Chapter Text
“They’ve been quiet for too long,” Nathalie said, looking in the direction of the elevator to the former lair. Former lair because Marinette and Gabriel had turned it into some sort of fashion designers heaven slash magical lab for studying the grimoire.
Adrien didn’t look up from where he sat on the floor of the atelier with Nikki making some sort of diorama, though to Nathalie it looked more like a mess of paper, glue and paint. They had refused her help but she knew from experience that she’d have to stay up late the night before it was due to help them fix it.
“They’re not children,” he said.
“They probably got caught up designing again and forgot about the time,” Nikki said.
“I still worry when I don’t hear anything from them in over an hour,” Nathalie said. She’d put it in the conditions for helping him to adopt Nikki that he had to see a psychiatrist about his depression, anxiety and sensory processing disorder. He’d been taking his medicine on time and had been having some strange side effects. For one, he was smiling far more often than she’d ever seen him, and they were genuine too which was strange. Two, he’d become more touchy, demanding hugs from Adrien, Nikki and especially Nathalie, but he still refused to touch anyone else and the only other presence he could endure was Marinette’s. Three, it was as if a flip had switched. He’d been having trouble designing before but now he would spend hours and hours working on designing and sewing and one of them would have to drag him away to eat and sleep. He’d once gone a week without showering and she suspected he’d repurposed the left over adult… absorbent underwear so he wouldn’t have to take any breaks at all. Nathalie hadn’t been amused. Working for Gabriel was really like taking care of a child sometimes. At least he made an effort on their 'dates'.
“I’ll go check on them,” she said, standing.
Before she could make it across the room to the elevator, it rose from the ground revealing a sheepish looking Marinette holding a blond cat in her arms.
“Aw, he’s cute,” Nikki said. “Did he jump in through the window?”
“I don’t think that’s possible,” Nathalie said, her eyes narrow. “Marinette, what have you two been up to?”
“Um well…
“Don’t tell me--”
Marinette held out the annoyed looking cat. “He read an incantation out loud and turned into a cat.”
The paint brushes dropped from Adrien’s and Nikki’s hand. Nathalie was thankful she’d made sure to have them cover the carpet with a sheet of plastic before starting their project. They ran over to Marinette. Nikki took him from her hands.
“Daddy’s so cute as a cat,” she said.
He put his paw over her mouth so she wouldn’t say more. He at least had the decency to look embarrassed.
Adrien reached down to scratch him behind the ear. Gabriel hit away his hand making Adrien chuckle. “Dad even acts like a cat.”
Once Nikki had heard she was going to be adopted, she’d immediately starting referring to Gabriel as ‘Daddy’. When Adrien heard that he’d stopped calling Gabriel ‘Father’ and started calling him ‘Dad’. Gabriel didn’t stop him and now they were once step closer to forgetting about bloodlines.
Gabriel jumped down from Nikki’s hands and leaped onto the podium so he could look down at them. He let out a loud ‘meow’, realized he couldn’t speak and proceeded to faint dramatically. Nathalie caught him before he hit to ground.
“Sir, you’re being overdramatic,” she said. He glared at her. “It’s still work hours.” He said it felt weird for his girlfriend to call him ‘Sir’ and made him feel like he was doing something wrong and dirty. The years of habit couldn’t change within a month and Nathalie slipped up every now and then.
“Can you change him back?” Adrien asked.
Marinette scratched the back of her neck. “I need to go do some more translating. I swear this wasn’t intentional.”
Gabriel meowed as if to say ‘of course it wasn’t’.
Nathalie scratched his chin, making him purr.
“Adrien does that too,” Marinette said. She reached over to scratch his ears. He closed his eyes and purred, then they snapped open. He covered his ears.
“I told you not to do that in public,” he said, turning red.
Gabriel and Nathalie raised their eyebrows at him, or at least that’s what it looked like Gabriel was trying to do. Nikki stepped away.
“I don’t want to know what you two do alone,” she said.
“We haven’t-- I mean it’s not--” His shoulders slumped.
Marinette scratched his ear again. “You’re so cute.”
His face got even redder.
“Wait, if he transformed, where are his clothes?” Nikki asked. “Is he… naked?”
Adrien and Nathalie’s eyes widened.
“No no no. They um, transformed with him,” Marinette said.
