Miraculous - The New Guardian

Part 18 - Keep your enemies closer(edited)

"Father?", Adrien wasn't so sure, if his ears weren't playing a trick on him. "Why would you want to talk to Marinette?"

"For the moment, that is none of your business, Adrien", his father replied without noticeable emotion. "There is something I'd like to bargain with her, and there is no need for you to get involved, until we have had our talk."

"What if she does not want to talk to you, father? Did you ever consider, that not everybody is willing to take your orders without questioning?"

The elder of them sighed. "Adrien, this is not the moment to act like a spoiled brat or to try and compete with each other. If you want to be seen as a grown man, than swallow your pride and act like one."

The younger gulped. This was new, his father talking to him as his son, as if he really cared. "Your right", he admitted, "I'll go, wake her, because she is taking a nap, for she is still exhausted from all the things, that happened lately."

Gabriel heard his son walk for a moment, then there was the faint sound of a girl breathing in and out deeply in her sleep. Seconds later there was a sound of disagreement and a sigh, followed by a mumbled "A little longer, please. Let's just cuddle for a bit ok?"

A little louder and with a giggle: "I already got an idea, how to make it up to you. I thought about something as this morning in the girls bathroom..." The rest of her words were muffled, as Adrien tried to shut her up by putting a hand over her mouth.

Marinette woke up completely and fought his hands.

"What are you doing?", she whined. "You seemed to enjoy it, didn't you?"

The boy cleared his throat and pointed to the phone in his other hand. The girls eyes widened.

"You're on the phone with someone?" Her face took a deep red colour.

"Actually", he teased, "it's for you. My father wants to talk to you about something, that doesn't concern me for now."

Now her face turned pale. Her voice came barely as a whisper: "Why didn't you stop me from talking?"

Her boyfriend gave her a desperate smile: "Well, princess, I tried to!"

With that, he handed her his phone and climbed the ladder back down.

"I'll see, if I can find us something for dinner in the meantime", he called while descending to the lower floor.

Marinette just nodded and took several deep inhales, before she put the phone to her ear and, with a high pitched voice, spoke: "Hello?"
She cleared her throat.

"Ms. Dupain-Cheng..."

"Marinette", she interrupted him, shocked by her own boldness at that very moment.

"Marinette then. There is something, I want, no I need to talk to you about."

"If you don't want me to be with Adr..."

"This has nothing to do with Adrien, and yet it is all about him. You will understand soon. But for now, I would like to talk to you in person, but I have to ask you, to not tell my son, and to come here without him as well.

But you probably will have to go through some transformation, to do so. Maybe you could disguise yourself, or hide behind a mask? There is a certain threat right now in front of the room, I locked myself and Nathalie inside. She had a little accident and has lost her glasses somewhere outside, in the hall as I would think. They are very dear to her, as she got them from my wife, before she d-d-disappeared.

Nathalie told me a story once about some monster, that could be controlled by the one who wears those glasses, as long as nobody can defeat the monster! "