Chapter Twenty-Nine: Walking In A Winter Wonderland.

There's no better way to while away a Sunday afternoon.

Sunday 29th December 2019. 2 p.m. Marinette's room.

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and Marinette was curled up in her bed with a good book, blankets piled high on top of her, and debating whether or not to read one more chapter or settle down for an indulgent nap.

There was nothing to stop her dozing off. Not today.

She had finished her dress for the gala last night and was very pleased with the results. It was probably her best work yet. She didn't have any other open commissions now either. Since it was Sunday that also meant the bakery was closed. Her baba was downstairs doing the bakery accounts while her mother was reading a magazine. They'd just had a large family meal together too, so she was certainly feeling sleepy right now.

A nap would be a fine way to spend the afternoon.

Thud.

Or maybe there was a better option.

Marinette grinned with Tikki and looked up to her window hatch where a familiar masked face was peering in. She leaned up to open the latch but before she could scramble out, Chat was quickly climbing inside and locking the hatch behind him.

He gave her a cheeky grin. "It's still too cold for you out there, my Princess," he said with a cheeky grin before leaning in for a hello kiss. Marinette happily complied, because kissing her handsome superhero-supermodel boyfriend was a far better way to spend an afternoon than napping. She trailed her hands up into his hair and scratched at his kitty ears and his scalp in just the right way to get him to purr, and giggled into the kiss as he melted against her. "Not fair," he grumbled, looking up at her with dazed eyes.

She just kissed his nose. "Totally fair, mon coeur. I take it your 'piano lesson' is going well then?" It would certainly explain how he was able to sneak out and see her.

Chat snorted and swallowed back his purr. "I can't believe they still have me practicing for hours even after I played at the party," he rolled his eyes. She sort of agreed. Yes, it was ridiculous, but he wouldn't be here right now if he didn't have a 'piano lesson' so she didn't really mind. And, going by his smirk, neither did he. "But it does mean that I get the chance to come over and ask my girlfriend if she wants to have a super date. So, shall we?"

It was certainly better than anything she had come up with for her afternoon, but there was just one problem that she could see.

It had been snowing pretty consistently since the night she had surprised him at the Gabriel party. The flurries still weren't strong enough to have any real effect on daily life, but there were patches of snow on every surface in Paris and it was cold outside. She wasn't too sure if Ladybug could hold up well enough for an extended date. She wasn't sure if either Tikki or herself could handle being out in the cold for too long.

Tikki had been watching them with a fond smile and understood Marinette's unspoken concerned. She just smiled and nodded assuring her they would be fine.

Marinette grinned. "Okay." Chat grinned wildly and leaned in for another kiss. She pulled back with a laugh before it could get too long. "I'll slip out the front so mama and baba don't find me gone if they come up here. See you outside in five?"

Chat nodded and gave her a quick kiss goodbye, that turned into a much longer one that they only broke when Tikki pointedly cleared her throat, before darting out of the hatch. As always he made sure it wasn't open for long and shut securely behind him and Marinette could help but smile. He had always been concerned about her getting cold but after White Christmas he was extra vigilant.

She quickly scrambled out of bed and checker her appearance in the mirror. She was in jeans and a jumper but she looked good enough for a date - even though he had specified that it was to be a super date, she still didn't want to look underprepared in case they detransformed for part of it. She redid her hair and touched up her make-up before grabbing her bag and throwing a few extra pocket handwarmers in there and holding it open for Tikki to settle in. Tikki had already pulled on her winter coat and boots and Marinette copied her before hurrying down the stairs.

She grabbed a few cookies from the kitchen fridge as she explained her her parents that she wanted to do one final inspiration run around the city to make sure that her dress design was perfect. They both assured her that her dress was stunning but allowed her to go providing she promised to hurry back if she got too cold. It was an easy promise to make if only because she knew Chat would hurry her home the second he suspected she was getting a chill, not that she told her parents that, and so she kissed them goodbye before racing outside.

Marinette raced over the road and around the school, intending to transform in the private alley at the back, but a familiar pair of arms scooped her up behind the school. She gave a delighted squeal as he hugged her to him and vaulted over the rooftops. In no time at all she was sequestered away on what she recognised as one of their favourite stopping places on patrol, but his lips were on hers before she could call on her own transformation.

This. This was the best way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

She was never going to get enough of her wonderful boyfriend. He held her so tenderly and kissed her so sweetly, like she was the most precious thing in the world to him. He made her feel so special, so loved. She hoped she did the same for him.

"I think it's time to put the spots on, my Lady-love.

Part of her brain screamed nope. Not yet. Not when he sounded so breathless. Her more logical side prevailed though and she murmured her transformation phrase between kisses, letting the magic wash over her and he held her tightly. "So," she panted, "how long do we have before you need to get back?" She saw him pull back and pretend to think.

"Hmm, I think four hours sounds about right." Chat nodded. "Yes, four," he grinned and then leaned forward to kiss her nose. He loved the little giggle that never failed to coax out of her. He brushed a kiss against each cheek, then every spot on her mask, across her eyelids, her temples, her forehead, each one drawing a laugh from her, until he got down to her jaw. The sigh that brought out was new. Out of curiosity he did it again and then pressed another kiss to her neck only to draw out a louder sigh. He wanted her to make that noise again. "No, no, no," he muttered and kisses her way back to her lips. "I meant five. Five hours."

