If you want to rewatch the balcony scene rendering before reading, here's the link - youtube(period)com/watch?v=XssWmqK6wus

Chat Noir didn't really know why he'd felt the need to check on Marinette after whisking her away from the crossfire of an akuma battle. He'd never visited any other civilian he'd saved before, not even his other friends. So why did he feel compelled to come check on Marinette?

Maybe he wasn't even there to just check on her. Maybe he just wanted her to talk to him more. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he knew that's exactly what it was. Marinette had talked to him as Chat. She'd talked to him in complete, none stuttering, moderately sassy, sentences. It was a side of her Adrien had only even seen from afar.

The first time she'd interacted with Chat Noir, Marinette had put on an act that she'd since dropped. He had no idea why Marinette had acted so star struck when first meeting him, especially since she was so bad at acting and completely mocked him when she didn't know he was looking. Chat was glad she had gotten over whatever it had been and acted much more normal around him. It wasn't the same case with him as Adrien though. Marinette was still making every excuse to not talk to him, running away any chance she got.

He craved that sassy, carefree Marinette she'd shown to Chat. It was the Marinette he'd been wanting to be friends when since meeting her. Was it really okay to befriend her as Chat though if she didn't want to talk to Adrien?

Doubts were running through his head as Chat waited on Marinette's balcony railing with one leg up, one swinging freely. Marinette was grabbing a jacket, having felt the chill in the air after she'd opened her skylight to see what he'd wanted. She'd seemed a bit shocked when he said he was checking up on her from earlier, asking if they could talk for a bit.

The skylight opened behind him with a click and he heard her climb out. She paused after a few steps. He was about to turn around when he heard her move again, coming to a stop next to him and leaning her arms on the railing.

They both looked out over Paris for a moment. "What did you want to talk about Chat?" Marinette turned her head just as Chat did, looking at each other for a moment before quickly turning away.

"Honestly, I just wanted to hang out for a while, as friends?" He cringed as his statement turned into a question at the end. "I don't have a lot of friends as Chat, just Ladybug actually, and I tend to be able to get out the most as him ironically." Chat chuckled a little. "It would be nice to have a friend I can hang out with in the suit since I typically only see Ladybug during akuma attacks. Would something like that be okay?" He fidgeted with his hands as he waited nervously for her answer.

"Yeah Chat, that would be okay." He saw her beam at him from the corner of his eye and he turned his head to return it with one of his own.

Marinette was one of his first friends both out and in the suit. Chat felt like he was going to burst from happiness. "I'm so glad you said that. I was honestly so nervous to ask."

"Wait, why were you nervous to ask me to be your friend?" Marinette's eyebrows drew together in confusion as she looked at him.

Chat brought a hand up to rub at the back of his neck. "Well, I'm not too great with social situations sometimes and I didn't know if it would be weird if I asked a civilian if they wanted to hang out."

That confused look was still painted across Marinette's face. "Well, why me?"

It was Chat's turn to be confused. "Why not you? Every time we've interacted you've seemed like a really fun person to be around, sans that little acting stunt you pulled that first time we met."

Marinette blushed. "Oh, you could tell?"

"Not only are you a terrible actor Princess, but I didn't miss the fake talking you did with your hand." Chat laughed as Marinette ducked her head in embarrassment. "Hey, don't worry about it, I thought it was funny."

"Dieu, I'm so embarrassed." Marinette face palmed, her palm meeting her forehead with a smack. "Alright, changing the subject. Your new friend privileges involve sweets, so what are you feeling tonight Kitty?" She tuned to him, eyebrow quirked and a small smile on her face.

Chat Noir perked up at the nickname, and the mention of sugar. "Well, Princess, I would love some of the world famous Dupain-Cheng chocolate chip cookies." Marinette pushed off the railing, spinning back towards the skylight.

"One plate of cookies coming right up. I'll be right back." She descended back into her room, Chat watching after her. He sighed in contentment. They were going to be friends, real, true, friends. They could play video games or watch movies or talk about life, vaguely on his part, or do all of the above. He hopped off the railing, doing a little happy dance on the balcony.

A few minutes later, giggling made him halt his dancing abruptly. He turned to see Marinette with a plate of cookies in one hand and a small carton of milk with some glasses in the other. Chat felt his face burn as he hid his face in his hands. "Well, I guess now we're even on the embarrassment tonight."

"I guess we are Kitty. Here, have a cookie." Chat peeled one of his hands from his face, reaching out a taking a cookie off the plate Marinette lifted towards him. "Let the sweet taste of chocolate ease the pain of embarrassment. It works, trust me."

A laugh burst from Chat. "What other instances have you had to be embarrassed about Marinette? You seem pretty put together. Sure, you're a little clumsy, something you don't really need to be embarrassed about, but other than that?" Marinette was the one to burst out laughing this time.

"Oh please, I'm a mess." For the next hour or so, they shared embarrassing stories, laughing at their own emotional pain. It'd been a long time since Chat had laughed as hard as he did that night.

When he finally bid Marinette goodnight, Chat felt warm and fuzzy. Hanging out with Marinette was everything Chat had expected it to be and more. He could tell that night was the start of a beautiful friendship.

Author's Note - It's been awhile since that balcony scene video was dropped but I still wanted to finish this little post and pre reveal fic set I had planned. It took awhile for this one because it had never felt quite right when I finished it. I had a burst of inspiration last night and I'm finally happy with it!