Hey everyone! Here is another one shot! This is part of what is going to be a series of many upcoming one shots for the Miraculous Fanworks Discord Server Anniversary! (Wow that was a mouthful lol) This one is for Leo - who submitted the prompt for the anniversary! Lots of love and melty camembert hearts! I hope you all enjoy!
As always, I don't own the characters, just the plot! ^-^
It's Come To This
He instinctively moved back as Lila got closer, hating the way her eyes looked over him hungrily. Stephen said it angrily, "Mademoiselle, we have been through this. You do NOT have to drape yourself over Monsieur Adrien."
Adrien eyed the photographer with a look of appreciation, but Lila threw her arms around his neck and got extremely close to his face, "I just want to make sure we are both being portrayed at the right angles, and with the light hitting just right, the closer we are, the better the shot will be. I know quite a few very famous photographers and I've learned so much from them." She continued to prattle on, Stephen starting to look annoyed at what she was implying. He didn't care one bit about the lies spewing from her, because that's all that ever came out. Lies.
Her nails scratched the back of his neck, sending shivers down his spine as his anger began to flare at the pain. It had been almost two months of this behavior from her, and he was starting to lose his patience. He didn't, no he couldn't understand how someone like her had managed to get his father under her thumb. It didn't make any sense.
Her hand gripped his hair possessively to pull him closer into what he knew she hoped would be an accidental kiss. He had been avoiding her little 'slips' more and more, and now was no different as he kept firm control of his body, keeping it still in place. Her grip tightened more, and he nearly snarled at her, barely managing to keep up his polite tone, "Ow. Please move your hands."
She smirked but did as he asked, trailing them down his chest slowly. She started to wrap them around his waist, pulling him flush up against her when he tried to take another step back. Her hands started to creep lower and he slapped her hands away with an audible smack, "BACK OFF LILA!"
He saw the smirk on her face seconds before her eyes filled with crocodile tears, "Adrien what are you doing? That hurt!"
She cradled her right hand to her chest as the fake tears fell, and he refused to stay silent any longer, "Oh don't even try it! This is a professional modeling set. You do as the photographer asks and that's all! I am sick of you and your sexual harrassment, you don't have any right putting your hands anywhere near my bottom!"
His yelling just incited another round of tears from her, Stephen telling him, "Adrien, that is a very serious offense,"
"I'm not staying quiet about this anymore Stephen. I refuse to work with her anymore, I don't care what my father says. I am not a doll for her to play with." He said in a tone he didn't even know he could make. Stephen looked shocked at the authority in his voice, but he WAS the son of the great Gabriel Agreste. Stephen had no choice but to listen to him.
Lila didn't hesitate to try and turn the tables, "I had no intention of touching you there, I would never do something like that. To anyone! You were the one who pressed yourself up against me. If anyone should complain about sexual harassment,"
"Stephen, did you or did not, tell Lila multiple times that she didn't have to drape herself all over me?" He interrupted quickly, refusing to give Lila an out.
Stephen said it instantly, "No, I did, and she did not listen." He looked over at the make-up crew standing off to the side, watching the whole exchange. His gaze went straight to Drew and Ana, "You were both standing behind me, did you see where her hands were?"
Ana spoke up without hesitating, "I did. She was reaching far lower than was necessary or appropriate."
Drew nodded, looking a little nervous, "It did appear as though you were trying to move back away from her too."
Adrien looked straight at Lila in triumph, "We are done, understand? I have three extremely credible witnesses on my side and trust me, I can get more given how you've been the past two months." Her tears instantly stopped as her eyes turned to cold green stone, "It's too bad you've made far more enemies than friends since you started. Shame."
He turned and walked away, going straight for his bag and pulling out his phone. He dialed her number without a second's hesitation, roughly throwing his duffle over his shoulder before making his way towards the car where Gorilla was waiting for him.
"Adrien, you should be in the middle of a photoshoot right now."
"I'm sorry Nathalie but I'm leaving it. I need to speak to my father, immediately. I refuse to work with Lila Rossi again."
"Has something happened?" She asked, almost sounding concerned.
"Yes, and I'm done. I'm not working with her again. Tell my father I need to speak with him, urgently." He pressed.
Nathalie sighed heavily into the phone, "I will try to make time this evening for you to meet."
"Thank you Nathalie." He hung up and Gorilla looked at him with a raised eyebrow before tapping his watch.
He shrugged, "Finished early. Let's go by the Dupain-Cheng bakery on the way to the mansion. Since I have an extra couple hours, I'd like to see my girlfriend."
