#Plagg Appreciation Week

[zoe-oneesama]

Hi Zoe, I saw a few asks before about a physical edition of Scarlet Lady, I'm curious how you are planning to go about it? For now I saw you talk about volume one, are you planning to make one season = one volume? Will there be any changes to the current comics? (Like color, bonuses etc.) thank you in advance!

Yes, the plan is 1 Volume = 1 Season, with Volume 5 having the finale episodes, so, extra thiccccc.

I have edited the pages to fix spelling errors and made a few changes so subtle that I can't even remember them, as well as trying to make old pages more legible. And there are bonus images and commentary to fill in the blank spots left by page bonuses.

^Here's an example bonus pictures I made for "The Pharaoh". It's the picture Alix joked about sharing with the class of Marinette dressed as Scarlet Lady, and Plagg dressed as the Black Cat statues that the group walks past at the end of the episode.

Because mixam (the ones who'll be making these books) needs pages divisible by 4, I do have some full color pages for the Volumes that happened to not fit that number nicely (so far it's just Volume 2), so look forward to that. I think I'll share those pages later this week.

Additionally, the chapters got new "headers" since they're in a new format:

^Ivan finally got his moment!

So, it's not as easy as just throwing it into a PDF and giving it out like that. I want this to be a special gift for anyone who's willing to put down money for my content - they deserve something extra for their interest, which is also why I'm not trying to spoil everything.

As for the status of everything: - Volume 1: Final Walk-through. I've gone through one draft and added a few things to match changes I made to other volumes, so after I complete a few commissions I'll be ordering in another (hopefully final!) draft. One book costs me about $60 to order, but that's because I'm not ordering in bulk. But it does mean I take plenty of time between ordering draft. - Volume 2: 2nd Draft. Volume 1 had very few errors in its first draft but Volume 2 had quite a lot, starting with the cover being so dark it was basically a black blob with green eyes (the covers are the different heroes). So I've been editing saturation on the cover and need to print just the cover locally to find the right balance. Additionally, there were a handful that accidentally got cut off, so I needed to fix those. The cover is really the biggest thing holding things up. - Volume 3: Ready for it's 1st Draft. Again, these are expensive, and after the debacle with Volume 2 I want to test print Volume 3's cover to make sure it doesn't have the same problem since it also has a lot of black. - Volume 4: Only the pages have been edited. That means I need to do chapter covers, extras, chibis, and page fillers, as well as the cover. - Volume 5: Same as Volume 4, as well as not being done with the season.

Additionally, I'm not out here trying to get sued, so I need an original product to sell with the book being a "freebie". I don't do a lot of original content, so any suggestions would be appreciated. A print? Charm? Bookmark? Stickers?...pencil?

Then there's obviously the store to use, launching a page, creating marketing materials~ All super fun -_-

[dessarious]

What Makes a Family? Pt25

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Marinette woke in a panic and didn't know why until she realized she was alone. Her trapdoor creaked, and she felt the world start moving again when she saw it was Cass. Her twin gave her a sheepish smile, but Plagg was the one who spoke.

"She went to the bathroom and your parents ambushed her on the way back, trying to feed her. I said she needed to come get you." Mari let out an amused huff.

"They're just happy you're here. Not to mention knowing a little about your past, they're going to be trying to smother you with affection. I'll try to keep them from being too overbearing."

"It's okay." Mari could tell she meant it, but something was off. She walked over to her, but Cass wouldn't make eye contact.

"You can tell them no. They won't take it personally, and you have every right to be comfortable here. You can tell me no, too." That got her to look up, confused. "I know I'm more tactile than you. You can tell me to back off if you need to." Cass grabbed her hand.

"No." Even though she was certain the need for contact was mutual, Mari was relieved by her response. The last thing she wanted was to make Cass uncomfortable.

"Girls! Breakfast is ready." Mari could only roll her eyes at her Maman's shout.

"We'd better go down before she comes up." Cass wore a small smile, and they made their way downstairs. They didn't even make it to the bottom before she noticed her Maman's frown.

"You're both wearing the same clothes as yesterday." Her tone was flat and Mari had to fight not to roll her eyes. The sleep thing was going to be an even bigger fight now.

"We were talking, and I fell asleep before I could change." Sabine looked at Cass for confirmation. "We'll change after breakfast." She looked over at the table. "Is everyone coming for breakfast?" There was enough food there to last a week.

"We weren't sure what Cass likes and Americans are used to larger portion sizes." That was supposed to explain enough food to feed an army? "You two sit and help yourselves."

They sat, but Cass didn't seem comfortable just grabbing food. Mari ended up making both their plates, just grabbing what she thought Cass would like. When she looked up, Sabine was frowning at them.

"What?" She shook her head before going to get Tom. Mari looked at Cass but just got a shrug in return. When her parents came back in, she suddenly knew what the animal in a zoo must feel like. "Are you two going to eat, or just watch us?" Her Papa blushed, but her Maman just rolled her eyes.

"I don't think you appreciate just how strange it is to see the two of you together, acting like you were never separated to begin with." Mari didn't have a response to that. Cass started curling in on herself. "I'm not criticising, sweetheart, but you both need to realize it will take a minute for the rest of us to catch up. The boys especially, since Cass is acting out of character to them."

"And I'm not?"

"You are being you. You're affectionate with most of the people around you. Cass is more withdrawn from what we've heard, so her letting you be your normal self to her is strange to the others." Even though it made sense, it still annoyed her. She hated the fact that Cass didn't have anyone she felt comfortable enough around to let them touch her. "And honestly, they have no idea what to make of you either. I don't know what goes on in that house, but they seem to be expecting you to explode or something. It's like they can't deal with you being a genuinely upbeat person."

Mari had to force herself not to wince, and she saw Cass flinch out of the corner of her eye. Given her parents didn't know about their other activities, or their pasts for that matter, it wasn't surprising that she thought it was odd. She wasn't certain her Maman finding out the truth would be any better, though. Given what she'd heard about the Bats, and what Cass had told her last night, she might very well ban Mari from seeing Bruce. He didn't have a great track record of keeping his kids safe.

"I'm sure they're just feeling me out. Probably don't like that idea of me stealing Cass." The words just popped out, but she had to wonder if it wasn't at least partly the truth.

"You're not stealing her."

"Maman, look at it from their perspective. I just show up out of the blue and demand Cass come here, and stay here. They have no idea why, either. Given the nature of the threat, I'm surprised they haven't jumped to mind control." Her parents shared a look. "Let me guess, Damian?"

"That boy needs therapy. Badly." She had no idea. Cass let out an amused snort. "The fact that the others just egg him on doesn't help either."

"Maman, you've only just met them. All families are different and it's a bit early to judge, don't you think?" While she agreed with Sabine's assessment, she really didn't want her to jump to conclusions. Given her parents were already antagonistic towards Bruce, she didn't want them hostile towards the others right away, too. Sabine gave her a flat look.

"Normally, I'd agree, but the boys are a bit on the extreme side. I'm going to have to have a talk with Selina and get a better idea of things." Mari honestly couldn't decide if that was a good or bad thing. In theory, Selina should want Sabine to like Bruce so Mari would be able to get to know him. In reality, she tended to like to cause chaos without any real thought to the consequences.

"Um, maybe you should talk to Alfred? He's been with Bruce his whole life." She saw Cass wince out of the corner of her eye and immediately wanted to words back. If Cass thought it was a bad idea, no good could come of it.

"Maybe. I don't know how much I trust the man's judgement, given how close he is to Bruce." Mari could only frown at that. With that reasoning, she shouldn't trust Selina, either.

"Just remember that Selina likes to stir things up. Please don't take what she says at face value." Her mother gave a hum.

"I tried to make sure the others would give you two some space, but they'll all be here for lunch. We'll be in the bakery so you two can spend the morning alone." She went downstairs, but her Papa lagged behind. He was holding a package she hadn't noticed before.

"We put together a sort of welcome kit for you, Cass." He seemed nervous as he handed it to her. Cass just seemed stunned. "It has keys for the bakery and apartment and a list of all our numbers so you can get a hold of us if you need to. Alfred arranged for you to go to school with Mari, so we got you a tablet for that. Chloe helped us find language software that will not only do spoken words, but you can use the camera to translate your signing, so you don't have to find the words in a language you're not used to. She's also going to be teaching us to sign when she comes over for cooking lessons. We want you to feel comfortable here. I know that it's not what you're used to, but I hope you'll grow to think of this as another home." Cass just stared at him, and Mari was fairly certain that she didn't really think of anywhere as home, at least not in the way her Papa meant.

"Thank you." Cass's words were barely audible, but she could hear the emotion behind them, and given the way her Papa moved like he wanted to hug her, he heard it too. He stopped himself, but Mari could see how hard it was for him, so she hugged him instead.

"This is wonderful Papa." He hugged her back tightly.

"If you two need anything, we're just a phone call away." It was directed more at Cass, but Mari smiled at him.

"We know. Thank you." He seemed to want to say more, but ended up heading to the bakery. Until they got a better feel for Cass, she knew they didn't want to overstep. Cass was still looking at the door. "They mean it you know. You're welcome here, whether I'm here or not."

"They should know. It's dangerous." Mari could only offer her a tight smile. It was a guilt she knew well.

"They know some of it, and knowing everything won't change their minds, but it's your decision. Truthfully, I doubt they'll be in anymore danger from you being here than they already are because of me." Cass got up to wrap an arm around her shoulders.

"We'll keep them safe."

"As long as we can." Neither of them were dumb enough, or egotistical enough, to believe they could do it forever. "Want to go back upstairs?" They put the food away since neither were hungry anymore and went back to her room. Cass just watched her for a few minutes.

"She'll probably come here to make sure you're alright." Mari could only blink at her for a moment. She hadn't thought about that. The last thing anyone needed was their mother in Paris.

"I don't suppose Bruce can talk her out of it?" The dry look Cass shot her wasn't actually needed. "I guess it'll just be one more thing to deal with then. For now, though, we need to make you a new wardrobe." Cass frowned at her. "Please? I'm not going to make anything you don't like. I just want to do this with you."

"The boys are going to be jealous." They both managed to keep a straight face for a few seconds before falling into giggles. 

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[sasuhinasno1fan]

Wish come true - Adrien AUGreste Day 20, 21 & 22

Another major thank you to @etherealxgenie, who betaed while sick mind you. Please go get some rest. To be honest, this chapter was basically making the characters do some of the things I did while in London for 2 weeks. Also, I didn't actually know it took basically 2 hours to get to London from France. I just gave Felix a random number to say and the realized I should probably check that. Anyway, enjoy! London

“Here you go.” Juleka handed a box with the Fox Miraculous to Master Fu. She and Luka had been switching dropping the boxes off.

“Paris will rest easy knowing they’re safe. Was your brother busy?”

“I’m sure you’d like to know.” Juleka replied. Fu was better but still preferred speaking any Miraculous business to Luka. He shut him down, insisting she’d be involved. “I’m sure he’ll come by. He’s going to have to unify with a Miraculous if anything happens tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“We have a school trip to London to go see Big Ben. It’s reopened for visits. Luka was supposed to go with us, his school works with in person schools to allow their students to join in person classes or even field trips so they can still get a semi-true experience. It was also going to fulfill a history paper for him but with Hawkmoth using every excuse to attack us, not to mention all of our rehearsals for Jagged Stone’s concert. He's not going anywhere.”

“That doesn’t seem fair.”

Unable to help herself she asked, “would you think the same if we were switched? If I was homeschooled?”

Fu stared at her, before looking away. Sure she had her answer, Juleka turned to leave when he spoke. “You both know I never wanted to be a Guardian. I’ve been trying to write many wrongs since then and I’ve had to give up even more things in the process.”

“Like Marianne.”

“You know, I am not even sure if I was really sick or if I let my fears control me to the point of punishing myself. I was free from their teachings but I still let them rule me. I still do. The Ladybug without their Cat never lasted long. Regardless of what Plagg has done in the past, he has always kept his holders alive or left when they have gone to the point of corruption. Some situations would be worse without him. The times your brother has had to fight without you have been the hardest battles. I should remember that, but it would seem the bais I was taught holds tighter than it should. It would be wrong to limit you, both of you without allowing you a chance to step back like I wanted. Here. This is the Horse Miraculous, which has the ability of teleportation. Alya has already let people know she will be out of town and the people of Paris are very good at filling in the gap. Not to mention the new measures that have been active. If anything happens here, you’ll know. But don’t unify. Both of you pushed it during the Kwamibuster akuma. You are lucky exhaustion was the only thing you had to deal with.”

Juleka took the collapsed glasses and looked at Master Fu. It was a slow progress, but he was trying his best.. And honestly, she should appreciate the attempts.

“Thank you.”

“Enjoy London. It’s been years since I have been there, but it’s a beautiful city.”

                                        _______________________

“Has he texted you?” Rose asked, also focused on her phone.

“Luka, no. Felix, yes. He’s got things booked for us to eat when we’re there.” Adrien said.

Rose pouted. “How am I supposed to enjoy London without my girlfriend?”

“I think that question also applies to me. Look, we both know if Luka’s school says no, Juleka will try and stay with him and he’ll try insisting she go. We’re basically just waiting to see who will win.”

Groaning, Rose turned to their teacher, whining for answers.

“I’m sorry Rose. The headmaster hasn’t sent me an email with any notice. I’m just as clueless as you are.”

“Rosie!”

Perking up like a dog hearing its master, Rose located her girlfriend, who was walking over with her brother. “Julie!”

Adrien himself noticed something about his boyfriend. “You have a bag with you.”

“I do.” Luka said, swinging his sling bag to the front. It was the type that looked like a standard backpack in size and looks but it was thinner and only had one strap. “Think Felix will be ok adding one more?”

“If he isn’t, I’ll just have to take you on your own tour.”

“Ah, Luka. I just got the confirmation email from the headmaster.” Mml. Bustier said, tucking her iPad into her purse and pulling out a pen. “He mentioned paperwork?”

After assuring Luka would have time for his assignment, Mml. Bustier signed off on the paperwork before calling “Alright. I know we’re missing 4 but we’re allowed to start boarding in 2 minutes. Max, Alya and Marinette are already on board. Max’s mother is a train conductor for those who remember and she’s actually going to be driving our train to London. Chloe, any word from Sabrina?”

“She texted when she left. I keep sending her notices.”

“Is it that stupid text alert where you demand she hurry up? It’s a little degrading Chloe.” Alix pointed out.

“I haven’t gotten it off her phone yet, relax! Besides, I bet you her dad is making her late giving everyone tickets. If she misses this train, this time I will fire him.”

“Guess we shouldn’t remind her what happened last time.” Nath whispered to those near him.

They went ahead and started to board the train while Chloe waited on the platform for Sabrina.

“I’m here! I’m here!” Sabrina called, pushing the full-sized suitcase ahead of her.

“Sabrina, hurry up! What took you so long? I swear to god if it was your dad!”

Luka came off the train and helped Sabrina lift the suitcase over the gap, surprised at its weight. Adrien, who’d come with him at Sabrina’s cries, tilted his head at the sight.

“Ok first, Chloe you do realize it’s actually pretty warm in London right now, right? Also, why did you have Sabrina bring a massive suitcase? Barring any issues, we’re going to be back in the evening.” Adrien asked.

“It’s full of everything she might need. She’s the daughter of an elected official. Who knows what’ll happen?”

“I’d like to think the minute we step foot in England, we won’t be pelted with rotten fruit.” Adrien said.

“This might be one of those ones you need to let go.” Luka whispered as he passed by.

