Words: 1741
Chapter Summary: Adrien has a surpirse in for him, in the middle of the night! He can't let it bother him, he has an important interview in the morning. And, of course, Marinette is coming along to get some behind the scenes scoop. Something is bothering her, though.
Author's Note: it's december! this is exciting. FUN FACT someone actually gave me the idea for this chapter/video on ao3 a few updates ago! I know the interviews like this are a little different, but I pictured this so clearly in my head, I changed it around a bit. More action to come the next few chapters :)
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Unlike Marinette, Adrien had been sleeping through the night. He's typically a light sleeper, so he usually wakes up to random noises in his room. He's been double-checking the locks on all his windows and even had Nathalie order new curtains that fully fit them in his room. Just in case Hawkmoth could see into his bedroom.
Plagg, on the other hand, was much more worried than Adrien. As a god, he didn't need as much sleep. He would only sleep in increments, though, concerned that someone could steal him away from Adrien.
The rare moment where both of them were asleep was when Adrien's bedroom door opened. It was dark in his room, but there was a little light coming in from the hallway.
Adrien heard the footsteps approach his bed, but thought it was only in his dream. A few moments passed before he realized no, that was real life. His eyes fluttered open, and he saw his father standing above him at the side of his bed, eyes fixated on Adrien's hand.
"Oh, father," Adrien sat up slowly, and Gabriel forced his eyes to look at Adrien's face. "You're home. Do you want to go talk now, or wait until morning?" As Adrien asked, he saw Nathalie peer around the open door to watch them.
Gabriel took a deep breath. "Let's go talk." Without another word, Gabriel turned around and walked out of Adrien's room.
"This should be interesting," Adrien said and got out of bed. "Come on, Plagg."
With Plagg in his pocket, Adrien found his father and Nathalie sitting at the long table. For once, he sat right next to his father and across from Nathalie at the same end. "You've been Chat Noir this whole time?" Gabriel asked, not looking at Adrien.
"Yes, father. I was chosen a few years ago, and Ladybug and I make a great team," Adrien explained himself.
"Of course," He nodded. "The Dupain-Cheng girl. I always knew there was something off about her."
Adrien perked up. "What?"
Gabriel shook his head. "I can't believe you went behind my back, Adrien. Sneaking out and putting yourself in danger? After you begged me to go to school, how much of it have you missed due to these fights?" Gabriel said.
"To be fair, everyone misses school when there's an Akuma. They want everyone to be safe from Hawkmoth when an Akuma is attacking the city," Adrien explained.
"I see," Gabriel nodded. "You should have told me."
Adrien looked down at his lap. "I'm sorry, father. But I couldn't. I couldn't risk putting you in danger, and I was afraid if I told one person, it would spiral out of control. Ladybug got that idea of me telling people out of my head really quick," He said. "It was kind of like a pact."
Gabriel still didn't look at Adrien. "Do you know who Hawkmoth is?"
"No, we're working on it," Adrien said. "I'm exhausted, can we finish this conversation tomorrow? I want to get some sleep since I have that big interview-"
"Yes, of course. Goodnight, Adrien. We'll continue tomorrow," Gabriel dismissed and waited for Adrien to leave.
Adrien shut his door and sighed against it. "That was...weird," Adrien announced.
"You bet it. I know your dad is creepy, but that was the creepiest he's been!" Plagg said. "I need some cheese after dealing with that conversation," Plagg flew over to the mini-fridge and grabbed a big slice of camembert.
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Marinette waited outside of the bakery with her camera, smiling wide when Adrien's car pulled up. She got in the back to sit with Adrien as his bodyguard began driving them to Adrien's interview. "How are you today?" Adrien greeted.
"I stood outside, and no one came up to me," Marinette said. "So that was nice. I was expecting to walk out and be swarmed."
"That happened to me a lot," Adrien laughed. "Just from being a model."
Marinette shrugged. "Yeah, a model. That makes sense," She justified. "How are you? Excited?"
"My dad got home last night. It was an...interesting conversation," Adrien sighed. "He was upset I kept it a secret, and asked about Hawkmoth. We finished talking this morning, but all it did was upset me. But yeah, this interview should be fun," Adrien shook his head to make himself smile again.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Marinette offered.
Adrien shrugged. "Maybe later. I've got to keep myself happy for this interview. Do you want to start your video?"
"Oh, sure!" She smiled and turned the camera on. "Hi! I'm Marinette! I'm here again with Adrien-" She said and panned over to show him in the frame, a smile on his face, and he gave a wave, "And he invited me to get some behind-the-scenes of his interview."
