Last part I plan to add. I had someone review, but for some reason it wouldn't come up when I searched. I got an email notification, but the link was broken or something. Anyway, they mentioned being in the know as a cat owner. I myself haven't owned a cat in some time so I imagine it would be easy for some one who currently owns one to figure exactly what's going on. LOL
Ch. 4 - Marichat
Chat Noir sat across from a familiar bakery contemplating his decision. It was half past 11 and he really wanted to confirm his theory or debunk it, but he needed to know either way. If he couldn't find Ladybug, who was currently not picking up, he'd turn to the only other person he'd had a catnip reaction around. It was risky considering how Adrien had near attacked her that morning. If he slipped up here, she might figure him out. On the other hand, he had to see if there was some connection. Something that was triggering this since he knew he didn't have catnip on him.
With one last resolute breath he vaulted onto her balcony and took a crouching position on her railing. After placing his baton back on his back he peered inside hoping the young designer was still awake. She usually was since she was a night owl of sorts. His eyes moved the glowing screen of her PC and then to a small lamp beside it. He still didn't spot the girl, but this meant she was awake at least. Now all he had to do was wait to get her attention... He spotted her two seconds later coming up her steps while drying her hair. The blush that crept to his cheeks couldn't really be helped. While he had run around town while she was in her PJs seeing her now having just got out of the shower? Whole different vibe. He quickly moved to tap on her window before she noticed him leering like a creep. Bad enough Ladybug probably thought he was. He didn't need to add Marinette to the list.
She seemed a little more surprised than usual to see him despite the fact he'd come by on several occasions just to say hi. "Chat Noir? What are you doing here so late?" She opened the hatched and instantly pulled away from him.
He found it odd, but didn't think much on it. "I wanted to talk to you about a... problem I've been having." He admitted as he hopped down onto her bed from the window.
"Problem? Is it with Ladybug?"
He flinched at the mention and knew he was blushing. "Is it that obvious?"
Marinette rolled her eyes. "You could say that."
He rubbed the back of his neck as he gave a weak smile. "Well... for the most part it is. You see I recently realized I had an issue with... a certain substance... that cats like..."
"Catnip." She stated bluntly causing the cat hero to wince from the embarrassment.
"Uh... yeah. Anyway, I honestly don't know why, or even how since I don't have any catnip, but I suddenly zone out and... I think I may have hurt Ladybug today. I can't really remember it, but I did it yesterday too." He then placed his claws over his drooped ears in shame. "She probably thinks I'm a creep, but I couldn't help it."
Marinette furrowed her brow in worry. Chat really looked torn up about how catnip was making him feel, and do. She wanted more than anything to pull him into a hug and tell him it wasn't true. The incidents may have been really hard to deal with at the time, but she knew he didn't mean to. She also couldn't help secretly loving it now that she knew who Chat really was. "I'm sure it's alright Chat. Ladybug probably understands. You are partners after all, so she knows you."
Chat Noir looked to her with the saddest eyes she'd ever seen on him. "But... what if she doesn't... She might not ever want to see me again. I-I... I love her..." He pouted as he curled into a ball next to her desk. "I don't think I could handle her hating me." Those words hit Marinette like a speeding big rig. She could practically hear the horn blaring for her to move, but her body wouldn't budge. She didn't even notice when Chat Noir had begun to sit up and look at her curiously. "Marinette?" He questioned with a minor crack of his voice from the lingering emotion.
She instantly snapped out of it and flailed her arms out of reflex. Unintentionally, she'd knocked a familiar fish toy right smack at Chat's face. "Oh! I'm so sorry Chat!" She reached over to pick it up quickly.
"It's okay... really..." He drawled out with an odd tone of voice.
She eyed him warily at the familiar vocal shift. With both hands held up and gripping the toy she called out to him questioningly. "Chat?"
He looked up at her with his pupils wide as dinner plates and a goofy grin crawled up his lips. "Purrrrincess..." He giggled a bit at hearing himself before he crawled over to her feet.
She was able to side step around him before she was caught and climbed up to her loft bed. "Chat Noir, calm down." She tried to order without keeping the stutter from her tone.
