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Chat Noir was a mystery.
A teenage boy with ruffled blonde locks that hung down in front of his stunning emerald eyes and a tight black leather suit that stuck tightly to his body when he moved. His perfect mouth pulled itself into a series of smiles, smirks, and grins, depending on the pun, and could twist into a scowl when he growled at a troublesome, ill-timed akuma.
His mask covered the expanse of his cheeks, covering his face when he blushed a bright pink and his cat ears twitched and turned at the slightest sound. His hands were skilled in their sport, reaching out and punching, scratching and clawing in a seconds notice and his feet were as graceful as a dancer, jumping from roof to roof landing as light as a feather without a sound.
Yet even though Ladybug knew how to interpret her partner when in battle or on patrols, it was when she was Marinette that she found him harder to read. His grins did little to convey his feelings and his eyes were often full of emotion that she couldn’t understand.
But his tail, his tail was full of dead giveaways that answered Marinette’s silent questions in perfect sense.
………………….
“Come on, Princess. You can do better than that!”
Chat was perched on her chaise, legs crossed under him with a bowl of popcorn sitting balanced in his lap. Popcorn lay strewn across the floor and a movie played in the background, but neither Marinette nor Chat were paying attention to the noise it made. Marinette was standing in front of Chat with her mouth open wide and the cat was picking another piece of popcorn out of the bowl. “Okay Princess, last chance. I’ve thrown about forty pieces and you’ve yet to catch one.” he said with a chuckle.
“I can get it this time, I know I can.”
Chat threw the popcorn in a perfect arch, breathing in as it headed straight for Marinette’s open mouth, but she moved at the last second and the food just bounced off her cheek. Marinette sighed while Chat laughed. He hopped up from the chaise and walked over to where Marinette was standing with a smug grin, thrusting the bowl of popcorn into her arms. “Now watch the meowster.” he smirked.
Marinette sat down with the bowl and proceeded to toss a piece in a random direction. Chat lunged for the popcorn, but instead ran into the wall as it fell to the ground.
“Aw, no fair Princess. You cheated.” he pouted, rubbing his nose as he pulled away from the wall.
Marinette giggled at his floundering and tossed another popcorn into the air. This time Chat was ready and jumped up, catching the piece in his mouth and continuing to flip forwards, landing gracefully in a crouch. “Show off,” Marinette muttered.
Chat gave her a Cheshire grin and walked over to where Marinette was pouting on the chaise. “Now that’s how it’s done, Princess.”
He tried grabbing a handful of popcorn out of the bowl, but Marinette quickly yanked the tub away and dashed to the opposite side of the room. “Nuh uh,” she announced, “Show off’s don’t deserve the reward of fresh, buttery popcorn.”
“Really, Princess? Is that how its gonna be?” Chat smirked.
“Yup” Marinette answered, stuffing a handful of the delicious snack into her mouth. “The rest of this popcorn is all mine.”
“Not fur long”
Chat jumped across the room in the blink of an eye, tackling Marinette to the ground. The bowl flew out of her hands and was tossed into the air, resulting in a shower of yellow, buttery goodness. Marinette giggled as she opened her eyes and looked at Chat, who was currently laying on top her, his hands on either side of her head.
“What are you laughing at?”
Chat’s hair was full of puffy popcorn pieces and kernels, blending in with his yellow hair. Noticing the added weight on his head Chat shook himself clean, cutting off Marinette’s laughs as she was pelted with the food. It was Chat’s turn to laugh as she scowled from under him, but his laughs were cut short as he hopped up quickly, his head darting from side to side.
His tail was standing straight up and rigid as Chat ran to the window to look out into the black. “Chat, what’s wrong?”
“Looks like our time is up, Princess. Duty calls.” he said in a short, curt voice. “Cat-ch you later.” and on that note he jumped out the window into the dark, Paris night leaving Marinette to clean the mess of popcorn by herself.
……………….
“I’m sorry, Marinette.”
Chat stood in the middle of the mess that was Marinette’s room, his head hung low in shame. His eyes wouldn’t meet hers and his tail hung limp between his legs. Her normally bubblegum pink room was now a mess of blue. Yarn hung from every corner and surface and could be found in even the smallest crevices.
Marinette had just turned around for a moment, just one minuscule minute. She had been working on a new design all afternoon, but had decided to take a break when Chat had shown up at her window. While talking to the hero, inspiration had struck and she had turned to her sketchbook to put her bright idea onto paper. However, while her back was turned Chat had discovered a rather large ball of yarn in the basket by her desk and was determined to play with it. Marinette had turned back around to a growling Chat and a web of yarn tangling all her furniture together.
