Chapter Text
Ladybug sprinted down the hallway, weaving in and out of conference goers, some of whom shouted "is there an akuma?" after her.
"No!" she hollered over her shoulder, barely breaking stride. She just had to make it to the bathroom where she could de-transform and hurry back in time to get judged by Mr. Agreste (and hopefully convince him she didn't really need Ladybug's input) before darting away again to transform back into Ladybug to judge the rest of the applicants. Whew! She could do this! She was Ladybug!
How did she get into this mess in the first place again? Oh, right. Adrien. She really needed to get a grip on her emotions around him. Ugh. Time to worry about him later.
She ducked around a corner and almost crashed into someone. With a yelp of surprise and a stumbling feat of acrobatics, she pushed against the wall and spun around the person.
"A-Adrien!" she shrieked. The object of her thoughts stood right in front of her, a serious frown upon his perfectly kissable lips. Focus! She chided herself. So much for thinking about him later.
"Hello, Ladybug," he greeted with a polite nod, stiffer and more formal than the smile he usually beamed at her.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
He pointed to the door to the bathroom. "Waiting for Marinette," he explained. "She's been gone an awfully long time and the judging is about to begin for the fashion contest."
Her eyes followed his hand motion. "I'll go see if she's okay," she said, attempting to sidestep him.
"Don't bother," Adrien said, folding his arms across his chest. "I've already asked several people. She's not in there."
"Well, maybe they didn't know what she looked like," Ladybug said.
"There's no one even in there right now," he replied.
"So then why are you waiting out here?" she asked. "You must have missed her. Or she could be using a different bathroom."
Adrien scowled at her – a perfect mirror of his father. "This is the nearest bathroom to the judging hall. The next closest one is across the building, easily a ten minute trip. It makes no sense for her to have gone all the way over there."
She didn't know what to say to that. Maybe suggest this one had been closed for cleaning? She opened her mouth to state that when he continued talking.
"Do you remember signing an autograph for Marinette at the last convention?" he asked instead of remaining on the topic of bathrooms.
She pushed down a sigh that threatened to escape. "Yes, of course," she answered.
He cocked one eyebrow at her, and Ladybug swore if he adopted anymore mannerisms from his father, she would track down a red-and-cream striped ascot and strangle him with it. "You do?"
With hands planted firmly on her hips and an annoyed scowl upon her own lips, she glared at him. "Yes."
"Because I talked to Chat Noir," Adrien began, studying her expression very carefully as he spoke, "and he doesn't remember Marinette at all in that autograph line."
Ooh, she was going to strangle that mangy cat with his own belt the next time she saw him! Right after she got through with the handsome blond in front of her. "Chat Noir must not have a good memory, then," she said.
For some reason, that seemed to irritate him further. "You're so eager to maintain this lie that you would throw your partner under the bus like that?" he accused. The air between them vibrated with tension.
"Why is this so important to you?" she asked, striking at what she believed to be the heart of the matter.
His face flashed with uncertainty, guilt, and anguish. He averted his gaze, all at once meek and contrite. "Have you ever wanted something so badly that you think there's no possible way it could happen, but then something happens that makes you think 'maybe'? But then you're not 100% sure so you agonize over it for days and weeks and just when you think you've got a handle on it something else happens and throws everything off again?"
She gulped, uncertain as to what to say.
He sighed and scrubbed a hand through his hair, mussing it up. "I-"
They both heard someone approaching just then. Adrien's eyes narrowed. Without a word, he reached out and snatched her wrist with one hand. His other twisted open the knob to a door beside them. He stepped into the dark room, yanked Ladybug in with him, and shut the door all in a matter of seconds. She blinked for a moment, allowing her eyes to adjust to the darkness.
A soft blue glow illuminated the cramped space. Adrien held up his phone, the glow from the screen casting long shadows across his face. He looked like something out of a horror movie.
