Tikki sighed as the warmth of the tiny coffee shop greeted her as she stepped through the door. The streets of Paris were already covered in a light dusting of snow, making the holidays season even more magical.

So far working as the apprentice to fashion designer Marinette Dupain-Cheng was like living in a dream! One she wanted to fulfill since she first picked up a needle and thread. Her boss not only had a great eye for detail, but she was also one of the kindest people she has ever met.

With only two weeks until Christmas, the company was anxious to get out their winter line in time for the holidays. Fortunately just as Tikki needed a break from sketching and finalizing designs, Marinette sent the redhead to fetch her some coffee while also giving her extra money to treat herself.

"I know how much of a sweet tooth you got," the ravenette winked as she handed Tikki the cash, "There's no harm in buying yourself a cookie or two."

Tikki tried telling her boss that it was too much, but she insisted anyway.

"Alright," Tikki gave up as she packed her things for the time being. "Should I go to your parent's bakery as always?"

Imagine her surprise when Marinette said no. Instead, she sent her apprentice to a local coffee shop, one Tikki has never heard of before. Apparently, her boss recently gotten a new boyfriend by the name of Adrien Agreste. He also happens to be the owner of the coffee shop she was now in.

Tikki glance around and noticed that there wasn't a line. A couple of pedestrians were seated at the tables, cozy and content with the service and drinks.

Tikki shyly approached the cashier who was busy restocking some pastries in the display case. He had jet black hair and pale skin. When she looked closer at his eyes, she realized they were a glowing shade of green. Neon, if that's what she could describe it as.

"How can I help you?" the same cashier asked in a smooth yet laid back voice.

She noticed that his name tag read "manager".

Was this Marinette's new boyfriend? If so, Tikki was already getting a weird vibe from him.

"Ah yes. I'm here on Marinette's behalf for some coffee and cookies. I'm assuming you're Adrien Agreste?"

The man blinked a bit as though he was puzzled, but slowly his frown turned into a small smirk.

"Um, yes. Adrien Agreste, nice to meet you," he held out his hand. Tikki hesitantly shook it, only to realize it was sticky from syrups and other ingredients. She made no comment and instead kept any judgment to herself. After all, it wasn't her place to tell Marinette who to date. Yet Tikki couldn't help but observe if he was good enough for her friend.

Adrien quickly finished stocking the pastries and went right to work to assist her. "Now what can I get you sugarcube?"

Maybe it was just his way of greeting customers, or maybe that was his way of speaking in general, but Tikki didn't like it one bit.

"Don't call me sugarcube," she deadpanned as she slid Marinette's note to him.

This only caused Adrien to smile more. "But you definitely seem like the sweet type," he winked at her before reading over her friend's list.

First time may have been a warning sign, but Adrien was definitely suspicious now. If he wasn't careful Tikki might think that he was actually flirting with her.

She choose to ignore it as he got out her cookies. "How much?" she asked.

Adrien didn't miss a beat as he started to make Marinette's coffee, "On the house. Pretty girls like you get to have treats like these for free." As if he wasn't already walking on eggshells, he threw in another wink.

Tikki glared at him as he handed her the finished drink, "You better be careful. With all those winks and sweet talking someone might think that you're flirting with me."

Adrien paused and looked at her with a puzzled expression, "What did you think I've been doing? I don't flirt with just anyone for nothing."

He grinned as he handed Tikki the goodies that were requested. "And maybe if you like, you could give me your number?"

Tikki stared daggers at Adrien who was starting to look slightly nervous. Good. Maybe that would help get her message across on not to cheat on her best friend.

"Are you stupid or something?" she hissed.

Adrien gulped at the redhead's words, "W-what?"

Tikki rolled her eyes. The nerves of this man, she couldn't believe that Marinette would date him in the first place.

"How dare you try two timing me when you're already with my best friend!"

Adrien stayed silent. Good. Tikki took this as a sign to continue.

"She is the most amazing, gorgeous, and kind hearted person I have ever met! Marinette deserves way better than a sticky sock of a rat like you! It's a miracle that she gave you a chance in the first place! You would be lucky if she even looks your way after I tell her-"

"Excuse me miss?" somebody interrupted.

Tikki and Adrien directed their attention to another male employee. He had golden hair and green eyes. His expression also told that he was confused about what was happening.

"Is Plagg giving you any trouble ma'am?" the blonde asked curiously.

Plagg? Wasn't the person who dared try flirting with her Adrien? But that meant...

"You're not Adrien," Tikki stated as she took a step back from the counter. She heard a customer cough behind her, and it just occurred to Tikki that she just caused a scene in public. She paid no mind as people slowly got back to what they were doing.

