The Power of Cheese

Cat Noir leapt through the window and landed in his room without any of his usual flourish. His heart just wasn't up for it. With a heavy sigh, he tossed the parcel on one side of his bed and dropped his transformation, as Adrien flopped down onto the bed. He grabbed his pillow and pulled it over the back of his head, trying to muffle the whirl of thoughts going through his head. When that didn't work, he tossed the pillow aside and rolled over onto his back.

"What's this?" Plagg was already sniffing at the parcel.

Adrien flung an arm over his face. "It's for you. From Ladybug."

"For meee?" The cloth rustled as Plagg freed his present from its prison. A tiny squeal of delight followed, and the smell of Camembert wafted through the room.

"She's in love with a boy, Plagg," Adrien finally lamented.

"Who, Marinette? Yeah, we've already been over that." Plagg smacked his lips, and an involuntary hum of satisfaction filled the air.

Adrien sat bolt upright and glowered at the black kwami. "No, Plagg. Ladybug!"

Plagg had the decency to pause mid bite and let out a quiet "Oh". He set the bite back down and zipped up toward Adrien's face. "Tough break, kid." A thoughtful frown planted itself on the kwami's face as his narrowed eyes flitted between the abandoned container of cheese and back to his chosen. Realization flickered across his features, and his mouth curled up in a wicked grin. "Hey, maybe it's you?"

Adrien scowled at the creature. "Don't be ridiculous. She already rejected Cat Noir."

"No, not Cat Noir." Plagg zipped over to the desk and back, carrying a heavy fashion magazine with a stylish picture of Adrien on the cover. He flopped the magazine into the boy's lap and pointed. "You. Adrien. Golden boy model. Your face is all over Paris. She's bound to have seen you."

Picking the magazine up, Adrien stared at the cover, scrunching his nose at the picture. After a moment, he tossed the magazine to one side. "I don't think so. She said the boy she's in love with liked Camembert, too. I don't."

Plagg's grin grew even wider. "Buuuut you did tell them in class the other day that you did."

"Yeah, but that was just to my friends. Ladybug wouldn't know that."

The grin vanished from Plagg's face, and he gave Adrien an odd look. For a moment, the blond thought he was going to make a snide remark, but the kwami floated down to the cheese container. He scooped up a paw-full and held it out to Adrien, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Want some cheese?"

Adrien grimaced. "Thanks, Plagg, but I'm not really hungry."

"You suuure? It's cheese from Ladybug..." Plagg offered again in a sing-song tone and waved the morsel of cheese under the boy's nose.

Adrien recoiled and pinched his nose. "Maybe later."

"Hmph, that's cute," Plagg mumbled and ate the offered bite himself. "You think there will be some left later."

Under the cover of night, a tiny black blur sped across the Parisian sky. It darted over buildings, following the empty streets below along a familiar trail. Finally, its destination came into view. The gold lettering on black-tinted windows marked the bakery clearly where it stood at the end of one of the streets. The tiny black creature stopped, and it's mouth split into a wicked grin, its tiny fangs gleaming white in the moonlight against dark fur.

The creature circled the building, peering into each window as it flew by. When it reached the uppermost room, it stopped and inspected it critically. This was it. The creature quivered in excitement. Without a sound, it flew threw the closed window.

Inside the room, the tiny being filled his lungs with a deep breath and began to not-so-quietly call out, "Sugarcube! Oh Suuugarcuuuuube!"

A tiny red streak shot at him from somewhere across the room, clamping a paw across the black creature's mouth. Green cat eyes met the red kwami's big blue ones. "Quiet," she hissed.

"Mm mmmf mmmm."

With her other paw held over her own lips, the red being shushed him again. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, her whisper laced with irritation. Something shifted from the direction the kwami had come from, and she froze. Atop a small platform above a desk work area, the black being spied a small bed. The lump under the covers rolled over, and silence returned to the little pink room.

Tikki let out a quiet sigh of relief that they hadn't woken her charge. The black being took advantage of the distraction and pulled her paw from his mouth with a scowl. "Well, that's a fine greeting. And here I thought you'd be happy to see me!" He crossed his arms over his body, but thankfully, his voice was much quieter.

"Why are you here, Plagg?" Tikki asked again, keeping her own voice low. "You're not supposed to be here!"

Plagg ignored her, instead flying over to the workspace and eyeing the numerous photos of a very familiar blonde boy that adorned the walls, cork board, and computer monitor. His lips curled up in a knowing grin. Oh the sweet, delicious irony! The confirmation of his suspicions made sneaking out entirely worthwhile!

"Plaaagg!"

Tikki's whispered reproach broke through his amusement, and the tiny black kwami turned his green eyes back to her. "I found you, Sugarcube!"

The little bug-like creature sighed heavily. "I thought I asked you not to call me that."

"Aw, but why not, Sugarcube?" Plagg floated upside down and looked up at his irritated friend.

