Cookies

Hello and welcome to the first story of my Christmas countdown! There will be a new oneshot coming out each day until Christmas so you have lots of Christmassy stories to look forward to. ;) They'll all be posted separately so make sure you keep an eye out!

Prompt: cookies.

Hope you enjoy this bit of Ladynoir fluff!

...

It was late, Adrien knew that. The clock read 2 AM and he knew he had school tomorrow and couldn't afford to be tired, but he just couldn't get to sleep. His mind wouldn't focus on anything but his mother, and it wasn't doing anything to help him fall asleep. He sighed and rolled over again, wrapping his blankets around him. A second later he kicked them off again. It wasn't that it was hot in the room, because it wasn't. It was rather cold actually. But having the blankets on only reminded him of when he was little and used to sneak into his parents' bed when he couldn't sleep.

"Plagg." He called softly, wondering if the kwami was asleep or not.

A second of silence passed. Then, "No." And Adrien could see a small black blur burrow deeper under his pillow.

Adrien rolled out of the bed and wandered over to the window, looking out. The snow was falling softly and it seemed that everyone was fast asleep except for him. He felt restless now. "Plagg, I'll get you two whole wheels of camembert tomorrow if you'll let me transform and go out now."

There was an even longer moment of silence while Plagg considered this then Adrien could see him poke his head out to look at him. "Why do you want to go out now? There's no point."

"Two whole wheels of camembert all to yourself." He repeated.

The kwami stared at him before sighing and flying over to Adrien. "You better not forget." Plagg grumbled.

Adrien grinned. "Plagg, claws out!"

A second later, Chat Noir was bounding away out of Adrien's window. He jumped across several rooftops before coming to a stop. Now that he was out here, he could feel how chilly it really was. His suit gave him some protection from the biting wind but it was still quite cold.

He wasn't sure what he was doing out here. He could run around the city, but it was way more fun when he was with Ladybug. When he was by himself, the best he could do was look at the various buildings and trees as he went past. And at this time of night, there wasn't even any people out and about. Everyone was inside, safely away from the freezing cold and happily sleeping.

His thoughts drifted back to Ladybug. Could it be possible that she was still awake? He couldn't be the only one not sleeping right now in all of Paris. There had to be at least a few others awake, whether they were restless like him or were simply doing something that required them to be up at this time, so there was a chance that Ladybug might not be sleeping.

Hand hovering over the call button on his baton, he debated with himself. He wasn't going to miss the chance to see Ladybug if she did happen to be awake, but he didn't want to wake her if he did call, especially since it wasn't an emergency. Finally making his mind up, he pressed the call button and it started dialling. He figured she wouldn't hear it if she was asleep as she wouldn't be transformed. But if she did end up being out as Ladybug right now she would answer.

After the baton rung a few times, it went straight to the voicemail. He sighed. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that she wasn't awake, even though he knew it was quite late and most people were asleep by this time.

He left a quick message to let her know that there wasn't any emergency just in case she saw the missed call and thought something was wrong, then turned around and continued to bound across the rooftops in great leaps. After running around for a while, he came to a stop again. He was feeling less restless now but still didn't feel tired. He knew that he wouldn't be able to go to sleep yet if he tried.

Chat Noir stood quietly for a moment, catching his breath and staring at the city below him. Everything was covered in a soft layer of white, untouched save for his footprints. It would be Christmas soon, he realized.

He was so busy contemplating the quiet beauty of the falling snow that when a hand gently touched his shoulder, he yelped, jumped in surprise and spun around, his self-defence mechanisms kicking in as he tackled whatever had touched him to the ground swiftly and pinned them there.

A second passed, and he found himself blinking in surprise down at Ladybug who looked equally as stunned. He sprang to his feet, pulling Ladybug to hers. "My lady," he gasped. "What are you doing?"

She let out a yawn. "I could ask you the same thing, Chaton."

He frowned slightly. "Did I wake you up?" He asked in concern.

"No, my kwami did. She felt you trying to call me."

"Oh." His ears flattened to his head in guilt. "It wasn't anything serious. I was just wondering if you were up. I'm sorry Bugaboo."

She shrugged. "Well I'm awake now." She glanced over to him, yawning again. "What are you up for?"

"I felt restless. I…" He paused for a moment. "I couldn't get to sleep."

"Why not?" Now it was her turn to look concerned for him. Noticing the look on his face she asked, "Are you alright?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I just… I just felt a bit..." He glanced away from her. "Lonely, I guess." He finished in a low murmur.

Ladybug's eyes widened and she covered the distance between them to wrap her arms around him. She couldn't bear the thought of her partner feeling lonely. She was suddenly glad she had decided to come out and see why Chat had called, it was worth it if it meant she could make him feel better.

He seemed surprised at her sudden hug but put his arms around her anyway, resting his chin on her shoulder. After a moment, Ladybug pulled away again. "Well since we're both awake, why don't we do something?"

She could see the way his eyes lit up at that suggestion, and it warmed her heart. He truly would like to spend time with her, even though it was late and they both had school the next day. But she would do anything to make sure her partner didn't feel lonely anymore, even if it meant she would be tired the next day.

She hated to admit it, but the silly cat had really grown on her and she had become fonder of him. She still ignored the way her stomach would sometimes get all fluttery when he playfully flirted with her. That was not going to be thought about.

"Well, what does my lady suggest we do?" Chat Noir asked.

She considered for a moment before a sly grin slid onto her face. "Do you like cookies, Chat Noir?"

He looked confused but nodded anyway. "Of course! Why?"

