Marinette shifted her shoulders, trying to avoid direct eye contact with Chat by staring down at her box. Had she made a mistake? Maybe this was silly.
She noted Chat coming closer at the edges of her vision and stiffened instinctively. She wasn't scared as much as she was nervous. Finding the castle again had not been an easy task, and she'd be eternally embarrassed to find out that it had all been for nothing.
Chat spoke up, "F-for me? Are you sure?"
Marinette peeked upwards, although with her head bowed down, she just ended up staring at Chat's chest. "Is… that okay? I mean, it's mostly just sweets, but..."
Plagg suddenly cut in, flying between the two. Marinette lifted her head, all sense of anxiety fading as she gave an unamused pout.
Plagg eyed the box ravenously. "Did you bring any—"
Without hesitation, Marinette reached in, pulling out a small wheel of cheese, her expression unchanging. Plagg either didn't notice or didn't care, letting out a positively odd squeal of delight. He clung to the cheese like a lifeline and flew off, becoming a blur of black from sheer speed.
"You don't deserve it!" Marinette called after him accusingly, though unsurprisingly received no response.
Chat raised a brow. "You brought him cheese?"
She shrugged. "I figured he wouldn't leave me alone unless I gave him something he wanted."
Chat opened his mouth to respond, then paused, deep in thought. After a moment, he added, "Yeah, you're probably right."
His eyes fell back to the box. "And… the rest is for me? Really?"
Marinette bit her bottom lip, trying to arrange a sentence she swore she had together beforehand, but had become scrambled again. "I figured… we could share it?"
"Share?" The word escaped Chat's mouth like he'd never heard it before. Marinette didn't have the courage to look at his face.
She saw his hand twitch. It moved forward, going to grab hold of the box, but flinched at the last second, as if the slightest touch would turn the box to ashes.
Marinette finally peered up. Chat had a look of conflict on his face: a strong hesitation.
She stared at the floor. She was the one making this weird. If she talked to a normal person like this, they'd think she either hated them or didn't even want to be there and that wasn't the kind of impression she wanted to give anyone.
Unless it was Chloe. Actually, especially if it was Chloe.
Point being, this cat creature, strange as he may be, had been nothing but nice to her.
She forced herself to meet his eyes. "I have some extra in case the other kwami eat too?"
Now given a proper view of his upper body, she noticed his tense shoulders, which relaxed after a small silence. His gaze was unsure but welcoming, which made sense given his apparent lack of social skills.
He nodded, adding awkwardly, "Yeah, they eat."
A very apparent lack of social skills.
His hand went for the box again, Marinette taking the initiative and placing it in his hand. He held it carefully in both of his clawed hands, and Marinette smiled bemusedly as she saw how small the box looked in his grasp compared to hers.
"How many kwami are there?" she asked, trying to make small talk.
Chat scanned the living room area, walking over to the table. "Seven."
"Seven?" Marinette looked at him disbelievingly. That was far lower than the number she had imagined.
She followed Chat over to the couch, Chat sitting down and setting the box on the table in front of him. Marinette sat down too, though she must've sat too close, as Chat scooted away.
"Yeah. Kwami are special, so there aren't that many of them," he explained, his hands exploring the box.
He paused, then gave a nervous smile to Marinette, either not even able to figure out a simple to-go box or too scared that he'd ruin it with his claws. She obliged, opening the box for him.
A variety of different smells wafted out, and Chat sat up straight as the scents hit him. His ears flickered, and Marinette could see the want in his eyes. The pride of the sweets being from her parents' bakery swelled inside her.
She smiled, feeling the tight atmosphere loosen. She pulled out some napkins from the box, opening three and placing them strategically on the table; one in front of her, one in front of Chat, and the other at the opposite end of the table.
"So, can you just… you know, call the kwami?" she asked, remembering Duusu from yesterday. "Or do you just know when they're nearby?"
When she looked back at Chat, his mouth had been open, possibly from salivating. He shut it, swallowing and looking thoroughly out of it. "Oh! Yeah, uh… they usually keep an ear out for me. Or, uh, an antenna."
He eyed Marinette, as if hoping for a certain reaction, and relaxed further at her amused smile.
Marinette watched as he got up, walking over to the staircase. She sat patiently, starting to pick out some of the pastries inside the box. She had already decided before leaving her house that she'd let Chat have one of each kind.
She placed each pastry neatly on the napkin, pulling apart the less messy pastries into pieces for the kwami.
Just as she was about to look back, Tikki flew into her vision, looking noticeably apologetic. That was all Marinette needed, honestly, so she just smiled and gestured to the napkin of pastry pieces.
Tikki smiled, sitting down on the napkin and picking up a cookie. "I'm glad you came back."
Marinette hoped that Tikki didn't think she was going to stay forever and chose not to clarify on the matter.
Duusu joined Tikki on the napkin, eyes perusing the selection of treats before just picking one at random.
A sweet yet excited voice rang out from behind Marinette. "It's Marinette, right?"
Marinette turned, noting a bee-like kwami floating in front of her. The kwami was cute, feminine, and had large blue eyes.
"I'm Pollen. It's very nice to meet you!" she exclaimed, the floof around her neck seeming to fluff up as she held a paw out for Marinette to shake.
