It had taken close to a week, but Adrien had finally found a free evening in his father's schedule, quickly asking Nathalie to schedule dinner with Adrien in the free spot a week and a half from then. With a raised eyebrow, she filled in the slot, shooting an email to her boss to inform him of the new event in his schedule.
The day before, he'd been fine. He'd had lunch with Nino, where the DJ poked fun of the way he'd look at a certain redheaded artist whenever he got the chance. The day of however, he was a nervous wreck. He had tried to work on his homework, but he couldn't stop bouncing his leg and he was too nervous to focus, so he tried to move onto rock climbing, hoping it would keep his hands busy and let him focus. That of course was a fail . He was lucky to have gained a few cat like mannerisms from Plagg, otherwise he would be an Adrien pancake.
When Nathalie came to get him for the dinner, he was remaking his bed for the twelfth time in four minutes, jumping with a yelp when she knocked on the door. With one hand over his heart, he walked to the door, pulling it open and nodding at Nathalie when she informed him that his father would be down in the dining room in a few minutes. Once she was gone, he shut the door, taking a deep breath and steeling himself for the conversation ahead, grabbing the printouts he had found to explain pansexuality and folding them into his pocket.
Once in the dining room, he took his seat, pushing his chair in as his father walked in mere seconds afterwards. He swallowed nervously as the man took his seat and nodded at Adrien.
"Adrien," the man spoke, startling the boy enough for his fork to clatter against his plate, "Nathalie informed me that you had something of importance to inform me of?"
Alright, jumping right into things. Adrien could do that. He was Chat Noir for cat's sake. If he couldn't handle coming out to his father, could he really be trusted as a hero of Paris?
Taking a deep breath and reaching into his pocket to pull out the papers and set them beside his plate in case he needed them.
"Yes, I wanted to tell you that I've done some research and I've decided to come out as pansexual." He said, wincing mentally as he awaited the man's reaction.
Surprisingly, his father simply paused for a moment, a wry smile passing over his face for a moment before he gave a small shake of the head and returned to his food.
"I see. Is there anything else you'd like to let me know about?"
Adrien floundered for a moment, mouth open as he tried to think of how to respond. He couldn't tell if his father's reaction was positive or not, and he wanted to be sure. Before he could think of something to say, his father looked up and upon seeing the confusion on his son's face, he set his utensils aside.
"I'm sorry. I suppose this appears to be an insensitive and uncaring reaction. It's simply that…" The man paused, looking over at the portrait of his mother hanging on the wall nearby, "You take after her more and more every day."
Adrien paused, raising an eyebrow as his eyes darted between the family portrait and his father, the puzzle pieces finally clicking as his eyes widened.
"You mean, mom was?"
"Pansexual as well? Yes. She told me after our first date, telling me that she wanted it in the open so we could end the relationship if I worried about her wandering." Gabriel responded, eyes soft as he continued to gaze upon his wife's face, "I'm glad you were willing to trust me with this."
Adrien fidgeted in his seat, cheeks reddening as he looked down at his plate. He'd been ready for an argument or his father telling him he was simply confused, but knowing his mother had identified as pansexual like him flooded his chest with warmth. While he missed her now, and he did think of her everyday, this small bit of information made her disappearance just a little easier to bear, so with one last glance at the portrait, he continued to eat, simple conversation flowing between the two men as they both felt as if the hole in hearts where Mrs. Agreste resided was made just slightly easier to live with.
