Despite the Originals | Ninjago and Miraculous Oneshots

Non-Binary Adrien (Coming out)

Am I projecting onto Adrien in this one-shot? Yeah, a little. 

btw Plagg's gonna be a bit more emotionally intelligent than he normally is. 

Hope ya enjoy!

Plagg's POV - in school

Adrien had been in the bathroom a little too long. It was odd that he had gone to the bathroom at all; Adrien hated going into public restrooms. Must be a rich kid thing. 

I decided I should go check on him, but I wasn't sure how I was supposed to get from his backpack to the hall without being seen. But that's when Marinette tripped in the middle of class, distracting everyone long enough for me to leave unnoticed. 

"Adrien?" I called as I flew into the bathroom. "You in here, buddy?"

He wasn't in any of the stalls. I went into the shared locker room, thinking maybe he was hiding out in here. I called his name again, but he didn't answer. 

And that's when I heard it. Faint, unstable gasps coming from the corner of the room. I rushed over to see Adrien sitting in the corner, hugging his knees, crying softly. 

"Kid?" I asked, flying over and hovering in front of him. "What's going on?"

He kept gulping for air, not able to get a word out. 

"I--I can't--"

"Hey, eyes on me. Breathe in slowly... and then back out."

We did that a few more times, which got the tears to stop, but he was still shaking all over. 

"I don't think... I don't think I'm a boy," he choked out. He hugged himself tighter and dug his forehead into his knees. 

"What?"

"I'm not... I think there's something wrong with me, Plagg."

"No, no!" I said. I sat on his arm so I could pry his face back up and look him in the eye. "There's nothing wrong with you." 

Adrien turned his head. "But something feels wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know," Adrien whispered, his voice cracking. "I've always been broken. I just didn't know why until last night." 

Last night? What happened last night? We watched that ballerina movie--Girl, it was called--on his computer sometime past nine, but Adrien shut it off well before the end. At the time, I wasn't sure why he was so upset by it, but now I was starting to see. 

"Hey, hey. Look at me. You're not broken. You're just different, maybe. And there's nothing wrong with being different."

He shook his head. "I can't do this anymore, Plagg. I can't."

My heart broke. I couldn't possibly imagine what the kid was going through, but the pain behind his eyes looked excruciating. 

"Do you want to change your pronouns?"

Adrien froze. 

"N-no."

I had a hunch he was lying.

"Why not?"

"I can't! If my father finds out..."

"He doesn't have to."

Adrien swallowed slowly. Then, in the carefullest of whispers, barely breaking the silence, the kid spoke their truth. 

"I... I was thinking they/them? Or maybe... they/she? I don't really know what I am."

I noticed how their voice grew meeker with every word, and their consciousness faded a little. Not for the first time, I wished I were human so I could give the poor child a proper hug. 

"That's okay! We'll try out whatever pronouns you want, see how you like them." 

Adrien smiled through the agony, the sparkle returning to their eyes as they wiped away the last remaining tears. She offered me a piece of cheese from their pocket, which I gulped down in one bite. Adrien laughed, then stood up to go back to class. Before making it into the hallway, she stopped at the end of the lockers. 

"Thank you," they said, turning their head. 

"What for?"

They looked confused. "For... accepting me, I guess?"

"Kid, don't you dare thank me. You deserve much more than just acceptance."

"Okay, then. Thank you for--"

"Stop it," I said, swatting her. "No more thanking people."