Chapter Text
Marinette sighed quietly to herself as she clambered out onto her balcony. She ignored the blast of cold wind that hit her. Even shivering she still preferred this to her room. It was too quiet. So much lonelier and darker now that the kwamis were all gone. Though it was late, she didn’t want to sleep. In fact, she had been actively fighting it since she lost all of the kwamis. With a sniffle, she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to fight back the wave of tears that she felt coming.
Tikki did her best to comfort her but nothing came close to the sounds of all the kwamis chattering and teasing her. Groaning heavily, Marinette thunked her head onto her balcony railing. The feeling of the cold metal seared into her forehead but she kept it there, praying that Hawkmoth would do something stupid like reveal his identity.
Chat had said they were in this together and she believed him. But, even still, not having the kwamis by her side hurt. Like he told her before, though, they just had to be patient. Hawkmoth always made mistakes and when he did they would be there. Ready for anything.
Marinette heard a thud sound behind her and instantly, she felt her tense shoulders relax. Still keeping her head on the railing, she murmured, “Hello, Chaton.”
“Hello, purrincess... are you alright?” Chat’s familiar voice sounded behind her. A hint of concern was in his voice and she felt her heart melt. He really was the sweetest person she knew. Either as Ladybug or as Marinette he was always there to cheer her up.
With a small smile, she turned around to face him. Blinking up at Chat, she was surprised to see how tired he looked. “I’m okay... but are you kitty? You look exhausted.”
He blew out a long breath, giving her a crooked smirk. “It’s been a long day.” Chat glanced away before adding, “Actually more like a long week.”
Chuckling dryly, Marinette nodded her head, resting all of her weight back on her balcony railing. “I understand completely, mon minou. It’s been a long week for me too.”
Wasn’t that the understatement of the century? In actuality, it had been a long year for her. Of course, he couldn’t know about that though.
Quite quickly after she said that, Chat perked up much to her surprise. “Then let’s have a rest day!”
Raising an eyebrow, Marinette asked curiously, “A rest day? What’s that?”
“A day where we do absolutely nothing!” His eyes glimmered over at her happily as he gestured between them. “This way we both get the rest that we deserve!”
Giggling at his enthusiasm, she couldn’t help but to shake her head, her pigtails swaying in the wind. “And what happens if an akuma attack happens in the middle of our rest day?”
Chat scoffed, lifting his chin up to look down at her. “Of course I’ll put a pause on our rest day fur that. Paris always comes first afur all.”
Marinette released a soft sigh at that. Glancing away, she felt a rush of sadness come screeching back in. Chat was right. Paris would always come first. “Right,” she murmured with a nod.
In the next second, Chat took hold of her hands, bringing her attention back to him. “So, purrincess, will you do me the honor of purrticipating in our little rest day.”
Just like that, all of her regrets faded away into a dull thud instead of the usual aching misery. Giving him a bright grin, she squeezed his hands before opening up her trapdoor. “Alright kitty, I’ll give this rest day a chance.”
Chat beamed over at her before ducking into her room. She followed after him, seeing him already racing down her bedroom ladder. Rolling her eyes at him fondly, Marinette then carefully made her way down the steps.
When she got down to her bedroom floor, he was already holding her laptop in his hands. Crossing her arms, she asked, “So what do we do on this rest day?”
“We cuddle and watch movies,” he responded before flopping down onto her chaise.
He patted the spot in front of him and Marinette bit back a large grin before sitting down in front of him. Quite quickly, he pulled her pigtails out, running his fingers through her hair as he began to braid it. She sighed happily, melting into his arms as she enjoyed his ministrations.
After a few minutes, Chat nudged her lightly. “Aren’t you going to start a movie?”
With an unhappy sound, she sat up out of the warmth of Chat’s arms to unlock her laptop. Picking one at random, Marinette quickly sank back into him, a content smile on her face as he resumed his braiding. Honestly, she didn’t pay much attention to the movie with her eyes fluttering open and closed every few minutes.
After what was probably her fifth loud yawn, Marinette suddenly realized that Chat had stopped playing with her hair. Blinking her eyes open again, she pouted, trying to nuzzle her head back into his arms. Instead of a chuckle that greeted her, though, a loud snore sounded from behind her. With a secretive snicker and grin, she tilted her head around to look up at him. His head had slumped down and his mouth was wide open as he released another loud snore. Chat looked adorable when he was sleeping. When he woke up, though, she was going to tease him endlessly about how he snored.
Marinette shook her head affectionately before yawning once more. Feeling her eyes suddenly grow heavy, she slowly leaned forward to close her laptop. Snuggling back into Chat’s arms, she finally let her eyes drift closed. Chat was right. She really did need a rest day. Wrapping his arms around her, she hummed lightly before slowly letting herself drift off to sleep. Trust Chat to be the only one who could get her to actually fall asleep in this room. His presence really did wash away all the hurt.