Okay. I must seem like a little brat since I never mentioned this before but OHMYGOSHAREYOUGUYSFORREAL?! I GOT 174 REVIEWS, 136 FOLLOWS, AND COMING! OH MY GOSHHHHHH!
It seems like yesterday I was freaking out over 30 reviews! But we're nearing TWO HUNDRED, like, UNBELIEVABLE. You people are too good to me …
THIS IS A MILESTONE IN MY WRITING CAREER (haha my writing what)! AND, now I'm not a child anymore. I'm officially a teenager! Dunno whether to be happy about that or what, but…
..Anyways, I believe this is quite overdue! I hope nightfury153 is still reading, because here I'm using their idea: "Marinette is afraid of thunderstorms!" Time for some MariChat fluff everyone, BUCKLE UP!
~In this snippet, Marinette cowers in fear from the thunder, but she should know that her knight in shining leather will always be there!~
Marinette had never really had any sort of opinion regarding rain until she met Adrien. Rain was where floating water in the sky pretty much relieved itself. What else? Oh, maybe meeting the total love of her life under the rain never happened. Oh. Right… regardless of that little fact!
But thunder? Thunder? That was a totally different story. Marinette loathed thunder; it was loud, scary, flashy with the lightning, and made her insides jump up. It was fine when she was fighting an akuma who could control thunder, namely Climatika, because she knew that it wasn't natural. Anything that was evil and unnatural, Marinette could fix with her Lucky Charm. But when there was a natural thunderstorm, Marinette would always hole up in her room with some headphones on maximum volume and anything that would make her comfortable, because she knew that nature was out of Ladybug's control and that the scary thunder and lightning outside was real. And, as one of the superheroes who protected Paris, Marinette also knew that everything could be gone in an instant- just like how the thunder struck. Boom! Besides, Marinette was jumpy and not fond of sudden noises.
The bad news was that there was a thunderstorm going on in Paris. The good news was that it was a Saturday. There was only so much someone's good luck could stretch; Saturday was the best Marinette would be getting. At least she wouldn't look like a coward in school as she would most likely hide under the desk while thunder boomed outside and Chloe laughed her snarky little laugh. She could hide in her comfortable bed, under the covers, with some music sounding from her headphones and a cup of hot chocolate as Tikki ate cookies by her side and she read a book or sketched a little…
Man, did that sound nice.
No, paradise was the right word as Marinette flinched again under the pelting rain. She held her jacket above her head for whatever meager cover she could get from the rain, and she was sprinting through the streets. Jeez, I shouldn't have gone to the fabrics store at all! Why is Paris weather so weird?! AND WHY DIDN'T THEY HAVE CARDAMOM GREEN FABRIC TODAY?!
Marinette was super pissed, but the thunder wasn't waiting for pissed people. As it rumbled, Marinette stopped with a jolt. "Marinette!" Tikki shouted from inside her coin purse. "The more you stop, the longer you stay away from your room! Just keep running!" Marinette determinedly nodded and ran faster, her feet splashing in the puddles that had already formed in the street. Despite the annoying ache in her arms from holding her jacket up, and her muddied capris, the thought of home drove her forward. Unbeknownst to her, a certain cat watched her as she ran back home.
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"Thunder and lightning!" Adrien exclaimed as he pressed his nose to the huge glass windows of his room. "I love thunder!"
Plagg threw a piece of Camembert in the air to catch it in his mouth. "Really, why so?" Plagg gulped his cheese down. "Don't most normal humans, I don't know, have no opinion? Or dislike thunder?" The strong pitter, patter of the rain on Adrien's large rooftop was comforting and watching drops roll down the window was intriguing.
Adrien shrugged. "I guess it varies. But don't you love how powerful it sounds?" Adrien grinned as he looked back out at the dark gray sky. "And it happens with a quick boom! From being Chat Noir, I know that everything could get better in an instant, just like the thunder happens. Fast and sudden."
Plagg frowned and his eyes widened in impress. "Wasn't expecting something kinda deep like that from you, kid. Mostly lovey-dovey mush." Plagg grimaced and stuck his tongue out. "Gross!" He swallowed another huge piece of Camembert which disappeared into his larger-than-life belly.
Adrien rolled his eyes. "I was expecting that from you. Anyways, want to head out?"
Plagg shot up. "What?! Are you crazy? It's a rainy day outside and it's nice and toasty in here, you've got all forms of recreation and I have my cheese! This is perfect!"
Adrien grinned. "Well, I want to head out. And it's way better out there anyways! We can relax some more once we come back from a quick run."
"What do you- you're crazy-" Plagg spluttered, but he was cut off as Adrien punched his right hand into the air. "Plagg, claws out!" The kwami's groans receded as he was sucked into the ring and magic transformed Adrien into Chat Noir.
Chat Noir grinned and flexed his claws a little before he opened one of the large windows and jumped from up high, enjoying the feeling of freedom and the wind tousling his hair before cleanly landing on a rooftop with no help from his baton. He ran freely, enjoying the feel of the rain on his hair and the pelting droplets on his suit.
