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Marinette groaned as she collapsed into her chair by her desk. School was finally out for winter break, yet she was still scheduled to babysit Manon since Nadja Chamack had to cover a big event at the other end of the city. Which is fine; she can sometimes get Manon under control. Unfortunately, Nino and Alya got asked by their parents to help with Christmas shopping, which meant she was babysitting Chris, Ella, and Etta as well. Nora couldn’t watch the twins since she was at practice and Chris didn’t really have another option, so Marinette obliged.
Now her room was filled with four hyper kids, running around and making a mess all while screaming at the top of their lungs.
Marinette yanked the fragile teapot out of Manon’s hands, “Be careful with that!” followed by her having to force the twins to get away from the sewing machine.
“Marinette, look!” Chris hollered while bouncing on her bed. She looked up. “Watch me do a flip!” She shrieked as the boy jumped off and attempted a flip. She stood up and shot her arms out. He knocked into her arms and crashed them both back to the ground. She let out a grunt and winced, “Chris, don’t do that!”
She glared as Chris grinned widely, ignoring her, “Awesome!” He jumped off of her and joined the other three on the other end of the room, scrummaging through her things.
She rubbed the back of her head. Kwamis, she was lucky to be an only child; she didn’t know if she could handle this every day.She rushed to the kids and pulled them away from the drawers, “Okay, please don’t go through my things! How about we watch a movie?” She forced a smile.
“No, I don’t want to watch a movie!” Chris argued, stomping his foot on the ground and throwing his hands up, “All the movies you have are for babies!”
She sighed and shook her head, “Well, you’re too young to watch big people movies!” All she got in response was an angry huff.
“Ok…how about we go and play in the snow?”
Manon frowned, “Mommy didn’t have me bring my snow clothes.”
Etta gasped and bounced on her toes excitedly, “Ooh! I know! I know! We can play with the toys you had last time we were here!”
Marinette blinked and after a moment she nodded in understanding, “Oh, you mean the dolls I made of the heroes and villains?”
The little girl shook her head, “Not those! The squashies! The tiny funny animal things you had!”
Marinette squinted her eyes, confused. She mouthed the word to herself, before her eyes widened. Etta was referring to the kwamis that used to live here. “Oh…I actually gave those away.” Probably for the best, considering how the kids attacked and mauled them last time. Also, kwamis aren’t even allowed to be seen by others. She trusted Alya to keep Trixx out of the twins' sight, but admittedly worries about Nino hiding Wayzz since he wasn’t the greatest with secrets.
“What?!” They all cried, distraught.
“You don’t have any left? Not even one?”
Marinette sucked in a breath and rubbed the back of her neck. She could feel Tikki shaking slightly in her purse out of fear, and she subtly placed a hand over it to console her. “Every single last one.” She confirmed, sheepishly with a nod.
“Aww!”
“Could you make another one for me?” Manon begged, placing her hands together, “Please.” Her eyes grew wide, and she pouted.
“And me!”
“Me too!”
They all pleaded as all of their eyes practically bulged out of their eye sockets, and their lips turned into a little trembling pout. Marinette grimaced, one set of baby doll eyes was hard enough to say no to, but four?! That’s not even fair!
“Oh, well…” She winced at their faces and sighed in defeat, “Alright, I’ll see what I can do.”
The kids cheered ecstatically. She felt Tikki shuffle in her purse as if to pat her on her leg in comfort lightly…or she’s giggling at Marinette’s plight, that’s probably more likely.
“You’re the best! Thank you!” They all gathered around and nearly tackled Marinette to the ground. She bent over, wrapped her arms around them, and softly chuckled. “Of course, it’ll be no problem.”
Chris nodded, “Yea it shouldn’t be, I mean you had a trunk full of gifts the last time I was here!”
Marinette winced as the other three gasped in excitement. Why did he have to bring that up? She forced a smile, “Ohh…right, the box full of gifts…” The very same gifts she made for Adrien’s many future birthdays. Which, at the time, felt like the perfect thing to give to Adrien, but after getting closer to him and now dating him, they felt kind of impersonal. As well as being, in hindsight, a low-key crazy thing she did, she wanted to forget.
“Gifts? Can we see them, Marinette? Is it more toys?” Manon grinned wildly and started to run towards the box until Marinette stopped her by grabbing her hand. Manon stopped and pouted.
“Uhm…” She shifted from side to side in thought, her eyes glanced between the box and the kids. “I…No, they’re for someone else.” She waved a dismissive hand, “Besides, you would find those gifts boring anyway.”
“Oh…” Manon wilted sadly.
“Are they for your boyfriend?!” Etta suddenly shouted, Marinette’s face instantly turned a deep shade of red, and she felt warm, her breath hitched, and her body tensed.
Marinette swallowed and replied nervously, “Ah…well, m-maybe some of them are.” She mumbled quietly.
“I do remember you saying something that the whole box was for your crush, then I stopped listening because that grossed me out.” He stuck out his tongue with a wrinkled nose and shook his head while the girls giggled.
Marinette wanted to die right then and there. She narrowed her eyes and sternly replied, “Chris! Don’t tell them that! It’s supposed to be a secret!”
Chris shrugged, “But why? You told me, also Nino tells our family things all the time. He says that Alya told him that you have your boyfriend’s schedule and keep pictures of him.”
“We overheard you and Alya talk about it once at our house, that’s funny!” Ella giggled, joined by Etta.
Marinette’s jaw slacked open, her pupils shrank. At least Alya was an accident, but Nino? That boy was so dead. “O-oh, really? Well, h-having his whole schedule is an exaggeration, and the pictures…well, those are from old magazines and mostly used for fashion designs. Besides, I got rid of most of them…and…I also have everyone’s schedule if I really need it and I make everyone presents. So it’s not that big of a deal…” She rubbed the back of her neck nervously as the kids gazed up at her. She cleared her throat and clapped her hands together to get rid of the awkward silence, “Anyways…let’s see what games we can play? Sounds fun?” She hastily turned and marched to a set of drawers under her bed.
“Really? You know everything about everyone? And make gifts?” Chris asked in awe.
“It would make sense, she was able to fix one of my dollies perfectly once.” Ella added, “After you threw her in the mud.” She shot a glare at the unfazed Chris.
Chris huffed and folded his arms, “Dolls are for babies! I don’t get why you care!”
Marinette shook her head as she looked through her drawers, “That doesn’t mean you can damage her toys, Chris.”
Chris rolled his eyes. Manon smugly smiled at him, “Marinette’s always right, you know? She’s right about a lot of things.”
