-Julian's POV-

"So, I know that you're probably mad about, everything. O-Or maybe not mad, but I guess, disappointed…?"

"..."

"Right, yeah, so, I was thinking, maybe it's best if we made a truce, y'know? I'll join back the team and work with you, we can go back to the original schedule and stuff. Just like… loading a save file, I guess?"

"..."

"Am I gonna change? Well, I uh, well you see, I know that I said that I will never change, but this whole argument that we're having, it's starting to hurt- I-I mean, make the people I care about worry, a-and I don't want to-"

"Alright alright cut!"

Ossi flies to my face, glaring at me while wearing that silly Ladybug hood I had made for him.

"Julian, that was terrible."

I frown. "I thought you said you weren't going to help."

The Kwami glares at me. "Only cause ya made me wear this ridiculous costume to practice with. And just cause I said I wasn't gonna help, doesn't mean I can't hear whatcha saying." Ossi lets out a huff. "Honestly, where didcha backbone run off to? You're supposed to negotiate a truce, not kiss ass."

I groan, falling onto my bed. "I don't want to mess this up Os!" I grab a pillow to wail into. "If I do this wrong, Ladybug might get angrier and say stuff, I might get angrier and say stuff, and Chat's gonna get sadder because we said stuff!" I moan pitifully, words muffled by the pillow.

Gods, what did I get myself into? All I wanted was to help the people I cared about, and now it's becoming this whole thing where I'm both helping and hurting them, stuck between this weird purgatory of conflict where a single pin drop could wildly shift the argument into anyone's favor.

I'm just not meant for real life scenarios, sure I can write scripts about this conflict but at the end of the day this is real life. My fight with Ladybug is in real life, I can't just know what she would say to me in response.

What if she had given up on me by now? Or worse, what if she hates me?

What if Ladybug hates me so much, she starts working for Hawk Moth? Dooming the rest of Paris into unrecoverable Akumatizations, leaving the citizens in unbridled amounts of fear and suffering!?

...Okay, that last one may be a stretch. Point is, Ladybug is definitely angry at me.

I was certainly angry at her for a while, until Chat came into my room, called me Muffin and broke down in frustrated tears about his perceived uselessness about the situation. And if that didn't make me feel like the worst piece of crap in the world, why even bother having emotions at all?

This would be much better if I could just wait it out for Chat Noir to call for a meeting, but hell, like I'm gonna make him feel that bad about everything again without at least trying something first.

So, swallowing my pride and working out a compromise, seems logical, right?

If only I could have a hundred percent chance guarantee on what Ladybug would say in return, that would help… so much!

"Whatcha thinkin 'bout?" Ossi lands on the pillow on my face. "If it's about how Ladybug hates ya or something, do me a favor and stop scaring yaself with the theories."

Sometimes it's scary how well Ossi can read me.

Before I could say something in return, very loud footsteps can be heard from outside my room, before a sharp knock.

"Come in." I say, after making sure Ossi's securely back in my pocket.

One of the housekeepers, Clara, walks in and bows. "Mister Julian, your presence is needed downstairs."

I snort, shaking my head. "Alright, but what's up with the formalities? I thought I said to keep things casual."

She bites her lip and shakes her head. "My apologies, it's just that…" She pauses for a moment, and I suddenly get a really bad feeling about this.

"Your mother is here, Mister Julian."

Quickly and silently getting dressed into something more presentable, I start making my way down to the living room. Ossi sends me an encouraging look from my pocket, but otherwise doesn't say anything.

Stepping downstairs, I can hear my parents in the middle of a semi-heated argument.

"Honestly Dray, I don't know what you want me to do here." My mother's voice sounded prim and filled with authority, as always.

"You've already taken three months off, in the middle of shooting mind you, I'm much too busy to cover for you any longer, and the assistant director can only take such abuse for so long."

"Hey, I went back for two weeks somewhere in between." My dad excuses, sounding sheepish. "But, I kind of wanted to spend time here, you know? Take a short break?"

"For two months?" My mother asks in disbelief. "What could possibly be so important here that you have to take two months off doing your job?"

"H-Hello mother." I interrupt, entering the living room because if I eavesdrop any longer I might hear something that would seriously hurt.

My mother, Ellen Le Beau, gives me a terse smile. An American woman with bright blue eyes and long, silky blond hair, currently in her own version of casual attire. Blue high waisted jeans with a white blouse tucked into it, a pair of sunglasses tucked in her collar.

"Julian, it's so nice to see you again." She says, walking to me and wrapping me into a hug.

"I-It's nice to see you too." I say, hugging her back as she sighs.

"What did I say about the stuttering?" She asks, raising a brow.

I gulp. "Sorry."

"It's alright, I forgive you." She says before giving me a kiss on the forehead, giving my dad a look. "Now, where were we?"

