Felix is steaming.

He is in a chauffeured car, on his way to Paris, or more specifically, the Agreste mansion.

How could his parents force this on him? Let alone wait until the last second to spring it on him?

It was completely and utterly outrageous.

He was 17 now, almost an adult. Shouldn't he have a say in where he gets to spend his summer vacation?

If he he'd had a choice, it would have been pretty much anywhere but here.

He lets out a long sigh and looks dejectedly out the window at the scrolling idyllic landscape of the French countryside.

Man was he going to miss this amidst the bustle and noise and ugly grey of Paris' city streets.

He fiddles with the door lock and briefly contemplates flinging himself out and running off into the sunset.

But then he would tarnish his clothes, and that would just piss him off.

With a frustrated groan, he leans further into his seat and crosses his arms, waiting for the inevitable arrival.

He doesn't feel himself nod off, but jerks awake suddenly as his chin crashes onto his chest. He looks around, surprised to find the car is stopped outside of the Agreste estate.

"Oh great. Finally here," he mutters to himself. His driver shifts the car into park and quickly exits the vehicle, coming around to his door and opening it for him. Normally, the driver might greet his passenger and cheerily announce their arrival, but having spent long enough with Felix and his family to know their personalities, he opts to remain silent and stalwart instead.

Once Felix is outside the vehicle, his driver shuts the door firmly and brusquely rounds the car to the trunk, retrieving Felix's belongings. The driver leads the way up the stately entrance and knocks on the door. The door opens almost immediately and they are greeted by Gabriel's assistant, Natalie.

"You're five minutes late, Gabriel and Adrien are in the dining hall and expecting you. Best not to keep Mr. Agreste waiting any longer," she says curtly.

Felix fleetingly wonders if she's always like that or if it really bothers her that much that they arrived late. He nods farewell to his driver and heads in the direction that Natalie motions to.

"I'll show you to his quarters so you may deposit his luggage." He listens to Natalie and his driver walk up the huge staircase as he pauses at the dining room entrance. He takes an exaggerated breath and pushes the door wide open.

A delicious smell wafts over to him as soon as he enters the room. He sees Gabriel and Adrien sitting at opposite ends of a massive, grand dining table. Gabriel looks like he'd rather be anywhere but there. 'Good, someone who shares my feelings,' he thinks bitterly to himself. Adrien looks miserable and alone for a fraction of a second, until he registers that Felix is there and his entire demeanor lights up.

"FELIX! You finally made it! I'm so glad to see you!" Adrien looks like he's itching to leap out of his seat and squeeze Felix in a bear hug, but he doesn't. He merely stands up in sync with his father, in a polite gesture of respect.

"It's a pleasure to have you with us, Felix," Gabriel says unemotionally.
It dawns on Felix that this is his first time being with them since the disappearance of his Aunt Emilie. He assumes this is the cause of Gabriel's cold and unwelcoming presence.

"Glad to be here," he replies in an equally flat tone.

Gabriel gestures to an empty seat in the middle of the side of the table, asking Felix to have a seat without saying a word. It strikes him that he's very similar to his Uncle. He crosses the room swiftly and takes his place at the table. Gabriel claps his hands and instantly a servant emerges from a side door, pushing a service tray containing three silver domed platters. He places one in front of each of the men, removing the lids as he does so, and explains in great detail the crispy roast duck with truffle mushroom risotto, sauteed broccoli rabe, and side of cauliflower bee pollen soup. It is obvious he's very proud of the meal he has hand crafted.

The meal is exquisite, but Felix doesn't acknowledge it as he's used to this sort of meal on a daily basis at home. He assumes it is much the same here.

The meal is consumed in complete and utter silence. Some may find it uncomfortable, but it is how Felix prefers it. Trying to enjoy your meal while someone is attempting to converse and force you to talk more and eat less is, simply put, annoying.

Once he has finished eating, he wipes his mouth, pushes away from the table and stands with his palms flat on the surface. He looks directly at Gabriel and thanks him for the meal, asking if he may be excused to go settle into his summer living quarters. Gabriel nods tersely and Felix abruptly makes an exit.

Footsteps race quickly after him and he clenches his jaw.

"How cool is it that you get to spend the whole summer here? I'll really enjoy having you around! I could use the company!" Adrien chirps animatedly.

Felix gives him an imploring look, hoping that's enough to convey his feelings about having to spend his summer with Adrien, but he clearly doesn't notice. Can he really be that dense? Felix frowns at this thought. That would make the summer very long and highly unpleasant indeed.

"...so let's go get you unpacked and settled in!" Adrien finishes and Felix realizes Adrien was talking the entire time and he has no idea what he had been saying. He didn't really care anyways. He followed Adrien to his temporary dwelling in silence.

AN: Hey guys! I'm back! Surely you all want me to keep working on Spinning, but this idea was niggling the back of my mind and honestly, I'm drawing a bit of writer's block on Spinning right now, so I hoped a change of pace would help me develop more ideas for it! I hope you enjoy this little Miraculous AU fic! I'm not sure at the moment how long it will be, but probably only ten chapters or less. Something not too intense. Thanks for dropping by! My readers mean the world to me! You're the reason I write!