"Your father is waiting for you in the sitting room." Adrien hadn't even been two feet inside the door when Nathalie made her announcement. Naturally, his father couldn't simply come get him on his own—he had to have Nathalie fetch him like some kind of obligated appointment.
Which was when Adrien had an idea.
"Okay," he said simply, shrugging and blinking at Nathalie only once before turning away. He headed for the stairs. Which was, quite clearly, not the direction of the sitting room. But he was tired of being treated like some kind of employee.
"A-Adrien!" Nathalie stuttered, surprised by his behavior. But he didn't bother replying. Rather, still fueled by his determination from the morning, he went straight to his room before shucking off his shoes and setting his bag down on his desk. He plopped down on his computer chair following, pulling his phone from his pocket.
Plagg had zipped out, but was apparently cautious enough to realize he probably wasn't safe in plain view—as they'd likely be interrupted shortly.
Adrien didn't let it bother him, albeit with force of mind. Instead, he kept his jaw tight as he opened his text window to Mari. Just as he was about to begin typing, however, he heard the familiar clicking of his bedroom door.
Already fed up with the whole situation, he laid his phone on his desk and turned in the chair to face the intruder. When his father's tall silhouette was what entered, he slouched a bit more in his seat.
Clearly, Gabriel was not pleased. He came to stand directly in front of Adrien, his hands clasped behind his back. There was a certain degree of stiffness to his posture that spoke of disapproval and his lips were pursed into an even thinner line than usual.
Adrien refused to speak first, instead staring up at his father while fiddling with his bracelet.
"You were asked to meet me in the sitting room," Gabriel eventually said.
"Yeah, so?" Adrien replied, an itch in the back of his head warning him that maybe he was stretching his legs a bit too much. But he ignored it, instead turning away from his father to face the numerous computer monitors atop his desk. Reaching out, he moved his mouse, as if he really intended to ignore the fact that his father was there.
Gabriel took a short breath. "I don't appreciate this new attitude you seem to have adopted."
"And I don't appreciate being treated like one of your employees, but we can't all get what we want." Leaning forward, Adrien put his elbow on the desk and his cheek in his hand, admiring the background photo of his mother before opening a new internet tab and shortcutting his way to the Ladyblog.
"Adrien, look at me."
So he did, and then looked back at his monitor a second later. He knew he was pushing it—really, really pushing it—but part of him wanted to see how far he could go. Now that he'd started, he didn't want to stop.
Even if he was running before he knew how to walk.
"Your behavior is inappropriate."
"Your parenting is inappropriate." Yeah, that was definitely too far. He knew it as soon as he said it, lips cringing as the words were let loose.
"Adrien Michel!"
"What?"
"Look at me!"
And so Adrien did, though he made it quite clear he wasn't happy about it. He remained slouched in his chair, arms crossing over his chest as he mustered the most unenthused look possible. He said nothing, belligerently grinding his teeth in much the same fashion his father oftentimes did.
