2898/Auld Lang Syne

Auld Lang Syne
Date of Scene:	01 January 2026
Location:	Agreste Apartment
Synopsis:	The Agrestes ring in the New Year as only they can - with upsetting revelations and brooding feelings. Gabriel is horrified to learn Adrien has accepted the loss of Emilie. Adrien is horrified to learn his mother isn't - and may have never been - gone.
Cast of Characters:	Gabriel Agreste, Adrien Agreste

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Gabriel Agreste has posed:
It's morning on the first day of the New Year, and the weather had been fair, the winds low, the sky cloudless. Winter's chill tempered, as though to give fair greeting to this fresh start.

Gabriel Agreste stands in the kitchen of his and Adrien's shared apartment (though his son, of course, lives at school, and Gabriel, more oft than not, resides within Obsidian Tower) and tries not to feel it a mockery. Their apartment is a penthouse, atop quite the tall building, and the distance from the rest of the teeming mass of humanity gives the illusion of lowering the volume on the Butterfly Miraculous' power.

(It isn't actually reducing anything, of course. Gabriel can feel the negative energy all across Tokyo, the daily misery and anguish of existence. He's just tuning it out.)

The illusion helps, given that his son is home. It isn't uncommon for Gabriel to meet with his son - he's self-aware enough to admit that he's too controlling to let that happen - but it hasn't been common.

And it's been some time since they joined together for something as simple as the celebration of a holiday. New Year's Day had once been a lively affair for the Agreste family, the final festivities to cap A season of social gatherings, celebrations, and cheer, not just for the family, but they're gathered associates, peers, and even friends, in Emilie's case. Gabriel had never been the social type, but he would do anything for his wife, and anything to show off how beloved and comfortable she was, how radiant and happy, had not diminished her status but elevated it for all the world to see.

Like most things in Gabriel's life, that had changed with the slow diminishing of her health, the wasting away that the Peacock Miraculous inflicted on her. Now, three and a half years later, he feels the start of the New Year as nothing more than failure.

Another year without waking her...

He stands in the brilliant, modern, expensive kitchen, brooding over the task of making pancakes.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste had been up for awhile. It wasn't that he didn't want to sleep in. He was a teenager after all so sleeping in was something he enjoyed indulging in on occasion. Except with a father like his, it had long ago been ingrained into him that sleeping in was a waste of time and talent.

A lesson that his body seemed to learn quicker than the rest of him. Often his 'sleeping in' was just laying in bed staring at the ceiling while mulling over his thoughts. Sometimes he would talk with Plagg but usually it was the Cat Kwami's nature to get the sleep that Adrien himself couldn't.

So he was up, freshly groomed and neatly dressed, as he makes his way out to the apartment with a hope that perhaps his father would be around. It was so rare they did get to spend any time together and much less so these days while he lived in the dorms on campus.

The blonde teen finds his father in the kitchen much to his surprise. When had he last seen his father try to cook anything? Not since his mother... A wistful smile creeps over him.

"Good morning, Father. Happy New Year."

There's a pause before he asks helpfully, "Would you like any help?"

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
There's a family squabbling in the building next door. A couple sleeping in separate beds still after a fight in the twilight hours of the New Year. A young man sitting on his balcony a Ward away and crying, having woken feeling so desperately alone that it had broken through to Gabriel's sleeping mind.

He'd be a worthless Akuma. No magic could solve grief, but for the erasing of the cause.

All of this is to say, between his brooding on what had once been and his dwelling on the emotional upheaval of all those within city grounds, Gabriel is quite startled by Adrien's voice. It shows, in the way the hand gripping the whisk jerks, and the way his shoulders stiffen, his face tightening before he lifts his head to observe his son.

What did Adrien have to smile about? He looked like Emilie, when he smiled. Her hair, her eyes, so much of the shape of her face, and he couldn't quite begrudge the sight of his son happy, when it reminded him that he was her son too.

"...I suppose it can't hurt," he concedes, shifting unnecessarily. There's more than enough room at the great central island, in this large kitchen usually operated by a personal chefs rather than either Agreste.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
The instinctive response from Gabriel momentarily causes Adrien's heart to plummet down into his stomach. Had he upset his father? It was so difficult to tell what his moods were at times, and he almost always was busy with something or otherwise distracted. The 'intrusion' of Adrien breaking those thoughts had more often than not brought scowls and long looks down the bridge of his nose more than once.

When he accepts the offer of help, that little hope that always burned in him that he would get to spend some time with his father blossoms again. Relief and hope and yes even love for the often taciturn and absent man.

"Of course. I won't get in your way, Father," Adrien assures even while he bites down the urge to actually thank Gabriel for allowing this moment. He didn't want to ruin it. Instead he moves to wash his hands in the sink quickly before returning to the counter to look over the recipe that Gabriel was working on. No doubt on one of those tablets his father was so fond of using, the ones made by his friend's company.

