A/N: Hello, gentle readers! Prepare for an onslaught of Marichat fluff. I've decided to post a bunch of un-beta'd works from my files, so here you go! Disclaimer: I don't own ML or any associated characters. Secondary disclaimer: I'm such trash for this ship and I'm sorry that basically everything I post is about it. I sincerely apologize, but they're just such fun to write! Also, I'm weak for Marinette passionately defending Chat from the naysayers when he isn't around to defend himself. Onwards and upwards!
"Chat Noir!" Alya called as he prepared to leap away, akuma beaten in the nick of time before his Lady detransformed. "Got time for a couple questions? My followers have been hounding me to do an interview with you on the topic of love."
Since he hadn't needed Cataclysm, he was in no danger of revealing his secret identity, and he had a little time before he was expected at a shoot, so he didn't see any harm in accepting his friend's request.
"Sure! I've always got time for my fans. Fire away, Ladyblogger."
"What's your perfect date?" she began.
An innocent enough question. He could take this.
"I'm a man of simple tastes. I'd love just a nice evening in, cuddling on the couch playing video games or watching a movie and eating snacks."
"Sounds relaxing," she commented. "What's the most attractive quality someone can have?"
"Hmm. If we're talking physical, I'm a sucker for beautiful eyes. If you mean more like personality, I think there's nothing more attractive than genuine kindness. Being gentle is an underrated character trait, in my opinion."
"That's actually really sweet," Alya sighed. "Okay, last one, gonna dig a little deeper, here: Is there anyone you're in love with? If so, will you tell us who?"
"That's an easy one," Chat chuckled. "Yes I am, and I will tell you who she is. The girl who holds my heart is..." Chat broke off as he spotted someone over Alya's shoulder, running like there was no tomorrow, panic written all over her face. "Marinette?" he blurted, wondering what on earth his classmate was doing sprinting through this part of town so soon after an akuma attack.
"Wait, Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" Alya choked. "You're in love with her?"
Chat froze, mind racing as a blush creeped up his neck. He opened and closed his mouth like a fish, trying to deny it, say that he'd made a mistake and he'd meant to say Ladybug, but he couldn't force the words past his lips. His sweet friend was super pretty and kind and he did have a not-insignificant crush on her, and saying he didn't love her felt too much like a lie. But his heart was racing and he had to get out of there, so he panicked.
"Er, uh, I'm- that is to say, Igottagosorrybye!"
He pole vaulted away despite Alya's protests and went to a spot near the shoot to detransform. He handed Plagg his Camembert and strolled out towards the photographer with his cackling Kwami in his pocket.
Well, I hope this doesn't come back to bite me, he thought.
Alas, he hoped in vain.
***~8~***
Alya arrived at the bakery out of breath, hands on her knees. She knocked urgently on the apartment door and greeted Madame Cheng somewhat distractedly while bouncing on her toes. "I gotta see Marinette," she gasped after a breathless hello.
Sabine frowned. "I'm sorry, but she is grounded for breaking curfew tonight. You'll have to wait until school tomorrow morning."
"But it's an emergency!" she protested.
"Alya, unless someone is dead or dying, it can wait ten hours."
Alya deflated and apologized before walking home. She hadn't known Chat knew Marinette or she would not have risked the likely fallout for her best friend once the Internet got ahold of the story by doing a livestream. She had been so sure that the cat themed superhero was head over heels for his spotted partner. Oh, well. All that was left to do was wait and pray that nobody would do anything crazy and that Marinette would handle the news well. There was no damage control Alya could do that would do a bit of good at this point.
Marinette felt an unusual amount of eyes on her walking to class the next day. There was a subversive paranoia in the back of her mind that screamed that her secret identity was blown, but she shoved it down. She was safe. She had definitely made it out of sight before detransforming last night, though not nearly close enough to home for her to make curfew. Everything was fine, other than being in hot water with her parents for breaking a rule.
She hadn't even sat down before she was surrounded by chattering classmates demanding answers to questions that were rendered incoherent by the white noise of the veritable mob engulfing her.
"Um, what?" she stammered. "I didn't catch any of that. What's all the fuss about?"
Before anyone could reply, she was yanked aside by Alya, who glared fiercely at the other students as she escorted Marinette to their bench.
"Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng will not be taking questions at this time," she huffed in a clipped tone. Marinette briefly and surreally felt like a celebrity being protected by her PR manager. With slightly more vernacular phrasing but no less crisply, Alya added, "Give the girl some space to breathe, guys. Geez."
"Thanks, Als," she sighed. "Care to fill me in on why I'm suddenly a hot commodity?"
"Erm, you might want to check out last night's entry on the Ladyblog. Here." She handed her friend her phone with the video ready to view, along with a pair of earbuds.
