"You know, you don't have to dress up every day you're here. We can get you some casual clothes for school." Adrien adjusted his pack as they walked.

Felix glanced at his cousin, thinking a dozen things but moderating his answer. "Keeping up appearances isn't about requirements. It's about pride and dignity."

Adrien smiled,"Now you sound like dad."

Felix looked away and calmed himself. It was unlikely Adrien had meant it as an insult. "Yes. Well, he had enough sense to marry my aunt." Felix left it at that.

They walked in silence and Felix was grateful that was a trait they both shared. It was probably his father's influence but one thing about Adrien always irked him; the boy never seemed to understand the gravitas of who and what they were. He drifted through life radiant and carefree, without any real comprehension of being a Graham de Vanily.

"Looks like your admirer is waiting." Adrien teased as they approached the school.

Felix's eyes focused first on the trio, Luka, Sabrina, and Chloé walking up the steps into the school. The couple were dressed normally now, though for Chloé that had apparently switched from yellow Cardigans and Capris to white suits and Champagne blouses. As they passed by his eyes focused on the redhead waiting alone on the wall at the base of the steps. "Joy." he deadpanned.

"Oh come on. Lila's alright once you get to know her a bit."

"She spent an hour yesterday regaling me about the finer points of the red mosaics that Lisbon is known for. She spends summers there. It's one of her favorite places."

"See? You love to travel. You have something in common."

"I've been to Lisbon. The mosaics are blue."

"Oh." Adrien laughed softly and stuck his hands in his pockets. "I should have mentioned that. Lila loves stories. Sometimes the story is more important than anything in it being true."

Felix opened his mouth to comment on childish behavior when his time ran out. Lila spotted them and came dashing over, waving a hand as she came,"Adrien! Felix! Both of you in one place!" she giggled in greeting.

Adrien's gaze darted across the park for an instant,"Actually, uhh, I forgot my physics work on my desk at home. I'll go grab it. Meet you two later!" and with that he bolted, though Felix noticed it wasn't directly back the way they'd come.

Lila pulled Felix's attention back from those thoughts however. "Oh Adrien is the sweetest boy, but I think his head might come loose if Nathalie wasn't there to tighten it for him daily." She took Felix's arm without asking and began guiding him towards the stairs. When he tensed to pull his arm away he felt Lila's nails dig in through the shirt. "You wouldn't let both sides of the family let a girl down in the same breath would you Felix?" she asked sweet as a spring shower.

When Felix glanced her way though there was fire behind those narrowed hazel eyes. Well now, that was a little more interesting. He relaxed and allowed himself to be led for the moment. As soon as he did she started right back up without missing a beat, this time it was Prince Ali of Ah-Chu and her adventures with him over break. She seemed to have an unlimited amount of summer to fit things in.

A red streak darted through the sky overhead, as one, heads turned to follow. Felix felt an old insult burn as a ghost bruise on his cheek,"Ladybug."

Felix blinked. His cold delivery had synched perfectly with another voice. He looked down to see Lila looking back at him, her own eyes wide with curious realization. Felix allowed a smile to tug at the corner of his mouth for the first time on his trip to Paris. "It seems we may have something to talk about after all."

Lila smiled back, a cruel thing with narrowed eyes. Her hands squeezed his arm again, affectionately this time. "It seems we do."

They traded stories; Felix carefully editing his own for propriety sake and not bothering to question hers. Finding a kindred spirit in such a rare opinion meant making allowances. They had plenty of time. Lila assured him that with ladybug in action, latitude would be granted for tardiness. They finished their stories just as they seated themselves in the still mostly empty classroom.

Lila scooted herself up against his side. "If you're more than just talk. There are ways to get back at Ladybug."

She was trying to wind him up. He knew it and it was still working. A chance to get some of his own back would make this whole trip worthwhile. "Go on," he prompted to her lead.

Lila pointed down to an empty seat in the second row. "Marinette Dupain-Chang. The goody-goody queen of the school. You know she's *never* been akumatized? Too many people protect her. But you know someone pretending to be that good has to be hiding something. If we mess with her enough to get her to break, no doubt you'll get an akuma that will wipe the floor with Ladybug."

