Chapter Text
Swim
Adrien was 20 years old, and he still felt like a child.
His life had been planned for him, dictated by his father and father’s secretary. He never had to learn how to do things that most other people knew—he had staff to cook for him and take care of his house.
But then he learned his father was Hawkmoth.
Capturing him had been the easy part. The trial was what he was used to—orderly, people telling him what to do and how to handle himself. Even arranging the burial for his mother was straightforward enough. It wasn’t until afterwards that he felt broken, not knowing what to do with himself.
He had his family’s fortune in his hands, a large mansion he didn’t want, and all the free time in the world. It felt like hell.
Adrien spent a few weeks just playing video games and pigging out with Plagg. He didn’t bother transforming—he couldn’t bear to see Ladybug right now, had refused to learn her identity even once their enemy was behind bars. How could he tell his Lady that he was the reason the fight had gone on so long, because he was too blind to notice his own father was Hawkmoth?
His friends kept sending him messages, asking how he was doing, asking if he wanted to hang out. He ignored every single one, until…
Marinette: we’re all getting together for Kim’s birthday at the pool. it won’t feel right if you’re not there ☹
Kim: bro its my bday come hang out
Adrien’s friends had always made him feel special, wanted on his birthday. He could at least give them the same courtesy.
“Going out?” Plagg asked as Adrien dug through his closet for a swimsuit to wear beneath his clothes.
“I have to at some point,” he replied. “Might as well start now.”
If he’d looked closely at his kwami, he would have seen him smile.
**
Adrien arrived at the public pool to see all his friends, even Chloe, gathered around a set of deck chairs, sharing drinks and chatting while a few more people swam laps in the water. Everyone was in bathing suits already, so before he could be seen, Adrien ducked into a changing room to remove his street clothes.
Walking out in just his swim trunks, he headed towards his friends with just a bit of apprehension slowing down his steps. Marinette was the first one to glance his way, and he tensed as she looked back to everyone else, saying something he couldn’t hear. He wasn’t ready to be swarmed by everyone.
But only Nino stood up and walked over to him, greeting him by swinging an arm over his shoulders in a hug. “It’s good to see you again, dude.”
“Thanks,” Adrien replied, smiling. “What about…?”
“Oh, everyone else?” Nino asked. “Yeah, Mari suggested that we not all rush you at once, but everyone’s really happy you made it.”
Adrien grinned, relief flooding through him. Of course Marinette would have understood how he felt. She was just awesome that way.
He let Nino lead him to the chairs and he took a seat beside Marinette, flashing her a grateful smile. Her cheeks flushed, becoming as pink as the bikini she wore, but she returned the smile.
“So, I keep getting reports that Ladybug is patrolling the city every night, but no Chat Noir,” Alya was telling the group, pausing her words to wave at Adrien. “I can’t figure out what happened, she stays on the roofs unless someone needs help, and then she doesn’t stick around to talk.”
“You know Ladybug knows you’re her number one fan,” Marinette said. “If she wanted people to know what was going on, she’d reach out to you. She’s probably got her reasons for what she’s doing.”
Adrien’s smile fell slightly as guilt settled in his stomach. Was his Lady going out and patrolling just to keep the peace, or—he hoped—was she looking for him?
“I wish we knew what happened, though,” Alya said with a groan. “Like, did she break up with Chat? Did he leave? What?”
“He wouldn’t just leave,” Marinette snapped, unusually upset at the suggestion. “But…yeah, I wish we knew what happened to him too. It’s not the same without him around.”
Once, Marinette had loved Chat Noir, but he couldn’t return her feelings. Was she still holding a torch for him? And did the people of Paris really care that much about him?
“Hey!” Kim called from the pool, breaking Adrien out of his reverie and getting everyone else’s attention. “Come on you guys, the water’s fine! Let’s play some Marco Polo!”
Most of the group dove in, or cannonballed in, but Adrien carefully walked in the shallow end steps of the water.
“Come on, Agreste, just jump in!” Kim called.
Adrien shook his head. “I’d rather not drown today, thanks.”
“Can’t you swim?”
Chloe snorted from where she sat at the edge of the pool. “As if Gabriel would have ever let him learn.”
“I can swim!” Adrien replied indignantly. “Just…not really well. I probably wouldn’t actually drown.”
Kim dove under the water and swam the length of the pool, popping up beside Adrien a moment later. “Wanna learn?”
