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Adrien hasn’t always been a good actor, much less a good liar.
He used to stumble with his words when he lied, his anxiety placing doubt in his words and removing any believability. Maman would sigh and tell him to just be honest with her. Father scolded him for trying. Uncle Colt scoffed and blamed Félix’s influence often and Aunt Amélie was the only one who seemed to not mind his attempts.
Félix however seemed to lie as easy as breathing.
No hesitation, no fidgeting, unless to further sell the lie. Félix seemed so earnest at times, like he really believed the lie he was telling.
Lying to Félix was near impossible. Catching Félix in a lie was only slightly easier, but even then Adrien struggled.
“Your problem is that you worry too much.” Félix tells him after witnessing another of his failures. “You focus too much on not getting caught in the lie that it makes you act differently. Then everyone knows you’re lying.”
Adrien flops against his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Being Félix is hard. At the very least, his cousin is understanding of the fact that when they swap, he has the easier role. Adrien likes to wear his heart on his sleeve but Félix is careful. Adrien struggles to mimic him correctly sometimes.
“How do you do it then?” Adrien asks. Félix shrugs and sits down on the bed beside him.
“I know myself.”
“What does that have to do with this?”
“It has everything to do with this.” Félix insists. “I know how I act normally— and more importantly, I know how people expect me to act. So if I need to lie, sometimes all I need to do is pretend to be myself.”
Adrien scrunches his nose up. “I don’t get it. You’ve made it more complicated.”
“It’s what I do best.” Félix says, slightly teasing. “Lies are easier to tell if you make them believable. White lies and half truths go a long way, my favorite cousin. When you lie, you’re playing a role. Sometimes that role is someone else, like when we switch, but sometimes that role is yourself. Or rather, a version of yourself that isn’t lying. Is that any better?”
Adrien makes a high pitched unsure noise. Félix just sighs and sprawls himself out on the bed.
“It’s just playing pretend. Acting.” He says. “Pretend like you’re in a play if you have to. That’s what I did at first. Félix, playing the part of Félix.” He shrugs. “It helped while I was still learning.”
“Why do you lie so much?” Adrien asks, because he’s always wondered. Maman says lying is bad but everyone seems to lie all the time. Maman tells him that she’ll think about letting him go to school this year but she never does. Father says he’ll join them for dinner this time but he misses it again.
“Sometimes I need to.” Félix says after a long pause. There’s a far away look in his eyes. “Sometimes it’s necessary.”
“For what?”
“To survive.”
Félix lies as easy as breathing, Adrien thinks, then rewords that thought. Félix lies like it’s as necessary as breathing.
Adrien keeps that in mind as he tries lying again. And again. And again and again.
As confusing as Félix’s advice was, there’s some truth to it. Adrien tries to mimic himself when someone questions his lie and finds that they’re more likely to believe him when he does. Act natural, like they always say on TV, except Adrien actually does act natural.
It’s a little easier to pretend to be Félix once he begins to understand him better too. Adrien tries to pay attention to Félix’s behavior for when they swap, picking up on little mannerisms, the way he talks, where he puts his hands when he’s not, and the expressions he makes.
And it’s through this that Adrien begins to notice something. Something that he’s pretty sure not even Félix has picked up on.
Félix has a tell.
Félix told Adrien that he had a lot of tells— things he did that indicated he was lying. With his advice, Adrien was slowly able to break out of them so it would be less and less obvious when he lied. Though Félix must’ve withheld one of them because he can still pick up when Adrien is lying to him pretty easily.
It’s hard to see Félix’s tell when he’s lying to him directly, but he sees it when he lies to others. There’s a glint in his eyes when they believe him, there for a split second but gone in the next. Satisfaction and relief, Adrien thinks. A job well done.
Félix has always been a good liar. But as time goes by, Adrien gets better. Slowly but surely.
One day, Félix believes him.
One day, Adrien tells a lie, plays the part, and Félix of all people believes him. Truly and genuinely.
He still messes up sometimes. Still stumbles over his words or hesitates when he shouldn’t. But he gets better. A lot better.
Adrien doesn’t lie like Félix does, but he lies. And people start to believe him.
Lie like you need it to survive, Adrien thinks. Lie as easy as breathing.
—
There’s a new hero with Ladybug.
Chat Noir shouldn’t be surprised. With how badly the battle with Strike Back was going, they needed all the allies they could get. Chat Noir might’ve felt invincible for a moment there but as the Miraculous Cure sweeps over the city again, that reckless confidence fades into realization that this isn’t a battle he’s going to win.
Instinctively, he looks for Ladybug. He finds her with another hero— a new one. A dog.
He doesn’t think twice about it at first. He just sucks in a breath and heads straight for Ladybug.
