Marinette had met Gabriel Agreste before. That was a given. The derby hat competition was a good example of an occasion of a chance where she had gotten the rare opportunity to speak to Paris's most famous fashion designer. The main reason for her doing so had been her defending her design from Chloe's plagiarism, so she wasn't entirely certain that it counted.
She'd met him as Ladybug. Then again, she wasn't entirely certain if that counted either. Talking to someone when you're trying to save their life seems like a pretty basic stage. When faced with mortality, everyone was equal, despite every other protest from anyone else, so did it honestly count as some sort of social interaction? Not to mention, she was behind a mask at that point. When she was able to hide behind her Ladybug persona, Marinette was about five times as confident as she was normally.
Meeting someone behind a mask was very different to meeting someone without one. And honestly felt a lot more intimidating.
As least, that was how Marinette felt when she finally came face to face with Adrien's father. She'd fought Akuma's, criminals, even Chat Noir, through no choice of her own of course, but there was something about the tall, spectacle wearing designer that made her shiver up close. Could it be that it was because she had admired his work for so long, and this was like meeting a hero? Perhaps it was down to how he seemed to look down on her from the end of his nose, or because he was standing atop a large flight of stairs, while she and Adrien were right at the bottom of them. Or maybe it was because he didn't smile, and didn't look like he had in about five to eight years.
"Hello." He was sternly spoken. There was no trace of friendliness, welcoming, or as little as intrigue to his voice. He was cold. During the derby contest, he'd at least some impress with her skills as a designer. Here, there was none of that. He very nearly sounded bored.
Adrien knew Marinette and Gabriel knew one another, however little that actually was. He went through with introductions, since it was expected of him. "Uh, Father, this is Marinette. The uh, the girl I told you about."
"I can see that, Adrien." His father acknowledged matter-of-factly as he walked down the ridiculously long set of stairs that connected the first two floors. Gabriel didn't mock his son with his tone, nor did he embellish or joke. He spoke like he was stating a mere fact. While not inaccurate, Marinette couldn't help but feel his response had been blunt at best, and curt and a tad rude at worst.
While she had seen Adrien's house before, interior and exterior, she had never really acknowledged it, since each of her trips there had been brief, and normally tinted with a hint of danger. It was enormous, there wasn't any way to question or deny that. This really was the life of luxury, and it amazed her when Adrien told her how cold Gabriel was. Perhaps she had possessed this unconscious perception that anyone who could provide their child with this sort of life must have done so out of love for their child. Or maybe she just hadn't wanted to accept that her most idolised designer was the kind of person who could be like that. Yes he was serious, and strict... But...
It shocked her when she felt that same coldness coming from Gabriel right now. It made the entire foyer feel like a freezer. She couldn't feel a spot of warmth to the designers words.
The middle aged man stood on the steps just one up from Marinette, where he could look down on her better, not that he needed help in being taller than her. He seemed to scowl for a second, inspecting her and the blue clothing she wore. He himself looked like he was headed out to a business meeting with work associates, in a smart pressed grey suit. Where Adrien and Marinette were semi - formal, Gabriel was fully formal, complete with a tie, and his suit buttoned up.
"A pleasure." He extended a hand for the blue haired girl to shake. She wasn't surprised by how firm his grip was. "Adrien has spoken very highly of you."
Marinette could swear she could feel Adrien blushing from behind her.
It ended up being three solid hours of tense anxiety, for both Marinette and Adrien. For a man who showed little to no emotion, Gabriel seemed to have a talent for cold intimidation, even though it was pretty obvious this wasn't an intentional.
He was just a natural at this.
Neither of the young heroes could figure out if that made it easier or harder to feel intimidated. Adrien was used to this sort of attitude, sure, but he had rarely spent enough time around his father over the past few years to really get a feel for it.
Yet somehow, to her amazement, Marinette was managing to not make an idiot of herself, and Gabriel was acting civilised. He wasn't being dismissive, nor was he being rude. He engaged in polite conversation. He would ask Marinette a question that wasn't too outlandish or personal. Common questions, like how she and Adrien knew one another, and what sorts of things she did as hobbies. Once he learned of her passion for fashion, he inquired as to her dress. Upon learning that she had made it, he had bestowed a compliment onto her.
Marinette had seemed to want to avoid asking questions, mostly content to just answer what was thrown her way, but once the topic of fashion had been brought up, she hadn't been able to help herself asking a truck load of questions, and to her surprise, Gabriel seemed more than happy to oblige with answers as quickly as Marinette could come up with them.
Dinner itself had only lasted a single hour. The remaining two were spent in a manner more similar to that of a formal party. Sure, there were drinks, and conversation, and the occasional laugh, but it was clear everyone that was here wanted something. Information. Approval. Acceptance. They were just more polite about it.
"This has been a lovely meeting, but I'm afraid I need to attend to some work." Gabriel announced, at exactly 10PM, clearly having planned to be gone by this time. "Adrien, your chauffeur is still available to drop you both off at Marinette's house whenever you decide to leave." It wasn't too clear if that was directed at Marinette or to Adrien. "A word?" That one was definitely for Adrien.
His throat went dry, but he nodded obediently. If his throat had just gone dry, God knew what Marinette was feeling at this exact moment. He placed his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, obviously tensed up by the sudden exit Gabriel had announced. "I'll be back in a second, Mari."
She nodded. Had she done something wrong? She had thought she had been doing an okay job at not making herself seem like an idiot.
Following his father, Adrien wondered the exact same questions, albeit with a slightly tighter chest from the ball of air he was holding in. They didn't go far, just out of the room, around into the corridor, and down a couple of meters. It didn't take a genius to figure out Gabriel wanted to talk about Marinette.
"Well... You met her, father." Adrien muttered, worry in his voice fairly evident.
"Indeed I have." His father said, his hands now behind his back and standing tall, once again. This had been one of the only times in years Adrien had ever seen him relax even a bit, but now that it was the two of them again, he went straight back to being uptight and formal. Adrien sometimes wondered, did Gabriel even see him as a son, or some sort of business associate?
"Well?..." The model just wanted to get the answer out of the way. So he knew where he stood with his father. So he knew that it was pointless to try and convince him otherwise. So he knew just what kind of -
"I approve."
"Say what now?" Adrien questioned before his brain even caught up and responded to what he had just been told purely on instinct.
