"We did it." The three heroes of London said while bumping fists.
"I will be back later, at the time we agreed." Chat Noir told them as he waved farewell at them.
"Okay, have a good trip, see you later Chat." Viperion also waved his hand in farewell.
"You will be fine, goodbye." Bunnix assured him, both boys assumed that she must have seen it in the future.
"Thanks, bye guys."
He went straight home, entering through the window and being careful to not knock anything over. Not only did he have to be careful to not knock anything over, but he also had to make sure no one saw him enter, and to also avoid the cameras.
It was tedious, however, he had gotten used to it in the last two years.
"Plagg, claws out." He whispered once he was inside the room, he was quick to catch his kwami, preventing this one from falling on the ground.
"I'm exhausted, what a day. Where's my cheese?"
"Here you have it, glutton, enjoy it." He took it out of his pant's pocket, handing it to kwami.
"Aah, good!" Plagg took it with pleasure, immediately flying to the little table where he sat to eat it.
"The day has finally arrived, tomorrow, I will be able to see my father after so long." He shut the suitcase that he had been preparing before the attack of the sentimonster.
"Remember, we must see Master Fu as soon as possible, in the meantime, Viperion and Bunnix will take care of Mayura." Plagg told him without much interest, he hated transforming, but it was his duty.
"I know, don't worry about it."
"Anyways, did the hero from yesterday call you again?" Plagg questioned, swallowing the last of his cheese before flying towards him, taking a seat on Adrien's shoulder.
"No, but tomorrow I will be able to see her, or at least I hope so, now hide, I have to go see Nathalie."
Once Plagg did as told, Adrien left the room in search of Nathalie. She was also just finishing her suitcase and arranging some papers while watching something on her tablet. Adrien assumed she was finishing the last details for tomorrow's trip.
He didn't want to knock on the door to get her attention, didn't want to distract her, but she ended up noticing him anyway.
"Adrien, have you finished with your suitcase?"
"Yes, I have, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to know when we will leave tomorrow."
"Don't worry. The train leaves at 7:45 am, so we will be leaving around 7:20 to be on time."
"Okay, thanks, I'm a little excited, I will finally get to see my father in person after 3 years. He made me finish school here after mom's death, although I enjoy spending time with Félix and my aunt, it's not the same. It hasn't been easy, he doesn't talk much either, he's always busy, but tomorrow I will finally get to see him."
He spoke while smiling. Nathalie felt a little bit of guilt gnawn at her.
"I understand, however, you won't be able to see him until the evening, he will have some matters to attend to tomorrow so he can clear his agenda for you."
As soon as Adrien heard those words, his smile disappeared, he didn't even know why he always expected more.
"Oh… I see, I will go back to my room then, goodnight, Nathalie."
"Goodnight, Adrien." Nathalie couldn't help but look at him with pity as she watched him leave with his head bowed.
But what she said was true, Gabriel wanted to clear his schedule so he could be with his son, the final attack would be coming up soon and he wanted to repair their relationship, he had faith that he would soon fulfill his wish.
He didn't want to take his son back to Paris because it would be even more dangerous, however, it would be depressing for Adrien if he left him all alone with his aunt, he already believed that Gabriel had abandoned him, taking Nathalie away from him would be like leaving him with nothing.
When the boy got to his room Plagg came out of his clothes, wanting to say something, but after seeing his expression, he chose to just not say anything.
He has never met Gabriel in person, he has only heard Adrien talk about him and the occasional overheard conversations between father and son.
By the time Adrien received his miraculous, he had already been living in London for over a year. He hoped Gabriel would be better in person, at least after how he alienated his son, although the way things were going, it would definitely not be like that.
In the morning, after having breakfast and getting ready, they left for the train station. There, Félix and his mother said goodbye to them, wishing them a safe trip and promising to visit if they ended up staying in Paris.
When the train left, Adrien spent the trip talking to Luka via texting, he had said his goodbyes to him two days ago. They had been friends for almost two years now, they had met at music school.
It had been odd for him to find someone from Paris there, they had done a little duet for a test and had ended up becoming friends. In any case, they had hit it off quite well from the beginning; his personality was so relaxed that everyone found it hard to not like him.
When the train arrived at its destination, his bodyguard, or his once bodyguard before he left to London, picked them up, taking them directly to the Agreste mansion.
