Chapter Text
“Dude where have you been?” Adrien ran up the stairs of the school to meet his annoyed friend. “Sorry I missed lunch,” he called while nearly tripping up the last step. “I got caught up in some stuff.” The ‘stuff’ in question had been a nasty akuma battle, but there was no reason to share that tidbit. “I have these though!” Adrien pulled a bag of hard candies from his book bag which he had planned on sharing while they studied for the upcoming test over lunch.
“I hope you know you can’t buy my friendship.” Nino eyed the bag indignantly before caving and reaching in for sweets. “But I guess I can be bribed into forgiveness.”
“Please accept my sincerest apologies,” Adrien bowed mockingly and held the bag up to Nino’s face.
Nino pinched his nose and turned away. “Ugh, why does this bag smell so bad?”
Adrien righted himself and sniffed the bag, face contorting as he breathed in the familiar and unsettling scent of Camembert. Of course, he should have remembered that he stored the candy in the same pocket as Plagg’s smelly cheese. Adrien could ignore the smell at this point, but this was both a blessing and curse. He looked up and realized that he had been inhaling cheese scent for longer than socially acceptable. “I don’t know. I think I need to clean my book bag. Something must have gotten in it.”
Nino seemed to accept this answer, as he allowed the conversation to be interrupted by an out-of-breath Alya. “Guys!” she shouted, waving her phone above her head, “Check out this video I got of Ladybug!”
The next day, Nino and Adrien sat in the library making up for the previous day’s lost study time. They had just gotten into a productive rhythm when the ground began to shake.
“Why do they always attack in the middle of the day?” Nino asked, shoving his books into his bag as he had done many times before. “What is there to get upset about at lunchtime? There’s food!”
“Nino, can we talk about this somewhere safe?” Adrien collected his bag quickly and ushered his friend out the door.
“Dude chill, there's no way it’s anywhere near-” The boy’s confidence was shattered by a very loud – very close – roar. Nino gulped. “Okay yeah on second thought let’s get out of here!” The two sprinted out of the school and turned the corner. Once Nino was out of harm’s way, Adrien would ditch him and find a place to transform.
“You know,” Nino panted, “It’s a shame this exercise won’t count after Ladybug’s cure. I could be a track star with all this running.” The pair ducked behind a building to catch their breath. They seemed far enough away, so Adrien began searching his pockets frantically.
“Oh no, my phone! I have to tell Nathalie I’m alright before she sends out a search party!” Adrien pretended to look around his bag, ignoring the phone Plagg had curled up next to. “I’ll go find it, you wait here.”
“This happens all the time,” Nino sighed, holding up his own phone. “She should put a tracker in you. Or you could just put her number into my phone.”
“Yeah, I have to remember to do that!” Adrien lied over his shoulder as he ran off. There was no way he was giving up his most convenient excuse that easily. He rushed back to the scene of the attack to help his partner save the city yet again.
After watching Ladybug purify the akuma and cure the city, Adrien released his transformation and hurried back to the school.
“Boy am I tired,” Plagg whined from inside Adrien’s jacket.
“Sorry, Plagg.” Adrien pulled a piece of camembert from a different pocket and offered it to the kwami as he ran. He slid into his seat just in time for the lecture to start, nodding to Nino who was already seated.
Nino leaned over to whisper, “I'm getting you a phone holster for your birthday.”
“My father would officially disown me,” Adrien whispered back.
“Good, you can move in with me,” Nino laughed before making a face. “Dude you smell so bad!”
Adrien hushed his friend and mentally cursed the magical being currently curled up in his pocket.
“Plagg, we need to do something about this.” Adrien sat on his couch and watched the tiny god consume his body weight in Camembert. “Can't you pick a less smelly cheese?”
The being glared at the boy. “All I ask is this one thing.” Adrien readjusted on the couch as the usual rant began. “I sit in silence through your inane conversations with Nino, I leave you alone to do your work, I get dragged from lesson to photoshoot to practice without a complaint!”
Adrien raised an eyebrow.
“With mild complaints!” Plagg corrected. “I let you abuse my abilities just to flirt with Ladybug.”
“Okay, okay!” Adrien sighed, sinking further into the couch. “I get it, this is your thing. I just have to get rid of the smell.”
Plagg scoffed. “I personally think it's an improvement.” Adrien poked his friend in the stomach and shook his head.
“Most people would disagree.” He laughed.
“Most people would be wrong.” Plagg insisted, starting on another piece of cheese.
Adrien rolled his eyes and began brainstorming new ways to cover the horrid smell.
The next day, Adrien felt confident that no one would question his scent. His limo pulled up in front of the school, and the model thanked his driver before walking up the stairs to meet his best bro. “Hi Nino!” He waved with a smile before noticing who else was standing there. “Hey Alya, Marinette!”
Alya and Nino returned the greeting. Marinette smiled widely, fear in her eyes. Adrien asked if she was okay. The girl appeared to be frozen. Adrien turned to the others when Nino began speaking.
“So we were talking about going to the Louvre this weekend, they’re showing cool stuff by local artists. You wanna come?”
