Chapter Twenty-Seven: Snow Globe.

Adrien is stuck at the piano and Ladybug is determined to do something about it.

Friday 27th December 2019. 9 p.m. Gabriel headquarters, 1st arrondissement.

Adrien was beginning to think that his face would be frozen in this grimace of a fake smile if he had to keep it up any longer. At least when he had to smile for a photoshoot he could rest every so often.

Not now.

No, he was the star attraction at the annual Gabriel Christmas Party. As his father wasn't attending, like he didn't the year before and the year before that and the year before that, Adrien was representing the family name as well at the company to the employees, the board members, and the business partners that were there to see his father and not him. Nathalie helped as much as she could but it was one of those times when the Agreste name carried more weight than anything else.

As well as all the networking he was doing for his father, all the shaking hands and small talk, he was also providing part of the evening's entertainment. Gabriel had decided that it was a fine time to showcase one on Adrien's many talents and so he was one of three piano players there tonight playing light melodies to please the crowd. When he wasn't talking to the crowd that is.

He was getting sick of it.

Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, talk with the head of design, charm the newest board member, Debussy's Clair de Lune, shake hands and be photographed with the newest celebrity they were endorsing, tell a witty joke to a reporter, Chopin's Nocturne no.2, imply to the Mayor's representative that his father's political position will remain the same, try not to be seen sneaking canapes when the waiters passed by, Einaudi's Una Mattina, compliment the lead model of their men's line, dodge the newly hired model who was trying to ensnare him, Debussy's Rȇverie, compliment a young up and coming designer on their latest piece, speak with Jacques in acquisitions.

All while keeping that damned fake smile on his face.

It was an endlessly repeating cycle of small talk, handshakes, and music. He hated it. He hated it so much… but there was nothing he could do about it. Like it or not he was an Agreste, he knew fashion, he was the face of the company.

And he had another two hours of this to survive.

Adrien did his best to keep the smile in place as Albin, one of the other pianists, came up to him to inform him that it was his turn to play again. He excused himself from a conversation with… actually he had no idea who he was talking to. Some junior employee, barely high enough up the ladder to warrant an invitation to the party in his father's eyes, but he had no clue as to their position or department. He bit back a sigh as he took his seat and the piano and arrange his sheet music. Not that he needed it, his lessons had taught him all their pieces he was playing by heart, in fact the only piece he still needed the sheet music for was Flight of the Bumblebee but he had begged Nathalie not to put that on the billing tonight.

As he set his hands above the keys he couldn't help but let his gaze slip to the south window. When he caught a small but fast glint of red through the glass his smile suddenly didn't feel quite as fake, and by the time he finished playing Bach's Prelude No.1 it was definitely real. He'd seen that hint of colour twice before, and the third time was the charm as they say. On her third pass by he could clearly see her waiting for him

Ladybug was here.

As the final notes faded away and the crowd around him applauded politely Adrien looked over the crowd and deliberately caught Nathalie's eye and gave a slow and deliberate nod.

She gave no indication of having seen him. Instead she carried on her conversation for a moment before pausing and fumbling for her phone. She excused herself, pressed it to her ear, and hurried across the floor as quickly as she could while still managing to look graceful and demure in her elegant gown.

"Excuse me, Adrien. You have an important call from our people in China."

"Thank you, Nathalie. I'll take it in my office."

It was a prearranged signal that he and Nathalie used when he ended up playing many roles in one evening. He was never allowed to take a break if his father was actually here though. Gabriel Agreste wouldn't tolerate even a hint of weakness. But when he was absent, Nathalie usually allowed him to use the important phone call excuse to hide himself away and rest for up to half an hour. He'd argued for the right to take a break by pointing out his age, his relative inexperience when it came to the finer nuances of the business, and the fact that playing for any length of time usually left him with muscle cramps - all of which would give a bad impression to others.

Still, even if she only allowed him to rest to maintain his flawless image, it was still a rest.

He went straight to lift and hit the button for the second to last floor. When the doors slid shut he allowed the smile to fall from his face and sagged against the wall in relief. God he hated these parties.

He headed straight for his office as soon as the lift doors opened again. Adrien went straight to the hidden mini-fridge he kept there and took out two small wedges of camembert. One he left on the desk for later, the other he all but shoved down Plagg's throat in his haste to flee the building.

A quick transformation later and he raced out of the window and scaled the remaining distance to the roof.

Chat was treated to the heavenly sight of Ladybug standing there, a welcoming smile on her lips, and a bakery box and thermos in hand. She had barely opened her arms to him before he had crossed the roof to sweep her into his arms. Her soft giggle was the best music he had heard all night.

"You looked like you needed a break, kitten."

Yep. She was perfect. "God I love you!" Chat pulled back to kiss her, holding her close and basking in her warmth. He sighed, feeling the last of the tension leave his body, and was content to remain this way forever… until his nose caught the delicious scents from the bakery box and he reluctantly pulled away from his love.

Ladybug let him pull away and brought the box up, prying the lid open to show him the macaron assortment she had spent the morning baking with her parents. She'd made sure to choose all of his favourite flavours, even if it meant a little extra work for her since three of them weren't stocked by the bakery right now, but those extra steps were all worth it when she finally saw a genuine smile on his face for the first time that night.

When they facetimed that morning she could see how fake it was, and when they phoned at lunch she could hear the dull tone in his voice, and his texts to her got flatter as the day wore on. She knew she needed to do something. It wasn't much but it had done the trick to bring his real smile back.

When he shoved three macarons into his mouth at once she couldn't help but chuckle. "Has it really been that bad?"

