Chapter Text
She always smelled like cookies. It was a really complexed aroma but his sensitive cat nose was able to recognize some of them. It was like a mix of frosting sweet, lemon zest fresh and a little bit of melted butter fragrant. But there was something more in it, during the days before Christmas, something more spicy and very intriguing.
He loved that smell almost as much as he loved her.
So when it came to figuring out what christmas present she would like to get, naturally some baked goods were his first idea. For a while he considered buying some at Dupain - Cheng’s bakery, but then again he wanted to give her something more personal, handmade.
That’s how Adrien Agreste decided to learn himself how to bake.
Of course he could have asked for help, after all he knew a whole family of bakers and even had a professional chef working at his house, but Adrien was very ambitious and also really proud. Plus he didn’t want anyone to find out what he was doing. Nino knew he was learning, because he saw Adrien reading a cookbook one time, but was not aware of a real reason behind all this.
First attempt was… well it was a disaster. The cookies were totally inedible because they tasted just awful. Something between the cardboard box and burned rubber. Next three tries weren’t any better. Because of Adrien’s busy schedule, boy was only able to bake at night. This had it’s good and bad sides. He had mansion’s big kitchen all for himself but after school, work and all the extra activities, plus some wild akuma popping up every now or and then, Adrien was so dead tired, that at times, he would simply fell asleep with his head in the cookie dough. One time he was woken up by the smell of burning cookies. He was no Masterchef material, that's for sure.
His fifth attempt… No he didn’t want to talk about that ever again…
Next one was only a partial success. Yes, the cookies were edible but a little bit too hard and when Adrien gave Gorilla a couple of them, the poor bodyguard chipped his tooth and called a day off. Nino, when he heard about that, laughed so hard that he lost his breath and just clapped his hands while making a noise like retarded seal.
Finally the tenth time was a charm. The cookies turned out great. The color was just right and the softness was simply perfect. Adrien couldn’t believe his luck. He was so overjoyed that he decided to go wild with the decorations.
Multicolored frosting, rainbow sprinkles, nuts and raisins, his cookies had it all, hell he even added those little leaves of edible gold.
He was so proud of himself that he almost cried. Finally, after all those failed attempts he was able to make something so pretty.
It was a week before the Christmas break but Adrien was so eager to give his Lady a gift. He and Ladybug had scheduled one patrol before 24th December but he couldn’t wait that long. Adrien decided that he will do it tonight, while the cookies were still fresh. So when the night had fallen over Paris, Adrien managed to bribe Plagg to transforming him in Chat Noir and he set off into the snowy parisian night.
The weather was perfect. The snow was falling all around him and the temperature was low, perfect for cuddling.
He stopped on the building roof near Arc de Triomphe.
“Ok let's get this party started” he murmured to himself and took a deep breath.
The plan was to go fast around the city, looking busy and somewhat alarmed, so he would get attention of parisians and author of Ladyblog, then he had like 80% chance of luring Ladybug from her hideout. It was a shame he couldn’t contact her when she was out of her costume.
He was halfway to his final destination, his nose detected a strong gingerbread fragrance and then Chat saw someone in a red suit catching up with him.
“Where’s the fire, Kitty?” amusement was ringing in her voice.
Chat stopped suddenly and so did Ladybug. She sent him questioningly look.
“Well hello, my Lady” he bowed deeply, trying to sound playful, despite his ragged breath after all this running. “I haven’t noticed you at all.”
“Liar” she said, her eyes narrowing. “What are you playing, Chat Noir?”
“Chat perché*.”
She blinked.
“What?”
He stepped forward and nudged her gently in the forehead.
“Chat” he chuckled and then turned around and sprinted away.
“Oh it’s on, Chat Noir!”
Their crazy chase went through the city, making surprised parisians gape at their beloved superheroes. There was no akuma at sight so it was a bit strange for Ladybug and Chat to sprint across Paris rooftops in such a hurry.
“Tired, my Lady?” called Chat over his shoulder, looking back at her. “Want me to slow down for you?” Ladybug made a funny angry squeak and picked up the pace. Oh dear God in heaven how he loved this girl.
Almost there, Adrien thought, sprinting up the stairs which lead to Sacré-coeur basilica.
“Hey!” Ladybug shouted with irritation. “Where are you taking me?”
“You’ll see!”
When they finally reached the hilltop, they were both red faced and panting like crazy. Well after all they ran almost across the whole city at full speed. Chat jumped up at one of basilica’s towers and hid himself behind one of the pillars.
“Chat I had enough…” Ladybug chugged irritated but she stopped in her tracks as soon as she reached the top of the stairs. Chat, crouched in the shadows, watched as the girl went to banister and leaned herself on it. In front of them there was Paris – the city of lights and shadows, decorated and ready for Christmas. It was like an ocean of colors.
Chat took his gift and slided down. Ladybug was too preoccupied by the view to notice a box in his hands. He stood there silently, watching as her eyes glitter with happiness.
“It's beautiful, right?” she whispered, smiling lightly.
