Another week, another chapter! Let's just get right into this one shall we?

Content warning: Fighting, light gaslighting and mention of illnesses.

Chapter 14

The Science Fair

The day after Adrien saw his father carrying in a very sick Varian he awoke fearing something might be seriously wrong with his foster brother. To his surprise Varian was downstairs for breakfast that morning not looking like death warmed over.

"Varian?" the other boy turned around and waved even if it was a little slower than usual. "Are you alright? You looked pretty bad last night."

"Yeah I'm fine, sorry about the scare. Whatever the doctor gave me must have worked. I woke up feeling…normal." Adrien looked a little skeptical but he honestly looked a lot better.

"Well…if you're sure?" Varian nodded with a slight yawn. He had woken up before the sun had fully risen, the pounding in his skull now a faded memory. Nathalie and Gabriel were there making sure he was alright. But as soon as he said he was, Gabriel quickly guided him into his lab where he was shown how to repair his Miraculous. It didn't seem like such a big deal to him, the light scratches on the lenses had been there for ages and even after surviving all the rough treatment he put them through, before he knew they were a magical talisman, they were still in great shape.

Still he understood why the man was worried about him so he went along with it and now they looked good as new. He was even surprised how clearly he could see out of them so maybe the repair was more necessary than he thought.

"I'm fine, really. But that reminds me I should probably call Max to let him know as well."

"Yeah he was pretty freaked out when he called me last night." Varrian grimmissed. "Has this ever happened before?" Adrien tested.

"No, this is the first…" he paused, remembering something. "Actually there was that one time about a year ago. My Dad and I were supposed to go to this big party but I got a sudden and painful headache the night before. Dad stayed with me that night but I was fine by the morning. Even so we stayed home just to be safe." he said, trying to brush it off. "So it wasn't a big deal then either." Adrien didn't look convinced and made a mental note to look up those symptoms. They weren't exactly like his mothers but her dizzy spells came on suddenly as well.

"If you're sure, that still looked pretty serious." Varian frowned.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare anyone. Seriously, I'm fine." Adrien still didn't think that was true but he let it pass. Both Varian and his father were pretty stubborn when they didn't want to talk about something.

About halfway through breakfast while they were just casually talking Varian's phone went off. He frowned when he saw the text from Gabriel.

"What? I told him…" He texted something back only to get a reply almost instantly causing him to get even more upset. He grunted, put the phone down and was now speeding through his meal.

"Whoa, what's the rush?" Adrien asked as Varian nearly choked on his coffee.

"Just your Dad changing things without telling me. I already told him I was going to the science fair this Saturday and now he wants me in the lab all weekend." More and more this mysterious project was bothering Adrien. He knew Varian was extremely smart but what could he possibly be doing to help his father that would also help Varian's. Any and all attempts to ask or try to squeeze a hint out of either of them was met with a stone wall of silence.

"It wasn't because you got sick last night was it?" he asked, still trying to get some idea of what was going on.

"No we're…" he paused thinking about how to phrase his answer. "We were supposed to catch up today since I went out last night but…" he ran a hand through his hair. "I'm just going to have to talk to him in person, I promised Max I'd be there for him and promises are…really important to me." Before Adrien could ask what that meant Varian waved goodbye and rushed off.

Adrien sighed as he finished his own breakfast, noting his more "healthy" dishes that consisted of Grapefruit and a hard boiled egg while Varian had pancakes dripping with maple syrup.

Why did his father lavish all this attention on Varian and just seem to phone it in with him, literally. Speaking of phones he noticed Varian had left his when he rushed off. He was tempted to ignore it and let the other boy sweat but that would be a little mean. He grabbed the phone and headed in the direction he saw Varian going a few minutes ago.

"...starting to question your commitment to this." he heard his father say from the drawing room. Varian could be heard as he got closer.

"Of course I'm committed, you know how much this means to me!" Adrien wasn't the type to eavesdrop but he couldn't help his curiosity as he approached the door which wasn't fully closed.

"Not as much as socializing it would seem."

