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Mid-August was one of Chat Noir’s favorite times of year. Most of the locals found themselves on vacations with their families for at least a week or two, and the streets were littered with more tourists than people who would recognize him, or expect something from him. It was the perfect time to watch his city and go unnoticed.
And that was what he did, perched above the city on the peak of an apartment building. The late afternoon sun was bright on his back, and if he’d truly been a cat, he would have sprawled out under its rays long ago for a sweet afternoon nap. He yawned quietly, stretching his arms over his head and struggling to keep himself standing for a moment. When the yawn had passed, it left behind a dust of sleepiness and he leaned against the chimney behind him, tipping his head back to absorb the light for just a moment…
“-Noir! Chat Noir, are you okay?” echoed a familiar voice from down below him. His eyes blinked open, struggling to stay like that as he looked down.
“Alya?” he asked, stumbling a little as he pushed off from the chimney and slid down his staff to ground level. “How can I help you, good citizen?”
Alya rolled her eyes, raising a brow at him. “Are you alright? I called out to you several times,” she said, the concern in her expression wrinkling her forehead.
“Of course! Just resting my eyes,” he said, grinning. “Takes plenty of beauty rest to make these cat eyes look so good,” he added with a wink and a slight laugh, leaning against his staff at his side.
“Do you normally drool while ‘resting your eyes’?” she asked, a grin of her own slipping onto her lips as she pulled up a photo on her phone.
The screen contained an image of Chat Noir, slumped back against the chimney and slack-jawed, looking dead to the entire world, and sure enough, a trail of drool glistening at the corner of his lips.
Chat could feel his entire face flame up, redness flaring up from under his skin as he stared at the photo in horror. He swiped at the side of his mouth hastily. “Delete that, I am begging you, Alya,” he pleaded, reaching for her phone immediately.
She danced out of reach, backing up and holding her phone close to her chest. “Why? Scared a certain someone will see you slacking off on patrol? Or is it just that it’s an unflattering angle?”
“First of all, I have no unflattering angles,” he said, reaching out again for the phone only for her to dodge the attempt once again. “And second, we don’t even have any scheduled patrols, I’m out here for personal gain!”
Alya cackled, shaking her head at him and shaking the phone in front of him but still just out of reach. Doing his best to look despondent, Chat Noir frowned and let his shoulders slump down, his arms hanging limply at his sides. Looking at her out of the corner of his eye, he waited until she seemed to have relaxed and grown confident and then snapped his arm up again.
Somehow, she still managed to be just a centimeter out of reach and he groaned, finally just holding out his hand to her.
“What’s wrong, Chat? If you have no unflattering angles, there should be no issue with me posting this to the Ladyblog for International Cat Day,” she teased, turning his own words against him.
“International what now?”
Alya frowned, her eyes widening at him. “It’s International Cat Day, Chat Noir. That’s the whole reason I was yelling for you, I wanted to make a blog post for today! A little appreciation for one of Paris’ heroes on a day clearly meant for him, Catboy.”
He couldn’t help but grin and soften slightly, appreciating once again just how much the Ladyblogger did for he and his lady, let alone what she’d done for his civilian self without realizing it. “Does it really have to be that photo though?”
“I insist on it actually. You look like an actual cat basking in the sun, and as you said yourself, you have no-”
“Unflattering angles, yeah yeah. I standby that statement, too,” he added under his breath, shaking his head at her. “Do what you must, then. But at least take a photo with me, for me to remember the first time someone celebrated a made-up holiday because of me.”
“Technically all holidays are made up, Chat Noir.”
“Do you want the photo or not?” he deadpanned, holding an arm out with his baton camera ready. Alya grinned and sidestepped into him, turning her face to the camera. He rolled his eyes and then smiled at the tiny screen, balancing his arm on Alya’s shoulders. Snapping the photo, he uncurled his arm from her and then gave her a quick thumbs up, glancing at the photo on his baton screen. “I just sent it to your blog, Alya. Thanks for being such a cheerleader for Ladybug and I.”
Alya shrugged, glancing down at the ground for a moment before managing to meet his eyes and wave her hand at him. “Don’t even mention it, Chat. You both have done more for the city and me personally than I could ever repay. I hope you get plenty of cat treats today!”
