Chapter Text
“Well, this is paw-ful.”
Marinette sighed.
“We’re in a real cat-amity.”
She clenched her jaw.
“I wonder if we should -”
“Oh my god, Chat, give it a rest,” she said, not unkindly. “I spent the whole morning with my dad. I’m punned out.”
Chat’s back shook with silent giggles against her back. “I’d like to meet your father someday, Marinette.”
Marinette smiled at that. “You two would love each other,” she admitted. She wasn’t sure she could take that many puns though.
Okay, so choosing to hide in that particular alley hadn’t been Marinette’s wisest decision. No sooner had her transformation run out and she’d slipped out of the alley than Chat had gone running by. He’d stopped short in shock at seeing her, and the akuma had taken the chance to trap them together in a cone.
Thankfully it didn’t seem like he’d put two and two together; he must not have been watching where Ladybug had gone and seemed to assume she’d just been walking by. Unfortunately, they were stuck here until Chat’s kwami finished eating. She’d slipped Tikki a couple cookies, but would have to wait until they were free and Chat was gone to transform.
So here they were, sitting back to back, and Chat was saying, “I’ve had your family’s pastries before. They’re meow-nificent.”
Marinette wondered if the compliment outweighed another pun and decided that it did. “Thanks. Maman and Papa work really hard at what they do. The bakery is like their first kid.”
“They opened it before they had you?”
“Yup. A couple years before, actually. They weren’t planning on having kids so soon; I think I was a happy little accident.”
“Must have been hard having them work in the bakery all the time,” Chat said. He sounded odd. Wistful, maybe?
Marinette shrugged, knowing he’d feel it. “Not really. They always had lots of time for me. And when I got older, I got to help.”
Chat was quiet for a long time. So long that she started to wonder if she’d said something wrong. She knew that he didn’t have the best home life, but she wasn’t supposed to know that. It wasn’t like she could comfort him without making him curious.
Finally, he said, “So what I’m hearing is, my princess knows how to bake?”
Marinette blushed faintly at the nickname. “Um, yeah. Yeah I do. I’m not as good as my papa, but - yeah.”
“Would you bake for me someday?” Chat asked softly.
Her heart turned over. She wished she could turn around and hug him, but maybe it was for the best that she couldn’t. Still, that didn’t stop her from nodding fiercely.
“Of course. I’ll bake you anything you want, Chat. I promise.”