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Chat Noir regretted every decision he had ever made.
Sounds a bit dramatic, but it’s true. Every single thing he had ever done led him to this moment: patrolling while it’s cold outside.
Usually this wouldn’t be a problem. He lived in Paris, the weather fluctuates, but tonight was hell.
It was spring and the recent weather was getting much warmer. Granted it still rained, but it was a step up from the much colder snowflakes that fell in the winter months. Either way, Chat Noir had believed that the type of cold that seeped into your muscles and chilled your bones was done for the year.
A stupid assumption.
The temperature outside had dropped significantly. It was at 7 degrees when he checked right before going out to patrol, but he was sure it had to have gotten colder in the hour or so that he was outside. Of course this wasn’t actually that cold. The winter months had days where he had to patrol in -20 degrees, but he was no longer used to the constant frigid air. He had gotten used to warmer weather, considering it hadn’t dropped below 15 degrees in the past six days.
So he found himself jumping across the Paris skyline, silently cursing the day he got his miraculous and silently grumbling about Ladybug having changed the solo patrol schedule. The internal complaining he allowed himself to entertain was broken up by wishful thoughts of the warm bed and cosy blankets he had waiting for him back in his room.
This definitely felt like the longest patrol Chat Noir had ever done.
He was so occupied with the weather, he barely noticed when Marinette emerged onto her balcony and started calling for him. At the sound of his name, Chat looked over at her and frowned. It was freezing and yet she stood there in a t-shirt and some patterned shorts. There was no way that was enough to keep her warm.
Chat Noir used his baton to jump to her balcony, landing with a soft thud. She looked at him with a smile, moving towards him ever-so-slightly, as if she was subconsciously drawn to the heat of his body.
“Purrincess, it’s too cold to be out here. You should go inside.” He told her, going straight to the point. The quicker he could get her back into her room below, the less of a chance she would end up sick.
“Hello Chat Noir,” she said, completely ignoring what he said, “How are you this fine evening?”
Chat sighed. It was clear she wasn’t going to make this easy. “Not too bad. Or at least that was until I noticed that my favourite civilian was loitering outside, heavily underdressed for the current weather. Now I’m just concerned.”
“Ah, so we’re in a similar boat.” Marinette nodded, making small rubbing motions on the sides of her arms. “You see I was inside, cuddled under a blanket or two, feeling amazing, until I saw that my favourite hero was wandering aimlessly across the rooftops outside my window. Then I started worrying about him and ended up here."
“I’m your favourite hero?” Chat asked in a small voice, choosing to focus on that part of her confession.
Marinette let out a giggle and moved closer to him once more. “Obviously,” she gave his arm a small nudge with her shoulder, “I don’t let just any stray cats hang out on my balcony.”
Chat smiled, stepping away from her for a moment. Immediately, he missed the bit of warmth she provided, but he was committed to his image. Bending into a bow and grabbing her hand, he placed a kiss on the back of it before speaking. “Well I’m honoured to hold such a role, Purrincess.”
The smile Marinette gave him didn’t quite reach her eyes and Chat finally noticed the worry etched between her eyebrows. He dropped her hand and she moved back into his personal space. Not that he minded.
“What are you doing out here?” She asked before he could try and brush off her concern.
“Patrol.”
“Are you sure?” Marinette raised one eyebrow. “It must be hard to focus in this cold.”
"Which is exactly why I need to be doing it." Chat concluded, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "If the police lose their focus then they might end up letting people get away with committing crimes. Someone has to make sure that doesn't happen."
"You're right," Mari hummed, closing her eyes in content, "But that person definitely shouldn't be you."
Well that’s just hurtful.
His arm loosened around her. He was trying his best, patrolling out in the cold and she didn’t even have faith in him to do his own job? Here he was, sacrificing his comfort to make sure that wrongdoers wouldn’t get away with their crimes, and she doesn’t even appreciate it. Not that he necessarily wanted or needed people to appreciate every little thing he was doing, but it would be nice to not have his efforts brushed off like it was nothing.
A warmth on his cheek brought him out of his thoughts as he realized Mari was staring up at him, trying to cup his face with her hands. Tilting his head towards the warmth, he moved his arms so they were circling her back, pulling her body flush against his.
“You see,” she said, resting her chin on his sternum and staring at him with her bluebell eyes, “You're losing focus.”
Chat pouted, eliciting a laugh from the girl in his arms. “I’m focused.”
