Well, here's my pretty late @mlsecretsanta for @tog84 and I really hope you like it and I am sorry for the delay. My life is a mess.
Marinette had been feeling pretty happy lately. The akumas were going fairly smoothly, she could almost speak three sentences to Adrien without stuttering, she wasn't failing in any of her classes, creativity struck her for cool designs and projects...damn.
Life hadn't been this good since a long time. And she was fully up to enjoy this golden time of inner (and outer) peace to the fullest.
She was so optimistic and jovial, whistling to herself as she walked into class, fully awake and on time. She got a few wide eyes from her classmates, who were clearly not used to this. She chatted away with Alya for a bit, unconsciously waiting for a certain blond to walk through the door.
It was very clear, that his day wasn't going well. By not going well, he meant it was this short of being one of the worst days of his pitiful life. And this time he can literally swear that he isn't even exaggerating like he normally does.
His day started with Nathalie banging on his door. That was a shock in itself, considering that Nathalie is known for her calm yet sharp knocking, not banging on the door like he's late for an essential engagement. He groggily opened the door and registered being told to talk to his father. His father wanting to see him was almost never a good thing, but he had to no choice but to shuffle around to his office albeit awkwardly.
When he was pushed out a few minutes later, he remembered being told about at least 5 diffrent photoshoots scheduled, told about the complaints and observations his father had made on last week's events. And he was told in the serious grim voice of his father, about how he had been regularly disappearing. Adrien had nothing to say to that, but he was internally glad that his disappearances had yet to be connected to the akuma attacks, but it would be safe to say that he wasn't in the most cheerful of moods.
He mindlessly staggered into class, eyes shifting to Nino, who was currently gossiping with Alya about whatever couples talk about. Today he couldn't give himself to care about the conversations going around in the classroom. His eyes swept across the room for just a second before he quietly shifted into his seat, his lips pressing together as he fiddled with his stationery. His wandering thoughts went far from home, into open rooftops and blue-eyed heroines as he waited eagerly to relive the memories.
Was she supposed to feel this bad? Was it even Normal to feel this heavy-hearted just because someone didn't even acknowledge your existence just one morning? Maybe he didn't expect her to be here, she was in earlier than usual. But that wouldn't make sense as she definitely saw him look around the room.
What if he knowingly ignored her? Because he finally realised that she was a dumb human being and he could find such beautiful models with amazing personalities, and confidence and grace and elegance, and probably a brain much better and sharper than hers. And people who could actually hold a casual conversation with him, without it being the most interesting thing they've done that day.
She was sure that she was going into what Alya liked to call Adrien bursts, when she would blabber out nonsense when anything related to Adrien came up. And even though she kept telling herself that it was nothing and that she misread the situation, she couldn't deny that she felt quite down the whole day even though her day wasn't that bad.
It was clearly affecting her, and Alya gave her a few worried glances during classes but Marinette cleverly didn't give her a chance to ask her about it during lunch, distracting her with useless conversation. Adrien's thoughts bugged her through the day and almost frustrated to her to an unexpected point. He had done nothing too attention-gathering, but his small moment of indifference to his surroundings struck her as odd compared to her usual cheery personality.
She trudged back home lost in her usual thoughts. Quickly completing her daily work, she helped around a bit downstairs until it was patrol time. She had to push herself to go, because she really wanted to do nothing but roll into bed and sleep like a log. That sounded nice, sleeping soundly without no akumas, no homework, no midnight surges of creativity. What a life it would be!
She landed on the Eiffel tower, their unsaid patrol start point. Sometimes after a round of peacefulness around the city, they'd sit at the edge and talk vaguely about their lives, secret identity or not, saving cities together bonds people, however different or same they might be.
She glanced back when she heard the familiar thud of his baton. A few seconds of greetings led to her quickly noticing the slightly solemn mood of his. She didn't want to comment, her prying into his personal life just wasn't what their relationship was like. If it was Marinette, she would definitely pester him a bit to let it out.
A couple rounds around the city showed no wrongdoings, and so they plopped onto the edge of the Eiffel Tower. This evening had been pretty much quiet, and though the peace was relaxing, she felt like talking. The Adrien thing kept zooming in and out her head and she mulled over talking about it to Chat, especially because he wasn't exactly open today.
"So, my lady, how was your day?" Chat finally breaking the silence with a slight smile.
"It was okay, I guess. One of my friends seemed to be in a bad mood so it was a bit dull in class today," she exclaimed,her head downcast.
"Ah, I guess everyone has a few bad days, don't they?" He stared at the starry sky, with a glum expression on his face.
"Yes Chaton, I guess they do. I can only wonder what happened to him, he didn't seem to be in class mentally. He was just physically present. He just completely ignored everyone's existence who he didn't haaaave to acknowledge. I was one of them obviously. " She sighed audibly, shoulders slumping in dramatic sadness.
"Maybe he had a tough day at home, it can happen to the best of us." He suggested, confused why she seemed bothered by this simple incident.
"Yeah, I know you're probably right. But it just won't leave my head. My mind just keeps going back to his expression during the day. Ugh, I'm being so overdramatic but I can't help it. "
Chat just looked at her, eyebrows furrowing. He knew that his lady was a beautiful person, who was kind and compassionate and caring beyond compare. But he couldn't help but wonder who was the boy who had captured his lady's heart and mind,even for a few weeks.
But he knew that straight out asking her would just make her suspicious, nothing else. So he decided to wait for her to start talking like she usually did when she was annoyed. He loved whatever time he could get to hang out with her anyway.
"I don't want to intrude into his life, but I— I really want him to be happy, you know. He, of all people, definitely deserves it. I can't be very close to him personally but I can be his well-wisher, right? Just be happy for him from a distance?" She shifted uncomfortably, gazing at his blank calculating face.
"I'm honestly the worst person for this conversation , m'lady. Social situations are my one true weakness." he gave a short chuckle, his eyes wandered and settled on gazing at the Paris scenery.
"Considering you're the only person here with me, I'll take my chances"
"Honestly speaking, if you think your friend was having a bad day, I can understand why he must have been pretty much lost all day. And I'm sure you weren't the only person he spaced out on. If you really wanted to know about his problem maybe you should have tried approaching him. The worst that could have happened is..."
He could have started either shouting at her for being insensitive or downright ignored her, which would make her feel so much worse...But all things considered, she knew that Adrien was Adrien. He wouldn't scream at her, or even ignore her. The worst he would do was give her a fake smile and blatantly lie. But at least she'd have the satisfaction of trying.
Chat had continued on his advice, but had quickly noticed her head in the clouds, and her eyes unfocused on the horizon. She was at least smiling, which probably meant that she had finally found a solution to her problem, like she always did.
They parted ways,but not before Ladybug finally asked the burning question on her mind, why was he so down today?
"It's a story for another time m'lady." Giving a wink and a two-finger salute, the kitty was out of there in no time.
Tumbling late into class again, Marinette was still very clear about her two goals of the day. The second was make her kitty feel better at patrol and the first was obvious.
But when Marinette gently asked an astonished Adrien what was wrong yesterday and if he wanted to talk about it? Everyone was astounded but still proud of her courage.
And after a really bad day, Adrien felt delighted to have blue-haired beautiful company throughout his school and patrol. He couldn't have asked for anything better.
