Marinette really should've been more upset. Livid even. But as she landed back in her room and detransformed, she felt... numb? Not quite. Happy? No, definitely not that. She hated the fact that she'd lost, and the verbal thrashing Mayor Bourgeois had given her and Chat left her with more than a sour taste in her mouth. So, why wasn't she mad? Despite everything, she couldn't bring herself to be upset with the thief. If anything, she almost wanted to applaud her.
Slumping into her computer chair, Marinette pulled up the Ladyblog. As expected, Alya had already posted her video of the events, and the site was buzzing with talk of the heroes' "win". The teen sighed.
"What's wrong, Marinette?" Tikki asked, floating by her shoulder. The kwami held a cookie in her hands which she munched on, quietly. "Are you upset that you lost?"
"Sort of," Marinette said. "Actually, I think I'm more bothered that people actually think we won. It... kinda feels cheap, you know?"
"Like you didn't earn it?"
"Exactly." The designer slumped forward, elbows resting on her desk and hands on her cheeks. She watched her fight with Spades play out on her computer screen. Her cheeks turned rosy as the end of their battle came up. Alya had had the audacity to zoom in on her bold move over the thief. Squealing, Marinette hit her keyboard, freezing the video in the process. Her screen now showed a rather silly looking Spades suspended in time as she was jerked into the air. At least it wasn't stuck on the kiss. The teen let her head bang against her desk with a groan. What the hell had she been thinking? Simple answer was she wasn't. She had been so caught up in the fight that the move just made sense.
What was wrong with her?
"Marinette?"
A single bluebell eye peered up at the concerned kwami. Groaning again, Marinette glared back at the thief on her computer screen. She may not be mad, but she sure as hell was annoyed.
"She's messing with my head, Tikki."
The kwami smiled and shook her head. She patted her chosen's hair, lovingly. What a silly girl.
No matter how many times Adrien asked, Plagg just would not shut up. The little kwami was in the midst of a giggling fit that seemed to drag on for far too long. He was currently rolling around on Luna's kitchen table in near tears. As a result, his chosen was red-faced with shame. Adrien gave a look of misery to the thief beside him. The washcloth-wrapped bag of ice he had pressed against his nose made him look all the more pitiful.
"Please tell me you have camembert," he begged.
Luna made a face. "Eww, why?"
"He's only ever quiet when he's stuffing his face. And even then that's only for about two seconds."
She raised a brow. "Your cat eats cheese?"
"That is the only thing he eats."
"Well, that explains the smell. And why you're so cheesy." Luna reached over to scratch Plagg's head. The giggling quieted a bit in favor of soft purrs.
"I am not cheesy!" Adrien said in a huff.
"Oh, you so are! With your silly ass puns and terrible attempts at flirting, you are nothing but cheese!"
"Hey, you like my silly ass puns!"
Luna chuckled. "Doesn't make you any less of a dork, Agreste."
Adrien smirked at her, setting the bag of ice down. "Do you have any or not?"
"I don't know. Collins, do we have cheese?" Her fingers moved to the kwami's stomach.
The nanny popped a pepperoni in his mouth and checked on the pizza in the oven. "I should hope so, or dinner's a bust."
"Yeah, but do we have any-YEOWCH!" Luna pulled her hand away. She inspected the small fang marks on her finger before giving Plagg an accusatory glare. The cat smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry. It's a cat thing."
"Cheap cheddar it is," the thief said.
"Alright, you three," Collins said. "Pizza's just about done. Lunabelle, if you would set the table for us?"
The girl groaned. "Again, totally your job."
"Chores build character. Now hopto it." The nanny cupped Adrien's face to study it. "Hmm... swelling seems to have gone down. Still sore?"
"A little, yeah," Adrien said.
"We'll get some cream for it, then. Have you come up with a good alibi?"
"Huh?"
"I assume your dad doesn't know about your extracurricular activities?"
"Oh. Right." He put a hand through his hair. "Haven't really wanted to think about it. I doubt any excuse I give him is gonna be good enough."
"Could just cover it up," Luna said as she laid out the plates.
