Chapter Text
Adrien has always been a sharing boy, ever since he was a child. This could be due to his easy going personality, pacifist qualities or having Chloe Bourgeois as a childhood friend. Since he remembers always sharing what he had with his friends, it was bizarre that on a Tuesday afternoon he almost snapped at Nino for touching his things.
Adrien was baffled by what he felt in that moment, anger, annoyance, things he rarely or never felt, but when Nino grabbed - his manga of all things - Adrien was furious and it made no sense to him. It was such a stupid thing, something he never thought he would even have problems with…but for some reason he had.
Nino didn’t notice, neither did his friends, but Adrien frowned at himself. What was that?
The day had started great. It was a rare day when his father had allowed Adrien to have a few friends over for a short period of time after fencing class. It was a reward for passing a Chinese exam and moving on to the final level to master the language.
Adrien didn’t need to be told twice, he had invited Marinette, Nino, Alya, Kagami, and Chloe. He was sure five people would be the max his father would allow over bringing more might anger his father.
Sadly, Adrien’s father had informed him of this reward on the day he had to invite the people. Kagami told him she already had classes scheduled and couldn’t attend, but they would celebrate by having a duel in fencing class. Chloe had some type of beauty-spa thing schedule. Then she informed him that they would celebrate when the others weren’t there. Nino and Alya agreed to go after asking their parents. Marinette didn’t immediately say yes, but Alya assured him she would also come.
He had asked a few of his classmates to come, but with only a few hours of warning in advance, most couldn’t come. Some had things planned, others couldn’t have their parents bring them there. By the end of the day almost everyone he had asked had rejected his invite.
Lila had tried to invite herself last minute, but Marinette in a moment of pure genius reminded the girl of a “charity event” Lila had been boasting about over the last few weeks. Adrien had almost hugged Marinette on the spot. With Alya and Nino coming over the chances of Lila calling his dad to come by was small. It would take a big “excuse” to explain her sudden appearance.
Despite having fewer friends to hang out with than originally planned it was all going fine. Gorilla drove them back to his house. After doing their homework in the dining room with Nathalie looking over, they were allowed to go to his room. They were having fun. Adrien was over the moon with the small reward his father had given him.
Nino had gone over his collection of manga and anime and started to grab something he wanted. Nino had asked and everything, Adrien didn’t even think he knew what Nino grabbed, but he knew what he felt wasn’t normal. An animalistic instinct of almost wanting to growl “mine” had nearly come out. It was baffling.
“Dude? Adrien?” Nino was waving a hand in front of his face. “Where did you go?”
Adrien rubs the back of his neck. “Sorry, got distracted. Did you choose what you’ll take?”
Nino shows him what he wanted. “I’ll get it back to you after reading it. Okay dude?”
Odd the possessive feeling he felt didn’t resurface. “Sure. I’ll bring you the next volumes in class.”
“Awesome.”
Alya calls out to them. “Adrien, can we play Basketball? Me and Nino versus you and Marinette?”
Marinette squeals next to Alya, but vigorously nods her head. He smiles at Marinette and her face softens into a smile. He goes over to Marinette, while Alya and Nino go check out the court and talk strategy.
Marinette looks nervous. “Well…I-I gu-guess we plan…no… I mean we need to come up with a plan?”
Adrien smiles at her. Her way of talking to him is sometimes quirky, but there is something in him that just likes it. “We’re going to win this…after all we make a great team.”
Marinette smiles, loses a bit of his shine, and Adrien frowns. “Win…yeah…I’m not that great with basketball…” She drops her head in defeat.
Adrien’s chest feels heavy for a second. “Hey. I’m sorry I didn’t mean we have to win. I just want us to have fun…if you don’t want to play Alya and Nino will probably choose something else. My room has a lot of stuff we can find…”
“No! Sorry…I like sports. It’s just my clumsy sometimes gets in the way…just want to warn you I can hit you with a ball in your pretty face.” She finishes the sentence and goes deep red.
Adrien laughs. “It would be fine. I do have good reflexes and I can probably save my…pretty face.” He teases her while still chuckling.