He went on like this for a while, occasionally admiring the way the gray clouds rolled and rumbled, until he heard something peculiar below.
Splash. Skitter. Splash.
It sounded like someone was running- which was ridiculous, because barely anyone would be out in this weather (Chat didn't count himself into the group known as "just anyone"), and if they were, they'd have an umbrella. And most people knew that running in the rain made you wetter!
Despite all these facts, the mystery person kept running, and Chat let his curiosity get the best of him as he peeked over the edge of a rooftop. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw who it was.
Why is Marinette running through Paris on a really rainy day with her jacket above her head? Chat also noticed how she stopped and bent over a little every time the thunder struck. Strange…
Marinette seemed to run really quickly, and whenever she stopped, something had her nodding and running faster than before. Chat thought he saw a little red flash, but before he could delve deeper, Marinette abruptly turned a corner.
The rain made the rooftops slick, but Chat Noir kept his balance as he ran across the edges to keep up with Marinette. He was surprised at how good of a runner she was; she wasn't on the cross country team, but it sure did seem like she ran on a regular basis for some reason.
After some more running and watching, Chat came to a conclusion: Marinette was afraid of thunder.
Which, at first, he deemed totally ridiculous. Because you either loved thunder or you didn't know what it was! Or maybe a rare minority just didn't care. But dislike? Fear? He must have misjudged something, there was no way Marinette would be afraid of thunder.
Except every time that the thunder struck, Marinette would stop. As the time went on, the stops became shorter and shorter until they were just small jolts, but they were still there and it was no coincidence. Chat Noir blinked his large green eyes as he watched Marinette enter her bakery, soaked to the bone.
Maybe he'd pay her a visit.
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Marinette stopped for shorter and shorter amounts of time when the thunder struck, so she reached the bakery at a reasonable time. She had informed her parents about visiting the fabrics store, but she hadn't exactly checked up on the weather forecast…
Once or twice, she thought she heard something skid on the roofs above, but didn't think much of it. It was raining hard, maybe some gravel came loose or something.
Marinette finally opened the tinkling door to her parents' bakery. It was a cold day, and there was nothing better than a warm treat on a hot day. The warm bakery was warmly lit up with yellow lights and the fresh scent of bread was in the warm air. Many people were inside the small bakery, and most of them looked over at the dripping wet Marinette.
Marinette paid them no mind and instead walked up, kissing her mother's cheek. Sabine was stationed at the cashier and sighed as she looked Marinette up and down. "You couldn't have bothered to take an umbrella?"
Marinette waved her hand in the air. "Don't act like you always read the forecast, Maman! And guess what? They didn't have cardamom green…"
Sabine laughed. "Aw, maybe next time. For now, change up before you get a cold."
Marinette nodded and headed upstairs, gathering a towel and the most comfortable pair of fluffy pajamas she owned from her room before going to the bathroom to change. Tikki zipped back inside her room to eat up on a stash of cookies Marinette kept in her computer drawer. Once she had dried up, and was dressed in impossibly soft pink fleece bottoms and a long-sleeved white shirt, she entered her room. She instantly dropped her jaw and wet clothing in unison.
There was someone on her bed, obviously having entered through her trap door. It didn't matter who, they were an intruder, and Marinette didn't bother to try to make out their face. Instead, she did something anyone would do in a situation as such.
She quickly darted over to her table in one stride, picked up a random pen, and- with deadly Ladybug accuracy- fired it at the intruder.
A sudden pained yowl had Marinette thinking, hey, don't I know this voice? It sounds kinda like… Oh, crap-
"OW! Marinette, what was that for?" Chat Noir whined as he rubbed his sore forehead. He didn't think that a pen, a capped one at that, could be so deadly. Wait, why was she able to throw like that in the first place?
Marinette stood speechless for a few more seconds before her brain started functioning again. "Hey!" She irritably said as if realizing for the first time that Chat Noir was in her room. "I have every right to throw anything at an intruder! Wait, why are you even here?!" Crap, did he see Tikki?!
Chat Noir instantly held up his hands in surrender. "Don't throw anything!" He quickly rushed out. Marinette rolled her eyes. "I saw you running through the rain and thought it was weird. Why were you outside anyways?"
Marinette almost didn't want to answer him because of her stupid reason, but then she realized something. "Wait, if you saw me, that means you were outside! Can I ask you that question?" Okay, seems like he didn't see anything… she must be inside eating then.
Chat Noir looked surprised as Marinette sent him a smug smile. Then, to her surprise, he grinned and shrugged. "Well, I couldn't resist a run. Besides, there was thunder!" At that, Marinette involuntarily flinched against her will. Chat Noir frowned, his suspicions more than confirmed, but he asked anyways. "Princess… are you afraid of thunder?"
Marinette rubbed the back of her neck. She considered lying, but that would just be blatant and plain funny after she'd reacted to the word like that. She sighed in defeat and dropped her hand. "Yeah, go ahead. You can laugh now."
Chat Noir furrowed his eyebrows under his mask and hopped down from Marinette's loft bed. "What makes you think I'd laugh? We're all afraid of something." He walked forward and placed a hand on Marinette's shoulder. "Even moi, the great Chat Noir!" He joked. "Can you believe it?"
