Chapter Text
“I hate the rain,” Chat grumbled, glaring out Marinette’s bedroom window as the storm raged outside. Lightning streaked the night sky as she blinked over at him. His blonde hair was dripping with small droplets of rainwater and she huffed at the mess he was making of her floor.
Suddenly, he shook his head viciously, rubbing the water off of him with a scowl. Marinette spluttered, holding her hands up as it all fell onto her. With a shriek, she laughed, “Chat, stop! You’re getting water everywhere! Oh my god, you are such a cat.”
“Sorry, purrincess.” He gave her an ashamed smile, his hands pausing in his hair.
Rolling her eyes, she quickly pulled open one of her drawers. Grabbing a small towel, she threw it at him, feeling somewhat satisfied when it hit him squarely in the face. “Here. Use this to dry off instead so you don’t get water all over.”
Chat took it gratefully, quickly drying off his hair. Marinette sighed quietly, walking over to her window to stare out at the rainstorm. She watched the water fall with a small, delicate smile. She had no idea what Chat was talking about. Rain was gorgeous. Closing her eyes, she listened to the sounds, drifting back to another day where she stood in the rain. She mumbled softly, “I really can’t believe you don’t like rain. I absolutely adore it.”
He hummed lightly, moving his head from side to side as he considered her words. “Well, it’s not that I usually hate it, I just got caught in it tonight. Let me tell you, that was not fun. Especially when I was looking furward to a nice, easy night run.”
Marinette gave him an amused look as he pouted, crossing his arms as he continued to glare out the window. He looked like the weather had personally offended him in some way. Shaking her head fondly, she laughed. “So, instead of going home and grabbing an umbrella or going back to bed, you decided to come here?”
Chat turned to look down at her, his lower lip jutting out into an even bigger pout. “Marinette, I was cold and wet. It came out of nowhere and I needed to find somewhere warm to stay and your home is pawsitively the warmest,” he whined at her rather pathetically.
She giggled again, patting his arm lightly. A smirk then twitched at her lips as she raised an amused eyebrow at him. “Maybe so, but I don’t typically make a habit of picking up strays.”
“So, you’d have let me freeze to death in the rain instead. How cruel,” Chat moaned at her dramatically.
“Oh quit being such a baby,” Marinette swatted him playfully, ignoring his indignant shout. “It’s not that cold.”
“It most definitely is,” he huffed, “Were you the one outside getting drenched?”
She couldn’t hold back another fond laugh, rolling her eyes at him. Her partner was such a dork. He risked his life every day during akuma attacks but as soon as a little rain hits and he turns into a scaredy-cat.
Chat slid into her desk chair as he scrutinized her. “Actually, I was wrong earlier. I do hate the rain. How do you like it?”
A nostalgic grin lit up her face as she gazed outside. Once again, she was transported to another day in the rain. God, it felt so long ago now. Marinette whispered before she could fully register what she was even saying, “I fell in love in the rain.”
“Ooh,” Chat gave her a mischievous smirk and her eyes jolted over to stare at him, realizing what she had just said. “You and Luka met in the rain?”
Marinette’s cheeks flushed faintly. Her head ducked down and she shook it quickly. “No, no, no, no! This was a completely different boy and it was before I even met Luka.”
He tilted his head, giving her an eager look as he asked, “Who’s the boy then?”
“No one,” she waved her hand in the air before sighing sadly. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m trying to get over him.”
“Meowch,” Chat said, pouting at her. “You wound me, purrincess. You can trust me. I am purrety good at keeping a secret, you know.”
Marinette rolled her eyes at him as he gave her a playful wink. Glancing away, she muttered, “He’s just a classmate of mine. He gave me his umbrella after we got off to a rough start, so whenever it rains I can’t help but think about him. Like I said, though, I’m trying to get over him because he only sees me as a friend.”
She blew out a harsh breath, her bangs swaying slightly as she collapsed into her chaise. Pursing her lips up at the ceiling, she tried to shove away any thoughts of Adrien. With her eyes trained on the ceiling, she missed Chat’s own eyes practically bulge out of his head. Marinette did hear him splutter and cough and she turned her head to look at him as he almost fell out of the desk chair. Sitting up, she gave him a concerned look. “Are you alright, Chat?”
“Y-yeah, I’m fine,” he spluttered before looking at her with something she couldn’t quite identify in his eyes. “T-this classmate of yours, d-do you still have his umbrella?”
A faint smile twitched at her lips as her gaze was drawn over to the treasure chest that she kept it in. Nodding her head, Marinette said, “Yeah. He never asked for it back, so I kept it. Now that you mention it, though, I should probably find a way to return it.”
“No!” Chat nearly shouted before grimacing. Her eyes snapped over to connect with his as she frowned at him in confusion. What had caused that little outburst? Opening her mouth to ask him just that, he cut her off by speaking again, his cheeks suspiciously pink, “W-what I mean is... if he hasn’t asked for it back yet, you can probably keep it. I-I’m sure he doesn’t mind.”
This was very unlike the superhero. He rarely stuttered and almost never had a sentence that didn’t include a pun of some kind. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at him suspiciously. “What’s wrong, Chaton? You’re acting very jittery all of a sudden.”
“Nothing’s wrong!” he squeaked in a rather high-pitched voice, his eyes darting around her room. “I just... are you sure he only sees you as a friend?”
Marinette threw her head back in a laugh. Adrien had only said it about a million times. Her eyes glimmered mischievously as she looked back over at him, crossing her arms with a smirk. Getting off of her chaise, she walked over to him and flicked his bell playfully. “Why? Are you jealous?”
“Huh?” Chat frowned at her in genuine confusion for a brief moment before his face lit up in realization. He waved his hand in the air as he chuckled awkwardly. “No, no, not at all! Why would I be jealous of a boy I don’t know? At all.”
Now it was her turn to frown at him. Even her attempt to lighten the mood hadn’t worked. Chat was still very tense as he continued to fidget and look everywhere but at her. Raising an eyebrow, she said, “Relax, I was just kidding, kitty. But... why are you acting so strange then?”
“I’m not!” he cleared his throat before he stood up out of her chair quickly. Her shocked eyes met his determined ones as he asked, “Are you sure getting over him is the best plan, though?”
What was Chat even talking about? How did his mood shift so suddenly? With a small gulp, Marinette glanced away from his knowing gaze. “W-well, I mean, yeah, I do. Like I said, Chat, we’re friends and that’s all he wants us to be, and I’m okay with that.”
He nodded solemnly, his eyes looking dejected and she wondered what she had said to cause that kind of a reaction. Slowly, he spoke up, “So, if he did realize that he had feelings for you too, it’d be too late?”
Marinette jolted in shock, the idea too unbelievable that it didn’t even seem realistic. With a quick snort, she said, “That would never happen. But if by some miracle, he woke up and suddenly had feelings for me, I don’t think I would ever be able to turn him down.”
Chat’s face brightened and he turned to look out the window with a bright smile. “Well, purrincess, it looks like the rain has stopped now, so this stray can get out of your fur.”
“I do not have fur!” She scrunched her nose at him in disgust.
Chat simply chuckled before bounding up onto her bed. He gave her a quick wink and a salute as he looked down at her softly. “I’ll see you soon, Marinette.”
“Good night,” Marinette said, giving him a wave as he leaped out of her hatch and took off into the night. Shaking her head, she muttered, “What a strange cat.”