"Have either of you talked to Adrien lately?"

Nino scoffed from his place on the couch. "You mean Mr. Roboto? Yeah, he's been a blast. What did you do, Marinette?"

"Me?! I didn't do anything!"

"Well he wasn't this weird until your failed date night."

"I know that! And I also know that I did nothing wrong!" She scolded.

"Mari's right," said Alya. "Sunshine's transformation is probably a side effect of his dear old dad."

"What did Gabriel do?" Asked Marinette.

"Don't you remember? He's a great designer, and apparently a cool boss, but he's a super shitty dad."

"Yeah. But ever since Adrien turned 18, he's mellowed out. Somewhat."

"So? He probably cranked it back up. When was the last time you saw Adrien outside of the mansion?"

Marinette blinked. "God, like two weeks ago, before 'my failed date night'."

"Exactly. If you ask me, Sunshine is depressed. Or forbidden from showing emotion."

Marinette clutched at her chest, the very notion sending a throb to her heart.

"I'm going to talk to him tomorrow. I'll sneak up on him, so Nathalie doesn't know. Maybe without her talking to him beforehand, he'll feel more relaxed."

"That's a good plan! And if he has a camera in his room?"

"Um…I'll write a note! Not an email, in case his dad is monitoring it, but an actual, physical note." It was as good enough of a plan as it could be, though she had neglected to mention to them the tiny detail of Adrien's document.

'Your name is Adrien Agreste' it said.

Why would he be reading such a thing? Did he have amnesia and Gabriel was trying to keep it quiet? Extremely early onset Alzheimer's? That's the only thing that made sense.

Still, Marinette opted to not mention this. It was her clue to the mystery. Maybe later.

Just like some magic potion

You fill me with emotion

You control my very soul

You've Got Me Voodoo'd

"You could at least respond with 'k'."

The reply was immediate. "K."

"Oh, so now you're talking to me?"

"K."

"Did I do something?"

"K"

"That doesn't even make any sense!"

"K"

"You're really pissing me off, Agreste."

"K"

Marinette put her phone down for her own health. After a morning in the office, and not getting a response from Adrien, she was beyond frustrated.

If he had a problem with her, fine, but they had work to do! He still had a job at the company, outside of being a model, and some of her work relied on him.

It was coming in, slowly, poorly, and mostly wrong. Besides modeling, he was an assistant in sizing, making sure that their clothes were made to be close to the market standard, and flattering for as many possible body types. They did do custom orders, of course, but for the average consumer, it was important that they ordered what they wanted, and received what they expected.

But Adrien's measurements were wildly wrong. Women's extra large shirts didn't gain inches in the bust, waist, and arms respectively, but the whole outfit scaled evenly.

Meaning that if an average small was 16 inches long, instead of gaining one or two inches, it reached down to the knees. Shoulder seams fell halfway down the bicep, and sleeves continued a few inches over their hands.

The models in testing looked like children wearing their parents' clothes.

"Miss Dupain-Cheng, I have to ask you about this collection and the…interesting sizing you've decided to take." One of the sales reps asked, right outside her office.

"It's wrong," Marinette clarified. "It should have been caught before prototypes were made, but there's been a hiccup in the production." She stood, and put on her purse. There was no way to solve this problem without talking to Adrien. And goddamnit, she was going to make him talk!

"See to it that it's corrected immediately. With Gabriel's nearly complete absence, this collection is way behind. Aubrey Bourgeois already has her fall collection out!"

"Yes, I know. I'm heading over to the manor now to get some concrete answers. Hopefully by tomorrow, we'll get our sizing corrected."

"I hope you do."

Marinette hurried down the hall, coworkers giving her concerned glances.

It was pretty obvious, even to those who weren't immediately in the office:

The company was a sinking ship, and Marinette was the only one who had a bucket.

You knew the goddess Venus

Would start this love between us

You inspired me with desire

You've Got Me Voodoo'd

Marinette let herself into the manor, though it wasn't her day to work there. Thankfully, it seemed like Nathalie was too busy to notice her arrival.

Up at Adrien's bedroom door, she was about to knock. Then she noticed his door was cracked open.

Surely spying on him slightly wouldn't be wrong?

She pushed the door open a little more for her to peek through.

On the other side of the room, staring out the window, stood Adrien. And that's all he did. He just stood looking out the window. The lights in the room were off, backlighting his silhouette. She watched him for a moment, waiting. Nothing.

Then she knocked. "Adrien? Are you decent?"

"Yes, I am." He spoke formally.

She opened the door fully, and he turned to look at her with the most plastic smile she had ever seen.

He didn't have his dimples.

"Hello Marinette, it's nice to see you. I didn't know you were working here today."

"Nice to see you too. I haven't had the chance to talk to you properly the last few days, you've been so busy."

"I have been, I apologize."

"It's not your fault. I know how your father is." She took a seat on the couch, and pulled out her salad from her bag. "Sorry, I'd wait to eat with you, but I'm so hungry."

