Cat Noir was fortunate to make it home, detransform, and crawl into bed mere minutes before Nathalie came in. The trip home had really taken it out of him, but he smiled at her nonetheless, "G'bordid Dathalie."
His voice was congested and breathy, the latter because he hadn't really fully caught his breath since jumping through his window.
His father's assistant offered him a sympathetic glance, "How are you feeling today?"
"A bit better." It wasn't a lie, "Still tired, but I was thidki'g of getting a shower." Adrien mused.
Nathalie nodded, "You're due for some medicine. How about some breakfast?" she offered.
"Sure." Adrien nodded slightly. Noticing he actually felt a bit hungry for the first time in two days.
"Any requests?" Nathalie asked, sliding a thermometer under his tongue to check his temperature.
"Adythi'g is fide." Adrien replied around the thermometer.
A beep signified the reading was taken.
"Alright." Nathalie said, glancing at the thermometer, "Ah, good. Your fever's gone. I'll be sure to let your father know. I'll be back."
Adrien watched her go and then pulled out his phone, looking at a photo of his mother and himself gently. "Happy Birthday, Mom." he thought quietly, kissing two fingers and then placing them on the screen.
He allowed himself another moment before getting up to shower.
~x~x~x~
Gabriel spotted Nathalie leaving Adrien's room and met her at the bottom of the stairwell, "How is he?"
"Better than he was. His fever's gone." Nathalie reported, "He still doesn't look like he's feeling well though, sir." she tacked on, just so there were no misunderstandings.
"I'm glad he's improving." Gabriel replied calmly, adjusting his glasses, "Are you keeping him sufficiently preoccupied?"
Nathalie eyed him, deciding to take a stand for Adrien's sake, "Perhaps, sir, Adrien doesn't want to be kept busy."
"Has he said anything specific?" Gabriel asked.
"Why would he? You never ask him how he's doing or what he wants. He probably doesn't want to bother you." Nathalie stated, expression softening slightly, "I know you're hurting, sir, but Adrien is too. He needs you." she stalked off towards the kitchen without another word.
Gabriel sighed quietly but let her go.
He turned his gaze towards Adrien's room. Maybe Nathalie was right...
~x~x~x~
Adrien was walking out of his bathroom wearing a fresh pair of pajamas, drying his hair with a towel. That shower had felt truly amazing. He could breathe through his nose again and his headache was less. He kind of wanted to try and go to sleep before the congestion came back.
There was a knock at the door.
"Come in, Nathalie." Adrien offered simply. His eyes widened when he discovered he'd made a horrible assumption and he bowed his head, "Sorry, Father."
Gabriel held up a hand, brushing him off.
"You look better."
By all accounts, Adrien did look worlds better than the delirious mess that had greeted him yesterday morning. Still, there was no mistaking his fatigue. Bags rimmed his son's tired green eyes. His stance also seemed more slumped than usual, as if the weight of his exhaustion was heavy on his shoulders. Frankly, the designer wondered how he'd missed the signs when they were so blatant. Was this really all because he missed his mother?
"Yes, Father." Adrien said, unsure what he was doing here.
Surely, he was keeping busy today of all days.
"I'm glad." Gabriel continued, "But how are you feeling?"
"What?" Adrien asked, surprised at first, "Oh, I-I'm feeling a lot better. I'm still pretty tired, though." he admitted sheepishly.
"I see." Gabriel replied.
He was so hard to read.
Adrien felt a flutter of panic in his chest.
It was so hard to let his guard down completely around his dad, he didn't want to let him down.
"If you need me to do something, I can..." he found himself saying slowly, "I just could really use a nap first."
It was Gabriel's turn to look surprised.
"No... why would I...?" he cut himself off and cleared his throat, "Adrien, you're sick and your schedule has already been cleared for the next few days. All I want is for you to take it easy... you understand?"
Adrien stared at him like he'd grown another head, but then smiled slowly, "Yes, Father."
"Good. I imagine Nathalie will have your breakfast for you soon, so I'll leave you be." Gabriel patted his son's shoulder. He turned to go, then stopped himself, "Adrien." he said.
"Yes, Father?"
"After you've slept, call me. There's something I want to show you." Gabriel decided.
Adrien blinked, but nodded, "Yes, of course."
Gabriel offered a slight smile, "I'll be waiting. Sleep well, son." He headed out.
"He does care." Adrien sighed contentedly in his father's absence.
"It wouldn't have killed him to give his kid a hug." Plagg deadpanned in the background, two inches from shoving a large chunk of cheese into his mouth.
"Cut him some slack, Plagg." Adrien replied easily.
He hung up his towel and headed over to sit in bed.
Soon, breakfast and cold medicine arrived.
