AN: Question: how would you guys feel about me getting a beta reader for this fic? And, more pressingly, how many of you would be interested?
Also I goT A CAT PUN SHIRT! I'M WEARING IT RIGHT NOW AND I LOVE IT! I saw it in the store, mind immediately flying to Chat Noir and how proud he would be of it, and grabbed it without even looking at the price. It is now my designated Fanfiction shirt – I like to think that Chat would be proud :)
Marinette sat on her bed, legs crossed with a blanket draped over her shoulders and her arms wound around a puffy pink pillow, as she stared, once again, at her phone from its place on her bed sheets. During the long hours she and Alya had chattered after her semi-breakdown/reunion, the brunette had brought up a point that hadn't even occurred to Marinette, and now that she thought more on the matter, it seemed even more pressing then before. Because, as trivial as the detail was, people would notice it, especially with all the attention she had drawn to herself with the revelation of her and Chat's 'relationship'.
Now you may be wondering: what on Earth was this small yet somewhat stress-worthy problem, and why was it causing Marinette to stare at her phone like it was a bomb that was about to go off in her hands. Well, the answer was simple; social media.
Marinette had a Facebook account – though she rarely used it – and because she had simpley set her username as 'Marinette Dupain-Cheng', thousands of people had found her through a simple search and common knowledge, and requested to follow her – purely because she was 'dating' Chat Noir. Now, this wasn't unusual, or a real problem in itself – she just ignored the requests in favour of keeping her follower count just to those she knew personally (she wasn't particularly fond of the idea of random people and tabloids looking at and judging her wall).
The problem was, however, that no matter who she allowed to follow her, the whole world could see her account's relationship status with a click of a button. Her Facebook status, which she still had set to 'blank' in pure laziness to change it when she first started her account, was just that; blank. Not 'in a relationship with: Chat Noir' like everyone expected them to be.
The technicality and drama surrounding online relationship statuses was purely stupid to Marinette, but some people were often stupidly observant. And doubtful. And obsessive. (Or maybe just protective? Chat's fans seem quite loyal and defensive of him from what Marinette had seen from the Chat Noir fan-accounts and blogs scattered across multiple social media platforms – Chat had even told her about them on patrol once. Said that he tried to follow (or friend) as many of them back with his official accounts as possible, because "Can you imagine their reactions when they get a notification that the Chat Noir has followed them, My Lady? I know if someone as pawsome as me followed me, I would swoon. Speaking of, would you care to finally follow me back on Twitter? You could see me fan-boy right here in person." It had come out cheeky, if not slightly arrogant, but Marinette could tell that he really just wanted to do something sweet for his fans to show them his appreciation.)
Regardless, the point was that people would start to take notice that their accounts weren't labelled as 'in a relationship' with each other. And, despite Marinette's opinion that the whole thing was stupid, she couldn't deny that fans and tabloids may take it the wrong way, and she didn't want anyone doubting the ruse that the two of them were dating – else they start to dig around and uncover the truth about their relationship.
Marinette groaned in frustration, receiving a concerned look from Tiki – the Kwami wanting to comfort her holder, but knowing the best way to do so was to give the girl some space to think things over.
Marinette was annoyed with herself for overthinking such a small matter. Because, truth be told, the problem had such an easy fix – all she had to do was change her status to 'in a relationship', and ask Chat to do the same, if only for the sake of keeping their lie alive. And yet there was just one thing, one teeny-tiny stubborn thought, that kept Marinette's fingers well away from her smartphone screen. Adrien.
Despite being in a fake relationship with Chat Noir, Marinette still had feelings for the blonde model – he was, after all, part of the reason why Marinette had agreed to fake date Chat in the first place; to get his attention. And it was this nagging feeling of stubborn love and loyalty (could she even say she was loyal to him when she was in a relationship with another boy?) (AN: Oh, the irony) that made her pause any further action to change her relationship status. Because as stupid as Marinette thought the concept was, she still felt that changing hers to 'in a relationship' with anyone but Adrien was very final. That she finally had to accept and acknowledge that she was, as far as the rest of Paris was concerned, in a relationship with the cat-themed hero. That she couldn't daydream about Adrien, or hope for any romance with him, because she already had a boyfriend; not that Chat would particularly mind if she did long to be with Adrien, given that Chat himself was longing for Ladybug (which was still her, but he didn't need to know that) (or rather, he did, but she couldn't tell him that). The whole situation was giving her a headache.
Then, just when she was about to let her head fall back and bang against the wall out of pure frustration, a light tapping interrupted her thoughts.
Straightening her spine and tensing her muscles out of battle reflex, Marinette paused for a moment in silence, trying to discern if she had actually heard the noise, or if she was just going insane.
Tap, tap, tap, it persisted.
Unfurling herself from her cozy cocoon of warmth, Marinette crawled over towards the ladder leading down from her loft and peeked over the edge, surveying the bottom level of her room in mild fear.
Tap, tap, tap.
Flicking her gaze over to her window, her eyes widened to find Chat Noir pressed against the exterior of her house, tapping at the glass with one hand while the other fought to keep him aloft.
"Princess?" he called from outside, voice muffled yet distinguishable. "Are you in there? Can I come in?"
