Work Text:
"Oh my God," Adrien whispered, pressing his hands to his face as he stumbled into the alleyway. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God—"
"Kid?" Plagg said, trailing alongside him, just out of anyone's line of sight. "Everything okay?"
Adrien swallowed, turning down to look at the Kwami with wide eyes. "Marinette," he whispered, feeling his breath scratch in his throat.
Plagg blinked innocently—too innocently. Had he always looked like that when Adrien had brought up his just-a-friend? "What about her?"
"She's Ladybug," he said, his voice somehow simultaneously shaking like a jenga tower and as steady as the Eiffel. He knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt—but he couldn't yet believe it.
Plagg's already massive eyes widened. "What?" he said, pulling out his drawl with a slide to the front of Adrien's field of view. "No—no, of course she's not!"
Adrien could hear the particular tell-tale snarl at the back of the cat's throat that he'd learned always accompanied a lie from the gluttonous creature. "Plagg," he said, tilting his head. "I saw her. She transformed right in front of me."
Plagg halted in midair. "Um... Illusion?" he squeaked, desperation tinging his voice.
Adrien narrowed his eyes. "The Akuma threw cars," he said. "And we didn't bring out any backups, much less the fox. You wanna try again?"
Plagg stared at him, then rolled his eyes. "Fine!" he said. "Yes, your girlfriend is Ladybug." He turned his back on Adrien, crossing his arms. "Happy?"
"Happy that it's her?" Adrien said, feeling his heart leap against his ribs at the thought of Marinette's sweet, kind eyes behind Ladybug's burning gaze. "Absolutely." He glanced down at his ring, remembered how it felt that night when he woke up with Plagg gone, the ring missing. "That I know?" He shuddered as his heart suddenly rammed the other way, dropping straight down into his stomach. "No. Hell no."
Plagg turned, looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "I—oh," he said, his voice falling. "Listen, Kid—Fu's gone, okay?" He zipped up to Adrien's face, pressing his body against his cheek. "I'm not giving you up, and if anyone else wants to take me from you I will break Paris in half."
Adrien's chest warmed as his breath collapsed in his lungs. He—Plagg was going to stay. Plagg wanted to stay. "You..." he croaked, reaching up to approximate a hug with his palms. "You can... do it, too," he managed, nuzzling his Kwami. Took a second to catch his breath. "Don't think I didn't see the coverage of Miracle Queen."
"Yeah," Plagg murmured, nuzzling right back. "You're my kitten, kid."
They stayed like that for a few moments, just resting in each other's presences, before suddenly Adrien's stomach bottomed out. He jerked back, his eyes spinning wildly. "The Gorilla," he gasped, staring down at Plagg. "He's going to be looking for me."
Plagg snorted. "Let him," he said. "You should have some fun."
Adrien grabbed his elbow and shook his head. "I've been gone long enough," he said. "What if someone notices I'm missing?"
"Ugh, fine," Plagg said, flitting into Adrien's shirt. "But you owe me Camembert."
"I always owe you Camembert," Adrien replied, leaving the alley.
The great thing about cat instincts—especially out of the suit—was that he was always prepared. When danger reared up unexpectedly, he was always the first to catch on, the first to notice, the first to tackle Marinette out of the way of—oh dang, that was something he had to rethink, wasn't it? His instincts, his nerves, were on a hair-trigger. Always battle-ready.
The problem with cat instincts was how easy it was to get distracted by tiny movements.
His head snapped around, his gaze locked on the pigeon feather as it drifted down from above, fluttering enticingly, calling him. He knew immediately he had to hunt it, had to pounce, had to—
Adrien blinked and shook his head, trying to clear it. "Stupid cat instincts," he muttered. "You're allergic, dumbass."
Marinette isn't.
Bad idea. No, Adrien, don't do it, you don't want her to know that you know, you want to respect her privacy, you want to—
Gifts! the cat part of his brain shrieked in delight. Gifts for owner! We hunt!
He managed to hold out for a full three seconds before pouncing.
"...and then he pounced on the microphone cord!" Alya said, giggling as the two girls entered the front doors of the Collége, early for once thanks to a presentation they were preparing for. "He looked so damn proud. I swear, that cat is a menace."
