"Nathalie!" Gabriel Agreste's shrill voice echoed through his plainly decorated office.

"Yes, sir?" Nathalie's voice was barely audible to the elder Agreste, seeing as he was, well…occupied. Nathalie looked up from her tablet and had to hold back her laughter at what she was currently witnessing.

"This office is way too bland. It needs more decoration. I'm thinking…lamps. And a lot of them. One for each corner of the room, 2 for my desk, 3 for the top of Emilie's portrait and I'd like 5 for my lair. Don't make them vibrant colours but the style is completely up to you. Make it quick."

"Of course, sir. May I, um, ask why you would like to purchase 14 lamps?" Nathalie was pretty sure her lip was swollen since she was biting it so hard to stop her laughter.

"Fewer questions, more working Nathalie. The clock is ticking." Gabriel answered, flapping his arms around, trying to fly towards the lightbulb hanging from his ceiling. As useless as it was, Gabriel couldn't help but try. He could not stop himself.

"Right. Yes, sir." Nathalie rushed out of the room, bursting into laughter as soon as she was out of range of Gabriel's hearing. One would've thought she was crazy, but could they say that after seeing Gabriel? Despite how ridiculous it was, Nathalie purchased 14 lamps, some similar and some different, totalling around €1040. Seriously, who buys 14 lamps?

"Master?" Nooroo questioned.

"Not now, Nooroo. I'm rather busy."

"But Master. I told you that the longer you use the Miraculous, the more your habits start to change!" Nooroo had to admit, it was amusing watching his Master change from professional to…this.

"Nonsense Nooroo. My habits haven't changed at all." Both knew this wasn't true. "Answer this for me, Nooroo. When did light become so damn attractive?"

Gabriel decided to take the risk. He gathered as many stackable items as he could, starting from his desk, frantically searching for boxes, adding them to the pile like his life depended on it.

"Master, that's not a good idea. You'll hurt yourself!" Nooroo tried to stop him, but obviously his words went through one ear and out the other. Gabriel climbed the toppling tower and stood on the top. He leaned forward, reaching for the light.

"Almost…there!" Gabriel wheezed. You can probably guess what happened next.

CRASH! Nathalie rushed into the room to find Gabriel underneath a massive pile of…stuff? Boxes, books, his desk chair. Heaven knows what was going through his head. Helping him out, Nathalie noticed his leg was a bit bent out of shape.

"Sir, you need to get to the hospital." Nathalie didn't even wait for Gabriel's answer as she called the Gorilla to take Gabriel to the hospital. 'Something tells me that this is only gonna get much worse,' Nathalie thought as she helped her boss up.

And boy was she right…

When Adrien came home from school that day, he was surprised to find that his father and Nathalie were both absent. What the hell was going on? His father never, ever left the house. Ever.

Stepping into his father's office, Adrien froze. He tried again, walking out of the room, then in again. Yep. His father's office was trashed. Like, completely trashed. What happened? Oh, god. There were many scenarios going through the poor boy's head. On a scale from 'what if father and Nathalie got into a fight?' to 'what if the house was robbed and they took father and Nathalie captive?', what was he feeling? He was somewhere around 'what if father bought a dog?'

Yeah, he was losing his mind.

Adrien felt a vibration in his pocket. Well at least he was pulled, more like yanked, out of his stupor. Caller ID: Nathalie. He didn't hesitate to pick up the phone call.

"Hello?"

"Adrien! Hello. I'm sorry. I forgot to tell Gorilla to drop you off at the hospital. It's been a bit, hectic, let's say. Both me and Gabriel are here, don't worry, okay?"

He didn't reply immediately. He was way too lost in thought. "Oh. Okay. Thanks, Nathalie! Bye, then."

"Bye, Adrien."

Though Adrien wasn't convinced about them being okay, he bolted towards the Gorilla, informing him of where he needed to go.

The door of Gabriel's hospital room burst open, a panting Adrien rushing to Gabriel's side soon afterwards. Gabriel winced as his son tightly embraced him, seeing as it was quite rare he did so. It certainly wasn't going to be a fun conversation.

"FATHER! What happened to your leg?" Adrien asked, pointing to Gabriel's left leg. It had a cast bound tightly around it. "And why is the office a mess? Is Nathalie ok? Did you get into a fight? Was it an akuma? Are you ok?" His son squeezed his hand tightly, representing his nervousness but relief at the same time that his dad was okay. Well, partly okay. Gabriel smiled, giving Adrien a reassuring squeeze back.