He laughed and nodded, waving back at her as she stepped backward onto the sidewalk, crossing the street to where he could see Nino was seated at an outdoor table at a café. He waved at the DJ, who grinned brightly and returned the gesture before greeting his girlfriend. Feeling significantly more awake and more content with his day, Chat Noir extended his baton, rising up above the rooftops until he landed on one, rolling to a crouch on the flat roof.
He looked out at his city, grinning from ear to ear as he started a slow jog forward, speeding up to make a leap over the gap between buildings. Crossing building after building without any aim in mind, he found himself across from Tom and Sabine’s, smelled the baked goods even from outside. He jumped down from the roof he was on, approaching the side of the store. He rounded the corner, reaching the front when he suddenly stopped.
The front of the bakery had been decorated with little cat stickers on the glass and cat shaped balloons surrounding the doorway. He stepped up to it in awe, finally taking notice of the banner hung just under the name of the bakery.
“Free fortune cookies to anyone wearing Chat Noir merchandise?” he read aloud, looking inside the glass with wide eyes. Hesitating for a moment, he pulled open the door and stepped inside to the cacophony of chatter inside the bakery.
Every single table was full, and a number of people were even standing around in the bakery. All of them seemed to have some kind of merchandise related to him on them, and as the small bell above the door sounded, he’d never felt more self-conscious as everyone in the bakery turned to look at him.
“Uh, hi?” he said with a half wave, slipping his baton into its place at his back with the other hand.
“Chat Noir!” squeaked a voice from his knee level and he glanced down to see a tiny girl, who couldn’t have been more than five or six years old, looking up at him with the widest, most awed eyes he’d ever seen. They could have actually been sparkling for all of the amazement that was barely contained within them.
He smiled and kneeled down immediately, bringing himself to eye-level with the little girl. She had a black shirt on with a acid green cat paw print, layered under a matching green tutu and a pair of black cat ears on a headband, pushing back her hair. “Well hello there, Little Miss. What’s your name?” he asked, watching her clam up right before his eyes.
She squeaked and turned around, hiding behind the leg of what he could only assume was her mother. Glancing up, he flashed the adult a knowing smile.
“It’s Jacqueline,” her mother answered for her, nudging the girl out from behind her. “Say hello, sweetness,” she encouraged, pushing her forward a bit more.
The little girl, Jacqueline, looked between him and her mother and then to his shock, curtsied clumsily between them.
He stood, offering a bow of his own in return and then holding a hand out to her. “It’s paws-itively wonderful to meet you, Jacqueline. How are you feline on this lovely day?”
“...Purr-fect,” she mumbled back and Chat Noir could swear that he felt the entire crowd of the bakery turn to mush around them, himself included. He let out a quiet chuckle, grinning at the girl in front of him.
“Well that’s paw-some to hear. Do you want to take a picture with me? I want to tell Ladybug all about meeting my sweetest fan,” he said, holding out a hand to her and glancing up at her mother for affirmation.
Jacqueline put her hand in his and he carefully scooped her up, setting her on one of his shoulders. He used the other hand to pull out his baton, snapping his second photo of the day with an equally wide smile on his face. He held the position for a moment, feeling the little girl shake with giggles on his shoulder as he posed for her mother’s camera before gently lifting her off of his shoulder and setting her back on the ground.
“Little miss, I hope you’re staying safe and you have a very good rest of your day. And if you’ll please paw-don me, I’d like to get some of my favorite sweets before they all get eaten up,” he said with a wink.
He straightened up from his crouched position next to her and waved at the rest of the people in the bakery, seeing what looked like more people than when he’d walked in. There was a bit of stunned silence as he maneuvered his way to the counter where Sabine was, flashing her a grin. It definitely wasn’t the first time he’d come in as his super-hero self to buy sweets, and he usually ended up with way more than he’d paid for every time he had.
