Chapter Text
There was never a set schedule on when inspiration would strike him. His muse was fickle, and often found the most inopportune moments to make itself known.
Adrien Agreste sighed as he picked the note off his apartment door. It was most likely yet another complaint about the noise which came from within. He had already been resigned to playing the keyboard using his headphones instead of his actual piano from the hours of midnight to five in the morning. While the music was there, it simply was not the same.
He had not the heart to open the note to see if his hours of music had been chopped down even further.
Instead, he entered his apartment and placed the note on the kitchen counter, not even a moment passing after that before a black blur shot out from his bedroom to greet him.
“Hey, Plagg,” he announced, a worn smile on his features. Despite the bad day he had already endured, his cat somehow managed to keep him cheerful. Yes, Plagg liked to mess with his furniture and he sometimes came home to an open fridge and his covers rumpled and the television on, but the cat was good company. Even if the black cat liked to cause mischief, Adrien never had to fear being alone. For some reason, instead of sleeping on the bed that the boy had bought for him, Plagg chose to spend every night nuzzled against Adrien’s chest, purring until his human had fallen asleep.
Adrien appreciated that.
Plagg opened his mouth and a pitiful whine escaped right on cue. Adrien chuckled as he turned to the cat’s dish bowl, which had been full that morning. As expected, it was now empty.
“You know you’re going to get fat one of these days,” Adrien scolded lightly. Plagg meowed indignantly. Adrien snorted a chuckle. “I guess that makes me your enabler…”
Plagg’s response was to rub against his owner’s leg until the bowl was filled appropriately once more. The cat then abandoned ship to sink his teeth into another generously provided meal.
What would he do with that cat?
Adrien chuckled to himself as he turned to inspect the rest of his apartment. While his father had insisted on paying for something nicer, something roomier, Adrien had planted his feet squarely upon getting this apartment in particular upon his eighteenth birthday, three years ago. It was the right size for one person and he had been able to leave a personal touch on every square inch. His modelling pictures never made it over the threshold, but far less formal pictures such as selfies among old friends and childhood family portraits were hung with care. Tacky stickers from general stores also made their way around the living space, but phrases and puns were placed in a way that they just seemed less so. Shelves were sparse, but they held treasured knick knacks and gifts from over the years. The most elegant possession in the entire apartment was his piano, and that was only because the piano had been his mother’s and his father had insisted that he take it with him. It was a request that Adrien was only too happy to oblige.
While the apartment was too small according to his father, it was cozy enough for Adrien. The fact that he could make such a space feel like a home always made him feel better.
Plagg made him feel less alone. His apartment made him feel as though he had an impact on the world around him. His mother’s piano made him feel more alive.
The sound of fluttering paper jarred him from his thoughts. Adrien turned to see that Plagg had temporarily found something more entertaining than his food.
The note he had found on the door.
“Plagg, don’t—!” Adrien reached for the note, aiming to gather it from the cat before any permanent damage was—
Rip!
Adrien felt the color drain out of his face and hoped desperately that this paper—whatever it was—was not official or in need of returning. While he had gotten the bigger portion, a little less than a quarter of it was still in Plagg’s paws, the cat thoroughly enjoying what scrap he had managed to hold on to.
Adrien sighed. He might as well read the note now and figure out if the remainder was worth salvaging. He opened the paper only to be surprised.
The stationary was pink with black dots swirling around the corners. The script was not typed in that official font he had come to dread, but in a swirling cursive that was somehow easy to read.
Hello!
I moved into the building yesterday and I couldn’t help but hear your beautiful piano playing. You’re very good!
If it’s not too much trouble, I was wondering if you could play The River Flows In You by Yiruma? It’s a beautiful song and I…
Anyways, if you read this no…
From your new nei…
P.S…
Adrien’s eyes widened as he read the note. He turned quickly to his cat, eager to gather the rest of the note, only to find that Plagg had already had the pleasure of tearing the remainder into tiny shreds.
“Plagg,” the boy moaned, looking at the shreds. But those were not just shreds to him, those shreds were the slaughtered chance of finding a new friend.
How was he going to find that person and thank them now? How was he going to be able to talk to them? How was he going to be able to tell them how much it meant to him to find someone who actually liked hearing him play?
Adrien sulked as he watched his cat play with the shreds. A new friend and it was his own bad luck that he had put off reading the note until it was half-destroyed.
Wonderful.
He looked at the intact portion of the note in his hand and flipped it over. The spots danced playfully on the paper and the writing was neat. The request was polite, and the words seemed sincere. The thought of it made him smile, but also piqued his curiosity. Why didn’t they come and ask directly? How would they know if he played their request? What else did they want to say?
Adrien glanced over to his piano. He had been hit by inspiration last night at about eight. He had been hit by nostalgia of happier times and that was what he had played until his midnight curfew. He had tried to continue on the keyboard, but it had been useless. The machine could not capture what he had been going for, despite how hard it tried.
A quick glance at the clock told him it was just upon the eight o’clock hour.
Should he play? And if he did, how would the other person hear?
