A series of parts over a period of time following our favourite lazy duo and sunny pair
Marinette was snoozing. (When was she not?) She was sprawled comfortably on her bed, drooling in her sleep and mumbling every now and then about cupcakes and Adrien. Never mind the fact that she was a full hour late for school by now. She was dreaming about her future life with her crush.
Plagg was snoozing on top of her stomach. He was stretched out comfortably, purring in his sleep and mumbling every now and then about the cheese king and his precious Camembert. He was not going to get up any time soon... Until his stomach complained.
With a groan, he opened a bright green eye and stared at his sleeping chosen. "Maaarineeeette. Wake up, I'm hungry." He whined, watching her eyelid flicker. "Maaaaaari." A grumble. Time to bring out the big guns. Plagg cleared his throat, floated up to her ear and whispered. "Adrien's here."
"WHAT?!" She jolted upright and tried to climb out of bed, only to fall on her side with a yelp. Plagg burst out into laughter and she grumbled. "Plagg, what the hell? I could've been sleeee... HOLY CRAP I'M AN HOUR LATE FOR SCHOOL!!" She shrieked and leaped up only to trip over her chase again.
Plagg cackled as she floundered around, pulling on light blue jeans and a loose crop top with a cat face on it. Without bothering to tie her hair up, she shoved books into her bag and practically threw a wedge of cheese at Plagg while stuffing a wheel into her purse, which the kwami zoomed in after. Then she was dashing towards her school.
"I'm late, I'm late, I'm so, so late!" She chanted under her breath as she jumped up the stairs, running to her classroom. Abruptly stopping, she straightened herself up and caught her breath before silently tiptoeing into the room. Having cat-like tendencies was definitely a win in this situation, unlike that time when she hissed at the rain...
Slipping into her seat and taking out her supplies with a sound, she shot a sheepish smile at her best friend/sister beside her.
She was going to murder Plagg later for not waking her up again.
~*~
Adrien was taking notes and being a good student until Marinette crept into the room with a new style again. Yesterday it was a floral princess-cut dress with a sweetheart neckline. The day before had been white denim shorts and a long sleeved pink scoop-neck shirt. Today was just... whew.
She was wearing a crop top. And god damn it, it wasn't fair how... unfairly toned her stomach was. Girl even had a faint outline of abs.
She was not making it easy to concentrate, nor was she making it easy to focus on his crush on the lovely Chatte Noir.
Ahh, Chatte Noir. Her raven hair that would often fly behind her in the night, joyous whoops ringing across the rooftops as she somersaulted and flipped through the air on her baton. Her sparkling blue eyes that would wink and crinkle with a barely contained giggle at his puns. Her whole attitude was just alive and free and he wanted to be a part of that.
Marinette, come to think of it, was a lot like her. Flirty, courageous, sarcastic to the point of no return (which often got her into trouble) and all-in-all, as beautiful as the superhero, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was considered one of his best friends. She stuck by him, defending him as much as she could, as well as keeping up with his playful banter, shooting back taunts and teases as easily as he.
And with today's outfit... it would be a Chatte thing to wear, subtly tooting her own horn.
The bell rang.
Ah well. He'd continue the thought process later, when Nino, Alya and Marinette weren't there.
He heard Alya's chuckle as he swiveled around to face the two girls. "Girl, you are as sneaky as a snake! I didn't even hear you come in!"
"I am so not a snake. A cat, maybe, but a snake? No way." Marinette snickered, as if at an inside joke.
"Come on, Mar, we all know you're a straight up Slytherin." Nino interjected, pointing at her with his stylus, a grin on his face.
"Can neither confirm nor deny, my friends." She said with a wink before gathering her things. "Seeing as I missed an hour of class-"
"Ahem, sleeping again, ahem..." Adrien interrupted with a smirk as the four of them stood up and began to walk outside. She mock scowled at him before continuing.
"-would one of you mind lending me your notes to copy? Or even just what the lesson was about so I can go home and do crazy amounts of research before realizing hey you did too much now you're ahead of the class?" Marinette mocked herself mildly, rolling her eyes at herself.
Alya snorted. "We should just let you get ahead so you can sleep in."
Marinette mock-gasped, placing a hand over her heart. "I am hurt that after everything we've been through together, you don't want me to be here next to you?" At Alya's blank look, she dropped the hand. "Ouch."
"Sorry, Mar, my hands are full." Nino grinned, remembering the scene from the Disney movie she was referencing. At her scorching look, he held up his hands in defense. "I've got homework of my own, dudinette."
"So? We could be study buddies!" She smirked, leaning towards him. "I've got pastries!"