The blonde employee chuckled, "I'm sorry, but there must have been a mix up. I'm Adrien, this-" he gestured to 'not Adrien', "is Plagg."

Well, that made more sense at least. But still, it didn't excuse Plagg's behavior at all.

"Was there a problem, miss…," Adrien trailed off.

"Tikki. Nice to finally meet you Adrien. The real one this time."

Adrien raised his eyebrows as he glanced at Plagg.

"Your employee made me think that he was a two timing pig. I believe you are more than acquaintance with Marinette?" she offered just to start the conversation.

The blonde seemed to perk up at this. "You must be Marinette's friend, Tikki! Marinette texted that you would be coming over…" He trailed off as he realized what Tikki said previously. It was his turn to glare at Plagg.

'What did you do this time?" Adrien frowned.

Plagg mumbled out something that sounded like "I'll tell you later", but Tikki wasn't so sure. Adrien shook his head before sending Plagg to the back to fetch something.

After he was gone, Adrien tried apologizing.

"I'm so sorry Tikki. I hope this doesn't affect your opinion of me. I know Marinette means just as much to you as to me," he rubbed the back of his next sheepishly.

Tikki felt her shoulders relax, and any judgment she had towards who Marinette dated vanished. Adrien was a polite gentleman who definitely seemed like a good match for her friend.

"That's alright," she replied as she took the almost forgotten goodies on the counter, "I'm sure you're a good match for Marinette, but I just hope your first impression of me won't affect how we view each other later. Let's meet up again soon, ok?"

Adrien nodded and they both bid their goodbyes as Tikki exited the shop.

Marinette's coffee was probably cold by now, but Tikki had a pretty good story to why she was late. Not to mention, the cookies made up for all of it.

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"Sorry, can you tell me again? Sometimes your stories are so unbelievable, I forget how stupid you could be!" Adrien scowled his employee.

Plagg looked down, ashamed of what happened earlier.

"Flirting on the job is unprofessional, but I get it. Otherwise how would I have ended up dating Marinette in the first place? But using my name, pretending to be me, and flirting with my girlfriend's best friend as me is a different story!" Adrien shouted as he ran his hand through his hair.

If he didn't interfere, who knew what would've happened. No doubt Tikki would have told her boss on how her boyfriend was flirting with her. It only could've gone downhill from there.

"What were you thinking? Do you know how messed up things could've gotten?" Adrien asked. Luckily the shop was all closed up. The customers would have gone home after hearing the commotion in the kitchen anyways.

Plagg looked at Adrien, only to look down at his feet again, "I know I messed up kid. But I really like Tikki ok? I can't really describe it, but something just...I don't know. It just clicked."

Adrien sighed and counted in his head to calm down. "Plagg, if anyone could spot a 'love at first sight' cliche, it would be me. But at least think about things ahead of time ok?"

Plagg nodded as he got to work cleaning the machines. "The only reason I pretended to be you was because well, you're you."

The blonde smiled at his friend, "I know I'm great Plagg. Thanks for finally admitting it."

Plagg shoved Adrien playfully on the shoulder before continuing his previous task. "That's not what I meant…"

Adrien paused to look at his friend.

"You're Adrien Agreste. Owner of a successful coffee shop. And son of-"

"Don't say his name!"

Plagg shrugged. "Don't want your girlfriend to know that your dad is her biggest competitor in the fashion industry? You only got yourself to blame when she kicks your butt later."

"If you never mention it, I won't mention what happened with Tikki."

"Deal".

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Tikki was dreading this. It has been three days since she last visited this coffee shop, and in her opinion it was all too soon to return. Hopefully Plagg wasn't her barista again. And with her luck, it was unlikely.

Marinette always used to joke about how much good luck Tikki brings to the company.

"I swear, ever since you joined the company, we've been having an exceptional amount of luck. You're like our good luck charm!" Marinette complimented her one day.

Unfortunately the one day Tikki needed that luck the most, it abandoned her. Because guess who was her barista today?

"Ahh. Couldn't resist me sugarcube," Plagg snickered as he wrote down a name on a biodegradable cup. Truth be told, he was rather anxious about Tikki being here. So the only explanation that came to his mind was to continue the game he played with her last time, and that was to keep flirting.

"I would say it's nice to see you too, but that would obviously be a lie, Plagg!" Tikki growled out underneath her breath so only Plagg could hear her. It would be rude to Adrien if she scared off his customers after all.

"And sugarcube remembers my name! I'm flattered," Plagg smiled.

