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Marinette smiles at the familiar thump on her balcony.
She sets down her embroidery project and unlocks the skylight to let Chat Noir in.
"Hey," she says as he hops inside, "how are you--"
She's interrupted when Chat lands on her bed on all fours, looks around, and suddenly shakes his head vigorously. Marinette does a double take, but it's too late. There are droplets of water all over the air, landing all over her room. She yelps in surprise and stumbles backward.
"C-Chat! What was that for?"
"Sorry, sorry!" Chat exclaims when he stills his movements, jumping off of her bed and down onto the bedroom floor. He frantically looks around the room before grabbing a towel. He bounds back to her and hands it over.
Marinette takes the towel from him and scoffs, though she's biting back laughter as she replies, "You should've brought an umbrella."
"My a
paw
logies, princess. I hadn't
fur
seen the rain when I went out." He grins, and she can't help but let out a small laugh.
Chat's visits have been the highlight of her nights; he's stopped by more times than she can count now. Sometimes, they spend the night watching movies or stargazing. But recently, they've been baking together.
He'd tried to gift her some cookies after a night of playing UMS, but despite his best efforts, they weren't entirely edible. So, Marinette did the sensible thing and offered to teach the superhero in a leather catsuit how to bake.
As one does.
Spending her nights in the kitchen quickly became one of her favorite things, even if it was messy.
“You’re ridiculous,” Marinette says in good humor as she finishes drying herself. “Maybe you should look at the weather next time.”
Chat grins at her. “We’ll see.”
Marinette smiles back and walks over to him. “So, what do you want to do? I know you wanted to watch that movie last time, so I have it pulled up! Or we could do something else?”
“Actually, about that…” Chat suddenly looks away and sheepishly rubs the back of his neck with a hand. “I was wondering if we could bake? I have something I want to make as a thank you for teaching me how.”
Marinette gapes at him. She’s hardly ever seen Chat this way before; he almost looks… shy? But why? He's asked her to bake plenty of times before. It’s not like this time is any different, because—
Wait.
His words catch up to her, and Marinette turns towards him in surprise.
“You want to… thank me?”
"You've spent a lot of time teaching me how to bake." He shrugs. "You didn't have to do any of that, and it's always late, so... yeah. Of course I want to thank you."
Oh.
Her cheeks are warm as she replies, "You don't have to thank me! I- of course I helped you; we're
friends
, Chat. And besides, it's fun baking with you!"
"Really?"
She nods. "You're cute when you're covered in flour, by the way."
He raises his eyebrows and stares at the floor. "What- I- well- you- can I bake something for you?"
"If you insist, kitty." She laughs and leads him downstairs. "Am I allowed to know what you're making?"
"Nope, it's a surprise! Though I
suppose
I can give you a hint — it's almost as sweet as you." He smirks and boops her nose.
Marinette feels her face grow hot. “That's not very descriptive.”
“Which gives you plenty of room to guess!”
The two of them walk into the kitchen, and Chat begins to pull out ingredients. She watches as he takes out sugar, flour, eggs, butter…
“Are you baking a cake?”
“No,” he says as he pulls out a few more ingredients. “Nice try, though.”
Marinette frowns. “Cupcakes? Cookies?”
“You’ll see!”
Marinette continues to watch as Chat puts together the ingredients — he doesn’t give anything away, but it’s all too easy to guess when he chills the dough, rolls it out, and cuts out shapes before putting it into the oven.
“Sugar cookies,” Marinette declares, “you’re making sugar cookies!”
“Maybe,” he says with a grin, “but the best part hasn’t come yet. I still have to decorate.”
She rolls her eyes and playfully flicks some water at him as she begins to wash the dishes.
"Hey! what was that for?"
"For fun!" She giggles and ducks away from his attempt to mess up her hair.
"I came here to give you handmade treats and this is how I'm repaid? Unbelievable."
"You're the one who insisted! I told you you don't have to do anything special, dork."
"You deserve the best, princess." The oven beeps, and he takes the tray out to cool.
They smell delicious already.
"Do you mind setting up some blankets on the balcony for us? I'll be there as soon as these are done."
Marinette nods and heads up to the balcony. She sets up the place as she waits for chat to come up, curious about what he has in store. It isn't long before he comes up and settles down beside her, placing a box in her hands.
"For you, my lady."
Marinette feels her heart flutter at the nickname. He only ever calls Ladybug "my lady" - but it isn't like he knows, right? not unless--
Oh.
She opens the box and stares at the sugar cookies. They're ladybug shaped, complete with red and black frosting indicating the familiar patterning. She takes a bite and revels in the delicious flavor.
"I figured I'd only make the best for our everyday Ladybug," Chat says softly. "After all, she's the best partner I could ask for."
He knows.
Marinette smiles as she finishes the cookie, taking in this new information. "Well, you've certainly redeemed yourself, mon chaton."
She's worried what this could mean for them, now that he knows. But whatever happens, they'll get through it together.
Because he's the best partner she could ever ask for, too.