Chapter Text
Marinette collapsed across her bed, arm thrown over her eyes as she focused on the waves of defeat that threatened to drown her. This was it. This was how her life ended. She had failed in everything she had set out to do- “I think you’re being too hard on yourself, Marinette. It’s just an art block!”
"I am a river that's finally run dry, Tikki. A wellspring of ideas tapped. A barren crop field. I'm finished as a designer before my designer career ever began." She groaned quietly. She was never gonna make it in the world. She had reached her end. She was a young flower cut down in her prime.
“Oh honestly, Marinette. You just need to keep at it! Maybe find some inspiration!” Tikki tried to fruitlessly help, but it was truly no use.
Marinette sat herself up. "It's not that easy, Tikki! It's not like I can wait for inspiration to just come knocking-! " There was a knocking sound. Why was there a knocking sound? And why was it coming from her balcony?
Dragging herself out of her bed, Marinette headed over to her balcony, hesitating for a moment because what if it was some… evil monster thing? When she finally pushed the door open and poked herself up, it was… "Chat Noir? What are you doing here?"
“Ah, well, you know. Passing through, patrolling, defending Paris.” Ah… definitely Chat Noir with that attitude. “ But, the more important question here… Did you know it was going to rain tonight?”
"Rain?" It was going to rain that night? "Why do you ask? And why are you on my balcony?" Marinette almost couldn’t stop her desire to roll her eyes at the pout sent her way.
“So many questions! I just thought I would let you know about this before any damage was done.” With that, he was bringing out a sketchbook with a flourish- Hang on. That was her sketchbook.
Marinette was immediately scrambling up to grab it from him. "My sketchbook! How did you get this?!"
“It was on the table out here,” Chat explained, gesturing to the table in question. “I was passing through when I remembered the warnings about the rain tonight. I figured you might not want to let that get caught up in it.”
"Oh." She looked up at the sky. "Are you going to be alright getting home?" Marinette couldn’t imagine being caught in the rain in a leather suit was very fun.
Chat Noir seemed surprised before giving her a smile, “I’ll be fine, Princess. A little rain can’t hurt me, after all.”
"Are you sure?" She paused. "Wait. Why are you Chat Noir right now? Is there an akuma?"
"Ah, no, no, no, like I said. I'm just patrolling." Patrolling… How often did he go out 'patrolling' when nothing was there?
Marinette tilted her head, frowning at him. “Do you patrol a lot when there aren’t akumas?” Chat Noir seemed flustered, quickly waving his hands.
“No, no, no- Well, I mean- Gotta keep Paris safe from anything that might happen, right? This way I’ll be first on the scene!”
Watching him, she slowly nodded. “I guess. I just… never see Ladybug on patrols.” There wasn’t really a need when it became pretty clear when an akuma was out and about.
“Ah, well, I’m rather odd compared to Ladybug,” Chat Noir smiled weakly, scratching at the back of his head before pausing as they both heard the sound of his ring beeping. “I’m afraid that’s my cue to get going.”
“Oh. Alright.” Marinette looked back at the cloudy sky. “Get home safe. I don’t think Paris can do without you.”
Chat Noir laughed, shaking his head, “Paris would be just fine without me.” He smirked and then gave her a wink. “But I appreciate the thought, Princess.”
Ready to argue, Marinette watched him launch away, and she stood there, holding her sketchbook tight- " That's it! "
“What’s it?” Tikki zipped out from behind her, startled. “Is everything alright?”
“I know what my next design is gonna be!”
“Really? That’s great, Marinette!”
🐞
Adrien had been idly scribbling notes on their homework from the night before when he heard Alya say something he hadn’t expected, “Whoa- ho, why, Marinette. Since when do you work with leather, girl?”
“Hey Alya,” Marinette answered absently, as if she hadn’t even heard Alya. “Great to see you.” Adrien watched as realization seemed to hit, Marinette shaking her head. “Sorry. Too long in design mode. I got inspired last night.”
“And this inspiration led you to working with leather, huh?” Alya took a seat beside Marinette, giving a low whistle. “Alright, not bad, girl.”
