Adrien started the shower and got in. The cool water washing off sweat, crusty mud, and dirt. He felt some of his fresher scabs and wounds burn a little, before feeling better, infection washing mostly out of long forgotten scratches. He borrowed some of the shampoo in the shower, and cleaned his dirty blond looking hair, watching muddy streaks of soap drip down his face as his hair turned from dirty blond to the color of sunshine on a warm summer day. He put in conditioner, gently untangling hair, thread by thread, being in the health he is, the hair could easily fall out if handled too rough. He learned that the hard way about three months ago, as he stared in horror at a large chunk of his hair left abandoned in his hand. He took a bar of soap to himself as he scrubbed at the bits of dirt stuck to his body. He put the bar down, letting the water rush down his body, rinsing him of the rest. He turned off the shower, grabbing a green towel from a nearby rack, and gently drying himself off before stepping out of the shower to dry his hair with the hairdryer. He turned on the hairdryer, purring to himself as the warmth washed over him, leaving him in a state of bliss. He put down the dryer, staring at himself in the mirror. He was much cleaner, hair almost an entirely different color. He looked a lot healthier, color showing in his face. His hair was noticeably thinner, as quite a bit had fallen out over the past year, regardless, looking much better without all that grease and dirt coating it. He let a little smile show, noticeable only if one looked closely. He noticed the clothes by the door. He picked them up and put them on. The shirt fit nicely, albeit a bit baggy on his near skeletal body, a nice white color. He wore black sweatpants, fitting similarly to the t-shirt. He walked out of the bathroom and made his way to the living room, Tom making and selling pastries in the room over. The sunlight came out of the window at an angle where it hit the couch just right, lulling Adrien into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.
He woke up in the afternoon, Sabine sitting in the chair next to the couch.
"I see you're awake! I do hope you don't mind wearing our daughter's clothing, you seemed to be much closer to her size than mine or my husband's."
"Ah, no, I d- don't mind."
Sabine watched him sit up straight, a look of dismay and discomfort, since the clothing of her already small daughter hang so loosely off a boy probably around the same age as her, if her intuition were correct.
"How old are you Adrien?"
"H- Hm? Oh, I'm f- fourteen ma'am…"
Too small for his age. And certainly, too thin.
"Would you like something to eat Adrien? You haven't eaten much since yesterday…" Sabine stated.
"I don't want to intrude…"
"Trust me, we have plenty to go 'round," She said, gesturing to the fact this was a bakery.
Just as Adrien were to protest, his stomach very loudly proclaimed it's need for food. His face flushed deep red as he pulled his knees to his chest and buried his face in them.
"Being hungry is nothing to be embarrassed of Adrien, I bet you haven't eaten in days! Please do join us for dinner."
Adrien slightly lift his face out of his knees, quietly saying;
"I- If it's okay with you…"
"Of course it is."
"Alright then..."
Sabine silently cheered to herself as Adrien readjusted himself on the couch. She quickly ran into the kitchen to make a big meal for her husband, herself, and her guest. Adrien fiddled with his fingers, blushing and smiling to himself, which Sabine found absolutely adorable. She wondered if he perhaps ran away from home? An abusive household possibly? Poor child. She'd let him stay, no hesitation, but she wondered how Marinette would react. Oh, who was she kidding, Marinette had a heart of gold, no way she'd ever leave someone out in the cold. Especially so close to winter too. Sabine put the quiche in the oven. Maybe Adrien could sleep on the couch for a while. Now that she thought about it, didn't she have an inflatable mattress stored somewhere? She heard beeping. Oh, she had almost forgotten about the quiche! She opened the oven, smelling her delicious creation. As she picked it up, she looked over to Adrien once more, noticing how much healthier the boy looked compared to when she first found him, collapsed in a small box next to her shop. Sabine takes the quiche to the table her husband set, quickly inviting Adrien over with a wave of her hand. Sabine watched him quickly walk over with his head down, hands at his side. Adrien was about to sit at the opposite end of the table, when Sabine quickly asked,
"Don't you want to sit over here Adrien?"
He looked up in surprise at her, fiddling fingers forgotten. His expression turned into a small, genuine smile as he looked to the ground, taking a seat in between Tom and Sabine. Sabine silently cooed, the boy looking similar to a small stray kitten she'd find on her doorstep. She looked over to Tom as he cut Adrien a slice of quiche, expression similar to a child begging to keep an animal that followed them home. Tom gave her a look of "We'll talk about this later," leaving her to pout.
Adrien stared at the plate of food in front of him. God it looked good, but what would that do to your body when your metabolism has slowed down so much due to starving yourself for years for shoots, and even less while you lived on the streets for an entire year of even less food?
"You'd be such a disappointment. You'd be bloated. Hideous. Father wouldn't want you to eat this. But didn't you say you were breaking free from your father's influence? Worthless. My chains on you won't be broke so easily," the monster gloats.
Stop. Just eat the food. Don't think about it.
"You'll gain weight, do you really want to do that when you've finally achieved a body your father could be proud of?"
I don't care. Eat so you don't die.
"Better to die than not to meet expectations."
STOP-
"Adrien are you alright? You've been staring at that quiche like it did you wrong."
"I'm fine."
He eats the quiche.
It tasted like ash.