“Good afternoon Mrs. Cheng,” he greeted, offering her his usual smile as he glanced at the counter. Even the usual assortment of treats and sweets had been cat-ified. Cupcakes and croissants sported cat ears, and the label for the cannolis had been changed to ‘catnnolis’ to match the ears and tail that they now sported, beige shells swapped for black ones with filling in his trademark shade of green. “Everything looks so good, I’m not really sure how to choose, but-”
“Don’t you worry, Chat Noir! We kind of hoped you would stop by, so we have a box already set aside for you,” she quickly interjected, patting the pink box already on the counter for him. Even the box had a cat shaped sticker on it in black and green. His heart felt so full from the appreciation that he swore it could have burst.
He tried to keep from tearing up in the bakery, lifting the box into his arms with the same care he’d had for a living child just a few moments ago. “What do I owe you, then?” he asked, already prepared to pay whatever price she asked of him.
She frowned, reaching across the counter to pinch his cheek, reminding him of all of the times he’d seen the same gesture done lovingly in films and on TV. “Oh, nothing at all, you sweet boy. We’re the ones who owe you. You keep this whole city safe, and I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve saved my family and I personally.”
He could feel himself getting more choked up by the second, clutching the box in his arms as if it was a life raft in a river of his emotions. “I don’t know what to say… Thank you, Mrs. Cheng.”
“Please dear, I’ve already told you to call me Sabine.”
“You’re right. Thank you, Sabine.” He laughed softly and smiled back at her, feeling more and more like he was on top of the world today. There was really only one thing needed to make this day perfect. He turned to face the small crowd. “And thank you, all of you. Your support means the world to my Lady and I, but myself especially today. Have a meow-velous day everyone!”
He quickly made his way out of the bakery, still carefully holding his box of treats and avoiding thinking too hard about the smattering of applause he could still hear from behind him. He turned back over his shoulder to give a last half-salute through the glass before sailing upwards holding onto his extending baton. He landed on a nextdoor rooftop, taking a moment to breathe and decompress from the attention of the public.
Even as Adrien Agreste, he was used to being fawned over, but feeling the same adoration as Chat Noir was largely unknown to him still. Ladybug handled the public enough for both of them, and truthfully, he appreciated the break from being in the spotlight sometimes. He had never realized that because of that, he had lost sight of just how much his city cared for him too, not just his partner.
Sighing contently, he peeled open the box in his arms, taking a look at the wide variety of treats inside. The first thing that caught his eye was the fortune cookies scattered through the box, some of them drizzled with dark or bright green chocolate, and some of them carefully decorated with cat features, down to the little whiskers and triangular noses. He smiled fondly, his eyes brightening up. He grabbed a cat-eared cupcake from the box, unwrapping the cake and taking a big bite out of it.
He tried to only get sweets every so often, too used to the rigid diets assigned by his father that when he ate too much sugar, it made him feel out of it for a while. Still, sometimes Marinette snuck him treats into her lunches and gave them to him between classes, always bringing enough for their whole class if she could, but almost always giving him double. He smiled at the memory and then snapped his head up, looking across the rooftops at the nearby balcony.
Not giving himself time to doubt the action, he closed the box up again and finished the rest of his cupcake, making the small jump to Marinette’s balcony and tapping on the trap door that led to her loft. “Princess?” he called out, leaning over the door.
Just as he started to get too close to the door, it swung upwards (narrowly missing his face) and Marinette appeared in the hole it opened up. “Chat? What are you doing here…and why do you have green frosting on your nose?” she asked, reaching her finger out to swipe the aforementioned smeared frosting from his face.
He couldn’t help but laugh, watching as she looked between him and the frosting now on her finger in confusion. “Your mom gave me a very thoughtful box of me-themed pastries,” he explained, watching her head lower back into her loft. He heard a soft thud as she hopped down from the ladder. When she didn’t come back up, he peeked his head in upside down. “Marinette? Can I come down?”
“No! I mean- yes. Well, ugh, could you give me like one minute?” she said, her words tumbling out quickly.
“Uh, sure?” he answered, his brows raised at her. He glanced around her room, noticing that her desk and workspace was a mess of fabric and materials, and he could have sworn he could see something green buried under them before Marinette was waving in his face and shooing his head out of the trapdoor hole.
“I said give me a minute, Chat Noir!” she said, glaring at him in a way he sincerely doubted was genuine. Still, he removed himself from her view and lounged on her balcony instead, listening to the clatter and chaos of her doing who knows what in her room.
