Wangji very carefully kept his eyes on his own paperwork and did not peer over to see what Tikki was so painstakingly working on. She had to use both her arms to hold the marker and had to move her entire body to drag it across the page. It seemed like hard work, her entire face was contorted with intense concentration. Wangji did his best not to disturb her. He took care to not move too suddenly or turn a page too loudly; it would be a shame for her to have to start over after all the time she'd invested in whatever her project was. Again, Wangji wasn't snooping if she wanted to show him her project he would be happy to see it, but if she didn't he wouldn't push. Tikki was entitled to her privacy.
Already he'd cleared out one of his desk drawers and arranged a small bed and light inside for her. He'd told her to decorate however she pleased, and he had plans to take her to the dollhouse section of a craft store and let her pick some things out. Maybe her art project was a piece for her room.
The drawer remained locked so that no one would accidentally find her little apartment, not that Xichen or Uncle made a habit of snooping through his things, but it was better safe than sorry. It wasn't like it needed to be unlocked, anyway, Tikki had the ability to phase through solid objects. She had already used this ability to sneak out for midnight snacks more than once in the week she'd lived here.
"Just take care," Wangji had told her. Xichen and Uncle both went to bed at nine as he did, so there wasn't much risk of her being caught, and it seemed horribly disrespectful to try to enforce his own early bedtime on an ancient being.
As Wangji took note of something in his book Tikki very carefully laid down her marker and flew up higher for a better vantage point to inspect her work from. She made an adorable considering sound, then nodded.
"Wangji, what do you think?"
Wangji set down his pencil and looked over her work, surprised to find that she had very carefully written Lan Wangji in large letters down the center. The space around his name was decorated with little clouds and flowers and, in the corner, a pair of bunnies. It was simple, but incredibly impressive to have been done by someone smaller than the marker she held.
"It's very nice," he said honestly.
"It's a gift! For you! Though you probably figured that out," she added sheepishly. "I noticed that boy next to you, Nie Huaisang, has things in the clear pocket on the front of his binder, but you didn't have anything in yours, so I made you something to decorate it!"
"Thank you, Tikki, that was very thoughtful," he flipped his binder closed and very carefully slipped the paper inside.
"So you really like it?"
"Of course. Lying is forbidden."
Tikki beamed proudly. "I'm glad you like it, it was a lot of work."
"I'm grateful for the effort, Tikki, thank you."
He opened his binder again and went back to his homework while Tikki flew over and turned on his rarely used TV. Wangji glanced over his shoulder to see her sitting on the remote, one tiny hand on each of the channel changing keys, and thought to himself that she was the cutest thing he'd ever seen. She also seemed perfectly content to watch this rather noisy children's dance show. Normally Wangji preferred to work in silence, but as this was now Tikki's room as well he was trying to be a polite roommate. It wasn't as if Tikki could openly use any other room in the house, after all.
He managed to shut out the noise and finish his homework in a timely manner, and he was tucking his books back into his school bag when a knock sounded at his door. Tikki startled and zoomed into his couch cushions, forgetting to turn off the TV. Wangji half-smiled, crossing the room and shutting it off himself before calling for his visitor to enter.
"Wangi, I was thinking of visiting the Eiffel Tower and Trocadero on our day off, would you like to come with me?" Wangji quickly glanced down at Tikki, who was nodding excitedly, then nodded.
"Alright."
"I don't know, Plagg, you probably wouldn't even be able to reach all the buttons. Beating you would be like taking candy from a baby," Wei Wuxian teased, hiding his smirk when Plagg easily took the bait. Jiang Cheng was used to his tricks by now, having a new target was fun.
"Oh yeah? I bet I can be kicking your ass in an hour!"
"Yeah, right! I'm the king of Ultimate Mecha Strike Three, you could never catch up!"
"How about you put your money where your mouth is?"
"What do you suggest?" Wei Wuxian asked, leaning forward with a wicked smile.
"If I win you have to buy me a whole wheel of Camembert cheese so I don't have to keep choking down that shredded crap you try to pass off as cheese."
"What do I get if I win?"
"I'll steal all your brother's left socks and hang them on the street lamps outside."
"Deal."
Wei Wuxian hooked up his second controller and set it on the coffee table for Plagg, who turned it sideways so he could use his hands in place of one thumb and his feet in the place of another. Wei Wuxian couldn't help but laugh.
"You look so ridiculous, Plagg!"
"I don't run around Paris wearing a little cat bell," Plagg retorted.
"The cat bell is cute!"
"You keep thinking that."
"Whatever, your shit talk won't throw me, I live in a house with Jiang Cheng. You don't stand a chance against me!"
"I'll have you know I'm an ancient being with millenia worth of knowledge, I think I can kick your ass at a lousy video game. Go ahead and start it already, unless you're scared."
"Alright, but I won't take it easy on you just because you don't have any fingers or toes!"
"I would be offended if you did!"
Wei Wuxian (player one) was true to his word and gave it everything he had to beat Plagg (player two), defeating him viciously in the frist two rounds before Plagg started to get the hang of it, at which point he came back with a vengeance fueled by the ages it seemed. Wei Wuxian was horrified to find that, at the end of the hour, they were nearly equals.
"What is even happening to me right now?" he asked aloud, caught somewhere between glee and horror.
"I've got mad skills!"
"I'd love to argue," Wei Wuxian gritted out, pushing the buttons harder in the vain hope of making his attacks stronger, "but you're currently beating me!"
"Of course I am! I have the advantage of better brains and better looks that you!"
"No way! I'm a snack! I turn the heads of ladies and gentlemen wherever I go!"
