Work Text:
Adrien wants cuddles.
He glances over at Marinette, who’s hunched over her nearest project at her desk. He’s not used to wanting hugs, especially not when there’s someone nearby.
“Mari?” He shuffles over and drapes himself over her desk, finding the perfect angle to shoot the puppy dog eyes at her.
Marinette chuckles. Her hands are full with her newest sewing project, but she does offer him a sweet smile. “What is it, chaton?”
“Can we watch the bunnies?” He’s referring to a cartoon they watch together, and while he likes it, the cartoon itself is never a selling point. In fact, it’s more of an emotionally constipated child’s code for “I would like to cuddle” than anything else.
Marinette’s smile gets sad. “I’m sorry, mon doudou. Marinette has a big project she has to finish, see?” She holds up her work to make her point. It’s a dress that’s small enough for a doll. “Manon’s dollie ripped her dress and her mother asked me if I could fix it.”
He can’t help but be reminded of Nathalie, and how she would gently but dismissively push him off her lap.
Half of him wants to pout and argue. After all, it’s not fair! He’s supposed to be Marinette’s favorite kid, not some little girl she babysits from time to time. Besides, it’s not like Manon will die without her dollie. She could wait a day or two.
But Adrien doesn’t say any of this. He only gets to beg a handful of times before Father gets annoyed, and he doesn’t want to push Marinette the same way. She’s a lot nicer than Father, and if she gets mad, maybe she won’t let him nap with her anymore. He couldn’t deal with that.
He slinks back to the floor, the book in his hands suddenly leagues less interesting.
Tikki flies over, wrapping her little hands around his index finger. “Hey, Adrien, would you want to play hide-and-seek with me?”
Adrien’s eyes widen. Plagg never wants to play hide-and-seek with him. Said traitor is currently curled up in a pile of Marinette’s fabrics, so it’s not like Adrien could ask him anyway. He knows how Father gets about people disturbing him while he’s working, and he’s too scared to find out if Marinette is the same way.
He nods eagerly. “I’ll count first.”
“Okay.” Tikki flies over to bop his nose before skittering off to a corner of the room, waiting for him to find her.
~
“Aaaand, done!” Marinette closes the last stitch in the doll’s dress.
Thank goodness she finally had time to do so. She’s been hearing horror stories about Manon since she first tore her doll’s dress, as if that would get her to work faster. And you know what? It absolutely did, but that just makes her more relieved to have it done and out of the way.
She straightens up, wincing at the way her back pops, and looks around the suspiciously empty room. “Adrien?”
She checks her bed, then the roof, to no avail.
“Where did that little bugger go?” She scoops Plagg up from his napping spot. “I don’t suppose you’ve had an eye open, have you?”
Plagg grumbles and rolls over, deliberately turning his head from her. “Last I checked, he and Tikki were playing some weird human game.”
“Glad to know you’re taking the responsibility of ‘keeping an eye on him’ seriously, Plagg.” With a fond roll of her eyes, she deposits him back onto his bed. Like human, like kwami, she supposes.
She furrows her brow. The human game has to be hide-and-seek. It’s one of Adrien’s favorite games to play, especially when he’s feeling small and can’t cuddle. But where does Adrien normally hide? She doesn’t have to think long before making a beeline for her bed.
“Aha!” She yanks back the covers to reveal Adrien curled up under her bed.
“Aww, no fair!” he whines. “What about Tikki?”
Tikki pops up from the lower level. “There you are!”
“Are you ready to watch the bunnies, chaton?” She offers her hands to help him out from under the bed.
Adrien shrugs, immediately telling Marinette that something is wrong.
She decides to try appeasing him. “I want to thank you for being so patient, chaton. That was very considerate of you.”
His lips turn up ever so slightly. Success!
She fetches her laptop from downstairs and gets to work making a perfect nest for her and Adrien.
“Get up here, kitty.” She shuffles over and pats the empty space beside her, letting him crawl into that empty space and cuddle up against her chest. She keeps her voice low, almost a whisper, when she speaks again. “I’m sorry that I had work to do, but I’m very proud of you for playing quietly with Tikki.”
“Mm-hm.” Though his response isn’t very telling, he does shuffle in closer at the compliment.
“I know that your father isn’t always nice to you, but I want you to know that it’s okay if you’re upset about things.” Tikki is probably one of the only reasons he didn’t throw a tantrum—or worse, cry sincerely—but she still feels the need to stress how important it is he not bottle things up. “And you can talk to me if you feel something isn’t fair.” She brushes the bangs from his forehead to better look him in the eye. “Okay?”
Adrien grins, finally showing that smile of his she loves so much. “Okay.”