Felix thought back over the last few days,"Pigtails. Grey jacket. She was the idiot confessing to Adrien in that video."

Lila let out an unguarded hiss. Felix took note, that was no simple venom. She nodded quickly, trying to cover herself. "Yes. she's just a baker's girl, a nobody and she thinks she's good enough for Adrien! The poor boy doesn't have a lot of friends, he doesn't understand she's just no good for him."

Felix wasn't letting that stand. He had to know what he was getting into. "You have an interest in who my cousin dates?"

"They aren't dating!" Lila blurted out, nails scratching on the desk as her hand tensed. She covered quickly again, using a small laugh and a flip of her forelock to segue. "As a *good friend* I worry about Adrien's wellbeing. I don't like to see someone trying to take advantage of him. I'm sorry if I let the indignity of it set me off a little." Lila covered her mouth in a bashful display that Felix could see clean through.

He'd let her lay it out though. The game itself might be fun, and he had no stakes in Paris. "Something tells me you have a plan."

Lila leaned back in her chair, crossing her legs at the ankle,"Of course I do, but alone it would simply be too difficult. With help on the other hand…" She left it hang with a slow half-lidded look his way.

"I'm listening." Felix prompted again, crossing his arms and giving her a skeptical look in return. He wasn't going to be played in someone else's game.

It earned him a pout and Lila sitting forward again. She poked a finger down to the front seats again. "I work for Mr. Agreste modeling now. I can pry Adrien away from her. Once that's done she just needs someone to stoke that neurotic little core until she blows up."

Felix remained skeptical. "Pry Adrien away? Is your spending time with my cousin a side effect of this plan of yours, or a feature?"

Lila huffed. "I'm doing this for his own good!" she crossed her arms and sat back in a display so painfully obvious it would have been endearing, if it weren't so pathetic.

Felix didn't want to let a good opportunity go to waste though. He ran scenarios through his head, letting his eyes unfocus and his mind wander. A golden image caught his eye; a flush of memory, embarrassment. A plan formed in his head satisfying on multiple levels.

"An emotional outburst you say? Then I have another route in mind. Marinette is not the answer, though by all means engage in your ploy. Maybe it will bear fruit, and more than one plan is always better. It makes no sense though, to attack a target well protected and secure." Felix unfolded his arms and brought a hand to his lips, eyes narrowing as he watched the idol shift and twist, speaking in the first row. "I can get everything we need with a much simpler game."

Lila followed his gaze then rolled her eyes. "She's been Akumatized *plenty* of times. It never works out. Ladybug beats her every time."

Felix allowed himself a superior smile. The more he thought, the more he enjoyed the idea. Why engage in only one payback at a time? "You've never had me, how did you put it, 'Stoking' the core before."

With a now-automatic pat on the back from Alya, Marinette stepped down at the end of classes to Adrien's seat and flashed her best smile. "Adrien! Thanks again so much for help with physics. I would probably have bombed that quiz today on my own."

"Hey Marinette." he greeted back, flashing her a smile in return. It was one of his soft smiles, the kind he rarely used on camera. Marinette bit her bottom lip when he looked away to zip up his bag.

"So… are we going to study at your place next time? I know your schedule is hectic." Marinette left out that she knew exactly how hectic and what the answer was likely going to be to the question she was going to ask. "When do you think we might meet up?"

Adrien grimaced apologetically as he stood up. "My place is going to be a no-go as long as Felix is in Paris. Dad is having a time of it just having one person outside the immediate family in the house." Adrien rolled his eyes just a bit, a minor rebellion. "So, it's more about when we can meet up at your place again, if that's okay?"

Adrien, in her room, more often? Marinette bit the inside of her cheek, a trick she'd learned to help keep from exploding. "Oh no, that's great! Not a problem at all! My parents love you." Marinette froze. Was that too much? Had she given it away? He didn't seem to notice, he was just patiently waiting, watching. Ack. Relax. "What I mean is, we can meet up whenever you like. With your schedule being so tight we'll work around it." The panic was subsiding. She'd been able to get it to do that more frequently now, even when it still showed up. If only he weren't still so… Adrien. This would all be easier. That, and if only she could be sure. Why couldn't it be as easy as Chat Noir? Plenty of guys liked to express their devotion to Marinette in one outfit or another. Why not Adrien?