"What...?" She spun around. Tall broom handles stuck out from corners and multiple shelves packed with supplies rested an arms length away. She reached out and snagged one of the items. Toilet paper. A few buckets were stacked on top of each other on the floor. "Are we in a janitorial closet?" she asked. She set the roll back on the shelf.
He glanced around and nodded. "Appears so. Sorry," he apologized, sounding genuinely contrite. "I had to finish talking to you and I couldn't do it in front of strangers."
"You can talk to me, Adrien," she said. Though she still was extremely annoyed with the boy in front of her, he obviously had something important to say to cause him this much distress.
He turned and angled his phone against the rolls of paper on the shelf, deliberately positioning it so it would remain upright, and doing so with such precision that she could tell he was stalling. With a deep breath, he turned back to her. "It's eating me up," he continued at last. "Why did Marinette lie to me about her autograph? Why wouldn't she show it to me? Nothing adds up! Nothing makes sense!" His words rushed out in an angry puff of air. "And then," he looked up into her eyes, freezing her with the intensity in them, "and then, I had the craziest idea." His words came out in a near breathless tone now, low and hushed and a complete change from his passionate speech from earlier.
"What was that?" she answered, her voice equally as hushed and whispered.
"There was one other autograph given that day," he breathed out, and her blood froze to ice. "One other autograph that was signed by my father and given to you, Ladybug." He reached out and cupped her hands in his, never once taking his eyes from hers. "And once I realized that, it was as if a lightning bolt struck me. Suddenly, everything made sense. I couldn't believe my luck!"
She tried to retract her hand but he held tight.
"Please," he begged, squeezing her fingers. "Please let me finish."
She relented and relaxed her grip.
"It's why I set this whole thing up," he explained. "I got Father to sponsor a fashion show knowing that you – Marinette – wouldn't be able to resist entering. And I got you – Ladybug – to agree to co-judge with Father because I know that you idolize him. I had to prove my theory correct. I know what you said before, about secret identities must remain secret, but the pieces all fit so perfectly I can't just ignore it anymore."
Ladybug didn't say anything for a long moment. She just stared into Adrien's eyes, her fingers still encased in his own hands. Any other time her heart would be flipping at the realization she stood nose-to-nose with Adrien in a cramped dark closet while he held her hands, but this time her heart thumped for a different reason.
"Wha-" She paused, licked her lips, and tried again. "What did you mean when you said you got me to agree to judge with your father?"
With those words, he dropped her hand from his and stepped back as far as the tiny closet would allow. "Ah, that. That's the other reason I'm going insane right now," he said, the fire dimming from his eyes as he stepped out of the direct glow of the phone. "You see, I'm not just an ordinary boy with a crush on his super talented schoolmate, or a model with his own celebrity crush on an amazing superhero." With a crooked grin that was more self-deprecating than actually jovial, he held up his hand. His silver ring faced her. "I'm actually said superhero's stupid annoying partner. Plagg, claws out."
It was as if an invisible force sucker-punched her in the gut as the green light washed over Adrien, transforming him into Chat Noir. She stepped back on instinct, forgetting she was in a tiny closet.
She tripped over a bucket.
Arms flailing around like a windmill, she stumbled backward, knocking into the stack of broomsticks. They smashed to the ground in a cacophony of clatters. "No!" she cried out, attempting to grab some with her hands and feet before they all landed on the floor.
Chat Noir lunged forward to snatch a couple. An errant foot caught him square in his chest. With an "oof!" of surprise, he staggered into the shelf, launching rolls of toilet paper and paper towels high into the air. He ducked and covered his head on instinct as they thumped onto him and cascaded onto the ground. She shrieked and sprang forward, slipped on one, and slammed face first into Chat's chest.
The door opened.
Someone peeked in. "Ladybug? Chat Noir?" The voice of a confused sounding convention worker cut through the deafening silence in the aftermath. "Uhm, what's going on? Is there an akuma?"