My dad sighs. "Elle, listen, maybe we should put the movie on hiatus."

" What?" She asks, voice an octave higher. "Have you gone nuts? Do you have any idea how much is riding on this? We're already in alpha testing for the video game about it!"

"I know! I know!" My dad raises his hands in a placating gesture and grimacing, sparing a quick look to me. "I just think, maybe, we've been spending too much time outside our home, you know? We bought the house here, might as well stay in it."

Also I'm living here. I think awkwardly. They're talking as if I'm not here, again.

"We also bought a house in L.A, I don't understand what you're getting at." She argues, hands on her hips.

My dad doesn't reply, just glares at her and nudges his head towards me. Mother follows his look and raises an eyebrow.

"Julian? You're the reason he wants to stay?" She asks.

I take a step back. "Um, I-I, I don't-"

" Julian, speak clearly."

I gulp. "I don't know." I force out, looking at my dad with wide eyes. "I thought father was okay working from home."

She pinches the bridge of her nose. "When has a director, ever worked 'from home'?" She laments, glaring at my dad. "You can't just use our son as an excuse to slack off."

"Elle…" My dad tried to say but was interrupted.

"Don't 'Elle' me Andray." She crosses her arms, looking at the clock and sighing. "We need to leave soon, we got a meeting with Jagged Stone in an hour, and XY an hour after that."

"Wait." I say. "You didn't come back to-"

See me? The words were stuck in my throat.

"-relax a little? You know, with us?" I instead say.

My mom scoffs. "Unlike your father, I understand the importance of what we do, so no, I didn't come back just to 'relax'." She uses air quotes before reaching into her pockets for her phone. "Honestly Julian, we all don't have as much free time as you."

I flinch, my dad sends me a pitying look.

"You know." He starts, ignoring my wild eyes to get him to just abort the mission! "Julian's come a long way since the start of the year, he's been going to school regularly now." He brags.

Mom just sighs in return. "Dray, everyone goes to school regularly."

"Still, it's an improvement from the boy who couldn't do that at all for the past couple years!"

"That's not good progress, I don't understand why you're being so enthusiastic about this."

"Can you not keep talking about me like I'm not here, please?" I growl, before realizing what I just did, staring at my parents with wide eyed anxiety.

My mother looks surprised, turning off her phone and giving me a strange look. "I see, maybe you've gotten better after all."

I gulp, did she just-

" Excellent." She says, immediately reaching into her bag on the counter and pulling out a thick binder. "I've been pulling a few strings for internships and even some roles for upcoming TV shows and movie productions that I think would fit you perfectly ."

I stare at her in fear. "What?"

"Now, the timing's a little tight, but we can arrange a couple auditions in L.A, after our meeting with Mr. Stone and XY, we can-"

"W-Wait! Please!" I interrupt, waving my hand around wildly. "I don't understand a single thing you're saying!"

My mom gives me an exasperated look and sighs. "Julian, the movie industry's rotten, you need to make a name for yourself out there as soon as possible. Now that you've grown out of this little fear of yours, we can get you to L.A and start building your presence for-"

" Mom!" I cry out. "I-I don't- I don't want to go to L.A! "

I don't even want to get on a plane! But I'm picking my battles.

My mom frowns. "Well, the filmography scene in Paris isn't as-"

"Umm, Elle." My dad places a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I think what Julian means to say is, he's still getting used to leaving the house, right son?"

I gulp, nodding frantically.

"Oh." My mom's face turns neutral before she sighs. "Julian, when are you going to realize?"

I take another step back. "W-What?"

She narrows her eyes at me. "Come on, you don't think that your father and I haven't gotten a little stage fright before? It's all in your head, you just need to take a deep breath and-"

"It's- It's not just stage fright!" I argue back. "A-And, it's not just in my head!"

" Yes, it is." She glares at me. "If it's something serious, then why haven't you gone to see Mrs. Monteil, or Mr. Toussaint, or any of the therapists that I've given their numbers to you?"

"Elle…" My dad tries to say again but my mom's too riled up now.

" No! Andray, this is our fault, we've been indulging in this- temper tantrum for years and Julian's still behaving the exact same way." She massages her temples. "He knows we're spoiling him, that's why nothing ever changes."

All I've ever wanted...

"But he's making progress-"

"And it took years to get there! And only after we made him go to school. If this keeps going on." She sets her eyes on me.

All I've ever wanted was for you two...

"If this keeps going on Julian, you're going to grow up to be worthless."

All I've ever wanted was for you two, to be there for me.

I take a final step back, her words ringing through my head, violently rubbing the tears out of my eyes before turning around and running off.

"Elle…"

"Zip it Andray, I will not be made the villain here." Was the last thing I heard before slamming the doors of my bedroom shut, finally choking out a sob while slowly sliding down on the floor.

