She closed her eyes against the crisp night air. Finally summer had faded and fall was taking its place. Winter would soon follow as it always did, and while she was no fan of patrolling in the cold-no matter how warm those suits were, her nose was frostbitten every. single. time-the winter was magic, and for more reasons than just because it meant her spring allergies were long gone. Cold weather meant warm sweaters and hot chocolate and snow crunching underfoot and fleece leggings and huge scarves and the smell of Christmas trees…
It was magical, with the wisp of new beginnings and possibility in the air. She loved watching snow dance through the inky sky and the wind whip through fallen leaves creating sepia spirals in the air. The silence of a winter night, everyone huddled indoors for warmth was her absolute favorite. She craved her winter walks around the city, the eerie quiet tempered by the warmth of lights from windows spilling out onto the streets.
She loved winter to the point of obsession. She planned outings of ice skating and hot chocolate dates for every weekend and prepared Christmas gifts months in advance. Knitting scarves and mittens in the dead of summer heat in the city gave her hope of season to come. She smiled thinking of the fingerless gloves she had made for Nino, the pink cat hat Alya had been dying for, the lime beanie with holes for actual cat ears for Chat, and the deep green scarf for Adrien…
She pursed her lips at the thought of her two blonde boys. Adrien had been distressed for obvious reasons, but even her ever-smiling Chat was dour. This year, it would be different. She resolved right then and there that everyone she loved would see the magic of winter that she cherished.
Smiling again, she took another deep breath of the air, feeling the chill seep into her lungs and diffuse throughout her body. She was taking the time to exhale slowly when she heard him. Perhaps imperceptible to others, she was acutely aware of her partner in every way. The slight rustle his suit made... The swish of his tail through the air... The quiet padding of his feet... The soft thud of his landing...
She leaned down on the railing, eyes still closed, pretending she hadn't noticed all of those things the second he swooped down and landed next to her. She heard him start to inch his way over and knew he was scheming to surprise her. He really did have the stealth of a cat burglar, akuma feather-induced allergy attacks aside. Were she an ordinary Parisian, his sly ways would work; however, while still unbeknownst to him, unaware civilian she was definitely not. He came to see Marinette often enough, and she'd played oblivious for the sake of appearances, but this opportunity was just too good. She felt the air move ever so lightly on her right cheek, and she fought to keep a straight face. It was uncanny how, even with her eyes closed, she could vividly picture the subtle quirk of his lips, the devious look in his eye, the languid stretch of his posture as he leaned towards her…
Right when she was sure he was just an inch away from her face, she turned her head, opening her eyes and grinned widely at him.
"Hey!" She quipped in a extremely peppy version of her voice, and it had the intended effect. She watched as Chat's eyes widened and his jaw slackened in surprise. He leaned away from her suddenly, his balance teetering just off the edge of the narrow railing he was perched on. His arms wind-milled comically in an attempt to right himself, but he was too far gone and instead tumbled off the railing and into the alleyway below. She waited to hear the soft thud of his landing, knowing he'd catch himself somehow.
She chuckled and went to lay on her blanket, stretching out and closing her eyes, picking up where she left off before Chat had disturbed her tranquility. She wasn't concerned. She'd watched him take far worse falls without a scratch. Besides, cats always landed on their feet, and usually that applied to her Chat, too.
She could hear his landing followed by a rustling in the alleyway as Chat brushed himself agitated meow of one of the alley's more permanent occupants, this one not human, echoed up to her along with Chat's squeak of surprise and she had to stifle her laugh. Alright, she admitted to herself only, He's a welcome disturbance.
She heard the whoosh signaling the extension of his baton and opened her eyes just in time to see the outline of his body in the night loom over her balcony and hop down. His teeth gleamed through the darkness as he gave her a wry smile, but she just responded with an innocent look on her face and he rolled his eyes.
"There's no sneaking up on you, is there? Part-time ninja, part-time Princess?" He quirked and eyebrow at her. She pursed her lips to suppress her smile. More like superhero, but ninja is close enough. Opening her mouth to retort, she stopped suddenly, the balcony being filled by the sound of loud mewing coming from Chat's vicinity. At first, she wondered if her pondering was being confirmed and Chat did actually purr, but then she saw the flash of an intelligent eye peek out over his forearm. Nestled against his side in the crook of his arm was a black cat with one white paw and shockingly green eyes.