Most importantly, what did he hope to accomplish if they did?
Marinette Dupain-Cheng paced in her room. There were several reasons for her to be stressed. Her new job began in the morning. Her belongings had not yet been unpacked. Her audition was coming up in a few days. She had just given her name and address to a complete stranger.
A complete stranger. By note! Because she had liked his music! She had no idea who even lived in that apartment! The neighbors had only said the ‘young man who stays up too late playing the piano’! She groaned as her bottom hit the floor and her knees crept up to meet her forehead.
To be completely fair, the music had been completely enchanting and had energized her to get over half of her unpacking done in one night. It had surprised her when the music had cut off suddenly at about 12:10 in the morning and her surprise had gone a step further when her exhaustion had caught up with her, leaving her passed out on the floor until seven o’clock in the morning.
She should have been productive today. She should have worked with her fabrics. She should have focused a bit on unpacking some more. She should have face timed with her parents for longer than thirty minutes. She should have practiced for her audition.
But noooo… she simply had to agonize over the music she had heard last night. She just had to contact the mysterious player. She just had to send him a note to ask him about helping with her audition.
Why, why, why did she not think this through!?
A nudge against her side brought her from her thoughts. She turned her attention to the beautiful ginger cat by her side, staring at her with patient and piercing blue eyes. Marinette exhaled against the bundling nerves in her stomach and smiled at her dear friend.
“Oh, Tikki, I’m so nervous,” she admitted. Saying it aloud helped. Slightly. “What if he thinks I’m a weirdo? What if he thinks I’m stalking him? Oh, Tikki, I don’t even know his name! I didn’t think this through at all…”
Before Marinette could hide behind her knees again, Tikki jumped with all the lithe grace a cat could possibly own and landed nimbly in the gap between her owner’s legs and abdomen. She then began a rumbling sound and pushed her head against Marinette’s neck, purring firmly.
Marinette figured that if Tikki could speak, she would be telling her owner the same thing as yesterday and the day before and the day before that: to not worry so much.
While the message was repetitive from time to time, the young woman could definitely say she appreciated it. She was twenty-one, but still needed her head screwed on right by her friends every once in a while.
Marinette rubbed the top of her companion’s head, grateful that she did not have to go through this living transition alone. Her parents had allowed her to stay with them until now, and she was grateful, but it was passed time for her to strike out on her own. She would always have their support, but being separated from them like this was strange and disorienting. Having Tikki around helped.
Having good music helped, too.
Wait.
Marinette’s eyes flew open, as open as the window above her. Arpeggios and warmups were floating through her window; the piano notes clear on such a light breeze. Her heart thundered in her chest, excitement and anticipation running through her veins.
He was playing, though only time would tell if he took her up on her request. As she reached for her case, she really hoped he would.
Adrien allowed himself to run through his warmups with an absent mind as he read over the music once more. It was in common time with a beat of about sixty-five beats per minute. A moderate pace, but once he saw the rest of the music he could see its appeal. Key of A, it was not too difficult to see which note went where.
But it was the fact that he was sight reading this for the first time and that he did not want to disappoint the mysterious person on the other side of the note.
He ran over the key of A again, just to ensure that he had it down. It was no surprise that he did. His teacher of twelve years had done their job very well.
He took a deep breath and looked out the window. He had opened it in order to be heard. In order for the mysterious person to hear him and know that their request had been seen.
He hoped that he could also convey how happy he was to receive it as well.
He looked down at his piano and began. The notes alternated and the tempo was slow, but the song flowed like its name suggested. Like water, like a river, like…
A flute?
His hands jerked on the piano, causing him to lose his place. The flute faltered and squeaked and died as well.
Was… was that the requester?
His heart thundered in his chest. They were listening. They were listening! And… and they wanted to join in…
Adrien scanned the music once more, hoping that another run through would solidify what he was quickly memorizing. After wiping his suddenly sweaty hands on his pants, he began again.
Fifteen seconds later, the flute picked up as well. It was a little shaky and he could pick up trace amounts of nervousness from how the instrument’s tone trembled, but it steadily became stronger.
Suddenly, flute and piano were on the same wavelength, matching pace and rhythm and notes with absolute fluidity. Adrien let the music and the sheet carry him all the way to the end of the song, the flute’s musical dance winding down just as his own.
Oh, how bittersweet.
When the song ended, he allowed his hands to still over the keys, a feeling blossoming in his chest. It was warm and encompassed him all the way down to his fingers and toes. Plagg jumped onto his lap and the movement snapped him from his shocked state. He gave his cat a dopey grin as he scratched behind the cat’s ear.
“Plagg, I have to find them…”
Until that point, until he did find the mysterious flute player, he would be content with this. A mysterious duet in the moonlight with someone who appreciated music just as much as he.
He would be content.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGdSQhX8XME <<<le music
http://cdn.pcwallart.com/images/black-cat-clipart-wallpaper-4.jpg <<<le Plagg
http://image.wikifoundry.com/image/1/Th9IPpXgAxX_0BbgT0e65Q145238/GW500H387 <<<le Tikki