Day 21. Tendencies

Adrien lay on the bed with a content smile on his face. His fingers brushed over the hem of his scarf. He sprinkled some water on it and traced the gentle curves of Marinette's signature. The silver thread was so pale and delicate you could easily miss it if you weren't looking for it. Unless you got it wet, like when you put it next to something soaked with rainwater.

He had been startled when he discovered the fancy M on the blue fabric after walking through the rain in Marinette's company. He didn't care how or why, but now he knew that the second of his most cherished treasures came out from under his Princess's hand.

His Lady's hand.

He sighed in relief. He wasn't a two-faced weasel unable to decide which of the two amazing girls to pursue and wanting them both. He had fallen in love with one and the same girl twice, on both sides of her mask, recognizing her for the extraordinary person she truly was.

His heart was whole again.

Everything snapped together in one giant completed puzzle. Ladybug didn't betray his trust. He betrayed his trust. He wanted a chance with Ladybug not realizing he was getting the very chance he desired.

As soon as he had made the connection the headache stopped. In his mind the Ladybug's mask had dropped and Adrien was shocked to discover Marinette's face underneath, hiding in what he could describe only as plain sight. He decided to skip the minor freak out on "How had I not seen this before?". He had suffered through enough pain breaking the glamour to know magic had been involved. Besides, the proud look Plagg had given him was enough of incentive not to dwell on this subject.

At the moment however his kwami wasn't pleased with him.

'You realize you probably broke Ladybug, kid?' Plagg shot him with a hostile glare.

'Nah, I'm sure she'll be all right,' Adrien replied stretching himself lazily and yawning. Now that he'd made the two most important discoveries of his lifetime, and acting upon them hopefully had managed to push Ladybug into the acknowledgement as well, he felt the tension in his muscles dropping. The stress of the past few days was slowly dissolving leaving tiredness behind. He could really use a catnap.

'You dropped two confessions on that poor girl in mere hours and just left!' his kwami ranted in the meantime.

Ah, Adrien thought with a mix of awe and satisfaction, the look on Ladynette's face when she had noticed the scarf wrapped around Chat's neck was priceless. He couldn't wait for the moment he'd be able to tease her about it.

'C'mon, Plagg,' the boy shrugged, 'she needs time too. I wonder if she broke the glamour already…'

'Hah! Are you even serious?' the little cat eyed him suspiciously. 'That scarf wasn't subtle. You deployed an atomic bomb there, kid,' he shuddered. 'You were supposed to just tell her! Just confess! Why couldn't you just do that?!' the sprite whined. 'Tikki is going to skin me alive. She's going to make a purse for her cookies out of my hide,' he whispered, his eyes bulging out.

It was so comical Adrien couldn't help but to snicker.

'Rude,' Plagg snarled. 'Care to explain yourself?'

Adrien pulled himself to a sitting position. 'Have you ever heard of the Gordian Knot, Plagg?'

'Pffft! Have I heard?' the kwami scoffed. 'Kid, I was there! How do you think Alex managed to conquer most of Persia?'

'Alex?' the boy hummed. 'You mean Alexander the Great'?!

Plagg shot him an unimpressed look, 'He wasn't that great before he got me.'

Adrien stared at him for a while, before shaking his head. 'Anywaayy… about the Knot. You clearly know the meaning of it, right?' he watched the little cat nodding. 'Me and Marinette made enough of a mess for four people, even if there's only two of us. At this point we were both so wound up, something would have got to give. Straightening this kink by kink maybe would be possible, but it would be much more painful and time consuming.' He stood up and strolled to the window. 'And I am frankly tired of waiting.'

'So you've cut the knot,' Plagg whistled appreciatively. 'Cataclysmed it with a surgical precision.'

Adrien winked. 'Between me and Ladybug I'm the one who knows when destruction is a better solution. Now it's time for creation to come around.'

'Creation comes from destruction,' the black kwami murmured. 'That could work. And maybe I'll live.'

'I'm sure you will,' the boy chuckled stretching again and sinking to his sofa exactly where the sun had warmed a nice spot just for his needs. 'I thought a direct confession would scare her or make her run away. She needs time for this, just as I needed it,' he added making himself comfortable among the cushions.

'She may have a freak out or two,' Plagg warned him, settling himself on the back of the sofa, directly over Adrien.

'Probably,' the boy shrugged. 'But she will sort it out eventually and when she does, she'll come to me, I'm sure.'

'You're surprisingly calm about this whole thing.'

Adrien smiled to himself. 'I've freaked out enough over this in the last month. I'm well beyond that point.'

He put his hands behind his head and exhaled deeply, letting all the tension out. And then a snort escaped him. Plagg eyed him questioningly.

'I really would love to be a fly on her wall when she realizes,' Adrien supplied chuckling happily, 'that I wasn't the only person friendzoning people here.'

The kwami snickered. 'So you're staying here instead of rushing to her?' he asked.

'C'mon Plagg,' Adrien patted the place next to him invitingly. 'A nice sunspot and a free afternoon. Don't you see the appeal?

'Maybe a little,' the sprite considered this.

'I'll scratch your tummy,' the boy tempted.

'Well, I'm definitely not gonna scratch yours,' Plagg gave in and plopped himself in the patch of sunlight. His eyes closed in a blink.

Adrien removed one hand from behind his head and rubbed his finger over the kwami's belly earning a deep purr in reward. 'I prefer the ears anyway,' the boy whispered.

The sprite cracked one eye opened. 'Hey, you think Princess would be up for a little scratch?'

The boy blushed, his face dissolving into a dopey smile. 'I certainly hope so,' he sighed.

'There's more cat in you that you'd like to admit, kid,' Plagg said with a hint of pride.

Soon the sounds of gentle snoring filled Adrien's room.

Author's Note: I'm sorry I haven't replied to your lovely reviews yet. This is a very busy time, and I'm struggling to get the next chapter out on time. But I promise I will reply to everything! Your reactions to this story make me so happy! Thank you all so much for your support! I greatly appreciate it.

Now tell me, what you think about the latest update? I am a very curious kitty ;)

A gigantonormous thank you to Rem who helped me get this chapter right.

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