-Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir's POV-
"Ladybug, why didn't you stop him?"
The spotted superheroine looks impassively ahead, making her really hard to read.
"He had already made up his mind, stopping him would be pointless." She explains.
"But-"
"Chat." She interrupts, looking at me sternly, but her voice wavers, like she's feeling just as lost as me but is trying her best to keep it together. "It's out of our hands, he'll come back when he's ready."
Biting my lip, I glare at her. "Ready for what? To admit that he's wrong?"
Ladybug doesn't reply.
"We can't do that!" I stand up. "We're a team, aren't we? People don't just let their teammates make mistakes. Faon needs to know that we support him."
Ladybug glares at me. "Who's side are you on?"
I take a step back. "N-No one!"
"Then just, let Faon and I handle this, alright? Don't worry about it."
-End of Flashback-
God, how could I be so stupid?
What was I even thinking? That I would just confess and everything would be alright again? I wasn't even planning to confess, but the beautiful night lights, delicious food and Faon Vert feeling down in the dumps, the moment got to me.
And now, my heart just hurts.
The last thing I wanted was to make Faon feel more conflicted, but last week, at the Eiffel Tower, it was nearly too much. If Faon hadn't stopped me in time, I might've made the whole situation even worse.
I can't help it! Everytime I'm near the deer hero my heart swells to the point of exploding .
At times like these (and there were a lot), I often wondered to myself. How did it even get this far? Just because Faon decided to give not only Adrien, but Chat Noir presents because he likes both sides of me? Or that he's always willing to put up with my crazy antics? Or how he never once stopped supporting me in my purrsuit of Ladybug?
How he admitted to always feeling safe around me? And that he trusts me completely? And how it is exactly the same way I feel around him?
While my feelings for Ladybug burned hot and bright like a searing burst of flame, my feelings towards Faon crept up slower, quietly enveloping my chest with a constant warmth that's just so… so… Faon.
Faon Vert, with his pretty face, amazing colored eyes whether black or blue, with a kind and charming personality to boot. How could I not be taken right away after that?
Now, everything's falling apart, Faon doesn't want to talk to Ladybug, Ladybug doesn't want to talk to Faon, while I'm spending my days wallowing in self-pity and indecision.
I should be doing something , anything to get the three of us back on equal terms.
But what?
"Adrieeeeen, are you even listening to me?"
A familiar voice snaps me out of my thoughts as I turn to face Chloe with a sheepish smile.
"Sorry Chlo, I sort of dozed off, I'm a little tired today." I admit.
Today was our school's work experience field trip, where students get to go to various locations and find out what it's like to work there for a day. Naturally, we would be graded for our effort, and since our class had Chloe Bourgeois, it was easy to get a spot in one of the best hotels in Paris.
I heard that there's a class who went to my father's design studio for the day, and I can't help but feel really sorry for them.
Chloe lets out a shocked gasp, the two of us are partners in working the lobby today. "Seriously? That just won't do Adrien, luckily, I have the perfect thing to help. Julian !" She screams off into the lobby.
Not long after, a boy stumbles towards us, wearing an impeccably tailored suit, and his hair for once gelled and combed all the way back, looking incredibly awkward and uncomfortable.
I give Julian a small smile, it's the least I can do for the person who got "Chloe's butler" as their job, since it's technically an actual occupation in the building.
"Y-Yes, Mademoiselle?" The brunette says.
"You're late. Jean would've been here already." The blonde says, before sighing. "Whatever, get to the kitchen and make that special tea for Adrien."
"Umm…" Julian looks at her with wide eyes. "Wh-What special tea?"
"The one that makes Adrien stay awake! Now go!" She screams, sending the poor boy running off towards the kitchen.
"You didn't have to scare him Chloe." I chastise.
The girl sighs. " Relax , I'm just treating him how everyone else treats their staff. You understand right?"
I frown, not saying anything else. I wouldn't treat my helpers that way, and I'm a hundred percent sure Julian wouldn't either.
Not long after, the black-haired boy returns, arms shaky, carrying a full tray of a teapot with two cups at the side.
"Y-Your tea Mademoiselle." He places the tray on top of the counter. Fingers curled into his fist as he looks a little confused. "Do… Do you need me to pour it…?" He asks.
Chloe scoffs. "Of course we want you to pour it, how can- Hold on, Daddy!" She screams for her father, who appeared to be finding something for Alya and Marinette to do, waving a piece of paper in front of him.
"Ah. Thank you sweetie. Oh yes! Alya, you're going to be... sorting trash at the main dumpster." He announces, followed by an indignant gasp. I wince to myself, that job doesn't sound fun at all.
"Here you go." I jump at the quiet voice by my side. Julian places the cup in front of me, steadily pouring the tea into it.
"Thank you Julian." I give him an even brighter smile this time. "You know, you don't have to do everything Chloe says, right?"
The brunette lets out a small scoff before blushing. "I'm doing this because I agree with Chloe." He says before looking away. "You're looking kind of tired, and I thought tea would help too…"
"Oh, well, thank you." I say earnestly, grabbing the tea and taking a sip of it.
"It's… a little tasteless." I admit, looking inside the cup, missing the brunette's completely mortified look.