A small, distant part of me is trying my best to reign it in, because who knows what would happen if Hawk Moth ever finds me like this. Ossi says that he tries to limit my presence with his magic, but it's not foolproof.

Can't even cry properly . I laugh bitterly, gripping my arms so hard I'm sure it's starting to bruise.

"Horns Drawn." I whisper, Ossi flies into my pen, quickly transforming me into Faon Vert. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

I'm Faon Vert, savior of Paris.

Not Julian, not worthless, temper tantrum throwing Julian.

Faon, I'm Faon.

I take a deep breath, holding it for four seconds, and exhale.

I'm okay.

Cracking an eye open, I heave a sigh of relief that there's no Akuma flying anywhere near me.

A sudden rap on my door.

"Julian?" My dad's voice sounds from it.

I sigh. "Yeah?" I mutter, voice hoarse.

"That was... something, huh?" Sudden creaking from outside, probably from him sitting down on the floor.

"Julian, I just want to let you know that, I'm proud of you, okay?" My dad sighs. "Your mother is just a little wound up right now, with the business, and the directing, plus I'm sure my absence didn't help either." He laughs a little self-deprecatively.

"She's so focused on the future, that sometimes she forgets about the present. And she's so crazy driven that she tends to trivialize the struggles other people go through."

I scoff, knocking my head back on the door. "That barely made any sense."

My dad lets out a small laugh. "Trust me, I know who I married. During our college play, she accidentally fell off the stage and broke her ankle, but she continued the show anyway because there were scouts in the audience. It was a musical, and there was a lot of dancing, and she did it all perfectly with a smile. I remember being so worried that my hair started falling out." He sighs again.

"I'll have a talk with her, okay? Don't lose hope."

Tears start flowing down my face again as I hiccup, hugging my knees closer to my chest.

"We'll be going to meet with Jagged Stone, expect to eat dinner without us." He says again before standing up and walking away, the footsteps growing quieter and quieter, before the front door opens, and closes.

Sitting in silence for a few more minutes, I stand up, stretching my aching legs from sitting so uncomfortably for so long.

I need to get out of here. I open the balcony doors, making sure that no one else is nearby before leaping off.

It's been a while since I've traveled across Paris in the day, I forgot just how many people walk around during this time. Landing on Chloe's hotel building, I peek over the rooftop to the roads below, watching the civilians of Paris go about their regular business without a care in the world.

"It's all in your head."

I sigh, closing my eyes, willing the memories away before lying flat on my back and letting the voices of Paris wash over me.

An 8 year old boy standing alone in a psychiatrist office. Surrounded by children and their parents who took the time out of their day to bring them there.

There's a crying baby somewhere down the street, their mother busy trying to keep them happy.

A boy running past, looking at me with recognition. "Hey mommy! That's the boy whose pants fell off on the internet!"

A man sitting on the bench and by the sounds of it, flipping through a newspaper.

My parents calling me over the phone asking how it went, their disappointment when I said I ran off. Giving me more numbers and names without even asking "why?" .

Several coins rustling around in another person's pockets.

"Hiiiii Adrikens!"

I jump at the sudden familiar voice, sitting up and looking around before sighing, of course I would hear Chloe's voice, she lives here.

"There you are. Amazing Chloé has got a surprise for you! She knows you're a fan of Jagged Stone's." The voice declares.

"Uh, I am." I raised an eyebrow, that sounded like Adrien.

Shamefully climbing closer over the edge to peek at the streets below, I notice the familiar blonde heads of my two classmates and- Wait, is Marinette there too?

"Sooo, you get a private meeting with your favorite star. He's staying right here in Daddy's hotel! Is Chloé the best, or is Chloé the best?" The mayor's daughter says again before leading him into the hotel.

I let out a huff, tuning off my hearing and lying back down. Jagged Stone's staying in her building? Big deal, my parents are signing him to sing tracks for their next movie, I'd like to see Chloe do that .

Suddenly tensing up at the thought, I sit up again. Jagged Stone is here? Didn't my parents just say that they had a meeting with him?

I should leave, maybe I can get some food at Marinette's bakery or something, or crash at a couple fawns' homes.

ROCK AND RIFF BABY!

Letting out a yelp, I quickly cover my eyes as a loud shrieking guitar plays through the air.

Holy mother of- I could barely finish the thought before it stops and I sigh in relief.

"What on earth was that?" I ask out loud, quickly diving off the building and landing at the entrance of the lobby.

"Faon Vert?" The bellman asks, before the doors open, revealing a-

"Dragon?" I say before the dragon's snout collides into me, knocking me away as he flies off.

Landing in a heap, I jump back up to see a Rock Star themed Akuma, black outfit, bright blue hair and guitar as he glares at the bellman.

