A/N: idk. i really think adrien and nino's friendship is underrated. i mean, nino got akumatized primarily because he was po-ed at gabriel and yea, i do think it looked like chat got knocked around more than he usually does this past ep. tbh i might be wrong and the pole thing might've just made me overestimate it, but whatev.

trigger warning for implied (incorrectly) assumed child abuse.

Adrien waits until the locker room is empty, keeping quiet and nondescript until the other boys disperse upon the ring of the bell and take their idle conversations with them.

He hesitates for a moment longer to be sure he is alone and then slowly, slowly shrugs his jacket off. Teeth in his lip, he proceeds to take the hem of his shirt and tentatively work it upward, biting back a hiss. Normally he can handle the few and slight bumps and bruises he gets being knocked around by akumatized foes. Heck, his stamina is insane when he's transformed and even those are rare. The power boost makes him nearly invincible.

Nearly.

The Guitar Villain had been particularly rough in his attacks. Chat Noir had been whipped around relentlessly and some of that was probably his own fault for depending on the power boost to be a cushion, loosening up on the defense to be all bravado in the offense department. Not that Adrien didn't take his duties seriously, but he sure as heck must have messed up somewhere because right now he can't even breathe without pain.

It's bad. Not hospital bad, but bad enough. His back aches and though he hasn't had time to really get a good look at it, the flesh he'd glimpsed with a quick overview in the mirror had been eggplant-purple. His chest gives him an expectation for further evaluation, calico splashes of cloudy red and violet wrapped around his rib cage like an ugly fist.

Luckily he doesn't have any summer shoots to pose for.

Swallowing, Adrien tenses and pulls his shirt the rest of the way off, pain igniting like a firecracker and then ebbing away as he lowers his arms to his sides. He doesn't even have time to pull the pain relief patches out of the bag when the locker room door swings open and Nino trots over the threshold.

They gasp in unison and Adrien's torso does not appreciate this, a sharp stab stretching on as his friend's jaw drops and the door noisily swings back into place.

"Adrien!"

"What are you doing here?" Adrien scrambles, snatching his jacket with a grimace and hastily covering himself even though it's already too late.

"I forgot my phone, Adrien...what the hell?" Nino reaches out then back again, gaping like a hungry baby bird as he stumbles over himself across the gap that separates them.

Adrien swallows, racing for an explanation.

"Did your dad do that?" Nino chokes, shock and the beginning of anger coloring his tone. He shakily grips Adrien's shoulders, eyes very wide.

"No! Nino, it's not—"

"Was it Nathalie?"

At that Adrien squawks a shrill laugh that hurts so much he drops his jacket. Nino's alarm visibly skyrockets.

"No, no, Nino, stop freaking out. I'm okay. No one did anything, okay? I...I fell," Adrien settles on lamely.

"You fell?" Nino repeats in disbelief.

"Yeah, I fell...um, over the railing," Adrien decides. "At my house, I was um...I was looking at some weird beetle on the floor and I leaned over too far. I fell."

Nino lets go of his shoulders, brow crinkling deeply. "You fell. Over the railing."

Oh man, that sounds so bad. But it's the best he's got. He can't exactly tell him he's Chat Noir.

"Yup. Erm, the railing going downstairs. Not the one upstairs. "

Nino heaves a sigh, long and stressed. "Okay. So you fell..."

"Yeah. And it's not even that bad. Really, it's nothing. You should go back to class." Adrien puts on an awkward smile. He bends over to pick the jacket up and immediately realizes it's a bad idea. He moves too fast, absolutely jarring his tender back. He can't close his teeth around his grunt of pain fast enough.

"Doesn't sound like nothing." Nino helps him sit down on the bench without his permission and studies the hideous bruising with worry. "Really doesn't look like nothing either. Maybe you should go home. Or at least get some ice from the nurse."

"Nah." Adrien shakes his head. "I have some patches. You kinda, uh, caught me in the middle of putting them on."

"Oh." Nino rubs at the back of his neck. "Sorry."

Adrien shakes his head and reaches for his backpack, mindful of movements. He unzips the right pouch and slips them out, far too aware of his friend's eyes still glued to his skin. The atmosphere is heavy and overstuffed with awkwardness. He can't be mad at him though. He knows Nino's just worried.

"You should go back to class before you get in trouble," Adrien reminds him. "I'll catch up with you as soon as I'm done doing this."

"Do you want help?" Nino meets his eye, his mouth cemented in that unusually troubled line.

Adrien's first instinct is refusal, the no is all ready to leap from his tongue with a thanks anyway on its trail. Then he pauses and exhales another breath that tiredly throbs its way up his sternum and down each rib.

"Yeah," he admits. "It's kinda hard for me to reach the spot on my back."

"Thought so." Nino nods and takes one of the patches, tearing open the package. He presses his hand to the base of his friend's bruising and skims upward as gently as possibly until Adrien stiffens.

"There?"

"Yeah, right there," Adrien affirms and begins opening the second patch.

Nino peels the backing off the adhesive and applies the patch. Soothing hints of warmth immediately seep into his skin and offer comfort. Adrien sighs in relief and smooths the other patch around his sides. More heat settles in and quiets the hurt.

"Thanks."

Nino looks him over again, shoulders rigid with apprehension. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Adrien nods and gives him an earnest smile, offering a weary fist. This is the truth that hopefully makes up for all the other lies. He's okay. Better than okay, even. He's a hero, it's what he does.

Nino hesitates one more skeptic moment before returning the smile and then the gesture, agreeably bumping knuckles.