It had been a long time since he last saw Adrien, so he was happy, it was new, to see him smile, he was always so serious.
It made Adrien smile too.
As soon as they got off, the bodyguard helped them with their suitcases, bringing them into the house.
"I will go unpack." Adrien told Nathalie, leaving quickly for his room, since he wouldn't be seeing his father until the evening it didn't matter much whether he chose to do other things. "Wow, nothing's changed, they left everything as it was." He found himself saying, feeling a pang of homesickness.
Meanwhile, Plagg was speechless.
"Kid, this isn't a room. This is an apartment!" He quickly flew up to the second floor, and then back to the first, taking a quick tour, this place was twice the size of their room in London.
"Don't be exaggerated, it's not the size of an apartment." Adrien laughed with endearment as he watched Plagg, at least he wasn't trying to eat anything like the first time he left the miraculous.
"You are too modest, really." Plagg returned back to him, keeping himself calm so as to not get in the way. "When will we go out? I want to try the cheese here, you didn't want to buy me any last week so I could finish them before the trip."
"I already promised you that I would buy you many, don't worry. I just didn't want all my clothes to stink. I only bought you one, so don't eat it all in one go until I can buy you more later."
Adrien said, he took the can out of his pocket and left it on the table in case he wanted to eat a little. Strangely enough, Plagg stayed in the same place.
"Yeah… about that, I already ate it." Adrien's expression changed completely, giving the kwami a judgemental look, he checked the can before leaving, just to be sure.
Empty.
How was that possible? Plagg was definitely a glutton. If there was a kwami of gluttony, it would certainly be Plagg.
"God, you will have to wait then, do pray that no akuma appears, though it's not like the heroes know I'm here anyway." Adrien let out a resigned sigh, for now, he couldn't do more for him.
"Okay, then I will just sleep while you unpack." Plagg slipped under the pillow so that the noise wouldn't disturb his nap.
"Cats." Adrien shook his head and began to unpack.
Once he was done with that, he woke Plagg up and went out with him. His first stop was Nathalie's room, he knocked on the door before stepping inside.
"Nathalie, can I go to Chloé's house?"
"I don't think your father would approve."
"Please, I haven't seen her in a long time, I won't be seeing my father until the evening, I have nothing else to do, I will go with my bodyguard, I will be back before he does, I promise."
He put his hands up in supplication, he didn't want to cause her trouble, so he would be back as soon as possible.
Nathalie hesitated, although in London she gave him permission to go out, she couldn't do it here, Gabriel would know. However, she's always been far too soft on him, thus, at the end, she gave in.
"Okay, but come back before dinner."
"Thank you very much, Nathalie." He hugged her quickly before leaving the room, went straight to the bodyguard to tell him.
~
"Why isn't he picking up?" Chloé had been trying to contact Adrien all day, he hadn't written to her since last night. He had texted her back and had told her that they would talk in the morning because he wasn't feeling well, she had every reason to be worried about him.
"Argh! Adrien, seriously, why aren't you answering? That kid is going to be the death of me." She complained again, putting her cellphone aside in frustration.
"Maybe he's busy." A voice came from behind her.
She screamed in fear when she heard the voice, even her cell phone was sent flying. She clutched her chest, turning around to see the person. It took her more than she was willing to admit to process the face, but the second she did, she smiled widely, wasting not a single second to throw her arms around him, hugging him.
"Adrien! Why didn't you tell me you were coming? You weren't answering. I was worried." She stepped back, giving him a gentle push. "You could have texted me this morning."
"I'm sorry, I wanted it to be a surprise, I felt like I would have ended up giving myself away if I texted you."
"I forgive you, only because I'm happy to finally see you, video calls aren't the same, now that you are here I can finally show you everything I promised you."
"It's true, and I would like to see those places, also see if I'm lucky enough to see some heroes one of these days." He said, somewhat excited, because in the end he would see them.
"Hey, that's not asking for luck, that's bad luck for the akumatized, they are different from the ones in London." She put her hands on her waist, scolding him.
"You are right, but that's not what I was referring to, but more like seeing one in passing, like when they patrol London." He scratched the back of his head a bit embarrassed, she had certainly changed.
"Either way Ladybug restores everything and there aren't as many disasters as in London, it's a shame what happens there."