She didn't answer his question, instead choosing to turn away and start moving across the rooftops. "Well come on then!" She called to him and he dutifully followed after her, eager to see what she had in mind.

It only took a few minutes for them to reach where Ladybug had supposedly decided they would go. She landed down on the street then straightened up. "What are we doing here, My Lady?" He asked, glancing around at his surroundings.

"We're making Christmas cookies, of course."

He blinked. The Dupain-Cheng bakery was right in front of them. "We're just going to walk in there?" He asked dubiously.

She nodded. "Yeah. I… I know Marinette and her parents. They would let us use their kitchen. We won't make a mess and I'll replace all the ingredients we use tomorrow. Besides, where else could we go?"

He shrugged. If his lady said it was alright, then it would be fine. But there was a slight issue. "How do we get in though?" He asked.

"There's an entrance around the side that's usually unlocked."

Chat Noir didn't want to ask how she knew that so he said nothing as he followed her to the side entrance. It was unlocked, just as she had said so they went inside and found themselves in the bakery kitchen. "Come on." She said, pulling him into the kitchen. "I'll show you how to bake the best Christmas cookies ever."

"My Lady, are you saying I don't know how to bake cookies?" He asked, pressing a hand to his his heart in mock offence.

She raised an eyebrow. "Do you?"

"No." He admitted.

"See I already knew that. You've told me before that you've never made cookies before that weren't burnt or otherwise inedible."

"Oh so I did." He had forgotten about telling her that.

"So I'll teach you." She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the supply cupboard, then started handing him various ingredients.

Chat Noir watched, slightly bewildered, as his arms filled up with all the basic ingredients of cookies as well as some other things he didn't know the names of, before she led him back to the kitchen bench and helped him lay them all out. It didn't take long to mix everything together, Ladybug had clearly made these Christmas cookies before. Which was lucky for him, because he'd be lost without her guidance.

The cookies were soon in the oven, baking. Ladybug had told him that to make them the absolute best, they would take them out halfway through the baking and sprinkle a special 'secret ingredient' on top then put them back in for the remaining time.

The kitchen was messy by then. They had tried to not make too much of a mess, but Chat Noir couldn't help himself from chucking a bit of flour at Ladybug. She had then, of course, chucked some back at him just to be even, which resulted in both of them both being covered with flour and the benches and floor dusted with a layer of it. "Come on, let's clean up." She said, shoving a tea towel into his hands. "You can dry."

"Ah that's good My Lady," he grinned. "Cats don't like water."

She rolled her eyes. "Careful kitten, or I will make you do the washing up." She flicked a bit of water at him as she said that and he yelped.

They cleaned up the kitchen fast as well, working just as well as if they were fighting an akuma. They finished just as they timer on the oven beeped to signal the halfway point.

She pulled the tray out of the oven then playfully covered his eyes. "No peeking. This is a secret ingredient."

Once the cookies were back in the oven, Ladybug turned to Chat Noir. "You realise it's 3:30, right?" She yawned as she said that. "I don't know know about you, but I'm pretty tired."

Now that he was no longer full of energy and had been awake for a while, he was starting to feel more sleepy as well. But they had to wait for the cookies to finish baking before they could go back to bed. He didn't mind though. Being able to spend time with his lady, and being silly with her, with no threat of an akuma attack at this time of night, had been truly amazing, something special. He glanced over to her as she settled down on the floor. "We may as well sit down while we wait for the cookies."

He sat next to her and leaned back against the bench. "Do you think we might have woken the Dupain-Chengs up?" He asked, slightly concerned.

She shook her head. "No I don't think so."

He hummed and the two sat quietly, shoulders brushing and backs against the cupboards under the bench. They stayed like that, in tired silence, until the oven beeped again and Ladybug stood up and pulled the cookies out. "Here." She offered him one. "They're still really hot but try one. They taste best fresh out of the oven."

He took one and bit into it, ignoring the way it burnt his tongue. Ladybug was right. These really were the best Christmas cookies he'd ever tasted. "You know My Lady, these are so good I'd almost think you work in a bakery."

"Don't be silly, Chat. I just happen to know a lot of secrets." She scoffed, rolling her eyes again. As she did so, she caught sight of something.

Mistletoe. Of course. How had she forgotten that her father liked to hang mistletoe everywhere and wait near it when he had a break for Sabine to come past. And if Marinette happened to come past instead, he would scoop her up and playfully plant a kiss on the top of her head while she squirmed and laughed at him. It was their tradition. He followed her gaze and noticed the mistletoe as well. Before he could say anything, Ladybug reached up on her toes and pecked his cheek. "Merry Christmas, Chat Noir." She said, turning away to gather the cookies up in one of the bakery boxes.

She held it out to the still stunned Chat. "You can keep these. I'll have plenty of chances to make more."

He blinked. "Really?"

"Of course. I want you to have them."

His face broke out in a wide grin as he took the box offered to him. "Thanks My Lady. Merry Christmas."

She gave him a fond smile. "Come on," she said, leading him out of the kitchen. "You need to get some sleep now."

"Of course Bugaboo. You get some sleep too. Goodnight." And with that, and a quick kiss to the back of her hand, he left, clutching the box of Christmas cookies to him, like they were the most important thing. And to him, they were important, because they were made by him and his lady and reminded him of the time he got to spend with her, undisturbed at a time when most people were asleep. It was magical.

...

Wow that turned out a lot longer than expected. I hope you enjoyed! :)

Remember to keep an eye out for the rest of the Christmas oneshots that should be coming out each day!

Christmas countdown question number 1: Do you like Christmas cookies? What's your favourite type?

Ladybug and Chat Noir made some extra for you!

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