A/N: I'm back! It took longer than expected, because my trip turned into a disastrous adventure, when the car engine broke in the middle of nowhere - quite literally. It took a lot of time and effort to find our way back home while also dealing with the car insurance. On another note, I've started two new Miraculous fics, so if you're interested in more stories from me, you're welcome to check them out! Thank you so much for sticking around!

28.

Adrien's life had never been this exciting before. Even if he wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary, it felt like everything had changed. And in a way, everything had changed. He felt happier than in a long time. Hugo was happier, too, and it only made him feel even better. He smiled more often, much to Plagg's great annoyance.

"What's so good about all this?" he scoffed, shuffling papers that he couldn't really care any less about. This was the draft of Marinette's contract with Gabriel. The terms and conditions were already very much in her favor. From a legal point of view, it bothered Plagg, because he knew very well that no one was perfect and even the nicest girls had their flaws.

"Stop being a lovesick fool," the lawyer added, when Adrien didn't stop smiling. "It's disgusting."

Adrien was too far gone to let his comments bother him. Plagg groaned as if in visible pain. "Have you at the very least done the deed?" He didn't actually want to know, so when Adrien's cheeks flushed a beautiful dark red, likening him to a tomato, he almost howled. "Jesus Christ, get yourself together, kid."

"Make sure I'm gone for weeks after you actually get in her pants," he added, smirking at Adrien's even redder cheeks, as he spluttered, trying to think of an appropriate answer.

"Plagg! It's none of your business!"

"It's very much my business, if it makes you this cheery," muttered the man more to himself than to Adrien who heard it nevertheless. "You're nauseating."

Adrien was smart enough to avoid an argument. If they started, they would waste more time than they had only to spend another day at the desk, Plagg complaining about his happiness. Instead, the blonde pulled out folder and opened it, finding sketches that looked somehow familiar.

"Where did this come from?" he asked in an attempt to distract Plagg from his sour mood.

Plagg looked up. He shrugged. "Oh, just something Tikki and I picked up at the Dupain-Cheng bakery the other day."

Adrien leafed through the sketches. They were designs for all kinds of superheros. All of them appeared to have been based on different animals: a fox, a turtle, a snake, a bee… Next to the bee-themed superhero, Marinette had scribbled in a black ink marker not meant for sketching paper "NEVER TO BE USED". He wondered why. It was a good design.

"So they're Marinette's?" he wanted Plagg to confirm.

"Yup. Proof that she designed Chat Noir."

"Really?"

"The art team confirmed. These were drawn by the same person as the ones in Chloé's book."

Adrien nodded, when the meaning of Plagg's words hit him. "The art team? Doesn't it take them like weeks? When did you get this?"

"When you were in New York."

"How?"

"Does it matter?" Plagg didn't like where this conversation was going. "Tikki and I dropped by the bakery and she helped me get it."

"Tell me you didn't do something illegal."

"I didn't do something illegal." Plagg smirked. Adrien put the papers down on the table and frowned, unsure if his lawyer was telling the truth or not. Plagg had a talent for getting in trouble.

"Be serious, Plagg. I have a right to know, if my lawyer goes gallivanting and breaking and entering."

The lawyer in question rolled his eyes. "I didn't. Well, I might not have been completely honest, but Tikki and I were allowed into her room. We asked her parents."

"But does Marinette know that you took this?"

"Nope!"

"Plagg! You can't just go taking things from other people's rooms without asking them first!"

"Yeah, well, you were in New York." Another eye-roll. "But Tikki said she wouldn't mind."

"Oh, and you're so close to Tikki that you can just trust her like that?"

Plagg's smug smirk said everything. Adrien knew it from the handful of times his lawyer had worn it on his face. It meant "yes, we're very close, as close as it gets and definitely closer than you think."

Adrien stood up to leave. "That's disgusting, Plagg. I think I'm going to puke."

Adrien didn't really puke. But when he left the bathroom, Plagg stood in the doorway, looking as if he had.