"Did you boil the water for too long?" I ask.
"Huh? I-I, maybe? I guess I got a little lost in thought..." He admits, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "H-Hold on! I can make you another one!" Julian quickly says, but before I could stop him and say that it's really okay, the doors to the lobby open. Revealing-
Is that Jagged Stone? In this hotel!?
I stare at the rockstar in awe. A couple weeks back, Chloe got Jagged Stone to do a signing for class representative, but I couldn't make it because of fencing, but now he's here! Oh my God!
Julian looks even more excited as he tugs on my sleeve. "Hey! Isn't that-"
" Excuse me!" A stern voice interrupts him as the Mayor steps towards the rocker. "This is a luxury hotel! Not a zoo!"
"Daddy!" Chloe screams, alerting his attention before he could say anything else. Pulling him to the side and whispering a few words into his ear, Mayor Bourgeois turns back to Jagged Stone with a completely new attitude.
"Mr. Stone, welcome to the Grand Paris Hotel! I am Mayor Bourgeois, the owner of this luxury establishment, in fact, the most luxurious in all of Paris. How might we serve you?"
Tuning the adult conversation out after that, I turn back to Julian. "Can you believe it Julian? We get to help a rock star!"
The brunette snorts, hugging the empty tray closer to his chest. "What do you mean we ? Only you and Chloe get to do that, I'm just her butler." He reminds me before looking back at the scene. "Gods I'm so jealous." He mutters, gripping the tray tighter.
I smirk. "So, I take it that you've listened to his music?"
"Huh?" He looks confused before remembering how he didn't know about the singer when Mr. Pigeon attacked. "Oh! Yeah! Alix and Nathaniel got me into him." He sighs wistfully. "His songs are so passionate and full of heart, I can't believe I didn't find out more about him sooner."
"That's what I said, nothing can go wrong with Jagged." I reiterate.
Suddenly, loud screaming rings through the lobby.
Turning back to the scene with wide eyes, I see a man leap out from behind the table, dressed in a white Jagged Stone t-shirt, blond hair lightly dyed pink and a camera in his gloved hands.
Jagged Stone sighs. "Oh, no. Not him again!"
The photographer seems unaffected by the rock stars prickly words. "Remember me, Mr. Stone? Vincent Aza! Just one photo to show everyone in the world that we're best buds! Come on, please! I'm your biggest fan!" He declares, but it only seems to aggravate the rock star further.
"I know! You've been to my last thirty-six shows. But we are not friends." He tries to say, but was ignored as Vincent practically climbs all over him, holding the camera in front of them.
I jumped a little as I feel Julian quickly hid behind me with a squeak, was he afraid that his photo might be taken by the man?
"There! Look into the lens!" Vincent says. However, before he could capture the photo, a hand cuts between the lens and their faces, before snatching the camera away entirely.
"Didn't you hear Mr. Stone? You still haven't got it, have you?" Jagged Stone's manager quickly grabs the photographer by the fingers, twisting it around painfully before shoving him out the door. "No photos!" She shouts, tossing his camera outside too.
"Julian, are you okay?" I turn to face him worriedly.
The brunette gulps, shaking a little, but nods anyways. "Y-Yeah, I am." He takes a deep shaky breath. "Sorry, that man just now… He's the kind of person I prefer to avoid."
I frown, nodding. Other people might think that Julian just has a really bad fear of being outside, but deep down I think that what he's more afraid of is being outcasted like last time by having his mistakes broadcasted to the world, by people like Vincent who constantly stalks invades people's personal space.
"It's okay Julian, nothing bad's going to happen." I reassure giving him a small smile. The boy blushes again before looking away.
I laugh a little at his shyness. I've hung out with him, Alix and Nathaniel enough to know that Julian's got a pretty outgoing personality when he's comfortable. But for some reason, he always seems shy around me, even though I'd like to think that we're closer than regular friends.
Like, best friends. Can we even have more than one best friend? I don't want to pick between Nino and Julian though.
Suddenly someone hugs me from the side. "Adrieeeen, do you like the tea I got you?" Chloe asks.
I give her a polite smile. "It was great Chlo, I feel so much better now." I half lied, because telling Chloe that the tea wasn't all that good would just make her be mad at Julian. I did feel better though, just not thanks to the tea but more the person who made it.
" Super! We should take a selfie to celebrate!" The blonde quickly whips out her smartphone, cuddling close to me and pulling my head closer to hers before a consistent sound of snaps play from it.
"I'll just, leave you to it then." Julian mumbles from behind us before quickly leaving the area.
I frown, watching him go, was it just me or did Julian sound a little angry?
"Come on Adrien, smile for the camera!" Chloe pushes, forcing me to take many… many photos with her.
Honestly, I couldn't feel much of my face after the second hour of photo taking. I just don't have enough energy to keep up with the blonde's constant need for photos of us, and I work as a model! But I kept smiling and let her take it anyways, even if she's a little on the rude and pushy side… Okay, even if she's a lot on the rude and pushy side, she's still one of my first friends.
Although, if what Julian's dad says is true, then maybe she wasn't my first ever friend, somehow being friends with Julian first makes me more happy, even if we both don't remember it.