Marinette chuckles with him. “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Adrien opens his mouth to reply but Alya clears her throat. “You guys ready to lose?”
“In your dreams.” Both him and Marinette reply. They look at each other in confusion, but Adrien shrugs it off. It isn’t weird for friends to think or say the exact same thing at times. It just shows how in sync they are with each other. As the game begins this becomes more and more apparent.
Adrien thinks Marinette was joking when she said she was bad at basketball, because they destroyed Alya and Nino. It took some time, but they both got in sync, every pass they did was perfect, position perfect, one of them missed a lance the other was down there to grab the ball and score. They were up by 30 points, before Alya and Nino just gave up.
“Where did you learn to play like that?” Alya asks out of breath.
Marinette looks perplexed by her performance, but Adrien shrugs. “I’ve had classes since I was eight. It’s more of a hobby now, since I prefer fencing, but I still play often.” He scratches the back of his neck and looks at Marinette.
She still looks puzzled by the events. “I have no idea.”
Nino groans. “How are you two still standing? We’ve been running around for an hour without breaks and you two are barely sweating.”
It was true. Both Alya and Nino were on the floor drenched in sweat, drinking a bottle of water and still a little out of breath, while him and Marinette were mostly fine.
“I’m used to doing a lot of sports. I guess I have more…stamina?” He turns to Marinette. “What about you?”
Marinette still looking a little dumbfounded shrugs. “I guess always being late and having to run everywhere helps? Plus, I do help around the bakery…and it’s not an easy job. I’m more in shape than I realized.”
“More in shape? Girl you have abs.”
“Alya!”
“It’s true. You have more abs than Alix and she spends her day rollerblading everywhere. You might work at the bakery, but you also eat there. I’ve seen you eating enough sweets in one sitting to give anyone indigestion. Specially, chocolate cookies, boxes of that disappear around you.”
Marinette turns red and briefly glares at her purse. “I like cookies.”
Alya snorts. “Obviously.”
Note to self get Marinette lots of cookies for her next birthday. Adrien laughs softly at Marinette’s attempts to excuse her cake habits, while Alya keeps teasing her.
He chuckles. “If I lived in a bakery I would probably clear the counter every day.”
“Same dude.”
“Same, but Marinette's ability to eat that much sugar and still have abs is a miracle.” Alya gets up. “I mean I gain a few kilos every time she brings macaroons to school…”
Nino groans as he gets up. “Oh man, imagine what we would look like if we ate that much every day. I think I would develop diabetes.”
Adrien smiles. “Yet, they are so good.”
“Dude like you can talk.” Nino slaps a hand on his back and laughs. “Adrien eats croissants by the dozen when you bring them. The boy has a bottomless stomach like you Marinette. Never full enough and still looks like a model…literally.”
They all laugh. Adrien also laughs with his friends, but he remembers when he started to be Chat Noir, he quickly lost a ton of weight. His father had brought up a nutritionist who informed Gabriel that his son needed to eat more calories. He had a meticulous diet because of modeling, his father preferred him on the thin side, but he didn’t want Adrien to be too thin.
His diet plan was drastically altered and Adrien blamed it on joining fencing class in school. He told his father Mr. D’Argencourt pushed him a lot more than the previous tutor. Father was satisfied with the answer, and pleased Adrien was more invested in his classes. So he started a new diet plan and started to eat a lot more calories.
It wasn’t always enough, occasionally he had a horrible week with akumas and extra work, and he would visit Dupain-Cheng bakery and order a few croissants to put on the calories. In the beginning Marinette’s parents allowed him to pay, but when he let it slip he had a special diet plan, the Dupain-Chengs started to put other baked goods in the bag for free.
He had told Marinette her parents didn’t need to do that. He had more than enough money to pay, Marinette stuttered for a few sentences, and Adrien assumed that was an ‘I’ll talk with them’. He was wrong. Next day Marinette showed up with a huge box filled with a ton of baked goods, a big portion was shared with the class, but he got the most out of them.
A note inside informed him of Marinette’s newfound knowledge about his diet, and how he could keep his baked goods inside his locker room and every day bring some home on his backpack, before they went stale. Adrien had no idea how Marinette figured out the perfect amount of baked goods to put in his bag without it bulging out, but she did.
