Nino's smile is a little too mischievous for Adrien's liking.
"What?" Adrien asks.
"I saw that." Nino's smile widens. "You were pretty chummy with Marinette just now. Waiting for her with Coffee and everything. You don't even do that for me."
"You've never asked."
"Are you saying Marinette did?"
"Well no but," Adrien sighs, "Look, I'm not sure how much I can say but Mari's been having a tough time lately."
"Yeah, I know. Don't give me that look man, Alya and I aren't blind. It's been obvious that something is going on with Mari. And that she's not ready to talk about it."
Obvious, but Adrien hadn't seen it before last night. "...I didn't know."
"Understandable, considering you've been dealing with your own stuff too." Nino squeezes Adrien's shoulder. "Alya's been pretty focused on Marinette, so I don't think she's figured it out but I know you."
Adrien wants to deny it, but the words stick in his throat. He'd tried so hard to keep it all a secret, but Nino doesn't deserve such a blatant lie told to his face. He's Adrien's best friend, even Adrien hasn't been acting like it.
"Don't start feeling guilty." Nino snaps him out of his barrage of self-deprecating thoughts. "I'm not upset that you didn't talk to me about whatever is going on. I think it's great that you're talking to Marinette."
"Well….it's Marinette who's doing the taking."
"Of course she is. You need to stop acting like you're feelings aren't important, man."
"I know…it's just easier to focus on Marinette right now." Adrien mutters to his coffee.
Gabriel looks up at the sound of a dull 'thump'.
Adrien had dozed off on the couch of the study and his textbook had fallen to the floor. Gabriel suspects Adrien hasn't been getting much sleep. He knows for a fact that Adrien has been studying more vigorously than strictly necessary based off all the hours he spends silently working in the office or study when Gabriel is working from home. Adrien isn't fairing well with the loss of Plagg.
"I can't imagine going a day without Duusu. They've been with me for more than half my life, losing them would be like losing a sibling. It would break my heart."
"Perhaps it's time I gave him a piece of my mind. For Adrien's sake."
"Sir?" Nathalie stops Gabriel in the hallway.
"Nathalie, get a blanket for Adrien please. And make sure he isn't disturbed."
Nathalie's eyes flicker to Adrien's sleeping form. "Sir, may I speak freely?"
Gabriel nods, intrigued by the rare request. "You may."
"Adrien hasn't been doing well. I have not seen him this way since he lost his mother."
"Adrien lost a dear friend and is coping the best he can." Gabriel states. "I'm doing what I can for him. You're continued support is more than enough Nathalie. I'm afraid that is all either of us can really do."
"Yes, of course."
"Should Adrien wake before I return, tell him that something I couldn't handle from home came up and that I will be back as soon as I can."
"He will be pleased if can make it back in time for dinner." Nathalie adds.
"I will be back long before then. This is a short errand."
What's that saying?
Denial isn't just a river in Egypt.
Marinette stalks the Ladyblog for days. Hoping, praying for a Chat Noir sighting. If he still has his Miraculous, then maybe they'd be able to figure out what happened to hers. She's be able to see Tikki again.
In the end, Sabine finds Marinette crying on her bedroom floor. Sabine rushes to her, dropping to her knees to pull Marinette into her arms. Words of comfort are about to pass her lips when Sabine spots the crinkled paper Marinette had dropped. It holds two sentences, ten words. How long had it been sitting in Marinette's room, waiting to break her heart?
"Tom!" Sabine shouts for her husband, knowing she can't do this alone.
Sabine descends the stairs, feeling more useless than ever. This is a path Tom and Sabine can't walk with Marinette; she'd accepted that the day Marinette's earrings disappeared. But it doesn't make it any easier to watch her daughter fall apart right before her eyes.
"Chat Noir, where are you?"
"Mr. Agreste, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Drop the pleasantries, Fu." Gabriel scowls. "I don't care to play games today."
"You are upset." Master Fu's comments, "Much like you were when you found out that I gave your son the cat Miraculous."
"I promise you, that was nothing compared to now. What you did was cruel."
"The Miraculous are returned when they're duty is done. That is how things have always been done."
"Tradition is not always best." Gabriel snaps. "You hurt Adrien and I'm willing to bet Ladybug is in just as much pain."
"Ironic, coming from you."
"My failings as a parent may have done Adrien harm, but unlike you I was never willing to go so far as to take away Plagg. You know very well how attached the users become to their kwami. You should have at least let them say good-bye. Adrien deserved that much."
"What's done is done Gabriel. You will not make me feel remorseful. Ladybug and Chat Noir will come to understand one day."
Shooting him one last glare, Gabriel turns to leave.
"Oh, Gabriel? Has there been any new on the Peafowl Miraculous? I would like to see that returned to the safety of the box."
"It, like most of my wife's belongings, was lost when she disappeared."
"I know you have not given up on finding her. You will be sure to return it to me should it appear, yes?" Master Fu asks.
"Of course, I wouldn't want to make the same mistake as you. We don't need another Papillon incident on our hands, now do we?" Gabriel smirks as the shop's door closes behind him, knowing he struck a nerve.
He had not been entirely honest with Fu, but Gabriel doesn't owe him it. Not after what happened to Alice, and what he did to Adrien.
No, Gabriel will let Fu sit in his worry for a while yet. They still need to talk with Adrien after all.