Chapter Text
Marinette was busy working on a design. Her tongue was stuck out in concentration as the steady hum of her sewing machine filled the room. Her fingers steadily moved as she worked. She was making a new pair of pink pajamas to sleep in.
Her parents were currently gone for a long weekend as they celebrated an anniversary. Marinette was grateful for the alone time. It meant she had more hours to work on sewing and also less stress from work in the bakery. It was also easier to transform into Ladybug without fear of her parents barging in or being concerned with her current whereabouts.
A light tap from her balcony door had her glancing in the direction curiously, still pushing her material forward. When a head popped down her trapdoor, Marinette stopped sewing with a giggle.
Chat’s head was upside-down, grinning at her rather goofily. Her heart fluttered at the sight, still feeling slightly confused about her feelings for both Adrien and the boy in front of her.
He flopped down, landing on her bed with a soft thump. Standing up on the bouncy surface, he gave her a light bow. “Hello, purrincess.”
“Hi, Chaton. What are you doing here?” Marinette asked, standing up to move closer to her bed and him.
“Well, a little birdy told me something.” He jumped down again, a few feet away from her.
She snickered, shaking her head with amusement. “Oh yeah. What’s that?”
“They told me that your parents are away. And you know what they say when the parents are away...,” Chat trailed off, those bright green eyes gleaming at her playfully.
“No,” Marinette giggled. “I don’t. So, please, enlighten me. What do they say when the parents are away?”
“They say that the cats will play,” he leaned forward, drumming his fingers on her forehead like she was the fool for not hearing this.
Scrunching her nose, she took a step back away from his playful fingers. She ignored the fact that her heartbeat had increased, trying to shove away some of the confusion.
Chat was her partner. She’d trust him with her life. It... it didn’t mean that she had feelings for him. After all, she didn’t have feelings for him before when he was confessing to her daily as Ladybug. But now... now that she had lost most of the miraculouses and he had started to step up, now she was starting to see him differently.
But it just meant that she was trusting him more. It didn’t mean anything else! And besides, she was still in the process of getting over Adrien. Marinette didn’t have time to focus on her feelings for her partner.
Clearing her throat, she put aside her tumultuous feelings and grinned up at him. “I thought the saying was when the cats are away the mice will play.”
“Ahh, but the cat is right here.” Chat bowed again, shooting her a wink. She pushed away the strange pull her gut gave at the sight. “So the mice won’t be able to play.”
Marinette’s lips twitched with amusement. “Is that how it works?”
“Mhm,” he hummed, stretching back up to his full height.
This time she drummed her fingers on his nose, enjoying that Chat scrunched it just like she had. “I think you’d scream if you saw a mouse.”
He gasped, placing a hand over his chest in mock offense. “Purrincess, are you insinuating that I, Chat Noir, would be afraid of a few teeny tiny little mice?”
Taking a step closer to him, she gave him a smug smirk. “And what if I am?”
He moved forward as well, mere inches separating them. “Then I suppose I’d have to purrove you wrong.”
Unable to stop herself, her gaze dipped down to his lips. Just once. Very briefly. The butterflies came back with a roaring vengeance and she felt her lips part. Taking a step back, Marinette sucked in a breath of air, hoping to steady her racing heart.
“Well, you’re out of luck here, then.” She giggled. “There’s no mice anywhere in this building.”
Chat tsked, “I suppose that’s what I get for picking the best bakery in Paris.”
Throwing her head back with a happy laugh, Marinette heard him chuckle along with her. When her giggles had finally slowed to a stop, she shook her head. “So, what are we doing on our little ‘cats will play’ adventure?”
“Dunno.” He shrugged. His grew even larger, going back to looking just as goofy as before. “I figured we could play some video games or watch a few movies. Or I could just keep you company while you sew?”
Chat gestured over to her sewing machine. Marinette couldn’t help but blink slightly in surprise at the sight. With him here, she had forgotten all about her little project.
That was odd.
Usually, when she was focused on a project that was about all she could think of. Or at least wonder when she’d have the time to get back to it.
There was a small frown on her brow but when she saw Chat glancing at her curiously, she quickly wiped it away. Shooting him a confident, playful smile, Marinette said, “I’ll only play a few rounds if you’re prepared to lose.”
His eyes narrowed, tail swishing behind him as he said, “I think you’ll find that today is the day I’m finally gonna beat you.”
“You’re on.” Marinette’s smirk grew as she pulled up the chair to her computer, booting up the game they both loved to play. She shot him a sidelong glance as he sat down next to her. She couldn’t help but stiffen slightly as she could feel the warmth radiating from him.
But, she wasn’t going to think or worry about that. As she had thought before, she had no time for boys. All it ever led to was trouble. Before her mind could travel back to the guilt she had felt for mistaking Adrien for Félix, Marinette shook her head. Right now, all she was going to concern herself with was beating Chat in this first round of Ultimate Mecha Strike III.
Relaxing, Marinette lost herself in the mashing of buttons and combos. It was time to win!