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Sitting at his computer sifting through pictures, memorizing details, and smiling like an idiot was nothing new for Adrien Agreste. What was new was the subject of those pictures. Adrien clicked forward, clicked back, and sighed. “They’re all from the top down, you can barely see her face in most of them. I know Alya couldn’t help it but… argh!” He ran his hands through his hair frustratedly.
“What’s eating you kid? I thought you had a million pictures of your- “ The cheese wedge dropped from Plagg’s hands. “What’s this? That isn’t your Ladylove.” he swept down to pick up the discarded morsel.
Adrien blushed and clicked back to another picture. “I know Plagg.” He stared at the shot, you could only just catch her profile and barely make out the smile that had lit up that face as she chased the football with the other heroes. “I just can’t get that smile out of my head. She was so… happy. It makes me want to be happy too. You know I looked up the rules to football that night? I wanted to be able to run with her if it ever happened again.”
Plagg snorted as he took a bite from his cheese. “That’s a safe bet. Chloé being akumatized is like making cheese. It’s only a matter of time.” He swooped in closer and squinted at the picture himself. “So what, you’re done with Ladybug?”
“No!” Adrien hurriedly clicked over to a different folder, opening up a picture of his Lady, partially to reassure himself. “It’s- I-” Adrien leaned on his desk and mussed his hair again, trying to claw conflicting thoughts out of it. “I never even got to talk with her. Now I might never get the chance. She’s out there somewhere, but she won’t get to wear the mask again. I can’t just ask Ladybug, she’d never tell me someone’s secret identity. I don’t know what to do.”
Plagg cackled. “Looks like someone’s got a case of puppy love.” He finished off his snack. “You’ve been bugged for so long your heart needs a break.” Plagg hovered his way up to sit atop one of Adrien’s monitors. “So, what are you gonna do? Pine and sigh like you always do?”
Adrien clicked back, opening the shot of Miss Hound and another of her. He lined them up side by side on the other monitor. “No Plagg. You’re right that’s all I always did before, but not this time. Look.” Adrien hovered his mouse between the two pictures. “When she stops. Look at how sad she is. How can this-” Adrien circled one picture. “-and this.” he swept to the other. “Be the same person? I need to know. I need to do something. She shouldn’t be sad.”
“Okay kid, so, what are you gonna do?” Plagg’s question had a leading lilt to it. Adrien knew he was being baited and silently thanked his Kwami for it. It could be so hard to translate his wants into actions.
“Well. I can only find her as herself now, but all I know is she uses the Dog.” Adrien tapped his fingers on his mouse, clicking absently. “How to find a dog…”
Adrien went quiet for so long Plagg had started to nod off atop the monitor. The poor cat Kwami pitched over backwards when Adrien finally shouted. “I’ve got it!”
The cat Kwami got himself tangled in cabling and Adrien hurriedly reached back to help extract his friend,”Sorry Plagg.”
Plagg fused but Adrien plied him with more food in apology and the kwami settled for a grumpy. “So what’s your master plan then?”
“A contest. I’ll email the mayor first so he can be on board and help put pressure on father. We’ll look for a ‘Miss Paris Poodle.’ to do some national spirit photos with Adrien Agreste. Cute, upbeat, and good for PR. Father might not like it, but it’ll be hard for him to say no. Then we just have to hope she shows up. I’ll know when I see her again, I’m sure of it.” Adrien touched the monitor with his fingers this time, both pictures side by side. “There’s no way to mistake someone who can carry that much joy and sadness at the same time.”
Plagg turned to the monitor too. His voice held a twinge of concern. “Trying to manipulate your father? That’s a bit of a risk isn’t it?”
“If I’ve learned anything recently Plagg, it’s that sometimes risks are worth taking.”
—-----------------------
Adrien let himself fall back against the steel door as it closed behind him. His eyes burned and he felt more fatigued than after being hit by his own cataclysm. Who’s stupid idea had this been anyway? Oh, right.
In his defense Adrien hadn’t expected quite all of Paris to show up. He thought maybe the silliness of the idea would keep some at bay. He was apparently wrong. Anyone of the appropriate age who was able to had made their way down. Adrien had lost count after the twentieth thirty-something had to be ushered off the stage for clearly failing to read the entry forms.
