"I thought knitting was supposed to be relaxing?" Alya slumped with her chin in her hand watching her clumsy friend click two sticks together instead of chewing up a gaming console control with her fingers. She'd hoped that when Marinette came over they could play video games, but once again Marinette was taking on more than was humanly possible and had been crafting constantly for the last few weeks. She herself knew nothing about how to knit but could read disaster on Marinette's face by the way it scrunched and the way she bit her tongue.
She was too focused to hear at first. "Hm? Oh. ..." She managed to salvage the dropped stitches and breathed deep. Disaster averted. "Well, it's more like it's gratifying to be able to make things with my own hands, but with all the deadlines I wouldn't say it's very relaxing."
"I thought the knitting drive for the children's hospital was over?"
"Yeah, but... I need to make my friend's presents!"
"Oh, will I have the honor of getting something handmade from the crafty Marinette? What are you going to make me?"
"Nothing if you pry, gifts are better when they're a surprise!"
"Okay, so who's that one for? Adrien?"
Marinette choked on her own saliva. "Nuh n- no, I- made him something already!"
"Shame, that color really goes with his eyes."
"Heh, heh..." her chuckle was nervous. She couldn't tell her friend that she picked the color to go with Chat Noir's eyes.
Earlier that week...
The superhero duo performed their iconic fist bump for the patients to see when all the gifts had been given out, the room erupting in cheer. Paris had contributed handmade stuffed animals, socks, scarves, hats, and blankets to give the young patients a more pleasant holiday.
Solely for the pleasure of the children a large window was opened for the heroes to make their departure. "Don't try this at home," Chat Noir warned before following Ladybug out the window.
He followed closely behind her until he thought they were alone before calling her attention.
"Wait-"
Ladybug stopped mid-throw to glance at him inquisitively. "What is it?" Her tone was all business, making it that much harder for him to speak.
"I, uh- I thought, maybe, we could exchange gifts this year. You know, we work together all the time, we could do something small for the holidays." He shrugged to soften the delivery.
Ladybug' s posture relaxed. "Oh, chaton. I don't know if it's wise-"
Kitty's ears dropped. Those darn kitten eyes. Though she would never say out loud that he had kitten eyes, it was her greatest weakness. "I suppose it would be harmless..."
"It would be! Nothing compromising. In fact we don't even have to do gifts."
"But that's how a gift exchange goes."
"Well, we could do something different, I don't know." He really wanted something to look forward to this year. "Never mind. Forget I asked." And then dismissively, "joyeux noël!"
She stopped him. "It's okay. A gift exchange would be fine. Oh, but Christmas is next week!"
"We can have it later. It's just the two of us, anyway."
"No, that would be fine." She seemed to be trying to convince herself. "Let's do it. Why not? Totally harmless."
"Great, I look forward to it! Want to meet up by the tree?"
"Sure." In her mind she was already shifting her schedule around.
"Great! Until then, my lady." He made his fanciful bow and launched off, beaming.
Later...
"Oooh, shiny!"
"Give it back, Plagg!" He really should keep a butterfly net in his room.
Plagg floated freely through the air, always just above Adrien's reach. He tossed up a silvery ring and caught it, playing toss with himself. "You must be getting really serious to get her a ring."
"It's not like that!"
"Sure. Woah! It's heavy. It's just like the miraculous, I bet I would get them mixed up! Hey, that would be a fun trick."
Adrien leapt off the arm of the couch and narrowly missed.
"Is Ladybug going to like that you copied your miraculous? Up until now she doesn't know what it looks like when it's not activated."
"It's harmless," Adrien convinced himself. "With the whole magic-disguise-thing I really don't think it'll be problematic."
"I don't get why she has to make so many rules."
"We need to keep our identities secret to protect our civilian selves. How is that hard to get?"
"I think she just likes being bossy. Whoops!" He missed the catch, but Adrien didn't. "Awe, I was having fun!"
Adrien closed it back in its box and quickly tucked it into a pocket. "Go back to lazing around. I'll fetch you when it's time."
"I can't, I want to know what my present is!"
"Your present?" Adrien folded his arms over his chest.
"Anything Chat Noir gets is mine too. I'm doing the work! I wonder if there will be macaroons."
