Chapter Text
He so didn't want to be there.
As he stared at the distinguishable silhouette of the Iron Lady glimmering in the light of the setting sun, Chat Noir sighed and started swinging his legs underneath the gutter of the rooftop he sat on.
"See you on Thursday," Ladybug had said after the latest akuma attack. "Same place, around four pm." He'd been too tired to remember what day Thursday was.
The 10th of July.
His mother's birthday.
Darn it. All the boy wanted to do was sit in the garden, legs crossed, in front of her statue and sulk. He wanted to get the photo albums from the library in his bedroom and go through the pages to remember all the happy moments he'd had with his maman. Listen to the music they listened to together and cry. Maybe ring Marinette and talk to her. Or perhaps just have her there, on the other side of the phone—he knew she would do it because she was Marinette; she was just amazing like that. And he loved her even because of that. For once, patrol just felt…an unwanted distraction. Yes, he did like the idea of seeing Ladybug; he still loved her as a friend, after all, and he treasured the time he spent with all his friends.
But he wanted Marinette more.
He shot a treacherous lovesick glance towards the Tom & Sabine Patisserie, feeling very guilty when he saw the lone figure of Ladybug zipping her yoyo around the buildings and landing on the rooftop behind him to join him, then, sitting next to him.
"Hey, Chaton." She shot him a smile and looked at him. "Sorry if I'm late."
He stamped a fake smile on his lips. "That's not a problem, m'lady," he said without looking at her. He stood on the rooftop and grabbed his baton from the small of his back, getting ready to start patrol. "Let's get started." But he hadn't even managed to extend his baton and propel himself away when he felt something pulling at his tail and ended up on the rooftop again. He turned around to look at Ladybug with his eyes wide.
"Not so fast," Ladybug deadpanned. She folded her arms over her chest and shot him a worried glance. "What's wrong, minou?"
He flashed his eyebrows. "I'm okay."
"No, you're not. You haven't cracked any jokes or even looked at me. You're too eager to start patrol. What's the matter with you?"
Chat Noir sighed and lowered his head—his Lady knew him too well. "Nothing, I just… want to get patrol done and out of the way."
"Again, another uncharacteristic thing for you. Who are you? Tell the aliens to give me mon chaton back, please."
He sighed and put his hands up. Yes, she did know him very well. It was pointless to pretend. "Sorry, LB. I didn't want to worry you; just… today's not a very good day for me, that's all. It's about my personal life, my family more precisely."
Ladybug raised an eyebrow. "Family problems, Chat?"
His shoulders slumped at her doubtful tone. "You don't know many things about me, Buguinette."
She frowned and glanced away. "Okay…" she said slowly. "Then why don't you tell me what's going on?"
Chat Noir shrugged. "You wouldn't want me to. It could give you clues to my identity."
Ladybug narrowed her eyes. "How can it do that? Is your family so well known that merely giving a vague description of your issue can reveal your identity to me?"
"Possibly." He sighed, his gaze lost, staring at the city lights flickering in the upcoming dusk. He couldn't help it. His eyes filled with tears as soon as his gaze fell on the Iron Lady’s silhouette, which had just been lit and was glimmering under the sunset's orange tones. "Today's my mother's birthday."
"Chaton," Ladybug said, causing him to look back at her. "How can this give me clues about your identity? Do you realise that thousands of women must be born in Paris on the 10th of July?"
His eyes narrowed in his face. "Yes, that's true."
"Happy birthday to your maman, by the way. So are you trying to cut time off patrol to go home and spend time with her?"
Chat Noir shook his head. "No, LB. My mother's not here anymore."
She gasped. "Oh, Gosh, I'm so sorry, Chat Noir, I had no idea—"
"She disappeared a little over a year ago." He took a deep breath and wiped a tear from his cheek. "I miss her every single day, Buguinette. Every single night…"
Ladybug's jaw dropped open, but she kept quiet. "I didn't know."
He shot her a sad smile. "It's not your fault. Identities and all, I never spoke to you about my family and civilian life. You couldn't know."
