Work Text:
“Hey, princess,” a familiar voice called out as he landed a few feet from her lounge chair. A frown marred his features as he took in her furious sketching, her hand a practical blur even for his enhanced eyesight. “If you’re busy, I can come back some other time.”
Marinette spared him a quick glance and a soft smile as she continued sketching out her latest design.
“Sit, Chaton. I’m almost done.” A few more flicks of her wrist and she let out a loud breath, smiling at the finished design she held in her hands. “It’s finally finished.”
“May I see it?”
She held out her sketchpad, only too happy to show him her latest design since he was the inspiration behind it. She wondered if he would like the way she’d incorporated the different elements of his suit from his ears and mask to his boots and baton.
“This is amazing, Marinette, but where’s my tail?”
“Oh?” She took back the pad and looked over her design, realizing she had indeed forgotten his tail. She looked down at the softly swishing piece of leather belt, a small frown as she considered how to include it in her design along with his other elements. “Does it have a functional use?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure though I feel more balanced with it attached than I do when it isn’t. It can move on its own at times, usually when I’m having strong emotions, and I’ve also been able to partially control it though it’s harder than it looks.” He picked up his tail and held it out to her for inspection, smiling softly when the tail proved his point in having its own mind.
She giggled as it swished despite being somewhat restrained.
“Hmm, very interesting. I didn’t know it had such personality. Here I thought it was just a belt strapped to another and made to look like a tail, but you have an actual tail. It’s almost too adorable, Chaton.” She smiled at the reddening his face and neck took on at her assessment of his tail, making her wonder if she should have a little more fun with his discomfort. Deciding to try her luck, she added, “I wonder what it does when you’re near someone you like.”
“Oh, uh, it hasn’t done really anything much.” His face took on a deeper red color, his neck working fast to keep up along with his human ears.
“I wonder if Ladybug would say the same thing.”
“Let’s not bother her, shall we? I’d rather she not know I can’t control my tail when she’s around.”
“So, your tail is as flirtatious as you, huh? Interesting.”
“Oh, no, that’s not what I meant.” He covered his face with his hands, not wanting her to see how much that thought bothered him. He only flirted with Ladybug because she meant the world to him, not because he just wanted to flirt with a pretty woman.
With his hands covering his face, he missed how his tail had swished closer to Marinette to wrap around her leg, causing her to wonder what it meant. She knew he saw her as a friend as she did him, but sometimes she caught a weird look in his eye when she found him watching her as she drew. Rather than disentangle his tail, she left it alone, hoping he wouldn’t notice as inspiration struck her again with her design.
With deft fingers, she picked up her sketchpad and quickly added in Chat’s tail, allowing the tail to trail down the pant leg she’d designed, wrapping around the model’s leg as if it was meant to do that. She drew the tail’s end around the model’s ankle though Chat’s had stopped around her upper calf due to their height difference.
“Well, Chaton, I think you’ll find I found the perfect place to fit your tail in my design.” She held out her pad to show him, smiling as his hands left his face.
He took the pad from her, his hands slightly shaking as he took in her modifications. He happened to glance down and catch his tail’s whereabouts, his face reddening even more. He didn’t think his face would survive much more as he handed her back her pad, removed his tail from her leg, and made some non-sensical excuse before vaulting away from her balcony.
As she watched him go, she smiled as she considered how her favorite cat had become her best friend and maybe something more if his tail proved anything.