The Marinette Project, Chapter 11: Pins and Needles
Marinette heard a gentle knock on her open door, distracting her slightly from the jewelry under construction on her table. "Come on in!" she called, without looking up.
She heard a plate and glass being sat down near her. "That is beautiful, Marinette," her mother chided, "but it'll be just as beautiful after lunch."
"Thank you, Mom," said Marinette, gratefully. "I know, I didn't come down for lunch with you and Dad, I was just caught up in this... I want to get this one part just right."
Sabine admired the tiara-in-progress. "Very nice. Is that like the one you said that Adrien wanted to buy for you?"
"Uh-huh!" she grinned. "It's pretty close to that. Not QUITE as sparkly - I can't afford crystals quite like that one had on it - but I redid this part here with my own design, see?"
"I like that," admired Sabine. "Between working on that and all the sewing you've been doing, I've barely seen you since Monday! How close are you to being ready?"
"I'm... well, I'm sure I'll keep tinkering with little things until about three minutes before the Masquerade, but I'm mostly done," she replied. "Mylène asked me if I could make a minor alteration to her dress, I've got Chat's 'armor' just about right... Is there anything I can help you or Dad with?"
"Actually... since you're offering... I was hoping to ask you about a tiny favor or two for our costumes. But only if you're sure it's all right...?"
"I can always make time for you and Dad! Don't be silly," Marinette smiled. "What do you need?"
Sabine showed her a rough drawing on some scrap paper. "My dress, I just want to do this here... a tiny change, like this? And for your father, do you think you can make something simple like this? I really don't want to take up your time if you're busy with your own things."
"No problem, Mom! Those are both really easy. I can probably knock them both out in an hour. Let me know if I can do anything else besides that."
"Oh, I think we're pretty well set," said Sabine. "We don't go all-out like we did when we were your age, but even in simpler costumes we still love going to the Masquerade together. Can I see how your dress is coming along?"
Marinette went over to her closet and pulled out the gown she'd been adjusting. "Voila," she beamed, holding it over herself.
Sabine whistled appreciatively. "You're going to spend half the night holding Chat's jaw up off the ground. That is gorgeous! You'll be able to move all right in it, too?"
"Definitely. The bottom is poofy enough that I have lots of legroom, and I've got a pair of low heels for it that look like glass slippers. I can walk around and dance all night, and I'll have a pair of simple flats in my clutch in case they do get uncomfortable. I want this whole night to be perfect, especially with how it's going to end..."
"The big secret at last, hmmm?" Sabine's grin was huge. "Good for you!"
"I knooooooooow!" Marinette trilled, pulling her arms up to her chest and closing our eyes. "I cannot WAIT! I mean, everything is already SO good with Chat..."
"So I've heard," winked Sabine.
"You... what?"
"Sound travels when the house is quiet, dear, even with your door shut. At least I know you're obeying the 'Don't scandalize the neighbors' rule."
Marinette debated which shade of red her face should become, and settled on maroon.
"Oh, stop," her mother laughed. "We talked about this. Not only do I know you two kiss and cuddle, I've encouraged it. Did I come up and investigate?"
"No, you didn't..." Marinette said.
"Then I haven't heard anything too incriminating yet, have I?"
"Uh, no," she grinned. "And I don't think you will any time soon, but thank you, regardless." MENTAL NOTE: LOWER MY SQUEAL VOLUME DRAMATICALLY! she thought.
"So if you're right about who he is... will Adrien get a turn at kissing and cuddling, once he's unmasked for you?"
"You have NO IDEA," breathed Marinette, then realized what she'd just said. "Uh, let me just change that to a simple 'Yes.'" Sabine was enjoying this conversation a little too much for Marinette's liking.
"Somehow I figured that," her mother laughed. "Do you think it'll be all right if we tell your father, once you know?"
"I'll ask Chat, but I would imagine he'd go with it just for the sake of making things easier for us." Marinette paused. "Wait, just Dad? Don't you want to know, too?"
It was Sabine's turn to pick out a lovely shade of red. "I, um..."
"Mom, YOU KNOW?" boggled Marinette. "For sure? For REAL?"
Sabine nodded, sheepishly. "I didn't mean to, but I do. I found out a couple of days ago by accident."
Marinette's mouth hung open. "What did you DO?"
"I had a suspicion, I set a tiny little trap that wasn't SUPPOSED to catch him! But it did," she replied. "I'll tell you about it after the Masquerade. You'll die laughing."
