Chat could almost feel the stress of the day melting away as he bounded across the rooftops.

He had ended up missing the entire day of school, stuck in a photoshoot that felt like it would never end. His back ached from standing up straight or assuming weird positions that still looked good on camera, his feet felt like they were going to fall off, and all he wanted was to snuggle down with his amazing girlfriends and destress.

Unfortunately, black cats were rarely so lucky as to get what they wanted.

The light was on in Marinette's room, so he didn't bother to knock and just opened up the rooftop hatch, only to freeze as three baleful glares settled on him.

He wasn't sure what he did, but whatever it was he never wanted to do it again if it made his girlfriends glare at him like that.

Thankfully the glaring didn't last long, as all three of them settled back down in the massive nest of blankets and pillows that they were cuddling in. Carefully, Chat slipped into the room and shut the hatch behind him, taking in the empty pints of ice cream and the trio of heating pads that the three were pressing to their lower bellies. "Are you all okay?"

Queen Bee bristled, only to have the clearly brewing rant cut off when Vixen leaned over and kissed her cheek. She huffed and looked away, but all of them could clearly see the blush dusting her cheeks.

"It's that time of the month," Marinette groaned from where she was leaning against Vixen and using her (well-padded) chest as a pillow. And stealing her body heat, that too.

Chat blinked, then blinked again as a (strongly suppressed) memory hit him: his father ducking out of giving him The Talk and ordering Nathalie to do it, despite the woman's icy protest that it wasn't in her job description.

Well, she had given him a (very well informed) Talk, and had made sure to go into detail about what women went through every month.

He wasn't sure what Nathalie had done to his father afterwards, but the man had practically tiptoed around his assistant for the next month and a half, and it had been a full six months before he had been back to normal. One thing he could agree with his father on, Nathalie was terrifying the rare times she got angry.

"Um… is there any way I can help?" Chat finally asked, unsure where to go from that point.

"Rip out our uteruses," Queen Bee said darkly from where she was face down in some pillows.

"Yessssss." Marinette sat bolt upright. "Well, not the ripping out organs thing. Store run, please Chaton. We're out of painkillers and tampons and ice cream."

"Store run. Yes. I can do that." Chat breathed a sigh of relief, then tensed up again. "Um, what kind of-"

"We'll make you a list," Vixen promised. "Though if you could bring some paper and a pen, I don't think any of us feel up to getting up right now."

Fifteen minutes later (a good ten of which had been spent prodding a grumpy Queen Bee to ask what brand of tampons and what flavor of ice cream she wanted) Chat was making his way to the closest pharmacy by way of rooftop. Briefly he considered dropping the transformation and then going inside, but a combination of not having any cheese for Plagg and not wanting to listen to his father's disappointed lecture if someone took a picture of Adrien Agreste buying tampons decided him against it.

"Plagg, can I have my wallet?" He asked the ring, then lightly tapped at one of his pockets. At the third tap, the pocket suddenly felt fuller, and he unzipped it and pulled out his wallet. "Thanks. I'll get some cheese bread for you from the bakery before I leave tonight."

That accomplished, he pulled several bills from his wallet before putting it away, then jumped down from the pharmacy's roof to the ground and headed inside.

The painkillers were easy, and he tossed a couple bottles into the basket on his arm while trying to ignore the cashier taking pictures with his phone. Deciding to leave the ice cream for last so that it wouldn't melt, he headed for the 'feminine hygiene' section.

His eyes widened, his ears splayed, and his tail drooped to drag limply on the ground as he saw the sheer range of different kinds of tampons and pads. Hurriedly, he scrabbled for the list and peered at it, sighing in relief that Vixen had the foresight to write detailed notes about exactly what kind of box to get, even including the color. It still took him a few minutes to track down the exact one, but it soon joined the painkillers in the basket.

The ice cream went faster, and he grabbed a fourth pint for himself before heading up to the counter. On the way, he passed a standing glass-door refrigerator filled with flowers, and on impulse opened the door and pulled out a yellow, an orange, and a pink one, carrying them up to the register.

The cashier took in the range of what Chat was buying, lingering on the tampons and flowers, and shot him a wry grin. "So, we'll just say that if Hawkmoth knows what's good for him, he won't send out an akuma tonight?"

"Not if he has any self-preservation." Chat gave a wry grin in return as the cashier scanned and bagged everything.

After paying, it only took him a few minutes to return to the bakery. His return was met with, if not shining smiles, at least sincere gratitude. Pulling the flowers out earned him a kiss on the cheek from each of the girls, which alone would have made the entire trip worth it.

Chat picked out a movie (The Princess Bride, which earned him another kiss on the cheek from Queen Bee) while the girls each made a quick trip to the bathroom, and soon all four of them were settled in the blanket nest with their ice cream. Chat felt himself finally relaxing, a low purr rumbling from his chest as he wiggled into the cuddle pile.

"Oh my gosh keep doing that," Marinette said as she pressed close.

"Keep doing what?" Chat's purr cut off in his confusion.

"The purring," Queen Bee said shortly. To her credit, despite clearly being on edge, she was trying to keep her temper in check. "It helps with the pain."

Chat blinked, then gave a slow smile. "Now that, I can do." All three of his girlfriends pressed in close, and he ratchetted up his purr, not that it took much coaxing.

Now this, this was much better than any photoshoot.