In the Home of Chat

Adrien

Adrien groaned as he rolled over in the bed, sunlight streamed through the large windows surrounding his bedroom. Across the bed, on a pillow used by no other human being, slept his Kwami, Plagg, snoring loudly on his back. The tiny god, resembling a black cat, was completely relaxed from their outing the night before, and the wheel of camembert he had received from a completely tired Adrien afterwards.

The young man sat up and rubbed his sleep filled eyes, before reaching for a pair of wire rimmed glasses that were waiting for him on his bedside table. Once they were firmly on his nose, he searched in his sheets for his phone and powered it up. The time flashed and a notification of about forty missed calls from his personal assistant, he groaned once again at the sight. Fall was a hectic time for the Agreste fashion line, now his company. It formerly went by his father's first name, but after the battle that nearly killed them both, and had seen him sending his father off to the hospital (eventually jail too), he had decided that it would be best to move the company's focus away from the man that created it. Now it simply went by their last name. It was a simple change, but one that opened the company back up to the public, without the amount of scrutiny that would have come with it being named after a terrorist. He knew he had to get on approving designs that had been submitted for the fall fashion contest, but the ache in his gut told him it could wait another hour or so. He was hungry, he was always hungry first thing in the morning after a patrol night, but before he could eat, he had to freshen up for the hectic day ahead of him.

He slipped out of the bed, careful not to disturb the still dozing Plagg, and made his way to the adjoining bathroom by his closet door. The light in his bathroom was harsh, he found himself cupping his hand over his glasses to shield his eyes for a moment before they adjusted to the light. Only then did he move further into the checkerboard styled room. His feet slapped against the porcelain tiles as he made his way to his large vanity and mirror. The thick black granite sink made a dull hum as the faucet was turned on and his glasses clinked lightly on the countertop as they were placed beside it. He cupped his hands and gathered a fair amount of water into them before bringing it up to splash across his cheeks. The chill of the liquid on his overly warm cheeks had his mind instantly snapping into alertness. The memories of the night before flowed back to him, causing him to let out a long drawn out and defeated sigh. He had been on patrol when a woman's scream had him racing towards the Eiffel Tower. Once he had rescued her from her attacker, and safely returned her to her path home, she had asked him something that was both heartbreaking for him, and something that filled his heart with hope.

"Have you heard from Ladybug lately?"

Surely that had to mean that the red and black spotted heroine was out there somewhere? The people of Paris had to have seen her lately, right? Back in the moment, another round of cold water on his cheeks was done and he decided upon his answer; Ladybug was still out there somewhere, but there was a reason she hadn't shown up for her duty in just over four years. He could remember the countless nights he spent searching for her, calling her from his baton phone as he leapt from building to building and even using Plagg during the day to feel for her kwamis presence. Years had gone by like that with no luck, and gradually school and work got in the way of his search for his partner more and more, until one day he couldn't look for her at all. It had been nearly a year now since he had searched for her, yet now she was suddenly back in the forefront of his mind. All due to that one simple question. He sighed as the image of her bluebell eyes hovered in his mind and he waved his hands before himself as if he could wipe the mirage from the very air in front of his face. She was a ghost, coming back to haunt him after being virtually gone from his mind finally. His cruel Lady who had left him that last day by the back entrance of the hospital, bleeding heavily from his abdomen...

"I am so sorry Chaton, it's all my fault, I-" Ladybug had broken into sobs that rocked her entire body as she laid him gently against the wall of the hospital. The cold breeze was blocked by her body as she crumbled onto him momentarily. He tried to resist crying out in pain as her weight rested on his gunshot wound, but the soft grunt was enough to get her shooting straight up once again. He had never seen her this upset, even months before when they had teamed up to take down his father once and for all. She seemed more stressed and distracted than saddened by the reveal of who Hawkmoth really was. Months of playing at being glorified police officers had ended them up here, a gunshot wound in the right side of his abdomen and Ladybug standing before his hunched figure with tears cascading down her cheeks in rivers. Even with his own nearly blinding pain, he wanted to reach out and wipe those tears away.

