"Just a Friend?" Book 1 of "Secrets Unraveled" Trilogy (MLB FanFic) |COMPLETED|

Chpt 15: Plagg's absolutely ridiculous plot. Can socks be the answer?

"Plagg, I am not getting in that!" Tikki said to Plagg a few minutes later as she stared at the pile of dirty laundry.

The cat-like kwami looked confused. Tikki gave him a pointed look and it eventually dawned on Plagg as to what the problem was. 

"Oh, I forgot," said Plagg, "not everyone enjoys the tantalizing aroma of freshly worn socks. There must be clean ones around somewhere, though I've never looked for them before. Not nearly as desirable!" He zoomed around looking in drawers until he emerged from one hugging a clean pair of socks. He separated the pair and offered one to Tikki, dropping the other on the floor. He still planned to use a fragrant sock.

She took the sock from him, looking at it uncertainly. "Are you sure this is going to work?"

The plotting kwami looked at her with a silly smile. "Of course not, but it's just stupid enough to work and give me a few pine-free days. And," he added smugly, "we aren't really disobeying Master Fu either. So win-win for us!" Plagg grabbed a sock from the dirty laundry basket and pulled it over his head until it covered his body. "Ready?" he asked her.

Tikki took one more dubious look at her sock before pulling it over herself and saying "Ready!" and they flew out into the main room.

Adrien and Marinette were deep in concentration on their project when out of the corner of his eye Adrien thought he saw a sock fly by. "What the . . .?" he muttered as he tried to surreptitiously locate the sock again.  He wondered what Plagg was up to. At least he thought it must be Plagg- whatever it was was gone now. He had hoped Marinette wouldn't notice anything, but she heard him and looked at him inquiringly. "Um, nothing," he said and quickly returned to his writing. 

 Marinette was just about to do the same when she noticed a sock flying across the other side of the room. "Tikki?"she quietly gasped, her eyes widening in shock at what she had just seen.  She had never known her kwami to be so careless!  It can't be her, can it? But, who or what else could it possibly be? What is she doing?!

"What?" asked Adrien as he continued to write. Marinette took a quick glance at Adrien to see if he had seen anything.  When he still was still busy writing she looked down wondering what to do.  She noticed her open purse by her feet.  First things first.

"Oh, I, um, just dropped my pencil." Marinette then dropped her pencil near her purse and bent down to look inside it for Tikki. It was empty. What was she doing flying around in a sock?! Could she be stuck? Marinette sat up, trying to decide what to do next. Her eyes darted around the room before zeroing in on the sock again. "I just need to . . . stretch my legs." Marinette stood up and tried to stroll casually, but quickly, about the room after the flying sock.  I have to get to Tikki before Adrien sees her!

Adrien turned to see what Marinette was doing and noticed that she was already on the other side of his room, turning her head from side to side and peering into the corners of his room.  His heart started to race.  Had Marinette seen the flying sock?  He didn't want her chasing it! How could I possibly explain what is inside it if she gets to it first?  Suddenly, Adrien saw the sock zoom by on the opposite side of the room from where Marinette was walking and then disappear again.

He quickly pushed back his chair and stood up. He needed to get to Plagg first.  "Yeah, me too. Need to stretch.  I'll just . . . walk around a bit." Adrien then started to casually stroll in the direction he last saw the sock, his eyes rapidly darting into every corner. He sighed in relief when he finally noticed it zooming not too far from where he was and he changed course to try to intercept it. Plagg is going to have some explaining to do later! he thought.

Adrien and Marinette both ridiculously followed behind the two socks on different sides of the room trying to grab them, but the socks stayed just out of reach. The socks then started crisscrossing the room at a faster pace until they hovered above the couch. Marinette and Adrien were both so focused on catching their kwamis before they could be discovered, neither noticed what the other was doing. They each jumped after a different sock at the same time, collided in the air, and knocked heads before landing with Marinette sprawled on top of Adrien on the couch.

They lay there stunned for a few moments, looking into each other's eyes. Adrien's brain was telling him how much he'd always liked Marinette, how much fun he had with her, and how cute she was. And she was someone he could have a real, every day relationship with. He even got those jolts when they touched unexpectedly. Adrien listened to his brain, leaned up, and kissed her tentatively, seeing whether she would respond. Whether she felt the same about him.

Marinette's brain had stopped working when she fell on top of Adrien, keeping her from feeling nervous. Instead, she found herself lost in those green eyes that were staring into hers. All she felt was the warmth of his body and her racing heart. So, when Adrien started to kiss her, she just relaxed into him, joining him in the kiss, forgetting everything else but him.

The socks quickly disappeared, their ridiculous plan a success.

The kiss continued until Adrien and Marinette were both out of breath. They then sat up next to each other on the couch. Marinette reached out her hand and Adrien took it in his. They sat there quietly looking out over the city, each thinking about this new development.

Adrien noticed the time and reluctantly said "It's just about time for you to go." He pulled her up from the couch and led her back to the desk, still holding her hand. "Do you need any help getting your stuff together?"

She shook her head, but with a start remembered Tikki, and removing her hand from Adrien's she reached down to look in her purse. Tikki was in there grinning broadly. "Sneaky kwami!" mouthed Marinette. A tiny giggle escaped from the purse.

"I think I have everything." And more than I ever expected to have tonight! she thought.

Adrien took her hand again and led her to the bedroom door. Before opening it he leaned down and kissed her. "Have a good night."

She smiled up at him. "I will. Next time we get together we'll have to make sure we leave some extra time for . . . the video game." Marinette was shocked at herself- did she just say that out loud?!

He smiled at that, pretty sure what she meant. He released her hand, opened the door, and led her down the stairs. Nathalie was there, making sure everything was on schedule. She opened the door for Marinette and Marinette walked through the door without looking back as she didn't trust herself not to blush. Adrien then went back upstairs, grinning widely as soon as he was out of sight of Nathalie.

When Adrien entered his room, he saw Plagg lounging on his favorite couch pillow and headed over toward him. He flopped down on the couch next to Plagg, crossing his arms behind his head and stretching out his legs. He brought up the memory of his kiss- well, kisses- with Marinette. Adrien had no idea that his evening could have possibly ended like that!

"That was the craziest thing, Plagg, but thanks! Marinette is really the sweetest, kindest. . ." Plagg tuned Adrien out and realized that he hadn't really thought through the consequences of his plan. While Adrien was no longer pining after Ladybug, at least out loud, he was now gushing about Marinette. Argh! Would he never win? But, Plagg couldn't keep from feeling a little smug as his absolutely ridiculous plan actually worked! Tikki couldn't help but be impressed. He whistled a little to himself and went off to get a piece of well-deserved cheese, leaving Adrien to his lovey-dovey, mushy thoughts.