He gave his friend a grateful smile. “You know what? Yeah.”
As it turned out, Kim was a great teacher, patiently showing Adrien different swimming strokes and guiding him through how to do them. Everyone else cheered him on, not a single person judging him for not knowing something so…basic.
It felt great.
By the end of the day, he wasn’t really a strong swimmer, but he could take a few laps across the pool without flailing. And Kim offered him more lessons at any time.
“Plagg,” Adrien asked when he was alone in his room again. “What else am I missing that everyone else knows how to do?”
“You really want a list?” the kwami asked. “I think the internet has a bunch of them.”
After some Google searches, Adrien ended up on a website with a list of 50 Things Every Man Should Be Able To Do. He was a man, wasn’t he? And it wasn’t his fault that his father never taught him anything.
“I’m going to learn everything on this list,” he told Plagg after reading through the first ten. It seemed like solid advice.
Then, maybe, he’d have more of an idea what to do with his life.
Throw a Ball
Marinette missed her partner so bad it hurt.
They’d won! They’d beaten Hawkmoth! But then instead of meeting at their usual spot to do their reveal…Chat never showed up.
She went out every single night, hoping she’d see him, but he never came. She stopped letting herself be seen by the public, knowing that if they saw her face, they’d see her barely keeping it together, close to tears without her partner.
On top of that, Adrien became a recluse. That at least was understandable, considering everything he went through. Still, he was one of Marinette’s closest friends, and it hurt that he went missing at the same time as Chat.
She never stopped texting Adrien, letting him know that no one blamed him, and that he was missed and wanted. Finally, he showed up at Kim’s birthday unannounced.
And when Marinette saw him shirtless, muscles a little less defined but still looking like an Adonis, her old crush came rushing back with full force. At least this time she could string together sentences around him.
The next day, she got a text from Nino.
Nines: you free today? Adrien called and wants to hang out
Marinette: I’m free. when and where?
**
She met Nino, Alya, and Adrien in the park outside her house, and Adrien explained his project: the list of things to learn, and how he was determined to learn all of them. And today’s task: throwing a ball.
“So, you never played catch as a kid?” Alya asked incredulously. Nino tossed her a baseball and she idly threw it between her hands.
“No, I wasn’t allowed to have toys that could break anything, so no balls,” Adrien replied. “And—I know how to throw things, but I don’t know if there’s proper form or anything…”
Marinette’s heart hurt for him. “No, it’s just throw and catch,” she said. “This is good! Gives us time to catch up.”
“Catch up,” Adrien repeated with a grin. “Nice.”
Alya tossed him the ball, a soft underhand throw. He threw it to Nino, and soon the ball was idly being passed between the four as they filled Adrien in on the events of the past month.
“So, by the way, Mar,” Alya said, tossing her friend the ball. “Do you have any idea what happened to Chat Noir?”
“W-why would I know?” Marinette asked with a nervous laugh. “I didn’t know him or anything.”
“You were friends back in lycee, weren’t you?”
Marinette shook her head, grasping the ball harder. “No. He visited me a few times, that’s it. Let’s—let’s talk about something else.”
She threw the ball at Adrien, a bit harder than she meant to, and he didn’t react in time. The baseball hit his forehead dead on.
“Oh my god,” Marinette said, paling as she moved towards him. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry, I didn’t—”
“I’m fine,” he said, smiling at her in that way that had always melted her heart. “I wasn’t paying attention, it’s my fault.”
“No, I’m pretty sure I’m the one who threw it at you,” she responded. “Can I see?”
He bent down slightly so she could get a good look at the forming bump on his head.
“That’s going to bruise,” she remarked with a frown. “I’m so, so sorry…”
To her surprise, he laughed. “It’s okay. This is all part of the experience, right? Getting hurt?”
“Y-yeah,” Marinette replied, and before she could think about her words, she added, “And so is this.”
She pursed her lips and placed a quick, light kiss to the injury. She then turned away from him, her face bright red as she glared at a laughing Alya.
“Thanks, Marinette,” he said, smiling when she dared glance at him again. “It feels so much better now.”
“A-anytime,” she managed to say. “So, um. Your turn to throw.”
The four spent the afternoon tossing the ball back and forth and talking about university and side jobs and future plans until darkness started to fall. Marinette headed home feeling happier than she had been in weeks.