"Everything leads to a dead end," Alya complained, sounding totally and completely dejected. "Why is it so hard to find information on any of this? Your mom's been the best source yet." She, Mari, and Alix were sitting at a picnic table beneath the stretching bows of a budding tree. Adrien was lying at the end in the grass, eyes closed as though he were napping. He wasn't, of course, but it was a comfortable position nonetheless.
"What are you trying to research?" Alix asked, only sounding moderately interested. As she'd already made quite clear, she was only still with them because she had another half an hour to waste before meeting her brother nearby. She'd originally come with Kim and Max, those three plus Alya, Mari, and him having been the group that'd been running around town all afternoon. Mostly with Kim from sports store to sports store, looking for some kind of specific shoe that Adrien knew nothing about. Running shoes, he'd gathered. They'd also stopped by an arcade, where Alya had beat them all quite soundly at Dance Dance Revolution, before getting food and finishing the afternoon in the park.
"Just superhero stuff," Alya groaned, Adrien wondering if the "thump" that followed was her forehead hitting the table. "Who would have thought that something as extraordinary as past superheroes would be so difficult to find any information on?"
"Well, they probably tried to be inconspicuous," Mari reasoned.
"Why? Ladybug and Chat Noir aren't inconspicuous."
"I don't think they can help it," Mari replied, chuckling. "They show up where the akuma do, inconspicuous or not."
"What superheroes are you researching?" Alix asked, sounding a bit more interested now. Above them, Adrien could hear the leaves wisping, a light breeze skirting across the grass. It was a nice feeling—calm and refreshing. Mari's voice riding on top of it all was agreeable too—he liked listening to her talk.
He liked having her nearby in general.
"Some Twin Tails superheroes from the World War II era," Mari explained. "I guess they were Polish? Or seen in Poland? We don't really know."
"And that's the bitch of it all," Alya moaned.
"You should talk to my dad, if you're really that serious about it," Alix said, Adrien frowning thoughtfully from the grass. "He's a historian at the Louvre. Ever since my brother and I got akumatized or whatever, he's been pretty interested in that kind of stuff. He might know something."
"Mr. Kubdel?" Alya asked, intent now.
"That is my last name," Alix said flatly.
"And even if he doesn't, he might know where to look," Mari offered, ever trying to be positive. "Worth a shot, yeah?"
"Totally!" Alya was excited again, Adrien smiling just a bit to himself. Despite her constant attempts to unveil their identities, Adrien liked Alya—even if he really didn't know her that well. But if she was Mari's best friend, then that already gave her high reviews in his book.
"Can I just stop by the Louvre and see him?" Alya asked.
"Eh, you better make an appointment," Alix replied. "He's pretty busy most of the time."
"Can I have his number?"
"Yeah, I guess," Alix said, sounding only moderately hesitant. "But I left my cell at home, and I don't have his number memorized."
"I only live a few streets over from you," Alya went on. "Could we go get it?"
"Well, I'm supposed to meet my brother in twenty minutes..."
"That's plenty of time!" Alya argued, Adrien able to hear the way the bench shifted as she stood. "C'mon, if we go now, you'll have enough time to come back this way."
