Author's Note: The following chapter has been kindly beta'd by wonderfulwizardofthozz. :)
02. Why Does He Have to Be a Complete Gentleman and Make It So Hard For Me
BEFORE A FEW YEARS AGO, MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG COULD SAY SHE HAD NEVER FALLEN FOR HER BEST FRIEND – NO IFS, ANDS, OR BUTS ABOUT IT.
Of course that was merely a fact in the days of old and not one that could stand now: Because Marinette Dupain-Cheng had come to the conclusion that she might have a tiny, miniscule, too-small-to-even-worry-about crush on Chat Noir.
Now despite what Alya said, Marinette was quite certain that falling in love with your best friend wasn't exactly the wisest choice. For one, there was the fact that they were your best friend, and there was always the chance that the dynamic you had would never return to the way it used to. And, quite frankly, that was a terrifying thought, because, well, she had known Chat Noir for years now, trusting him with her life on a nearly daily basis.
So that was really the question, wasn't it? She trusted him with her life, but could she trust him with her heart?
"Bugaboo?"
And then there was also that small problem applying directly to Marinette – how she turned into a stammering, blushing fool even in the mere presence of her crush. Like, take a few years previous, her turning into a stuttering mess whenever she had even breathed near one Adrien Agreste's vicinity. She shuddered in mortification to think of it. Luckily for her, she had managed to outgrow the habit… at least around Adrien.
The crush she had for him? Not so much.
"My Lady?"
She didn't really want to test if she had outgrown that habit all together on Chat Noir. Feelings for her black cat was new, they were frightening, and Marinette wasn't exactly certain that they were all that bad at all. Besides, on the off-chance it failed, she would never be able to live it down if she interacted with Chat Noir the same way she did with Adrien back in collège. That would be horrible.
"Ladybug!"
She startled at the sudden noise, mouthing foul expletives as she stumbled in her landing and careening off the roof until a hand that seized her wrist and pulled her back. "Chat," she stated calmly once she got to her feet before exploding, "don't scare me like that!"
"I didn't mean to!" he protested, crossing his arms. (Ladybug was mildly aware that this was a horrible time to notice that he had a very nice chest.) "I've been trying to catch your attention for the past five minutes!"
She tore her eyes away, giggling weakly. "R-really? Right, sorry, my bad."
Silence ascended upon them for a while before Chat broke it. "Penny for your thoughts?" he offered, somehow producing a penny in his hand and offering it to Ladybug. She wasn't entirely sure how he managed to get one in France, but she sure wasn't going to question it either.
She took the coin instead, a warmth bubbling in her chest as she laughed. "My thoughts are worth much more than that, Chaton."
He snapped his fingers, sighing. "Alas, I should have known better than to underestimate the cost of my Lady's innermost ponderings."
She shook her head, a smile tugging her lips. "You dork."
"Ah, but I'm your dork, aren't I?" Chat sobered. "Are you really all right?"
She nodded. "Yeah, just lost in my thoughts for a moment. Come on, Chat, we gotta complete this patrol." She swung her yo-yo in the general direction of the Eiffel Tower. "Last one to Notre-Dame buys ice-cream for the other!" And then, with a simple tug, she was gone, flying over the streets of Paris.
Chat Noir's protest reached her ears – "That's not fair, my Lady!"— but Ladybug could tell that he was already giving chase.
She laughed, swinging herself higher and further with each thrust of the yo-yo. There were times when Chat Noir would pull ahead of her, but she always caught up and overtook him. Soon, she could see Notre-Dame in the distance, eyes automatically honing in on their usual spot. One more last throw and…
A black blur came up rapidly on her right, overtaking her easily and pouncing on a lamppost. Ears twitched towards her as his lips stretched in a wide, smug grin. "I win, my Lady!"
She huffed, landing on the street next to his post, a wry smile on her lips. "Fine," she admitted. "I suppose you did." Then she laughed, because he was grinning at her from his perch, green eyes wide and excited. "But I demand a rematch later!"
She was just about to swing her yo-yo once more and head back home when he jumped down directly in front of her. "Wait!"
Ladybug stumbled backwards, scanning the surroundings for any sign of trouble. "What?"
"What about ice-cream?" He gazed at her, a pout on his lips, and she couldn't help grimacing.
"Chat … next time? I don't have any money with me right now." Her suit held no pockets for her to keep anything in, and even if she detransformed, she had left her purse in her room. She smiled apologetically. "I won't back out on the deal, I promise."
"Oh, I know," he said, swinging an arm around her. "But I still want ice-cream. Come on, my treat?"
She glanced at him in surprise. He smiled back hopefully, eyes pleading. Well, she still had time, didn't she? Her parents were already in bed, since they had to open the bakery, and no one would be checking on her for hours. She had already finished all her homework as well, and her new design could wait another day…
"Okay."
"R-really?" Ladybug had never seen him grin so widely.