Marinette’s lips tugged into a smirk, and she quietly snickered while rummaging through her stuff.
“Wait…I just realized something…she makes gifts, she knows everything…” Marinette absentmindedly nodded at that statement.
“She was able to tell Ladybug once about me when Stormy Weather attacked.” Manon added to Etta’s list. The kids suddenly got quieter.
Marinette continued to rummage in the drawer for a few more seconds before pulling out some games, “Okay, I got some good options here, we have Guess Who, we have the fishing game, we…” Marinette froze when she noticed the kids had gotten closer to her and were staring at her with wide toothy grins. Her eyebrows raised, and her eyes widened as she stared back at them, “Uh, why are you looking at me like that?” She nervously giggled.
Manon snickered and pointed at her, “We know your secret, Marinette.”
Marinette’s face ashen, and she swallowed heavily as she almost dropped the games onto the ground. How was that possible? No, they couldn’t have found out. She’s been careful! Okay, sure, a few of her friends know her identity, but that was it, right? Maybe she can salvage this. “A-a secret? I don’t have a secret!” She nervously laughed, “What makes you think I have a secret? I could never have a secret!” Smooth, Marinette, smooth.
“You can’t hide it from us, Marinette! All the signs are there!”
“O-oh?” She stammered, and her eyes darted around the room, “L-like what?”
“You can fix things, you know everything about people, you even know Ladybug!”
Marinette’s heart sank. Hopefully, Tikki will forgive her; she didn’t mean for them to find out!
“And you lied about being a Christmas elf!” Chris added excitedly.
Wait, what?
Manon jumped on her, her arms wrapped her neck in a tight hug, almost forcing all the air out. “You’re Santa Claus!”
At first, she felt relieved; they didn’t know she was Ladybug. Then she squinted her eyes in confusion. “Santa Claus? You think I’m Santa?”
“Yes! It makes sense! You also were never seen at the same time as him, and you live in a bakery filled with delicious cookies!”
Marinette couldn’t help but giggle at that, “Oh, that’s why I’m him? But he’s so much older than me and I don’t think I look like Santa at all.”
“It’s because of the Christmas magic! On Christmas Eve, you grow a beard and age up over a thousand years, and you become tall and fat just like Santa, and you are joined by an elf who helps you deliver presents!”
Marinette spluttered out a laugh and shook her head in amusement, “That’s what happens? Wow, you must really know how the Christmas magic works!”
“Yep! You can’t hide from us, Santa! Now you can get me my ultimate robodestructor!” Chris cried in excitement and shook with glee. He grabbed her in a hug and pleaded, “Please?” He asked in a soft voice that almost made Marinette’s heart melt.
She chuckled and rubbed his back, “I’ll see what I can do, just make sure you stay on the nice list, ok?”
“OKAY!” The kids nodded excitedly. “How can we do that?”
“Hmm…maybe you can start by quietly watching a movie?”
The kids willingly agreed and Marinette turned on an old Christmas cartoon. She collapsed onto her chaise as the kids surrounded her computer. She felt a little guilty for using this to her advantage, but honestly, who wouldn’t if they had the chance? Besides this wasn’t like the elf incident with Chris last year which ended with him getting akumatized. This lie was likely going to be forgotten later. Marinette warmly smiled at them, she was glad they didn’t realize she was Ladybug, but Santa? How? The only thing those two had in common was they both wore red. She inwardly giggled, such wild imagination.
————————————————————
The kids have not forgotten.
As soon as the kids got home, Alya, Nino, and Nadja all heard what Marinette told them. Since Nadja was always looking for news, she investigated by phone, and Marinette denied it, saying it was just a joke. Of course Alya and Nino knew it was a lie but it still got to the rest of their friends as Alya teased Marinette in a group chat and Nino just blabbed it to Adrien and some of the other guys during a gaming session.
After that, she had gotten texts from her friends jokingly asking if this was Santa and what they wanted for Christmas. The only one who seemed to really believe it was Kim, but luckily after a long conversation it seemed to finally click that it had been a thing the kids made up and Marinette just went with it.
She had also received calls from each of her friends to be Santa on the phone for little cousins or for some like Ivan, Alya, and Nino, their younger siblings. Marinette would answer the call with the Santa filter on and entertain them for a few minutes as she played along making her voice deep.
Now, Christmas is only a few days away. Marinette was finishing up a present she had made for her maman, a light sweater. The sewing machine hummed as she pushed the fabric through, Tikki hovered next to her. “That looks amazing, Marinette!” Tikki praised, “Your mom is going to love her gift!”
Marinette smiled tiredly, “I sure hope so, I stayed up late to make it and I’m still finishing up Adrien’s and papa’s gifts as well.” She yawned, “Do you think I should also make Nathalie something? I’m dating Adrien so that it might be a good idea-Oh! And I need to deliver Chat Noir’s present and…do you think I should make something for the rest of the team?”
Tikki patted Marinette’s cheek sympathetically, “Don’t overwork yourself, Marinette, and you can…but you already gave them presents as Marinette before school went out.”
“True…but wouldn’t they like something from Ladybug?”
Tikki shrugged, "I don't think they’re expecting anything, and you only did something for Chat in the past anyway.”
Marinette nodded and pursed her lips, “I guess you’re right. Just doing Chat does make it easier.”
Tikki nudged her with a giggle, “Just don’t forget about my gift, you’re doing great…Santa.”
Marinette giggled and rolled her eyes, “Thanks, Tikki.” She shook her head and chuckled, “They thought I was Santa, that’s ridiculous!”
Tikki beamed, “But it is sweet they thought you could be! It’s high praise to be compared to him.”
She snorted, her voice dipped in sarcasm, “Sure…who wouldn’t want to be assumed to be a magical old man?” She pointed at Tikki, “Also, he watches people all the time and breaks into people’s houses. Heh, like that’s weird, who would want to be like that? Such a stalker.”
Tikki raised a brow, “Uhm…didn’t you also break into Adrien’s house before…and kept tabs on him?”
Marinette squawked, offended, and placed a hand on her chest defensively; her face went bright red. “N-no I…that only happened like one, maybe two…or three times. I had reasons…And I stopped keeping tabs on him all the time!” She glared at Tikki’s amused expression, “Stop judging me, Tikki!” She whined as she bent back over her work, avoiding her kwami’s gaze. She ignored Tikki’s soft giggling and pouted.
Marinette shot back up when her phone started to ring by her sewing machine. She raised an eyebrow when the screen showed Nino’s face, why would he be calling? She picked it up, “Hey Nino, what’s up?”