“Sorry, my lady.” Are the first words out of his mouth. Any frustration she had seems to fall away the moment he says them. “I should’ve stayed back like you said. Then Strike Back wouldn’t have Cataclysm at its disposal.”
Ladybug shakes her head gently. “Risk affected us all. I’ve made mistakes too— but we’re going to fix this, Chaton. You, me, and the rest of our team. Speaking of,”
Ladybug steps to the side in order to gesture to the new hero. Chat Noir glances over, swearing there’s an intense look on his face moments before it smoothes out into a polite smile. “I recruited someone new to help us!” Ladybug tells him, excitement in her eyes. “Meet— uh.”
“Flairmidable!” The new hero holds out his hand for Chat Noir to shake. “You can call me Flairmidable!”
Chat Noir takes his hand but doesn’t break eye contact. Deja vu hits him but he’s not sure why.
Ladybug stifles a giggle beside him. “Dogs and cats, shaking paws.” She claps her hands together, a big grin on her face. “This is perfect! Good boy, Flairmidable! You were amazing!”
“You think so?” Flairmidable tilts his head, smiling brightly. “Thank you, Ladybug! That means a lot!”
The interaction is nothing Chat Noir hasn’t seen. All the other heroes admire Ladybug. It’s only natural— Chat Noir does too.
Except he sees a flicker of something in Flairmidable’s eyes when Ladybug glances over at the other heroes picking themselves up off the ground.
It’s been a long day. He could be imagining it but he swears he saw it.
Satisfaction and relief. Like a job well done.
“Everyone gather over here!” Ladybug cups her hands to call out to the other heroes. As they all follow her direction, Chat Noir tugs at her arm, cocking his head in the other direction a little. Ladybug frowns and takes a few steps away with him. A few of the heroes look curious but don’t move any closer, Flairmidable among them.
“My lady?” Chat Noir drops his voice so only she will be able to hear it. “I need to ask something important and I can’t really explain why it’s important so… Please just trust me on this?” Ladybug nods slightly, indicating for him to continue. “Flairmidable… What’s his civilian identity?”
“Chat…”
“I know.” He says quickly. “It’s a Guardian thing but— it’s important. I promise I’ll keep it a secret, you know I can. I just really need to know.”
Ladybug chews on her lip, glancing back at the group before sighing. “It better be important… Adrien Agreste. Flairmidable is Adrien Agreste.”
Chat Noir sucks in a sharp breath. “Cool. I had a feeling. Uh, follow up request: I really need to talk to him.”
“What?” Ladybug knits her eyebrows together. “Why?”
“I can't say much without compromising my identity but I need to talk to him.” Chat Noir presses. “It’s urgent.”
Ladybug holds her gaze for a long moment before breaking away. “Okay— I’m trusting you because you’re my partner, so whatever you’re doing, just… Be careful?”
“Cat’s honor.” He promises.
“He needs to recharge anyway. Do you..?”
“I recharged already. Let me go with him.”
“Do you have any food on hand?” At his hesitation, she opens up her yo-yo and pulls out a chocolate chip cookie. “Barkk won’t want camembert.”
“Nobody wants camembert except Plagg and maybe Mullo.” He grins as he takes it. “Thank you, my lady. I won’t let you down.”
The pair return to the rest of the heroes. Ladybug directs them all to go recharge and where to meet back up with her. She gives extra food out to the new holders who don’t have any on hand and asks Flairmidable to go with Chat Noir.
Flairmidable seems surprised by that but complies easily enough. Chat Noir directs him to one of the alleyways he knows has good cover, handing over the cookie once he drops the transformation.
Félix looks exactly like him, it really is no wonder that Ladybug mistook him. He holds up the cookie for Barkk, his hand perfectly flat for her. Chat Noir has seen him do it several times before when feeding one of his horses, afraid that they’ll bite his fingers off.
“Is there a reason I’m with you and not Ladybug?” He asks curiously. He doesn’t sound like himself. Chat Noir doesn’t think he sounds like him either but for whatever reason, everyone seems to believe he is whenever he uses that voice.
“She needs to recharge and I don’t.” Chat Noir says slowly. Félix hums, accepting that answer. “But I also wanted to talk to you in private.”
“How come?” Félix asks, then something flickers in his eyes. “Oh, don’t worry. I have no intention of stealing your lady! No matter how amazing she is…” He trails off, trying to sound wistful.
Chat Noir tries not to clench his jaw. His cousin certainly did his research. “I know it’s you, Félix.”
Félix gives noticeable pause. “What?” He turns to him with a frown. “I’m Adrien, not Félix! I know we look alike but I promise you—!”
“I have it on good authority that you’re Félix.” Chat Noir cuts in. “Adrien told me himself.”
