"This is harder than defeating Papillon," Ladybug complained as she glared hard at the homework set out between the pair.
"What is it?" Adrien asked and listened carefully to her explaining the math problem. It was late afternoon and Ladybug had slipped into the hospital room through the window after school. The nurses had seen her in there many times before but they all said nothing. They knew how lonely it was for Adrien and the hero wouldn't hurt him. They mostly let them be, sometimes a little extra food was even on Adrien's tray come the evening meal.
"That still makes no sense," Marinette grumbled as she scribbled in her book. A nurse was currently checking on Adrien's charts to see his progress, not that there was much to check. He was probably there to see Ladybug, a few had done the same from time to time.
"You didn't carry those," the nurse mumbled over Marinette's shoulder and pointed to the numbers hanging around the top of the printed equation.
"Oh. Thank you, Mark" she replied, glancing at his name badge and began to write. She had so much to catch up on in her weeks of guilt and self loathing that Adrien had offered to help where he could, and his help was great for the most part.
"So with those, the answer I have is x equals seven. That seems really low."
"No," Adrien said with a smile. "That's correct. Need me to explain it again?"
"No thank you," she grumbled once more and slumped. "I hate math, it's hard and I doubt I'll ever need to know the value of some ridiculous unknown letter."
"Depends what you want to do after school," Mark spoke up. Marinette looked over at him where he leaned against the wall, arm crossed and smiling.
"Easy. Design fashion. I don't need math for that."
"Measurements, sizing, book keeping," he was counting off on his fingers as he talked.
"Then I'll keep you two for that, wont I?" Ladybug grinned and let a small giggle escape from behind a gloved hand. Laughter stopped when Adrien spoke up, his head tilted to once side.
"Nathalie's outside. She doesn't know you've been here and I'm not allowed visitors. Hide," he said. As he spoke they all heard the sharp clacks of heals coming up the hallway outside. Ladybug jumped from the bed and quickly dashed inside the small bathroom. She tugged the door closed and sunk to the floor as voices reached her ears.
"Hello, Adrien," came the clipped voice of the Agreste assistant.
"And doctor. What are you doing?" Ladybug cursed silently, realising that she had left her homework sitting in plain sight on Adrien's bed.
"Nurse, actually. And Adrien said he was bored and missing school. My own daughter is in the same grade so I made some copies of her homework and we're going through it together," Mark said quickly, hopefully saving the woman who sat in the bathroom, inches from Nathalie.
"How do you expect him to be able to do that?" Criticism marred each word.
"He reads them for me and I work them out in my head. Keeping my mind active." Adrien was studious and curt, his words were almost as refined as Nathalie's and despite knowing how much different he could be, Marinette was shocked to actually hear him in such a monotone. Nathalie hummed in understanding before continuing to her reason for being here.
"I convinced your father that some friends might be a good idea for you. Short visits, only once per day. It could help speed up your recovery and get you into surgery sooner. You can have two-"
"Three," Adrien cut her off quickly. "Three friends, I know who."
"Your father said two," Nathalie didn't seem to budge.
"Three, please Nathalie. We both know that Father wont know if you don't tell him."
"If he comes to visit you and sees-"
"He wont, you know that," Adrien said. He wasn't monotone anymore. Ladybug could hear the sadness that poured from his lips. "He hasn't visited me in two weeks, he's not going to until he has to." There was a long silence, tension found its way into Marinette and Adrien alike. Eventually the assistant spoke, her words filled with a deep sigh.
"What are their names, and where can I find them?" Adrien was partying on the inside but only smiled at her. A rustle of paper, the scratch of a pen and Nathalie was taking names.
"Marinette, Nino and Alya. Mark here can help me text them. No need for you to worry about that, Nathalie." The woman gave a small nod, without realising he wouldn't see it. Mark stooped to Adrien's ear to explain the movement to him.
"If he's here then he can read this to you," Nathalie said and there was a booklet handed over to Mark. "People to help with you...situation. There are multiple choices so I'd like you to look over them and let me know by tomorrow so I can set things up for you. Have a good evening, Adrien."
She was gone in that moment. Her heals could be heard quickly stepping down the hallway. Marinette slipped out of the bathroom and glanced through the blinds before sitting down.
"She didn't seem happy to be here," Ladybug said. "Thanks for the save."