"You and food. Why macaroons? I thought it was camembert all the way?"
"Macaroons are good, too."
"You couldn't have told me that sooner? I'd much rather smell like a bakery than stinky cheese."
"Cheese is not off the menu!"
"Alright Tiki, let's try it on for size." She had run scrap yarn through the working loops of the fabric strip so it wouldn't unravel and held it out for the kwami, who wrapped herself in it.
"Wow, Marinette! It fits perfectly!"
"Great! I thought it would be nice for Chat Noir's kwami to have a matching scarf."
"Oh, it's for Pl- Chat Noir's kwami?"
"What's wrong?"
"...he's a little bigger."
"Okay, so maybe four more rows then."
While she worked, Tiki drifted toward the desk to examine the finished scarf hanging off the desk chair. It was Marinette's first attempt at colorwork, a bright green scarf with a single black paw print. Since she'd made a dozen scarves for the drive she thought it appropriate to invest in vegan leather tags branded with her initial, one of which she'd sewn into this scarf with matching green thread. "Do you think it's wise to sign it?"
"Of course, Ladybug is commissioning me," she winked. "You know, with the agreement that Marinette gets free publicity if anyone asks where she got it."
"You'll be a famous designer in no time!"
Marinette giggled, working the last few stitches. She anticipated getting requests for superhero themed accessories, and considered investing in the side project as a small income to save up for after school. But how would Alya react when she found out she made a superhero a Christmas present, at the request of Alya's favorite superhero, and didn't tell her best friend?
"There we go." She snipped the yarn and held it up for Tiki to appraise.
"Perfect!" Marinette dug out a sewing needle, wincing as she pricked herself before weaving in the ends. "I wonder what Chat Noir will get you for a present!"
"I actually didn't think about that. I was so concerned with getting everything done in time, it didn't occur to me a gift exchange goes both ways." She hummed at the scarf on the chair. "What do you think, tassels or no?"
"Go with your instincts!"
"... The cat thing. Definitely yes to tassles."
When Marinette was absorbed back into Chat's scarf, Tiki appraised the scarf for the kwami once more, pecking a kiss of approval onto it.
Marinette took a large handkerchief and laid it out, folding into it a metal tin and both scarves. "Here goes, Tiki. Time to transform!"
After the transformation she put on a red Santa hat and tied the handkerchief to her hip before she took off.
Once at the rendezvous, a rooftop adjacent to the plaza illuminated by the giant pine tree, she glanced around. She slid open her yoyo and halted at Chat Noir's voice behind her. "Joyeux noël, my lady!"
"Chat! Joyeux noël!" Eagerly she held out the gift sack.
"You got a cat a bag." He winked to show he was making a pun, afraid it would go unnoticed. It went ignored. "Merci." He slipped a candy cane into her hand as he took her offer, and undid the knot. His eyes lit up at the sight of the scarf, the paw print displayed boldly.
"You remember Marinette, right? I commissioned her to make the scarves. There's one for your kwami, too. And she insisted on the cookies."
"Wow, that was really nice of her!" Ladybug giggled mischievously. "Hey, macaroons, perfect! Woah, and this is just his size!" He looked up at her, his green eyes glowing. "Thank you, Ladybug. I'm glad we got to do this. Here, this one's yours." He reached for his belt and held out a small black box with a red bow.
Ladybug eyed it suspiciously. "Are you proposing?"
"Am I down on a knee?" He winked.
She accepted the box and slipped the candy cane onto her strap before she opened the gift cautiously, and shot an accusing glare at him. "It is a ring."
"No, it's not like that." He waved his free hand defensively and then held out a relaxed fist and pointed to his miraculous. "I commissioned a copy of mine. I thought it would be cool." He nervously rubbed the back of his head. "Because, well, you're the only one who's going to look at that ring and know the story behind it, just like when people look at civilian you and don't know all the sacrifices you make, and how hard you work to keep them safe. It's a reminder that I know, and I respect you for it."
"Wow, chaton. Thank you." She took it out of the box and slipped it onto a finger. "Woah, your hands are big." She tried it on different fingers but with no success.