"And you haven't told ME?"
"Would you really want me to, dear? Especially if he's going to do it for real a few days from now?" Sabine asked.
"I... guess not," admitted Marinette. "But... holy crap, Mom. How did he react when you found out?"
"I think we both needed new pants," her mother laughed. "We both had a Did THAT just happen? look on our faces, then I went YOU! C'MERE! and dragged him aside so we could talk about it. Then the other day, when you had your really tough day and Chat came and checked on you... when you were asleep, he came over and we talked again. He's fine with it; he knows he can trust me to keep it to myself until he wants others to know."
"Dad doesn't know?"
"Not for sure. He thinks he's guessed it, just like you're sure you have."
"Are... either of us right?" she asked, hesitantly. "IS Chat Adrien?"
"Same question. Would you really want me to tell you that right here, right now before he can tell you himself?"
"No, but..." Marinette banged her fist on the table gently, but grinned while doing so. "Nnnnrrrrgh! It's just so... frustrating to be this close!"
"Let me put it this way, Marinette. Do you think I'd be teasing you like this, if I didn't know that when you do find out yourself, you will be absolutely delighted by who it is?"
"No," grinned Marinette, "and I think that tells me exactly what I need to know about what you know."
"Yes, you and Mayor Bourgeois will make a LOVELY couple."
"OKAY! I'm going to go rinse my brain out with bleach now, Mom, thank you very much..."
"Oh, hey!" Sabine said, "Now that I'm thinking of it, that day I was talking about just now, your really tough day? I wasn't going to pick on you at the time, but do you usually keep your earrings on the floor?"
Marinette froze. "No... why?"
"I found a pair of yours there on the rug. Little ladybug-shaped earrings. Chat nearly stepped on them before I put them on your computer desk."
WHEW! she sighed in relief. That answers that question; Chat didn't find them. Not that it would matter that much soon, but...
"Oh, yeah! I was looking for those," Marinette ventured. "I was wondering how they got there."
"Just be more careful next time. They would hurt a lot to step on. Actually... I really liked their design. Can I borrow them sometime?"
"Ummmm..." No, unless you really want to meet Tikki? "Let me think on that, I'm usually wearing them myself," she managed.
"Really? Usually, I see you with black ones on," Sabine replied.
"Well, um... if you see them lying around, just ask first, okay? I'm pretty attached to those," said Marinette.
"Fair enough, dear," Sabine smiled as she left.
Marinette mentally pictured her mother yo-yoing across the rooftops of Paris and giggled. I can just imagine what her reaction would be to meeting a Kwami up close, too...
Later in the afternoon, Marinette checked in with some of her girlfriends on her phone.
[Marinette] Mylène's coming over in about ten for me to work on her dress. Do you need any sewing? she sent to Alya.
[Alya] Not really, but can I come over and hang out instead?
[Marinette] Sure! Like I'd turn you away.
A little while later, Alya popped her head in the door of Marinette's room and greeted Marinette and Mylène. "Beauty and the Beast, I see?" she said, looking at the dress in Marinette's hands.
"Which of us are you calling a beast?" asked Mylène, with a laugh.
"Nothing but us beauties here," agreed Marinette. "Now we just need a big, hairy Gaston."
"I kind of wanted to stick to the original fairy tale versions," Mylène said, "but there's not that much visually to go on from that, and everyone's going to say 'Oh! You're Belle!' anyway... so we figured, fine, we'll Disney it. What did you and Nino decide on, Alya?"
"Little Red Riding Hood and her Big Bad Wolf," she grinned. "I talked him out of MC L'il Red and DJ BB Wolf, but it wasn't easy."
"Hah! Sounds like Nino," Marinette laughed. "I'm glad your fashion sense prevailed. Who else has decided?"
"Let's see..." began Mylène. "Juleka and Rose are doing Snow White and Rose Red, and oh! you HAVE to see Rose's Snow White, she's absolutely gorgeous! Though we had to keep explaining to Rose that this isn't the Snow White with the seven dwarves."
"Rose isn't Rose Red? Uh-oh. Operation: Secret Garden all over again," Alya chuckled.
"Ah, she's so cute, she can get away with it," Mylène said. "Kim is bringing his new girlfriend, and they're doing the Little Mermaid and her Prince... Alix wants to be Pippi Longstocking, which is KIND of a modern fairy tale, I guess... but what the heck, it fits her so perfectly, who could tell her no anyway? I heard Max is doing Geppetto and his little robot will be Pinocchio..."
