Chapter 2
Tikki picked at her red nail polish as she stared at Adrien's apartment building.
"He said we could just go on up when we got here, the door should be unlocked. Number 12. First floor."
Marinette's voice came from somewhere behind Tikki but the redhead didn't move for a good five more seconds, bushing the nail polish flakes off of her nail and onto the pavement.
She absentmindedly came to the conclusion that she would have to repaint them when she got home even though this coat of polish was only a few days old.
She shoved her hands into her jean pockets. Out of sight out of mind... more less.
"Coming?" Alya asked. Tikki pushed herself out of her thoughts and followed after her friends.
Alya pushed the door open and marched into the room. "We're here!" She declared. "We brought sour gummy worms!" Nino chimed in.
"I made brownies with caramel frosting!" Marinette called, holding up her offering as she walked towards the counter to set the tray down.
"What are our movie options this week?" Alya asked walking towards the flat screen TV and DVD cabinet.
Tikki hung back, taking in the apartment.
Sleep and surprisingly clean despite the fact that there were two boys living in the relatively small space.
It was still about two or three times bigger than her's and Mari's apartment though, a clear sign that Adrien still had a fair amount of money to his name despite being out on his own.
"Wow, just walking in like that huh, it's like you live here or something."
The sarcastic comment had come from the L shaped black leather couch. Plagg was sprawled across the half of the couch that was furthest from the door which was the excuse everyone would likely use for not seeing him. That and he was practically invisible in his usual all black ensemble.
His feet were draped over the couch armrest almost touching the wall his body was twisted to face the TV and he was propped up on his elbows; a black Xbox controller in his hand.
Alya came to a stop in front of the flat screen taking only a minute to determine what game he was playing. From what Tikki saw it looked like some type of shooter game but she had absolutely no idea which one.
Alya reached over and switched the input channel to the DVD setting.
"Hey!" Plagg protested. "I was trying to prevent the alien based apocalypse!"
"Yawn." Alya replied. Opening he DVD cabinet and assessing her options.
"You know the Xbox can play DVDs too, right?" Alya didn't respond. "You could have at least let me save my progress." Plagg grumbled from the couch, setting the now—useless game controller on the armrest.
"Better enjoy these gummy worms then, when aliens invade, candy is going to be the first thing to go." Nino tossed a plastic bag at a scowling Plagg opening another one for himself.
Tikki snickered at Nino's comment and was admittedly impressed when Plagg managed to catch the bag of sweets that Nino had practically hurled at him.
"Cat-like reflexes." Plagg grinned catching her staring at him out of the corner of his eye.
"How many bags of popcorn should I make?" Marinette called from the kitchen.
Tikki migrated into the kitchen to help her friend hunt down more snacks.
"Hey Plagg where's Adrien?" Mari asked after another five minutes had passed and she'd had time to process the blonde's absence.
"He went to go pick up the pizza, said he'd be back in twenty."
As if on cue the door opened and Adrien marched with a single-minded determination to the table, intent on setting down the stack of four pizza boxes that he was carrying.
"That's not how we sit on the couch." Adrien scolded without even looking at Plagg.
Plagg shot his roomate a scowl. "Who are you, My mom?" He shot back, rolling his eyes even as he complied with Adrien's request
Swinging his legs off the armrest and jumping off the couch; sights set on the fridge.
Adrien shook his head as he set the pizza boxes down, wiping his hands on his jeans. "Well now that my flesh has melted off my hands- Who wants pepperoni who wants cheese, there's a vegetarian in there too in case you don't eat meat." This last bit was directed at Tikki, who just shrugged. "I'm not picky."
"Okay then," Adrien rubbed his hands on his jeans again. "Note-to-self when they say 'careful it's hot' they mean. 'don't try to carry it four blocks unless you want third-degree burns."
"Look at the brain on Sherlock, good thing you're a model and not a rocket scientist." Plagg smirked, taking a sip from his soda.
Adrien shot Plagg a look. "I just carried four pizza halfway across Paris one of which happens to be cheese, you'd better be nice to me."
