Chapter Text
“Wow! That was quite a flight, wouldn’t you say? It’s a good thing I always nail my landings!”
He… it? They? Winked - Winked! - at her. Her heart was still thumping painfully in her chest, and her entire body was shaking as she was held in the stranger’s arms. Her mind was still in the process of catching up with everything that had just transpired, but one thing was certain.
She should not be entranced by those damn green eyes right now.
Marinette shook her head and broke the spell the stranger had unknowingly put on her. She looked around as she gripped his shoulders… strong shoulders. The streets were damp and dark, but there was no sight of the white menace of earlier, nor of that patrol she feared to cross. The night had fallen, and only the stars and the soft glow of the street crystals reflected on her exposed arms.
“…Uh… hey… you feeling okay? It… it didn’t hurt you, did it?”
And exposed, she was . He still had not released her.
She presumed it was a ‘he’, anyway. He sounded, and looked like a ‘he’ in her standard. At first, she thought he was a human, which would have cleared things up easily, but she had then seen the black cat ears in his blond mane, and his foggy tail. And the fur around his eyes. His monstrous cat eyes. Bright green like two fireflies. Familiar and unfamiliar.
Monster with a human touch. Or human with a monster touch. She was too shocked and scared to clear things up.
She saw the silver shine on his cheek. A soft powder emanating from an open wound. Dust.
This gave her some answers.
His ears flicked in discomfort under her scrutiny.
“Uh… Look, I… I didn’t mean to scare you if I did, pretty one… miss? Mister?”
“Miss,” she blurted out. Her voice was hoarse. “I mean-I’m fine! Just… I need a minute…”
She pushed on his shoulders to signal him to let her down. The black suit he was wearing felt strange under her fingers. Weird texture. Close to slime plasma, maybe?
For half a second, his grip on her relaxed, but then, his eyes widened and he tightened his hold. She saw his lips curl up and her blood froze.
“Well, you’ll be safer with me, then.” He winked coyly. “Wouldn’t want to let a cute one like you cross a Hunter’s path in the night, now would we?”
“Um…”
She mentally cursed. Not good. How much did he know ? How deep in was he? Who was he? A Hunter playing a trick? Something else?
Her survival mode kicked in. She calmed her breath, pursed her lips, and frowned.
“A hunter? Seems to me the only hunter around is that play-boy monster before me.” She flicked the bell he wore as a collar, giving him a shaky smile. “Sorry, but I have no time for games, kitten.”
The cat monster with a human face blinked and gave her a wide excited smile. A puppy smile, ironically. Not the worse expression she could receive, given her current predicament.
“Aw, you don’t have to hide things like that from me, sweetie! This cat’s not getting his intel from TV, you know? I know what I’m looking at.” He gave her a look-over. “And, might I add, your description don’t do you justice if this is how you all look like. Purretty stunning .”
She could not help the eye-roll. He gave out she was the first one he met in person. She could work with that.
“I’m not even going to pretend I understood any of this,” she lied with a sigh. “All I know is that it’s late, I’m cold and I really should head home. So thanks a lot for getting me away from that white creep, I appreciate it, but I have to go.”
“Just say the words and this knight will bring you where you need to be, princess,” the cat beast answered with a smirk, undeterred. “And I would really like an audience with the ‘royal court’ by the same occasion. I feel like there is much to discuss in between us.”
His face was dangerously close. She pushed it away by his nose, surprising both of them with the bold gesture.
“I… I don’t. I think everything’s said and done,” she quipped back, feeling herself sweating at the idea of this strange monster getting remotely close to her family. “Just… let me down, please.”
His smile faltered, but his grip on her stayed firm. She bit her lips and started to struggle.
“Mister cat person…”
“You can call me ‘Chat Noir’.”
… ‘Black Cat’? Was he serious? Marinette shook her head and pushed the thought aside.
“Chat Noir, please.” Her fingers tensed on his shoulders. “Let me go. You’re hurting me.”
“Sorry!” His grip lessened, but not enough to release her. “I…” He gazed into her eyes, his expression pleading. “I need your help. Please.”
She stilled herself, surprised, but wary. He bit his lip, showing his fangs, his ears down.
“I… I’m in a pickle right now… and people like you might be my only way out of it.”
She frowned.
“People like me?”
He looked up into her eyes.
“Dust-eaters.”
He had said it in a whisper, and her first reflex was to deny it. Her second one was to hit him as hard as possible. It was what was recommended. She could crumble him fast. Hopefully faster than he could kill her.