"Oh come on, this is important to Max. I promised him I'd be there. It's only for a few hours anyway."

"And last night?" There was a long pause.

"Late night was…a setback but I'm fine now."

"Late night was dangerous, we need to be more careful. I fear we're running out of time." What did that mean? Thought Adrien, now worried about Varian more than he was before. Running out of time for what?

"Socializing is not the only reason, I'm still convinced-" but whatever Varian was going his Gabriel cut him off.

"I've heard your theory, and while it has some merit we need proof before we can act." What ever Varian said next was too low for Adrien to hear but it made his father sigh.

"Very well, you can go but you'll have to do something in return." Adrien panicked when he saw the door start to open. He quickly backed up and called out.

"Varian? Father? Where are you?" He saw the door pause and heard them whispering something before his father fully opened it.

"Adrien? What are you doing here you're supposed to be on your way to school?" Varian peeked his head out looking more than a little nervous.

"Oh, there you are Varian, I've been looking all over for you." he hoped his bluff would be enough to convince them he hadn't been listening in. "You left your phone at the breakfast table." He held out the phone as the other boy felt his pocket as if only now realized it was missing.

"Oh, thanks. I would have been going crazy looking for this." Adrien nodded and headed out not wanting to draw any more attention to himself.

"See you later!" he left wishing he could have heard just a little more. He already had an idea forming in his head and it wasn't pretty.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

After the truth bombs that were revealed at the festival last Friday things at school had been a little tense. Some people were glaring at each other, some were still fighting and others were avoiding each other. Marinette was in the latter category.

Adrien kept trying to talk to her all weekend with no luck. He figured he'd see her in class but it was as if she knew his schedule down to the millisecond. She showed up to class right on time and left before he could say a word.

He tried to catch her during breaks but he kept just missing her. Tuesday started out pretty much the same. Figuring he was going to get the runaround again he decided to bypass Marinette and talk to Alya. Only to find out she was avoiding him too.

Nino was more helpful and sympathetic and told him where to find his girlfriend. But as soon as he confronted her she tried to cover for Marinette and by now Adrien was more than a little frustrated.

"Alya please! I know Marinette didn't mean to confess and I was too surprised to give her a proper response but…" he paused, not 100% sure what else to say. Alya sighed, it looked like she was getting a little frustrated with all this drama as well.

"But how do you feel Adrien?" she asked as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"To be honest I'm still trying to figure that out. She's a really great friend and I do like her it's just…I haven't really thought about her like that before."

"So you just like her as a friend?" Alya asked, looking a little disappointed.

"That's the thing, I've been so focused on the one I've been in love with I never stopped to consider anyone else. Maybe that's why I've been so blind to her feelings." Alya gave him a sympathetic look.

"Look, I agree you and Marinette need to sit down and talk this out but understand she's feeling really vulnerable right now." he sighed.

"I know and believe me the last thing I want to do is hurt her but avoiding each other is only going to make things worse." Alya thought for a moment.

"I'll try to talk to her, and tell her you weren't scared off. I can't guarantee she'll listen though."

"That's all I ask. I know this will be more than a little embarrassing for both of us but I miss her." Alya smiled back.

Unfortunately Marinette was as stubborn as she was stealthy. Alya said she wasn't ready and while they didn't want to push her she couldn't go on like this. He was venting his frustrations to Varian Friday morning at breakfast while his house guest listened intently.

"While I feel bad Marinette had to blurt out her feelings by force (especially since he was the one responsible) I'm glad you finally caught on." Adrien looked wide eyed at the other boy.

"You knew too!" Varian was going to make a comment about it being obvious but seeing Adrien genuinely shocked he let it slide.

"How about this, I know she's going to the science fair tomorrow, why not talk to her there?" but Adrien frowned.

"I'm supposed to be doing a fitting for a show next week."

"Is it an all day thing? Maybe you could leave early?" Adrien thought for a moment. The fittings don't usually take very long but the problem was convincing his father to say yes.

"I'll see if I can get out of it, I really need to talk to Marinette." Varian gave him an encouraging thumbs up as he went back to his breakfast.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

For many people the science fair was more than a simple school function.