“Then what was in his pockets are now inside of him?” Nikki asked.
“Let me check,” Adrien said, pulling out his phone. He dialed Gabriel’s number. A small blue light appeared on his stomach.
Gabriel let out a surprised yelp and tried to pat his stomach where the light was but it was hard since he was now a cat. He grabbed onto Nathalie’s sweater and cried. She patted his back.
“There there. I’ll have Gorilla get you some bubble tea,” she said.”Would that help you feel better?” Then she sneezed and sneezed and sneezed and kept sneezing until it made her cough. Gabriel meowed, worried. She handed him to Adrien and left the room.
“Dad, I think she’s allergic to you,” he said. Gabriel went limp in his hands. “Don’t worry, Father. I’m sure Marinette will think of something.”
“I’ll do my best,” Marinette said.
“By the way, what were you two trying to do anyway?” Nikki asked.
Marinette looked at Gabriel. “Can I tell them?” she asked. He hesitated for a moment before giving a defeated nod. “He wants to propose.”
“What?” Adrien and Nikki asked.
“Sh!” Marinette said. “We can’t let Nathalie hear.”
“But they’ve only been dating for two months,” Nikki said.
“They’ve known each other for years. They can skip the dating part,” Adrien said.
Gabriel reached up to pat his cheek. The boy was finally starting to understand romance.
“Then how did he end up like this?” Nikki asked.
“We found a part in the book where he could make something similar looking to the Northern Lights appear in the sky over Paris. He wanted it to be part of the surprise,” Marinette said. “The word for north and cat are written the same but pronounced differently. He said the word for cat and this happened.”
Gabriel sighed, his front legs hanging over Adrien’s arms.
“Dad, if you wanted to propose, Nikki and I already have a plan,” he said.
“We can even adjust it to suit the Northern Lights if you want,” Nikki said. “Though I guess it would be hard to cast that spell when you’re in a public place.”
“The proposal won’t even happen if I can’t--”
Marinette was interrupted by Nathalie reentering the room with a mask covering her nose and mouth and a bottle of pills in her hand. The four kwamis who had been watching cricket in Gabriel’s master bedroom flew in behind her. Plagg and Duusuu burst out laughing when they saw him. Gabriel swatted at them and managed to hit Plagg who didn’t stop laughing even when he was thrown face first into a couch cushion.
“Master, what have you done this time?” Nooroo asked, somehow managing to keep from laughing.
“Marinette, we agreed the incantations were too dangerous,” Tikki said.
“It wasn’t on purpose,” Marinette said. She stood on the elevator. “I’ll go do more research.” She sunk into the ground.
Adrien held his father out in front of him. “What do we do with you until she turns you back?” he asked.
Nikki grinned wickedly. “Do you think if we shine a laser pointer he’d chase it?”
Gabriel narrowed his eyes. She better not--
Nikki grabbed a pen with a pointer from Nathalie’s desk and shone it on the ground. He couldn’t help it. He just had to catch that red dot. It wasn’t until she turned it off that he noticed they were laughing at him. He walked out of the atelier with his head down only to be picked off the floor by Nathalie. He struggled to get out of her hold before she had an asthma attack.
“Relax. I took some allergy tablets and I’m wearing a mask,” she said. She took him into the kitchen and rested him on the counter. She placed a bowl with bubble tea in front of him. Bubble tea solved all life’s problems.
She stroked his back as he drank. “Just what were you trying to do this time, Gabriel?” she asked.
For the first time he was glad he couldn’t speak. She couldn’t accuse him of keeping a secret if he was a cat.
“Maybe you should use this time to actually sleep for once,” she said.
Gabriel ignored her. Who had time for sleep when there was designing and research and magic to be had?
Adrien and Nikki walked into the kitchen. Gabriel huffed and turned his back to them. Adrien picked him up anyway.
“I’ve been doing this cat thing for a few years now. You’ll be fine,” he said.
“And now I get to be one too,” Nikki said. That was when they noticed Adrien had lent her his ring. “Plagg, claws out.” She transformed into Chat Noir, except with a skirt and long hair. “This is so awesome!”
“You have to give it back,” Adrien said.
“Yeah yeah. I wish Marinette would give me one,” Nikki said.
“No,” Nathalie said immediately. Gabriel meowed in protest. Nathalie cleared her throat. “A child of your age should not be using something so dangerous. Adrien, don’t give her the ring again.”