"I've been living in your pocket for a week now, kid, and I've seen neither hide nor hair of these supposed ladies and gentlemen you claim to have charmed!"
"I didn't say I had charmed them, I said I could if I wanted to!"
"That's what they all say," Plagg antagonized, eyes still locked on the screen as he completed a triple attack combo, somehow.
"I could! I'm just saving myself for my one true love, Mister Bug!"
"Yeah, right! How can he be your one true love if you've only met him twice and one of those times he ran away rather than fist bump you?"
"Hey! We'll meet again! Lot's of times I'm sure! I've got a feeling about us!"
"Yeah, well, I've got a feeling about this game and the wheel of cheese I'm about to win!" Plagg said as he finally pulled off his finisher combo and blasted Wei Wuxian's mecha to smithereens.
"I don't believe this! I lost to a three-inch tall flying cat!"
"That's right you did! Plagg style, boo-yah!"
Wei Wuxian tossed down his controller, narrowing his eyes at his kwami, "you cheated somehow, didn't you?"
"Can you say sore loser? HMMM?"
"Yeah, right," Wei Wuxian scoffed sorely.
A knock at his door sent Plagg zooming into a pile of dirty clothes on his floor.
"Come in! On, Yanli, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I was thinking of going to the Eiffel Tower and Trocadero today, would you and A-Cheng like to come with me?"
"Are you kidding me? I'd like nothing more than to spend the day with my amazing sister!" Wei Wuxian jumped to his feet, switched off his TV (and hiding the evidence of his shameful defeat) to sort through his laundry pile to look for socks. "I'll be right out!"
Yanli cast the pile a look that said she would be doing his laundry when they got home.
"Maybe Andre will be nearby today and we can get ice cream!" Wei Wuxian suggested, pulling up Instagram and navigating to Andre's account. "He hasn't posted yet today, though," he pouted.
"Why are you so obsessed with him? Buy someone else's ice cream!"
"But Andre is the sweethearts ice cream maker! They say couples who eat Andre's ice cream together will be together forever!"
"You don't have a sweetheart," Jiang Cheng pointed out.
"Yeah, but Yanli always says we are the closest three in the world, and we'll be together forever! That counts!"
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes and looked off to the side in a (failed) attempt to look like he wasn't incredibly emo at the moment.
The bus stopped and the three of them exited together, taking in the lovely weather. They walked, shoulder to shoulder, to the Trocadero, Yanli in the middle in a (failed) attempt to keep the two of them from fussing any further.
"Ah, Iron Lady, my old friend, it's been too long!" Wei Wuxian called when the Eiffel Tower came into view. He laced his fingers and tucked them behind his head. "Don't worry, I haven't cheated on you with any other monuments!"
"You went to Notre Dame last week," Jiang Cheng points out. Wei Wuxian shrieked in indignation, his volume attracting the gaze of several passersby.
"No! It's not true, my lady! He's lying!" Wei Wuxian shouted, beseeching the Eiffel Tower as noisily as humanly possible.
"Would you shut up? You're so annoying, you're going to get us thrown out!"
"A-Xian," Yanli chided when it seemed like Wei Wuxian was going to get louder out of pure spite. "You're disturbing the peace of everyone else who came here for a nice time like we did."
Wei Wuxian pouted, but made no more ungodly screeching sounds as they stepped into the Trocadero. He was, however, the first to notice a familiar figure sitting in front of an easel, painting the Eiffel Tower and the Seine, so he felt entirely justified in being just a bit loud again.
"Look, it's Huaisang!" Jiang Cheng and Yanli followed his pointing finger and smiled when they saw him there, paint smudged across his cheek.
Though the two of them generally had different interest in subject matter, Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang had initially bonded over their love of art. Nie Huaisang preferred landscapes, generally of nature, though today he'd obviously decided to do something different. The three siblings turned together in his direction to greet him, but were beaten to his side by a group of tourists.
"How much?" One asked, in English.
"I'm sorry," Huaisang responded, in French, waving the hand not holding a paintbrush. "I don't speak English!" He did. He was actually quite good at it, Wei Wuxian knew this because Nie Huaisang had once conspiratorially told him that all the best smut on AO3 was in English. "No English," he tried again, this time speaking in English in a thicker French accent than he spoke French with. Jiang Cheng snorted.
"How many money?" One of the tourists asked, in horrible French.
"Pardon?" Huaisang asked, still hoping these tourists would realize he wasn't a vendor and leave him alone before then angle of the light changed.
"For painting? You sell?"
"Oh no, no, no! I'm not a vendor!" Huaisang said, flapping his hand and projecting flustered, though Wei Wuxian was able to see the annoyance in the slight twitch of his eyebrow.
"I'm going to save him, watch this," Wei Wuxian said, winking at his siblings before walking briskly toward Huaisang, waving his arms angrily and shouting nonsense in Chinese.
"WHERE IS THE LIBRARY?" He shouted, causing all six people to jump. The tourists spun to face him, spooked. Huaisang snatched up his folding fan and hid his smile behind it once he realized who was shouting. "WHY ARE YOU HARASSING LOCALS? WHAT COLOR ARE MY SOCKS? WHERE IS THE ICE CREAM MAN?"
When he glanced over his shoulder his sister was looking caught between amusement and exasperation, but Jiang Cheng was visibly restraining his laughter. Wei Wuxian jerked his head and his brother strided forward, directing his formidable angry face toward the tourists.
"MY BROTHER NEEDS TO DO HIS OWN FUCKING LAUNDRY!" He shouted, making shooing gestures with his arms. Over his shoulder Yanli turned her entire body away and pretended she was both blind and deaf to this situation."