"I don't think concealer is gonna fix this."
"Yeah, I saw the sorry job you did with it, yesterday. You just have to learn how to use it. Collins' a whiz with a brush. He could give you some makeup tips."
Adrien raised a brow. "Shouldn't you know how to do it?"
"I'm not the fucking chameleon. Trust me. You want Collins."
"We'll, he wouldn't need my help if someone wasn't such a brute to the poor boy," Collins teased.
Luna rolled her eyes. "I already said I was sorry."
"I'm sure you did," the nanny said. "Still, you could've left him some shred of dignity, hm?"
She raised a brow at Adrien. "Didn't realize he had any," she said with a smirk.
"Ah! How you wound me!" the boy cried as he clutched his chest. Luna chuckled at his antics.
The little black cat huffed as he flew into his chosen's face. "Um, excuse me! I remember being promised cheese!"
Luna plucked him from the air, her fingers gently clutching the nape of his neck. "Only good kitties get cheese in my house."
"I'll be good. C'mon, I'm starving! I'll even take cheddar." His vibrant green eyes pleaded with her.
Collins set down a plate of assorted cheeses. "I believe Luna was only joking about that. Though, it would be appreciated if you don't cause anymore bites."
Plagg excitedly flew out of Luna's grasp and straight into the cheese plate. He began to munch away while the others laughed.
"Guess I'll have to remember to stock up on the camembert," Collins said.
"You really don't have to," Adrien said.
"Don't bother, kitten. He's gonna do it, anyway," said Luna.
"I wouldn't be a good host if I didn't." The nanny kissed her head before moving to check dinner again. Adrien played with the nearly melted bag of ice in his hands. Once again, he found himself just a little envious of his friend. He really hated that feeling. It made him feel ugly inside. Pain shot through his forehead as, once again, Luna flicked him.
"Hello? Earth to Agreste?"
Adrien blinked at her, rubbing the spot. "What?"
"Do you typically zone out like that, or did you lose sleep again?"
"Sorry," he mumbled. "Got a lot on my mind."
Luna laid her head on the table. "Well, at the risk of sounding like a hypocrite, I've recently been told it's better to talk about stuff and not bottle it in. What's up, kitten?"
"It's nothing..." When she didn't look the least bit convinced, Adrien sighed. "...you're very lucky..."
Luna pressed her lips into a hard line. For a moment, neither one spoke. Adrien went back to studying his hands. God, did he feel stupid. It didn't help that he could feel her gaze bearing down on him. Seconds passed before a screeching sound caused him to look up as Luna pushed her seat back.
"Alright, what exactly did you tell your dad before you came here?" she asked.
"I'm studying with a friend," he said, lamely.
"Got a curfew?"
Adrien frowned, then pulled out his phone. He groaned. "Yeah, twenty minutes ago."
"Whelp, you're already late. Might as well have some fun." She up and turned to Collins. "I'm taking him downstairs."
The man frowned down at her. "I literally just pulled the pizza out."
"We'll eat later." She motioned for Adrien to follow her. He stood up in confusion.
"I suppose I should call and inform Mr. Agreste that his son will be staying the night?" Collins asked.
"Yeah, do that. That sounds good." Luna took Adrien's hand and practically dragged him out of the room with barely enough time for him to grab Plagg. Collins rolled his eyes. Once again, his hard work was wasted on the girl's impulses.
Adrien tried to process what was going on as he was dragged back to Luna's main hall. As they stopped in front of the statue by the stairs, all he could really come up with was that this was probably a bad idea.
"Where are we going, exactly?" he asked.
Luna smirked at him. "I told you. We're going downstairs." She hit the jewel on the statue's chest. The floor beneath them trembled as a panel opened up behind the statue, revealing a staircase leading below. The boy's eyes lit up as he looked from the path back to the grinning girl beside him. She gave him a wink.
"Come on, Robin. I'm gonna show you the Bat Cave."
Luna headed down into the hidden depths, leaving Adrien to gape at the top. It wasn't long, though, before he snapped back to reality.
"Hey, wait a minute! Why am I Robin?!"