"I'm glad we're able to have breakfast together. It's been a while." Adrien moves to flick on the stove to preheat a frying pan for the pancakes while his father works on the batter. Still he talks with hesitant pauses between every question. Tiny steps, walking on ice.

"Have you been well?"

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
Outside of henshin, it's harder to narrow in on a single person's emotions; like trying to spot a single drop of water in the lake that is Tokyo. Gabriel could, if he focused on Adrien, gave him every drop of his attention.
Fortunately (unfortunately?) it's been many years since he was that kind of man. The momentary unease goes unnoticed. The anger and envy, the hatred and fear, that fills so many on this, the first morning of the year, drowns Adrien out.

Only the signs of gladness are noticed, and those mainly because they match what Gabriel expects to see.

The recipe Gabriel is working from is in French, as could be expected, and isn't overly complex - a simple and straightforward recipe for American-style pancakes, rather than French crepes or Japanese jiggly pancakes. "Something simple," Gabriel says, feeling almost defensive over the choice. "It's what your mother would like."

The words fall from his lips easily, in spite of everything, because Emilie is ever on his mind, but then, then there comes the grief and the sorrow and the anger and the regret, for everything that's missing, for the empty space in this kitchen, in this apartment, in this city, in this world for Emilie not being in it, and Gabriel cracks an egg into the pancake batter with careful, forced, precision.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste opens his mouth to say he didn't mind it being simple... But his mother was brought up. Instantly his head hangs downward as he feels the pangs of grief well up inside him. It was a faded loss though. While Emille had been simply 'missing' it had been years so Adrien had assumed the worst. Assumed his father was simply trying to shelter him from the awful truth.

"That sounds great. I can brew some of the tea she liked, too," he offers uncertain if this was going to be too much reminiscing or not. Still, it was something he could offer instead of simply waiting nearby watching his father try so very hard not to get eggshells into the batter.

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
The grief that floods Adrien is a shadow of Gabriel's own, and the man is torn for a moment between the knowledge that of course the son could never mourn a mother as much as a father, and affront that the feeling could be so weak. So understated. So settled.

It doesn't show on his face, though the drippings of egg white and the plop of egg yolk falling into the batter somehow underscores his feelings. The empty shell is thrown away, and Gabriel stars to work the egg into the batter, as Adrien says those fateful words.

"You mean likes," Gabriel corrects, harsh and low. "The tea she likes. That's what you meant to say, isn't it, Adrien?" Liked. Liked. Why would he say that. The tea she liked in the past tense.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste draws a slow breath when his father speaks with that sharp edge to his voice. A mixture of greif, loss, and perhaps a bit of desperation? It was difficult to tell really. They never, ever, spoke of Emilie. This was a rare occasion that she had been brought up without Gabriel storming off immediately after.

He wouldn't even let Adrien look at her painting often without chasing him off, after all.

"Of course, father. Likes." The words come unbidden, immediate, a knee jerk reaction to do what his father wishes. After it's said however he hesitates glancing toward the man that had closed himseslf off from his son for years.

Adrien was older now. Almost fully grown. He'd learned a lot since he became Cat Noir, including how to stand up for himself, even if it was still so hard at times.

"... I'm old enough to know the truth, Father. I know you were trying to protect me all these years."

It's now that the greif spikes. Hard, deep, unyeilding. Not just for the loss of his mother but for the loss of his father. The loneliness it brought. The inability to have any comfort, or offer comfort, to the other who had also experienced such a loss. That pain still cut deep and harsh, an ache of being abandoned but trying so hard to reach out. Wanting to help and...

Adrien's hand clenches against the edge of the counter as he stares straight down at the marbled surface with his jaw clenched tight.

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
It doesn't help, to have Adrien correct himself. Likes, he says, but as though he's placating him, surrendering, rather than believing. How could he give up? How could he try to give up on her?!

(The fact that Gabriel has not had to wrestle with Emilie disappearing, that he's known where she is for every wretched day since she slipped away into that tube, sustained by those machines, kept alive and waiting for him - none of that occurs to him. He'd have to be far more emotionally intelligent, for that.)

All that he can feel is anger, and betrayal, and grief, that this what he's caused his Emilie, that his is what's happened, that their son thinks she's -

"Trying to... protect you?" Gabriel demands, and there's something incredulous there, "You think I would lie to you, about that?! You think that your mother could have died and I would have just -"

Of course he would have done the exact same thing. If Emilie were dead, the Wish would still be able to fix it. But Adrien doesn't know that!

"Your mother isn't dead Adrien, how could you think that? How could you - accept that?!"