“Aw,” Nikki said.
“Need I remind you that I still can’t breathe properly,” Nathalie said.
“But that was different,” Nikki said.
“No buts. You will not have a miraculous. The only reason Adrien still has his is because Plagg is now loyal to me and me alone.”
Adrien turned to Nikki. “Plagg, what did you do?” he asked.
“He says she’s scary,” Nikki said.
“Good,” Nathalie said.
Gabriel jumped down from Adrien’s arms and ran out of the room then back into the room then out of the room then back into the room looking completely confused as to what just happened.
“Don’t worry. It’s a cat thing,” Adrien said.
Gabriel flopped on the floor with a sigh.
“Go clean up before dinner,” Nathalie said. Adrien and Chat Nikki went to clean up their mess in the atelier. She looked down at Gabriel. “Sir, I don’t think I should stay for dinner this evening. I’m afraid to take off this mask.” He let out a whimpering nose. Nathalie bent down to scratch his ears. “Try not to get into any trouble while I’m away.” He huffed and turned his head. “You know if I get an asthma attack I’ll be stuck in bed for a week.”
He let out a sigh and patted her hand. He’d been telling her for years to take better care of herself. He couldn’t ask her to stay when it would make her sick. Then his eyes widened and he jumped to his feet. He reached to his leg and groaned. The inhaler he usually kept in his pocket was gone.
“Don’t worry. I have mine,” Nathalie said. “See you tomorrow, sir.”
******
Marinette left after dinner. Gabriel refused to eat like an animal and make a mess even though he was hungry. His pride was more important. He kept his seat at the head of the table, even though he could no longer see above it.
The first thing he did afterwards was make sure Nikki was in bed. She had frequent nightmares and would try to avoid sleeping as much as possible.
Gabriel dragged the blanket up to her neck with his teeth.
“But I want to watch the next episode,” she said.
Gabriel placed his paw on her mouth and shook his head.
“Please?”
He pushed the tablet off the bed and pointed to the pillow.
“Fine, but only if you promise to stay.”
He nodded. It wasn’t an unusual request. She sometimes asked Adrien to stay. Never Nathalie though. He didn’t understand why. She wanted them to get married even though the relationship between them was strained. He really wanted to ask Nikki about it but he couldn’t speak.
“Daddy, do you think Nathalie hates the idea of being a mom?” Nikki asked.
Honestly, he’d never thought about it. Adrien had already been eight when she’d started working for them and they were very close but they sometimes acted more like
siblings than like a parent and child.
She rolled onto her side so she could look at him. “I don’t think I could be a good mom. I don’t even know what a good mom is like. I wonder if Nathalie is thinking the same.”
Gabriel thought that might be the case. Nathalie had never had a family before.
“We don’t know how to talk to each other. It’s weird. I thought it would be easy because… you know…”
Nikki had had a traumatic experience with her birth parents. Trauma didn’t begin to explain Nathalie’s childhood.
“Adrien doesn’t seem worried but they’ve been together for longer. I feel left out sometimes.” Nikki sniffled and wiped her eyes. “I don’t like feeling left out. It hurts.”
Gabriel was certain Nathalie wasn’t doing that on purpose but Nikki didn’t know that.
“What if you two get married and she still doesn’t like me?” She sniffled.Gabriel wished he could open his mouth and tell her that won’t happen, but he had to settle for curling up next to her. “And because everyone else has a miraculous except me, I don’t know what to say when the topic comes up and I get left out again.” He knew she wanted a miraculous but he’d thought that it was because she wanted to be a hero too.
Nikki hugged him and cried into his fur until she fell asleep. Gabriel made a mental note to have a talk with both of them once he got back his human body. He had a feeling similar thoughts were running through Nathalie’s mind.
He slipped out of her grasp once she was sound asleep and went to Adrien’s door. He scratched on it until Adrien opened it and walked inside.
“How are you holding up?” Adrien asked.
Plagg burst out laughing again. “This gets better every time,” he said.
“Don’t tease him,” Nooroo said. “It’s okay Master. Marinette will find a way to fix this.”
Gabriel nodded and hopped onto Adrien’s bed.