"I THINK WE SHOULD DO THE WATER TOUR BEFORE NOON! I BET IT'S REALLY NICE ON THE WATER RIGHT NOW!" Wei Wuxian spat, jabbing a finger in one of the tourist man's chest. This seemed to snap him out of whatever had been rooting him to the spot and he recoiled, motioning for his friends to do the same.
"I'M ACTUALLY REALLY HUNGRY NOW THOUGH!"
"YOU'RE ALWAYS HUNGRY JIANG CHENG!" Huaisang joined in at last, finally having recovered from his initial amusement to put on an angry face. "YOU NEED TO EAT MORE FIBER!"
The tourists fled practically at a run. Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng were both rather large boys, made muscular by all the years of fencing and martial arts lessons their father had given them, and Jiang Cheng had inherited his mother's frankly terrifying angry disposition.
Once the tourists were gone the three boys collapsed into a fit of laughter that caused almost as much disturbance as their angry shouting had. People were giving them a wide berth as Yanli finally approached, once again wearing her tolerant smile.
"Oh my God, did you see that one guy? When you poked him in the chest I thought he was going to shit himself!" Huaisang said, fanning himself lightly.
"And the way they ran away? They were so freaked out!" Wei Wuxian continued.
"It served them right! Not everything in Paris revolves around tourism, some of us live here! Huaisang doesn't even look like a vendor! Where is his merchandise?" Jiang Cheng said, gesturing around to the empty space around them.
"Look at me, worlds worst street vendor, no samples, no prices, just vibes."
"I think you'll find," said someone in Chinese, "that the library is on the other side of town."
The four of them spun to see Headmaster Lan standing there, wearing an amused look, Lan Wangji at his shoulder, unamused.
"Ah, Headmaster," Wei Wuxian sputtered, striking a pose that he hoped looked natural (it didn't.) "You saw that whole thing, huh?"
"I did," he said, clearly trying and failing to suppress his smile. "Not the way I would have handled the situation, but it was certainly effective."
The three boys gaped at him, wondering if maybe outside of school Headmaster Lan might actually be cool, before bursting into laughter again.
"Good morning, Headmaster," Yanli said, casting a sideways glance at the three boys, who were still relishing their mischief. "Out for a stroll with your brother?"
"Indeed, it seems you three had the same idea."
Yanli nodded. "Sorry for disturbing your peace, then," she said, very non-subtely kicking her nearest brother, Jiang Cheng, who straightened immediately, elbowing Wei Wuxian, who followed suit.
"We're very sorry," they said together.
"You've certainly trained them very well, Yanli," Huaisang commented, voice full of amusement.
"Oh, it's not a problem, it's good to keep things interesting, don't you think, Wangji?" Wangji didn't reply, but his brother didn't seem to expect him to. Headmaster Lan leaned forward to peer past Nie Huaisang at his painting. "That's very lovely, have you perhaps reconsidered entering the school art competition?"
Huaisang jumped and stood, angling his body between headmaster Lan and his easel. "Ah, no, afraid not, I've just so much to do! Mingue wanted me to do this thing-"
"I'm sure he would consider rescheduling your thing," Headmaster Lan said, pulling out his phone as if to dial him right that second. "I'm sure if I told him about it he'd want to come to show supp-"
"NO! No, haha that's okay, I'll just whip up something really quick, no need to call Mingue!"
Headmaster Lan raised his eyebrows, one corner of his mouth quirking upwards. Wei Wuxian realized all too suddenly that Nie Huaisang was being teased. Headmaster Lan was actually teasing him. What a legend.
"One would almost believe that you intentionally didn't tell your brother about the art show, Huaisang."
Wei Wuxian chuckled at the half horrified half guilty look Huaisang was wearing, immediately regretting it when Headmaster Lan's eyes fell on him.
"What about you, Wei Wuxian? I seem to recall those, ah, anatomically correct drawings you've been sent to my office for on occasion were rather skillful. Should I ask Jiang Fengiman if you're capable of something a little less lewd for the art show as well?"
"Ah, no, I'll put something in for sure. No need to call Uncle Jiang! It'll even be appropriate, I promise!" He threw up a three finger salute, feeling caught under Headmaster Lan's smug little smile.
Jiang Cheng snorted, lips twitching as he crossed his arms.
"What about you, Jiang Wanyin, will you be participating?"
"Neither of us wants that," he replied simply. His two siblings nodded in agreement.
"Jiang Cheng was blessed with great cheekbones and little else," Wei Wuxian said breezily.
"Hey!" Jiang Cheng snapped.
"Don't be rude, Wei Wuxian," Huaisang chided, "your brother also has a killer jaw."
Lan Xichen chuckled, "alright then, remember the event is important for our school, I expect all of you to be there."
They all waved politely as Headmaster Lan walked away with his brother, who hadn't said a word for the entire interaction, then groaned when they were out of earshot.
"Aw, man, there goes one of our precious days off," Wei Wuxian whined. Nie Huaisang nodded in commiseration.
"Well that's one problem solved," Xichen said, obviously very pleased with himself.
"Problem?" Wangji asked.
"Ah, low participation in this years district art competition. We're hosting this year and were worried we wouldn't be able to drum up enough contestants to not embarrass the school; but I just got three new competitors."
"Three?"
"Wei Wuxian is going to whine and complain so much that his sister will offer to participate as well, to keep him company. He does it every year. Jiang Yanli makes some very lovely water color paintings, but she isn't naturally competitive, so she won't sign up unless Wei Wuxian asks her too."
"I see."
"What would you think about visiting one of the restaurants in the Eiffel Tower? I've lived in Paris my whole life and I don't think I've ever been to one," Xichen mused, changing the subject.