"Found your doppelganger?" She quickly blurted, trying to cut off the train of thought that was spurred by imagining a purring Chat. He started to walk over and she moved to sit up and cross her legs as he did the same.
"Ha. ha. Binx and I look nothing alike. See?" He held up his left hand encased in the black glove of his miraculous suit and the cat's white left paw. His look was triumphant as if this color difference evidenced their dissimilarity more than the human/feline factor.
"Of course. Silly me." She leaned down to prop her head up on her fist, a smile still threatening at the corner of her mouth. "And Binx? He already has a name?"
"Of course," he looked offended by her mocking, but then continued more seriously. "Every cat has a name. You just have to be brave enough to ask it."
His gaze seemed to bore into her and she felt her heart stop. Did he just..? No, she decided. There was no way that he knew she was Ladybug. It was just an offhanded comment. He didn't mean anything by it, and she was reading too much into it. But...did he want her to ask as Marinette? Did she want to know as Marinette?
Yes, the thought rang through her head and the image of an out of mask Chat wearing the beanie she made him flashed through her head, his unkempt blonde locks poking through the now useless ear holes, but him refusing to let her fix it. No, her more logical brain responded, imagining him finding out she was Ladybug and everything changing, no longer having the protection of a mask to hide who she really was. The excitement of possibilities and fear of rejection warred in the pit of her stomach. She swallowed, trying to ignore the pleading look in his eyes, and grasped at how to move on.
Luckily, Binx was plenty distraction. The small black cat had disentangled himself from her black cat and was lazily making his way towards Marinette, pausing just out of reach.
"Well, hello there," Marinette reached down to let the kitten sniff her hand and then delighted when he butted up against her palm indicating she had been chosen. She looked up triumphantly at Chat only to note his expression, registering a mixture of pride and possessiveness. She laughed.
"Oh," she picked up the kitten, cuddling it closely to her face. "Is Kitty jealous? Chat-" she broke off and sneezed suddenly, setting the now annoyed kitten down in surprise. Binx looked at her quizzically before sauntering off to sniff the plants on the other side of her balcony.
"Bless you," Chat supplied helpfully as she itched her nose in confusion.
"Thanks-" but she sneezed again. And again.
"Oh my god." Realization dawned on her as she continued to sneeze and felt her eyes start to itch. "I'm allergic to cats."
Not all cats, she thought instantly, remembering distinctly a certain Dark Cupid akuma that proved she definitely wasn't allergic to one cat. Marinette's face went white and she turned to look at Chat in horror, as if he could somehow hear the black hole of sin her mind was spiraling into. Chat's face was blessedly oblivious and somewhere on the border between confusion and amusement. Meanwhile, her face had moved on from its ghastly pallor opting instead to blush scarlet in response to the direction of her thoughts. Trying to ignore the sudden bombardment of all the half-lidded fantasies about a certain Chat that she'd carefully buried and purge them out of her mind, she stumbled to a standing position and made her way into her room to fitfully dig for medication. Rummaging through her drawers, her search was not at all hastened by a sneeze every half-second and the waterfall of tears flowing from her eyes.
"C'mon, I know there's some benadryl or something in here somewhere…"
"Need some anti-hiss-tamines, Purr-incess?" Chat appeared behind her, having taken advantage of her distraction and impeded senses to stealthily follow her into the room. She jumped at his sudden proximity and her heart started to hammer,and not because she was startled. Antihistamines? She thought sarcastically. Yeah, that and a church. She ignored his puns and tried to also ignore other sudden realizations. Like that they were alone...in her room... at night...and had that suit always been so...tight?
She turned away and looked for distraction. Grabbing something out of the drawer, she spun on him. Eyes puffy and nose red, she did her best to look intimidating.
"So help me, kitty. I will use this." She held the feather from her embellishments kit out towards him threateningly. Smiling, he backed away, hands raised in surrender. He sneezed regardless and she allowed herself a self-satisfied smirk. Then his expression turned pensive.
"How did you know I was allergic to feathers?"
Shit.
She sneezed again.
AN: Thanks for reading and showing some Marichat love (the PG kind. C'mon guys...you know who you are)!
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