It's warm... was all Adrien could process as the world swam back into focus.
"I promise it's not going to try and eat you!" A voice giggled in the distance. His ear twitched. "But we're not going to keep it, so you can hide for tonight if you'd like, ok?"
Huh? He blinked to clear away the blurry spots left in his vision. For a moment he almost felt himself falling back under, but he shifted lightly and soft fabric rustled around him.
A blanket? It smells nice. Adrien observed drowsily, curling into it. A part of him didn't want to move because he was so comfortably wrapped but a noisy slamming finally snapped him out of his daze. Wait...what?
The first thing he noticed was the color pink. And a lot of it. He also took note that he'd been loosely wrapped in a blanket and placed on some kind of chaise. He could've sworn he'd heard some voices too but he was still a little out of it. Where am I?
There was a rattle behind him and he jumped at the noise.
"Oh hello little kitty, you're awake."
Adrien was frozen to the spot. Princess? He squeaked in surprise, but when a meow rather than words came out instead reality came crashing back to him.
He wasn't exactly Chat Noir anymore. He wasn't even Adrien.
He'd been turned into a cat.
Marinette's head was peeking over the top of an opening in the ground, smiling cheerfully at him.
Blue eyes... that's right. They were the last thing he remembered from before though he could've sworn it was Ladybug. Then again, he had just fallen off a roof.
She closed the trap door and padded over to crouch down by him. He fidgeted nervously and quietly stared. Her hair was free from her usual pigtails and rested damply across her shoulders, curling lightly at the tips. She also wore a loose t-shirt and baggy pants.
Cute... He flushed.
To be frank, it was quite a change and it was throwing him off.
She lifted a small tray onto the chaise. On it, there was a shallow dish of water and plate of an assortment of food. He smelt it before he even saw it and scooted back in repulsion; there were even bits of cheese. She nudged it gently towards him.
"Here you go. I'm not really sure what's good for cats to eat so I just swiped a few things I thought might be okay."
No no no. No way. He might look like a cat, but he wasn't about to start eating out of a bowl like one! As if to mock him, there was a low rumble in his stomach and he grimaced. Okay, maybe he'd take some water, but he would not eat the cheese. He'd rather starve.
"Not hungry?" Marinette tilted her head, her damp curls bouncing lightly. Adrien felt the slight need to flick at them.
Suppress it. Suppress it!
Agitated, he tried shaking off the blanket but his claws accidentally caught on the fabric instead. In his struggle to free himself, it quickly became a tangled mess. What did he do to deserve this? Stupid blanket! He yowled.
From within his fluffy prison, he heard Marinette laugh and felt a little part of himself die from embarrassment. When he felt gentle hands touch him though, he went still and allowed her to withdraw him from the trap. Wide eyed, he simply stared at her, tongue-tied from the soft smile she was giving him as she grew close to his face. This near, he could see a light spattering of freckles across her nose. His heart picked up.
"You're not exactly a graceful cat are you? It's a good thing I was nearby and saw what happened. I thought cats were supposed to land on their feet. " She reached over to pet him and giggled. Inside, Adrien was mortified. He definitely must have been blushing furiously beneath all his fur so he was at least happy she couldn't see that. And what was that vibration in his chest? Oh God. He was purring wasn't he?
Purring. For real.
The sooner he and Plagg found Ladybug and fixed this mess, the better...
Oh no- Plagg! He looked around frantically. The little black kwami was nowhere to be found and neither was his miraculous. He filled with dread.
He needed to get back out there and find them fast! But before he could make it anywhere, he squeaked in surprise when a pair of hands hooked under his arms and gently lifted him into the air. He tried to squirm out of her grasp but Marinette's grip was steady.
His whines of protest only came out as a series of tiny meows to which she found hilarious. "You're lucky you're cute. I'm more a fan of hamsters." She teased with a wink.
Hamsters?! Now he was just insulted.
"You know," She said. "You kind of remind me of someone I know. You even have his eyes!" He tilted his head in confusion. Her smile had suddenly dropped into a small frown. "You don't have a collar though so you must be a stray, but you're surprisingly calm. And you're just so sweet! I wish I could keep you."
"No!" A tiny muffled voice shouted from somewhere. Adrien jerked. He'd definitely heard something and it hadn't come from Marinette. Am I just hearing things? Maybe this was some kind of cat sense? But Marinette paid no heed and just giggled, cradling him in her arms. He wondered if she could feel how hard his heart was pounding. It was even worse when she started scratching his ears; to his horror it even started to feel good. He couldn't keep the noise of pleasure from his throat down this time and the room was filled with loud purring.
