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The bluenette sighed softly as she pulled a tray of cracked macarons out of the oven with a glum expression. “ Tikki why do I suddenly suck at making these ??! “ she exclaimed, tossing them in the trash bin. “ They have to be perfect for Adrien’s party ! he asked me of all people..” her hands came to cover her face as the kwami was flipping through the recipe seeing what Marinette could have missed. “ You know if your parents weren’t out on that date this would have been a lot easier “ she said with a light hearted laugh as her holder just looked at her through her fingers. She was flustered beyond belief simply because the dreamy blonde of her dreams had asked her to bake macarons for his party. She agreed and knew exactly what kind to make which was his favorite, Passionfruit. It had not been going to plan however
The girl composed herself and grabbed the bag of almond flour, determined to make this the perfect batch. She began to sift the ingredients together in a bowl as she made sure no clumps were going to slip in and was incredibly precise in every movement. “ Did you make sure the eggs were room temp last time ? “ Tikki asked innocently, causing the girl to nod “ Yes, Tikki I have no idea what I am doing wrong ! “ she said and dramatically threw her head onto the counter for a moment. The ladybug frowned watched her intently offering words of encouragement, “ You can do this, Marinette ! “ causing Mari to lift her head up as she began to whip her egg whites, and was about to add the sugar as she heard a loud crash behind her causing the kwami to rush over and hide.
She whipped around to see the culprit covered in flour now, it was none other than Chat Noir standing there with his cheeky smile. “ Chat ? “ she raised an eyebrow at him, “ What are you doing here ? “ she asked, patting her hands off on her apron. Chat had bent down to pick up the metal bowl he had knocked off the counter, “ Well I was strolling about town and just knew I had to come and see my favorite baker of course. “ he said, giving the girl a wink only to be returned with an eye roll.
His eyes trailed over to the kitchen island covered in countless macarons , some were cracked , undercooked , overmixed and as he pressed his claw to one that simply deflated Marinette’s face fell, “ I don’t have anything for you right now, Kitty.” she said and her face seemed to flush in embarrassment, “ There is just this huge order for this party...for this guy and I guess i’m a little nervous. “ Chat’s lips curved upwards as he grabbed her shoulder, “ Hey ! we all get nervous and now you have me to help ! “ he said , trying to cheer the girl up, he hated it when she was down.
“ No offense Chat Noir, but have you ever made macarons before ? “ she said with a quizzical expression and the boy just shrugged “ No.. but it can’t be that hard right ? your parents make the best in Paris afterall, so you can teach me.” he said in an optimistic tone. Marinette just laughed a little, “ I- I- “ she was about to decline his offer but saw Tikki frown from the corner of her eye peeking out of the pantry. She also honestly couldn’t say no to those hopeful green orbs that he adorned staring at her in adoration.
“ I would love that , Chat “
Honestly he was just happy to be out of his house and to have company, but his mood always seemed to brighten when he spent time with her. She was always trying to make everyone happy and he had never really thought about how much of a toll it took on her. His thoughts were invaded by a sensation of Mari wrapping the apron around him to tie it around his slim waist.
“ Chat ?? Are you listening ? “
He broke out of the trance and nodded slowly, “ Of course ! “ he tried to make it sound like he was listening because he really didn’t want to disappoint her. Mari just shook her head with a laugh as she grabbed his hand in her own to show him how to combine the ingredients with the sieve, “ You just have to make sure there are no clumps..” she whispered, not noticing the hot blush just underneath his tight mask.
“ Okay now with the egg whites you have to make sure they have stiff peaks before you add the sugar “ her voice was so gentle and honestly felt relieving like honey on a sore throat. He couldn’t help but be entranced by her as she pulled the whisk attachment up on her stand mixer to watch the meringue pull upwards and stand in a peak.
Chat was learning a lot more than how to bake, he was learning how amazing Marinette was and he got lost in her bluebell eyes as she spoke, even about just mixing ingredients together.“ Now just fold the dry into the wet. “ she instructed and he looked down at the bowl while he shook the flour into the other bowl and attempted to flip the flour under the meringue.
A poof of white came up from the bowl covering him in even more flour.
The blunette looked over to her kitty and giggled softly, “ Oh silly kitty… you added too much flour. “ she said, not noticing how terrified to the core he appeared. “ I’m sorry Mari-” he said while his ears drooped down. She noticed this and frowned “ Chat..it’s okay, it happens. “ she assured him and used her finger to lift his chin up from looking down at the bowl. The superhero was genuinely surprised that she wasn’t angry, “ Y-You’re not mad ? “ he asked in a shaky tone.
Marinette shook her head as her lips curled into a grin, “ Of course not silly ! here.. “ she said taking his hand and assisting him in holding the rubber spatula , “ you just have to fold carefully.. It’s called macaronage and wala ! “ she said, throwing her hands in the air.
Chat looked down to the now perfect batter and the light flush on his cheeks appeared again.
They had moved onto piping finally which served a challenge for him as well, his tails would not lay to the side like she had shown him. “ I honestly think baking just isn’t for me.. “ he forced out a laugh while turning his head to see her finish with the perfectly rounded cookies on the tray and noticed her tongue stuck out of the side of her mouth in complete concentration. It was adorable to say the least.