“I really am sorry, Princess. I didn’t mean to get carried away. I just couldn’t help it.” Chat apologized.
“I just don’t understand why you couldn’t have left the yarn in the basket.” Marinette sighed. She was busy using her scissors to try and cut away all the string that was strewn across her room.
“It was sitting there taunting me, begging to be attacked.”
“Really? Cause I didn’t hear any voices.”
“Well, it was.” Chat huffed. “And I wasn’t about to let it sit there purrty and neat, when I knew I had the ability to wreak havoc on its little, blue life.”
Marinette rolled her eyes, pulling piece by piece away from her mannequin. “Well, I’m sure the yarn appreciates your determination to tear it to pieces.”
“It had better. I put a lot of time into stringing it everywhere.” Chat said with a smirk.
Marinette groaned at the pun and turned around to look at Chat. He stood there with his arms crossed in front of him and a stubborn look on his chest, but his tail still hung between his legs, letting her know that he really did feel bad about causing a big mess for her to clean up.
“You know what, Chat? It’s fine. Just make sure that next time you see a ball of yarn, don’t imagine that it’s talking to you, is that clear?”
“Purrfectly”
………………
“Chat, why don’t you calm down and start from the beginning?” Marinette asked patiently.
Chat was currently pacing on her balcony, walking from one end of the terrace to the other. His tail was flipping back and forth in an quick, angry manner. His feet slapped heavily against the ground and at one point Marinette had had to duck her head before his tail whacked her so hard he gave her a concussion. Three broken flower pots were already laying on the balcony floor and Marinette wasn’t looking to add her head to the pile.
“Chat, tell me what’s wrong.”
Chat stopped still where he was, ceasing his pacing and looked at her with a fire in his eyes. She could tell he was burning from the inside out and reached out to him, pulling him into a tight embrace. Chats body was tense at first, but he quickly wrapped his arms sound her, returning her embrace with enough fervor of his own. His breathing slowed and he carefully untangled himself from Marinette’s body.
Chat didn’t let go of her hand though and he pulled Marinette down with him as he sunk to the ground. “It’s my father.” he said.
His tail was still flicking back and forth in a wild manner, alerting Marinette to the fact that Chat was still furious. “He told me that he didn’t approve in my choice of friends and that I wasn’t allowed to spend time with them anymore.”
“Why would your father think that?” Marinette asked patiently.
Chat sighed. “One of my friends had brought me a cup of ice cream for us to share and a mix tape of some songs he had put together and wanted me to listen to. My father was home, however, and when he saw my friend ‘tempting’ me with junk food and ‘inappropriate’ music for a boy my age, he sent him away and told me I wasn’t allowed to hang out with him anymore.”
Chat stared at the ground, his mouth stuck in a permanent scowl. “He doesn’t have the right to tell me what I can and can’t do.” he began to yell “I can choose my own friends and hang out with them whether he likes it or not. If he doesn’t like it he can get over it! He doesn’t control my life!”
Marinette could tell that Chat was getting worked up again, his tail was beginning to whip faster and faster. Thinking fast, Marinette pulled Chat back in to her arms, hoping to calm him again. Thankfully, her idea worked and after a couple minutes Chat started breathing normally again instead of in angry huffs.
“Chat, why don’t you try talking to your father in a peaceful manner?”
“He wouldn’t listen. He never listens.” Chat said brokenly.
“Hey,” Marinette said, pulling back and looking Chat in the eyes, placing both hands on his cheeks “I can promise you that your friends will not abandon you just because your father decided that he knew who was best for you to spend time with. Your father will come around, too. And even if your father doesn’t listen, you have me. I’m always here for you, Chat. No matter what, I’ll always be here.”
Marinette’s forehead was pressed against Chats and his eyes were closed as breathed in deeply. Marinette studied his face taking in the slight flush still visible from his anger and the slight puff of his cheeks as he breathed in and out. Slowly Chat opened his emerald eyes looking deeply into her bluebell ones. “You promise?” he whispered.
Marinette kissed Chat on the cheek, her lips lingering against the side of his face. She could feel Chats sharp inhale of breath at her action, but he made no move to get away from her.
“Always”
……………….
The sharp wind was cold against Marinette’s pale cheeks and the ground under her back was cold and hard, yet Marinette couldn’t find it in herself to say that she was uncomfortable. Warm heat radiated off of Chat’s body from where he was laying on top of her, his head on her chest with his ear listening to her heartbeat and keeping her warm against the coldness of the night. Her hands had found their way into his blonde locks and were currently scratching his scalp in a gentle manner, resulting in a rumbling, pleasured purr from deep within Chat’s throat that shook Marinette’s body.