"Last time we were study buddies, we ended up playing video games and gorging on croissants and eclairs." Nino said flatly, earning a burst of laughter from Marinette.
"Yeah, and I don't regret it, even if we ended up in a food coma." She said through chuckles, wiping a tear from her cerulean eye. "So... probably not a good idea to leave me and Nino-"
"Nino and I." Alya corrected, nudging the blunette with her elbow.
"Okay, grammar Nazi, Nino and I in the same room together." Marinette rolled her eyes once more, this time with a little more playfulness as she looped her arm through Nino's. "Remember when we completely trashed my room while we were supposed to be 'cleaning?'"
Nino snorted with laughter. "Oh yeah, and Sabine just gave us this look like 'I'm not mad because I expected this.'"
"Then Papa comes and he just bursts out laughing and hands Maman 5€." She continued to giggle, leading her friends to the bakery. "I can't believe they bet on that."
Adrien raised an eyebrow. "You can't believe they bet on you and Nino doing something... that only you and Nino would do?" He grinned as Marinette stuck her tongue out at him.
Adrien adored his little group of friends. But there were two things he adored more - Chatte Noir, and his bubbly little kwami Tikki.
~*~
"Don't worry Adrien! I'm sure Chatte Noir is fine!" Tikki reassured a worried Adrien after a particularly devastating akuma attack. "Her suit protects her!"
Adrien ran a hand through his hair, continuing to pace around his ridiculously huge room. "Yeah, but that blow was pretty hard. She shouldn't keep putting herself in the line of danger! It's not-"
"Chatte Noir, while seeming laid-back, knows what she's doing." Tikki interrupted him with a sigh. "She can't risk you getting injured, because you're the one who has to purify the akuma. She knows that she's a distraction, a shield, because you can bring her back, but she can't bring you back." Tikki nuzzled his face comfortingly.
Adrien stopped pacing and cupped Tikki in his hands, sitting onto his bed. "I know, I just... I worry about her, y'know? Is she okay? Is she safe?"
~*~
"Whoo! Plagg, did you see the way I catapulted into the air in front of Ladybeetle and hit the akuma's fist with my staff and made him punch his own face?!" Marinette was jumping around, reenacting her 'epic' battle moves with a baseball bat while Plagg zipped around.
"Oh yeah! Bug boy looked so starstruck!" The cat kwami cackled, gulping down a piece of cheese. Plagg would never admit it, but Marinette was by far his favourite holder yet. She always had a steady supply of treats for him, slept like a rock, and went along with most of his crazy plans. She was full of energy and life, yet knew when to be patient, just like a cat.
At times, he wondered what it would be like if he got stuck with the pun-loving blonde kid instead of this girl.
...And deal with his love-struck sighs? Hell no.
"Hey Plagg... what do you think would happen if we snuck into Chloe's room and replaced her hairspray with whipped cream?" Marinette said casually, toying with a can of hairspray that she had. Plagg grinned.
Another reason he loved this holder - she was downright evil.
"Let's do it!"
~so this is fun already~
They didn't just switch out the hairspray. They added sugar to her shampoo and itching powder to her face powder. Oh boy, it was hard for Marinette to keep herself from laughing when Chloe stormed into the classroom with a red face and a bad hair day. Plagg had to stuff his face with cheese in order to not laugh and give away his holder's identity.
"Ugh! Adrikins, can you believe someone would do this to me?!" She whined, heels clacking against the wooden floor. Adrien glanced up from his tablet to stifle a laugh at her appearance.
Clearing his throat, he carefully arranged his face into a serious, concerned expression. "Do you know who did it?"
"If I did they would be arrested!" She scowled, folding her arms.
The moment Marinette was a safe distance from Chloe (her room), she burst out laughing.
"Plagg, oh my god, did you see her?! She was livid, but she looked so hilarious..." She clutched her stomach, tears springing into her eyes at how hard she was laughing. The kwami escaped her purse and joined her in laughter, the two of them barely able to breathe.
~these things either mean a POV change or a time skip or both, you can probably figure it out~
"Tikki! The one year anniversary is coming up, what do I get Chatte?!" Adrien panicked, going through his notepads of information on Chatte Noir. "I know she likes pink, and cats, and the snow and flowers but I want this to be special!"
"What about a necklace? With a picture inside?" Tikki suggested, coming to rest on his golden locks. Adrien immediately perked up.
"That's a great idea! And I know just what to get!" He grinned as he gently stroked Tikki's head. "Thanks Tikki, you're the best!"
With that, he gave her a cookie and dashed out of the house to find the perfect locket for his beloved kitty.