"But Purrrincess... I just wanna..." He giggled again cutting himself off. Her expression paled. He was much worse than any of the times before. With an odd swiftness considering his high state, he crawled up to the bed with her and pinned her down with goofy excitement. "Oh Purrrincess... You smell so nice, and warm..." He muttered as he took to rubbing his face on hers affectionately.
"C-Chat!" She held off screaming much to her own relief, but she wouldn't hold off for long. The shock was still getting to her. "Calm down Marinette, calm down." She quietly chanted to herself. "He's acting on catnip..." She stated before it hit her. "But where was it?" She took a good look around as Chat moved down to rub against her stomach. It allowed her to sit up partially on one elbow. As she sat up a bit more to see better she noticed Chat's face moving off of her slightly and looked down to see him pawing at something. Something that was in her hand. "The cat toy?" He pawed at it even more as she lifted it up and his purring roared with his excitement. "Hold on..." She used her free hand to push him back as she held the toy up close. It didn't say anything about catnip, but maybe? She took a sniff and sure enough it had a feint minty smell, much like catnip would. "This toy is lined with catnip!?"
"It is?" Chat Noir purred as he rubbed against her obstructing hand. "Wow, I never thought of that..." He didn't seem to really understand what he was saying since he sounded so out of it. "You're so smart Bugaboo." He drew it out before that too morphed into a purr and he flopped down onto her lap.
Marinette couldn't help but find the whole thing ridiculous, utterly ridiculous in the words of Chloe. "So this whole time, I was the one who had the catnip." She could almost face palm if she had a free hand.
"That certainly explains a lot." Tikki declared as she floated up to the toy in her chosen's hand. "That's why Plagg was all over me back in the locker room. I was sitting on that toy all morning." She couldn't help joining in on Marinette's laugh. It was so ironic after all.
"Guess that means I owe you an apology kitty. I got you all worked up and worried." She scratched behind his cat ears causing the cat hero to turn his head outward she could more easily reach the other one.
"That's okay Purrrincess Bugaboo... I still love youuuu..." Dragging once again into a purr his movements started to calm and his claws no longer made any moves to the toy. From his position, even if his eyes were open, he wouldn't have been able to see the shock on her face.
"Princess Bugaboo...?" She parroted at the strange conjoining of the nicknames of her two personas. "Of course... Milady..." He snuggled a bit on her thigh but not as vigorously as before.
She turned to Tikki who was looking at them with an adoring expression. "You don't think he...?"
Tikki merely shrugged. "It's possible Marinette. Plagg has sometimes been very observant on catnip. It usually has something to do with cheese though."
"Purrincess Bugaboo?" Chat questioned as he lifted his face from her lap to look up at her. She could see his eyes were slowly shifting back to normal, and a line of drool on his chin was drying up.
"Oh no..." She hadn't noticed he was drooling. She looked down and sure enough there was a wet blotch stretching from her waist to halfway down her thigh; moving as he did. She didn't really have much time to dwell on it though, as Chat closed in on her face with curiosity. She could tell his eyes were clearing, and he squinted as if trying to get his vision into focus. Marinette turned away out of reflex when he got too close to her face.
Only a few centimeters away she felt his calm breath. "Marinette..." She then heard silence as Chat finally felt his vision fully clear. This was definitely Marinette though he thought... He remembered calling out Bugaboo, his pet name for Ladybug. As that hit his mind he couldn't help noticing Marinette's earrings. Simple black studs. The same ones he'd seen on her countless times since they met. They could go with almost anything so it made sense since Marinette followed fashion, but... they were almost the perfect size. He reached up with his ring hand to look closer. First at his ring then back to the earrings. His ring's shape never changed, just the color. These studs were the same size and shape as... "Ladybug...?" He rubbed his thumb gently over the jewelry a he said that, and felt the pull that came with her flinch. Through his thoughts over Ladybug he hadn't realized their position, and it caught him by surprise when he did. "Oh!... Marinette, I'm so sorry!" He scooted back tripping off the loft bed in the process with a loud clatter.
