Love by Design - Adrienette

Agreste-ive Behavior

When Adrien got home, Nathalie was waiting for him in the front entryway. "Your father would like to see you."

'Again? He's starting to remember he has a son. Of course it would be when he has an ulterior use for me. Not that I mind.' He immediately realized he did mind. He could thank his father for helping find the identity of his love - but beyond that, his father was being just plain disrespectful. His father was trying to use him to buy Marinette's talent for his company. Adrien felt that his father didn't see him (or Marinette) as a full person with rights. He was afraid for what his father might have in mind; he hoped he could trust Mari's parents to come to their defense if necessary. Adrien showed himself into his father's office. Gabriel looked like he was in a relatively good mood.

"Sit down," he instructed his son. "So, what do you think about Marinette?"

What did he think of Marinette? First, she had been the girl who was picking a fight with his only friend at the time - Chloe. Then, as he became disillusioned with the person he had thought Chloe was, Marinette became a victim standing up to her bully, and he wanted to show her he wasn't like his former friend. When she'd briefly hated him in association with Chloe, she'd been able to talk to him, but after he'd cleared his name, she'd become that stuttering girl who sat behind him. He smiled, now knowing why that was. It was around that same time he'd met and fallen for Ladybug, but hadn't quite got the connection yet. Then, he'd become gradually more used to seeing Marinette around as her best friend Alya invited herself and her friend along on many occasions when Adrien was hanging out with his friend Nino. Again, now he knew why. Finally, it came down to a recent evening's events. He'd seen her as a shy guest at an awkward dinner party, which he hadn't realized would be the last moments of seeing her as just a friend. The call had come for Ladybug and Chat Noir to respond to an emergency, and when he'd gotten out there, his lady had been on the roof. There was no reasonable explanation for her to be there - except that she had transformed from inside his house. That night he had learned that Marinette was the same person as the girl that he had convinced himself was probably his soulmate. "Marinette? We get along." He considered it might be dangerous to let his father know how he truly felt about Marinette. Besides, it was embarrassing - he was still getting used to it himself.

From Gabriel's perspective, Adrien's reaction had been a mildly positive one. Enough that he should be able to continue with his plan. "Good, I'm glad. Tomorrow is Saturday, so we can have her over for a few hours in the middle of the day, -"

"Wait!" Adrien wasn't sure what his father was planning, but he felt it was important that he slow him down. "I'm sure she has other things to be doing. So... why not wait a while and schedule that for a week from tomorrow? She was already here yesterday, and we were at the zoo together today. What's the rush?"

Very interesting! Adrien had taken Marinette to the zoo? Not knowing about the four others that had accompanied them, in Gabriel's perspective he had prompted his son to openly pursue the girl on his own. "Fine. A week from tomorrow it is. Be sure to let her know at school, okay?" Why not let the kids do most of the work for him? If he did nothing but prompt them in the direction he'd like them to go, that baker would have a hard time making a valid complaint, and would only be able to watch as his daughter was taken from him.

A/n - My aunt bought me an anti-theft cross-body bag that comes to rest at my front. I thought "This could work well, I have a tendency to destroy shoulder bags by bumping into things so often." then I thought "Hey, Marinette has a shoulder bag, and she crashes into things way more than I do. Relisticly, that thing would be torn to shreads by now." You know what else? Her bag has a living creature in it, hang in there Tikki!