Sabrina didn’t seem bothered and Chloe seemed more upset at the idea of Sabrina missing the train more than the suitcase, so he decided to leave the two to Mml. Bustier. His only objective was to enjoy the trip to London with his friends and boyfriend, all excited to see Big Ben without the cover and meet up with Felix again.

Marinette ended up asking for a seat to herself so she could spread out her designing things which made Adrien’s heart hurt a little. He’d be banned from working and buying cosplay supplies as punishment. He might have gotten his dad involved to get the sentence lifted, but it was basically in exchange for his presence on the trip and at the opening concert – which was in two days! – it meant no cosplay. Which sucked because he was hoping to do another couples cosplay with Luka.

Said rocker was yawning as the train departed, something he’d been doing since he arrived. Juleka didn’t seem any better, already tucking her head into Rose’s neck.

“You ok?”

“Tired. I didn’t think I’d be able to go, so I stayed up trying to look up other historical monuments that weren’t as talked about in France. Juls helped. We didn’t get confirmation until this morning and Maman had to rush to get the email forwarded to your headmaster so I could be allowed to come.” Luka explained, his whole body relaxed as his eyes started to droop.

“Here, switch with me. Come on, move.” Luka got up, letting Adrien push him to the window seat. He watched him pull something down from his bag sitting in the overhead and caught what he threw at him.

“What is it?” The item in hand was plush, a bit long and twisted in on itself, similar to an infinity symbol.

“It’s a neck pillow. Trust me, I’ve used this on every plane and train ride since I got it. You can either use it to protect your back against the wall or wrap the rings around your neck to keep your head supported.” Adrien explained, pulling Luka’s legs onto his lap, looking at him expectedly. “Sleep. When you wake up, we’ll be in London. You’ll get everything you need for your paper and then we have the rest of the day to ourselves.”

“Can we go on the London Eye? I don’t think I ever got to ride the Ferris Wheel with you, like I wanted to back then before Alya’s sister got akumatized.” Luka asked, pulling his jacket off to be his blanket.

“Yeah, I think we can do that.”

The train ride had been going smoothly, when the announcement of heading under sea level was made. Adrien had pushed his headphones to one ear and glanced at Luka, who managed to hide the bottom half of his face in the pillow, but was still asleep.

“Ow!”

“Marinette? What’s wrong?” Mml. Bustier asked.

“It’s just my back. I hadn’t realized how much I’d been hunching over.”

“Oh! I have just the thing! I’ve got hot and cold packs in my suitcase. If you put one on and rest, I’m sure you’ll feel better in no time.” Sabrina offered, heading out to the First Class cabin. A few minutes later, a few screams echoed as people came rushing into their cabin, Chloe and Sabrina following the pack.

“What is going on? Sabrina, Chloe?”

“There was an akuma in my suitcase! It must have appeared when my dad was getting angry. My suitcase popped open when we got to the station, it must have gotten in then.”

“Everyone got out and I locked the door behind us. I’ve never seen an akuma go through solid doors so we’re fine. We just need to let the train driver know so they can contact those in Paris so Scarlet Bug and Catseye can know and meet us in London. Or back in Paris if we end up reversing the whole way.” Chloe explained.

Just then the hauntingly familiar sight of bubbling purple and black substance ran over the train, turning the sleek silver into dark red and purple.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I am Startrain! I’m afraid our final destination has switched from London to the stars! Fasten your seatbelts! We have lift off!”

Everyone screamed as the train started to tilt and vibrate, scrambling to grab onto anything or anyone. Before they knew it, they’d broken through the atmosphere and started to float without the weight of gravity.

“Guys, I don’t think we’re going to be able to get in contact with France, let alone Scarlet Bug and Catseye.” Nino pointed out.

“Forget that. The only thing that’s keeping us alive is the fact that the whole train is akumatized.” Max said. “Unless they have a way of getting the train back to earth before capturing the akuma, the pressure will destroy the train at best and at worst, we’ll all die a slow death of freezing with no oxygen.”

                                   _____________________

“Hey Luka.” Adrien said, rubbing his boyfriend’s back. “Ragazzo, we’re here.”

Luka whined, rubbing his face into Adrien’s legs. Moving didn’t sound like a good option.

“Come on. Felix got us a bus so you can sleep there on the way.”

“Isn’t it like a 10-minute drive?” Luka asked sleepily, eyes still closed.

“Then you can use it to wake up. I know our first trip was a lot, but I didn’t think you’d crash that hard the second trip. Come on, we have a much shorter time now thanks to the akuma.”

Luka whined more but eventually pushed himself up, letting his jacket fall back onto the seat as he wiped his face, exhausted. He stretched his back, cracking loudly.

“Are you ok?” Adrien asked, concerned.

“My back just hurts. I guess when the train landed on Big Ben, I landed kinda oddly.”

“Guess that’s what happens when you end up locked in a bathroom while in space. Come on.”

Felix stood outside Kings Cross Station, standing in front of a double decker bus.

“You were supposed to be on the train for 2 hours. How is it you got here nearly 4 hours later? Can you even get to your tour reservation?” he asked, directing them onto the rented double decker. Mml. Bustier called for everyone to not just sit on the top level. “Better question, are they going to want you there? That was technically your train.”

“Mml. Bustier said she tried getting in contact, but the lines were busy. We’ve been checking the headlines and so far, nothing about them closing for the day.”

Adrien watched the Couffaine siblings collapse into a set together and used each other as pillows as they passed out. Clearly this essay was a definite need to pass.

“Are they ok?”

“Yeah, they just didn’t get much sleep. So should we go over places to visit and stop by?” Adrien asked.

Casting another concerned look, Felix pulled out his phone, one with an attached stylus which he immediately pulled out as he brought up a list. “I was going to suggest a museum or two, but there’s no way we could do that and get back in time.”

“What about historical monuments? If he’s this exhausted trying to work on the essay, I’d like Luka to at least see one monument he can go to.”

“Assuming Big Ben and surrounding areas are closed, there are a few. The Tower of London could be fine, if we join a tour quickly enough to go see the crown jewels. But it can get pretty crowded. So maybe Westminster Abbey? See Saint Paul’s? Maybe visit the Globe Theatre if we have time? There’s also St Bride’s Church. They have a whole exhibit downstairs.”

“What about the market? Borough Market? The glass covering they have, I heard it used to belong to the Royal Opera House.”

“To be fair, with how old the Opera House as a company is, I’d consider that a monument itself.” Felix said as they got closer to the famed clock tower. The traffic they were running into however didn’t spell good news. “Anything else you want to visit?”

“London Eye. That’s for Luka and I.”

In the end, the trip to Big Ben was canceled thanks to a train crashing into it. But Mml agreed to the visits to the other monuments instead. After going over the options, with Luka having final say for his essay, they decided to go to Saint Paul’s. While half the class took the track up to the top, the other half went downstairs to the gift shop and even walked over to the Abby. They watched Felix of all people, follow around a pigeon in circles, giggling as it flew off to get away from him.

“It’s actually a thing that the pigeons here are rather tame. If we had time to go to the Museum of London, you could actually get some like them at the gift shop.”

“Yeah, too bad someone can’t enjoy it like you do.” Alya said, looking over her shoulder to where Adrien stood close to the door of the Abbey gift shop, darting back inside when a pigeon waddled too close.

Once they all met back – and got away from the pigeons – Felix clapped his hands together once mention of food came up. “So, while Harrods is on the menu because a certain someone wouldn’t stop demanding it,” he said glancing at Chloe, who had her feet propped up on Sabrina’s suitcase, “If you want something else, we have the choice of heading to Borough Market, which has a lot more options and more of a chance for you guys to explore or, my mother and I have a permanent reservation at Sanderson Hotel for their Mad Hatter afternoon tea. There is also ‘afternoon tea’ at the crypt in Trafalgar Square, but it’s more of a food court you can happen to get an afternoon tea tower at.”

Mylene raised her hand. “What about ‘granny cafés’?”

“Those are mainly at garden centers and you won’t find many in London proper compared to a bit further out in the city. A reminder, your teacher did book a reservation at a local pub for your last meal before you get onto the train.”

“How about the afternoon tea? Then we can split up for a while?” Max suggested. “According to Maps, there are a fair few things to do around the hotel when we’re done.”

“Hello? What about Harrods?”

“If it’s ok with you guys, Luka and I are going to go to the London Eye after. It’s in the opposite direction, so maybe we can agree to meet at the pub at a certain time?” Adrien asked.

After agreeing, they split into groups ahead of time as they were dropped off at the Sanderson Hotel. Each round table held 4 people with 2 towers each. Adrien’s table felt Luka’s plight from when they’d gone to St Vincent beach as Adrien made them hold until he was done getting pictures of everything and with the book menu, the music box sugar holder and everything else, his friends were getting close to rioting. There was nothing to tide them over.

“Adrien, I am begging you! Please.” Felix said, close to banging on the table.

“Alright, alright. I’m done, go ahead.”

Even though Adrien was done taking pictures of the food, pictures were still taken of everyone, mid bite or mid sip, laughing at whatever anyone had said and questions to both Felix and Adrien about other things they wished they had a chance to visit.

“If your families are ok with it, you’ll have to come back during winter. They have this huge winter festival, not to mention the winter markets, down at Hyde Park. I never went, but always heard my classmates say it was fun.” Felix said, eating the last of his scone.

“Oh yes please! I want to bring Marc here. He’d really enjoy this.” Nath said. His tablet was full of sketches of everything they’d seen. A half-done sketch of the tower, including more whimsical elements fitting Alice in Wonderland was on the screen for anyone to see.

“Mother would love more people over. Let me know.”

Chloe already had a game plan for Harrods that she explained to her group and Felix left her to it. Meanwhile, Adrien got his group to the Ferry that would get them to the London Eye. The line for the famed Ferris wheel wasn’t too long, nothing compared to the line for the local Ferris wheel for the World Cup. The pods were bigger so the group and a few other tourists shared one pod.

“Isn’t there something called the needle?” Nath asked, sketching the scene, glancing over his shoulder. Luka had taken a seat on the bench and had his arms wrapped around Adrien’s waist, leaning against his stomach as a food coma started taking over. Adrien was trying not to disturb him too much while taking a selfie of them.

“I know there’s something like that in Brighton. It’s called the Brighton i360. It’s like the Ferris wheel but all around. I’ve heard people say it’s not worth it though.” Adrien said, giving up and tucking his phone away as he ran his fingers through Luka’s hair. “More to explore with Marc?”

“You’re going to get sick of me asking for reconditions after a while.”

Meeting back with everyone at the pub wasn’t hard and Felix, once again, worked his magic to get them a semi private table in the back. While a few were upset when Felix explained that Sunday roast was only really just for Sundays, his suggestions were taken to heart.

“If you can convince your mom to let you come to France in 2 days, you can stay with me. We’re opening for Jagged Stone. You mentioned you thought his music was ok.” Adrien said to Felix. Both ate their fish and chips in the same way, dunking their chips into their peas. Alya had pointed it out, joking that they had to be separated at birth with the many things they shared in common.

“The weak spined overweight Pomeranian actually kept his word?” Felix asked, uncaring when the Kitty Section members nearly spit their food out at the comment made about Bob Roth.

“We sent our mom over for all the parents.” Luka said. “He didn’t last two minutes with her.”

“Now I have to go, if only to meet this woman.”

Desserts were taken to go and they had just enough time to visit Platform 9 ¾ before they needed to head to their platform. Felix promised he’d try and get his mother to agree and after a few unexpected hugs given to him by members of the class – well Rose and Adrien’s were expected because that’s who they were – he sent them on their way, meeting up with Max’s mother again as their conductor for their return trip.

Insisting Adrien take the window seat this time, Luka pulled out his laptop as Adrein set their desserts onto his table to feed Luka while he worked. “So, how are you going to start this essay? ‘Since Big Ben was out thanks to an international Akuma, I turned my attention to Saint Paul’s Cathedral’?”

Laughing, Luka said, “Maybe not like that, but it couldn’t hurt to mention I witnessed Big Ben up close and personal in ways tourists could only dream of. That and it being the sight of London’s first akuma attack. If that doesn’t get me an A, I don’t know what will.”

[cyratania]

Run, Adrien, Run.

So, I made a thing inspired by the last panel of BEAU @buggachat. I'm not on tumblr so I asked my friend to put it up. Hope you enjoy this little oneshot of what I hc would happen after the accusations~

Edit: Haha! Just saw your update, I absolutely loved it!!

My version was def a bit more angsty-ish 😅

____________________

He doesn't know why exactly he decides to pretend to be in cahoots with his father. Well, maybe, it was because seeing the slightly unhinged look on Marinette's face reminded him of Ladybug. Or, maybe because an attractive woman was nearby and his brain decided to bail. Or, because most people expected the son of the infamous 'Hawkmoth' also to be secretly evil and were just waiting for him to mess up.

So, when Marinette and her friends offered genuine friendship, Adrien seized the opportunity with both hands but he was naive and so naive. He should have known there still would have been some backlash no matter how nice and accommodating she and her parents had been.

These were the thoughts going through Adrien's mind as he sped through the streets of Paris, years of chasing Akumas and dodging press gave one enough practice to practically disappear.

Who's a bad actor, now? He thought, smiling sadly and turning into an alleyway he knew had kittens he could pet Adrien, slid to a stop and sat down behind an extension that would cover him from an outside perspective.

He just wanted to think.

Grabbing the nearest kitten and shrugging off his jacket, he set to petting his new friend.

"I'm naming you," he paused to scratch the kitten's ears, "Plagg." He whispered to the coincidently black-furred, green-eyed kitten. The kitten meowed appreciatively.

He let out a strangled laugh. "I wish you were here, Plagg. I wish I had stayed with Chloe."  Then, his head shot up. He checked the time. Then frantically searched his pockets for his phone.

Ever since Chloe had found out, he worked at ''Dupain-cheng". She insisted on calling him once a week at exactly 4 in the evening to see how it was going. In his panic to leave, he had left his phone back at the bakery.

Banging his head against the wall, Adrien let out a frustrated sigh. "No way I can sneak back in and get it, can I?" He asked aloud to Plagg. The kitten just meowed.

"Get what?" Asked another voice.

Startled, Adrien let out a shout and leapt to his feet. Then turning around, a rolling pin met him with a rolling pin extremely close to his face and one scary, Marinette Dupain-cheng. "What-How did you find me?"

"That's not important." She dismissed. Truthfully, she had come to this alley with Chat on multiple occasions. Ever since their victory over Hawkmoth, she would come to just pet kittens in the hope that she might run into Chat.

Taking a step closer, she repeated, "Get. What."

"...Just my phone."

Marinette gave a smile full of teeth. "This phone?" she said, dangling out his phone. "Just one question, why do you have so many pictures of Ladybug and Chat Noir?"

"I'm a fan?"

"Fan. Fan of the same people who cost you everything? Who arrested your dad?"

Adrien looked at Marinette thoughtfully, "Is that why you thought I was an accomplice to Hawkmoth?"

"Are. I think you are an accomplice." She said, rolling her eyes. Then quietly added. "I mean, who else would have the motive to use the Peacock Miraculous?"

Then shaking her head, she said out loud. "And, stop trying to change the subject."

"I'm not...just-" His eyes widened. "How do you know about the Peacock Miraculous? Only Chat Noir and Ladyb-"

He was suddenly pinned to the wall, rolling pin under his head.

"Where. Is. The. Peacock Miraculous?" Grit out, Marinette.

Which was when a bunch of things started making sense in Adrien's mind.

"...M'lady?" He breathed.

Marinette's eyes widened and she faltered. "What-Only Chat-What?"

Adrien smiled, "I finally found you, Bugaboo."