"No, Chaton, I'm truly sorry. I saw that you were down, and I should've understood that it wasn't a happy celebration. It was insensitive on my behalf." Her voice broke, and Chat Noir forced a broader smile on his lips
"Really, it's okay," he tried to object.
"No, it's not. You know, Chaton, I had always pictured such a happy family life for you. Maybe because you're so jolly with me, I thought you had no worries at home. I pictured you having a lot of siblings and having to compete for your parents' attention."
Chat Noir wiped some tears that had sneaked their way down his cheeks. "You couldn't be further away from the truth." He looked at Ladybug sadly. "My father hasn't taken well to Maman's disappearance. He… uh, I can't be more precise, or I'll give my identity away for real, but he… changed. It's not a pretty sight to behold." He gulped audibly. "I don't want to talk about it. Honestly, all I want to do is go home."
Ladybug cupped her hand over his. "Chaton, a person really important to me has a similar family situation. I… I can't help him because his father won't allow me, but—" She looked determined and frowned decisively. "But I can cheer you up!"
He raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"You need to let your hair down!" She noticed the surprise in his eyes and chuckled. "Well, not literally, of course! But I'll make sure that you're not alone tonight. Chat. You don't need to worry about anything; I promise I'll take care of everything."
"What are you planning to do?"
She took his hand between hers and squeezed it. "When I'm down, my maman organises a spa night just for us. We can do the same. We can have a private pampering session with…" She moved her index finger to her lips and looked up. "…With massages, and…face masks. Yes! We’ll order food and watch sappy Netflix movies on my Bugphone!"
Chat Noir blinked. "With massages? Who's gonna give us a massage? We can't possibly walk into a spa, hand in hand, and ask for one. We're superheroes!"
Ladybug gave him a smirk. "I haven't said that we'd go to a spa. We can give each other a massage!"
"Uh," he admitted reluctantly, his cheeks dusting with pink underneath the black mask. "C-can we?"
"Yeah! My maman taught me some techniques; I know what to do. I think I can give you a wonderful and relaxing massage." She put her hands on her hips and grinned. "All you have to do is lie on the rooftop and relax. That's it."
But as Ladybug said so, she felt something wet damping her cheek. She looked up, trying to understand what was happening, and moved a hand from her hip, holding it palm up. Soon she felt a couple of extra drops wetting the material of her gloves, the sudden flash of lightning scarring the now much darker sky.
"Uh," she muttered, hugging her arms because a sudden gush of wind had twirled around her, nearly slapping her in the face with one of her pigtails. "When did it get cloudy? And cold?"
Chat Noir looked up at the sky. "I've no idea. We must've been talking here for quite a while." He watched as more raindrops dropped from the sky and started to wet the rooftop surface. "Well, out goes the idea of lying on the rooftop for a massage." He sighed, noticing her pout. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up, Buguinette. It's okay. Look at what I'll do; I'll go home and call my girlfriend. She will surely listen to me talking about my mother, and I won't be alone. How about that?"
Ladybug pouted further. "Are you sure?"
"Positive! Ma—uh, my girlfriend is as wonderful as you in this, always ready to listen." He picked up his baton from the small of his back and gave her a two-finger salute. "Until next time, then." But as he used his baton to propel himself away, he felt something grab him by the tail once more, and he was pulled back onto the rooftop.
"Not so fast, again," Ladybug said. "I have a better idea."
"Hm?" Chat Noir blinked.
"Master Fu gave me the keys to his apartment before he left." She smiled slyly. "It's empty, dry, and… it's got massage tables. He used to give massages and other Chinese treatments."
And that's how they found themselves jumping on the rooftops, trying not to get soaked in the rain, and landing in front of the gate to a building Chat Noir had already seen a couple of times. Ladybug grabbed her yoyo and opened it to pick something from inside—a set of keys, which she used to open the gate, and then again to open the door to the apartment.
"Wow. You weren't joking."
"Of course, I wasn't. Master Fu used to train me to become the new Guardian; I've been coming here for a very long time. Make yourself comfortable!"
Chat Noir looked around; the place was a little dusty and stuffy, with a musty smell that tickled his sensitive nose the wrong way. But yes, it was much better (and drier) than outside.