"I'm sorry, I stopped listening to you after you said cheese." Plagg confessed not sounding sorry in the slightest. Plagg swung the lid on the first pizza box open to release the smell of freshly-made pizza and small tendrils of steam.
He ripped a piece off and picked it up, looking like a man who was about to die of starvation.
"I wouldn't-" Adrien tried to protest.
Plagg had picked up the pizza slice so fast that it took a second for his brain to process that he was holding something hot.
He hissed and dropped the pizza slice back into the box.
"I told you it was hot." Adrien said, deadpan and numb to his friend's pain. "I warned you."
Alya rolled her eyes. "Boys," she sighed leaning over to Tikki. She just giggled at the looks of protest that crossed Nino's, Adrien's and Plagg's faces as they overheard Alya's comment.
"What time is it?" Adrien asked as the TV screen went black and the credits started to roll."
"3. AM."
Adrien blinked. No. There was no way they had just killed nine hours watching movies!
He hadn't meant to lose track of time like that but it had been so long since all of his old friends had been in the same place. It had been nice.
There was a sudden bright glow from Adrien's right and he turned his head to see Alya looking at her phone screen.
"He's right. My phone clock says it's 3:13 AM." She didn't even sound tired. "How are you still awake?" Adrien asked looking around to see if anyone else had somehow gained a superpower that allowed them to stay up at this ungodly hour. Even Nino was asleep, in the same spot that Plagg had been earlier, Plagg having surrendered his favorite spot in favor of the matching black leather recliner.
"Guess I still need to get use to running on Paris-time and now New-York time. It's only 9 o'clock in the evening over there... timezones are weird."
Plagg tilted his head over the armrest of the chair so Alya almost appeared completely upside down when he looked at her. "They also suck. Can we sue whoever invented them?"
"I think whoever came up with timezones is dead or something."
"Aw, come on you can't tell me that wouldn't make an interesting headline. 'Teens sue timezones' What happened to Alya the Super Journalist."
"That is the lamest superhero name I have ever heard."
Plagg sat up, swinging his legs over the armrest so that he could stand. "Hey, Marinette's words not mine. I only just met you today." Plagg said defensively, walking over to the TV to switch it off. Man, they really needed to find that missing remote. Oh well he'd worry about it tomorrow.
He turned back around to face Alya in the dark. "It's not my fault it works so well."
He heard Alya make a noise that was a cross between a scoff and a snicker. "What would me superpower be then? Giving people paper cuts?"
"Ooh scratch the superhero you'd be a supervillain, paper cuts are from hell."
"Oh my gosh how is the supervillain thing worse than the superhero?" Plagg didn't need to see her to know she was cringing at the extremely lame set of superpowers she would likely have.
"Shh!" Adrien whisper-hissed. "You'll wake up Nino and Marinette."
"Oh no, this is so not over, I'm not leaving this alone until he comes up with a superhero name." Alya hissed back.
Plagg smirked- not that Alya could see him in the dark room- and dipped into a mock bow. "Chat noir at your service mademoiselle."
Adrien had to elbow Alya in the ribs to stop her laughing loudly enough to wake the entire apartment building; the laugh turned into a grunt and Alya tried to cover the snickers bubbling past her lips with a cough.
"Black Cat? Seriously? That's the best that you could come up with?"
"Well when you say the American translation it sounds less cool."
"And what exactly is this 'Chat Noir' Capable of?"
"That is for me to know and for you to guess about. He's supposed to be an enigma."
Alya bit her lip to keep away another laugh.
Adrien stood up from the couch slowly, removing a sleeping Marinette's head from his shoulder and placing it on a pillow instead.
"Well will the 'mysterious enigma' please go get some blankets or do I have to do everything myself?"
"You got it Captain Sunshine."
"I'm going to kill you." Adrien muttered.
Plagg heard Alya dissolving into another fit of laughter as he disappeared down the hallway.
Plagg threw a blanket over Tikki's shoulders, she muttered something nonsensical and curled in on herself further. Plagg turned around and disappeared back down the hallway.
