Chat Noir exhaled a sigh of relief. "One down, one to go." He murmured to himself, going the opposite direction. Penny, rockstar Jagged Stone's pink haired assistant, was making her way out of the living room and down the main stairs of the building, joining her entourage shortly (or should they say Jagged Stone's entourage). Chat looked up the stairs leading to his friend, Marinette's room, a dreaded march sounding through his head as he took each step by step upwards. Leather ears twitched with agitation on his head and his skin felt itchy under the skin tight leather suit he wore on his body. Chat raked his sharp clawed, leather gloves through his bright blonde hair. His leather tail curled around his ankles as a heavy weight grew in his chest. As he neared the top of his path, he heard… crying? Chat peaked over the edge of the stair, green eyed pupils dilating and dreading the conversation he was about to have with Marinette in front of his partner, Ladybug. His ears flattened against his head, looking to his left towards Marinette's very pink desk. And then, suddenly, his brows went straight up with his ears and he booked it the rest of the way up into his friend's room.

Still clad in her black polka dotted red suit, Ladybug sat at the desk with head buried into the crook of her arm as she rested against the table top. Her deep blue-black hair reflected in the overhead light with each shuddering breath she took. Chat dared to reach out a hand to rest on her shoulder.

"Ladybug?"

In a flash, hands suddenly grabbing him by the throat, finding him pinned to the floor with his partner straddling him. As attractive as he found the position being, he couldn't fathom why she shook with rage. He held absolutely still, giving her time to calm down. Brilliant blue eyes widened through her red spotted mask and she released her grip, bouncing off of him and apologizing profusely.

"I'm so sorry. Oh god." Ladybug curled into herself, arms wrapping around her knees, knocking into the desk behind her. "I'm an idiot. I can't believe I thought this was a good idea."

Chat sat up, rubbing his throat awkwardly, trying to make sense of the words coming out of her mouth. He began to feel the echoes of a hint into her civilian life, which he quickly doused that thought out. "Oh god, now everyone knows. He knows."

"My lady, no one saw, not even me. Your miraculous is safe." Chat quickly assured her, daring to rest an arm around her shoulders. Didn't they just go over this downstairs in the kitchen? She quickly shook her head, as the timer on her earrings rang- his ring's beep quickly following with more urgency. He estimated about 3 minutes before the illusion fell- her's just a minute behind.

"Please leave." She begged him, digging fingers into her hair. He shook his head.

"It's fine. You're overthinking this." He had meant to draw her into his arms in comfort but she shot up out of his range and went to a corner of the room. He stood with her, meaning to follow. "Ladybug, please. Let's get out of here before the timer runs out."

"No!"

"M'Lady…"

"Get out of my room!"

A cold shiver ran down Chat's back as she faced him in rage, looking as if she was ready to beat the world down with both of her curled fists. Seconds ticked by as the words registered in her mind and she covered her mouth in shock. He stood there, staring and equally shell shocked in return. Oh! OH!

"Mari—?"

"Please go." She whimpered. She brushed past him, sitting at the desk- her desk- again. There was a gentle murmur, a flash of pink light and suddenly Marinette Dupain-Cheng took her place, pigtails and all with her face tucked into her hands. Chat felt the tug in his heart- stronger than ever- again. It was all coming together again. The lame excuses, exhaustion on her face on some days, the tardies at school, her appearance in general… just when he let it go- the answer was right there in front of him all along. He was not disappointed at all. Shocked, yes. But, far from disappointed. In fact, it made sense now.

He watched in silent amazement as a red sprite buried herself into the crook of Marinette's neck, comforting her chosen in a soft tinkling voice. Respecting their moment together, he looked around the room with eyes zeroing in on the several posters of his civilian face. Seeing a few stray papers still on the floor, he resolved to gather them up into a neat stack and smoothed out the crumpled pictures as best as he could. A very high pitched clearing of throat echoed through the room and he turned to see the red sprite sitting on a decorative pillow on the chaise next to him. He took a second to register that she had bright blue eyes too, before she was in his face.

"Marinette asked you to leave." Paper thin antennae bounced around the black spot on her head. Chat glanced at the girl in question, who watched him in return with worry. He sighed in defeat, setting the stack of papers on the chaise gently. His eyes met the Kwami's and saw many emotions in them— worry, anger and… fear. Chat blinked, shocked that she felt that way. He cupped his hands together, allowing her to rest in them. She had to be tired as hell, after all that fighting. He bit his top lip, eyes bouncing between the pictures on the wall, Marinette and finally the tiny sprite. On one hand, he felt like a total asshole for not seeing the obvious affection his friend had for him and/or ignoring it. On another, it was just deserts that she didn't know that his civilian self was right in front of her and she had continually cock blocked him all this time. Adrien Agreste couldn't afford to be that asshole, but Chat Noir could. Sometimes. He let out an aggravated sigh and letting the thought go. Once more looking over the room and the beings in it, he stepped closer to Marinette with his hands still out.

"I'll be back later." He softly promised to the Kwami sprite, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Please take good care of her until then." He handed the shocked and pink cheeked sprite to her mistress in question. Marinette's eyes met his, reminding him that she had Mandarin roots. "Don't get akumatized, m'lady. I would be absolutely heartbroken if anything were to happen to the girl of my dreams." He quickly placed a chaste kiss on her cupped fingertips and bolted out of the skylight door above her bed— leaving behind a squawking civilian and her Kwami.