"Rock and Riff baby!" He screams before strumming his guitar LOUDLY.

Whimpering, I cover my ears shut again. Holy crap , that was TOO loud!

The bellman, after hearing the music, started to dance uncontrollably. Gritting my teeth, I stand back up and take out my blowgun.

"Freeze Akuma!" I yell, firing a couple shots at him.

He deflects it off with a swing of his guitar and glares at me. "I'm no mere Akuma! I'm Guitar Villain, and you're going to feel the full force of Rock N' Roll! Baby!" He riffs on his guitar and headbangs, sending a sound wave towards me.

Raising my weapon with a gasp, I block the attack with it, but the force sends me flying all the way to the other side of the street, crashing into the wall before falling on the floor.

Letting out a groan, I stand back up, and promptly empty my stomach in a nearby trash can.

This is bad, the sounds, it's too loud. I think pitifully, weakly gripping the edges of the bin. Even when dialing my hearing down to the minimum, there's something in his songs that only I can pick up, and it's nauseating.

"Faon Vert!"

Letting out a gasp, I look up to see Chat running up to me, looking worried.

"H-Hey Chat…" I groan, standing straighter.

The blond frowns, noticing the cracked wall behind me. "A-Are you okay? The Akuma-"

"Right, he- he went that way." I point towards the direction of the music playing. "We need to… to stop him."

Chat looks worried. "Can you still fight?"

I nod, giving him a shaky smile. "Course I can, I'm not-" I swallow dryly. "I'm not worthless, ya know?"

Before he could respond, I leap away to Guitar Villain at the Fontaine du Palmier.

"Not quite my tempo Guitar Villain!" I yell, getting his attention again. Taking a deep breath, I do my best cocky smirk. "Now, are you rushing, or dragging?"

The Akuma growls. "Wrong instrument, deer boy. Awesome Solo!" He riffs his guitar again.

Wincing at the sound, I manage to roll away as the beam collides with the statue, toppling it over.

"Y-You know that you might actually hit me if you don't announce your attacks right?" I taunt further before yelping as another beam comes flying my way.

Dodging past beams, I run all around him, trying to look for an opening to attack.

"Faon, watch out!"

Looking up with a gasp, I see Chat Noir swinging from the foot of a dragon as it flies on top of me and letting loose a fireball.

"Sticks can be used as umbrellas, Mind's Eye!" I yell, turning my blowgun into a bright green umbrella and opening it. The fire ball slams into the weapon and dissipates, noxious green gas spreading around me.

"Awesome Solo!"

Before I could react again, a bright green beam struck me from the side, slamming me into a nearby building.

"Faon!"

"Welcome to my fan club, baby!" Guitar Villain riffs his guitar, sound waves continuously slamming into me, keeping me pinned to the wall.

Gods this hurts. I whimper, feeling my brain slowly turning to mush from the sensory overload before falling, landing on my face, the noise still bouncing around in my head.

I can't move, and I can't hear anything else besides a loud stinging noise that sounds like when you put two microphones close together.

Slowly lifting my head, I see a blurry Chat in the middle of dodging Guitar Villain's strikes, shouting something that I can't make out at all.

"Faon… please… out of…" He screams.

Groaning, I try to feel for my Miraculous, not before noticing a shadow growing underneath me. Looking up again, the Akuma's pet dragon looms over me, opening its mouth as flames pour from it.

I really am worthless.

A flash of red.

Ladybug stands in front of me, yo-yo spinning around so quickly it completely snuffs out the fireball.

"Chat Noir! Your stick!" The ringing sound finally fades as I hear her shout to Chat.

"On it!" He responds, running towards her as she sets her hands down. Chat lands on her hands before being flinged towards the dragon, staff in hand as he sticks it in the dragon's mouth and extending. The dragon looks surprised, shaking the cat hero off before snapping its jaws shut, the staff flying off of it.

The dragon lands, Guitar Villain jumping onto its head as he glares at us.

"You're wasting my time. I've got a concert to get to!" He declares before flying off.

"Faon, are you okay!?" I hear Chat ask before he grabs my shoulders, propping me up.

I sigh, regaining my bearings. "Y-Yeah, I'm-" I stop, feeling nauseous again, not wanting to puke all over him.

Ladybug narrows her eyes at me before gasping. "It's his songs! Faon, you have super hearing, right?"

I let out a dry laugh. "Leave it to you to know what's wrong, I guess."

" What? " Chat asks, wide eyed shock before glaring at me. "Why didn't you say anything!"

I grit my teeth. "Because, I'm not- I'm not worthless."

"Of course you're not, Faon, I-"

Another wave of noise, I yelp, covering my ears, sending the blond into an even bigger panic.

