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"I got it! I got it!" Adrien skidded the last dozen feet on the smooth soles of his dress shoes.
His former bodyguard, dressed in a tuxedo every bit as neat and fitted as Adrien's, pulled back and gave him a confused look. Adrien offered him a reassuring smile and waved him off.
"You take care of the dinner, I've got the girl."
As his bodyguard-cum-butler retreated, Adrien gave himself a once over. His hair was braided back and tamed into a club-tail at his nape. His tuxedo was pristine, a Gabriel Original once again. He was about to open the door when Plagg's scratchy voice hissed from a nearby potted plant. "Kid! Kid! Didja forget something?"
Plagg floated up, and Adrien gasped. In his paws Plagg held a velvety box. He wiggled it in the air, dodging once before letting Adrien grab it.
"Thanks, Plagg. You're a lifesaver." Adrien reflexively checked in the box, before stuffing it in his pocket.
His kwami affected disinterest. " I just didn't want you interrupting us later, running back for it."
Adrien couldn"t help but tease. "Tag again, Plagg?"
His kwami's black cheeks still managed to tint red. "No! Well…maybe." He flailed his paws. "It's important kwami stuff, you wouldn't understand!"
Adrien just grinned while Plagg sank back into the plant. One more once over, this time touching his pocket too, and Adrien opened the door.
She was lovely. Years of bias counted for something, but Adrien wanted to believe he could have picked her out of a crowd as a total stranger. If not, he knew the failing was entirely his own.
Sabrina had braided her hair over both temples and swept the braids behind both ears. In the most rare of treats, her glasses were off. That perpetual barrier removed, her eyes stood out all the more. She startled as he opened the door and stuffed her gloved hands along with a flash of red behind herself, straightening up to her barely 150cm in height.
She gave him a bright smile though, and rocked her shoulders to match her smile of greeting. "Happy Valentine's day. You're looking dappurrrr today."
Dapper described Sabrina too. She was dressed just as Adrien was, in a full tuxedo. Hers was aqua and turquoise in place of traditional black. A choice Adrien's father had made himself, when he offered to dress Sabrina for the occasion.
Adrien stepped out, expecting to take Sabrina's hands, but she kept them firmly behind herself. Instead he touched a hand to her hip. "Happy Valentine's day, love." Then he leaned in to continue the game in a whisper, "You know, you'll never really be a ca-nine in my eyes Sabs, because you're always a ten to me."
She snorted a giggle, bringing her hands around to cover her mouth. *Poof* she smacked herself in the face with a small bouquet of roses.
"Owwww." Sabrina rubbed her cheek. "See, this is why I wear glasses."
Adrien reached up to cup the scratched spot, brushing his thumb over the marked but not broken skin. "I can kiss it and make it better?"
She recovered quickly and countered, "Later? And more than one kiss."
"A dozen, one for each of my roses."
Sabrina pulled the bouquet back from him. "Ah, ah, ah. These are not for you, grabby kitty. They're for someone else."
Adrien pouted playfully. "No flowers for your devoted boyfriend?"
Sabrina went up on her toes to nip his chin. "Says who? After dinner, we'll see."
A thrill ran along his limbs, rebounding into a warmth in his chest. Adrien hooked Sabrina's arm with his own and led her inside. "I'll be sure to eat quickly then…who are the flowers for?"
"You'll see."
As they crossed into the atrium Adrien caught sight of an orange streak slipping out of Sabrina's jacket pocket and making a beeline for the plant Plagg had staked out. He did a quick scan of the room, but the kwamis had gotten quite good at timing their adventures. They were alone.
The solitude did not last. As if on cue, the doors to his father's atelier opened just as they reached the dining room. His father emerged, hands clasped in the small of his back. "Adrien. Sabrina."
Adrien turned them off course to stop before Gabriel. "Yes Father?"
Beside him, Sabrina ducked her head. "Hello Mr. Agreste. Thank you for the clothes, sir."
Gabriel hesitated, a habitual pause that Adrien could not explain, but it had coincided with his father's slow thaw towards the world, so he did not question it. "I wanted to see my work on the recipient and- to wish you a happy day together."
The second part surprised Adrien. "Thank you Father. I- appreciate it."
Sabrina straightened up and stepped away from him, turning in place slowly. She had none of a model's grace, yet all of that bouncy energy Adrien loved. "Am I wearing it okay?"
Whatever his father saw, his answer gave nothing away. Instead his eyes fell to the bouquet. "Flowers, Adrien? Very traditional for you; yet a perennial display of refinement."
Adrien was still trying to untangle his father's not-compliment when Sabrina answered for him. "Actually, Mr. Agreste. I brought them. I was actually hoping you might be able to help me deliver them."
His father's look of confusion might as well have been Adrien's own. Gabriel questioned, "Deliver them?"
Sabrina nodded. "They're for Emilie. I thought she might like them from you best."
Adrien’s heart missed a beat. His father looked positively stricken. “Emilie-”
Sabrina nodded quickly, offering out the flowers and explaining, “Just because she’s not here, doesn’t mean you stop loving her, right? I just thought, if you were going to talk to her today, she might like these too?”
