Author's Note:
Description: Between fighting crime, his distant father, and an over-scheduled life, Adrien doesn't exactly have it easy, despite all outward appearances otherwise. Can he find respite and refuge in a certain polka-dotted someone, or will he crash and burn? Anything's possible. Miraculous love square. Also published on wattpad under backthataccioup.
New news: I've published this on AO3 under yesterday09. Please check that out if you have the time.
I do not own Miraculous Ladybug or its characters, but I do own this story.
Thank you, thank you, to everyone who has left a review, favorited, or followed this story. It motivates me ;)
xxxxxxx
For once, Adrien was looking forward to a meet-and-greet. Well, he just wanted it over so he could patrol with Ladybug, but the sooner the event happened, the sooner he would get to see his polka-dotted partner.
The car pulled up in front of the tower at 4:32. Adrien all but ran through the door, trying to maintain his composure. Giddiness tended to interfere with that. He nodded at the doorman and dragged his keycard through the reader in the elevator. The ride up seemed to drag on, each little bounce caused by the cables like a taunt. Finally, the little bell dinged, and the door slid open.
Adrien dashed out into his apartment, not bothering to check his schedule since he already knew about the meet and greet. He dove enthusiastically into his piles of homework, whipping through assigned readings, worksheets, paragraph responses. He was a machine, methodically responding to every question posed, in stark contrast to his earlier behavior in school. After all, if he finished his work now, he could spend more time out with Ladybug. He'd have more time to try and glean useful hints.
He was so close he could almost taste it. He could even picture it- he'd find out who Ladybug was, and casually approach her after school in some secluded corner. He'd kiss her senseless and then explain his secret identity and how he knew hers. Or maybe he'd do the explaining before he started the kissing. Either way, it would be picture perfect, like something straight out of a movie or particularly cheesy novel.
Sighing, Adrien set down his last assignment, a reflection on a chapter they read in History. An outfit had been left out for him already, and he shrugged it on, too excited about what was to come in the next few hours to be vexed by the lack of opportunity for his input in what he wore. He looked rather sharp in a fitted white t-shirt covered with a steel-gray pullover sweatshirt and relaxed denim jeans. Stylish enough while still being casual and trendy. Just what the fans expected.
He rode the elevator down again, nodding at the doorman. He stepped out at the curb at 5:31, and Monsieur Gorilla was there per usual moments later. He clambered in the car for the second time that day, and was taken to the fabric store where the event was to take place. It was a cute place, slightly run-down, exactly what would increase his standings with the public. In Adrien's opinion, the public could just stuff it. They were so fickle, pleased with him one day, outraged the very next. Unfortunately for him, his father did not share that same opinion.
He walked into the door, and Nathalie was there to greet him.
"Hello Adrien," she said formally. "The barriers are going to be set up in a few. Feel free to walk around in here for a little bit, get a feel for the kind of place it is, prepare for all the fans." She smiled at him kindly, but there was an underlying message. Don't let them down, Adrien.
Adrien decided to take what 'liberty' he could get, and walked down an aisle filled with colorful bolts. It was the felt section, he realized. He ran his finger over a light blue bolt, wistful expression on his face.
Flashback
Adrien sat at the table with his parents, chattering about what had happened at preschool that day. That was before it was decided that he should be homeschooled.
He had a big square of blue felt in his hands. His mother helped him fold it in half and trace a chalk outline inside it.
"I want to cut it out, Mommy," he told her. She smiled at him and handed him some safety scissors.
He remembered how she looked on, smiling, as he struggled to follow the lines. Eventually, he had the piece cut out, an aberration of the originally traced shape, but he squealed with glee.
"Puppet time, puppet time!" he yelled happily. His mother shushed him, but she was laughing too. He passed the felt blob to his father, who neatly stitched up the edges for him.
"He should have a button there!" Adrien insisted, pointing to a spot on the blue finger puppet. His father obliged, and after securing the button to the puppet, slipped the creation on his finger.
"Hello, I am Mr. Puppet," the puppet greeted, voice gruff and silly.
Adrien and his mother laughed and laughed at his father's antics.
End Flashback
Adrien's heart hurt a little remembering such lighthearted times. His father hadn't closed himself off, and had loved him back then. If he still loved Adrien, he kept it well hidden, closed off behind a maze of walls too complex for Adrien to navigate.
Turning the corner of the aisle, he spied a familiar face, one that just a short time ago had been behind him in class.
"Marinette!" he greeted.
"Hello," she returned reflexively, looking at the price per yard on the tag of a nearby bolt of a satiny fabric. Adrien actually saw the moment she realized that someone she knew had spoken to her. Her face reddened and she looked at him bashfully.
"Oh, Adrien. H-hello."
"Looking for fabrics?" he asked. He almost kicked himself. Of course she was looking for fabric. She was in a goddamn fabric store!
"Yeah. I designed something and I want to make it," she told him. After this admission, she seemed to clam up, clutching the sketchpad in her hand tightly.
"Can I see it?" he asked gently, not wanting to push her too far but genuinely curious. She had won that design contest at school for that derby hat, which had been pretty nice. What else did she have floating around in that head of hers?
Slightly reluctantly, Marinette turned the sketchpad towards him, and he drew nearer to her as to be able to see it better. It was a sleek and surprisingly trendy ensemble. It featured stretchy capris with side cutouts around the calf, and a asymmetric hoodie with zippers and small rivets. It wasn't overpowering, but something about it screamed 'cool'.
"Wow, this is very good!" he informed her.
"Thanks, but you don't have to say that," she sighed, turning away. He reached out to touch her shoulder and stop her.
"I'm not just saying that. I don't 'just say that'. Do you know the cadres of fans that have shown designs to me, hoping I'd fast track them to my father?"
Adrien took a breath and continued. "I've told people that their designs aren't that great. Not quite in so harsh of terms, but I have. I want you to know that. I think you should submit your designs for the internship."
He wasn't quite sure why he had been so fervent about his assertions of her talent. Maybe it was the way she so readily was able to set aside his praise. Maybe it was her flushed cheeks and shakes of her head. Either way, Adrien, normally content to quietly observe, felt he needed to speak up. She had real potential, and it was time she realized it herself.
Marinette smiled at him, and very quietly whispered, "Thank you."
She pulled the bolt off the rack and went away to find an associate to help her cut her selection. Adrien stood in the junction between felts and the sateens thinking. She was very talented. Adrien never asked his father for much…
He shook himself a little. Marinette was very honorable and would probably object with him parading her designs in front of his father and having them skip the selection process, even if she would be flattered. Besides, he'd never done it before, and he'd told her so. He may as well attempt to stay true to his words.
That didn't mean he wouldn't throw in a few good words or two to the people who weeded through all the internship applications and design portfolios. He was a crafty cat, and although he held himself to what morals he possessed, he couldn't follow something that didn't exist.
"Adrien, get over here!" called Nathalie from across the store. Obligingly, he made his way to the table near the front of the store. Already, a line had stretched out from the fabric store, going down the perpendicular street and then out of sight. He gulped. It might be a longer day than he thought.
a/n: i have a little more written but i'm starting to run out of ideas eep