Delicate, Chapter 21
For some odd reason, the Kwamis were in agreement that the remainder of the evening in Marinette's apartment may have been the cuddliest night that any of them had ever witnessed.
When morning arrived, Marinette's alarm went off at her customary hour. She rolled over slightly and flung an arm across to silence it, then returned to her original position nestled in Adrien's arms. Sleepy eyes gazed at sleepy eyes, and slow kissing was next on the agenda.
"Mmmmm," Marinette murmured, trying not to lose herself in the moment. "I don't want to end this..."
"Then don't," Adrien declared, squeezing her a little bit tighter and letting a hand roam up and down her back.
And, for another minute or two, she didn't.
"...Ssssssssssso tempting," breathed Marinette, "but I do have to go to work today, and I'll need to get ready."
"No. Stay here with me," Adrien pleaded. "I promise that I'll make it worth your while."
"You absolutely would," she grinned. "I can... feel how sure you are of that. Or at least my thigh can."
Adrien let his hand slide down further. "I'm not the only one who feels sure," he smiled, as his fingers produced a mild gasp.
"But, Adrien..." moaned Marinette, squirming but not trying very hard at all to get out of his reach. "My job isn't much... but I'm supposed to be a professional, right? Neither rain nor snow nor dead of night are supposed to stop me from designing shirts for children and mom jeans. I don't want to be late."
"I think that you'd have a very good excuse. Don't you think so?" Adrien noted, gauging how far to go by her reactions. He was perfectly willing to stop if necessary, but so far it seemed as if she might be persuadable. "'I can't come in right now. Adrien Agreste is in my bed and he won't let me leave for work until he makes love to me again,'" he mimicked her saying.
"Amy would understand. And she'd want pictures," Marinette giggled. "But I still shouldn't... though you're... making it very hard to resist."
"And," continued Adrien, his fingers remaining busy, "you got caught up in a wave of sensual bliss that engulfed half of Paris. You couldn't help yourself. You couldn't control yourself."
"We... were... kind of talking about that yesterday," gasped Marinette, struggling to retain her train of thought. "Not the wave of bliss! We had... no idea that was... going to happen."
"Obviously."
"But how last night was going to be... special... and how sure they were that I'd call out sick today... because of that." Marinette locked eyes with Adrien as he continued stimulating her. "You are so good at that," she moaned. "I'm starting to get close already, damn it."
"Finish your thought... before I finish you," Adrien smiled, wickedly.
"So if I don't... come in to work on time... the looks that they'll give me all week!"
A *Bloop!* from Marinette's phone distracted them both. Quickly, she whirled around and grabbed at it. "That's the group chat from work," she explained, desperately. "Let me see what they're... sending..."
She read the messages silently, laughed aloud, then pointed the phone in Adrien's direction.
[Amy] Hey, everybody. I'm going to be a little late getting in today. Some... personal business.
[Gail] Actually... me, too. I was hoping you or Marinette could tell Thomas that I would be unavoidably delayed for a bit.
[Amy] Ah. Well... maybe Marinette can...
[Gail] "Personal business?"
[Amy] Jacques is a person. He's... conducting some business right now.
[Gail] Hah!
[Gail] Looks like we're both businesswomen today, then.
[Amy] Oh?
[Amy] You don't usually tell me about that!
[Gail] You felt those waves last night, didn't you? Peter and I certainly did.
[Amy] All the way down to my toes. As did Jacques.
[Gail] Say no more, then, right?
[Amy] Oh, my... Marinette's apartment is pretty close to where they think the center of it was!
[Amy] Can you imagine...?
[Gail] Marinette, honey, when you read this... send us a message if we need to send over paramedics or energy drinks.
[Amy] Or a film crew.
[Gail] Or that, if you're daring enough!
Adrien laughed, as well... then turned back to Marinette, who had a sudden sparkle in her eyes.
"It looks like they're..." he managed, before Marinette pulled him down on top of her.
"If you don't make me scream now, you're in big trouble," she purred, hungrily. "Come and get it."
