Tikki stared out of the window and involuntarily cringed at the sight of an overcast gray sky. It least it wasn't snowing... at least not yet. She turned away from the window and let out a bored sigh as she buried herself deeper into her blanket cocoon. Glancing at her phone in the hope that someone had texted her but her hopes were dashed. Marinette was with Adrien helping him set up for the party later tonight. Alya was busy taking conference calls with her coworkers in New York and she'd just left Nooroo after helping him box up the rest of his stuff at his place; an endeavor that had physically and emotionally drained them both so she opted to leave him alone for a while. She'd texted Plagg but he hadn't responded yet so he assumed that he was busy helping Marinette and Adrien set up for the New Years party and had let the matter at that.

Tikki turned her attention back to her thoughts and stared out the window again... she screamed and tried to sit up but only to succeed in pushing herself off of the bunk bed in the process- blanket cocoon and all- luckily it didn't hurt too much but it still caused her to squeak in surprise... Well that was one way to get out of bed. She disentangled herself from her blanket and stood up, huffing in mild annoyance as she made her way to the window. Throwing it open and poking her head out to glare at the person on the fire escape.

"What are you doing here?!" Plagg just shrugged as if it was a perfectly normal thing for him to be on the fire escape.

"You want to go get ice cream?"

Tikki blinked, snapping her mouth shut even tighter to prevent her jaw from dropping. It lasted all of a second before she opened her mouth again. "Ice cream? Are you insane! It's cold outside!"

"So?

"So? So!? It's ten degrees out and you just show up on the fire escape and ask me if I want ice cream?! You're insane!"

"You did tell me I was going to end up in an asylum."

"That's not an explanation for why you're standing on a fire escape! Why didn't you use the door like a normal person!"

"I remember someone telling me that quote: 'I wouldn't know fun if it hit me in the face' climbing fire escapes is more fun than knocking on a door, tell me it's not."

"Why didn't you text me?"

"Because I was going to get ice cream either way, I just thought that you might want to join me I didn't text you because I wanted to ask you in person." She folded her arms and rolled her eyes at him.

"Shouldn't you be helping Adrien and Marinette set up for the party tonight?"

"I tried to but they kicked me out." Tikki shook her head and sighed.

"Well I guess they don't want our help then."

"So... ice cream?"

"Give me five minutes."

"You brought your motorcycle?"

"What, you think I walked here? I'm not that insane."

Tikki shot him a look.

"Oh, come on. Don't pretend you don't love it."

"Love is a strong word."

"So you hate it."

"Also a strong word. I just find it unnecessary I know and ice cream parlor close by and it's actually not that cold. Why don't we walk?"

Now it was his turn to give her a look. "Are we sure I'm the crazy one?"

"Don't know." Tikki replied, spinning on her heel and walking down the sidewalk.

"Why did I let you convince me to do this?" Tikki questioned aloud as she dug her plastic spoon into the cup of chocolate ice cream, her face twisting into a slight grimace against the cold that touched her tongue.

"You're the one who's still eating it." Plagg pointed out.

"It's chocolate, don't judge me!" Tikki stuck her tongue out at him and he smirked in response.

"Not judging, just wanted to say thanks."

She tilted her head at him, curious. "What for?"

"For helping me... The akuma thing it was actually really helpful."

Vague, but she wasn't going to press.

"Oh, you're welcome. I'm glad I could help."

"I mean it Tikki."

"I know you do." She twisted her plastic spoon in her hand, looking down at the silver polished metal table. She stood up from her chair, taking her empty ice cream container to the trash can. Returning to her chair and tapping her fingers on the table. "What are you doing?" she asked, watching Plagg as he looked around the room.

"People watching."

"There's only one other person here, if you want to people watch go to a mall."

"It's a training exercise some guy at the police station told me about; you can learn a lot about a person if you watch them."

"Yeah because that guy looks so suspicious; if anyone is going to rob an ice cream store it's me and besides it's rude to stare."

Plagg turned back to her and scoffed. "I'm not staring."

"Not anymore. Smart aleck."

"Oh, we're going to play that game are we? Okay fine," he leaned back in his chair and fixed her with a look that was almost unnerving in its intensity.

"You walk with your chin up which would suggest confidence but you tend to cross your legs when you're around other people which usually is a sign that you're protecting yourself from potential conflicts. You bite your nails when you think a situation is awkward."