"Shall we open the window?" he asked, and based on how quickly Ladybug took on his suggestion, the musty smell must've been annoying to her too. When a gush of clean air billowed through the open blind, and some light shone in, making it easier to see the place around them even for the girl in a polka-dotted suit who didn't have night-vision powered eyes like him, he took a big breath and sighed. "Now, that's better."
"Totally," Ladybug deadpanned. She spent a moment observing the Eiffel Tower in the distance shining proudly in the night sky, the quiet sound of the rain filling the silence between them. Then, she cleared her throat and looked at him with a little smile that Chat Noir could only describe as…shy? Yes, shy. There was something about it, something about how her gaze diverted when he tried to look into her eyes and…was it a blush dusting her cheeks?
He cleared his own throat. "Okay, then… I'm not an expert in any way, LB, but I think having a massage doesn't involve just standing here looking out of the window." He noticed that her smile had stiffened a little. "But if that's what you want to do, it's completely alright with me!" He put his hands up.
"No, you're right." Ladybug huffed. "Let me get the massage bench out." That said, the girl walked expertly to the corner of the room, opened one of the cabinets, and took out a large bench, which she placed on the ground. "One should be enough because it’s only us."
As she said that, Chat Noir's tummy made a funny noise, and the boy's cheeks dusted in a deeper shade of pink for a different reason than just the thought of having a massage. "Sorry, LB. As preoccupied as I was with my mother's birthday, I didn't have much to eat today."
She shook her head and went to a different room — Chat Noir assumed it was the kitchen because she emerged after a couple of minutes with a glass of water and a packet of crisps. "There's not much food here, but these were still in date, and the water is from the tap." She passed them on to him, and the boy didn't care that the water was room temperature or that the crisps were a flavour he didn't like (paprika. He'd never think that one like Master Fu would like paprika crisps…). He was just too hungry. He wolfed the food and water down in literal seconds and then made to go to the room she took the stuff from to rinse the glass and dump the wrapper, but Ladybug took the things from his hands.
"Don't worry, leave it to me. I'm going to rinse this and be right back. As I said earlier, we can order some food later on. However, you'll have to eat with chopsticks because there's no cutlery here."
"That's not a problem," he said with a smile. After all, he had learned Mandarin and taken lessons about Chinese culture. He may not be as good as a Chinese person at eating with chopsticks, but he was indeed able to use them. Then, he saw that Ladybug was eyeing the massage table. "Do you want to go first?"
She sucked in her breath. "No way! You're the one who needs cheering. Lay down, Chaton." She gestured to pull her sleeves up even though her suit had no sleeves to pull.
Chat Noir smiled softly and did as he was told, laying down on his stomach on the hard bench. His tail moved as if having a life of its own, its end twisting left and right. "Are you sure this is alright? I mean, I have a girlfriend, and you have a boyfriend. Would he be okay with you giving a massage to another boy?"
Her cheeks coloured a little when she ran a feather-like finger on his back, causing him to shudder. "It's okay, I guess.” Her voice sounded a little hoarse, though. "We're friends, after all; there's nothing wrong with it."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive." Again she made the gesture of pulling up her sleeves despite her sleeveless arms. "Trust me on this; we're good."
Chat Noir only had the time to hum briefly in agreement before Ladybug's hands started moving on his back, and after an initial reaction of stiffness, he soon relaxed under her touch.
Hm, she was right—this was heavenly.
§§§
Ladybug hadn't thought things through. Nope, she hadn't. Because it had sounded such a good idea, a spa night giving a massage and receiving one from her best friend. Nothing could be more innocent, right? She had done the same with Alya many times, after all. And Chat Noir was down; she couldn't let him just go back home, as he said he would, and maybe cry himself to sleep.
Also, the thought of him calling his girlfriend for comfort rather than getting it from her somehow pulled a funny chord in her chest. One Ladybug didn't want to think about or admit to. Especially not now that he had made it clear that he held no more romantic feelings towards her, and besides that, she was with Adrien now. She couldn't possibly be jealous of Chat Noir being comforted by his girlfriend, right?
RIGHT?