Ladybug pushed herself off of Chat's chest, her face burning red with embarrassment (and with a peek at Chat, was just a tiny bit pleased to see his equally chagrined face). She didn't know what she would have done if he had a flirtatious smarmy grin instead. She brushed herself off with as much dignity as she could muster.
"Chat and I needed to coordinate something for the convention," she said. "This was the safest place to convene without interference from civilians." Ugh, that sounded weak even to her. And she was used to giving flimsy excuses.
Fortunately, being a superhero had its own advantages.
"Oh, of course," the man said, without any hint of sarcasm. "Sorry to have interrupted. You can go back to uh... whatever it is that you were doing."
"Superhero business," Chat clarified.
"Uhm, right." His gaze slid to the remains of the cleaning supplies scattered around them. "Superhero business." Now, the man looked a bit more disbelieving as they exited the closet. She refrained from looking behind her at the mess. She winced. How would this look if they were anyone else?
Scratch that. This didn't look good no matter who they were. Rumors would be flying by morning about whatever supposed romantic tryst occurred between them in that dark closet. And did it have to be a bathroom closet on top of it?
She marched away with her head held high. It didn't take long for Chat to catch up to her.
"Can we continue our talk?" he asked in a low voice. "I mean if you want to. I can understand if you don't," he said. "But uh, well I just wasn't expecting you to Cataclysm that closet."
She turned and leveled a stern glare at him. He shrunk back and she relaxed her gaze. "Yeah," she said in soft voice. "I'm trying to find another room."
"We could do the closet thing again," Chat suggested with a grin and a waggle of his eyebrows. He waved his phone at her. He must have grabbed it as they were exiting. She had completely forgotten about it. That wouldn't have been good if someone discovered Adrien Agreste's phone in a room that previously contained Ladybug and Chat Noir.
The look she sent him melted the smile off his face. His cat ears drooped with his expression.
She turned back around and pointed in the distance. "There's a room over there that's used as an extra prep room for the fashion contest," she said. "It should be empty by now since Mr. Agreste is supposed to start the judging soon. Everyone will probably be gathered in the room to watch his event."
They hurried over in silence, Chat not saying a word for once. The door was unlocked, and Ladybug peeked inside to clear it before giving the okay. Chat immediately dropped his transformation the moment she closed the door. His kwami flew out, silent as he stared at Ladybug for a long moment before something passed across his face. He nodded to her and zipped inside Adrien's shirt jacket without a word. Despite his silence, she still got the distinct impression the kwami had given her his approval. But approval for what?
"Yeah," Adrien said, quiet and dejected as she mulled over the tiny cat kwami's actions, "that's about the reaction I expected."
"Me tripping over a bucket?" Ladybug asked, folding her arms in offense. "I know I'm clumsy, but that's pretty rude."
Adrien looked up at her, startled. "What? No!" he exclaimed. He waved his hands at her. "This!" he said. "You hating me. I knew it was a bad idea, but it was tearing me up inside. I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't think."
At this, his kwami poked his head out of the shirt. "I can personally vouch for that last one," he said.
"Plagg!" Adrien growled, swiping at the black sprite.
The kwami ducked back into the shirt. But it had the intended effect. Ladybug giggled. Adrien froze at the sound. Slowly, he turned his head toward her.
"Adrien, I don't hate you," she said. "I understand now why you were so desperate to see my autograph. Honestly, if I had caught you in a lie like that, I would have been equally as curious. It just figures I pick the one person in all of Paris to lie to who ends up being the one person in all of Paris that can see through that lie."
He swallowed hard. "So... so you are Marinette?"
Smiling, she nodded and dropped her transformation with a few muttered words.
"Thank goodness," he murmured. He sagged with relief. "I was going insane."
She stepped forward and reached out with one hand. Tikki hovered nearby, observing in silence. Plagg drifted out from Adrien's shirt and floated over to Tikki's side. Both remained quiet – uncharacteristically so for Tikki – as they witnessed the two teens interact for the first time without any secrets barring the way.
