No spoilers for Season 2 here, just awkward father and son bonding.

Enjoy!


Opposition

There were a lot of things in life that took Adrien Agreste by surprise: becoming a superhero, a slippery patch of ice, or just how much cheese one kwami could eat, to name a few.

Even though he'd experienced such a wide array of surprises already, he was still sorely unprepared for a few very recent developments.

The previous weekend was full of earth-shattering revelations, and Adrien felt like his life had been a perfect maelstrom ever since.

After he'd had a bit of time to process it, (five full minutes, in fact) Adrien decided that he was thrilled to pieces to find out that Marinette Dupain-Cheng was Ladybug.

That was fantastic, and he truly wanted to be excited.

Unfortunately, the other revelation of that weekend hung over his head like a dark storm cloud: rumbling with thunder, but not quite pouring down yet.

The blond boy watched the buildings rush by outside the car window, wondering if it would really be so bad to jump out. He could tuck and roll; it would probably be fine even without his protective suit.

"Sit up straight, Adrien. Your posture is horrendous," Gabriel Agreste commanded from the seat beside his son.

Adrien slowly turned to face him, eyes narrowed in silent opposition. Blazing green met icy blue, and the air between them was supercharged with tension.

Adrien very deliberately slouched a bit more, and Gabriel scoffed.

"There is no need to be childish, Adrien," he admonished with a critical quirk of his brow.

"Or what? You'll take my Miraculous?" Adrien challenged, arms crossed over his chest as he stared his father down.

Gabriel sighed and rubbed his temples, "We are not discussing this. We have a fashion show to focus on."

"Why do I have to be there? I'm sure Étienne would be more than happy to fill in for me," Adrien remarked.

"Now you're being ridiculous. There wouldn't be enough time to make the alterations before the show," the fashion designer replied matter-of-factly.

The black cat kwami poked his head out and gave his holder's chest an almost sympathetic pat. Half-hearted though it seemed, the gesture seemed to chip away at Adrien's anger.

The boy's hard expression melted away into a soft frown as he turned back to the window, and they both lapsed into silence. The hum of the engine filled the empty space.

The blond boy stole a glance at his father, who refused to return his gaze, and shook his head.

"I'm so hungry," Plagg whined from his place in Adrien's pocket.

The boy chuckled and rubbed the kwami's head with his index finger, "You're always hungry."

Plagg sniffed, "That's not true. Sometimes I'm starving."

"I've got some Camembert stashed in my bag. You can have it when we get there," Adrien offered with a grin.

Plagg scoffed, "Maybe I'll survive until then."

Gabriel gave the kwami a judgmental look, "Aren't you quite the melodramatic one?"

The black cat kwami fixed the man with a scathing glare, "The kid can tease me all he wants, but you better watch your mouth."

The man blinked in surprise at Plagg's unexpected rebuttal, and Adrien smothered a laugh at his father's expense. Gabriel watched the mischief dance behind his son's eyes; mirrored perfectly by the mischief in the cat kwami's.

"I've always wondered why Adrien was chosen to be the holder of the Black Cat Miraculous. He seemed too soft to become the embodiment of destruction, but it appears I was mistaken in that assumption," Gabriel admitted.

Adrien's eyebrow quirked up as he regarded his father with intrigue, and he silently waited to see where the conversation was going. When Adrien didn't react emotionally - as Gabriel no doubt expected him to - the fashion mogul cleared his throat in discomfort.

"That is to say, you are much more… resilient than I believed you were."

Adrien grinned at his father, the fire in his eyes calming for the first time since the revelations of the previous weekend.

"I guess that's pretty high praise coming from you," Adrien quipped, grin shifting into a haughty smirk that Gabriel recognized from Akuma battles. He narrowed his eyes at his son, and Plagg cackled before ducking back into the teen's pocket.

Adrien's smirk only grew more impish as he registered the disapproval in his father's gaze. The man sighed and removed his glasses so that he could massage his temples unhindered.

"So it was kinda ironic that you were hypnotized into acting like a butterfly that one time. I bet that really bugged you," Adrien remarked.

Gabriel began polishing his lenses as if he hadn't heard his son speak.

"I guess victory just wasn't in the cards for you," the boy continued.

The man took a deep breath and stared down at his eyeglasses intently.

"Though I guess the Gorilla wasn't monkeying around though," Adrien murmured in mock concentration.

Gabriel replaced his glasses on his nose and turned to his son, "I admit that Simon Says was a mistake. Much like your wordplay."