She did neither of these things, and would kick herself for it in a few hours. At the time, his admittedly pretty eyes and the sadness in them were enough to sway her away from her duty. Her eyes caught the silvery glint of his wound again and she formulated her plan. She sagged in defeat.
“Alright. I give. Just… put me down, please. We should discuss this.”
Hope lit his face in a way it only could for monsters. It was endearing, if a bit sad.
“Ah. Of course!”
He awkwardly let go of her and let her feet touch the ground delicately. He looked like a teenager boy trying to find his mark. Marinette guessed he was not far off from one, either. She sighed in relief when the monster freed her. She rubbed her arm before asking her next question.
“What makes you think a dust-eater can help you, Chat Noir?”
“I need to get in contact with one of you,” he answered, his hand scratching his blond hair. “I have a… curse I need to remove, let’s say.”
“A curse?”
“Yes.”
He did not elaborate. Marinette figured he wanted to keep the details for whomever he was trying to get in touch with. Probably the smartest thing the cat monster had done since he had rescued her.
She was almost feeling sorry for him.
“Okay. I owe you this much…” She looked at him and smiled, clasping her hands together. “… and maybe a little more! Not many of your kind would have done what you did to save me!” She gave a shy glance to the side. “Not many would be brave enough to even risk coming so close.”
She saw the blush spread on his cheeks. He looked flustered when she took a step in his direction. He massaged his neck, avoiding her adoring gaze.
“Ah. I mean… It’s… only natural to save damsels in distress. Whatever their species.”
She giggled. Alright. He was a bit cute like that. She turned coy.
“Then I suppose… I should give you the natural gift of the saved damsel in turn?”
She pushed her lips and leaned forward. He tensed under her touch, but did nothing to stop her. She could feel the heat of his magic under his skin.
Perfect.
He did not even notice when she put her lips on his wounded cheek. It was only when she started sucking out the dust from it that he startled. It was a bit too late then. She pushed her newly reformed magic upon him and his voice strangled, his body growing limp. She held him up when his legs gave out under him, taking care of absorbing as much of his magic as possible without a kill.
Memories and sensations flowed through her mind, invading her; taking over. She let herself go for an instant. It was the risk of consuming pure dust. Getting lost into the monster’s magic.
Flashes of a life she never had flickered through. A life of claustrophobic imprisonment. A flash of a smile on a tender feline lips. A hard gaze of a monster bird. A buzzing laughter. Then, feelings that were not hers rushed through. Excitement; fear; despair.
She passed a hand in her prey’s hair and sent out a wave of sympathy through her aura. The only way she knew how to convey an apology without words. His magic was strong. Stronger than any she had ever tasted. Impossibly strong. Un-monster-like.
Something sharp pushed her out.
She released her kiss with a gasp. It was echoed by the cat monster. The monster that should not exist, with such a strong magic. She shakily leaned his body on the side of the street, somewhat hidden by a wooden crate. Hopefully hidden enough.
She kept her eyes on him through the whole process. In spite of his weakened state, he did the same, staring at her with his wide green eyes.
She resisted the urge to dive back down and take more from him. With a gulp and a shaky smile, she stepped back.
“Sorry, kitten, dust-eaters can’t help you with your curse,” she whispered, almost cooing. She still felt a deep connection from consuming his magic. “We have our own curse to deal with, as you can see. We’re the last people you should go to for your problem.” She blew him a kiss. Probably his influence, she was not usually that bold. “Try to survive and stay safe, alright?”
She ran off before waiting for an answer, concentrating the magic she consumed outward. When she saw the black fur covering her arms and her new sets of claws, she sighed in relief. Finally, she had some cover again.
When she was certain her new monster disguise had taken hold, she slowed to a fast walk. She could feel the magic that had reformed into a pair of ears, and her new tail. Furred monsters were an unusual form for her, but eating pure monster dust left little choice in this matter.
The memories she absorbed alongside it would make the form familiar either way. She could feel the dark energy swelling in her body and enveloping her soul in an almost comforting embrace. A set of antennas was tasting the air around her. She was almost curious enough to look at herself, but this would have to wait until she was safely home.
She did not feel like a copy of the cat monster she just assaulted, however, like she should have been. There was too much fur, and not enough human parts. She could feel a muzzle under her clawed fingers. Maybe this was related to the ‘curse’ he was talking about?
A dark figure strolled past another street and she shook her head, resolute to go home before any other crazy thing happened to her.