Miraculous Short Stories

Walking A Fine (Time)line

Adrien found out a week ago that Ladybug is Marinette. Marinette found out almost two months ago that Adrien is Chat Noir. Neither has told the other that they know, but can this stalemate start to have unexpected consequences for their future?

Adrien sat tapping his pen on his desk as he read over his calculus homework, board to tears. Sure the work was easy, but it was far from stimulating and he wanted to move on to the more practical stuff. Sir Isaac Newton might have said that every action has an opposite and equal reaction, but right now the only action Adrien wanted to take was to tell Newton he could shove his theory where the sun doesn't shine. How would he like them apples? He chuckled to himself. Newton, apples... he looked over to Plagg snoozing in a cheese coma. Nah, he wouldn't find it funny.

Adrien pushed himself away from his desk and spun around towards the window. Lycèe was going to be the death of him with the amount of homework they were being shovelled. Between school, modeling, fencing and fighting akumas, time was not his friend. Looking out, the moon was high, and he didn't feel like going to bed just yet. He had itchy feet and a need for fresh air blowing through his hair. Calculus could wait until tomorrow.

Standing up, Adrien poked Plagg curled up around a half eaten wheel of camembert. "Come on Plagg, it's our night for patrol, remember?"

"Sorry, Plagg is asleep right now. Leave a message and I'll get back to you."

Adrien chuckled. "Nice try." He said, picking the little Kwami of Destruction up.

"Aww, come on kid, it's cold out. Ladybug wouldn't notice if we just, you know, skipped patrol."

Adrien shook his head. "It's not about whether she would notice or not Plagg, it's about me giving my word to fulfil my duty and actually doing it. You wouldn't want me going against my word would you?"

Plagg huffed and rolled his eyes. "She's hardly spoken to you for days, on either side of the mask."

"We're both trying to study for the Baccalaureate. I don't blame her for that. Anyway, she's not obligated to talk to me. We're just partners right?" His voice dropped off as he sat back down in his chair and turned towards his computer.

"But you'll still go anyway, even in the freezing cold." Plagg said disparagingly. "You and your sense of Noblesse Oblige."

"My what?"

Plagg floated up closer to his face. "Noblesse Oblige. You feel your noble obligations extend beyond just your entitlement and require that people in your position should also fulfill a social responsibility."

Adrien raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm hardly a noble Plagg."

"Maybe not these days, but if you had been around a few hundred years ago, then you definitely would have been. You know, you remind me a lot of a Musketeer holder I had once."

That caught Adrien's interest. "You were with a Musketeer?"

"Not just any old Musketeer." Plagg said proudly. "He was the son of a Count and Captain of the King's Guard." Adrien looked at him surprised. "What? Kaalki didn't get all the nobles you know. His name was Louis. Like you he had a good heart and was very generous to those less fortunate than himself."

Adrien sat back in his chair and listened as his Kwami told him of some of the escapades of his Musketeer holder. Plagg didn't often open up about his past holders, but it made Adrien feel a sense of pride to be a small part of the legacy of Chat Noirs as Plagg darted around him, mimicking sword fights.

"Did he, you know, get to be with his Ladybug?"

Plagg rolled his eyes. "I should have known you would ask that, but yes, he did. They had four or five kittens if I remember. All boys. Some of them went on to be Musketeers too."