There were high points. Chloe had made him laugh when she showed up. He wasn’t sure she had intended it but she personified the poodle so exquisitely when she tore into an errant stage hand he couldn’t help it. The little poms bouncing over her ears with every wobble of her head and the swish of her ‘tail’ as she shifted her weight temperamentally from one hip to the other was absolutely perfect. Perfect for a poodle, not for who Adrien was looking for.
Marinette had been flat out adorable in her little doggie onesie. Even if she had been a lab not a poodle and had flailed her way both on and off stage before he knew what was really happening. I really do need to find a way to just get her alone again sometime. The movie was fun.
Lila had been a bit much. He wasn’t sure where she had gotten someone to tailor her costume like that but… that definitely wouldn’t be allowable in any shoots. Marinette had come to his rescue by bodily tackling Lila before she managed to sit in Adrien’s lap. The ensuing fight had ended tryouts for the day and now here he was, trying to catch his breath and wondering if the whole thing wasn’t a terrible mistake. He’d have to go through with it no matter what in the end. Maybe he could dump it all on Mr. Roth. Gritting my teeth through a few pictures with strangers wouldn’t be anything new for me.
*Thok* *thp pop* The sound of scrambling followed the strange noises and Adrien jolted up from his internal thoughts. Back here by the dumpsters, screened off by high cinderblock walls, he thought he’d be alone.
*Thok* *thp thop pik* Scrambling again. Adrien craned around, stepping away from the door towards the hidden loading dock. Peeking around the corner, the black cat’s luck changed. She wasn’t in much of a costume. Just normal clothes with an orange beret and Dog ears sewn on amateurishly. As Adrien watched she threw an orange ball into one of the corners of the loading dock. *thok* it bounced off one wall and ping ponged the other and the ceiling *thp pop* the girl ran after it, caught it, and walked back to her starting spot.
Adrien ducked out of sight when she did. He caught a glimpse of her face and, no, but also yes. She took aim and threw again, this time bouncing the ball off an errant shoe that had gotten itself up into the gutter somehow. The ball bounced back to her and she barely had to move to catch it.
Adrien asked,”Fetch?”
Without turning she mumbled a response. Rolling the ball in her hands, “Oh no. I can’t do that anymore.” Then she froze.
Adrien gave her a small smile when she turned, not wanting to scare her off. “Hi Sabrina.”
He still got an ‘Eep!’ in reply and a real effort in trying to hide her whole self behind the ball in her hands. Her puppy ears flopped in perfect sympathy when she ducked down. She peeked over the curve of the ball as if it were a fence. “Um, hi?”
“Are you here for the tryouts?” Adrien stepped out from around the corner. Casual and calm up front, everything behind his eyes was burning itself up making the connections. Loyalty, who else?
“Oh, uh, no.” she rubbed her fingers across the ball in her hands and shuffled her feet. “I couldn’t possibly do that. I mean, standing up in front of all those people.” She lifted her eyes at the end as if asking approval for her own words.
Adrien stepped closer, every bit of this was pulling at the cat in him. “Well, that’s a shame,” he commented. “Because your beret is just so dog gone cute.” Adrien reached up to ruffle her ‘ears’ to punctuate his statement.
Sabrina flinched at the touch but only for a moment, lifting her head back into place which Adrien rewarded with one more ruffle. She reached up to tug on the front of her beret. “You um, really think so?”
“I know so. It suits you Sabrina.” Adrien leaned in. “Though, maybe something with a few more ruff les might be more your style?”
That earned him a small giggle and it felt like drawing gold from the air. Sabrina dug one toe at the concrete, clasping her hands behind herself. “I should probab-”
“What do we call this new breed?” Adrien interrupted. He knew exactly what she had been going to say, but he wanted at least one more crack at that smile. He reached up to flick one floppy ear again. “It’s not a Shiba-Inu. Sabri-Inu?”
Her gulp was audible. Sabrina squirmed in place before replying. “I- I- um guess? If… you wanted to call me that.”
Don’t hesitate. “Sabrina, do I make you nervous?”
The ball came around front again, held against her chest like a shield. “Yes?” she dropped her gaze to the side, barely peeking up through the sweep of her ginger hair as it fell across her face.
Adrien held out one hand, palm up in front of her ball. “Give me a chance to prove my bark is worse than my bite?”
