|
Post by skyeknight on Mar 23, 2017 1:31:14 GMT
"Well, beats the gruel they call hospital food. And... well, the rabbit food they have me on. Kale shakes. Don't recommend. Blech."
He made a face before he took a hefty bite of his burger. Yes. The sandwich was far better than any kale shake could ever be, even if his nutritionist tried to make it taste better with berries and fruits. Drinking those shakes was often his least favorite thing to do meal wise. He wondered if his dietitian would know he snuck something else. He would worry about burger and fries smell later. There was food to be eaten and a pretty girl to converse with.
"Good call on the extra bacon." he said. "I don't think I can go back after that. All burgers will have to have double bacon from now on."
Light conversation. That was his goal. Yang still looked like she was fighting it. Still too much on her mind. He would just have to turn Chat to a level ten and hope the 'highest setting' on distraction would work.
|
|
|
Post by angelofmusic1992 on Mar 23, 2017 1:57:26 GMT
"Ugh, I've seen pictures of that. It looks like slime," Yang said. Sure, it was healthy for you, but there were other options that didn't taste quite as bad. Sometimes, the only way Yang could get her kids to eat vegetables was if she piled it on pizza or put it in some noodles. Personally, she was surprised the kids had checked out okay, health-wise. Of course, they were eating better now, which made Yang happy. They could get the nutrition they needed now. She was glad to see Adrien was enjoying his burger as much as she was. It looked like he wasn't kidding when he said he didn't get to eat fast food that much. He made small talk, but Yang found it pretty nice. It kept things easy-going. All the heavy stuff about money seemed to fade to the background. "You'll have to introduce the concept of cheat days to some of the other models you work with," she said. "Get them to live a little, you know?"
|
|
|
Post by skyeknight on Mar 23, 2017 2:04:44 GMT
"Pictures of it do not justify that... that thing. I can't even call it food. That's how gross it is."
It was healthy. Extremely healthy. Adrien did like to be healthy but every now and then, he just had a killer craving for something salty and well, not good for him. He felt like he treated his body right enough that he was allowed to be bad every now and then. Having everything he ate restricted to greens and bland grilled chicken, seasoned with only salt and pepper was stifling. He was surprised he hadn't fallen off the wagon completely and just binged until he was unfit to model. It had happened to a few models who had been introduced to fatty foods after a lifetime of 'good' foods.
"They'd probably faint if they found out that I even stopped at a drive through." he laughed.
|
|
|
Post by angelofmusic1992 on Mar 23, 2017 2:12:30 GMT
Yang gave a little laugh. "Remind me to stock up on junk food for your next visit," she said. She needed to get groceries anyway. No doubt a few things had expired while she was gone. Heck, maybe cleaning out the fridge would do some good. Busy work would occupy her mind anyway. It wasn't like she had anything better to do. It'd be a while before she could go back to work at the bakery, if she could even work there with one arm. She'd probably do something simple, like run the cash register or something. Or take stock of the inventory. She took another bite of her burger before asking "Are any of the other models like you? Or do they actually enjoy their job?" Yang was actually curious about that. There was a lot about Adrien that she didn't really know. Sure, she knew what his job was, what his parents were like, and his opinions on a few things. But there were other things she didn't know. Did he enjoy hanging out with anyone besides her? What were his hobbies? Where did he get the inspiration for his Chat persona? She wanted to know more about him.
|
|
|
Post by skyeknight on Mar 23, 2017 2:31:17 GMT
"Or just food? Things you like." he said.
He bit his tongue from offering to have things delivered to Yang's home. She wouldn't appreciate it (because she would think he thought her helpless) and she would have wanted to assert her independence. He would likely send flowers anyways. Something... that screamed Yang. He might have to try to talk to Shadow or Sunshine again - as Chat naturally. And ask if Yang had a favorite flower. A get well bouquet.
"The fashion industry is pretty cut throat. Someone messes up, you step in, take all the glory that should have been theirs. My father would step over people to get what he wanted. Step on them." Adrien explained.