Wrong. But she pulled up the proverbial carpet and swept the feeling underneath it, trying her hardest not to explore the feeling burning her gut.
But then, she had the great idea of asking Chat to lie on the massage table she had prepared. She saw him doing as he was told and, when her hand moved on top of his back, she felt him tense slightly, to then relax after a moment that her fingers had started moving on his suit.
She was a bundle of nerves, though.
Gosh, she hadn't thought this through.
AT ALL.
Why the effing mackerel was it so difficult to concentrate as she felt his back muscles under her fingers?
Had his back always been so broad? As she expertly moved her hands to work on and relax every tense muscle of the boy's back, Ladybug found herself raving at the body she was working on, her mouth almost watering when she caught a whiff of the boy's cologne.
Adrien, the fragrance — well, Chat had some taste. The girl had to bite her bottom lip to stop herself from giving him a good sniff.
That would've been weird.
Yep. Too weird.
Why was her heart beating so madly in her chest now? Her breathing was getting erratic too, but she put that down to the effort she was making to relax the tense muscles of her partner's back. Because it couldn't be anything else, right?
RIGHT?
Had she asked 'right' twice for the second time in the last five minutes? Damn! Why did Chat Noir have to be so well-equipped?
Why hadn't she noticed the detail before?
Well, no, that wasn't right or true — she had noticed the detail before, but she had always managed to dismiss it without giving it a second thought. After all, Adrien was well equipped, too, right? He was a literal model! And Chat had a girlfriend; it wasn't fair on him or the girl that Ladybug would carry on drooling all over his back.
Because drooling she was.
Oh, dear…
Marinette, give yourself a grip and think of something else, Ladybug thought. Get your mind off Chat's muscular body under you.
His strong arms wrapped around your frame, his…
SCRATCH THE THOUGHT!! Gosh, what's wrong with me? Ladybug internally whined.
And externally whined, too, based on how suddenly Chat Noir gasped. "Are you alright, LB?" he asked, his muscles getting stiffer as his back tensed.
"Yes, relax," she managed to say.
He sighed a soft "Okay," and rested his head again on his arms in front of him, a little moan escaping his throat as she worked her way through a particularly stiff muscle in the centre of his back and felt him relaxing even further under her touch.
"You're good at this. I'm starting to enjoy it."
Glad you think so, Ladybug thought, her mind racing after her heart galloping in her throat and trying not to think that soon the roles would be reversed and, well, her libido would rise even further.
Why had she conjured the idea of giving each other massages?
She felt so bad right now, almost as if she was betraying Adrien's trust, even though she was only giving an innocent massage to her partner and friend. Chat Noir deserved her support. He'd been there for her at her lowest, after all, and she couldn't possibly let her treacherous feelings take over and ruin this for him. It didn't matter that she was turning into a nervous wreck at the feel of his body underneath her.
MARINETTE, GIVE YOURSELF A GRIP!
As she mentally scolded herself, she pushed a little too hard on his trapezius, causing him to move his head to the side.
"Sorry if I repeat myself but… are you alright, m'lady?"
No, I'm not, she thought, but she just 'uh-huh'-ed instead. "I think I'm done," she added eventually.
He groaned. "Uh, right when it was starting to get good." A little sigh escaped his lips. "Hm, that was amazing, Buguinette; I haven't felt so relaxed in a long time."
Good for you, Ladybug thought. Because I'm not.
And the thought that now he would massage her was making her even less relaxed. And somehow hot under her collar.
Chat Noir pulled himself up —was it good that he was reluctant to do so?—He stretched himself left, right, up and down, then turned around and looked at her. "Your turn now, m'lady."
Why did she think this would be a good idea again?
She couldn't prevent her smile from being stiff as she walked to the bench. Why was she feeling nervous? After all, it was only a massage. And probably Chat wasn't even that good at doing it, which meant that she could just tell him to stop and forget about it almost immediately.
He had said he wasn't an expert, so it made sense...right? It had to, because Ladybug was starting to feel dizzy with every step she took towards the massage table. Yes, light-headed. She couldn't possibly...
"What’s wrong, Buguinette?" Chat Noir's voice brought her out of her panic-induced spiral. He must've noticed that she was tense. Shoot.
