"
She smiled but raised her eyebrows, as if daring an akuma to test her, "We've been patrolling this city for three years Chat. If Hawkmoth shows up tonight, I will literally kick his ass."
Chat couldn't help the slow, earnest grin that stretched across his face, jumping up cheerfully to stand beside her and pulling his staff out, "But won't the shops be closed? It's pretty late in the afternoon . . ."
Ladybug got a delighted sparkle in her eyes, flicking the golden bell around his neck, "Let me handle that."
OOO
As it turned out, Ladybug apparently knew of every ice cream vendor in Paris, dropping down into a park and smiling as she held out her hands proudly, "Ta-da!" She announced.
Chat glanced over the festive cart with a man offering a welcoming smile and beamed himself, "Hi." He greeted the vendor with a small wave.
Lady linked their arms together, shooting him a teasing glare, "He didn't believe me when I said I knew someone would still be out."
"Seeing is believing, My Lady." Chat joked back, looking over all of the flavors.
The man laughed, eyes crinkling pleasantly on the edges, "So what can I get for the heroes this fine evening?"
"Uh." To be honest, Chat was a little overwhelmed. He had never seen this many sweets together in his life and he had no idea what ice cream flavor to get. Lemon sounded really good, but so did Caramel, and Cheesecake, and Black Cheery. Even plain Vanilla sounded like a treat to him.
Ladybug laughed softly at his indecision, "Do you like chocolate?"
He nodded enthusiastically, he loved chocolate. Normal milk chocolate, the kind Nino snuck him sometimes, not the bitter, dark chocolate his trainer allowed him.
She pointed at an ice cream tub labelled 'Chocolate Brownie', "Does that look good to you?"
Honestly, it looked like a good place to die. Curled up in a circular container of ice cream. Plagg would forget all about camembert if he saw this.
"Yeah." Was all he could manage. He was probably drooling but whatever. Ladybug had already saw him cry like fifteen minutes ago.
"Two of those please." She said, a grin in her voice.
"Cup or cone?"
Lady glanced at him but Chat didn't know the difference between them so he shrugged.
"Do you have waffle cones?"
"Yes Ma'am I do."
She beamed, "Two waffle cones then."
"No problem." He said, pulling up the glass on his side. The man generously scooped the chocolate onto two large cones, handing Ladybug hers first then Chat.
She pulled her arm out of his, laughing when she saw his face, "Good?" She teased.
"Purrfect! I've never tasted anything like this before in my life." He exclaimed, wiping his chin when the ice cream touched there.
"Here," The heroine said after laughing again, handing him her own cone so she could flip open he yo-yo. First to the screen they called each other on but then she flicked that up, to a small compartment underneath.
Chat might have been curious enough to ask what it was but he was kind of sidetracked literally licking a piece of heaven on earth.
She pulled out a ten euro note and handed it to the vendor, who was making no effort to charge them, "Keep the change, it would jingle around and a yo-yo already isn't very intimidating." She smiled kindly.
He shook his head, "That's alright Mademoiselle, on the house."
"Trust me, we'll be back, so take it, please."
He hesitated but gave in, put her note in his lock box, "Next one on the house." He compromised.
"Thank you."
"You're very welcome . . . I think I might have broken his brain though." His brown eyes were on Chat Noir.
Ladybug grinned, "It's not like that brain of his was doing anything important anyway."
"Hey! Be careful with your words Bugaboo, I still have your ice cream." He smirked, holding her untouched treat up to tease her.
"Drop it and die."
He handed it over quickly, "Okay, here you go."
After offering a good bye to the vendor, they continued walking leisurely around the park in no particular direction, stopping every few minutes for people who asked for pictures or wanted to say hi.
Chat loved this part of being a hero, that he could be friends with all of Paris and Ladybug especially. He felt so much better than earlier, it didn't even feel real.
"So would you rather lick a public toilet or the flooring of a train station?" She asked, walking slow beside him.
"Uh . . . toilet."
"What?! Chat!" She was laughing, eyes lit up by warm street lamps of the park, making every feature soft, "That's literally disgusting."
He held up one hand, the other still holding the last bit of his cone, "Hey, it's not like you left me many options. Plus, butts are only in pants, shoes are everywhere."
She frowned to consider that, "I guess you're right. But that's still gross."
"What about you?" Chat bumped her gently with his shoulder, "Would you rather lick a toilet or the floor?"
Ladybug made a face, eyes wide, "I'd rather die." She said seriously.
He laughed, "That's not an option."
"I just made it one."
"But . . . Pretend there's an akuma."
"An akuma that wants everyone to lick subway tile?" She asked dubiously.
"No. Just you. And he's all," Chat tucked his chin into his chest and spoke in a deep voice, "Lick it or this man gets it. And you're all like," He rolled his eyes up and batted his eyelashes, talking in a horrible falsetto, "I'd rather die."
"Oh my god, I do not sound like that!"
He continued dramatically, holding his heart, "And then the akuma kills the man and you have to live with yourself wondering what would have happened if you had just licked the thing."
She was laughing but touching her forehead, "Why am I even friends with you?"