"HAH! I have to see that," Alya laughed. "So, Miss Princess... who's your handsome prince going to be?"
"Actually, I'm princeless, though not without companionship," Marinette replied. "Chad..." she said, getting a huge grin from Alya, "is going to be my stalwart and valiant knight. I'm making cloth armor up for him..." She went to the closet and pulled out Chat's costume-in-progress.
"Oh, that's nice!" Alya and Mylène both marveled over her handiwork. "It's not all, like, clunky and metal but it really looks like it ought to be! He can actually move in that."
"I'm finishing up a helmet to go with it, he's making up a lance. Blunt, of course, so we can actually bring it to the Masquerade grounds," she said. "He likes what he's seen of it so far."
"Do we get to meet him without the mask?" asked Mylène. "We're all dying to know what the guy who won your heart is like."
"We'll... see," Marinette evaded, trying not to look directly at Alya's knowing grin. "He might have to leave early."
"What about your other handsome prince, Marinette?" Alya added, getting a dirty look from Marinette.
"You mean Adrien?" she asked.
"Who else?" laughed Alya. "Let me guess... you're a Princess, so you're painting him green, and he'll be your Pea!"
"He's about as observant as a vegetable sometimes..." Mylène chuckled.
Alya giggled, "And then to see if you're a real Princess, you can have him lie down, and you can..."
"Alya Césaire! You are HORRIBLE!" stammered Marinette, causing Alya and Mylène to laugh uproariously. "I have a BOYFRIEND!"
"Maybe he wouldn't mind...?" suggested Alya.
Marinette mouthed THAT'S JUST YOUR THEORY! at Alya, getting a slightly strange look from Mylène. "Anyway, I was with Adrien when he got his costume. He's going as a Court Jester."
"Awwww, devoted to making you smile..." Mylène said. "What about... you-know-who?"
"Who, Chloè? Oh, she'll be there. I don't think anyone invited her to be part of our group, but she pried what we're doing out of somebody. Kim says he saw her at Antoine's the other day, looking for Goldilocks costumes, and Sabrina looked REALLY unhappy about shopping for a bear suit. They left empty-handed, so maybe she's sticking with going as dolled up as possible." replied Alya. "Marinette, she's going to have an ABSOLUTE BIRD if she's not the most glamorous princess at the Masquerade!"
"Then she's going to grow wings," grinned Marinette, opening her closet again. "This is what I'm working on..."
Alya's jaw dropped as she studied Marinette's dress and tiara. "THAT... is..." she trailed off. "WOW!"
"We HAVE to see it on you!" exclaimed Mylène. "Please, Marinette!"
"Oh..." she blushed. "Just a minute, then." She kicked off her shoes and headed for the bathroom with the dress and tiara. "I might need a little help with the back when I return," she called out to Alya.
Soon after, Marinette emerged, shyly, padding into the room backwards. "Can you lace this up for me, Alya?" she asked.
Alya did as requested, and a moment later, all was ready and Marinette performed some slow twirls.
"Holy CRAP, girl!" breathed Alya.
"You are absolutely stunning, Marinette!" Mylène agreed. "Chloè will look like a Raggedy Ann doll compared to you."
"I'm not trying to compete with her, but I sure hope so," giggled Marinette. "You really like it?"
"You are going to BREAK. SOME. HEARTS," Alya managed. "Adrien's bells are going to fly off and land in Germany, for one."
"We're not just saying that because you're our friend and Chloè is a brat, Marinette... this is PERFECT on you!" Mylène answered. "It picks up every curve you have without flaunting them too much, the little ruffles... the lace... everything's in just the right amount. It's like you were made for it."
"Marinette? I'm dead serious about this," said Alya. "Make sure Adrien gets a video of this, from every angle, and shows it to his father. Gabriel Agreste will HIRE you as a designer just from this."
"Come on, Alya, be real," argued Marinette. "It's not like I designed and made this from scratch; I bought it and made a few alterations, that's all. And the tiara's not even finished yet."
"You had the eye to find that dress in the first place. Then you took that good idea as your starting point and made it all your own," Mylène replied. "And did it again, with the tiara. I wish I had half your creativity because then he'd hire ME."
"Thank you," Marinette sighed, sincerely. "I really want to look my best on Saturday. It's going to be a very special night."