“Uhm, hey dude sorry to bug you but-HEY!” A crackling sound followed by another voice.
“I WANT MY TOY!” Chris hollered through the speaker and wailed again as more crackling followed, and Marinette shrank back, leaned away from the phone, and winced at the earth-shattering shriek.
“Bro, not cool! You don’t just-ugh- sorry about that Marinette! He’s just being a b-hey, no kicking!” Nino reprimanded his angry little brother who started screaming. Nino let out a loud groan and a few seconds later Marinette heard a door slam.
“Nino, is everything okay over there?” Marinette asked with concern.
He sighed, “Yea it’s fine, just…apparently he has been set out on this toy he wanted and hadn’t told our parents about it until today since he wanted Santa to get it for him. When mom said that might be a problem since he didn’t write a letter to Santa, either, he had a meltdown, and then he demanded he wanted to talk to you.”
“Oh…”
Nino continued, “Yea, he still thinks you’re Santa. I’m not going to ask you to get the toy for him, stores are likely out of stock now and it’s pretty expensive anyways. I was just gonna have you explain it to him and maybe he can get it after Christmas.” A bang was heard, “Dude, stop, don’t attack the door!” Nino scoffed into the phone. “Or maybe tell him he’s getting coal this year since he’s being a total nightmare. He’s even planning to invite the twins and Manon over so they can stay up Christmas Eve, I told him not to!”
Marinette frowned and pinched the bridge of her nose in exhaustion, “Nino, I’m so sorry, I didn't think going along with it would have led to this!”
Could Alya and her family be dealing with this too, with the twins? Or maybe even Nadja with Manon? She shuddered at the thought of Alya’s sisters getting as angry as Chris, one kid having a tantrum was bad already, two would be a nightmare.
Nino exhaled tiredly, “It’s fine, Marinette, you couldn’t have known. Little kids can be wild sometimes…I guess Alya’s having similar problems with her sisters when she texted me earlier, but they were easier to calm down, unlike my brother.”
Marinette softly smiled at that and chuckled a little. Out of the four kids she had to babysit, Chris was definitely the more emotional and chaotic one. “Thanks for being understanding, I’m still sorry about all of this…” She hummed in thought and gasped, “Wait, maybe I can still fix this, I could get the toy for Chris!”
“Marinette, you don’t have too, besides it’s super expensive! The action figure is about as much as a car!”
Marinette snickered and winked despite the fact that he can’t see her, “Oh, don’t you worry, my friend, I got it all under control.” She giggled mischievously. “And tell him he is just fine staying up with his friends.”
“What? Marinette, what are you…”
“Bye, Nino, Merry early Christmas!” She hung up on the baffled Nino and lowly snickered as if she were a villain about to set out on her master plan. She clasped her hands together and pressed them against her nose, “Yes, everything is under control.” She glanced over at Tikki and spoke lowly, “Isn’t that right?”
Tikki blankly stared at her holder, who looked like she had lost it and blinked. “What are you talking about? What are you planning, Marinette?”
Marinette snickered as she leaned into the confused kwami, “Oh don’t you know? Santa is coming to town.” She booped Tikki on the head with her finger and giggled some more as she turned to her desktop and started typing.
Tikki just watched as Marinette looked up the stores and kept muttering to herself about fabrics. She had met a lot of very strange characters in her long lifetime. She remembered thinking how M. Ramier was the most recent one she saw, but on second thought…
“Yes, yes…YES, it’s all coming together! HAHA!” Her holder threw her head back and cackled.
…maybe that’s actually Marinette.
————————————————————————————
Two days passed and Marinette beamed at her work. Marinette had already wished her parents goodnight and was now in her room supposedly going to bed. She put on the outfit, complete with a Santa hat and a fake beard held in place with some yarn, and she tied it around her face. She shoved some pillows and blankets underneath the costume to make it look more realistic, and put a pair of big black boots she stole from her papa’s closet on her feet.
Marinette took a look at herself in her body sized mirror and grinned, the outfit was a success. “Ho, Ho, Ho! You ready, Tikki?”
Tikki hovered next to Marinette and eyed her. She scrunched her face, “Uhm, yea…so you’re going to the store to buy the toys dressed as that?”
Marinette shook her head and picked up a large empty sac, “Of course not!” She whipped the bag over her shoulder and shrugged, “I am going to the store dressed as Santa to take it and pay later!”
Tikki’s jaw dropped to the ground, appalled at her response, “What?! But, Marinette, wouldn’t that be stealing?”
Marinette sucked in a breath and smiled sheepishly, “Well, kinda-but I was going to pay it back as soon as I finished dropping it off and seeing the kids.” She waved a hand at the unimpressed kwami, “Trust me, it’ll be ok! Now, let’s get going!” She grunted as she pushed her legs to move, one foot after the other. “Phew, this suit is heavier than I was expecting!” She mumbled as she waddled like a penguin, and all Tikki could do was merely shake her head in disbelief.
After a few minutes of struggling to climb her ladder and pass through her trapdoor with her suit, she made it to the balcony. Tikki was about to ask how they were to get down when Marinette quickly transformed and swung down, snuck into an alleyway as Ladybug, and detransformed back into Marinette.
The snow crunched under her boots as she waddled and marched through the cold. It was frigidly cold out, but thanks to everything in her suit, she barely noticed. A few times she had to reshove some blankets and pillows in, and her fake beard was unfortunately very itchy.
People who were still out and about cast strange looks at her and whispered to each other in confusion. “Don’t mind me! Ho, Ho, Ho! Just getting Christmas ready!” She responded to them in a deep voice and waved at them.
“Well, well, well…” Marinette froze as a familiar voice spoke above her. “Meow, what do we have here?”
Marinette glanced up to a short building’s roof and saw a familiar figure jump down and landed in front of her. She was met with green eyes and a smirk. “Chat Noir?”
Chat Noir bowed dramatically and winked, “At your service, Marinette!”
Her eyes widened and darted round them. She waved her hands in a panic and shushed, “Shh, I don't want people to know it’s me!” She blinked and raised an eyebrow, “Wait, how did you know it’s me?”
He chuckled and shook his head as he rested his arm on his baton and leaned towards her, “Well furrst of all, noticed the pigtails under the hat and…” He grabbed the beard with his free hand that had unknowingly fallen down to her neck and pulled it back up over her face. “Santa doesn’t usually have a beard that’s falling off.” He gently patted her cheek with a cheesy grin.