"You are right, but the country has been able to cope with it, and the heroes always help in the reconstruction."
"I have seen it, luckily you have never been hurt, I don't know what I would do if something were to happen to you, we have been friends since we were kids." She looked at him worriedly, she couldn't understand why Gabriel sent him to such a dangerous place.
Sure, Paris wasn't 100% safe, but everything was fixed with the Lucky Charm.
"Don't worry, not everything is bad there, my aunt loves me very much and my relationship with my cousin is good." He tried to distract her, hoping to change the topic, he didn't want her to feel bad for him. Though he had suffered a little as Chat Noir, but that wasn't something anyone would ever know.
"Well, I'm happy for you then, now come, I will show you what I promised." She picked up her cellphone and took his hand, going downstairs with him.
Adrien's bodyguard was the one who drove them around. Chloé showed him many old places, how they had changed and to reminisce.
She also showed him others that were built after the heroes, ending up their trip at the statue.
"Wow! They look awesome, I bet they make a great team like the ones in London." He said with a certain sparkle in his eyes, at least they had their own statue.
Unlike them. London had made them one, but it had ended up destroyed by a sentimonster not shortly after.
"Yes, they are, we are safe thanks to them, more so because of Ladybug who fixes everything and doesn't give up."
"Have you met them? It sounds like you know them well."
"What? No, no, it's what we Parisians see, just as you could speak well of those in London." She responded quickly, nervous, avoiding looking at him. Though he was already far too busy looking at the statue.
"It's true, although I thought you would have liked Queen Bee more, her style is great, and you also like yellow." He looked at her now, luckily, that shock her out of her thoughts.
"Ah, well, her clothes are great, but I like Ladybug better."
"... You have changed, it's good." He smiled easily.
Chloé had once been quite narcissistic when he had first met her, and arrogant. Then he had realized that it had been just a mask and that deep down, she was just hurt.
He had seen a few times how badly she treated her friend Sabrina, but then she would apologize because she cared, her mother's abandonment had made her not want to trust others.
Before he left Paris, he had known that many at her school didn't like her much because of how she was, but she had ended up changing, his departure had affected her more than he had expected.
Sure, she didn't give them praise or anything, didn't treat them better either, but she no longer looked down on them and didn't step over people.
"I'm sorry, but where is that smell of bread coming from? I haven't stopped smelling it since we got here, I'm getting hungry, I would like to buy something, for Nathalie too, she must have missed Paris, and for my bodyguard." He felt Plagg move a little, where there was a bakery, there was cheese.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't notice how long it has been. The smell comes from the Dupain-Cheng bakery, it's right here." She pointed at it. "Come on, it's on me, you will definitely love the passion fruit macarons."
"If Chloé Bourgeois approves of a good place, it must definitely be good." He began walking in the direction of the bakery, followed right behind by her.
"Hey! I'm not that judgemental of food… just a little." She murmured, though that might be a bit true, but the bakery did deserve the praise.
"Oh, Chloé, welcome." Sabine greeted them as soon as they entered. "Do you want the usual?"
"No, thank you, this time I would like to take something different. Do you have passion fruit macarons?"
"Sure, just made a new batch." Tom replied as he pointed at them. "How many would you like?"
"I want 3 passion fruit macarons, 2 strawberry macarons, 2 croissants and a camembert." Adrien took out his card, but Chloé took it from him and gave hers instead.
"And 3 eclairs too. Adrien, I told you I was inviting you, don't be a cheat." She returned the card to him.
"But I ordered a lot." He tried to excuse himself, he felt guilty for making her pay.
"Who do you take me for? As if I couldn't pay for that, besides, it's not that much. Don't make a big deal about it." She crossed her arms over her chest, giving him a judgemental look. He smiled a bit embarrassed; he knew perfectly well that she could probably be more of a millionaire than him.
"Here is your order, I put the cheese in a separate bag." Sabine told them as she put four bags on the counter, giving Chloé her card back.
"Thank you, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng, goodbye." Chloé took 2 bags and Adrien took the other 2.
"Thank you very much, have a good day."
"Thank you, young man, I hope you enjoy the macarons." Tom told him, impressed and liking how polite he was.