He managed to eat half the food Nathalie had brought him before the fullness in his belly was enough that his fatigue was beginning to win out again. Adrien set his tray aside and curled back into his bed to sleep.
To his delight, the nightmares stayed away. He wasn't entirely sure why, but maybe it was because in the moment, his heart felt full. He'd had some release and he didn't feel so alone.
~x~x~x~
Adrien felt anticipation mounting as he waited for his father's return.
He'd just called him and he said he was on his way.
Adrien had gotten straight to work making himself as presentable as possible, intent to make a bad day better for his old man.
Gabriel knocked to announce himself, then strode in with a couple thick volumes under his arm. He looked taken aback, "You're all dressed?" he noted.
"Yeah. I thod id was about tibe." Adrien cringed inwardly at the sound of his own voice, the congestion was back and refusing to leave presently.
Gabriel shook his head, "Have a seat with me, will you?" He sat on Adrien's couch and gestured to the spot beside him.
Adrien sat obediently, glancing at the books his father was holding curiously.
"These." Gabriel said, setting the albums in his lap, "Are the photos your mom considered the very best of our family."
Adrien's eyes widened in surprise, reaching forward with longing. He then drew back slightly, "You're really okay with looking at these... today?" he was looking at his father with a mix of concern and wonder.
Gabriel nodded, flipping the top book open to reveal early pictures.
Emilie holding a baby Adrien, a family portrait taken not long after... There was a nearly identical photo next to it, only baby Adrien had spit up all over Gabriel's suit front and Emilie was laughing.
"She would've wanted us to remember the good times today especially." Gabriel acknowledged after a moment.
Adrien wasn't sure what had spurred his father into this, but he was going to soak it all in. "Yeah... Yeah, Father, I think you're right."
~x~x~x~
Two nights later, Adrien Agreste was still very much on sick leave. The worst of his symptoms had come and gone, leaving him with a bit of a lingering cough and the occasional sniffle, but he was already feeling worlds better. He'd finally been catching up on some much-needed rest.
Feeling actually decent tonight, he transformed into Cat Noir and slipped out into the city. He opened the phone part of his staff, "LB, are you there?" he asked into the phone.
"Oh my word, Kitty. Go back to bed." came a deep, irritated sigh.
Cat Noir couldn't help but smile, "You said to take as long as I needed, and I'm really feeling a lot better. I thought I'd see if you needed a hand with patrol tonight."
"I've got it. Just go."
He frowned, "What? You're breaking up... guess I'll just have to come find you." he said, feigning ignorance.
"Ugh. Are you kidding m-"
He hung up to maintain the ruse, using the coordinates his staff spat out to track her down.
He found Ladybug simmering quietly near the park.
"Evening, Bugaboo."
She stared him up and down a long moment, then seemed to soften minutely, "I guess you do look a lot better." she conceded.
"I'm flattered by your concern just the same, M'lady." Cat Noir smiled.
She just hmphed.
He wasn't sure, but she seemed... distracted?
At last, Ladybug sighed, "Alright. Since you're already here, let's make this quick."
"After you, M'lady."
He moved nimbly after her, scanning Paris streets and rooftops.
Cat Noir noticed her slowing down halfway through their rounds.
"Everything alright, M'lady?"
Ladybug seemed to weigh her words carefully.
She was acting different. Before he could press, she spoke, "I didn't want to bother you, since you've been sick yourself lately, but tonight I'm not feeling so well." she admitted.
Cat Noir felt a pang of guilt followed quickly by sympathy. Ah. He had a feeling how that happened.
"I'm so tired, my head hurts, and my throat feels like it's on fire." Ladybug went on and sighed, "I just want to get this over with and go home." she said wistfully.
Cat Noir set a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Then why don't you head back now, and I'll finish the patrol tonight?" he offered easily.
"What? No. I couldn't ask you to do that. You just got better." Ladybug reminded.
"So don't ask. I'm offering." Cat Noir replied, "You caught my cold because you were there for me. Let me at least do this for you."
Ladybug looked at him a long moment, then conceded reluctantly, "Okay... You'll let me know if you need me?"
"Always, M'lady." Cat Noir promised, "Now go get some rest. You've earned it."
Author's Note:
As I say when reading to my toddlers 'And that's the end of the story!' I really enjoyed writing this and getting feedback from a few of you over the last few days. Really hoping to find the time to write more fanfiction for Miraculous. Hopefully I don't drop of the face of FFN again for literal years... again. Haha. I still feel so bad for the people who were following 'A Fool's Errand' back in the day as I don't even remember what my overall plan was for that one now. ^^; I think with any future fics I'll stick to finishing or mostly finishing the fic before I start posting to try to avoid leaving people hanging. Thank you all for reading!