Chapter Text
“Hello, Mindbreaker. I have a very special job for you starting today.”
“Anything for you, Hawkmoth.”
*****
“And you’re positive that it’s okay that I’m leaving for the week?” Chat Noir asked Ladybug for what was probably the fifth time that evening. The spotted heroine laughed softly and rolled her eyes, smiling a bit.
“It’s okay, Minou. It’s not like you’re going to be away for too long. And besides, before we’re superheroes, we’re also regular humans with lives outside of the suits.” She leans back on her hands, looking over at him. “And before you say anything, I promise that I’ll call on one of the others anytime there’s an Akuma.”
Chat Noir sighs, flopping onto his back. “I’m sorry LB. I know you’re perfectly capable I’m just-”
“Stressed about the trip and leaving Paris for longer than a day?”
“That, and other things.” He admits, putting his hands behind his head as he lay on the ground, looking at the sky. The pair were sitting above the observation deck of the Montparnasse Tower, the cool night air was refreshing and the view was spectacular, as always. However, despite this, Chat’s mind had a million things buzzing through his head. Sure, he was uncomfortable with the fact that he had to go to London for the week for a photoshoot his father had scheduled, though LB only knew it was a ‘family thing’ for the sake of their secret identities, but there was so much other stuff going on and honestly it had him really worried.
“Wanna talk about it?” Ladybug asks, shifting so that she can look at him better, clearly giving him her full attention.
Chat frowns, but...maybe talking about it would help. He could use some advice, so he sits up again after lying there for a moment longer. “I’m….really worried about one of my friends.” Ladybug opened her mouth to say something, but Chat chuckled and smiled over at her. “Don’t worry Bug, I’ll keep it vague and won’t name any names. I know better.” Ladybug rolls her eyes, motioning for him to continue.
“Okay, so she’s been having a really rough time at school, not academically or anything, well, aside from Physics, but that’s nothing that I can’t help with….” Chat realized he’d strayed from the topic and flushed a little. “A-anyway, I feel like someone is going after her.”
“How so? Bullying?”
“Well...in a way. And I’ve been doing what I can to help her out, but I feel like she’s been keeping a lot of what happens to herself and is only telling me the little things that happen. But that’s just a feeling I’ve been getting. I’m worried about her, and since I won’t be able to be there to support her this week I….I’m worried that- I don’t-”
“You don’t want to have to fight her.” Chat nods, looking downcast. “You really think it’s that bad? N-not that I’m doubting you! I just want your honest opinion.”
“It’s bad, LB. It’s really bad and I...I don’t really know what I can do to help….”
Ladybug looks thoughtful as she likely ponders about it for a moment. “Well, for now you should just be there for her the best way that you can. Even when it’s not in person, hearing from someone who cares about them goes a long way. You should message her, or even call her when you get the chance to while you’re out of town. It’s always nice to know that someone is thinking about you, at least that’s my take on it. If you think it will help you should try it.” She advises before a little grin finds itself upon her lips. “Just don’t be too pushy about it, Lover boy.” Ladybug said, snickering and lightly shoulder checking him with her own. This caused Chat to flush a scarlet red.
“I don’t- I can’t- My Lady you know I-” He stammered out, trying to find his words again.
“You what, Kitty?” She asked sweetly.
Chat tossed his arms into the air exasperatedly. “Okay! Fine! So maybe I do like her a little! What’s with everyone always teasing me? First Plagg, now you! Who’s next? Tikki?” Chat crossed his arms and stewed, grumbling embarrassedly, his face still flushed.
Ladybug puts a hand on his shoulder gently and, with a soft giggle escaping her, said. “Sorry, I’m just joking around with you. But if you genuinely care about her then that’s all the more reason to reach out and just be there for her.”
Chat sighed, nodding. Ladybug was right, after all. “Yeah….I know. Thanks, Bug. I really appreciate you giving me advice.”
Ladybug waves him off good naturedly. “It’s what friends do. Don’t worry about it.”
The pair stayed out longer, continuing to talk about various things that were happening in their lives, with the unspoken words of “no identity tells” keeping them from divulging too much. It was nice, Chat thought, to be able to talk like this with Ladybug. She was one of his best friends, after all, if not his best friend. They may not know each other in their day to day lives, but he was happy being with her in the now.
They moved around the city as they talked, sometimes racing, as both of them were stupidly competitive and once his Lady’s button had been pushed there was no stopping her. They were both whooping and hollering, cracking jokes at each other as they soared across the rooftops, at one point catching the attention of Alya, who waved at them and snapped a picture when they both flashed peace signs at her.