"Thank you." Adrien left the store with Chloé and went to the car. "I brought you croissants, I will eat with Chloé at the park across the street." He handed him the bag of croissants. The bodyguard didn't say anything, but in his eyes you could see that he was moved and grateful.
Chloé and Adrien sat on the bench, watching the fountain while they enjoyed their food and chatted.
Chloé left 2 eclairs for her father, she wouldn't be seeing Sabrina today, so she hadn't bought her anything. Shortly after Adrien finished eating, they went back to the hotel, he would be dropping her off before going home.
When he arrived home he entered quietly, just in case. He went looking for Nathalie. When he found her, he handed her the bag with the strawberry macarons.
"What is it?" She asked him, confused, not expecting it.
"They are macarons. I went with Chloé to the Dupain-Cheng bakery. I thought you would miss the things from Paris too, so I brought you some, I hope you like them." He smiled widely, happy enough so she wouldn't be able to reject them.
"Thank you, Adrien, but I can't accept them."
"Please, Nathalie." He put his hands together while making puppy eyes at her. "I know that you fear that my father might find out, but I won't say anything, plus, I also bought some croissants for my bodyguard, so you can't refuse, yes?" She let out a resigned sigh, finally accepting.
"Thank you then, I will eat them later."
"Great." He celebrated softly, controlling himself so as to not make a big deal out of it. "I will take a shower and rest for a while until dinner. If my father arrives earlier, can you let me know?"
"Okay."
He went to his room and left the bag of cheese on the table.
"Don't eat it all, when I get out of the shower I will order your cheese, but they won't arrive today, that's for sure."
"I don't promise anything." Plagg quickly came out of his pocket, going straight for the bag and taking in a deep breath. "Aah, Paris cheese smells so good."
"They all stink the same to me." He shook his head. When he came out from the shower, he took his cellphone and sat on the couch to order the cheese.
"After I have dinner, if my father doesn't ghost me, we will go for a walk. I want to get familiar with the roofs of Paris. Tomorrow we will see Master Fu."
"Ugh, whatever, I hate transforming, but as long as you give me cheese after those disgusting ones, it's fine." Plagg went to him and sat on his shoulder to see which cheese he would choose.
"I don't know if you are more irresponsible because you are picky, or I am because I want to take a walk before seeing him."
Plagg took a moment to answer, and then.
"We both are."
~
"Sir, remember the dinner with Adrien, you haven't seen him in 3 years, don't leave him standing, he's waiting for you." Nathalie observed the screen of the tablet, noticing that he was doing nothing, just fooling around with the lines to ignore her. "Don't act like you are deaf, that won't damage your senses, so cut the act. What you are doing is not important, but your son is."
"What can I say, Nathalie? I know well, however, it won't matter if I don't go, in the end, it will just be another day that he won't see me."
"Don't say that, every day matters and you know it perfectly well, Adrien is looking forward to seeing you, he was disappointed when he found out that you wouldn't be seeing him until dinner."
"No, I wouldn't know, he seemed just fine a while ago while he gave you the macarons that he bought." He stopped fooling around with the screen, giving her a side eye.
"Don't tell me that… Gabriel Agreste, you are too old to be throwing tantrums." She gently hit him on the shoulder with her tablet, she didn't want to break it. "He didn't bring you anything because you are a picky man who doesn't eat anything sweet, so you can't go around complaining about that."
Mr. Agreste didn't say anything, he just kept staring at a fixed point in complete silence, he wasn't even bothered, just a bit offended, there was seriously no respect in this world. Sure, he didn't like sweet things, but he still would have liked to be offered some too.
"Fine, I will have dinner with him." He ended up conceding, rubbing the spot where she had hit him, he was going senile. "I just hope my symptoms don't show while I'm having dinner with him."
"If it were to happen, you can always say you just choked on food, it's your son, you can allow yourself to lose some dignity infront of him... or you could always tell him the truth.
"You know I can't, won't tell him." He sat down on the couch, letting out a sigh, he was exhausted. "I just want to solve this quietly."
"I know, in any case, I will come back later to check if you are going to have dinner with your son." She gave him a warning look before leaving the office.
"One moment she treats me well, and then she hits me with the tablet. Disrespecting me. But then she speaks formally again, who understands her?" He shook his head. He trusted Nathalie, she's always been worthy of trust.
