I feel like I got lost for a week or two in where I was going with this. I really should keep my outlines in one place. LOL, anyway, this drops a few hints before the drama of next chapter.=^-^=

Ch. 28 - Missing Chat


Marinette took a deep breath as she stood in front of Gabriel's office. It was Monday and she was paged to come and see him as soon as she got into her office. That's right, her office. Gabriel had provided her with a private office, newly renovated, with all the latest for a top of the line designer as soon as the crazy of Haute Couture week died down. Even Stephen looked surprised when he saw it, which was an indication that this wasn't the norm. She got a few glances from others around the studios during the week after which she could only assume was due to the office or her swollen abdomen; neither sounded pleasant. She was happy no one really said much about it since though, that may have been people's fear of accusing Mr. Agreste of having a favorite.

Being in his good graces, however, was not the case right now. No, her current worry is in regards to series of unfortunate incidents the week prior, the biggest of which included ruining Vincent's equipment for their last photo shoot for the fall line. She couldn't for the life of her figure out exactly how it happened, but she'd somehow tripped on a cable, luckily caught herself on table only to hear a loud crash seconds later as the lighting equipment fell over the table where he was compiling his photos. About the only thing spared from the carnage was the camera he was testing which only contained a few of the images on the memory card. It was a mess, period. Everyone had been so panicked at the time and of course they were worried over her being so close to the accident, but the whole day's work was basically gone. Stephen had sent her home out of worry and assured her it would be fine, but it was still all her fault. That on top of breaking two company tablets, losing one of Adrien's outfits, and being behind on her own work due to being stressed/pregnant, equaled an angry Gabriel Agreste.

"Go ahead in, Mrs. Bassett." Nathalie directed when she saw the woman pause at the door.

She gave her a slight smile which had the designer a little curious, but it didn't really matter. What did was owning up to her mistakes and hoping she wasn't about to lose her promotion… Scratch that, still employed. "Mr. Agreste?" She called with her most confident tone. She saw him working on his tablet behind his desk. He looked very deep in thought and had materials out on his normally cleared workspace in the corner. "Mr. Agreste?" She called a little louder and he paused before setting his stylus in the holder of the tablet's stand. "You wanted to see me?"

The man's expression was unreadable as he turned to her and gestured for her to sit down. Marinette complied carefully holding one hand over her stomach to ease herself into the chair; she'd nearly messed up several times already. "I assume you already know why I've called you in here, and I feel it's urgent to address this now to prevent future accidents."

"Yes, sir." She agreed hoping her expression wasn't giving away her fear. "And, I truly am sorry about everything." Gabriel's expression didn't look like he forgave anything as he raised a stern brow at her. "Um, es-"

"Yes, I will be cutting your office work hours." He interrupted without even giving her a chance to continue.

"Cutting my hours?"

"Yes."

"But, sir, I'm behind on work as it is and-"

He raised a hand to cut her off. "This is not up for debate, Marinette." She took a short breath and nodded. "Good, and as for your work, simply turn in what you have at the end of the week. Your other work needs to be cleared out of the office by Friday, is that understood?"

She nodded again in resignation. It made sense that she'd lost her position, but at least it didn't sound like she was fired. "Yes, I'll be sure to move all of my belongings out of it as soon as I can."

"While I appreciate a clean workspace, Marinette, you needn't go so far. If memory serves, your maternity leave is only 16 weeks." Gabriel countered finding her expression curious but not showing it.

"Wait… But didn't you say you wanted my work cleared out?"

"I did, but only your work, Marinette. Since you will be doing so much of your work at home, it makes more sense to move all of your current pieces there to work on them more easily."

"Wait… Home? I'm working from home?" Gabriel nodded. "Yes, as I said earlier, I'm cutting your office work hours. Starting today, I would like you to be out of the office by noon and work from your home."

She furrowed her brow as she processed his words. She wasn't fired? Or demoted even? What? "So… I'm still working as a senior designer?"

"As I have no knowledge of firing you, yes. Did someone tell you I planned otherwise?" He asked back looking stern as if ready to punish the offender.

"N-no, I mean I just… I thought since I had all of those accidents… I…" She blushed at realizing she had jumped to some crazy conclusion.