"Chat, we need to go, the Akuma is attacking the Tower." Ladybug points at the Eiffel Tower, the dragon flies around it menacingly. She takes a look at me. "Faon, turn back to your civilian form, your powers are hurting you."

I nod, wincing at the pain. "O-Okay, you two, go save everyone."

Chat and Ladybug share a look, before turning back to me.

"Don't transform back until we defeat him, okay?" Chat demands, gripping me tighter and narrowly his eyes at me before letting go, joining Ladybug as the two of them leap over the building and towards the Tower.

Slowly walking over to the nearest alleyway, I lean against the wall, detransforming and letting out a sigh of relief.

"Julian…?"

"Yes, Ossi?"

"I feel like shit."

Snorting out of the blue, I look at the Kwami as he pathetically lands on my outstretched hand with a crouton in his. "Me too."

"But ya still want to help, right?"

I frown, clenching my fist. "I-If you're not feeling up to it, I can-"

"No, I am. I mean, I feel terrible, but-" Ossi looks up at me. "I understand that ya hafta prove something to yourself."

Sometimes, it's scary how well Ossi can read me.

"Thanks Os." I say earnestly as he swallows the last of the bread. Gripping the pen tighter, I point it at him. "Ossi, Horns Drawn!"

Flipping open the locator app, I see Ladybug and Chat Noir at the Tower, heading towards where I think is the TV studio.

I frown, running through a list of current shows. The Akuma is a rockstar that appeared at the Grand Hotel, so it's likely that the victim is Jagged Stone.

My mom mentioned that Jagged and another star called XY is due to have a duet soon, and that she and my dad are busy arranging for further collaboration between the two.

Could it be possible that they had a falling out?

"One way to find out I suppose…" I mutter, leaping to the top of the building and looking out for the TV station. At this rate, I would probably make it to the location before Ladybug and Chat, hopefully that would make some form of difference.

Just as I expected, I land at the entrance alone, Chat and Ladybug nowhere to be seen.

"Awesome Solo!"

I wince as the sound reverberates out of the third floor of the building, followed by the sounds of destruction. Either Guitar Villain found his target, or is really angry that it's not there.

The doors to the building open, and a TV show host, I think his name is Alec, walks out with the rising pop star, XY. A relatively tall male with weirdly groomed blond hair (it sticks upwards like a shark fin) and blue eyes, wearing a purple jacket, white shirt and blue jeans. A gold "XY" chain hangs from his neck.

"Everything's gonna be fine." Alec assures the pop star. "I'm sure this is just a precaution."

The blond scoffs, hand behind his head nonchalant. "So my interview got cut off short because of a precaution ? How lame."

Wow, he sounds like a Chloe. I think, frowning at the boy. "Relax blondie, it's for your safety." I say, scaring the boy as he turns to me with wide eyes.

"Oh. My. God. " He stares at me before grinning. "Faon Vert? I can't believe you're here! I'm a huge fan!" He quickly takes out a phone. "Can we take a picture?"

Huh?

"Umm, sure?" I say, confused as the boy walks closer to me and wraps one of his arms around my shoulders.

Oh gods he's my version of Chloe. I realize with wide eyes as his phone camera takes many, many pictures of us.

"Awesome! Hey, can I print posters of these for my next album? You like my music right? Oh, what am I saying, of course you do, you got taste." He continues, shooting me finger guns and winking.

I can't help but snort, what a dork. If Chat Noir wasn't already on his way, he might've been a decent candidate for his real identity, even with his disaster hairstyle.

"Faon Vert!"

Uh-oh. I turn to smile sheepishly at Ladybug as she lands in front of us, face filled with disappointment.

"What are you doing here? Chat and I told you to sit this one out."

I scoff. "It's fine , I can handle a little loud noise."

Chat lands next to her, sending me a worried look too. "You don't have too though! Ladybug and I can-" He stops suddenly, noticing XY's arm still wrapped around me.

"What's going on here?" He asks, glaring at the pop star.

Oh, right.

Blushing in embarrassment, I shrug the arm off. "N-Nothing, just letting a fan take some photos."

"His number one fan!" XY chirps before going in thought. "Don't you call them your fawns or something? Am I a fawn?"

"Um…"

"No, you're not." Chat interrupts. XY scoffs.

"Sorry, but I wasn't asking you." He turns to smile at me. "How 'bout it?"

Suddenly, something charges from the side, grabbing both XY and me with its jaws before flying off.

"XY!"

"Faon!" I hear my teammates yell, tumbling off the dragon's jaw, dangling off of it by grabbing its teeth.

"Faon, HELP!" XY yells from the dragon's maw.

I grit my teeth. "Just, hold on! I'll figure something out!"

Guitar Villain laughs maniacally from the top of the dragon. "Fang, it looks like we got ourselves some intruders backstage."