He would never be able to look Marinette in the eye again.
To be honest, Adrien really didn't know much about Marinette. He knew her mostly as the shy, sweet girl that sat behind him in class and who also always had the brightest smile on her lips when she'd say hello to him. He had often wished that they could become good friends, but whenever he tried talking to her she would freeze up and stutter then dart away as soon as she could. He couldn't figure out what exactly he had done to elicit this behavior from her, especially since he seemed to be the only she was like that with. With everyone else she was confident and laughed freely. It drove him a little crazy and it was puzzling to say the least.
Also, when he'd met her as Chat, she had seemed to fawn over him at first but it had quickly become apparent that she had no real interest. She'd even taken initiative and helped him with the Evillustrator. It had fascinated him and he'd eagerly gone to ask her about her encounter with Chat the next day, but without fail she once again became a stuttering mess.
So it was definitely strange to have her talking so normally with him, as Adrien.
Well... sort of.
She smells good...like the blanket. He couldn't help but notice as she held him, warming slightly. But then he shook his head.
What was he doing? Both Plagg and his miraculous were still missing! He glanced at the window. It was still dark out but there was no way of telling how long he'd been here already. Ladybug was probably long gone by now too. At least he knew where he was and how to get home but all the windows were closed so how was he supposed to get out?
He sneezed, ears flicking sharply.
"Oh! Are you cold? Hold on, let me get the towel. I didn't want to end up hurting you but now I can dry you off properly." She stood up and set him down on her desk to escape into her bathroom. He curiously looked around her room. There was a mannequin and sewing machine which she used for her design work no doubt and nearby was a staircase that lead up to an area with a bed. He was making his way over to the computer when he spotted it, jerking in alarm and tail puffing excitedly.
There was no mistake. The silver ring that was currently resting on the table was one he'd recognize anywhere. She must have picked it up when she found him. Maybe his luck was turning around after all!
He padded over eagerly, beyond relieved that it hadn't been left for a random person to find. That could've been a whole other degree of disaster. Maybe the higher power that had punished him with all this bad luck had finally realized how cruel they were being and decided to give him at least this little break. But when he bent down to pick it up, a swipe of fingers pried it quickly out of sight.
"No you silly cat." Marinette had a hand on her hip, a towel dangling on her elbow. His ring was pinched between her fingers. "If you played with this, you could swallow it on accident. So paws off." She smirked at her own pun and slipped it into her pocket.
Nooo! He meowed pathetically and swiped at her, even daring to go so far as to act as cute as he could by rolling over and weaving around her legs. His pride and dignity were long gone by this point, but she remained stubborn and shook him off. He slumped in defeat and watched with drooping ears as she placed the ring in a box on her desk and locked it.
Now he was in a pickle. How was he going to get it back?
At least it's safe. He mulled. And he did have to find Plagg and make sure he was okay. Then they could figure out how to get the miraculous back, but before any of that could happen, he had to find a way out.
Suddenly he was encased in darkness. Caught off guard, he scrambled around, yowling, until he was able to poke his head out. Marinette had taken advantage of his distracted state and had captured him with the towel in one fell swoop. She'd then proceeded to vigorously, but gently rub it over him while humming cheerfully.
He meowed in irritation. He didn't like the towel! But it was better than being wet so he grudgingly let her dry him off. However, a small part of him was loathe to admit it, but he almost found himself enjoying the care. A super small part, he told himself.
"There," She finally pulled away. He imagined this is what a shirt felt like after a few rounds in a dryer. "Hey now, don't look at me like that. If I hadn't taken you in, you'd still be out there right now." She tried patting him on the head again, but he ducked away from her and jumped off the table.
She sighed. "You're feeling restless, huh? You're probably not used to being inside."
She wasn't completely wrong. He trotted around the room, skirting the walls. There were two big windows and two trap doors, one over her bed and the closed one on the floor. He darted up the stairs leading to her bed towards the glass door.
"Hey!" She called after him, but he was already at the top. With a satisfied purr, he noted the large cat pillow on her bed. Hamsters, yeah right!
"Where do you think you're going?" She chastised, having followed him up. He leapt onto his hind legs, reaching for the glass door and she frowned. "You want to go outside that badly?"