She laughed, teasing, "Yes, but only because you're buying."
"O-okay." Chat Noir was practically bouncing. "I—meet you at the park? If we're lucky – which I know you are – there should still be a stand there and we might catch it before it closes. I got some loose change with me, which should be enough."
She swung her yo-yo in the general direction of the park. "Sure. Coming, Chaton?"
They made it to the park in good time, just managing to catch the ice-cream stand before it closed – "That luck was all you, my Lady." – and it helped matters that the owner was quite pleased to serve Paris' heroes. They refused to take the ice cream free, Chat practically dumping all the change he had – "My civilian self isn't lacking in money. There're other people who could use it better than I could." – into the man's hand before they both hightailed it out of there, careful not to let their ice-cream fall.
They settled on a roof, perching on the ledge as their legs dangled down, occasionally kicking each other gently just for the fun of it, trying to topple the other down. Eating the last of her ice-cream cone, Ladybug sighed. "Hey, Chat?"
He gave an acknowledging hum.
"Thanks for the ice-cream."
He turned to her, surprise on his features. "You don't need to thank me for something like that, my Lady. It was my pleasure."
And because he was being so sweet and she wanted to, she kissed him on the cheek, watching as he blushed immediately. "Yeah, well, I want to thank you anyway. This was fun. We should do it again." She gazed out into the lit streets for a moment before getting up. "It's getting late. We should catch some sleep before school tomorrow."
He clambered to his feet as well, and Ladybug could just make out the faint traces of the blush. "R-right. Good night, my Lady."
"Night, Chaton."
With that, she swung her yo-yo once more, heading in the direction of the bakery. Behind her, the telltale plunk! of Chat Noir's baton hitting the street reached her ears, heading in the opposite direction. She circled around the park for a moment, checking the streets one last time before landing on her balcony and detransforming. She stared out at the streets, wondering if Chat had made it home already as well. "Good night, Chaton."
An hour and a half later, Marinette was sitting by her desk, pictures of Adrien in front of her and a Google Image search of Chat Noir on her computer monitor. Tikki nibbled on a cookie next to her, staring up at the screen before glancing at her holder. "Alya would say you have a type," she noted.
"I know!" Marinette wailed, burying her face in her arms. "I mean, look at them – blond hair, green eyes. Actually, are Chat's eyes really green?"
"Yes," Tikki informed her. "The miraculous transformation just gives them the power of a cat. It does not change their eye color. So if Chat had, say, blue eyes, his eyes would be mostly blue."
Marinette shook her head. "But that doesn't solve anything. If any, it just makes it worse!"
"They do look remarkably similar. Didn't Alya once say that Adrien could be Chat Noir?"
"Oh, that would solve all my problems…" Marinette sighed wistfully before heaving out a loud breath. "But that's impossible."
"Really? Why?"
Marinette snatched a cookie from the platter. "Because! Adrien is … well … Adrien, and Chat is … well … Chat!" She waved the cookie in the air to emphasize her point.
Tikki sent her a pointed look. "And?"
"And?" Marinette repeated dumbly. "And Adrien is kind and handsome and polite and well-mannered and, actually, really, really dorky, but Chat is annoying and – gosh – tells the worst jokes and has the worst timing and, and—"
"And?" Tikki asked again, a knowing gleam in her eyes.
Marinette frowned, looking away. "And he's also kind and a dork, and he can really be a gentleman when the time calls for it—Oh." She cut herself off, staring into the air with wide eyes. "Oh. My. Gosh."
Tikki floated up in front of her eagerly. "Yes? You realized something?"
Marinette cupped her kwami in her palms, utmost seriousness in her voice. "Tikki, I totally have a type."
Tikki blinked once, twice. "What?"
Marinette released her, grabbing a random picture of Adrien and putting it beside an enlarged image of Chat. "Tikki, look. They have blond hair and green eyes and are complete dorks and are really kind and somewhat well-mannered … and I have a type."
"I'm not really following, Marinette."
"Tikki, don't you see? They both share those traits in common, and apparently, I'm drawn to that, because I've obviously fallen for the both of them, haven't I?" She continued softly, "I didn't know I had a type before today. No wonder my other crushes didn't have such a strong reaction or ever lasted that long."
Tikki nodded slowly. "So, is that the only thing you've realized?"
"You mean aside from the fact that I have a type and probably a crush on Chat Noir? No. Should I?"
Tikki sighed, shaking her head. "No, no, just … wondering if I missed anything from your rant." She grabbed another cookie.
"I do not rant!"
Next time on Inside and Out:
Disgruntled at his loss, Adrien sulked back to Marinette. "I made a wrong choice choosing the both of you as friends." He sniffed, glaring pointedly at Alya and Nino. They rolled their eyes at his dramatics. Adrien turned to Marinette, a thoughtful look on his face. "But I sure didn't macaron choice when I chose you."
Marinette froze. Adrien grinned. Then she swore and glared. "Did you just…"