Alya raised an eyebrow. "Special, as in..."
"Mind out of the gutter, Alya, nothing like that," grinned Marinette. "Let's just say that Chad and I might be... sharing some secrets."
Mylène watched Alya's face, then frowned as Alya's mouth formed an OHHHH! shape. "There's something here that I don't know about, isn't there? Some private joke?" she asked, hand on hip.
Marinette took a moment to come to a decision. Finally, she said, "There is, Mylène. And I'm willing to share it, in just a minute. Let me go change first before I mess this dress up..."
Mylène and Alya unlaced her, and watched as Marinette retreated to the bathroom to switch outfits again.
"Is she all right? Is there something weird, or wrong with Chad?" Mylène asked, concerned.
"No, maybe, and no. You'll see," counseled Alya.
Mylène looked unconvinced.
Marinette returned in her normal outfit, hung up the dress and tiara, and knelt down in front of where Mylène was sitting. "What I am about to tell you is a HUGE secret, okay?" she said, with a stern face. "Nobody gets told this. Not Ivan, not Juleka and Rose, nobody. Is that fair?"
"Y-yes?" Mylène stammered. "I promise."
"Mylène... his name's not Chad Black. But his name's not Adrien Agreste, either," began Marinette. "And you're going to kick yourself when you put these pieces together."
"I'm listening," said Mylène.
"What's French for 'black'?" Marinette asked, gently. "Plug that in instead of Black."
"Noir?" Mylène muttered. "Chad Noir? Chad Noir..."
Three... two... one...
"OH, WHAT THE HECK?!" Mylène gasped, recoiling, her eyes huge.
"Shhhhh!" said Alya and Marinette, together.
"Are you SERIOUS?" Mylène said in a low voice. "The SUPERHERO?"
"Yes," Marinette assured her. "THAT Chat Noir. My kittycat," she giggled.
"Do... we know him?" Mylène asked, awestruck. "Is he one of our classmates, or something?"
"I can't tell you that, because I honestly don't know for sure," Marinette said. "For obvious reasons, he keeps that a very big secret. Even I haven't been told yet."
"But... he's going to? Is that what you were hinting at?" asked Alya, wide-eyed.
"He... might. And even if he does, I can't share that, also for obvious reasons!" exclaimed Marinette. "Part of me is really WORRIED about knowing, and it's not for sure that it'll happen yet. So NEITHER of you make any assumptions, okay? He could be just about anyone underneath."
"Marinette, talk to me! What's he LIKE underneath, at least? How did this happen?" asked Mylène. "I'm processing this, I'd love some context."
Marinette gave Mylène an abbreviated version of the story - how she and Chat had met, how sweet and sensitive he is underneath, how the candlelight dinner and punting boat ride she'd spoken of previously were both completely true.
"What about Ladybug? Won't she be jealous?" Mylène wondered.
"Actually, no! I've met Ladybug... she's a sweetheart, and she gave us her blessing. I think she's happy to get a break from Chat throwing himself at her," laughed Marinette. "But they're still the best of friends and partners and any time duty calls, I told him, that comes first."
"Wow. It's just so... unbelievable! I mean, I believe you, Marinette, but..."
"Before the whole Stoneheart thing, would you have believed that Ivan was the one for you, Mylène?" asked Alya. "Or before that day in the zoo cage with Nino, I wasn't into him at all that way. Sometimes these things just happen suddenly, especially for teenagers like us."
"Good point. Marinette, I'm so happy for you!" Mylène exclaimed. "Though I feel so bad for Adrien."
"You DO?" asked Marinette, with her face screaming what.
"Without you there trying to win his heart, Chloè will be on him like white on rice," chuckled Mylène. "He won't know a moment's peace."
"Hah! He's still my really good friend. I'll do anything I can to run interference for him," Marinette laughed. "Plus, he's been deflecting her for so long that it's second nature for him by now..."
"Not a word, okay?" Alya reminded Mylène. "We three are the only ones in our class who know. Let's keep it that way. I love Rose to death, but can you imagine her trying to keep this secret?"
"Hahahahaha!" Mylène laughed. "She'd burst into a million little rainbow sparkles trying. I'll keep it to myself, I promise."
"But in return for keeping your secret," Alya grinned, "I do need to know one thing from you, Marinette."
"And that is... what?" asked Marinette, with some foreboding. She knew that grin too well.