Modeling wasn't what Adrien liked doing. But if he were to have a job outside of that, he wouldn't know the first thing. He couldn't cook. He couldn't teach. His education had been colorful and enriched with all sorts of experiences, but he felt unworthy of them. He could speak two languages proficiently, three if he really stretched his limited vocabulary in Italian. He had business smarts drilled into him as well, but he had no interest in his father's legacy.
|
|
|
Post by angelofmusic1992 on Mar 23, 2017 3:16:35 GMT
"Still trying to broaden my tastes in that retrospect," Yang said. "Cooking for myself has been sort of...meh. I guess that's what happens when you live on take-out or microwaveable stuff for a couple of years." Out on the streets, that was all she had been capable of providing. It wasn't like the movie theater had a stove or an oven. Although, there had been a few times Yang could find some ply wood and make a bonfire. Those had been fun. Admittedly though, the only thing she and the kids had eaten with those were s'mores. Living here, she had been trying to actually make something for a change. So far, her attempts had been moderately successful. Yang felt like she was going to have to go back to frozen meals for a while, though. Chopping up vegetables or stirring something together was kind of hard to do with one hand unless you bought the right kitchen equipment. She'd have to look into that sort of stuff at a later date. She winced at Adrien's description of modeling. It sounded like an episode of America's Next Top Model. Maybe the show had been pretty accurate about model drama after all. "So...I'm assuming you don't have any friends in that department," she said.
|
|
|
Post by skyeknight on Mar 23, 2017 13:05:40 GMT
"Maybe you could have someone teach you? I, uh, can't really help there. I've never cooked a day in my life. I'd probably burn everything." he admitted. "You... work at the bakery, right? Nevermore? Maybe Sunshine could teach you. She's a pretty good cook."
It was hard to cook for yourself when you had professional chefs in the house day in and day out. Adrien had learned at a young age not to get attached to the staff. There had been one chef in particular that he had been very fond of who had always brought in cookies, just for him, but once his father found out, he let the chef go. So to save the staff from being fired on his behalf, Adrien kept his distance. Sure, Adrien could hire the best chefs in the world if he wanted. They could go and cook for Yang, but she wouldn't want strangers parading through her home, using her kitchen, cooking her meals. Sunshine was probably the best choice. A friendly face, to encourage and be patient with Yang, likely Yang's frustration at her own situation.
"'You're not here to make friends. You're here to work.'" Adrien said, puffing out his chest, raising his head and taking a bland expression. "Or that's what father says. You wouldn't like the work very much, Princess. You'd likely hit someone."
His father had a very interesting view of work. Considering that his old man had never been a model. Adrien was nice to his otherwise distant 'co-workers' and 'rivals' because he didn't want to be their enemies. So he did everything he could to stay out of the spotlight outside of the modeling world. No interviews aside from ones on modeling, questions about his personal life were avoided, dodged and woven around, personal appearances were kept to a minimum and when he went out, it was often in disguise. But since he was with Yang, in the safety of her home, his glasses had long been shed, as had the ball cap. He had told Yang, again and again, she had been his first friend, his only friend. She had become so important to him and hadn't even realized it.
|
|
|
Post by angelofmusic1992 on Mar 23, 2017 17:56:42 GMT
"Yeah, sweets I can handle," Yang replied. "Other food, not so much. I swear, some of the names of these spices sound made up." Still, getting Sunshine to help might be a good idea. Heck, she may even know some shortcuts Yang could take, now that she had one arm. Couldn't witches enchant household objects so they could cook and clean by themselves? That would be pretty handy to have until Yang figured out what she could and couldn't do on her own. And who knew how long that would take. There would probably be a lot of trial and error. Still, once she learned the basics, maybe she could teach Adrien a thing or two. Cooking might be something fun to do together, if she had the energy for it. She did have to laugh at his impersonation of his father, though. It certainly seemed to fit with how Adrien described him: stern, cold, and serious. She took another bite of her burger, thinking for a moment before asking another question. "Do you think you'd ever...tell anybody else, about who you really are? I mean, I guess you didn't tell me. I kind of...punched my way into knowing. But...would you want anyone else to know that Chat Noir is really Adrien Agreste?" Leading a double life might be a little easier if he had some people who knew what was going on. But, secretly, Yang kind of enjoyed being the only person who knew. It was like being in on an inside joke, one that only she and Adrien knew. Sharing that with somebody else might make her feel a little jealous.