Adrien stretched out his hand to meet hers in midair. Her breathing hitched as his fingers closed around hers. He stepped forward to close the gap between them.
"I always go insane around you," Marinette confessed, and a snort sounded from off to her side as Tikki clearly agreed.
A smile brighter than the sun blossomed upon his face, and Marinette would be content to live her whole life in darkness if his smile was the only sunshine she ever saw again. A sensation of completeness blanketed over her, wrapping her tight into comfort, security, and wholeness. This was her partner. This was her friend.
She stiffened. Right. Friend.
Adrien sensed her hesitation. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"I'm your friend," she said.
He nodded. "Yes, you are."
She drew away. "But only your friend."
He pulled her back. "Do you want something more?"
She furrowed her brows and blinked at him.
"I only ask because you seem so hesitant around me," Adrien asked. "I don't want to press you into something you're uncomfortable with."
Another snort from beside her, and she really had to refrain from glaring daggers at her kwami. Instead, she offered the boy in front of her the sweetest smile she could muster. It probably came out wobbly and unsure – just like her fears at his reaction. "I would love something more," she told him. Her hands tightened in his. She willed her palms to remain dry. "But, I don't really know right now."
"What?"
Marinette lifted her hands, their fingers still intertwined. "This," she said. "Us. It's all so new to me. You've obviously planned this out for so long." She looked around at the empty room. "Even set this whole thing up. But me? I got sprung with the news that my amazing partner is the same guy I've been crushing on since school began."
Adrien blinked really hard at that. "So, you don't want to...?" He trailed off with a gulp, leaving the question open-ended.
She squeezed his hands. "I just need a little more than sixty seconds to process this, okay?"
He nodded, looking as if the world collapsed around him. He averted his gaze from hers.
"Hey," she gently coaxed him to meet her eyes again. "That's not a 'no'."
She was rewarded with a tenuous smile – fragile, but full of hope.
They stood there smiling at each other for a long time before Plagg cleared his throat. "Not to interrupt, but I believe Ladybug has a prior engagement elsewhere," he said.
Marinette's eyes immediately widened. "Omigosh! The fashion show! Oh no, your father is probably so furious I've taken so long!" She pulled away from Adrien. "What am I going to tell him about why Marinette isn't there?"
Adrien set both hands upon her shoulders, and some of her worries died away under his touch. "Let me worry about my father," he assured her. "I do have this planned out." He winked. "Transform and head back to judge. I'll take care of everything else."
She could only nod in reply. "Okay," she said as she turned to her kwami, who beamed with pride, "Tikki, spots on!"
Gabriel sat at the table, working on his color schemes for his new lineup. With a sigh of contentment, he set his stylus aside, having just put the final touches on the last piece. He stretched, listening to the pops of his joints as he worked out the kinks from sitting too long.
"Ladybug has been gone an extremely long time," he mused aloud, checking the time on his tablet.
His kwami poked his head out from inside his jacket. "Maybe something happened," he suggested.
"Like what?" Gabriel countered with a grumble, running a hand through his hair in frustration and ruffling the strands in the process. "I haven't had any opportunity to release an akuma today."
"Maybe it's not an akuma then," Nooroo said.
Gabriel tapped on his lip as he mulled over his options. "Do you think you could go check things out?" he asked.
"What?"
"You know, peek out and see what's going on out there. I can't step foot outside without that annoying excuse for a guard stopping me. But you could slip right past him."
Nooroo flew out of the jacket entirely and floated in front of his face. The kwami glanced over at the door. "I don't think that's a good idea. What if someone sees me flying back in here? They'll know your secret then."
"Not if you fly high enough," Gabriel said. "No one will be looking upwards."
"I don't know," Nooroo fretted, "it still sounds pretty dangerous."