Adrien dropped his gaze a moment. "I'd say tonight, but I've got a shoot unfortunately." he raised his eyes with another smile. A hint more cheek to it. Was that model Adrien? No, it wasn't exactly from any of the photos she had hidden away. There was something familiar about that smile.

"Adrien!" a new voice cut in, a voice that ran up Marinette's spine and down again; Lila.

Lila Rossi stepped daintily down, inserting herself into the space between Marinette and Adrien. "I heard you talking about our shoot. I was really hoping you might be able to see me over to it today."

Adrien's smile shifted, a more generic one replaced the familiar. "It's not for a couple hours yet, Lila. I'll be glad to walk you over later if you like though."

Lila reached out without hesitation and took Adrien's arm. "You're right. You are *so* right, and normally I'd agree. However my doctor just recently changed my blood sugar medicine and I'm supposed to take it easy between bouts of exertion. If we walk over together now we can do some school work while I rebuild my strength. Won't that be fun?"

Adrien looked poleaxed. Desire conflicted with his natural kindness across his features. Finally in time with Lila's first step almost dragging him away he managed to get out,"Okay Lila. Text you later, Marinette!" Adrien waved over his shoulder as he was hauled out.

Marinette' mouth hung open as the door shut behind the pair. "What just happened?"

"Looks like the Lila-train ran you right over again." Nino offered helpfully as he shouldered his own backpack.

Marinette folded her arms and did her best not to pout, she almost succeeded. "Who does she think she is, just grabbing him and running off? We were talking."

"Well, you knoooww." Nino drawled and ended with a sly smile he must have learned from Alya. "If you were going out you wouldn't need to get all worried when she latched onto him." Nino paused. "Not that I mean you have to worry dude! Seriously, there's no way Adrien's into her. Just being pretty isn't what my man is all about. I mean-"

Nino's fumble was cut short by an affectionate swat to the back of his head from Alya. "Nice one." She wrapped an arm loosely around Nino's waist as she looked at Marinette. "He's right though you know. Just get it out there already."

Two pairs of eyes bored into her with the best of intentions but all the pressure in the world. Marinette fidgeted, withdrawing into a blush,"But- I- I don't even know how he feels. I can't just ask him out if he doesn't feel the same way I do."

Alya sighed,"He does." she affirmed for the hundredth time. "Besides, you don't even need that to start going out, you know." She tilted her head up at Nino,"Did you love me when we started going out?"

Nino snorted,"Chyah, no. You just seemed like a cool chick."

Alya gave him a little poke in the ribs,"You could have protested a *little* you know." She flashed Marinette a smile. "He's right though. We just had stuff in common we liked. You and Adrien, you have *lots* in common. Figure the rest out later."

It was as easy as that? Her head told her Alya was right, but there was just too much. Maybe if she'd done it sooner, but now. Marinette had gotten over the hill of being unable to talk to Adrien, but now that she had, the next hill just seemed all the more daunting. "I- I'll think about it Alya."

Something of her exhaustion must have shown on her face because Alya's own expression softened and she reached out, squeezing Marinette's shoulder. "You do, and we'll be here for you. Oh!" She looked back up at Nino again,"We've got something we're setting up, a little night time party. We'd like you to come. Adrien's going to come right?"

Nino missed his cue but still picked up the ball,"what? Oh, uh, yeah. He's going to be there. And you see, the plan is couples only. We don't want anyone stuck feeling a third wheel this time so we're keeping it to pairs. So, if you don't want to go that's fine, but I'm sure some redhead might fill in don't you th*grk*" Alya's elbow cut Nino off.

Alya had caught the rising panic in Marinette's eyes. Marinette's mind was racing ahead of her like it hadn't in months. Go with Adrien and be humiliated when he rejected her. Don't go; he goes with Lila. They move to Italy, get married, have three kids and a hamster named Louie.