“Yeah…” Chat agreed, but he wasn’t looking at the romantic view. There was something more interesting for his green catlike eyes than Paris. “Thank you, Kitty… I think, I needed this.”
“No problem, My Lady” Chat responded, placing his gift in front of her. Ladybug blinked and then looked at him with surprise.
“Merry Christmas, Bugaboo.”
“Oh Chat… thank you so much...but… I don’t have anything for you yet…” she stuttered, looking somewhat embarrassed.
“It’s ok! I just made them and wanted to give them to you now” Chat hurried with explanation, as she took the box and started unwrapping it.
By the look at her face, this childlike anticipation, and wide smile, he could tell she loved receiving gifts. He made a memo to himself to shower her with gifts in the future - give her something every holiday or even ordinary day, fill her room with flowers on her birthday and…
Woha Agreste, stop right there. Don't go the distance if you haven’t got the girl yet. It’s not like she’ll agree marrying you after one box of sweets.
Ladybug ripped through the paper and beamed at him.
“Oh wow, cookies! You made them? I didn’t know you can bake!”
“I couldn’t… well I couldn't until yesterday. I taught myself. Um... I know they don’t look like the ones from the bakery and…”
“They’re perfect” Ladybug cut in and took a bite of one of the cookies.
Oh heavens and earth please help him! Adrien was so overjoyed that he wanted to scream, cry and faint all at the same time. No, no, he had to play it cool. Really cool like “nah I gave those to every girl I know”...
“Really?! You like it!?” he asked, bouncing on his feet with excitement.
Her smile was warm like hot cocoa and bright as every Christmas illuminations all at once.
“I do. I really do. But I feel so stupid that I have nothing in return.”
“Well, a kiss is always a good last minute gift idea” joked Chat, wiggling his eyebrows.
The face Ladybug made, honestly caused his heart to stop for a whole second. He expected her to burst into laughter, maybe say something bit mean but no that. She looked unsure and bit startled.
“Well...” she trailed off, biting her lower lip, as she was thinking about something. “Just one kiss, ok? On the cheek…”
Chat nodded, really slow, afraid that if he would make a more sudden movement, she would change her mind and run away.
Ladybug took one step closer, then reached and tugged dumbfounded boy by the neck. The actual kiss was quick and kinda awkward, they just smashed their heads together for like a second or so. His cheek was cold and her lips were dry. But the feeling nevertheless was absolutely heavenly. And she smelled like cinnamon buns.
Ladybug stumbled backwards, eyeing him hesitantly.
Right now the whole damned Paris could explode or sink under the ground and Chat couldn't care less. He was the luckiest man in Paris.
“Merry Christmas, mon Chaton” Ladybug whispered, as she took a step back, clutching a box of cookies to her heart. “So… um… see you around…”
And by that she was gone.
“You’re grinning…”
“I know!” Adrien hissed, eyeing Plagg angrily. “I can’t stop.”
Kwami snickered as Adrien signed and started massaging his cheeks again. He really had done everything he could, but he couldn’t stop smiling. What was he so excited about anyway? It was just a peck not some kind of a big deal. Not like they started dating or something.
“Oh you poor boy, you look like a crazy person” kwami pointed out and dived into Adrien’s bag.
As Adrien entered the classroom, he heard Alya’s voice. She was looking at her phone and reading something at loud to Nino. Adrien greeted them with a nod and sat down.
“Where’s Marinette?” he asked, pointing at an empty seat behind him. Alya signed and rolled her eyes.
“Mari got food poisoning. She just texted me... It was some cookies she ate.”
Adrien froze.
“Cookies?” he asked trying to act casual. Alya went through Marinette’s text, frowning.
“Yeah she said that a friend made them specially for her and she ate them… well it got pretty nasty at night. She won’t probably come to school before Christmas…”
“Someone gave her poisonous cookies? Man that’s harsh…” said Nino but suddenly went silent and looked at his best friend. Adrien felt uncomfortable under his gaze.
This surely was a coincidence.
Right?
Right?!
“I don’t think like he planned it, Nino.” Alya rolled her eyes. “She said that he learned how to bake all by himself and he was really proud about that. He probably wanted her opinion, given she is a daughter of a bakers and was practically raised on pastries. Besides you know Mari, she just love presents. I bet she ate those cookies all at once.”
Was the classroom always so airless? Suddenly the collar of Adrien’s shirt felt too tight.
“Is Mari sure that none of those cookies were shaped like… well you know… a skull or something?”
“Nino, nobody wanted to kill her. Look she sent me a picture. One of them is shaped like a cat. Cute, right?”
Oh God.
Sudden realization hit Adrien like brick.
Alya looked at him, frowning.
“Adrien are you…”
“I think I’ll go to the toilet!” piped up Adrien, his voice unnaturally high. He stood up, tripping his chair but didn’t bother to pick it up. He scooped up his bag and ran out of the classroom like being chased by the devil himself, followed by surprised looks of his friends.
“Oh no, no, nonononono…”
“What’s the rush, kid?”
“Plagg… I think… I think, I poisoned Ladybug!”