Nebula - Adrien Agreste

Chapter 7 - Meeting the Guardian

"Another job well done!" Chat Noir smirked as he twirled his baton around. "You're becoming quite the hero, Bat Queen," he grinned at me and I just rolled my eyes. Over the course of two weeks we'd become close. Close enough to where we could joke with one another and make bad puns, which was more than what I can say about Ladybug.

It seemed she was still wary of me, despite the fact that their Master letting them know that I was going to be on their team. She still hasn't eased up on me, and was much rougher with her words and demanding. I had half the mind to let her know how I felt about that, but Chat Noir always reigned me in. He seemed to understand - maybe she was that way with him when they first started out.

I just grinned at him as we did another fist pump as a team. That was one thing they always did after a job. I had yet to meet any of the part time members of the group, and I wondered since me joining permanently if that helped in any way. There had been quite a few Akumas here recently, and I was right to assume they happened more down here than they did where I went to school. Though not many kids had gotten transformed this week, at least kids from Dupont.

"Well than," Ladybug stated as her earrings beeped. "I'll be seeing you two later," and with that she yo-yo'd herself away, leaving Chat Noir and I on top of a building.

Shaking my head at her departure I turned to look at Chat Noir, who was giving me a curious look. "What?" I wondered, tilting my head to the side.

"I'm just wondering who you are behind that mask, is all." He waved his hand at me dismissively and I just scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest. "See you next time, Bat Queen." He winked at me before almost flying away.

Taking their lead I rushed towards my apartment. Leaping through my window, I immediately transformed back into my civilian self - handing Gulla a piece of banana as she floated in front of me. She looked exhausted, but took the banana gratefully. I'd grown accustomed to bringing dried bananas, since they didn't go bad as fast as fresh and Gulla accepted them as her snack. They were basically the same, just dry with a different texture that she assured me she loved.

"It seems like you're getting better at fighting the akumas," she praised me and I grinned back before frowning a little. She noticed my change in personality and floated closer to me, a curious look on her face. "What is it, Char?" She wondered as she gobbled up her dry banana piece.

"I just wish Ladybug wasn't so hard on me," I scowled as I flopped onto my bed. "I could understand the first few days, but it's been two weeks. Surely any sus she had on me was over by now!" I tossed my hands in the air in frustration. "Chat Noir won't let me talk to her about it. Doesn't want to ruin the dynamic we have, or they have." It was the only thing that I could think of as to why he kept telling me not to whenever I brought it up.

Gulla was quiet for a moment, as if thinking over what I said. "I do agree that it is unfair to you, considering the Guardian told her you would be joining the team," she agreed and that made my eyebrows raise in question. "We could go pay him a visit and explain the situation to him? Maybe we just need a group meeting to even out the waters?" She suggested and I pondered on that. While meeting the Guardian she spoke so highly of sounded tempting, there had to be a reason he didn't introduce himself to me face to face. Maybe he thought I wasn't ready for an introduction and wanted to see how I did on the sidelines.

As if she could see the gears churning in my head, she floated down onto my right shoulder and snuggled into my neck. "We don't have to if you don't want to, but I think it might be a good idea. Ladybugs of the past have had similar situations, and I assume it's because they are geared to be a little cautious of new people. Since Nooroo was stolen and is being used for evil." That was a good point, though it didn't make sense as to why this Ladybug was so skeptical of me. "Past Ladybugs have had similar issues. So don't blame her so much for being a little cautious."