Arriving at the Eiffel Tower, he jumps off the dragon. "Take him somewhere fun, XY and I have some practicing to do." He orders as the dragon spits out the pop star and flies off before I could even react.

Dammit! I think, gripping its teeth and pulling myself up to its snout.

"Fang! C'mon! Where's the goodest boy that I met a couple days ago!?" I yell, taking a deep breath and swinging myself on top of it just as it releases a breath of fire. Damn, that could've hurt.

Gripping tightly to the scales, I grab my blowgun. "Sticks can be used as jump ropes, Mind's Eye." Quickly imagining my stick as the handle of a set of jump ropes, a bright green light transforms it into two handles with a long string tied between the two.

"Sorry Fang!" I yell, grabbing a hold of one of the handles and swinging, wrapping the rope all around the dragon's snout before holding onto the other half and yanking. The rope snaps its jaws shut as it starts bucking around wildly.

"C'mon, work with me here!" I pull on the strings with all my strength. Finally, the dragon flies upwards as I smirk.

"And that, is how to train your dragon, now come on!" I pull the strings again, guiding it back towards the Eiffel Tower.

Flying back to the tower, I see Ladybug and Chat Noir climbing up the side of the building.

"Need a lift?" I ask, flying to the side of them.

"Faon, you're okay!" Chat yells, ecstatic.

I give him a smirk. "Course I am. Now get on!"

My teammates leap on and I pull the reins, directing the dragon to fly upwards in the air.

"Ultimate Solo!"

Uh-oh. Looking up with wide eyes, Guitar Villain riffs viciously on his guitar, sound waves pouring out from all directions.

"Chat, hold on to this!" I quickly hand the reins over to the blond, who looks at me in shock.

"Wh- Your Miraculous-"

" Relax! I trust you, remember? Now-"

An ear-splitting sound hits me and I scream, or, at least I think I did, my ears are ringing too much to hear it.

It must've been too much, suddenly feeling weightless all of a sudden, I fell off the dragon, before feeling a long wire wrap around my waist.

"C'mon Faon! Snap out of it!" I hear Ladybug yell, which probably means that Guitar Villain stopped playing.

Shaking my head wildly (oh gods the world spun for a second), I look down at where we're heading.

Directly at the Akuma.

"My dragon?" He says in shock before I feel the wires go slack.

Letting out a shout, I crash straight into Guitar Villain, quickly climbing over him and pinning him down, limbs splayed out in different directions.

"Get off me! The world needs to Rock'N'Roll!" He screams, struggling under my grip.

I growl, restraining him tighter and kicking his guitar away. "Shut it MTV. You're ruining Rock'N'Roll."

That reference probably didn't make much sense in this context, I'm blaming my mashed potato brain.

"Faon!"

I sigh in relief as my teammates jump up to meet me, Chat assisting me in pinning down the Akuma, handing me back my Miraculous while Ladybug breaks the guitar in half, beginning the purification process.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" She yells, throwing the yo-yo in the air, the ladybugs swarming all over me.

I frown, I'm still feeling nauseous, but at least I'm feeling much better physically.

"Ugh…" I look down, Guitar Villain had successfully been de-evilized to Jagged Stone. I roll off of him, laying on the floor in a heap.

"Everything… Spinning… Air… Thinning…" I whine pitifully.

"Woah, Faon, are you okay?" I crack an eye open, noticing XY peering down on me. Right, he's standing on a plank about a thousand feet in the air and I'm blocking his way to almost land.

"Yeah, I'm okay." I huff, standing up with a groan and allowing him to walk onto the tower's secure metal floor.

"Wh-What's he doing here!?" I hear him ask, probably referring to Jagged.

"He came to tell you that perhaps you… Um… Underestimate the power of his music!" Ladybug supplies, I sigh. So that's what happened? XY made fun of Jagged and got him Akumatized? He really is like Chloe.

The pop star's at a loss for words. "I- This guy's CRAZY!" He yells. I snort, yep, exactly like her.

At least Jagged doesn't seem to be affected by his words anymore. "Thank you." He boasts as Chat excitedly walks up to him.

"Can I have an autograph?" I hear him whisper. I laugh, Chat's a dork too, and an even bigger one at that.

"Hey, Faon Vert." I turn to look at XY, who gives me a confident smirk. "Do you want my autograph?"

"Oh." I blink, before scratching the back of my neck awkwardly. "Sorry, but I don't have one of your CDs with me."

The popstar scoffs. " Please, CD autographs are so one week ago." He uncaps a pen (Where did that come from?) and smirks wider. "Most of my groupies ask for autographs on their backs, do you wanna try it?"

"Alright! Let's get you home huh?" The boy was suddenly picked up and over Chat's shoulder. (Where did he come from?)

