Chapter Fourteen

"Boo!"

"Agh!" Marinette jumped forward as she was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts, blue eyes wide in panic. She stumbled forward, hands clasping the railing of her balcony for balance. She spun around, and found a pair of gleaming hazel eyes. "Alya, what was that for?"

"You should have seen the look on your face," Alya chortled, and when Marinette scowled at her laughing she bumped up against her. "Oh, come on, girl. You were asking for it– I called your name twice and knocked, but you were out of it."

Marinette flushed. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"Just wanted to swing by and see you," Alya replied, leaning back against the railing. "Your parents sent me up, I hope that's okay, but it's been ages since we've hung out. I've missed you."

"Y-yeah, it has been awhile," Marinette said– it was these kinds of things she always forgot in relation to her double life. Acting like Ladybug had no connection to Marinette and Marinette no link to Ladybug? Easy. Remembering that quality time she had spent with Alya in one form didn't translate to the other? Not so easy.

"I've been crazy busy," Alya said, shaking her head. "...Like with the LadyBlog and stuff like that. It's... it's awesome and amazing, but man it's tiring." She leaned back, stretching. "But it's nice just to catch a moment of calm, you know?"

"Yeah," Marinette echoed, eyes flickering towards her. "A lot is going on with the heroes, aren't they? A Bee Miraculous and the Fox popping up again, it all sounds crazy."

Alya made a face. "Gah, don't remind me. That stupid Silver Paw... I hope Ladybug and Rena– I mean Abeille– catch him and get the Miraculous back soon."

Marinette tilted her head. "Yeah, Ladybug did say in that interview that Rena Rouge and Abeille were the same. That seemed to surprise a lot of people."

"I think there's magic that has to do with hiding their identities," Alya explained. "Remember that one article I wrote a while back? I think the city got to see it in action with Rena and Abeille– the same person with just a different Miraculous, yet everyone thought they were separate until told otherwise. It probably helps hide their civilian identities too."

"So what you're saying is that Ladybug could be right in front of you?" Marinette asked. "And you wouldn't know?"

"I... I like to think that I would know," Alya said slowly. "But... yeah. As long as that magic is in place..." She looked away, voice quiet. "I won't know."

They sat there in silence for a moment, before Marinette decided to shift the topic slightly. "Do you think if they changed their costume we wouldn't recognize them either?"

Alya blinked. "Can they even change their costumes?"

"I, um, just assumed so? I mean Silver Paw's and Rena Rouge's are completely different, so it seems like they can," she shrugged. "I mean, it's magic, so why not?"

"Rena Rouge's costume looks better..." Alya muttered under her breath.

Marinette grinned. "You can say that again– hottest Miraculous holder hands down."

Alya started coughing.

"Abeille looks fine as well," she winked at Alya. "But I do prefer the original, if I'm going to bee honest."

"I'm afraid Ladybug is the one that's spot on."

"Oh, honey, I'm afraid I don't bee-lieve that."

Alya gave her a playful shove, Marinette smirking slightly when she saw the blush on her cheeks. "Y-you're ridiculous, girl."

"Watcha doing?" Duusu asked, landing on Adrien's hair, who was staring at the computer. "Ooo, the LadyBlog! Lookie! There's pictures of us!"

"Yeah," Adrien said quietly, before scrolling past the picture of Blue Wing on the roof. He loved being transformed... but yet he only felt sick when he saw himself in public media.

"And there's Silver Paw!" Duusu beamed as Adrien found himself looking at yet another picture. It wasn't quite as clear as the ones of him and the heroes, but it was enough to recognizably be Nino. "We're not supposed to talk about him though."

"We can talk about him," Adrien said, studying the image closely. "Just not to Father or Nathalie or Nooroo... I promised them that..."

"Don't worry!" Duusu said, winking, even though Adrien couldn't see it with her on his head. "You had the magic make sure I wouldn't, so I won't!" She brought her feathery paws up to her face, giggling. "I love secrets."

"Yeah..." Adrien said softly, fingers reaching up to stroke the kwami, before scrolling again. The next image he came across was one of the two heroes– an older one of Ladybug and Rena Rouge. Ladybug was holding Rena Rouge in her arms, swinging them away from a blast from the akuma. Rena Rouge wasn't looking at the danger, only up at Ladybug fondly.