Marinette rolled her eyes. "Always has been," she said, shifting her backpack on her shoulder. "Long as Nino's had him." She opened her locker, rifling through the crumpled papers and half-open books to find her maths book. "Remind Nino to tell you about the time he had to get a cable replaced because Staccato chewed through it and shocked himself."
Alya shook her head with a roll of her eyes. "Cats," she said, leaning against the locker next to her. (Unlike Marinette, she'd planned out what she needed for the morning on the night before.) "They think they're such great hunters."
"So full of themselves," Marinette said, her thoughts casting fondly back to her mighty hunter of a cat as she slammed her locker shut. She was just glad that she'd never had to deal with that particular cat behavior; she didn't know what she'd do with herself if he started bringing her dead mice during patrols. Horrifying. But also kind of cute? She didn't want to think about it.
"Maybe they're just mimicking Chat Noir," Alya said, eerily echoing Marinette's very thoughts as they turned down the hall.
As she walked in through the door to the mostly-empty classroom, Marinette's eyes turned to Adrien's seat, the way they always did. Her heart climbed up behind her ribcage preemptively at the sight of his perfect—
Oh my. Less than perfect. And somehow... all the more handsome for it.
His eyes were red, watery, though not as red and watery as his nose. He was hunched, sniffling, but the way his shining eyes caught hers with a doofy grin—oh, she wanted to combust just from the way he smiled at her.
Suddenly she felt Alya's elbow nudge hers, and she jumped back into awareness. "A-Adrien?" she gasped. "Are you okay?"
"Fibe!" he grinned, his voice wet with mucus. He jerked with a sudden sneeze, making Marinette. He reached up and held his finger under his nose. "Sobby."
"Oh no, Sunshine," Alya said, kneeling down in front of the desk and meeting his eyes. "You sick?"
He rolled his eyes. "Nobe," he said. "Abbergies."
Marinette's eyes immediately shot to the windows, scanning the skyline and locking on every bird she could see in the skyline. "Allergies?" she said, already counting them, trying to figure out if any of them were close enough to set him off. "Are there birds nearby?"
Adrien shook his head. "Nobe," he said. "Definidely in the cassroob."
Marinette's eyes widened and her eyebrows narrowed. Oh no. There was bird in the classroom? That would be a disaster! Then Adrien would get sent home, and his father would decide the school was unsafe, and she'd never see him again!
"Oh, boy," Alya murmured, standing and resting her hands on Marinette's elbows. "Mari? You okay?"
Marinette bit her lip and nodded.
"She wands do loog for de feader," Adrien offered, squeezing his nose between his hand and his thumb.
Marinette jumped. How did he—
"Okay," Alya said, turning, tugging Marinette into the aisle. "Let's look for the bird."
Marinette nodded, but her mind was already spinning out concerns. If they even found the bird, how would they get it out of the classroom? Would they be able to do it safely?
Then her attention caught on something in the corner of her vision, and she zeroed in. "Um," she said, "why is there a feather on my chair?"
Alya stopped mid-step, her head tilting to look at it. "Huh," she said. "There it is." She let go of Marinette's hand. "Wonder how that got there."
"Maybe sobeone lefd id fouw you," Adrien said. Whatever tone his voice carried was left indecipherable by the snot filling his voice.
Marinette picked it up gingerly between her fingers, feeling the slipperiness on the tips. "Is this... saliva?"
"Maybe it was a cat," Alya said. "What about that stray you keep mentioning?"
Marinette's bones went ramrock-frozen. No, no, he wouldn't. He couldn't know. Right?
No. There was no way. It was just a feather, must've drifted in through the window at some point.
She held the feather out, far away from her body, and gingerly carried it to the side window. She slid the windowpane open and released the feather, setting it loose on the wind.
She turned back to Adrien with a smile. "All good!" she said. "You don't have to worry."
"Oh," he said, his voice small, the smile gone from his face. "Danks, Mabinedde."
The disappointment in his voice clenched around Marinette's chest. "You're welcome!" she chirped, her strangled voice entirely higher-pitched than she meant it to be.
