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“I suppose this should do, Plagg.” Adrien held up his handiwork with sore arms, beaming with pride. But anyone looking at him would think that he’s in pain.
“That’s not a very exquisite design, is it?” Plagg snickered.
“Shut it. Her birthday’s tomorrow and I just don’t have the skills for it, alright? Guidance from videos can only go so far.” He cringed at the unevenness of the fabric, some sections were woven tighter than others, and some looser. The number of tiny holes that peep at him from the looser areas was just embarrassing. Adrien deflated a little bit and lowered his arms slightly. “I just hope she likes it.”
Plagg went behind the textile and shoved his tiny butt through one of the bigger holes just to spike him. Adrien growled and tried to kick his Kwami but Plagg was already on his way to the computer table. “Though I have to say, these look so much better!”
Adrien was relieved that at the very least, the red paper roses he crafted were met with approval. He didn’t want to think about the number of failed attempts it took to get to where he was now, and the amount of time spent watching videos on it. He’s just glad that they looked real enough to fool people at first glance.
“Still, why stop at two roses when you could’ve gone for a bouquet? You think this is gonna compare with that?”
“I don’t have time, Plagg.”
“Then why not just buy one?”
“Marinette’s not one for physical items, but I feel she’ll appreciate it even more if she knew time and effort were spent on them.”
Ashamed as he might be about the quality of his creations, Adrien was glad that he could spoil her with gifts. But she doesn’t need to know about that.
Marinette had told him not to sweat about giving her anything for her birthday as his company with her is a gift itself. But knowing her, she was probably afraid that doing so would risk his identity. So being the good boyfriend that he is, he would go against her wishes (or not) and surprise her with what he has been known to give: roses, but with a twist.
He’d present her with not just one, but two roses to show his love and affection for her. Not that he needs to do that to convey his feelings, both are aware of where they stand in their relationship. But he’s a romantic at heart, can’t blame him for wanting to do more.
Marinette deserves the constant reminder of how special she is to him after all. And with the twist being that the roses were handcrafted, to proclaim his undying love for her.
And of course, Adrien being Adrien, that alone wasn’t enough. Oh no no no. See, Adrien is Chat Noir and Chat Noir being Marinette’s boyfriend meant that he would give her birthday presents regardless of her wishes. The only restriction he had was that he can’t be original in his gifts.
But Adrien didn’t have that restriction. And since Adrien wasn’t Chat Noir, at least to everyone else, he was free to be as creative as he can be with presents. So he had decided to crochet a blanket for her as Adrien’s birthday gift to Marinette.
Why a blanket? Well, he wanted Marinette to have something that reminds her of him, and what better way to do that than to have her see and feel his gift the first and last thing of the day? Call him cringy, clingy, or whatever, he doesn’t care. This is their relationship, not anyone else’s. Sue him.
The crocheted cloth was just a simple blanket with nothing but a uniform colour of blue. It wasn’t the prettiest, but he wanted her to hold onto a piece of him, even if she doesn’t know it.
And luckily for him, Marinette loved both gifts, a lot. But since the blanket was more practical than the decorative roses, she had spent more time with it.
He just didn’t expect her to hold onto it all the time.
The first couple of times he visited her, he was overjoyed that she had taken special care of his gifts. The paper roses were placed in an elegant glass vase right next to her desktop, and he always caught her staring at them with a lovesick smile whenever she was waiting for his arrival. With the blanket draped over her shoulders of course.
And the blanket, oh gosh the blanket! Despite his belief that it belonged to recycling bins, she had refused to leave that disaster of a blanket alone. The slightly smaller blanket size had enabled her to always carry it around wherever she went within the room. That sight itself had warmth bursting forth within his chest.
Yes, she loves it that much.
Their time spent together stayed the same, with the addition of the blanket wrapped around herself. Or if it’s too hot, she’d fold it into a bolster and hug it. Or if they were relaxing on the floor, she would lie on top of them. And whenever he visited without her knowledge, he’d see her resting her head on top of a blue pillow while reading fashion magazines. Sometimes, he would even spot his alter-ego in them. It was endearing to see her attachment to his cataclysmic creation.