"Plagg, why are you here?" Tikki crossed her arms in front of her. "How did you even find me?"

Plagg flipped himself upright again and grinned at her. "Cheese, of course."

Tikki blinked at him. "Cheese?"

"Yes. Cheese. Specifically Camembert. The baked variety. Extra gooey with cranberries and walnuts." A small tendril of drool slid down his chin, and a dreamy daze filled his eyes.

"Oh, the cheese from Ladybug! But..." Tikki's brow furrowed, and she tapped her cheek thoughtfully. "But Mar-" Tikki hiccuped, tiny bubbles floating from her mouth and cutting off the word.

"Ah, ah, ah! Can't say our owners' names to each other, remember?" Plagg grinned at her and waggled a paw in mock admonishment.

Tikki just gave him the best glare the cute creature could muster. "Anyways, as I was saying, my owner only gave that cheese out to her classmates as we-" Her blue eyes went wide. "Wait! Your owner is in her class?!"

Plagg only grinned wider in response.

"But, wait, really?!" she squeaked a little louder than she'd meant. She clamped her paw over her mouth and listened. When no sounds drifted down from the bed above them, she pulled her paws from her mouth and gaped at Plagg.

The cat kwami let out a hushed cackle. "Oooh, it gets better!" He flew up to one of the pictures and pointed.

Tikki sighed, not taking the hint. "Yeah, my owner is totally in love with Adrien."

Plagg's grin dropped into a frown, and he pointed again.

"Okay, okay, she's a little obsessed," Tikki admitted. "But she's so sweet! If she could just get two words out to him, I just know he'd see it!"

A huff escaped Plagg, and he gestured a little more frantically, raising his brow in emphasis.

"Oh! Your owner must know him, too, right?"

Plagg's paw smacked his face. "Tikki. I can't say his name..."

The bug kwami stared at him a moment. Her eyes went wide, and her mouth rounded as what he said finally struck home. "No..." she breathed incredulously.

"Yes." His cocky grin returned.

"But... but then he's in love with..."

Plagg nodded. "Ladybug, yes."

"And she's..."

He was done. With a noise of disgust, he blurted, "Yeah, yeah, boy likes girl but doesn't know it's the same girl that likes him who doesn't know it's him!" He barked out a quiet cackle. "It's just too hilarious!"

"This is wonderful!" Tikki exclaimed. Her big blue eyes sparkled as she stared at Plagg, a huge smile on her face.

Plagg stopped short and stared at his friend in mock disgust. "Wonderful, she says, hmph! Wonderful is not having to hear him sigh for the 5 billionth time, whining about Ladybug then asking me all frantic about a certain bakery girl classmate of his." He made a retching sound. "Ugh, I need more cheese."

Tikki gasped. "He asks you about her?!" She clasped her paws in front of her. "Master chose so well! They are made for each other!"

"Yeah, yeah," Plagg groused with a dismissive wave of his paw. "Young love, blah, blah, blah." His lips curled up again. "On the bright side, it's going to be so much more fun teasing him now!"

Realization dawned on the little red kwami, and she drooped as a long sigh left her lips. "Plagg, we can't."

The cat kwami's green eyes narrowed to slits, and his mouth puckered into a pout. "Whaaat? What do you mean we can't?"

"We can't say anything. It's not our place." Tikki let her gaze drift up toward where her holder slept.

"Ugh, you're always so nice. You're going to give me a toothache, Sugarcube!" Something in the stare Tikki gave him made him put his paws up in surrender. "Fine, fine, you win. I won't give anything away." He paused to give her a false sense of security. "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to tease relentlessly!"

Tikki opened her mouth to rebut him, but a muffled voice made her freeze. "Mmm, Tikki...?"

The tiny red kwami zipped up to nuzzle Marinette's cheek and murmured a soft "Shh, I'm here. Go back to sleep." As she settled down on the pillow beside the girl, Plagg flashed her a toothy grin and waved a tiny paw. He darted through the window again, speeding through the dark back to his own holder's side.

Outtakes:

Because I just can't help myself and Adrien is so oblivious...

Adrien- "Ya know what, yeah. I'll have some cheese." Tries some. "Wow! This-this tastes just like the one Marinette brought to school the other day! You know what this means, Plagg?!"

Plagg- "Yep."

Adrien- "This means Ladybug and Marinette must use the same recipe book!"

Plagg- "Swing and a miss, kid. Again."

Adrien- "You know, come to think of it, Marinette and Ladybug have extremely similar hairstyles, too..."

Plagg- "Mmmhmmmm. You might think they were the same person?"

Adrien- "Don't be ridiculous, Plagg! I just meant they must go to the same barber!"

Plagg- "Ugh, I give up."

Adrien- "Besides, Marinette can't be Ladybug. She's just a friend."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it! I read something somewhere that supposedly, Plagg and Tikki had known who each others' owners were from the very beginning, but I still prefer the idea that they find out later. So! That's what I opted to go with for this story. Either way, thanks for reading!