"It's not lunchtime yet, but I wouldn't be opposed."
Xichen smiled. "If the food is good we'll get something to go for Uncle as well, I know he's still shut up in his office working on akuma protocols for all the city schools."
"I'm sure he would appreciate it."
"Well, we do have some time to kill before lunch, why don't we walk along the river for a bit?"
Wangji nodded.
The two of them enjoyed a rather peaceful stroll together, mostly in silence. Wangji spoke only when Xichen asked him something directly, which wasn't often. Still, Wangji thoroughly enjoyed the morning, more than content to simply exist near his brother.
The Jiang siblings invited Huaisang to join them on their day trip, but he stayed behind to finish his painting and wait for his brother, who had promised to take him out to eat during his lunch break.
They picked up some snacks at a nearby store to stave off the worst of Jiang Cheng's hunger so they could enjoy the cool morning before ducking inside for lunch.
"Nothing they have could ever hope to match up to your cooking," Wei Wuxian said confidently. Jiang Cheng nodded in agreement.
"You know, sometimes it's nice to eat a meal that I didn't have to prepare myself."
Both boys shifted rather guiltily. They had never managed to reciprocate her acts of love expressed via cooking. Not that they hadn't tried, just that their attempts had ended with inedible messes and Yanli gently banning them from her kitchen. Still, she said that the eye of the stove thay Wei Wuxian had somehow managed to kill was a reminder that her baby brother loved her.
"How does one idiot manage to do so much damage?" Madam Yu had snapped, completely ignoring that Jiang Cheng had managed to snap off one of the refrigerator door handles.
Together they made their way to the Ponte d'Iena, doubling back the way they had come. They passed by Huaisang who was packing up his paints, now accompanied by Mingue. Mingue was still in uniform, but he had his hat tucked under his arm as he waited impatiently for his younger brother to pack his stuff, tapping his foot in irritation, too busy glaring at the man feeding the pigeons nearby to notice the trio waving at him. As they watched Mingue finally snapped and stormed over toward the man, ignoring Huaisang's feeble protests.
"Mister Ramier, what do you think you are doing? You can't feed the pigeons here, it's strictly prohibited!" He snatched the bag of pigeon food away, glaring at the man who was- very understandably- cowering under Mingue's furious gaze.
Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng wore matching sympathetic winces, both having been on the receiving end of Mingue's rage on more than one occasion, almost always together as a unit.
Across the courtyard Huaisang sighed heavily and continued packing up his things, looking embarrassed.
"You're banned from every park in Paris! We can't have people going around feeding the pigeons or they'll just hang around all day shitting all over our city's monuments!" He turned his attention onto the birds, aiming several powerful kicks at them. "Get out of here you winged rats."
One of his boots came within a hair's breadth of one of the birds and Wei Wuxian had a very vivid, very terrible, vision of having to watch Nie Mingue explode a bird with his foot, like that one American baseball player had.
"Now get out of here before I write you a ticket!" Mister Ramier got up and scampered away, looking upset.
"How much trouble do you have to get into for feeding the birds before the Chief of Police knows you by name?" Jiang Cheng muttered to Wei Wuxian.
His words dres Mingues attention in their direction and the three of them struck equally pathetic 'acting natural' poses that earned them an eye roll from Mingue before he turned back to his brother.
Jiang Cheng, Yanli, and Wei Wuxian all scampered away as well, heading toward the Ponte d'Iena and glad that today at least Mingue's rage wasn't directed at them. Well, it had never been directed at Yanli, but still.
Mister Ramier slunk onto a bench on a secluded stretch of the Seine, head hanging as he rested his elbows on his knees. His bird call swung forward, dangling in front of his face like a taunt.
Why couldn't the park keepers just leave him alone? So he liked pigeons, so what? They were all over the city, anyway. It wasn't like if he stopped feeding them they would leave Paris in search of greener pastures, anyway. His fists clenched as he thought back to that nasty Police Chief, Nie Mingue. He was so mean!
Hopelessness and depression curled in his gut as he sighed. He closed his eyes against the memory of Nie Mingue in his face, furious and screaming, so he didn't see when a little black butterfly flapped between his wrists and landed delicately on his bird call, dissolving into a cloud of black that absorbed into the ornament until it glowed solid black.
A glowing purple outline of a butterfly appeared before Mister Ramier's face, forcing his chin up.
"Mister Pigeon, I am Hawkmoth. Neither Nie Mingue, nor any other park keeper, should be able to keep you from your friends. After all, what would Paris be without pigeons? What would pigeons be without you? In return for your help I only want Mister Bug and Chat Noir's miraculouses."
Mister Pigeon laughed darkly, accepting Hawkmoth's offer as he was engulfed by black smoke. He got to his feet, transformed, as the black light faded, and called out to all his friends in the city.
"Roo, rooo!"
When the Jiang's are taken to their table they see that Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji are already seated and pursuing the menu. Wei Wuxian waves excitedly when he and Lan Wangji make eye contact. Wangji's face settles into annoyance as he returns to his menu with a small huff. Xichen looks up at him in surprise, then around to see what had upset Wangji before his eyes alight on the Jiangs. His mouth forms a silent and knowing oh before he nodded in response to Wei Wuxian's wave.
Jiang Cheng grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him along to their table. "Don't bother them on their personal time too, Wei Wuxian, they don't want to think about you on weekends!"
Wei Wuxian pouted, but didn't resist being manhandled into their booth. He even settled down and started using his inside voice, though he did give a surprised and delighted exclaim when Mingue and Huaisang were also escorted in and seated.
