As soon as Mari had left the flat, big flowery bag flying after her and a cute little hat held fast so it wouldn't fly off at the speed she was running, Adrien looked around guiltily.
The flat was beautiful when his visits were announced. He got to see way more as Chat obviously, so the mess he encountered now was no surprise to him. But the slight problem was, he had never cleaned anything in his entire life.
Imagining what his father would say if he caught him cleaning, he cringed. He always wanted the normal boy experience, but he had never thought about cleaning at all he now noticed.
How embarrassing. He would get started right now and clean up the kitchen and the living room, so Marinette would have something nice to come home to.
Plagg made his entrance then, having hid in the pouch of his hoodie.
"So kiddo! Still going strong I see. Good choice coming here. Finally getting some proper food again. And cheese!"
Adrien just nodded, Plagg didn't require a vocal answer, he knew how he felt finally getting out of that stifling household.
An hour and a half and many failed attempts at the vacuum cleaner later, the kitchen and living room were finally dust free and Plagg would surely have sore muscles tomorrow from laughing so much at Adriens attempts.
He would get the hang of cleaning sometime soon, he grumbled to Plagg who fell into another fit of laughter.
Maybe he should call Nino now he decided and retrieved his cell phone from the bedroom and punched in the number he knew by heart. The ringing barely lasted three seconds as his best friend picked up with his usual cheery:
"What's up, do- dude?", Nino always made him smile, being the font of good advice and brotherly presence. Almost no one came as close as he did to being family.
He related the tale of how he left: "F*ing finally, my bro!", was only one of Nino's outbursts and it made Adrien really happy. Plagg nodded his head sagely and grinned.
"And you know how Mari still needs a roommate? Well guess who has one now."
Nino would never admit to the girly squealing he let out at those news.
"Well and I kind of need help to move my furniture and most of my belongings. We can play it like a stealth mission, we would just need the truck that your father sometimes drives."
Not one to disappoint his friends Nino quickly asked to borrow it for the day and sent word back almost immediately. His parents were always really appalled at how cold the single father was and had taken Adrien under their wing just as much as Marinettes parents had.
The plan took on clearer outlines. Nino would get the truck after lunch and come get Adrien. They would then proceed to empty out Adrien's room and do so via the back entrance to avoid detection by Gabriel or Natalie.
Still having two hours till then Adrien emptied his bags into the empty wardrobe. It seemed it had not been used for quite a while, the beautiful antiquity seemed to just have been left here with the bed that was made of the same dark wood. Adriens room had always been the very best, newest and most expensive.
Adrien considered antiquities for the first time. He noticed how lifeless his room at the Agreste mansion had felt for a while now. Making a silent list what he even still wanted from his old room and what would fit in this much smaller room, he discarded a lot.
He soon decided to take the extensive set up with his computer, the consoles, his globe and a bit more clothing. His most prized possessions, everything left by his mother and all happy memories of his parents were already in his new home.
Soon his stomach began to make itself known and he investigated the contents of the fridge. Which was almost nothing. 'Shopping it is then.' he thought to himself.
He left the flat with a key Mari had left him on the kitchen table and wandered to the store they had shopped at before. He had no clue how to cook so his choice was limited to frozen stuff or bread.
It was an American style pizza with cheese in the crust and a lot of camembert for plagg that he came home with. He gorged himself on said pizza and felt no ounce of guilt afterwards. He would do a lot of sport now.
The sound of the doorbell kicked him out of his daydream of doing whatever he wanted and he quickly admitted Nino into the flat.
The mission plan was laid out. Their ninja outfits were on. Timing was right.
Standing in the back of the Agreste mansion Adrien considered his visit.
Would it be the last time he came back here? Surely not, his father would still want to see him sometimes, right? Why did he not feel more than relief getting out of there?
He knew Natalie had tried softening whatever his father threw at him but he still felt bitter towards both of them. Did they not see how they alienated him? From school, from friends and from themselves?
Well no more.
They entered the building after entering the code for the door. Everything was quiet, in this house it was always quiet. The staff knew not to disturb anyone and were quick, efficient and silent. How had he not noticed it before?
Nino made ridiculously exaggerated sneaking movements that almost made Adrien burst out laughing before they entered the foyer and looked around.
No one was there and they entered his room. Nino screwed up his nose.
"Is it normal that I kinda started to hate this room? I mean, all this stuff and not one thing hand picked by the one living in it and his father? Feels like compensating for neglect. Let's just get you out of here man." Nino ushered him around the room to pack all the small things.
Nino started loading his backpack with the tech from the computer and Adrien grabbed any and all he wanted to have in his home. They got the loot back to the truck and sneaked in undetected until only clothing was left.
While they were rummaging through his wardrobe getting the dozens of ridiculous fan t-shirts that Adrien had kept buying without ever being "allowed" to wear something so "unflattering", they heard someone approach the door.
They hid under his desk and waited with baited breath. Unlike a horror movie the door did not creak when opened, nor was there a hideous monster behind it, peering into the strangely empty room. Adrien cursed silently. Would Natalie notice the absence of his belongings? She crunched up her forehead in thought but just shrugged after a few seconds and left..
"Man that was close! Let's speed things up a bit." Nino grumbled and simply grabbed an armful of clothing and stuffed it into the bags wrinkling it all the while.
Adrien a little uncomfortable with the thought of wrinkled clothing, shrugged his shoulders and ignored the orders in the back of his mind, telling him to always be mindful about his appearance, clothes and behavior.
They raced back out of the mansion into the truck and sped away to get things going at the
flat whooping during much of the drive.
Nino and Adrien stayed at home for the rest of the afternoon until Marinette came back.