Adrien sat next to him. “Dad, are you seriously thinking about proposing?” he asked. Gabriel nodded. Adrien smiled. “You know, after everything that happened and finding out what kind of person Mom was, I’m glad you’re moving on with Nathalie. I’m just a little worried about her and Nikki. They don’t seem to really get along. I thought they would have been closer given what happened.”
Gabriel shook his head and looked up at Nooroo.
“Nikki’s parents were mean to her. Nathalie’s was more than just mean,” Nooroo said. “The backgrounds are similar only by first glance. Don’t forget that we got Nikki away from her parents while she was still young. Nathalie wasn’t so lucky and foster care didn’t treat her well either. Nathalie is probably just as confused as Nikki is, if not more.”
“Is there anything we can do?” Adrien asked.
“Just leave them alone. They’ll work it out eventually,” Plagg said. He flew towards Adrien with a magazine in hand. “Buy me this.” He pointed to limited edition cheese.
“More cheese?” Adrien asked.
“Your father buys Nooroo and Duusuu fancy teas, coffees and video games. All I want is cheese and--”
“Fine. I’ll buy you more cheese in the morning.” Adrien rolled his eyes and lied down. “Dad, you promised me a proper vacation but things kept happening and we couldn’t take it. Kagami invited me to go to some sites in Japan. My birthday is coming up soon. Can we go then?”
Gabriel gestured in the direction of Nikki’s room and then to himself.
“Yes, all of us. Mrs Tsurugi says she’ll let Kagami have evenings off if you and Nathalie would keep an eye on her.”
He had promised to take Adrien to Japan. Gabriel sighed and nodded. He’d tell Nathalie to book the tickets and the hotel as soon as he could speak again.
Adrien grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. Gabriel yelped and tried to escape. Adrien didn’t let go.
“I can’t wait. It’ll be so much fun. I just… don’t want to leave Marinette alone for so long. Can she come too?”
Gabriel stopped struggling long enough to look at his son and wonder where he got his brains from. He knew Adrien was dating Marinette now but the boy must know that Kagami liked him as well and being with both of them at the same time might cause problems even if the girls were friends.
“I’ll text her in the morning and ask if she wants to come too.”
Gabriel could just hope that Marinette would make the right decision because he could not trust Adrien to make it on his own.
“Dad, when you and Nathalie get married, I get the be the best man, got it?”
Gabriel nodded. Who else could it be? That idiot Jagged?
“Hurry up and propose so we can start working on Nathalie’s dress, and Nikki’s too. She’d look so cute in blue or purple.” He placed Gabriel on the ground. “I’m going to sleep. Good night Dad.”
Gabriel meowed in response and went to his own room. He hopped onto the bed and curled up in the middle, but he couldn’t sleep. It was too big, too open, too cold. He jumped down and went to the closet and curled up in the corner. Much better.
*****
At around midnight, he was woken by the feeling of a nightmare. He followed it to Adrien’s room. He’d been having nightmares ever since that day they fought Jeff. Nooroo opened the door to let Gabriel inside. He jumped onto the bed and poked Adrien’s cheek. The boy bolted up, panting and covered in sweat. He dragged a hand down his face.
“Kid, you okay?” Plagg asked. “Here, have some cheese.” He tried to shove a piece of cheese into Adrien’s mouth. He pushed the kwami away.
“I don’t want your stinky cheese, you fake cat,” Adrien said.
Plagg shrugged. “Your loss.” He tossed it in the air and caught it in his mouth.
“Flashbacks,” Nooroo said.
Adrien nodded. He looked at Gabriel who sat on the bed next to him. “I know that was two months ago but… I lost both of you that day. I can’t… I can’t just get over that.” He held his hands up to his face. “I was covered in her blood. She died in my arms. I came home to find your body on the floor.” He held his face in his hands. “I can’t stop seeing those memories.”
Gabriel stuck his head under Adrien’s arm and tried to give him a hug. His short legs with no hands were an endless source of frustration.
Adrien picked him up and hugged him to his chest. “Dad, please never do something reckless like that again. I won’t try to leave you again so please don’t die.”
Gabriel nodded, though he didn’t mean it. If his family was in trouble, he’d do anything to save them. Adrien would understand that eventually. For now, what Adrien needed the most was to hear that he won’t be left alone, so Gabriel hugged him as best as he could in a silent promise to be there for as long as he could.