She blinked at him through that orange veil, her fingers still brushing nervously over the ball before she surrendered it, placing it in his hands. Adrien grinned and stepped back. He took aim. He threw it into the corner like he’d seen her do. *thok* *pk* *thp* Before he could try to catch it though an orange streak beat him to it. Sabrina ran, jumped, missed, and caught it on the second bounce. She turned with a little smile on her face and underhand tossed it back to him again. Not what I planned but… It couldn’t be that simple could it? The spark in her eyes reminded him of the more than once he’d found himself gravitating to sunbeams. Why fight it?
Adrien threw again. He didn’t try for it, instead he watched her dive as it ricocheted at an odd angle. Again she tossed it back. Another throw, another chase. By the eighth toss there it was; that smile of pure joy.
Once she went down hard diving for it and he was halfway to her when she stood, ripped leggings and all and tossed him the ball back, bouncing on her toes as she waited with a now cheeky grin. Another time she caught it right off the second wall. Reaching back as she leapt to snag it one handed out of the air. She rocked on her feet after that one, and even strutted as she walked a few steps before tossing the ball back.
Adrien didn’t even question it. She tossed, he threw. She ran and he drank in her frantic chasing and the pure joy of movement. Finally flushed and out of breath she didn’t toss it back. Instead she walked it over holding it out in her hand.
Adrien reached out to take it but Sabrina gripped the ball tightly. “Rrrr. Rrr.rr.” she growled through her bright smile.
Adrien grinned back and let go. Sabrina immediately dropped the ball and it bounced and rolled at his feet. She wore the proudest possible look on her face. Adrien broke out into a full laugh, unable to help himself. Sabrina just stood there, arms behind her back and proud as can be while he struggled for breath.
He scooped up the ball while collecting himself, and it was his turn to roll it between his hands. “So, I’m not as scary now?” Adrien tossed the ball back and forth between his hands, then on a whim tossed it up and batted it once, lofting it then catching it.
Sabrina shook her head vigorously, an act that caused the ends of her bob to flick her in the face. “You’re grr eat. I can see why Chloé likes you.” Still flush faced, her words spilled out clearly and without hesitation.
Adrien tossed the ball from hand to hand again. “And do you?” He had plastered a Noirish smile on his face, but behind it he felt a sudden thrill. There was something intense and terrifying about such a bold question without the mask. Do I measure up?
Another ‘eep!’ and her flush took on a different hue. Sabrina fretted, tugging on the hem of her sweater vest. “I um- think ah- someone would have to be barking mad not to like you.” She finished giving him one more of those questioning glances.
Adrien’s smile melted from noirish to his own, from worn to genuine. The earnest desire to please made him want to justify its existence tenfold. The slow blink he gave her in response replaced what words weren’t quite able to articulate now. In the midst of it he missed a toss and the ball pitched past his hand out into the loading dock again.
They shared a look then both dashed madly after it. Sabrina dove and it bounced away from her fingertips. Adrien pounced on it but too far. Sabrina was scrambling for it, he batted it away with a hand curled into a paw. Across the concrete they fought for the ball, rolling and battling, pawing and tugging at each other for the prize.
Sabrina got both hands on the ball and rolled onto her back, holding it up like a grail,”Mine!”
Adrien crawled over to her and flopped without thinking, sprawling halfway across her chest on his back and still pawing up at it halfheartedly. “I let you win.”
She brought the ball down and booped his nose with it. “Sure you did.”
The act broke them out of their moment. Both looked at each other, both realized where they were. A thousand little voices all sounding like his father whispered everything that was wrong with this scenario. Then one loud one that sounded like Plagg ran over all of them. ‘Yeah, but are you having fun kid?’
Sabrina looked paralyzed, waiting on his cue. The fact that she was borderline pinned under him might have something to do with that, but she wasn’t exactly fighting to get free either. Adrien let Plagg cataclysm the other voices in his head and rolled. He flopped over, moving most of his weight off Sabrina but folding his hands atop her chest and resting his chin on them. “Well Purr ty lady, do you think maybe we could continue our game someplace less scrape-y?”
The smile crept back, a little more resilient than before and Adrien relished watching it bloom. She tipped her head at the last second though, the smile faltering. “I really should go, I’ve got my homework to do and Chloé’s too.”
Adrien pushed himself up. “I’ve probably got a dozen things I should be doing. I’ll end up doing them all when they finally catch up with me, but until then I know what I want to do.” He reached down to offer his hand to her. “What will you do?”