"You assumed you were going to be fired over a few workplace accidents that could easily be attributed to your condition?" He deduced from her lack of response. "I'll have you know, Marinette, while I normally do not abide those who cause problems in my studios, especially if they cause a delay in the release of the fall line," He emphasized at the end causing her to wince slightly. "I couldn't hold any of these recent incidents against you even if I wanted to. Legally speaking you are very well protected, but that isn't the reason I'm cutting your hours anyway."

"It's not?" She asked completely clueless as to why he didn't seem angry at all. His expression was still hard to read, but no more than usual. Most people knew when Gabriel Agreste was angry at them.

"No, after reviewing a few of the incidents of the past week I've decided it would be safer and more practical for you. Stephen was especially worried after the accident involving Vincent's lighting equipment. His report mentioned you were only a few feet away."

"Oh, I was but it was because-"

Gabriel held up a hand to cut her off again. "Vincent is not angry, Marinette, and while it did put us behind, the bigger problem was how dangerously close you were to it. Gross negligence aside, I would be even more remiss to allow harm to such a talented member of my staff." He then gave her the slightest of smiles.

"I um… Thank you for your consideration." She finally responded with a slight blush of fluster. Being complimented was the last thing she expected from this meeting and by Gabriel Agreste no less.

"Now then, let us move on to your work for the next several weeks?" He pulled out his work tablet and began pulling up documents. "Your leave starts next week, but considering the circumstances of your workload, I wanted to make alterations so you can stay abreast of any changes while you are out. Please make the effort to finish all of your work for the fall line by Friday. That being said, you are free to continue working after your leave begins if you have things to finish, though that will not be required. Should you decide to do any work during your leave simply log the time spent and turn it into Nathalie once you return, but keep in mind you will not be compensated for more than two hours a day." He looked up at her with a pointed expression. "I make this accommodation knowing your work ethic, but please try to understand that I cannot have it reported that I make pregnant, soon to be, mothers work on their leave time."

"Of course, Mr. Agreste, and I doubt my husband will let me to be honest." She agreed with a slight blush knowing Aaron would take her tools away if he needed to.

Gabriel's expression seemed to twitch for a fraction of a second before he continued. "And I will still need you to attend the weekly senior design meetings. You will be brought in virtually and will not be required to give any input. This is just to keep you aware of what's in the works for when you return. Speak to Nathalie when you leave today and she will get everything set up. Also, I have requested Stephen to keep me informed of your condition as he already seems to have an agreement with your husband. Given certain complications, you should be aware your leave can be extended to up to 20 weeks. Do you have any concerns regarding any of this?"

"Um… So what would happen if I worked more than two hours a day while on leave?" Not the most important point, but she was curious.

"I assure you, Marinette, I will not be accused of violating labor laws. Do not work more than two hours and only if you have work to catch up on." That gave her the impression that she very well could be fired if it came down to it. She would be the one making his company look bad, and Gabriel Agreste didn't stand for that. "Now then, if you have no further questions then I have just one last thing for you." He reached over to a drawer on his desk and pulled out a box. It was a simple, non-descript gift box and it wasn't even wrapped. "I image you have already received many of such things from others."

She took the box before carefully sitting back down to open it. Inside was an elegant baby blue romper with a Gabriel logo on it. "Oh, wow!" Marinette instantly exclaimed at the gift. "It's beautiful, Mr. Agreste. Thank you so much." She couldn't resist stroking the soft fabric as she gave the older man a smile.

"Yes, well, it's not often one of my senior staff has a child. I will have Mr. Sinclair deliver the others to your home first thing tomorrow."

"Others?"

"Certainly you'll need plenty of clothes for him? I arranged a modest amount as my way of wishing you a safe and happy childbirth."


Adrien dug through one of the newly delivered boxes feeling just a little overwhelmed. "What the hell is with all of this?" His wife had told him last night that Gabriel Agreste was sending a gift of a few clothes for the baby, but this was nuts! He already had mixed feelings about the idea of getting anything from him since the last time they talked but… Well, what is all of this anyway? What did his father have planned that involved giving away dozens of designer baby outfits?

"I kinda missed all the soft fabrics…" Plagg purred as he cuddled into a stack of rompers beside his holder.

"Stop it, Plagg. You're going to make them smell like cheese."

