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Chapter 6: Adrien's POV

I had been expecting my next idea to be hard, since I had already given Ladybug the obvious. I was rifling through my thoughts. What else does Ladybug like?

"Maybe you could give her cheese," Plagg says, as though reading my mind.

"That's it!"

"Cheese? I knew you'd realize how―"

"No, Plagg, I get her hair ribbons!" I hit myself in the head. "Why didn't I think of that before?"

"Because you were thinking about swiss?"

I shake my head. "That was a rhetorical question."

"What?"

I sigh. "I wasn't really expecting an answer to my question."

"But it was a question."

"Never mind, Plagg. Now... what kind of hair ribbons? I mean, she already has red ones."

"She has red ones as Ladybug," Plagg mumbles around a block of cheese he just stuffed in his mouth. "How do you know M-she has red ones as herself? She would appreciate it anyway."

I look away. "Maybe I should make them. Since she made my cloak. Black, like Chat Noir."

"Do you know how to make hair ribbons?"

I bite my lip. "Not exactly, but how hard could it be? She made me a cloak. Of all things, hair ribbons should be the easiest." I pause. "Don't look at me like that."

"You better not make them really cheap."

"I promise to make the whole thing."

"You better not say something cheesy as you give it to her again."

"Plagg."

"Yeah, yeah, amour croisé. Blaugh. I swear, if you don't stop with all this gushy gushy stuff about Ladybug, one night I'm going to take your Miraculous and fly away."

"That's not how―"

"I KNOW HOW IT WORKS."

"Okay, okay."

--  --  --

"Nathalie?"

She turns to me. "Adrien. You should be asleep. You have school tomorrow."

"I-I know, but I need to ask for you to get me something. I... I want some black fabric."

Father suddenly leans around the back of the chair Nathalie is standing in front of. I bite my cheek, trying not to picture Father and Nathalie together, and shiver.

"Why?" he asks, looking me up and down.

"I... I want to make hair ribbons."

"...Why?" he repeats.

I try to think of a fib, which I don't normally do, but Father can't find out about me being a superhero, and when I fail to come up with one, respond with, "Because I want to."

He studies me for a second, then bursts into a smile. It's foreign and a little creepy on his face. "Oh, my son. Stepping into the designing career already?"

"Wh-what?"

"Of course, of course, I won't tell anyone. Nathalie, make sure to have the black hair ribbons done by morning. Do you have any idea of how you want them done, Adrien?"

I shake the blurriness from my head. "Long and wavy, but Father I―"

"Nathalie, you should be writing this down."

"Yes, Gabriel," she says and hurries away to, I assume, get a piece of paper.

"Father, I want to make them myself."

He sighs. "That's what every designer wants at first, but then they realize how hard it is, and how much your fingers will hurt, and I don't want you to have pin-pricks on your fingers a few days before a shoot. They'll think I'm letting you take drugs!"

I look down. There goes my chance of making something for Ladybug myself. "Thank you, Father."

--  --  --

I hurry downstairs, excited to see if the hair ribbons are exactly how I pictured them.

Of course, everything has to be perfect. I open the small red box sitting in front of my seat at breakfast. They are perfect. Exactly how I pictured them. Except for one small thing that only I can put on. I stand up quickly from my half finished meal.

"Hold on!" I cry behind me as Nathalie surprises by the door.

"Adrien, you have school in―"

"I know, I know!"

I rush up to my room and open all the drawers in my desk, searching for the small items I bought a few days before. They are so small, I don't even think that Ladybug will notice them.

I pick them up. Two green pawprint patches to put on the ends. I can give them to Marinette to sew, and get them by the end of the day... before I go see Ladybug. No one will notice.

I rush back downstairs, holding the two patches in my hand ever so carefully before putting them in the box and shoving that into my bag.

"We can go now," I say, hurrying outside.

I never rush to school, I'm usually really calm and collected, but I'm too excited to wait. I run down the steps and am in the car before the Gorilla is even out the door. I tap my foot impatiently.