“Really?” She challenged, “What was I saying then?”
A blush quickly spread across his cheeks as he turned his head away from her, mumbling “I don’t know”.
Mari sighed in fake annoyance, a kind smile gracing her lips. "It's cold out here, Chaton," she whispered, "You should come inside and warm up."
"I can't." He insisted, still not meeting her eyes, "I have a job to do."
"No.” Mari turned his head back to look at her. “Your job is to defeat akumas, and since there are no evil supervillains causing chaos at the moment, it means you don't have to be out here."
Chat let out a frustrated sigh and Mari dropped her hands to his chest. He missed that warmth immediately. "My job is to protect the citizens of Paris.” He deadpanned, “That means I need to stop the akumas and the robberies and assaults that could be happening."
"It's so cold out, people are going to stay somewhere warm." Mari argued, pulling away while staying within the circle of his arms. "How many people have you seen walking around?"
Chat had to think about her question a little bit. He started patrol just as most restaurants were closing, so all the employees were making their way home, but besides that, the only person he'd really seen was Marinette herself.
A proud glint shined in her eyes as she took his silence as a confirmation that barely anyone was roaming the streets of Paris.
"Fine," he admitted, placing his hands on her shoulders, "I've only really seen you out, so you need to go inside. It's too cold out here."
"Exactly my point," she replied with a sweet smile that didn’t match the firmness of her voice, "Come inside."
Stubborn as ever, Chat thought. Of course she would continue insisting. “Princess,” he sighed, rubbing her hands between his, "I can't. I still have to finish patrolling."
"Just skip the end of it. Just this one time. Please." She all but pleaded.
"Mari," he closed his eyes and rested his forehead on the top of her head, "I really can't. Ladybug would be furious with me if I skipped out on my responsibilities."
"It's too cold, she would understand."
"I don't want to risk it."
"Screw what Ladybug thinks!" Mari exclaimed, breaking out of his arms and surprising him with her anger.
"Princess—" he started, raising his hand in her direction, but was immediately cut off.
"No.” She stomped and somewhere in the back of his mind, Chat registered her as cute. “She has no right to get mad at you in this situation. It's freezing. You could get sick."
He sighed, looking at the sky as his shoulders drooped. "I know. That's why I'm trying to get this over with quickly. Then I promise I'll head straight home."
Glancing at her, he noticed that she didn’t look convinced. Chat reached out to place a comforting hand on her shoulder, wincing at how her bare skin felt more chilled than a few moments before. "Mari, you seriously need to go inside."
"I agree," she said, failing to conceal the slight chattering of her teeth. Still, she grabbed his hand and turned to the trap door, "Let's go inside."
She paused when he didn’t react to her tugging. He was more focused on how she was shivering and how her legs were shaking. "Princess, I already told you. I can't."
Looking back at him with a small pout on her lips, she let go of his hand and plopped herself down on the lounge chair. A tremor ran through her body as her bare legs made contact with the frigid fabric.
"What are you doing?" Chat asked with an exasperated sigh.
"I'm not going back inside until I know that you are inside somewhere warm." She insisted, crossing her arms and glaring at him.
"No," he tried sounding as stern as possible, but Marinette was way too stubborn to give in that easily. When she gave no reaction, he continued. "Fine, I'll play along. If I go and finish my patrol, how will you know when I'll be done?"
"How long do your patrols usually last?" She countered, her glare being replaced by a smug look.
"I don’t know, 2 or 3 hours?"
"Okay,” she replied, moving to curl up in a ball on the chair, “I'll wait here for 3 hours, and then go inside."
"Absolutely not.” He snapped, trying to pull her away from the chair. “It's way too cold to stay out here for that long."
"So you agree,” she let herself be manoeuvred to a standing position. Once she was steady on her feet, she grabbed onto his arm. “Let's go inside."
Chat knew he was going nowhere arguing with her like this. If anything, all it was doing was making her stay out on the balcony for even longer than she ever should have been. It was clear nothing would make her budge except for him going inside with her, so he might as well bite the bullet now before either of them actually got sick.
"Fine." He said, and was graced with a relieved look crossing Mari’s face. She wasted no time rushing to the trap door, yanking it open. He felt a blast of hot air emerge before she practically pushed him through the opening.
As Chat sat in front of the heater in her room, wrapped up in blankets with his Princess cuddling for warmth at his side, he realized he was wrong.
He definitely did not regret meeting Marinette.