"Did you 'Cat'-ch That?" Tuesday! - Pharoh Wifi

(I'm not sure how I want to do this Tuesday segment yet, so this is sort of an experiment…. Let me know what you think/what I should do/if you have any ideas! As always, thanks for reading!)

Pharoh

"Don't you think you'd know her, then?"

Plagg's pointed (extremely pointed) words rang through Adrien's head. The pair were in Adrien's room watching, of course, the Ladyblog. On all 3 huge monitors. Because, well, it's about Ladybug. Adrien watched the screen for a second (3rd, 4th, 5th, who's counting?) time as his friend, Alya, excitedly shook their class's Histoire book in his face. He should know her, right?

((Fun thought here: Plagg says that the mummy's idea won't work. He probably knows that from experience.))

In Hawk Moth's lair, the villain called upon Nooroo, and his dark wings, to rise. He frowned for a moment. He felt, too closely, the familiarity of these particular emotions. As was his norm, he tried to quip something clever. This time, though the words were always only meant to be heard by himself, he truly felt like they were piercing into his heart, rather than a stranger's.

"There's nothing wrong with living in a fantasy," he muttered darkly. "Especially when I can make it a reality."

Chat tried to fight off the shivers as he ran to the art gallery part of the Louvre. The shivers had absolutely no reason to do with being cold…in fact, he felt inexorably warm.

Usually Ladybug would just go on without him without a word.

Usually Ladybug kept her distance (which, upon seeing the effects of what happens when she doesn't, Chat could kind of better understand, even if he didn't like to admit it).

And usually Ladybug, though not shy to praise him, didn't look so serious about it.

"Hurry back!" she had said, grabbing his arm. He had fought back a stupid grin. He was seriously off his punny presence today.

Then she had grabbed his shoulders, and it took all his strength to keep himself not only steady, but impassive (especially if he ever wanted the sensation repeated…which, of course, he did).

"It's going to take both of us to defeat him."

And then they had separated. And upon entering the art gallery, Adrien released Plagg…and collapsed on a bench, thinking that if this were an anime, he definitely would have little hearts flying around his head.

Ladybug was having a better time than most days fighting an Akuma victim. Which, really, made no sense, since it was particularly her best friend who was going to be sacrificed to the sun god, Ra. But she felt freer today than normal, though she couldn't particularly say why. She had also been openly more friendly (and, well, maybe a little er…flirty) with her Kitty. She blamed the high she had been riding on that day for this development. Had she dared to think about it more (which she tried not to), she would have realized that perhaps she was actually enjoying this change.

Unfortunately, though this flow of thoughts didn't slow Ladybug down in her job, they had slowed her down, well, literally. Alya's words from weeks before came to mind, "Fine, just be yourself and watch where you're going!"

Ladybug sighed inwardly then kept "running". Usually she would worry that she probably looked silly, but today was different. She patiently waited, making ground but not stressing about getting free of this cursed bubble…her Kitty would get her out.

As if on cue (which, with her good luck, was the norm for his arrivals), Ladybug felt the bubble pop. Her momentum pushed her forward…right into Chat Noir.

She turned up to him, wide-eyed for a moment, still caught in his grip. The feeling felt familiar, but she didn't think he'd even caught her like that before…. Chat's next words snapped her out of her sensation of déjà vu.

"Hey, thanks for waiting around for me," he purred.

"No problem!" she hummed back happily, matching his smile.

And they were off again.

Ladybug hardly ever felt bad about using Chat Noir as a distraction (unless, maybe, when he got thrown…or trapped…or, well, something else horrible…maybe). Perhaps this was mainly because he was always willing to dive into whatever she suggested. Today, though, her Kitty met her idea with some skepticism.

"Why do I have to deal with these freaks while you get to slip calmly around back?"

Immediately Ladybug turned back around and walked back to Chat Noir, looking straight into him. She felt strong, for some reason she couldn't name, and it made her smile.

"Because I'm the only one who can capture his Akuma," she said. She reached out and touched his shoulder. "And because you're the bravest one out of both of us."

She meant it. She meant it more than she ever cared to say.

"Sure," he responded without argument.

Ladybug was halfway through flying to her predetermined area when she realized something.

Did I just wink at Chat Noir!?

Did she just wink at me!?

"Sure," he had replied dumbly. He had been too shocked to say anything else; any type of quip or one-liner or pun for goodness sake would have been better. He mentally shook himself from the momentary stupor, replaying her words once more. He huffed to himself.

"I know you don't really think that but I'll pretend that you do," he spoke to the air.

No really. I pretend that you do. All the time. Like, ALL the time. And you just winked at me and OH MY GOSH I AM GOING TO REMEMBER THAT FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.

Their celebratory "Pound it!" finished, a smile still plastered to Marinette's face, and the knowledge that she and her partner had defeated evil again were thoughts floating around Marinette at the end of the day. She closed her eyes and abruptly realized why she had felt so light today….

She hadn't been thinking about Adrien all day.

Instead, she had been thinking about a certain other tall, blond boy with sparkling green eyes….

Marinette flushed, worried for a moment at this turn in her thoughts, before another smile crossed her face and she settled more snuggly into her pillow and blankets.

Those thoughts could wait for another day.

FAST FORWARD to Lady Wifi

Marinette stood at her balcony looking over into the dimming lights on the City of Love. She was smiling at her own thoughts as well as the conversation she was having with Tikki.

Marinette had left that door open at the hotel. Whether consciously or subconsciously she couldn't say, but that it was purposeful was certain. After Lady Wifi threatened to reveal her identity to everyone, the thought of possibly sharing it with her friend and partner, though still daunting, seemed not only doable, but maybe - just maybe -a relief. He would understand, he wanted to know her, and she knew beyond a doubt that she could trust him. So she left the door open. If he had wanted to see, he could, and, while she might have been a little disappointed in him for not listening to her, a part of her really wanted him to. The secret of her identity was starting to make her itch from the inside.

That cat, though, hadn't watched, hadn't peeked; instead, he had closed the door. Then he had disappeared before Marinette came out of the closet Ladybug had stepped inside of. Marinette's heart had swelled. A plethora of emotions and feelings burst into her, the main one being respect. And, well, maybe even something bordering on adoration.

So she and Tikki had talked. And talked. And talked. And finally had reached this point.

"Is that true!?" Tikki squeaked in conclusion. "You're gonna tell him? Is that what your heart's saying?"

Marinette, while her heart was still softer than normal toward her cat-boy, had come to a decision that she could live with at the moment. And she would be confident in that decision! That decision of decisions. The decision to, you know, decide her decision later. So she answered Tikki in the same cryptic style that her mind was working in at the moment.

"Sometimes your heart tells you one thing, but a great superhero always listens to her head."

Tikki smiled, and Marinette remained innocent to the fact that that smile hid the biggest eye-roll the Kwami had ever had to keep to herself.

Says the girl who can't even speak in identifiable sentences to her crush. She sighed. It'll happen someday…the talking, and the talk.