~*~
"Hey Plagg, do you think he'll like it?" Marinette chewed her lip thoughtfully. She held up the hat and gloves, the beanie being black with a single red stripe around it, the gloves matching, with a reverse colour scheme. Plagg did a once over of the two items while nibbling on a cheese pastry.
"If I like them, he certainly will." He said before taking a huge bite of his snack. "Plus, the cloak you made for Tikki is really thoughtful."
Marinette shrugged. "It's getting cold and I don't want her to catch a cold like you did that one time."
Plagg snickered. "Oh yeah, and Master Fu acting like he had no idea what was going on while you freaked out."
Marinette shot him a playful scowl. "Hey, at his age, he certainly could've been blind!" Letting Plagg finish his food, she placed the items in a bag along with the cupcakes she had made. "Okay Plagg, claws out!"
As the kwami was sucked into her ring, she wondered what Ladybeetle would get for her. Of course, he would get something for her, he'd been bragging about it for weeks. But what? Knowing him, he'd probably leave it last minute. With a chuckle, she picked up the bag and leapt out of her window, vaulting across the rooftops to their regular meeting place.
Where of course, he was already waiting.
"Hey, bug." She greeted with a grin as she landed gracefully behind the blonde dork. Said dork swiveled around, revealing a small bag, with the hugest smile on his face.
"Hey kitten! How was your day?" He pulled her in for a hug, careful to hold the bag away to prevent it being squished.
She giggled, returning the hug before pulling away with a clawed glove on his shoulder. "I've been pretty good myself, how 'bout you? Not getting yourself in trouble like this cat?"
He shrugged. "I'm not getting in trouble but my friend is constantly. It's not much of a surprise, though, she's always been like that."
Chatte Noir smirked. "Sounds like a girl I'd like." With a laugh, she pulled out her bag of goodies for her partner in front of her. "Here's your 'Thanks for putting up with me for one whole year' gift!" She chirped happily.
Ladybeetle chuckled, shyly holding out his gift to her as well. "More like 'Thanks for staying in my life for one whole year' gift." His genuine smile melted Chatte Noir a little inside. She lost the smirk, replacing it with a soft and sweet smile.
"Anything for you, bugaboo." Her gentle voice was filled with the warmth of a thousand beating hearts. "Anyway, let's do this! I wanna see how you look in what I made you!" Her excited little wriggle only made Ladybeetle more eager to look in the bag.
"Alright, alright, don't get your tail in a twist." He took the bag from her hand and promptly handed her his gift. Ladybeetle looked in the bag and let out an excited whoop as he pulled out the cupcakes and woolen set. "These is amazing! Did you make these?" He looked up in elation, to see her staring in awe at the locket.
The silver chain swung in the wind as she cupped the locket, staring not only at the intricate details of the little door and clasp, but the photo inside.
... a picture of her, that he had taken, looking like an angel in front of a full moon, the light hitting her just right. She had looked ethereal that night, and he had wanted to capture it. On the flip side of the picture, written in his small cursive, was the message I'm glad I met you followed by a heart.
"Beetle... I..." Lifting her gaze to meet his eyes, he saw that her bluebells were glimmering with tears. "I..."
"Hey, hey. Don't cry, you'll make me cry." Rushing to comfort her, he smiled warmly. "Come on, you're beautiful when you cry but I like it better when you're smiling."
Chatte Noir wrapped her arms around him and stayed there.
Of course, they eventually parted happily and enjoyed some cupcakes together.
But for that moment, they just stood on a rooftop, in each other's arms, happy.
~*~
Marinette detransformed, was thoroughly teased by Plagg while feeding the gluttonous pig, and went to bed, clutching her newest and most important pendant in her hand.
~*~
Adrien folded the lovingly created gloves and hat, placing them beside the scarf from his father, and went to bed to dream of the girl he loved.
~*~
Plagg was basically sick of the two love birds circling each other. (He always got this way should the holders take too long.)
~*~
Tikki didn't know what Plagg would do, but hoped he'd do it soon. (She too, was the tiniest, tiniest bit impatient...) (TINIEST.)
~*~
"Take me back to the basics and the simple life..." Marinette sang under her breath while pinning fabrics against her mannequin. "Tell me all of the things that make you feel at ease. Your touch, my comfort and my lullaby, holding on tight, sleeping at night." It was a peaceful night, no akumas, no patrol (for her, at least) and Plagg was knocked out after eating too much! Ha, should teach him a lesson.
At least, Marinette expected a peaceful night, but the fates just didn't want to leave her alone.