Plagg was also very happy because a lot of those baked goods had filling in it, and the cheese ones were delicious. Or so Adrien had been told, since Plagg cleared those ones for him in a single day.
Marinette smiles sheepish at them. “By the way I did bring macaroons…they are in my backpack.” The rest of the afternoon was spent joking around and playing a few games. The nasty feeling he had never returned and he felt over the moon hanging out with his friends. Adrien wished he could do this more often, hangout with his friends, and just relax, not to have to worry about the million extra classes and events he had to do.
It felt almost as freeing as being Chat Noir.
…
After his friends left, he had dinner alone in his room. He was still feeling full from the macaroons, but he cleared the plate.
Plagg was eating a piece of Camembert while lying on the couch next to him. Plagg had eaten a few macarons filled with cream cheese and was already in a great mood. It had been a good day.
A maid knocks on his door to collect his plate, he lets her in. When she grabs his dishes to put them away it happens again.
An ugly feeling in his chest appears when she touches his plate. He shallows down his urge to growl at her for daring to touch his things, and looks away until she leaves his room.
When the door closes Adrien feels his entire body trembling. What happened? Why did he feel this anger again, this possessiveness again?
“Adrien?” Plagg floats in front of his face looking sad, but not surprised. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t think so…Plagg I had this feeling just now…and early with Nino…I can’t explain it…”
“Anger? Rage? Possessiveness?”
“Yes…How did you know? Do you know what’s wrong?” A part of Adrien is relieved that Plagg seems to know what is happening, but a feeling of dread is settling in his chest when he looks at Plagg.
Plagg sighs. “You feel possessive over food and objects that bring you comfort…and your body feels like it wants to attack the person threatening to take the stuff away. It’s an animal response.”
“An animal response?”
“Miraculous users…when they keep their miraculous on for long periods of time without pauses…like you wearing the ring nonstop for two years…the user might gain animal characteristics…”
Adrien’s head is left spinning. “I’m turning into a cat?”
Plagg snorts. “No…not that. It’s more you being defensive over your food source, propriety and other things. I recognized the signs just now…I had been wandering when you would gain them.”
“Can I stop it? I mean I don’t want to snap at people for no reason…”
Plagg picks up more cheese. “Short answer, yes.”
“Long answer?”
“It takes a little time to get used to the feelings, but after a while you can just ignore them…I had other Chat Noirs that they learn to dismiss them as easy as breathing. “
“Not all Chat Noirs?”
Plagg shrugs. “Most. I wasn’t always with them for long periods of time after they started. The ones I was…either lost themselves to those feelings or controlled them…”
“LOST THEMSELVES?” Adrien panics. What if he can’t control them? What if they get worse and worse? He can’t snap at people for no good reason, that’s not who he is. That’s not who he wants to be.
Plagg looks at the door in fear. “They had previous problems…they weren’t always the best people…” He trails off for a moment.
Adrien feels like crap. He was aware to a degree that not all of the previous black cat users were good to Plagg. A part of Adrien’s heart broke on the night of Nooroo’s birthday when he realized just how bad Plagg’s past could have been. The hesitation Plagg had of asking something so simple, the fear in his eyes when he told Adrien in detail what he and the other kwamis were doing. He had suspicions before, but he never wanted to ask Plagg the details. He knew better than to press so he had left the door open for Plagg. If he ever wanted to talk Adrien would listen.
Another part of him - the part he tried to ignore - understood Plagg’s hesitation. It was the same one he felt whenever he had to ask something from his Father. He knew the answer would be no, and a cruel reason would follow. He knew the pain of fearing asking a question, because the answer would never be good.
He held his hands out slowly to grab Plagg and held his friend in his hands. “I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to freak out…it’s just…” he opens and closes his mouth without knowing what to say.
Thankfully Plagg knew what to do. “I know, kid. Look I doubt you have to worry about losing control for several reasons. Most important is you had this feeling twice and never lashed out…it shows great control already. You’re a good kid Adrien. Most of the others were already having problems long before this occurred. I have no doubt you’ll gain control. It will take time but you can do it.”