Speaking of Julian, the temporary butler definitely did his best to play the part, appearing periodically to make sure that we didn't need anything (before making a quick exit), sometimes even helping me check in some other guests in too, under the command of Chloe of course.
"It's just what butlers do… I think." He jokes, loading a guest's pretty heavy suitcase onto the trolley. Huh, I guess Julian's stronger than he looks too.
Suddenly, while Chloe tries to get me to tag each other on social media and Julian's busy pouring us more cups of tea ("I made it properly this time, cross my heart!") the door opens again. This time, revealing a strange man in a black and blue spandex, a mask covering his eyes with a large glass circle on the side.
Chloe takes one look at the man and scoffs. "Oh, look what the cat dragged in. Let me handle this. Julian, Adrien, watch and learn." She requests before stomping towards the man. "Excuse me! You can't be a guest at this hotel! My father only allows the most important celebrities. Like me."
"I have a bad feeling about this…" I hear Julian mutter as I nod, feeling the same way.
The man turns around, looking at the girl with a creepy smile. "Well then, I am Pixelator. Your number one fan." He tries to schmooze, which sadly is a tactic that works on Chloe.
" Moi ? Oh, my, you're flattering me. Keep going." She says.
"Adrien, it's an Akuma! " I heard Julian shout, but it was too late.
"A photo of you, sweet miss…" He says, fingers reaching for the camera on his head.
Oh no.
"Look out, Chloe!"
"Chloe! Get away!"
"Look into the lens…" Pixelator taps on the lens, firing a bolt of digital light just as Julian and I knock her away, unfortunately the beam still hit us, sending the three of us spiraling down a bright tunnel before dropping us onto hard white colored floors.
" Too heavy!" I hear Julian gasp.
Sitting up immediately as I realized that I had fallen on top of him, I gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry."
"I-It's alright, I'm-"
"What just happened!?" I turn to my right to see Chloe scream into the white colored void.
I quickly take a look at our surroundings, as far as the eye could see, total and utter nothing .
"I think we've been like... digitized or something." I theorize.
The blonde looks less certain. "What do you mean digitized?"
"The man just now was definitely an Akuma." Julian interrupts, sitting up from his spot and looking around too. "Digitized… With a camera on his head, there's a high chance that it's that creepy stalker Jagged's manager chased away."
"Vincent." I supply him with the name. "We have to get out of here."
"Well, I can fix this. Leave it to me." Chloe says, and I actually got excited, before realizing that she probably meant calling for her dad.
"Daddy?" Chloe says into her phone, and I shake my head, I knew it.
"Daddy...?" The blonde says again, receiving nothing.
" Daddy!" She screams into the void.
"There's no use screaming about it now Chloe, we have to find a way out." I say, giving her my hand. The blonde sniffs before grabbing it as I help her up.
Julian's already standing, standing somewhere further away and whispering something to himself.
"Julian, did you find anything?" I ask, shocking the boy as he turns around, hand gripping his suit.
"Umm… No, not really."
I sigh. "From the looks of it, there doesn't seem to be a way out."
The brunette looks away, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Maybe we should just wait for Ladybug and Chat Noir to save us?"
I stiffen up, feeling a little bit of frustration. "Yeah, and hopefully Faon Vert will come to help too." I say, internally hoping that he will, considering how I am stuck here.
"Yeah, let's hope so…" Julian sighs loudly before looking at me. "We should look for a way out anyways." He looks at the blonde girl freaking out behind me before giving me a serious look. "You look after Chloe, and I'll scout ahead. Later." He says, before running off.
"H-Hey!" I could barely shout before he ran off, the sight of him slowly shrinking from the distance before disappearing. I sigh, looking back at the girl screaming for her dad.
A long time passed, and despite my efforts, Chloe gradually grew more and more desperate from the lack of data connection.
I was getting worried, Julian is proven to be very bad with directions. What if he got lost? Granted, he only ran in a straight line, but he could've tripped or something and got his directions mixed up.
Even if there doesn't seem to be anything too dangerous in this zone, I can't just sit here while Julian wanders this digital landscape alone.
Walking a little further from the girl angrily stomping on her currently useless phone. Plagg pops out from my shirt.
"Plagg, I gotta find some way to transform." I tell the Kwami, who sighs in exasperation.
"Come on, what's the rush?" He dares to say while Julian might be out there in the void all alone, I give him a stern look.
" Fiiiine ." He sighs. "If you insist, at least find me some cheese."
I sigh this time, turning back to Chloe. "I'm gonna see if there's a way out down there. Don't go anywhere. Could be dangerous."
"D-Dangerous!?" The blonde asks, right into my trap.
I smirk at her. "You're not scared, are you?"
"Scared, moi? As if! No way!" She scoffs.
Chuckling, I give her a thumbs up before walking a couple steps, that should keep her calm enough until we find a way-
"AHHHHH!"
Suddenly a weight jumps onto me, holding a screaming Chloe up on my shoulders, I turn to see a-
"C-Crocodile?" I ask in shock, staring at the slowly approaching reptile. Taking a fearful step back, I stare at it wide eyed. This is bad, I won't be able to protect Chloe like this, I have to transform or-
" Wait! Wait!"
