kitty's princess | miraculous ladybug

04 | all for a croissant

[unedited]
05/27/19

adrien stirred awake as the sweet aroma of pastries wafted around the room. his nose tilted upward, eyes still closed, sniffing the air in pure bliss. meowing in content, he opened his eyes, getting up to stretch his legs.

adrien scanned the room, looking for marinette. the bed had been left empty, the sheets thrown in a careless manner. she hadn't bothered to fix the chaise.

then he looked at the door that had been left opened by a small crack. walking towards the scent, he let his nose guide him, widening the crack with the tip of his nose.

if he were in his human form, he swore he would be smiling. that's how strong the power of the pastries had been, anyway.

he bounced airily down the stairs, all the pent-up stress that had been collected inside of him now completely forgotten of. adrien marched his way to the wafting aroma of the pastries, the croissants. with his eyes still closed and his nose sniffing the air more wildly, the scent strengthened, signaling he was close to the delicious goodness.

just as he had begun to open his eyes, he crashed into a wall, making him yelp and jump back in surprise. hurried footsteps had been heard throughout the living complex.

"chaton!" he heard, his paws buried in his face, massaging his very slightly injured area. he began rising as he was lifted off the floor. "are you okay?" the voice shook with worry.

he meowed in response, looking up at the sweet girl with deep blue eyes. adrien began looking at her face, his eyes getting lost in hers. it was as if he had known these eyes by heart. he thought they had looked familiar. sure, he was her classmate, but they had rarely talked due to her stuttering self and her nervous stance. sure, they had claimed to be friends, but to be honest, she was like a stranger to him. adrien only ever saw her true self in his alter ego, chat noir, who had obviously now been turned into a literal cat. her eyes... he couldn't place it, but it was as if he stared into them everyday. he recognized them, and yet he hadn't.

marinette sighed, breaking the cat's train of thought. he put him down and crouched down, petting him. "you're just like that clumsy cat," she muttered, her head hanging low, covering her expressions. "always running into trouble." she choked up at the end.

adrien tilted his head, looking at the girl. how did she know his personality so clearly? why was it that she always compared him to his human alter ego? he thought for a few moments, then came up with a conclusion; she must be a die-hard fan who watched alya's ladyblog. they were best friends, after all, joined by the hip.

he watched as she reached up for her face, wiping her eyes. she looked up and smiled.

this was one of the many things that adrien liked about marinette, speaking in friendship terms. she had always remained positive in the darkest of times, tuning out all the negative things that had come her way, such as chloe's harsh insults. she was sweet and kind, pretty and — wait. what had he been thinking? his heart belonged to his little bug, his partner in crime; ladybug. he couldn't just switch his interests! he shook off his thoughts and stood up.

"i bet you're hungry," marinette smiled. in an instant, the forgotten smell had flooded back into his nose. he meowed desperately, pawing the ground in anticipation. she smiled. "alright, come on, follow me." she stood and walked out of the room, the black cat following right after her.

she had led him to the corner of the kitchen where two bowls had been placed — the water bowl and the food bowl. the food bowl that had been filled with cat food.

adrien backed away in disgust. he had to eat that? he'd rather starve. the cat sat on a nearby mat and looked up at his owner, stubbornness leaking out of his eyes.

"what?" marinette said, looking at the cat in confusion. hadn't he been hungry?

adrien shook his head. even though part of him had wanted to go to the cat food, he hadn't allowed it. he knew it was the real cat side of him, the plagg side.

marinette walked into the bakery and came back into the kitchen, a croissant held in her hand. adrien's mouth watered at the sight. the bluenette crouched down and sat on the floor, looking at the cat with pure curiosity. she had still not identified the reason in the cat's distaste. adrien watched as the jam-filled croissant slowly made it's way into marinette's mouth, as if teasing him. his desperate self panicked and raced up to his owner. he leaped into the air and smacked the pastry out of her hand and caught it with his mouth, leaving a very shocked marinette.

she blinked, her focus turning onto the little thief of a cat. she opened her mouth and pointed an accusing finger at the tiny criminal. "bad kitty!"

he hissed and bit into the croissant, jam squirting into his mouth. he began to chew, savoring the delicious flavor.

marinette was flabbergasted. this cat really was just like her alter ego's partner. sly and feisty and fun and cute. but there was one difference between them. one major difference.

ladybug's chat was missing and hers was not. her eyes teared at the thought and she bit back a cry. her lip quivered and her eyes slammed shut. she missed her kitty and needed him back.

adrien looked at the girl and hesitantly, guiltily swallowed the part of the stolen good that he had in his mouth. setting the rest on the floor,
he sat.

was that because of him? was she crying because of his thievery? over a stolen croissant?

adrien pushed the leftover remains of the croissant with his muzzle, heading over to the teary-eyed girl. he looked up at marinette and pushed the pastry closer to her, to which she chuckled at.

"it's fine, chat," she said. "it's fine." the words had left her mouth, and yet she looked unsure, as if her previous words hadn't been to convince the cat, but herself.

adrien tilted his head and pressed his head onto marinette's knee, prying her for more information. she giggled softly, but that had quickly dispersed.

"i just... i just miss him, chat. i miss my kitty. without him, i can't..." she trailed off, wiping her tears.

"it's nothing, i'm fine."

adrien had never seen her this vulnerable. although she had always had a kind heart and good intentions, her eyes always betrayed her. her eyes had always had a burning passion filled with determination. they had been filled with determination and had never let anyone pass. her eyes had always been lit with a kindling fire, and yet today, right at this moment, all he saw was vulnerability. this was her weak side that he had never seen in his civilian form, even as her stuttering self. this was her weak side that had probably never been shown to anyone outside her family ring. and yet today, right at this moment, he saw it.

"i'm fine, i'm fine, i'm fine," she muttered.

but adrien saw that she wasn't. he saw this because of a croissant. all of this happened because of a croissant. he had done this to her all for a croissant.

all for a puny croissant, he made her cry.

all for a croissant.