A sharp rap against her window pulled her eyes away from her work abruptly, resulting in her accidentally stabbing her finger with a pin. "Ow!" She hissed, sucking on her thumb and rummaging around her desk for a band-aid. "Should have one somewhere..."
"You know, it's a little degrading when a citizen doesn't immediately squeal when a hero shows up at their window."
Marinette's head jerked up once more, bluebell eyes wide as the moon at the spotted hero who sat on the ledge just outside her open window.
"What are you doing here?!" The words were out of her mouth before she could take them back as she rushed over to open the window a little wider so Ladybeetle could come in. "While I don't object to a random visit from one of Paris' famous heroes, why me and why now?!"
He shrugged. "I was bored, and - not really supposed to tell anyone this - but I know you beneath the mask. I doubt my other friends would be as calm about this as you are, so here I am, princess!" To end the sentence, he bowed extravagantly, like a knight to his lady. His lady. Marinette tried hard not to snort with laughter at the irony.
"Well, no princess am I, I am but a baker's daughter, oh, brave knight. But truthfully, I am flattered." With an overly posh accent, she curtsied, glad to get a laugh from the blonde. Then his words actually hit her. "Wait. You know me?!"
He rolled his eyes, chuckling lightly. "I just said that, didn't I?" He teased lightly, leaning his head on a fist. "Yes, I know you Marinette, and in fact, I have to say, your baking is amazing but I have never understood why you can't cook."
The blunette groaned and let her head fall into her hands. "Alya and I are a pair, she cooks, I bake and clean, we serve up and we're complimented on our amazing food! I can't cook, she can't bake, we'll probably end up either living with each other or going over to each other's every night for food and desserts. Or I burn my house down, which will still end up with me living with her. Word of advice - never let me cook. Wow, I'm rambling." Marinette blinked rapidly, eyes wide with the realisation of this fact.
Ladybeetle snickered from his place beside her. "Yeah, you do that a lot." She shot him a glare as he coughed to cover up his laughter.
The two of them threw banter at each other for at least two hours, talking and laughing and even flirting at one point (wink wink)(nudge nudge). But it wasn't serious. No, no, they both liked other people, their hearts set on their crushes. They both knew they were just playing.
Did they?
~*~
Marinette crashed onto her bed with a loud groan.
"Same, Mari, same." Plagg cackled from his place in the air. "Not for the same reason though, but same."
"Mme's eydfriemphf." She screamed quietly (loudly) into her cat pillow. "Ladybeetle's Adrien?!" She said more clearly, bewilderment and panic painted on her face.
"Yeah. Who else do you know with blonde hair and green eyes?" Plagg rolled his sarcastic sassy little smug eyes with a smug, shit-eating grin on his face as Marinette internally combusted.
"You, small god, are a little shit." Marinette lifted her head to narrow her eyes at the chortling kwami.
"You know you can use this to your advantage, right? Mess with him for a while before revealing yourself, y'know?" He suggested, coming to curl up on her head. She contemplated it for a little bit before resolutely nodding her head.
A grin much like the one Plagg had on moments earlier. "This is gonna be so. Much. Fun."
~*~
He had no idea what on Earth the two most important girls in his life were doing but it was getting to him.
Lately, Marinette had seemed more serious about her flirts, helping out whenever possible with a wink and a smirk. Choosing to partner up with him in gym (in which they were a surprisingly good team) as well as projects, saying she was letting Alya and Nino have more time together but the gleeful glint in her eye seemed to say otherwise. She had been particularly... touchy... but not like Chloe touchy! No, she was... seductive? About it? Like, she would touch him once in a really sexual way then not again for the rest of the day?
She was confusing.
And if she was confusing, then Chatte Noir was screwing with his head in ways he did not expect!
Yes, his partner was usually quite playful and laid-back, but serious when she needed to be (during akuma attacks), but she never really flirted with him. Yes, she teased him all the time, but flirted? Hell no! He'd probably die and go to heaven if she ever did!
Which was why he was so utterly shocked when she started rebounding his flirts with suggestive comments and winks.
Ugh. Women were confusing.
~*~
WAIT.
WHAT?!
MA... MARINETTE WAS CHATTE NOIR THE ENTIRE TIME?!
AND SHE KNEW?!
He was going to murder that cat.
~*~
"Hey, bug?"
"Kitten?"
"I love you."
"I love you too, princess. Now, shall we go attend our best friends' wedding which we totally called?"
"Yes, my handsome prince, let's go rub it in their smart-arse little faces."
Sup. So this is done. 3500 words. You're welcome. I'm sorry for being inactive, I've had a lack of creativity, but holidays are coming up (literally tomorrow is the last day of school) so hopefully I'll write more!
Catch ya later, guys!