Adrien nodded. "And it's going to be a fun one today! Some people from Buzzfeed are visiting Paris and asked me to do this interview, so I thought- why not? And I had to bring Mari, for obvious reasons," Adrien concluded. "I'm excited; we're almost there."
"I guess we'll tune back in when we get there!" Marinette said, and shut the camera off for the few minutes left in the car.
Only a few moments later, they arrived at the studio, and Gorilla waited to pull away until both of them were inside. He knew they didn't need the extra protection, but it was a habit, and he would always worry about them. Adrien and Marinette were greeted at the door with big smiles and welcoming faces.
"Adrien Agreste!" One of the men greeted in English. It was a good thing they both knew how to speak English...but Adrien wouldn't have agreed if he wasn't comfortable. "It's a pleasure to meet you, we're really excited to do this interview," He said, then realized Marinette was behind Adrien. "And Marinette Dupain-Cheng? Wow, a real treat to have both of you here!"
A woman appeared with wide eyes. "Wait...you guys are both here? This is amazing!"
Marinette shook her head. "I'm just here to get some behind the scenes for Adrien and to put on my YouTube channel after you guys upload the interview," She clarified. "Just act like I'm not even here."
"Also," Adrien interrupted. "I'm not sure what you guys have planned, but please don't bring up the Chat Noir thing. Marinette and I are really trying to keep it just to us who posts things, and I don't want it to-"
"No need to worry," The man cut him off. "We weren't planning on it, and honestly, we're still trying to figure out how this superhero thing even works."
Marinette chuckled. "Stick around for a few days, and you'll see," She said under her breath.
After a few more minutes of small talk conversation, they led Adrien and Marinette to where the interview would be recorded. It was a blue background, and they just told Adrien to stand because of "better posture." He understood, and stood on the small 'x' on the floor, looking right at the camera.
Marinette brought out her camera and started to record as they got everything set up. "Having fun, Adrien?" Marinette called for him to look at her.
"Oh yeah," He said, giving an enthusiastic thumbs up to the camera.
"Ready?" The man asked, and Adrien nodded as he looked back at the primary camera. At least she wouldn't have to subtitle this video. "Alright, first question: we know you're a model for your dad's company- what's your favorite part?" The man asked, and just as Adrien was about to answer, the door opened, and five puppies ran to him.
Both Marinette and Adrien gasped when the puppies came in. "It's a puppy interview?" Adrien squealed, sitting down to let the puppies jump all over him. "This is the best day of my life," He said, then looked back up as he held one of the puppies. "What was the question again?"
The crew chuckled as the man re-asked Adrien the question. "Oh! I love a lot of it. It's enjoyable to model, going to photoshoots, and just working, especially when my friends tag along. It's a lot of hard work, but definitely worth it," He clarified. "Oh my god, these puppies are the best ever."
"Do you get treated like a celebrity in school?"
With a puppy licking Adrien's face, he tried to answer. "No, not really. When I first came to school, people were excited, now we're all just normal friends and normal kids, we've just got a lot going on," He said in between giggles that came from the puppies. "I wish I could take one of these little guys home!"
"You do not need a puppy," Marinette scolded from the side, snickering behind her own camera. "Like you just said, you're too busy."
"Let me dream, Marinette!" He shouted back, holding the one puppy in front of him, and looking away from Marinette. "Plus, my dad wouldn't like a little trouble maker in the house."
The crew was loving seeing the interactions between Marinette and Adrien. "Maybe a hamster would be more suitable," Marinette smirked behind her camera.
Adrien shook his head, only slightly ignoring her. "Do we have another question?"
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I just watched the BuzzFeed video and now marinette is posting behind the scenes?? i am not ok
they HAVE to be dating. the way they argue is so adorable, it's not normal??? ummmmmmmmm ship
adrien with puppies for an interview was too much for me to handle. You expect me to be better with a BONUS VIDEO? i mean i love it but i might be dead
i love that mari tags along to like all his events. friend goals. relationship goals.
I'm just so, so happy that she's still posting videos. I was really worried she was going to stop posting altogether after what happened.
They're really out here living their best lives. I stan
did the buzzfeed people freak out about ladybug and chat noir
Marinette was also happy she could continue posting, but the comments became less enjoyable to read when she would always find the comments about their superhero personas. She figured out that she just needed to stop reading when she read a few, and take a break from the internet.
She took a deep breath as she went to her bed. How hasn't an Akuma come after her yet?