Those words still hurt, despite Adrien knowing that his best friend hadn't really meant them. He stared up at the ceiling from where he lay on his bed.
Three days had gone by and the model hadn't uttered a word since ending the Rocketear battle with a half-hearted "Pound it," joined with an even less enthusiastic fist bump.
The silence echoed throughout Adrien's bedroom. Every tiny sound felt louder than usual.
He flinched as he heard the door creek open.
"Adrien." A calm voice addressed him.
Adrien tilted his head in the direction of the door-frame and saw Nathalie standing there, clipboard in hand as expected.
"Dinner will be ready in twenty-five minutes. You will come down to the dinning room once you finish practicing piano."
The only indication that Adrien had heard what she had said was a curt nod as he obediently sat up and placed his feet on the ground before standing up completely and making his way towards the piano. He focused on the monochrome keys of the instrument and held his fingers above the notes in preparation.
As Nathalie turned and left the room, a slow, melancholy melody meet her ears, one she did not recognise.
-
Another few days later, and Adrien still had yet to say anything. Plagg, who at first wasn't too bothered by his holder's new quiet lifestyle (as he had enjoyed the peace granted to him due to Adrien no longer lecturing him on his cheese eating habits), was beginning to find the silence unsettling. He attempted to break the awkwardness by telling jokes, but it wasn't working as well as he wished.
"Knock knock."
"Knock knock!"
"Come on Adrien! You're supposed to say 'whose there?'"
"..." Adrien shrugged his shoulders.
"Alright, fine," Plagg rolled his eyes. "I'll just assume you said 'who's there?'... in your head... Cam!"
"Adrien, you have to say 'cam who?'"
Adrien remained wordless.
"Alright, fine, I'll do it. 'Cam who?'" Plagg mimicked Adrien's voice in an attempt to get him to speak.
"Camembert!" The kwami's voice returned to normal. "Get it?"
"Come on, that was funny, Adrien! At least smile if you're refusing to laugh!"
"Adrien!"
"You can't keep this up forever!"
Adrien raised an eyebrow at the tiny god, silently betting otherwise. Plagg smirked, having finally gotten something of a reaction from the model.
"You'll have to talk sooner or later, it's the only way you can transform into Cat Noir." Plagg said with a smug expression, folding his arms. Adrien shot a glare at the smug kwami floating in front of him; they both knew that eventually Shadowmoth would strike again and if that came to be then Adrien would have no choice but to end his pledge of silence. Adrien frowned, and Plagg knew he had him cornered.
At least, Plagg thought he had Adrien cornered.
Adrien held up his right hand, making sure that his Miraculous was visible by the black kwami. He then held his left forefinger and thumb around the ring. Plagg's expression changed from smug to irritated instantly.
"You wouldn't dare!" Plagg huffed.
Adrien stayed wordless while allowing his finger and thumb to grasp the ring. He noticed the look of worry forming on Plagg's face and smiled.
"No, don't!"
Adrien slowly pulled the ring up his finger and had almost pulled it completely away from his skin when Plagg frantically rushed to his hand and forced the Miraculous back down his finger.
"Okay, okay! You win! You're not gonna talk, I get it!" Plagg turned away from Adrien, his ears going down. As he began floating away, he said, "But please reconsider this, Adrien. I know you're doing this for Nino, but is it really worth it?"
Adrien's expression fell and a feeling of guilt dropped to the pit of his stomach like lead. It made his heart ache to hear something like that from Plagg.
He wasn't sure he'd be able to do this after all.