"I wasn't p-paying attention my-my lady. I should've kept an eye on the robber." He managed to form the words around painful grunts and gasps that only intensified the flame like feeling licking up his side. She shook her head at his words and wiped at her face furiously to rid herself of the tears that had, at this point, stained her cheeks a soft blush-red.

"Wait right there Chaton, don't move! I'll go grab a nurse, you're going to be fine, just fine." He knew that at this point she couldn't really hear him. Her mind was running a mile a minute, going over all the possible outcomes that his injury could cause. Before he could give her a witty, pun laced answer, she dashed through the double glass doors of the building and slipped out of his sight. He laid against the cold stone wall for a few minutes longer before nurses and doctors were rushing out with a gurney, ready to deliver one of the city's heroes into the operating room without a second thought.

For a split second he thought he saw Ladybug's iconic blue black pigtails while he was being pushed down the wide hallway, but then a baby pink hood was placed over the pigtails that had caught his attention, they pushed him around a corner, and she was gone.

Ladybug had never appeared to help him protect Paris ever again after that night...

He stepped into the shower as the memory replayed in his mind on a loop. He freed himself of his clothes as he attempted to hold on to that last image of the hair: that had to be Ladybug in her civilian persona, but her face was not coming to his mind at all. It was a fuzzy image where only her bluebell eyes stood out along with her ever constant pigtails. The warm water hitting his back and shoulders did little to pull him from his thoughts, and he lathered himself with body wash on autopilot rather than really paying attention to what he was doing. As he rinsed his body, he blinked away the memory along with the sting of tears brought on by both his thoughts and the drips of body wash which had gotten into his eyes. Paying a bit more attention to what he was doing now, he grabbed his shampoo out of the shower caddy and popped open the bottle, inhaling the scent of almonds and vanilla, before squirting out a sizeable portion into his hand. He smeared it onto his sweat and water dampened tresses before massaging the gel like liquid in. Bubbles ran down his arms as he continued to massage his scalp with the shampoo and he soon fell into the mind numbing task with a fervor that was new to his morning. A low rumble worked its way from his chest to his throat as he hit a particularly (purr-ticularly) good spot near the back of his left ear, he simply scratched and rubbed at that spot for a while, filling the bathroom with very inhuman purring as he did so. His mind was slowly numbing from the attention he was giving his scalp and his purring grew louder and louder as his fingers worked between his skin and lather filled hair.

"What are you doing in here kid!?" Plaggs nasally voice filled his ears, causing him to jump and cease his menstraitions on his head. He glared at the tiny floating black cat that hovered just on the other side of his glass shower wall and blinked a few times before turning his head up to rinse the soapy bubbles from his face. Plagg chuckled as he held up a chunk of camembert before his chest before tossing it up and swallowing it whole, as he had done many many times before over the years.

"P-Plagg!" Adrien sputtered as he hurriedly rinsed his hair so he could snatch a towel and get his naked body covered.

"It's not like I don't know your demensions kid, I am a part of you when you're in the mask and suit after all." The small god of destruction sniggered at his furiously blushing chosen and watched as the blonde stumble out of the room in search of clothes. It only took a few seconds once Adrien entered the bedroom before he was back, snatching his glasses off of the counter by the sink and putting them on. He shot Plagg one last glare that had the kwami cackling, before rushing out of the room once more.

"Hey kid, don't be mad, I was worried when I heard you making those weird noises. I thought you were drowning or something." He informed the blonde who huffed in return as he shoved his suit pants on angrily. The room fell into silence as Adrien finished getting ready for the day and Plagg pulled more cheese from his hiding spots around the room, an old cat gains habits that are hard to break after all.
"I don't have time to deal with your sarcasm this morning!" Adrien was the one who broke the silence as he laced up his black leather wingtips with quick and anger filled motions.

"What's the matter?" Plagg asked as he lounged in the air casually, "upset because your assistant is getting too clingy?"

"Ugh," with a defeated breath, Adrien lifted his phone from the foot of the bed where it rested and tapped the screen to bring it to life. Three more missed calls, Abigail was growing anxious about something. He grumbled under his breath before pulling up his contacts and scrolling down to her number. With a pointed look at his kwami and a finger to his lips, he clicked the icon to call her office phone and held his own up to his ear.