Chapter Text
Pencil glided over paper as graphite left smooth lines in its wake, the makings of a portrait becoming clear. The redheaded teen focused closely on his work, so much so he didn't notice the teacher's disproving gaze, or her drawl silencing.
"Monsieur Kurtzberg?" The teen didn't even look up as she called, continuing unaware of her predatory approach. She stopped right beside him, the whole class watching as she glared down at the unknowing teen.
"Monsieur Kurtzberg!" He jolted with wide panicked eyes as she boomed, looking up at her in a moment of terror. A series of titters broke out through the chemistry classroom.
"S-sorry Madam Mendeleiev."
"Again and I'll put that book through a shredder." As if by instinct his hands protectively caged the pocket sketchbook as he nodded silently. The class continued and the book was put away in his bag, Nathaniel resting his head on his arms with a sigh.
He sat at the back of the class, top right corner. Unseen and alone. Only Juleka and Rose bothered to make friends with him, he was an outcast to everyone else. Short, fire-orange hair, geek, introverted. He was the definition of a high-school reject.
With another dejected exhale the redhead hid his nose behind his arms, bright cerulean eyes staring ahead at the hydrocarbon structures drawn up on the board.
Adrien sighed and stifled a yawn two rows forward, stretching his stiff neck and looking around the room. He'd barely had any sleep the night before, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, restless and looking for trouble. Unfortunately, nothing but a drunken mugger had crossed his path.
The blond leaned back in his chair and hung his head upside-down, looking back past an empty table, which was usually occupied, straight into aqua irises. The bright cyan was contrasted by the orange locks framing them, one eye half hidden by his fringe. Random eye contact was always an awkward thing, so Adrien smiled nervously to break the ice. Nathaniel didn't respond, didn't even blink, and after another minute without any sign of recognition the blond realised the other was looking straight through him. He frowned and sat back up properly, feeling oddly stupid for thinking the teen had been looking at him.
The last bell went and everyone was up, desperate to leave as soon as possible. All but Adrien. He was content to sit a few more minutes and watch everyone leave, after all, it wasn't as if he had anything to look forward to after school. Only instrumental practice, modelling shoots, and fencing classes. School was the highlight of his day.
Shockingly red hair automatically attracted his eyes and he watched as Nathaniel scattered passed him, accidentally bumping the table on the way out. A cruel chuckle followed as the blond menace Chloé saw, and not wanting to be the victim of her merciless bullying the redhead darted out the classroom door, not seeing his sketchbook fall from his bag.
Adrien quickly got up, grabbing the book off the floor. God forbid Chloé should get her hands on it, the city really didn't need another visit from the Evilistrator.
The blond was about to follow the other boy out the door when Chloé saw fit to throw her arms around the Frenchman, strangling him momentarily.
"Hey Chloé." He said hesitantly, slipping the book in his bag without her noticing. The girl pouted with a horribly thick layer of lip-gloss and he fought not to cringe as she began to whine about how they never spent any time together.
"Adrien, are you listening to me!" She screeched in his ear after a full minute of endless talking without even a nod as response.
"Uhh, sorry Chloé but I have to go, Nathalie will be wondering where I am." He gave a small smiled and removed her arms from around his neck, grabbing his bag and running out the door before she could lunge at him.
By the time he made it out the front of the school Nathaniel was nowhere to be seen and the limo was waiting for him at the bottom of the steps. With a dejected sigh he resigned to returning it to the other the next day and entered the limo.
"Hey Nat." Nathalie was silent as usual, organizing his father’s business endlessly on her phone.
"You have an hour before fencing to do your homework." She said almost robotically, failing to look up from the screen. Adrien nodded, sitting back in the cold leather seats as the chauffeur began to drive.
Becoming curious he looked at the small black bound book peeking out of his open bag. Taking it out to inspect he found no name or brand mark on it and was tempted to look inside. It was well loved, slightly misshapen with pencil marks on the sides. It couldn't be that harmful to look through a few lazy sketches, right? Nathaniel wouldn't mind.
Decision made Adrien carefully opened the first page, his eyes widening.
It was the Eiffel tower from a rooftop view, a common artist choice to sketch, but that wasn't the surprising part. It was the detail. On the small, A6 sized piece of paper he could see figures inside their windows, cats in the street, and even someone standing near the top of the tower with their arms spread wide. It was impressive to say the least.
He continued to flick through, finding portraits of almost every student in their year making different expressions, comical, sad and happy. Even he was there, featured winking at one point. An entire four pages were devoted to Chat Noir, but only one for Ladybug strangely enough. It made his stomach feel oddly warm and fuzzy. He seemed to have gotten over his little crush on Marinette too, as she was featured only as much as any other of their peers.
There were more of the Eiffel tower, fountains and parks, a few buildings, the bridge and river. There were random passers, shops, it seemed whenever he had the urge he would simply sit and draw whatever caught his eye, and in great detail too.
