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Adrien’s nightly routine was always two things: easy to follow and simple.
- Feed Plagg.
- Finish all homework that hasn’t been finished.
- Eat dinner.
- Feed Plagg. (Again.)
- Shower.
- Feed Plagg. (Again.)
- Check the Ladyblog.
- Ignore Plagg asking for cheese.
- Sleep (and/or) check the Ladyblog. (Again.)
- IF LADYBUG COMES, give up on all sleep. (Also, don’t let her see you checking the Ladyblog.)
But in between steps six and seven, he wasn’t expecting his father to knock on his bedroom door and then enter without asking.
Adrien scrambles to close down the website, but with no avail. He frantically spins around in his chair, confused as to why his father was visiting him in his own bedroom (which he never did.)
His father chuckles at his son’s panicky actions, and Adrien freezes because he hasn’t heard that in a long time.
“You...admire her a lot, don’t you?”
Adrien fights the blush that threatens to smother him. He only nods, speechless. He absolutely did not want to talk about his secret girlfriend with his father, but it looked like that’s where the conversation was going.
Gabriel comes closer to the screens, eyes gazing over the website, and he taps his tablet a couple of times before he speaks again. “I can tell. Especially with this report that Nathalie just got back from PR.”
“R-report?” Pull yourself together, Agreste, he thinks, clearing his throat. “What do you mean?”
“One of those teen magazines wanted to review the interview you did, and they asked a lot of questions about who you think highly of.” Gabriel scrolls through files that Adrien can’t see. “You mentioned the girl a lot.”
Adrien remembers the interview. He’d been doing them for weeks, with his father’s fashion show coming up in the next month. The particular one his father brought up only conjured the memory of an Alya-like journalist who wouldn’t stop prying.
Internally, he groans. Adrien believes he and Ladybug were keeping themselves under wraps well, but now there were way too many people involved.
(Of course he had to ruin it by rambling all about her. Damn it, Agreste.)
“It’s just--I think what they do is really great!” Adrien stumbles over his words. “Her and Chat Noir--they keep us s-safe and I think that’s cool and--”
His father holds up a palm, and Adrien snaps his mouth shut. Gabriel looks down at his son, considering the words he’s about to speak.
“You’re smitten with her.”
Adrien’s flustered reaction only confirms Gabriel’s thoughts.
“I--I mean it’s not like she has saved me or anything but I--and she is beautiful--BUT I MEAN-- that is not what I meant because--”
Gabriel lays a hand on his son’s shoulder in a rare display of affection. “Just don’t let it get out of hand.”
Adrien swallows his words and nods instead. If anything else were to come out of his mouth it would end up being something entirely too close to the truth. (Like that it already was out of hand and she was probably going to visit him tonight.) Gabriel awkwardly pats his back before he leaves his son’s bedroom. Adrien lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, and he hears Plagg’s laugh from under his desk.
“Shut up, Plagg,” Adrien grumbles before his kwami can make fun of his ability to speak properly.
“You really are a mess,” Plagg breathes out between howls of laughter. “You just choked talking about Ladybug--god, what am I going to do with you?”
“This is embarrassing! How can you just laugh at me?” Adrien pouts, holding his head in his hands even as Plagg continues to laugh anyway.
When Ladybug arrives, Adrien tells her the humiliating story.
He didn’t expect her to double over with laughter too.