Huaisang and Wuxian took several moments to excitedly mime nonsense and make ridiculous expressions back and forth while Xichen and Mingue exchanged looks of amusement and exasperation before Jiang Cheng snapped at Wei Wuxian to behave again.
Xichen hid his smile between bites of food as Wangji tried to pretend he wasn't glancing up at Wei Wuxian every time his laughter carried over the dining room. So it hadn't been a mistake to put them in the same class after all. He'd had a feeling.
Wangji looked up again and hardened his face into his coldest glare when he saw Wei Wuxian staring. This earned him a peculiar look from Xichen and… absolutely nothing from Wei Wuxian. He realized, suddenly embarrassed, that Wei Wuxian wasn't looking at him. Wei Wuxian's head was tilted to the side in the same way a curious puppy might. His fingers loosened around his drink and his face fell into an expression that did nothing to Wangji. Glancing over his shoulder to avoid looking at Wei Wuxian anymore, and his own mouth gaped slightly open.
Outside the pigeons were doing… something weird. They flew together in an entirely too orderly approximation of an airplane. He set down his fork and cleared his throat quietly to catch Tikki's attention before adjusting his overshirt to give her a view of what was going on. Wangji glanced carefully down at her and found her frowning, confirming his suspicions.
There was due to an akuma. His second ever. He quietly excused himself, hurrying away before Xichen could notice the pigeon weirdness and figure out for himself what was going on. Once that happened there would be no getting away until Xichen had him safely ensconced in his room.
Luckily he was busy trying to hide his smile at something on his phone that Wangji didn't want to think about. Wangji nodded at Nie Mingue as he passed. Mingue nodded in return, eyes pointedly directed away from Xichen, looking a little put out. Wangji didn't think it was about the pigeons, though, because he hadn't seemed to have noticed.
Wei Wuxian got to his feet and obnoxiously announced to the world his need to pee. Great. Now Wangji would have to find a different place to transform.
"Did not ask, do not care," Jiang Wanyin replied.
"Hey, Lan Wangji," Wei Wuxian chirped, jogging to catch up with him, then bumping their shoulders. "Going to the restroom as well?"
"No." Wangji quickened his pace and slipped into some kind of closet he was certain he wasn't supposed to be in, but sacrifices had to be made.
"I was really looking forward to dessert!" Tikki pouted.
"We can get some later," Wangji reassured her. "Tikki, spots on!"
Mister Bug forced open the small window and climbed through, lowering himself down carefully onto the nearest steel beam as another formation of pigeons flew by, looking entirely too much like a passenger plane. The sight set the hair on the back of Mister Bug's neck on end.
"Hey there, Bugaboo," a voice to his right said.
"Don't call me that," Mister Bug replied, not looking away from the pigeons.
"So it looks like we're about to face our second akuma. You ready?"
"Yes."
"So, how do you want to proceed? Follow them back to their source?"
"Yes. Stay low."
Just as they were about to swing across the Seine a writhing mass of pigeons dived out of nowhere and slammed into the window of the restaurant above them. They both shielded their heads as glass rained down around them, screams sounding from the restaurant. Mister Bug got ready to swing his yoyo for the opening, but just as quickly as they came the pigeons left, now carrying the hulking form of a man, shouting angrily in a very familiar voice.
"Mingue!" Nie Huaisang shouted, appearing at the window, arms outstretched like he wanted to make a grab for his brother's retreating form. Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli appeared at his shoulders, steadying him.
"Don't worry, kiddos, Mister Bug and Chat Noir are on the case!" Chat Noir called, hoping to soothe his friends' nerves. Nie Huaisang was prone to fainting.
"Please save my brother! He's a meathead, he'll probably try to beat the akuma up with his bare hands!" Chat Noir had to choke back a laugh. He wouldn't put it past Nie Mingue, and he also wouldn't want to be the akuma on the wrong side of his fists.
"We'll get him, don't worry!"
Together Mister Bug and Chat Noir leapt off the Eiffel Tower and swung across the Seine, landing on the rooftops and chasing the mass of pigeons that still held Nie Mingue hostage. They ran all the way to Notre Dame, eyes focused so intently on the still struggling Mingue that they missed the hundreds of pigeons lurking in the shadows of the spires.
The second the two of them set foot on the roof, however, the pigeons descended on them with feathery fury, pecking and clawing and biting at their Miraculous.
"Mister Bug!"
"Chat Noir!"
Chat Noir threw his hand out blindly and waved it around until his hand smacked against Mister Bug's shoulder. He yanked him closer and turned to that they were standing back to back in a tornado of flapping wings and scratching claws.
"Chat Noir, your stick!"
Chat Noir drew his stick and extended it, spinning it as fast as he could to deflect the birds. A quick glance over his shoulder told him that Mister Bug was doing the same with his yoyo.
"We walked into a trap," he said, rather unnecessarily.
"Down through the bell tower," Mister Bug said, reaching out and grabbing Chat Noir by the waist before throwing his yoyo and yanking the two of them out of the maelstrom of pigeons. They dropped down into the churches attic, then broke the locl on the door and jumped straight down the stairwell into the body of the church.
"Through here," Mister Bug said, ducking out a side door and dashing into a darkened alleyway.
They crept through a dirty alleyway, crouching low to the ground. A low growl behind him was Mister Bug's only warning before Chat Noir grabbed him and dragged him into the stoop of on unused side entrance, pressing him close to the wall. Mister Bug tensed, fingers digging painfully into Chat Noir's arms."
"What. Are you. Doing?" He hissed.
"We're being watched," Chat Noir murmured, breath brushing against Mister Bug's ear. "Over my shoulder on the roof."