A familiar voice from behind the croc shouts. Looking through Chloe's hands that were covering my face, I see Julian running towards us, stopping and panting behind the crocodile.
"Fang, you can't just run off like that." He pants, the reptile looks at the brunette, sticking its tongue out and wagging its tail around joyfully. I look at the scene in confusion-
Wait, Fang?
"T-That's Fang? As in, Jagged Stone's pet crocodile? That Fang?" I ask in disbelief. The crocodile upon hearing its name, looks at me with excitement, walking closer.
"NO! NO NO NO GET IT AWAY FROM ME!" Chloe screams, jumping off my shoulders and hiding behind me, effectively using me as a meat shield.
Julian snickers. "Chloe, it's okay, Fang just wants to play, right?" He says. The reptile in question nods, if that's even possible, before turning on its back, allowing Julian to scratch its belly while cooing at it.
"Awww who's a cute croc? Who's the goodest boy?" The brunette asks in excitement, energizing the crocodile even more.
"Wow, Fang really likes you, huh?" I say, still caught off guard by the entire thing.
Julian looks up to me and shrugs, smiling brightly while still scratching the crocodile. "I think this is just a special case, I mean, look at this face, does it look like the Killer Croc to you?" He accentuates his point by lifting Fang's head up, the reptile sticking its tongue out like a dog.
I snicker at the scene, before remembering something.
"Was chasing Fang why it took you so long to come back?" I ask.
The brunette blushes heavily, looking away in embarrassment. "Uh, not really, I uh…" He clears his throat before mumbling. "I accidentally tripped over him, and afterwards got my directions mixed up."
Now that he's back safe and sound, I can't help but snort, can't say I didn't anticipate as much.
"Luckily! Fang was there! He led me to you guys, I didn't even know crocodiles had such a great sense of smell." He quickly changes the topic, aggressively petting the croc as a distraction.
I smirk, leaning closer. "Or maybe your sense of direction is just worse than a crocodile's."
The brunette blushes harder, shifting away from me. "T-Tomato potato." He stutters out.
I laugh, it's not really the correct saying, but I'll let it slide.
"Oh! Ladybug!"
Hearing Chloe's shout, I quickly turned around, suddenly spotting a giant screen appeared in front of us, Ladybug's face displayed on it as she looked back at us, confused.
"Huh? What are you three doing there?" The superheroine asks in bewilderment.
"Ladybug!" Chloe shouts again in excitement. "Remember me? Your biggest fan? Please, please get us out of here. It's terrible here!" She begs, before looking at me with wide eyes. "I mean, it's only terrible when you're not around." She corrects, hugging me again.
"I guess I'm just the equivalent of the garden gnome then." I hear Julian grumble.
"Don't worry, I'll get all of you out soon." Ladybug assures, before sighing. "I sure hope Chat and Faon are there already." She says before running off.
"No, Ladybug, wait! You have to get us out of here!" Chloe yells after her, desperately trying to climb up the screen.
I sigh, I have to find a place to transform. I suppose I could just run off until they can't see me anymore, but knowing Julian he would probably force me to look for Adrien before getting out.
Speaking of Julian, he seems to be staring at the screen with a bewildered expression.
"You okay?" I ask, scaring the brunette a little as he jumps.
Looking at me sheepishly, he scratches the back of his head. "I-It's nothing, I was just thinking that it's weird for Ladybug to rely on Faon Vert like that, after everything they're going through, you know?"
I frown. "Ladybug still trusts Faon Vert, regardless of what's happening."
The brunette sighs. "Yeah, alright..." He trails off, ending the conversation there.
The two of us sit in an awkward silence for a long while after that, with Chloe slowly growing more and more frantic as time goes by.
"I can't believe Ladybug would just leave me like that!" She screams. "I have half a mind to revoke my number one fan title!" She threatens absolutely no one.
I sigh. "She didn't leave you Chloe, she just has to find a way to free us."
"Yeah, hopefully Chat Noir is helping her already." Julian mumbles, making me wince, but more importantly.
"Julian, do you hate Faon Vert or something?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at the brunette, who looks at me in surprise.
"Wh-What? Why would you ask that?"
I frown. "Because you never seem to consider him showing up, and you sigh every time he's mentioned. Not to mention just now, you don't seem to think that Ladybug should trust him anymore." I glare at the boy. "Faon isn't like that, he cares about Paris, and if there's trouble, he'll definitely show up. Regardless of what happens between him and Ladybug."
Julian stares at me, completely astonished before snapping out of it and looking away, blushing. "I'm- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound like I uh… Hate him." He says, sounding earnest in his apology.
I relax a little, the protective instinct slowly melting away. "It's okay, as long as you don't." I say, because I'm not sure if I can be friends with someone who didn't like Faon Vert. Come to think of it, it was silly that I even thought that of Julian in the first place, considering he's friends with two of Faon's alleged favorite people in Paris.
"I didn't know you like Faon Vert that much…" I hear Julian say.
Blushing, I look away. "Uh, yeah. Faon is, Faon's pretty cool."
"O-Oh." I hear the brunette say, clearing his throat awkwardly. "Personally, I like Chat Noir better."