After what felt like the longest minute on Earth, she finally poked her head back out. “Okay, now you can come down,” she said, dropping back into her loft once more to let him enter behind her.
He grinned and followed, swinging into the loft and landing with a soft thunk in a crouch. A quick glance around him showed that the mess of her sewing station had been cleaned up and hidden away. Plus, it almost seemed like the walls were emptier than before and he could swear there were outlines of dust in the shape of photographs that were now missing...
“So, Chat, what’s up? Enjoying your holiday?” she asked, an easy smile flickering onto her lips.
He nodded. “Almost the best. I don’t think I ever expected this much just for me, honestly,” he said, sheepishly rubbing at the back of his neck.
“Why not?” she asked, tilting her head a bit to the side as she asked the question.
“I don’t know, I never thought that many people noticed me compared to Ladybug, I guess? Not that I’m complaining, I don’t ever mind giving her the spotlight she deserves. Ladybug is… amazing, and deserves every bit of praise she gets, I think.”
Marinette frowned, watching him speak for a moment before quietly responding. “And you think you don’t?”
He froze, shaking his head the tiniest bit and avoiding her gaze. “I mean no… well, maybe a little bit? Is that weird?”
“You’re just as much of a hero as Ladybug, Chat Noir. I’m sure she’s told you that herself. She, and all of Paris know by now that she can’t do any of this without you.” Marinette reached out, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. “Frankly, I think that the city celebrating you specifically is long overdue. My parents and I spent days figuring out cat themed recipes, so you’d better appreciate it while you can,” she added on, her voice audibly holding a smile as she lightly punched his shoulder.
“Meow-ch, princess, beating me up on my own holiday? That’s just cold,” he joked back, rubbing at his upper arm in a dramatic show of pain.
She giggled, covering her mouth with her hand as she sat down on her desk chair. “Hey, it’s better than Alya’s show of support I think,” she said, pulling up the Ladyblog on her computer. As soon as she did, he knew exactly what she was referencing and he groaned, watching the first post that loaded up contain that same mortifying photograph that Alya had taunted him with earlier. Marinette clicked into the post and it got worse than he could have imagined.
The entire blog post was a collection of photos of him throughout the city, captured in awkward poses or making ridiculous faces while vaulting over buildings or fighting akumas. Alya’s most recent photo was just the start of his embarrassment, apparently. At the very bottom, she had left the selfie he’d taken with her, and a short paragraph. He couldn’t read the full thing from his position behind Marinette, but he could read enough to make out the words ‘unflattering angles’ and groaned once again.
“I’m never taking a photo with her or saying anything nice to her ever again. She gets no more content from me,” he said, his lower lip pouting out. He folded his arms across his chest and pouted further, looking at Marinette just in time to see the phone raised in her hand and hear the shutter click.
“Marinette!” he gasped, his eyes widening and his jaw dropping. “How could you?”
She laughed wildly, a half snort leaving her lips as she looked between his outraged expression and the photo on her phone. “I think I’m putting this on a shirt,” she said, ignoring his question entirely.
He scowled and rolled his eyes, flopping back against her chaise as she looked at the photo. “Well… after all of those photos, what could one more possibly do? Though, I’m pretty sure you need my permission to put my face on any kind of apparel,” he retorted, the pout still obvious in his voice.
“Relax, Chat, I’m not going to put you through any further public embarrassment.” She flashed him a little grin and showed him that she was closing her phone, setting it aside.
They both sighed in unison, Chat Noir reclining into the chaise and Marinette leaning back into her desk chair before she spoke. “Really, Chaton. You deserve to make the most of today. I’m sure you’ve heard it from a bunch of people today, but thank you for all you do for the city.”
“Thanks, princess. That means a lot, coming from you especially,” he said back, smiling a little. He sat up, glancing around for the box of sweets he’d set aside when he dropped into her room and picking it up. “Want to help me finish some of this?”
She laughed and then nodded, letting him open the box before plucking a cat macaron out of it. “These turned out surprisingly well. Chocolate mint,” she explained, looking at the dark cookie and green filling. She took a small bite out of it while he looked in the box, picking out one of the same for himself.