Mister Bug relaxed slightly, leaning forward as Chat Noir relaxed enough to allow him to peer carefully out of their hiding spot. A single solitary pigeon was staring balefully into the alleyway, head tilted. The motion reminded him suddenly of Wei Wuxian. He shoved the memory away and ducked back into their alcove, bringing his hands up between Chat noir and himself to keep him from crowding too close again. Chat Noir glanced down at the hands pressed against his chest and grinned suggestively, but he made no move to crowd closer.
"A spy?" Mister Bug whispered.
"We're going to need to take this from a different angle."
"Disguises?" Mister Bug suggested.
Chat Noir gulped, forcing his mind away from the hands on his chest and the way Mister Bug's breath was brushing against him. He forced himself to nod.
"There's a shop door right on the other side of this alley, we could duck in there and get disguises."
Mister Bug nodded. "Lead the way."
Chat Noir took his hand and dragged him out of the stoop, darting as fast as he could out of the alleyway and into the closest shop. He shut the door and flipped the sign to 'closed' while Mister Bug pulled all the blinds so they couldn't be seen.
The shop attendant startled, looking up from his phone, eyes widening when he saw them.
"Mister Bug and Chat Noir?"
Mister Bug nodded idly at him as Chat Noir pulled out his stick and turned on the news. Mister Bug approached and watched over his shoulder, remaining at a respectful distance, as Nadia Chamack gazed at the camera with a face full of concern.
"Paris has been overtaken by pigeons! Uniformed police officers and park keepers alike have been kidnapped and taken away and- I'm sorry, I've just been told that someone called 'Mister Pigeon' is making an announcement."
She turned to observe as the screen beside her switched to the image of a familiar face wearing an atrocious leotard with a glowing black bird call hanging around his neck.
"Oh, dreary day poor Parisians! Roo rooo! Sorry to ruffle your feathers, but Paris now belongs to the pigeons! Flap, flap! Roo! ROO!"
Chat Noir had to physically restrain his laugh, reminding himself that the situation was very serious, even if the akuma was acting weird as hell.
"So now we know what he looks like," he said, voice tight with the effort of holding in his amusement. Mister Bug gave him a look that said he both heard it and disapproved of it. "So now we need disguises." He grabbed the nearest hoodie, purple with an Eiffel Tower embroidered on it, and pulled it over his head.
"Chat Noir, that's stealing!"
"I'll return it!"
"Chat Noir!"
"The magical ladybugs will return it! Probably!"
Mister Bug frowned, yanking the price tag off Chat Noir's hoodie before grabbing a white hoodie reading 'I love Paris' in blue letters, then approaching the cashier.
"Oh, no, it's totally fine! The owner will understand."
"Stealing isn't appropriate for a superhero," Mister Bug said, clicking the center black spot on his yoyo. The shell of the yoyo split open and folded out of the way, revealing a glowing magical void. Mister BUg reached in and pulled out some cash. Chat Noir made a sound of disbelief, he hadn't known Mister Bug had a cool magical storage void!
"I don't have one of those!"
"You have pockets in your suit, have you checked to see if they have magical properties?" Chat Noir didn't respond because he hadn't.
Mister Bug paid the teller and pulled the cheesy 'I love Paris' hoodie on. Chat Noir grinned and snapped a picture of the horrible clash between the disguise and Mister Bug suit. Mister Bug frowned.
"What if the ladybugs return the hoodies?" Chat Noir asked.
"Then my money will be returned as well," Mister Bug reasoned.
"Fair enough," Chat Noir spun around and snapped a selfie of the two of them in their haphazard disguises, snickering at the annoyed look Mister Bug was wearing.
"Okay, so, what's next?"
"Next we try to do what we were doing before, hopefully it will work this time."
"Good luck!" The teller wished them sincerely.
They pulled their hoods up, Chat Noir slinging his up multiple times until it finally flopped over his cat ears, Mister Bug carefully pulling his up and tucking away his long hair and the tails of his headband.
They kept their weapons in hand and tucked their hands in their pockets, Chat Noir painfully aware of the swinging of his belt tail. They kept their heads down, hoping not to reveal their masks to the pigeons above, glancing up as carefully as they could to gauge the direction the birds were flying in.
Chat Noir halted after walking several blocks, staring at an abandoned police car, thinking hard.
"What is it?"
"Do you remember what Nadia Chamack said? That the pigeons were taking uniformed officers?"
"Yes?"
"I think I have a plan."
Mister Bug listened intently to the plan, and though it seemed like he wasn't a fan of it, he nodded.
"Alright."
Mister Bug crouched grumpily in a set of bushes. He couldn't deny the need to remain discrete, which is why he'd allowed himself to be shoved unceremoniously into these bushes in the first place.
"Out of the two, plain black leather and black spandex, which says 'Look at me' less?"
Mister Bug did not remind him that their suits were made of neither true leather nor spandex, but rather something more magical, or perhaps even pure magic, because he was right about the patterns. Black, even black with a belt tail and ridiculous ornamental cat ears and a little bell at his throat, was more discreet than the bright red traffic sign that Mister Bug had somehow become.
The Ladybug suit could apparently become whatever the wearer wanted deep in their heart except for white. Or even blue, which had honestly felt like a fair compromise to Mister Bug.
Mister BUg sighed heavily as Chat Noir started moon walking, then broke into a dance that he'd walked in on Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian trying to film themselves doing in the library the day before yesterday.
"Sorry, Lan Wangji, we're just doing a tiktok dance."
Later, he'd googled tiktok, but had decided against downloading the app.
"Act natural," he scolded. This was taking way too long. His brother had certainly noticed his absence and was no doubt very worried.
