This was my Secret Santa Christmas gift for this-is-a-chat-astrophe on Tumblr through the ML Secret Santa Exchange.
Marinette sits on her couch, wincing with discomfort. She wishes her kitty was here right now.
It all started five years ago. It was about a month after the Evillustrator came for her and Cat Noir protected her. She was sitting on her balcony chair, enjoying the nice breeze before she curled up in pain. This pain wasn't caused by any akuma; she knew it was going to happen. She counted up the days, watching her pills change from white for the past three weeks to another color on the fourth. She wore looser clothing, knowing how bloated she would be. She even had on a pad, knowing that the blood flow on the first two days would be too heavy for most tampons. She was prepared for her period.
Except for the fact that she forgot to take her pain medication. Ever since Marinette's periods began four years ago, she was irregular. When she was given birth control to regulate her about two years ago, she began having extreme pain. Midol wouldn't work for her. So, her doctor prescribed her a more powerful pain medication. Marinette keeps it in her vanity's drawers when she doesn't need it so that she doesn't lose it. However, that means she sometimes forgets it's there when she needs it the most.
Most of the time, her parents are awake and find her when she forgets. Most of the time, she has her phone on her so she can get help. Not this time. Tikki tried to get the medicine for her, but she couldn't open the bottle and couldn't phase through windows and walls while holding something.
And so Cat Noir found her, huddled in a ball on her balcony, shivering and crying in the warm evening. He was across the Seine, on top of Notre-Dame. Hearing her whimpering, he used his baton and vaulted across the river, landing on Collège Françoise Dupont and rising up to her balcony.
"Princess?" he asked, retracting his baton and stepping over her railing. Marinette curled in on herself, trying to keep the pain inside. He took a step forward, resting a hand on her knee. "Marinette?"
Marinette looked up in surprise. "Cat?"
"Marinette, what's wrong?" She flinches under his touch, curling back in.
"Help." Her voice is quiet.
"What do you need?"
"Bed."
He walked away and opened the balcony hatch before returning. "I'm going to pick you up now, okay?"
Marinette nodded, moaning in pain as his hands slip under her knees and behind her back; the new position did nothing to relieve her of her pain. She wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder as new tears sprung from her eyes. Each step jostled. The step down into her room was the worst. There wasn't a ladder, so Cat Noir had to drop down on her bed, which proceeded to bounce slightly. She let loose a small shriek, biting on her wrist to muffle her voice. Cat Noir set her down on the bed, removing the covers. Still, she clung to him.
"What else do you need?" he asked, unhooking her arm from his neck.
Her breathing was heavy, her eyes clenched as she tried to think through the pain. "Meds. Water. Dresser."
He only partially understood her clipped speech. Marinette let Cat Noir go, resting her head on her knees while pointing to the vanity on the main floor of her room. The bed wobbled when Cat Noir left down the stairs. Marinette listened to the sound of running water and Cat Noir struggling with opening the pill bottle next to the faucet. When the water stopped, she felt him climb the stairs and stand to her left. He nudged her shoulder, handing her the glass and the meds. Marinette greedily drank.
It took her a minute before she could speak again, saying, "Thank you."
She set the glass down next to her light, curling up again and leaning against Cat Noir. He was very warm. Marinette grabbed his arm and hugged it to her chest, pulling him down on the bed with her.
"Um, Marinette?"
"You're warm." They were shoulder to shoulder, her cheek resting against his chest.
"Um…"
"Please stay." He felt very nice, his warmth and the meds helping make the pain go away.
"Are-are you sure?"
"Mmm-hmm."
Cat Noir tried to readjust himself so that he wasn't sitting halfway off the bed, but Marinette didn't like his moving. He ended up laying on the blankets on her lap, her hands running through his hair. Marinette hummed, very content with how he felt, all warm against her. Cat Noir was startled at first, but her hands felt nice running through his hair. He purred, content.
Cat Noir doesn't know how long they were like that, but when her hands stilled and her breathing slowed, he eased himself off her. She was on her side, blankets loose around her. He did his best to tuck them around her without waking her, but her eyes did flutter open once.
"Kitty?" her voice was a whisper, her eyes squinting in the dark.
"Shh. Shh." He ran a hand over her head, smoothing her hair away from her face. "I have to go, Princess. I'll be back tomorrow."
Marinette made a noise before going back to sleep. On an impulse, Cat Noir kissed Marinette's forehead before fleeing through her balcony into the night.
The next morning, Marinette woke up on her own, feeling only mild discomfort. She brushed her hand over her pillow, searching for Tikki. When she couldn't find her and the mild discomfort grew, Marinette jolted awake, realizing she was still on her period and that last night she-
"Tikki?" Marinette called, stumbling out of her bed and tripping over the mass of blankets at her feet. "Tikki!"
The little kwami floated up from the chaise on the main floor, rubbing her eyes. "Good morning, Marinette."
"Was Cat Noir seriously here last night?" Marinette danced on her toes, worried.
"He was! Your meds put you completely out of it!"
"I-I-I-he-he-we-"
"Relax, Marinette! He doesn't know you're Ladybug."
"He doesn't?" Marinette stopped bouncing, sitting down in her computer chair and sighing, relieved.
"Nope! But he said he's coming back tonight!" Tikki floated over to the cookies on Marinette's desk. "I don't approve of you letting him come over like this," she says, her words muffled from food. "But, I do approve of what he's doing for you."
"What?!"
"You're moving around today, and it's the second day of your period. Don't you see what Cat Noir's done?"