“ Don’t say that, “ she was suddenly over to help him, she seemed to never run out of patience with him unlike his father would. “ You just have to squeeze..then let go right before you finish the circle. “ she demonstrated and handed the bag back to him, “ now you try ..” she said offering him that warm smile of her’s.
It gave him a bit of confidence honestly, grabbing the bag from her hand and going to work to make the perfect shape on the tray. He followed her advice and surprisingly it had worked and the immaculate shell lay in front of him. His mouth was agape, “ I did it ! “ he exclaimed and was unbelievably happy over a little pastry.
It was utterly adorable to her.
“ You sure did, Kitty “
Chat had definitely got the hang of it besides his claws poking holes in the bags and a few setbacks and messes. She had nearly tripped carrying the tray to the oven and he had run over to catch her knocking over more dirty dishes having them clatter to the ground.
“ That was a close one. “ she said sighing in relief then realized she was on top of Chat and nearly skyrocketed up from his lap making her stumble again and run into the counter. He watched her and hopped off the ground to catch the tray that had gone flying before it hit the ground. Chat grinned holding the pan, “ Looks like someone is a little bit clumsy huh, “ he teased causing her to toss her oven mit at him.
He eased them into the oven along with the other tray then looked over to her. They were both covered in white and other spices. “ Thanks a lot , Chaton .. I honestly couldn’t have got this done without you. “ she admitted rubbing the back of her neck. The boy noticed the new nickname storing that for later as he began to smile, “ Of course, M’lad-” he stopped himself, “ Marinette ! “ he shouted with wide eyes. She simply blinked at him, “ Better be careful now, you wouldn’t want Ladybug to get jealous. “ she elbowed his side and teased at him. His face fell a little at the comment being reminded of the rejection from her.
Marinette noticed this and covered her mouth, “ Oh! No! I didn’t mean it like that, I promise.” she blurted out trying to clear the air while she nervously shuffled her feet. His gaze met her and he smiled once again, “ It’s okay, Marinette but-” he stopped and dipped his finger into the dirty bowl of leftover pink batter and scooped some up with his finger to flip onto her cute, rosy nose.
“ Hey ! “ she yelled and started to chase him around the kitchen with a dirty rubber spatula as laughing filled the apartment while the two rounded the counters yelling at each other.
A little bit later they had run out of energy and ended up sitting at the island to enjoy some of the savory croissants from the bakery while she waited for the shells to rise. She watched as he almost swallowed his whole with wide eyes only being met with his neon one's looking back at her. She laughed and reached her hand over to brush a crumb from the corner of his mouth and noticed his blush this time as her cheeks suddenly felt hot as well. I wonder if he ever eats anything else.
It was beginning to get late and the duo was finishing the cookies, piping the filling into the shells. “ I never asked you who these were for by the way..” he mumbled and Mari looked over to him, “ Oh.. just for a friend, his favorite flavor is passionfruit, so-” his head went blank as he listened to those words. They were for him ? Well Adrien, but technically for him and she was nervous ? He had forgotten he’d asked the baker to make some for his upcoming party.
“ So.. he makes you nervous that you couldn’t make them before me ? I mean I know I definitely wouldn’t be able to focus without me in the room either. “ he said cheekily causing her to shake her head. “ I was just having some trouble is all..no need to boast. “ she huffed while crossing her arms.
“ I'm glad to help Marinette, I’m sure he will love them. “ he said as he went to untie the apron around his waist , struggling with his claws. The girl held back a laugh, “ Here let me help. '' she said walking over to him to undo the knot and lift it from over his head, brushing his ears softly while pulling the article over his head.
“ Thanks..” he said as he looked away to hide his reddened face from the girl.
She noticed this and leaned forward to press a kiss on each of his rosy cheeks, “ Thank you again, Kitty. “ she said with her bluebell eyes looking up at him, “ I really couldn’t have done it without you. “ He tried to keep his jaw from falling slack as he nodded and smiled a bit lopsidedly. “ Anytime. “ he managed out and grabbed his staff from his back as he walked out the front door , and with a wave he had vaulted out of sight.
Tikki came out of hiding and noticed Marinette staring longingly at the starry sky where he had taken off from, “ It looked like you two had a lot of fun ! “ she broke the silence making her jump slightly. Her cheeks were bright red, “ Yeah yeah..he was just helping me out. “ she said dismissing her kwami as she walked up the stairs, her stomach had been doing flips the whole time he was present.
Chat arrived back into his room and flopped back onto his bed as he thought about her, her pigtails, her button nose, the way she was still beautiful even covered in stains and how she never had gotten upset with him for not knowing what he was doing. He sighed softly, and whispered “ Plagg, claws in. “ as he transformed and his friend appeared in front of him, “ Someone has a new crush ! thank goodness you are finally getting over Ladybug. “ he said exasperated. Adrien rolled his eyes at him, “ Never, but it was really nice spending time with Marinette today. “ he mumbled softly while digging a slice of camembert from his shirt pocket to hand to Plagg. That night he lulled himself to sleep dreaming of her with her dreamy bluebell eyes and loving smile.