Tikki smiled in her sleep.
When Tikki woke up the first thing that she realized was that she wasn't in her bunk bed in her own apartment.
The second thing she realized was that she wasn't the only one awake.
It took her a minute to remember movie night at Adrien's and Plagg's and it took her even longer to process that there was noise coming from the kitchen.
Who else was awake?
She rolled over on her back and sat up, kicking the blanket away from her legs... Weird she didn't remember getting a blanket last night.
She stood, making her way into the kitchen.
"Good morning."
She hummed in response, vocal cords not ready for full sentences quite yet.
She looked around the kitchen in search for a clock to figure out the time.
The one on the microwave read 6:05. Tikki wasn't quite sure when exactly she had fallen asleep but she knew she'd been up way too late to warrant getting up this early.
"Did you even sleep?"
Plagg answered without turning around.
"Oh sure, my sleep schedule is all sorts of screwed up, especially on the weekends. I'm basically nocturnal."
"Is that healthy?"
"Probably not."
Tikki looked at the counter and table in search of leftovers.
"Grilled cheese?"
Tikki looked up. Maybe she'd missed the part of what he'd been saying.
"What?"
He repeated himself. "Grilled cheese?"
She raised an eyebrow. "For breakfast?"
He shrugged. "Why not?" He turned, leaning against the counter and looking at her as if she was some kind of alien of something. "You have had a grilled cheese before, right?"
Tikki rolled her eyes. "Not for breakfast and not since I was twelve."
Plagg pointed the spatula at her. "That, is the saddest thing I have ever heard."
Tikki rolled her eyes and snatched a caramel frosted brownie out of the pan Marinette had brought.
"I'll pass, thanks."
"Suit yourself."
"Morning, Tikki." The voice was Alya's; she appeared from the hallway having put her blankets away in the hall closet.
"You're up too?" Tikki asked, looking at her friend in mild surprise.
"Time change. Still getting used to it."
"I still think we should sue." Plagg said, still leaning on the counter.
Tikki blinked, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "Sue timezones?"
"We were talking about it last night, well... technically this morning." Plagg's clarification only left Tikki more confused and she was about to ask Alya to explain it to her but she didn't get the chance because Alya was already talking again, muttering something under her breath about a black cat.
Plagg scowled. "I regret telling you about that." He pointed the spatula at Alya this time, an almost murderous glare on his face.
Tikki looked between the two, she couldn't help feeling like she was left out of some sort of inside joke. She turned to Alya. "Told you about what?"
Plagg's murderous glare at Alya intensified. "Don't you even think about it."
"About his 'alter ego'" Alya answered Tikki, not bothering to cover up the start of a laugh.
"That's it Alya Césaire you're officially on my hit list."
"Ooh I'm so scared." Alya mocked, turning back into the living room and picking up Tikki's discarded blanket to fold it and put it away.
"Journalist." Plagg muttered under his breath turning back to the stove with a self-satisfied smirk.
"I heard that!" Alya called.
"Good!"
Tikki rolled her eyes and took a bite of her brownie.
"Chat Noir?"
"Ha! See, she gets it!" Plagg yelled victoriously.
"Get's what?" Marinette asked, entering the kitchen, stretching her arms and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"Oh nothing," Tikki answered, taking another bite of her brownie to cover up wthe stupid smile that was threatening to split her face in half.
Marinette turned to Alya.
"And you can keep your mouth shut this time, Césaire or you won't wake up tomorrow." Plagg hissed.
Alya shrugged and shot Marinette a 'sorry' look as she mimed zipping her lips shut and throwing away the key.
Alya turned away from Marinette's protests as the three of them tried to stop laughing at Marinette's attempts to figure out what secret was being kept from her."
A/N: Apologies for including these, but to make it clear, I am manually copying the original work. I am trying to preserve the writer's style, which includes some errors. However, as I am manually rewriting this I, too, am making mistakes. But because I intend to polish the original work up later, I am not going to fully proofread it.
Thanks for reading.
