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Tikki thought it was very sweet that Marinette and Adrien had stayed together for so long. She really, really did.
The problem was that they were adults now, wanting to do what adults in love often did, and frequently desired more privacy than Tikki or Plagg were used to giving them. She’d spent more than one night cuddled in another room with Plagg.
This night was an anniversary, and Adrien had gotten a suite in a very fancy hotel. He’d even “accidentally” ordered too much dessert and left Tikki and Plagg with an entire cheese plate in the suite’s living room. Well, he’d left Plagg with the plate. Tikki was sure he’d have gotten her her own dessert plate too if he’d known she was there, but he didn’t. Instead, she had half a piece of cake that Marinette left out.
Plagg was splayed out on the couch, belly full of cheese. Tikki had been happy to spend time with him, but now she eyed him enviously. The light in the room was the sickly blue of dawn. Surely, Marinette and Adrien were asleep…
They’d gone off into the bedroom with a very expensive looking box of chocolates. Surely, they wouldn’t mind if she snuck just one.
Tikki stuck her head through the door hesitantly. The room was dark, with only a narrow beam of dawn’s light spilling onto the bed through partly pulled curtains. There were no sounds but the soft, regular breathing of two humans asleep.
Tikki silently searched the room for the chocolates. The box was on the nightstand, lid half off.
Lucky! Tikki thought as she sped over to it. She selected the best looking of the chocolates and popped the whole thing into her mouth. Oh, and it was so good. Well, it wouldn’t hurt to take a second one, would it?
After she’d shoved her fifth chocolate into her mouth, Tikki looked up to see Adrien Agreste staring at her with wide green eyes.
“Um,” said Tikki through her mouthful of chocolate.
“Tikki?” Adrien whispered. He shot a look over his shoulder to make sure Marinette was still sleeping soundly before sitting up. “What are you doing here?”
Tikki chewed very slowly, at a loss for what to tell him.
“Is Ladybug okay?” Adrien asked, clearly worried. “Does she need my help?”
Tikki was the god of creation, but she’d never been able to master the art of creating lies. Lying was a uniquely human talent, and she was a god who experienced all dimensions and timelines at once. The act simply didn’t make sense to her.
And so, at a loss for what else to do, Tikki said, “It’s exactly how you think it is.”
Adrien was on his feet in a second, although he was naked. He covered his privates with a pillow.
“Does she need Mister Bug?” he asked.
“Yes,” Tikki agreed, because Marinette always needed Adrien, and then realized she had no idea where Marinette’s earrings were. “Um, why don’t you get dressed?”
Adrien turned his back for about ninety seconds while he picked clothes up from the floor. Marinette’s earrings were, thankfully, on the nightstand next to her side of the bed, next to Adrien’s ring. Oh, if only so many villains of Paris could see that! Tikki picked up the earrings before Adrien could notice her.
The magic of the Miraculouses worked in strange ways. Adrien had seen Marinette’s earrings thousands of times-- might have even been the one to take them off of her that night-- but the minute they were in Tikki’s hands and being presented as a Miraculous to him, they were unrecognizable. Adrien clipped them into his ears without comment.
He wrote a quick note to Marinette that he’d gone out to get them breakfast, then stepped out onto the balcony.
I hope Marinette can figure this one out, Tikki thought, already mourning that she hadn’t scarfed down even more chocolates.
“Tikki, spots on!”
xXx
Plagg rolled over when Tikki flew off, suddenly chilly without her body against his. He floated lazily over to the door and stuck his face in, in case Tikki had found more snacks. He didn’t care about the chocolate she found, but he watched her hushed conversation with Adrien with great attention.
Hilarious, Sugarcube, he thought. Then he sank down to the plush carpet of the hotel and fell back asleep.
He was woken up when Marinette stepped on him. He yelped. She let out one, quick scream.
“Plagg?” she said. “What are you doing here?”
“Why did you step on me?” Plagg complained, hovering up into the air to meet Marinette’s eyes.
“I didn’t mean…” Marinette started. She hopped from one foot to the other, looking extremely upset. She was wearing a bathrobe, and her hair was damp. “Oh, Plagg, I can’t find my earrings.”
“Oh, Sugarcube took them,” Plagg said. “You’re not even going to apologize?”
“Why did Tikki take them?” Marinette squeaked. “What if there’s an attack? If you’re here, then not even chat Noir--”
“Adrien caught her sneaking chocolates,” Plagg explained with a laugh. “You should have seen her face.”
Marinette’s face filled with horror. She’d never had as good a sense of humor as Adrien.
“Adrien saw her?” Marinette repeated. Her hands tangled in her damp hair as she gripped her own head in anxiety.
“Calm down,” Plagg told her. “It’s fine. Tikki just told him Ladybug needed him to fill in.”
“She did what?”
Clearly this wasn’t a good solution in Marinette’s eyes, as she started pacing the room and muttering to herself.
“I’ve asked Adrien to use a Miraculous before, so he probably won’t think it’s suspicious I sent Tikki to him… well, he might think it’s weird, but I can come up with a cover story… say I knew he was nearby because of the paparazzi… but what’s he going to do when he can’t find a threat to Paris? I don’t want Adrien thinking Ladybug set him up!”