Sabrina started confident but seemed to realize she might have dipped into more than she expected. She glanced nervously toward the garden where Emilie’s memorial stood.
Seeking to forestall a meltdown, Adrien reached out to take the flowers from her, but his father moved faster than Adrien had ever seen him. He grabbed the bouquet, pulling it to his chest and turning his back to the pair. “Of- Of course- I was going to speak to my wife today. I- Thank you, Miss Raincomprix. I shall show them to her when I visit. I am sure… I am sure Emilie would have appreciated the gesture.”
Sabrina withdrew her hand and seemed to shrink, despite the thanks. Adrien stepped closer and slipped an arm around her waist. She leaned in just lightly and with that reassurance managed a reply, “You’re welcome, Mr. Agreste.”
Adrien added, “Happy Valentine’s day, Father. Say hi to Mom for me.”
Gabriel stepped back into his atelier without ever facing them again. After the doors shut behind him Sabrina sagged further against Adrien. "Did I do something bad?"
Adrien squeezed her, hard. "No Sabs, it's just-" Adrien knew his father must be feeling what he was right now, tenfold. His father didn't have anyone to help, because he didn't let anyone help. "We've never really grieved, properly, as a family. It's still fresh, every time."
"I'm sorry."
Adrien squeezed again. "Don't be. It was sweet, and I'm a little jealous I never thought of it." He slipped one hand up to brush the short hairs on Sabrina's neck under her bob. "Maybe this will be the time. Maybe this will be the talk where he finally says goodbye. We can hope."
Sabrina stayed snuggled in for a few more soft breaths, then slowly pulled away. She smoothed his lapels. "I wrinkled your dad's nice clothes."
Adrien helped sort Sabrina out in turn. "Oh we'll live. Besides, I don't know that the floor will be kind to them later anyway."
That brought color and a smile both to his pupper's face. Her fingers went from primping to petting, then circled around his waist to pull him closer. "We really should go eat quickly, then."
Adrien was about to agree when he remembered the box in his pocket. "Wait, one more thing."
He pulled out the box, but kept it hidden in his hand, inexplicably nervous. It wasn't that , after all. Though even that glancing mention had him wondering… what if it was that?
Adrien swallowed. He looked into a pair of eyes that shone with that gentle curiosity he had fallen so deeply in love with. His nervousness melted. By the time it was that , it would be just like everything else between them. It would be one more gentle step on a path together, not the giant leap others made it out to be.
Adrien opened his hand.
“It’s not- I just wanted to get you-” He opened the box, held it out, and hoped.
Sabrina peered in, confused at first, but comprehension dawned and with it joy bloomed. “Oh kitty, I love it!” She clapped her gloved hands, then reached tentatively for the box. She paused though and glanced up at him. “Would you put it on me?”
Yes. Adrien juggled the box in his haste. These things were always so complicated. He had to pull the base out, untie the twisties keeping it attached in back, and only then could he free the jewelry from the box. He held it up, the burnished rose gold shining copper in the light as it flexed and swung from his grasp.
Sabrina spun in place, tilting her head down and lifting her hair to bare her neck for him. Adrien reached past her to let more of the choker slip from his grip, a proper yellow gold tag slipped free. “Did you read the back?”
She grabbed at it, her motions all bursting energy and excited haste. She flipped the tag that read ‘Sabs’ over and scanned the back. Little tickled ‘Hees’ drifted up and she dropped her head down again, “Put it on, put it on, put it on!”
Adrien opened the clasp in the back and slipped the choker around her neck. Before clasping it back together he stopped and leaned down. He touched his lips to the very spot the clasp would lay. His reward was a shiver and whine, followed by an impatient shuffling of her feet.
Adrien closed the clasp in place, letting his fingers linger against her skin for an indulgent moment, then stepped back.
Sabrina spun back around with a single hop, completely at odds with her formal attire. One braid came free and she tucked it back while tilting her head towards the ceiling, tilting it this way and that. “How does it look?”
Adrien stepped in close, sliding his hand under the golden tag on the choker. His fingers brushed against Sabrina’s neck as he did, drawing another shiver. “I’d say it looks like it was made for you, but it was so that’s cheating.”
He flipped the tag over in his palm and read the inscription he’d dictated himself. ‘ If found, return to Adrien Agreste. ’
“So I’ll say, it looks like it was made for me.”
Her eyes came down from the ceiling to him and the smile that was there was one she rarely wore when others might see. It was a smile that made Adrien’s mouth go dry, then begin to water. It was one that made his fingertips twitch and his mind whisper ‘ Maybe dinner isn’t that important after all …’
She reached up and grabbed him by his lapels, pulling him down so fast he lost his balance and nearly tumbled into her.
Sabrina whispered against his jawline. “No matter what happens tonight, the collar stays on.”
Her lips found his. There was a crash from the door to the dining room. Neither of them cared, neither of them stopped. She held him down in the kiss. He pulled her up into it. They remained locked until they parted, gasping.
“Eat fast…”
“Skip Dessert…”
“No! Lots of dessert!”
“Not at the table though…”
“Definitely not.”