Chapter Text
Gabriel Agreste wasn’t known for his practical jokes.
He may have a way with puns, but Adrien found it was a guilty pleasure of his father, not something that he showcased often.
So he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what his father meant.
It was a one-in-two years occasion that Gabriel Agreste appeared in public with Adrien. It was another runway. Just like last time, Adrien would be wearing a Marinette Original, because she had won another contest.
Adrien was extremely proud of Mari. The last year they had gotten better friends. Marinette told him she had had a small crush on him once and that was the reason she had been so awkward all the time (he didn’t know it wasn’t a small crush at all) . Adrien had given dating Kagami a try but they found they were better friends then lovers.
He had decided to wait a bit for romance. His Lady was pretty down after forcefully becoming the new Guardian, and he didn’t envy her at all. He did his best to show his support, and Ladybug decided to at least share some basic information to him, like how to heal a sick kwami and all the powers and personalities of the kwamiis and different miraculous. They had grown a stronger bond, but Ladybug had told him how she was trying to focus more on herself then relationships, and Adrien found it great advice and decided to do the same.
Plagg was certainly happier he wasn’t mooning over Ladybug anymore.
It didn’t keep him from talking excitedly about Marinette, (or Alya and Nino’s relationship, or Kitten Sections’s jam sessions) but it was mostly about Marinette, now that they were finally getting closer.
So he wasn’t surprised at all about her entering and winning the contest, for a formal jacket this time.
He was surprised she had been allowed backstage. The last time that wasn’t allowed, but maybe it was because they were 17 now and had a better grip on responsibility.
His father was supervising from a railing a level above the designers and models, Nathalie was dutifully by his side, but now and then she would cough in her sleeves. Adrien really hoped she would be alright.
Everything had been going well, until someone got backstage who didn’t belong there.
(surprise surprise)
Normally for this kind of occasion, there were bodyguards on site. But they had been busy with someone else who tried getting inside. The intruder had seen this as the moment to infiltrate the backstage world.
No one saw him at first, everyone busy with getting things ready. Surprisingly, although maybe not, it had been Marinette who saw he didn’t belong there.
Marinette had told Adrien she had taught herself how backstage runway shows were managed. It could be a messy bunch if you didn’t have all the parts. He couldn’t agree more.
When Marinette saw someone walking around with GabrielTM clothing from last year, looking around a bit perplexed, she first thought he was a new intern. But he didn’t make any moves to ask anyone anything, rather keeping to the sidelines and trying hard not to be seen.
This immediately put out red flags to Marinette. Yeah, maybe she would have looked like that, but then she would ask someone directions, right? Or this person was just really shy. Only she didn’t think Gabriel Agreste would let just about anyone in backstage, getting her here was mostly because Adrien talked his father into it. If there would be another young intern, they would have been introduced to each other, at least.
She gently put her belongings back in her bag, and moved slowly towards the stranger, acting as casual as she could.
It was at the moment she was just a few meters away from him that Adrien came towards her in hurried steps. She slowed down to look at him.
He was panting, gesturing towards his jacket, and she could see it had a tiny tear in one of the seams of the arms. She gasped, any mistakes like that this close to the beginning of the runway would either be abandoned or hidden away. But they couldn’t do that, and the piece needed to be showcased today.
“Marinette! Please, I’m so sorry, but my dresser was a little too harsh with the clothing because we don’t have enough time, and apparently the stitches were a bit too lose… can you fix it?”
Marinette was just about to answer when she remembered the shady person. She turned towards him, facing away from Adrien for a second and seeing him with a phone in hand, taking photo’s of them. Which was forbidden. Even the personnel wasn’t allowed to take pictures backstage, unless they got permission from the PR team!
She took a step forward. “Hey, you there!” she yelled, getting the attention of the other people milling about, making them stop in their movements. “Stop where you are!”
Instead of listening, the boy took a few steps backwards and then turned tail to run away. Marinette ran after him, quickly gaining speed and soon there was no distance between them anymore, and Marinette took a fold of his hoody. His feet were shooting upwards as she yanked his upper body down. In a second he was on his back, panting slightly, staring back at her with wide eyes.
“Give me that phone!” she commanded. Fortunately for him he wasn’t completely stupid, and held out his right hand that was still clutching his phone.
Marinette took it without fanfare and put it in one of her own pockets. She didn’t know the exact procedure for this situation.
“Sorry, I didn’t know you were a bodyguard. I wouldn’t have dared to do cross someone as strong as you.” He said with a small smirk, his eyes pleading forgiveness. Was he really trying to flirt with her?
Before she could retort, Nathalie Sancoeur and Gabriel Agreste were standing before her. Oh no, she shouldn’t have messed with things that weren’t her responsibility!
Instead of lecturing her, Gabriel gave her a small nod. From what she had learned from Adrien, that was a grant sign of appreciation. It made her feel proud.
Nathalie was looking down at the young man with indifference. After a few seconds a genuine bodyguard came to the scene and took the boy from the floor. Marinette watched them go.
“Do you have something for me, Miss Dupain-Cheng?” Nathalie asked her. She quickly stood up straight again and pulled the phone out of her pocket, giving it to the intimidating assistant. After the short exchange, the two adults turned away and went back to stand a level above them to supervise again.
Adrien had been standing behind her, looking at the situation with wonder. Marinette just caught a crazy fanboy on her own, without being told to do so, just because it was a good thing to do. She always seemed to surprise him.
Marinette turned around and came face to face with the model, letting out a small squeak. Adrien thought it was cute.
“If you’re up for it, I still need some stitching?” he asked feeling a bit weird to ask again. But Marinette just smiled and led the both of them back towards the spare room with sewing supplies where she quickly fixed the problem.
The show had gone alright, there were a few piece Adrien thought were really innovative, some saver options, and of course there was Marinette’s design, and in Adrien’s opinion it was the highlight of the show.
Adrien was looking at his phone on the way back, Gorilla driving the four of them back to the mansion. His father was looking at him funny, however, and it was distracting him.
Why was his father studying him? Not that he didn’t do it often, but mostly he did it when Adrien was aware, almost to see him get uncomfortable.
He let out a loud sigh when they finally stopped in the driveway. Adrien couldn’t get out of the car faster. Before he could escape to his room (and then escape that room to roam around as Chat) he was stopped by a gentle but firm hand on his shoulder.
Preparing himself for a lecture, he wasn’t prepared to see the soft look on his father’s face when he turned around.
“Son…” he began.
“Yes Father?”
His father put his glasses back in place with two fingers, sighing once more before speaking clearly.
“You don’t find women like Marinette Dupain-Cheng everywhere, they are quite rare.” He said with a serious face. Adrien didn’t quite understand what his father was getting at.
“Yes, I know she is amazing, at everything she does.” He said with a bright smile, glad to share his admiration with his father.
“I think she will either become your wife, or your step-mom.”
Before Adrien could react, his father was already walking away, leaving his son perplexed in the hallway.