Chapter Text
Staring at her screen in disbelief, Nathalie couldn’t trust her thoughts–Trust herself. Why was she so quick to–? No, it wasn’t disbelief, exactly. It had quickly become guilt, what was she meant to think? Adrien’s not like Gabriel. No, far from it. Her fingers curl above the keyboard, her hands barring her from continuing, quickly forming fists. Lips purse into a straight line. Now, she had to think about this logically. This is Adrien she’s unfairly accusing here. Sweet, gentle Adrien. The same child who jumped over concrete cracks in the backyard after hearing the nursery rhyme. The same patient Adrien who would wait months for his father – and herself – to return from their missions. Caring Adrien, who understood why, even if he was personally affected by his Father’s absence.
Adrien acting like Gabriel is a worry, but being exactly like the man? That was far-fetched. Similarities don’t mean history will repeat. Adrien is so much smarter and empathetic than that man that– Oh. Yes, he absolutely could. She could see Adrien going further and beyond, but to follow his Father’s orders – if Gabriel could give orders beyond the grave? It was something that she couldn’t bring herself to believe. Adrien had morals; Gabriel would sacrifice his own son to reach his goals.
The similarities are hardly there.
She takes a deep breath, holds it, and then releases. Glancing towards the time, realising it had flown by. How long was she stuck in her thoughts? Not wanting to waste any more time, Nathalie closes her laptop, and she gets up from her chair. Yet, once she makes it through the doorway, she lingers. Her hand remained on the wood, thumb idly caressing it.
It’d been years since their departure, yet their time still lingers. She can feel their presence within this room, and if she shuts her eyes, Nathalie can pretend the couple is behind her, excitedly talking amongst themselves about the miracle they’ll one day create. The haunting memory that marked the end of the family, and the beginning of a new life. But a day she finds herself grateful for.
Eventually, she moved on and into the dining room, where Adrien and Lila were already waiting. Gorilla also sat at the table. A welcome and recent addition to the… whatever they were. She has to admit, she doesn’t see them as family. But loves them as if she does. Lila, however, is a completely different tale. As the girl had taken a spot at the head of the dining table, Nathalie notes that this is just another attempt to get a reaction out of her.
Instead, the woman sits next to Gorilla. Her stoic face is unmoving as she sits directly across from Adrien. The blond teen seems to notice and shoots a smile her way. Then, suddenly, all of her worries are replaced with a warmth washing over her. The nerves die down, and she returns the favour with a genuine smile of her own. She always wondered how Adrien was able to continue smiling despite all of the hardships that he’s been through, and the ones that he remains naive to.
However, watching the way Adrien interacted with Lila – at least from the very few glances Nathalie had attempted throughout the dinner, there was something strange between the two. On one hand, she believed it was only her imagination. On the other hand, Nathalie knows the true nature of Lila and what she may know. Her biggest fear is that Lila has a headstart, and the woman might be caught in a game that she’s only realised had already begun. While the theory of Adrien acting like Gabriel can be easily dismissed. Adrien acting like Lila – now that is something that cannot be ignored.
“Nathalie?” A soft voice snaps her out of her thoughts. Quickly, she responds:
“Sorry, Adrien, as you were saying?”
The teen nods in response, a glance towards Lila, before it returns to Nathalie. “About my speech on Friday, I wrote a rough draft. If you’d like to give me some feedback on it? You don’t have to, of course.”
Nathalie remained silent for a second, wondering if she was caught in a moment of absence; she straightened herself. “Of course I would, but Adrien, I’m sure your draft is great. I’ve seen your writing before; whatever you have written about your Father, the citizens of Paris will feel privileged, hearing from you. I’m sure of it. “ She swears, she catches an eye twitch from Adrien. Subtle, but maybe it was a coincidence. Or in her mind. Is she overthinking about the same child she watched growing up over some silly hobby? Surely, she’s better than this.
“ Thanks, Nathalie. I don’t know what I would do without you. I would still like to hand it over, though. ” Adrien finally responds as he returns to his dinner silently, as if putting an end to their conversation. Nathalie blinks, staring towards the teen who idly continues to eat his dinner. The habit was close to someone she used to know, and it was …quite jarring, to say the least. She understood from personal experience that grief can be an ugly, destructive force of nature that rots from the inside out. Leaving someone as a hollow shell of their former self. She had witnessed the extent of Adrien’s grief – the bed rot kind. She recalls the early days of Émilie’s death, when he would lie in his bed for days on end, unmoving. Unwashed, unfed. Silent.
