Chapter Text
"TURN OFF THE HOUSE'S INTERNET RIGHT NOW! I'malittlebusyrightnowbutwhateveryoudoTURNOFFTHEINTERNET!"
A soft thud. A click.
Nathalie probably understood less than half the words the girl uttered, but the gist was caught and the point was taken. Quick clicks, this time from the heel of her low shoes lacked an echo as she ran past the gate and towards the manor's power panel, urgent; another shut down the Wi-Fi, and one more activated the signal blockers installed for emergencies. One hand on the controls, and one tucking her phone away into her pocket as swiftly as if she were already hiding it from Adrien along with every secret she had ever kept from the boy, both motions felt foreign on her hands.
After all, it was the first time she had done it on her own accord. She just hoped Adrien wasn't far away enough for the signal blockers to fail her. There wasn't much she could do but wait. Wait until the heroes beat the akuma, wait until Adrien was free to walk back home without having a shapeless attempt at a clay heart thrown at him. Wait and hope he hadn't seen his phone yet. Wait for Adrien so he could wait, have a moment of blissful oblivion and then face a world he could be prepared for. The akuma safety protocol called for waiting for your loved ones at home, but waiting while knowing that any harm would be reversed by the Lucky Charm was still slow torture.
She didn't have to wait for much longer. The disstressed yet not despaired expression on Adrien's face was enough for her; she could breathe for a moment. A voice in her head insisted he didn't need to know, didn't need to hurt more than he already did.
"Are you alright?" she asked invitingly, rushing down the stairs. Adrien was by no means caught by a phone addiction like many of the parenting resources she had consulted made her fear, but she hoped to buy more time. Her concern was genuine; genuine didn't mean it couldn't have an extra intention. She had just witnessed through someone's zoomed in lens the pressure he had just been subjected to, and yet he appeared so collected... She was proud he was mature, just as proud as she was concerned, but what else was there to do other than pawning time?
"Uh, yes. It was just... weird."
The high definition had shown every crease that would have been a line had he been old enough for that, treated baby-soft skin making the scene even more tragic.
He stopped when he reached her, and leaned in for a hug.
No matter how much he had grown in the past few months, Nathalie couldn't get off her mind how small he had looked next to that living statue. Not frail, not defenseless: plain tiny.
"Are you sure? What-"
She froze on her tracks. Careless, beginner mistake. What you said didn't sound just weird to me. He was a smart boy, smart enough to wonder how could she know. Maybe she could have said she heard from the roof Chat Noir placed her on, but...
"Sure."
A smile. Not beaming, not radiant, certainly not carefree.
Assuring. Was it supposed to be for her, or for himself?
"Sure sure?"
Nathalie felt ridiculous asking again, but he had managed to carry so much that she didn't have a clue on other than his reluctance to the memorial already...
"Sure sure."
At least the smile now reached his tired-looking eyes.
"Let me make some tea for you to calm down then."
He followed her into the kitchen