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Marinette laid on her bed, staring up through the skylight. She couldn't see anything. Wind howled through the night. Somewhere high above, storm clouds raced each other. But inside her room were stars, being stuck to her ceiling one at a time by Chat Noir who sat beside her. The mattress shifted as he reached for another handful of the plastic stars.
"Are you sure you don't want to know my identity?" He snuck another glance at the Adrien poster she'd tacked next to her bed. She wasn't sure if he knew she'd seen each time he'd done it tonight.
"I'm sure," she said, patting the spot next to her. "What constellation did you make for me?"
Chat Noir settled next to her, leaving a hair's breadth of space between their bodies. "Isn't it obvious? It's a ladybug! See?"
Marinette shook her head.
"There's the antennae." He pointed. "And some legs." His finger outlined a few randomly placed stars. "And the rest are her spots."
"Oh. If I squint really hard-" She squeezed her eyes completely closed- "then I can see what you mean." She grinned as she waited for him to notice. It didn't take long.
"You aren't even looking!"
Marinette laughed through the pillow he slapped onto her face.
When she did look at him, he was crossing his arms. "At least this ladybug isn't afraid of me," he said.
"Afraid? Of you? I'm not-"
"Yeah, she's not threatened by how much she likes me because she knows who I am." He reached up, patting the star directly above him.
Marinette was not going to take the bait. Raindrops splattered on her skylight.
"So how did this ladybug find you out?" she asked. "Did you transform in the wrong alley, too?"
"No, she secretly wanted to know," he said. "I was at home, lying in bed, and she came in through the window and snuggled right up to me."
Marinette shifted away until the hair's breadth became a hand's breadth.
"And I knew she wanted to know. She just gave me that look. She wrinkled her nose and puckered her lips out in a little pout."
Marinette checked her expression, smoothing it out, and then glared. He knew her so well. He hadn't even needed to look at her to know what face she was making. But he wasn't done with his story.
"So I turned to her." Chat Noir twisted onto his side, propping himself up on an elbow, green eyes glowing. "And I started to whisper. I said, "My name is…" He trailed off, eyebrows raised, hoping for permission.
"No."
He flopped backward. "So anyway. That's why she's not scared of how much she likes me."
Marinette sighed. There were so many things that could go wrong. So many reasons for the secrets, and she hated them all. "Not today, kitten."
He turned his face away, this time not even trying to hide that he was looking at her poster, or probably the lipstick mark she'd left there a few weeks ago.
"Not today," he repeated. "But someday?"
"Someday," she agreed. "I promise."