Gorilla beamed, nodding instantly and taking the duffle from him. It made Adrien smile, despite the anger still simmering beneath the surface. Gorilla absolutely adored Marinette, and Marinette spoiled him with treats from the bakery.
When they pulled up, he felt Plagg stir in his pocket and smirked to himself. Plagg would never admit it, but even he was always happy to have a chance to see Tikki.
He hurried into the bakery, Sabine smiling at him, "Adrien, I thought we weren't going to see you until this weekend?"
"My photoshoot ended early. Do you mind if I hang out with Marinette for a bit?" He asked, smiling at the bag she pulled out from under the counter that was no doubt meant for the large man behind him.
"No of course not. She should be up in her room."
"Thank you." He hurried into the house, stopping quickly to tap his fist to Tom's first. He hit the stairs and barely knocked on her trapdoor before pushing it open and peering inside carefully, "M'lady?"
"Adrien? Come in, what are you doing here?" She asked, swiveling in her desk chair to face him before standing and wrapping him in her arms.
He breathed her in, burying himself in her loose tresses, "Bad photoshoot. I'm probably going to get grounded so I thought I'd come see you before that happens."
She pulled back, staring at him with her fierce, protective blue eyes, "What happened?"
He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, wincing when his fingers grazed the scratches. Of course Marinette noticed, and she instantly turned him around, her voice going up an octave in anger, "YOU HAVE SCRATCHES ON YOUR NECK!"
Plagg and Tikki flew from their hiding spots, Plagg growling as he rushed to Marinette's side first to see the marks, "That evil witch! Wait until I get my claws on her, I'll show her what scratches really look like!"
Tikki asked him instantly, "Do they hurt Adrien?"
He shook his head, "Not that much."
Marinette was practically fuming when she walked in front of him, saying her name with so much venom it sounded like a curse, "Lila."
He nodded, "She was exceptionally handsy today, getting too low for comfort after doing this," he motioned to the scratches.
Fire flared in Marinette's eyes, "Did she touch,"
He put his hands on her face, trying to calm her, "No, I smacked her hands away, but she crossed a line today bug. I can't keep dealing with her."
"What do you want to do? I'll help you do anything." Her voice turned hard, "No one puts their hands on MY Kitten and gets away with it."
His heart fluttered the way it always did hearing her call him that. He must have been making what she called his 'lovesick' face, because she wrinkled her nose at him, "You are doing it again."
He asked dreamily, "Doing what bugaboo?"
She circled his face with her finger in the air, "Making that face with that lopsided smile and those soft eyes."
"No idea what you mean." He whispered lovingly, pulling her to him gently and pressing his lips to hers. Her hands found their way to their favorite spot, right at the nape of his neck, and he let out a soft hiss as the pain from the scratches flared as she grazed them.
Marinette instantly pulled back, "I'm so sorry." She looked at her fingertips, seeing the small smear of blood.
He tried to smile, "It's fine bug, rea-" she lifted her blood tinged fingers to show him with an angry scowl.
"What are we going to do about this Kitty? This isn't okay!"
"I'm going to talk to my father tonight. When he sees these, hopefully he gets rid of the Lila problem. I refuse to work with her anymore, not even to placate him." He told her, but didn't like the look of doubt on her face.
"Do you think he'll listen to you?" She asked, not able to hide her concern.
"I'm not giving him a choice this time." He said, trying to be stronger than he felt. He knew it would take a big act to change his father's mind, and hopefully, these scratches would be where he drew the line.
…
Adrien kicked the end of his bed angrily, not able to let his anger out any other way.
Plagg smirked as he floated next to him, "Feel better?"
"Not particularly." He said harsher than he meant to before going on, "You heard him Plagg. I work with Lila or no more Marinette. He didn't so much as flinch when I mentioned the scratches or the sexual harassment."
Plagg frowned, "I noticed. What did you really expect?"
"She scratched me, Plagg, deep enough to draw blood! And he casts it off as an accident. An accident?! Her hands being near my bottom was no accident."
"Hmm…" Plagg murmured before heading to his cheese stash. Adrien groaned and let himself fall face first onto his bed. Plagg was quiet, watching his holder and seeing the angry red marks on the back of his neck. Evil witch - Plagg thought.
"Kid," Plagg called out to him after quickly devouring his gooey cheese. Adrien barely turned his head to look at him.
"Getting angry about this didn't help,"
Adrien buried his face back in his blankets, his words coming out mumbled, "Thanks for stating the obvious."
"SO," Plagg continued, ignoring how defeated Adrien sounded, "Don't be angry."