Trepidation in those lovely aqua eyes. The look of a dog who’d had the rod more than the pet. Slowly Sabrina reached up. She placed her ball into his hand, then wrapped both of her hands around his forearm and pulled herself up. She didn’t let go immediately. Her face twisted itself up into a look of immense effort and concentration. “I- Will- come with you?” Her hands squeezed to punctuate her words.
Adrien passed the ball back to her and slid his arm in her grip to take her other hand. “Then let’s get going before they cat -ch up to us.”
On cue a familiar voice called from the service door Adrien had escaped through himself. “There you are Adrien. What has happened to you? Your father will not be pleased.”
Adrien turned, feeling the energy drain out of him immediately. The score of nicks and scrapes their ill advised tumble on the loading dock had netted him finally yelped for attention. Nathalie’s gaze was a mixture of mild concern with overwhelming exasperation. Most of all it felt like disappointment, something Adrien knew all too well.
He wet his lips to come up with a response. Before he could he was yanked along. He stumbled after Sabrina as she pulled him into a run. Nathalie’s face contorted. “The car is wai-” *thok* the orange ball hit the wall beside her head, bouncing off into oblivion but stunning his father’s assistant for the space of a few pounding strides. The sound jolted him into action and he powered into the run. In a few strides it was him pulling Sabrina along. They made the edge of the bay, turned the corner and kept on running.
Adrien had no idea where they were running to, but they ran. Sabrina tugged his hand and he turned. His breath came in gasps but he relished the pain. They ran down Paris streets, every moment Adrien expected the sound of his father’s car roaring up on them but it never came.
Sabrina let his hand go on a street of row houses. She was every bit as winded as he was but still she trotted up the stairs to one of the doors, pulling out her keys. Her Beret was madly skewed, and it looked absolutely perfect on her. She waved him up as she unlocked the door. “C’mon c’mon, quick!”
Adrien trotted up after her. “They’ll think to come looking here.” he protested.
Sabrina lifted her chin in temporary allusion to her longtime friend. “Dogs can be cunning too, you know.” She shooed him inside.
Past worn but solid furnishings, up a narrow flight of stairs, into a room bedecked with models, manga, and posters. Sabrina didn’t stop and Adrien only had the briefest of looks as she pulled the chair from her desk into position and took up a stick. She knocked the trapdoor in her ceiling open and poked a small rope ladder so it fell.
Adrien’s eyes went wide and Sabrina’s matched his when she looked down. She put a finger to her lips and scrambled up. Adrien followed her into a dim upper world. The attic was dark, but soon lit by a small battery operated lamp. She had blankets in a nest and a further stack of manga alongside some wrapped snacks.
Sabrina dove in front of the manga, slapped her beret over the picture on the top cover, and shoved it off to the side as Adrien climbed up. “Dad doesn’t know about this place.” she explained. Adrien pulled up the ladder and let the door fall back into place. He settled and finally they had a moment to breathe.
Sabrina sat cross legged with her hands stuffed down under her legs. Adrien scooted himself around, trying not to make too much noise. Every small thump was a nerve wracking and yet electric sensation. For a moment only the sound of their mutual breathing filled the small space.
Sabrina broke the silence with a whispered, “What do we do now?”
A simple question, and yet here in this moment laden beyond anything Adrien had ever experienced. In this halo of light it was only the two of them. He wasn’t Adrien Agreste the model. He wasn’t Cat Noir. He was just a teen. She wasn’t Sabrina Chloe’s minion, she wasn’t Miss Hound. She was laid as bare as he. In that emptiness ideas blossomed across Adrien’s mind. Things Adrien Agreste wouldn’t dare, things Cat Noir was denied. The single light reflecting off Sabrina’s glasses couldn’t hide the dilation that hinted his wasn’t the only mind wandering to new and impossible places.
It was an intoxicating notion. The ideas themselves shot through his nerves in a way nothing else had in memory. Yet, this connection so newly formed could be fragile and so easily twisted and strained by pushing it too hard. What do we do now? Adrien had his answer.
He fell forward while turning, flopping his head and shoulders into her lap and grinning up at her. “Well, this for starters.”
Surprise, followed by a visible relief tinged with a tentative disappointment. This last didn't sting because it echoed the same feeling in his own belly at his choice. Sabrina reached down and poked his ear. “What are you, a lap cat?”