When Emilie fell ill, she had helped him find a cure, or try to at least, thanks to her, he had managed to translate the text of the Miraculous book. Although she was meant to be his secretary, he trusted her with Adrien in London, even though he sent him to his cousin and aunt, he had felt like he would be safer with Nathalie present.
When he decided to act as Hawkmoth, she helped him as Mayura, promising to be careful so Adrien wouldn't be hurt while they searched for the holders of the first miraculouses.
"Nooroo."
"Yes, sir?"
"How do you think I'm doing? I don't want my son to notice my condition."
"It's not good, sir, however as long as you don't remove the miraculous, you will be able to resist long enough."
"It's fine, I just hope I get the miraculous soon." He took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, he could feel a headache coming.
The kwami watched him silently, not sure on what to say. He never thought that he would end up in the hands of someone with somewhat dark purposes, however, he still couldn't figure out whether Gabriel was bad or what, even though he used his powers for evil.
Was a father fighting to not abandon his son, who already lost his mother for the same reason, really that bad? Maybe he ended up developing Stockholm Syndrome, though Gabriel didn't abuse him.
He was just kidnapped, unable to leave at all.
Nooroo seriously had issues for not hating him.
~
Nathalie almost had to drag Gabriel to the dining room, he had started to regret it when the time had been getting closer, unable to handle the bout of panic.
When he arrived at the dining room, he noticed that the plates had been arranged so both of them could sit side by side; Nathalie's expression told him it had been certainly her idea.
"Father." Adrien got up quickly when he saw him. Although for him Gabriel hadn't changed a bit, he did notice the clear growth of his son since he last saw him 3 years ago.
Because while Adrien didn't know, most of the times he had thought he was talking to him, it had been a previous recording. The first year Gabriel had been able to talk to him, but in the second year, he could no longer control his health, and in his better moments, he had taken them to record what could have been a conversation with his son.
He did that on more than one occasion, when he was asked to speak to him and he was busy with something else, however, it was not the same as speaking face to face with his son. He had to admit that he didn't know him well, he had hurt him on more than one occasion as he was unable to give or answer what Adrien wanted.
Nathalie had told him about it.
"You don't need to get up, sit down." Gabriel said, this before going over and sitting next to his son.
"Alright." Adrien obeyed without hesitation, waiting for him to say or ask something.
Mr. Agreste looked at his secretary, silently asking for help, he didn't know what to say in this situation. Even less when he saw his son so excited.
Nathalie understood the look, however, she did the whole opposite of 'help'.
"I will leave you both alone so you can dine, enjoy."
"Won't you have dinner with us, Nathalie?" Adrien asked her upon hearing her, he had gotten used to dining with her in London.
"No, I will be outside in case you need me." She left, closing the door softly behind her.
"I see you have grown closer to Nathalie while in London." Gabriel commented as he started to eat, side-eying him, he was jealous of how well they got along, meanwhile, he didn't even know how to interact with his own son.
"Yes… father, why did you send me to London with my cousin and my aunt?" Adrien questioned as he also began to eat, though more than eating, he was playing around with his food. "Nathalie told me that you did it so I would be able to spend more time with my family, however, you are also my family, father."
"I… I needed time, and I thought you would be better off with your aunt and your cousin."
"I know that we don't talk much, and I also know that you aren't really into having pointless conversations… I would have been better off with you. If you wanted to get rid of me, you could have been more direct." He whispered the last under his breath, not wanting an answer.
He didn't have it anyway.
Suddenly, Gabriel started coughing from actually choking on his food, then the cough was not only due to the food, but also because the air left him, he has been on oxygen to sleep for a while now because of that exact reason.
"Father, are you okay?" Adrien asked, unable to not worry.
"Yes, I'm fine, food went the wrong way. Continue with your food." He drank water, containing the agonizing urge to cough again, but it was almost impossible.
"Oh… so, did you hear what I said?" Adrien asked, hesitant.
Grabriel stood up, and seeing how he just got up and left without saying a word… it made him believe that he was just avoiding answering but didn't want to be so direct.
Adrien didn't know if it was better that he didn't accept it to avoid it, either way, it annoyed him and hurt him all the same.
Meanwhile, Nathalie helped Gabriel to his office, looking for his medications to see if it would help stop the coughing, however, he stopped her.