Adrien turned back to look at him with a frown, "How can you expect me to NOT be upset about this Plagg?"
Plagg smirked, "Answer me this, in a single word, how would you describe working with Lila?"
"Annoying." Came Adrien's immediate answer, sitting up as he saw the gleam in the destructive little kwami's eyes. "Why?" He asked hesitantly, almost knowing that he was going to regret it.
"Your father refuses to acknowledge such blatant behavior, so turn the tables." Plagg suggested with a wicked smirk Adrien didn't trust one bit.
"Turn the tables?"
Plagg rolled his eyes, but was still smirking, "Show him what it feels like to work with her."
Adrien frowned, still not understanding, "And how exactly do I do that? I have to schedule meeting times with my father. It's not like I can annoy him the way Lila annoys me."
"Why not?" Plagg pressed him.
"Father's day is planned to the minute, there is no opportunity to,"
"Ah, but you just said his day is planned to the minute. He's a creature of routine is he not?" Plagg tried, hoping Adrien would be open to the idea he was about to present.
"Yes." Adrien said unsure.
"So then, what would annoy him the most?"
It took him a minute, but a grin nearly equal to Plagg's erupted on Adrien's face, "Anything that would throw that routine off."
"And we have a winner. How do you think you can go about ruining his carefully planned day?"
Adrien looked up in thought, "Nathalie controls Father's day, it will be nearly impossible."
"You are thinking too big Adrien." Plagg said, "Start small, and no one said you can't have fun while you are at it."
Adrien stared at Plagg confused and the kwami flew up to him after a long drawn out sigh, whispering the plan in his ear.
As Plagg looked at his holder, their eyes both gleamed with mischief, "Plagg, you are a genius."
"Yes. Yes I am. It's about time you noticed." Adrien scratched behind Plagg's ears and he stood, grinning ear to ear, "Let's get started, shall we?"
…
Gabriel took a large drink from his usual morning coffee nearly the second Nathalie put it down next to him, "Adrien wished me to tell you good morning."
Coffee sprayed from his mouth in a very undignified way, covering and ruining the top layers of papers that were covering his desk. Nathalie looked at him in shock, Gabriel sputtering as he wiped his mouth, "What is the meaning of this Nathalie? There is so much sugar in that coffee you might as well have given me the bag."
Nathalie's eyes widened, lifting the cup and taking a small sip before coughing slightly, "That's, wow. I, I don't know what happened. I picked up your coffee from the chef as usual."
"Well get it fixed." He ordered angrily, snatching the napkin from the breakfast tray and trying to save some of the documents - knowing it was in vain. He was going to have to get new copies of all of these and start all over. Fantastic.
Nathalie took the cup and quickly left the Atelier, heading straight for the kitchen. Adrien was chatting happily to the chef, much to her surprise. The chef and Adrien both stopped talking the second they noticed her.
She scolded Adrien first, "Shouldn't you be getting ready for school?"
"I am ready." He replied innocently, Nathalie turning her frustrated attention to the chef.
"Why did you believe it necessary to drown the coffee in sugar? You know Mister Agreste likes very little sugar in his morning coffee."
The chef looked genuinely surprised, "I made his coffee as usual. If it is too sweet it wasn't me."
Nathalie dumped the coffee in the sink and made the coffee herself. The door barely shut behind her with the new cup of coffee when laughter spilled uncontrollably out of the kitchen.
…
Gabriel angrily searched his desk, opening and digging through every drawer for the tenth time, but every spare stylus he'd had was gone. "NATHALIE!"
She rushed into the Atelier in seconds, "What's the matter sir?"
"Where have all the stylus gone?!" He demanded, still searching his desk, "I had dozens, and I can't find ANY of them."
Nathalie sighed and pulled an extra stylus out of her pocket, "I have a spare. I don't know where they have gone but I'll order some more."
"See that you do. My work has been at a halt for far too long." He snapped angrily. He was supposed to have started re-working those designs nearly half an hour ago. He'd never have sufficient time to re-work them and be able to concentrate on the conference call at 3pm.
In Adrien's room, Plagg was trying to stifle his laughter, "You should have seen his face!"
Adrien smirked, placing the box of nearly fifty stylus in the far backside of his closet, "I can only imagine, and I bet it was better."
"The best." Plagg roared, high-fiving his holder as they shared another laugh.
…
"NATHALIE!" Gabriel called out to her angrily, wanting nothing more than to chuck the stupid wireless mouse across the room. He'd already changed the batteries, and the accursed thing refused to work.