“A long time?”
“A few weeks/months at most…a few Chat Noirs took a few years, but those were rare and were usually external causes like fighting wars.”
It’s one of those times Adrien’s head swims at the mentions of previous Chat Noirs. The thought of fighting wars feels odd, even when he and Ladybug are fighting Hawk Moth. “Plagg what about Ladybug?”
“Tikki’s kids get the same, all kwami users do. The temporary heroes won’t. They don’t keep the miraculous on them for years at a time.” A part of Adrien is relieved Chloe won’t suddenly develop even more behavior problems. “Ladybug should develop the same thing, but it might not have started yet.”
“Should I tell her?”
“Nah…let Tikki deal with it. You might cause her stress if she doesn’t know…I’ll ask Tikki. I’ll go searching for her tonight. If she has I’ll tell you in the morning, if she hasn’t…I’ll ask Tikki to tell Ladybug you know when it happens.”
“Doesn’t she deserve to know…I mean…”
“She will, but there is a reason we don’t just tell you immediately, most users freak out and start to go paranoid trying to figure out if those feelings are real or a side effect of the miraculous…”
“How do I know for sure?”
Plagg snorts. “Adrien did those feelings seem normal? Not in the way they feel like something you normally feel. Were they something that felt natural?”
Adrien thought back to them. “No…they felt intense, but at the same time they caused a lot of confusion….the fear I had of them felt more real than the actual feelings.”
“Exactly. It’s easy to figure it out what they are after you feel them…I had users telling me it felt fake. The feelings were imposed on them rather than something they usually felt. It’s why we don’t tell you before we see the signs, don’t want to leave you a paranoid mess. Plus, there are some things that happen to certain users that don’t happen to others. It’s better to wait.”
Adrien frowns. “You never tell anyone this might happen?”
“Will happen.” Plagg sighs. “Back when the order was around, they had a rule… if the miraculous user had it for more than a few months they would be informed that side effects would appear…they wouldn’t specify them, but they would inform them. Master Fu didn't get taught that…Wayzz eventually explained what happened to him, but I don’t think Wayzz knew what the guardians told the users.”
“Do you?”
“No. The ones that were informed by the order were told around the same time the miraculous transformations” Plagg makes a face. “Were explained, and since the ingredients are secrets, we were never in the room. The ones the order didn’t inform or couldn’t be informed…we preferred the symptoms to show up before telling. It was easier to explain.”
Adrien tries to process what Plagg is saying and his head is left spinning. He assumes this is a side effect from using magic for…for what? For using it too long? Do the miraculous have an expiring date? That doesn’t make sense. Master Fu has used a Miraculous for more than a century and it never hurt him. Even Hawk Moth who is using one with horrible intentions doesn’t seem to have any difficulty using it.
Adrien thinks that means there is no expiration date, but it doesn’t explain why they show up. Also why are they animal instincts? Is it because the kwamis look like animals? The way he understands it Plagg and the others are Gods who were brought by some monk into earth centuries ago, before that they still existed but they weren’t in the same physical realm that Adrien was. Furthermore Loong the dragon kwami wasn’t an animal. He was a mythical creature. Wait…Does that mean freaking dragons exist or have existed?
He shakes his head to get rid of that particular line of thought. He could ask Plagg, but the kwami would probably make a joke and a reference to something Adrien doesn’t understand or would rather not understand.
Back to the problem at hand. Were these feelings the only side effect or were there more? Why did it affect him first? Could he overcome them? Was Plagg telling the truth when he told him not being controlled by them was a great sign? Would they get worse? What were the other things he might gain from wearing a Miraculous? Adrien rubs his head feeling a headache coming over him. Too many questions and he wasn’t sure he wanted all the answers. At least right now.
Asking questions when you know the answer will hurt is too much of an old pain. Still some things he had to know.
“Plagg what exactly are all of the side effects I might get?”
Plagg floats and sits on his shoulder. “Well, you already know about the possessive thing. They can extend to people… but it’s rare. You could feel a deep need to protect someone you love if you think they are in danger…”
“I already do that…”
“It’s why I don’t think you will feel them, since you already have them. Ladybug also has them. It usually only appears on people with bad protective instincts.”