Marinette stared. There was no way. She couldn't be this lucky. She was rarely lucky despite Luck being her entire thing. But here he was in front of her.

With the messing around, Adrien's hair had become messy and if she imagined a black mask over his eyes, those incredible green eyes, she could see her kitty. Next, her eyes caught sight of a familiar ring that looked normal to anyone passing by, but to the Guardian? She could see the hidden form of the ring clear as day.

"Chaton?" She asked softly.

"Yeah, Buginette, it's me."

Breathing heavily, she asked, “Tell me something only you would know.”

“You baked me a cake from scratch and I said I’d bake you one and asked you for the flavour.” 

Letting out a relieved laugh, she dropped the rolling pin and gave her partner, her best friend, her kitty, Adrien Agreste a bone-crushing hug. Tears slid down both their faces.

"I looked for you for so long, M'lady." Said Adrien, voice shaky.

"Oh, Chaton, I searched everywhere for-oh!"

Marinette was interrupted by drops of water falling on them. It was raining. Thunder and lightning streaked across the sky as both heroes looked at each other before laughing. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few moments later, both were in Marinette’s room drying off from the rain. They had yet to discuss the accidental identity reveal. Grabbing an extra shirt from Tom, Adrien went to the kitchen, where Marinette was getting snacks to carry to her room. 

“Soo…” said Marinette, a shy smile on her face.

“Soo…?” 

Marinette let out a huff. “How do you deal with them being gone?” 

“To be honest, it’s hard…but working at the bakery and seeing you helped.” He smiled. 

Marinette giggled making her lose attention and trip on the last step to her room causing Adrien to swivel around and catch her with one hand on her waist and the other on her shoulder.  

Both bent down to pick up the scattered jewellery when Adrien came across a familiar set of earrings. He had never seen them before, but something about them was familiar. Curious, he picked them up wondering if they were Marinette’s Miraculous when the room was filled with a bright red and green glow. 

Two white balls zoomed around the room and burst into sparkles. When the light cleared, Marinette and Adrien saw two creatures they thought they would never see for a while. There, right in front of them, stood the long-lost Kwamies, Plagg and Tikki.

“Missed us?” Asked Plagg with a smirk.

Right after which he was promptly crushed in a group hug with Marinette, Adrien and Tikki. 

[Will probs refine this m post on ao3 tmr]

-the_starlight

[aidanchaser]

Boulangérella: A Miraculous Fairy Tale AU - Chapter Six

Table of Contents Read on Ao3 Prologue

beta’d by @7wizardsshallanswerthecall, @mothmanhamlet, @ccboomer and @aubsenroute​​

Chapter Six Volpina

The rhythm of the harpsichord piece still thrummed through his fingers, even as Adrien returned to his room. He was exhausted; it felt like his father was running him ragged purely as revenge for his brief outing to the seamstress last week.

There were lunches with the Bourgeois family, dinners with the Rossi family, teas with nobles and ambassadors and their daughters, and his evenings were spent cloistered in his father’s receiving room, either reviewing work with his father or practicing the harpsichord while King Gabriel multitasked between reading reports on his own and critiquing Adrien’s performance.

He appreciated the time with his father, certainly, butt even with this change in schedule it was still obvious the work was first. Adrien was second. He never thought he would miss the strict tutorial schedule he had once kept, but as he collapsed onto his bed fully clothed, he could think of nothing he wanted to do more than just have one hour fencing with his cousin again.

Well, there was one other thing he could think of, but he wasn’t sure that he had the energy for Chat Noir.

“Please?” Plagg needled, as if he could read Adrien’s thoughts. “You haven’t been out in a week.”

“The city hasn’t needed me in a week. Everyone’s so excited about a ball, I guess Hawk Moth’s been out of work.”

“We don’t need a curse or a monster to have a little fun.”

“Ladybug said she was too busy to patrol this month, so what’s the point?”

“We could steal something,” Plagg offered.

It was tempting. “We promised Ladybug that we’d behave.”

“You promised Ladybug.”

“All right, so I can’t steal. You’re welcome to go off on your own if you like.”

“What if it’s not really stealing?”

Adrien knew he was about to get an absurd spin on thievery that was closer to a flat-out lie than any true loophole.

“Is this about Lila again?”

“It’s not really her pendant, so we can’t actually steal it from her.”

“It’s the same thing.”

Plagg, who had far more energy than Adrien could even fathom, jumped on Adrien’s chest, and used each bounce to punctuate his points. “One—Lila said she inherited the necklace from her grandmother. You can’t inherit a fay gift. Two—her magic doesn’t seem to runout which means she made a lifetime bargain and those are dangerous. Three—she revealed her identity to the royal family, and now the whole kingdom knows who Volpina is. That’s a bad thing!”

Adrien closed his eyes. Plagg did not lecture very often, but it made for a decent lullaby. “Why is that bad?” he asked with a yawn.

“For one, anyone could steal her gift.”

“Like you want to do?”

“For another, Hawk Moth could target her. You think his normal curses are bad? Imagine if he cursed someone with a magical gift. Think about if he knew who Ladybug was, and he cursed her. Or even you! How would Ladybug face a cursed version of you?”

Adrien had considered, on occasion, what he might do if Ladybug fell victim to one of Hawk Moth’s curses. But it was not a very fun thought exercise, so he didn’t dwell on it.

“Come on,” Plagg whined with another jump. “You know if you take Lila’s pendant, your father won’t ask you to marry her.”

Adrien ignored this point. He knew that his father had only entertained Lila Rossi’s proposal because she bore a gift from a fay, and it was one of the reasons he did not want to go after Lila. He was not interested in stealing from her precisely because it benefited him. That broke Chat Noir’s vaguely ethical code of thievery.

“What does it really matter?” Adrien sighed. “Father will just ask me to marry Chloé or Princess Kagami instead. I can’t imagine he’ll be too thrilled if I tell him I want to marry Ladybug.” Though if his father was tempted by Lila’s fay gift, why not Ladybug’s?

Adrien twisted the ring around his finger and considered it. Not knowing who she was under her mask made it a hard pitch. At least Lila was from a noble family who had a relationship with the royal family. But if there was a chance Adrien could have Ladybug, maybe he could get married without have to give up being Chat Noir.

“What will you do when I get married?” Adrien asked.

Plagg’s growl was low and guttural, as if he were announcing just how feral and ancient he truly was. He felt displeased by the change in topic, but played along for a moment, for Adrien’s sake. “Do you want me to be the ring bearer or something?”

“No, I just mean, you know, I’ll have other… nightly duties to attend to. I won’t be able to be Chat Noir anymore.”

Plagg laughed. “Your wife won’t need more than fifteen minutes of your time. An hour if you want to be nice about it.”

Adrien ran his hand over his face in an attempt to hide the red in his cheeks. “Maybe I want to be very nice about it. It just… seems unfair to disappear if my evenings aren’t entirely my own anymore.” His parents had not kept separate chambers, and he had expected to follow suit. But he supposed his chance of marrying for love was slim. Maybe Plagg had a point…

Plagg jumped on Adrien’s chest again and this time landed in the shape of a scrawny cat, putting proper weight into Adrien’s diaphragm, and even a bit of claw.

Adrien yelped and sat up. “That was rude.” He rubbed his stomach ruefully.

Plagg returned to his fay form and hovered so that he was level with Adrien’s eyes. “Look, I don’t actually care about Lila getting cursed or whatever, but I do really think she stole this pendant with an ancient, forbidden ritual. Just like Hawk Moth stole his brooch.”

Adrien frowned. “How do you know that Hawk Moth stole his brooch?”

“I just mean Hawk Moth probably stole his brooch. The whole curse thing isn’t Nooroo’s style.”

Adrien had been with Plagg for nearly a year now, and he knew when his fay was hiding something. “Plagg, tell me the truth. Maybe it can help Ladybug and I catch Hawk Moth.”

But Plagg had no intention of telling Adrien the truth, not yet. He had chosen Adrien in the forest nearly a year ago because he had seen a desperate young man who needed a bit of hope and freedom. He saw someone who would benefit from some chaos. But Plagg had also seen someone who might lose himself in that chaos. For Plagg, that was the best sort of partner. He enjoyed walking along the knife’s edge of destruction.

But it took some care to stay on the right edge of that knife, and Plagg was not interested in pushing Adrien over. He did not know what might happen if he told Adrien all of the truth: King Gabriel had gone into the forest the night that his wife had fallen asleep and used a terrible curse to capture a fay creature. Maybe the truth would help Ladybug catch Hawk Moth, but the truth might also break Adrien Agreste.

So Plagg shared as much of the truth as he thought he could get away with. “The truth is that I know Nooroo was taken against his will because I saw it happen.” He sank down onto the bedspread and looked up at Adrien, hoping his green eyes looked earnest. “There’s a… a really dark ritual that a human can use to call a fay to them. Hawk Moth came to the forest looking for Tikki and me, but he couldn’t find us. He tried using this old ritual to capture us, but Nooroo used his magic of transmission to give Tikki the strength to resist the call. And the price was that he took her place. Tikki and I agreed to save Nooroo, but we couldn’t risk Hawk Moth capturing us, so we decided to make deals with humans that we could trust. I chose you and Tikki chose Ladybug.”

Adrien frowned. He couldn’t believe that Plagg had been keeping this from him for nearly a year. It seemed like the sort of thing that should have been brought up at the forest’s edge when they had first met, or at least after their first fight with Hawk Moth. Had Plagg really chosen him because he was the first human to wander into the forest after Hawk Moth? “You promised me freedom in exchange for cheese. You never said you wanted Nooroo back, too.”

“I’d never ask you to make a promise that you couldn’t keep.”

“You think I can’t do it?”

“I don’t make a habit of binding my humans to promises outside their power to grant. Our deal has been met. You can give me up any time you want. I wanted to give you freedom, not limit it. But I also picked you because I believed you would help.”

Adrien bit down on his lip. He knew from the fairy tales that he had read as a boy that uneven deals were a large part of fay lore. It was common for a fay to ask for anything from a mountain of gold to a first born child in exchange for their power. But Plagg had asked for nothing but cheese in exchange for each night of freedom. Ladybug had once told him that Tikki had asked for sugar in exchange for luck. They were small gifts, ones Adrien and Ladybug could easily meet. It had never occurred to Adrien that small gifts were a fay’s version of kindness.

It still hurt to know that Plagg had kept all of this from him for so long. Adrien didn’t have much in the way of companionship outside of his family, other than Plagg.

“You think Hawk Moth and Lila could really use Nooroo and Trixx’s powers without making a proper deal?”

“If they knew the ritual, yes.”

Adrien rolled out of bed and stretched his arms behind his head. “Well, what Ladybug doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

And with a whisper of, “Plagg, claws out,” Chat Noir was free to run off into the night.

He headed straight for the Rossi family manor. He was prepared for the dogs this time and crept along the wall until he found a tree that looked climbable. He chose a branch sturdy enough and long enough to get him close to the rooftop. With a bit of trepidation and a small amount of hope, he glanced over his shoulder to see if Ladybug was there to stop him.

Chat Noir was alone.

He leapt onto the roof and slipped down to the nearest dark window. It took a bit of heft to slide it open, but soon he was inside.

Chat Noir had never snuck into the Rossi manor before. It was usually empty, and there wasn’t a lot of appeal to infiltrating an empty house, either because it lacked the recklessness that Plagg desired or the intimacy that Adrien craved.

The Rossi family traveled the world, working as ambassadors for King Gabriel, but they returned every summer solstice for the annual hunt in the Forest of Fay. Last summer had been the only exception that Chat Noir could recall, and he had assumed it was because King Gabriel had forgone the hunt in his grief.

Chat Noir had been surprised by the dogs the other night, since they were six months from the summer solstice, but now that he knew Lila Rossi had inherited the miraculous gift of trickery and illusion from her grandmother, he guessed that the family had come back for her grandmother’s funeral service.

He also had learned, after Lila had made her grand declaration of her intention to wed Prince Adrien, that one of the reasons she had come back to the city was to challenge Chloé Bourgeois for his hand. Adrien had tried to explain to her and Chloé that he would make his own decision on the twenty-second, but that had not stopped Chloé and Lila from doing their best to explain to King Gabriel why they were each more suited for Prince Adrien. Even they didn’t think Adrien would truly be the one with the final say on whom he married.

Chat Noir slipped out of the dark attic storage room and into an empty hallway. He pressed his ears against each door, listening for sounds of slow, steady breathing or, preferably, loud snoring.

He did not care that marrying into the Bourgeois family would give the royal family more money and influence; he did not care that the Rossi family had international connections around the world and ancestral connections to the Forest of Fay that could benefit the kingdom. All he cared about was having someone at his side that he trusted, that he knew would support him, and someone that he could support as well.

He already had a partner that met those qualifications.

Chat Noir pushed open a bedroom door and cast his cat-like eyes around the dimly lit room. A couple was asleep in the bed, so he closed the door softly and continued his search for Lila’s room. He finally found it at the end of the hall.

The mess surprised him. Pieces of her dresses were scattered on the floor. Her jewelry hung haphazardly on the mirror. Chat Noir looked for her pendant among the mess but he did not see it. He had a feeling it was around her neck. It wasn’t as if he took off his ring when he went to sleep, and he did not think Ladybug took her earrings off each night either.

Still, he searched the drawers of her vanity, just in case. With clawed fingertips, he picked at a locked drawer and was surprised to find nothing of value inside. He hadn’t really expected the pendant, but perhaps a family ring or a diary might be worth protecting behind a lock. Instead, it was filled with ribbons.

Ever curious, Chat Noir ran his hands along the edges of the drawer and there he found it, a catch hidden beneath the scraps of fabric. It opened up a side panel on the inside of her vanity and Chat found a collection of papers with ragged edges, like they had been torn out of a book.

His first thought was that these were pages of Lila’s diary, and he had no interest in prying, but before he could put the pages back, he saw a fairly detailed drawing of Plagg in the corner of one of the notes. Chat frowned and flipped through the pages. He could see well-enough in the dark, but reading was a bit more challenging.

He slipped closer to the window where a bit of silver moonlight could aid his night vision. As he turned through the pages, his mouth went dry.

Plagg had been right about everything that he had suspected about Lila, but Plagg had left out some key details of the ritual. Maybe to spare Adrien from the horror or maybe to keep the ritual secret. For whatever reason, Plagg had failed to mention that the ritual to summon and control a fay creature’s gift in a lifetime bargain required a different sort of price: the life of another human.

It certainly put what Lila had said about her grandmother’s passing into a new light.

Chat Noir folded the papers and tucked them into his belt. He had to tell Ladybug somehow. It might mean a lot of sleepless nights hoping she found the time for him, but this was more important.

He stepped across the floor to Lila’s bedside without a sound. As he had expected, her fox-tail pendant gleamed around her neck. Chat carefully pulled aside her hair to reach the clasp at her neck. He moved slowly, concerned about waking her. As much as he wanted to confront Lila about what she had done, he was not interested in a fight with Volpina, particularly not in these cramped quarters.

But as his hand closed around the fox pendant, Lila’s hand closed around his wrist. Her dark eyes were furious as she glared at him.

“Trixx, let’s—”

But Chat Noir yanked his hand and the pendant away before she could finish her summon. He backed towards the window.

“Sorry, Lila. I don’t think this actually belongs to you.”

Lila climbed out of bed and gripped the heavy brass candlestick from her bedside table. She seemed unbothered by a strange boy in her bedroom, even though she was dressed only in a thin nightgown. Her eyes were filled with nothing but fury, a fury that reached Hawk Moth instantly.

“Give it back, chaton,” she hissed.

“I’m afraid you don’t get to call me that.”