They also passed the Dupain-Cheng Bakery, and Chat may have looked that direction a little longer than he had intended because while he wasn't paying attention he almost smashed into a chimney, causing Ladybug to outright laugh at him, but then she prompted him to pay a little more attention, because the last thing that they needed was to cause property damage that wasn’t mendable by means of magic.
Eventually the pair decided to part ways, Ladybug saying that she would see him when he returns, and requesting that he let her know on the Comms that he was back when he got the chance, to which he happily agreed. Once they had split and Ladybug was out of sight, Chat doubled back and began to make his way to the Dupain-Cheng Bakery. He wanted to see Marinette before he had to leave.
*****
Marinette just knew that Chat Noir would be coming to see her before he headed home. She’d seen the look that he’d sent to her house, the one that had caused the near chimney crash. He was probably going to let her know that he was leaving town tomorrow. It seems like Chat had managed to get close to both sides of her mask, which was nice, because she’d been able to open up to him about more things than she would have had she just been Ladybug. It was….refreshing. And it made her heart flutter just a little bit. He was her best friend both in and out of the suit.
Unfortunately though, as it turned out, Chat Noir was a serial worrier. A good example was when he had been lounging on the chaise and she’d been working on a dress that she’d designed, a simple navy colored cocktail dress that had lace sleeves and shoulder covering with a two tiered, above the knee skirt, and she’d stabbed herself with a needle while working on a part that required hand embroidery. She’d only just barely flinched and let out a whispered ‘ow’ when Chat was suddenly sitting up, like he was getting ready to leap into action. She told him to settle down and that it happened all the time, that she was okay, and to ‘look, it’s not even bleeding you silly cat, calm down.’
It was sweet though, how much he cared. Honestly it was a breath of fresh air, because school had been getting pretty bad as of recent. Lila was back again, after another ‘trip out of the country for charity’ and Marinette thinks that Lila had noticed that Marinette and Adrien were both getting closer as friends and that had made her angry. Ever since then the girl has been trying to make Marinette’s school life as hard as humanly possible, and coming home being able to talk to someone about that, especially when Alya was precariously balancing on a thin line between Marinette and Lila while knowing that neither of the girls were each other’s biggest fan, was nice.
Soon Marinette heard the tell-tale sounds of Chat landing on the balcony above her room before there was a soft tapping at the trap door that led outside. She smiled and called out.
“It’s open, Chat!” and that was all the response he needed before he dropped into the room, entering the room hands first, immediately springing off the bed and down to the main level of her room.
“Evening, Princess.” He said, dipping into a sweeping bow in his normal, dramatic fashion.
“Hey Chat.” Marinette said, rolling her eyes and swiveling in her chair to face him. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this midnight visit?”
“Its not-”
Marinette took that moment to point at the glowing computer monitor that sat next to her.
“Oh, well I’m sorry for dropping in so late.”
“It’s fine, I’m just teasing you, I was up working on things anyway.”
Chat’s eyes lit up and a grin crossed his face. “Oh? Another Marinette original? What are you working on today?” He peered over her shoulder as a blush crossed her face. What was she supposed to tell him? That she was working on an outfit that had been inspired by him? Specifically how the two of them interacted? Nuh uh, no way, too embarrassing. She whirled around and covered up the project before stuttering out the first thing that came to her mind.
“I-I-It’s a secret!” Her tone was high pitched and nervous before she looked at him with a mock serious face. “You can’t look yet.” She was actually just about finished, all she needed to do was the last few embroidery bits and it would be done, but she wasn’t ever sure if she would actually wear it. Again, too embarrassing. Chat, thankfully, backed away and sat down on the floor, crossing his legs and looking up at her.
“Sorry Marinette, I won’t look.”
Marinette sighed in relief and smiled at him. “So, what’s up?”
Generally Chat would drop in and they would hang out, but Marinette knew that it wasn’t the case tonight.
“Oh, uh, well I wanted to let you know that I was going out of town for the week.” He rubbed the back of his head. “And since we’re friends, and I’ve been coming over here and hanging out with you pretty frequently, I thought that it would be a good idea for me to let you know too.”
Marinette felt her chest warm pleasantly and her gaze softened, she really was lucky to have him in (both) her life. “You’re a good friend, Chat. I gotta say, I’m pretty lucky.” She watched, almost in awe as Chat turned from pink to ladybug red in half a second.