Nathalie held in her sigh, asking calmly, "What seems to be the problem this time?"
He lifted the mouse and told her, "Get another mouse, this one is done."
"Did you change the batteries?" She asked emotionlessly.
"Yes I changed the batteries!" He snapped, "It is connected but refuses to move!"
Nathalie took the mouse from him and looked it over, realizing the issue almost right away. She fought back the urge to smile, pulling the small piece of clear tape off of the sensor. She showed him the tape and Gabriel looked like he was about to lose it.
He snatched the mouse back from her in silence, it instantly responded and she asked calmly, "Was that all?"
"Yes." He snapped, his seething gaze aimed at the computer. He was starting to get really tired of all of these little issues.
Nathalie heard a snicker outside the door, but as she opened the Atelier door to leave, there was no one in sight.
…
He sat down heavily on the end of his bed, putting his head in his hands. This had been one of the longest days he'd had in a while. He hadn't even had time to send out an akuma with all the phone calls and paperwork he'd had to work through.
He glanced at his bedroom door. It had been almost three days since he'd seen his son, who was sure to be asleep by now. He debated going to check on him, just to see his face for a few seconds, but easily pushed the thought aside.
What he needed was a shower and some sleep, however brief that sleep would be.
The hot water felt good against his back, but he was too tired to stand there and enjoy it for long. He grabbed the expensive shampoo and filled his hand with the familiar green substance.
The second he was out of the shower and dried off, he dressed and went straight to bed. He lifted the sheet to his neck and felt it instantly uncover his feet. He groaned and coaxed the blanket back down, only to try and pull it back up to have the same thing occur.
He balled the blanket up, throwing it angrily into the corner and grabbed a throw blanket from his closet. He made a very tired mental note to have Nathalie order new bed sheets, and to file a complaint with the manufacturer about his King size sheets fitting like a Twin.
...
Gabriel walked into the dining room, seeing Adrien already seated and eating. "Son."
Adrien looked up in mild surprise before his eyes snapped all the way up, eyeing him with wide eyes, "F-Father?"
He sat down opposite of Adrien, pulling the tablet that was sitting there closer, "Don't stutter Adrien."
Adrien stayed silent, and when Gabriel peered over at him, he noticed that his son hadn't resumed eating, "If you don't finish soon, you will be late."
"Yes Adrien, that should be fine," Nathalie was saying as she walked into the dining hall, "Since your fencing practice has been cancelled I see no reason why you can't, GABRIEL AGRESTE!"
Gabriel actually jumped, nearly dropping the tablet and scowling at her, "Why are you shouting Nathalie?"
"Um, excuse me I need to get to school, just send me the schedule please Nathalie. Have a good day Father." Adrien rushed out quickly, not looking at him once.
Gabriel was not happy about that, but fixed his attention to Nathalie who was still openly gapping at him. "What are you staring at?"
She walked up to him pointedly, turning the tablet's camera on and flipping it to show him.
Gabriel snatched the tablet and stared at himself in horror. His hair was bright green, but not just any green. It burned his insides angrily.
It was Chat Noir green.
Nathalie said it quickly, "I will call your stylist and have them come to the mansion today to correct, whatever caused that."
"See that you do." He said, knowing that if he wasn't the one in control of the akuma's, one would have definitely found him just now.
…
"You asked to see me Father?" Adrien asked as he peered into the Atelier, seeing his father standing with a steeled expression on his face.
He walked in slowly, his father's eyes narrowing, "Shut the door."
He did, waiting in the tense silence of the room. Gabriel asked point blank, "Did you think I wouldn't figure it out?"
Adrien frowned confused, "Figure what out?"
Gabriel watched his son carefully, his voice going cold, "Do not play innocent with me Adrien, I am not in the mood. You will stop these pointless pranks immediately, am I understood?"
Adrien kept his face perfectly controlled, "Pranks?"
Gabriel listed them, getting angrier with each one, "Excess sugar in my morning coffee every few days. Taking EVERY extra stylus no matter how many extras I order. Tape on perfectly well working mice, black paper taped to every available computer screen to make it appear as if they are faulty," Gabriel was positively livid, "Putting that obnoxiously green hair dye in my extremely expensive shampoo, THEN putting red glitter in it a week later, tampering with my bed sheets that I have reordered three times in the past two weeks, the anonymous random messages to my personal phone with various images of Ladybug and Chat Noir,"
Adrien stood motionless, frowning in such genuine confusion that Gabriel wasn't so sure of his assumption anymore.
