It took a while and it was a bit of a mess but as Marinette looked around her room she smiled, for once not feeling totally lost or out of place. Her room was now pink and above her headboard she had used green and lilac to paint in a few flowers. There were still issues, like the room size and the lack of balcony to which she had grown accustom but she couldn't exactly fix any of that stuff so she refused to dwell on it. She quickly pulled out her phone and sent Alya a photo with the caption "getting there."
Marinette opened her window. If she wanted to know what was going on with this 'Neele Mor' she would need to know the city better. Have it memorized like the back of her hand.
"Tikki, spots on!" She felt that rush of adrenaline as she transformed, a mixture of courage and confidence. Just like that she was ready to face the world! "Okay Tikki, let's do this!" She went to climb out her window when her yoyo began to vibrate. She lifted to to her face. "...Chaton?!"
"Ladybug!" Chat's ears perked up at the sight of his spotted partner. "You're okay!"
"Of course I am you silly kitty." Seeing him caused a series of emotions, from uncontrollable joy to sorrow to regret. She was hit with the full spectrum, but most of all she simply missed her kitty.
"I was worried, wouldn't want my love bug catching sick." His nickname for her was responded with an eye roll. "LB, meet me at the tower tonight? Oh! I gotta go, I'll see you then m'lady!" Without giving her so much as a wave the two were disconnected.
"But Chaton…" Mari sighed and shook her head, knowing she wouldn't be able to show up. "No time for that now, we'd better go before-"
"Marinette, can you help me with dinner?" Sabine asked with a knock at the girl's door.
"U-uh sure maman! Un moment s'il vous plaît." Marinette closed her window. "Tikki, spots off. We'll explore the city another time." After de-transforming she let Tikki hide in her jacket and the two went to help Sabine."
"She's not coming, is she?" Chat Noir asked the air beside him. He had been finished with patrol and waiting for going on two hours now. He knew Plagg thought him pathetic and right now, he wasn't far from agreeing. He waiting ten more minutes, giving her one last chance, hoping to see some sign that she was near, but there was nothing. She never showed.
Back at Chez Agreste, Adrien slumped into a bean bag chair. He felt empty. He checked facebook from his phone just for something to do. As said he, Nino, Alya, and Mari were now all in a group chat. He wanted to talk to the girl but with that pesky time difference he didn't want to wake her.
"She painted." He commented to no one. Plagg was across the room falling into a cheese coma. It was strange. Looking at the selfie of Mari with her painted wall gave him a sense of deja vu. "It looks nice."
"Plagg, we're late!" Adrien ran about his room, throwing on his jacket, tossing his bag over his shoulder.
"You can't be late if you never show up kid. I say we play hooky!"
"You think we should play hooky everyday!"
"It's true. You know you are the only kid that actually likes going to school. I knew some kids would kill for a day off."
"Save it for the therapy session, come on!" Adrien raced out the door, running to the waiting limousine. He wasn't worried about Plagg falling behind, for being so lazy the cat had no problem keeping up.
When he walked into the classroom he learned that Nino was out sick. The emptiness from the night previous returned as he sat alone.
During break he tracked down Alya in the computer lab. It was in the moment he reminded himself, he wasn't pathetic, he was just concerned.
"All quiet on the ladyblog?" He would approach the subject with caution.
"Not even crickets!" The blogger threw back her head. "Ladybug is MIA! No sightings, no leads, no...ANYTHING!" Alya pressed refresh on her blog page. "There's absolutely nothing to report."
"Well, what about Chat Noir?" He was hesitant to bring his alter self up but he couldn't help it. Nothing? He was busting his butt to patrol by himself.
"He's still here, he's out almost every night." Then an idea clicked. "I wonder if he knows where Ladybug is." Adrien shrugged, not having any comment. He didn't want to crush the hope that Alya felt. He didn't want her to feel as empty as he did. "Didn't you say once upon a time that you had an in with the famous black cat?" Alya raised a brow to Adrien.
"It's not really an in, but I could probably get a message to him." The would be one of his first interviews without Lady.
"Would you? An interview with Chat Noir might just save my ratings this month! Okay, tell him this afternoon, at...where should we go...oh! The park! Next to the statue of him and Ladybug, it's perfect!" Adrien nodded, good thing his schedule was clear for today. Now he just had to think of what to say. This is what consumed his thoughts for the rest of the day.