Marinette sighed and turned to whisper for Tiki to hide, before she climbed down the ladder and made her way over to the window. Chat Noir spotted her, and lit up immediately, looking for all the world a lost kitten that just found its owner. A smile ghosted her lips at the thought, fingers unlatching the window lock and ushering the blonde inside.
Once the window was closed once more, Marinette turned to Chat with one eyebrow raised in suspicion. "Why, it seems the stray has come 'round to visit," she says with mild amusement.
Chat Noir grins. "It would seem so," he replies, getting comfy atop Marinette's chaise lounge. "Just checking up on you. Making sure you weren't in too much trouble for skipping school."
Marinette pursed her lips at the thought. "Well, my parents certainly weren't happy, and Alya gave me hell for it, but hopefully it'll all die down soon."
Chat nods in understanding. "My farther wasn't happy either – gave me a big, long lecture and everything," he comments, mind tracing back to that afternoon when he was called into his father's office. He was given a stern talking to, but was more or less let off with the excuse of being harassed by reporters and hiding it out in a public bathroom the whole day because his "phone died and the thought of being caught by them again was nauseating". Chat quickly fought to change the subject at the unpleasant memories. "So, what have you been – are those pictures of m– Adrien Agreste?"
Marinette flushed scarlet as she realised Chat had spotted her millions of posters of the teen model she had plastered around her study desk – mind spiralling into panic and failing to catch Chat's slight slip up in her fluster.
"No! Well – I mean – yes, maybe, but – i-it's for measurements!" Marinette went redder the more she talked. "He has a good figure – you know, because he's a model, and all that – so I use the pictures as a guide for when I'm sewing and designing male's clothing and, yeah." She was astounded she had even managed to talk, let alone come up with a half-solid excuse – albeit its stuttering, rambling delivery.
Chat blinked owlishly at her, clearly more than a little stunned at her unnecessarily flustered reaction, but was polite enough not to inquire about it further. "Right – makes sense," he says, and he means it. "So, what you been up to?"
Marinette sighed – half from relief of the topic change, and half in misery from the topic that he changed it to. "I was trying to convince myself to change my Facebook status to 'in a relationship', because people might become suspicious about us if we don't, but I just can't bring myself to do it because it feels so final – like I'm officially cutting off any chances I might have had with my crush."
Chat frowns in contemplation. "Changing your Facebook relationship status?"
Marinette nods, before climbing up the ladder leading to her bed, grabbing her phone, and swinging back to the ground floor with practiced ease and speed. "It's such a stupid, trivial thing, I know, but I just can't bring myself to do it," Marinette rambles as she types in her phone password, her Facebook settings popping up in place of the lock-screen. She glares at it.
"So, what you're saying is that you don't want to change your Facebook status because it feels like completely cutting your availability off from your crush?" Chat asked, somewhat confused yet also strangely amused.
"Yes, exactly. I just… can't," Marinette sighs, running her fingers through her bangs as she collapses on the chaise long next to Chat, phone in hand.
Chat's quite for a moment, before a wild, mischievous grin splits across his face, green eyes glinting with wicked humour. Marinette feels herself pale at the sight, and before she can react or defend herself, Chat has snatched the phone from her grasp and begun tapping away at it.
"Hey!" Marinette shouts, sitting bolt upright and grabbing wildly at her phone. Chat only laughs at her futile attempts, holding the device just out of reach, before he's satisfied with the result on the screen and allows her to seize it from his leather-clad grip.
Marinette gasps in shock and horror at her newly-updated Facebook account, now proudly (or mockingly; she couldn't really tell) stating that she was in a relationship with the damned ally cat himself, Chat Noir.
Chat grins. "Problem solved - I did it for you."
She huffs. "I wasn't ready! I wanted to at least cherish a few more moments of my virtual singularity!" Marinette quips, irritated despite her slight internal relief that the ordeal was finally done with. Her anger flared, however, as Chat continued to laugh as if he had just made the best cat-pun of all time. Like a cat with the cream, Marinette thought (before realising she just made a mental cat pun and cringed at herself). In a fit of annoyance and slight temper, she grabbed a pillow off the chaise lounge and hit the cackling cat upside the head. Chat immediately went still, the laughter stopping as quick as it started as he slowly – oh so painstakingly slowly – turned his eyes towards her. They seemed to burn like green fire – his intense gaze locking with hers in a way that clearly communicated one single message: War. Not just a pillow fight, but a pillow war.
Suddenly Marinette wished she hadn't touched the pillow at all.
AN: Oh my God. Guys. I just read one of the best books ever. And now I can't even function, holy hell it was just so great. I don't even want to look at another book right now, because nothing in my mind right now will compare to the gloriousness that is Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (which I highly recommend you read if you haven't already). God bless SnowBaz, I will die with that ship XD
Maybe I'll even write a Carry On fanfiction sometime, who knows :)
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter – sorry again for such an uneventful one. The Marichat here was disappointing, I know, but I'm sure it would have been worst if I tried to force anything more from it. Maybe I'll write the rest of the pillow war next chapter when I'm more over my writer's block – let me know if you guys want to see that, because I've got a few compromising situations the two could get themselves into during that scenario ;)
As always, thank you for reading!
Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug, or Facebook.