|
|
|
Post by skyeknight on Mar 23, 2017 19:30:08 GMT
"What? Witch hazel not up your alley?" he teased. "It's so much better than regular hazel."
But secretly he thought she had a point. Some of them were difficult to pronounce or just strange entirely. Like who first thought, "hey, I'm going to stick this leaf in my stew. It's going to taste great." when they saw Bay Leaves? Don't even get him started on tea. Boiled grass. That's all it was. He would live and die by coffee though. He did love a good cup of coffee. Those alone could be almost sinful if done right. Like Nevermore.
"Why, Princess, do you not want to share me?" he grinned.
That actually pleased him more than he should care to admit. He liked being completely honest with her. It was much easier like this. He didn't have to mind his mouth or pretend or lie. He could be himself. Who he truly was. Both faces worn at once. He didn't have to pretend about anything anymore. Well, except for just how much he liked her, but he would pretend that for as long as he had to. Forever if he must. As long as she was happy and comfortable.
"No. I don't think I will tell anyone. Anyone I would tell are police officers and if they know, then they'll feel like they have to arrest me." he explained. "But I would have told you after I took care of a few things."
|
|
|
Post by angelofmusic1992 on Mar 23, 2017 21:25:28 GMT
Yang hoped Adrien didn't notice her face turning red when he teased about her "sharing" him. His joke seemed to echo the thoughts she had just had. Did she even have a right, to be jealous over something like that? It wasn't like Adrien was her boyfriend or anything. She had no claim over him, not really. They were friends, but it wasn't quite the same thing. Of course, Yang felt more than friendship, and Shadow seemed to imply that Adrien felt the same, but taking things to the next level seemed like too much right now. Besides, there was still that feeling of not being enough, that Adrien deserved a whole girl rather than 80% of one. "I don't know if Sunshine or Shadow would," she said. "They seemed to come around to you, eventually." She knew they had kind of started out on the wrong foot, but now, it looked like the three of them had some kind of partnership going on. Yang almost wished she could get in on that, but she wasn't sure how good she would be. She'd probably just screw things up. Besides, she wasn't a police officer. Sure, she had wanted to be one once, but she wasn't sure if that was something she could go for now. It would probably be hard to arrest someone if she only had one hand. She was surprised to hear that Adrien would have told her eventually, though. "Really? You would have?" Until he had shown up at the hospital, she thought he was out of her life for good, that he was never coming back. Maybe he had been closer to breaking his promise than she had thought.
|
|
|
Post by skyeknight on Mar 24, 2017 2:16:13 GMT
Adrien grinned. Yang had totally blown over the jealous question. As if he hadn't even asked it. That had to mean she would have been jealous if someone else knew, right? But what if it was because she didn't want to dignify his question with a response? He should just play it cool. Who knew crushes were so hard? He wanted to do one thing but had to do the opposite because he wanted to do everything in his power to impress Yang. At the same time, he was still the goofy, weird cat burglar who happened to be a gentleman.
"Not sure! I'm afraid of how they would react. But I guess it can't be worse than getting punched in the face," Adrien teased.
He grinned at her. Sure his face was how he made his money. He had to tell his father he got the bruise during the riots. He said he had gotten hit by someone and he ran and had been laying low in a motel. He technically did cover his tracks and buy a room, but he never stayed in it. He had been too busy trying to help the police round up the rioters.