The expression on his face had turned smug as Tikki felt her jaw open.

" Judging by your lack of comment I'm going to assume that the majority of what I just said is accurate to some degree."

Tikki stared down at the table at a loss for words. Eyes gravitating towards the gleam of the emerald set into the black ring around his finger. She had to struggle against the sudden urge to brush her fingers over his and she struggled to regain her composure so that her voice wouldn't shake when she finally had the guts to make eye contact with him as she replied.

"No."

"No? Am I wrong?"

"I mean that it's accurate; I just didn't think that anyone would pay enough attention to me to notice stuff like that."

"You think I don't pay attention to you when we've known each other for two months?"

"Again; not what I meant." She rolled her eyes to brush off the butterflies in her stomach and stood up from her chair. "We should get going. Marinette's going to start calling my cell phone any minute now."

They'd barely made it five steps away from the ice cream shop before there was a crashing rumble of thunder and the overcast sky- which had gotten darker while they'd been inside- seemed to split open and pour down torrents of ice-cold sleet. Tikki stood frozen for a moment at the unexpected cold that assaulted her, letting out a surprised little gasp. "What was that you said about walking?" Plagg teased.

Tikki turned to him and scowled. "Not another word."

"At least it's not snow." He had a point and yet... yet this was somehow worse, if it was snow then it would have taken at least a little time to melt, but this was sleet, the half-frozen rain droplets felt as cold as if it were snow and it started soaking through the fabric of her sweater twice as fast.

"Well if you insist on walking and prolonging your suffering be my guest, but I'm a sensible person so I suggest we run."

"Good plan, running is good- Hey don't leave me!" She took off after him.

Catching up to him when he took shelter under the awning of a shop that had a window display selling miniture replicas of the Effile Towers for tourists.

"Head starts are so not fair, that's cheating!" It was really hard to sound annoyed when she was so breathless that she was laughing.

"I never said I would play fair, you insisted we walk so I thought it seemed a fair punishment. Its not my fault we're out here in this mess."

"How was I supposed to know it would rain?"

"Ever heard of a weather report. Usually they're semi-accurate."

"Okay, what you want me to admit this was a stupid idea?"

"No, I feel that I've made my point, if anyone's to blame for this its me. I had the idea to go outside in the first place."

Now Tikki just felt guilty. "I don't blame you." They stood there for a minute under the awning of the little street shop until Tikki summoned up enough courage to step back onto the sidewalk, turning back when Plagg tugged gently on her shoulder. "You're freezing."

She became very aware that she was hugging herself to conserve body head, shivering in her wet sweater. She told a step closer to him drawn to the promise of more heat... just because she was cold she thought to herself... it had nothing to do with the way his eyes seemed to glow and go dark all at once; reflecting the gray light of the storm clouds hanging in the sky.

"I'm fine." She attempted to reassure him, aware that her voice had dropped to a whisper to reflect the lack of distance between them, he seemed to have stepped closer to her as well although that might have been her imagination.

The sudden flash of lightning caught her off guard and her breath caught in her throat as the entire world was thrown into a sharp relief of light and shadows, time seemed to freeze in that single moment as her heart sped up, panic and exhilaration and a sense of calm washing over her in a single moment yet lasting an eternity as she saw the reflection of lightening in his eyes turning them bright and breathtaking.

She stood utterly frozen as the world turned dark once more, she squeezed her eyes shut at the sudden change of lighting, she almost pulled back in shock when she felt a sudden weight settle on her shoulders. She snapped her eyes open and instinctively pulled the hoodie closer but refused to put it on, instead letting it drape over her shoulders like a cape.

"The whole point is to wear it so you don't freeze to death."

"What about you? You'll be the one to freeze now." She countered, staring at him standing before her without the hoodie in a navy blue T-shirt- yet another color that brought out the green of his eyes thgough she supposed that it shouldn't surprise her that much; having Adrien as a roommate meant that he was bound to pick up some understanding of fashion- she knew that it was that way between her and Mari.

"Misery loves company, come on the sooner we get out of this, the sooner our suffering ends."

They finally reached the apartment building and Tikki cast a longing glance at the brightly lit lobby before she turned back to Plagg, shrugging off the hoodie with the full intent to give it back to him before he held up a hand.

"Keep it," She tilted her head at him with a questioning look.

"I've got another one besides its not like you won't see me ever again."