He winked before he could stop himself, "Don't lie, you love me." As soon as the words were out, he felt bad. She still needed time to figure out her feelings and he wasn't going to help by flirting.
But she tried to cover her smile by pressing her lips together, "That's debatable."
"You love me sometimes." He corrected, relief sweeping through him knowing that she wasn't mad.
She shrugged, "Mostly it's when you keep your mouth shut."
Chat frowned a little at that as they walked. He knew they were teasing but she sounded like she was being truthful. Did she really like him better when he wasn't talking? But wasn't that the whole point of being Chat Noir outside of Adrien, that he could speak and act like he wanted?
"Oh my god Kitten, I'm kidding!" She cried, exasperated, rolling her eyes and throwing an arm over his shoulders, "It was a joke, I promise. I love talking with you."
Chat gave her a small sideways smile.
"I don't know who has messed up your self esteem this bad but I think you need new friends."
He laughed softly, holding her shoulders too, "No, it's not their fault, I have great friends. My father is just kind of randomly overbearing and protective. He believes that saying about kids being seen and not heard or whatever."
"That sucks." She replied sympathetically.
"And now he wants me to leave and I'm not sure if I can handle it. I've been brought up to be dependent on him and now it's like the switch changed to completely independent . . . Does that make sense?"
The blue eyed girl nodded, "Perfect sense, I get it. My parents have slowly given me my independence and it was still kind of nerve wracking, so don't think you're weak for being scared. I'd be terrified out of my wits if all those responsibilities had been dumped on me all at once."
He looked over at the hopeful smile she was offering, feeling warmth spread through his chest. Ladybug wasn't the perfect heroine he had dreamed she would be, she was so much better, "Thank you."
His ring beeped, signalling five more minutes before he had to listen to Plagg give him all kinds of shit for being such a sap.
She steered him towards the library, fierceness lighting in her eyes. She didn't want the night to be over either, "Hold on, I've got an idea."
OOO
Ladybug lead him to the children's section of the building, smiling and waving at the few kids looking at books with their parents on a early school night. Stopping at two bathroom doors, he was beginning to understand her plan.
"Ten minutes exactly and we meet back here okay?" She asked.
"What if someone comes in?"
"They're single stalls, they lock from the inside." She open the girl's door and locked and unlocked the handle, showing the little red and green 'occupied' slide go back and forth.
"You're a genius."
Lady smirked with superiority, "I try. Ten minutes." She reminded him before she shut the door and switched the lock to red.
There wasn't much to do in the bathroom except sit against the wall while Plagg stuffed his face.
"Why do you think she wanted to transform out and back in? We've never really done that before. Besides during battle." He mused to himself, checking his phone.
"Maybe she wants to hang out with you Adrien, you dumb, homeschooled walnut." Plagg suggested flatly, mouth full of stinky cheese.
"Thank you for being so extremely helpful." He deadpanned, satisfied that his father hadn't called him. Not like his father really cared, but whatever.
"You're welcome." The kwami replied, before continuing to make Adrien question whether he was a cat creature instead of a pig one. Sure, he had the ears of a cat but his manners were something else.
Nino had texted him about homework questions since he said Alya was screaming over ice cream or something. Adrien replied, telling him that he would probably be home soon to send him the work, and to remind him to explain the thing about his father tomorrow at school.
Nino would want to know, he would go off sure, but he would rather know that not. Alya would put her two cents in, about child labor laws and that Adrien was being neglected and he would have to swear up and down that, yes, he was getting enough to eat and eight hours of sleep(he probably wasn't truthfully, but that was because of being Chat Noir and he couldn't exactly explain that to her). Marinette might even say something, she would probably offer to help or start some sort of petition if he wanted it. She was really protective of her friends, he was finding that out fast.
"Hey Plagg?"
"Mhm."
Adrien rested his head back against the wall tile, "Do you think I should move out? You never really said."
Plagg chewed for a moment, then hovered off the paper towel dispenser where he had been sitting, flying to his side, "Ya know, I don't think it's a bad idea." He shrugged, "I mean, kid, you started fighting crime at fifteen years old and it's not like your dad is around all the time anyway, you could probably handle it."
"But Plagg, I can't drive. I can't cook."
"If you got an apartment in town, you could walk most places. You aren't exactly mister adventurer in this form. Besides, what's-his-face could drive you to work, he does anyway. And the cooking thing? You realize Marinette comes from a family of bakers right? And I can cook."
All of what he said made sense until the very last sentence, "Wait . . . You? You can cook?"
Plagg crossed his arms, tossing him a fake glare, "Yeah. My last holder, he was American, which gross, but he cooked a lot unlike the rest of them. I know how to make the good American foods. The other kwami fall to their knees at the mention of my macaroni and cheese. Hey, that rhymes. But seriously, they fear it."
Adrien laughed a little, "Is it good?"
Plagg grinned evilly, "Kid, I could make you obese in two days tops."
He couldn't help but laugh again, "Seriously?"
The black kawmi started naming things, "Rolls, hamburgers, chicken wraps, the good kind, brownies--"
"Like the ice cream?"