Any other time, Gabriel knew the kwami would be jumping at the chance for a few moments of freedom. He suspected the timid sprite to be toying with him. He could order Nooroo to investigate, but perhaps there was another way to willingly convince the kwami to cooperate.
"I'll buy you some gourmet popcorn," Gabriel offered.
Nooroo stilled in mid-air. He remained aloft, but no longer bobbed to and fro with the gentle wave-like manner in which he normally drifted. "What?" His large luminous eyes bored into Gabriel.
The designer sighed. "Kettle corn, perhaps? Maybe some of that caramel covered popcorn?"
Nooroo's eyes widened further – something Gabriel didn't think possible. He pressed his advantage.
"There are many different kinds of popcorn available," he continued, studying the kwami intensely for any hint of weakness. He hoped to settle upon the one item he could use as perfect leverage to bribe the kwami. "I've looked into it," he said. "There are so many different flavors like chocolate and even flavored salts to sprinkle on top."
Nooroo gulped. Gabriel knew he almost had him. "S-salts?"
Gabriel nodded. "Garlic, cinnamon, jalapeño, chili" he rattled off. "They even sell cheese-flavored popcorn. Wouldn't you like that?"
At this, the glazed look in his kwami's eyes vanished as Nooroo snorted. "That wouldn't last two days in your house," he declared.
He frowned at Nooroo's cryptic remark. "What do you mean by that?"
But before the kwami could answer, the door slammed open and Ladybug burst into the room. Nooroo instantly vanished back into his pocket as Ladybug bent over, planted her hands upon her knees and gulped in huge heaving lungfuls of air. Despite himself, a trickle of concern washed through him which he immediately and furiously stamped down. He raised one eyebrow.
"Are you okay?" he asked, outwardly displaying the proper levels of concern even as he waged his inner battle.
"Yeah," she gasped, standing up straight after a couple of more deep breaths. "I'm so sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Agreste. I heard rumors of an akuma and had to check it out. I met up with Chat Noir and it took us a while to make certain there was no danger."
Not that he didn't itch to release an akuma to dispel the boredom, but he had refrained from transforming in the tiny room. "Everything has been taken care of, I presume?" he said instead. "I didn't notice any magical purification."
She waved her hands in front of her face with a huge reassuring smile. "It ended up being a false alarm, so no cause for concern, thankfully," she said.
Of course there wasn't. Not that he could admit to exactly how he knew that. He rose from his seat. "Shall we begin the judging or do you need a moment to compose yourself?"
"Oh, I'm okay, Mr. Agreste," she answered with a warm smile. "Thank you for your consideration."
Ugh. Whatever helped to further his cover. He circled around the table as she stepped behind and assumed her seat. She blinked at him as he stood on the other side. She tilted her head in confusion. Ah, right.
"Apologies, Ladybug," he said. "But there's been a slight change in schedule due to the delays." A flush of embarrassment colored her cheeks at this. "We're running short on time to get this finished before the convention hall closes for the day, so instead of the contestants coming in here where we will judge them as originally planned, we'll be going to the different booths ourselves."
She jumped back up out of her seat. "Oh! Okay, then," she said. "I'm really terribly sorry about causing the delay."
With a wave of his hand, he brushed aside her concerns. "These things happen all the time in this industry," he explained, unperturbed by the schedule adjustments. "The key is to be able to adapt and overcome such limitations. That is crucial for a successful show. But I'm certain you must already know quite a lot about adapting and overcoming unexpected obstacles."
She giggled. "I suppose that is one thing I should thank Hawkmoth for," she confessed with a shy smile. "I've actually come to be able to adapt really well in my civilian life."
Fantastic. Not only did he have to suffer his nemesis defeating his akumas as her alter-ego, but now he was also responsible for his nemesis succeeding outside of her magical suit as well. The cordial smile threatened to slide from his lips, so he grit his teeth together to keep it plastered on for just a few seconds longer.