Her eyes drifted from the pendant in his hand to the notes at his waist, and suddenly, her anger melted as if it had never been.

“Chat Noir,” she said softly, in a pleading voice, “do you really think I stole a fay? I could never do something like that.”

“You’re the one who told Ladybug and I that your grandmother just passed away.”

She stepped closer, and though the heavy candlestick was no longer brandished like a weapon, her grip on it was still tight. “I’m not a bad person,” she said. “Will you let me explain?”

Her voice trembled like she was on the verge of tears. Chat Noir put his hand on the windowsill, but he did not run, not yet.

“My grandmother gave me that pendant, just like I said.” Lila took another step closer. “You made a trade for your gift, right? I made a trade, too.”

“You traded your grandmother’s life!”

“Because she told me to!”

Chat Noir shook his head and threw the window open. The cold night air rushed in.

“Please,” Lila begged and fell against Chat before he could slip out the window. Her hand brushed against the bell at his neck. “She gave me those pages. She gave me the pendant. She told me to do this so I could help my family. You have to believe me.”

“Lila, I’m sorry, but —”

He saw the brass candlestick move just in time.

“Cataclysm!”

Her candlestick collided with his burning palm and it crumbled to dust. All her fury returned in full force as she reached for the pendant with her now empty hands.

“It’s mine!” she snarled, struggling to open his other fist, still closed tightly around the pendant.

Chat Noir tumbled backwards out of the open window and landed gracefully on his feet two floors below. But he looked up and saw his worst fears confirmed: a dark violet butterfly flitting through the moonlight and towards Lila. It landed on a small bundle of papers clutched in Lila’s hands and Chat Noir hastily checked his waist. His belt was empty.

He looked back up to see that Lila was no longer herself. Instead, Volpina stood in the window. She tucked the papers into the sash at her waist and glared down at him.

“Come here, chaton,” she called to him with a vicious grin.

Chat Noir’s emerald ring flickered. He gritted his teeth then turned and ran.

He had exactly one way to contact Ladybug. The trouble was that Ladybug would only know that he was trying to reach her if she was already transformed. He clutched the baton clipped to his belt and pressed on the green paw in its middle.

His emerald ring flickered again, so he made his story brief. “Hawk Moth has cursed Lila Rossi into the form of Volpina and it is technically my fault but I had good reason, I promise, and I could really use your help.”

Chat Noir avoided his usual rooftop route in hopes that he could hide from Volpina by taking to the streets. He felt like there were enough tight corners and wide roofs, but her voice was still so close as she called, “Chat Noir,” in a sing-song voice. “Come out and play, chaton. I just want my miraculous gift—and yours.”

His ring flickered again and he pressed himself into the doorway of a darkened shop. He bit down on his lip and waited until the sound of Volpina’s footsteps moved off. He could only pray it was truly a sign of her leaving and not another illusion designed to trick him.

“Plagg, claws in,” he hissed, and the cloak of Chat Noir fell away.

Plagg’s panicked face did not do anything to help Adrien’s nerves. “That wasn’t how I thought that would go at all.”

Adrien searched his pockets for cheese. “If you had just told me that the ritual involved human sacrifice, I might not have wasted time looking around her room.”

“I said it was a dark ritual!”

“That could have meant anything!” Adrien sighed as his pockets came up empty. “This is the last time we go out unprepared for a refresh.”

Plagg sniffed the air and followed the most pungent smell he could find. “You would think you might have learned to keep some on hand after a year.”

“Sorry I don’t want to smell like rotting cheese every day. I do still have appearances to keep up.” He followed Plagg down the alleyway as quietly as he could. He might know that Lila Rossi was Volpina, but she had no idea who Chat Noir really was. It was unlikely for her to realize the truth even if she managed to get eyes on him, but he also didn’t want her asking any questions about why Prince Adrien was out of the palace in the middle of the night.

Adrien held up the pendant he had stolen from Lila. “What do I do with this?”

Plagg shrugged his tiny shoulders and sniffed the air. “You could put it on and call Trixx.”

“Are you allowed to make a deal with a second fay creature?”

“Sure, if you don’t mind going mad.”

“I’ll pass, thanks.” Adrien shoved the pendant into his pocket. When he realized Plagg had stopped, he looked up at the building Plagg had chosen.

“Isn’t this that boulangerie?”

“They must have thrown out some old cheese.” Plagg disappeared into the garbage. “Glad we’re here to rescue it.”

Adrien stared up at the light visible in the top room of the building. He wondered if the family was getting prepared to start baking or if they were going to bed after a long night. Not that it mattered, really, he just liked knowing how other people lived. He thought about the seamstress girl who had invited him to eat with her family that owned this boulangerie—Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng. He wondered if she was related to the flour-covered girl who had spilled pastries in the palace. Félix had suggested that they might be twins or sisters, one incredibly nervous and clumsy, the other confident and artistic. The bakery owners must be kind people, to have raised two girls like that.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng, who was both the clumsy baker and confident seamstress that Adrien wondered about, was hard at work on her fifteenth redesign of Prince Félix’s outfit for the first night of the ball. Everything she came up with looked appropriate for a funeral, and none for a celebration. She wanted to honor his mourning of his father, just as she wanted to honor Adrien’s mourning of his mother, but how did she respect the princes’ grief and dress them for their birthday celebration that was supposed to turn into a wedding celebration?

To help with the enormous workload of dresses and modifications that the shop was swamped with, Master Fu had taken on a new assistant, a quiet girl by the name of Juleka. She wasn’t an apprentice proper, but she was skilled enough to put together pattern pieces, hem dresses and jerkins, and stitch buttons and lace down where they were needed. She’d been an exceptional help this last week, and though she did not talk much, she was very sweet, and had even helped Marinette through a couple of small crises of self-doubt about her commencement project. Juleka had also found some lovely black and silver shot silk just yesterday that Marinette was trying to make work, but it needed something more and she could not decide what that something was.

Marinette pinned her artwork to the ceiling in hopes of getting a second perspective, but a crash from outside distracted her. She stuck her head out of the attic window and looked down. It was hard to see in the darkness, but she thought that she heard someone burp.

Plagg finished off the cheese and burped rather loudly for someone who was supposed to be hiding from Volpina. “You know,” he said, “we don’t really have to get back to it. We could just hide until Ladybug takes care of it.”

“She’ll need our help.”

“She didn’t with the Gilded Queen.”

Adrien swallowed. He wondered if Plagg knew how much that fact hurt him. He hated that he had been unable to help Ladybug in the throne room last week. But he set aside his small heartbreak. “She had Volpina’s help then. She won’t have it now.”

“Fine,” Plagg sighed. “If you insist.”

“Claws out,” Adrien said, and once again donned the guise of Chat Noir.

Marinette had difficulty hearing more than murmurs of the conversation below as it echoed up to her bedroom. She thought the cadence of the voices sounded familiar, but just as she was about to give up on placing them, she caught a glimpse of silver flashing in the moonlight and the flick of a black cat’s tail disappearing around a chimney.

Hastily, she slammed the window closed and yanked a curtain over it. “Tikki! Spots on!”

The pink light flashed as her night clothes disappeared, replaced by her bright red dress, spotted in black and decorated with gold ribbons. She climbed up the attic trapdoor to her rooftop balcony and pulled her bandalore from her waist. The spots on it flashed, and as she searched the rooftops for a sign of where Chat Noir might have gone, she played his message.

“Hawk Moth has cursed Lila Rossi into the form of Volpina and it is technically my fault but I had good reason, I promise, and I could really use your help.”

“Oh, chaton,” she sighed, “what have you got yourself into now?”

Chat Noir had no desire to engage Volpina directly, but he wanted an idea of where she had gone. His reflective green eyes scanned the city skyline, but he could find no trace of her.

With a bit of hope in his heart, he reached for his baton, but saw no message from Ladybug. He wondered if it would be worth it to leave another message, but as he pressed his finger to the button, he heard movement behind him.

He turned, staff ready, but it was not Volpina. It was Ladybug.

“You got my message?” he asked.

She must have, because she looked displeased with him. “I know what you did, Chat Noir.”

“I’m sorry—”

“We both knew your thievery would get you into real trouble someday.” She held her hand out. “I think it’s time you give up your miraculous gift.”

Chat Noir blinked at her. “Wh… Buginette, I made a mistake—but I had to. Lila, she—”

“I already know what Lila did. You think she didn’t tell me after we first met? She’s always been honest with me, unlike you, Chat Noir.”

Chat Noir took a step away from Ladybug, as if distance might spare him some of this heartbreak. “I know I made a promise, but I…” He tried and failed to find the words to explain what he had done. “I’m your partner,” he finished helplessly.

“I can clean up your messes without you. I’ll find someone else to make a deal with your fay.”

He swallowed. If he handed his ring to Ladybug, he wasn’t just giving up her, he was giving up the only chance he had at freedom. But if Ladybug didn’t want him anymore, was his freedom really worth this heartbreak?

He clipped his baton to his belt and reached for his ring, but he did not remove it. “Please don’t ask this of me. I need this.” For however long he had left until his wedding night, he desperately needed freedom.

Ladybug’s face was unsympathetic. “Hand it over.”

Chat Noir’s shoulders slumped in defeat. Hadn’t he said that he would do anything his lady asked? Even this…

“Chat Noir, don’t!”

Chat Noir turned, surprised to see Ladybug behind him. She threw her bandalore at the Ladybug before him. The cord surrounded her, but as it closed in, the first Ladybug vanished.

Chat Noir blinked. “She wasn’t… real?”

Ladybug pulled her bandalore back into her hand and leapt across the gap between roofs to land at Chat Noir’s side. “Are you afraid to face us, Volpina?” Ladybug called out to the empty rooftops.

She was answered with a laugh from somewhere in the night.

Chat Noir drew his baton again. His voice was still unsteady as he said, “She can’t be far. She would need to be nearby to grab my miraculous gift.”

“How cute,” Volpina’s voice called, “that chaton thinks he can be helpful.” She stepped out from behind a chimney with her reed resting comfortably on her bare shoulder. “You’re never going to catch me. You might as well give up. I’m more powerful now than I ever was as a hero.”

Volpina pressed her reed to her lips and the night was filled with a haunting melody. There was no longer anything playful about her music. A dozen mirages of Volpina appeared surrounding Chat Noir and Ladybug.

“Hand over your miraculous gifts,” they said in unison.

“One of them has to be real,” Chat Noir said.

But Ladybug had seen Volpina’s fight with the Gilded Queen and she knew that it was just as possible that none of them were real. If they were going to find the real Volpina, they would need a bit of luck.

She gritted her teeth. Ladybug didn’t like to use her power before she knew where the curse was located, since its help could be limited, but she felt like they did not have much choice. She tossed her bandalore into the air and called on her Lucky Charm.

A bright light flared in the night sky and into Ladybug’s hands fell a small red sphere, decorated in black spots just like her dress.

“What is it?” Chat Noir asked, unwilling to take his eyes from the skulk of fox-like women that was closing in around them, reeds at the ready.

There was nothing unique about the sphere to indicate what exactly it was, but Ladybug was able to identify the object immediately, the way one could identify someone in a dream, regardless of the appearance.

“It’s a smoke bomb.”

“Are we running?”

It would not be the first time that her Lucky Charm told her to retreat and regroup, but she did not think that was the case this time. She scanned the encroaching pack.

“Hold your breath, chaton!” she said, and threw the smoke bomb to the ground.

The cloud rose instantly from their feet and, moved by the cold night air, spilled out into the illusions. Ladybug covered her nose, but the illusions did not react, as she had expected. They had no need to breathe, and the smoke would not irritate their illusory lungs.

“I guess Volpina isn’t here.” Chat Noir’s voice was muffled by his elbow, and Ladybug shushed him.

She heard it from behind another chimney—the sound of coughing.

Without warning, she threw her bandalore in the direction of the noise, wrapping it around the brick. She heard a yelp as the real Volpina was pinned to the chimney, and the illusions around her and Chat Noir vanished.

Chat Noir hurried across the rooftops, following the line of Ladybug’s bandalore. He found Volpina struggling to get free on the other side. He was not going to give her that chance.

“Cataclysm,” he hissed, and touched his hand to the notes at her waist. The inky black papers detailing the horrid ritual crumbled to dust. Ladybug’s magic would restore everything when all was said and done, but the object of Hawk Moth’s curse would remain broken in whatever way he and Ladybug managed to destroy it. While Chat Noir wished he had been able to save some sort of proof of Lila’s ritual, perhaps it was for the best that such terrible magic would be nothing more than dust.

As the black butterfly flitted upward into the night, Ladybug withdrew her bandalore from Volpina and swung it up to catch the butterfly. She pulled it back into her hand and when she reopened the two halves of her bandalore, the butterfly that flitted out of her hands was pure white. She wished it luck on its journey and tossed the remnants of the smoke bomb up into the air, shouting the incantation for her restorative magic.

There was not much damage for the magical ladybugs to undo. A cracked chimney and restoring Lila to herself were the most that they could fix. The rest of the damage Volpina had done was not the sort of damage the ladybugs could fix.

Chat Noir helped a disoriented Lila to her feet. She shivered in her nightgown and looked around. When she realized where she was and, more exactly, who was holding her, she yanked away, leaning up against the chimney. “Get away from me, Chat Noir!”

“I’m not going to hurt you. Let me help you home—”

“Give me my miraculous gift back.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

Ladybug came around the chimney and pushed her way between them as Lila lunged at him. “Chat Noir, is that what this is about? You stole her miraculous gift?”

“My fay creature asked me to rescue it,” Chat Noir said.

“It’s mine!” Lila said, and lunged for Chat Noir.

Ladybug barely managed to hold Lila off, digging her elbow into Lila’s stomach and bracing herself against Chat Noir’s chest on her other side. “Chat Noir, you promised me you wouldn’t steal.”

“It wasn’t hers,” Chat Noir insisted. He placed his hand over Ladybug’s, even as his ring began flickering out. “My fay believed she stole it, and when I went after it, I found evidence that he was right. That she may have even killed someone for it.”

“Liar!” Lila shrieked. Her hands scrabbled against Ladybug, pulling at the magical dress in an effort to reach Chat Noir. “You have no proof!”

Ladybug found herself grateful that Lila could not tear the magical fabric her dress, but she did not care for the scratches Lila was leaving beneath the fabric and winced, even as Tikki’s magic healed over the scrapes. “Chat Noir, where’s the evidence?”

“I destroyed it to free the curse.”

“See?” Lila snarled. “He has nothing! He’s a liar.”

Ladybug took Lila’s wrists in her hands to stop the desperate scratches. “Lila, I’m sorry, but I trust my partner. I’ll help you home and—”

Lila yanked her hands away. “You two think you’re heroes? Just wait—I’ll be a queen soon, and you can see what it’s like when everyone turns on you.”

“Mademoiselle Rossi—” Ladybug reached her hand out in an effort to comfort or calm her, but Lila jerked away.

“I don’t want your help. I can make my own way home.”

And, true to her word, she stalked to the nearest ladder and climbed down to the street below.

“I don’t think we should let her walk home alone,” Ladybug said, but her earrings flickered, letting her know that she would not be much of an escort for Lila.

“She’ll be all right,” Chat Noir said. “I just wish I had a way to prove what she did.”

“You don’t have to, chaton. I really do trust you. And even if I didn’t, I’m sure my fay will be able to confirm everything that your fay said.”

A small, unhappy smile worked its way across Chat Noir’s face. It was so uncharacteristic that Ladybug almost took a step back.

“If you want to confirm stories,” he said “you should ask your fay to tell you how she picked you.”

She tilted her head, unsure why he was suddenly so displeased. “She already has. She saw my creativity. Why did Plagg pick you?”