“Well, if you’re going to make such an inviting lap you can’t expect to have me pass up fe-lying in it.” Adrien folded his hands on his chest, crossed his legs at the ankle and made himself completely comfortable.
Sabrina’s response lacked her normal hesitation. That same hand brushed through his hair softly. “I thought dogs were supposed to be the ones chasing cats.”
Adrien let his eyes close under the attention. “I’m a purr -gressive cat.” he countered.
There was no immediate answer, just the continued touch of her fingers against his hair. It was bliss. How long had it been? Ever? A touch like this. It wasn’t a mother’s touch, so full of proprietary care. It was one person to another, complete and without expectation. Something inside Adrien ached so badly he feared tears. Instead he opened his eyes and reached up. His touch found her cheek and the curled ends of her bob. He hoped what she saw in his eyes was half as pure as what he saw in hers.
Her head tilted towards his touch again, ever so slightly. Adrien blinked as something wet caught his forehead. The dim light made it hard to see. He pressed his hand to her cheek, fingertips just bumping her glasses and his hand came away wet. He scooted up a little further in her lap and spoke softly. “So, tell me about Sabrina.”
Haltingly at first and with little hitches he could feel as much as hear she began to speak. Adrien didn’t draw attention to it. Her fingers never stilled as she talked, brushing through his hair in a slow and constant motion. Adrien brought his hand down and found her other one, He took it in both of his, resting it on his chest and just holding it.
She got to manga, a subject dear to his own heart and Adrien found pathways to talk as well as listen. They traded favorite series and to his absolute joy her face lit up again. He caught her look when he reflexively squeezed her hand at the first smile. He hoped the shadows hid the color on his cheeks.
Sabrina was easing herself in her position after a while so Adrien sat up. Her fingers trailed after him, only breaking contact at the last. “C’mon.” he murmured, turning and patting his lap. “My turn.” Sabrina shuffled around and tentatively laid her head down. She squirmed slightly, from this angle her glasses made her eyes look big, but in the moment it was endearing. Adrien carefully extracted the headband from her hair and began to run his fingers through it, trying to do half as good a job as she had in soothing him.
There was a renewed silence as his fingers worked, and her eyes stayed fixed on him. Adrien had begun to worry he was doing it wrong when Sabrina reached up a hand and murmured plaintively, “You’re so far away…”
“I-” He raised his hands, trying to figure out a solution, but she already had one.
Sabrina scooted herself up, instead of laying in his lap she sat across him, tucked up under his chin. The fingers of one hand splayed against his chest and his arms encircled her waist. “Is this okay?” her voice was soft, but had lost the tremulous edge.
Adrien let his head rest against hers and closed his eyes again. She smelled of a floral shampoo, vanilla, and a mix of their antics by the loading dock. Their conversation resumed. She asked about fencing, about his other hobbies, never once about modeling. His hands fell to rest on her hip as they talked, and he found himself toying with one of her belt loops to no purpose. Her fingers against his chest smoothed and touched in similarly aimless ways that gave so much while asking nothing in return.
A sharp sound from below. Adrien jumped hard enough to bang his head on a rafter. He held it while writhing silently. Someone was in the house. They pressed themselves flat to the plywood. They pulled Sabrina’s blankets over their heads. They held breath and hands as the sounds got louder. Someone was looking for them. Roger was here, Nathalie too. They heard people moving right below them. Adrien switched hands to put an arm across Sabrina’s shoulders as they lay together. Through a small crack just under the blanket’s hem they watched the trapdoor in mutual terrified silence. They watched and waited.
The sounds receded in frustration. The moment passed. Adrien squeezed Sabrina but whether to reassure her or himself he wasn’t sure. Their breathing was loud now that they let themselves, soft gasping breaths under their scant protection.
Adrien dropped his head in relief and when he lifted it again something tickled his temple. It was deep twilight in the darkened confines of their blanket cave even with their portable light close at hand. Adrien reached up and found the offending article. Cloth? Silk? A bit of the blanket? He tugged and it came loose far too easily. A gasp alerted him and his brain caught on. He turned his head to just make out the ends of Sabrina’s untied bow.
