Two Hundred Seventeen Days
The Love Square Fluff Week shenanigans have begun! @zenmisery and I have collaborated to bring this work based on our favorite oblivious dorks. You can find it all on AO3 here. Enjoy, you shippers!
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“I’m telling you, Sugarcube. We gotta do something.”
Tikki watched as her fellow kwami floated back and forth across her holder’s balcony. She hadn’t seen Plagg pace like this since Adrien’s dietician had put the boy on a dairy-free diet for two weeks last spring prior to a swimsuit runway show.
He rubbed his black velvet head with his paws like he was trying to soothe a headache. Not that kwamis ever got actual headaches, of course. She forced back a smile as he reminded her of one of Marinette’s freaking out sessions.
“First it was getting out of that school of theirs—“
“They graduated, Plagg. It’s what human teenagers do in this country.”
“—so they couldn’t see each other there. Then that jerkwad of a dad of his starts working my kid fourteen hours a day over the summer.”
“Adrien knew what he was getting into,” Tikki reasoned.
“Then your bug starts even more school; and just as my kid’s modeling schedule lightens up, office hours are added to his plate. And then, the New Year rolls around and Chat Noir and Ladybug decide to scale back patrols to every other week? What is wrong with them?!”
“Sometimes it’s every week.”
Plagg turned to face the red kwami, and threw out his stubby arms in a wide gesture. “They’re supposed to be getting closer together, not drifting further apart!”
“I know, but they are just starting their adult lives and need to figure things out on their own. Make their own choices.”
“Oh, believe me, no one needs to learn how to make their own choices more than my boy, but he is making bad choices when it comes to his Lady Pigtails.”
“You know she doesn’t wear her hair like that anymore.”
“And what about you? ” Plagg pointed an accusing paw at Tikki, ignoring her comments.
“What exactly are you doing to try to help the situation, huh?”
“Nothing, Plagg. I’m not going to manipulate my holder’s love life.”
“Yeah, well, maybe you should,” Plagg grumped.
“We can’t. It isn’t right.”
Plagg swooped closer and took Tikki’s paws in his own, looking into her deep blue eyes with his acid green ones. Tikki almost gasped. She hadn’t seen Plagg this serious since before the fall of the Roman Empire. “Tikki, you know those kids are meant to be together. You’re the kwami of creation. You know when two people are made for each other. The longer they're apart, the longer it will take and harder it will be for them to find each other again. You know what could happen if they don’t. I don’t want to see that again.”
Tikki did know. She’d seen their holders drift apart before. She knew the consequences. It wasn’t pretty. She didn’t want that for Marinette and Adrien. They were the best Ladybug and Chat Noir they’d ever had.
“So what are you suggesting?” she asked cautiously. “That we tell them the truth about their identities and what will happen if they remain separated? You know we can’t do that.”
Plagg shook his head. “No, no, nothing like that. I think all they need is a little nudge—put them in the right places at the right times. A push of luck, you could say.”
He winked and a sly grin stretched across his feline features. That rarely led to anything good.
“What kind of push?” She was still feeling skeptical (I mean, this was Plagg we were talking about after all—the imp of destruction, chaos and misfortune), but she was willing to listen. She knew how much he genuinely cared for his latest kitten.
“Oh, you know. A well-timed suggestion here. A deleted item from a calendar there. They just need opportunities to spend time together. Their stupid, human, teenage hormones should take care of the rest.”
Tikki rolled her eyes. Plagg could be so tactless, but he wasn’t necessarily wrong….
She hummed, taking a moment to weigh the pros and cons. Finally, she snapped her eyes back up to her counterpart, her decision made. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Plagg’s ears perked up and his tail curled happily.
“Let’s do it. They deserve some happiness.”
“Yes! See? I told you agreeing with me wouldn’t make the universe collapse.”
“The jury’s still out on that, but if we’re going to do this, I have some ground rules.”
“One, we can't tell them each other’s identities.”
“Two, nothing too overt, so no locking them in a closet or anything.”
Tikki ignored that. “So how long do you figure this will take? A month?”
Plagg scoffed. “I give them seven days. After that, I bet you ten wheels of my precious camembert that my kid won’t be able to keep his paws off her.”
Tikki groaned and ran her paws down her face. “Why did I let you talk me into this?” she asked, exasperated. She looked at her partner seriously and placed her stubby paws on her hips. “So, what’s the plan?”
“How does your girl feel about rock concerts?”