“Necessity.” Chat Noir hoped his voice did not sound as bitter as he felt. “To stop Hawk Moth after he did the same thing that Lila did.”

She rested a hand on his arm, delicately, afraid he might break if she pushed too hard. “No, chaton, that can’t be the only reason.”

“You and I made our deals nearly a year ago. Our first night together—it was the same night that Hawk Moth first attacked. Did you always think that was just a coincidence?”

Ladybug had wondered about the timing, yes, but she had not thought that the timing was a bad thing, nor a sign that Tikki had picked her foolishly. She struggled to find the words to help Chat Noir through his self-doubt. “You are my partner, Chat Noir. I wouldn’t want anyone else.”

Though Ladybug’s magic had undone the physical damage from Volpina’s attack, the illusory Ladybug’s words still stung. He had nearly given up his miraculous gift tonight. That, coupled with the new knowledge that Plagg had chosen him simply because he had been nearby, that Plagg did not even think he was capable of defeating Hawk Moth left him feeling unwanted and useless.

And, despite Plagg’s cold-hearted ideas about marriage, he had to confront the reality that in just a few weeks’ time, his nights would no longer be his own in a far more complete way than the rigorous schedule his father had recently imposed. He would have to give Ladybug up eventually, and while he wasn’t ready for that, he would have to be.

Chat Noir pulled the fox-tail necklace from his pocket and held it out to her, but still refused to meet her eyes. “I told you I won’t be around in a month, so you’ll need a new partner eventually.”

Ladybug could not understand which part of her words had been the wrong choice. “Chat—”

“Take it.” One of the emeralds embedded into his ring flashed another warning.

Reluctantly, she took the pendant from him. “Chaton, you told me you’d always be there.”

“I can’t get out of what’s coming. I might as well accept it.”

“Can you tell me what it is? Maybe I can help.”

He smiled, but it was as dark and bitter as his destructive gift. “I don’t know that you would.”

“What do you mean?” Her earrings flickered, but she ignored them. “Chat Noir, tell me what you mean.”

“Come to the ball,” he said suddenly, and finally he looked at her. His green eyes that were usually so playful were now desperate and wild. A new brand of chaos surged in Chat Noir, one Ladybug was not quite as familiar with. “One night, just give me one night with you.”

She smiled indulgently, but shook her head. “I think if you showed up to the ball, King Gabriel would arrest you on the spot. You’re a hero, but you’re also a wanted criminal.”

Chat Noir searched desperately for a way to match Ladybug’s gentle teasing. He was the expert at teasing, but he could not conjure up even a scrap of his usual good humor.

His ring flashed. He turned to go, but she reached for his hand.

“Chaton,” and his heart burned to hear her use the nickname so gently, “can’t you tell me what’s wrong?”

He hesitated, afraid to hope. “Not without telling you who I am.”

“You know that we can’t—”

He could endure no more. “Goodbye, Ladybug.”

And he disappeared into the night.

[starfall-spirit]

She's in Love With the Boy

Summary: One photograph can change a duo’s whole dynamic. When Marinette's Adrien shrine is replaced with friendly photos as well as a selfie she took with Cat Noir one night a few weeks ago, even our blind boy Adrien is a little suspicious about that.

Chapter I: Until the Very Last

Marinette's POV:

"Girl, are you sure you're ready to do this?"

"Alya, you and I both know it's time. Adrien's never gonna fall for me anyways."

"Is that all that this is about? Or is this another layer of your I don't have room in my life for love?"

"Don't make this more complicated than it is, Alya."

But it was complicated. Complicated on a level I couldn't begin to explain to her, no matter what she knew about me at this point. Especially with how things had shifted on that terrible night. "You still have me." It had been less than a month since Shadow Moth had claimed the majority of the miraculous. It was so quiet with only Tikki and Fluff flying around my room. Quiet enough that I had room in my head for those words to echo over and over.

Cat's words and the Celestial Guardian's. "One mistake. That was our agreement. This defeat goes far beyond that. Your time is up, Ladybug. You and your partner will give me the box and both miraculous. You are careless and unworthy to hold a title of such honor."

"And what are you?" my partner had demanded, ready to go toe-to-toe in my defense. "You threatened to take the only confidantes Ladybug has without so much as offering to help us fight our enemy. You showed us you were trained to fight miraculous holders that went wild, right? So why aren't you searching for Shadow Moth? Why are you hovering over Ladybug, watching her every move, when you could be helping us track this guy? What honor is there in that?"

I had never appreciated what was right in front of me. Alya was my best friend, yes. She was the fox hero, yes. But she would never quite match up to Cat Noir when it came to the bond we had built fighting side by side. "You and me against the world, m'lady."

I was indeed well on my way to falling in love with my partner. The selfless, loyal, kind-hearted goofball I had the honor of standing beside. The pun-loving wild child with a determination incomparable to any other I'd known. Shaking those thoughts away, I assessed my bedroom walls that were now bare of Adrien's face. "Alright," I said. "Let's do this."

It was a masterpiece when we were done. Yes there were a few solo shots of my old crush, but then there were plenty like that of all my other friends. Solos, pairs, and larger groups were strategically scattered through the room, showing the adventures my friendships had built. "Alright girl. I've got to get home for dinner. Mom made something special tonight since Ella and Etta are back from their camp. Love you, girl."

"Love you too." I slid into my desk chair, smiling as Tikki tested her new miniature hats I'd made for her. "Now, time for the scrapbook."

I happened to be a photo fiend and my partner wasn't much better. Translation, I had hundreds of “Ladynoir” photos, as my dear BFF labeled them. I didn't just pick the flattering angles as I filled the pages of my fresh scrapbook. There were days we were sporting hideous sunburns or crazy bruises. Sometimes we'd snap a photo when the other had fallen asleep on us. I wasn't picking the best moments, but the cheesiest, most valuable moments that I knew I'd cherish for an eternity. A book that I'd give him to guide me through after passing on the miracle box and losing my memories. But for now it was mine, to be tucked away in the sewing box safe beside the miracle box I had manage to keep for the recovery of the miraculous.

"Well get them back. One by one until the very last," I said, quoting my partner.

Tikki flew over as I flipped through the scrapbook, doodling in quotes from specific moments we'd captured. "We were being genuine, you know. You two are the best holders Plagg and I have had. It's always wonderful, watching our holders fall in love." I blinked. "Did you think you were the first Ladybug to love her cat holder? Your bond is natural. Your love is natural because of that bond. Marinette, you're practically meant to be."

"I'll admit, I'm seeing Cat differently now. I really regret how I've treated him lately." I shook my head. "I wouldn't say I'm in love with him, though. We're just... growing. You know, like all teams do."

”If you’re sure,” she said, watching me pin up the only loose photo of Cat and me right by my pillow. Hearing my mother call for dinner, she zipped away, mumbling something to the tiny rabbit about human behaviors. With the book and box hidden, I made my way downstairs, ignoring the earlier thoughts and insinuations.

Next

[wolfhowls]

Purple Noir Week day 5

This Fanfic is part of @purplenoir-week (see their tumblr for details

Chat Noir enters through Adrien's bedroom window and mumbles, "Plagg, claws in," even before touching the floor. Immediately, the kwami zips the length of the room and passes through the locker door where his stash of Camembert is hidden.

“Plagg…did you see? Even Juleka teases me about this purring thing! Is it possible that there's nothing that can be done about it?" asks Adrien, sitting on the bed as he unties his shoes.

Plagg, from inside the locker, replies, “Why, Adrien? What's wrong with purring? I just don't understand you humans!"

"Well first off, you never do it..." begins Adrien, but Plagg interrupts him and flies to his face snapping,

"Yes, but that's because I have a reputation to hold!"

"So you see? It's a problem for you too!" retorts the boy.

"But it is not the same thing! I'm Plagg, the great Kwami of Destruction!" declaims the little fur-ball solemnly.

Adrien stares at him for a few moments, then bursts out laughing; Plagg looks back with a pout and then flies away, feigning offense.

"Plagg, I don't know what I would do without you," concludes Adrien. "Let's go to sleep now."

The next morning, Adrien is in a bad mood; he turns off the alarm with a grunt and turns around, ending up facing Plagg's green eyes. "Happy birthday, Kitty!"

"Thanks, Plagg! At least you remembered," he replies, yawning and reaching out to stroke tenderly the head of the little kwami. Adrien gets up and goes to the bathroom, picking up his cell phone to check his messages. "Not even Nino wished me a happy birthday...great stuff," he mumbles, turning on the shower.

After a breakfast as lonely as any other, Adrien goes out into the driveway to wait for the Gorilla, who arrives almost immediately, without even giving him time to appreciate the beautiful weather of the day.

The blond gets in the car and finds an envelope in the back seat. "What's this?" he thinks and opens it, intrigued. The driver lowers the glass, turns around and looks at him with the most similar expression to a smile Adrien has ever seen on his face, while Adrien opens his envelope—his eyes grow wide when he sees its content. Not because it's anything rich or super special per se, but it's special to him. It's a simple greeting card, with 'happy birthday' stamped at the front in a funky writing style. Inside, the message written in a very neat handwriting is basic and simple. And yet, it moves Adrien to tears. “Happy Birthday Adrien. B."

"Oh my God, Baptiste!" Adrien exclaims, tears rolling down his cheeks. "Thank you! Thanks for remembering, at least you!" he continues, putting the card into his school bag, along with his books.

His bodyguard looks at him again with a smile, without saying anything; then he starts the engine and slowly exits the gate of the villa.

When he gets near his school, Adrien knocks on the glass partition, ready to come up with a credible excuse, and asks, "Could you drop me off around the corner, next to Tom and Sabine's pȃtisserie?"

Baptiste looks at him for a moment, then pulls over at the side of the road and opens the door lock. "Thank you!" exclaims Adrien, getting out of the car.

As the car drives away, Adrien hears Marinette's familiar voice coming from the shop door. “Bye, Maman, Papa! See you at lunchtime!" The boy doesn't have the time to turn around or move before getting hit right in the chest by a hurricane called Marinette. He staggers and takes a step back, but manages to keep his balance.

Marinette closes her eyes and, trying in every way not to tumble to the ground, she leans on what is in front of her—Adrien's abs. She manages to balance herself and takes a deep breath, smelling an aroma that almost makes her head spin. “Hmmm… This is 'Adrien, the fragrance' ... Wow, I can't believe how realistic these billboards are getting. Do they make them even scented now? They almost seem like the real thing…" However, immediately after another smell comes to her nostrils, mixed with the first. "And this other smell is...Camembert?" The girl suddenly turns pale, "Chat Noir!" she thinks.

Adrien looks down and sees a head of raven hair and two pigtails that he knows well; at the same time, Marinette, still leaning against him, opens her eyes and freezes. She stops breathing, her eyes threatening to pop out of their sockets, when she realizes that it wasn't a billboard she was hanging on to; she had run over someone. Then she suddenly realized who she had run over! Adrien himself!

"OhmyGodAdriensosorryIdidn'tthinkyouwererealImeanIknowyou'rerealbutIdidn'tthinkyouweregoingtostandinfrontoftheboulangerie..." she blurts out, all in one breath.

"Marinette," he interrupts her as soon as he catches his breath, putting a finger on her lips to stop her rambling. "Are you alright? Did you get hurt?"

She falls silent and her face changes from a deadly white pallor to the color of Ladybug's mask, almost instantly. "AA-Adrien…I…uh…w-well," she stammers and then whispers, "Never been better." Marinette's gaze flickers left and right, then she finally realizes that she is still leaning against Adrien and her face renews in her warmth.

"I'm glad you're fine, but you're tickling me," teases the boy, trying very hard not to laugh. Suddenly, Marinette puts her hands behind her back, takes a step back and turns even redder, while Adrien covers his mouth with his hands to muffle a laugh.

"Sorry, I'm always so clumsy," Marinette mumbles, hiding her face behind her hands.

"Nah, don't worry, it happens," replies Adrien. But when he looks at his friend, he notices that she has dropped a book on the ground. "Hey, you dropped this," he says and bends down to pick it up, but as he does that, his head collides with that of Marinette, who has also reached out to pick the book up.

"Ow," they both exclaim. Then, always together, they mutter, "Sorry!" Adrien puts a hand behind his neck and Marinette thinks, "Please, kill me now! Let me dig my hole and end up in China!"

The two raise their heads slowly and their gazes meet, leaving both of them motionless for a moment staring at each other. However, soon the sound of the school bell fills the air and Marinette jumps to her feet, noticing that the traffic light is about to turn red. She proceeds to grab Adrien's hand and drag him along, running at breakneck speed towards the school.

"Come on," she breathes out, "I'm an expert at skating on thin ice". As she runs, she thinks, “Why am I thinking about Chat Noir right now? I'm with Adrien and we're late!" She doesn't even realize that she's holding hands with Adrien as they make it just in time through the school gate before the doors are locked.

Adrien tries not to fall, unbalanced by the pull, and then regains his balance, genuinely amazed at how fast Marinette can run, despite being so tiny. He's struggling to keep up with her as they enter the inner courtyard of the school.

In her hurry, Marinette almost ends up running over Nino and Alya, who are talking to Juleka and Rose in the courtyard, as they head towards their classroom. The girl with pigtails comes to a sudden halt, bending down to catch her breath; then she raises her head, meeting four pairs of astonished eyes, which immediately look down. Marinette follows their gaze and realizes that she's been holding Adrien's hand all this time. The blond is standing next to her, red-faced, disheveled and with a half unbuttoned shirt, his free arm and face resting on her shoulder as he tries to catch his breath.

The girl drops Adrien's hand so quickly you'd think it had burned her and smiles nervously at her friends, her face reaching shades of red never known before to mankind. "Uh…I…we…I can…" she keeps stuttering, but is interrupted by the bell.

Alya nudges her in the ribs as she grabs her to enter the classroom, imitated by Nino doing the same to Adrien. The DJ whispers something to his friend that Marinette can't hear because at the same time, Alya is talking to her too. “You…can…explain?" she teases. "I'm glad you can explain, girl, because there are lots of things that look odd to me!” Then holding her by the arm, she enters the classroom.

Throughout the first hour of class, Alya keeps glancing at Marinette next to her and at Adrien in the front row, trying to say something, but is blocked each time by Miss Bustier's stern look. Marinette for her part, having been late going to sleep the previous night to take Juleka back to the Liberty, has a very hard time trying to keep her eyes open.

Nino, on the other hand, is dying to talk to his best friend who, as soon as he's recovered some composure, has taken his tablet and books from his school bag and is now following the lesson blankly.

At one point, Alya sees him looking at the time and sighing, and thinks, “Hmm…is he bored? Well, I can't blame him, I too can't wait for this History lesson to end."

Finally the lesson ends and while they wait for the following one to begin, Nino starts pestering Adrien with a whole load of questions. "So tell me, bro, what happened this morning?"

"What do you mean, Nino?" asks Adrien, looking at him confused.

The other counts on his fingers, starting from his thumb: "First, you are late, while you're always here at the crack of dawn." He continued, raising his index finger, "Second, your top was out of your pants and your shirt was all creased, which is unlike you." He raises his middle finger. "Third, you were red-faced and out of breath." Finally, Nino raised his ring finger. "And fourth and most important, you were holding Marinette's hand!"

“Sssshhhhhh! Lower your voice! It's not what you're thinking!" hisses Adrien, looking worriedly at his friend. "It's just... this morning I wanted to take a walk and I asked my bodyguard to let me get out of the car in front of Tom and Sabine's patisserie. And well…she came out in a rush and collided with me and…well, to clarify things, we ended up being late, so we ran here!"