As the cooler months approached, that meant endless cuddles with Marinette for Chat Noir. Well, nothing wrong with expecting more cuddles from her, right? They had their occasional cuddles during the warmer months. And his Lady had always cuddled with him during cooler months, so it was safe to assume Marinette would do the same.
Right?
But that wasn’t what happened.
Oh no.
That was not what happened at all.
She had cuddled with her blanket far more than she did with him. It was to the point that he received way fewer cuddles from her than he did during the warmer months.
Was it because of the materials he had used for the fabric? It traps heat much better than he can provide, of course she wasn’t going to cuddle with him. What if he pushes her away during their sleep together? Is that why she would prefer being enveloped by the blanket? It’ll never push her away like he did. Or maybe blankets are better and softer to hold onto than his body. Whatever it was, he just knew that this can’t continue.
“You don’t want to cuddle with me anymore?” Kitten eyes fixated themselves on hers, begging for her attention.
Her eyebrow twitched. “Chat no, that’s never the case! It’s just… This gift’s really precious to me.” Does she need anyone else to validate her feelings? Probably not. It was a gift from Adrien, the first person she had ever given her heart to. Even though she had agreed to move on, it still held sentimental value to her regardless.
Chat eyed her and pouted. From the sound of it, Marinette seemed to know that she’s cuddling with that blanket more than with him, and he didn’t know if he should be happy or mad about it. One thing’s for sure though, he was definitely not jealous. Nope, not jealous at all. Jealousy? Don’t know her.
“We can still cuddle! Come here, you big kitty!” She enticed with open arms, and the blanket tossed away from her. Chat lit up and he plopped himself into her arms, pleased that she was now cuddling with him instead of that blanket. The warmth that was now present allured him to sleep with his arms around her waist.
Early next morning, Chat awoke to the constant shaking of his body. The heat source he had from last night was gone. He looked to his side and right there in plain sight, Marinette was snuggling with that unsightly thing. She even had that wrapped around herself and not the two of them.
That audacity.
Chat wasn’t amused at all. Nothing about this was endearing nor adorable anymore. Not when her attention was on that thing and not him.
Plagg was also being an unhelpful ball of chaos when Adrien opened up his heart to him, voicing his genuine concerns and asking for help over the issue regarding his girlfriend’s overt attachment to that thing.
“You brought this upon yourself,” he sneered.
He was actually enjoying his misery.
Little shit.
“You love that blanket more than me.”
It wasn’t even a question like before. It was a god damn statement, just straight up facts about how he felt. This was getting ridiculous. He was jealous—there he admitted it—of the gift he made for her. A gift that technically has his essence. A gift from him. A gift from Adrien-him. He was jealous of himself. An inanimate object from him to be specific. What even?
“That’s not true.”
How dare she deny it.
“Then leave that thing alone and come lie on me while you work on your sketches, like always.” He spoke through gritted teeth.
Marinette couldn't do that. She was currently lying on top of her folded blanket with her upper body elevated from the floor, doodling. It was way too comfortable to move.
“Make me.”
Chat stood so abruptly that Marinette jumped at the movement, and suddenly she was rolling away from her blanket pile. She quickly snatched the other end of the blanket before Chat could do whatever the hell he wanted to do with her blanket.
A tug of war ensued.
“Chat, stop! You’ll rip it apart! Just let go!” Marinette yelled as his claws started digging into her precious fabric.
“No, I had enough. You let go! Come and cuddle with me again!” He demanded.
Chat didn’t know what was going on. Marinette has yet to topple over despite this being an unfair tug of war, hero versus civilian. He should be ashamed of himself for allowing this to happen, but he’s not. He needed to get rid of that piece of junk ASAP.
He could always kiss her injuries goodbye later.
Marinette really had no intentions of letting up anytime soon, that was clear from her face, grip, and stance. Chat decided that Adrien would stop giving her birthday gifts if they were to hold more value to her than he does.