"For–" He cut himself off with a cough. "Forget them, they won't help me now." He told her, sitting down on the couch, trying to breathe more calmly.
"Gabriel, you can't continue like this, I didn't think you were worse, but a moment ago you couldn't even keep your balance, is the treatment not working anymore?" She poured him a glass of water, handing it to him, that at least could help soothe his throat.
"You know that the treatment only delays the damage, it doesn't cure anything." He drank a bit of the water before giving the glass back to her. "At most, I only have a year left, although the miraculous helps me stay stable, it doesn't cure me, and using it just worsens my condition. Emilie was able to resist because she was strong, but she could barely walk during the last few months. You know this."
"I know, but hers was a little different than yours. Yours was because of dark magic… You should rest, I will go see if Adrien has finished dinner." She let out a heavy sigh, not knowing what else to do.
She left the office, quickly shutting the door behind her as she came face to face with Adrien.
"Is my father inside?"
"Yes, but he is attending to some business. Did you finish your dinner?"
"Yes… I will go to my room now, goodnight, Nathalie." He turned around, walking back to his room, if he couldn't settle the matter with his father, he would just leave for a while to feel better.
"Kid… do you want to talk about it?" Plagg asked, he was a bit worried, he could tell that what had happened with Gabriel had really affected Adrien.
"No, I would rather go out for a walk. Plagg, claws out."
"Adrien, waiadjskdhj-"
He quickly arranged the pillows under the blankets and went out of the window, stopping on the roof of the first building. For a moment, he was unsure on where to go, he ended up setting route towards Chloé's hotel before stopping halfway upon remembering that he couldn't appear before her as Chat Noir.
He let out a heavy sigh and turned tail around, he went up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, at least he would be able to enjoy the view from there.
Unbeknownst to him, someone noticed the mysterious shadow outside her window and quickly stepped out onto her balcony to check out what it was. Seeing that it was moving rapidly across the rooftops, straight towards the Eiffel Tower, she thought that it might be an akumatized person.
"Tikki, we have work." She looked at her kwami, who while she had her doubts, she still nodded. Because although she felt a familiar aura, she couldn't quite pinpoint what it was.
After quickly putting away what she had been working on, Marinette went straight to the Eiffel Tower, looking for the akuma. Upon finding nothing, she went up, checking the stairs and floor to see if she could find something.
As soon as she got to the top, she hid when she saw him. She immediately recognized him as the cat miraculous holder, knowing this, she chose to watch him for a bit.
Chat Noir noticed this, so he started to walk around as a distraction while he tried to find who was watching him. He thought he had it, but it was actually a beam, the painful blow to his head making him look up.
"What- that hurt! Who's there?"
"I'm sorry, but I thought that maybe, a blow would drive away the bad thoughts." She jumped down, landing infront of him. "You are Chat Noir, right? Hero of London and the holder of the miraculous of destruction."
"That's right." He said, rubbing his head and looking at her from head to toe. "From what I can see, you are Ladybug. I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, but you made my brain bounce around my skull." He was able to recognize her thanks to the statue he saw this morning, also thanks to the thousands of photos that Chloé has shown him.
"In Paris people are prone to akumatization through negative emotions, I saw that you were sad and I thought that a hit of reality might help you."
"Meow, you even joke, I see I won't be the joker here." He smiled slightly before going back to sitting on the ground, facing the city.
"Just a bit to relax my partner's nerves, then it sort of escapes me." She took a seat next to him, watching him. "What brings you to Paris? You were supposed to take care of London."
"I joke because I like to do it, it's a good way to cope." He shrugged. "I'm here because of personal matters, I can't tell you, but if you are worried about Mayura, don't be, my partners are still there and they can handle her without me. It's not like they need me anyway."
"Okay…? That sounded very sad, but alright, I will leave you and your depression alone, I don't want to be a bother." She tried to get up, but he stopped her quickly.
"Don't go, it doesn't bother me… the truth is that I don't want to be alone, the thoughts would consume me. If it's not a problem, and if you don't mind, we could get to know each other a little, I might stay here for a while and it would be good for me to know about Paris."
"No, it's not a problem, I don't mind. Meeting you solved the worries I had." She settled down with her back to the railing, leaning back against it.
"Wow, no one has ever said something so nice to me." He wiped away a fake tear and mimicked her action.
