Vanished (Lukadrien) • Miraculous Ladybug

Chapter 11 | progress

"I did it! I can't believe I managed it!"

Plagg was rudely awoken from his nap in Adriens pocket by his holder rather happy.

"Ughhh- what are you yelling for?" He complained.

"I'm not yelling I'm talking a normal level Plagg-"

Adrien sat in a public library that had free wifi and was reading a message on his burner flip phone. Plagg floated up to read it, them being out of the way enough to not be spotted.

"Wooaahh you actually managed to find a job?" He questioned reading over the email.

"Yep! I'll be a waiter. I'll have to do a few training days but at least I have a job now" Adrien replied.

At the start of the month he'd walked past a cafe with a help wanted sign in the window, it was a pretty small cafe that seemed to be rather popular among the locals of the town. It targeted people heading to work in the mornings, so they they opened early in the morning and closed just last midday to serve breakfast and takeaway snacks to people on their way to work and school in the morning. It would work out well for Adrien, he could work the full hours it was open and still have time in the afternoon to do other things that were necessary for living alone at his age in an abandoned building.

"Hang on don't you have to go to an interview to get a job?" Plagg asked.

"I did, Last week remember? Or were you in a food coma after eating the whole weeks supply of Camembert huh?" Adrien teased.

"I... may have been sleeping off a food coma..."

Rolling his eyes, Adrien knew that was the case. Typical Plagg.

"They want me to start next week. $12 per hour. That means I can get... $60 for a five hour shift... if I work at least four days a week that's... uh... $240. And I still have some of the money I ran away with saved. I should be able to get on that. It might take a while to save up for an apartment but at least it's a start. Can't expect a basic part time waiter job to pay as much as a model gets" Adrien rambled.

"I can't wait until we have our own place. It'll be cold in that building without heating when winter hits" Plagg said.

"Well luckily winter is a while away. Hopefully by then we can at least find somewhere warmer to stay"

Plagg looked up at Adrien, a smile on his tiny face. Adrien raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?" He asked.

"Just over a month on your own and you're already doing pretty good. That and you're really coming out of your shell, your cat noir is merging with your Adrien. I think that's always been who you really are, a mix of both. And now you're on your own and away from your dad and the spotlight of being a brand you can finally be yourself. I'm proud of you" Plagg replied.

Adrien smiled down at his kwami, gently patting his head.

"Thanks Plagg. It's not easy out here alone but at least I have you, and at least I'm finally free"

"I'm sure you'll be able to make friends at your job"

"I hope so... that's the part of all this I hate the most. Leaving my friends behind... especially Luka..." Adrien sighed.

"What happened to that lovesickness for ladybug?" Plagg asked.

Adrien pondered for a moment. He'd already accepted that he definitely had a crush on Luka, but he didn't know where he stood with ladybug. The whole situation was confusing him.

"I do care for her, but I think after the trust shattered so did the romance. If we ever did patch up the trust... I don't know if it'll be the same. I wish no ill on her but I feel different about her now" Adrien explained.