Papillon

Cheese Cake Counterfeit by Maybelle

It stood there in all it's glory, the cheesecake, with its delectable crunchy crust beholding a heavenly, creamy, cheesy wedge sprinkled with sugar crystals. He couldn't tear his eyes away from it. It was impossible.

It was meant to be his.

This cake was made for him. Of course it would be okay for him to snatch it from inside the glass display. If only he could just reach it.

There was only a sliver of the cake in sight, but he eagerly caught larger glimpses as his master shifted his weight and took long, mortal breaths, trying to calm his lungs from the short sprint he made into the sweet-smelling shelter.

Plagg was still shivering from from being outside in the rain. He snuggled deeper into the fabric of Adrien's white overshirt and sneezed. Of course he just had to hand her the umbrella. His first day of school and he already made a... a frenemy? A girlfriend? I can't really tell with these humans. They're so confusing. Cheese is a millennium's worth easier to understand. His eyes were wide as he trembled, and he could hear the walls crackle from every muffled drop of a cat's worst fear; water. The small kwami shuddered, his fur wet. He had fallen out of the pocket he'd been resting in while his master was rushing into the Dupain-Cheng bakery to escape the downpour. Luckily, Adrien dashed back out to chuck him into the safety of his clothing.

Oh, how much he wished to be at the beach, basking in the warm sunlight. Plagg could almost hear the ocean as the waves tumbled on shore and receded in an endless swisssss, swissssss.

But his fur was plastered to his sides and his teeth were chattering like teenage kids in a classroom on the first day back at school. And here he was now, staring at a delicious pastry. His delicious pastry. Okay, it wasn't really his, but he wanted it to be. All he had to do was convince himself it was, and he had. Now, all he had to do was receive this unexpected gift.

Plagg pivoted his head to look at Adrien, who seemed to be deep in thought and hardly appreciating the godly treat right in front of him. Well, that was his loss.

He peaked out again and took frantic glances left and right. The blue-haired humans were busy talking to a smaller blue-haired human, one whom he recognized from somewhere, but that didn't matter at the moment; now was his chance.

Plagg dashed out of cover in a blur and transported himself through the glass. The scent of the cheesecake immediately wafted towards him and enveloped him like a fluffy blanket. The crystals of sugar twinkled like diamonds in his eyes. The kwami licked his chaps, observing it with the starving stare of a predator. Small droplets dripped from his fur onto the platform beneath him as he hovered, contemplating how he would steal it. It's not stealing. The cake was mine in the first place.

Finally, he dove at the platter underneath, determined. But a soft gasp broke out behind him, and he froze—

Plagg turned around. The blue haired girl was staring straight at him. She had a hand placed over her lips, her cerulean pupils unwavering. He didn't know what to do. Her gaze made a beeline for the blond boy, and the cat glanced again at his prize before swooping in on the kill, taking his chances.

The human didn't seem like she'd be looking back at him any time soon.

Cakes are a lot more heavy than I remember. It was enormous compared to his minuscule form. I've led one of my previous masters by the ear before. Pulling this should be easy. And he heaved, budging the plate a bit. But it seemed to be as stubborn as a mule. He heaved again.

"Ch—" Marinette spoke, not quite managing to squeeze the name out of her mouth.

Plagg's eyes snapped up to the girl, as did Adrien's. The boy's green gaze met hers in shock. Hers held the same expression, except a blush began to paint her cheeks.

The kwami inched the plate along, the screeching of the bottom against the platform going unheard by all in the room. Just beyond the reach of his back loomed the glass. He was unaware of the second clear wall, however, and kept pulling, second by second, millimeter by millimeter, the coming disruption of the silence in the bakery completely passing over his head.

"Cha—" the blunette began once more. Her next words were drowned out by the deafening sound of shattering glass as Plagg heaved the platter straight through the back of the case.

"Chat Noir," she seemed to mouth, but her words were clear as day.

The whole room (with exception for a very shell-shocked teenager whose hair resembled that of a flirty new hero) whipped around to gawk at a purple-mouthed cat wielding a freshly-baked cheesecake, his expression quite psychotically ecstatic. It was the last one, in fact. And that made a particular baker red in the face.

Adrien noticed the fury laced in who he assumed to be her father's expression. Taking a good look at the scene that seemed to be about to play out, he snatched the crazed kwami from his spot, yanked the cake out of his grasp and placed it on top of the glass case, and dragged him out the door at a sprint.

The rain showed no mercy. But neither did Plagg's master.

"You can't just go around stealing people's food!" he exclaimed. Chattering could be heard from his teeth.

"It wasn't stealing. That cake was mine," Plagg stated simply.

"Wait! Adrien!" Marinette's voice could be heard from behind him, and he wheeled around to face the source, only to have a flurry of midnight colored strands and pink clothing crash into him.

He landed on his back with an oomph! His eyes were squeezed shut from the pain of the impact, but he opened one eye after a couple of moments.

Marinette was hovering over him, a blushing mess as she noticed the kind of position they were in. "Sorry, Hotdrien. I mean, guy I think I might like. AAHHH I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!!!" the blunette stammered. She quickly pushed herself off him, and she grinned sheepishly with an awkward chuckle as she offered a hand, which he gladly took, using it to steady himself as he stood back up. He brushed himself off as she spoke. "I... I'll need to talk to you a-about the superhero thing later. Meet me on my blackony—I-I MEAN balcony—when the rain stops, Chat."

"Uh..." Adrien looked at Plagg, who nodded eagerly in approval. He sighed. "Okay, sure."

Marinette grinned. "Great! I'll see you there." Her eyes glittered.

The boy's cheeks began to heat up, and he couldn't help but smile as well as he stood in the frigid weather.

"Oh! You might need this," she said, and she whisked out his umbrella from behind her back.

"You can keep it."

"Are you sure?" Marinette inquired.

"Yeah. Just go." He laughed, scratching the back of his neck. "I'll see you soon, I guess?" He wasn't really sure.

"Definitely. Bye!" She waved before splashing back into the bakery.

"Bye," Adrien said.

Plagg was still flying by his head. "You know," he began in a sing-song voice. "She's Ladybug."

"What?"