Alya stepped in and took both of Marinette's arms,"Pairs Marinette, pairs. Just two people who want to spend the evening together having fun. You can do that, right?"

Marinette got her breathing under control. She hadn't even realized she was panting. She took in a deep breath then nodded,"I can do that." Speaking with more conviction than she felt.

"Good." Alya stepped away and snugged back up with Nino. "It'll be a little while before we can make arrangements. Who knows? Maybe you'll be able to go as a 'couple' anyway."

"Chloé your six thirty is here." Sabrina announced as she opened the doors to the balcony.

The blond didn't look up from a scattered arrangement of photos and the empty plate at her table. "Sabrina I do not HAVE a six thirty today. I looked this morning and I distinctly remember being free after dinner. I am going to the boat as soon as I finish here. Send them away."

"So I'm not only a number now, I'm an unwanted number?"

Chloé perked, spun in her chair, and jumped up,"Felikins!"

Felix braced himself, however she didn't bowl him over this time, but then this wasn't the same Chloé he'd known. It wasn't even the same rollerblading guttersnipe he'd encountered a few days ago. Instead this high-heeled young woman strode confidently toward him with arms outstretched. He endured the French cheek kissing routine, noticing there was a difference even in the way she smelled, something he couldn't place. Then she was holding him at arm's length and looking him over as if they hadn't just traded awkward jibes. He was forced to call up old memories; thoughts of a snarling bratty yellow canary to banish the radiant smile greeting him.

"Sabrina, you imp. You hid this from me." Chloé chidded over his shoulder. From behind him there was a plaintive response.

"He asked me to."

Chloé looked back at Felix and smiled again,"Still pulling tricks? Making yourself appear out of thin air this time?"

He let her talk, he was still adjusting. He'd planned for a different Chloé. She didn't wait for an answer. She dismissed Sabrina and with another smirk and asked if he wanted anything to eat, something he declined, before walking back to her seat. She seemed to assume he was going to follow. Much had changed indeed.

Felix did follow. It was that or throw this whole plan in the trash, and he was not one to admit he'd miscalculated. He could adjust. Felix conjured up that piercing scream 'Daddy!' in his mind and let it echo around until it chased away the smooth affectionate tones that had become her voice.

"This is a new look for you," he prompted as he pulled out a chair. Appearance had always been a soft spot for her. "All your cut offs in the wash?"

Chloé rolled her eyes and waved a hand. "I burned those silly things that night. A little game and nothing else. The price I had to pay to dress Luka up properly for once."

Just a game? Did that bother him? Hardly, he assured himself. He pulled out the important soft spot. "Luka. That is his name? I've heard. He's some musician, he lives on a *boat* of all things?" Felix let the condescension flow. He shot a look that mixed disbelief and disapproval her way.

It looked to have struck home. The confident young woman facade slipped. Chloé picked up an already empty teacup and raised it only to set it down again too quickly. "Yes, he's a musician. His father is Jagged Stone though, he's not just some nobody."

Perfect. Felix softened the disdain in his voice, a little commiserating smile. "Yet he still dresses in ripped jeans, and lives on a boat? How much time will you have to spend teaching him to live like a human being? Appearances do still matter Chloé, though they seem to be slipping for some." Felix drew a little silver chain bracelet from his pocket and quietly shifted the links between his fingers as he spoke. Like a moth to flame Chloé's eyes followed the motion. It was a little trick, nothing so crude and grandiose to be called hypnosis, but a distraction for the mind.

"Appearances?" Her voice went from animated to soft as Felix's little trick worked. Chloé's mind had never been too complex. "Oh you have no idea." she murmured, her eyes snapping away, breaking the hold for a moment. She grinned devilishly at him. "I might be the most scandalous creature in Paris, if only they would let the papers print such things about someone my age. The trick is to keep them chasing after your *last* debacle while enjoying your current one."