"Do his cat ears wiggle when you kiss?"
No getting out of this one, Marinette thought, looking at the two rapt faces before her.
"Now, Alya, what makes you think that I could possibly answer that question yes, they absolutely do. You should see what his tail does."
To their astonished faces, she added, "On second thought, maybe you shouldn't..."
Adrien took one last look over his jester costume. It looked very good on him, but he felt like he wanted it to be absolutely perfect. That, and it made for a very convenient excuse to pull out his phone and ask to see Marinette again...
[Adrien] Hi! I'm debating about a minor tweak to my jester suit. Do you have any availability?
The response was quick:
[Marinette] I'm working on Mylène's dress right now with her and Alya. If you don't mind girl talk, come on over!
[Adrien] You're not going to have me model that, are you?
[Marinette] I wasn't, until you just put that idea in my head... How do you look in taffeta?
[Adrien] I guess there's only one way to find out...
Marinette's room erupted in giggles at the concept.
Mylène smiled, "I never thought I'd see the day when Adrien was chasing you and you were flirting back, Marinette."
She smiled back. "Well, now that I'm off the market, so to speak, it takes so much pressure off of me with him. And he is still sooooo sweet."
"Sweet enough to try on Mylène's dress?" Alya joked.
"Maybe not. But sweet enough to come over even when we're threatening that..." said Marinette.
A little while later - suspiciously fast for a non-Chat Noir person, if you asked Alya, which Marinette tried to avoid doing right then - a familiar blonde head poked through Marinette's doorway.
"Welcome to the party!" called Alya. "Hold still, we'll do your makeup and your hair in just a minute."
"Unfortunately, I know exactly what that's like. You'd be better at it than my photoshoot people are," laughed Adrien. "Hi, Marinette, everyone!"
"Hello, Adrien," Marinette replied, doing her best not to flutter. "Glad you could make it! So what can we do for you?"
"I had a minor adjustment I was thinking of for my costume. I was hoping I could show you and we could tweak it quickly..." he said.
"Sure! The bathroom's nearby, just slip into it, and we'll take a look," smiled Marinette.
"You want me to... model it? Right now?" asked Adrien.
Mylène laughed, "Well, you ARE a model, right? Hop to it, Mr. Model."
Alya said, "It's that or Mylène's dress, take your pick," which sent Adrien scurring off with his jester suit in hand.
"Well, that was easy," Mylène said.
"What else do you think we can make him wear?" Marinette asked.
"Do you have anything in black leather in your closet?" suggested Alya, getting a dirty look in return from Marinette.
"Do I look like someone who would have black leather in her closet?" she glared.
"It's the quiet ones you have to watch," Mylène giggled.
A voice called from outside the room, accompanied by jingling bells. "Well, then, don't watch me, because here I come."
Adrien pranced in, bells jangling, a nervous smile on his face. "So... what do you think?"
"I don't know, Adrien. Didn't you say you were putting on a costume?" Marinette asked.
"Ohhh!" laughed Alya, while Mylène's jaw dropped.
"Ha, ha," smirked Adrien. "No, really. I'm pretty happy with it, but what do you think we can do with this here?" he asked, pointing out how part of the sleeves fit him.
"You want that tightened up a little? I can do that, sure. Come here," Marinette beckoned.
Adrien came over and stood still as she readied a needle and thread. "You're going to stitch it while he's wearing it?" marveled Mylène.
"Her hands, I trust," he smiled. "I doubt Marinette would ever puncture me on purpose."
"Of course not! Where would I ever find another one of you?" said Marinette, stitching carefully. "It took me this long to be able to speak whole sentences to you, I'm not starting all over with a newer model."
"So I guess I'm last year's model, then?" Adrien said, trying to hold perfectly still.
"Oh, you have plenty of resale value left, don't worry," grinned Marinette.
Mylène looked at Alya. Do you believe these two? she mouthed.
Alya mouthed back, Maybe they got married and just didn't tell us.
A short time later, Adrien's costume was exactly how he wanted it. "Thank you, Marinette. Excellent work, as always."
Alya said, "If you think that's good, wait 'til you see what she did with HER dress!"
"I'd like to, actually... if you'd let me," Adrien said, his attention captured.
"I... guess?" Marinette said, a bit flustered. "I'm not ready to model it again, but I can at least show you what I did with it..."
She pulled the dress out of the closet and showed front and back to Adrien, who was visibly impressed. "Whoa! Marinette, that is something really special! I can only imagine how good it looks on you."