Ladybug didn't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for him considering how sad he had been a moment ago.
"I said that because I had a bit of a crisis last night, and then I thought you were a villain, but both things were solved. I thought you had come because of my partner's call. It was an accident by the way."
"Oh, I see. Honestly? That did confuse me, I was just finishing my patrol when I received the call. How did she get my number? Our numbers are supposed to be unique… literally." He stared into the void, questioning over 50 things at the same time. All he ever thought he knew.
"Don't worry, it wasn't anything weird, in theory. It's a long, yet short story. In short, she updated the function of her device and other numbers showed up, yours included. She marked yours later by accident. Luckily, it was you and not someone else. If it had been Hawkmoth or Mayura they could have gotten her location and she would have put herself in danger."
"Is that possible? I still don't get it, I haven't seen anything like that." He quickly took out his staff, wanting to see if he had somehow missed it. "I don't see anything like that."
"It's in the contacts, at the end."
"Hmm, there's nothing there either." He held it up, showing it to her so she could check.
"That's strange. How is it possible for us to have it then? Is it because I fused my miraculous with Queen Bee's?" She began to talk to herself under her breath, but he stood beside her, so he was still hearing her words.
"I also fused mine with one of my partners' and I have nothing."
"No, I said it because mine is the miraculous of creation, Master Fu didn't know why it happened either, there are many things unknown about the miraculous, he thought that perhaps it had to do with the extra abilities."
"Extra abilities?"
"Yes, you know, the transformations to be able to breathe underwater, in space, adapt to the cold, like for an ice rink and the rest." The more she spoke, the more she realized she was losing him. "Wait, you don't use them against sentimonsters?"
"No, it's just fighting and preventing them from causing as much damage as possible, although some do have abilities at times, but they tend to be rare…" As he said that, all he could do was remember that sentimonster that had released endless paint, leaving a horrible mess on the streets, cars and buildings.
"Oh, maybe that's why Master Fu didn't give you the colorful food, it would make sense."
"Yes… that colorful food thing sounds strange." He frowned a little. "Oh, I think I know what you are talking about. That glutton surely didn't care about that, that's what he must have meant when he said he didn't like transforming, just you wait, Plagg."
He said through gritted teeth, right now, he wanted to scold him for not having explained it to him well. Well, he was certainly a lost, very lazy cause.
"Glutton? Are you talking about one of your partners?"
"No, I'm talking about my kwami, he told me that we should see Master Fu no matter what, but that it didn't matter if we were late, he hates transforming. He will see, tomorrow I will definitely go to see the guardian."
"Oh, I heard a little about your kwami from mine and Master Fu. I hope you solve it tomorrow, I now know not to see him tomorrow. Also, remember to detransform, otherwise you could put him in danger."
"I know, don't worry, my kwami told me." He gave her a thumbs up.
"Good, by the way, speaking of skills, what are yours? I mean, as regular Chat Noir." She asked him, because it would be good to know what he could do, she didn't look for that information herself, it would be easier and much more truthful coming from him than from some random internet forum.
"Well, I have this boomerang." He took it from his thigh to show it to her, dividing it. "I usually use it if my staff is busy with something else or if I have lost it."
"It looks great." She couldn't help but compliment him, because it did sound useful for what he was saying.
"Thank you~" He put it away again. "My staff is somewhat elastic if it expands, but it is very resistant. I can divide it into 2 if I want to and at the same time I can turn it into both; a spear, or a double-edged one. Claws can also come out of my boots, they help me hold on to places much more firmly." He hit his boots together so that the claws would come out and he could show them to her.
"Wow, you are quite the cat, I hope you don't scratch the living room furniture." She said jokingly, but even if she said that, she still found everything he just said amazing.
"I'm a good kitty, swear by my little claw." He played along, holding his pinky up and laughing softly; They definitely made a great joking duo.
"I hope so." She giggled before shaking her head. "No, but seriously, that's great, I can only create things, use my imagination and strategy."
"That's still great, you can even create a car out of nothing. You can also fix everything with your miraculous. Having a good strategy is also important, you also connect with people and bring them back to their senses. And don't forget using a yo-yo, that's not easy, I would definitely get tangled in it." He gave her a small pat on the shoulder. "You gotta admit you are awesome."