"Wh- Hey!" He shouts, but Chat ignores him, smiling at me.

"I'm glad you're feeling better."

I smile back at him, extremely confused. "Uh, sure, me too. Actually, can you and Lady..." I turn to look at her, but she's nowhere to be seen.

I sigh, she probably had something really important to do and couldn't say goodbye.

"Can me and Lady…?" Chat repeats.

I shake my head. "Nevermind, I'll talk to you guys later." I look at the body's head on Chat's shoulder.

"It was nice meeting you XY! I'll be sure to get an autograph soon!" I promise, smiling brightly at the pop star, who blushes and scoffs.

"Yeah, whatever." He mumbles.

"Well! Looks like I'll be going now, bye!" Chat immediately leaps off the Tower, XY screaming all along the way.

I laugh, exasperated but content, I miss this.

"Ah the green eyed monster finds it's next victim." I jump at Jagged's words, right! He's still here!

"Let's get you home, alright?" I offer him my hand.

-Later That Night-

After dropping off Jagged Stone at the Hotel, I made sure that all of his victims were okay too. I did come across my parents, turns out, they were the first victims of the Akuma, and had to spend the past couple hours headbanging and rocking out to nothing.

That's what I heard anyways, I avoided them like the plague. The Julian in me not wanting to see them quite yet.

As night grows colder, and the moon steadily rises off the landscape, I find myself whistling a little tune, balancing across the rooftop ridges.

The high from the battle today has steadily run itself dry, leaving me alone with thoughts that I would rather avoid, or delete entirely.

"It's all in your head"

"He knows we're spoiling him, that's why nothing ever changes."

"If this keeps going on Julian, you're going to grow up to be worthless."

I sigh, slapping my face in frustration.

C'mon Faon! Confidence! I think flipping off the roof and doing a couple twirls in the air before landing. Crouching down, I target another rooftop somewhere farther away and leap, covering all the distance in one jump and landing quietly on the roof.

Snickering to myself, I look over a familiar balcony, peeking into the window.

Adrien looks to be busy studying or something, a bunch of books splayed all over the table.

I scoff, on a weekend night? No wonder he keeps getting straight A's.

Well, he can stand to let loose a little, I knock on the window, startling the blond as he looks up at me in surprise. I give him a little wave as he walks to me and opens the window.

"Faon Vert?"

"Hello Adrien, mind if I come in?" I glance at his desk, pretending as if I just noticed it. "Unless you want me to go, it looks like your brain's whipping up quite the storm."

"Huh?" He tilts his head before looking back at his table. "Oh! I-It's fine, I was just finishing up."

"Awesome." Smirking, I squeeze past the window, landing in his room with a soft thud.

Most of the stuff in his room still looks the same as the last time I was here (Valentine's Day, I think). Still…

"You know, with a room as big as yours, you could put a huge television screen over there." I say, gesturing to the area under the basketball hoop. "Although, if it were my room, I'd probably never leave."

Adrien chuckles. "You… really like movies, huh?"

I frown. "Like? I do not like movies, I love it." Smirking, I lean closer. "If I don't love it, I don't… watch… it…?" I trail off, quickly leaning back and laughing awkwardly. "Sorry, that reference worked a lot better in my head."

The blond stares at me, red faced, but before I could point it out, he quickly coughs and turns away. "A-Anyway! What are you doing here?"

I snort, letting it slide this time. "Just walking around, doing Faon Vert things, which of course, is checking up on my own fawns." I shrug, sitting down on the floor and gesture for him to sit in front of me too. "I've already visited most of them, actually, I think you're one of the last ones."

Adrien looks confused. "Why?"

Because you live closest to my house. I think, but on the outside I just shrug again. "I just start at the one closest to me, unfortunately I was at the opposite side of Paris and couldn't get to you that quickly."

The blond nods, accepting this excuse, before looking back at me with hardened eyes. "Did you visit XY too?"

I lean back, caught off guard by the question. "Uh, no, not yet. Actually, I promised to let him sign me an autograph but I couldn't find any of his albums on sale."

"I-It's probably not even selling in Paris. Besides, his music is quite bad anyways, no need to trouble yourself." Adrien quickly says before freezing in place, looking at me with wide eyes.

I stare back at him, is he…

"Are you jealous? Because I didn't ask for your autograph first?" I tease, smirking at him.

I guess it makes sense, Adrien's a pretty popular model, but I haven't asked for his autograph before. I guess I just kind of assume that he doesn't like giving them at all after Valentine's Day.

"Wh- No!" He denies, blushing so hard that it practically gave it away that he's lying.

I laugh, looking around. "It's alright fawn, I totally get it. Don't worry, XY just kinda, forced his autograph onto me, but for you, I don't mind asking for one."