She quickly moved to the edge to check on him only to find him in a rather uncomfortable position. She knew she shouldn't laugh, but just couldn't help it. "Oh Chat!" He didn't exactly look happy about the situation, but the laughter was contagious, and soon three laughing voices erupted in the room. "Silly kitty."
"Well, I guess silly is better than... Huh?" He stared wide eyed at the red kwami floating beside Marinette with an amused expression. "Y-You really are Ladybug!" He picked himself up and pointed with an accusing finger.
Both Marinette and Tikki traded amused expressions. "I guess he hadn't figured it out?"
"I guess." Marinette shrugged as well. The situation was just too funny at this point for either of them to care. "Yup, I'm Ladybug..." She then held up the cat toy. "I'm also accidentally the source of the catnip."
Chat furrowed his brow, confusion evident. "What? You had it? Why?"
Marinette traced a finger over the new seem. "I picked this up on my way back to the Eiffel tower yesterday. I accidentally crashed into a few boxes of pet toys. The clerk gave me this one because it was torn."
"A reminder not to be so clumsy." Tikki poked in good fun.
Marinette rolled her eyes with a smile. "Well excuse me if I don't have the grace of a model 24/7. Story of my life." Both girls giggled while Chat Noir still looked confused.
"Uh... so..." He gestured between her and himself as if he wanted to explain something, but couldn't make the words come out.
"Yes, it's my fault you were acting so weird. Sorry Chat."
While he was still a bit muddled by everything he just found out, he did enjoy a breath of relief that she wasn't mad. "I may not get it, but I'm just glad you don't think I'm a creep or something."
"I already told you Chat. We're partners, and I know you'd never do anything like that." She pat his shoulder to help comfort him.
He smiled back before it morphed into a smirk. "Well, not unless you asked me too." He took her hand to kiss her knuckles flirtatiously.
A new blush bloomed on Marinette's face at the tease. She pulled her hand away with a dash of Ladybug confidence before an idea came to mind. "I told you Chat Noir, there's a boy I like already." She almost lost her nerve to tease him when she saw his disheartened look.
"Oh... Yeah, I forgot." He sighed before looking back at her. "Well... Since I already know your identity, could I at least know his name? I kinda wanna know who this guy I can't measure up to is."
Marinette pat his head with a soft smile. "Sorry, but no kitty. I will tell you he's in my class though. I've been trying to work up the nerve to confess to him, and I think I'll finally do it tomorrow."
Chat took a step back and rubbed his neck. "O-Oh? Well... I guess I'll get out of here-"
"Marinette?" They both heard from the hatch to her room.
"My dad? Oh, he must've heard you fall!" She whispered as she yanked him up to the loft bed and push him up through her window.
"Marinette? Are you okay? I thought I heard something fall?" Tom asked as he peeked open her door.
"Oh, sorry Papa, I knocked a few things from my desk. I didn't mean to make you worry."
Tom gave a nod. "Alright then, good. Good night Marinette."
"Night papa."
Adrien arrived extra early for school the next day. Since Marinette was early the day before, he didn't want to take the chance he missed who she confessed to. "You really need to lighten up. Just because she doesn't know who you are doesn't mean she won't notice you acting weird." Plagg warned as he dug through the box in Adrien's locker. He pulled up a nice piece of Camembert just as the model slammed the door shut.
He'd heard a noise and dashed over to the door to see who it was. He was glad he'd come early when it turned out to be Marinette, and he opened the locker room door for her. "Morning Marinette. Here early again?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I had something important to do."
He tried to look curious even though he knew what she was talking about. "You do? What is it?"
Marinette gave him a sly smile. It was curiously similar to the one she'd given him as Chat, but his curiosity for her crush outweighed everything else. She leaned in closer to whisper. "If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone alright?"
He quickly nodded. "Of course Marinette."
She giggled and moved closer to his ear. "There's this guy I have a crush on, and I want to confess to him today."
