Whenever Adrien watched any horror movies, he knew that squeaky doors were usually a dead giveaway. Thankfully, rich, modern houses didn't have squeaky doors, so he didn't have to worry about it. The wood slid silently open on greased hinges, Adrien more conscious of keeping his steps silent as opposed to anything else.
Plagg floated beside his head, the heavy superhero book gripped tightly in Adrien's hands as he peered through the doorway. It was early evening, the sun having just set, and so everything was cloudy with shadows. Still, he could make out the general shapes of his father's study, his mother's golden portrait seeming to glow on the other side of the room, even in the darkness.
Creeping in, Adrien silently closed the door behind him, his nerves twisting in his gut despite how he lectured himself on staying calm. He had nothing to worry about. Nathalie was still cornered away in her office—he doubted she'd even realized he'd left and come back—and his father wouldn't be home for a few hours yet, or so experience dictated.
All he had to do was get to the safe, have Plagg open it, and slip the book back in where it belonged. With any luck, his father wouldn't even know it'd been missing.
Conscious of time and of doing things he shouldn't be, Adrien crept across the room, Plagg already waiting for him at the base of the portrait. Once there, he glanced around only quickly—despite the illogic of doing so—before he focused in on the frame. With nimble fingers, he gripped the edge and swung it open, each step taken in replacing the book calming his heartbeat just a little.
Faced with the safe, he swallowed and watched as Plagg zipped in past the metal door, the clicking of the latch giving Adrien the signal he needed. Pulling it open, he surveyed the shelves before sliding the book in where it'd been previously. Thankfully, nothing looked disturbed, so it was probably reasonable to assume his father hadn't opened the safe since that morning.
With any luck, he'd never know the book had been missing in the first place.
Unfortunately, Adrien wasn't known for having good luck.
"Did you find the contents of the book of any interest?"
Adrien could have sworn his heart nearly leapt right out of his mouth. He actually jumped, taking in air so quickly he hissed as he whipped around. Plagg had scurried into his jacket, Adrien stiff and wide-eyed with startled terror as he faced the silhouette standing some ten feet behind him.
It was still dark, but the door to the room had been opened. Which meant his father hadn't been hiding in the dark—he'd come in after Adrien. Hopefully, that meant he hadn't seen Plagg.
No lights had been flicked on, Gabriel's figure shadowed, but not unable to be made out. Even if it'd been broad daylight, though, Adrien doubted he'd be able to read whatever expression was surrounding those cold, blue eyes.
"F-father," he sputtered out, aware that both the safe and portrait were hanging open behind him. He'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, which, really, hadn't happened before. He'd always been well-behaved, exempting certain situations like school. Which meant he had no idea what to expect from the tall man standing in front of him.
"Did you?" Gabriel asked. Adrien had to reel back his thoughts, if only to remember what his father had initially asked him.
"I, uh, I- I didn't look- I couldn't understand it. The-the pictures were interesting." Oh god, what should he do? He knew his father wasn't asking him these questions because he was really curious. He was doing it as a way of luring Adrien into whatever punishment he had planned. Probably, anyway.
"No, I suppose you wouldn't," Gabriel replied coldly, hands folded behind his back. "What inspired you to look at it in the first place? And take it, no less?"