She rolled her eyes at him. "It's twenty steps to the other door, I doubt I'll get hypothermia. You on the other hand, have to go home in this mess." She threw her hands up to indicate the fact that it was still raining. "I'll suck it up." He replied with a shrug, turning to swing a leg over his bike.

"You're being an idiot." Tikki protested.

"Funny because I'll say the same to you if you try to give that hoodie back to me, so I guess that makes two of us." He started up the motorcycle, placing a foot down on the curb to push away from it.

"Hey."

He turned to look at her.

"... I had a good time."

"Yeah sure, because having ice cream and getting rained on is a good time. Hypothermia, Yay!"

"I'm serious. I had a good time, Its not your fault it rained. That was just nature being stupid."

"Careful, you'll get struck by lightning next time if nature hears you talking like that."

She rolled her eyes and took a step away from the curb. "Thanks for ice cream. At least now I'll die with the taste of chocolate in my mouth."

"I'm glad I could make a death as painful as getting fried by a billion volts of electricity all the more enjoyable for you."

She snickered and rolled her eyes, turning to face the door of the apartment building and waving over her shoulder at him.

"I'm home!" Mari called out as Tikki heard the sound of the apartment door shutting.

"In here." was Tikki's response and Mari's face appeared in the bedroom doorway.

"Why is your hair wet?"

"I went out in the rain." Tikki didn't need to turn around to know that her roommate was giving her a weird look.

"You went out in the rain?" Mari asked. Trying to come up with a reason why her roommate would do such a thing when it was so cold outside.

"For ice cream." Tikki's elaboration only seemed to make Marinette more puzzled.

"Ice cream? … Where did that hoodie come from?" Marinette asked, distracted by the article of clothing that she had just now noticed her roommate was wearing.

"It's Plagg's."

It took Marinette's brain about five seconds to connect all of the dots. Tikki turned her attention away from the task of finding a dry sweater to wear when she heard Mari inhale so loudly she thought that her roommate was in danger of choking. The inhalation of air quickly turned into hyperventilating and Tikki's concern turned to not that Mari would choke but that she would faint or go into a coma do to a lack of oxygen flow to her brain.

Then came the squeal; a high-pitched sound that no human should have been capable of making and had Tikki convinced that she must have been part dolphin if she was capable of hearing it. She knew very well what had warranted the squeal; Marinette's own relationship with Adrien had started under a similar circumstance involving rain; Tikki had heard the story many a time despite the fact that she had actually seen the moment for herself. She'd like to think she'd done a better job of composing herself then Marinette was doing right now.

"OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGod! I CAN'T BELIEVE I MISSED IT! DAMN IT! WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL MEEEEE!? Why didn't you TELL ME!?"

"Um... I just did?"

"No, No you did not! You have to tell me!"

Tikki rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to finding a different sweater. "It wasn't anything like that." She unzipped the hoodie and tossed it across the room where it landed draped over the railing of the top bunk bed.

Marinette made a noise of distress as she watched her friend casually ignore what was- in her mind- a divine sign from the universe. The blue-haired girl marched the rest of the way into the room and stood in the threshold of the walk-in closet, arms folded so that she wouldn't grab Tikki by the shoulders and start shaking her. She refused to let the matter drop that easily.

"Tell me about it!" She demanded. "Tell me, tell me, tell me tell me tell me, I'm not going to stop until you tell me. Tellmetellmetellmetellme!"

Tikki finally managed to peel the wet sweater off of her skin and tossed it into the laundry basket, pulling a red cable-knit sweater off of a hook and putting it on instead. Turning to face her overly-excited friend. She bunched the extra fabric of the sweater in her fingers, trying to warm them up.

"It wasn't anything like that." Tikki insisted; it was the truth. Marinette's experience was different from her own. Marinette had fallen in love with a clap of thunder; slow and deep and low- there was an expression for that: "Coup de Foudre."

Tikki had fallen in love with a flash of lightning; bright, sudden and silent, a breathtaking moment of clarity where she'd seen him in a different light entirely and going back to the real world had left her stunned and almost blind; a moment where she thought she was seeing him for the first time but felt like she'd known him her entire life... Yes she and Marinette had both fallen in love in the rain but it wasn't the same thing.

Not at all.


A/N: Marinette's dialogue at the end has been the most annoying thing to type out, also I don't know why the author deviated from using line spaces and switched to dashes.

Next chapter is exceptionally long; I've never typed this much in my life and its causing my wrists pain.