"I am acting natural," Chat Noir said, tipping his police hat and adjusting the crossing guard vest he'd donned over his hoodie and supersuit. Mister Bug levelled an unamused look at him, but it worked markedly less well than last time. Oh, come on, have a little fun!"
"No time for fun, my brother has probably noticed my absence and become worried." That got a guilty look from Chat Noir.
"Mine too, my poor sister."
Chat Noir resolutely started pacing back and forth in what he obviously believed was a convincing impersonation of a police officer's posture. It certainly did remind Mister Bug of the powerful way Nie Mingue moved, though it looked ridiculous on a boy of Chat Noir's size. It also had a lot less to do with Nie Mingue's career as a police officer and more to do with the rather impressive (and vaguely concerning) amount of time he spent in the gym. He'd tried to talk Xichen into going with him for a while, but Xichen preferred to exercise through fencing and yoga, mostly with Wangji.
A writhing mass of pigeons descended, seemingly from nowhere, and brought Mister Bug out of his thoughts about Mingue's gym regimen. Chat Noir put up a rather convincing struggle, kicking and fighting just hard enough, swearing colorfully, and being an overall nuisance. Mister Bug waited for them to be almost out of sight before he followed, careful to watch out for any more pigeon spies.
Several blocks later Chat Noir writhed violently in the pigeons' grasp and wriggled free, dropping to the ground and darting up against the wall of the building that had been their destination. Mister Bug slipped up next to him and pressed up against the wall, carefully eyeing their surroundings for any signs of danger.
"They're in the Grand Palais," Chat Noir muttered. "You ready?"
"No, not a frontal attack, it could be another ambush."
"Then what do you have in mind?"
Mister Bug wrapped his yoyo around an outcropping on the roof and took Chat Noir by the shoulders, dragging the two of them up onto the rooftop. Together the two of them crept around the glass ceiling until they stood next to an access window, gazing appraisingly down at Mister Pigeon's back.
He stood on the catwalk above the main floor, the railings all around the room lined with pigeons standing at the ready.
"You were right," Chat Noir whispered.
"You hold open the window, I'll use my yoyo to snatch his akuma from behind."
Chat Noir nodded, carefully opening the latch, fumbling a bit with his claws, before he lifted the window up high enough for Mister Bug to have a clear shot at Mister Pigeon.
A sudden breeze kicked up through the Grand Palais as Mister Bug swung his yoyo in preparation. The wind billowed up and out of the window, kicking up fallen feathers from the army of pigeons right into Chat Noir's face. Unable to contain it, Chat Noir sneezed loudly, startling Mister Bug and causing his yoyo to swing off course. It clattered uselessly to the ground as Mister Pigeon turned to them, an evil glint in his eyes.
There were three solid seconds that the three of them blinked at one another. Mister Bug's yoyo retracted back to his hand and Mister Pigeon spun to face them, spurring the superheroes into leaping into the Grand Palais. They landed back to back, eyes darting between Mister Pigeon and his minions.
Each of them looked to the massive bird cage in the corner of the room, seeing a collection of a dozen of Paris's uniformed officers and park keepers. Chat Noir had to resist chuckling at the predictable way that Nie Mingue was still actively trying to shoulder check his way out of the cage.
A butterfly outline appeared before Mister Pigeon's face.
"Get their Miraculous, Mister Pigeon."
"Yes, Hawkmoth. Mister Bug and Chat Noir, surrender your Miraculous for Hawkmoth or feel the wrath of my pigeons!"
All at once every pigeon in the room turned it's back to them and raised their tail feathers in a horrifyingly transparent move. Panic rose in Mister Bug's chest and he threw his yoyo into the air without a second thought. He was willing to go through a lot in order to protect Paris, but being caught up in a hellfire of pigeon poop was not one of them.
"Lucky Charm!"
Mister Bug reached up and caught the… coin? That his magic had produced.
"Are you going to get a snack?" Chat Noir asked, nerves obvious in his own voice.
Mister Bug looked from the pigeons surrounding them, to Mister Pigeon, then to the vending machines in the corner of the cage.
"Actually, yes."
"Wait, what?"
"Follow my lead."
Mister Bug leapt at Mister Pigeon, Chat Noir following suit. Mister Pigeon leapt over the swinging wire of Mister Bug's yoyo only to be knocked out of the air by Chat Noir's stick. He hit the cement floor hard, stumbling clumsily to his feet.
"I've got a bone to peck with you!" Mister Pigeon said, holding his arms out wide. The pigeons surrounding the room all took flight at once, converging on his fists to make two living wrecking balls attached to the ends of his arms.
"That was weak!" Chat Noir shouted, charging. He was incensed, apparently, by the villain's bad sense of humor.
Mister Pigeon charged forward as well, swinging his arm like a sledgehammer. With a mighty uppercut he knocked Chat Noir completely off his feet and sent him sailing across the room. He crashed into the cage the officers were being kept in and slid to the ground, wincing.
"Get it together, Chat Noir!" Nie Mingue snapped.
Mister Pigeon turned toward Mister Bug and threw his pigeon wrecking ball. Mister Bug ran forward, propelling himself forward as he hit the ground on his back, sliding under the oncoming attack and between Mister Pigeon's legs, wrapping his yoyo around his ankle as he went.
He rolled onto his knees and leaped up, flipping in a circle around a steel rafter before landing in a run and sprinting toward the vending machines. Mister Bug slammed the coin into the vending machine's coin slot and slapped the button he needed, snatching the bag of popcorn as soon as it landed and throwing it into the air.
"Chat Noir!" He shouted.