Ladybug just laughed at him. "Naughty kitty." She pushed him back with one finger against his nose. She ignored his pout so he kissed her finger and got that scoffing laugh that often mean she found him silly but endearing. "I believe I was promised a date?"

He had promised that, hadn't he? Tempting as it was to just stay here and kiss, he didn't want his lady turning into a bug-cicle. Plus there was always the chance to get kisses on their date as well as before. Especially if things went the way he planned.

"And a date you shall have, my love!" It took a lot of effort to pull back from her but he did and gave an elaborate bow. "Do you remember that Winter Fair that Nino and Alya were talking about yesterday?"

"We're going there?"

She was adorable when she was excited Chat decided. Well, all the time really, but particularly when she was excited. He tucked her arm under his and walked them across the roof in the general direction on the Fair. It had sounded amazing when Nino and Alya had told them about it yesterday. It was a few arrondissements away but they had accidentally stumbled across it when they were on their way to a cinema date and gone back to check it out. They had loved it and had invited their friends along on a double date. That date was scheduled for tomorrow but he hadn't been able to resist a cats-eye view of the Fair and he liked what he saw.

"I figured we could have a date there today, just the two of us, before we double date with them tomorrow."

Ladybug nodded eagerly and he grinned back. This was going to be awesome!

He grabbed his baton, extended it, and wrapped an arm around her waist before vaulting them off the roof and in the general direction of the Winter Fair. She held onto him for a few rooftops and he felt like purring in delight - right up until she gave him a sassy grin and jumped away as they touched down on a flat roof. He yoyo was out and she was darting away from him in a heartbeat.

They missed the Winter Fair the first time, getting caught up in their game of rooftop tag as they often did, but Chat quickly tackled her into a snow banks and dragged her back the correct way, both of them laughing their heads off. He set her down on the edge of the roof closest to the Fair and smile at her awed gasp.

"It's beautiful."

It took everything in him to hold back the automatic 'not as beautiful as you' that sprang to his lips. True as it was he didn't want to interrupt her first sight of the Fair, and that line always earned him a punch in the shoulder. Though, maybe now they were dating it wouldn't? He'd have to try that later. Right now he just wanted to bask in her awe.

It was set up much like the Christmas Market by her home had been, with stalls of all sizes set up in the park. There was dedicated refreshments area and some shopping stall but the vast majority of it was given over to Wintery Entertainment. There was a plastic ice rink on one side, a small stage for a variety of different acts and currently showing a mini-circus, puppet theatres, a small carousel for the younger children, and everywhere it was strewn with garlands and lanterns and ribbons and baubles. There was even a reindeer paddock with handlers teaching the audience about how they helped Père Noël deliver presents.

Chat wondered if this was where Alix and Kim had "borrowed" a reindeer from? He'd have to ask later.

"Chaton, this is amazing. It's a real Winter Wonderland."

"I know," he reached out and took her hand. "Would you like to walk around for a bit? Masks or no masks?"

She blinked up at him in surprise then giggled and shook her head. "I'll leave that choice to you, kitten. We'll be mobbed both ways."

"True." Chat sighed.

He hadn't thought about that when he suggested their date. If someone got a photo of him without his mask that Nathalie and his father would know he used his piano lessons to sneak out and he'd be placed under strict supervision for everything in the future. No, it was too risky to go out as Adrien and Marinette now, no matter how nice that would be. And it really would have been a good day as-

"Oh! There's Rose and Juleka!"

-he had just seen two of their friends skating around the ice rink. They were hand in hand and gazing into each other eyes and they laughed and tripped their way around the rink. Juleka giggled when, at the end, Rose dipped her into a kiss before leaving the rink.

"Oh," Ladybug cooed. "Can we go say hello?"

"I-"

Crash. Boom. Screams. Bang. "Bwahahahahaha!"

"Oh, screw you Hawkmoth!" Chat pouted. There goes his lovely walk with his Lady. Even if they finished the akuma quickly there wouldn't be any time for their date before he had to get back to the mansion and pretend he had been playing piano the whole time.

"We've still got tomorrow, mon coeur." Ladybug leaned in for a kiss before tugging him along by their still joined hands.

Author's notes. Reminder, I have still not seen all of season 2 and none of season 3. Please check my author's profile for a list of the episodes I have seen. No destructive-sproglet stories for you today either. He's been playing happily with play-doh and crayons.

Replies to reviews.

owlthewriter - well there's a case of life imitates art for you haha! I hope you got your brother back. Thanks for the review.

Fire - don't worry, the diet ruining pizza still happened - but much, much later after a lot of interrogations. Thanks for the review.

SirDudeman28 - I'm really glad you liked it but please be careful with asthma in this weather and look after yourself. Thanks for the review.

yellow14 - let's face it, if we were in Alya's place and found out that we'd missed the whole thing, a pillow fight is the only fair response haha. Glad you liked it. Thanks for the review.

ELinkA - it is a rare gift indeed. Thanks for the review.