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“Father, please?”
“For the last time, Adrien, we are not holding a Halloween party at the mansion. I have work to do that day, which is why Nathalie is taking you and Marinette to get your pumpkins today instead of next week.”
Adrien hung his head and went to leave. “I wish I had a cool dad,” he whispered. He didn’t intend for Gabriel to hear, but he did, and it stuck him in the chest like a little needle as he returned to his designing.
The door opened just as Adrien got to it.
“Sir?” Nathalie called. “Marinette’s mother can’t come with us to the pumpkin farm. Apparently the bakery just got a big order. So now I have an extra admissions ticket. I was hoping you would join us?”
Gabriel raised his eyebrows. “You know how much I have to get done today.”
She waved a hand, tapping away on her tablet. “I took the liberty of rescheduling your afternoon meetings to a later date. The rest of today is clear.”
Gabriel opened his mouth, then shut it. I wish I had a cool dad echoed in the corner of his head.
He shut off his drawing tablet. “Very well. Who’s driving?”
It was the Gorilla’s day off, so Gabriel ended up in the driver’s seat.
He didn’t mind. The crisp fall air coming through the windows was quite nice once they were outside the city limits. However, today it felt a little more arduous because all of the work he was missing sat in the back of his mind.
“That was your turn. You need to turn around,” Nathalie said, pointing at a signpost in the rearview mirror.
“I know where I’m going.”
“Sir, the directions clearly say--”
“I told you, I know where I’m going,” he restated sharply.
She pressed her lips together. “Fine.”
Adrien and Marinette suppressed a giggle from where they sat in the backseat, as the assistant’s tone of voice said she was rolling her eyes while the driver couldn’t see.
As it turned out, he did not know where he was going. Nathalie gave him an I-told-you-so look when he griped about probably missing the turn and needing to turn around. As they pulled up to the farm, his annoyance was in full bloom.
“I got us here eventually!” He said as they stepped out of the car. “I wish you’d stop doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Telling me I’m wrong. You always have to be right.”
Marinette and Adrien looked at each other again. It was funny at first, but two adults mired deep in romantic tension was not going to be a fun soundtrack to hunting for the perfect pumpkins.
“Hey, look, they have a corn maze!” Adrien called, in an attempt to divert.
Nathalie waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t bother. Your father would get lost in five seconds.”
Gabriel bristled. “Now, see here--”
“Trust me.”
That did it. Gabriel grit his teeth. “You and me. Or boys versus girls. Whatever. We’re going to see who can do that corn maze the fastest.”
She stopped walking and put her face up close to his. “And what do I get if I win?”
“Bragging rights.”
“Not good enough.”
“Bragging rights and one demand. Mine is that you never call me a bad navigator again.”
“Deal.”
Gabriel narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “What’s yours? So I have something to motivate me.”
She smirked in challenge. “I’ll tell you when I win,” she replied, and turned. “Marinette? Come with me,” She said, and the pigtailed teen hesitantly followed her. Adrien went to join his father, and the four of them stepped into the maze.
It immediately split into two equally-travelled pathways.
“We’re taking right. You two go left,” Nathalie ordered.
Gabriel looked at her again, but there was nothing in her face that belied anything other than random choice. “Fine,” he said, and stalked off, Adrien running after him to keep up with his father’s long strides.
Nathalie and Marinette jogged down the rows of corn. Marinette could see the woman thinking hard, and she was so focused on whether or not it would be awkward to ask Nathalie if she knew where to go that she nearly crashed into her when she came to a sudden stop.
“Here,” Nathalie said, gesturing to the wall of corn.
“I-I’m sorry, what?” Marinette replied. It wasn’t a path, but a tiny place in the thicket of plant that seemed marginally thinner.
“We’re going through,” Nathalie replied, and pushed away the stalks to wriggle in between them. Marinette’s eyes widened. She had many questions, but she followed.
A few similar maneuvers later and they popped out of the maze completely, dry corn silk and leaves dusting their hair and clothes. Nathalie set a brisk walk along the tall perimeter of the labyrinth, stepping carefully on the stubbly ground, and they were soon back where they started. Marinette gaped when she noticed the exit to the maze was just to the left of where they had entered.
“B-but Mlle. Sancoeur, isn’t this...cheating?”
Nathalie scoffed. “I prefer ‘alternative problem solving.’ How else do you think I get that man to do what I want, if not by using a few unconventional methods?”
Marinette shrugged. She’d have to take notes.
The corner of Nathalie’s mouth quirked up. “Now, let’s get all this corn silk off of us. We can’t look like we’ve done anything suspicious.”
Marinette giggled as Nathalie brushed some of the offending plant matter from her shoulders. Adrien was right. Perhaps Mlle. Sancoeur wasn’t as chilly as she was chalked up to be.
Meanwhile, Gabriel and Adrien were determinedly tromping through the twisting corridors, the walls so tall even the senior Agreste could not see over.
“Father, look!” They’ve got a little viewing platform you can climb.”
Gabriel followed his son’s arm. It would be an asset to their task, and to making sure Nathalie and Marinette weren’t going to win. “Let’s go, then.”
They climbed. At the top, he couldn’t help but peer over the rolling stripes of corn and lack-of-corn to look for the speck that would be his assistant’s dark hair. The red streak would be noticeable in the sun, wouldn’t it….? So why couldn’t he see her?
“Look!” Adrien was pointing. “I think we need to go that way.”
“Hm? Oh, all right,” Gabriel mused distractedly. “Good news, though. It seems Nathalie and Marinette are far behind us. I can’t see them anywhere.”
The two Agrestes burst from the exit of the corn maze, breathing hard. Gabriel grinned at his son and turned around in triumph, waiting for his assistant and her miniature to appear so he could claim his prize.
“Finally. It’s good to see you two.”
Gabriel whipped around to see Nathalie and Marinette a few meters away, sitting on a bale of hay with steaming takeaway cups of hot cocoa in their hands.
“What?! How did you--”
Nathalie raised her eyebrow at him from her prim perch and sipped her drink. “I’m the best navigator.”
Unfortunately, the evidence was against Gabriel’s favor. He sighed deeply. “Tell me your demand....”
“Oh, we’re going to have that Halloween party,” she replied, and winked at Adrien, whose jaw dropped in shock, though it was quickly replaced with a wide grin. Had she planned the whole thing? She must have. It was exactly something she would do. He would have to thank her later.
“Can I get some of that cocoa?” He asked, sweet as sugar.
“Of course,” Nathalie replied equally sweetly, and went to procure him another cup.
Adrien’s and Marinette's chatter on the ride home was the only balm to Gabriel’s bruised ego. At least his son was happy. And both of their pumpkins were appropriately aesthetically pleasing.
As much as he didn’t want to admit it, this outing had been just a tiny bit fun. When they were in the maze he hadn’t thought about work for a single moment.
Until Nathalie won, that was. His pride was damaged. He really did have to admit he was lost without her. He sighed, driving with one hand on the wheel and the other on the center console as the afternoon light waned.
A cool hand found its way to rest on top of his, and he glanced over at its owner.
“Thank you for letting Adrien have his party.”
His jaw dropped. “Is that what this was all about?”
“Perhaps,” Nathalie replied lightly, and turned to watch the countryside fly past out the window. But her hand stayed on top of his, and he drove the rest of the way home just like that, because he found he couldn’t bring himself to move it.