"Did Adrien seem kind of disappointed when I threw away that feather this morning?" Marinette whispered to Alya as they stood in line at the school cafeteria.
Alya's eyes flicked sideways, one eyebrow raised. "Disappointed?" she said. "Mari, you know that's just brain weasels."
Marinette's face fell, staring at the grated carrot salad on her tray as they slid sideways toward the second course. "Don't knock weasels," she mumbled. "They serve an important function."
Alya snorted. "Do you even know what weasels do?"
"No, but it's important," Marinette said, taking a chicken scallop and placing it on her plate. "And I'm telling you, he looked disappointed." She held up a bowl of polenta. "Did you forget your grains again?"
Alya sighed as she took the bowl from Marinette's hand and slid it onto her tray. "Does it count as forgetting if it was intentional?"
"You need to eat healthy if you want to keep up with Ladybug," Marinette said.
Alya froze, the utensils clattering on her tray.
Marinette's eyes widened as she realized what she'd said. "You know, for the Ladyblog!"
Alya's shoulders relaxed. "Right, right!" she laughed. "The Ladyblog, right." She patted Marinette's shoulder. "I'm telling you, Adrien was fine. You're just catastrophizing again."
"You're sure?" Marinette said as they walked toward the table.
"One hundred percent."
When Marinette entered the classroom after lunch, everyone was gathered around her desk. Immediately, her stomach dropped—had she left something incriminating? Something that revealed her identity? Or worse—a confession to Adrien?
"Hey guys!" she squeaked. "What's going on?"
The whole crowd lifted their heads to look at her. Nino stepped forward, his lips pursed. "Hey, Nettie," he said. "You should look at this." He held up his arm, pushing Kim out of the way.
Oh, no. Oh no oh no oh no. Marinette stepped forward, her heart jumping as she approached her chair, only to slowly, shakingly, rise again as she saw... a bouquet? Specifically, a bunch of the tulips she loved from the park next to her house, tied together with mismatched rubber bands.
She reached out, gingerly, picked up the tulips by the stems, then her eyes narrowed as she noticed something odd about the flowers. "Are those... teeth marks?" she said.
"Human teeth," Max said, nodding. "Check out the card."
Marinette's eyes narrowed, as she reached under the card and flipped it over.
Sorry about the feather, it said. Bad gift. Hunted these for you instead.
Marinette's breath froze in her throat, a hundred shards of ice in her windpipe. Oh, she thought. Oh no.
The next morning, it was ribbon. A very specific and very expensive sky-blue ribbon that she'd been drooling over for two weeks now for that dress she'd been planning to make for Aurore. She'd had to put it on hold because she hadn't been able to scrounge up the money for that ribbon, and now... here it was. Right there, on her desk, next to a note that said I promise I didn't steal this.
"None of you saw who put it there?" she begged, holding it up to all six of the people who'd arrive in the class before her.
Rose shrugged, Sabrina looked away, and Max simply pushed his glasses to his face.
Nathaniel, though, laid down his pencil and sighed. "I mean, I was here before anyone else," he said. Wasn't surprising—he liked to get to school early for drawing time. "It was already there when I got here."
Marinette sighed as she slumped into her seat. "Aw, crud," she said, staring down at the ribbon in her hand, still slick from saliva, feeling her heart expand dangerously in her chest.
One thing kept tugging at her, though... why did he keep bringing the gifts in his mouth?
There was no present that afternoon, but the next morning found a leaf with teeth marks at her desk.
The note said, I'm sorry. I'm trying not to.
Something about that was just so Chat Noir that she couldn't even get mad at him. She could only laugh.
"This is definitely Chat, right?" Marinette said, staring up at her ceiling. The ribbon was proving harder to work with than she'd anticipated, but Aurore's dress was coming along beautifully. Still, her fingers had started going stiff, and she couldn't afford to ruin any of it because there was no way she'd be getting more anytime soon.
"I don't know, Marinette," Tikki said, smiling as she carefully untangled the white embroidering thread Marinette was planning to use for the snowflakes. "It does seem like him."