Marinette glanced down at the paw, then back at Pollen, before smiling and shaking the paw with her forefinger and thumb.
"It's nice to meet you too," she greeted with an awkward smile.
Marinette sensed a presence behind her and turned back, seeing a lavender kwami trying to sneak over to the table without her notice. Realizing he'd been caught, he sped over, sitting down on the napkin with his butterfly-esque wings fluttering shyly.
Marinette never forgot a color. "You're the kwami I saw yesterday, right?"
"Um—" He looked away, trying to hide his face.
Marinette smiled softly, respecting his shyness but also adding, "I liked your song."
He glanced up at her, eyes widening with surprise. Though he was clearly attempting to hide it, Marinette noted his smile, a light blush even appearing on his face.
"Thank you."
An orange kwami ungracefully plopped down on the napkin, leaning against the lavender one. "You still play? I thought you'd be rusty by now," he commented.
The lavender kwami flushed deeper. "Y-yes, well..."
Marinette looked between the two, and the orange kwami looked back, probably knowing he was being stared at. His long ears twitched, a fox tail swishing out behind him as he addressed Marinette.
"Trixx," he introduced simply, paw to his chest. "And he's Nooroo. Thanks for the food, Mari."
Trixx shoved a piece of a donut into his mouth, and Marinette was stunned by the sheer amount of nonchalance Trixx possessed. So informal, and so quickly too!
Marinette counted the kwami in her head as Pollen sat down as well. Marinette mentally added Plagg, then turned to the staircase, ready to ask where the seventh kwami was.
Chat was at the staircase, a green turtle-like kwami floating in front of him, looking unsure.
"Wayzz…" Chat sighed. "It'll be okay. You can take a break for a while."
"Are you sure? Chat—" the kwami protested worriedly.
Chat raised a hand. "Really, it's okay. Nooroo and the others are already at the table and everything."
Something about the way Chat had said it must've piqued Wayzz' interest, as the kwami peeked over to look at the table.
Wayzz took one last glance at Chat, then flew over, sitting on the side of Nooroo that wasn't taken up by Trixx. Wayzz and Nooroo split a piece of croissant.
Chat breathed, then walked back over, taking his place on the couch again with visible relief. He stared at his napkin full of goodies, then at Marinette.
"You made a plate for me?"
Marinette nodded. "I wanted to make sure you didn't miss anything."
Chat responded with nothing more than a stunned stare. He looked down at his assortment of pastries, then picked the one closest to him, taking a bite.
His eyes widened, and he swallowed before speaking, "This is really good! Did you make it?"
"Oh, no no!" Marinette almost laughed at the idea. "My parents run a bakery. These are just the leftovers. I mean, I help sometimes, so I might've made something in here, but not much."
Chat nodded, not even caring about the pastries being leftovers, preferring to continue eating them instead. Marinette was surprised to see that, despite his excitement and obvious beastly aura, he ate so politely.
Trixx waved a paw, earning Marinette's attention. "Mari."
Marinette raised a brow. "Yes?"
"So what's a girl like you doing out here again? You're not trying to earn any sort of fancy kwami wishes, hm?"
Marinette blinked. "No?"
She immediately realized that Trixx was joking after she'd said that. "I-I just… came out here because…"
She looked over to her left. Chat seemed to be listening, but was staying out of the conversation.
Deciding that honesty was the best way to go, she continued, "This place just seems so big, you know? I figured it gets lonely here, so…"
Chat's ears perked. He looked over. "You didn't have to—"
"It's okay!" Marinette assured, having seen Chat's retort coming. "Besides…"
She paused. Would it be weird to say that she was fascinated by both Chat and the kwami? Well, certainly anyone would be, but was that an insult?
Marinette shrugged. "I, ah… wasn't doing anything today anyway. I had time."
She idly patted at her knees, feeling thoroughly stared at. She couldn't blame Chat or the kwami really, as she was a normal human in the middle of all these creatures who probably hadn't seen a human in a long time. It must've been weird having her here when they were so used to it just being them.
Truth be told, she'd come for another reason than just wanting to eat with them. She wanted to feel out the situation, and see what Chat and the kwami were like. If she was honest, she was starting to like them, and the castle wasn't half-bad either.
She picked up a macaroon, taking a small bite of it. "Chat?"
Chat awkwardly fumbled with the donut he was eating, surprised to be addressed. He turned to Marinette, tilting his head. "Y-yeah?"
"Would it be okay if I, ah…" Marinette took another small bite of her macaroon, trying to ignore the awkwardness of her question. "came back again sometime? For a visit?"
Chat stared at her blankly, and now the kwami were staring again too. Marinette tried not to die of embarrassment.
"I-it's just, you know, this is a really nice place and you all seem really nice? If you don't want me here, I—"
"No no!" Chat cut in, shaking his head. "I would, I mean, we would…"
Pollen finished, "We'd love to have you here more often! We never get guests!"
Chat flushed, clearly embarrassed to need Pollen's help to finish a simple sentence. He simply nodded, a small smile on his face.
Marinette smiled back, her and Chat taking a simultaneous bite out of their pastries.