Earlier that night, Marinette had been sitting on her balcony with a fuzzy blanket wrapped around her, hot chocolate to the side, and her sketchbook in her lap. She had been working on a set of winter coats for her and Chat to wear over their uniforms since the weather had grown colder and colder by the day. She was specifically working on Chat’s jacket trying to figure out all the proper places to place zippers so the coat would be functional yet fashionable when the devil himself had landed nimbly in front of her.
“Pawdon me, Princess. I hope I'm not intruding.”
“Hello, kitty. How can I help you?” Marinette had asked without looking up from her sketches.
“Well, I was on pawtrol when I noticed that my princess was sitting out in the cold all by herself and I thought that purrhaps you wouldn’t mind a litter company.”
Marinette groaned at the abundance of puns and buried her head into her sketchbook. “Seriously, Chat? What did I ever do to deserve this?”
“Why, Princess?” Chat gasped, raising his hand to his chest in mock shock, “Are you saying that you don’t like my companionship?”
“Yes” Marinette deadpanned.
“Meowch! You wound me.”
“It’s nothing you’ve never heard before.”
“Don’t you mean, befur?”
Marinette scowled and picked up her sketchbook using it as a weapon. While Chat was turned around looking at one of her plants she brought the book back and swung with all the ladybug strength she could muster, hitting Chat in the back of the knee and causing him to lose his balance.
Chat collapsed backwards, trying to twist himself so he wouldn’t come down too hard, but he landed on Marinette just the same. There faces were merely inches apart and both had wide eyes as they stared into each others gaze.
“Well, this is a pawkward pawsition.”
Marinette dropped her head back against the ground, her eyes closing and breaking their stare. “I’m not even going to try to stop you.”
“It’s about time you learned to appreciate my puns, Princess.” Chat looked over to where her sketchbook was now laying face down on the concrete. “May I see what you were working on?”
He waited for Marinette to nod before he reached out and grabbed the book with his paws. He stared in silence for a few moments and Marinette watched as expression moved from concentration to one of sheer awe. “You designed this?” Chat asked quietly.
“Um, yeah…uh yeah, is it okay?”
“Is it okay?” Chat repeated, placing the sketchbook to the sides of their bodies, “Princess, it’s purrfect!”
Chat’s arms wrapped around her chest as he buried his head under her chin and rubbed his nose against her neck. Marinette giggled at his surprising excitement. “I’m glad you like it, kitty.” She brought her hands up to his hair and proceeded to engulf her digits in his mane, feeling the softness run between the open spaces of her fingers.
They had been laying on the ground for at least ten minutes now and Marinette had yet to cease her movements. She was enjoying the soft rumbles of Chat’s purrs against her chest when she was brought out of her revery by the feeling of something snaking around her waist. Marinette looked down to find that Chat’s tail had wrapped itself around her, pulling her body tighter to Chat’s.
Marinette squeaked in surprise causing Chat to lift his head in curiosity. His brows furrowed together until Marinette pointed down at the tail that was currently squeezing her tighter preventing too much space from forming between her and Chat’s bodies.
Chat blinked down at his tail, staring at it for a good minute before looking back up at Marinette’s face. He made no move to remove his tail from where it was wrapped tightly around her waist, instead his gaze flickering back and forth between Marinette’s eyes and her lips.
Marinette was the first to break the silence. “I swear your tail has a mind of its own.”
Chat slowly lowered his head not speaking until his forehead was leaning against Marinette’s. His shining emerald eyes burned into her hers. Their faces grew continuously closer until Marinette could feel Chat’s breath against her lips. It was then Chat chose to say “Then again, maybe it has the right idea.” before closing the gap between them.
Heat surged through Marinette’s body, warming her to the core. Chat’s lips were firm, yet gentle against hers, caressing her lips in a warm embrace. His arms joined his tail in wrapping themselves around her body and his tongue prodded her lower lip asking for entrance. Marinette gasped at the action giving Chat the access he desired. His tongue licked its way in, rubbing against the roof of her mouth and Marinette could taste the sweetness of her homemade hot chocolate, causing a tingling sensation to spread its way throughout her body. She stretched her arms upwards, slinging them around Chat’s neck and running her fingers through his hair, tugging the ends and resulting in a quiet groan from Chat which she swallowed gladly.
Eventually they had to pull away for air, both of them panting for breath. Chat’s forehead stayed resting against hers though, their noses brushing against each other as they inhaled. Chat grinned, his eyes shining as they gazed into hers, their faces flushed from more than the cold. His tail tightened against her waist, pulling her closer to Chat until there was no space left in between their bodies.
“Yeah, definitely the right idea.”