"No problem," Mark replied. "I've got to get back to work, LB can help you with all that, right?" The two nodded and the nurse left them for the evening.
"I don't think she knows how to feel. She's scared," Adrien said when the two were alone. "I understand."
"You're being so strong for other people," Marinette replied softly. "You know you don't have to hide things around me, right?"
Adrien shot her a grin, teeth gleaming. He never answered her.
Her scent hit his nose first. It was quickly becoming his personal way to identify people.
"Do you think it's a miraculous thing that I know it's you from down the hall?" Adrien asked, avoiding explaining how exactly he knew. Not too many people would be accepting to know he could smell them in such a way. He guessed it was Plagg that was heightening his senses, black cat magic taking its affects on him. A light breeze circled the room, she hadn't closed the door behind her.
Marinette let out a small laugh as she approached the hospital bed. She brushed her un-gloved fingers over her friends hand. Adrien nodded slightly at the silent gesture, communicating to him which identity she currently held.
"You may have known about me, but did you notice the others?" Adrien lifted his face away from Marinette's direction out of habit. He focused and heard shallow breaths, poised bodies on edge in the door frame.
"Nino?" he asked in a gleeful state of shock. "Alya?"
"Dude! You're alive!" Nino rushed in past Alya and launched himself at Adrien to pull the blond into an uncharacteristic hug. Adrien returned the embrace with just as much enthusiasm. He felt light tremors run under his friend's skin as he held him, was he crying? Adrien bowed his face into Nino's shoulder and the two remained that way until Nino decided his masculinity was at stake. He coughed as he pulled away, heat radiated from his cheeks and Adrien smiled to himself. He ran a hand up Nino's arm to find his back, giving his bro a good pat.
"There is nothing more gay than straight guys," Alya laughed as her hand came down on Adrien's back in a friendly slap. The blond grinned up at her.
"Got that right," Marinette mumbled to her bestie and took up her now favourite place to sit at the end of Adrien's bed with feet folded beneath her. Alya sat in the single visitor chair and Adrien shuffled up the bed close to Marinette so Nino could sit by the pillows.
"I'm allowed to miss my bro, dudes," Nino spoke up bashfully. A moment later a soft item landed in Adrien's lap, thrown from Nino's direction. He picked it up and ran his fingers over the short faux fur.
"A stuffed toy?" he asked with a laugh, still investigating the toy. The head felt large and almost cartoonish compared to the body, a stunted snout with plastic nose and button eyes, pointed ears... He ran his fingers down its short body to find a long tail. "It's a cat," Adrien said, beaming from ear to ear. "Of course it's a cat!"
"Nino's idea. Marinette made it," Alya spoke up. "I was the emotional and financial support. Honestly until Mari said, we had no idea how much you really liked cats. Nino was thinking of a bear."
Adrien's cheeks were on fire. In all his years this was the single greatest gift he'd ever gotten. He could feel the tiny stitches sewn by hand, hear the soft movement of stuffing inside as he squashed it between gentle hands- "Meow!" Ha! They'd even made him a voice box! He squished the toy again. "That was clawsome!"
"He's black," Marinette said from over Adrien's shoulder. "His paw pads are green, so are his eyes. Same colour as yours. It took so long to find velour that matched buttons that also matched you and still felt nice against the faux fur," she added with a light giggle.
"You guys are clawsome!" Adrien whooped with laughter. He shifted so he could pull Marinette into a hug; the others were too far out of his range at that point. "You guys are really great friends, the best." He held a fist up towards Nino, the other quickly returning the gesture.
"I have to know, boo," Alya said and her eyes narrowed in on her best friend. "When did you stop stuttering around His Royal Highness Agreste? You haven't even blushed! What's up with that?"
"Royal Highness Agreste?" Adrien asked as he felt Marinette tense up in his arm.
"Can we do the integrating another time, Alya?" Marinette asked quietly. "Like, never."
"Alya's got a point," Nino said. "Adrien is redder than you."
"What's going on? You haven't seen each other for nearly two months and suddenly you're hugging!"
Adrien let his arm fall away from Marinette slowly. The girl wasn't speaking.
"Alya and I were totally freaked out the first two weeks, dudette. It was like you were just somewhere totally different."
"Somewhere totally different..." Alya mulled over the words as her eyes became wider and wider. "You were here! That's why you were suddenly so happy! How? I thought he wasn't allowed to see anyone!"