"You may eat. I understand." Though he just stared at her, still smiling, and still standing.

"Are you going to sit?"

"I can." He sat next to her, leaving a cushion of space in-between. Normally, he would practically be in her lap.

"You don't need to be so formal, you know. We're alone."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

She frowned slightly. "You don't need to apologize. Just like...relax."

Adrien looked at her, before exhaling loudly and sinking into the couch more. "Is this relaxed enough?"

She shrugged.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"Doing?"

"Yeah, you've been acting super weird lately."

He tilted his head slightly. "Weird? How so?"

"I don't know, stiff? Formal? Just kind of...stand off-ish. And forgetful. There've been some pretty obvious mistakes in sizing for this collection, and you approved them. You haven't been in the office the last few days, so I was worried."

He considered this. "I'm sorry if my absence caused you any inconveniences. I wasn't aware I needed to be at the office."

She blinked a few times, incredulously. This was absolutely bizarre. "You don't need to be there, you just usually hang around after shoots or fittings and keep me company."

"Oh, because we are friends, right? My good friend Marinette."

"Yes!" She slammed her Tupperware down. "This is what I'm talking about! It's like you don't know who I am!"

He frowned, the expression running lines in his face. "I'm sorry, Marinette. I'm having a hard time right now, and I'm kind of exhausted. I'm…kind of confused."

She took a calming breath. "Okay. I get it. You're stressed. Let's talk this out though, okay?"

He twisted up his mouth in thought. "Okay, what would you like to talk about?"

"What's got you stressed? Is your dad breathing down your neck? Are deadlines too much to handle with modeling too? Do you need a vacation?"

He stared at her, blankly. "I'm not sure. I would have to think about it."

"Well, you know you can talk to me about anything. I care a lot about you, Adrien."

"Oh…that's nice." He smiled and patted her hand.

It sounded incredibly patronizing. And it hurt.

"What is up with you? You've been acting so strange! You're not the boy I know!"

You knew you had the power

And even picked the hour

When the full moon was up above

I was hypnotized when I looked into your eyes

My heart was filled with love

The unbelievable plastic smile shifted then, relaxing ever so slowly, until it was gone, and it almost seemed like it was never there.

"You should go." Adrien said, hollowly.

"What?"

"You should leave now. I don't think you should be here. Does Nathalie know you are here?"

Marinette swallowed. "No, she doesn't. I mean—I didn't think you'd mind. You usually like it when I come to hang out…" she looked to the floor, "at least you used to."

"Please give me thorough warning the next time you need to speak with me."

She snapped the lid back on her lunch, the second time she had done so. She only had a few bites, just like last time.

And food just didn't taste as good without him around.

"Fine. You know what? I won't bother you again. Next time, I'll send an email, like I do with all my other co-workers." She slid her lunch into her bag, and stood. "The sizing for this collection needs some serious work, and I've been the one to have to fix it, on top of all my other responsibilities. Please do better next time, Mr. Agreste." She shouldered her bag, and walked out.

Once the door slammed behind her, she let the tears gather in her eyes, but didn't let them fall.

So it was over then. Her friendship with Adrien, her best friend, was over. And she wasn't getting an explanation.

"Marinette," Tikki said, sadly. "It can't be your fault. You didn't do anything."

"I know. And that's the worst part. Because that means I can't fix it."

She left the Agreste mansion that day, not knowing the next time she walked through those doors, life would be completely different.

Just like the siren Circe

You've got me at your mercy

Always to be brave and bold

Mama, You've Got Me Voodoo'd

It was late. Too late for anyone to be calling, and yet, here her phone was ringing. Marinette fumbled for it. Grabbing it and blinding herself with the screen.

It was 3am, and Adrien was calling her.

She loved a late night confession as much as the next girl, but she had a presentation in the morning. What was he thinking?

She hoped it was an apology. Maybe he was finally going to break down and tell her everything that was going wrong.

Or maybe he was going to confess he didn't actually know how clothing measurements worked and he'd been guessing the whole time.

"Hello?" She grumbled.

"Marinette." His voice was so stern, so cold, it gave her goosebumps. "Did I wake you?" He asked, softer.

"Yeah."

"Sorry, but it's important."

"Okay. What's up?"

"I'm sorry." He breathed. "You were right. I'm not the boy you knew."

More awake now, she sat up in bed. This had obviously been driving him wild for a while. "We all change, Adrien. It's okay. If you're going through something, I'm here for you. Just be honest with me."

"That's not—" he sighed, a growl at the end. "Look, just…I don't have much time. I don't know what he—what I was going to tell you that night, but it probably wasn't good."

Another voice was on his end of the line. "What are you doing?! Who are you talking to?!"

"Shit. Just look in the basement!"

"What?!"

"How dare you!"

"Let go of me!"

And the line went dead.

What. The. Hell.

She called him back, now completely wide awake.

"Hey there, it's Adrien, I'm not available to answer right now…"