Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ladybug – Marinette – lay unconscious.

Hawkmoth – his father – took away her earrings. No matter how much Tikki could protest.

Then, he ripped off Adrien's ring. Scowling as his transformation fell.

'You fool!' Hawkmoth shouted. 'If you weren't so stubborn, we could have brought your mother back by now!'

'Don't do that!' Tikki protested. 'The Wish comes with a price! You're not ready to pay it!'

Hawkmoth scoffed. Of course he looked like he knew everything by now. Of course he looked like he considered himself ready. Even if the price would be Adrien's life...
Adrien felt like he was going to be sick. Or faint. Or both. The battle and the weeks of him running low on sleep certainly didn't help.

But the look on Plagg's face made Adrien get second wind. He had to stop Hawkmoth from making his Wish – even if it meant he had to make his own Wish. He scrambled to his feet and jumped onto Hawkmoth. His hand grabbed the ring. His other hand grabbed one of the earrings. And then he blurted out the first thing he could think of.
'I wish humans hibernated!'

Hawkmoth shook him off, looking furious. Tikki looked exasperated. Plagg looked amused.

And everything went dark...

Chapter Text

It was dark.

Adrien blinked a few times, squinted his eyes, and tried to sit up, only to realize that the ceiling was very low. He felt around with his hands. He was in a narrow space, dark and... a bit soft. It felt like velour car upholstery. 

Or a coffin interior, he thought. Why, he wasn't sure - he didn't have much experience laying in coffins, though he saw several and could imagine this was how the interior of a coffin felt like. He breathed in and out. What was going on? Where was he? What happened?

Oh. Right. Hawkmoth. Weeks of accumulating sleep debt. Ladybug - Marinette - defeated, Hawkmoth - father - with the Miraculous...

Wish.

The Wish!

Adrien had no idea where he was or even when he was, but right now, it seemed logical that it must have been winter - and thus, that he was supposed to be hibernating. Humanity must have designed some small pods for themselves to hibernate in while saving energy at the same time. Yes. Must be winter, and I should be hibernating.

Only... he was wide awake. He groaned aloud. Of course something must have gone wrong. He touched the ring on his finger, and at least it looked like he still had his Miraculous. And... some other ring, too. Weird.

Adrien would be ruminating on it longer, thinking of how unfair it was that he couldn't even enjoy a hibernation when a blue blur appeared in his peripheral view. Then, something clicked. Then, the entire pod - or whatever it was - slid from its place and Adrien saw light. Literally. From two flashlights, held by two familiar people. He sat up, blinking to get used to a new light source.

'Did your release get stuck?' Kagami asked him. Next to her, stood Felix. And... a blue kwami just landed on Felix's shoulder.

Adrien must have looked as confused as he felt, as both Kagami and Felix looked at him worriedly. Adrien stared at his hands. Sure, one of his rings was his Miraculous. The other... looked like two fused wedding bands. Where did he get it? When did he get it?

'Release?' Adrien asked. 'W-what...?'

Felix sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Kagami laid her hand on his shoulder.

'The one that would have opened your drawer from the inside. We were waiting for you, you know' she said.

Adrien didn't know. Felix noticed that.

'Okay, what's going on?' he asked. 'You look like you forgot we always met up at the same goddamn time in the same goddamn place. Spill.'

'Mm shuhh ah teh’uhm ev’rfing?' came a very familiar voice from just next to Adrien. Plagg.

'Plagg! You can't-' Adrien started scolding the kwami, but then noticed that Kagami and Felix seemed to... already know about him. Plus, there was that blue kwami on Felix's shoulder, out in the open...

'Adrien. Plagg. Whichever. Just... explain yourselves' Felix sighed. Plagg swallowed all the cheese he was holding in his mouth and wiped it, then looked at Adrien to either take some initiative or permit him to speak.

So Adrien did his best to explain. Then, he took a deep breath when he saw the other two looking quite... amused.

'At least it was better than asking for a pair of women's underwear' he tried to excuse himself. 'Also... why aren't we hibernating now?' 

Kagami looked at Felix. Felix looked at Kagami. The blue kwami looked straight at Adrien.

'You may want to sit down' all three said in unison.