"Guess who showed up." The way Plagg said it was a clear sign that it wasn't someone they wanted to see.

"Chloé?" he guessed. His lawyer shook his head.

"Félix."

Adrien grinned at his cousin's name. He never understood why Félix got such a reaction out of Plagg, but whenever he showed up, the lawyer's mood went from bad to worse and from worse to worst. So what if Félix had hidden Plagg's precious cheese under a pillow once upon a time? They were kids back then!

Félix stood by a bookshelf, holding a photo. Adrien couldn't tell which one it was from the way his cousin was holding it. There were a number of photos on the shelf, serving as reminders of why he was working so hard at a job he didn't exactly love. But he was good at it and that was good enough.

Noticing Adrien, Félix angled the photo away from him, gave it one last look and placed it back on the shelf. Adrien recognized it immediately. It was a photo of the two of them, dressed as the black cat and the little prince. In the middle, there was a girl in a ladybug suit, hair in childish pigtails, and the two boys were both pulling her towards them. Because of that, her arms were spread wide. Félix and Adrien were grinning too, their smiles identical enough to make a lot of people think they were twins.

"Félix! What a surprise!" Adrien exclaimed, leaning into a hug. Félix embraced him gently, although unwillingly. "It's been such a long time! What brings you to Paris?"

"I heard you've been fraternizing with some idiot." The blonde's eyes found the photo again and he almost smiled. Adrien didn't notice any of it, too preoccupied with trying to process the idea that Félix was back in Paris. "So I came here to see you didn't do anything too stupid yourself. You know what they say about idiocy being contagious."

"I can assure you Marinette is not an idiot," Adrien grinned. Félix had not changed at all. "And I'd prefer if you didn't insult her like that. She designed Chat Noir after all!"

"I'm sure." Félix didn't bother to hide the disdain in his voice. "I saw Chloé. She's changed."

"I doubt that. Last I heard she's still wrecking havoc, no matter where she lands."

"She shot down a certain Lila Rossi," Félix said, gouging for a reaction. "The supermodel."

"Nothing new, really." Adrien remembered Chloé's terms for selling Chat Noir to Gabriel. "When she sold us Chat Noir, she made it clear that we were to cut all ties with Miss Rossi."

"Is that so?" After speaking with the women, Félix was not surprised. "Well, she's up to no good. I was going to suggest that you don't hire her."

"Really? Why do you say that?"

"Experience." Félix looked at the photo again, something akin to longing in his eyes. This time, Adrien didn't miss it.

"What's up, Félix?" Adrien's eyes found the photo, too. It brought back fond memories. "Still missing Buginette?"

"I guess. Do you?" Félix stared at his cousin, a silent question in his eyes.

Adrien's hand moved to his heart. "Always." Félix could immediately tell that Adrien didn't know. But the little prince, all grown up, was not going to inform him either.

"You're ridiculous," he scoffed.

"Hey, you're one to talk!" Adrien poked back. Félix smirked.

"Anyway, how's Hugo?" he diverted his attention to the photo of the little boy, napping on a chair.

"He's good," Adrien looked fondly at the picture. Hugo looked peaceful in it. There was a small smile on his cute face. "Being around Marinette makes him happier. He's… He's starting to speak more. The other day, it was like a dam had broken and all the words he knows came pouring out."

"Sounds like she's nice."

"She is. Very nice, in fact. Her parents run the best bakery in Paris too."

"Oh? And which one is that?" Félix pretended to be disinterested in the answer, but his breath hitched in anticipation.

"The Dupain-Cheng one," Adrien answered with a grin.

"Cool."

He felt anything but cool. Unlike Adrien, Félix didn't have a schedule. He could come and go as he pleased. And he knew exactly where to go next.

"When you go there, make sure to bring Hugo with you," Adrien smirked. All the years knowing his cousin had taught him a thing or two.

"Yeah, sure, whatever."