"They're so romantic!" Duusu gushed at the sight, letting out a soft chirp.

"...Romantic?" Adrien said slowly, eyes flickering back to the picture.

Duusu giggled. "Couldn't you sense their love for each other? It's so strong!"

Adrien swallowed, he usually kept his empathic abilities repressed, as it could get overwhelming at times. Yes, he did use it when needed, but still he found it so hard to control... "I could tell they were really close."

"There's a lot of kinds of closeness!" Duusu said, flying up into the air and dancing in front of Adrien. "And so many kinds of love too! It takes time to learn how to sense all the differences, but those two are deeply in love with each other!"

Adrien bit his lip, his mind wandering to when he had akumatized Nino, how he had talked about his friends' feelings for each other. They were both girls as well... and Nino had seemed very defensive about it. His gaze turned back towards the picture of Ladybug and Rena Rouge.

"Um... so I guess girls falling in love just... happens then?" Adrien asked uncertainly. He had heard people talk about gay couples before... but not that often, and never in a good light. It had always seemed to be in the context of it being a 'phase' or 'confusion', like it was something that wasn't supposed to happen.

"Why wouldn't it?" Duusu asked, blinking at him.

"...I... um, Father said..." Adrien looked away. "I just didn't really know it could be a thing?"

Duusu laughed. "Of course it's a thing! It's love after all! Some people fall in love, some people don't. Some people feel love a lot, and sometimes they feel it slowly. Sometimes it's romantic, and sometimes it's with family. Or friends. Or companions. Or other halves. Or pets. Or hobbies. Or food!" Duusu cupped her paws together, cooing. "I just love Love so much~ it's so complex and special and cute and adorable and sweet and important and special and wonderful and–"

"...Huh," Adrien said softly as Duusu rambled on, looking at the image a little longer.

"–I dunno why they don't act like they're a couple, their feelings are so strong!" Duusu said, shrugging. "You humans can be so confusing sometimes!"

"So you can sense emotions clearly, right?" Adrien asked in a whisper.

Duusu blinked at him. "I am Emotions, silly– of course I can!"

Adrien swallowed. "Does... does Nino truly want to be my friend?" He asked quietly, and Duusu merely stared. "I... I want to be his friend. B-but people that try to be my friends just end up being fans. Or wanting to be on good terms with Father. And, I don't know, Nino is the first person who wants to be my friend that knows nothing about me being an Agreste and... and..."

"You're crying," Duusu said, floating closer as he felt tears sting his eyes. "You're scared again. Why are you always so scared, Adrien?"

Adrien wiped away his forming tears. "I'm j-just scared this isn't for real. Y-you, Nooroo, and Chloe are the only ones who seem to want to be friends with me because of me, not my name..." He tasted salt as he swallowed. "And Nooroo probably doesn't even like me that much, and I'm just so glad you do... I... I want another friend, Duusu, is that too much to ask? Am I being selfish, wanting that?"

Duusu circled around him. "I think you should be less scared, then you'd have more room to be happy!" The kwami beamed. "Being happy is a good thing, you know! Nino was very happy to see you again. And worried. Happy-worried. There was a lot of feelings: happy, worried, relieved, surprised, hesitant, curious." She grinned at him. "I have felt those kinds of Emotions between a lot of friends before, so it sounds like you guys are friends too!"

Adrien gave a small smile. "I'm glad to hear that."

Duusu preened. "Me too!" She zipped closer. "Do you have any chocolate? I'm hungry."

"Let's go down to the kitchen and get some," Adrien said softly. As he pushed himself to his feet though he paused, feeling slightly light headed. Darkness danced at the edge of his vision, threatening to black out his sight entirely– only for it to fade after a few moments.

"Adrien?" Duusu asked, blinking.

"Heh," he gave the kwami a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, I just stood up too quickly. Come on, let's go."

He pulled his button up shirt open slightly, allowing her to dive into the inside pocket. He slowly made his way towards the door, but he felt normal once again, so he picked up some speed, heading out of his room and down the stairs. As he was heading towards the dining room he heard his name, and paused.

