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It was a monster. How could she live with this? How could she let this happen? This couldn’t be real. It just couldn’t. She couldn’t live with it.
“Félix?” Marinette voiced as he passed by her. He merely hummed, slowing down his walk towards his room until halting. “What is this?”
She felt him turn his gaze to what she was looking at. “A chair.”
“That is not a chair,” she said, staring daggers at the abomination before her.
“Sure it is,” she scoffed. Marinette heard the sound of a wrapper, and she finally turned her eyes to notice he was opening a candy bar. “Were you taking food to your room?”
“You can’t put rules in my room,” Félix quickly defended himself, shielding the chocolate bar. Marinette rolled her eyes at the action. “And what exactly is wrong with this chair?”
“It’s not a chair!” she insisted, gesturing towards the offending object. “That is a monstrosity. Where did you even get that? And when did you get it inside the apartment?!”
“It was a gift from a client.” He took a bite off his chocolate bar. “’Ery foughtful of ‘hem, don’ you think?”
“Are you sure they don’t hate you?”
“How dare you speak ill of my favorite client, Mrs. Finkle,” Félix said with a huff after swallowing. “You know she loves me. Enough to gift me a whole chair.”
“Mrs. Finkle has horrible taste,” Marinette grimaced, her eyes roaming once again over the piece of furniture. “What is it even supposed to be?”
“An anemone.” He stepped towards the supposed aquatic creature-shaped chair, sliding his hand across the yellow, orange, and red fabric. “Doesn’t it look like the coziest thing? You can read a book here. Or work on your designs.”
“That thing is hard as a rock,” she shot back. “Take it to your office. I don’t want it here.”
“Sorry, dear roommate, you can’t have a say in all living room decisions.” Félix rested his forearms on the back of the chair, taking a mouthful of his snack. “Common ‘iving ‘pace mean’ common ground and rule’.” He swallowed. “That’s what we agreed on. You can’t change the rules now.”
“And I thought you had better taste when I made that rule,” she retorted, crossing her arms. “Then again, I guess I shouldn’t have expected any less from a cat.”
“Marinette,” he spoke in a mock-concerned tone, “once again, I need you to confirm to me that you’re aware that I am not, for a fact, a real cat. Please tell me you’re aware of this.”
The woman in question simply rolled her eyes again, stepping away towards the kitchen. She was sure there was a screwdriver in one of the drawers.
“And what exactly are you doing now, dear roommate?” The voice of Félix followed her up to where the trash bin was. Throwing away the candy wrapper, she assumed.
“I am unscrewing the base and getting that thing out of here,” she said without looking at him, her hands rummaging through one of the drawers.
“You are not doing that.”
With a small triumphant cheer, Marinette slammed the drawer shut and turned, holding the tool she had been looking for. But she saw her path blocked by the very man who had been following her around the apartment.
“Félix, it’s horrendous,” she argued.
“Exactly, you hate it.” He leaned towards her with a deviant smirk. “That’s why I love it.”
“Ah, because you love pushing my buttons, don’t you?”
“Indeed, I do,” he said, as he started rolling up his sleeves. Ah, so this was happening again. Marinette tightened her grip on the tool in her hand, readying herself to run. “That chair is going nowhere and that’s that. You will have to stare at it everyday until the day you die.”
“Unless I were marrying you, that’s never gonna happen.”
“Then if you’re not marrying me, I guess you don’t have a say on what happens to this chair.”
Marinette’s face scrunched in annoyance, right before she bolted to try to get pass him. However, Félix was fast enough to grab her by the waist, yet not balanced enough to keep them on their feet. As they both landed on the floor, Marinette struggled to drag herself to the monstrosity in their living room. Meanwhile, Félix tightened his grip, being dragged along with her.
“I want it gone!” Marinette yelled.
“No! It’s staying!” Félix retorted.
“I swear I will make you burn it to the ground!”
“You will never take it away from me!”
“I swear to God I will—!”
***
Ladybug and Chat Noir were standing on the rooftop of their apartment building, staring at the remains of the loathsome chair that sparked their latest row, as the flames consumed every last bit of it.
“I can’t believe you made me burn it,” Chat Noir commented, hands on his hips as he stared at the crime scene.
“I said I would,” Ladybug shrugged.
“Yes, but I didn’t think we’d actually do it.”
It had been Félix’s fatal mistake: he had trouble holding back Marinette and transformed to get an edge on the wrestling match. It only gave her an excuse to also transform. And when it came to Ladybug and Chat Noir in battle, Ladybug always won. A flick of her yo-yo and two Lucky Charms later, she had what she needed to get rid of the thing.
“You underestimated my hatred for the thing, dear kitty.”
“Clearly,” he muttered. “Have to admit, though, it makes a nice roast.”
“Honestly, how do you always manage to put everything in a positive light?” she said, her shoulders slumping. “It’s like I can’t win with you.”
“Bug, you always win over me,”
“No, I don’t. Not when I think I won, and then you act as cool as a cucumber. Doesn’t feel like I won.”
A laugh escaped Chat Noir’s lips. “Then my plans have worked perfectly.”
Ladybug huffed, but decided to not respond to that. They stared at the burning chair for a few moments, before Chat Noir spoke again.
“It wasn’t a gift from Mrs. Finkle,” he admitted. Ladybug turned her head slightly, brows furrowed. “I saw it at a discount store on my way from work yesterday. It was the ugliest thing I had ever seen, and I thought it would be hilarious to bring it back home.”
“So, this was a prank?” Ladybug arched an eyebrow.
“I like the attention you pay to me when I do something ridiculous,” he said with a shrug.
“Félix, if you want to spend time with me, all you have to do is ask.”
Chat Noir let out a sigh. “We spend time together every day, Marinette.”
“Then I don’t understand.”
“Sure you do,” he said, giving her a soft smile. “I know you’ve known for a while the kind of attention I want. Weirdly enough, this is the closest I can get.”
Ladybug gulped, as she watched him grab the fire extinguisher and put out the mess they created. She knew exactly what he meant. She had known for a while, in fact. And she had been scared to act upon it. What if things didn’t turn out well? She knew she felt the same way, but sometimes, no matter the feelings she could have, things simply didn’t work out. Was that a risk she was willing to take with her partner?
The flames died down, leaving nothing but the carcass of the now dead chair. Her gaze was so focused on the remains, she almost didn’t notice a snowflake land on it.
“Would you look at that,” Chat Noir said beside her. She raised her gaze to find him looking away towards the shining Eiffel Tower several blocks away. Dusting had started falling over the city, giving the lights an ethereal look against the evening sky.
They both stepped closer to the edge, watching the beauty of the place they worked hard to protect. Ladybug couldn’t help but turn to her partner, his features soft, compared to his usual stoic civilian looks. A reminder of the versatility that was Félix as a person. Would it really be so bad if she gave in to what she knew she felt, too?
Maybe it was the moment, maybe it was the snow and beauty of the season, or maybe it was just her, but she felt compelled to slide her hand in his. Chat Noir turned his gaze back to her the moment her fingers brushed his, brows furrowed.
“You’re right, I do understand,” she quietly said. “But I’ve never dated someone I roomed with before.”
With his lips curling into a soft smile, Chat Noir squeezed her hand.
“There’s always a first time for everything, right?”
Ladybug smiled. “I guess there is.”
With simultaneous sighs, they turned back to look at the city, as Ladybug rested her head against his arm. Maybe it didn’t have to be so bad. Maybe, just maybe, they could make it work.