Adrien did his best to keep the disappointment from his face. It must not be him then. "Oh? Well... Good luck Marinette. He's a... lucky guy." He looked away from her as he finished. This made him completely miss the look of worry she'd given him. She gripped her bag tightly. The plan was to tell him after school, but she couldn't stop herself from feeling bad. Sure it was to get back for the tease he'd given her, but maybe waiting over night was enough? She peeked around to try and see his face, but he turned away completely. "Oh sorry... I just had an off night." He tried to play off, but the obvious heartbreak in his eyes was crushing her.
"Hold on Adrien." She grabbed his shoulder as he tried to walk around her. "Y-you'll find this funny." He doubted it, but stopped all the same. "That guy I like, when I first met him, I thought he was awful."
Adrien narrowed his eyes as he glared at the door. "Oh?" Why was he staying? The last thing he wanted to hear was about how she fell in love with some other guy.
"Yeah, but that was because I didn't know him yet. I didn't see how sweet, and kind, and sincere he was until we bumped into each other after school. It was raining, and I didn't bring an umbrella."
Adrien rolled eyes. "I suppose he gave you his and you fell madly in love with him?" He could almost laugh considering he'd done the same thing for her on his first day of school... The thought made him freeze.
"Actually yeah, but that was just the start." Marinette began again trying hard to keep her words straight. "Every day I got to know him more, and realized just how wrong that first impression was. Unfortunately, every time I've tried to tell him so far ended in failure. I could barely get a sentence out when talking to him, and usually made a fool of myself."
The blonde refused to look back at her as he thought about it. She did that all the time... at least he thought she did. "S-so... what changed? Aren't you worried you'll mess up again?" He didn't want to hope, but... What if?
"This is the funny part actually." He felt her squeeze his shoulder. "Because yesterday I realized he had this whole other side to him. He was someone I relied on more than anyone else, but I was so focused on the side of him I saw at school, that I didn't connect the two. Now that I see the whole picture, I know I can tell him how I feel, and actually..." She hesitated as she felt her tongue tie up a bit.
Adrien finally turned back to her looking almost hopeful. "Actually?" When he placed a hand on hers the blush she'd been trying to keep at bay won out.
"T-That other side I didn't know was him before now... made me love him even more."
"He must be someone really great then.." Adrien commented with a small smile forming on his lips.
Marinette saw it and giggled. "Yeah, if a bit of a flirt when he shouldn't be." She teased.
"But wouldn't that mean he likes you?" Adrien countered as he started to catch on.
The girl merely rolled her eyes. "Yes, he likes to test my patience with his puns."
Adrien shared a laugh with her before turning completely and taking her hand in both of hers. "Marinette, just so I don't jump to conclusions, please tell me." He asked with a serious and longing expression on his face.
"Seriously Kitty? Do I need to spell it meowt for you?"
Adrien's surprise was pretty short lived. He'd had a feeling she knew he was Chat by the way she was talking. The use of his pet name just made it completely clear. "That would be purrfect Bugaboo." He then lifted her hand to kiss it.
"I suppose I asked for the pun when I used one first." She giggled before hearing him start to purr. Instead of kissing her hand he started to rub in on his face affectionately. "What?" She pulled up her hand but he merely followed and ended up wrapping his arms around her.
"So nice..." He purred even louder and Marinette simply shrugged. "Tikki?" She turned at the sound of another purr and saw her kwami cuddled up inside Adrien's reopened locker. She was petting Plagg who was laying against her looking cozy as a kitten. "Did you bring that cat toy?"
The red kwami shrugged. "Oh come on Marinette, don't you like it?"
The girl raised an amused brow. "I thought Plagg was dangerous with catnip?"
"Sure, but since I knew he wasn't hording it I thought a little would be okay." Tikki hummed with delight before seeing the moderately scolding expression mixed with a tease. "You're not the only one who enjoys a cuddly kitty you know." She defended as Marinette rolled her eyes.
And done. My aim was to make a ridiculous situation that ended with a reveal. I think I succeeded. I used a more realistic approach of what would happen when Chat reacted to catnip without knowing. Catnip doesn't make every cat a bouncing ball of fur. It can actually be used to make cats more affectionate. The only cat I saw in person react to catnip was rubbing all over the treated cushion, pawing at it and drooling for several minutes. I took a little bit of that into account when I decided how Chat would act.