Adrien scoffed and rested a hand over his heart, "My puns are the cat's meow."

"No, they're catastrophic," Gabriel replied, not missing a beat.

Adrien blinked in blatant surprise, and his jaw dropped. Gabriel's eyes widened as he realized what he'd done.

"That was completely unintentional. As if I would ever stoop to such tacky humor," Gabriel remarked, sticking his nose up in the air.

Adrien snickered, "No, of course not."

"I wouldn't," Gabriel argued.

The blond boy tapped his chin thoughtfully, "Hawk Moth would though. I seem to remember a lot of insect related banter when I fought him last weekend."

Gabriel narrowed his eyes at the memory and rubbed his jaw, "Your right hook is exceptional, by the way. Where did you learn hand to hand combat?"

Adrien chuckled and shrugged, "I'm self taught."

Gabriel's eyebrows shot up, "That's very impressive. Perhaps you would like to spar sometime?"

Adrien's smile faltered, "Uh, that's… an interesting offer, but no thanks."

The fashion designer clucked his tongue disapprovingly, "And pass up the opportunity to learn my weaknesses? I thought you were smarter than that."

The blond boy shook his head, "No way I'm giving you an opportunity to learn mine."

Gabriel cracked a smile; "I'd be impressed if I weren't so irritated that you didn't fall for my trick."

Adrien chuckled, "I'm sure you are irritated."

The man glanced out the window and then checked the time, "We should be arriving on schedule. Good."

A few more minutes passed in silence, and Adrien noticed that his father was eyeing him.

He raised an eyebrow at him, "Yes?"

"I was just thinking about Ladybug. Your girlfriend is quite the spitfire," Gabriel remarked.

Adrien felt his cheeks flush, "She's amazing. She's not my girlfriend though."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow incredulously, "I find that hard to believe; she was quite protective of you. I was surprised that she went as far as she did to defend you and your Miraculous."

Adrien smiled and shook his head; "I would've done it for her too."

Gabriel's skeptical look deepened, "Yes, and you're very clearly smitten. It stands to reason that she is as well."

The boy sighed, "I don't know, Father. I think it's pretty unlikely."

The man shook his head and gave his son a knowing smile, "If she was willing to threaten that the Ladybug Miraculous would end up at the bottom of the ocean if I should take yours from you at home, I'd say your chances with her are favorable."

Adrien took a deep breath and stared forward at the road with a wistful smile, "I hope so."

"I do wonder about her identity. Perhaps I'll see a new face around the house soon," Gabriel prodded.

The model rolled his eyes, "She's not stupid, Father. And that same threat goes for my Miraculous if you ever do figure her out."

"Ugh. I hope that never happens. I hate water," Plagg remarked with a cross glare in Gabriel's direction.

The car pulled up to the curb outside the venue, and the driver walked around to open the door for them. Adrien hurried through the doors behind his father, taking advantage of the fact that everything had halted at his appearance.

Nathalie emerged from the crowd of Gabriel designers, models, and crew to update her boss on the status of the show thus far.

A tray of finger foods sat forgotten on a decorative table, and Adrien snuck over to it with the stealth of a cat. He popped a tart into his mouth and slipped Plagg quite a bit of fromage fort on a cracker.

He hummed in satisfaction when he'd eaten nearly everything on the tray, barring the Camembert laced cheese.

"Adrien."

The model stiffened as he met his father's gaze, realizing that he'd been caught.

"If you were hungry, you should have let your chef know an hour ago. You know it will alter the fit of your clothes if your stomach is swollen," Gabriel scolded as he approached and took a long look at the nearly empty food tray.

The blond boy's eyes narrowed in defiance as he stared his father down. Adrien didn't break eye contact as he grabbed the last tart from the tray.

"Don't-" Gabriel began, a warning in his voice.

The fire ignited in Adrien's emerald green eyes once again, and he promptly stuffed the entire tart in his mouth. Gabriel's eye twitched as he watched his son chew as rebelliously as humanly possible.

Adrien watched in satisfaction as his father turned on his heel and marched away, leaving a bewildered Nathalie glancing between the two of them. Adrien considered eating the cheese too, just to spite him, but ultimately decided that even that wasn't a good reason to try Camembert.

He slipped another cracker to the kwami before heading to his dressing room. Perhaps there was a bright side to all of this. After all, not everyone got to infuriate their arch nemesis on a daily basis.