Gabriel couldn't understand why Cat Noir had knocked on his window this time. It wasn't particularly late, being around only half six in the evening. The weather was also clear, so there was no need reason to be seeking shelter from lightning. While he had originally intended to ignore the superhero, the teen's insistence to come inside was made very clear by his impatient knocking, which annoyed the designer to no end.
"What do you want?" Gabriel asked, irritated, as he reluctantly opened the window to let the cat-hero in nonetheless. He watched as Cat Noir jumped down from the window's edge to the floor, place one end of his baton by his feet and rest his hands at the other while slightly leaning towards Gabriel so that the metal supported his body weight.
"I just happened to be passing by." He grinned, reminding Gabriel very much of a Cheshire cat. "I hope you don't mind me stopping by for a visit."
"I suppose it would be rather rude of me to kick out one of Paris' beloved heroes out of my own home, particularly after you've saved myself and my son several times now." Gabriel pointed out.
"Aww, well. I was just doing my job." Cat replied, surprisingly bashful as his tail swayed slowly from side to side in a rhythmic manner.
" I see. " Gabriel mused, "Why here of all places? Wouldn't you rather be somewhere else?"
"I want to be here."
"You want to be here?"
"You're full of questions today, aren't you, Mr Agreste?" Cat Noir asked with a daring smirk. "I happen to appreciate your company." His expression softened, his green eyed gaze drifting to the floor while his voice became quieter, "And... I find that you're a good listener."
Cat Noir straightened to his full height. Gabriel watched as the teenager fiddled with the top end of his baton, avoiding eye contact with the older man.
"That's why you're surprisingly open with what you tell me. You trust me." As he spoke these words, an odd feeling twisted in Gabriel's stomach.
Guilt?
He brushed it off. It did not matter. This did not change anything. Whether Cat Noir knew it or not, they were enemies.
"You shouldn't allow yourself to trust others so easily, Cat Noir."
"You sound like Ladybug." The hero frowned, and Gabriel almost grimaced from the comparison. "I can't help it. I'm a trusting person." Cat Noir added with a shrug of his shoulders. "Anything interesting happen today?"
"Same as usual." Gabriel replied. "Nothing you'd find interest in, I presume."
"What?!" Cat Noir exclaimed in mock horror and put the back of his hand to his forehead as he posed dramatically, "You dare assume that I wouldn't be interested in your work?!"
"Not even my son is interested in my work."
"Ah." Cat Noir's pose became less animated and stiff. "That must be pretty sad."
"Sad - how?"
"I'm guessing you and your son are not particularly close?"
Gabriel thought for a moment as memories of his wife and son flashed before his eyes.
"He was always closer to his mother."
A tiny silence fell between the two, their hearts both aching due the absence of the same woman, despite Gabriel not knowing it.
"My father and I are not that close either." Cat Noir hung his head. "He's super busy and stuff, but I wish he had more time for me. Selfish, coming from a superhero, right?"
"I don't believe that makes you selfish. I'd do anything to have my wife back."
Cat Noir stiffened. Gabriel hadn't mentioned his mother since her disappearance.
"Your wife? What happened to her?"
"She became ill."
"Ill? How? Why?"
"I'd rather not discuss it."
"But I-"
"It's none of your business!" Gabriel snapped. Cat Noir flinched, his ears flattening against his head as he stepped back. The metal baton slipped from his hands and fell to the floor with a clunk. He stared up at Gabriel's face with wide eyes and a horrified expression.
"I-I'm sorry..." Cat Noir swallowed the lump in his throat, his head quickly hanging down so that he was staring at the baton at his feet rather than at Gabriel.
Gabriel noticed he was... shivering?
No.
Cat Noir was trembling, almost as if he was afraid of him.
Now this was an interesting turn of events.
"I'll just go..." The hero's voice was shaky and his breathing slow as he took in breathes. He crouched and picked up his baton, keeping his head down so that his green eyes avoiding meeting Gabriel's blue ones.
"I apologise for bothering you, Mr Agreste. I won't come back here anymore." Cat Noir shifted his gaze to his means of escape.
As Gabriel watched the cat-themed hero dash towards the window, an odd feeling stirred within him.
If Gabriel scared Cat Noir away, he would never be able to lower the hero's guard and take his Miraculous from him.
"Wait." The teen froze and turned his head slightly. Gabriel could see the bright scaleas of Cat Noir, but his pupils could not be seen, likely due to him still staring at the window.
"Accept my apologies, Cat Noir. That was... That was uncalled for of me. I let my temper get the better of me and for that I am sorry."
"O-of..." Cat Noir took a breath to regain his composure. "Of course. I understand, Mr Agreste. It must be... a difficult topic for you. For you and Adrien." Cat Noir looked away as he said that, pondering silently - on what, Gabriel could not tell.
"Indeed it is."
The silence that the two then held felt like hours rather than seconds.
"I can still go, if you want me to." Cat Noir mumbled.
"I'd rather we start this conversation over; forget this debacle ever happened." Gabriel shook his hand as if waving off the last few minutes and took a breath. "Now, Cat Noir, to what do I owe the pleasure of this intrusion?"