The thought itself led him to unconsciously dig his claws further, creating hideous holes on the already-ugly blanket. He was ripping his own creation. His own blood, sweat, and tears, and honestly, he should stop. But he doesn’t.
“I’ll cuddle with you! Just please let go!”
Normally, Marinette’s pleading was enough for him to give in, but not this time. He wasn’t going to budge. “No! That thing stays away this time, it has already taken up the privileges it doesn't even have in the first place for far too long!”
“Chaaaaaaat!”
“Marineeeeeeette!”
And they both landed on their butts.
Marinette gazed at what remained in her hands and started bawling.
Chat didn’t think they’ll be able to rip it apart, he was expecting her to give up and let go just how strong is she?. Now he felt bad, but before he could walk over to her, she tackled him, arms tightening around his waist.
She was hugging him and crying and not even hitting him or scolding him and he has no idea what’s happening anymore.
“Princess, I’m sorry, please stop crying.”
“No.” He winced. “I’m sorry, Chat. If I had just let go and cuddled with you, this wouldn’t have happened.” Marinette held him tighter and wept.
“No, Marinette... Please, I’m so sorry, I can fix this. Just please stop crying,” he begged.
“How, Chat? You’re not even Adrien,” she wept.
Chat was silent while running his fingers through her hair to soothe her.
“I can,” and he muttered his de-transformation phrase.
Marinette closed her eyes from the sudden brightness and she was gaping at Adrien now. It didn’t register to her that he had de-transformed until then.
Adrien rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. “I can, so don’t worry about it anymore. I’m so sorry for revealing who I am. I just— I don’t know what else to do and I hate it when you cry.” He sneaked a peek at her.
Marinette’s wailing had stopped and she was just looking at him with those wide sapphire orbs. Emotions ran through them and he’s not sure if he picked them all up.
“Please say something.”
After a few beats, “Adrien.”
“Hi.”
“Where did Chat Noir go?”
Did— did she really just ask that question?
He just de-transformed in front of her! Did she not see that?
“I’m Chat Noir!”
“And I’m Ladybug.”
“Wait, wha—”
In a pink flash, Ladybug was lying on his lap, arms circled lazily around his waist.
His eyes widened. “M-My lady?!”
“Hey, Chaton,” she smiled.
“Oh my god! Why did you reveal yourself?” Disbelief splashed across his face.
“Why did you reveal yourself?” She threw the question right back at him.
He grabbed her face, shaking it by the beat of his words. “I didn’t know what to do!”
“And, I was trying to salvage the situation! But seeing how chaotic it has gotten, Plagg would be so proud.”
A burst of hysterical laughter could be heard by Adrien’s side, and that chaotic black hole came into view. “You bet I am, Pigtails.”
Adrien looked like he’s losing his mind. “You just revealed you’re Ladybug! How do you salvage that?”
“Chaton, you don’t get it, do you?”
Her head was still in his hands, and he shook her head again, his urgency visible through his actions. “No! Of course I don’t! How?”
“You like both Ladybug and Marinette, don’t you?”
“What? I love both Ladybug and Marinette, thank you very much.” Then it suddenly hit him. He just admitted that he was still in love with Ladybug and should get slapped for two-timing. But more importantly, the two people that have been wreaking havoc in his heart, albeit unknowingly, were both the same person. In his lap.
“Oh.”
Adrien’s eyes bulged out. “Oh my god!”
“There you go,” she smirked. “Couldn’t deprive you of that feeling.”
He didn’t really know if this feeling was one he welcomed now. To be outed as a cheater, but also not really one. This was too much to wrap his head around. How did she get over it so fast?
“You better fix that blanket!” She removed herself from his hands and pushed her face into his stomach. Ladybug embraced him tighter, finally glad that she didn't have to strain her neck any longer.
“Of course, my lady. And you better start cuddling with me again,” he ran his hands through her hair once again.
“Of course, mon Chaton,” she laughed. “I’ll cuddle with both of you.”
“No!”