Chapter Twelve: Be Mine.

Be mine? No.

Wednesday 12th February 2020. 12.55 p.m. Dupain-Cheng kitchen.

It was just typical of their luck that the akuma alert went off when they were about to sit down to their lunch.

Adrien groaned and stared longingly at the meal. Not only was this one of his rare scheduled dates with Marinette, but Tom and Sabine had gone above and beyond in preparing this delicious looking meal for them.

Tom had done his mother's secret family recipe ravioli, they had a freshly baked baguette from the bakery, and Sabine had made them a full tray of macarons in their favourite flavours. There was a beautiful side-salad, a selection of small cheese buns, a fruit salad, and a few cookies to complete the gourmet, romantic meal for two…

...and they would be lucky if they were finished with this akuma in time to eat any of it.

"Hawkmoth has the worst timing ever!" He whined.

"You said it!" Plagg grumbled, sat on the table next to the small tray of cheese buns. "A plate of culinary perfection - wasted! That akuma is going down."

"What are we up against, Kitten?" Marinette asked. She was rifling through the cupboards and pulling out tupperware in varying sizes.

Adrien pouted at that, even as he grabbed his phone to check the news feeds. If she was boxing it up then she didn't believe they'd get this one beaten quickly enough to have their date. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as she set a wedge of camembert in front of Plagg and a couple of cookies in front of Tikki then started packing up their food. The ravioli went into the largest tupperware, the salad in another, and the fruit salad in yet another. They went straight in the fridge with the lids on, while the cheese buns, macarons, and cookies went into three more that Marinette stashed in the cupboard without lids.

It looked like she was right about them missing their date. There wasn't much information about the akuma, only the usual note about a large purple figure seen around the 17th arrondissement, apparently moving fast. Nothing about it's motivation or powers yet. Great, another fight where they throw themselves in and hope for the best. Those were always fun.

"It's somewhere around the 17th, nothing else to go on yet."

Marinette must have heard the annoyance in his voice because once she had finished storing their meal in the fridge she came over to stand before him. "It'll be okay, my sweet kitten," she said, cupping his cheeks and kissing his forehead. "We'll try and beat this akuma as quickly as possible and hurry back here for our meal and some snuggles."

He wrapped his arms around her. "And what if we don't?"

"Then you can take your food home with you and come over and get your snuggles later on tonight."

That sounded really good. "Purr-omise?"

Marinette just giggled and kissed the tip of his nose, before putting their now empty plates and cutlery into the dishwasher. "Let's go deal with that akuma!"

Wednesday 12th February 2020. 1.13 p.m. 13th arrondissement.

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

Ladybug watched as her Lucky Charm exploded into a swarm of magical bugs that spread out across the city in a wave of magic and set everything to rights. Normally the sight made her feel proud of her accomplishments, glad and relieved that her city was on one piece again, and she usually watched it with amazement as it turned everything back to normal.

Today wasn't like that though.

She turned to Chat Noir and gave him a tired smile as she held out a fist to him. "Pound it?"

He snorted, amused, but bumped his fist to hers. "Pound it!"

A nearby church clock told her what she already knew from that awful fight. They had seven minutes left until M. Guérin came to collect Adrien. They had indeed spent what would have been a lovely lunch date chasing, subduing, and cleansing the akuma. One whole hour. Gone.

She dropped her hand wearily, wanting nothing more than to get home and climb into a hot bath to soothe her aching muscles. The cure might heal all of their injuries but it did nothing to alleviate their tiredness or ease the post-workout type ache from their muscles.

Yes, bath, food, and nap in that order. That's what Ladybug wanted.

Judging by the droop in his posture, that's what Chat wanted too, but she knew he would have longer to wait thanks to his afternoon commitments. Her poor kitten.

Their miraculouses beeped then, she had two spots and he had four. At a dead run, a full on superhero sprint, it was just over one minute from where they were in the 13th arrondissement back to her home. They had to leave now!

"Ladybug! Chat Noir!"