Another image of the Eiffel tower that caught his eye was almost an exact replica of the first, but it was night, the buildings appeared worn, and all the people were replaced with distorted shadows. Cats in the streets were now skinny and deformed, the person who had been atop the tower no longer with his arms spread. Looking closer it looked as though he was floating... No, wait. He was hanging by the neck?
Adrien's face contorted in confusion, the images suddenly taking a dark turn.
Then followed the even more disturbing pictures.
A big monster with sharp teeth and long claws baring concerning resemblance Chloé became common. Flicking through what were becoming grotesque images of the monster eating people he came across something both so beautiful and concerning that for a moment he just stopped and stared.
It was a picture of a boy sitting, a mirror beside him. They boy bared some resemblance to Nathaniel, but it was hard to tell with his face covered by his hands. He sat bare, huddled in a corner, wrists covered in wounds, and behind him in the mirror was a distorted, bleeding version of himself, screaming through tears.
Adrien gulped and quickly flicked the page, only to find a similar picture of a girl unconscious, pills spilled all over the floor.
"We're here." Nathalie's voice suddenly brought him back from the sketches and he realised they had arrived at the Agreste mansion. Adrien shut the book and quickly left, intent on going straight up to his room and looking through the rest of them. Nathalie called out, reminding him to do his homework and he nodded vaguely.
Once in his room he carelessly dropped his bag by the door.
"Ow!" Plagg cried out and struggled to fly out the bag, glaring at Adrien.
"Uh, sorry Plagg." Adrien plopped onto his bed, opening the notebook where he'd left off. The Kwami flew over around Adrien's head and looked over his shoulder.
"What you reading? Um, where are that person’s eyes?" The drawing in question had two hollow black abysses where the girl’s eyes would have been. It made Adrien cringe.
He continued to flick through, too distracted to respond to Plagg. Sewn faces, more people hung from ropes, lonely ghosts, slit wrists, people drowned in shaded baths, assorted monsters, creepy deformed animals, and people smoking into intricate yet disturbing patterns filled his mind. He spent the entire afternoon flicking back and forth through the book, getting soaked in by the beautiful and dark images. He completely missed his fencing lesson, lost in thought to what had caused the sudden aesthetic turn.
§
His sleep had been fragmented and shallow that night, unable to get the images out of his head. He'd debated going out and checking on Nathaniel during the night, but as he had no clue as to where the other lived he decided to wait till school the next day.
Now in class he sat waiting for the redhead to enter.
The lesson came and went. Nathaniel never appeared.
"What's up man? You've been lookin' around for over an hour!" Nino looked at him concerned as they walked towards their next class.
"Have you seen Nathaniel?" The tanned brunette shrugged in response.
"He probably took the day off again."
"Again?"
"Yeah man, he's barely been here all month." Adrien almost stopped in his tracks. He hadn't noticed, and he felt strangely guilty for it. Well, he still had to return the sketchbook, no doubt the other was worried for misplacing such a personal item.
"Any idea where he lives?" The blond asked, hoping it wasn't too unusual or creepy a question. The taller only shrugged again as they entered their next class.
"Ask Rose and Juleka." The two sat at the back of the class, opposite the side Nathaniel would sit. He nodded and made his approach, both sending him smiles as they noticed his presence.
"Hi Adrien~" Rose sung happily. She resembled a Barbie doll with a pixie cut, while her quiet bestie was the epitome of goth. He often secretly thought theyde make a cute couple, but kept it to himself.
"Hey guys, do either of you know where Nathaniel lives?" The two girls looked at him surprised and then to one another, seeming hesitant.
"Sorry Adrien, but I'm not sure he'd like us passing out his information." Juleka explained as Rose nodded.
"I need to give him this back." He held out the book and the two seemed to recognise it. "He dropped it yesterday."
"I can do it." Juleka reached for it but Adrien quickly pulled it out of her reach, feeling oddly protective of the item.
"I want to return it myself." He insisted firmly. The two looked at each other again, seeming to silently converse till the dark-haired teen sighed.
"Okay." She took out a tear of paper and scribbled out an address, passing it over as he thanked her and returned to his seat, prize pressed between his fingers. For all the rest of the lessons his leg bounced uncontrollably, and he fiddled with the paper as he waited impatiently for the day to end.
Later, when he passed the limo driver the address the man gave him an odd look.
"I need to drop by somewhere before we go home." He explained to Nathalie as he buckled in. She rose a brow as the vehicle started.
"You’re busy this afternoon."
"It's just a quick stop." She appeared sceptical but nodded to the bulky chauffeur, allowing the diversion.
They drove away from areas Adrien was familiar with, no high-rises or penthouses in sight. Only faded, thin two-story townhouses. Few people littered the streets, and he deduced they all must have been at work still.
He didn't expect it when the car stopped outside what looked almost like an ally, and the driver passed him back the paper tear with the address, ushering him out.