She pouted and batted his hand away which made him snicker. “Ok, fine, I got it! What are you even doing out here? Shouldn’t you be at home?”
He shrugged, “Not at the meowment and even though it’s not M’lady and I’s night to pawtrol, I felt like going on a run tonight anyways.” He wiggled his eyebrows, “Now tell me, what are you doing out here tonight, Purrincess?” He tilted his head, amused. “I’m all ears.” His faux cat ears twitched atop his head.
Marinette blinked and rolled her eyes and stifled a laugh as she lightly pushed him back with his nose like she does when she’s Ladybug. “I’m just getting some presents for some kids, nosey ki-er-cat!” She smiled.
Luckily he didn’t notice the slip as he nodded slowly and hummed as he gestured aimlessly at her, “And you’re doing this dressed as Santa Clause?”
Marinette briefly looked down at herself before she nodded, “Yes, exactly! I’m going to go to the store like this and give it to them like this!”
Chat stared, “Ok, but why? Couldn’t you just at least go to the store as yourself? Probably make it easier.”
She sucked in a breath, her cheeks turned slightly red. Marinette can’t precisely tell him what she was doing since Chat might try to stop her. “Ahh, I just thought doing this sounded fun?” She weakly smiled, “Also, the kids believe I’m Santa somehow, so I decided I may as well go to their house like this.”
His eyes bugged wide, and he laughed, “What? How did that even happen?”
She groaned, “It’s a long story…I was explaining about some stuff that was in my room and it just led to that.” She began to move again, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I got a store to run too.”
Chat Noir watched her move like an awkward penguin and snickered, “I don’t think you’ll get there before they close at this rate.” He went by her side and wrapped an arm around her waist as he held up his baton. “How about a lift Purrincess?”
Marinette hummed and then smiled, “That sounds nice, Chat! Thank you!”
Chat smirked, “Of course Purrincess! Ooh, or should I call you…Mariclause?” He grinned from ear to ear, his tail whipped back and forth, amused. “Get it? MariClause? Your name is Marinette and you’re dressed like Santa.”
She rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck, “Yea, I got it, very funny-AH!” She cried as Chat Noir pushed a button on his baton and shot them both into the night sky.
The frigid wind harshly blew across her face, and she had to remove her hand from her hat. She enjoyed flying in the air, whether as Ladybug or Marinette. Just not when she felt frozen.
“Ho, ho, ho! MariClause and her favorite elf, Elf Noir, are coming to town!” Chat Noir whooped as he flew them quickly to the store and promptly landed in a full parking lot.
Marinette snorted and raised an eyebrow, “Elf Noir?”
Chat proudly placed his hands on his hips, “Ameowzing name, isn’t it?” He brushed a hand through his hair, “Though, I am not dressed prawperly for this, like you are!”
Marinette chuckled as she flicked his bell, “Well, guess you could be one of my little reindeers with that bell.” She snickered and turned to walk in as Chat quickly followed.
“Hmm, ok maybe I’ll be the reinchat…or reinnoir…ah, so much harder to make a puns work with a reindeer, Purrincess!”
“Pfft, good, now you have to make an actual clever joke.” She teased as they entered the large bustling crowd doing last minute shopping.
He gasped with mock offense and placed a hand on his chest dramatically, “You just don’t understand good puns, MariClause! It’s a cat-astrophe!”
Marinette groaned loudly, but a smile still emerged onto her face, “Those puns are a cat-astrophe! Ooh, free hot coca, thank you!” She pleasantly smiled as a store employee handed her and Chat Noir a styrofoam cup and took a sip. She flinched back, “Ah, still hot!”
Chat Noir licked his lips, “That’s why they call it hot cocoa, Purrincess!” He took a sip and sighed in delight. He blinked when Marinette faced him and giggled. “What?”
“You got a milk mustache, dork.”
Chat Noir mouthed an oh and licked his upper mouth, Marinette giggled, her face warm as she watched. “Now let’s go, the toy he wants should be in the aisle over here!”
“Lead the way, Mariclause!” He grinned as she took his hand in hers and pulled him through the loud chaos of a crowd.
After pushing through piles of people and carts, she furrowed her eyebrows and scanned across the sea of people. On the shelves were some dolls, stuffed animals, race cars, a few Ladybug and Chat Noir action figures…and the ultimate robodestructor!
Her eyes widened, there was only one left!
“Chat! Quick, I need to get that toy!”
“On it!” He pulled out his baton and propelled them to the shelf. Marinette reached out her hand, barely grasping it, before they both tumbled to the ground and rolled a few feet, knocking over other customers.
When they came to a halt, Marinette sat up and grinned at the toy in her hand. Perfect, now all she has to do is get out of here! Her eyes darted around to find the nearest exit. She quickly got up, put the toy in her sac, and brushed herself off before she attempted to run towards the door. Of course it was a struggle with the suit.
Chat Noir shook his head and glanced down at himself and the spilled liquid out of the cups on the ground, “Aw cats, there goes the hot cocoa. Hm, meowby, we can make up for it by getting some candy here. Are you ok, little MariClause?” He glanced up and his eyes widened when he saw her booking it towards an exit. “What- Where are you going?! The checkout is in the other direction!” He cried out in confusion.
She didn’t turn around as she shouted back, “I’ll pay back later, Chat! I have to make a delivery!”
Chat Noir stood up baffled, “Wha-Why? Why can’t…I can pay for it, if you need me…” He paused when he moved and he heard a squeak below him, he glanced down at his boot and spotted-heh- a red and black spotted kwami next to it…He blinked. wait a second-Tikki?!
His breath hitched in shock when their eyes met, she remained frozen on the ground and wouldn’t even blink. He swallowed and quickly looked around before swiftly scooping her up in his cupped hands. What was she doing here? She should be with Ladybug! Ladybug would never be separated from her kwami…Unless…
He glanced back up at Marinette who inched closer to the exit and back at Tikki.
…She was detransformed and didn’t notice Tikki falling out of her large Santa suit.
He watched as Marinette speedily waddled to the door. Huh, well that’s one way to find out his lady and his girlfriend were the same person.
Chat Noir’s mind exploded at the sudden revelation, but shoved his shock aside as he ran towards her with Tikki in his hand, “M’l- Marinette! Wait, don’t go!”
“I’ll be back, I promise!”
“No, stop, that’s the…” They both froze when an alarm started blaring throughout the entire store. Marinette went pale, and Chat winced as he added, in a softer tone, “The emergency exit.”