One less thing to worry about. “Any other…err…things I need to know?”
“A few of my kids become more homely…like they preferred to stay in their room.”
“I can’t imagine it…” Adrien thought back to all the times he stayed inside his room, waiting for another tutor to come, only leaving when he had to do modeling. Trapped in a modern day castle, waiting for freedom that would only come with a Miraculous. It would be the cruelest of ironies if he would start to isolate himself because of the object that gave him freedom in the first place. He wants to ask Plagg if it could happen to him. If something he wanted for so long could disappear but he’s terrified of the answer.
Adrien didn’t have to ask the question because Plagg seemed to read his mind. “I doubt you will have this side effect…the users that develop this have outside problems, one of the reasons they seek comfort in their dens is because the outside is...a problem. You see the outside of your house as a blessing, making you not likely to suddenly become a house cat.”
“Nice pun.” Adrien’s eyes shine.
Plagg smirks. “Anyway those are the more…emotional side effects. The miraculous will eventually affect you physically. You gain more strength, speed, stamina, etc. Your senses will also improve.”
Does he already have them and hasn’t realized? He thinks back to the fencing matches he has with Kagami. How they used to be a lot more difficult. He had assumed he was just getting better, but what if that wasn’t the case? What if he was just having side effects? Adrien recalls back to the basketball match that might be why he wasn’t tired, but it wouldn’t explain Marinette. It feels more like he’s in great shape rather than super human. “What do you think of me right now? I mean you’ve seen this happen to other Chats…where do you think I’m at?”
“Right now…I would put you on par with an Olympic athlete. You haven’t passed the super human barrier…in a few weeks you might.”
“What am I going to do? Fencing, martial arts, basketball…I think my teacher will notice if I suddenly become superman…”
Plagg snorts. “Way too much imagination kid. Tell me when you do martial arts…do you hit as hard as you can?”
“No.”
“You adjust your strength and speed when fencing?” Adrien nods. “Just do the same. Finding a balance is easy.”
Adrien doesn’t think it will be that easy. He has to make sure when the physical alterations show up, he has enough time to make sure things won’t spiral. Probably fake an injury…a twisted ankle isn’t too hard to fake. An injury happens sometimes with the amount of sports he does, and Nathalie gives him two or three days without any physical activity.
Anymore and he has to see a doctor. He will only have a couple days to figure it out, which doesn’t seem like enough time. Adrien’s headache increases when he realizes the physical changes might not appear all at once. What if it comes gradually? His plan would be useless.
Plus, if what Plagg told him is true he will be able to figure out quickly a way to deal with his new found strength, but it’s only in sports. Plagg said nothing about the day to day. How strong can he get? How fast? What are the limits? How will he test them? He looks at Plagg who is still hovering near him. He hesitates to ask any of the thousands of questions running through his mind.
“Any more questions?” Plagg looks at him with knowing eyes. His Kwami isn’t the most straight forward at times, but he is unusually perceptive. He must see Adrien’s internal struggle. It’s not lost on him that Plagg has been extremely informative during this conversation versus what he normally does - eat cheese and tell Adrien to use shortcuts.
“Does the…super strength and stuff come all at once or gradually?”
“Gradually.” Damn it. There goes the plan, but it might make it easier to control. Plagg looks patiently at him.
Adrien appreciates Plagg’s explanations, but right now he needs to process this. “I think I’m going to relax…can I ask more questions later?”
Plagg smiles. “Sure, but now I have a date with a creamy tasty treat.”
Adrien puts on the TV as a distraction in the background and tries to deal with the massive bombs that have been dropped on him. His thoughts keep running around in his head for the rest of the night. The TV served as background noise while he tried to find a solution, or at least a plan.
He wishes he could ask Ladybug how she would deal with this, but he can’t. It would be unfair to put this weight on her. He has to wait for her and it feels weird. Hopefully they can talk about this soon.
He decides to go to sleep and Plagg leaves to meet Tikki.
It might be the lack of Plagg’s snores, or the insanity he has learned tonight, but whatever it is Adrien doesn’t sleep well that night.