Nino gives him a sidelong look. "Wait, 'clarify' what?" he asks mischievously.

Adrien's hand flies behind his neck. "Well…after I checked her out to see if she had gotten hurt..." The blond stops talking when he notices how his friend was arching an eyebrow and feels his cheeks flush. “Uh, no, Nino. Er, said like this it sounds so bad! I didn't mean 'check her out' that way, I m-meant…I just asked her if she was okay?"

But Nino doesn't seem to be wanting to take any shit. He leans closer and nudges him in the ribs. "Why, I would never…come on, lovebird, I'm your best friend, you can be honest with me!"

"Nino, what the heck? It was an accident!" snaps Adrien, his voice slightly louder than intended.

Everyone turns towards him, including Juleka from the back row, who stops talking to Rose.

"Uh! S-sorry, We were talking about...video games!" lies Adrien, his face as red as a tomato as he elbows Nino in the ribs to get him to cover for him.

Their classmates take the bait and start chatting to each other again, but Juleka from behind her bangs shoots Adrien an eloquent look.

Adrien is not the only one to undergo a third degree: taking advantage of the break, Alya drags Marinette into the girls' washroom.

“Nothing happened, Alya! I…” is saying Marinette.

“So why were you so tired during the lesson? You and Sunshine must have been up to something, you know, after having posed together for that photoshoot the other day... " snaps Alya mischievously.

Marinette snorts. "Please let me explain, Alya!" she groans and then continues a little calmer, “you know how…I'm so clumsy and have two left feet. This morning was no exception and when I ran out of the pâtisserie, I collided with Adrien. And I was tired after last night…"

Alya shoots her friend a sly smile.

"Agh, Alya, stop! Last night I got everything ready for the party, remember?" explains Marinette with a pout. “And then, I didn't realize it was him, I thought he was a billboard. And then, we were late! That's all!"

"Ugh," snorts Alya as her palm presses against her forehead. "I was hoping for something more...you know...spicy!"

Marinette snorts in turn. "As usual...Now let's go back to class, the bell will ring anytime soon!"

At the break the students come out of class and Juleka joins Adrien on his way to the cafeteria. "Hey," she greets him.

"Hi Juleka," he replies, "Did you sleep well last night?"

Juleka blushes slightly, thinking, “I would've slept better, if I hadn't ended up in my nightgown on the Eiffel Tower!” But instead replies, “Yes, thanks Adrien. Ah, and happy birthday!"

"Thanks Juleka!" Adrien beams at her, and then takes her hand in his. “You're the first…no, the second person to remember about it today. The first was the Goril...uh, Baptiste, my bodyguard…I really didn't expect it!" His eyes sparkle as he thinks back at the card he still has in his school bag, but then his gaze saddens. “I can't say the same about my friends here at school. Not even Nino, or Marinette, remembered about it. It's so weird!"

Juleka scratched her chin and thought about it carefully. "I wouldn't worry about it, Adrien. I'm sure they'll wish you a happy birthday later. They can't have forgotten! Please, cheer up."

The two sit at the same table and Adrien places his school bag on the ground near their feet "Did you want to talk to me, Juleka?" he eventually asked.

"Listen," she begins when they are seated, trying to find the best words. "Don't you think you exaggerated a bit last night?"

“Me? No! Uh, sorry if I embarrassed you, but I...well, that's the way I behave when I wear the mask! " whispers Adrien in reply.

"I understand, but I'd like to point out that what I had suggested to you was to let your hair down when you're Adrien. I didn't want you to start flirting with me!" explains Juleka.

"So-sorry..." he says, his hand reaching for the nape of his neck. "As I said, I really didn't mean to embarrass you."

She waves her hand in a dismissive gesture; then, she leans her elbows on the table and looks Adrien in the eyes. "But that's not the only thing I wanted to talk to you about. Maybe you didn't see how Ladybug looked at us last night...I think she's jealous."

"Jealous? I don't think so, she's never shown any signs of jealousy towards Chat Noir," replies Adrien.

"I think it's just sour grapes...trust me. Girl's instinct," Juleka explains.

While the two talk, Plagg comes through the material of Adrien's bag and gets to Juleka's feet. “Bangs, you embarrassed my Kitty last night…And me too! Now, I'll give you tit for tat, or rather Camembert for Gorgonzola!" he thinks, as he delicately undoes Juleka's sneakers' strings and ties them together.

"So, Adrien, I think you'll be good, but please don't overdo it!" concludes Juleka, looking at the clock on the wall. Adrien nods and stands up. "Let's go, before we get late again!" he says, taking his bag from the ground.

Juleka gets up and takes a step, but trips over the strings, hits the stool making a noise and with a soft "aah" begins to fall forward. Adrien hears the noise and turns around just in time to catch his friend in mid air, ending up circling her at the waist.

"Hey, watch out!" he says, helping her to sit down. “What's wrong with me today? You're the second girl that falls on me. What is it, you can't resist meow im-purr-essive charm?" He pauses, then winks at Juleka with a smile. "I thought tigers fell on their feet too."

They both burst out laughing, but Juleka looks at her shoes and frowns. “They do, when their paws aren't tied together,” she says, pointing to her sneakers. Adrien follows her gaze and sees the strings tied, then he exchanges glances with Juleka and they both whisper, "Plagg!"

Marinette and Alya are passing by the cafeteria on their way back to class and they both see Juleka sitting with someone, but the silhouette of the girl prevents them from making out who she is talking to.

Marinette turns to her friend. "Look, Juleka is here. Did you tell her about the surprise party?" After careful consideration, Alya says, "Hmmm, I told Luka and Rose yesterday, but I asked them not to tell anyone..." "So maybe it's better if I tell Juleka directly, before I go back to class,” says Marinette, turning to the cafeteria as she hears the noise of chairs being moved.

Juleka is no longer sitting at the table, but standing, hugging a boy. A blond boy. With a white shirt, jeans and orange 'Gabriel' sneakers.

Adrien.

Marinette widens her eyes looking at the boy helping Juleka sit up again, say something and then burst out laughing with her. A mixture of disappointment, jealousy and amazement hits her like a punch in the stomach. "Look at those two! And I thought Juleka and I were friends…and that she and Rose…What's going on?” Marinette turns away, lower lip trembling, hands clenched into fists.

Ignoring everyone, she walks with a heavy step towards her class. "I've changed my mind!" she growls.

Alya follows her. "Marinette, what's going on?" she inquires, and then turns to look at her other two friends in the cafeteria. She immediately notices that Juleka is bending down to undo her shoes: did someone play a trick on her and tie the strings of her shoes together? She turns and shouts, “Marinette! Wait for me!" But the girl with pigtails is now gone. "Uh, oh…" snorts Alya. "I need to explain this misunderstanding before Papillombre takes advantage of the situation and akumatizes her!" she thinks, running toward her classroom.

But Marinette didn't go back to class. She ran to her locker instead, where she had hidden her gift for Adrien.

The girl is standing in front of the closed door, her hands shaking. “Damn! I was hoping that Adrien would...and instead... I'm so stupid," she says to herself,.

From her bag, Tikki whispers, "Calm down, Marinette, there must be an explanation!"

"What explanation? It was too obvious!" she replies. "I don't care anymore. I'm giving him my present now!" She tries to open the lock with trembling hands, and as she's entering the last digit, she hears footsteps behind her and someone calling her name.

She turns and sees Juleka. Marinette lets go of the lock and looks at the other girl. “Tsk, you're the last person I wanted to see. I thought you weren't interested in boys, and instead…” She turns completely and walks toward the door, passing by Juleka who is frozen on the spot, her eyes wide open. "...I caught you hugging none other than Adrien!" she concludes, without even looking at the other girl. “I wanted to tell you that we're throwing a surprise party for him. Ask Luka where it is if you want to come”. That said, she leaves, and runs back to class.

Juleka remains motionless for a few moments, a lump in her throat as she thinks, “What a mess! I have to tell her that it was just a misunderstanding…” Then, she too turns around and returns to her class.

At the door of the classroom, Alya blocks her best friend and literally drags her into the corridor, in front of the washrooms. “Mari! Stop it immediately!" she snaps, hands on her hips. "It's all a misunderstanding, why do you always have to jump to conclusions?"

"Leave me alone, Alya, please," says Marinette in a low voice.

“Nope, I won't! I'm your best friend and you have to listen to me!" says Alya, raising her voice and looking around. “I saw what happened after you left, and I spoke to Adrien. He said that Juleka fell on him because someone tied her shoelaces to play a trick on her!"

Marinette is furious. “What a rubbish excuse! They were alone, who could have played a trick on them? Uuuuh, I really didn't expect such behavior coming from Adrien! I don't even want to talk to him anymore!" She rummages in her bag and takes out a bunch of keys, which she hands out to Alya. "Can you take care of the party tonight? We can't put it off."

The brunette looks at the keys, then at Marinette's red and angry face. “Come on, Mari, please be reasonable! You know that Juleka doesn't like boys that way!"

"What if she changed her mind?" exclaims Marinette. "Otherwise, why such a lame excuse?"

“Maybe because it's the truth? You can't be sure there was nobody in the café, we didn't even go inside! Adrien wouldn't lie about that! You should talk to Adrien and Juleka before making up your mind about it!" hisses Alya, spreading her arms and looking her friend in the eye.

Marinette hesitates, but then she cringes and says, "I don't feel like it now. Maybe later, when I have calmed down." That said, she enters the bathroom and slams the door.

After talking to Alya, Adrien walks into the boys' washroom.

"Plagg, you got me in a lot of trouble!"

"Why?" asks the kwami. "Hadn't Bangs embarrassed you because of the purr?"

"Yes, she did, but you've overdone it!" says Adrien. "Alya asked me what happened, I think she suspects something. Maybe she saw you!"

"And why should she have suspicions?" asks Plagg, interrupting him.

"Because otherwise she wouldn't have asked!" snaps Adrien. "I did explain to her what happened, but I couldn't tell her that my kwami had played a trick on Juleka!" The boy shoots Plagg a serious look. "It's the second time, or maybe the third, that you risk getting me into trouble at school, Plagg. Let's go back and please, stay in the bag!" says the boy, coming out of the washroom.

They go back into class; Adrien notices Marinette's frown and immediately asks her, "Are you okay, Marinette?" She just nods and looks the other way, and Adrien would like to inquire further but doesn't have the time, as the teacher clears her throat, checks that everyone is seated and begins her lesson.

Adrien, worried by Marinette's strange reaction, tries to peek over his shoulder at her face, which keeps frowning throughout the lesson. In fact, when the girl notices him looking at her, her gaze hardens even more. "What's wrong with everyone, today? Marinette seems angry at me, Juleka keeps staring at us...Did I offend Marinette somehow this morning? Um, I don't think so, she didn't look angry before we arrived at school. I'll call her later and inquire—Uh, no I can't, I have fencing practice. Just my luck…as if it wasn't bad enough that nobody had remembered about my birthday," he thinks, his head buried in his shoulders.

The bell to signal the break for lunch finally rings, and Adrien hurries out. Outside the car is already waiting for him; he gets in and the Gorilla drives away towards the manor.

+++

Part 4 || Part 6

+++

Read this on Ao3

[luluquiq]

Have some Tikki and Plagg interaction ^^

/!\ DO NOT REPOST MY ART OR USE/POST IT IN ANOTHER WEBSITE/MEDIA /!\

I’m posting this again because the original one was accidentally deleted and I want it to be available in the miraculous tag

[ellohcee]

Plagg Appreciation Week day 3: Cat nap.

Adrien looks around bewildered, he hasn’t heard a peep from Plagg in some time. He checks all around the room, calling for the Kwami and feeling frustration gnawing at him. “Come on, we’re gonna be late for patrol with Ladybug! You know wherever you are, I can force you out, all I have to do is say the words!” he demands, sounding about as threatening as the kitten Plagg insists he is.

He fumes, before suddenly catching sight of a small lump on the pillow where the blanket is pulled up on his bed. He huffs and walks over, carefully peeling the edge of the sheet up despite his annoyance. “Plagg! Why are you ignoring me?”

“Cat thing,” the Kwami answers easily, one eye cracking open to peer at him without amusement. “I just got comfy kid, what do you want?”

“You just got... you’ve been gone for hours!”

“Yeah, I just got comfy.”

“Ugh, Plagg, come on, we need to go on patrol. Ladybug is probably already waiting for me.”

The Kwami sniffs, his tail curling lazily. “You just want to go make googly eyes at her.”

“Yes- I mean- no- Besides the point!” Adrien huffs, face going red. “Plagg, transform me!”

“Oh you little-” the rest of Plagg’s insult is cut off as he is unceremoniously sucked into the ring. 

[seasonofthegeek]

Plagg Appreciation Week Day 1: Cheese

Plagg stuck his tongue out at the hallway security camera and zipped through the kitchen door. He knew his image wouldn’t appear on the security feed but he decided there was still justice in the action. Adrien had made sure to stock his personal fridge only the day before but sometimes Plagg liked coming down to the Agreste kitchen for no other reason than his own private rebellion. He made a beeline for the fridge but flew behind a canister on the counter when he heard a muffled thump.

He peered out, eyes narrowed and searching the darkness. There was a soft glow from beneath the pantry door and Plagg advanced carefully. He knew Adrien was asleep in his room and he found it hard to believe the great Gabriel Agreste was huddled in the kitchen pantry in the dead of night. He went to the ground, peering underneath the door.

“I can’t say I’m entirely surprised,” Plagg drawled, phasing through the heavy wooden barrier.

Nooroo’s eyes widened in shock, wings fluttering rapidly. “Plagg?!”

“Hi there, Roo. Still doing the sugar thing, huh?”

The purple kwami glanced down at the ripped bag of sugar. “Tikki’s to blame, you know.”

“I’ve been working on a book with that title myself.” Plagg settled down on shelf beside Nooroo. “Gabriel?”

He nodded, eyes downcast.

“I guess I had my suspicions. I saw the stuff in the safe. I was hoping it was coincidence. Does he know about Adrien?”

“Yes.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

“Everything about this is unfortunate.”

The kwamis sat in silence together on the shelf. Nooroo dipped a paw into the sugar, licking it clean. “Guess you’re happy it wasn’t you this time.”

“It’s not good when any of us are used for evil, Roo,” Plagg argued.

“I know, but...” The kwami trailed off. “I guess it’s just nice for you to get a break.”

Plagg shrugged. “Why didn’t you come find me if you knew I was in the house?”

“Gabriel keeps a pretty constant eye on me. He drank himself to sleep tonight. It was unusual. I decided to take what little leave I could.”

“Yeah, the kid wasn’t himself today either. I think it has to do with his mom.”

“What else is new?” Nooroo sighed.

Plagg tasted the sugar and grimaced. “I don’t know how you enjoy this.”

“It’s one of the few things I do enjoy now.” Nooroo dipped his paw in again. “I used to have much more bland tastes until that stint I did with Tikki in the...1960′s maybe? I can’t remember exactly.”

“She has that effect on beings. I’ve stayed strong though,” Plagg said proudly.

Nooroo gave him a small smile. “Yes, I could smell the odor of Camembert as soon as you entered the kitchen.” 

Plagg nodded, kicking his feet as they hung over the side of the pantry shelf. “These kids are good. I think they can take him down.”

“There are things you don’t know.”

“Then tell me.”

Nooroo slumped. “I need to get back.” He lifted up and went to the door, turning his face to the side. “Do you really think they can beat him?”

“I’d bet all the Camembert in the world on it,” Plagg said confidently.

“That’s pretty serious.” Nooroo disappeared through the pantry door and Plagg sat on the shelf, staring at the spilt sugar.