My breathing hitch, he does? The hoodie wasn't just a joke?
"I… I see that's- That's good." I say, unable to resist the pleased smile on my face.
Before anything else could be said, a bright light shines down from the screen, engulfing both Chloe and I.
"Adrien!" I hear Julian gasp out.
"Julian!" I yell, before everything goes back to white.
Suddenly, Chloe and I reappear at the lobby, shocking Nino, who had been sitting by the counter, off of his chair.
Quickly trying to regain my bearings, I look around, Chloe's here which is great, but Julian and Fang still seem to be stuck in the photo world.
Okay, time to transform.
"Woah dude! You scared me!" I hear Nino yell as I run to the monitor behind the counter. Switching to the news channel, I discover that there's a police barricade by the Champs-Élysées, that has to be where the Akuma is!
"Fill in for me, will you Nino?" I request quickly before running out of the building.
Hiding behind a billboard, Plagg flies out of my jacket with a piece of cheese in his paws.
"C'mon, can't we just let Ladybug solve this one?" He asks lazily, swallowing the piece in one go.
"Plagg, be serious." I frown, pointing my ring in the air. "Claws Out!"
Running towards the Champs-Élysées, I spotted Ladybug standing in front of the Pixelator.
"I've kept my part of the deal, Ladybug, now bring me Jagged Stone!" He demands.
Quietly sneaking up behind him, I share a look with Ladybug, who notices me with quiet surprise.
"Pixelator, I know your Akuma's inside your glasses!" She says suddenly, I nod behind her.
The Akuma growls. "Stop wasting time!" He growls as I quietly approach him, slowly lifting my hands to the glasses on his head and-
"YEAH, GO CHAT NOIR!"
I freeze in place at the sudden shout, the people of Paris can be too much sometimes.
Immediately the Akuma whirls around, grabbing both my hands and shoving me onto the floor. Picking me up by the legs, he spins me around before throwing me into the air.
I fall next to Ladybug with a groan.
"Thanks for dropping in." The spotted heroine says, reaching down to lend me a hand.
"Sorry, I was a little caught up." I sat up, grabbing at her hand but weirdly, my claws phased right through it.
"Ladybug, you're hand." I say in fear.
The bluenette winces. "Sorry, I'm still not used to that yet."
"Hey hey hey! What about our deal !?" The two of us turn to the Pixelator, looking enraged before firing a digital bolt from his glasses.
Quickly dodging it and the Akuma's subsequent shots, I pull out my staff, spinning it in a circle and keeping an eye out on the rooftops.
Where's Faon?
"Guys, together!" Ladybug says, spinning her yo-yo, flinging it at the Akuma.
I hesitate, when she says that, it usually means Ladybug attacking from the front, I charge around the side while Faon attacks from above, but now-
" CHAT!" Ladybug shouts again, snapping me out of my thoughts as I quickly spin my staff and jump into the air out of panic, falling on top of the Akuma.
Pixelator dodges out of the yo-yo, looking straight up at me before clicking his lens, firing a bolt that hits me dead center and the whole world turns blinding white again.
Falling out of the air, my staff goes flying as I fall on back into the digital world.
" whyyy… " I hear a pitiful whimper from beneath me.
"Oh my- Sorry!" I quickly roll off from the person before realizing-
"Julian?" I asked in surprise before flushing in embarrassment, did I seriously just fall on him twice in the same day?
The brunette sits up with a groan, dusting off what looks to be bread crumbs off of himself and peeling off an empty piece of what looks to be a muffin wrapper.
"Yeah, it's-" He starts to say before cringing and wiping his hands on his suit. " really gross to have oily hands…" He finishes.
"Uh, yeah, sorry about that." I say awkwardly. "I didn't mean to destroy your… lunch?"
"It's not my lunch." The boy grumbles before shaking his head and looking at me with wide eyes. "Wait, what are you doing here?"
I shrug, trying to look casual as to prevent Julian from panicking. "Ladybug and I had a little hiccup in the fight, but don't worry, I'm sure she'll figure something else soon."
Standing up, I look around the expanse of white again before sighing. "Faon Vert hasn't shown up yet either..." I say quietly. Faon hasn't shown up when Reflekta attacked last week, and he's a no show this time as well, I really hope that he's alright, wherever he is.
"Maybe he got trapped by the Akuma, or something." Julian hesitantly suggests.
I shrug, that's a pretty good point, maybe his civilian self got targeted by Reflekta too, but what are the chances of that?
"Nevermind that, let's focus on getting ourselves out of here." I smirk at the brunette, who nods in agreement, appreciating the change in topics.
"Well, I've been walking around here for a while, there's no way out, and the only solid thing we can touch is the floor." He explains. Nodding in understanding, I look down to see-
"Woah." I notice the large crack on the floor, not far from us. "What's that doing here?"
"Oh…" The brunette clears his throat. "I uh, stomped on the floor too hard and cracked the floor a little, I think…" He explains.
Frowning, I kneel down, feeling the cracks with my hands. That doesn't make sense, Chloe has been stomping on the floor for the better part of thirty minutes and the floor didn't get damaged as much as this.