"You think? I thought it was a little different for me. You know. In a less good way." Marinette looked back down at her design, and leather, huh? He wouldn’t have thought Marinette the type to work with leather. “No, no, I see what you’re going for here and it’s great! Seriously, what inspired this? You usually don’t go towards dark colors and leather and studs. ”
"I saw Chat Noir out on a patrol last night," she told her, Adrien perking up because she saw Chat Noir? Him? And started designing something?
Sliding out of his chair and moving to stand in front of the girls, Adrien tried not to laugh as Marinette slammed her sketchbook shut, “Morning, Alya. Morning, Marinette.”
Marinette grinned at him, brushing her hair back. "Heh. Hi, Adrien." Alright, but, she was amazing, so Adrien really couldn’t help but to give her a wider smile.
“Hi, Marinette.”
Alya sighed, shaking her head. "You two, I swear." Hm, well, that was a weird tone. He had more important things to question after, however.
“You mentioned Chat Noir, Marinette?” Adrien asked curiously, re-taking his seat now that he had the girls’ attention.
Marinette grinned. "Yeah, I mean, Alya was asking me about this silly design and I saw Chat Noir just leaping around on some patrol or something last night and I thought 'hey, that's a good idea for a design' and he got me my sketchbook so that was nice, it's funny, cause it was gonna rain, so I guess you could say it was miraculous-"
“ So ,” Alya interrupted, cutting Marinette off, which, alright, that was a little rude. Marinette’s rambling was cute. “How was your weekend, Adrien? Do anything fun?” Ah, wasn’t that a question.
“With father around? Not likely,” he chuckled, glancing again at Marinette. “Chat Noir inspired one of your designs?”
Marinette giggled, the sound as adorable as her grin, “Yeah.”
“That’s great,” Adrien paused for a moment, finally deciding to go for it and ask, “Would I be able to see it? Or are you still working on it?”
"Oh. Um…" Marinette looked back at her sketchbook, seeming torn. Pulling it closer, Marinette sighed before she opened it back up.
Adrien hesitated for a moment, speaking more softly, “You don’t have to show it to me if you don’t want to, you know. I won’t mind.” He knew how his father was about his designs sometimes.
"No no, no, it's fine, really," she told him with a bright smile. "You can look."
Adrien waited for a moment more before looking at the design, immediately beaming once he saw it, “Marinette! This is amazing!”
Marinette grinned at him. "You really think so?"
“Of course! I don’t see many studded leather pieces designed for more casual, everyday wear, so the fact you managed to work that in and have it fit so well is incredible!”
Marinette looked like she was almost blushing as she took her sketchbook back. "Gee, it's really not-" Marinette froze, the same look in her eyes as Adrien’s father when he got an idea for a piece he was working on. "I got it!" She grabbed at her pencil, getting back to it.
Adrien hid a laugh, wishing her a soft, “Good luck.” before he settled back in his seat. He couldn’t wait to see it when it was fully finished.
🐞
A rapid knock on his home office door, followed by a two-three-two pattern, let Gabriel know who was at the door even before he heard the familiar voice, “Any workaholics in there? Or should I be checking an office building?”
Gabriel sighed, “Go away. I don’t have time to give attention to needy brats who try to take me away from my work.” There was a long silence when Gabriel foolishly allowed himself to hope before the door opened.
“Ah, so you are here! Wonderful!” Between one moment and the next his brother was sitting in a chair in front of his desk, notepad and pencil out and braced in his lap. “And, you know, it’s rather funny that you mention work.”
Pausing in his sketches, Gabriel sighed. “Why couldn’t I have just rid myself of you in the womb?”
“Because then mother would have made you feel guilty over it,” Sebastian responded at once, upbeat and chipper and annoying. “So, Mr. Agreste, how is Agreste Designs dealing with the fact that their rival company of Beaumont Industries has gone dark, denying any interviews over the last two months.”
“We ourselves are putting into place a media shutout starting this moment, ” Gabriel snapped at him- Flare. Right. He was going to flare and cross-section the hem.
“Can I quote you on that?” Irritating little- No, no, no, he should move that higher- Ah, there. Much better already. “Gaaabe,” Sebastian whined.