“I’ve got to stop waking up in the middle of the night for cheese,” he sighed. “No good ever comes from it.”

Buy me a coffee?

[aknazer]

Plagg’s Day Out 7: One Ring to Confuse Them All

Also on Ao3

Day 6 << Day 7 >> Day 8 (Coming soon)

Ladybug and Chat Noir had still been curled around each other when Nino had returned to the roof. Chat Noir had essentially been catatonic; he was conscious, he was breathing, but was otherwise unresponsive outside of garbled babble in languages Nino was sure Adrien didn’t speak. Prying them apart hadn’t been easy, but eventually Ladybug had to concede that their current location wasn’t the best one, and that Plagg needed to disengage and rest as much as Chat did.

“Are you saying you know who he is?” Ladybug gave him a look that was somewhere between confusion and condemnation.

Sighing, Jade Turtle nodded.

Ladybug’s head cocked to the side, and the look she gave him was unreadable. “I think,” she said slowly, “that later, you and I need to talk.”

JT only nodded again, resigned. Ladybug was ignoring him, murmuring to her partner.

“Chat Noir? Chat? Minou, you need to go home.”

Chat’s only response was to tighten his arms around her. “Dyma gartref.”

Ladybug shode JT a confused look, and he could only shrug in response.

“Please Chat, your transformation is going to wear off, and Plagg needs to recharge. You’re exposed out here.” Ladybug pleaded, tugging at his fingers. “You need to go home.”

“Rydych chi'n gartref.” Chat buried his face against her shoulder. “Anata wa watashinoiedesu.”

Was that...Chinese? Jade wondered, half-hoping Chat was just messing with them. After all, Adrien spoke Chinese fluently. If he was messing with them, Jade decided, he’d throw him straight off the roof for worrying them, but...at least they would know he was alright.

That was Japanese. Wayzz commented. And… I don’t know the other one.

Well, hell. This was going to be fun.

Thirty minutes later, Jade Turtle was steering Chat Noir through his bathroom and towards his bed. “Alright, Plagg, just dump him on the bed and let him go. I’ll get you some cheese.”

Jade’s own transformation swirled around him as Wayzz reformed near his shoulder, settling in as Nino made his way to Adrien’s desk. Opening up the mini fridge, he pushed past the bottles of water, looking for the cheese Adrien stored there for Plagg.

“There’s a wheel sitting on top.” Plagg said tiredly from the other side of the room.

Nino pulled a second wheel from the fridge, along with a bag of carrot sticks and one of Adrien’s illegal energy drinks he liked to keep. Replacing the warm wheel with the cold one, Nino handed Wayzz a carrot stick before grabbing the cheese and heading back towards Plagg and a sleeping Adrien, dragging the computer chair behind him.

“Is he gonna be alright?” Nino asked, sagging back in Adrien’s desk chair as he popped the tab on one of the cans.

“Yeah.” Plagg was staring listlessly at his cheese. “He just needs to absorb everything. He’ll be better in the morning.”

“But will he know who he is?” Nino muttered, tipping the can back. Six in the evening was probably too late to be drinking an energy drink, but he didn’t care. Perched on his shoulder, Wayzz munched on a carrot stick in silence.

“He knows who he is now.” Plagg frowned at him. “He just needs to come to terms with who he was.”

“‘Who he was?’” Nino frowned. “Is that was that akuma’s power was? Er, powers? We’re still trying to figure it out. It was all kind of random.”

“It wasn’t, really.” Wayzz spoke up. “Each arm did something different.”

“But other people got touched by her, and they weren’t...like this.” Nino said, gesturing at his comatose friend. “I mean, he’s actually comatose.”

“That’s okay.” Plagg said. “That’s...fine, actually. Really. His mind needs to heal, and this is the best way. He’ll wake up in a few hours.”

Nino scrubbed a hand over his face, not feeling very reassured. He hated seeing his normally-vibrant friend so...still.

“When the akuma touched him, what I heard was ‘know thyself.’” Plagg continued. On his shoulder, Wayzz perked up, peering at the other kwami intently. “My guess is that her power...well, that particular limb, anyway, showed people aspects of themselves that they don’t usually see.”

“Like...self examination?” Nino hummed consideringly. “What are my flaws that I’m blind to?”

Plagg nodded. “A lot like, yeah. That’s probably what most people saw, was aspects of who they truly are, and maybe ones they don’t like, or need to change, or why they need to change. I don’t know. Problem was, it wasn’t just Adrien that she touched, it was me too.”

“So he saw...what?” Nino squinted at the little god curiously. “You? Your memories?”

“He saw the cycle of souls.” Wayzz said quietly. “Not just who he is, he saw who he was.”

“He saw...past lives?” Nino was kind of baffled, and admittedly he didn’t want to wind up like Adrien, but the thought of knowing about your past lives was a cool one. In a…’I don’t want to wind up as a twitching mess’ kind of way.

“He only saw the ones he personally experienced.” Plagg took a bite of his cheese, and sighed happily. “Oh, beloved camembert…”

“Well, that’s good then.” Wayzz commented.

“He only saw lives he experienced?” Nino muttered, confused. “Who else...oh.”

“Yeah.” Plagg said around a mouthful of cheese. “Oh.”

The Black Cat Miraculous had, traditionally, been one of the most sought-after rings in history. For those who didn’t know, or didn’t care, that the Black Cat and the Red Beetle (Ladybug) were a pair. To those who only wanted to cause fear and war and death, the Black Cat was an indispensable tool.

“So, no, he didn’t get a look inside the heads of any of those psychos.” Plagg shuddered. “He’d probably be much worse off if he had. Not to say all of his past lives were sunshine and roses, but…”

“Well, that’s good at least.” Nino eyed his friend. “Do..you need me to stay? I could. I just need to make some phone calls, and-”

“No.” Plagg shook his head. “Thank you, but no. He’ll sleep for a few hours, and he will probably be confused when he wakes up, but he won’t be any worse for the wear.”

Nino hesitated.

“I mean it.” Plagg rolled his eyes. “Seriously. You’ll probably see him in school tomorrow. Not saying he won’t be a little out of it, but he won’t be any more oblivious than he usually is.”

“You sure?” Nino asked. “I mean, if he needs me, I’ll be here.”

“You’re a good friend, Nino.” Wayzz said. “But I believe that when Adrien awakes, he and Plagg will need to have a talk. Why don’t you just leave him some aspirin and a water? He’ll probably be thirsty, and his head may hurt.”

“Yeah.” Nino nodded, grateful to feel like he was helping. “And maybe a sandwich. He’ll probably be hungry. I could totally sneak down to the kitchens.”

“You don’t even need to sneak.” Plagg shrugged. “Nathalie and Gorilla are gone, and his father is probably still holed up in his office. If you see anyone, just tell them the two of you were studying and you’re grabbing some snacks.”

“I guess it isn’t that late, is it?” Nino laughed. “It just feels later. Man, it’s been a long day.”

“It has.” Wayzz agreed. “Let’s get Adrien what he’ll need, and then we can depart to our own repast.”

“I love the way you say ‘food’, dude.” Nino grinned at the tiny turtle as his stomach growled. “You, me, and a big old cucumber salad. Extra tomatoes.”

“We earned it.” Wayzz agreed happily.

When Adrien awoke, it was dark. Which was a relief, actually - his head hurt, and he wasn’t sure that he would have been able to deal with the bright sunlight that usually poured in through his windows.

Idly, he smacked his lips, swallowing to relieve the dryness of his throat and running his tongue over his teeth. Had he brushed them before bed? How had he gotten to bed?

From atop his head, he felt Plagg stirring. “You awake?”

“Yeah.” Adrien groaned. “Do I even want to know?”

“That you got tagged again? No, probably not.” Plagg yawned and stretched. “There’s some water and aspirin on the nightstand.”

Absurdly grateful to himself for at least having remembered the basics, rolled over, pushing himself up and spying the bottle and two small white pills sitting next to it. Also… Frowning, Adrien reached over, flicking the light on then slamming his eyes shut, waiting until they’d adjusted a bit more, before squinting at the sandwich sitting on a plate next to his bed.

“Um...Plagg?” Adrien gestured vaguely at the sandwich. “What?”

“JT left it there.” Plagg said nonchalantly. “Along with the water and pills.”

“He what?” Adrien felt a brief flare of panic. “He knows who I am?”

“Yeah.” Plagg sounded absurdly unconcerned. “He’s known for a while.”

“What? How? When?” Adrien grimaced. “Why didn’t he say anything? Is Ladybug mad?”

“Is this a thing?” Plagg eyed him. “This is really what you have questions about?”

“I... “ Adrien grimaced again and pressed the heel of his hand against a throbbing temple. “You’re right. I don’t care right now. Later.”

“So,” He continued, after swallowing the pills and a few bites of his turkey sandwich. “What happened?”

“What do you remember?” Plagg asked.

“A lot.” Adrien sighed, leaning back against his headboard. “Were those men other Chat Noirs?”

“In a sense.” Plagg said. “Most of them were wielders of the Black cat Miraculous. All of them could have been.”

“Plagg?” Adrien frowned at the uncharacteristic hesitancy in his partner’s voice. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying,” Plagg frowned, “that what you saw wasn’t me. It was you.”

Adrien stared at Plagg, who continued on blithely. “The cycle of souls is a continual one, kid. This isn’t your first pass around the cosmic wheel.”

“I’ve been Chat Noir before?” Adrien asked, massaging his temples and trying to ignore the pain. “More than once?”

“You’ve been Chat Noir a dozen times.” Plagg said bluntly. “Not every Chat Noir - not the times when the ring was stolen and misused - but every one who was legitimately called up? Yeah, you were all of them.”

“All of them?” Adrien repeated blankly, head spinning. “All of them?”

“Every one.” Plagg tilted his head back, scratching behind his ear languidly.

Adrien opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it, thought better of it, and closed his mouth again. Plagg sat, watching Adrien sort through his thoughts - they were plain enough to see, as they chased each other across his features. Amazement, confusion, wonder, confusion, trepidation, anxiety, confusion, horror, curiosity, confusion… Plagg waited patiently while Adrien stared at his sandwich and sorted things out into something coherent.

Finally, Adrien opened his mouth again. “Why?”

Plagg smirked, pleased that his Kitten had found the right question. “Because you’re Chat Noir.”

“I know, that Plagg!” Adrien snapped. “I’m asking why am I...why me? Why me every time?”

“Because,” Plagg replied, “the ring was made for you. Your half of the soul is the literal foil for mine, just as Ladybug’s half is the literal foil for Tikki. Tikki and I are two halves of the same coin, but we’re separate entities, and need our own balances. You and Ladybug are those balances.”

“The ring...was made for me?” Adrien looked down at his hand.

“Did you think it fit by chance?” Plagg sounded amused. “You’ve always worn it on the third or fourth finger of your right hand. When you put it on the first time, you never even tried another finger to see if it would fit better there. You knew right where it went.”

“This ring was literally made for me?” Adrien held up his hand, pointing at the ring as he looked at Plagg imploringly.

Plagg nodded. “Back when we first agreed to be avatars, and work with humans.”

“Oh. Wow.” Adrien took a bite of his sandwich. Chewed.

Wait for it… Plagg snagged a piece of cheese of the other half of the sandwich and sat back, nibbling it.

Wait for it… Plagg continued chewing as Adrien’s eyes, half-closed from pain and the late hour, flew wide. His jaw went slack, and the last bit of sandwich dropped from his hand to the plate with a dull splat.

“Plagg!” Adrien hurriedly swallowed so he could gape at the tiny kwami. His arms flailed dramatically. “Plagg!”

Ding. Plagg continued chewing as Adrien spluttered and waved his arms for a few seconds, enjoying the show. Fries are done.

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Adrien screeched.

“I don’t know.” Plagg shrugged. “What do you think I’m saying?”

“Are you saying that Ladybug and I are soulmates?!”

Author’s Note:

I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I tried to make Plagg resolve everything and he wouldn’t do it. He laughed in my face. Because that little turd isn't going to explain a damn thing he doesn’t have to unless it amuses him. (And he doesn’t do feelings.) I’m going to write up another chapter soon to help tie everything up. I’ll update the tags to include #Plagg’s Day Out to help make sure it all stays together.

Dyma gartref - “This is home” in Welsh

Rydych chi'n gartref - “You are home” in Welsh

Anata wa watashinoiedesu - “You are my home” in Japanese

[perditaalottachocolate-blog]

Say Cheese

Plagg Appreciation Week meets Nino Appreciation Week

This is a drabble I posted for Nino Appreciation Week, but it features Plagg prominently, so I’ve decided to remind you of its existence. It is dedicated to the amazing and wonderful @seasonofthegeek

(Also on AO3 / fanfiction.net / tumblr - NAW post)

“Say Cheese”

‘Gotcha!’ Nino released a satisfied hiss at the sound of the mouse-trap’s spring snatching into place.

‘What the hell!’ Something spluttered indignantly from that direction.

Nino froze. Mice didn’t curse as far as he knew.

He jumped off the couch and came closer to the trap. Something was still there, but it wasn’t trapped at all. It was a black blob with cat ears and murder in its green eyes.

‘Meowrrrr,’ it said.

Nino blinked. Cats did meow, they just didn’t say meow. Something very strange was going on here.

‘Did you just say “meowr”? he asked.

‘You caught that, huh. You’re smarter than you look,’ the black blob replied snatching a piece of cheese from the trap and stuffing it into its mouth.

‘You’re the one stealing our cheese?’

‘Pffft! Stealing! That camembert is mine!’

‘No, it’s not. Adrien has it specially ordered every Tuesday. He lives on cheese apparently.’

The blob shot him an unimpressed look, throwing another piece of the bait into his mouth.

Actually now that Nino thought about it Adrien always ordered cheese, smelled a bit like the thing and his supplies disappeared at an express rate. The amounts of cheese he’d supposedly been eating were unbelievable. And yet despite camembert being a rather rich in fat Adrien hadn’t even started to get round. Moreover, Nino had just realized, he actually never had seen his friend eating the stuff.

‘So, what are you?’

‘Not what – who. I’m Plagg, god of destruction.’ He extended a paw sticky with cheese.

‘Of destruction you say?’ Nino scratched his chin. ‘So… foosball table last week?’

‘Yup, twas me.’

‘And the hinges to the fridge a week before that?’

‘I needed my cheese and it was stuck.’

‘Aquarium?’

‘Not my fault fish were mocking me.’

‘Anything else?’ Nino tried to remember all the mysterious malfunctions in their flat since him and Adrien moved in together a few months ago.

‘Not lately,’ Plagg dismissed his question with a flick of his paw. ‘Although…’

‘Yes?’

‘I may have caused that short circuit in the loudspeakers last month,’ the kwami admitted, a flash of guilt skipping over his face, but only for a split second.

‘Whyyyy?’ Nino whined. Those were fresh new loudspeakers although to his amazement Adrien paid for the replacement without a single word. Now it was more understandable.

‘The wires looked like cheese,’ Plagg shrugged that part of the blob that was supposed to serve as shoulders. ‘Easy mistake.’

‘Wires looked like cheese?’ The boy echoed, cocking a skeptical brown.

‘String cheese,’ the little god tapped his nose. ‘You never know until you try, kid.’

Nino chuckled. ‘You’re quite a handful for a god, aren’t you?’

Plagg shot him with an incredulous look.

‘What?’

‘Is this too much to expect respect if you’re a god?’ The black cat asked dramatically.

‘If all you do is gobbling cheese and breaking stuff then yeah?’ the boy replied, unabashed.

Plagg just stared at him, eyes narrowed to slits, until Nino started to feel uncomfortable.

