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One moment Tikki had been snug in Marinette's purse, not even aware that there was an akuma out there.
Then she was suddenly stretching and growing and the purse was too small for her. She somehow ended up sitting on the ground next to a guy she didn't know.
"What is happening for kwamis' sake?" The stranger yawned.
It was something about the familiar gesture but mostly about the unusual expression that alerted her to something she had ignored until now. She was always aware of Plagg's presence and right this moment this feeling was extremely strong.
"Plagg?" She exclaimed, taking in the long limbs and lanky form, the mischievous green eyes and the mop of black hair. He was also dressed all in black.
It was what finally made him look at her and do a double take.
"Sugarcube?!"
"What is it? How do I look?"
As she said this she looked down at foreign arms that ended in fingers with pink nail polish. She was dressed in a short red dress but her ballet flats were black.
"You're a redhead!" He looked wide-eyed at her.
"Oh," a hand flew to her head and found short hair. Also, a headband?
"Cute antennae," Marinette chimed in and this was when she remembered the humans. Well, other humans.
"What happened?" Her voice was different and she felt different. Like, why did Plagg suddenly look attractive?!
"It must be the akuma," Adrien said, looking at them with an amused expression. "They got you before we could transform. Now you're no longer kwamis. Freaky."
"It's not funny, kitty," Marinette groaned. "What are we going to do?"
"Let's take a moment to regroup and think of a plan. These two certainly look like they need it."
This was already background noise for Tikki. She could see that they were in the school courtyard but they were under the stairs and there wasn't anyone around. So they were safe. For now.
Then her eyes focused on Plagg who was also looking at her.
"What's up?" He drawled, wiggling his eyebrows. It was so strange. Human expressions looked so out of place on him. But they also fit him and were just a bit dangerous.
"Plagg, it's just me. Why are you acting like that?" She felt a little breathless as she said this.
"I don't know, Tikki. This human body comes with human feelings I can't understand."
"Oh my God," Marinette said in a not so low whisper.
"Shh, let them be."
"Are they really.."
"Stop gawking at us," Plagg all but hissed at them. Then he lifted a hand to his mouth and almost started licking it before Adrien reached out and swatted it.
"Humans don't groom themselves," he all but laughed.
"Says the guy who can take five showers a day," Plagg grumbled.
"That's different," Adrien said with an eye roll while Marinette sniggered next to him.
"Then give me something to eat." The human cat all but ordered his holder. Some things didn't change.
"I still have only Camembert," Adrien shrugged as he took a piece out of his school bag and threw it at Plagg.
"Do you still want to eat this?" Tikki shuddered.
"Why not?"
But before he flipped it whole into his moth he paused and held it out to her.
"Do you want some?" He asked in an uncharacteristically shy voice.
"Ew. Why would I want your stinky cheese?"
"Don't know. It just felt right to offer you some. Adrien gives Marinette presents all the time as a sign of his love."
"Plagg! Cheese is not a good idea for a present," his human protested.
"I guess it depends on the girl," Marinette giggled. "I definitely prefer flowers and chocolate. And Tikki is one with a sweet tooth as well."
"I don't have anything sweet to offer," Plagg looked dejected for a moment.
"I don't need you to give me food," Tikki scoffed. "I'm not even hungry."
"Ok," he shrugged before wolfing down the cheese. Ew. Even human Plagg couldn't make this attractive. Although it was an improvement on the usual look for some reason. Especially when he flashed her a grin.
This was wrong. Plagg shouldn't make her feel flustered.
"Any ideas about the akuma?" She turned to Marinette as she looked for a distraction.
"Um. We don't have many options. We'd have to try to take them down without powers. And maybe they can reverse the effect."
"A great idea as usual, m'lady," Adrien looked at her with adoration in his eyes.
It was much easier to understand human emotions in this form.
Tikki suddenly longed for this kind of bond with someone. Well, a particular someone. Although she and Plagg had always been special for each other, this was different. More physical for one.
Without thinking too much about it, she reached for Plagg's hand and took it in hers.
The look he gave her made her giggle. He looked thoroughly confused.
"Wow," he mumbled. "Why is this sound doing strange things to me?"
Next to them, Adrien guffawed.
"I think that their love languages could use some adjustment but they are on the right track," Marinette said with a smile.
Hearing this commentary made Tikki stare at their hands and for some reason her face felt hot.
"Hm. If they feel like this all the time, I feel for them."
Plagg's words made her giggle again. Yes, they used to make fun of the humans and their messy love life. But it definitely felt very confusing.
"Plagg, we're not human and we're not a couple," she reminded him. Although the thought made her sad for some reason.
The way he made her feel was confusing but also nice. Yes, she definitely understood Marinette better now.
"But I want us to be for some reason. And now I realise that Adrien is going to be teasing me about this for life," he sighed.
"You got that right, buddy."
"Let's work on getting you back to normal though," Marinette gave them a sympathetic smile.
***
It hadn't been easy. They had ended up trailing Marinette and Adrien around, pretending to be exchange students which people seemed to buy.
According to their holders, they were acting strangely but could pass as humans. There had been a particularly tense moment when Tikki had caught Plagg staring at her and moving closer. She had been intrigued to find that this made her feel giddy. Otherwise she would have teased him about looking like he wanted to kiss her. Of course, Adrien had been one step ahead and had saved the day by dropping a not very subtle comment about giving them privacy. They had been too flustered after that.
When they finally found the akuma, it was a bit tricky to intervene without revealing why they were interested.
Thankfully, this particular victim of Hawk Moth was easy to sway. They had just loved the idea of turnings their plushies into humans in order to have company. They hadn't even targeted the kwamis but it had worked on them for some reason.
Adrien played the role of the confused teen who couldn't keep humans at home and hide them from his parents. So the woman had decided to help them.
Once the kwamis returned to their usual form, Adrien distracted the woman while Marinette transformed. And then it was over.
After that, there was awkwardness between the kwamis that had never been there before.
It was clear that they had had enough of being in a human body with confusing emotions.
"I don't know what got into me, sugarcube. You know that you're my other half. But this was weird."
"It's ok, Plagg. It wasn't your fault."
"I almost kissed you!" He looked genuinely terrified by this possibility and now that all was behind them, all Tikki could do was laugh.
Their humans totally agreed with the sentiment.
"This was one for the books," Adrien groaned, brushing tears of mirth from his eyes.
"I hope that you're going to tone down the teasing now that you know just how hard it is to control oneself sometimes," Marinette said with a tired smile, still clutching her belly.
"Yes, totally. We get it. Please just don't remind us of this episode." Plagg was the closest he had ever been to begging for something that wasn't food.
"Only when you deserve it."
"Adrien!"
Yes, all was well that ended well.