For Maxx it was a chance to really impress some college scouts and have his work taken seriously.

For Kim he had promised to play nice around Varian for Max's sake. He just hoped the other boy would do the same.

For Marinette it was a chance to catch her breath. She had been running form Adrien all week but she knew the science fair conflicted with his schedule so she could relax a bit.

As for Varian, he had a promise to keep. Two promises in fact. He just wasn't sure he could go through with the second one. He got there early to help Max set up and to keep an eye out for Kim. He hoped the other boy wouldn't come but he was also friends with Max so that was unlikely.

"I'm glad you could make it Varian." Max said as he tested the battery on his laptop.

"I promised, didn't I?" He was unpacking some of the parts of the display. "I think the college scouts will be really impressed with your research." Max smiled as he double checked Markov's programing, he was a big part of the presentation.

"While I'm confident in my findings, I must say I'm a little nervous. A lot can go wrong even if you are prepared."

Varian paused, having flashbacks to a different science fair. He must have been lost in thought he almost didn't hear Max calling his name.

"Hu, what?"

"I asked if you were alright, you seemed a little out of it." He was also concerned he was having another attack like the one from before. But Varian quickly shook his head.

"I'm fine I was just…remembering the last time I went to a science expo. It wasn't a school one though, I was the only kid there."

"Were you a participant?"

"Yeah, I had a pretty cool intention too but…" he trailed off thinking about how everything went wrong that day. How it ended with him showing Rapunzel the rocks and her telling him they would solve it together.

"What'd you show?" called another voice from behind him. It was Alix giving them a cheerful wave. There weren't a lot of students here yet mostly just the ones that had projects on display. Alix had an engineering piece she was displaying as well.

"It was actually a device that compressed sand into a whole new element. I called in Cassandrium." Both his friends looked at him in amazement.

"Wait wait wait!" Alix said, coming closer. "You made a new element? That's HUGE!" Max seemed to agree.

"Indeed, an achievement like that would be extremely notable. Why haven't we heard about this before." Markov hovered and beeped for a moment.

"I can find no information on that element. How was it documented?" Varian looked down for a moment.

"It wasn't, I didn't win." Once again they both looked shocked. Alix shook her head.

"What the heck did the winner make to beat that?" At this Varian scoffed.

"It was a flashy magic trick with magnets that a five year old could make. But she sold her idea better so I lost." Alix huffed.

"Sounds like she was sleeping with the judge if you ask me." Varian and Max both blushed. Truthfully Varian had been thinking something along those lines: the judge passed up more than one real scientific achievement in favor of a party trick.

"Regardless I didn't make a great impression. My assistant ditched me just before I went on stage and after the judge mishandled my device it set off an implosion." Max winched.

"I can see why you might be a little put off by displaying your work. This is only a school function but it sounds like the one you went to was less than professional. Regardless, I'd like to see your notes for creating a new element." Markov spun in midair and beeped again.

"I'd be happy to run the data to avoid another implosion." Varian smiled but it was a little bittersweet.

"ALRIGHT! I'm here for the heavy lifting!" Kim shouted storming in not noticing he had just interrupted a conversation. Varian sighed. He just needed to get through the next few hours, he could do this.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Adrien had thought up a number of excuses or reasons for getting out of the fitting but in the end he knew his father wouldn't accept any of them. His best course of action was to try and speed up the process and ditch Gorilla. He didn't always rat him out mainly so he wouldn't get in trouble himself. If he timed it right he could make most of the science fair and still talk to Marinette.

Fortunately, Miss Blair was in charge today. She was very efficient and knew how to run an event professionally. She was also very nice to him saying he was a delight to work with.

"Morning Miss Blair!"

"Ah, Adrien right on time, as always. How are you this morning?"

"I'm fine, thanks. Listen, is there a way we could wrap this up a little early? At least my part. I'm trying to meet someone today and…" she just smiled.

"Ah, young love." Adrien blushed.

"No it's not…I mean I'm not sure…" she put a finger on his lip.

