Work Text:
Chat Noir was nervous. He was so nervous. He was probably as nervous as he’d ever been. But he forced a smile on his face as he and Marinette exited the car and went to the trunk. Grabbing the basket and picnic blanket, he took a deep breath and she smiled at him.
“Oh Chat.”
“I know. I know. He’s your papa and she’s your maman and I shouldn’t be nervous but I am.”
“Even though you’ve known him for so long? And you regularly go out to drink together? And that you’re always stopping by maman’s bakery to help her out? You’re still nervous around them?”
Chat nodded even though that wasn’t why he was nervous. He couldn’t tell her what it was really about. “Yeah. It’s not every day you see an angel and the devil together in one place!”
She rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand. “That was my whole childhood, Kitty, up until papa had to go back to the underworld. It loses its novelty after a while, so don’t worry.”
“Okay, Purrincess.” She kissed his cheek and led him to a secluded section of the park where they set up everything for their visitors.
Once the food was laid out and the blanket spread, Marinette held up the bottle of wine she’d brought. “Want some to take the edge off?”
“Yes please.” She filled his cup and he took a healthy sip. The wine she’d chosen was sweet and it lingered on his tongue. It was delicious so the cup was nearly empty by the time Chat felt the familiar magic rush over his body. “Hey Tom.”
Tom was already grinning before he’d even fully emerged from the portal. “Hi Cupcake. Hey Tomcat.” Chat groaned. He’d earned the name at some point when they first got drunk together and he didn’t even remember how! But all of Tom’s friends called him it whenever they got together… which was often. “What a lovely day it is.”
“Papa!” Marinette smiled and hugged the looming man. “I’m so happy to see you, but remember this is a public park so you have to at least look human.”
“Alright, alright. I hate glamor magic, but I’ll do it for my beautiful daughter.”
It was always a treat to watch Tom’s glamor in action because it was very subtle. His dark maroon skin gradually darkened to a dark, almost black brown, before becoming lighter and lighter until he was just a shade or two tanner than Chat. The horns sunk into his head as the huge wings folded neatly into his back. The sharp claws at the ends of his fingers shortened and became dull. Finally, he shrunk from his massive height of over ten feet to a modest height of 6’2’’. If Chat didn’t know better, he would’ve sworn the creature and the man were two different beings.
“Chat! Bring it in! You know I’m a hugger!” Chat found himself being swept up into a hug so tight, it felt like his ribs would crack. Thank the heavens above for his miraculous: his ribs probably would’ve been broken. Tom sat him back on the ground and grinned at him. “Thanks for the invite, son!”
“It was no problem. I figured a family lunch was way overdue.” Chat shrugged.
Tom looked around excitedly. “Has Sabine arrived yet?”
Marinette rolled her eyes. “Not yet, but she’ll be here soon. Settle down. You act like you haven’t seen her-”
“In months! I haven’t seen my beautiful wife in months and I can’t wait to see what my angel looks like today.” Chat swore that, if you looked close enough, there were tiny red hearts in Tom’s eyes.
“I look as I always do, Dear. No need to speculate.” Sabine spoke as she floated to the ground, her large and fluffy white wings folding into her back immediately.
Tom was upon her instantly: sweeping her into his arms and kissing her until air became necessary. Marinette pretended to gag but Chat couldn’t help but smile.
Despite being literal opposites, Tom and Sabine had fallen in love a long, long time ago. However, they were separated almost immediately due to Sabine being a member of the most high court and Tom being the ruler of Hell.
But they never stopped loving each other.
Eventually, things settled down. The angels and the fallen had called a truce. Sabine left the court and Tom delegated power so that they could finally be together after all the years separated. It wasn’t long after their reunion that Marinette came along. Up until she was seventeen, she and her parents were a close-knit family, living together and running the best bakery in Paris. However, Tom was soon called back to the underworld because they needed him so the couple had parted and that’s where he’d been ever since.
Despite the distance and time, there was no love lost between the two, as proven by their increasingly amorous kiss… that had Marinette’s fake gag’s turning into real ones.
“Maman! Papa! We’re right here!” She scolded.
Her parents pulled away with Tom looking like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar and Sabine looking unabashedly unashamed.
She tsked. “Don’t act like I haven’t walked in on you and Chat hot and heavy before, young lady.”
Marinette rolled her eyes. “You have but that’s when we were in our own home; not in public where anyone could walk by and see!”
“You two haven’t explored what it’s like to have sex in public yet?” He sighed. “You’re missing out. It’s something every couple should try at least once. Right, Honeybun?” He winked at Sabine, who blushed.
“Oh absolutely.”
Chat turned a dark shade of red as Marinette turned green. “Please. I do not want to talk about my sex life with you two. That’s a hard no. Let’s just go sit and eat, okay?” Shaking her head, she led the group to the picnic table.
After the initial greetings, everything settled down and the meal was very nice. Chat fell in love with watching Sabine and Tom interact with each other. Knowing that they were supernatural, Chat expected something… different? But the two were acting like any normal married couple who’d been together for a long time would. Displays of affection, pet names, sweet words, and so much more that made him realize that they were indeed so deep in love still.
