A/N: I'm just? So happy and grateful for the wonderful reception this crack is getting? Seriously, thank you all for the kudos and bookmarks and wonderful comments, they give me life. :)

This chapter is based on a prompt from katdemon1895. Thanks so much! I hope I did it justice.

000000000

"Well," Adrien says once they're back in his bedroom. Evening is creeping through the windows. "That went better than expected."

"What did?" Tikki asks. She's slightly worried – Adrien's face is unusually pale.

Adrien rubs his neck. "Explaining to Chat that I, uh, kissed her to save her from Dark Cupid's anti-love spell, and then, um," now he's flushing bright red, "apologizing for taking liberties."

Tikki coughs. "Ah. So she didn't know you were kissing her."

Adrien groans, putting his face in his hands and slumping onto his bed. "I know. Fortunately she, um, thinks I did the right thing, though she will, quote, 'kick my butt,' if I ever try anything like that without a sufficient life-saving reason."

"Well," Tikki says. "At least she understands. It's good that you were honest."

Adrien sighs, flopping back against the bed. "I've fantasized about kissing her for so long," he admits. "But this is not at all how I wanted it to go."

Tikki hums in agreement.

Adrien is silent for a while. Tikki is kind of surprised. She would have thought that the aftermath of Adrien kissing Chat would involve at least some –

"The problem," Adrien suddenly bursts, rolling over onto his stomach, propping himself onto his elbows and kicking his feet in the air, "Aside from, obviously, the fact that she wasn't exactly herself or consenting, which is the main problem. But the other problem," he reiterates, blushing again, "Is that she kissed me back."

Tikki blinks. "She did?"

"Yeah!" Adrien throws his arms out and rolls over onto his back like a starfish. "Just for a second, as the curse was being lifted. So like, do I have a shot after all? Or was that just part of the spell?"

Tikki zooms around to his face, beaming. "You didn't ask her?"

"She doesn't remeeeeember iiiiiiiit," Adrien whines, kicking his feet. "But it was so!" He groans again, going much redder. "So nice," he whispers. "I am a terrible person. But she kissed me and it was – Ahh!" He clutches his face.

Yep, here it is. This is more what Tikki was expecting.

"I'm sure you'll get another chance," she reassures him, perching on the bed beside him. "Someday, when you both want to, and not because some Akuma –"

"That's it!" Adrien lurches back to his feet, beaming like the sun. "I've been going about this all wrong! Instead of trying to get her to let me kiss her, I should be getting her to want to kiss me! I'll woo her properly! Not just flirty banter, but real romance! What kind of flowers do you think she likes?"

"I don't think that's –" Tikki starts, but when has saying that ever stopped him?

"Or what about chocolate? Maybe she likes sweets! Or – or we fight a lot of battles at night, but what about romantic walks in the moonlight, just the two of us?" He puts a hand on his chin. "Maybe I should watch superhero movies for tips on how superheroes can be romantic!"

"That's the worst idea you've ever had," TIkki tells him, but he's not listening.

"Or Titanic! That's supposed to be the most romantic movie of all time! I should watch that and take notes!"

"Please no," Tikki tries.

"Tikki," Adrien says, turning his blinding smile onto her. "This is going to work, I can feel it! Thanks for helping me out."

And why does Tikki never have it in her to bring him back down to reality when he looks like that?

AT APPROXIMATYELY THE SAME TIME...

"I guess he's learning from you," Plagg comments as Marinette finishes explaining how they beat Dark Cupid. Sunset streaks through her bedroom window. "Stealing a kiss like that to break the spell."

Marinette groans, leaning face-first into the wall. "We are not talking about this."

"Are you kidding?" Plagg cackles. "This is the juiciest thing to happen since you had a copycat! Spill!"

Marinette shakes her head vigorously. "There's nothing to 'spill', I can't remember it!" But then she looks over at Plagg, something mischievous flashing across her face. "Although..."

This is ominous. "What?"

"Do you have any sensation when you're in suit form? Like, can you feel anything?"

Plagg's eyes narrow. "Why..."

Marinette shrugs, would-be casual. "I was just wondering if the kiss was any good. You wouldn't happen to have any idea, would you?"

Plagg is speechless for a moment (what an interesting new experience). "How would I...? No. Thankfully. Wait." He leers at her. "So you do have feelings for him! Why else would you want to know?"

Marinette scoffs, waving a hand. "I'm just curious. Ladybug talks big, but can he actually back it up?"

"So you'd like him if he was a good kisser...?" But then Plagg gets it, and his eyes gleam. "No, you want blackmail material on him!" he trills.

She smirks, making a pinching gesture with her forefinger and thumb. "Maaaaaaybe just a little."

"You could always just kiss him again to find out."

"Please." Marinette rolls her eyes, but Plagg can tell from her blush that she's considering it.

And Plagg's not gonna let her get away with that. "I wonder if you kissed him back?"

She freezes. "What."

Plagg's grin splits his face in half. "When he broke the spe-ell," he sing-songs. When Marinette blushes harder, he bursts into laughter. "Oh, you did! Are you just pretending not to remember?"

Marinette lifts a finger in the air, like she's trying to seem knowledgeable for an invisible audience. "I," she enunciates, "was under a spell. My memory of it is foggy at best and anything I did or did not do cannot be taken as an indication of my true feelings."

"Sooooo, that means – logically – that you don't hate him," Plagg points out.

Marinette bristles, still blushing. "Well, of course I don't! He's my partner!"

"Uh huh," Plagg smirks.

Marinette crosses her arms over her chest and goes to sit at her computer. "We are back to not talking about this."

"Aww, don't be shy! Or are you worried about A-dri-eeeeen?" Plagg follows her and floats in front of her computer screen.

"Worried?" Marinette's face immediately shifts to oncoming panic. "Why should I be worried about Adrien?"

"Worried that Ladybug's taking his place in your heaaaart?" Plagg croons.

Marinette glares. "Never. Now let me do my homework or I really will make you that kitten-sized Cinderella dress I saw on tumblr that one time."

And that, as usual, is the end of that.

000000000

A/N: It has been pointed out to me that this story needs more puns. Quite right! The only problem? I...am terrible at puns. I just don't have that many in me. So please, suggest some! I know it's hard to do puns out of context, and it'll be hard for me to put them in context, but hey, we can try.