"Oh, no," he declared, with mock indignation. "You need to get ready for work! You told me so."
Her arms wrapped around him tightly; her legs locked just as securely around his waist, as if she was suddenly the world's most absurdly attractive barnacle. "Think again," she grinned. "If they're both coming in late because of morning sex, we're not missing out. You want this as much as I do, so..."
He rocked his hips in a teasing manner, stopping just short of where Marinette needed him most. She felt him make only the slightest contact and grunted with frustration and need.
"Come onnnnnn!" she begged. "Adrien, please!"
"Do you know what one advantage is of having a tiny girlfriend?" he asked her.
"No, what?"
"Hold on tight!"
She did as he asked... and looked surprised when Adrien lifted himself off the bed into a standing position, Marinette still clinging to him tightly, his hands sliding underneath her to support her slight weight.
"Oh!" Marinette exclaimed, feeling him lowering her very slowly. "This is differ-ahhhhhhh!"
"I... can't do this for very long," Adrien grunted, helping her glide up and down in the tiniest of motions. Gravity helped ensure that each descent was as far as she could possibly go.
He felt Marinette shudder against him. "You won't need to," she gasped, closing her eyes tightly.
A small voice was heard from the hallway, not long after. "Are you all right in there?" it called out.
"Yeah," Adrien called back. "Just carrying Marinette to the shower, so she can get ready for work."
"Carrying?"
A tiny red blur came flying into the room. "Is she okay? Is she hurt?" Tikki worried. "Do you need me to..."
Adrien glanced her way with a silent smile.
Hovering, Tikki took in the scene - the lovemaking having resumed yet again, a quivering Marinette being held aloft in that position, the intensity of the moment - and could do nothing but stare, slack-jawed.
"I... I didn't mean to..." Tikki managed, softly. "I don't know what to say."
"You're f-fine, Tikki," Marinette answered, her eyes slowly opening. "You just wanted to help. Nothing to get upset over."
"Still..." Tikki faltered. "I'm... uh... I'll just go."
Adrien watched Tikki flutter back out the way she came, while helping Marinette down to a sturdier standing position. "That seemed a little off, didn't it?" he asked.
"Y-yeah," managed Marinette. "No teasing, no witty remarks. More like she was... embarrassed?"
"Or something was bothering her about it, and she didn't want to say it," said Adrien. "I wonder what it is?"
Marinette stared at the door, briefly. "I'll talk with her later," she decided. "Something's definitely on her mind."
She took Adrien's hand and guided him towards the bathroom. "But, first..." she declared, "c'mere. We need that shower, and you need something else first."
"It doesn't have to be right now..." Adrien offered.
"Oh, I think it does," Marinette smiled. "You just made me shudder! Now it's your turn. You didn't imagine that I'd ever want to leave you hanging, did you?"
As the bathroom door closed behind them, Adrien replied, "I... don't think that I'll turn that down."
"I didn't think so."
Not too long after, Adrien sat on a chair in the bedroom, letting Marinette have her turn at the mirror as she prepared for her workday.
She turned and saw him watching her, quite avidly. "What?" she grinned, pausing and turning in his direction.
"Just admiring someone beautiful," he purred.
"At least wait 'til I get my makeup finished," countered Marinette, turning back to the mirror and lightly dabbing at her face with a brush. "And I know what line comes next; 'Oh, you're so beautiful that you don't need makeup.'"
"Honestly? I wasn't going there," Adrien declared. Even if it is true. "A life in the fashion industry's taught me a few things. One of them is that 'You look so good without makeup' often means 'You're very good at making your makeup look natural, like there isn't any there.'"
"They have trained you well," Marinette smiled.
"I mean," said Adrien, standing up and walking towards her, "I could argue that I've seen you first thing in the morning, before you've put anything on your face. When you're sound asleep, with your mouth hanging open just a little..."
"Careful," Marinette warned him, still smiling.
"The tiniest little snoring noises coming out of your-"
"All right," declared Marinette, whirling towards him again. "I do not snore!"