"Say no more I'll try to speed things up for you. It shouldn't take too long anyway. We really just need to see if the outfits need any alterations." Adrien nodded gratefully.

"You're a lifesaver. I owe you one." She waved him off.

"Oh please, you're one of the easiest models to work with. You make my job easier. Besides you never ask for anything so this is the least I can do." Adrien was relieved. He was afraid she would be angry.

"Well then let's get started!" He said excited to get to work so he could be on his way.

"Excellent. We have the outfits in your dressing room, we're just waiting for Jacques to arrive."

Adrien frowned. That was the incentive cameraman that had made that snide comment to his father about him eating too many sweets. Oh well, he just had to get through the next hour or so, He could do this.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Varian was trying very hard to ignore Kim. It wasn't easy because he was so loud and commanding. He hoped this would not lead to another headache. Fortunately he was ignoring Varian just as hard so that was a plus.

By now they had finished setting up and more people were trickling in. He took a break and decided to look around at the other students' displays out of curiosity, also to get away from Kim for a little while. The projects ranged from simple things they had learned in class, using applied knowledge to new ideas and ones in the concept and experimental phases.

While it was fun to see other students his own age exploring the wonders of science he was once again reminded just how advanced he was. Max was the only one here that seemed to be on the same level as him. He remembered Ms. Mendeleiev's comment about not having much to teach him and while he was sure it was meant as a compliment it did make him feel a little sad. Even in this new world with such advancements and wonders he was still the weird kid who was too smart for his own good.

He swung around to Alix's project. He had to admit it did have potential. It was a redesign for making her skates more aerodynamic and potentially faster. It still had a few bugs but she was on the right track. She had done a lot of research and experimentation and it was in an easy format for the average person to understand.

She told him her long term goal was to invent time travel. A bit ambitious and loaded with problematic complications but what he wouldn't give to go back and fix his biggest mistake. She reminded him that even though he was smarter than most people his own age, that didn't diminish their passion and abilities to learn and explore the world around them.

He went back to see if Max needed any help when the judges came by. Alix already had a few of her friends helping her. But as he was heading back he began to wonder in this advanced new world what else was there to invent or discover?

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Adrien was trying to be patient, he really was but this quick little fitting was turning out to be a long and torturous event. The photographer was running late, he was given the wrong outfit, and the delivery boy had spilled coffee all over another of the outfits and the "professional" photographer had forgot to put in a memory card in his camera.

Miss Blair was fuming almost as much as Adrien, everything was going wrong. To top it all off one of the other models insisted on going first because they had another engagement. Miss Blair tried to protest but Jacques just let them go first anyway.

Seriously, why was he even doing this? And did he really want to be stuck in a career he hated for the rest of his life?

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Varian got a surprise visit from Kagami. Her mother owned a technology company so Kagami justified going in order to scout for future investments.

"Kagami, it's good to see you again." The girl smiled.

"It's good to see you too. Did you finish with the books I gave you?" At that Varian nodded with a big smile on his face.

"The series was so good it's almost sad to see it end. I had fun translating it though."

"Well then I'll have to loan you another series. Best to keep up with your studies after all." she said with a wink. "Have you ever heard of Death Note?" He shook his head. "I think you'll find this one very interesting." She handed him the fist volume.

"If you're recommending it then it must be good." he winked back. "So have you seen Max's project yet?"

"I have. Mother was already familiar with the remarkable programming skills used to create Markov. This is another improvement showing he has a lot of potential to grow." Varian beamed truly happy for his friend.

"I'm glad, he's worked really hard on this." She agreed, even hinting her mother might be interested in hiring him in the future. But she did have something else on her mind.

"I'm surprised you have not entered anything for the science fair. I know it's only for the school but surely Gabriel could have pulled a few strings." Varian frowned.

"Honestly I'm just a little too busy with the project right now. It was like pulling teeth just to be here today for Max." She frowned as well.

"When I spoke to Max he did say you had an unpleasant experience with a previous exposition."

"It's not just that. Today is a big deal for Max and I didn't want to steal the spotlight from him."