Whatever, now that I know that the floor's breakable, there's one thing I can do.
"Stand back." I inform Julian, who looks confused, but does so anyways.
"Cataclysm!" I activate my powers, hand glowing black with destructive power.
Punching the floor, the entire room quickly cracks apart like a mirror, before shattering. Julian and I turn back into data before flying the heck out of here.
Reappearing right near the Akuma, I ready my staff, Pixelator has Jagged Stone pinned, the rocker posing with his eyes closed while the Akuma moves closer and closer.
"Chat, batter up!" I quickly turn at Ladybug's voice, a compact mirror flying towards me.
Quickly winding up, I bat the mirror towards Jagged and the Akuma, the reflective item flying right in front of Pixelator's face right as he fires. The beam bounces off the mirror, hitting the Akuma dead center and sending him towards his own digital world, his glasses falling helplessly on the floor.
" Miraculous Ladybug!" Ladybug repairs everything first, regaining the loss of her pixelated arm and leg before stomping on the glasses and purifying the Akuma.
"We did it!" I exclaim, pushing my fist forward. "Pound it?" I say hesitantly.
The bluenette sighs, shaking her head. "Chat, we need to get Faon back."
Suddenly retracting my hand, I looked at her in surprise. "R-Really?"
"Yeah." She nods, looking towards the roof. "I thought we would be able to work without him, but our teamwork is taking a hit, as evident when you got hit by Pixelator, we have to fix it before it gets worse."
Faltering slightly, I look at her warily. "That's… the only reason?"
The spotted heroine says nothing.
I sigh, seriously? "Faon's not going to like that." I tell her honestly, because it's true, he's just going to feel like a burden.
"I know." The bluenette sighs too. "But we have no other choice."
Yes, we do! I scream internally, but hold my tongue as Ladybug's earrings beep, signaling her time's running out.
"I have to go." She says before swinging away on her yo-yo, leaving me in the dust.
I sigh again. Seriously? Younger Faon was right, teenage superhero friendships lead to teenage superhero problems. Movie or not.
After returning to the hotel, I detransform, running into the lobby and noticing Nino and Julian in conversation.
"Julian!" I shout in relief, startling the boy as he turns to me with wide eyes.
"I'm glad that you're safe." I say honestly, smiling brightly.
"Oh." He says, staring at me for a moment before jumping out of his thoughts. "I-I mean, much thanks! I'm relieved thatcha safe too!" He shouts.
Nino winces, rubbing the side of his ear. "A little lower on the volume, dude." He says, worsening the brunette's blush.
"S-Sorry."
"Attention class." Miss Bustier announces, emerging from the elevator with a bunch of my classmates. "After all the excitement today, I think we should end this excursion early. Come along and group up to properly thank Mayor Bourgeois."
Sharing a look with my best friends (I decided to have two of them), the three of us merged with the rest of the class as the Mayor and Jagged Stone's manager stood in front of us.
"Thank you very much for this work experience day, Mr. Bourgeois. I'm sure we'll all remember it for a long time to come." Miss Bustier starts, all of us echoing our thanks afterwards.
"So do I." The Mayor reciprocates, before receiving a tap on the shoulder by the manager. "Oh, wait, I almost forgot. Jagged Stone's giving a concert tonight, so, I'm giving tickets to the students who demonstrated the greatest effort today." He continues as the manager walks towards us, passing a ticket to Alya, and then Marinette, before skipping over Chloe, who was looking expectant, and then handing one to me!
"Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!" The blonde screams as she realizes she's not getting one.
The manager ignores her, passing the last ticket to-
"M-Me?" Julian asks, surprised, staring at the ticket in his hands.
"Of course!" The manager says before leaning closer to whisper. "Honestly, after seeing you work for the girl, I wanted to give you two." She says, making the brunette snort.
"Alright everyone." Our teacher calls for our attention again. "Let us line up and get into the bus, I know some of you may live closer to here than the school, but we have to do this for safety's sake." She explains, herding us into a line as the school bus pulls up to the hotel.
"Hey, Adrien?" I turn to see Julian looking at me timidly, holding the ticket tightly in his hands.
"Do… Do you want an extra ticket?" He asks, holding the item in question to me.
I look at him in surprise, but he continues before I can say anything.
"I-I don't handle crowds well, a-and concerts and stuff with an audience, they don't… mix well, with me." He quietly explains. "S-So, you can have it."
Giving him a small, understanding smile, I lift the ticket off his hand. "Thank you Julian, I'll make sure that it goes to good use."
The boy smiles sadly in return. "That's all I ask… Thanks, Adrien." He says before walking up the bus, shoulders slumped in disappointment.
Frowning as soon as he can't see me, I look at the tickets in my hand.
It'll be my first ever concert, and my father would be too busy with the design studio today to notice what I'm doing.
But can I really enjoy it when I know Julian's missing out on something he rightfully deserves?
"Hey, Nino, do you want two tickets?"
-Time Skip to Night-
This… might not make a lot of sense to most people.
I was planning on just showing up at Julian's at first, but the more I thought about it, the more it feels like it wasn't going to work.