"How do you know?" countered Adrien. "You're asleep when it happens."
That made her pause for a moment. "Tikki would have told me," she offered, sounding a little less convinced than before.
"And I've seen you in the shower, bare-faced and perfectly radiant. And I've seen you punching evil in the face a hundred times, sweaty, exhausted and angry and still the most beautiful girl I've ever seen," Adrien continued. "I hardly think that when Ladybug prepares to go into action, she stops and applies some foundation and eyeliner first."
That earned him a kiss. "You're sweet," Marinette told him, blushing a little. "But you know that."
"I just tell the truth," grinned Adrien.
"Okay..." Marinette continued, finishing up her preparations quickly. "I'll be home around four... are you staying here today, or heading home?" she asked.
"I'll be heading out, I think," Adrien replied. "I have an... errand to run."
"That's fine. I just wanted to know if I'd be making dinner for one or for two," said Marinette, focused on the mirror once more. "Gail wanted to know if you'd be joining us tonight at her place."
"Sure. I'd like that."
"I usually go over around seven. You can be done what you're doing by then?" she asked.
"Definitely."
"I'll call you, then, and pick you up. She doesn't live far from here; I can walk there, but you certainly wouldn't want to." Adrien watched as Marinette ran through her mental checklist for the day, muttering to herself. "Okay. Morning'll be design work, I have the staff meeting at two... your father wanted to know what we'd found out through our experiment, so I guess that I'll call him at some point when I get home..."
"You don't have to do that. I'll tell him myself," Adrien noted.
"...You will?" asked Marinette, looking at him with some surprise. "When?"
"When I go and see him this morning."
The hairbrush went back to the dresser top.
"Adrien... are you sure?" Marinette asked him, slowly.
"You're not going to stop me," Adrien declared.
"I'm not going to try to," clarified Marinette. "But I'm going to ask you again, just to be sure. Are you sure that you want to go and face him alone today? For that, I would gladly call out of work, or anything else you'd need."
"It's like I said last night, Marinette. It's time for me to stop running from him. You had the courage to go and face him, one-on-one... and now it's my turn," a solemn Adrien said. "And today, I have an advantage; I'm riding on what might be the biggest emotional high of my life! And half of Paris, including my father, aren't too far behind on that."
"That's true. Though he did seem more concerned than ecstatic about it when he spoke to me last night," mused Marinette. "He'd locked himself in a bathroom to keep Nathalie off of him - and him off of Nathalie."
"If we do manage to wake Mother up... I'm sure that she'd appreciate that," Adrien replied. "It's not that I'd never suspected that Nathalie was sweet on him, deep-down..."
"Either way, we are working together to try and revive her. We can go see her together today. That offer's still on the table," Marinette offered.
"I'll be fine. I promise," Adrien assured her, pulling her in for a hug. "This isn't Hawkmoth, the terror of Paris any more. This is a tired old man who's run out of options. He shoved me away once... but now he'll have to deal with me on my terms."
"All right," she replied. "But I'll be one text away if you need me. In costume or out. Are you taking any Kwamis with you?"
"No... I wouldn't do that to Nooroo. Besides, he's feeling remarkably mellow right now, and I'd like to keep him that way," explained Adrien. "And I don't want to hint to Father that we have access to more than Nooroo and Wayzz."
"That's smart," agreed Marinette.
"And you're going to be late for work if you're not careful," Adrien smiled, glancing at a nearby clock.
"And whose fault is that, exactly?" Marinette accused him, giggling as she did.
The door of the office opened, as it had many times before. As Marinette stepped through, she saw Amy at her customary desk, grinning at her.
"H-hi," Amy called to her. "How was your morning?"
"Oh... above average," Marinette replied. "I guess I could put it that way."
"Join the club," Gail greeted her, walking in from the break room with a cup of coffee in her hand. "It's been an unforgettable twelve hours... wouldn't you say?"
"Y-yeah, it was," said Marinette.