“I-I-I’m doing my best.” He mumbled, looking down, seemingly embarrassed. Willing to spare him, and also remembering something, she stood up.
“Oh right! I wanted to give you something. Stay right there.” She said before heading out of her room and down the stairs to where she’d left the pastries she’d baked earlier that day. She placed them in a sack and carried them back up to her room where, an admittedly less embarrassed, Chat was still sitting patiently on her bedroom floor. “Here, I made these earlier and wanted to share them. There’s some chocolate croissants and Macaroons in various flavors for you and,” She held out a separate bag that was zipped closed in two different bags. “This is for Plagg. I think you mentioned something about his obsession with Camembert and so I made a cheese danish with it for him. I can’t promise that it’s any good though…”
Marinette didn’t think that Chat had heard anything because his eyes were blown wide and his ears were folded back. He was staring at her with amazement.
“What did I ever do to deserve you in my life, Princess?”
“Um, by being yourself?” Chat looked like he was about to cry when she said that, but he seemed to pull it together at the last second, which may have worried her, but at least he wasn't upset, upset.
“Thanks, Marinette.”
“Not a problem, Cat Boy. Besides, it’s what friends do, don’t worry about it.” She said as she handed the bag to him. He looked at her with a puzzled face for a moment before seeming to brush it off.
“So, how’s school been?” He asked her softly. He knew that she’d been having a rough time, and he’s allowed her to rant, almost for hours sometimes, to him about it, leaving her feeling a lot better.
“Well, I can’t say that it’s particularly good, per-say, it just hasn’t been overly bad. At least not in the last few days. Which is….kind of weird? It makes me wonder what I’m missing, what’s being plotted behind my back.” She sighed, Lila had been suspiciously quiet this week and it was unnerving, to the point that Marinette was wondering if something was wrong with the other girl.
“Well, at least you’re getting a break?”
“Or something. I dunno Chat, the silence is….It’s unnerving.”
“I can imagine.” He looks thoughtful. “Anything good happen recently?”
Marinette blushed and pulled her legs up to herself, looking away from the cat. “Kinda, I’ve been....getting closer with one of my friends. He’s been super sweet and understanding about the whole thing. It was a little nerve wracking at first, but that was just me being the weirdo I’ve come to accept that I am.”
“You’re not weird! If anyone is weird here it’s me! I run around Paris in a magical leather catsuit!”
Marinette snorted out a laugh, leaning her cheek on her bent knee. “Yeah, I suppose that’s true. But that suit gives you a sense of freedom, I just got all stuttery and awkward.”
“It couldn’t have been that bad.”
“Oh, it was bad. I could hardly string proper sentences around him!” Marinette threw her arms up into the air before draping herself over the back of her chair with a heavy, defeated sounding sigh. “I must’ve looked real dumb.” She wasn’t about to outright say that it had been because of her absolutely massive crush, but it was kind of implied and she wouldn’t deny it if he’d asked. Luckily for her, he didn’t.
“What if he thought it was cute?”
Marinette flushed a deep red, burying herself into her knees again. “That would take a miracle.”
“Oh I don’t know about that. I think you’re plenty likeable, you’re funny and smart to start, plus you’re obviously very kind if you’re letting a stray cat come and hang out with you so frequently.” Chat smirked, his tail flicking a bit mischievously from side to side.
“Now you’re just trying to inflate my ego.”
“Is it working?”
>
“Maybe a little.”
For the next two hours Marinette talked with Chat about a few different things, happily showing him some of her newer designs, although keeping the more embarrassing ones to herself. Like usual it was fun, and served as a great distraction from her growing anxiety about what was possibly nothing. Eventually though, Chat had to leave and it was very late, so with a flourish he pressed a soft kiss to the back of Marinette’s hand and promised that he would come visit as soon as he had returned, after seeing his Lady, of course.
The next morning, Marinette had some unread messages on her phone, two of which were from Alya gushing about getting a really nice picture of Ladybug and Chat Noir the night before, and one from Adrien, telling her that she was more than welcome to talk to him while he was away. A warm feeling settled in her chest as she sent back a message telling him thank you and that she would.
Plagg actually did cry when Adrien tossed him the treat from Marinette after they returned home and then looked at Adrien seriously, camembert cheese danish in hand. “I want you to marry that girl, Adrien. If you don’t then I’ll put cheese in all of your shoes and socks. Forever.”
Adrien blushed deeply and groaned before launching a pillow at the small God.