"Well then, it appears success follows wherever you tread." He motioned on ahead of him. "After you."
And with that, they entered into the foray of the convention hall, packed with hundreds (or so it felt like) hopefuls from young children to older university-aged students to grandmothers. But no matter who designed and created the clothes, every single one of them referenced Ladybug and Chat Noir. He held in a sigh. He wasn't expecting too much out of this event, but even a homage to Rena Rouge or Carapace would liven up the sea of reds and blacks with splashes of orange, yellow, and green. Chat's neon green did not count.
And though he knew it would never happen, he entertained the idea of stumbling across a Hawkmoth-themed entry. If that miraculous outfit entered into his awareness, it would take all of his self-restraint not to immediately declare them the winner.
Hawkmoth Wins!
He could just imagine the headline now, sensational and misleading. A prelude to when he finally did get those Miraculouses and Emilie walked beside him once again.
"-agree, Mr. Agreste?"
Ladybug's comment snapped him back to the present. He looked over to her, then back at the entry in front of him. A retro-chic Ladybug-style dress that, despite its irritating heroic inspiration, actually impressed him. But he didn't want to admit he hadn't been listening or risk repeating what Ladybug said.
"Wholeheartedly, Ladybug," he said. "I couldn't have said it better myself. And might I add that you have a stellar eye for these kinds of details."
Both hero and contestant beamed at him, so he must have said the right thing. Phew. He vowed to pay closer attention in the future.
As they wove their way through the different entries, Gabriel found himself looking forward to seeing what Marinette would offer. Each booth they passed only brought him closer to anticipation, and he struggled to keep his eagerness in check. So when they eventually arrived at her assigned station, he was surprised to find it empty – devoid of any outfit or designer. Adrien sat in a chair fiddling with his phone. He jumped up to his feet as they neared.
"Father! Ladybug!" he exclaimed. His cheeks darkening to a ruddy red as he stared at the superhero in front of him.
"Where's Marinette?" Gabriel asked, hoping to stave off any interaction that may arise between his son and archenemy. Adrien needed to be reminded of Marinette and not this annoyance beside him.
"Ah," Adrien turned his attention away from the hero and focused on his father, "she withdrew from the competition. She went to bring her outfit home. She was hoping to be back before you got here so she could tell you herself."
His jaw dropped open. "She withdrew?" he repeated, dumbfounded by the declaration. "Why?"
For some reason Adrien snuck another look at Ladybug before answering. "She didn't feel it was fair if she continued as a contestant, especially now that we're hopefully going to be dating."
His gasp of surprise drowned out the muffled squeak from Ladybug. "You're dating?" he exclaimed. He couldn't believe it. Was this for real? Did his son finally get over his blind infatuation for Ladybug and realize his love for that talented girl who was enamored with him? Mental high-five!
Eyes flitted back over to him, watching him with concern. "Is that okay, Father?"
"Yes!" he blurted out immediately, then coughed to cover his tracks. "I mean, that is perfectly acceptable to me. Marinette is a delightful young woman." He stamped down on every single urge to leap up into the air and jump around in excitement. Barely.
Adrien's face blossomed into a giant smile. "Thanks, Father!" His expression turned dreamy. "She certainly is amazing."
A noise beside him drew his attention. He had forgotten about Ladybug. He looked over to her, expecting to see a crestfallen mask of sadness, but instead saw blushing red cheeks and the tiniest of smiles upon her face. "Do you mean that?" she asked in a whisper.
His son stepped closer to her. "I do," he said in a low voice, his eyes capturing Ladybug with their intensity.
She squeaked and Gabriel hastened to place a hand of comfort upon her shoulder to guide her away. The last thing he needed was his son second-guessing his decision to date Marinette when faced with a blushing hero.
"We should be getting on with the competition," he said, sending a meaningful look at the remaining contestants in the room.