"Before I left, I wanted to tell you. I was just... scared." he admitted. "That you liked Chat Noir so much that you couldn't like... the whole me."
|
|
|
Post by angelofmusic1992 on Mar 24, 2017 2:56:07 GMT
Yang averted her eyes at that joke. Sure, it was sort of funny now, how she had reacted when she had found out who Chat really was, but she still felt a little bad for doing it. She had just assumed the worst about Adrien and accused him of so many rotten things. She had been angry and sad over the loss of her arm and had taken it out on him. Of course, she had moved on past then, but still. She couldn't do that again in the future. "Remind me not to do that in the future," she commented, glancing back up at him. "Not everyone would forgive me as easily as you did." Then again, hadn't she forgive him pretty easily for leaving her? It had only taken one conversation, after she had vented a bit. Maybe that was just her and Adrien's thing. They forgave each other easily. At Adrien's comment about her possibly not liking all of him, she glanced down again. "I didn't, for a moment," she replied. "I must have made you feel bad. I'm sorry." Had she ever apologized, for assuming the worst of him and hitting him? She wasn't sure if she had.
|
|
|
Post by skyeknight on Mar 24, 2017 13:16:08 GMT
"Yang," he said gently, "I don't blame you. I lied about who I was. Anyone else would have been furious."
He thanked every star in the sky that she hadn't burnt him to an itty bitty crisp for doing what he had done. He had been more concerned about the 'betrayal' than the lying. Leaving her had been one of the hardest things he ever did in his life, but the moment he heard she was hurt, all other rational thought left his mind and he was there, by her side, just as quickly. She hadn't seemed to mind Chat, but the whole Adrien thing and the leaving. It was a lot to take in. Sure, he bruised from where she hit him. He deserved it. Probably deserved more, but she had luckily just stuck to punching him.
"You don't have to apologize. I expected it," he admitted. "But I was selfish and I wanted to... stay despite everything that I had put you through."
He almost said 'stay with you'. That would probably come on a little too strong. Yang needed more time. He had been selfish and had wanted to keep Yang for as long as he could, but his very presence as Chat or as Adrien would only cause her problems. Chat caused legal problems and physical danger. Whereas Adrien caused paparazzi warfare and scandalous tabloid articles. Yang made him feel normal. He hadn't wanted to let that go for the world, but perhaps he should. For her sake. She needed to worry about herself. Not 'them'. He could be the friend. He would be happy with that.
|
|
|
Post by angelofmusic1992 on Mar 24, 2017 16:22:04 GMT
Yang wasn't sure if she could call it lying. Adrien had simply not said who he was. Was leaving that out the same as lying completely? It wasn't like she had asked if he was Adrien and he had said no. Adrien didn't seem to mind her reaction so much, and had even expected it, but she still felt bad about it. Punching her way through things wasn't going to solve every problem. Her friends had been telling her that for years. And now, her missing right arm was evidence of that. No matter how much she tried to plow through Thrax, she just hadn't been strong enough. "Well, I think I wanted you to stay, even if you did make me mad," she said. "I guess that makes both of us selfish." Adrien couldn't stay away, Yang didn't want him to leave. Both of them just didn't want to give up the other, no matter the consequences. Even though Yang felt like Adrien deserved somebody not as messed up as she was, the idea of letting him go completely was too painful to think about. It would be like losing her arm all over again.
|
|
|
Post by skyeknight on Mar 24, 2017 18:21:36 GMT
"I'll stay this time," he practically vowed. "As long as you want me around."
He didn't think he could muster the heart to leave again, but if she told him to go, he would go. He still felt like he wanted to be in constant contact with her, but she would probably punch him again if he bought her a cell phone or gave her some elaborate gift. He could give her an old model of a phone of his, which would still be a top of the line fairly new model to everyone else. But would she take the gift? That was... something for consideration. Either way, he was staying around. Yang did him a world of good. He wanted to do the same for her.
|
|