"Geez, who stole your cheese, kid?" Adrien cut him with a glare. "Seriously." He then rolled his eyes and flew over to the one box left that wasn't open.

"Aaron, they were a gift, and while I agree it was a little much, we should be grateful. It's one less strain on our budget, right?" Marinette offered as she did her makeup on the couch.

"Yeah, but what kind of boss gives their employees so much? And was this normal for him? I mean, did Stephen say anything?" As far as he knew, his father had never done anything like this for an employee, but he also knew none of his lead design team had children while on the team. The closest was Ulrich whose niece had twins the year before he left. He also wasn't sure any of them were married now that he really thought about it. Considering the work they did, however, it sort of made sense. Katrina had to be around the age she would be married and having kids by now and yet… did she? "Marinette?"

"Yes?" She answered as she closed her compact and set it in her bag.

"Is anyone on your design team married? I mean, are you actually the first?"

Marinette gave him a curious expression. The question was a little odd but… "Actually… I might be the only one married. Ah, but Katrina is engaged." She quickly added thinking back to the sudden news of a few months ago. Being pregnant completely steam rolled that news around the office.

"She is?"

"Yeah, and she even told me she was a little irritated that my pregnancy eclipsed her announcement." The designer revealed with a laugh. "But she was glad this meant Lewis would be born in the fall instead of spring so her wedding will be the talk of the studio." Well… That actually sounded like the Katrina he remembered. "And she said she might make Lewis the ring bearer if her fiancé doesn't name anyone." The couple shared a laugh at the idea of an infant performing that duty.

"I'm sure Lewis would make a great ring bearer… when he can bear rings."

Marinette simply rolled her eyes at his play on words. "Did you find a baby sized suit in there by chance?"

It was Adrien's turn to roll his eyes but not for the reason Marinette thought. In Adrien's mind, his father might have really made a baby formal suit. "Don't even joke about that."

"He'd be really handsome if he looks anything like his father." The woman insisted as she got up and stood beside him.

"Oh, you think so?" Adrien was preparing to stand up as she continued.

"And you know, all of these fancy clothes and fabrics may really come in handy if Lewis has the same sensitive skin you do. We should probably be extra prepared for the event of rashes especially diaper rash."

That had the man frozen for a moment before plopping back on the floor a little defeated by her reminder of his most embarrassing issue. Even more so then the rash he got from those generic underwear all those years ago was the rash he got a few months after they moved in and Marinette bought a generic brand of toilet paper when the store was out of their usual. "Kill me now…"

"Aw, Aaron, don't be like that. Sensitive or no, I'm still jealous of your skin." She carefully sat down on the floor next to him and hung off his shoulder.

"It's not really anything special." He defended rubbing his slightly dry and calloused fingers together in his lap.

"Don't even, kitty. Have you even looked in a mirror?" His wife gave him a stern glare and he decided the only counter possible was to kiss her. She jolted and the two of them quickly devolved into giggles.

Tikki looked on from the coffee table with a very satisfied expression. "Hey, sugarcube, please tell me we're not dealing with this for the rest of their lives…"

"Plagg, go eat some cheese and let me have this."


Marinette really wished she could sneak around at the moment, but with the way her belly was swelling up, it was pretty close to impossible. Sure, she was still small, but hiding around a corner was not suited if you can't press yourself against the wall. "Marinette? What are you still doing here?" Cyrano asked as he passed by one side of the hall Marinette was trying to sneak past.

The woman slumped her shoulders at being caught and peeked her head back out. "Umm… Just forgot something in my office."

"Something that cannot wait until tomorrow? Stephen will scold you if he sees you and," He paused to check his watch. "You were supposed to have left an hour ago."

The smaller designer walked quickly over to him with her hands in a placating gesture. "I know, I know, but I just keep forgetting to grab something and then-"

"You get distracted?" He finished for her noting a touch of ink on the tip of her left index finger that most likely came from a design pen. It hadn't been there when she ate lunch right before supposedly leaving. Marinette blushed and moved her hands behind her back. "Honestly, Marinette, you're going to get Mr. Agreste angry at you." Not to mention Aaron, but the fact he isn't here most likely meant he was working. "Anyway, let me help you go and get this 'thing' you left before you get sidetracked again." He gently set and arm around her shoulder to gently guide her to her office. She hung her head slightly and allowed herself to be escorted. After a few minutes they came upon the office though it was slightly off. "Marinette, don't tell me you forgot to lock your office?"