“Adri— oh. No, you were speaking to my cousin before.” His face shifts to appear sheepish. “I’m sorry, Chat Noir. Sometimes he likes to play these confusing games where he pretends to be me? He tried to convince me to do it again earlier but I refused. I wanted to stand up to my father on my own. It uh…” He looks downcast now. “It didn’t go as well as I hoped…”
Chat Noir sucks in a deep breath. He can’t believe he’s doing this right now. “You’re good but I know you’re lying, Félix.”
“You can’t believe him!” Félix clasps his hands together, begging. “I know he can be convincing but whatever he told you, he’s wrong! I’m the real Adrien!”
Why is he trying so hard to convince me? Chat Noir can’t help but take note of it. Usually Félix would cut his losses by now, unless he was being motivated by something stronger. Come to think of it, Félix didn’t want to back out earlier when he texted him either. Why was that? There’s no way he could’ve known that Ladybug would try to give Adrien a Miraculous— he didn’t even know that.
Why was Félix trying so hard to make this work?
“Félix.” Chat Noir says, and Félix sighs as if he’s mournful. “You can’t lie to me about this.”
“But I’m not—!” He tries to say, but Chat Noir has had enough.
“Claws in.” He cuts him off, and watches as Félix’s eyes go wide. He makes an ‘o’ with his mouth, staring with open shock.
“So.” Adrien shoots him a flat look. Félix lets out a startled laugh.
“That— that explains a few things... Wow, uh. I gotta hand it to you, I truly did not see that coming!”
“I’ve gotten better at lying.” Adrien crosses his arms, staring expectantly. “What is all this?”
“Well,” Félix twists the ring on his finger, “Ladybug showed up looking for you and I… Didn’t correct her.”
“I got that much. But I know that’s not everything.” Adrien presses. “What is this really?”
“I… Don’t know what you mean.”
“Wanting to switch so I can escape my father and you can… Do whatever it is that you wanted to do is one thing, but ignoring my text, taking a Miraculous from Ladybug meant for me, and trying this hard not to give up the act? You’re not just bored or just going along with it. You want something.”
Félix makes no move to deny it. His gaze flickers away, pensive. Barkk, who has long since finished her cookie, watches him carefully.
Plagg exchanges a look with him, doubtful but still remaining at his side. Adrien is thankful for that at least.
“I want the Peacock Brooch.” He speaks up at last. “It’s important.”
“Important how?”
Félix’s face visibly wavers. Barkk clears her throat and his attention snaps to her.
“My Holders are loyal.” She says, watching him carefully. “They embody Adoration. I know a good Holder when one uses my power.” She circles him once, appraising. “You’re a good watchdog, just not a very trusting one. That’s okay. Many of the best of my Holders have been scorned. But the important part of loyalty— of Adoration— is knowing when to trust. Knowing which hands are there to feed you, and which hands will only hurt.”
Félix’s gaze briefly drops to the ground again before he faces Adrien again. “It’s important to our livelihood.” He says slowly. “He’s abusing it. Shadowmoth. I was going to take it back, however I could.”
“You know who he is?” Adrien furrows his eyebrows. Félix nods slowly. “How?”
“It’s… A long story. I had my suspicions before but I just managed to confirm it.” He sucks in a breath. “Your father. He’s Shadowmoth.”
Adrien’s stomach drops. “What? You— you’re certain?”
“Without a doubt.” Félix says gravely.
Adrien doesn’t know what to say. He runs his hand through his hair, swallowing thickly. Father is Shadowmoth. Father is Shadowmoth.
“We… We have to tell Ladybug.” At the twisted frown on Félix’s face, Adrien insists. “We have to take the fight to him!”
“It’s dangerous. He won’t show mercy to his son— he’ll… He’ll want to control you.” Félix tells him seriously.
“Good thing he won’t know he’s fighting his son. Plagg, claws out.” Chat Noir nods towards Félix to do the same.
“Barkk, on the hunt.” Flairmidable looks different now that Félix has dropped the act. More serious— grim might be the better word for it. “You’re sure about this?”
“I’ve been doing this for almost a year.” Chat Noir points out. “I know what I’m doing. Once we deal with Strike Back, we can talk to Ladybug.”
“Is there any way we can ‘Deal’ with them without killing them?” Flairmidable says a little too quickly to be casual. Chat Noir hesitates.
“I… Don’t know… Maybe we can find father— Shadowmoth— and take the Amok from him? Wherever it is?”
“I can find it if I can get my hands on the Peacock.” Flairmidable tells him, almost desperate. “I’ll handle Strike Back. I promise.”
Chat Noir nods, unsure of what else to say. “Let’s go meet up with Ladybug then.” He cocks his head in the other direction. “Follow my lead. Whatever happens, I’ll handle it, okay?”
“Okay.” Flairmidable agrees. He follows close behind as Chat Noir finally takes a running jump out of the alleyway.