"Ah, of course, Mr. Agreste!" She smiled at Adrien one last time. "Good luck with your girlfriend," she said, before turning and heading away to the next booth. Gabriel spotted an enormous grin blossoming across his son's face as he left.
As they crossed over to the next area, Gabriel felt the need to say something to her. Despite her gracious acceptance of Adrien dating Marinette, he didn't want a jilted superhero to target either of them. Though she seemed happy for the couple, it might have been akin to her own mask to hide her true emotions.
"I'm sorry that Adrien didn't return your feelings," he said in a low voice, cognizant of the potential to be overheard. He didn't want any rabid fan backlash heaped upon Marinette for "stealing" Adrien away from a superhero.
She turned to him in surprise. "What?"
"I know you harbored some feelings for Adrien," he said.
"Wha- how?"
He couldn't help but chuckle at her astonishment. "You were fairly obvious about it when protecting me during the akuma Simon Says. That look of adoration was hard to mask."
She blushed bright red. "I was wondering how you knew I liked someone when you said something at that panel a few months back," she mumbled. Shaking her head, she stared up at him with a smile, then lowered her voice to a whisper so he had to lean in to catch her next words. "Actually, I've decided to give Chat Noir a chance," she admitted. "He's pretty amazing."
"That is delightful news," he declared with a warm, genuine smile. Of course he was smiling because the hero finally deflected her attention away from his son. That was all! It's not like he would ever be happy for his mortal enemy! Preposterous!
Said mortal enemy skipped on ahead of him over to the next outfit, and the two of them spent the remainder of the day in varying degrees of giddiness (he would later growl to Nooroo that he was not "giddy", but merely enthusiastic!) as they judged and critiqued every single entry remaining. And after all of the judging concluded and the winner announced, Ladybug turned to him as the afternoon's sunlight began to dim into evening.
"Thank you again so very much for allowing me this wonderful opportunity to judge with you, Mr. Agreste," she said. "I learned quite a lot just from that experience alone."
"You're welcome," he answered, "but it should be me thanking you for deeming my contest worthy enough to be selected for judging by you." A few more well-worded praises and gratefulness should reaffirm his cover story. If only he could reach out and grab those earrings. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "As I said before, my offer of a private critique still stands, should you change your mind."
She beamed at him and for a split second his brain froze, because why did that expression seem so familiar? Before he could connect the dots, she turned away. The connection fizzled and the moment passed, leaving nothing but a lingering imprint in his mind – like the aftereffect of a lightning bolt striking from the sky.
"I really should get going," she said. "I think Chat Noir was judging two or three contests today. Maybe I'll check in on him." She threw him a jaunty little salute as she turned away. "Thank you again, Mr. Agreste."
And with that, she vanished into the crowd.
As the contestants gathered their things around him and filed slowly out of the room, Gabriel silently slipped away, hoping to find Adrien (and maybe his new girlfriend). Perhaps some of Ladybug's luck spilled over onto him, because not minutes after he began his search, he spotted the two standing off in one corner together.
Holding hands.
He so desperately wanted to scream and jump and cheer to someone, but Nathalie was busy coordinating with the winner for their job shadow day. Which left the only other thing that never left his side.
"Nooroo!" he hissed. "They're together! At last!" He cracked open his jacket to give his kwami a peek.
The lavender head poked out. "So many ships are sailing today," he murmured in his own riddle-like manner of speaking, but Gabriel also noticed a giant smile as he turned to face him. "They look really happy."
"That they do, Nooroo," he agreed, and his heart constricted as his thoughts traveled to his wife. Nooroo returned back into his pocket, but he felt the sprite shift against him. The action comforted him in the smallest manner. He patted his jacket in acknowledgment. "Thank you, little Nooroo," he murmured. Squaring his shoulders and taking a deep breath, he approached the new couple.
"Adrien tells me you two have some good news?" he said when he got in range.