"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" Gabriel asked, still angry.
"Father, I honestly have no idea what you are talking about. I remember the day you walked into the dining hall with green hair," Adrien fidgeted uncomfortably, "but the rest, I had no idea that the rest of that had been happening."
Gabriel stared his son in the eyes, neither of them willing to back down first.
"I'm not a fool Adrien." Gabriel reminded him.
Adrien stood a little taller, a smirk making its way onto his face, "You still have red glitter in your hair by the way."
Gabriel nearly snarled and Adrien asked calmly, "The past few weeks have been quite, annoying, for you haven't they?"
"You will stop this childish behavior,"
"The second you fire Lila Rossi." He interrupted quickly, "I have a photoshoot with her scheduled in three days. I refuse, to work with her."
"Oh please not this again,"
"She is harassing your son and you don't even care!" Adrien yelled, taking a deep breath to calm down, "I am giving you a taste of what it feels like to be annoyed at every turn by the inconveniences of one person. I'll stop, when she is gone. Believe me father, childish pranks are the least of your problems."
"You forget who you are speaking to."
"You forget who has been making your life hell for the past month. Lila has been making my life hell since the moment you hired her. This can get much, much worse."
"Are you threatening me?" Gabriel snapped.
He was shocked to see a calm smile on Adrien's face, "Absolutely. I'll let you choose, me, or Lila? She can continue to model for you, but I won't. I've already had my attorney look over my contract, and given the accounts of numerous witnesses within Gabriel itself, I have one very convincing sexual harassment lawsuit prepared for her. Imagine what that would do to Gabriel's image."
"You wouldn't dare. You wouldn't destroy the company you are meant to inherit, all for the sake of proving your point."
"No, I wouldn't," Adrien said calmly, Gabriel relaxing slightly, "But that doesn't mean I can't fight you back at every turn. These little annoyances were just to get your attention, since you paid me no mind the first time. I can get worse, believe me."
"You are not going to threaten or blackmail me Adrien. I will ground you and pull you from that school,"
"By all means. Try. Multiple people have copies of the legal documentation necessary to move against Lila AND Gabriel for turning a blind eye." Adrien saw the smallest glint of fear in his father's eyes, "If they don't hear from me, or if I stop going to school, they will take the documents to every media source they can find."
"Go to your room. Now." Gabriel ordered, eerily calm.
Adrien smiled sarcastically, "Of course, Father."
The second the door closed, Gabriel snatched the phone and called her, "Nathalie, come back now."
…
Adrien smiled as Nino followed him upstairs to his room, looking a little nervous. "What's wrong Nino?"
"Dude, you sure your pops is okay with this?" Nino asked, glancing towards the tall doors that led to the Atelier.
"Nope, but he can't stop me from doing much these days." Adrien said, smirking when he saw Nino's eyes widened.
"What do you mean?" Nino stopped just outside Adrien's door, seeing a large sign there, " 'Shenanigans and arbitrary silliness will continue until conditions improve'? Adrien, bro. What's the sign for?"
"I'm on strike against my dad." Adrien said with a shrug, "He refused to cancel a photoshoot I had with Lila yesterday, so I decided not to work for him again until my demands have been met." He smirked, "And until then, I'll continue to make his life difficult."
Nino stared at him as though he was just seeing him for the first time, "Difficult… how?"
"Nothing major. Stealing all his stylus so he can't work. Making his coffee overbearingly sweet. Putting extremely smelly cheese in his closet where he can't find it. Hair dye in his shampoo, moving important things he needs. Rearranging his office so that everything was backwards,"
Nino busted out laughing, grabbing at his stomach as he tried to get it out, "You, you are in a prank war against your dad?! Dude, I don't know whether to be afraid for you, or praise you as a legend."
Adrien smiled, "I'll take both as a compliment. The girls were on their way, yeah?"
Nino nodded, wiping tears from his eyes. "They are going to get a kick out of this."
Adrien laughed, closing his bedroom door behind them, "Marinette knows, she was the one who gave me more ideas when I ran out."
Nino let out another laugh, "Marinette? Your precious Princess who can do no wrong? What could she have possibly been able to give you as an idea?"
Adrien smirked, glancing over to where Plagg was hiding and seeing the little orbs of green shining with unheard laughter.
"Nino, you have no idea."
Thanks for reading! More one shots will be coming soon so don't fret!
OH! And if you are interested, the Miraculous Fanworks server as a ton of recommendations! And who knows, maybe you'll meet one of your favorite MLB fanfic authors or artists there! PM for more info!
Au Revoir for now!