This is basically a soft sequel, it originally was set after a different reveal au I had but couldn't get out of the planning stage.
"I'm worried, Tikki... ever since we found out who HawkMoth is, Adrien's been absent from school. He's not answering his phone, and neither is Cat Noir..."
The kwami floated next to Marinette as she got ready for bed, low thunder sounded outside.
"I don't think there's any sense in worrying Marinette. Adrien HAS the cat noir miraculous. So he's able to take care of himself. What I'm worried about is HawkMoth has been too quiet since our confrontation. "
Marinette nods absently while taking out her pigtails. Suddenly there was a dull thunk above her head, as if someone landed on her roof. There was a light tap on her hatch. "Princess, are you awake?" Someone whispered. Only Cat Noir called her that. She opened the trap door.
"Cat Noir? What are you doing here? "
There was dark sadness in the hero. If he weren't wearing his mask, Marinette was sure there'd be dark circles under his eyes as well.
"Can we talk?" Marinette invited him in. Cat acrobaticly swung inside, landing lightly on the floor below, feet never touching the bed. Marinette went off and got him a towel.
Marinette was unsure what he wanted to talk about. He had no idea of her identity. He refused to let her reveal that, that night, stating that she shouldn't feel obligated to, and it would end up dangerous for her if HawkMoth somehow gained control over him again.
"So... what did you want to talk about, Cat Noir?" She asked. Before he could answer, his stomach made its presence known. Loudly. He smiled meekly; she smiled back suppressing a giggle. "Let's me get you something to eat. We have some left over croissants or some spinach quiche?"
Cat smiled, "some quiche would be great!"
She went to get some quiche. Luckily her parents were already in bed. She brought it up to the hero sitting on her duvet, and waited patiently while he dug into it. Given how eagerly he ate, she wondered if he had eaten at all since that night.
After that, they talked. Without giving too much away, Cat Noir explained that his father was HawkMoth, and since he and Ladybug found out, he'd had to keep on the move. Home was no longer safe.
"The thing that confuses me, is why hasn't it made the news yet? My lady surprises me. If the police or news found out the identity of supervillain that's been terrorizing Paris, they would have been able to stop him. But... instead, she hasnt." He didn't realize there were tears in his eyes.
"Its not her secret to tell!" She shouted, startling Cat; before lowering her voice, "I mean, he's your father, so I'm sure she's waiting for you to be ready to bring that forward."
Cat smiled sadly. "I'm sure your right, Princess. I shouldnt be doubting Ladybug like that. I've been avoiding her all this time because I had doubts. But maybe those doubts are in myself." He shook his head. "Its late, I should let you get some sleep."
He stood up, only to have Marinette push him back down on the daybed. She shook her head. "You look like you haven't slept in a week. I insist you spend the night!" She didn't realize till too late that she was asking Adrien Agreste, HER CRUSH, to spend the night. But that didn't matter now; she maintained her composure.
Cat Noir blushed, before giving a sly sleepy smirk, "Well if you insist." Marinette rolled her eyes, but happy to see some of the old Cat Noir back.
After Marinette took the dishes back downstairs and walked them, she came back to the sight of Cat Noir fast asleep, snoring. Suddenly his miraculous beeped and his transformation faded in a cloud of black-green light. Marinette blinked in shock at the small black floating cat.
"UGH FINALLY, I thought I'd never be able to come out!" It whined.
"PLAGG!" Tikki cried, before zooming from her hiding place and glomping the other kwami, who returned the hug.
"Tikki, what are you doing!?" Marinette exclaimed.
Tikki gave her a smile floating towards her. "Its ok, Marinette. We kwamis have always known who the other was. We just kept it secret. Plagg won't tell Adrien you are Ladybug, right Plagg?"
The cat kwami yawned. "Huh? Nah. It's too much energy spoil that. By the way, you wouldn't happen to have some Camembert would you? I haven't eaten in so long."
Tikki smiled at him, crossing her arms. "Has he used Cataclysm at all lately?"
He sighed. "No. But that doesn't mean staying in that form isn't exhaustive!"
Marinette smiled. "Sorry, we don't have that here. But I can get you some croissants? "
The cat whined, "you don't have ANY cheese AT ALL? " before Tikki flew into his face putting them nose to nose, glaring hard. "Sure I'd love some croissants. " He smiled humbly.
After eating a few biscuits, he curled up on the pillow next to Adrien. She had gotten a blanket for Adrien earlier. When she realized the time she knew she'd have difficulty getting up in the morning.
She later woke to a low whisper of "Plagg, Claws out!" And Cat Noir sneaking out her window. He whispered "Thank you, Marinette." To her still form; Marinette pretending to still be asleep. He closed the window behind him.
Marinette sat up and saw that he had carefully folded the blanket, and placed it on the duvet. She looked at her sleeping kwami. Later she would transform and try calling Cat Noir. She had a feeling he would stop avoiding her. For now she layed back down and tried to catch another couple hours of sleep before school.