"Yeah weirdo, like the ice cream. Stop looking so excited, you're freaking me out. Talk about ice cream fetish, Jesus."
Oh what would he do without Ladybug and Plagg? "So you think we could do it?"
"That's what I said."
Adrien let out a huge breath of air, grinning. Why was he even upset in the first place? "Awesome."
Plagg crossed his arms again but he could see the smile peeking through, "It's been ten minutes. You gotta go meet your Lady Love or whatever you call her."
"I don't call her that, but that's pretty good."
"Ugh. Please no."
"Claws out!"
OOO
Ladybug was sitting on a small bench, talking to a little blond girl when he opened the bathroom door. She shot him a smile and moved so he could sit next to her, "This is my friend, Chat. Chat, this is Elle."
The girl blinked at him, like she couldn't quite understand something, "He's taller than you." She said, then held up her two action figures. One of Ladybug, one of him, both the same height, "Weird."
The girl's mother laughed, same blond hair and Ladybug grinned, "He used to be shorter but then he grew like a weed." She pinched his arm, causing him to laugh too and rub the spot, faking hurt.
"Grow like a weed. That's what my mommy says about me sometimes. I'm almost a meter tall now!"
Lady gasped, "I don't believe it. How old are you?"
"Eight." Elle answered proudly, grinning and shifting back and forth, unable to keep still.
"When I was eight, I was tiny. You must eat all of your fruits and vegetables."
"Yeah. I like strawberries. What do you like?"
"Raspberries are my favorite."
"What about you?" Elle pointed at him, "What do you like?"
Chat resisted the all powerful urge to say 'chocolate ice cream', settling for a different favorite that wouldn't get the mother glaring at him, "Salad, with lots of carrots."
Elle scrunched her nose just the tiniest bit, "That's why your tall." She flopped onto the back of the cushioned bench, eyeing them both curiously, "Are you gonna get married?"
Chat Noir choked on air.
"Honey . . ." The mom said, making an apologetic face to the heroes.
"You kiss her hand." Her finger was pointed square at his chest again, completely ignoring that his face probably looked like a tomato, "That's what the princes do. Are you gonna sing? Are you gonna live happily ever after?"
Chat couldn't bring himself to even look Ladybug's way.
But she had it, she never fumbled in this sort of situation, "Probably no singing. And maybe no marrying." She admitted, touching the girl's soft blond hair, "But yes, we're always going to be happy. Best friends for life. Hey, and who knows, with how tall you are . . ." She leaned close and whispered something he couldn't hear, making the kid burst into giggles.
"Hey Elle darling, we have to go home now, you have school tomorrow." She took her daughter's hand and picked up her bag.
"Awwww." Elle replied, waving goodbye anyway.
"Thank you." The mother said, curling short blond hair behind her ear, "This means so much to her."
"No problem." Chat assured the woman, smiling.
"It was our pleasure." Lady added, "Bye Elle."
Elle waved some more and began talking nonstop to her mother as they walked away.
They were alone in the children's section now, since it was almost nine and the library would be closing soon. The second the two blondes were out of sight, Ladybug yanked him up by the arm, pulling him gleefully to the computers, "I have an idea." She stated, squeezing them both into one extremely small chair and moving the mouse to wake up the screen.
"Uh, what would that be?"
"Do you use social media?"
That felt like a loaded question. Technically, yeah. He had accounts in his name that he occasionally was allowed to post on himself but it was mostly run by someone in his father's office.
"Only sometimes." He admitted.
She was clicking and typing things so extremely fast, he couldn't even watch what she was doing, "A handsome cat like yourself? What a shame." She teased.
"Umm. . ." He was too confused to reply.
Grabbing the small notepad and pen from nearby, she scribbled something down, ripped the page off and then handed it over proudly, "Completely untraceable."
The boy looked down at the pale yellow stationary with a loopy cursive that was surprisingly easy for him to read. @bugab000
"Two zeroes was already taken." She said.
"What?" Then again, "What?"
"It's a way for us to talk without being transformed . . . Is that okay?" Now she looked sheepish and somewhat embarrassed which was kind of ironic since they were two friends who were maybe in love and also maybe getting married as of about sixty seconds ago.
"No! I mean yes! Like a lot of yes. I mean, you know what I mean. Just . . . I'd hate to figure out who you are if you don't want me to."
She smiled and shook her head resolutely, "Impossible. I created a whole new email just for this."
Chat felt like he was going to melt and Plagg would never let him live that down, "My Lady, you didn't have to do this."
But Ladybug laughed a little, squeezing his shoulder, "We never get to talk, it's lame. We should've done this years ago. And, if your dad does make you move out and you have any kind of problem, you can always ask for my help and we can figure something out. Alright?"
Screw it. He was already melted at this point, "O-Okay."
She set her head on his shoulder, holding him gently, "Now let me show you how to set up your account."
OOO
He didn't text her until he got home, flopping down on his bed and staring at her user name.
(21:35 pm)
all3y_cat: Goodnight
(21:36 pm)
bugab000: gnight xx
(21:40 pm)
bugab000: [one image]
It was a screenshot of a webpage showing how to make an omelet.
Adrien laughed out loud.