Adrian POV
It had been about a month since Marinette left and the peace talks were winding down. I was getting myself ready for the ball we were hosting to close the talks when I heard a knock at my door. I sighed and called,
"Coming!" Before I went over to and opened the door.
"Dude, have you heard? Turns out someone from Kagami's convoy got separated on the way here and got here late." Nino said flopping onto my bed. I sighed at his behavior.
"Nino, for one thing did you forget that we can't talk like that? If my father or, Plagg forbid, my mother hear it they'll never let Marinette come back. Not to mention we will all be screwed-ah shit now I'm doing it! And for another thing, how late? Like by a day?" I replied looking back at him as I adjusted my mask.
"Like she didn't get here till now, and as for how we talk: for one thing your dad loves Marinette almost more than you do, I mean all he's done since we brought her back is ask why your mom beat her up and when she's coming back, and for another thing if it's just us there's no reason for us to not talk however we want." He said sitting up. I rolled my eyes and turned to him.
"Fair enough, so you're telling me that there's someone from the Ryu Queendom who got here almost a full month later than the rest of her convoy? I call bullshit." I responded slipping into the laid back tone that I had developed after meeting and bonding with Plagg. Turns out all of the people who had bonded with a Kwami had changed their mannerisms slightly and picked up some new vocabulary since it had happened. Nino was much more laid back,which was saying a lot, and called basically everyone 'dude'; Alya was a total gossip and was even more belligerent than normal; Max was mostly the same but he kept talking about percentages; and I had become a lot more rebellious and laid back, not to mention I had turned into a bit of a jokester, and I had kinda stopped caring about how people saw me. As for the way I talked it was about the same for when I was in public but when it's just me with my friends like Nino and Alya I basically just say whatever I want. Nino laughed and said,
"No dude I'm serious, Alya hasn't been talking about anything else since she arrived, she's supposed to be totally comfortable around here like she's been here before or something, she even talked to Sabrina face to face and knew her name! Even I wasn't sure what her name was for a while the first time I visited." I rolled my eyes and responded,
"You know what, if you're that interested why don't you talk to her at the ball tonight?" He shook his head and asked,
"About that are you sure about this whole 'masquerade' thing Adrian? I don't think it's a very good idea...." I shrugged.
"It wasn't my idea, Kagami suggested it about a week ago, I felt bad about how I turned her down when she tried to get me to leave Marinette so I thought I could at least do this for her." I told him causing him to shake his head.
"Whatever dude, all I know is anything that requires people to hide their identity can't end well." He said simply. I shrugged and turned to a mirror I had against the wall and fixed my mask again. I turned back and asked,
"How's it look dude? Good or do I need to adjust it again?" He gave me a thumbs up and excused himself to get himself ready. I flopped onto my bed and quietly called,
"Hey Plagg, you still here?" When I didn't get any response I sighed.
"What's going on? I thought you didn't want anything to do with me or my powers?" A voice said from next to me. I sat bolt upright and grinned at the black haired Kwami.
"It's not that I want nothing to do with you, I just don't want anything to do with your cheese obsession, I mean I don't think I've seen you eating anything else since you first got here, that can't be healthy. Besides, I don't want people asking why both I and my room smell like something died." he rolled his eyes and smiled.
"So what have you got for me tonight?" He asked greedily rubbing his hands together. I walked over to my desk and pulled a small wheel off cheese out of a drawer and held it out towards him.
"This is an especially runny brie, and it can be all yours if you keep your side of the deal and tell me how Marinette is doing." He grinned and replied,
"She's doing great, almost full recovery, now that that's out of the way gimme!" I smiled and tossed it to him. He caught the whole thing with his mouth and practically ate it in two seconds. I chuckled and shook my head.
