“Are you all right by yourself?” asked Adrien apprehensively. “Do you want Nathalie to eat with you?” He let out a rather high-pitched chuckle that made him sound sad rather than amused and kept eating, oblivious to Adrien’s increasing astonishment and concern. “Fine by me,” replied Gabriel dismissively. “Tell Miss Tsurugi I said bonjour.” “Uh… listen, Father, I’m gonna be going out to breakfast with Kagami,” said Adrien uncomfortably, as Gabriel resumed spooning cereal into his mouth. “I just think that doing so will enable us to start retracing Mother’s steps more quickly.” “Just fine.”Īdrien took in his father’s appearance again and felt like pointing out that Gabriel was anything but fine, except he decided not to. He didn’t open them again for at least ten seconds, after which he forced a painful-looking smile. Gabriel, who apparently hadn’t noticed Adrien walk in, screwed his eyes tight at the sound of his son’s voice, almost like it were very loud and difficult to listen to.
“Um… Father?” he asked uncertainly. “Are you okay?” To top it all off, his facial expression was one so morose that it made Adrien feel queasy. The smell of cologne that Gabriel normally gave off was now replaced by the underlying scent of alcohol, and he was eating a bowl of cereal. It seemed as though he’d simply thrown on his clothes, with his jacket nowhere to be seen, his vest unbuttoned and looking at risk of falling off, and his tie unmade and hanging pathetically around his neck. The fashion designer’s hair was unkempt and worn, his glasses appeared to be crooked, and his face was unwashed, darkened slightly with five o’clock shadow. Upon entering the dining room, Adrien was shocked at the sight of his father - he didn’t think he’d ever seen Gabriel this disheveled. And now the next day was here.īut not everybody was in as good a mood as Adrien was. Despite the puzzlement over his father’s behavior lingering in the back of his mind, Adrien had informed Kagami that they could start retracing Emilie’s steps the next day.
Even though he’d found it odd that his father was so willing to allow him to pursue the investigation (not to mention his eagerness for Adrien to spend a few hours with Kagami last night), Adrien was ultimately invigorated by Gabriel’s support. Adrien awoke the following morning with a renewed sense of purpose.