They sat quietly for a few minutes before he sighed again, his hunger satiated by the sweets for the moment and his nerves assuaged by good company. “You’ve been a treat as always, Marinette. I should get going and leave you to whatever project I interrupted when I got here,” he added with a wink, standing and stretching his legs out.
“Anytime, Chat, like always. Have a good rest of your night!” she said, giving him a smile as he climbed out of the trap door. The sun was setting on Paris, and in the distance he could see the streets flicking alive with light.
“Chat Noir!” Marinette suddenly called after him, peeking her head out of her trap door again. “Make sure to try the fortune cookies and let me know what you think. Those were my idea.”
He nodded and flashed her a cheshire-like grin, flipping his baton in his hand as she ducked back inside and closed the trap door behind her this time. Clutching his box under his arm, he lifted off from the rooftops again, vaulting through the city at a relaxed pace towards the spot he’d decided would be perfect to end his night.
~
The beams of the Eiffel Tower were seldom occupied by anything other than pigeons, which Chat Noir quickly shooed away as far as possible, only sneezing twice in the process. He’d practically started having nightmares about the things.
The sun had almost completely set, the last beams of light peeking out from behind buildings on the horizon and he leaned his back against a support, not even feeling the cold metal through his suit. He had just cracked open a fortune cookie from his box, reading the fortune while he chewed on half of the cookie when he heard a soft thunk from the supports above him, glancing up to see his lady swinging down in front of him.
“You know some people say it’s bad luck to read the fortune before eating the cookie. It means your wish won’t come true,” Ladybug said, a faint smile on her lips as she sat down in front of him straddling the beam.
“Well, my lady, it’s a good thing that my wish has already come true now that you’re here,” he said, flashing her an easy grin.
She laughed, shaking her head at him. “It’s good to see you too, minou. Enjoying the festivities today?”
“It’s the best day I’ve had in a while. I’m still a little surprised by it all.”
“Paris loves its hero, Chaton. There’s nothing surprising about that,” she said, chastising him with a shake of her head again.
He shrugged, folding open the box again and holding it out to her. She picked up a fortune cookie of her own, breaking it open and eating both halves of the cookie before even glancing at her fortune. “You’re going to have a cat-tastic day,” she said with a roll of her eyes, carefully folding the fortune up and slipping it into her yo-yo’s endless storage.
He was reminded of the fortune he hadn’t been able to read when she arrived. Quickly eating the second half of his cookie, he finally glanced at the slip of paper. “Your purr-sonality is attracting all the right people,” he read, glancing across at his partner. “I knew both me and my puns were paws-itively irresistible, my lady.”
She giggled, her cheeks turning faintly pink at the joke and he watched in awe.
“Ladybug even laughing at my jokes? Today really is meow-gical,” he said. He cracked a smile from behind his awestruck impression, unable to tear his eyes away from the girl across from him. She looked so genuinely happy to be there with him, and he would have given anything in the world to have a million more moments like this with her.
“I’m glad you’re having a good day, minou,” she finally said, reaching across them to ruffle his hair, paying special attention to the hair around his ears. “You deserve it.”
He blushed faintly, smiling at her and nodding in thanks. “It’s perfect now that I’ve gotten to see you, Ladybug. Especially that beautiful smile,” he added, unable to help himself from throwing in the flirtatious comment.
She shook her head at him but moved the box of sweets to her other side, inching closer to him. He shifted to mirror her until they were sitting side by side, looking out at their city. She leaned her head against his shoulder, sighing quietly and he could have sworn that time stopped. His heart raced inside his chest as his brain fought to slow it down until he could finally breathe normally again, glancing to the side at the girl leaned against him. Her eyes were focused out on the city ahead, lost in thought as they always were.
“Thank you for being here, Bug,” he said softly, tipping his own head to the side against hers.
She nodded slowly, reaching between them to wrap his hand up in both of her own. If he hadn’t been so focused on staying at her side, he might have fallen off of the Eiffel Tower in shock. “Thank you, Chat Noir. For everything. I wouldn’t be able to do any of this, to be Ladybug, without you.”
“Of course, my lady. Me and you against the world, right?”
“Always.”