"Of course not." She looked over the door to see why Cyrano had asked. The door was ever so slightly open. It was just enough that the lock wouldn't have tumbled.

"Well then, maybe you just didn't close it very well?"

She looked at the door carefully and pushed it closed. The click of the lock was almost instant and then she pulled on the handle to make sure it was really closed. "It's not like I have to close it very hard or anything, and it was only 15 minutes ago." She held up her badge to the door and the sensor unlocked it in seconds.

"Hmm… That is strange then. Anyway, what is it that you left behind?"

"I left the thumb drive I use to back up all of my designs. The one I keep locked up at home was the one I told you about the other day… You know, the one I almost ate…" She blushed as she finished her admission with a quiet tone. Cyrano laughed at the recollection. During Marinette's first official work at home day, Aaron had been making sure she was actually eating. It was a clever idea to make her snack easy to eat finger foods, but Marinette had been so distracted she mistook her pink USB for a strawberry wafer, dipped it in whipped cream, and thank goodness she bit into the plastic covered end or she may have chipped a tooth. Unfortunately, the whipped cream got into the circuits and corrupted the whole thing. "It's really not that funny…"

"Quite an odd food craving though." He teased back and moved over to her desk. "Now come unlock your… Marinette, your desk is unlocked." Cyrano pulled out the top drawer right as Marinette fished out her key.

"What? No, I'm sure I locked it." She stood over the drawer and furrowed her brow. She then opened the drawer on the other side, which is where she normally kept any electronic accessories, and she didn't even use her key. "Okay, I know I'm forgetful at times, but I know I locked this drawer before I left." She pushed around a few things. "And… It's not in here." Cyrano, finding the thumb drive not in his current drawer moved to try the one under it. Marinette did the same on her side though after a few minutes it was not found in any of the drawers on the new desk. Marinette then went over to her tablet stand a few feet away to check if she left it in the dock used for her drawing tablet.

"Are you sure you didn't already take it home?" The male asked as he kneeled on the ground to check around the floor. It was possible she dropped it, though she wasn't usually so careless. Then again, she had been a little more clumsy than usual.

"I'm positive since I was using it this morning and I haven't even left the building yet."

"Your purse then?" He asked next looking up at her as he gently pushed the rolling chair aside.

Marinette quickly dumped out the contents including Tikki in a minor panic. The kwami fell unceremoniously on her bottom from the sudden action. "Oh, sorry…" She apologized as the red kwami phased back into her purse trying not to be found.

"Don't apologize, Marinette. I'm sure it's somewhere, and I doubt Grayson has even noticed I'm not in the studio." Cyrano appeased with a chuckle. "And you know… Hmm?" He picked up a small SD card that was sitting behind the leg of her desk when he felt around for items.

"Did you find it?"

"Um… No." He sat up and showed her the memory card. "Unless you were using one of these?" Though she had said thumb drive.

"No, at least not for my backups." Marinette took the SD card noting the initials slightly smeared on the label. "BDC?"

"B? Oh, I thought it was an M, but it's smeared." The B, which looked like it was touched with water, was smeared enough to be almost turned on its side.

"Well, regardless, this is definitely not mine. I color-code my memory cards instead of writing." Since she tended to forget what some of her shorthand meant when some of it was similar to others. It was also a pain when she wanted to change what was on it since she'd have to get a new label.

"Well, why not just make a new one then? You said you were using it this morning, right? You didn't delete anything, did you?"

"Not yet, but I did want to get a few designs I had done on my older tablet." The one that died only a few months after she started at Gabriel. "I mean, it's not like they are really important for work but-"

"I understand, Marinette. I like keeping my older work too." He stood up completely and took another look around. "Well, where else would you have put it?"

"Only in my desk, Cyrano. I make sure I set it back in the top drawer once I'm done saving files so I don't lose it."

Marinette looked completely confident in that declaration which only had him stumped. "Well, what can I say, Marinette? It's not there." He let out a slight sigh and gestured to the door. "Look, why don't you make a new one for now? You need to anyway, right? When you come in tomorrow I'll help you look for it, but at this point you don't want to get in trouble for staying in the office too long."