So of course that would be when Alya showed up. She was at the head of the pack of reporters waiting to interview them about the fight, and both of them recognised the determined look on her face. She wasn't going away without some answers.

Ladybug shared a look with Chat Noir and he nodded. She wasn't going to make the trip home, not after talking to Alya, so he would have to carry her. That was never something he minded but it would make the trip home a little more complicated.

"Hello again, Alya," Ladybug forced a smile to her face. "We're on a time limit today so just one question."

It probably wouldn't be just one. She had a hard time saying no to Alya even as Ladybug. Damn.

"Thanks." Alya smirked just then and Ladybug knew she wasn't going to like this question. "So with Valentine's Day only two days away, and you two looking closer than ever, are you two finally going to confirm that you're an official couple?"

Ladybug was right. She did not like this question. At all.

Shortly after their reveal, before they had even begun dating, she and Chat had talked and they had decided they needed to keep things the same when they were in the suits. If anything changed between Ladybug and Chat Noir then they risked giving too much away - to journalists, to Alya, to Hawkmoth, someone would figure something out about them if they let themselves act any differently.

She had to tell Alya no, that she and Chat Noir were partners and nothing more, she had to, but the lie tasted terrible on her tongue. She hated lying to her best friend, even for her own safety.

"Well.." Chat drawled, really dragging the syllables out. "I suppose we could answer that question."

She shot him a questioning look, wondering what the hell he was doing, and he winked at her.

God she loved this cat! He was always saving her, even from the smallest of things. She smirked back at him and gave an imperceptible nod. Banter. Innocent and teasing banter. She could do this

"What do you say, Bugaboo, will you be mine?"

The eye roll came to her easily. "Oh hush up, silly kitty. Stop the dramatics. And stop calling me Bugaboo!"

Chat placed one clawed hand over his heart. "How you wound me, my Lady."

"You'll live."

"I am cut to the quick." Chat put his other hand to his head in a fake swoon pose and then winked. "You simply must kiss it better."

Ladybug burst out laughing. "In your dreams!"

"Always." Chat's ring beeped then, immediately echoed by her earrings, and he dropped his joking facade at once, grabbed his baton from its holster, and extended it. He held a hand out to her. "Come, my Lady, we must be off."

Ladybug shook her even as she walked over to him, slipping an arm around his shoulders as he slipped his around her waist. "I thought I told you to quit the dramatics?"

She leaned against him then. It was the easiest way to travel together, using either his baton or her yoyo. It was something they had done a thousand times before and something they would probably do a thousand times again.

But perhaps she had walked to him a little too eagerly, perhaps she had leaned into him too much, perhaps they were both holding onto each other a little too tightly, because right then Alya squealed and grabbed her phone.

"Ladybug, Chat Noir, are you actually together? Is this your way of confirming that you're in a relationship?"

She had no idea how she was keeping a straight face. "Of course we're not dating. This goof just likes to ham it up for Valentine's Day. Bug out!"

"But I-"

Alya's protests were cut off as Chat extended his baton and shot them up into the air and on to the closest rooftop. He vaulted them up and up and up over roof after roof after roof until they were far enough away from the reporters that they were certain they weren't being followed.

With a quick glance around to make sure no one was nearby and to orient himself, Chat shrunk and stored his baton and swung Ladybug up into his arms, carrying her bridal style and setting across the Parisian rooftops towards Notre Dame at a dead sprint.

Her transformation faded not long after they left Alya behind, a wave of pink magic revealing Marinette where Ladybug had been. She reached out a hand and caught Tikki, holding her close against the wind blowing by.

"Hold on, mon coeur." Chat brushed a kiss against her temple and held her to him closely.

Marinette didn't resist and wrapped her arms around him a little tighter. She knew he wouldn't let her fall so she set her head on his shoulder and just enjoyed the city racing by. Despite having done this with Chat hundreds of times before, it was oddly different when she wasn't in her supersuit.