They both jumped apart at his arrival. "Mr. Agreste!" Marinette said. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you I was withdrawing from the contest," she said, wringing her hands together. "I thought that it might appear like it was giving me an unfair advantage."
"Because you're dating my son?"
She nodded, then cast a worried look over to Adrien. "Is that okay?" she asked.
"I am not averse to Adrien dating, especially when he has chosen someone like you, Miss Marinette." He refrained from pointing out that his standards pretty much consisted of anyone but Ladybug. Though, that wasn't 100% true, either. Marinette exceeded all of his expectations and he couldn't be happier for his son and his first fledgling relationship. He hoped they survived the test of time.
Her face relaxed as the tension melted, and he realized she had fretted and worried over his reaction. "I know Adrien was the one to tell you about my withdrawal," she continued, "and I apologize for not informing you myself. I waited around for a while but Adrien tells me you and Ladybug came by after I left. It was just my luck to have missed you both."
"It's okay, Miss Marinette. Ladybug said there was a possible akuma that she needed to check out, so that's why there was a delay." He thought upon what he had offered Ladybug. If the hero wouldn't accept his offer of a private critique, maybe he could offer the same to Marinette? She would appreciate the assessment to further her skills. "But if it's constructive criticism you're after, perhaps we can arrange a time in the future where I can judge your contest entry myself?"
Her eyes lit up. "Oh really? Do you mean it?" she gushed.
He nodded. "I don't believe Ladybug will be able to attend, but you'll have my critiques at least."
"That would be wonderful, Mr. Agreste!" Her whole body practically vibrated with excitement.
"I'll have Nathalie arrange something with you for the near future," he assured her. "In the meantime, I trust you and Adrien are okay spending the rest of the evening here?"
"If that's okay with you, Father," Adrien asked.
He nodded. "That is fine. Call your driver when you're ready to leave."
"I will," his son promised.
Gabriel looked around. "For now, these events have worn me out. I'm going to head back. Enjoy yourselves." Indeed, he was telling the truth, for a bone-weary exhaustion set in as he pivoted around and began the slow trek back through the convention hall at a languid pace. He didn't even have enough energy to summon an akuma. The only things on his mind were a nice hot drink and the comforting darkness of his room. As he meandered through the hallways, he passed by the father and son duo he had seen that morning. Had it only been a few hours ago?
The father laughed and clapped his son on the back. "Well at least you got to meet Chat Noir," he was saying to the younger boy. "I know you had your eye on meeting Ladybug, too, but there's always next convention."
"It's okay. You really wanted to see who won the 'co-anchor for a day' competition," the teen answered. He winked at his father. "I know you have a soft spot for Nadja Chamack's reports."
"Guilty as charged," his father admitted with another laugh, this one a bit more rueful. "Thanks for sacrificing your chance to meet your hero."
"It's not a sacrifice to spend time with you," the boy said with an eye-roll. "But if you're feeling especially guilty about it, maybe you can splurge and get me that Ladybug print I liked?"
"Next time."
"Deal!"
"Of course, that's depending upon your grades in school."
"Daaaaad, that's not the deal."
"I'm adding stipulations."
"Daaaaad!"
The two drifted away from Gabriel, still bickering over the finer details and bantering back and forth. The conversation flowed easily – jokes and familiarity flowing between easy enough. Gabriel wondered if he would ever have that level of ease with Adrien.
Maybe next time he could swallow his disdain for the heroes and spend the whole day just enjoying – thoroughly enjoying – the fair with his son. The thought brought a smile to his face as he anticipated his son's excited reactions to the events around him. With his mind ruminating on spending more time with Adrien and reflecting upon the growing bond between them, Gabriel discovered himself standing in his bedroom before he knew it.
It was too early for sleep, but maybe he could get a little more work done. He pulled up his tablet and began designing as fresh ideas flowed through him. For once, not on his villainous escapades, but rather a new theme for his fashion company: father and son bonding.
The End