"Okay…" She relented recalling how irritated Stephen was yesterday when she decided to have a working lunch and he had to drag her out of her office two hours later. He helped her put her things back in place and then guided her out of her office. The designers both checked the door to make sure it was firmly closed before heading back out to the front lobby.

"Mrs. Bassett, you are one hour over your in office hours." Nathalie decreed while standing by the front desk holding her tablet. Both Cyrano and Marinette jumped slightly at the declaration since neither expected to see her so far from her own desk at this time of day.

"Oh… Ms. Sancouer… Um…"

"She was looking for something, but is now going home. Hopefully you will find it tomorrow, Marinette."

"I hope so…" She muttered back.

Nathalie raised a brow as she watched the young designer leave. She had decided to wait at the front desk when she called down earlier to make sure Marinette had left only to find she hadn't. Gabriel was adamant that she not be in the office after lunch and seemed very incapable of managing her time on her own at the moment; or any time work was related since everyone in the office knew how much time she put in on her work. The secretary let out a sigh and took a note for tomorrow. "I suppose I'll have to be more proactive about reminding her to go home for the next two days."

"She just can't help herself." Cyrano mused while shaking his head and walking back towards the studios. He caught the door as Marcel, one of Vincent's assistants came out.

"Oh, Ms. Sancouer. Has anyone found a memory card by chance?" She quickly asked while also turning to the young lady behind the front desk.

"A memory card?" Nathalie asked turning to the younger woman and the one behind the desk.

"Was it lost today? No one has brought anything like that to me, and if it was a memory card, wouldn't Stephen be the one?" Memory cards were usually very precious items due to what was saved on them. The front desk had a small lost and found drawer but she certainly wouldn't leave anything so sensitive in it.

"So someone else lost their thumb drive I take it?" Cyrano asked hearing the question.

"No, it was an SD card. Bridgette was trying to check her pictures from yesterday but when she opened her camera the memory card in it was blank."

"Excuse me, are you referring to the one with Adrien? Those pictures?" Nathalie asked pointedly.

"Yes, those. Vincent needs them to reference how he's going to go forwards with the winter line as they come." The pictures with Adrien referred to the very first completed outfit approved for the winter line which had started production a week before the fall line was released.

"Ms. Covington would do well not to misplace such important information." Lost is careless enough, but what if the wrong person stumble on it? Leaked information was the bane of any business.

"That's what I told her, but she swears it never left her camera."

"Oh, hold on a moment." Cyrano cut in recalling what he found earlier. "Is this it by chance?" He pulled out the SD card from Marinette's office from his pocket.

"Oh my gosh, yes!" Marcel took it right from his hand and jumped up on the spot. "You don't mind me saying I found it, do you? I want her to buy me lunch."

Cyrano rolled his eyes. "Just make sure she doesn't lose it again." The photographer dashed back to the studios without a moment's hesitation.

"Excuse me, Mr. Stern, but where exactly did you find that?" Nathalie inquired giving no indication of her motive in her expression.

"The SD card? Actually, I found it on the floor in Marinette's office while we were searching for her thumb drive."

"Marinette has lost a thumb drive? What was on it?"

Cyrano raised a placating hand. "It was her back up for her design files, but she still has the important ones so you don't need to worry. I'm going to help her look for it again when she comes in since she probably misplaced it. I'm sure she was flustered about leaving on time and being late, even enough to forget to lock her desk." He reasoned out despite feeling it was odd for Marinette to forget something so important.

"See that it's found, Mr. Stern. Sensitive information doesn't become any less so when it is a copy."


Felix slumped in a corner of the studio with his phone out to check his social media feeds. Today was not a photo shoot, but he was requested to be in for emergencies. As such he was generally being paid to stand there and nothing else; not a bad deal. The only down side to it was that Lila, his defacto picture companion, was also called for the same job. It had something to do with preparations for the winter line, but he really didn't care. He was just grateful Lila was out of his hair at the moment. Though… That was odd.