All too soon the spires of Notre Dame became visible and Chat put on a final burst of speed to get them over the Seine and onto her balcony. He set her onto her feet carefully just as his own transformation gave way.

"Cheese…" Plagg groaned as he materialised out of the ring.

Marinette snatched him out of the air and kicked her balcony window open, jumping through. "It'll have to be fast food right now Plagg, we're almost out of time."

Adrien was right on her heels, Tikki floating behind him, and they both made it into the kitchen just in time to hand their kwami some food and hide them away before there was a knock on the door.

"Marinette? Adrien? Christophe is here," Tom said as he opened the door. He took a quick look at the table and grinned. "You two didn't have to clean up you know. This was supposed to be a nice date for you, not chores."

Wednesday 12th February 2020. 9.30 p.m. Marinette's balcony.

Chat Noir wasn't surprised to see Marinette waiting on her balcony later that evening. Nor was he surprised to see two mugs of hot chocolate, a wedge of camembert, and a plate of cookies sat on the table next to her.

They'd missed their lunch date thanks to that akuma and this was her little attempt to make up for it. Even if they'd only have a few minutes together.

He landed soundlessly before her and whispered his release phrase, reaching for her almost before the magic had faded. Plagg zipped away towards the table and Tikki but Adrien only had eyes for his Princess. She met him halfway and he buried his nose into her neck and savoured the feeling of having her in his arms again.

"Missed you," she murmured into his neck.

"Missed you more," Adrien answered, his purr already roaring to life. "But the food was a nice touch."

When Adrien had got home he had been sent straight to his room to do a literature report. There had been two bakery boxes waiting for him on his sofa - one contained his half of the meal they had tried to share, the other was full of the cheese buns for Plagg. It had been the best food he had ever eaten.

He could feel her smile. "I couldn't have you missing out on our secret family recipe ravioli."

"I am eternally grateful that you did." He nuzzled into her neck then and she shivered. He grinned before he realised it was a shiver of cold. Just how long had she been waiting for him out here? His purr grew stronger. "Let's get you inside, my Marinette."

"But you've not got much time here, and I-"

"We can cuddle just as easily inside."

Plagg and Tikki watched then from the table as they ate their food with matching fond grins. It was always nice to see their bugs and cats fall in love. Though they hadn't had a couple face as many issues as Marinette and Adrien had - not counting the akumas, they had the secret identity mix up and all of their various civilian obligations trying to interrupt their relationship.

Even right now. Adrien couldn't stay for too long because his father wanted him to show off his Chinese to some investors - from China. They would be video calling from the Beijing office at 6 a.m. their time, 11 p.m. Paris time. Nathalie would be coming to collect Adrien at 10 p.m. to ensure he was dressed appropriately and to give him the names of the people he would be talking to.

Plagg sighed. His poor kitten stuck with such a busy schedule.

Tikki leaned over and rested a paw on his shoulder. "You okay?"

"It's like this all the time!" he gave a dramatic sigh. "Your bugs just can't keep their hands off my kittens, and we have to go without food."

"You literally just ate, cheese for brains!" Tikki huffed. Honestly, what did she expect? Plagg never talked about his feelings unless it was in terms of cheese. She jumped off the table and floated over to the window, peering down into Marinette's room, then returning to the table with a giggle. "Besides, I'm pretty sure it's Adrien's hands that aren't under control."

"They'll be under something down there," Plagg snorted in agreement. "But that's my point. They forget all about us poor kwami."

"You can wait a little longer for your cheese. Five more minutes won't kill you."

"Five minutes? I thought he had more stamina than that."

"Cookies give me strength!" Tikki swore under her breath, then threw a chocolate chip at Plagg's head. "It's a goodbye kiss, Plagg. A long one but just a kiss."

Author's notes: No notes today I'm afraid. This chapter was a pain to write because I have had a nightmare headache all day. A hot chocolate and an early night for me. If you have any questions stick them in a review and I'll answer them tomorrow. G'night all.