"Adrien," Nathalie called, causing him to turn. "There you are, we need to talk."

"Is everything alright?" Adrien asked, eyes flickering around the lobby– shoulders relaxing when he saw no sign of Father.

"Do you have chocolate, Miss Nathalie?" Duusu asked, poking her head out. "I'm so hungry, and the kitchen always has the bestest of chocolate."

"You may go on ahead and get some," Nathalie replied, and Duusu lit up.

She zipped out from Adrien's pocket, rushing towards the kitchen as fast as she could. She phased through the wall, leaving only Adrien and Nathalie alone. Nathalie inclined her head, and Adrien followed her.

"I do not want you requesting any meals with your father for the time being. It would be best for you to steer clear of him except for when necessary. As you know there is an upcoming show, and if you were to push your father into losing his temper once more you could end up with bruises that we don't need staff questioning."

"Okay," Adrien said quietly.

"You will still be fighting in akuma battles, however, as the Miraculous Ladybug will heal any wound you receive during the battle," Nathalie continued. "But that is not an excuse to be reckless. Efficiency is key to any fight, and your father has not been happy with how you have been slacking."

"I... I'm going to do better, Nathalie, I promise. We will get the Miraculouses."

"Yes, we will," Nathalie said, voice as stoic as ever, and Adrien hesitated. Duusu wasn't here right now, but he was still wearing the Miraculous... He closed his eyes for a moment, lifting the barrier on the empathy that the Miraculous provided. The brooch grew warm against his shirt, and immediately he could feel a wave of emotions wash over him.

He cut it off just as quickly, but it had been enough to probe Nathalie's emotions. Despite the mask she wore everyday, her emotions were keen. Loyalty. Focus. Cunning. Her emotions were sharp and intense, and Adrien had been glad to withdraw his connection. However, he had sensed more.

It was comforting to know there was love in Nathalie's heart.

"Our main concern at the moment is the new Fox user," Nathalie continued. "They helped you, however he was hostile towards the akuma. He is not to be trusted at the moment until we can learn more about his intentions."

Adrien swallowed.

The woman paused, looking back at Adrien. "Your father told me that you went looking for Silver Paw afterwards, but you didn't find anything?"

"I didn't," Adrien said, before backtracking. "I mean, I did go looking, but I didn't find anything. I didn't see Silver Paw at all."

"Adrien, are you sure?" Nathalie asked, turning to face him. "He jumped into the battle because of you. There has to be some connection somewhere."

"Not that I know of," he whispered, wishing that Duusu was here.

Nathalie closed her eyes, before taking a step towards him. Her arms rested on his shoulders, her tone much softer than before. "Adrien, you know you can trust me, right? You can trust me with anything."

Adrien's heart pounded, and he looked away.

"Nino!" Lucie called. "Why are there like a dozen things in the mail for you?"

"Just set them on the counter!" Nino called back.

"Did you order all these?"

"There's only like four things, Mom!"

"What are they for?"

"Gifts for a friend!"

It was only a few moments later he heard footsteps coming, and he mouthed 'hide' to Trixx– but the Fox was already diving somewhere out of sight. Moments later his mother opened the door, balancing four packages in her arms. She deposited them on his desk, frowning slightly.

"You are being careful what you spend your money on, right dear?" Lucie asked.

"Yeah, they're just a few little things," Nino said with a smile. "I'm not being reckless, I promise."

"Alright then," Lucie said, before glancing about his room. "Make sure you clean up in here before you head out, alright?"

"I'll do it later."

"Nino, you said that last week."

Nino didn't reply, and his mom let out a chuckle, before heading out the door. He groaned, leaning back in his chair, and Trixx popped out of hiding. The Fox zipped over and shut the door completely. The kwami gave a glance about the cluttered room, before snickering.

"If you'd just keep it straightened you wouldn't have this problem," he sang.

"Oh, no one asked you," Nino muttered, looking over his packages, before beginning to rip one open.

Trixx hovered over Nino's shoulder, curiously watching as he started to open the box. "Already getting gifts for Blue Wing? You sure do get attached quickly, don't you, Kit?"

Nino gave a half smile, popping open the lid and pulling out some bubble wrap. "Heh, actually these are for you."

Trixx blinked in confusion. "For... me?"