"Yes, son. I'm fine. Just a broken leg. Nothing time can't fix. As for the office, well, I was a bit, drunk, you see. Yes…I was drunk! You know, because I was celebrating the upcoming summer line that will be a big success. Obviously seeing as I designed it, so there we are. You modelled for it, remember? Yeah, that! And then, I drank a little too much, trashing the office." Gabriel wasn't known for his quick thinking, or lack thereof, so he quietly congratulated himself. Maybe he should get drunk later. Actually, no. that wasn't very professional. Oh, who was he kidding?

"Ok. If you say so, father." Adrien believed his father, he had no choice, since his father was always so serious about everything. "But how did you end up breaking your leg? You couldn't have been that drunk, knowing you. Which, actually, I don't really know you, so I can't really say anything."

"O-oh. I'm sorry, I didn't know you felt like that. I, um, how about this? I'll get Nathalie to arrange some free time for both of us. So, we can, you know, do what other families do." Gabriel was starting to feel pity for his son, he had neglected him after Emilie's disappearance. Left him to drown in sorrow by himself. Neglected him. If there was anything Adrien needed, it was love from his father. And that is what he's going to get from now on. Even though he knew close to nothing about how families work, he was going to try his best. What caused this sudden change of emotions? Let's just say that after breaking your leg due to your desire for light and ending up in the hospital gives you a lot of time to think. Come to think about it, he needs to be taught about families. And he had just the right person in mind.

"Really?" Adrien's eyes filled up with hope, until Gabriel was pretty sure they were overflowing with it. Then he realised, they were tears.

"Adrien? Don't cry! Um, it's ok. Being stuck in a hospital bed with nothing to do makes you think. I want to…apologise for everything. For neglecting you, never being the man you wanted me to be. For having no-one to look up to at all. I'm sorry, Adrien." Gabriel's guilt weighed him down, as his head hung low.

"Father, honestly, it's okay. I forgive you. I've always trusted you, loved you. I've never given up on you. If anything, your behaviour made me feel like I should love you more, since you miss mother enough already."

Gabriel raised his head in surprise and outstretched his arms, asking for a hug. He got just that. "Just one thing, son." His voice was muffled by the mop of golden locks atop his son's head.

"Hm?"

"Please, call me dad. Father sounds too formal."

Adrien pulled back from the hug, staring up at his fath-dad with eyes as wide as saucers. "Okay!" He went back to nestling his head in his father's chest. He sniffed. Once. Twice. "Is that…my perfume?"

Gabriel choked on nothing in particular. "What?! Nonsense! What perfume?"

"You know, 'Adrien…the Fragrance'."

"Ah, yes. Um. Well. I may have borrowed it. It's just… I…well, I liked it."

To Gabriel's surprise, Adrien laughed. A hearty laugh. Just like his mother. Paris was right. His son was a sunshine child. He joined his son, and by the time Nathalie walked in with Gabriel's food, both Agreste boys were practically rolling on the floor with laughter. Except, Gabriel was in a hospital bed not the floor.

"-cause he was feline fine!" Nathalie heard Gabriel say a cat pun. A damn cat pun.

She cleared her throat. Just like that, the room filled with silence.

"Sir, I've got the salad you ordered." Boy, this day was getting weirder and weirder.

"Ah yes. Please put it on that table there and you can go and have a break. You know, live life to the fullest." Gabriel used wild arm gestures to emphasise his point.

"Sir? Are you sure you're okay? Are you sure that fall didn't, you know, give you concussion or anything?" The assistant raised her eyebrow.

"Nathalie! How could you? I can confidently say that I am in perfect condition, no concussion. The doctors cleared me. You go ahead and enjoy your break."

Nathalie was soon dismissed, wondering what the hell actually happened. Oh well. At least she can take her friend up on that offer for ice cream. (Hey, she might support her boss on his mission to take over the world and seem like the most socially awkward person ever, but that doesn't stop her having friends.)

"Uno!"

"What? How? That's not fair! Let's play another round." Gabriel re-shuffled the deck and gave out the cards accordingly.

"Sir, how many more matches are we going to play exactly?" Nathalie groaned as Gabriel handed her some cards.

"Not many, Nathalie. Just until I win."

"What's the matter Nathalie? Scared you're gonna lose?" Adrien taunted.

Nathalie smirked. "Never. Watch and learn."

A while later…

"Uno!"

"Nathalie! That's not fair!" Gabriel whined while Nathalie and Adrien cackled.

Nathalie was starting to enjoy herself now.

Author's Notes:

So this is a crackfic I wrote. It's going to have another part that will come...soon.

Also, I don't know what I was thinking when I was writing this.

Stay safe ~

:)