Marinette watched the interview, confused as to what this had to do with her. She smiled as Chat answered the first two questions, thinking of what a good guy her kitty was. When Alya asked her final question, she was thinking that whoever he loved was one lucky girl right up until he said her name and fled the scene.
"WHAT?!" she whisper-screeched. "I don't- I can't- I mean... just what."
"That's kinda what I wanted to ask you, Mar. How do you know Chat Noir?"
"Well, I've helped him with akuma attacks a couple times and he's saved me once or twice and we sort of tend to run into each other in the middle of chaos a lot."
"Babe. First of all, you've been holding out on me- a mistake that will be rectified in the very near future, believe me. Second of all, you must have made quite an impression in those passing encounters because the boy confessed on camera to being in love with you."
Marinette's face caught fire and she buried it in her hands for a moment before peeking out again. "There must be some mistake," she insisted. "We barely know each other. Maybe he just rattled off the first name that came to mind."
Alya leveled a look at her. "That still means you're the first person in his thoughts when asked 'Who do you love?' Think about the implications."
"I'm positive that there is a logical explanation," she persisted. "I mean, come on. If you knew Ladybug and me, who would you be more likely to have a crush on? I don't think any of his flirting with her is serious, but I'm just ordinary. How or why would a superhero be in love with me?"
"My thoughts exactly, Marinette," Chloe cut in as she sashayed into class. "But if you had to catch the eye of one of the Lucky Duo, it's not exactly a surprise that it was the sidekick."
Silence fell over the room at Chloe's remark, not half so much in shock at her words as in terror of the murderous expression on Marinette's face.
"Listen here you completely awful, stuck-up, thoughtless, immature, irritating sack of week old bread in a cheap outfit," Marinette snarled, rising to her feet, "I don't stir up trouble when you talk crap about me, but you do not get to insult him. He and Ladybug are a team, and he is second string to no one. She'd be nothing without him. Chat Noir is one of the kindest, bravest, most loyal people I've had the pleasure to meet, and he is and always will be important. You're not worth the tip of his pinky claw, you utter brat."
By the end of this speech, Marinette was practically spitting, leaning into Chloe's face with a fire in her eyes hot enough to turn diamond into slag. For once, the daughter of the mayor looked frightened of her tiny, pigtail-wearing classmate. She actually slunk to her desk with a muttered apology and averted gaze.
Marinette returned to her desk and sat primly, staring ahead with a cool expression. Nobody breathed a word until Madame Bustier walked in and class began. The teacher thought to herself at the end of the period that this was the most cooperative day her students had given her all year.
One thing was certain in the mind of every student: whatever Chat Noir felt for Marinette, it was mutual.
Adrien, meanwhile, who had been doing his best impression of an ostrich with its head in the sand until Chloe came in, was struggling to keep his heart from beating out of his chest. It had swelled with affection at Marinette's vehement defense of his alter ego and now it was fluttering wildly. Her smirk of triumph when Chloe apologized sent it into overdrive because all he could think of in that moment was the phrase "Dang, that's hot" on a loop for a solid minute.
He had walked into the classroom that morning praying he'd be able to keep it together when they inevitably started discussing his botched interview and his admission to loving Marinette. He had planned on letting her down easy or avoiding her forever depending on her reaction to his accidental declaration, but now he wasn't so sure he could let it go. Marinette was awesome, and clearly a Chat supporter, and he found himself wondering if it could really work: a relationship with her in the mask. She was uncomfortable around Adrien, but Chat? Well, maybe Chat had a chance.
He landed on her balcony that night to find her already waiting for him with cocoa.
She grinned sheepishly and lifted a hand in greeting. "I, er, thought you might be dropping by." She extended the other hand to offer him a mug.
He smirked and accepted it, inhaling the sweet chocolaty scent. "Was that a pun, Princess?"
"You're not the only one who likes them," she laughed. "So, what's on your mind, kitty cat? Anything to do with your memorable interview with my best friend yesterday evening?"
"Uh, yeah," he coughed. "What did you... think of it?" He was suddenly absorbed in taking a deep drink of his cocoa, which, he noted, was utterly delicious, with hints of cinnamon and almond.
"It was adorable," she giggled. "Your answers were really sweet." A long silence stretched, both with their fidgeting hands wrapped around their mugs, eyes tracing the patterns of steam curling in the evening air. "Did you mean it? You know, being in love with me?"
"I don't know you well enough to say for certain about, you know, love-love," he admitted. "But I think you're wonderful, and beautiful, and I would like to see if we could get there."
Marinette blushed furiously. "I think quite highly of you, too, Chat. Perhaps we could start as friends and see where it goes from there?"
His smile was radiant. "I'd like that."
They both smiled into the rims of their mugs, faces aflame. It was as beautiful a beginning as anyone could ask for, soft and unbearably sweet, with just a dash of awkward newness to make it feel more real.