"Why didn't I think about that!" He slapped a hand to his head.
"It's okay kitty. It would be creepy if you knew my ring size." She winked coyly at him. "It's 5." She tucked it back in the box.
Chat Noir munched away at a cookie. "These are so good!" Ladybug leaned up quickly and pecked his cheek.
"I'm glad we got to do this too, Chat." He froze, face reddening. She dismissively shifted her attention back to her candy cane.
He tucked behind a chimney and looked around to make sure he was alone and let the transformation dissolve.
"Can I have one now?" Adrien held out a macaroon for Plagg to munch and then held out the miniature scarf.
"She did get you something. She's too good to you."
"Ooh, it's soft!" Plagg buried his face in it before putting it on. "Remember I have to take it off before transforming, or it'll damage your powers."
"Then don't get comfortable. Enjoy your snack and we'll stop by Marinette's."
"What for?"
"To return the cookie tin."
The cat kwami zipped behind Adrien's head to the other shoulder. "You're making up excuses to see her."
"It was really nice of her to make the scarves, especially after all the knitting she did for the children at the hospital. For weeks she's been knitting during her lunchtime and at any break she gets." He leaned against the chimney and admired the color work, playing with the tassles absentmindedly. "Are you done yet?"
Plagg refused to answer, still chomping away at the pastries noisily.
After Marinette let her transformation dissolve, Tiki swirled in the air momentarily, little arms crossed over her torso. "What?"
"You kissed Chat Noir!" She teased.
"It was harmless! A peck on the cheek!" Tiki giggled wildly. Marinette plopped on her bed and admired the ring. It was heavy, and simple in design. Tiki came to admire it with her. "I didn't want him to be upset about it being too big for me."
"What better way to say thank you than with a kiss?"
"It was a teeny, tiny peck! It's not going to happen again. I was caught up in the moment. It was really thoughtful of him, I didn't know he could be like that. Sentimental." She gasped excitedly when an idea occurred to her. "I'll keep it with the kwagatama you gave me." She went to her desk and pulled out a spool of cord, cut a strip and strung it through the ring, and tied it around her neck.
"Perfect! You can still wear it, then!"
Their thoughts were interrupted with a knocking. It wasn't from the hatch to downstairs, but from above her bed. Momentarily they stared wildly at each other before Marinette commanded "Tiki, hide." The kwami zipped into her shirt while she tucked the ring under her shirt and went to open the hatch carefully.
"Chat Noir?" The question erupted from her the moment the hatch was open, her head barely above the floor level of the balcony. He sat playfully by the hatch, wearing his scarf proudly, the tin in his lap, and his tail spinning in his hand.
"Joyeux noël, Marinette!"
"What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to give this back to you." He held out the empty cookie tin. "And thank you for making the presents. My kwami's scarf fits him perfectly!"
"What's a kwami? Is that what you named your doll?" Chat's eyes grew large. "Ladybug said you would want a matching scarf for your doll."
"My doll. Right. Thank you."
"I'm glad you liked it, Chat. And thanks for bringing back the box, you could have kept it."
"Thank you for the offer, but that's okay. I also wanted to say that it's really awesome you made all those presents for the knitting drive. You should have seen the kids, they were so happy to get such special gifts. And the quality was really professional!"
"Awe thanks, Chat!" She thought a moment, and followed up with, "I think I should be thanking you, though. Paris appreciates having you and Ladybug, whether it's to fight akumas or help charities. Thank you for all you do."
"Oh. It's nothing, I'm really just… your friendly neighborhood superhero. It comes with the territory, you know?" He looked like there was something else he wanted to say, but he decided against it and she wasn't going to press him. "Joyeux noël, purrincess."
"Joyeux noël."
He smiled and took his leave, Marinette's eyes following after him. She sighed and propped her head on her elbow. Tiki slipped out from Marinette's shirt and eyed her pointedly.
Eventually she noticed. "What?"
"Isn't there a phrase about feeding strays?"
"You're right, Tiki. I think Marinette's going to be hearing more from Chat Noir now. Maybe not my greatest decision, but... I don't know."
"You feel for him."
"Yeah. Wait, what exactly do you mean by that?" Tiki giggled innocently in reply.