"If only the feelings were mutual."

"Yeah, if only."

"I meant it in a bad way, you stinky sock!"

"Stinky sock! I find that highly offensive," Plagg stated dramatically as he pretended to stab himself in the chest.

Tikki scoffed at his childish theatrics, "If you pretend one more time-"

"Excuse me!" a customer in line scowled them. Tikki and Plagg blushed in embarrassment.

"If you two want to keep flirting, do it somewhere else. You're holding up the line!"

Just as Tikki was about to apologize, she paused in her tracks, "Flirting?!"

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She couldn't believe this. One week until Christmas and Marinette sent her on another coffee run. It was like ever since the redhead told her friend about her little incident at the coffee shop, Marinette kept on teasing her by sending her back.

She still remembered what happened after the last visit:

"Here's your coffee. It might be cold by now, but I'm not going back to that coffee shop again," Tikki huffed as she took off her scarf and placed it on the coat hanger of Marinette's office. When she was done she turned to her boss only to find that she had a mischievous expression on her face. Tikki didn't like that look at all.

"So," the ravenette started off innocently, but Tikki knew better, "did you see Plagg?"

Was Marinette trying to set her up with Plagg? If she was, Tikki thought her standards were much higher than that.

"I did. Bastard had the nerve to flirt and call me sugarcube again," Tikki sighed as she flipped open her design book.

"He calls you sugarcube?" Marinette asked almost too excitedly.

Tikki shrugged, "Yeah, it's pretty annoying."

"Adrien was right, they are cute," Marinette giggled to herself. Her apprentice paused to look up.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" Marinette corrected herself as she made up an excuse to go to the bathroom.

And now Tikki found herself in line of the coffee shop again. This time Adrien was working alongside Plagg.

When it was Tikki's turn at the cash register, Adrien greeted her politely as he offered her a drink on the house. Plagg on the other hand was trying to ignore her, unlike last time. Weird.

Finally when she was almost done with the order, Tikki greeted Plagg by saying a hello. She didn't know what compelled her to, but she did anyways. Surprisingly, he just blushed slyly and went back to work. Understandable since it was the afternoon rush right now.

By the time Tikki's order was ready, the rush had died down.

"I'm exhausted Adrien," Plagg complain as Tikki pretended to be interested in the text on her phone.

"Plagg! Your cheese is here!"

Tikki looked up to see another employee with thick glasses and chocolate skin gesture for Plagg to come over. And just like that, Plagg looked wide awake and energized as he went through the back door.

"Tikki! Your orders ready!" Adrien called out a moment afterwards.

She approached the counter and thanked the blonde, occasionally looking at the back door to see if Plagg would reappear. As if reading her thoughts, Adrien decided to chime in, "Plagg's cheese order comes every Tuesday. I swear that he loves camembert more than he loves himself."

Adrien chuckled as he gave Tikki a tray of coffees and a pastry bag...a pastry bag that she didn't order.

"Umm, Adrien. I never ordered this," she held up the bag.

Adrien just smiled as he helped refill another customer's water. "That's because you never did. It's on the house, from Plagg."

This caused Tikki to blush for some unknown reason. That was surprisingly sweet of him, Tikki thought. But as soon as that thought entered her mind, it vanished just as fast as it came.

"Um, t-thanks Adrien," the redhead shuddered as she walked away. Adrien nodded in reply.

As she was walking down the street, Tikki couldn't help but open the pastry bag, curious on what Plagg gave her. It was a chocolate chip cookie. Her favorite.

The rest of the week, Marinette sent Tikki to the coffee shop everyday. Plagg seemed to be back to his flirty self like all those other times, but Tikki didn't really mind. She didn't know why this bothered her so much.

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This time when Tikki entered the coffee shop, she did it on her own accord. Marinette, nor did anyone else send her. She didn't know why, but Tikki found herself there at twelve in the afternoon on Christmas Eve.

For the past week, Plagg was always on her mind. Part of the reason she came to the coffee shop in the first place was to prove to herself that she could get him off her mind. She didn't have a crush on him. That was why she was here. The only person she had to prove it to was herself.

Yet, her heart wanted to burst out of her chest at the sight in front of her. Two girls were in front of Plagg right now, flirting with him? Tikki didn't understand why this bothered her so much. For god's sake, she was the one who refused to give Plagg her number all those times he asked after all.

The first girl had orangish hair what turned into a white ombre at its tip. It reminded Tikki of a fox's tail, in a strange way. The second girl had two thin raven black curled ponytails on either side of her head. She also had the fuzziest yellow scarf around her neck, perfect against Paris's cold weather.

