Plagg knew how to deal with kittens. With as many as his previous chosens have had offspring, he would hope he'd learned how to successfully handle children by now. He liked to pride himself in being a good teacher to said little kittens and took that job very seriously. Tikki was a fantastic coddler and caretaker, so Plagg knew he had to act as the balance to that as he always was.
Plagg had learned that when it comes to little kids, they fall into one of two categories: they are curious, careful little creatures, or chaotic hell-raisers. The cautious ones needed to be taught that it's ok to try new things and the rambunctious needed to be taught that there were consequences for their actions.
Honestly, it came as no surprise to Plagg that Adrien's children happened to lean towards the second category.
Emma was little miss curious, getting into everything. She proved that a fully babyproofed house still wasn't baby-tight. Plagg took on the responsibility of ensuring she didn't kill herself when Marinette had her back turned for all of two seconds. That was how Plagg's little tradition with the Agreste kids began.
It all started when Emma was poking at power buttons for things in Adrien's office. She pressed one, and the light went off
Turning off the entire power strip to Adrien's office.
Because Plagg knew Emma wouldn't understand the significance of Adrien's computer shutting down, Plagg pretended to play dead. He felt Emma poke at him, wondering what happened to her "tiny kitty," when Tikki stepped in explaining that bad things happen when random buttons are pressed.
It curbed Emma's habit of getting into things she shouldn't very quickly.
Then came Hugo, and Hugo was just…rough.
He played hard with his toys, which there was nothing wrong with, but he played hard with living things, too. Plagg lost track of how many times he heard the word "gentle" come from his chosen's mouth.
So, when Hugo grabbed Plagg's tail one day—very, very hard—and yanked Plagg closer, Plagg made a crying noise and played dead.
Surprised, Hugo immediately let go, and Plagg lay on the ground, still and unmoving. Just like before, Tikki was there to tell a fussing Hugo that if he wasn't gentle with people, he could hurt them, like Plagg.
Again, this tactic worked fabulously. Hugo was soon much more careful with people and living things in general. After a while, he was allowed to pet the cat without Adrien fearing for the cat's well-being or his son's face.
Then came Louis. History dictated that Louis was also going to need a lesson in being careful. He was around three when that lesson needed to be taught. Unlike explorative Emma or aggressive Hugo, Louis just liked to hold things. Tightly. The kid had an iron grip unlike any other. He loved hugs and clinging to anything soft.
Which made Plagg a prime target.
While Plagg didn't want to discourage the kid—after all, out of the three Agreste children, Louis was the most harmless—the death grip Louis had on him most of the time was far past acceptable. So, just like the other times, Plagg played dead.
"Kitty?" Louis said, his voice wavering as his grip on Plagg loosened.
Tikki was there to pat little Louis on the head, ready to explain what had happened. Plagg wasn't worried.
Until Louis screamed bloody-fricking-murder.
Plagg immediately came back to life, phasing through Louis' grip as the kid bawled his little eyes out. "Hey," he said. "Hey, kid, look! I'm okay. See?"
Another cry rent the house, and Adrien appeared seemingly out of thin air to scoop the kid up in a heartbeat. "Louis," Adrien said, bouncing Louis comfortingly in his arms. "Buddy, what happened?"
"I killed it!" he cried, choking on his sobs. "I no mean to kill it, Papa. But I gwabbed Plagg and he's dead!"
Adrien sent a death glare over to the black kwami floating helplessly beside him. "Hey," he said, turning his attention back to the little boy. "No, you didn't. Look over there."
But Louis didn't stop his crying. "I sowwy, Papa. I no mean to!"
By now, Marinette appeared. Plagg felt his ears sink and his tail tuck between his legs.
"What happened?" she asked, rubbing her son's back as he sobbed into Adrien's shirt.
"Plagg," he grumbled, still bouncing his son in an attempt to calm him down.
Now Plagg can deal with glares from his chosens. Those were no big issue. However, when a Ladybug glared at him, Plagg knew that he was up passed his ears in trouble.
"I no mean to," Louis sobbed. "I no mean to kill Plagg."
Marinette gave Plagg another look. One that said she was beyond done and would have words with Plagg later.
He swallowed nervously.
"No, you didn't, Louis," Marinette said, her sweet, motherly voice completely hiding any anger she had aimed at Plagg. "Look."
Plagg flew over to the kid who mustered up the courage to pull his face from his father's shirt. "See," he said, giving the kid a smile. "I'm ok."
Thankfully, Louis' sobs downgraded to sniffles.
"See, Louis," Adrien said, rubbing the kid's head affectionately. "You didn't kill Plagg."
"You do have to be gentle," Marinette said, "but you can't kill Plagg. Plagg is magic."
While her tone indicated she was trying to distract Louis, rope him into one of her special stories that she created so effortlessly, it didn't work. Louis stared at Plagg. "I sowwy, Pwagg," he said. "I no mean to kill you."
He gave the kid a smile before nesting in Louis' head, something that seemed to calm every Agreste kid down. "It's ok, kid," he said. "I know you'll be careful from now on."
He just didn't know how true those words would be.
Because Louis didn't just get "more careful." No. The kid had to fly to the complete opposite end of the spectrum. Never again did he squeeze things tightly, instead carefully poking and patting things or holding on with the lightest touch possible.
"I'm blaming you for permanently traumatizing my son," Adrien commented on more than one occasion.
While he did his best to brush it off, Plagg would never let it be known just how horrendously guilty he felt about it.