There was a nervous energy in the air, with barely suppressed grins on all three faces.
"Are... we in trouble? We did all come in late, without any warning," ventured Marinette.
"No, we're not," Amy laughed. "Thomas called out for the whole day. Apparently, he and his partner felt particularly... inspired. Nearly half the company called out."
"So... as long as we get most of today's work done, it's casual day," a relieved Marinette deduced.
"Precisely! Which leaves the three of us free to talk about just about anything today," smiled Gail. "Now, I'm sure that Amy is more than ready to talk about, shall we say... specifics..."
"Oh, listen to Gail, like she's so prim and proper," mocked Amy. "She and I had a bet as to whether you'd be walking funny this morning."
"How... about you both keep your money?" Marinette blushed. "I'm walking, but I don't think I could dance; let's leave it at that."
"So... I will let Amy discuss the drippier details with you. The blow-by-blow, as it were..."
That drew a loud guffaw from Amy, at which Gail rolled her eyes. "I walked into that one, yes. But what I want to know is something simpler. How did you know?" she wondered.
Marinette stared back, rooted to the spot.
"Know... what, exactly?"
A small car pulled up in front of the Agreste Mansion, facing the closed gate that blocked off its private driveway.
Father's car had a remote-access function in it, Adrien thought. This old clunker certainly doesn't.
He stepped out of the car, leaving it running, and approached a small numeric keypad mounted on the right-side pillar. Frowning, he stared intently at it for a moment.
This is likely pointless, he told himself, before pressing a series of keys anyway. The small red light on top remained red.
Adrien made a second attempt, then a third, with a similar lack of results. Of course, he thought. Father had that code changed at regular intervals, for security's sake; what were the odds that he'd have reused some of the last few passcodes that you remember from back then?
Hmmph. Maybe I will have to go around and use the general-purpose gate and doorbell after all. Like a stranger. I mean, I might as well be these days...
...Wait.
His fingers tried one more sequence... and the light turned green! Slowly, the gate yawned open, inviting the car inside.
I'll be damned, marveled Adrien.
A memory came back to him of his father showing him this very gate when he was much younger, in less complicated and far happier times.
"The main code will change monthly," his father had told him, "so I won't expect you to always remember the current one. But I will give you a little secret, just between you and me, hmmm?"
"What is it, Father?" an eager Adrien asked, staring up at him.
"Let me give you a boost."
Gabriel moved behind Adrien and lifted him about a foot, so that he could reach the keypad more easily. "I want you to punch in your birthdate. All eight digits of it... but backwards. And when you get to the last number... add two to it."
Adrien pondered that for a moment, thinking it out... then started pressing keys.
"The other way," Gabriel noted. "Start over. Do the year first, backwards... then the month... then the day, but when you turn the day backwards, then add two. Do you understand?"
"I think so."
Small fingers punched keys once more... and the light turned green. "I did it!" beamed Adrien.
"Now, you must never tell anyone about that code, Adrien. It will be our little secret, in case you are ever out playing and need to make a quick entrance this way. If people are chasing after you, for instance."
"Why would anyone be chasing me?" Adrien wondered, looking confused. "Would they be bad people?"
"No, that is not what I meant..." Gabriel smiled. "Pretend that you were a movie star, or a singer, and your fans were chasing you, and you wanted to be alone instead. Wouldn't you like a way to get away?"
"If they're nice, I'd rather be friends with them," the young boy replied. "And I don't think I'd ever want to be one of those things, anyway."
"Why not?" asked Gabriel. "What is it that you want to be when you grow up?"
"Just me. Adrien," he smiled back. "Isn't that enough?"
Gabriel took that in, then ruffled his son's hair playfully. "You are meant for bigger things than that, Adrien. But for today... yes, that is enough," he replied, warmly. "Let us go inside."
I can't believe that still worked, Adrien exclaimed internally. After all this time!
Did he forget that the backdoor code was still in there? I mean, he must've changed all the OTHER locks. Was this simply an oversight?
Or was it some kind of... hoping that I'd come back some day?