Chat paused in the act of grabbing a fourth and scowled down at the floor. At the party, she realised. "I feel like my father's performing monkey that he likes to trot out for people to gawk at."

Ladybug winced. He must be having a really bad time down there if he was being so blunt about it. "Ouch."

Chat sighed and shrugged it off, eating his fourth and fifth macaron in one bite. "Don't worry about it. It just so happens to be the less glamorous part of the job. It's not just looking pretty and showing off clothes, its showing everything else off and making my father look good."

Ladybug found herself dealing with the now familiar urge to string Gabriel Agreste up on the top of the Eiffel Tower and leave him there. That or punch him. To cover it up and give herself a few moments to calm down she took the lid off the thermos and handed it to him. The hot chocolate she had put in there had probably cooled down quite a bit by now, because it had taken forever to get his attention by circling the building without letting anyone else notice, but it didn't stop him from drinking half of it in one go. He passed it back and she took a sip herself to help ward off the ever present chill. She hated seeing him so run down by all of this and said so.

"Well, while you are a very pretty kitty," she booped his nose and startled a laugh out of him. "Not to mention so unfairly talented - seriously? Flight of the bumblebee?"

He'd sent her a few of the piano recordings he had made of himself, the ones he played when he wanted to escape the house, and her jaw had actually dropped when she'd heard his pretty damn good attempt at such an insanely tricky piece. Holy heck was he talented!

"But you need to rest too. You need to look after yourself."

Chat smiled down at her and gestured to the thermos and the now empty macaron box. "I have you, Lovebug. You can look after me and pull me back when I can't do that for myself."

She knew he meant when his father wouldn't let him. Her heart broke for him even as the trust he had in her overwhelmed her.

Ladybug wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him down for a kiss. If no one else would show her amazing boyfriend how wonderful he was, or how much they treasured him, then she would do it herself. She promised herself there and then that her precious kitty would never feel this sad again.

He groaned against her mouth and dropped the empty box, arms entwining around her and holding her tightly. When she shivered from the chill of the night air his purr started up almost immediately and she gave a happy hum. Best kitty ever.

They hadn't been kissing for long before she felt something cool and wet against her cheek.

Worried that he was crying, that the strain of tonight had been too much, she pulled back to look at him. She didn't see the tears she had expected, instead there were tiny flakes of white trapped on his eyelashes and mask and falling all around them. It was snowing! Ladybug pulled back with a giggle and spread her arms wide, spinning among the tiny white snowflakes.

It had snowed, faintly, for a few days after the White Christmas akuma attack but it hadn't been strong enough to stick. This small flurry wasn't enough either, the flakes were melting almost before they touched the ground, but it was pretty and she was going to enjoy this one while she could.

She giggled again and tilted her head to the sky, closing her eyes and feeling the snowflakes land on her face. "I feel like I'm in a snow globe."

Chat chuckled and she peek at him through her lashes. His face looked so soft, so happy, so in love just watching her… if she asked him to join her then maybe that would help to banish the last traces of sadness from his face.

She held a gloved hand out to him. "Come and dance with me, mon coeur. We have a minuet for a dance, don't we?" Ladybug stopped and pretended to think. "Unless you'll get into treble if I keep you out? I don't want that; Nathalie is quite sharp at times." His lips were twitching as he fought a grin at her puns. "She could try and be more upbeat. So could the ensemble down there. They're very flat." Chat let out a snort at that one and her lips quirked up in a victorious grin. Got him. "That seems to have struck a chord with you."

That last one did it. Chat burst out laughing, leaning forwards and catching himself with his hands on his knees and wheezing as he tried to breathe and laugh at the same time. "You are pun-deniably purr-fection itself," he finally said, wiping at his eyes.

Ladybug stepped closer to him and cupped his face, carefully brushing a thumb across his cheeks to wipe away his tears of laughter. She leaned up to kiss his nose, then his cheeks, then his eyelids, before finally pressing her lips to his.

"Dance with me, mon coeur?"

"Always, my love."

They didn't bother with a waltz this time. They were content to just hold each other and sway. Chat hummed a few chords here and there but his purr often made them unintelligible but they didn't need any music to dance. All they needed was each other and these stolen moments in a snow globe before he had to return to the party downstairs.

Author's notes. Reminder, I have still not seen all of season 2 and none of season 3. Please check my author's profile for a list of the episodes I have seen.

Obviously I have never been to the sort of high-society gathering I am describing here (good riddance if its portrayal in media is to be believed) so I have no idea if my music choice is appropriate for such a setting. I just chose the songs I liked most that were nice and soft.

Replies to reviews.

calerose - I slept the sleep of the exhausted last night but it was worth it for the sproglet's laughter. Glad you like the notes about him, though tbh I only really mention him on here when his adventures interfere with posting a regular chapter. If you really like hearing about my sproglet, check out my Tumblr. He has a whole tag there!

yellow14 - luckily the day wasn't a let down. It's bounced right to the top of the list of places to go again - when I'm in better shape (yikes!). I hope that the headcanons I've come up with for Mrs. Agreste don't contrdict canon too much, but I will not back down on the Christmas one. Not after suffering through that singing special.

The One True Demon Lord - I'm probably going to stick with the "they can be seen if they want" and "it's magic" explanations for this. Thanks for the review.

Fire - I'm glad you liked it and gosh I must tell the hubby and the sproglet they have an internet following. The sproglet probably won't care unless there's a snack involved and the hubby will get embarrassed. I must do it haha. I'm glad you lieked the chapter and I hope the few remaining fluff chapters are as good.

Cals1686 - thanks for both of your reviews. I'm glad you liked the Christmas cheer and I can promise many more kisses to come.