"If you'd been here half an hour ago, you would've seen it," Mylène noted. "And it's like she and it were made for each other."
"I suggested to her that your father might like to see it," Alya said, drawing a shush from Marinette that she ignored. "Don't you think so, Adrien?"
"Let me put it this way... he's always had an eye for new talent, and you have more than anyone else I know, Marinette," Adrien replied. "I won't force you to, but if you'd want me to, we can get pictures of you in it at the Masquerade and I could show him those. I DO think he'd be very impressed, especially coming from someone still in school."
"I... uh... maybe? That would be..." The concept threw Marinette for a loop. "You really think so?"
"He knows of you already, from the derby hat competition. If he sees something like this, you'd go up ten notches in his esteem in a heartbeat! He'd recognize the original form and pick out every improvement you made. I'm not saying that he'll be, like, 'Marinette, you're my new lead designer!' overnight... but if you'd want me to, he definitely ought to see this! It really might open some doors for you in his company."
"You'd do that for me, Adrien?" boggled Marinette.
"What wouldn't I do for you?" he smiled, and for a moment the old Marinette came back and started melting onto the floor. She gathered her composure quickly, but thought, Once I know for sure that you're my Kitty, Adrien, you're not going to know what hit you on our next date...
"So... are you coming with us to the Masquerade or meeting us there, Adrien?" asked Alya.
"I can come with you, sure," he replied. "Where are you all meeting up?"
"We'll pick one of our houses and sort of migrate from there. Everyone's parents will want pictures, so we're making the rounds," Mylène said.
"That sounds good! Text me who's the starting point and I'll have my driver drop me there," Adrien decided.
"Or you could just wait for us here that night," added Alya, slyly.
"Also a good option," said Adrien, giving Marinette a big smile.
"Marinette, is... Chad also coming with us?" asked Mylène, eager to join in the game now that she knew the ground rules.
Marinette thought fast. If Adrien is walking with our group... "I think he said he'd meet me at the park," she ventured.
Adrien tried not to give her too much of a look of relief. That'll ease my two-places-at-the-same-time problem by a little, he thought, but it's still going to be a night of quick-changes. "Good! I can't wait to meet him," he said with a grin.
"You haven't met Chad yet, Adrien?" Alya asked. "Actually, I don't think any of us have yet. We're very interested."
Marinette gave Alya yet another dirty look. "Oh, I think everyone will like him. He has a... certain charm about him that's very hard to resist," she said, picking her words carefully while gauging Adrien's reactions. "A very unique sense of humor, definitely a one-of-a-kind style. It was tricky for me to take him seriously at first. But once he showed me how deep his sensitive side is... mmmm, I was a love puddle."
"Well, that always was your type, isn't it?" said Alya. "The soft, sensitive guys, the romantic types."
"Yep! Definitely. The kind who'd give their umbrella to a girl in the rain," she purred, enjoying Adrien's progressively reddening face. "All right, I do need to get back to sewing - my mother asked me for a favor for her Masquerade dress. Everybody here got what they need?"
Mylène replied, "Yes, this looks great!"
Adrien just smiled and nodded. I have precisely what I need. And who, too.
Late in the evening, the Chat-phone rang. Adrien transformed quickly, making Plagg grumble about silly humans who don't understand the importance of napping, and answered Marinette's call.
[INCOMING VIDEO CALL - Marinette]
"Hey, you," Marinette said once she saw Chat's face pop up. She was stretched out in her pajamas, just like in their previous video call. "Are you busy?"
"Too busy for you? Never," grinned Chat. "What's up?"
"Nothing, really," she smiled. "I missed my Kitty. I'm not ready to sleep yet, I'm excited, I'm nervous, I'm full of ideas, I'm nervous, I'm trying to make myself not sit up soul-searching all night. So if I can't sleep, why should my loving boyfriend?"
"You said nervous twice," noted Chat.
"I like nervous," Marinette grinned. "I'm good at it."
"Masquerade jitters?" he asked. "Do you have anything left to do before we go?"
"I'll want you to come visit and pick up your suit of armor, of course," she replied. "And whatever adjustments you need made to it. I tweaked it a little so it should be pretty easy to get on and off - not that I'm expecting trouble tomorrow night, but this IS Hawkmoth we're talking about. If an Akuma shows up, I don't want you in the bathroom yelling 'Hold on a minute, I'm changing...'"