Chat Noir looked from him to the bag, then flung his stick at it. The two objects met in the air above Mister Pigeon's head, exploding the bag and raining popcorn down on Mister Pigeon's head. Mister Bug winced in the moment all the pigeons zeroed in on the popcorn.
Mister Pigeon threw his hands up to cover his face as his winged minions converged upon him. Mister Bug yanked his end of the yoyo, dragging Mister Pigeon feet first into the air, and with his hands occupied by protecting his face from the scratching claw and pecking beaks of his feral friends, he couldn't make a grab for his bridcall as it fell away.
"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir shouted, leaping up and snatching the akuma from the air.
The birdcall disintegrated, releasing a glowing black butterfly. Mister Bug flicked his finger down the center seam of the yoyo, opening its interface, and snatched the akuma out of the air. The yoyo snapped back into his hands, closed once again.
"Bye-bye, little butterfly," he murmured as he clicked the middle spot on his yoyo, opening the interface and releasing the purified white butterfly. "Miraculous Ladybug!"
The magical ladybug swarmed, first enveloping Mister Bug and Chat Noir, returning their disguises to where the belonged (called it, thought Chat Noir), then circling the park keepers and taking them back to where they'd been taken from.
"Pound it?" Chat Noir asked, holding out his fist to Mister Bug. "Come on, you aren't going to leave your partner hanging, are you?" He whined when Mister Bug made no move to reciprocate the fist bump.
"Huh? What happened to me?" Mister Ramier asked, catching the heroes attention.
"You were akumatized by Hawkmoth," Chat Noir supplied, remembering Mister Bug's poor bedside manner. "Is there anywhere you need to take you on our way back?"
"No, thank you."
"Alright, well, if you're sure," Chat Noir collected his bird call from where it had fallen and handed it to him.
"Chat Noir," Mister Bug warned as his ring chirped. "Hurry. Won't your sister worry?"
Ah, yes, she would.
Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji entered the main dining room at the same time from different directions.
"A-Xian!" Yanli cried at the same time Xichen said "Wangji!"
Yanli and Jiang Cheng tore across the room, only barely outpacing Lan Xichen.
"Where the hell were you? Do you have any idea how worried we- I mean Yanli was?" Jiang Cheng snapped, punching him on the shoulder as Yanli carefully checked him for injuries.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I went outside to look for Andre and I saw all the pigeons acting weird so I hid until I saw the magical ladybugs. What happened here, why is Huaisang crying?"
"Mingue got kidnapped by pigeons," Jiang Cheng said plainly.
"Pardon?" Wei Wuxian asked, pretending he'd found that sentence incomprehensible.
He looked from where Mingue was patting a still sniffling Huaisang on the back, to where Lan Xichen was still checking Wangji over in much the same manner Yanli had looked over him.
"Apologies, Xichen, I was outside and I thought it would be unsafe to return."
"I was so worried," he said, placing a hand gently on the side of Wangji's face before dropping it down gently to rest on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you."
"Of course not, I-" he sighed, then pulled Wangji in for a quick hug, seemingly unable to stop himself. Wangji tensed momentarily, but relaxed quickly enough to pat his brother awkwardly on the shoulder.
"Cute," he whispered to Yanli, jerking his chin at the two of them.
"Older siblings worry about their younger siblings, A-Xian," she said gently, stroking his nose.
He smiled, leaning forward to kiss her on the forehead.
His phone chimed and he pulled it out of his pocket, making an inhuman screeching sound when he saw the notification.
"ANDRE!" He shouted, grabbing each of his siblings by the wrist and dragging them towards the door. "Huaisang, Andre the ice cream man is downstairs!" He called over his shoulder.
"Andre?" Huaisang repeated, sitting up and looking around, tears mysteriously dry. "Mingue, let's go!"
Mingue rolled his eyes as Huaisang got to his feet and dragged him after the other three. Wangji felt Tikki stirring in his pocket and suddenly remembered that he had promised her dessert.
"Xichen, do you want to get ice cream?" he asked.
Xichen blinked in surprise before his face softened into a smile. "Sure! You go on ahead, I'm going to get Uncle's lunch first."
"Okay."
"Wangji, are you going to get ice cream too?" Mingue asked warmly, turning when Wangji joined the line behind him. Wangji nodded once.
"Oh, I know, I'll share with Lan Wangji, Jiang Cheng and Yanli can share, and then we'll all be paired up so it works out!" Wei Wuxian exclaimed.
Lan Wangji was about to protest that his brother would be down soon and they would share, but he was interrupted when Wei Wuxian darted back in line and draped himself over Lan Wangji's shoulders, and he forgot what he was going to say. He shrugged off Wei Wuxian's touch but forgot to protest sharing an ice cream.
Xichen exited the elevator with a to-go box in a bag at his side, his phone in the other hand, smiling to himself. He looked up to see where their impromptu little group were huddled around Andre, blinking in surprise when he saw Wangji and Wei Wuxian standing shoulder to shoulder, waiting for their cone.
He quickly lifted his phone and snatched a picture just as Andre handed the ice cream cone to them, each boy reaching out a hand to accept it. He quickly hit send before tucking his phone away and approaching the group.
"Do you have single servings?" He asked Andre, catching the attention of the group.
"Xichen," Wangji said, looking like he'd suddenly remembered he was here. "I-"
"You go ahead and share with Wei Wuxian, I don't mind."
"Here, Xichen, let me get it, I bought all the kids' ones too."
"Thank you, Mingue."
Xichen sat down on a bench beside Wangji once all their ice cream was scooped and paid for, pulling out his phone just in time to see his newest text message.
A-Yao: What? Is that the boy you said he likes? No fair that Wangji gets to eat the sweethearts ice cream with his crush before we do!