The open gate beckoned as Adrien returned to the driver's seat. One way to find out, he told himself. In for a penny, in for a pound... and I'd better not dawdle too long, or it'll close again.
The car accelerated slightly, passing through the gate, which closed about ten seconds after Adrien had cleared it. With nervousness and determination warring for control, he pulled up beside the mansion and parked.
"You told us yesterday that you were so sure that last night would be spectacular for you and Adrien. Passion, romance and emotion like never before, right?" Gail smiled. "Well, you certainly got that... and so did half of Paris, many times over!"
"I think that I'm still quivering," Amy sighed. "But I'm not complaining!"
"Oh, me neither," stammered Marinette. "But you're not saying that I had something to do with that, do you?"
Gail blinked, surprised by that. "Well, of course not, Marinette. How could you have?" she asked.
"The news seemed to think that it might be Hawkmoth," added Amy. "He did funky things with emotions. Though nobody's heard from him in a long while, and he sent out monsters and villains, not orgasms. Maybe if he had, he would've fared a lot better back then!"
"...What do you mean by that?" Marinette retorted.
"Well, Hawkmoth kept trying to punch and blast and claw his way through Ladybug and Chat Noir, right?" Amy explained. "And that never worked; they were too fast, too clever. But if he'd made them start thinking about clawing at each other, instead..."
"They would never have done that. Ever," blurted Marinette, a bit more defensively than called for. "Okay, maybe not never, but they were way too young then! They were... uh... still figuring things out about themselves... let alone each other..."
She saw Gail and Amy staring at her, and backpedaled further. "I mean, I'm sure that's how it was! We all saw them back then. They looked like young teenagers, not lovers," she argued. "A friend of mine used to be Ladybug's number one fan; she ran the LadyBlog, so I saw tons of footage and news reports from that."
"If you say so," shrugged Amy. "Some people start early with dating and kissing and stuff. I know I did. I just always assumed that Ladybug and Chat were a couple; they looked like one, so comfortable together."
"They... probably should have been," said Marinette, after a pause.
"Marinette?" said Gail, in a quiet voice. "I didn't mean to... uh... imply anything about you or Ladybug. I don't quite get how we seem to have landed there. What I meant was that the most unusual thing to happen in Paris for years matched up with what you were talking about that morning... so I was just teasing you about being a little bit psychic, that's all! It was as if whoever was responsible heard you, and thought, 'Hmmm. That's quite an idea!'"
"Sheer coincidence. I can promise you that," Marinette replied, forcing a smile. "You just... surprised me, that's all."
"So?" grinned Amy. "Do I get to hear juicy details of your super-inspirational night, or what?"
"Y-yes, you do!" declared Marinette, seeing an opportunity to shift the subject somewhat. "Okay, so Adrien came over around seven, in a suit and tie..."
Adrien walked up to the front door of the mansion and stood there in silence, pondering what to do next. Coming to a decision, he rang the doorbell and waited.
That ought to get their attention, he smiled, if someone made it to the front door without passing through the main gate.
Sure enough, the doors swung open to reveal a mountain of flesh behind them. It looked down upon him with a fierce glare... then with recognition, and more wonder than anything else.
"Hi," Adrien greeted the Gorilla. "Yeah, it's me. Could you go get him, please?"
The Gorilla reached out and motioned Adrien inside; he stepped forward into the main hallway. As Adrien watched, the Gorilla's What do I do now? brain section overclocked; he pondered a dozen options, finally motioning with one hand for Adrien to wait there and then running off in the direction of Gabriel's private office.
About a minute later, the sound of clicking heels announced that Adrien's father would not be the next to arrive.
"...Hello, Adrien," Nathalie told him as she approached, stopping a couple of meters away. "You look well."
"I am, thank you. And how are you?" he replied.
"I am... fine," she mumbled. "Well enough."
A long silence followed. This is... awkward, Adrien mused. The last time that we physically saw each other, she was threatening to kill me, and I nearly DID kill her.