How much of that was bravado? How much was real? Did he want to even know? "All well and good when you're young, and for the Nouveau riché I suppose. But you will get older, and even if you stop they won't forget." Felix rolled the chain across the backs of his knuckles in a simple feat of prestidigitation, making it seem to vanish before revealing it in the opposite hand. The little show recaptured her eyes and allowed him to resume the methodical counting of links. "The Chloé Bourgeois I knew was not someone to trade a moment's amusement for a ruined reputation." Felix nodded down to the pictures on the table. "It even looks like you're delving into your mother's work. Mercantilism isn't glamorous, but it does at least drag one into the middle class."

There it was. That last barb hit home. He saw the confidant business woman shrink into the little yellow canary. He watched her try to fight it, smoothing out the photos and ordering a few before she spoke, but when she did her voice was small. "We are *not* middle class. The Bourgeois are the elite of the fashion world. My father is the *mayor* of Paris." Everything else had fallen before that single line of attack. He had his game plan now.

"Of course, of course.'' he assured her. "It is a good start. In time, with a few more generations you might make it. Of course, in either line of work, appearances are important and connections even moreso." Felix kept one link between his hands now, just circling the ring with his thumb. "It can only take one false step to lose it all. You're not safe in the middle." He could read the impact of his words across her face. Those deep blue eyes, those eyes that had coyly coaxed him just days ago were glassy with horror. Time to be a 'hero'. "Adrien's father did have a clever idea, marrying into the Graham De Vanily family. With my mother and her sister being Parcin de Champs even before marriage he could carve out a small corner of the family fortune and allow himself his peculiar lifestyle indefinitely."

Chloé blinked up from Felix's hands to his face,"Gabriel Agreste is a famous designer. He's rich because he works." It was a feeble defense. The Chloé he knew wouldn't have even bothered to say such a thing. Newly acquired beliefs could be so fragile.

Felix allowed himself an arrogant laugh. He gestured vaguely with the hand that held the bracelet and Chloé's eyes followed it. He had her well and hooked now. Felix leaned in earnestly, her eyes still followed his hands as he set them on the table. "You have been to his home. You have seen his extravagant lifestyle. You know how limited his output has become, even if it is quite sought after. You cannot sell what you do not produce. He lives on my aunt's corpse."

It was crude but effective. Chloé only swallowed, no reply. Felix pressed his advantage. "Fashion changes. Elections come and go. Old money, true upper class society, is what endures." Felix reached across the table and took Chloé's hand in his. She hesitated but he applied a firmness and drew her hand to him. Slowly, deliberately, he slipped the bracelet onto her wrist. "Something from my mother's collection. The name of the German princess for whom it was first crafted would mean little to you, but she was married into the Graham de Vanily line on potential alone. A potential she lived up to." A pretty little lie, one did not waste family heirlooms.

She looked at it as if it might be a viper, but she did not take it off. She did not throw it back in his face. Instead she moved her other hand to touch the links, mimicking his earlier motion over them. She finally spoke, not just fear but a little of something Felix couldn't quite place in her voice. "A lot seems to have changed in two years."

"I knew that the moment you rolled into view." Felix quipped to pull her back out of the mists he had wrapped her in.

It worked. She blinked free and grinned at him. "You weren't exactly seeing me at my best."

He whiplashed back down to a warm tone,"I might like to. Do I need to make an appointment next time?"

That seemed to shake her free. Putting time back into the equation, taking her out of the moment. She straightened up and flashed him a more classically Chloé smile, the perfect little mask. "Definitely not! We can meet up for dinner. Tomorrow? Tomorrow. You can tell me about what's been happening over in England and I'll fill you in on all the Parisian gossip. You'll love it, there's plenty to laugh at in our daily lives here." She'd surfaced, but the bracelet was still on her wrist.

Felix knew that leaving the stage at the right moment was the key to any performance. He stood, and when she made to stand as well he put a hand on her shoulder to keep Chloé in her seat. "Tomorrow then."

Felix had one more parting shot. He leaned in, as if to offer a parting cheek-peck but instead he whispered,"And the answer to your question, was yes."

Felix strode off the balcony, she made no move to call him back or even offer a goodbye. He took that as a good sign. The only thing to mar the performance was the nagging feeling there might be some measure of truth to that final line.