Gabriel looked up at him, eyes narrowed. He just… He knew. He just needed a way to prove it. “What?”
Sebastian’s annoying little smirk faded, seriousness edging into his eyes as he asked a quiet, “You still have no lead on whoever took Nooroo and your Miraculous, do you?”
Damn this man. “I have… ideas and thoughts. Nothing entirely concrete,” he finally said, looking back at his computer. It had to be him. There was no other possibility and yet…
“I’m sorry. I know it’s killing you to not even know where Nooroo is right now.” And yet he was so damn sincere.
Gabriel gave a huff and a sigh, shaking his head. “I just-” Hearing a soft knock at the door, Gabriel looked up. “Adrien. Did you need something?”
Adrien pushed open the door, startled at seeing Sebastian before he was clearing his throat, “Ah, yes, I was wondering if maybe… Nino could drop by tomorrow? We have a school project to work on and it’s quieter here than at his house.”
Looking at his son, Gabriel finally sighed. “So long as I don’t find any electronics dismantled.” Gabriel saw Sebastian stifle a laugh, Adrien looking embarrassed as he quickly nodded.
“Yes, Father.” Adrien turned to leave, pausing with a quick, “It was good to see you, Uncle Sebastian.” He was gone a second later.
“Adrien’s befriended… some incredibly unique characters,” Gabriel finally settled on. At least that Nino character was the worst of the lot. The others he could handle well enough.
“Really?” Sebastian looked utterly delighted. “He’s making friends beyond that Bourgeois girl?”
“Yes,” Gabriel told him, getting back to his design. Where was he, again?
“ - said yes! I can’t believe it. Do you think he’d say yes if I asked if Marinette could come over next week?” Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The girl that had won his fashion contest on her own merit. And also just so happened to moonlight as Ladybug.
“Marinette?” Sebastian frowned, tapping his pencil against his notebook. “Why does that name seem familiar… was she one of your contest winners?”
“Yes, she was. The Derby hat contest,” he said as way of reminder. He stood, stepping closer to the door to listen in on Adrien’s conversation.
There was a bout of silence, and then Adrien was speaking up again, sounding further away. “I suppose… Do you think Marinette would want to come over, though? She still seems pretty nervous around me most days.”
“Gabe, are you eavesdropping on your son?”
“Oh, don’t take the moral high ground now of all times,” Gabriel snapped back at him, poking his head out the door.
“Yeah, she showed me the design she was working on today, though. It was leather! I really couldn’t believe it. And it had studs! She said Chat Noir inspired her,” Gabriel heard his son say with no small amount of smugness. Ugh. He needed to keep Adrien away from his brother.
Speaking of, he could hear the man snickering, “At least don’t stick your head out the door. Aren’t you supposed to be the ‘better’ one between us?”
“I do have a quote for you,” Gabriel finally said, leaning back into his office. “Agreste Designs is unwilling to give any information about the direction we’re going, but we always know to keep our eyes and ears open for unexpected inspiration.”
When he glanced back Sebastian was writing the words down quickly in his own convoluted shorthand. “Should I include the presumption that you’re going to snipe that girl before Beaumont sniffs her out?”
“And tip my hand toward them? You wouldn’t.”
“I’m tempted,” Sebastian grinned. “She does do good work, however.”
“If you include that, I’ll sue you for lost profit.”
Sebastian ‘gasped.’ “You would sue your own brother? ” Sebastian paused, theatrics falling for a frown. “Actually, no, you would, wouldn’t you?”
"Absolutely," Gabriel spit at him. He just… How could his own brother have stolen his Miraculous, yet act like everything is the same? It was as though the puzzle pieces didn't quite want to fit together.
“Alright, alright, I’ll keep her out of my articles.” He acted as if everything was normal and fine and like he hadn’t taken him. “Shall I leave you to your workaholic cave, then?”
"Do," he said, waving him off.
Sebastian rolled his eyes but stood to leave, passing him with a soft, “I’ll come visit again sometime next week.”
"Oh good, I'll be able to test the new security system." He was only half joking.
“Love you too,” Sebastian snorted, disappearing out the door once again with Gabriel no closer to any proof.