(Part of AU YEAH AUgust - 8 - Kwami Swap)

Here Comes Trouble

"Good, Adrien! Now say it all again!" Tikki said.

"Hello, Father. I want to speak with you for a moment," Adrien recited, this time just barely wilting at the thought of facing his dad.

"Adrien. I told you, I'm busy," Tikki replied, deepening her voice to mock Gabriel's. "I'll have Nathalie schedule you an appointment so I can forget about it later."

Adrien opened his mouth to reply, and burst out laughing instead. "Tikki!" he scolded, wiping his eyes, "stop making me lose my focus!"

"You shouldn't be all stiff anyway," Tikki giggled playfully. "You'll just forget your lines. Now relax, Adrien, and go remind Gabriel Agreste that he is also your father and that you are more important than a meeting." The kwami flew behind him and gave him a gentle push towards the door. He balked.

"But… but, this is so childish! And petty!" Adrien protested, wringing his hands. She flew up to face him, hands on her hips.

"And you are allowed to be a child sometimes," Tikki argued. She gave him a quick kiss on the nose. "You're a wonderful kid, Adrien. Responsible. Smart. But you should also have fun once in a while, and it's high time your father realized that."

Adrien calmed himself with a deep breath, just like Tikki had taught him.

He opened the door.

"Father, I wanted to talk to you about my birthday party…."

….

Adrien sighed as he closed his bedroom door behind himself.

"I told you he'd say no," he grumbled.

"There is something definitely not right with that man," Tikki said, frowning in thought.

"Just forget it, Tikki. At least we tried."

"Hel-lo, hot stuff!" a high voice sang. Adrien gasped as Tikki flew into his shirt to hide. There, sitting on his window sill and playing with her tail—

"Kitty Noir!" he exclaimed. The cat-themed superheroine winked at him playfully. "Wh-what are you doing here?" he coughed, trying to hide his sudden blush. But, God, it was hard. She was just so cute! Her dark hair in those innocent pigtails, but the rest of her in that tight, black leather catsuit.

I'm not a furry. I'm not a furry, he chanted in his mind.

"I heard it was a certain model's birthday," Kitty Noir grinned at him. She leapt down and faked a pout. "Imagine my distress at not being invited to his party!"

"I-I'm not having a party," Adrien stammered, fighting his rising blush as she sauntered closer. "My father won't allow it."

"Really?!" she smirked at him. "Well, that just won't do."

Adrien blinked as her baton was suddenly pointed at his nose.

"Hands up, hot stuff. You're being cat-napped."

…

Having Adrien cling to her was definitely the highlight of the day so far, Kitty Noire thought as she set him down in the park. All around, their classmates cheered as the birthday boy was delivered to his own surprise party. Adrien's look of incredulous joy made all the planning, time, and effort worth it a thousand-fold.

"Now, remember, I'll be back to pick him up later, so don't let him talk you into letting him go early!" she told Alya.

Her bestie saluted her. "Yes, ma'am!"

"You're not staying, Kitty Noire?" Adrien asked, looking disappointed.

"Sorry, but this cat's gotta scat for now," Kitty said, blowing him a kiss and wink. "Enjoy your party, birthday boy!"

With that, she took off, her sensitive ears allowing her to pick up on Nino and the others' light teasing at Adrien having a superhero girlfriend. He laughed along with them all, looking happier than she'd seen in days.

"Score one for good deeds, Plagg!" she said cheerfully as her transformation dropped just as they got to her balcony.

"You're such a goody-two-shoes," her kwami whined.

"I just kidnapped somebody from his own house!" Marinette laughed, going downstairs to get the rest of the food for the party, as well as her own birthday present for Adrien.

"True enough. Well, there'd better be cheese at this party of yours."

"Oh, come on," she smirked, holding out an extra-big wedge of camembert. "Have you ever known me to skimp when it comes to you?" Plagg gasped with delight as he took it. "I want you on your best behavior tonight! And if it all goes well, maybe I'll even give you the leftovers when we're done. Papa did make several batches of that cheese bread you love…."

Plagg stopped cheering with joy just long enough to shove the camembert down his throat. Marinette grabbed the rest of the treats her mama and papa had made (neither of them knew Gabriel Agreste didn't know about this party, and she wasn't planning to tell them), her present to Adrien (a scarf. In August, Plagg had pointed out, but Marinette had simply said he'd need it eventually, the nights were sometimes cold), and scampered out the door to the party.

…..

Less than an hour later, Bug Boy leapt up to join his feline partner on the rooftops of Paris.

"Where were you?" Kitty Noire grumbled.

Bug Boy gave an awkward laugh, absently rubbing the red ribbon in his hair. He couldn't really tell her he'd been the one the akuma was chasing.

"I kinda got hung up on something…."

"Yeah, well, while you were hung up on 'something,' I lost track of Adrien!" Kitty yelled. "It's his birthday, and he could be hurt or alone or—!"

"—or perfectly safe and out of reach of that akuma chasing him," Bug Boy pointed out, placing a calming hand on her shoulder as they both watched Gorizilla tear apart the park looking for the teenage model who'd escaped him. "Now come on, kitty. I know you wanna destroy something."

"'Kay," Kitty Noire sniffled.

"Not the akuma."

She blew a raspberry at him before thinking about it for a second. "Can I at least throw him in a hole until you find the akuma?"

"Now there's a good plan!" Bug Boy laughed, twirling his yoyo for takeoff.

End.