Marinette gasped in fake shock. "What, I never would have guessed! Chat Noir, afraid? That is simply catastrophic."
Chat Noir gaped at Marinette. "That was so… unoriginal."
Marinette smacked Chat's forearm. "At least thank me for even saying that. It hurt my soul." Chat Noir smiled broadly. "It's great to know that a pun for me is priority over a Princess' soul."
Marinette smacked Chat again. "Oh, get over yourself."
Lately Marinette had been warming up to him as Adrien more, but she was never like this- carefree, talking as if it were breathing, making (bad) jokes, and acting like- well, really good friends. This was a side of Marinette that he felt Adrien never got to see, and he wanted to find out why. Especially since he liked this side, a lot. It reminded him of Ladybug.
"So, Princess, mind the change in topic... do you know this guy named Adrien?"
Instantly Marinette started sputtering and choking and her face became a little red. She coughed and beat a fist on her chest. "Uhh… which- which Adrien? There's more than one in Paris… I think…"
"How many do you know?" Chat asked with amusement. Marinette averted her eyes and her red cheeks intensified. "Okay," she muttered. "I-He's a really… really nice guy." Chat felt joy grow in his heart at that. And that was when he decided to look around Marinette's room.
The last time he came here, the walls were bare, but this time there were pictures. Of Marinette's family and many silly pictures with her friends, yes, but…
…there were also at least four pictures of him as Adrien. It seemed Marinette had just started putting some pictures up on her wal
"So… what's this?" He asked, gesturing to the wall as he walked forward. Marinette made a weird noise in the back of her throat and threw herself in front of the wall before Chat could get there. For some strange reason, she stood protectively in front of one particular drawer and pushed it to make sure it was completely closed. He had to ask her how she was so fast. "Uhh-" Marinette laughed loudly. "This-This is just my gallery of stuff!" Her eyes narrowed. "Hey, why are you snooping around? Wait! You didn't even answer my question, why are you here?!"
Chat Noir sighed. "I guess the cat is out of the bag." Marinette snorted. "I thought you'd be afraid of thunder, so I decided to come here to help you cheer up and such. Since, you know, the great Chat Noir can help anyone and anything."
"If only he could help himself."
"Rude!"
And although Marinette was acting a bit peeved on the outside, her heart was actually quite warm with Chat's thoughtful actions. She smiled genuinely at him… and that smile turned into another flinch as thunder struck again. It seems Chat had left the trapdoor open from when he'd entered her room.
"Um…" Marinette swallowed. "I'll close that so I won't be jumping every other second." She meant it as a joke, but it came out more serious than she'd have liked.
"Hey, Princess…" Chat's soft voice had Marinette shiver a little as she pulled the trapdoor closed and turned back around to face him from her position up on her bed. "How about a movie?" Chat's sudden suggestion surprised Marinette, who stared at him.
"W-What?"
"To take your mind off of the thunder! In a mewment like this, a mewvie would be a mice distraction from the thunder on a nice Caturday like this!"
Marinette's jaw dropped open; she was thunderstruck. "Did you seriously rat out four puns in one go?"
"I think I heard one in there."
'Whe- oh… my God." Marinette clutched her hair and her eyebrows furrowed when she recalled the word rat. "You're infecting me, stop!"
Chat laughed merrily. "Unless you want me to keep throwing puns out, you can watch a movie with mew instead of jumping at the thunder."
Marinette blinked before she relaxed and smiled. She picked up all the blankets off of her bed and threw them overboard, catching Chat by surprise as they fluttered right onto him. She climbed down her loft bed, laughing, as she watched Chat thrash around in the blankets. "What was that for-!"
Marinette grinned and pulled the mass of blankets off of his head, laughing at his mussed up hair which was now falling even lower onto his left eye. "Blankets and movie! Perfect combination, right?"
Chat blinked and Marinette slowly lowered the blankets. "Right? Hey, have you ever had movie nights before?"
Chat sheepishly laughed and plopped down. "First time for everything!" Before Marinette could ask anymore questions about what that meant, Chat pulled down Marinette's laptop and flipped it open. Marinette thanked the heavens that only her desktop computer had the completely embarrassing wallpaper of Adrien, and not her laptop. Instead, her laptop's wallpaper was a picture of Marinette with all of her classmates (save for Chloe and Sabrina) pulling ridiculous faces. Chat chuckled.
"Okay, Purrincess! Your pick, lets get this started!"
Marinette rolled her eyes at Chat's childishness and plopped down on the ground next to him, pulling some blankets over her shoulders as she scrolled through her downloaded movies and finally decided on Home Alone. As the movie began to play, Marinette subconsciously leaned into Chat and let out a yawn.
Tikki, watching from an open crack in the drawer, smiled. "Plagg, they never get old, do they?"
Okay, I hope you guys liked this. Sorry for the lateness ;-; I kind of went in circles with this and needed a rest. Read and review, send in ideas, don't be shy! I'm open ears to all (but keep in mind I don't write *cough* dirty stuff. I JUST TURNED 13 OKAY?)