"Oh, c'mon, I'm not so bad," he laughs, and his iridescent eyes glitter, the green and violet swirling through his irises.
She's captivated and horrified at once. "You've been attacking Paris. You… you hurt people! You're awful!"
"That stings, my Lady," he feigns hurt. He takes a step closer. "Won't you at least give me a chance?"
His hair is so golden in the sun, and the wings of his costume flutter slightly, pale lavender with deep indigo markings, and he traces a silken-gloved hand over her cheek, his lips lowering fast…
…
BEEP! BEEP!
Marinette jolts up, shaking, with flaming cheeks. "What the hell?" she mutters. "Stupid fairy boy…"
"Again?" Tikki frowns. "This is getting bad, Marinette."
"I know… He's pretty. You can't deny it," she tries to defend herself.
Tikki gives her a long look. "Prettier than Adrien?"
"No!" She goes bright red. "No, nobody's prettier than Adrien. But… he's kinda close."
The red kwami crosses her arms. "You're having fantasies about your worst enemy."
"No! It's not… It's not that kind of dream! Oh my god, stop."
"Just don't try to kiss him in the next fight, and we should be okay."
"TIKKI!"
"By the way," the kwami continues. "Your friend Alya's blog dedicated to you just updated."
"Her… wait, what?"
Tikki grins.
Marinette dashes to the computer.
…
Adrien Agreste closes down the window, and turns off his computer.
"Something wrong?" Nuru asks.
"I just realized something."
"Uh-huh. And that is?"
"I do not want to know who I've been fighting."
Nuru looks confused. "It would make your evil plan a lot easier."
"It would… but it would also make them real. People that I'm attacking, on purpose, and trying to steal from. I don't want to know. Talking to Ladybug the other day… it wasn't a good feeling," he explains, looking down. "If she really is a high school student, then… well, I don't want to know."
Nuru rolls his eyes. "Um, they are real people that you are hurting, though. And have you seen Ladybug? Noir isn't the youngest, but Ladybug is probably even younger than you are."
"You… you know I don't like this. I can't stop. I have to save her."
"I'm aware of your logic. I don't agree with it, that's all."
There's a knock on the door.
"Hide!" Adrien hisses, and Nuru jumps into his jacket.
Gabriel Agreste seems a bit distracted, but very much annoyed. "Adrien, we're going to the museum."
"… We are?"
Adrien is almost certain he hears his father mutter about "stupid cryptic cats," but that doesn't sound like Gabriel.
Then again, neither does taking a day off to take his son to the museum.
Adrien runs a comb through his (already perfect) hair, grabs his bag with a butterfly, just in case, and gets into the limo.
"So. It's good to see you, Adrien," Gabriel says, awkwardly. "How's school?"
"Great! I love it! Thank you so much for letting me go, Father!" Adrien grins, excitedly.
"You like it that much?" Gabriel raises an eyebrow.
Adrien shrugs. "Well, yeah! I've made friends, Father, and it's just… you have no idea. It's so huge, and open, and I just feel great there!"
"I see." Gabriel has to smile at his son's face. "You know, most kids hate it."
"I am not 'most kids,' Father."
They pull up to the museum, and… why is Adrien staring out the window with that look on his face? Gabriel follows his gaze to land on…
Oh. It's the nice young lady from the photo shoot the other day. And Adrien is staring at her like she hung the moon.
"That girl… Marinette, correct?"
"Yes, Father…" Adrien doesn't pull his gaze away.
"You're in love with her?"
"Yes, Father… I mean!" Adrien snaps out of his trance. "No! I am definitely not in love with her, whoever you were talking to is lying!"
Gabriel's laughing before the sentence is halfway out of Adrien's mouth. "With the way you were looking, I didn't have to talk to anyone."
It's how I looked at Bridgette, is what he doesn't say…
…
"What's with you, Noir?" the blonde girl glares. "Quit staring, you see me literally every other day."
"It's the world's best view, my Queen," he laughs, and offers a red rose.
She turns away. "Ugh. Quit it already…"
Gabriel sighs. "Are you ever going to stop hating me?"
She glances over her shoulder. "Who says I hate you? I hate your flirting, not you. I couldn't do this without you, you know." She says it like it's the most obvious thing in the world, and he's an idiot if she has to explain it, but Gabriel is stunned.
"You mean that?"
"Duh, Noir. C'mon, we're partners, idiot… but if you ever bring this up, I'm going to actually throw your ass off the Eiffel tower. Understand, stray?"
He's grinning, and she looks beautiful as she smirks up at him. "Understood, my Queen."
"Oh… shut it." This time, though, he can see the pink tinting her cheeks.
…
"Father? Father?"
Gabriel snaps out of his reverie. "Sorry. Just, seeing you falling for that girl made me think of how that felt…"
The smile slips off Adrien's face. "Right. Can we go in now?"
Gabriel nods. "Of course."
…
Marinette is looking at ancient parchment when Adrien comes in with his father. Seeing Adrien's smile in her direction shakes any lingering thoughts of Papillon's eyes from her mind. "Hey, Adrien! Fancy seeing you here!"
"Yeah, it's great to see you, um, are you here for the ancient Egypt exhibition?"
"Yeah! And you?"
"Um…" he glances at his father. "I actually don't know?"
Gabriel frowns. "Um, the Egypt exhibition as well. I think. Yes, that sounds about right."
Marinette grins, and…
Is shoved headfirst into Adrien's arms by a running student, who trips, dropping something that he instantly jumps on.
"Hey!" Adrien glares at the student. "You need to watch where you're going!"
"I'm on the verge of something big, I don't have time for you tiny-minds," he says.
Alya gives him a bitter look. "Ugh. Some people…"
Adrien helps Marinette to her feet. "You alright?"
"I'm fine."
To himself, Adrien thinks that he's definitely found someone who deserves to be akumatized….