————————————————————————-
Marinette and Chat Noir stood awkwardly outside as police cars lined up in front. The store owner was fuming and unimpressed, he chewed them out as they were escorted out the door. Unfortunately, Marinette had to give back the toy. Roger approached them with a notepad and pen in his hand. “Marinette, my daughter’s classmate, dressed as Santa Clause and Chat Noir. Well, this should be interesting…why did you two set off the emergency alarm? And what’s this about a stolen toy?”
Marinette looked down guiltily as Chat Noir eyed her suspiciously,“It was an accident sir, Chat Noir had nothing to do with it. I…I accidentally set off the alarm by going out that door, I didn’t know it was an emergency exit!”
“Hm, and why were you going out that door instead of the actual front doors?”
She flushed and glanced down awkwardly and sucked in a breath. “I…I was planning on leaving without having to pay for it.” Both Chat Noir and Roger’s eyes widened and she quickly waved her hands in defense, “I was going to pay it back as soon as I gave it to the kid I babysit!” She gulped and mumbled lowly and rubbed her arm, “As soon as I had money to pay for it.”
Chat Noir gasped, “Wow, never pictured you as a thief, my Purrincess.” M’lady, he wanted to say but didn’t.
Marinette shot over a glare and protested, “I’m not a thief!”
Roger cleared his throat, “Well, since you were planning on taking it without paying for it, it kind of makes you one.” Marinette huffed and folded her arms and Chat Noir briefly snickered before quickly faking a cough, as Roger continued, “Marinette, was this your first offense of thievery?”
She shrugged, “Yea.” She mumbled under her breath, “For this store anyways.” The sentence was too quiet for Roger to hear, but Chat Noir’s faux cat ears perked up and he stared at her incredulously. What did she mean by that? Did she steal something before? He squinted his eyes, he had to ask her after this.
“Well, seeing this is your first offense, I won’t take you to jail, but I’ll give you a warning and a fine. I’ll see if the owner will ban you from the store for a while.”
Marinette shrugged guiltily, “Not like I come here much anyways.”
“And we have contacted your parents.”
Marinette’s face ashened, her pupils shrunk. “O-oh? Was my papa the one who answered?” She weakly smiled.
Kwamis, she hoped it was her papa; he was way more lenient than her maman. With papa, he would just give her a little talk before moving on and giving her ice cream, forgetting the whole thing. Maman was more stern with her, sometimes she can be easily persuaded though.
“Marinette Dupain-Cheng!” A voice hollered through the night, causing her to jump. Her parents approached her, both clearly having been brutally woken up from slumber.
She sheepishly grinned and Chat Noir awkwardly waved at them, “Ohh, hey maman, papa! Ahh…how’s your evening going?”
Sabine narrowed her eyes, folded her arms and tsked, “Well, fine, up until getting a phone call from the police that you have apparently set off an alarm at the store! Why weren’t you in bed, let alone at home at all?!”
Marinette winced at her mother’s frustration. Tom just blinked, clearly not processing what he was looking at, “Sabine, am I still dreaming? Our daughter is in a Santa suit and wearing my boots. And Chat Noir is here too?”
Sabine sighed tiredly and shook her head exasperated at her husband, “Chat Noir, what are you doing here with Marinette?”
Chat Noir politely bowed and flashed his classic smirk, “Well Mme. Cheng, I was just out on a nightly pawtrol and on my route I stumbled upon purr-er- Marinette and decided to join her on her little Christmas shopping spree!” He huffed a laugh, “Though, I wasn’t expecting a little cat burglary to happen-OOF!”
Marinette elbowed him in the ribs and glared at him with hiss, “Be quiet!”
Chat frowned, “They’re going to find out anyway!”
Marinette simply growled in response, Sabine was not surprised in the slightest but definitely unimpressed. She opened her mouth to speak before Tom interrupted, “Ah, taking my daughter on a nightly stroll, instead of being with your lady I see? Did you finally notice how purrfect Marinette is?”
Sabine whipped her head towards him in shock as both teens turned bright red, “Tom!” She scolded, stunned by his words.
He shrugged, “What?! I’m just messing with him…” He mumbled with a hint of bitterness. Marinette eyed her father, was he still upset about the rejected confession incident? That was months ago now! Geeze, she forgot it a week after it happened and her feelings were fake…at the time-wait, what? No, she still doesn’t have feelings for Chat, where did that come from?! Why won’t she stop blushing?!
“I-I’m sorry…” Chat Noir whispered awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck. Her face softened, Oh her sweet kitty, he really had nothing to apologize for. In fact, that only happened because she stupidly ‘confessed’ to him to protect her identity, and he let her down in such a sweet way. Too bad her papa didn’t share that sentiment.
Sabine placed a hand on his shoulder and gently rubbed it, “You don’t need to apologize for that, dear. You can’t help who you love…right Tom?” Sabine shot a glare at him. It could send chills down one’s spine.
He hesitated, he wanted to say otherwise. Instead he sighed and shrunk under her stare, “Right…”
Sabine hummed and turned back to the kids, “Now, Chat, the only reason why I’d be mad at you, is if you knew and helped Marinette rob a store.”
Chat Noir shook his head, “I didn’t until I saw her run…well quickly waddle herself out the door.” He chuckled, “The Santa suit is a little big for her.”
Sabine huffed as she observed Marinette’s costume, her lips twitched in amusement, “Yea I can see that…Which brings me to why did you do that?”
Marinette shifted from side to side and clasped her hands together, “Uhm…Well, it’s a long story, it started when Manon, the twins, and Chris somehow got the idea I was actually Santa Clause and then the whole class learned about it so it became this big thing. Then Nino called me and Chris was throwing a tantrum about some toy he wanted for Christmas and wanted me to bring it since I’ll technically be transformed as Santa since it’s Christmas. It was also very expensive so I decided to… and…then I broke in a store and now we’re here.” She ended quietly and sheepishly smiled at her parents who stared in disbelief. She gulped and waved defensively, “I was going to pay back…eventually!”
Sabine blinked and blankly stared at her before she groaned and pinched her nose in exhaustion. Her head began to ache over her child’s stupidity. “Oh, Marinette, honey…how, why, do you always put yourself in these situations?”
Marinette’s shoulders slumped, “I’m…grounded, aren’t I?” She asked in dismay.
“Now, wait a minute, sweetheart.” Tom looked over at Roger, “Was there a fine?”
Roger nodded, “About 100 euros and the owner doesn’t want your daughter around the store for at least a year.”
