Dreams of You

Chapter 11

Adrien

Adrien almost jumped out of his skin, coming face to face with Nino's murderous glare as soon as he'd stepped out of the bakery. He had completely forgotten about his friend with everything that was going on today.

"You said one hour! You promised me to go straight home after the beach," Nino barked, his arms folded over his chest. "We had a deal, Adrien. How am I supposed to give you some space if you don't hold up your end of a bargain?"

"I know. I'm sorry, Nino. I promise I did plan to go straight home but—"

"You know I don't like shadowing you everywhere just as much as you," Nino continued fuming. "But we're here undercover, and that crazy woman is trying to find you. Not to mention, Felix joined her efforts. You can't be that reckless, Adrien. They know who they're dealing with. No matter how strong you are, if you're outnumbered and unequipped, you'll need someone to back you up, not to mention Felix knows exactly how you fight—"

"Marinette got hurt!" Adrien threw his arms in the air, his voice loud enough only for Nino to hear. "I couldn't leave her with a possible broken ankle on a beach with no means of getting home."

Nino froze in his spot. "Marinette? What happened? Is she alright?"

"She will be." Plagg poked his head from Adrien's pocket with a proud grin on his face. "I made sure of that. You're welcome."

"Oh, really?" Adrien quirked an eyebrow. "And what did you do? Last time I checked you were the kwami of destruction, not healing."

"A kwami of destruction tied to the one you need." Plagg smirked. "Tikki might be dormant but my proximity will stir her enough for more than usual of her magic to slip out to heal your precious Marinette in no time. That broken bone in her ankle was healed before we even arrived at the bakery."

"So that's what that was," Adrien hummed. "Unexpectedly considerate of you, Plagg."

"You can thank me in Camembert."

"And here I was starting to think you've changed." Nino chuckled as Adrien rolled his eyes. "Selfless as always, Plagg?"

Plagg glared Nino's way and ducked back into Adrien's pocket, murmuring something about ungrateful humans and their rude friends.

"Here. An advance." Adrien opened the pastry box Tom had given him, pulled out a cheese puff and offered it to Plagg. "I'll buy you more Camembert tomorrow."

The kwami grabbed the pastry, shoved it in his mouth, and zoomed back to hide in Adrien's collar without a single word.

"Want some?" Adrien offered the box to Nino, taking a croissant for himself.

"They are spoiling you rotten." Nino shook his head in amusement, pulling a treat out of the box. "But don't you think this will get you off the hook. I'm still mad at you for vanishing on me without a warning. You don't want to know what went down in my head before I tracked you down to the bakery."

"Sorry." Adrien gave Nino an apologetic smile. "It really was an emergency, but I should've let you know."

Nino ran his hands through his hair. "That's fine, but next time just try to contact me, so I don't have to leave my gravity-defying baby and run here to see if you're still alive."

"You could've called me."

Nino's look was anything but amused. "Have you checked your phone lately?"

Adrien frowned, pulling out his cellphone. A single glance at the black screen and it all made sense. "Oops."

"Always charge your phone before going out. That's basic, Adrien."