"Wow, it seems that someone was either very informed, or is a fan." She raised a curious eyebrow at him, he reminded her of Queen Bee talking like that.
"Ah, it's neither, or perhaps the first involuntarily, I know someone who is a super fan of yours, so I know more about you than I know of your partner."
"I understand, however, it's a shame, I wish more people admired Queen Bee, not many pay attention to her talent, I wish they did, she is my partner, I don't work alone."
"I think that as long as you have each other, other people's opinions don't matter." After all, it was more important to get along with your partners.
"Yeah, she told me that as long as I trust her and accept her, she doesn't care about the rest, even so, I know she worries about that." Ladybug let out a sigh of resignation. "Speaking of partners, how is Viperion doing?"
"He's doing well, why the question?"
"No reason, I just wanted to know how he was doing... The truth is that we used to be partners, but no one in Paris knew because he liked working in the shadows, it was more his style, that way he could keep an eye on what was happening with the akumatized person and inform me so that I didn't have any problem."
"That actually explains some things, that's why he never said where he got the miraculous from, just that he came to help, and since Bunnix didn't say anything I accepted it."
"I can't really give you any details, but he had his reasons, plus, Master Fu wanted it that way too."
"And do those reasons have to do with you both not talking to each other? Because that's how it seemed, he looked a little depressed when I first met him. That would explain it." He was curious, he couldn't help but want to know, she was giving him more answers than Viperion has ever done.
"It's complicated, that's all I can say." She sighed again, at this point her soul would end up leaving her in one of the many sighs she has been letting out. "And that's why they don't give Queen Bee credit, they think I worked alone when in reality, without Viperion I was nothing."
"I understand, thanks to him Bunnix's work was reduced by a lot, it became easier for us to avoid damage." He smiled a little at that. "As they say, the misfortunes of some are the blessings of others. I once destroyed my partner's weapon, if it hadn't been for him it would have stayed like that, she almost kicked me out of London that day."
"Really? Then you really got lucky, even I would have kicked you out of Paris if you had destroyed my yo-yo."
She laughed in disbelief, they really lived in the luck among the misfortune.
~
"It's getting late, we should be heading back to our homes, our kwamis must rest too."
"You are right, otherwise Plagg will kill me for not letting him sleep." He jumped up to his feet, stretching a little to relax his muscles, even his tail had fallen asleep, and it wasn't even real . "It was nice talking with you, I hope you feel better."
She also stood up from the ground, patting him on the back.
"Yes, I am. Thank you, Ladybug, if something happens tomorrow I will help you, rest assured." He raised his hand up, as if he were making some sort of oath to her. "See you later."
"See you later."
Once they both left, they were careful not to see the other so as not to discover who it was by accident.
When Adrien got home, he slipped through the window a whole lot more easily than in London; The first thing he did was feed his kwami.
"Come on, spit it out, now you have to talk."
"I'm fine Plagg, don't worry, I met Ladybug and I talked with her, so I'm fine."
"Kid, I know I said that I don't like your father because of how your conversation went, however, I think that there is more to that and that that conversation wasn't quite finished." He swallowed the last of his cheese so he could go lie down in the corner of the bed.
"It's weird to see you so positive, but even if there's something left to say, I don't think I wil be finding out soon." Plagg shrugged.
"Okay, whatever you want."
Adrien changed into his pajamas, brushing his teeth along the way. He went to the kitchen for a glass of water, lingering a bit as he got lost in his own thoughts.
He was walking back to his room when he saw Nathalie with his father. He quickly hid so they wouldn't see him and end up scolding him for being up so late, it was around 1 am.
"Gabriel, I have told you many times to not stay there for too long, but since you don't listen to me, I already imagine that while I was gone you did just that."
"I'm fine, I just lost track of the time, you don't have to scold me, I know very well that I should rest. You don't have to remind me."
"Now say that again without complaining to me about your back."
Although they spoke in whispers, Adrien heard and understood most of it. He was stunned in place though, by the very fact that Nathalie just called his father by his first name and even scolded him. And father didn't even seem to mind it.
Maybe he was reading what he just saw wrong, but nothing could make him think otherwise, they definitely had something going on .
The sound of the door closing broke him out of his shock, and he was quick to run back to his room before Nathalie came back out of the room.
If she came back out.