Tom humphed, “Well, the ban sounds harsh, but we can totally pay off the fine!” He grinned at Sabine, “See, it’s all good, Sabine! We pay off the fine, remind her stealing is wrong, and it’s all good! No need for grounding, let’s go get ice cream!”
Marinette gasped excitedly as Chat blinked in shock, but Sabine quickly shot it down as she raised a hand.
Sabine raised an eyebrow, “Tom…she stole from a store! There needs to be consequences.”
“Aw, but Sabine…” She gave him a pointed look and he shut his mouth.
Marinette remained silent as her mom turned her attention back to her. Great, she’s likely going to be in her room till school starts up again and maybe bored out of her mind if her phone gets taken too. She sighed reluctantly, “I’ll go be in my room, see you all in January. I’ll give you your boots back home, papa.” She muttered and began to waddle away.
Chat Noir patted her shoulder, “Do you want me to take you home?”
“You don’t have too, I’ll see you later, Chat.” Her mom stopped her by grabbing her arm.
“Ah, ah, ah! Not so fast, dear…I had something else in mind.” She mischievously smiled.
“O-oh? What’s that?” Her mom only smirked and a pit suddenly formed in her stomach.
————————————————————————
This. Was. The. Worst!
Marinette sat in a chair in the middle of the bakery next to a flashing sign that read, ‘Meet Santa’. The suit felt extra warm inside the bakery than it did outside and the beard was even more itchy than the night before . A long line of kids awaited excitedly for their turn, some of the faces in line were familiar though. Ella and Etta chattered excitedly, and in the corner of her vision, she could see Alya’s sympathetic but amused smile, mixed with confusion.
“Girl?” She mouthed as her arms gestured to Marinette, very confused.
Marinette sighed, “It’s a long story, I kind of got in trouble from taking a toy at the store and now I’m doing this-OW!” She cringed as one of the girls pulled on her beard and let it go, making it snap on her face followed by them giggling. She narrowed her eyes at them and glanced back at Alya, “I’ll tell you later.” Alya quickly removed the girls from her lap much with an apologetic smile to their dismay and Marinette readjusted her beard.
When Chris got his turn, he sat on her lap and pouted. “Where is my toy? You didn’t come last night!” He whined.
“Ah…sorry Chris, I got…held up with other things. But I’ll make sure to get it to you somehow.”
Chris furrowed his eyebrows and turned red, “You’re lying! Just like you did last year when you said you were one of Santa’s elves!”
“No she isn’t! You’re just mad cause she’s going to wait till Christmas to give it to you!” Manon yelled before Marinette could speak, from her place in line. “Duh, it’s Christmas logic!”
Chris humphed, “Well…then you better make sure to bring my toy then!”
“Chris!” Nino shouted as he ran up to them out of breath. He came to a halt and bent over breathing heavily. “Don’t ever run from me again!”
“You’re not mom or dad!” He stuck his tongue out at him much to Nino’s frustration. He yelped when Nino picked him up and held him tight. “No! I want my toy!”
“Sorry about this, Marinette.” Nino commented as his brother continued his outrage.
Marinette sighed, “It’s fine…I’m sorry too, I’m sure if I didn’t do what I did, he may not be acting like this.”
He shrugged, “It’s ok, he’ll calm down.” Chris let out a shriek, Nino winced and grimaced. “Eventually. Ok, dude, let’s go.” He waved a quick goodbye before hauling the screaming child out the bakery.
She waved back, a forced smile plastered on her face. She really did make a mess of things, a twinge of guilt stunted her chest. Marinette let out a grunt as Manon pounced on her and wrapped her arms around her, “I still trust and believe in you Santa!”
And the guilt got worse. She patted Manon’s back quietly, “Thanks, Manon.”
Marinette was on the chair for what felt like eternity, some kids were better than others. More of her friends came by, not expecting to see her be Santa. Kim, unfortunately, got the idea she actually was Santa in his head again and decided to sit on her lap. She immediately shoved him off, much to his dismay.
Eventually, the line started to die down as closing time approached. Marinette rolled her head over to her mother at the register, wondering if she could be done. Sabine merely chuckled and sipped on a cup of tea.
‘You took on the role of Santa, we may as well put it to good use.’ Her maman’s words from last night echoed in her mind. She slumped in her chair, exhausted. Could this get any worse?
Unfortunately the universe took this as a challenge as the door chimed again and a familiar face walked in. Marinette’s jaw instantly tensed, her fists clenched and she stood straight up and down like a statue. Adrien?!
No, no, no! He can’t see her like this! He will think she is so weird and dump her on the spot because he won’t love her anymore! She will end up all alone, and Adrien will take her to court and get custody of the hamster they don’t own yet, because that’s just her luck!
As Marinette continued to spiral down in her cursed imagination, Adrien waved to her parents cheerfully, “Good afternoon and merry almost Christmas M. Dupain and Mme. Cheng!”
Tom welcomed him with open arms and instantly gave him a bone crushing hug, “Ah, there he is! Merry early Christmas to you son!”
Adrien wheezed as his breath got knocked out of him by Tom’s firm grip, “T-thank you sir. Ack.” He patted his back weakly, “Can you put me down now?”
Sabine tiredly sighed and shook her head as she patted Tom’s arm, “Tom, let the poor boy breathe, dear.”
“Oops, sorry.” He chortled and dropped Adrien back to his feet. “Any plans for Christmas? You know you’re always welcome here, if you want to join us!”
Adrien rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged, “Well, I’ll have to see, my grandparents might come over to eat dinner with Nathalie, my bodyguard, and I. They have some dishes for us to try and Felix and Aunt Amilie might show up as well. I’ll try though!”
Tom beamed, “Good!” He cautiously side eyed Sabine and hushed as he subtly pointed at her, “Because her annoying sister is coming here for our family dinner and I need someone to keep me and Marinette sane-AH! Hey!”
He pouted and rubbed the spot on his arm where Sabine whacked him. She disapprovingly glared at him, “I heard that! Shu-Yin can be a bit much, but she’s a nice person!” She tsked and shook her head frustrated, “I swear you can be hard on people sometimes. Whether it’s her, Chat Noir…”
“For different reasons! Ok, I’ll admit I was wrongly harsh on Chat, but Shu-Yin…Sabine.” He groaned and whined like a kicked puppy. Sabine just replied, raising an eyebrow, unimpressed.
