Miraculous Ladybug: Future

The Morning of the Fashion Show pt. 2

Adrien really didn't feel like waking up that morning. In fact, he didn't feel like waking up any morning but especially not this one. Today was the spring fashion show, set up by his former classmate and friend, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. He would be one of the main models in this show. He only agreed to model because Marinette was his friend, and he didn't want to let her down. But if he was being honest, he wanted to stay in his bed, all day.

A knock on the door. "Adrien, good morning! Gorilla's made pancakes!" Natalie calls.

He stirred and slowly sat up in his bed. "Yeah, okay!" He yawned. "I'll be down in a minute!"

As he heard Natalie's footsteps get fainter, Adrien got out of bed. He was thankful for Natalie, without her, he would not have woken up. Natalie had basically adopted Adrien once Gabriel had been sent to prison. Her and Gorilla had did their best raising him, even though Adrien was never the same afterwards. Now that he was an adult, he still lived with them, because he really had nowhere else to go, at least in his mind.

Downstairs, after Adrien had showered, Natalie was setting the table while Gorilla flipped the last of the pancakes. "Good morning, Gorilla." Adrien softly patted Gorilla's arm as he passed. He always had a soft spot for the gentle giant. Gorilla grunted a response, and Natalie came to take the rest of the pancakes.

"So, Adrien, are you excited for this fashion show? You haven't done one in a while." She asked, setting down the plate on the table.

He shrugged. "I'm just doing it for my friend. You know how I feel about modeling."

She nodded in silent understanding. Adrien had never liked modeling in the first place, but after Gabriel's downfall, he hadn't modeled at all.

Gorilla now sat down at the table, taking up one entire side of it. "Would you like banana's on your pancakes?" Natalie asked Adrien.

Adrien stared down at his plate, recalling the time his father had tried to win him over by making pancakes. They had banana's on them. His father had always been gas lighting and manipulating him. Always. He had lied to him. Akumatized him how many times? Betrayed him. Adrien's fist balled up tight. It had been years, and it still made his head hurt.

"No thanks, Natalie." he said through gritted teeth. "It's fine."

Natalie frowned, sensing the bad emotions bubbling up inside Adrien. She noted the hint of anger in his eyes. "Okay, then." She took her own seat at the table. Silence filled their breakfast.

______________

"Good morning Marinette! Are you ready for the big day?" Sabrina greeted her as soon as she walked in the door of her office.

Marinette smiled warmly at her, as Sabrina quickly rushed over to take her coat. "Yes, I'm ready as ever. I just hope this goes well."

Sabrina hung up the coat on the rack near the office door. "Of course it will. I have so much faith in you, Marinette. It'll be great."

Sabrina had taken the position as Marinette's assistant almost as soon as Marinette put out the ad for it. She formally was Chloe's sidekick in high school, helping her with all of her plans to get at Marinette. But after high school, Sabrina had grown out of her foolish way's and put a distance between herself and Chloe, as much as she adored her. She'd taken the job as a way to make amends to Marinette for the things her and Chloe had done years ago, even though Marinette told her time and time again that it was fine, she had forgiven them. Chloe had eventually changed too, as maturity comes with age, but the rift in their friendship was permanent.

Marinette made her way over to her desk. "So, what do we have left to do?" She asked Sabrina, grabbing a few sketches of her designs and looking though them.

"Well, we have the people setting up at the studio, they called and asked me to ask you to come over there and finalize some things for them. Like, decor and stuff." Marinette took out her notebook and made a note. "Nino and Kitty section need their equipment shipped over there as well, Nino specifically requested that his things be brought in a different truck, tied down with restraints to keep it from sliding."

"Really?" Marinette grumbled. "A different truck? That's a waste of money. All of their things should fit perfectly fine in one large truck." She tsked. Sounded like Nino.

Sabrina sighed. "That's what he said. Oh yes, and you need to meet with each of the model's, to get their final opinions before the show."

"Ah." Marinette said, then stopped. Adrien was going to be one of the model's. She remembered how happy she had been when he had agreed to be in her show, especially since he had refused to model for years. And also there was the fact that him and Marinette barely talked anymore. It was almost as if all of their years of friendship didn't happen. This had confirmed that he at least still cared about her, to some degree. She hated how joyful that thought had been. But, she couldn't have a private talk with Adrien. It would be so awkward.

Marinette's face tinged pink. "Uhm, are you okay?" Sabrina asked, snapping Marinette out of her thoughts.

"Uh, yes! Of course I'm fine. Just, a bit overwhelmed. There's still so much to do." She replied, biting down on her fingernails.

"If anyone can do it, it's you." Sabrina assured her.

"Thank you, Sabrina." She grabbed her notebook and her sketches. "These are the inspiration for everything, so these is what I'm going to show to the workers. Then, I'll deal with Nino, and the equipment, then the models, then i have to get ready." She exhaled heavily. "What a day."