"Yes. You're fine. I mean, I'm fine. Totally alright..."
Chat Noir's lips curled down into a pout. "Are you worried I can't give you a good massage?" He was looking straight at her, and she diverted her gaze, her heart jolting in her chest. "If you don't want me to, I understand. I did say I'm not an expert, and I'm not. I never gave a massage to anyone in my life." But as he said so, his gaze clouded. "Except once, to my maman."
Ladybug couldn't believe her luck. The usually cocky and overconfident Chat Noir seemed unsure of himself and was giving her a way out.
Until he said the last few words; the world crashed on the girl in the red polka-dotted suit at those words.
"You gave a massage... To your maman?"
He glanced at her and sighed. "Yes. It's quite a fond memory, actually ." As he spoke, he hugged his arms, his gaze lost, staring into the air before him. Ladybug suddenly felt as if he wasn't seeing her anymore. "I was seven, and we were at the seaside in Mallorca. My dad had gone to buy some drinks, and it was only maman and me. I was looking forward to going into the sea with her—she was an excellent swimmer—but she told me that today I would need to go by myself because her back was sore. I was devastated. She told me she would get a massage in the afternoon and be alright again the following day. So I asked her if I could give her a massage. She accepted." His voice cracked a little as he spoke, and she saw him gulping to hide it and sniffle, pursing his lips.
"Did she get to swim with you that day?" Ladybug asked, breaking his thread of thoughts because he got startled and looked at her with surprise.
"No. But she did say that she enjoyed it, and she bought me a massive ice cream."
As Ladybug gazed into his eyes and saw all the longing and nostalgia that this memory had brought to him, she knew that now, she couldn't possibly retreat. She just couldn't. After all, they were there because she had told him she wanted to cheer him up. Because his mother wasn't there anymore. How could she retreat from doing something that gave him fond memories of her? It would defy the purpose of the whole evening. With a determined frown, she walked the few steps that separated her from the bench and lay down on it. She felt his finger trace the contour of her back with a featherlike touch that gave her goosebumps, so she turned her head to see him — he looked pale and a little tense.
"Are you alright?"
He gulped again and balled his hands into fists, starting a regular movement that Ladybug could only describe as ‘kneading-like’ on her back. She was nearly going to remind him that he wasn't a real cat when he moved his right hand to take hold of her shoulder and accidentally scraped the neck of her suit with one of his claws, which got caught in the fabric. He visibly paled and tried to detangle his claw but ended up ripping her suit; Ladybug sucked her breath in, her head jolting up when she felt a burning sensation at the nape of her neck.
"Shoot! I'm so sorry, m'lady; I don't know how this happened. I don't want to hurt you!"
"It's okay, minou," she said, but he cut her off.
"No, it's not. I'm so sorry; I should've known I couldn't do it with clawed hands." He put a massive pout on his lips and slumped his shoulders, his cat ears flat on his head. "Maybe it's better if we leave it," he said, and Ladybug was overjoyed briefly, thinking that she would get away with it; but suddenly, the boy's eyes widened as he popped a smile on his lips. "Unless..." he added.
"Unless?" Ladybug pressed.
"Close your eyes, m'lady," Chat said. Instinctively, Ladybug did as she was told, but when she heard him say, "Claws in!" the blood drained from her face, her heart sinking in her chest.
"What are you doing, Chat?" She felt fingers holding onto her neck and shoulders, and her heart started racing.
"This way, I won't hurt you. Just keep your eyes closed."
He started moving his thumbs at the side of her neck, right where the stinging sensation caused by his claws ripping her suit had been mere seconds before.
Ladybug wanted to die. What had she done to deserve this? Now she couldn't possibly chicken out, and not only: she had to keep her eyes shut. Her heart racing madly in her chest, she moved her head to rest her cheek on the bench and tried to find a comfortable position while Chat Noir started rubbing the part at the back of her neck that the rip in her suit had left exposed.
"Try to relax, LB," Chat said a little hesitantly.
Gawd, relax? HOW ON EARTH COULD SHE POSSIBLY RELAX?
To be continued…