He glanced over to the young Italian and felt slight chill at her smirk. When he looked to where she had her eyes set, he noticed Bridgette digging through several equipment bags looking like she'd lost her very sanity. "What is she so giddy about?" Lila had always enjoyed watching others fluster about. It wasn't like he didn't enjoy watching others squirm, but there was a time and place for it. Work hours wasn't play time anymore. He'd screw around on his own time when he felt like it. Funny enough, he was usually mostly messing with Lila, but that had gotten old recently. Instead he challenged Bridgette and on occasion, sometimes Marcel but only when Bridgette was around. Marcel was boring otherwise. "Lila looks like she's playing." He muttered while walking over to the flustered photographer. "Hey, Shorty, you lose something?"

She immediately bolted upright with an irritated expression. "Stop calling me that! I'm not that short! And if you really want to know, yes. Please let me look for it." Her words rammed right into him as impactful as usual. She didn't really mince words with him like most employees under Gabriel. It was nice, but that made it hard to mess with her.

"Well maybe if you asked with a please, I'd help you look for it too." He countered crossing his arms with a stand-offish expression that hid his amusement.

Bridgette looked skeptical but didn't have much chance to decide. "Bridgette! Hope you're ready to buy me sushi!" Marcel ran into the room with the missing SD card held high in the air like the torch for the Olympics. Bridgette immediately squealed, ran over to her coworker, and they devolved into happy hugs and all those things that made Felix want to Ralph up his lunch. When he glanced away he instantly noted Lila and the expression on her face for a split second. She looked even happier somehow despite Bridgette not being upset anymore. It nagged at him more than he cared to admit, but soon enough the Italian noticed his stare and sidled up to him with her clingy arms as usual.


"So, how has work been? Didn't you say that Mr. Agreste mentioned your work accidents when he called you into his office Monday?" Aaron asked while walking a tray out to his wife who was working on the living room couch. While he normally didn't like her working after she got home, he let it slide more due to her reduced office hours so she could feel like she wasn't just sitting around.

"He mentioned them."

"And? You didn't really say much about it over talking about working from home and his requests for your leave time." She had been a little caught on that.

"Oh, well… Mr. Agreste told me while he didn't like people who cause accidents in his company, he couldn't hold them against me. He understood I normally wasn't that clumsy and instead told me he'd rather I work from home a bit more for my own safety." She also figured it was to try and reduce accidents that caused delays, but Aaron already didn't like Mr. Agreste so she'd keep that part out. Unknown to her, however, Aaron was already thinking that very thing and tried to hide the scowl it brought to his face. His father didn't care for problem employees, though he didn't seem to really see Marinette that way. That was good. She was a great designer. What was weird though, was in how many mistakes she made so far, yet… It almost seemed like his father was showing her extra favor. "Aaron? What's wrong? You really don't have to be worried. Mr. Agreste assured me that my job was secure."

"Wha? No… Sorry, I just was thinking about something." The moment it crossed his mind, he knew it was more than just a passing thought. His father really might be favoring Marinette. Why though? Did he think that would make Adrien go home? Was he pretending to be a changed man or something? It really didn't sit right with him. Not one bit, but he couldn't exactly talk to Marinette about his intentions. Right when he set down the tray, deep in thought, he felt a cold hand on his forehead snap him out of it. "Huh?"

"You don't feel warm, but you're acting strange, Aaron. I know you're worried about me, but I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself." She couldn't say for sure what he was thinking but it was apparent he was worried and it was usually about her.

He looked at her serious expression and smiled. She was a pretty capable woman, for sure. "Well, maybe if I didn't have to remind you to eat, I'd believe it." He picked up the spoon for her soup which she frowned at.

"No." She adamantly denied when he tried to feed her.

"Aww, pur-lease?"

"Please is right! Get a room." Plagg spat sitting on the entertainment center in full view. "Or feed me. I'll accept that too. Actually both. I demand both!" He yowled louder obviously cranky.

"Plagg, I just gave you camembert this morning. You know we can't afford to give you only camembert anymore." The irritated ravenette shot at his obnoxious kwami.

"Just give me food!" Adrien rolled his eyes knowing he'd just put some cheese into Plagg's food box.

"Plagg, you really need to learn not to get so jealous at times like these. Your chosen is still paying attention to you." Tikki scolded though she was also scratching the destruction kwami's ear.

"Hold on, jealous? Is that why he's been whining more often?"

"I'm not jealous of- Oh! Yeah…." He broke off into a purr when Tikki moved to his chin.

"I can kind of see that since he's cat, but why now?" Marinette wondered after pilfering the spoon from her distracted husband.