"I am sure that you didn't drop by for a social call," Nathalie declared. "What do you need, then?"
"I need to speak with Father."
"...And?"
Adrien glared at Nathalie, feeling frustrated. "Do I need a better reason than that?" he snapped, keeping himself as calm as he could manage. "I have some news for him, and some small requests."
"He is in a video conference at the moment. Wait here," Nathalie directed him, spinning away towards the hallway from which she'd come.
Hmmph, Adrien snorted. 'Wait here.' Don't go wandering around your family home. Around what was YOUR home!
It took a short while for anything else to happen... long enough that Adrien considered turning and leaving, or simply going upstairs to his old room to fetch the locket that he'd come for. But just before he acted on either of those notions, strong footsteps were heard.
Adrien steeled himself as he found himself staring into the face of his father, who studied him with an unemotional expression.
"Hello, Father," he began.
Another pause hung in the air.
"So," Gabriel intoned. "I see that my security protocols need some updating. Is this you coming before me now, hat-in-hand, prepared to apologize for your role in all that has happened?"
His father's presence was as imposing as ever. It had been an age since Adrien had felt quite so small... he had witnessed his father dismantling others with a simple sneer and a withering stare many times, but it stung badly to be on the receiving end of it himself.
No, Adrien told himself. This is not going to happen this way.
"It is not," he countered. "This is me coming before you now, bearing some answers and needing some from you. I told myself that if I ever returned to this house, there was only one way I would do it... walking straight through the front door. So, here I am."
""We may be at an impasse... and may be forevermore," he added. "But things are too important right now for us to play games with each other."
Gabriel took that in, considering Adrien's words... and, finally, allowed a hint of a smile to emerge.
"Good," he declared. "It would not do for an Agreste to cower or concede lightly. My boy has become much more of a man, I see. Let me have a look at you."
Adrien stood his ground as Gabriel circled him at a slow pace. "Your time away seems to have suited you well," Gabriel noted. "You look very well, indeed. I assume that no youthful rebellion took place; unsightly tattoos, piercings, that manner of thing?"
"As it happens, no," Adrien confirmed. "Not that I came here for a formal inspection."
"Agreed. But you would also not come here lightly. Your lady-love sent you here, I take it?"
Adrien shook his head. "She knows that I am here, and one of the reasons I'm here involves her, but this was my own idea. She offered to join me, but I assured her that I could handle this on my own."
"All right. Walk with me, then," Gabriel motioned. "Let us go to my office and talk."
Sitting down in the chair facing his father's desk, Adrien had the uncanny sensation that he was auditioning to be part of his own family again.
"Firstly," Gabriel began. "I find it difficult to believe that I am saying this... but I must compliment you on your choice of partner. Miss Dupain-Cheng has been a colossal thorn in my side in the past, as you are well aware... but always a noble opponent, worthy of respect. Meeting her face-to-face has raised her considerably in my esteem. Her courage in confronting me, the persuasiveness of her arguments, her capacity for compassion... all things that I find most admirable about her."
"She is a marvel, isn't she?" Adrien smiled.
"And clearly someone even more inspiring to yourself," said Gabriel. "If last night's lightshow was any indication, she brings emotional responses out of you that are simply off the charts." He paused before adding, "Did you bring our mutual purple friend, by the way?"
"Nooroo was most emphatic that he does not wish to see you again, in this or any other lifetime," replied Adrien, his smile fading. "I'm sure that you can understand why."
"I expected that, yes," Gabriel agreed, dismissively. "Had I known that his power level was so much greater with whatever type of stimuli the two of you provided... I do not want to ask what those were, do I?"
"Probably not," Adrien confirmed. "If I may be blunt... you used him as a tool. I asked him as a friend. That made quite a difference."
"Interesting," mused Gabriel, taking a sip of his coffee. "So, I ask you now what I asked Marinette last night. Did it work? Did you find out anything that may be useful to your mother?"