"I've gotta make sure that all of the decorations and shit are all set up in the ballroom, I'll see you later man." I said waving to him. As I walked down the hallway I smiled to myself as I remembered how often Plagg and I had gone through our little routine. I'd snag him some cheese from the kitchens while on my 'princely rounds', he'd sleep somewhere in my room all day and hide if anyone came in, at some point he'd pop over to check on Marinette's condition, and by the time nighttime rolled around he'd give me information about how she was doing while I bribed him with cheese. I'm glad she's well.... I hope she can come back soon.......... I thought remembering that Plagg said his counterpart Tikki would bring her back somehow once she was fully healed. I made my way into the ballroom and walked around checking to make sure that everything was already set up. Once I'd confirmed it I shrugged and sat down on a chair, putting my hands behind my head and leaning back. It'll be nice to chill till everyone gets here.... I thought closing my eyes. I was sitting for a little while when I heard the door open and I shot up so that I was standing ramrod straight. I walked over to the doors and welcomed everyone who entered once they had been announced. Just when I thought they were done the herald called,
"Introducing, Piáo chóng the second princess of the Ryu Queendom." I whirled around to see a girl wearing a white tunic with the crest of the Piáo chóng bloodline right on the front over sparkling red leggings and a shimmering red skirt sloping away to leave her legs clearly visible with some purple sandals starting to descend the steps carefully. She had a red mask on with black dots covering it and her raven hair was tied up into two buns on each side of her head. When she finally reached the bottom and was facing me I noticed that the symbol on her tunic had the symbol of the guardians from my history books carefully sewn into the center spot in gold thread. She giggled and my head whipped up at the familiarity of the sound. I found myself looking into two bluebell colored eyes that I hadn't thought I'd see so soon. I was about to say something when she held up her hand. I stared at it for a moment feeling muddled and confused when she leaned in and murmured,
"You're supposed to kiss my hand your highness, as a greeting? Unless only the first princess gets greeted in that way. " I jumped slightly at the sound of her delicate voice and kissed her knuckles quickly.
"I am terribly sorry your highness, I'm afraid you reminded me of someone I know." She took her hand back and I noticed a flash of black and green on her middle finger.
"Someone close I hope." She said coyly and sashayed off to join Kagami. I stared after her trying to understand what just happened.
"Looks like this tom cat just found himself some catnip." A feminine voice said from next to me. I jumped slightly and turned to see Alya standing next to me with a knowing smile. I shook my head wildly and said,
"It's not like that at all, I just didn't know Kagami had any siblings is all." She nodded and replied,
"Mm-hmm, ok if you say so. Interesting ring she's wearing, wouldn't you say?" I blinked and looked at the princess's hand and noticed that she was in fact wearing an interesting ring, a ring with my personal seal on it. I immediately walked over to them and asked Kagami,
"Could I have a word with your....um...."
"Sister." She supplied with a small nod. I nodded then froze in confusion.
"Sister? Really I thought you were an only child." I said my confusion written across my face. Kagami and her, apparently, sister shared a secretive smile and Kagami walked away. I shook my head and turned back to the princess.
"Princess Piáo chóng right?" I asked awkwardly as I tried to think of a way to ask about the ring. She giggled and I felt my heart lurch.
"That's just my title silly, you can call me my name if you want to my side of the family is a little less...... traditional." She said with a bright smile. I frowned in confusion again and responded,
"But, you haven't said your name yet." She acted offended and, in a mock hurt tone asked,
"Adrian, did you forget me so soon? Uh! And here I thought you loved me." My eyes widened and I quietly asked,
"Marinette?" She didn't respond but a wide, secretive smile spread across her face. Just then someone walked by and they bumped into her almost sending both her and I tumbling down. I chuckled and muttered,
"Yep, you're Marinette alright." This earned me a sharp glare but I didn't care.
"It's good to see you again, I'm glad you're well enough to be moving about, but should you be here? I mean you haven't fully recovered yet. " I asked suddenly feeling concerned. She looked at me curiously and asked,
"What do you mean? I've been fully recovered for weeks." I nodded slowly in suprise.
"Have you?" I asked making a mental note to pay a visit to a certain lying cat.