"Five minutes." Nathalie said, looking slightly uncomfortable with the area. Adrien nodded and jumped out, reading the paper.
233 Rue Cendre, 75125. To his left was 231 and his right 235, so down in that ally must have been Nathaniel’s. Without a second thought Adrien rushed down into the shadows.
What appeared to be an ally was actually a well-kept walkway, and to the end what he assumed to be a dead-end the front wall of a very small house. There was a freshly painted red door, the silver metal numbers 233 drilled into it. The thin two-story had two windows, one near the door and the other the level above, and it appeared to be in better condition than those out in the open street.
The blond knocked three times, and when he heard nothing after a minute went to try again. Another tap and the door suddenly opened, Adrien's fist left mid-air. He quickly turned it to a shy wave.
Nathaniel stood in the half open doorway, shocked at his classmates unexpected appearance.
"Hi." Adrien greeted with a smile. The redhead seemed paler than usual, or perhaps it was just the poor lighting. He doubted he got any sunlight through his homes windows as the buildings to either side were so much larger. It couldn’t have been healthy.
"Adrien, what are you doing here?" He looked at the other sceptically, voice quiet and hesitant.
"Oh, um." He rummaged in his bag and pulled out the little black sketchbook, holding it out for the teen to take. Nathaniel's eyes widened and he snatched for it, holding the book close.
"Th-thanks."
"No problem. Could I, um, come in? Just for a sec?" The blond asked, rubbing the back of his neck. Nathaniel seemed to think on it for a while.
"...Okay." He replied quietly, opening the door the whole way and stepping back for Adrien to pass. It was a thin hall, stairs ahead, a lounge to the right and kitchen to the left.
"So, where are your parents?"
"My mother's asleep upstairs."
"Oh..."
"She's... sick." He didn't seem to want to divulge any further, so Adrien just nodded as he followed Nathaniel to the lounge. Neither noticed as Plagg snuck out his satchel bag and flew off through the house.
They stood awkwardly in the lounge for a moment. It was a small room with a loveseat, and a coffee table covered in art supplies over by the window.
Once it had become apparent Nathaniel wasn't going to say anything, the blond dove in, straight to the point.
"I just wanted to say that... I'm here if you need someone to talk to." Adrien said hurriedly with a small smile. He was met with a confused look, which suddenly thinned to a glare.
"You went through my drawings?" Adrien nodded sheepishly and a thick silence suddenly filled the air. Nathaniel looked at him horrified, clutching the black book close.
"It's was none of your business! How would you like it if I went through your personal things!" He was suddenly yelling, a fiery temper becoming apparent.
"I'm sorry I just-!" There was a loud series of crashes from the kitchen and both boys turned their heads in the direction immediately, Adrien following after Nathaniel as he rushed to check it.
Pots and pans had fallen from one of the top cupboards, now laying on the ground. One of the pots was moving around on the floor, till it banged into the kitchen-table leg, uttering twin 'ouch's. The corner of the pot lifted, a set of green and dark brown eyes peeking out.
Both boys lunged for the pot, Adrien grabbing Plagg as Nathaniel hid the other small and fluffy creature to his chest.
"Is that... a Kwami?" Adrien asked in disbelief, Plagg peeking out of his hands. The bright ball of fluff in Nathaniel's did the same, revealing a head of orange fur and big, black tipped ears.
A fox Kwami.
"H-he's my mothers." The two stood in silence. What exactly was a person supposed to say in such a situation? Plagg tapped Adrien on the hand, pulling him from his stupor.
"Oh, well, this is Plagg." The little cat waved and the fox waved energetically back.
"I'm Trixx!" The little fox said, trying to weasel out of Nathaniel's nervously tight hold.
"I've never seen anyone using a fox miraculous." Adrien offered up.
"She's been sick a long time." Nathaniel mumbled, looking depressed. Trixx looked up at him and pet his hand comfortingly.
"You should try!" Adrien said, suddenly excited, desperate to lift the mood. He could teach him how to be a superhero, they could run around fighting crime together and-!
"I can't. I have to stay here and take care of mother." Smile falling Adrien nodded, feeling like a child whose balloon had been popped.
"Well, are you... Okay at the moment?" He asked after another moment of quiet. Nathaniel looked at the floor embarrassed and nodded. "Please tell me if you need to talk. I want to help." The teen nodded again, both standing awkwardly. "I should go, I wrote my number on the back page if you need it." Nathaniel gave a small smile and mumbled a thanks as Adrien made his way to the front door.
"Adrien." The blond stopped and turned to the other, Plagg sneaking back into his bag. "I won’t say anything about Plagg, so please don't tell anyone about Trixx." The blond smiled, that same smile that made women feel faint.
"I promise. See you at school tomorrow." Nathaniel nodded as Adrien left, a huge grin on the blonde’s face as he shut the door.
"Looks like we've got some new friends, Plagg."