"We did," said Adrien. "And I have three things that I need from you, Father, to help us move forward with that. We may have a path towards attempting to save her, though the Kwamis stressed that this is still a very dangerous idea."
"I see," Gabriel replied. "Name them."
"Number one," Adrien said, "is that I will need access to my old belongings. There is a locket that Mother gave me when I was a young boy-"
"I know precisely the one," interrupted Gabriel. "Yes, you may visit your old room and collect it, and anything else there that you want or need. You will find it very familiar."
"...I meant to ask you about that," wondered Adrien. "My guess was that those things would be either dumpstered or in storage by now, and that room repurposed. Why did you never do that?"
Gabriel's face was stony. "Request number two," he said, flatly.
"All right," Adrien continued. "I would like your help obtaining these."
He passed a sheet of paper across the desk; Gabriel stared at it, blankly.
"I have absolutely no idea what any of these are," he declared.
"Nor do I, for the most part," replied Adrien. "My... former mentor... the one whose life you destroyed... was a Chinese herbalist, and his former Kwami knows of certain preparations that will be needed. The ingredients on this paper are what he's come up with so far. Some of them are common enough that I can track them down; some of them, Wayzz warned me that they would be rare and expensive."
"And, naturally, you have delegated the expensive ones to me to find and obtain," Gabriel sighed.
"For Mother's sake? Yes! If these things can make a difference for Mother, under any other circumstances you would spare no expense to get them," insisted Adrien. "And... they may be out of my own budget."
Gabriel frowned at that, slightly. "Surely you have not burned through all of your savings already, have you?" he asked. "This isn't you simply looking for a handout?"
"After what happened between us... you froze bank accounts that were mine. Money I had earned working for our company. You know exactly what little I had when I ran away," Adrien muttered. "I have done my best to find work since, to remain in the black whenever possible, and I have kept my head above water. But only just. Not enough to fund a multi-city scavenger hunt for obscure and pricy herbs and such."
"I waited for a long time, expecting you to turn up on some other house's fashion runway," mused Gabriel. "But you never did."
"I expected," retorted Adrien, "that if I had, you would've retaliated against whoever dared to employ me. Cutting off suppliers, blackballing whoever worked with them, reducing them to paste. You are Gabriel Agreste, after all. I have seen you do as much over much smaller provocations; my applying anywhere in the industry would've been the kiss of death for them. And that kind of work was, frankly, what I was qualified to do... so I bounced around doing whatever else I could find."
"You... do have a point there," allowed Gabriel. "Allow me one moment."
He turned to his laptop and pounded away at it for a minute or two. Turning back to Adrien, he said, "Check your balance with Crédit Agricole after you leave. That should give you some operating funds to work with."
"Thank you," said Adrien, "though I didn't come here looking for that specifically, and I will need to stop by a branch and get a new card with them. I, uh, cut up the old one when it stopped working... And I'll repeat that a man of your influence and reach can certainly delegate the search better than I can."
"That's also fair," conceded Gabriel. "And what is your third request?"
Adrien swallowed hard.
"I need to see my mother. Just as she is... and as soon as I can."
Marinette spent the better part of her morning on the edge of her seat. Trading spicy stories with Gail and Amy was one thing; she wasn't usually one to boink-and-tell, but even Gail was being unusually forthcoming about her own adventures under the Bliss Wave's influence. Talking about what had happened, as well, was a nice distraction away from talking about what caused what had happened. Not that she expected Gail to fit all of the pieces together, naturally... but better safe than sorry.
What Adrien was doing across town was the foremost thing on her mind, instead. She let it go for a couple of hours before texting him.
[Marinette] How's it going?
When he texted back:
[Adrien] Can I call you?
She dashed outside for a quick one-on-one, in which Adrien brought her up-to-date as efficiently as he could.
"I was surprised at how reasonable he's being. I mean, we are trying to help Mother, but... He's actually listening to me. He is going to work on our herbal shopping list, and he, um... gave me some operating cash to work with..." Adrien explained.
"He did?" Marinette marveled. "Enough to cover your rent for a while?"