Adrien blinked at the unspoken tension between the two. It was nowhere near as bad or hostile when his parents used to fight when they were alive or back when Gabriel ever fought with Nathalie. Usually when they fought, they would just send Adrien to his room, but he could still hear them shouting at times. This…this was nothing, compared to that. Uncomfortable, maybe; it was clear Sabine may still be upset about everything from the night before, and then the comment about her sister made it worse. It was interesting to see it up close.
Sabine took a deep breath, schooling her expression as calmly as possible, and patted his arm. “We are going to have a little talk about this, just not in front of the kids.” She said with a smile and a tone that made Tom stiffen, but Adrien didn't notice.
Adrien awkwardly cleared his throat, getting both of their attention, “Uhm, I was just wondering if Marinette is here and if I can see her?”
Tom was about to speak but Sabine beat him to it, “Well, she’s grounded right now…but Santa is over there if you want to talk to her. Now, Tom, come with me.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him away, into the kitchen out of sight.
Adrien furrowed his eyebrows, confused. Santa? What was she-Ohh.
The said Santa sat on a plastic chair, her eyes bored into his, terrified. She was so still, he didn’t even notice her when she came in! The Santa Clause was dressed exactly like Marinette was last night. He stepped closer and softly gasped. He recognized those blue eyes anywhere! That was Marinette!
Adrien bit the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from smiling too much. The oversized suit and the beard almost swallowed her entirely, her blue eyes stared at him speechless, her face red. That was definitely his Purrincess! His lady! What a wonderful Christmas purresent.
Unfortunately, she looked embarrassed and uncomfortable upon seeing him. He hummed to himself, after the revelation of her crush on him a year ago and even after they started dating, he noticed how much she wanted to impress him and be perfect. It kind of broke his heart a little, he doesn’t need a perfect girlfriend, especially since he himself isn’t perfect! She said no words, but can already see she’s deep in one of her spirals… he must do something… dramatic.
Adrien promptly collapsed on her lap and wrapped his arms around her neck, her eyes widened and she sharply gasped. “A-Adrien?”
He grinned wildly, “Well, hello Santa Clause! I can’t believe I’d find you here at my girlfriend’s house!”
Marinette blinked and squinted her eyes, attempting to read his expression, likely wondering if he knew. He bit back a giggle at that. “Uh…” She cleared her throat and continued in a lower voice. “Ho, Ho, Ho! Adrien Agreste, of course, one of the best behaved kids in the world! What do you want for Christmas?”
Adrien feigned a soft gasp and looked at her hopefully, “Really? I’m one of the best behaved kids in the world?” He leaned in as innocently as possible as a question came to him. She will probably kill him when the clues come together, but he couldn’t resist. “Am…am I on the top of the list? I heard from Nino it was Ladybug last year, but I wanted to ask you myself!”
Her breath hitched, he noticed a subtle eye twitch. Forgive me M’lady, I couldn’t let this oppurrtunity pass. She huffed and gritted her teeth, “Y-yes, you’re on top of my list.”
Adrien was very pleased and beamed, which made Ladynette reluctantly smile in turn. “Oh, thank you Santa! Now, for my list…” He reached in his coat and pulled out his fist, not revealing what he held. He bit back a snicker. Prepare to be surprised, MariClause. “Uhm, well, I’m going to be honest I don’t really want a whole lot for Christmas. Usually, what makes my Christmas is spending time with my friends, Nathalie, or of course…” He chuckled, he glanced away dreamily. “Marinette.”
Her face turned pink, her eyes widened, “O-oh?”
Adrien schooled his face to be as innocent as possible, “You know Marinette, right? Oh what am I saying, of course you do, you’re Santa! Duh, silly me.” He laughed to himself and lightly slapped her arm as Marinette just merely blinked. “Anyways, she’s amazing. She’s talented, funny, and…” He leaned close to her face again, his warm breath touched her cheek, “Dare I say, beautiful…hot even.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
Marinette’s face became several shades deeper as she squawked. “I know, that’s my reaction to her too.” He said smoothly as Marinette began to combust internally. “I also think she looks great in red or pink, it depends on the time of day.” Marinette raised an eyebrow at that as he continued, “She’s also a bit clumsy and stammers a lot…You know, I caught her a lot last school year, but wasn’t aware I caught her heart as well! One of the best things I had ever caught.” He sighed heavily as he tightened his arms around her, “How I wish I could catch her right now and have her in my arms so I can see her! But alas, she is grounded.” He gave a faux pout,
Marinette matched his expression, “Ooh, A-Adrien, I…I am…”
He interrupted her as he breathed dramatically, placed a hand over his head, “Oh how I wish, I can hold her and be able to run off with her in the sunset! And…” He rubbed a thumb across her lips, she stilled and held her breath. He neared his lips to her cheek as he hushed, “Kiss her.”
Adrien groaned as if he were forlorn and held his fists to his chest, Marinette licked her lips, her eyes pointedly stared. He was going to drive her crazy. “It would be such a wonderful Christmas present…But, even if I can’t have what I want, I may as well give you what I wanted to give to her, she lost it last night on our little adventure, she’s clumsy like that.” He grabbed her hand and placed what he was holding in hers. “I believe she will be…meowy happy to have it back.”
Marinette glanced down at her hand…Tikki just smiled and giggled up at her and waved. She stared at Tikki owlishly and looked back at Adrien who now had a smug grin on his face. A range of emotions flashed on her face. She narrowed her eyes, “Y-you?” She asked incredulously and squeaked when she saw Plagg peaking out of his coat with a smirk.
Adrien clapped his hands together, “Ah, how I wish I could deliver this beautiful gift to my princess! Maybe I could climb to her balcony and see her…but that’s impossible for me.” Marinette frowned as Adrien tsked.
“Or maybe she would dare to visit me under a mask? Purrhaps that could be my Christmas gift…” He frowned and tsked, “No, she wouldn’t do that…especially since her favorite aunt is coming.” He lightly teased with a wink.
Marinette’s eyes widened and she narrowed again. She cleared her throat and her voice wavered, “W-well…I’ll see what I can do young man…uh…” So many questions swarmed her mind, Adrien is Chat Noir? How did she not notice she lost Tikki? Oh poor Tikki, hopefully she forgives her. Also, Chat Noir is Adrien?! Her boyfriend is her goofy and loyal partner? She opened her mouth but Adrien had jumped off her lap. She softly groaned, she already missed his warmth.
“Welp, thanks for the fun talk, Santa! Merry Christmas!” He waved with a cheesy grin before quickly trotting out the door, she swore she could hear his kwami lightly snickering when he left.
Marinette was left as a glowing red mess, did he just…Oh that… that cat!