She remembered how bad it used to be, that Nathalie had to request Gabriel to come out of his own grief to command his son to take care of himself. Gabriel had told her, simply, “he will get over himself.” And then, the next day would be jarringly different. Adrien was washed, and so were his sheets. His room didn’t have that thick, depressive stench. It was like he was possessed and numb. But different. But the boy was still in so much grief.
However, it had only taken him a week to visually ‘get over’ Émilie. Nathalie knows that it wasn’t Adrien who made it so. But at that time, she never heard Adrien say so much as a peep when it came to his Mother during those days, despite the countless of hours they spent together.
His grief with Gabriel was .. different. Nathalie had expected the same kind of rot, she had expected Adrien to plead and cry over the death of his Father. Yes, the initial devastation hit him. Recalling the footage, it was hard to watch. Adrien would make pancakes, and take a more proactive approach to grief. That wasn’t the strange; that was the good. The great, if anything. Nathalie felt proud to watch the child grow into a more emotionally stable teenager. She likes to think she had a hand in it.
But she was too busy searching for a cure, too busy obeying his Father. Yearning for his Mother.
One day, Adrien stopped talking about his Father. He had stopped replicating everything his Father did and began to withdraw for a couple of days, then returned to normal as if nothing had changed. Nathalie had assumed Adrien needed a period of time. At first, this seemed to be a normal progression of grief. Until Adrien began to inflate Gabriel once more, talking about how grandiose the man was- a visionary of all time.
Adrien isn’t even into fashion. She knows this because she would frequently let him have five more minutes when he didn’t feel like modelling. Adrien doesn’t even care about the differences between silk and velvet – in his own words: “It all feels the same to me.”
And now, as she stares at Adrien from across the dining table, Nathalie is at a loss for words. Her curiosity bites her tongue, but the refusal to begin a sensitive and dangerous topic forbade her from finding out. Lest she wants Adrien to suspect that, she is now believing the teen is a very different person, or let him discover that she was Mayura.
Silence remained for the rest of dinner, as Adrien excused Lila, and himself. Much to Nathalie’s agreement, and a confirmation of Lila’s curfew of, at most, nine thirty. Gorilla soon left after, returning to his quarters. Leaving Nathalie alone at the dining table. Nothing else happened during dinner, and she can’t tell if that worries her, or if she should book an appointment for herself with how deeply she’s spiralled in such a short amount of time.
What would Gabriel want?
No, what would Émilie want?
A long huff escapes her nose, sitting at the table for an embarrassingly long time. As she realises, she forgot to ask Adrien if he’d like his shoes to be replaced. That… will have to wait until tomorrow, she finally leaves the table. Making her way through the mansion, quickly, on a mission as she returns to Gabriel’s atelier. Perhaps, she needs to make a call. Or two. Once inside, she shuts the door behind her. Quickly pulling out her phone, she decides to pick the perfect person.
They answer just as quickly.
“Nathalie!” A girl’s voice sounds hushed, quiet, but otherwise frightened. “Do you need help? I can be on my way–! It must be important if you’re calling! What’s going on?!” A ping of guilt dreads itself over the woman once she hears the girl’s voice. She shouldn’t have to rely on a teenager to handle adult problems, nor should she have to be so underhanded to have her own suspicions confirmed. Suspicions without a basis: Accusations without a trial. If he does have the butterfly, then what? What does she do then? Bring him in?
She can hardly bear the thought.
“Marinette. You remember Lila Rossi, do you?” Nathalie asked, and the silence on the other end of the phone seems to confirm, even to the girl’s verbal confirmation.
“...Yeah, I do. Why?” Ah, that tone indicates a very strong dislike.
Nathalie notes the tone in the most polite way possible. “Can you keep an eye on her and Adrien. For me? I believe that Adri–” She skips over her accusation, weighing the consequences. Is she willing to ruin Adrien’s other relationships over an unconfirmed worry? Is she willing to paint him as a mastermind? No, she’s not. Because that’s not Adrien– Sweet, caring Adrien is anything but a schemer. He’s a follower, a yearner. A lover. Unlike Felix, Adrien doesn’t have the heart.
“ – Adrien’s relationship with Lila is not as genuine as it seems. “
There is a long pause on the other end of the phone, not even as much as a breath, until:
“Okay.”