"Ugggh," Marinette said, wiping the back of her head on her forehead. "I swear that cat is going to be the death of me."
"You keep saying that," Tikki replied, tugging on the thread. "Do it a few more times and he actually might be."
Tikki's words struck Marinette right in the chest, resonating with a memory she'd rather have forgotten. She shivered as her tongue dried in her mouth. "He was, once," she said, staring up at the ceiling, thinking about the ash statue in front of the Eiffel.
Tikki fell silent. "Oh," she said, laying the thread down. "I'm sorry."
They said nothing to each other for a long moment.
"Do you think he knows?" Marinette said. She wasn't sure whether she wanted him to or not. On the one hand, both of their safety was at stake. On the other... he was her partner. He knew her better than anyone else alive. She wanted him to know.
Tikki swallowed. "Oh," she said, rolling her feet a little. "I, um, hope not."
Marinette smiled, turning back to the ribbon with a hum on her lips, only to be interrupted by a thump from the balcony.
Marinette and Tikki both froze.
"Oh, no," Marinette whispered. "Please tell me that's not him."
Tikki squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her tiny fists, concentrating. "I can sense Plagg," she mumbled. "It's him."
Marinette groaned. "Trapdoor's locked," she said. "I'll go let him in."
She climbed up onto her bed, but surprisingly, Chat's face wasn't peering through her skylight the way she expected it to be. In fact, he wasn't in her field of view at all. Confused, she pushed open the trapdoor and lifted herself out, to see Chat Noir crouched next to one of her deck chairs, full cat pose.
His head swiveled at the creak of the trap door, and the two of them locked eyes. His face looked odd, like the mask was covering more of him than usual, until she realized that he was holding something in his mouth. Specifically, a Lady Noire plushie, the kind she'd seen being sold in the market in the last month ever since Reflekdoll, held by the scruff of its neck.
He spat the plush out of his mouth, looking at her with shame in his eyes. "I am so sorry," he whispered. "I just... I saw it, and I had to hunt."
She smiled. "You're a cat," she said, crossing her arms as the wind prickled on her bare skin. "I get it."
His face spread into a relieved smile.
She bit her lip. Now... for the million dollar question. "Why me, though?" she said, fearing she already knew the answer. "Why this week?"
Chat swallowed. "I..." He looked away. "I think you know why," he said, his voice dropping to a whisper. "My Lady."
Her spine chilled. There was no denying the certainty in his eyes—she could read him too well. No matter how well she tried to deflect, his mind was set. There would be no dissuading him.
Still, her first instinct was to deny. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, her eyes involuntarily turning away as she clutched at her arm.
”Marinette,” he said, not stepping forward. Respecting her space. “I saw you detransform.”
There was something in his voice. A shaking. An unsurety—not of the knowledge, but of her reaction.
She looked up to see the wetness gathering at the edges of his eyes. She could see it in the droop of his ears, the tightness of his jaw—he’d wanted to know, sure, but he hadn’t wanted to find out. Not without her permission. He felt he’d betrayed her and it was tearing him apart.
Her hands were shaking, but she pushed that aside. Her Kitty needed her. “Come here,” she said, climbing into her deck chair And looking at him expectantly. “Kitty needs pets.”
His ears shot upward immediately, his eyes going wide, and he leaped into her arms, rubbing his face against her cheek with a purr.
“Am I doing the right thing?” she mumbled, clutching her blanket to her chest and staring at the wall.
”Only you can answer that,” Tikki replied. “You’re the Guardian now.”
Marinette groaned, rolling over. “I’m sick of hearing that,” she said. “Why can’t someone else be the Guardian for a while?”
Tikki smiled. “I can give you my thoughts,” she said. “I think you are doing the right thing. I think you need him.”
”I’ve always needed him,” Marinette said to her skylight.
”As Ladybug,” Tikki replied. She flitted toward Marinette’s pillow and sat down in front of her face. “You need him as Marinette, now,” she said, patting her nose. “I think the rewards outweigh the risks.”
Marinette swallowed, feeling the tightness in her chest loosen. “Thank you, Tikki,” she mumbled, rolling over as she drifted off to a sleep full of dreams of fuzzy cuddles and happy green eyes.