"I mean, you don't really have anything here that's your own?" Nino said, setting the bubble wrap aside to pull off the paper. "And you're just chilling in my bag all day, so I thought it would be nice for you to have a few things."

"Woah..." Trixx muttered, landing on the bubble wrap. His paws kneaded against it, fascinated by the strange texture. The Fox kept pressing down, when suddenly a pop filled the room. He pulled back into the air for a moment, before grinning, landing back onto it to pop more of the bubble wrap.

"So, what do you think?" Nino asked, holding up the contents of the package.

"I love it!" Trixx cried as he continued popping the bubble wrap– leaping up into the air and pouncing down onto another part of the wrap.

Nino blinked at the kwami, before giving a small smile. "Um... that's not the gift?"

Trixx paused, purple eyes blinking as he looked up at what Nino was holding, which looked to be a small pet bed. Just the size for a kwami, a deep green with fuzzy material on the inside. He blinked, before leaving the bubble wrap and floating over towards Nino.

"It was supposed to be for hamsters," Nino said uncertainly. "Because that's like the only thing your size? But it's based on a dog bed and foxes are canines? That's not offensive or anything, right? Like I know you're smarter than any animal, but I figured you'd like to have your own bed instead of sleeping on my pillow? Oh yeah! Speaking of pillows–"

Nino set the small animal bed down on the desk, and went to open up another package. Trixx circled his new bed once, before carefully floating down to touch it with a paw. Nino hastily ripped open another package, not sure why such soft items had bubble wrap in it, before turning back to Trixx, holding up a small pillow and blanket clearly meant for dolls.

Trixx had already curled up in his new bed, fluffy tail wrapped around him as he let out a content rumble.

"Um... I got you a pillow and a blanket too?" Nino offered.

Trixx opened up one eye, an ear flicking, before closing it again. Nino hesitated, but held out the items to the kwami, who snatched the pillow from him and tucked it under his head. Nino draped the small blanket over him, and found that the kwami could somehow be even cuter than before.

"Can I keep the poppers too?" Trixx asked, breaking the silence.

"...Poppers?"

One paw slipped out from under the blanket, pointing to the stash of bubble wrap.

"Oh," Nino cracked a grin. "If you want, I was just going to throw it away though."

"How could you throw away such treasures!" Trixx cried, popping out from his new bed, zipping over and landing on the bubble wrap. "They're mine now– no touchy!"

Nino laughed while the kwami glowered at him, before holding up the last two packages. "Well, do you want to see what else I got you? There also might be some more bubble wrap too..."

Trixx landed on Nino's shoulder as he started to open up the last two packages, watching intently. The first package held a tiny little tea set– made of porcelain, decorations like these were something that Nino always saw at his grandmother's house– and they were just the perfect size for kwamis. It had taken him some time to find a set that would be functional, but they fit perfectly in Trixx's paws.

The final and largest package was a giant bundle of fruit leather– full of half a dozen different flavors. Trixx's eyes gleamed at the sight, and Nino hoped that these would last a bit longer than the other food he had bought for the kwami. In small little packages they were perfect to take on the go, and wouldn't spoil by sitting out like fresh fruit would.

"Then the last thing I was thinking about was something that you could do during school," Nino said. "So I was thinking you could borrow my 3DS and play some games? You'd have to keep the volume down, but I have some earbuds you could borrow, though they'd be more like speakers to you–"

"Games?" Trixx asked, ears flicking up.

"Um, yeah, I have a handful of video games you could try. I was thinking maybe you'd like Pokemon. I also have a few Mario games too, and Zelda. Maybe Pokemon Y though? That's based off of France, and there's a fox Pokemon you can start out with."

"What's a Pokemon?"

"Um... You remember Blue Wing's first avatar? That was based off of a Pokemon, a few of his others too. It's this game with these magical monsters that are based on animals and legends," Nino explained, while Trixx watched him intently. "They all have these powers. You play the game as a human, befriending the Pokemon, and you use the Pokemon's powers to fight opponents and take down bad guys and stuff. The goal of the game is to become the strongest and save the world."

Violet eyes gleamed. "I want to learn how to play this game."

"Sure thing, little dude, let me just go grab my DS real quick."