"Oh, that's because you're pregnant. It'll go away as soon as Lewis is born."

"Um… So he's jealous of Marinette?"

Tikki nodded. "Yup, since she has so much of both yours and my attention. You see, normally he's fine so long as he's fed and you recognize his presence in a room. That's because the balance of our energies is stable when we both have a wielder. Right now though, my energy is going into Marinette more than normal which I mentioned a bit before if you remember. Acts of creation have their negative, or non-creation, effects dampened. In essence, I'm giving Marinette my energy passively and it's tipping the balance a little. Plagg's not cranky because he wants to be, it's just a side effect and it comes out as jealousy." She smiled at her counterpart and continued to rub him like a normal house cat.

Adrien chuckled at the idea as he watched his kwami. "This just gets weirder and weirder."

"Odd side effects." Marinette agreed though with less amusement. It was puzzling just thinking about how they're kwami effect them without even being suited up.

"You know, Plagg's told me he's had lots of girl holders before. What happens when one of them has a child?"

"Oh…" Tikki immediately blushed and pulled away from Plagg to play with her own paws.

Plagg, now free from her spell, chuckled. "Oh, don't you want to tell them, sugar cube? How you-"

"Shush, Plagg!" She interrupted looking ready to stuff a sock in his mouth.

"Aw, now I really want to know. I can't picture you getting cranky like Plagg is."

The creation kwami glanced away obviously flustered. "I uh…"

"She's basically the opposite of me right now." Plagg revealed feeling superior having gotten one over his other half. "With her chosen or if our chosen are together, then both."

"The opposite? Of jealous?" Marinette and Adrien traded slightly confused glances. Jealousy was one of those things that seems like it would have an obvious antonym, but the situation was hard to see. "So… She ignored them?" Though why would she be embarrassed about it?

Plagg smirked and shook his head. "Um, let's see… Oh, you remember that time you bribed me with a cheese cake because you wanted to do ro-"

Adrien quickly snatched the kwami from the air looking just as flustered as Tikki. "You promised to never mention that." He growled in a hushed tone.

"What did you bribe him for?" The designer asked only because Aaron seemed bothered by it. She knew he'd bribed Plagg numerous times for one thing or another. One time he even did it so he could make out with her as Chat Noir.

"It's um… Something I'd rather not talk about." The baker countered looking away. "Please."

Marinette crossed her arms at being left in the dark in both situations. "It sounds like these side effects get pretty weird so maybe I should just keep you both in the miracle box until Lewis is born." Though it was a flimsy threat no one believed she'd go through with, Tikki still felt it prudent to warn her.

"But, Marinette, if you take off the earrings then my powers won't affect you anymore. Human pregnancies can be dangerous even when someone is healthy." The designer reached up to one of the studs feeling conflicted. Relying on the miraculous' power probably wasn't something she, as guardian, should be doing when it didn't involve the safety of innocent people, but it wasn't as though she was actively trying to use it either. The side effects regarding her physical condition were something she'd expected to deal with the moment she married Aaron. Having them basically nullified was oddly convenient, but apparently there were other things effected by her physical state; not that she actually planned to renounce Tikki at all. It was just something she'd never really thought about. Seeing the sudden confliction on her chosen, Tikki floated over close with an intense blush. "Um… I'll tell you a little bit at least."

She then started to whisper something in Marinette's ear that had the woman going as red as her kwami in seconds. "T-that's a little bit?"

Tikki nodded while glancing away in embarrassment. "It almost makes me what to trade kwami for a bit just to see it." Aaron remarked still feeling the blush on his own cheeks.

"No!" Both kwami countered in perfect sync effectively ending the conversation by floating off to another room before anything more could be said.


So... Gabriel is up to something? Maybe? Or, maybe I'm going to turn him into a dotting grandpa! (What a weird picture, right) Anyway, he's not the only one up to something is he? Yes, she is plotting too, but maybe not what you think. Anyway, I end this chapter with a little kwami fun. Its always interesting to come up with miraculous side effects.=^-^=

Hopefully with summer starting I'll be posting more often. (Since I'll be avoiding the sun like a shut in vampire) I know I've been slipping due to my schedule. Thx for reading and I appreciate any feedback you have.=^-^=