Today's Story was written by Epcot97
Author's Note: Though it's not required, this is tangentially part of my Roommates series. I've wondered a bit what might be going on between Plagg and Tikki in those quiet late night moments when their holders are fast asleep.
MR: *sigh* I love Plagg. Hey! Where's my cheese gone?
Lyra: :plugs nose:: I threw it at the cat. Gah - that stuff was awful.
Plagg lounged against the wheel of Camembert Marinette had left for him on the breakfast bar in the kitchen, casually popping the last of a slice into his mouth as he considered the closed door to the suite where Chat Noir was sleeping. Technically, of course, Adrien wasn't currently Chat Noir, given that the God of Destruction was enjoying some much needed downtime. Still, over the past six months, Plagg had willingly kept his holder transformed far longer than would be considered normal, all for the love of the woman in the suite behind him.
Well, both women, if he were honest. Which was typically rather rare, but he was feeling fairly charitable that evening as he popped another slice into his mouth.
Over the millennia, multiple holders had come and gone, of course, but the tiny cat god had never seen a relationship quite like the complicated mess these two had managed to come up with. And never in his admittedly long lifetime had he ever been faced with the real prospect of wanting it to work out. For if it did, he had a real chance to spend the next half century or more with the love of his life.
He wasn't jaded enough not to appreciate the opportunity these two kids were potentially creating for him - and he couldn't ever not think of them as those gangly teens they'd first met all those years ago now. Plagg looked around carefully to make sure no one had spied the goofy smile that had come, unbidden, to his feline face. It wouldn't do to ruin his curmudgeonly reputation.
Plagg's feline ears twitched and he turned slightly to watch his opposite number phase through the door from Marinette's suite. "Hey, Sugar Cube," he said, dropping all pretense as the Kwami of Creation floated to his side.
"Hey Kitty," Tikki said as she leaned down and kissed his cheek. "Long day?"
"Yeah," Plagg said, trying to mask his hug of Tikki as if he were casually leaning into her. "I'm not entirely sure how he's keeping it together. Two akumas today, a tortuous set of meetings with that creep he calls his father, capped off by a multi-hour swimsuit photo shoot at the pool."
He paused to spit out an epithet that made Tikki blush. "An outdoor pool," he continued as he angrily nabbed another slice from the wheel. "In December."
"You're kidding, right?" Tikki floated toward a particular cabinet against the far wall and phased through the door, returning a moment later with a package of chocolate-dipped macaroons.
Plagg arched an eyebrow. "No," he said as he looked meaningfully at the cookies.
"Don't judge," she said as she made short work of the first cookie. "Our day wasn't much better. That boss of hers is a -"
Plagg chuckled. "Such language, Sugar Cube."
Tikki downed her second cookie. "You have no idea how many times I'd thought of having you appear and dissolve something just to annoy her."
"I'd do it for you," he replied without hesitation.
"I know, sweetie," Tikki smiled warmly. "Well, I'm glad he was able to crash when he got home-"
"Are you kidding?" Plagg whined. "Despite being chilled to the bone and thoroughly exhausted, that holder of mine immediately called for his transformation." Plagg smiled wryly. "I couldn't blame him. Given how little time he had between getting off work and wanting to be here for Marinette when she returned from her day, being Chat was the only way he could pull it off."
Tikki smiled. "She won't tell him, ever, but she adores seeing him perched on the coffee table when she walks through the door. The way he smiles when he sees her just puts whatever bad day she had totally in her rear view mirror."
"He knows," Plagg said. "It doesn't hurt that she's figured out all of his weak spots, either."
She laughed. "Oh, she's got that kitty wrapped around her little finger."
"No thanks to you whispering in her ear. It's insulting," Plagg said, but the smile told Tikki how he really felt about it. "Anyway, I think he's finally got everything ready for tomorrow."
Tikki stopped mid-munch on her fourth cookie. "The dinner?"
"The dinner." Plagg licked microscopic crumbs off of a paw. "And… he's got a gift," he said slyly.
The pink kwami's face brightened with a smile. "Did he actually do it? Really do it?" she asked.
Plagg smiled smugly. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he replied, eyes narrowing slyly.
In a flash, literally, Tikki moved from where she was hovering to a spot behind Plagg; before he could react, she gently started to scratch behind one of his feline ears. He tried hard to stop it, but unbidden, his tiny purring began to fill the small space of the kitchen. "Now be a good kitty," Tikki cooed as she continued, "and tell me what he's done."