First of all, Julian gave his ticket to me , expecting me to bring someone else to the show. If he were to find out that I gave both of them away, he might get mad at me, and it'll go against what I wanted to do in the first place, which is to cheer him up.
Second of all, going as Adrien would be kind of awkward for the both of us. I don't really know what to do when visiting someone else, the only times I ever did visit someone was Marinette's place for video game training, and Julian's house when I was feeling down in the dumps. Both times aren't really the best scenarios to draw experience from.
Third of all, going as Chat Noir is simply better, as I have the purrfect excuse to get into his room.
Which is how I find myself hanging upside down by the door of Julian's balcony as Chat Noir, a box perfectly balanced in my hands as I rap against the doors.
Not long after, it swings open, a familiar set of surprised blue eyes meet mine.
"Chat Noir?" Julian asks, in shock.
"Pleasure to meow-t you Julian, want to hang out?" I joke.
The brunette snaps out of his reverie and snorts. "Did you hang upside down just to say that?"
"You know me so well." I smirk, offering the box in my hands. "Seriously though, may if I come in? I bring purr-esents."
The boy stares at the box, confused, but curious. "Uh, sure." He says, opening the door behind him.
Walking through the doors, I let out a whistle, impressed at the brunette's room. The last time I was here was when I carried Julian back, when his dad showed up to school unannounced, but now I can afford to fully appreciate it.
Multiple bookshelves lined the walls, filled with various comic books, novels and collector's items, with some extra valuable ones displayed on the wall in glass cases. A large bed wrapped in forest green bed sheets, with an overabundance of pillows and stuffed toys from various movies and popular cultures. If you can describe Julian in just one picture, it would be a picture of this room.
"Pretty sweet crib you have here." I say, looking at a couple miniatures on the shelves before glancing back at him. "Not as great as mine though."
The brunette scoffs good heartedly. "I can always kick you back out you know."
"And watch me pout at you from the window? Fair warning, I've been told I have very good kitten eyes." I brag before taking out the box again. "Anyways! I got you something to apologize for ruining your lunch today."
"It wasn't my lunch-"
"Tadaa!" I open the box, revealing 6 nicely organized muffins from Marinette's bakery.
Julian looks at the treats with wide eyes. "Chat, this is…"
"So nice of me, right?" Closing the box, I look around for a place to put them. "I guess you're just going to have to let me stay here then, now that I-" I stop short, suddenly noticing the big plate on the computer table, mostly empty, aside from the many different varieties of colored bread crumbs, pieces of fruit and scrunched up muffin wrappers.
"On second thought, I probably shouldn't be enabling your… love for the cake, huh, muffin-boy?" I say semi-seriously, counting up to a dozen different wrappers on there.
Julian sends me a panicked look. "I don't- they're not- I don't have-!" He stammers before sighing in defeat. "Y-yeah, muffins are… pretty great." He finally admits.
"It's okay Julian, the first step is admitting the problem." I tease, placing the box on the table anyways before sitting on the nearby chair. "So! What does the famous Le Beau kid do on a school night?"
The brunette looks a little hesitant. "Umm… Get ready for bed, I guess?" He answers, scratching the back of his head.
I pout. "C'mon, work with me here."
The boy sighs, looking at the computer. "I guess, watch some movies? TV shows if I feel like staying up."
Huh?
"You watch movies as the shorter time spending alternative?" I ask in surprise, earning a scoff from the brunette.
"Believe me, no one ever goes 'Hey, I'll just watch one episode of this show. If you want to save time, watch a movie." He advises, grabbing a muffin from the box and taking a bite out of it.
"These are good." He sighs dreamily, as if he hadn't just polished off nearly twelve other cakes.
"I guess you would know that muffin-boy." I snort.
The brunette swallows, giving me an unimpressed look. "Yeah, can we veto that nickname, please?"
I smirk, leaning on my hands. "Oh but Julian, once you say that, it is set in stone forever." I say before tapping my chin in thought. "Although, I guess it's a little too long, how about we shorten it to Muffin instead?"
The brunette immediately chokes on his next bite, coughing and wheezing as he sends me what he probably thinks is a murderous look.
"I rather you call me boy. " He says.
I sigh, still smiling. "Have you not heard anything I just said? The more you fight it, the longer it stays." I tease.
Grumbling under his breath, he eats the remaining cake in one go before pulling up another chair, sitting down next to me and going online.
"Do you know Jagged Stone?" He asks.
I settle for a shrug. "Saved his life a couple times, I think he does music?"
Julian snorts. "He's one of the best composer slash singers out there, even if he's a little self absorbed." He clicks on a site as it loads up a livestream of his performance.
"I'd like to dedicate this song to the girl who saved my life. This one's for you, Ladybug." The Rockstar announces, taking a seat on the piano and playing a pretty catchy tune.
"Hmm." I hear Julian grumble, unsatisfied.
"What's wrong? Didn't you say he's one of the best?" I tease, trying to lighten his sudden dip in mood.
He sighs, shaking his head. "He is . It's just that I-" He pauses, looking away. "Nevermind, it's stupid."
"Awww, c'mon, you can tell me." I give him a reassuring smile. "I may not be as good a listener as Faon Vert, but these ears aren't only just for show."