“Marinette is hoping to find inspiration for some new designs!” Alya added quickly, causing the other girl to hide behind her notebook. “Maybe having a model’s perspective will help!”
Adrien doubted Marinette would actually want his opinion, but he always looked forward to spending time with friends. “I'll have to see what my schedule is like, I really hope I can go! I can probably tell my father it's for a school project.”
“Okay cool see then you bye!” Marinette grabbed Alya’s arm and dragged her into the school.
Adrien watched the quirky girls hurry away, talking animatedly about something. “What was that about?” He looked to Nino who just shook his head.
“They probably couldn't breathe anymore.” He covered his nose. “You smell like you poured on a whole bottle of cologne. What gives?”
“I didn't use a whole bottle.” Maybe a third, Adrien thought nervously. He felt Plagg laughing in his jacket and frowned. “Does it really smell that bad?”
“Dude you smell like a twelve-year-old.” Nino laughed and gesture toward the school. “Come on, I bet you can wash some off before class.” Adrien followed, frustrated that he couldn't seem to win on the scent front.
Despite having rinsed most of the cologne off of his body, Adrien spent a good part of the morning worrying about his smell. Nino had stopped teasing him, but that didn't mean the problem was gone. Marinette was probably suffering, sitting directly behind him and breathing in Clive Christian no. 1, a Christmas present from his father years ago. It was probably worse than the regular cheese smell. Who was he kidding? He had overheard stylists talking about a weird smell when they thought he wasn't listening. Marinette always acted so strangely around him, probably because she hated the smell of cheese. Maybe she was super lactose intolerant and even being around dairy products made her sick! No that's dumb. Adrien shook his head and sighed. This Camembert problem was ruining his life.
A piece of paper slid over the desk into his peripherals. “Dude chill” was written on the top. Nino smiled kindly before reaching over to draw a smiley face on the paper. Adrien smiled back and pushed all thoughts of cheese from his mind, at least for now.
When class ended, Adrien turned around toward Alya, already knowing that her friend wouldn't respond. “Sorry if I bothered you guys earlier.”
“Of course not!” Marinette blurted out, surprising everyone including herself. “I – I mean don't worry about it you're great! At conversations! Unlike me. Oops, I dropped my pencil!” Marinette dove under her desk without another word.
“She, uh, hasn't been sleeping well?” Alya explained sheepishly, then smiled. “Don't worry about it. Just make sure you ask about this weekend!”
“I will!” Adrien assured his friends excitedly.
“Ask about what?” Adrien turned to face his first and worst friend, Chloé.
Adrien was about to respond when Nino jumped in. “We're going to the zoo tonight. Super fun. Lots of animals.”
Chloé scrunched up her nose. “That sounds disgusting, the zoo smells awful. Of course, you wouldn't know because you already smell terrible.”
“You're probably just smelling your rotten attitude,” Alya retorted.
Sabrina scoffed. “Chloé can’t help it that no one understands how hard it is to practically be royalty.”
“I am so over this. Come on, Sabrina.” Chloé stormed out of the room, throwing a “bye Adrikens!” over her shoulder.
“Nice save,” Alya congratulated Nino after the nightmares were out of earshot. “If she knew about the Louvre she would have ‘coincidentally’ showed up.”
“She’s not that bad once you get to know her,” Adrien interjected, mostly as a reflex at this point.
Nino shrugged. “Maybe, but it’s hard to do that second part.” He checked his watch and picked up his bag. “Anyway, I need food. See you guys after lunch!”
The limo ride home was brief and silent, as was the lunch served in the large Agreste dining room. Since he still had a bit of time to spare before he was due back at school, Adrien decided to see about finding another way to cover his cheese smell.
“You know, you could just embrace the glorious smell.” Plagg lounged on the couch while Adrien rifled through his closet searching for a shirt that would pass the sniff test.
“Your ‘glorious smell’ is embracing my clothes,” Adrien sniffed another shirt and scowled. “They even smell coming out of the laundry!”
“Instead of complaining you should be thanking me, Camembert is a very relaxing smell.”
Adrien would beg to differ if the conversation had not already been exhausted this week. He would let the all-powerful god win this round for his own sanity. The boy put on a fresh shirt and picked up Plagg on his way out to the car, determined to start the day fresh. He saw his father’s assistant in the foyer looking less busy than usual. “Hey Nathalie, do you know what my schedule for this weekend looks like? I was hoping to work on a project with some friends.”
The woman looked from her clipboard with a start, then smiled. “I believe this weekend is light, let me double check.” Adrien played with the strap on his bag while she looked through her phone’s calendar. “It looks like you have some time on Saturday for your studies, should I make sure it stays that way?”
“Please do!” Adrien beamed. “I have to check with the others to make sure it works, but if not I would still like to get work done on my own.” Nathalie handed him a piece of paper with the times written on it and ushered him out the door. As fond as she was of the young man, he had a knack for seeking conversation at her busiest times. He also lately smelled of something she couldn’t quite name but chalked up to puberty.
The four friends solidified their plans as they walked back into the classroom. Adrien silently wished that the smell had worn off, but it was hard to tell. At least it seemed to be bothering Marinette a little less? But honestly, he couldn’t read her.