"Faceless Future" Book 2 of "Secrets Unraveled" Trilogy |COMPLETED|

Chpt 3: Marinette, the Bearer of Disappointing News.

Marinette looked over all of the newly arrived fabrics at the store. Nothing was exactly what she wanted. She asked the owner whether what she was interested in was possible to order and the owner said she would look into it for her. Marinette left the owner with her phone number and headed out of the store, walking toward home.

She had already been to Master Fu's and she was disappointed that there wasn't much new to report. Wayzz had an idea of how to test the Miraculous for damage, but they hadn't tried it yet, worrying that in the process it could damage it more. If only they knew what had happened to the Peacock to damage it in the first place! But, that would mean having to talk to Gabriel and getting him to tell them. That is, if he knew. Marinette was scared of Gabriel- it was strangely easier to deal with him when she was Ladybug and he was Hawk Moth- and Adrien didn't seem up to seeing him. She knew that Gabriel and Adrien spoke on the phone occasionally, but it didn't sound like those calls went extremely well. It also seemed that Nathalie was quite ill, perhaps due to her previous use of the damaged Peacock Miraculous. Hearing about Nathalie's symptoms might also help them understand how to potentially fix the Miraculous. If only people would talk about things!

Marinette unlocked the door to her house and headed upstairs. She knocked on the door to Adrien's room, wishing she had better news to report.

"Come in," he called from the room. He was sitting in an overstuffed chair in the corner flipping through a baking magazine, but looked up when she entered.

She grinned when she saw what he was reading. "So, I take it that the baking went well then?" She went over and sat at the end of the bed facing him.

"Well, all I can really tell you so far is that I enjoyed the process and enjoyed talking to your dad. I don't get to bake my bread until tomorrow, so I guess I'll see how well it really went then."

"He started you on the 'baguette tradition'?" she asked him, pretty sure that's what her dad would start a new student on if he believed he had a talent for baking.

"Yes, exactly. I even learned one of your family's secrets," he said, then hummed a little for her.

"Impressive! Do you think that you want to do more baking then? I see you have already started to read up," she said, referring to the magazine in his hands.

"Your mom gave me this as it has an interesting history about the French baguette. I read that and then started to flip through to see what else there was in here." He turned another page, pretending to look at it. "From the fact that you didn't rush in here to tell me some news, I guess there is nothing to update me on?" he asked, finally meeting her gaze and seeing the sympathy there.

"No, you're right. Nothing new." Marinette paused trying to decide whether she should bring up the next thing on her mind and then decided she might as well. "If. . . if we can get your father to talk to us. . . we could try to find out from him what damaged the Peacock and what your mom's and Nathalie's symptoms are. It might be helpful."

Adrien glanced up at her, dubious that he could obtain that information. "I can't imagine how I could get him to tell me any of that. He won't even see me in person at this point. Well, at least he is only willing to meet on his terms. Which is me by myself. At the house. And, I don't trust him enough to do that."  He supposed he could always transform into Cat Noir and escape, but it seemed a little drastic to have to change into a superhero to get away from your parent.  Even if your parent was recently a supervillain.

Marinette pondered how else they could get some useful information. "I wonder if Master Fu would be willing to share what happened when the Miraculouses were stolen? Maybe there would be some clues that would help? I can't remember if he ever told us whether he was around when the Miraculouses and the Miraculous book were lost. He just said he made some kind of mistake, I think, that led to it happening." Marinette tried to think back to what Master Fu had said, but she couldn't remember clearly.

"I wonder if there is a reason he hasn't already told us about it. It's worth a try next time we see him." Adrien closed the magazine and reached over to place it on his nightstand. "I think I'll get ready for bed. We have that math test tomorrow, so I'm hoping to get enough sleep since I actually can."  That was only part of the reason, the other being something he couldn't admit to her.  That feeling that sometimes things felt like they were too much, like right now, and he just wanted to hide out in the dark under his covers.

Since Adrien had been doing such a good job of hiding his unhappiness, Marinette just took his words at face value.  She felt hurt and disappointed that he didn't seem to want to spend time with her.  She was trying her best to be patient with him.  He was going through a lot.  However, this wasn't exactly what she hoped her relationship with Adrien would be like forever- homework, school, discussions about his father.  When would things get back to normal?  

"Okay. Have a good night!" Marinette tried not to sigh as she stood up and headed toward the door.

"Marinette?" Adrien said.

Marinette stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Yes?" she asked, hoping he might have changed his mind about spending some time with her.

"Thanks for going to check with Master Fu. I appreciate it."  He gave her a small smile.

She tried her best to return his smile.  "Of course. Talk to you tomorrow!" Marinette left his room, closing the door behind her and continuing up to her room.

Marinette entered her room and right away saw the cookies and a single rose in a vase waiting for her on her desk. She felt her spirits lift upon seeing the romantic present he left and went over to the cookies.  She picked one up and tried it- it was very good! 

 "Hey, Tikki?" she called, unsure exactly where her kwami had gotten to once they arrived home. Tikki zoomed out from behind the Jagged Stone album, Plagg following behind her. Marinette handed her a piece of the cookie and she took a bite.

"Mmm. . . delicious! Where did these come from?"  Tikki savored the sweet cookie paired with the rich dark chocolate chips.

"Can you believe Adrien made them?" Marinette said, taking another bite. Plagg flew over and looked at the cookie dubiously.

"Really?" he asked. "Can I try a bite?" Marinette broke off a piece for him. Plagg took a small bite and his eyes widened in surprised. "This is really good! Not as good as cheese, but. . ." he interrupted himself by grabbing the cookie out of Marinette's hand and stuffing the rest of it in his mouth.

"Plagg, can I ask you a serious question?" said Marinette, brushing the crumbs off her hand.

"You can try," he replied, his mouth still full of cookie.

"Does Adrien seem alright to you? He's been going to bed pretty early these last few weeks and we've hardly spent any time together, except for school, homework, and activities."  She knew what Plagg would say to that, so she tried to head him off. "So, yes, we're together, but, you know what I mean, right?"  She hoped he would take her seriously.  Besides her, Plagg was the only one that really knew Adrien well.

"Yeah, I know. I think he's okay. He hasn't said anything to me."  He paused.  "But now that you mention it, he and I haven't really spent much time together, either." Plagg thought back over the last few weeks. He'd been spending a lot of time with Tikki, enjoying their time off. Maybe he should keep a watch over his boy a bit more? Make sure he was alright?

"I'll try to watch out for him a bit more," said Plagg seriously.

"Thanks, Plagg" Marinette said, feeling relieved to have another someone looking out for Adrien.

"By the way, Adrien is getting ready for bed and I guess I should too, so I'm kicking you out for the night, Plagg," said Marinette, giving him a quick scratch under the chin. Plagg would never admit it, but he liked the goodnight routine Marinette had started. He gave his normal half-hearted bat at her hand.

"Good night, then!" he said in a mock grumpy voice, glad to leave behind the serious conversation, before disappearing through the floor to Adrien's bedroom.

Marinette laughed and started to get her schoolbag put together for tomorrow.