Marinette glanced down at Tikki who giggled in the middle of her palm, “He was right, this idea was so much funnier than to just have me come home last night.”
“TIKKI!”
——————————————————————————
Dinner was served, and Marinette quickly scarfed down her food, not willing to listen to her aunt yap about her thoughts on the heroes, Marinette’s dating life, or other crazy theories she has that are just wrong. Eventually Shu Yin and Tom started to get in each other's faces while Sabine and Uncle Wang tried to diffuse the situation and her grandparents decided it was a good time to add their input, it was not. Marinette used this moment to quietly slink up to her room and then to her balcony to transform.
Ladybug whipped out her yoyo and swung into the cold Christmas night and made her way to the familiar mansion. This was a stupid idea, but she needed to see him! Especially when he pulled that stunt, how dare he tempt her! She probably could have made it through her grounding period, if it wasn’t for that blasted flirtatious cat! …Ok maybe she wouldn’t have either way, but it didn’t help!
She landed on the windowsill and peered in-wait, the window was already open?
“Well, well, well, looks like I’m getting my present after all! It’s a meowicle!” Adrien grinned slyly as he leaned back against his chair with his head resting in his arms.
Ladybug jumped and nearly fell to the ground when he spoke. Her eyes wide to see Chatdrien on his computer chair as she waved her arms to keep her balance. He quickly got up, ran towards her, grabbed her hand to prevent her from falling, and pulled her in. “I got you!”
When her feet touched the ground, she eyed him up and down. He was Adrien, but his smile was totally Chat Noir. It looked so right, yet so wrong! She jabbed her finger into his chest, “I can’t believe you! You…are such a cat!” Ladybug hissed as she leaned into his face. “You even got Tikki, my own Kwami in on this! To treat me in a way that turns me into a puddle while I was dressed as freaking Santa Clause! Do you know how hard it was to recover from that? What I had to tell my parents! How dare you, what do you have to say for yourself, huh?”
Adrien blinked, his smile became soft as he quickly bent down and left a kiss on the tip of her nose. “I love mew.” He smiled innocently, looked at her under his eyelashes and batted them, while he rocked back and forth on his heels.
Ladybug instantly turned red as her suit, a soft whine escaping her lips, her heart pounding sporadically. Her glare disappeared, replaced by shock, and her eyes bulged out of her head. “Adrienn!” She whined as she covered her face with her hands.
Adrien laughed softly and took her hands from her face into his own. “Ladybug…Marinette, hopefully I didn’t fluster you too bad, but I noticed you seemed stressed out when I arrived. I’m guessing you started spiraling about something like I’d stop loving you or something silly like that if I see you dressed as Santa, am I right?” Ladybug raised her eyebrows in surprise. She opened her mouth, then closed it slightly, embarrassed, and nodded. He brushed a piece of her loose hair, “Hm, that’s what I thought. When I saw that I knew I had to do something to get you out of such a lowly state, so I just simply told Santa how amazing you were and the fact I’m crazy in love with you!” He shrugged with a chuckle, “And to drop off Tikki, I decided to be creative.”
Ladybug giggled and looked up shyly, “Oh, Adrien, you are the sweetest dork I have ever met.” Her smile turned into a pout and folded her arms, “You still teased me though, I wanted to kiss you so bad and you just…left me without one!”
Adrien raised a finger and grinned knowingly, “Ah, no, I left Santa without a kiss. Kissing Santa Claus is most likely frowned upon…I do want to kiss my beautiful girlfriend though, which I told Santa specifically.” He pulled her close and wiggled his brows, “And look at that! Now, I can!” He smiled cheekily.
Ladybug was taken aback, she stammered, “W-well, I guess you do have a chance now. B-but, Adrien, isn’t Nathalie and some of your relatives downstairs right now for dinner?”
He hummed and nodded, “Yes, but they think I’m trying to find something in my room, so I got time. What about you, hm?”
“I…I just left, they don’t know I’m gone. I don’t know how long I’ll have until someone notices and tries to find me and realize I’m not home.” She blew out a breath, “My parents would kill me if they found out.”
Adrien snickered and she couldn’t help but laugh along, “You should be fine, I snuck out plenty of times and was ok…most of the time.”
She snorted and lightly batted his arm, “Wow, and to think your father used to say I was the bad influence in our relationship…when it was actually his own son.” She smirked and booped his nose.
He softly smiled and rubbed her arm, “Spots off bug, I want to see Marinette.”
She complied, and with a flash of red, Ladybug left Marinette behind. “Marinette, don’t be too long, ok, I don’t want you in more trouble than you are.” She turned to Adrien and smiled, “Hello again, Adrien! Where’s Plagg? I’m surprised he hasn’t said anything by now.”
“Hello again to you too, Tikki! He’s over on his tiny bed, gorging himself with the expensive cheese I got him for Christmas.” He pointed behind him to the corner, Tikki looked over and wrinkled her face in disgust.
“Ugh, that’s going to smell awful!”
Plagg popped up out of the mountain of cheese on his bed, his ears perked up as he looked around. “Sugarcube? Sugarcube! Come look at this glorious creation the kid gave me! It’s wonderful!”
“Ugh, I’d rather not-HEY!” Tikki cried as Plagg flew over and took her over to his mountain of cheese, away from the holders. “You stinky sock!”
Plagg just returned a sly grin, “It’s better than our gross mushy holders, now behold my cheese!”
Marinette and Adrien both laughed at Tikki’s disapproval of Plagg’s cheese mountain and his overwhelming enthusiasm about it.
Marinette wrapped her arms around Adrien’s neck and spoke in a low voice, “Now, about that kiss.”
Adrien chuckled, his face slightly pink. “Of course. Merry Christmas, M'lady.”
“Merry Christmas, kitty.”
As their lips touched, Marinette instantly felt like goo. She took in every minute of it, having his lips on hers, and his body against hers. Her hands lightly combed through his hair. Her kitty, her Adrien, it was all so perfect. She knew she had to leave eventually before her family noticed her absence, yet she never wanted to leave. His smell, his hands encompassing her…it wouldn’t hurt to steal one more kiss.
And another…and another…and another…
“Adrien, I just got off the phone with Marinette’s parents. Don’t freak out, but she is missing and…” Nathalie froze as she saw the two staring at her like deers in the headlight. Adrien’s face was covered in lipstick and Marinette leaned up against the wall, both of their hairs frazzled.
Nathalie blinked and closed her eyes as she inhaled deeply. She huffed tiredly, “Teenagers.”