Cat's Eye (Lukadrien)

Volume 1, Chapter 4

Nathalie marched into Adrien's room, delivery measured and efficient, but with the tiniest nuance of a quirk in her brow that he had long since learnt meant urgency. "Adrien, you need to wake up. You're booked for a photoshoot in 30 minutes."

The blond stirred from underneath the sheets, groaning groggily, "What time is it?"

"It's 9 o'clock. I thought that I'd give you the benefit of the doubt today in managing to wake up on time as well discussed yesterday, but clearly in future I will need to ensure that you are timely yourself." Natalie's eyes were weary, and she looked paler than usual. To be fair, Adrien had been begging her for more autonomy, and she'd given it. He had meant to get up on time of course, but with his duties on patrol, he was always some degree of sleep deprived.

"I'm sorry Natalie."

"It's alright, Adrien." She paused and coughed, wincing a little with pain as she put a hand to her mouth. "Make sure to get there on time, your father's put a lot of pressure on Vincent to get a good cover for this month's cover page. Remember, you need something fresh."

Adrien nodded, and began to dress himself as she left. He'd noticed something was wrong with Natalie. It seemed like her health was declining more and more. Even father seemed to be giving her more time to pause when she needed it. It was almost like ... no. Adrien shook his head. What if – the symptoms seemed match those of his mother early on – was it the same condition? Natalie had promised him it was nothing, but that didn't exactly put his mind at ease. His mother had said the very same, after all. He should really try and lighten her load for now, he noted. A thought flickered across his mind – after checking his mother's medical records, he should check Nathalie's too. Maybe something between the two will corroborate. For Nathalie's sake, he hoped it's nothing.

Still, Adrien pressed on, walking through the corridor, nodding quietly at Gorilla the bodyguard who met him as soon as he left his room. Adrien needed to put on a mask again – this photoshoot was important. It was peak time for the fashion season, and father had made it clear as always that they needed a flawless cover.

The drive was to the Eiffel tower. Father was angling for this month's edition to be an international hit, and nothing was more iconic in the city than the tower, especially to foreigners. It was far too overused for the home demographic, but for this cover that was irrelevant.

On arrival, Vincent the photographer was waiting on site, with a small team. The camera apparatus had already been set up for the shoot, but neither Adrien nor Vincent had any idea how they were going to make the Eiffel tower new and interesting. Father hadn't given them any detail on how they were supposed to make the shoot standout, all he'd said is he wanted it to be attention grabbing. That was typical of him – Father never really gave them much of an idea on how to make a photoshoot great. He only really excelled at designing the garments. Mother had always been the one with the inspiration for covers. It made sense after all – she was the one with the actual modelling background.

Vincent had suggested getting a little provocative, with perhaps some more exposing garments, but Adrien wasn't really sure about that. Sure, his body was great, and he had to admit the idea that tonnes of people would admire it on a cover perhaps made him giddier than it should. But he wasn't confident enough for that level of exposure. Not yet. People in school always saw the covers, and even though he'd gotten more used to it (especially since it was unescapable, being plastered all over France), he still got a little embarrassed when they saw normal cover photos. Imagine what it'd be like if it were that exposing instead of the usual, more modest style – the girls were already rabid without it, and he certainly didn't want any more attention from them.

~

"Maybe try wearing this?" Vincent dangled a fairly skant looking jogging vest, "Maybe we can push the boat out a bit with a street style look?" He gestured wildly at the wardrobe collection, as an assistant hurriedly grabbed a snapback hat and gold chain. Before he knew it, the team had him stripped down to his underwear, right in front of the Eiffel Tower. He'd long ago discarded any kind of nervousness about people taking his clothes off – he'd become desensitised. Thankfully, they slammed down some folding screens to save him a little modesty, but even as he put on the vest, the tight shorts and placed the heavy gold chain around his neck, he realised he'd not been quite this exposed before. Taking a few paces out from behind the screens, Vincent whirled him into place in front of the Tower. The shuttering of camera snaps filled his ears, as he shook off the disorientation. It wasn't Vincent's camera, which was still hung around his neck, nor his various other cameras stood on tripods placed all around. They were the sounds of phone cameras. Already a small crowd had begun to gather around the setup. It wasn't abnormal for people to turn up during a public photoshoot.