"Alya, calm down okay?" Adrien said in a smooth voice and began to try and hush her. "Yes, Marinette snuck in. But no one else can know about that."
"So are you guys a thing?" Nino asked, entirely confused. He'd tried to follow the conversation back and forth but so much had been left out in assumptions and theories.
"What? No!" Marinette piped up in a voice that squeaked. "He needed a friend, and I found out so I...very quietly came to see him a few times."
"How the hell did you find out something like that, girl?"
"Well, I was talking to-"
"Quiet," Adrien interrupted the girls. "Someone's coming."
The trio were quiet, a few moments later there was a sharp knock and the door opened. Two women walked in, shorter one in scrubs and the other in trousers and uniform shirt.
"One doctor, one nurse," Marinette offered to Adrien quietly.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Agreste," the doctor spoke in clipped tones. "And his friends. Would you all mind stepping outside for a little while," it wasn't a question.
"They can stay," Adrien said quickly before the others had a chance to move. "I don't mind if they stay, please."
"We're taking off your bandages, Adrien," the nurse said softly. "You might not want your friends here for this."
"I really do. It's not like I have my father here for support, is it?" Adrien cracked a small, sad, lop sided smile.
"Very well. Don't make any fuss," the doctor replied with a small sigh. She was checking over his charts as the nurse came forward. With soft and gentle fingers she started to unravel the bandages around his eyes.
Adrien ran his hand across the sheets beside him, searching for Marinette. His fingers hit her knee and he traced up the denim, intent on finding her hand for comfort. Fingers interrupted his searching; Marinette curled both of her hands around his, gently squeezing.
The soft gasp came from Alya as the last of the bandages and gauze fell away. Adrien tried to blink away the fuzziness, his eyes had been closed for so long they'd grown crusty around the edges. He lifted his free hand to wipe at them before the nurse stopped him. She pressed a soft, warm cloth to his face and he winced at the pain that rippled over his skin. Adrien tightened his grip on Marinette's hands.
"Where's the pain, Adrien?" the doctor asked as she took over the nurse's place. She stopped and began waving a small light in front of the blond's eyes.
"My skin," he replied. "Around my eyes, where she cleaned. It's stopped now."
"Good," came the quick reply and the doctor tilted his head up. "That would just be your skin healing. It will hurt for a while after the accident, and then after your surgery next week, but the recovery time for that wont be as long. Can you see the light, Adrien?"
"Surgery?" Nino questioned quietly, looking at the two girls.
"Pretty boy surgery," Adrien replied with a grin. "No, maybe? Okay, yeah I can see some light I think. It's just... not as dark."
"His father has booked plastic surgery so he can look like he did before," Marinette explained quietly to Nino.
"Good, about what we expected then." The doctor backed away and wrote something down on Adrien's charts. "There will be more tests tomorrow, after your eyes have had time to rest and breathe tonight. We will also confirm you for surgery. Did you have any questions"
Adrien shook his head.
"Good. You're healing well. The nurse will help clean you up. Have a good evening." A few skids of sneakers and a click of the door, the doctor was gone. The nurse left soon after, having helped to clean where bandages had laid.
"Be honest, guys," Adrien said once they were alone. "How do I look?"
"Like an akuma threw up on you," Alya replied with sass to her voice. Marinette stiffened in guilt, but only Adrien noticed with his grasp still on her.
"It looks better than when you were attacked," Marinette offered quietly. Alya shot her a questioning glance but it was ignored. "Your skin is less red now though it doesn't match your natural skin tone yet. You're usually apricot but the new skin is kind of shell? Looks like a crinkled taffeta and polyester blend." She frowned slightly.
"It's okay," Adrien laughed at her description after her moment of silence. "Not sure about the other two but I understand."
"Bloody designers," Nino muttered in a mocking way.
"Bloody models," Alya joined him.
"What about my eyes?"
"Your pupils didn't really react when the doctor was here, but they look fairly much the same," Marinette said numbly. His appearance had shocked her, not that she'd tell him. The smeared skin looked like it had been melted against his face. It spread everything and caused his cheeks to almost fall flat. The shape of his eyes became elongated, lids drooping slightly. His eyes looked blank, staring at nothing. There was no spark or recognition.
"The same green as before. You're still gorgeous."