Marinette looked like she was working on pulling out all of her hair. The sight made Plagg glad that he was Adrien’s kwami.
Marinette dashed back into the bedroom to grab her phone. Whoever she called didn’t answer her multiple tries, probably because it was too early in the morning for any decent human to be up.
“Ugh!” Marinette yelled, throwing her phone on the bed in frustration. “No Alya, so no illusions. How am I supposed to create a fake disaster for Adrien?”
Plagg let himself drop onto one of the fat pillows of their bed. It was comfy. They should get one of these for him and Tikki next time.
“Eh, just let the kid run himself tired,” he said. “What if, while you waited, you ordered me a cheese plate? And some pastries for Sugarcube.”
Marinette was eyeing him thoughtfully.
“If you want to use my Miraculous, you have to feed me first,” Plagg said. It was only a lie in that he didn’t mention he’d already eaten an entire plate of cheese.
Marinette’s lips turned up in a sly smirk. “Oh, I don’t need Lady Noire, Plagg. I don’t even need Chaton. I need you.”
xXx
Plagg could not believe she’d talked him into this. Let the world know that he really did love Adrien, caving to his girlfriend’s pestering like this.
“Roar,” he said half-heartedly as he paced the streets of Paris in his true form.
This was borderline humiliating. His wings kept grazing buildings and destroying them. There were barely even any people out in the early morning to terrorize. Plagg knew, because he could see over most buildings. There was basically no one.
He did get to watch a man setting up tables outside a boulangerie scream and run inside. That was kind of funny, at least. Oh, and they had those pistachio things Tikki liked…
He sliced a balcony clean off with a wing and had to catch it before it hit Marinette, who was motorcycling at his feet like a mad woman.
“It’s okay!” she yelled up at him. “You-know-who just has to use Lucky Charm!”
“Sure,” Plagg agreed. “Um, about that…”
Something red flashed in the distance. A yo-yo hit Plagg in the face and bounced harmlessly off. Hey!
“Quick, pick me up!” Marinette yelled. “Threaten to squish me! Make it look good!”
Plagg didn’t really want to do that. But then Adrien sailed past his face, and he ducked his head anyway. Fine. He’d pick up Marinette, if everyone was going to be insane at him.
“You owe me cheese,” he told Marinette as he scooped her up.
“Oh no! Ahhh!” Marinette cried. “Help!”
Adrien fell into a crouch on a rooftop directly across from Plagg. He looked briefly alarmed about Marinette’s presence, twirling the yo-yo at his side, but then squinted suspiciously at Plagg’s face.
“Plagg?” he asked, all tension immediately melting out of his shoulders. “What are you doing? Stop bothering Marinette.”
Maybe Plagg should have mentioned that Adrien would definitely recognize him?
“Mister Bug?” Marinette asked, dropping her panicked civilian act. “Where’s Adrien?”
Plagg carefully set Marinette on the roof next to Adrien.
“I think you two have a lot to talk about,” he said. “Let Sugarcube out, please.”
Marinette looked like she was doing a very complicated math problem in her head, eyes darting over Adrien’s face.
“But you’re…” she started. She knew this costume was the same as Chat Noir using the ladybug Miraculous. Her eyes widened. “No way!”
Adrien groaned. “Well, if the cat’s out of the bag…”
He detransformed. Marinette nearly toppled right off the roof, and Adrien grabbed for her. Plagg helpfully pushed them both back into place.
“This is so dramatic, Plagg,” Tikki said with a yawn.
“B-b-b-but,” Marinette was stuttering, like her brain had completely shut off. Adrien carefully ran a hand through her hair, pushing it out of her face.
“Sorry I was keeping it a secret,” he said. “I really, really wanted to tell you, but it was for your own protection. Oh, and, uh, don’t be scared of my… monster friend…”
Marinette squeaked, and Adrien frowned and turned to Tikki.
“Speaking of protection,” he said, “what the heck did Ladybug want me for? And Plagg, what are you doing?”
“Um,” said Tikki. “Oh look at that, kwami stuff!”
She dove off the side of the building and also took her true form next to Plagg.
“I’m so sorry,” Marinette half-wailed, ignoring the god of creation behind her and throwing her arms around her boyfriend. “Adrien, I have so much to tell you…”
“C’mon, Sugarcube,” Plagg said, offering one hand to Tikki. “I found you a whole boulangerie, just around the corner.”
Tikki giggled as she took his hand.
They went back to their more fun-sized forms to raid the boulangerie. It was no cheese shop, but there were plenty of salty options with cheese. Plagg had no idea where the guy he’d scared had run off to, but no one bothered them until Tikki had eaten half the shop, and a customer wandered in.
They sailed the streets after Paris for a while afterwards. It was really, really nice to have free time with Tikki.
“Oh, that’s a shame,” Tikki said when they found a stone angel Plagg had accidentally knocked off a church and into a street. “Mister Bug can fix it with…” She stopped dead in the air, eyes widening. “Plagg! Our humans! We forgot!”
Well, at least now they could hang out when Marinette and Adrien were awake.