"Oh, Hawkmoth's a reasonable guy, I'm sure he'd understand..." Chat laughed. "The man doesn't know a thing about fashion, though. He designs some of the ugliest villain costumes..."
"Oh, my gosh! Speaking of fashion, I have to tell you what happened today..." Marinette explained Alya's idea and Adrien's willingness to pass pictures on to his father. "I'm excited by that but I am SUCH a bundle of nerves! Gabriel Agreste giving my dress even a casual look is a BIG DEAL!"
"It is," agreed Chat, "but it's also a really good idea. I've seen enough of your designs to know that you're a major talent, Marinette. And I'm not just saying that because you're my girlfriend, either. I know a little bit about style and fashion, no matter what you're about to say about my costume choices..."
She giggled. "Never crossed my mind, Mr. Leather Cat Ears."
"If your dress is even half as good as your friends think, it'll get his attention in a good way. And I bet it's twice as good as you think it is. I cannot WAIT to see you in it," Chat continued.
"I just want to be beautiful for you tomorrow night, Chat," Marinette fluttered.
"That shouldn't be hard for you," he smiled. "You're doing it already." He watched her melt in response.
"Why can't I kiss you through the phone?" blushed Marinette. "There must be an app for that."
"You know how to do that already!" Chat said. "A certain adorable goodnight kiss picture you sent me? That's never left my phone."
"Oh, you liked that?" she grinned.
"I look at it every night," he admitted. "One of my favorite reminders of you." I will not tell her that I kissed my phone... I'd never hear the end of that... I WILL NOT tell her that I kissed my phone...
"I'll have to send those more often," she purred. "After tomorrow night, I can send one to your normal phone, too."
"I'd love that," Chat replied, then thought for a moment. "How... do we want to do that, by the way? Going forward, I mean. Are we going to be a couple out of costume and I'll be your Kitty in private? That'd make things easier for us to be together in public, but I want to do it how you want to do it."
"I never want to hide you away, but that does make sense," said Marinette. "My dad brought that up as a good point - I can't be kissing your other self under the Eiffel Tower at noon and Chat under it in the evening, or there goes your secret identity."
"Or people will just think you REALLY like blonde boys," Chat laughed, getting a raspberry in return.
"You have more to worry about than I do with identity problems," as far as you know right now, "so I want to make sure YOU'RE comfortable with what we come up with," replied Marinette. "Don't make your life more difficult just to be with me."
She paused, rewinding the conversation in her head. "And did you just tell me that your secret identity has blonde hair?"
Whoops! "Somehow I don't think that you're surprised by that," said Chat.
"I'm not," she grinned. "Part of me just wants to call you by your real name right now... but I can wait one more day and do it right. Oh, and SPEAKING of secret identities... WHAT did my mother do to you?"
Chat cracked up. "The oldest trick in the book, and she did it so well that I fell for it. That's a dangerous woman. LADYBUG doesn't even know my secret, but she pulled it out of me effortlessly." He got a startled look on his face. "Wait, she TOLD you?"
"She admitted that she knows for sure, and that she's talked with you about it," explained Marinette. "She hasn't told me your name. Or anyone else, for that matter - not even my dad. She is SO fond of you, by the way. You really made a great impression on her, and on my dad, too."
"After tomorrow, she can tell him. Or you can! I'd like that. No further than that, of course, but I know you all know that," Chat replied. "I know I can trust both of them, and your mother is just plain amazing. I can see so much of both of them in you."
Marinette paused. "Will I get to meet your family? It's pretty much just your father, right?"
"Of course you will," Chat assured her. "You're a big part of my life. You're going to be a very important part of that life too."
"We are doing the right thing tomorrow, aren't we?" she asked, quietly. "You're sure about all of this?"
"I've never been more sure, Marinette." Chat's face was peaceful and sincere. "I really want you to know all sides of me, and to know you just as well."
"Me too, sweetie. Just be careful what you wish for," Marinette said, with a sly grin. "Good night," she whispered, blowing a kiss.
"Good night, sweet Marinette," he echoed, blowing one back.
[Call ended]
About a minute later, the Chat-phone buzzed again, this time with an incoming message. He opened it and saw a photo of Marinette lying on her pillow, her eyes closed peacefully, with a stuffed black cat doll wrapped up in her arms. The accompanying message was simple:
[Marinette] ...Soon.