"No?" Did he give her more of her meds than she was supposed to have? No, he had night vision and could read the directions.
"He purred!" Tikki beamed at her statement, but Marinette didn't understand.
"He...purred?"
"Purring is how cats heal! Cat Noir can't heal akuma damage, but he can heal people if he gets close enough and comfortable with them."
"Huh." Marinette glanced at the time on her phone, realizing it was early Saturday morning. Sighing, she started her homework.
True to his word, Cat Noir returned to Marinette's balcony that evening. He wasn't empty handed; he brought with him chocolate, ice cream, and DVDs. When Marinette asked why he brought stuff with him, Cat Noir said, "I looked up stuff about periods. They said chocolate and ice cream helps."
Marinette laughed, inviting him inside. That weekend, and nearly every weekend Marinette had her period, Cat Noir came over with sweets and a movie. They would end up laying on Marinette's bed, Cat Noir purring contentedly each time.
Three years ago, Ladybug and Cat Noir were fighting an akuma. Little did Ladybug know that her period started in the middle of the battle. Tikki tried her best to keep Marinette from noticing, using her magic to force more adrenaline through Marinette's veins. However, Tikki wasn't strong enough to hold back mother nature when Ladybug called for her Lucky Charm. Ladybug began to feel the discomfort when she ran after the villain. When they caught the akuma and Ladybug used her Miraculous Ladybug superpower, the pain hit her fullforce.
Cat Noir grabbed Ladybug and carried her away from the scene to a nearby rooftop.
"Ladybug, what's wrong?" he asked, setting her down on the shingles.
"Nothing. I'm fine." Ladybug tried standing, but she doubled over on herself. Cat Noir pulled her into his lap, pressing his forehead into her neck and purring. The noise of Ladybug's Miraculous beeping pounded in both of their ears. Ladybug knew she wouldn't make it back to the bakery before time ran out. Cat Noir knew too.
"Your Miraculous-"
"I know." She rubbed his head in the area behind his ears she knows he likes. "Please don't look."
A minute later and her transformation dropped away. Cat Noir saw pink light flash behind his eyelids, still pressed into Ladybug's neck. The sensation of her detransforming made him shiver. Her fingers in his hair tightened around the strands, both heroes in pain.
"I'm sorry, Tikki," Ladybug rasped.
"There's nothing you can do about it now." Cat Noir assumed the high-pitched voice was her kwami. "You won't be able to get home in this state. You have to reveal who you are."
The blood pounded in Cat Noir's ears, his purring stopped.
"But you said that I shouldn't-"
"Because I've had Ladybugs die from their partners knowing. The Black Cats weren't always in control of themselves or weren't good fits. I didn't want you to reveal until it was safe so that you would be safe. I didn't want another Bug dying because of it."
"Tikki." Ladybug's grip on Cat Noir's hair relaxed for a minute, but her hand spasmed and fell to his shoulder, clutching hard.
"This Cat is a good one, Marinette."
Marinette? Cat Noir lifted his head, staring at the girl on his lap. She didn't meet his gaze.
Marinette is Ladybug. Marinette is Ladybug. My princess is my lady.
He didn't realize it, lost in his musings, but Marinette was calling his name.
"-Noir? Cat Noir?"
He blinked, answering, "My Princess-I mean Ladynette-no, Maribug-no-"
Marinette laughed, her giggles strained. "I'm sorry, kitty. I bet you weren't expecting me."
"I should have," he said. "You were the only one in our classes who wasn't akumatized."
"Our classes?"
"Yeah-"
"Not here!" Tikki interjected. Cat Noir looked from the kwami to his princess, remembering how much pain she's in. "It can wait until we get back."
"Right." Cat Noir put one arm under Marinette's knees and another behind her back, lifting her. Tikki flew into Marinette's purse. Standing, Cat Noir bounded across Paris to Marinette's balcony. Marinette was curled in a ball and whimpered.
"Shh," Cat Noir whispered, toeing open her balcony hatch. Dropping into her room, he set her down on her bed, grabbed the meds she needed, and ran back up the stairs. He made sure she was comfortable before he said, "I'm Adrien Agreste."
Her first response was to laugh. Her second was to say, "You don't seem like it."
Cat Noir raised one of her hands to his cheek and detransformed into Adrien, silencing her laughter. She ran her fingers over the place where his mask used to be. Adrien leaned into her touch.
"Hi," he whispered.
"Hi," she said.
"Well, hi to you too." Plagg flew into Marinette's face. "Name's Plagg. You got any cheese?"
"Plagg!" Tikki tackled him. "Plagg!" They fell onto the bed, Tikki rubbing her head against Plagg's. Plagg smiled, squishing Tikki closer and muttering her name. The four spent the rest of the afternoon piled on Marinette's bed, reminiscing in the wielders' obliviousness.
Not too long after, they started dating, to the surprise of no one except Chloé. A year into university and Marinette proposed to Adrien.
Marinette twists the ring on her finger. Adrien insisted that she get one too. She wishes he were here right now. He could normally tell when her period was coming by Marinette's shifts in mood. He cancel his patrols with Bee and see if the fabulous Fox could take his place for the first few days. Fox couldn't do it this time. She had something to do tonight and couldn't cover for Cat Noir. Adrien had to go. If he didn't, then Bee wouldn't patrol at all.
Marinette hears soft footsteps pad on the balcony of their shared apartment. The glass door slides open, Cat Noir slipping through. He meets Marinette, wrapping his arms over her from behind the couch. Kissing her forehead, he whispers, "Princess."
"Kitten."
"I love you."
"I love you too."