She walked into school the next morning already bracing for whatever gift he’d left her. There was no way he wouldn’t—not after last night. Absolved of his guilt, there would be nothing stopping him from leaving her as many gifts as his kitty brain demanded.
She wasn’t expecting to get accosted by a shrieking tackle from Alya.
”MariMariMariMari!” Alya yelled, throwing herself bodily against her friend, knocking the wind clean out of her. “I know who’s been leaving you presents!”
"Oof!" Marinette stumbled as she tried to get back to her feet. "Hello to you too, Alya."
"Yeah, yeah, hello!" Alya said, practically vibrating with the effort of containing her excitement long enough to socialize normally. "Listen, Mari, you have to see this!"
Marinette laughed, grabbing onto Alya's shoulders and holding her at arm's length. "Let me breathe first!" she said. Worryingly accurate as they sometimes were, she did love listening to Alya's fantastical theories.
"Okay," Alya said, producing her phone from her jeans pocket and tapping the screen a few times. "So I had Max leave Markov in the classroom overnight so he could watch for whoever showed—"
Marinette's heart froze. Oh no. The cat had gotten seen? If he'd been connected to a civilian, and Alya posted it—
"—and look who showed up with fabric scraps in his mouth.” Alya shoved her phone into Marinette's face, displaying a very furtive Adrien Agreste, his mouth full of the very fabric scraps Alya had mentioned.
Marinette's knees wobbled. "Excuse me," she said, her ribs shivering against her heart. "I need to go scream in the bathroom. For an hour."
Adrien was Chat Noir. Chat Noir was Adrien.
Adrien Agreste had been bringing her presents for a week. Adrien Agreste had brought her flowers. Adrien Agreste had been flirting shamelessly with her for two years now.
She stared at the back of his head, mentally imposing Chat's shaggy mane onto Adrien's carefully tamed curls and absentmindedly playing with the... quite frankly exquisite fabric scraps he'd left at her desk. She wasn't as surprised as she expected to be that Chat had excellent taste—he'd always downplayed it, but his knowledge of etiquette had always belied a more rarified upbringing.
The understanding that Adrien and Chat were the same person had clarified a lot of things, including her feelings for him. She'd loved them both. She loved them both even more now that she understood him.
When class let out for lunch, she stalked past him, grabbed his wrist, and yanked him out the door before he could take a moment to react.
"Marinette?" he said, confused.
"Privacy," she replied.
He said nothing, confusedly letting her drag him behind her until they came to a janitor's closet. She threw open the door and pulled him inside, closing the door behind them.
Then she turned, met his emerald eyes, and smiled. "Hi, Kitty," she breathed, throwing her arms around his shoulders.
Just like the night before, there was a moment of confusion, and then suddenly his eyes were shining as he pressed his lips to hers.
They only had a few minutes together before Adrien had to leave. His father was expecting him at home for lunch, and even there was no chance of Gabriel showing, Adrien still couldn't miss the meal.
Now, class was starting again, and no Adrien to be found. Had something gone wrong? Had she driven him off? Had she ruined her relationship with her partner, did he hate her now?
"Marinette?" Alya whispered as Mme. Bustier droned on about algebra, evidently bored herself. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," Marinette whispered back, trying to cover the tremor in her voice. Oh, gods, what if he was never coming back?
"And then, if you take the two factors—" Bustier continued, before being cut off as the door slammed open to reveal a panting, sweaty Adrien, a red rose clenched between his teeth.
"Monsieur Agreste?" Bustier said, concerned.
He ignored her, striding toward Marinette, taking the rose from his teeth and holding it out to her with a flourish. "For you," he said with a small bow.
She took it gingerly, her heart pounding, her soul melting at the naked adoration in his eyes. "Adrien?" she said, her voice weak.
He beamed down at her, as she felt something tickle across her fingers. She glanced down. Oh, she realized, her heart swelling. He left me the aphids. Her mouth began to water in anticipation of the taste.
She met his eyes again. "I love you," she said.
Alya began screaming with delight. Adrien simply grabbed her cheeks and pulled her lips to his, and all was right with the world.