"And then some," admitted Adrien. "I didn't ask him for it; he just did it, after I reminded him that the money was mine to begin with. We talked for a while about how I had been living since I ran off; he seemed taken aback that I was spending my time in normal jobs and clothes and homes and such."
"Normal is below his standards, huh? He'd have a coronary if he saw my kitchen," Marinette smiled. "Not exactly where haute cuisine is born."
"It's all I'd need. As long as you come with it."
"You're a darling, as always," Marinette told him. "Where are you now?"
"I'm up in my old room.," said Adrien. "It's... I don't know quite how I feel about this."
"Not all good memories," suggested Marinette.
"Not even close. Though many of them were," Adrien replied. "I found the locket, so we're that far ahead. Father said that he didn't want to just go... downstairs with me while other people were out and about in the mansion; he has his secret to maintain. I held back from asking him how that never stopped him before. Anyway, I've got some time here to reminisce."
"If you need me... you call. I can be there in minutes," Marinette reminded him. "But I'm glad that it's been uneventful so far."
"Me, too," Adrien breathed. "Love you. I'll talk to you later."
"Love you, too," echoed Marinette.
.As he looked around, Adrien's mixed emotions continued to swirl within him.
Look at all of this, he told himself, rifling through dresser drawers and shelves. It really is like a time capsule. As if I could turn around and younger me would be sitting on the bed, staring at pictures of Ladybug, with Plagg over his shoulder saying something snarky.
He did turn, suppressing a small laugh at himself when the bed was, predictably, empty. The sheets looked fresh and turned-down; he ran a finger along a few nearby surfaces and found no dust.
Someone's been taking care of all this, obviously. About the only change I can see is that they closed my end window... the one that I always kept open just a little bit, in case Ladybug decided to pay me a visit.
If only I had known...!
Time away gave me a little perspective, though, he mused. All this stuff... there are things here that I've missed, sure. I might come back for a couple of things; some of the clothes, if they'd still fit me, maybe some movies, a handful of keepsakes.
He opened a desk drawer and produced a small charm bracelet, given to him by a certain young woman a few years before. THAT is coming with me now, he smiled. But most of the rest of this... I was the boy who had everything money could buy, but I don't NEED much of it any more. And I never really did then.
A small sound at the doorway drew his attention.
"He never had the heart," said Nathalie, watching him quietly. "He declared that he'd disowned you that night, but... well, you can see. He spent years contemplating what he'd lost."
"I can see that," Adrien replied, coolly.
Nathalie paused, then added, "You and I... there are some things that I need to say to you, I think. But I don't think that this is the right time and place.."
Adrien closed his eyes. In his mind's eye, he pictured the crazed villain closing in on him, threatening his life, threatening Marinette's, swearing that she'd tear his whole world apart with her bare hands... and then the quiet, uncertain woman in front of him now.
"You're right, on both counts," he said. "If I'm going to be a part of his life again... and that remains to be seen... we'll need to work some things out between us. We can simply coexist for now?"
Nathalie nodded.
"Then we'll figure out the rest some other time."
Adrien gave her a long look, remembering both good and bad moments with her. "I... am glad that I didn't hurt you," he said, very quietly. "More than I did, at least."
"I feel the same way," Nathalie echoed. "Anyway... your father is ready for you, if you are. Your mother awaits."
"I'll be right down. Thank you," he told her.
As Nathalie left, Adrien took in the weight of what he had just heard.
Your mother awaits.
Part of him wanted to sprint down the stairs like a boy on Christmas morning, anticipating the gift of his dreams under the tree. Another part felt some lingering horror at seeing her in suspended animation, right before his eyes but frozen in time.
And both parts knew that the man responsible for all of it - the state that his mother was in, hiding her away for so many years, the life-and-death fights and the endangered bystanders and the pain caused to so many, the unwitting reason why he had gotten the unexpected gift that brought him and Marinette together, the years of piecing his life back together - was waiting downstairs.
It took some effort to get his legs to start moving... but move, they did.