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Of course he was placating him. That's what he always did. As Gabriel finally hears Adrien, hears what he thinks, the younger Agreste doesn't respond. Not at first at least. All he does is turn to meet his father's gaze quietly. A solid gaze that was filled with sadness, and sympathy, for what his father was going through. It's breif though-- He looks away again, unable to meet his gaze for a few long moments.

"Father. It's been over three years with no updates about her whereabouts. No leads. Nothing from the police. I check frequently, just in case. There was never any update about her."

Again he turns back to look at Gabriel with his eyes glossy with unshed tears. He wouldn't let them fall but the hurt there was just too much to not feel them well up at least. "What was I supposed to think?"

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
It's in Adrien's eyes, his posture, his emotions, now that Gabriel bothers to focus on them, now that he can't focus on anything else. It's sorrow and sympathy and grief but not determination. It's the way that Adrien so clearly feels Gabriel is lying to him.

And Gabriel has lied to him, for years, as he has to, but for it to come to this....

For once, instead of being a father who doesn't bother to look, he is a father who can't bear to look. Gabriel turns his back to Adrien, gripping the handle of the whisk, feeling it begin to give under the force. The other hand clutches to edge of the island, cool marble more than enough to withstand his all to human grip.

Emilie, he thinks, despairing. Emilie, how I've failed you. That our son would think -

"And so you give up hope?" Gabriel challenges, bitter, and there is more emotion in his voice than has been there in some time. He exhales, shaking his head. "A few... years. So much of your childhood. How could I let it come to this?"

It wasn't supposed to be like this. A year, no more, that was all he thought it would take, a year to don the Butterfly, a year to find the Miraculous, but a year has stretched to three and look at where it's gotten them.

Hurt radiates from his son. The kind of hurt that would make a powerful Akuma, he knows, and deliberately puts the thought from his mind.

"Of course you've given up on her. You're just a child - you're her child, and she... Emilie always did believe in best what she could see."

His grip on the whisk loosens. The handle falls from the utensil, and he lets the pieces fall. Damn the pancakes, anyway.

"Emilie is not dead, Adrien. She's - she's just sick."

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Give up hope? That stings quite a bit. There was still hope. He just knew the odds. How the police work wasn't such a mystery these days. There were TV series, true crime podcasts, and all sorts of other media one could consume to learn the longer a person was missing, the higher the likelihood that they were deceased. Harsh truths that Adrien had to face alone.

Mostly alone. At least he'd had Plagg to talk things through. He rather wished he could reach out to the kwami at the moment, but there was no way he could risk Gabriel finding out.

"I just want to remember her," he explains quietly.

Adrien's head had drooped down again as he saw his own actions being mimicked by his father. This was a dangerous, hurtful topic, but he was rather glad that for once his father was talking to him at all. It was progress, wasn't it? A sign he did care?

Gabriel finishes his thoughts which were as usual a bit centered on his own slow acceptance of the situation. At least until the last. That remark causes Adrien to look up, confused and hurt and bewildered and yet still perhaps? Perhaps he hadn't entirely given up on hope.

"She's alive?" What goes unsaid is 'you never told me.' He would think on that later.

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
Of course he'd accuse Adrien of giving up hope. He'd neglected his son, abandoned him in favor of his wife, and he would never see it that way, not so long as he clung to the Butterfly pendant and hope for the Wish... or any other cure he could get his hands on.

Emilie is what matters most. Her life, restored. She'd be able to fix any damage he did to Adrien - that was what he'd always thought. Emilie was the one who had been desperate for a child, who had been meant to be a mother, who'd always soothed and encouraged, who knew just what to say to the child they'd sacrificed so much for (so much more than they'd known).

Gabriel is just his father.

"I didn't believe you could forget her," Gabriel says in response to that quiet explanation, and the words are so much accusation and regret in one. He failed. He was wrong. He made a mistake. How could he let Adrien think she was dead? How could he let Adrien move on, as he had so obviously begun to?

"She's alive," he confirms, and looks at Adrien, not coldly but tiredly. "It wasn't supposed to be this way. You were never supposed to - it wasn't supposed to take so long that you would begin to move on."

Adrien Agreste has posed:
The bitterness that rises in his throat is almost impossible to choke down. Hope, confusion, hurt. It was more of a bomb to be dropped on him than if he had been informed of her death. That he was expecting. Even if she had been found somewhere, that would have been something. For his father to have KNOWN this entire time though?

"She's alive." A statement quietly breathed out as Adrien finds his voice wavering. Head drops, and both hands lift to cover his face with a hitch in his breath. This was not a suitable way to face his father!

The light in the kitchen catches on the silver ring he took to wearing years ago, the only peice of jewelry he did wear. It's just a glint before his hands fall away again to face Gabriel.

"I need some air. I'm sorry." It's all he can get out before he turns to walk off with more speed to his step than he perhaps intends. Not running. Certainly not the calm exits he typically makes either.