"I swear Plagg, if you don't make the next move, I will!" the fox girl stated.

"Quiet Trixx! You're scaring the poor boy. Let me take over from here. Phone," fuzzy scarf girl demanded from Plagg. He compelled by giving her his phone.

"For the record, you two know I'm not scared by either of you," he grumbled. The girl rolled her eyes, grabbed his phone and typed something inside before handing it back to him.

He glanced at the screen before his eyes widened. "What the hell Pollen!"

Pollen shrugged as Plagg started blushing. Trixx gave her friend the evil eye.

'What are you two looking at, it's called flirting!" Pollen stated.

Tikki had just about enough and decided that the sooner she got out of here, the better. Plagg has clearly already moved on.

"Ahem," Tikki cleared her voice. The three friends looked her way, two in surprise, Plagg's in...embarrassment?

"Tikki! How long were you there?" Plagg's voice cracked towards the end.

"That's Tikki? You're right, she is cute," Trixx smirked at Plagg.

Cute? Plagg thought that she was cute? Tikki decided to play it cool. Just needed to get out of here, and it would all be over.

After Plagg took Tikki's order, she decided to confront him. After all, Tikki knew her feelings would never get past this if she didn't have some form of closure.

She leaned in and whispered something she knew only Plagg was able to hear, "If you were already interested in someone else, you didn't have to keep up the charade of liking me. I would've gave you my number by the end of the day anyways."

She pulled away just as Plagg asked, "What are you talking about?"

Tikki sighed as she gestured to Pollen. "I hope you two are happy with each other."

She hoped that didn't sound as bitter as Tikki heard herself say. She forced herself to move and sat down at one of the tables while she waited. She needed her favorite comfort food right now, and those are warm chocolate chip cookies.

Tikki was so lost in thought that she nearly jumped when someone sat across from her.

"Hey Tikki," Plagg greeted as he placed down a plate full of cookies in front of her. There were more cookies than she originally ordered, but she didn't really mind. Cookies are the best.

"I know you probably don't want to see me right now, you made it pretty obvious that my advances aren't welcomed, but I just want it to be clear that the only person I'm interested in right now is you," Plagg said as he held eye contact with her. He mentally noted that blue was now his new favorite color.

Tikki's heart began to beat faster, but she couldn't get her hopes up just yet. "But what about the other two girls?"

"Pollen and Trixx?" Plagg asked. The two seemed to be talking to each other, but Plagg knew better. They were spying on them.

"They're my sisters. I'm an adopted child, and so are they," he explained.

Tikki relaxed a bit, but the conversation earlier didn't match up. "What about the conversation earlier? Where Pollen was saying something about flirting?"

Plagg gave his sister a death stare where she childishly stuck her tongue out in return.

"They were both giving me advice…" he trailed off, a bit embarrassed to continue.

'Advice about what?" Tikki pressed on.

Plagg sighed. Why not just tell the whole truth? Although he was never good with the emotional confrontation things like Adrien, he did know that his feelings for Tikki were very much real.

"Advice about you."

Tikki blinked, trying to process what he said.

"I like you Tikki. I like you a lot. The reason I pretended to be Adrien the first time we met was because I thought you would be more impressed if I used his name. I promise I was going to reveal myself once you gave me your number. I didn't realize that when you said you were there on Marinette's behalf, you meant that you were there because of Adrien's girlfriend. It was an idiotic mistake on my part really…"

He forced himself to continue. He was never good with words. This was why he stuck with cheese.

"And now instead of asking for your number, I want to ask you out. Like on a proper date, because you either go big or go home right?" he chuckled. "I meant everything that I said about you, and I would very much appreciate it if you tell me whether you actually hate me or not. And if you want to stay as friends, that's ok too because you being here is more than enough."

Tikki smiled and wondered how it only took them two weeks to get past their first impressions, but first…

"How about we just sit here and enjoy these cookies while we discuss date details?" she suggested as she split a cookie in half and handed one half to Plagg.

"If all goes well by the end of the day, I'll let you have my number as well. Deal?"

Plagg grinned as he accepted a cookie, "It's a deal, sugarcube."

*****Bonus*****

From the kitchen, Marinette, Adrien, Pollen, and Trixx eyed Tikki and Plagg as they continued on with their non-official cookie date.

"So," Marinette grinned, "who's ready to spy on them during their actual first date?"

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Day 2 - Cookies. And I'm late again. But I think finishing this story was worth it!

Credits youreyeslookliketheocean on Tumblr for her prompts of December