The boy chuckles at my joke before sighing again. "Sorry, it's just, from what I've heard, you were a pretty big part in saving the day too, you know?" He frowns at the screen. "Would it kill Jagged to at least mention you in the song too?"
I stare at him in stunned silence. I knew that Julian admitted to being a big fan of me, but I didn't know that it was to the point of being angry that I didn't get any screen time. It's honestly quite touching.
"That's probably the nicest thing a civilian has ever said to me." I admit truthfully, because the nicest nice thing someone has ever said to me would always be what Faon said, during the time we were trapped in the refrigeration unit.
The boy says nothing, staring at the screen with an annoyed look on his face, but as Jagged starts his performance, the catchy music must've gotten to him as he starts subtly nodding his head to the music.
I can't help but snicker quietly to myself, he was honestly too cute for his own good. If only he could show this side of himself to the world more, the determined, loyal yet aloof side that he only shows to close friends, he might just become more "popular" than me.
Maybe if I was more like him, this whole issue the Miraculous team is having, maybe it wouldn't have even existed.
"Hey, Julian?" I ask suddenly, unable to stop myself as the brunette turns to me in confusion.
"Yes?"
Well, no turning back now. I think to myself, taking a deep breath. "Have… Have you been keeping up with what's happening, between Ladybug, Faon and I?"
Julian says nothing, eyes quickly darting away before he starts messing with his jacket. "Bits and pieces, I guess…"
I nod, turning back to the now muted screen. "What- What do you think… I should do?" I finally ask, wincing at how sad that sounded.
"H-huh?" The brunette sounds confused. " Sh-should you be doing anything? Last time I checked, it was only between Faon and Ladybug, right?"
I sigh in frustration. "You sound like all the articles I've been reading." I comment snarkily. "Honestly, every friendship self-help site I've been too is always 'leave them alone' or 'remain neutral' or something along those lines, but that's- that's kind of stupid. " I bite out.
"I don't want to be neutral, but I don't want to take sides either. What's happening between Ladybug and Faon, I feel like I can't help either of them, and it makes me feel like- like I don't even matter !" I finally say, breathing uneven as all the frustration built up for the past few weeks starts pouring out.
"Chat…" I hear Julian say, sounding like he's starting to cry too.
I laugh pitifully. "S-Sorry, I came here to cheer you up, but I made you cry instead."
The brunette shakes his head, looking somewhat angry. "No, it's okay, what you're feeling matters more than that." He looks off to the side. "I… I think you should tell them both what you're feeling." He takes a deep shaky breath. "I don't think they fully realize how much their argument is hurting you, a-and, if you tell them, maybe they'll stop being so childish."
I shake my head. "N-No, I don't want them to give up on what they think is right, just because I'm too weak to stand firm and-"
"Y-You're not weak!" I jump at the brunette's desperate tone. Julian looks at me in distress.
"What you're feeling matters! And a person's beliefs aren't meant to stay the same! They change and develop when they find out what they're doing is hurting the ones they care about!" He explains, looking pained. " Please Chat, tell them what you're feeling. I'm sure at least one of them will change their way of thinking. Because-" He sniffs. "Because you matter , okay? Please don't feel like you don't, Faon will go crazy…" His voice cracks at the last one before going silent.
I stare at him, wiping the tears off my face before laughing sadly. "I… You're right, Faon's not going to like it if I kept this to myself."
The boy nods, glaring at me. "He might punch you if you keep it hidden any longer."
I gasp. "And hurt this pretty face? Faon Vert would never ." I joke, making Julian laugh a little and lightening the tension by a bit.
"Chat." I turn to look at him, who's staring at me with a rare, protective glare. "What you're feeling, it matters, okay? Don't ever think for a moment that it doesn't." He says, and for a moment, I could almost picture Faon Vert saying that, his face bearing striking similarities to the one the deer hero often makes to his fawns.
I move back a little at the intensity, arms accidentally clicking something on the keyboard as the sound comes back on.
"Thank you Paris! Goodnight!" Jagged's voice rings through the room as the both of us jump to the sudden sound.
"It's getting late, you should probably go and get some rest." Julian says as he checks the time on the screen. He's right, it was getting a little late.
I sigh. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea." I say, standing up and stretching before leisurely walking towards the balcony doors.
Pausing as my hand touches the door knob, I turn back to the brunette. "Hey."
"Yeah?" The boy turns around after packing up the leftover food.
I give him a grateful smile. " Thank you, for your advice."
Julian blushes and looks away. "I-I was just speaking the truth, no need to thank me for that."
Snickering, I push the balcony doors open. "Okay, okay, I'll retract my gratitude then." I play along, sitting on the balcony ledge. "I'll see you around, goodnight Muffin."
"Good ni- Wait! D-Don't call me that!"
Laughing as I fall as the way down the mansion and landing quietly on my feet, I stealthily make my way back to my room.
Landing past my window, I sigh in exasperation.
Wanted to cheer Julian up, and instead, I made us both cry, way to go Adrien.
But at least now I think I know what I should do to resolve this.
"Tell them what you feel." I repeat what Julian says to myself in the mirror.
Tell them what I feel, because what I feel matters.