"Ti-ti-tikki," Plagg managed to get out, squeezing his eyes shut much like his holder often did. "You play dir-dir-dirty..."
Twirling his tail with her other hand, Tikki smiled wider. "How far do you want me to go, my pet," she laughed, her chuckles tinkling like fine chords from a windchime.
"Gagh!" he cried out as he tried to wriggle away from Tikki, though she could tell it was half-hearted at best. "I swore I'd keep it a secret!" he said softly, cracking open one eye accusingly as his purring ramped up to another level. "He'll be upset if I tell you!"
Tikki redoubled her scratching efforts, causing Plagg to groan in ecstasy; the slice of Camembert he'd been holding slipped out of his paw. "How will he know?" Tikki asked sweetly. "He doesn't even know I'm here yet."
"All right! All right!" he whispered, though she knew this was the old game they always played. Tikki was well aware that, much like Plagg's holder and Marinette, Plagg himself could deny her nothing. The two were perfectly paired in more ways than one.
Floating around to face her mate, Tikki smiled encouragingly. "Did he go for the intertwined hearts?"
Plagg smiled. "He did," he answered, his purring now a bit subdued but still present, enough to remind her without actually saying it that he'd not want to be anywhere but by her side for the eternity they'd be spending together. "I passed along - as an encouraging hint, of course - what Mari was hoping for. I think she's going to go nuts when she sees it."
Tikki smiled wider. "I hope it's the moment that they break through," she said. "I really think it's time they put their cards on the table with each other."
Plagg thought about that. One of the rules they had long insisted their holders observe was a clear separation between their civilian selves and their superhero personas. They'd bent the rules on occasion, of course, and in more than one case over the centuries, had consented to the Cat and Bug becoming a couple. This time around, though, their holders had moved far more rapidly toward that goal than they'd anticipated; Chat's novel idea of moving in with Marinette had further complicated their efforts to steer the couple clear of each other, though in retrospect, neither he nor Tikki had seriously wanted to do so.
For it was evident to both kwamis these two were meant to be together.
"How close is she to revealing?" he asked.
"Very," Tikki replied. "She's talked herself out of it twice now, but it's been on her mind since Christmas." She slipped another cookie into her mouth, and Plagg realized he'd lost count of how many she'd eaten. "How about him?"
"He sees what he wants to see," Plagg shrugged. "But I think he's suspected since that moment a few years ago on the Bakery rooftop."
"The night she told him she thought he was that blue-headed guitarist?"
"Yeah," Plagg chuckled at the memory, and the relief that Chat had felt at not being unmasked then and there. "He's ready." He looked at his beloved. "Should we do it over dinner?"
"If it's half as romantic as I suspect it will be, and I know how Chat likes to do things-"
"Oh, it will be," Plagg laughed.
"-then I think yes. Unless she gets called in again, New Year's Eve is the perfect time." She smiled. "Especially for new beginnings."
"You mean 'purrfect', right?"
Tikki leaned over and kissed Plagg on his cheek. "You and your puns."
"Admit it. You love them, Sugar Cube."
She sighed. "I adore them. But Chat has taken it to a whole new level."
"I can't take credit for that," Plagg smiled. "I got him started, of course, but he used something called 'Google' on his computer to round out his library such as it is. You should see the journal he keeps! The ones that get a rise out of Ladybug get triple stars."
Tikki rolled her eyes. "More than I wanted to know."
Plagg sobered for a moment. "Are we really sure? That this is the right move?"
"I think so," Tikki replied. "These two have been together long enough now for us to get a solid sense of how it will go. Keeping them apart any longer is just terrible and I won't be a party to it any longer. Besides," she smiled, "I so want to see Chat's face when he finds out who Ladybug is."
Plagg frowned. "Me, too, but I'll be otherwise occupied."
Tikki leaned up and scratched again. "I'll make it up to you, kitty."
Purring once more, Plagg nodded. "Okay, then I'll work on him throughout the day. He'll be ready by dinner, I guarantee it."
"Good." She hugged him again, a warm embrace that sent shivers of joy through the tiny God of Destruction. "Don't worry, kitty. We've got this."
Plagg smiled. "Did you ever wonder," he asked as he leaned his head into his soulmate, "if the real reason we are here on Earth is to play matchmaker to star-crossed lovers?"
Tikki smiled back at him. "I thought that was our role, kitty. Everything else is just sauce for the goose."
