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Alix was of the opinion that stupid rich people parties were only fun for stupid rich people. Sadly, those stupid rich people paid her dad’s wages and funded the Louvre, so Alix had to play nice and not smack them when they cooed and called her a cute little girl.
Bleh, it was like they thought she was five years old or something. If one more old lady tried to pinch her cheeks, she was going to barf. It was even worse when they asked if she had a boyfriend yet! As if Alix would ever want a stinking boyfriend – she was proudly not interested in anyone, thank you very much.
At least she didn't have to wear a dress.
At least there were some people she could tolerate at these parties. Chloé was usually there, which hadn’t always been a fun thing, but Adrien and Kagami sometimes showed up, if their parents felt like bringing them.
Alix scanned the room – Chloé was talking to Sabrina, Kagami was standing next to the refreshments table (likely texting Marinette and Luka) and…
… she couldn’t see Adrien.
That was pretty weird. M. Agreste, being the towering presence he was (what did they fucking feed that guy?), made Adrien conspicuous in turn, which meant it was pretty strange that they’d both just… disappeared. Getting a bad feeling, Alix downed the last of her punch in a single swig and went to look for Adrien.
“You need to think about how you make me look,” Alix heard M. Agreste say.
Following his voice, Alix stopped around a corner to eavesdrop. “I was only complimenting her!” Adrien protested. “Chloé’s dress looks nice. Should I have insulted her instead?”
“Don’t get smart with me!”
“Why are you so angry?” Adrien questioned, hackles beginning to raise at the high energy. He clearly didn’t know what had pissed M. Agreste off, and frankly, neither did Alix. “You’re the one who wanted me to be friends with Chloé in the first place! Why are you acting like I did something wrong?”
“Adrien, lower your voice.”
“You’ve raised yours, so I thought-”
- Agreste raised his hand, clearly planning to backhand Adrien.
Before she could stop herself, Alix pushed between them. When the fashion designer’s hand struck her cheek, Alix almost regretted it.
Almost.
Alix raised her hand to touch her cheek, which was probably bright-red. Tears almost gathered in her eyes, but she was too shocked to really cry. Boy, that stung… did Adrien deal with this a lot? Looking beside her, she saw the look on Adrien’s face.
Alix had the suspicion it had nothing to do with what M. Agreste almost did.
Oh, fuck that.
Alix grabbed Adrien’s hand, dragging him away from M. Agreste and back into the crowded dining room. Mom always told her to find a way to put a lot of people between her and someone if she was scared of them, which was sound advice. The guy couldn’t exactly do anything in front of so many strangers.
When Alim noticed the mark on Alix’s face, he abandoned his glass of wine and rushed over. “Alix? What happened?”
“Ask M. Agreste,” Alix answered sharply, holding Adrien’s hand tightly. “He can tell you.”
Alix wasn’t Hawkmoth, but she could see the rising rage on many attendees’ faces - though a fair few of them felt more manufactured for the sake of appearances. “He did this?” her dad asked, rage audibly simmering.
Flumping into his arms, Alix mumbled, “He was aiming for Adrien. I just got in his way.”
Her dad could be very protective of Alix. Usually, she found it embarrassing or smothering, but this time, it was both welcome and extremely reasonable. She really couldn’t fault him for it. Besides, she would hate for Ladybug to have to fight her old man.
“Adrien!” M. Agreste chose that moment to run in, the perfect picture of my son has been abducted. He probably thought Alix had dragged Adrien elsewhere - understandable, since he disliked going to these galas almost as much as she did - so the deer-in-the-headlights expression that overtook his face made total sense. “There you are, both of you,” he snarled. “What do you think you’re doing, Mlle. Kubdel? Dragging my son off out of nowhere… what if something happened to either of you?”
“Something clearly did,” Alim piped up, gesturing to the handprint. “And if I understand properly, you’re the reason behind it.”
“Children can be so dramatic,” M. Agreste reasoned, nose wrinkling. Clearly, he was trying to seem diplomatic. “She must have done that to herself, or perhaps failed to round a corner in those… heelies, I believe. I’m sure Mlle. Kubdel only wants to make herself look good in front of her… crush.”
Alix made a face. “Try again, dipshit. I don’t even like boys.”
Alim didn’t reprimand her for swearing. With the situation at hand, he only gave her a quick and honestly half-hearted look before facing Gabriel down. “Are you implying my daughter hit herself to make you look bad?” he said, voice level. “Is that honestly what you’re implying?”
“Of course not. I was not there to see her injury, after all.” Knowing how bad he looked already, Gabriel heel-turned to make his exit. “You may stay another hour and a half, Adrien. Your bodyguard will pick you up afterwards, or earlier, if you seek to return earlier.”
Alix thought better of yelling And don’t come back after him.
Before she could even ask Adrien if he was okay, Chloé ran over, her sequined dress bunched in her hands so her heels wouldn’t catch in the long skirt.
“Adrien!” She threw her arms around him. “What happened? Are you okay?”
Alix scowled. “Wow, and fuck me, I guess.”
Another half-threatened look from Alim. Maybe she should try harder to not swear…
“I’m alright, Chloé.” It was honestly impressive how genuine Adrien could make a fake smile look. “I just… you know how he can get.”
“Maman was right… Uncle Gabriel is a beastly man!” Chloé took Alix’s chin, turning it to look at the handprint on her face. “I’ll talk to Daddy about this. He can’t get away with hitting you!”
“He didn’t…”
“He was clearly trying to!” Chloé shot back, still holding Alix’s chin.
“... can you let go of my face, please?” Alix mumbled.
“Oops…” Chloé gave Alix’s cheek (the non-injured one) an awkward pat. “You should come home with me and Daddy.”
“I don’t want to cause trouble,” Adrien said. “What about Gorille? I don’t want to be the reason my dad gets upset with him…”
Chloé rolled her eyes. “You’re not troubling anyone. Tell M. Gorille he can come too, so long as he behaves. Happy now?”
After a brief, slightly awkward silence, Adrien nodded. “Please? I don’t want to go home.”
Before Adrien and Chloé left, later that evening, Adrien mumbled, “Thank you.”
Alix gave him a smile she hoped was reassuring. “Don’t sweat it-”
“And I’m sorry I got you in trouble…”
“Trouble with who? Your dad? I don’t give a crap about that.”
Adrien looked at her funny. “But your father…?”
“… Baba isn’t mad at me,” Alix explained. “He’s worried, probably, but not mad.”
“He was shouting.” Adrien fidgeted with his hair. “He looked mad.”
“Yeah, at your dad!” Alix scoffed. “Not at me.” She moved to pat him on his back, but decided against it. “Once Chloé can bear to be apart from you, you should come over for dinner with me, Jalil, and my dad. You’ll see. He’s a lot nicer than he seems.”
“I think…” Adrien blinked, like he was trying not to cry. “I think I’d like that. Thank you, Alix.”
“Yeah… anytime.”
As Alix watched Adrien leave the party, holding Chloé’s hand, she was struck by this strange feeling that she’d accomplished something important that night.