‘What?’ he croaked when he just couldn’t take that stare anymore.

‘Nothing,’ Plagg shrugged again. ‘I was just wondering…’ he added with a devilish grin.

‘Dude, you’re seriously scaring me right now.’

‘Don’t worry,’ the kwami replaced the grin with a thoughtful frown. ‘I was just thinking maybe I should introduce you to one of my associates.’

‘Does he like to break stuff too?’

‘Nah, but Wayzz’s got chill, like you.’

‘Thanks, dude,’ Nino pulled a fist in his direction. Plagg eyed it suspiciously.

‘Are you trying to hit me?’

‘No! I thought- despite the cheese and the damage you look like a good guy actually,’ the boy replied rubbing his chin in embarrassment. ‘And I thought maybe you’d like to fistbump. I guess not.’

‘Fistbump?’ Plagg perked up. ‘Dude? I think I’m gonna like this new development.’

***

When Adrien came home some time later that evening he almost choked at the foul smell drifting from the kitchen. He risked a peek and found Nino patiently warming a small fondue pot over a candle. Several wraps relieved of Gruyère piled next to empty wine bottle on the counter.  

‘Some fondue, Adrien?’ Nino spotted his friend and put on a very disturbing grin.

‘Thanks, I’ll pass,’ Adrien replied weakly. ‘Wait, why are you making fondue?’

‘Excellent question!’ Nino’s grin only widened. ‘May I propose another one: why is the god of destruction living with us and eating your cheese?’

‘Um… is there really?’ the blonde squeaked.

‘You order his camembert,’ Nino said accusingly.

At that moment Adrien spotted Plagg casually leaning over the pot and dipping a straw in it. The little cat’s face dissolved into a blurred tipsy smile.

‘Right.’ Adrien desperately tried to find a way out of this one. 'He’s a-, he’s a-… my cat?’

‘You wish!’ Plagg slurred as Nino raised a brow in disbelief.

‘Fine. He’s an insanely powerful eternal magical creature who sometimes enters my ring and lends me his powers,’ the blonde blurted out, secretly wondering how much of an ass Plagg will turn out to be after absorbing a bottle of wine.

‘Hah, nice try, my man, but you should definitely work on your lying skills,’ Nino chuckled shooting his friend with finger gun and Adrien thought that maybe not all of the wine went into Plagg’s spacious belly. ‘Another slice, Plagg?’ the bespectacled boy offered his new friend the bread basket.

‘Nah bro,’ the kwami swayed slightly, his eyes squinted and a bit unfocused. ‘Bread makes you fat!’

[ladynowi]

Day 1: Cheese

This is my first digital animation,please don’t repost to other sites without MY permission. I’m working so hard and i don’t want it to be the first and last animation i post on tumblr. Respect the work of artists, thank you!!

[sodokachi]

The Better Cat

Day 1: Cheese of Plagg Appreciation Week

Plagg lounged in the small plastic container he spent most of his time in when he and Adrien were at home. He had run out of cheese what seemed like a long time ago, but was more likely about five minutes, and was wondering, very loudly, about when Adrien would give him more.

“You already finished three whole wheels today, Plagg,” Adrien chided.

Plagg groaned is faux-misery, not that you could tell: He’d had millennia to perfect it after all. “Only three? I’m going to die without more!”

Adrien gave him an incredulous look. “Really? You, an immortal, demi-god of destruction, will die if he doesn’t stuff himself with a cheese that’s only existed for a couple of centuries,” he slowly rolled his eyes and then smirked. “Why do I find that hard to believe?”

“Because you’re dead inside,” Plagg declared.

“At least I’m not the one that’s lounging in a trash bin,” Adrien countered quickly.

“Stop throwing around words you humans just made up to feel better about yourselves,” Plagg glared at him.

Adrien glared back, his lip pulling up into an angry pout. “We did nothing of the sort, you just don’t know what-”

Plagg yawned loudly. “Sure, sure,” he waved his little paw in the air. “Where is my cheese though?”

Adrien twitched visibly before slowly turning around and leaving the room. Plagg watched him go with a disinterested expression. “He better have left to get my cheese,” he warned the rest of the room full of Adrien’s possessions.

It didn’t take long for Adrien to walk back into the room a perfect smile on his face and a small wedge of Camembert in his hand. Plagg floated smugly over to him. “Took you long enough,” he said with a smirk.

Adrien just continued to smile at him and Plagg waved his paw at him impatiently. “Well?”

Adrien glanced down at the cheese and his smile widened and then tossed it into the air and into his mouth. Plagg watched in horror as he chewed and swallowed his precious Camembert, the pleasant smile never faded as Adrien wiped his lips with a small handkerchief.

“That was actually not bad, maybe I should eat it more often,” he said deliberately.

Plagg swallowed. “T-that’s not necessary.”

“You’ll still get a wheel and a half even if I eat half each time, Plagg,” he said innocently.

“No!” Plagg said quickly. “You don’t need to do that! Don’t you prefer pastries anyway?” He asked desperately.

Adrien nodded slowly. “I guess I can just eat a little here and there…”

Plagg whined and slowly floated until he was face down on Adrien’s desk. “Three wheels a day is enough. There! I said it! Are you finally satisfied, you monster?”

Adrien grinned like the cat that ate the canary. “Very.”

[kasienda]

Last Wishes: Ch 5 - Adrien Agreste

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Read on Ao3

Content Warning: Major Character Death

Chapter 5 - Adrien Agreste

The Ladyblog’s announcement of Ladybug’s passing had hit the internet four days prior. The people of Paris had expressed shock, grief, and fear that they were no longer protected. The Ladybug statue was covered in flowers, candles, and tokens of appreciation. All of Paris was in mourning.

Until just as suddenly, it wasn’t.

There hadn’t been an akuma in weeks - since the fateful day of their catastrophic loss. Perhaps, Papillion had given up now that Ladybug’s miraculous couldn’t be stolen away. The average citizen no longer feared akumas, and therefore no longer missed Ladybug.

People walked the sidewalks again wearing bright colors, laughing about their days, no longer worried about the threat of a potential akuma. It was enough to make Adrien want to scream! How could Paris move on so quickly? How could they forget Ladybug’s heroic sacrifice overnight?

It was infuriating. Adrien was of half a mind to track down Papillion and beg him to release another akuma. He wasn’t sure if he just wanted something to beat up on, or if he wanted to remind the city why they had loved Ladybug in the first place.

“It’s natural for people to move on kid,” Plagg had told him. “Most people didn’t know her.”

The teenager sighed. He knew the kwami was right, but Marinette deserved better. He flipped the now familiar envelope over and again in his hands, reading his name in Marinette's flowing handwriting. He still hadn't opened it. Instead, he had taken to playing with it like it was some fidget toy when he needed something in his hands.

He had delivered Alya’s letter to her over a week ago, but he still couldn’t bring himself to open his own.  This letter's existence was an enigma to him. He couldn’t figure out why Marinette had written him a letter. Like, they were friends, but surely, she was closer to Nino or Luka. Why him?

He knew all he had to do was open the goddamn letter and she would tell him. But he was terrified of what her words might reveal.

And it would be the very last thing she could say to him. As long as he kept it unopened and sealed, there was a little bit more he had never heard her say. A promise that she still had more to share with him. If he read it, that would be it. It would be the last thing she would ever say to anyone.

“You ever going to open it, kid?” Plagg asked, hovering over his chosen’s left shoulder. “I don’t know if I can,” he admitted.

"Trust me. It will hurt..." "Thanks Plagg,” Adrien interjected dryly. “That’s super encouraging. " "...and then, you can start healing." Adrien stared at the envelope for several more seconds, and then slipped a trembling finger under the vellum flap and tore it open. He slipped the letter out, set it on his desk still folded unable to look at it yet, and stood up and paced his overly cavernous room.

He sat back down in the chair, only to immediately stand back up, dig his hands into his hair, and pull at the messy yellow locks it in agitation as he continued his pacing once again.

Plagg wisely stayed silent. After what felt like hours, but was probably only ten or so minutes, Adrien eventually stood over the desk, not being able to handle sitting down, he carefully and reverently unfolded the letter and forced his eyes to float over the opening words. ... Adrien, I’d like to think that this letter is now redundant. That I eventually gathered the courage to confess, but my track record has been awful so far. Honestly, it almost seems cruel to tell you now, but this is my last chance. And well, I wanted to follow through for once. And this way, there’s no way my nerves can overtake me, there’s no way for me to back out.

I love you. He crushed the letter into a balled fist, slammed it onto the desk, and kicked away from the heartfelt message as if burned. He stormed back and forth from his desk to his bed, harder and faster than before. He needed an outlet for his sudden agitation and there was none to be had. His life, every last minute of it, was some cruel cosmic joke. They had both been cheated.

If he could speak to her again, he would scream at how stupid and unfair her insistence on secret identities was. At how needlessly complicated her insistence on following the rules had made both of their lives. He couldn’t ever remember being angrier with her. He hadn’t been this angry when she rejected him. Not the first time, nor the second. He hadn’t even been this angry with her when he realized that she had been keeping Master Fu’s secrets about their miraculous from him.

He tore his hair from its roots. He should have opened that door after Lady Wifi. Or opened his eyes during Dark Owl! Or looked over the barricade every single time they hid from each other when their transformations had timed out in the middle of a battle!

Some hysterical sound somewhere between a laugh and a cry tore itself from his throat. It wasn’t fair. Plagg approached the crumpled letter, smoothed it out carefully, and floated the awful treasure back to his chosen.

"You've gotten to the hurt part, but you have to finish to begin the healing part."

The comment hurt – like knives into every inch of his chest. Plagg had known.

Plagg had known she loved Adrien.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he demanded, his voice cracking through his choked-up throat.

“It wasn’t my place,” the small cat god spoke so quietly, Adrien wouldn’t have been able to hear him without his enhanced feline senses. Plagg offered the heavy vellum paper to him again.

"I don't want to read it," Adrien sounded like a petulant child even to his own ears. He couldn’t bring himself to care. "She wanted you to read it.”

Adrien scowled hard at his ever-present companion. That was such a low blow, even for his mischievous kwami. The teenager snatched the vellum paper that hung between them, sat down on the smooth floor under his desk, and brought her words back into his line of sight. I love you. It was the second day we met, when you apologized for putting gum on my chair, or rather apologized for doing something you hadn't actually done. I remember thinking how unfair I had been to make such a snap judgement and to not let you explain. You were so genuine.

 And then you gave me your umbrella even though you thought I was still mad at you. It struck me as kind. And I just haven't met very many boys who are also kind. And your care made me feel warm.

Even in the rain. And my affections only grew when I saw that your generosity, care for others, and overall kindness wasn’t just a one time thing. You helped me translate for my uncle at the drop of a hat, you gave up your seat in the gaming competition so Max could have his dream when I had been rather selfish. You see the best in people like Chloé! You picked up that stupid prescription that I gave you completely accidentally. And you sat with me, and made sure I wasn’t alone when the rest of the class exiled me to the corner.

 And when I see all the modeling that you do, all the fans that you have, it amazes me that you never let that attention and admiration go to your head. You persevere through your overwhelming and regimented schedule, and I just know you are amazingly resilient. When I have struggled to balance everything from fighting akumas to school and my normal life to suddenly being a celebrity, I look up to you.

 I am sorry I never had the courage to tell you this to your face. I tried so many times, and even got so close (that prescription was supposed to be one of them). You would probably laugh at some of the schemes I attempted (you should ask Alya about it sometime when you want to laugh). But something always got in the way. Usually my nerves.

 But I wanted you to know.

 I hope that you can find someone that you love as much or more than I loved you. So often, you seem lonely. And that’s not right. You deserve to be seen, to be comforted, and appreciated. You are far more than a pretty face on a billboard. And you should never have to be alone.

 Just so you know, I think you're amazing.

Yours, Marinette He clutched the letter to his chest as if it could offer the physical comfort he wanted and needed. He trembled and struggled for air through his keening sobs, and hot tears slipped unnoticed down his face. “Plagg?” he managed, his voice hoarse and cracking. “W-What do I do now?”

His kwami had curled onto his shoulder and was purring. Adrien was not in the right mind to appreciate the gesture, but maybe he would look back and remember.

“What do you want to do?” the creature offered softly. “Break things,” Adrien admitted. “We could do that.” There was no judgment or mockery in his tone. “It won’t help.” "Says you!” a bit of levity breaking into Plagg’s nasally voice. “I find breaking things to be very therapeutic." "But it won't bring her back. It won't restore the time we lost. It won’t replace what we could have had." "You are angry."

Adrien’s hands tightened into fists - his fingernails pressed painfully into his palms like a dull knife. He snapped his eyelids shut not wanting to take in any of the world. "Angry doesn’t begin to describe it!” he raged. “I can't believe we spent two fucking years dancing around each other. We could've been together!”

He bolted to his feet and kicked his desk chair across the room. It rolled silently to a stop, and he found himself wishing he had hurled the piece of furniture through the window instead.

“Like if Adrien had never gone to school, would Marinette have fallen in love with Chat Noir?!"

He stabbed a pen into the solid wood surface of his desk as he spoke. It remained embedded in the surface. He couldn’t pull it back out.

“Or if we had never been given the miraculous, would Adrien have fallen in love with Marinette without Ladybug being there to fill his heart and mind?!”

A second pen joined the first with a resounding thud.

“Or if we had just revealed ourselves to one another, and could have realized that everything was mutual instead of repeatedly hurting each other over and over again!"

A third pen was added. Really, he could do this all day.

"You can't do this to yourself kid," Plagg said, his voice soft and understanding.

Adrien swiped the tears from his face with the back of his hand, fell back to the ground and pulled his knees to his chest. He had never thought a moment would come that he wished that he hadn't been chosen to be Chat Noir, but it had arrived. If someone else had the miraculous of destruction, maybe Marinette would still be alive.

"Why were we chosen, Plagg?"

The kwami flew to him and hovered inches from his face. "You were well suited to me, and Marinette to Tikki. You complemented each other. And you passed the Master's test." "What do you mean, we complemented each other?" "Ladybug and Chat Noir are opposites - two sides of the same coin. Creation and Destruction. You have to complement each other." "You mean like personality?" Adrien asked distantly, as he scuffed the floor to his right.   The kwami shook his head. "No, it's on a spiritual level." "Spiritual?" "Yeah, like your souls."

"Souls..." Adrien repeated, feeling beyond numb. "Are you saying that Marinette and I are... were soul mates?"

"Soul-mates sure, but I don't think humans actually know what the term means. It has nothing to do with romanticism. It's has to do with karma and the agreements you made when you both came into this life." "So, I didn't just lose my partner and my crush. I lost my fucking soul mate?" his voice suddenly hard and icy. "You cannot lose a soulmate. There's nothing ‘were’ about it kid. Souls are immortal."

Perhaps Plagg was trying to be comforting. But his perspective as a five-thousand-year-old god was skewed. He saw a big picture where an individual’s soul was immortal. His knowledge brought no comfort to a sixteen-year-old boy grieving the loss of the only person in his life who saw him in every aspect of his world and still accepted and loved him.

“But I won’t ever see her again,” he whispered.

“No, you likely won’t. At least, not as Adrien.”

Adrien wrapped his arms around his legs and buried his head between his knees. He rocked himself back and forward, struggling for air as the wracking convulsing took over his body again.

Plagg was there, purring again on his shoulder like a tiny little heated motor. The little black kitten had never let his side.

But it didn’t help.

He felt empty.

Broken.

And completely alone.

...

[27percentonrottentomatoes]

Every Chat Noir falling in love with every Ladybug from the first Chat Noir to the current Chat Noir