"While this is a competition I see no reason you two couldn't compete as friends." Varian sighed.

"One of the things that happened at the expo I was in, a friend, or someone I thought of as a friend, just randomly decided to compete the day of the competition. I'm not saying it was wrong and to be fair her project did work but I put in so much hard work but the whole time I felt like I was being pushed aside. She was really bubbly and popular and more eyes were on her because of who she was. It wasn't the first time she'd done something like that either. She entered a dangerous physical competition that another of her friends was competing in even though she had been training for ages to be ready." Kagami slowly nodded.

"You fear with you reputation you might take the focus off Max." Varian nodded. "While it is an honorable thing you're doing in the real world you must use whatever resources you have to get ahead."

"I just think scientists should work together not compete."

"Everything in life is a competition. I'm not saying you need to step on other people to get ahead but someone else will. You need to start thinking about what kind of future you want for yourself and what you will need to achieve it." Varian thought about what she said for a while after Kagami left.

He was so focused on freeing his Dad he'd barely given any thought to what he would do after. But when he did achieve his dream would he even have a future?

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Adrien was getting ready to kill someone, namely the photographer. It took forever to get the pictures he needed and he was still fussing with the outfits claiming they didn't fit right. They fit perfectly according to Miss Blair who was ready to walk off herself.

"They're not hanging right." He claimed, adjusting Adrien's shirt for the twentieth time. By now Adrien was not even attempting to hide how annoyed he was. At this rate he was going to miss the fair completely and his chance to talk to Marinette.

"Come on, you got the pictures, the clothes fit fine, any alterations can be done later. I need to go." he said with gritted teeth but Jacques just tutted.

"So cranky, must be all the sweets." The man was lucky he wasn't Chat Noir right now. He never wanted to cataclysm someone as much as he did at this very moment. He had one cookie, ONE for almost two weeks and this guy had a donut hiding in his bag according to Plag.

"I'm going to use the bathroom, be right back." he said with a fake practiced smile.

"Good, maybe those pants will fit better afterwards." He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Neither did Miss Blair who was currently giving him a lecture and threatening to call his father. While he was glad she was on his side this was likely to turn into a mess, one which he didn't have time for.

He took the donut out of the bag and stepped on leaving the remains on his chair. He then poured salt in his coffee and once he was in the bathroom crawled out the window to freedom.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Varian looked at his watch as he spotted Marinette hanging out around Alix's project. He was hoping Adrien would be able to make it before the fair was over, those two really need to talk things out.

The judges would be coming around soon and Max wanted to go to the restroom before they did. It wasn't a problem for Varian to watch the booth for him but Kim insisted on guarding it as well.

Varian thought it was unnecessary but didn't want to argue in front of Max. They were still ignoring each other and that was fine with him. The problems started when visitors started asking about the details of the project. Markov was already programmed to respond but Kim kept exaggerating and giving details that just weren't correct.

"Look if you don't know how the program works just leave it to Markov it's literally programmed into him." Varian said getting exasperated but this only seemed to agitate the taller boy.

"I'm just trying to keep the crowd going for Max until he gets back. Unclench will ya." Varian was starting to see red.

"You're not helping him by giving out incorrect information."

"Who cares about the details if no one's here to see it?"

"It's the details that make or break the program!"

"I'm just trying to help him!"

"Well you're not!"

"What do you know, you barely know him!"

"I know enough to respect his work unlike you!"

"I'm there for him everyday, you just show up when you need to come out of your cave for air."

"At least I understand what he's trying to do."

"Are you calling me stupid!"

"BOYS!" Both of them jumped and turned to see a small crowd staring at them. Max and his mother were with them.

"Max honey, I know they're both your friends but I think they need some time to cool down." Max was staring at his feet not looking at either of them.

"I…think that would be for the best mother." Varian felt really bad. He was supposed to be here for Max and he went and made a scene. He didn't fight Max's mother as she led him away. He noted Kim had the decency to look ashamed as well.

To be continued…

Next time: Max's mother sits Varian down for a heart to heart talk while Adrien struggles to make it in time to see Marinette.