I quickly snatch a piece of paper from a nearby drawer and click the tip of my blowgun, temporarily turning it back into a bright green pen while still maintaining my transformation. Putting on an act and giving him my best doe eyes.

"Adrien…" I plead. "C-Could you, give me your autograph!" I squeal, thrusting the pen and paper into his hands, watching his face erupt into blushes.

"I- uh- I am…" He looks wildly between the paper and me, as if not sure what to do.

I can't help it, I burst out laughing.

"Pffft, Adrien, your face- hahaha!" I guffaw, watching him redden further to the point that it's a little worrying.

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to tease you that hard." I say, the last of my laughter dying out as I pat him on the head, messing his hair around. "Don't go passing out on me now fawn, I'm not done playing with you yet."

Adrien snaps his head up to look at me, in alarm. "P-Play?"

"Yeah!" I smile brightly, looking at the clock. "For the next hour or so, we can hang out! Whatever you wanna do, we can do it."

"Um…" Adrien looks confused, some color other than red finally returning to his face. "W-Why?"

I feel my smile falter. "Does it matter why? I just want to be useful, that's all."

Poor choice of words.

Adrien frowns at me. "But, you're great all the time. You don't have to try to be useful."

Feeling panicked, I backtrack. "I-I mean, sometimes people feel alone or lonely, I just w-want to make sure th-that-"

Don't stutter

"They- I-I mean-"

Julian, speak clearer.

"Faon…?" Adrien asks hesitantly.

"I-I, I just want, I-I just w… want-"

SPEAK CLEARER

I slam my fist on the floor, startling Adrien, the shock bringing me back to earth.

I take a deep breath. "Sorry, I'll just leave." I say, standing up to go to the window and-

A hand grabs mine.

"Wait!" Adrien pleads, looking at me with sympathetic eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

I stare at him, he thinks he's upset me? Talk about a gentle soul.

I sigh. "No, you didn't upset me, it's just-" I hesitate, what can I even say in this situation? "Do you ever just wish that you could be a different person? Someone that your friends and family could actually be proud of?"

"...Is it about... the fight you had with Ladybug?" The blond asks.

I shake my head. "Not at first, but, now that you mention it..." I sigh, can't run away from your problems, even if you're a superhero, I guess.

"Then, it's about your... civilian identity?" I hear Adrien ask cautiously.

I wince but nod. "Y-Yeah, exactly that."

The blond looks hesitant now, letting go of my hand once he realizes that I'm not leaving. "I, I can sort of understand…" He starts. "As a model, there's certain things that I have to do that's just… not me?" He looks away awkwardly. "A-And, when I'm at home, I'm sort of… expected to act a certain way too? Even though that's not like me at all. And, it's frustrating, because, it makes me feel like... like nobody's going to like me for... me."

I frown, giving him a look. "You don't have to pretend to be someone else to get people to like you, just being yourself is good enough."

Adrien smiles, looking back at me. "You see? I knew you'd say that." He leans forward, hands propped on his chin. "So, if it's okay for me to be myself, why can't you just be yourself too?"

"I-" I look at him in shock, he tricked me?

Watching the blond's teasing smirk and smug look, hands propped on his chin, if he had a tail, he would look exactly like Chat.

I scoff, poking him on the forehead, previous panic all but forgotten. "You got a lotta nerve, you know that? Now I know who you really are." I lean closer in too. "You may act all nice and perfect on the outside, but on the inside you're like a mischievous little kitten, waiting for the chance to pounce on unsuspecting deers like me."

"So you think I'm perfect?" He preens.

I laugh. "Was that the only thing you got outta that sentence?"

My eyes meet his, and I realize that I've never seen them so close before, emerald green and shining with mirth.

"It is the only thing that matters to me…" He whispers, staring back at me.

I swallow, butterflies erupting in my stomach, leaning closer.

Was it just my imagination, or was he leaning closer too?

Suddenly, a loud ringing sounds through the room, scaring the both of us out of… whatever that was.

"HOLY SH- shoot! What was that!?" I yell, crawling backwards, was I saying that to the noise or just the general atmosphere just now, who the hell knows.

"I-I set an alarm to let me know when to stop studying! I'm- I'm sorry, let me just- ow!" He trips over himself in an attempt to get to his desk, landing on the floor with a thump.

"Adrien? Is everything alright up there?" I hear another man say from somewhere in the house before saying again. "Go check on him."

"W-Well, I think this has been a great time but I'll just go now. Goodbye from your friendly neighborhood spider- deer-man!" Laughing a little too hysterically, I pull myself out of the window.

"No! Faon! Wait!"

"Bye!" I scream, closing the window shut and just free falling off the building, landing on my feet with a quiet thud and running the hell outta there.

-Adrien Agreste and Julian Le Beau's POV-

Oh my god(s), what on earth just happened!?