Apologies flared in his mind. But the unreality of this place kept him from voicing them. She didn’t pull back, he raised his eyes to find her watching him intently. He held her gaze as he leaned in ever so slowly; fully prepared for rebuke. He dipped his head and nuzzled in against the crook of her neck, touching forehead against the barest sliver of skin exposed by the loosening of her collar. Another gasp, a missed breath, but still no movement. He nuzzled up, no kiss but a brush of his lips against the same spot. A soft sound, almost a whimper but melting into a coo.
Sabrina’s arms encircled him and his shifted around her. They sunk back down together into the cuddle. He felt her lips brush his forehead, again no kiss, just a touch. Then a light clatter on the plywood. Her glasses he surmised, a last personal defense surrendered. A comfortable stillness settled once again.
How long they stayed like that he didn’t know. A small greedy part of him wanted the answer to be forever. Yet part they did, and escape their blankets into the light. Sabrina was left squinting around herself but didn’t take up her glasses. She offered him some of her snack stash but his stomach wouldn’t tolerate food right now, it was full up with something far more nourishing.
“I’m going to have to go.” he murmured, picking out a granola bar even though hunger of this sort wasn’t on his mind.
She shuffled the other items back into their places. “I know.” that tiny voice, sadness looming.
“I want to see you again.” Adrien turned the snack over in his hands. The words felt lame on his lips, failing entirely to encapsulate this new need.
“Can we?” she whispered, as if the thought was beyond comprehension.
Adrien tickled her under the chin with the corner of the vacuum sealed treat, “I’d like to see anyone stop a cat who’s got an idea on his head.” he grinned.
She responded with a smaller one of her own that still filled him up in wonderful ways. “This doggo will wait patiently by the door.”
Adrien replaced foil with fingertips. He drew her in and touched foreheads. “Don’t be afraid to do more than wait. You need only bark once, and I’ll be there.”
He felt the pressure as she leaned into him. He heard the fear as she spoke. “I don’t understand any of this.”
“I don’t either, does it matter?”
“No.”
“I’m glad.”
Reality nudged them and they broke apart. Sabrina had much to fix. She restored her glasses, her headband and then knotted her bow. A fascination froze him at this last action. The slippery feel of that fabric under his own fingers was still a fresh thought. That sliver of exposed skin was once more hidden by her collar. Adrien’s mouth was dry. He blinked and distracted himself by refolding the blanket. A shiver still worked its way along his limbs.
*click* The lamp light went out and Adrien was left blinking in the deepest of glooms. Dim hints of shadow visible by the scant sunlight finding its way through errant gaps in the woodwork and roofing around them. He heard her shuffle, her hand found his. She was close again, a shape in the gloom. Her voice trembled again, though to his ear perhaps from a different emotion. “Can- Can I?” Her breath was warm on his cheek.
The answer came readily. “Silly Sabrina.” He turned to line them up more properly. “The singular is can- us .”
The kiss was a moment without context. In the darkness nothing else existed beyond them, and even they were little more than a mix of sensations: Her hand gripping his in a sudden deathgrip, his heart creaking and twisting in his chest with the unfamiliar thrill of consummation instead of the poisonous sting of longing, the scuff of his jeans against the plywood, the susuration of her breathing through her nose amid the kiss. A surge of adrenaline and he gripped her arm with his free hand. Their teeth clicked as they inexpertly renewed the kiss. A precipice he would willingly leap from loomed.
Yet, too quickly. Too fast. Too hot. Do not burn this candle recklessly. He forced his hand open and drew back. It was the greatest joy that he couldn’t tell if she released his own hand first or not. They sank apart in the darkness.
“I guess…” Sabrina whispered in the darkness. “Us can?”
Adrien laughed. His overcharged emotions made it obnoxiously loud but he didn’t care. He lunged in the darkness and tackled her around the waist into a vicious cuddlesnug that she returned amid a fit of giggles. Adrien placed a more chaste kiss against her forehead while the aftershocks of the moment still sparked and danced along his limbs. “Us will.”
It was another delay, another excuse not to separate and they took it, resting until Adrien no longer dared. Then down the ladder, down to reality that was too bright and too full of people and demands. They said goodbye at her front door with no kiss but a holding of hands that lingered until he was down two steps and beyond arm’s reach. Adrien walked home alone and took his time. This light would be battered as soon as he walked up to his gates, and he wanted to wrap it in as much memory and protection as he could before he had to face the storm.
There was much in the world that belonged to Adrien Agreste the model or Cat Noir the hero. This was something that belonged only to him.