He craved that.
He wanted that.
He had that.
With Marinette. The love of his life. His forever.
Gulping back the surge of emotion, Chat took another generous sip of his third cup of wine and smiled as Marinette took his hand to kiss his knuckles, something she always did to calm him down.
“You guys are so cute.” Sabine chirped as she watched the interaction. Chat blushed, realizing that as he watched them, they had been watching him. “Even if the kitten is shaking like a leaf.”
“Yeah, my man is always so nervous.” Marinette laughed as she tugged on his arm and wrapped it around her shoulder so that she could lean into him. Threading their fingers together, he looked down at her and his face immediately softened at the look of love there even as she made fun of him. “It’s part of his charm.”
“You’re part of my charm.” He quipped back.
She rolled her eyes. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“It’s just like love: it doesn’t have to, Milady.” She smiled and pulled him into a kiss and he found himself getting lost in it. Everything around them faded away and all he could feel was her against his body and his heart pounding against his rib cage as one of her hands stroked his cheek. Pulling away, he dropped a kiss on her nose then forehead. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Her eyes shone and she pulled him back into a kiss.
“I think we’ve been forgotten about, honey.”
The voice washed over Chat like cold water and he pulled away, blushing. “Sorry.”
Sabine waved him away. “Don’t apologize. It’s so sweet to see our baby so happy and in love.” She smiled at Tom, who didn’t look as happy. “It reminds me of us when we first started dating.”
Whatever Tom was going to say was cut off as Marinette’s cell phone went off.
“Sorry. It’s Alya. Hello?” Her happy smile contorted into a worried frown. “Slow down, slow down. Nino did what ?! Hold on.” She looked apologetically to her family. “I have to take this. I’ll be right back.” With that she stood and walked across the park and started gesturing wildly as she talked with her best friend, completely distracted.
Just as planned.
Unsure of how long Alya could stall her, Chat turned back to her parents, both of whom looked at him curiously. “So I planned this for a totally different reason than a family meal.”
Tom’s eyebrow raised and Sabine frowned. “Is there something wrong?”
“No. There’s something really right.” Shaking his head at how silly that sounded, Chat opted to just pull out the velvet box from its hidden spot in the picnic basket. Looking over his shoulder at Marinette one more time, he opened it to reveal a beautiful diamond ring.
Tom’s eyes widened as Sabine gasped. “Is that a-?”
Chat nodded. “I’m going to ask your daughter to marry me.”
There was a short silence as he allowed them to absorb the news before he continued. “I love your daughter. My whole life changed the day I met her. I don’t think I need to tell you how amazing and special she is.” He smiled over his shoulder as he spied her with her phone to her ear, shooing away and then actively fighting a flock of monstrous looking birds. The smile widened when she casually shot flames at them and they flew away. She was truly amazing. Looking back at her parents, he took a deep breath. “I’d like your permission to propose to her.”
"Chat-"
“I know I don’t need to- Marinette is her own person who can make her own decisions and protect herself- but it would mean the world to me if I had your permission and support anyways as the two people she loves most in this world.”
Sabine openly had tears raining down her face. “Oh Chat. That is so super sweet!”
Part of him relaxed before tightening back up as he looked at Tom. Tom was frowning with his arms over his chest. Chat felt his nerves double the longer they sat there and he rushed to think of more words to add. However, thankfully, Tom’s lips broke into the biggest smile Chat had seen on the Lord of Hell’s face.
“You silly tomcat! Of course you have our permission! Do you know how long we’ve been waiting for you to pop the question?”
Chat’s mouth dropped open. “No?”
“Forever! Any fool with eyes can see how happy you make each other and how in love you both are.” Tom’s smile softened. “Anyone can see how happy you’ve made our daughter. Who are we to deny her her 'forever'?”
Sabine nodded. “She’s been glowing ever since you two met. I knew you were the one when she told you about her secret. She had been so scared that day because she knew she was in love with you already but couldn't tell you until you knew everything. Then, when she did, you accepted her completely and she walked around on cloud nine for almost two weeks. That’s when I knew you were it for her: you were her soulmate.”
Chat couldn’t help but tear up. He purposefully hadn’t thought of what their reactions would be before- so that he wouldn’t panic- but he hadn’t expected this. He hadn’t expected to be met with so much love and acceptance.
“Th-Thank you.” He murmured before clearing his throat. “It’s gonna be soon: probably in the next two weeks. I’ll let you know how it goes.”
“Please do.” Sabine nodded before turning to Tom with a happy smile. “It's so hard to believe that our little devil spawn is about to be engaged! Oh! I can't wait!"
Tom grinned. "I can't wait to see all the little kittens running around the place!"
Chat blushed and ducked his head before smiling at the two. “And I can’t wait to be a part of the family.”
Tom shook his head and pulled Chat into another enthusiastic hug. Instead of thinking of how his ribs would be broken if he weren’t suited up, he thought of how much love and approval he could feel in the warmth of the embrace.
“You already are family, Chat.”