Yes! He meowed insistently. Desperate times called for desperate measures. He flashed her the biggest, most watery gaze he could muster, a trick he often used on Ladybug which always worked as long as he wasn't being too annoying. Marinette rolled her eyes and it was such a familiar motion that Adrien was taken aback for a second, but she just scooped him up in one arm before lifting the glass door and nimbly climbing out.
The rain had stopped and the night air was cool and refreshing. Over the rooftops, they could see the tip of the Eiffel tower glittering in the distance. In Marinette's warm grasp, Adrien wouldn't have minded staying just like that for a little longer, but as nice as it felt he couldn't stay. He had to find Plagg and then get back his miraculous. There was a small part of him that secretly hoped that she would pet his ears at least once more, but he didn't want to let this chance pass.
With as much force as he could muster, he twisted out of her arms and jumped onto the roof, but she didn't try very hard to stop him. The only light nearby spilled from her window, but it was enough for him to see the concern on her face.
His heart twisted in guilt and he hesitated. She just looked so worried. He didn't owe her anything, not really, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to leave her like that. With a small sigh, he turned around and jumped up between the bars.
She blinked down at him in surprise when he began to weave affectionately between her legs, trying to offer her a little comfort. Adrien purred at the return of her smile and as if she just knew, she bent down to scratch his ears again.
"Alright, you be careful out there kitty. I thought black cats were bad luck but it looks like you got lucky this time around. I guess it's because Ladybug is looking out for you." She winked at him. He felt himself blush again."Be safe."
Thanks Princess.
That was his cue. With a flourish of his tail, he bounced across the roof much more carefully this time, and started making the tedious way down.
~.~.~.~.~
By the time Adrien recognized his mansion in the distance, he was exhausted. His house wasn't far from Marinette's but being a fraction of his usual size had made the trip take a lot longer than normal. He groaned inside, thinking of how he was going to have to get up to his room somehow too. That's where he desperately hoped Plagg was.
Going down was one thing, but climbing up was another and by the time he made it to his window after having to scale all kinds of walls and trees as creatively as possible, he was dead on his feet. Every limb hurt. Even his tail hung pitifully behind him.
He pressed against the glass and peered inside. Just beyond the window, Plagg was floating quickly back and forth in an agitated circle. Adrien had never been happier to see him.
He beat his little paws against the glass as hard as he could, meowing loudly. When Plagg finally noticed him there was the moment when realization hit him and in a flash he had flown straight through the window. For a horrifying second, Adrien wobbled backwards in surprise but was able to catch himself.
That was too close! Adrien sighed in relief but suddenly there was Plagg openly nuzzling his face as if it'd been much longer than a couple of hours. Then again, they never had been apart this long before.
"Adrien!" Plagg cried happily.
Adrien was shocked. He'd never seen Plagg act so affectionate before. His kwami was usually grumpy and whiny and never made things easy for him, but he knew that he cared about him. It was rare for him to show it so openly though, but the affection wasn't unwelcome. He really must've been worried, he thought warmly.
You do care. He teased appreciatively with a purr. Sorry about that. I didn't mean to worry you. When Plagg snorted though, the moment was ruined.
"I wasn't worried! I was just thinking about how I would never get another piece of camembert if you didn't show up again." Plagg flew back and inspected him thoroughly. "You look like you haven't had it easy. Wait, what about the miraculous?"
I promise it's safe for now. Adrien said. But can we get inside first? I'll explain after.
After another struggle of trying to figure out how to open the window that ended with Plagg getting a ruler wedged under enough so he could slip inside, Adrien crawled onto his bed and fell flat over, wishing he never had to move another inch. The way Plagg flopped onto his head told him he was thinking the same thing.
"I could really go for some camembert about now."
Sorry Plagg, that'll have to wait. I can't exactly sneak a piece for you like this. Adrien murmured. He was really tired. His eyes drooped heavily. Plagg rolled around in despair.
"If you're not going to get me cheese, are you going to at least tell me what happened? I tried following you, but Ladybug got away too fast. Adrien?" Plagg poked his fuzzy face.
But Adrien had already fallen asleep and was dead to the world. Plagg rolled his eyes but just tucked himself under his neck. What mattered was that they were back together and Adrien said the miraculous was safe so he would take his word for it and let him sleep. He deserved the rest. Plagg sighed.
"Just what have we gotten ourselves into now..."
Poor Adrien. What did he do to deserve this! I'm having a little too much fun with this... I should really be studying for finals.
Thank you for all your reviews and follows! I'm so excited people are enjoying this :) More to come.