start notes—
Chat Noir is blasted by an akuma, and Marinette's convinced he's become more adorable because of it.
my tellonym: milkisande
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toe beans
i can see it now,
i'm the cat's meow!
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"MEOWCH!"
Marinette only looked on in horror as the hero jumped in front of her, shielding her from the blast— and consequently, taking it for himself.
She only had a moment to meet his eyes before he disappeared into a puff of smoke.
Well, not quite.
Something else was left behind in its place.
A small, black, kitty, staring right at her.
And if it wasn't for its glowing green eyes, as well as the all-too-familiar black ring comfortably fit into his front paw, she would've thought he was a stray.
But no, this was definitely her partner:
Chat Noir—
Ironically more true to his namesake than he had been previously.
As another blast was thrown in her direction, Marinette yelped, grabbing the cat as she ducked into a nearby alleyway.
When the akuamtized villain didn't come to follow, she heaved a breath of relief.
The cat remained still in her hands, as if patiently waiting for her to think of a plan.
"Meow."
Marinette looked at him in disbelief.
"You can't even talk?! Oh my God, Chat, how am I supposed to capture the akuma without you around to help me; I thought we were being careful!"
She put the cat down, pacing, as the cat followed.
"Okay," she muttered to herself. "I can do this." She looked up, as if calculating. "So Animan can turn people into animals now. And he got to my whole team." Marinette looked at Chat Noir, staring up at her with a blank face. "Even you."
She bit back the need to scream in frustration.
Marinette wanted to turn into Ladybug and fight, but Animan's powers didn't only affect people, it seemed: kwamis, too.
Before she had gotten to transform, a wayward blast had hit Tikki, and…
Marinette took a peek into her bag, where the ladybug was curled up, sleeping soundly inside.
This was, suffice to say:
Not good.
As if sensing her distress, Chat Noir cuddled up to her leg, offering an almost sympathetic purr.
She kneeled down, then pet the cat.
He was actually pretty cute, like this.
Marinette laughed to herself as the cat nuzzled its head into her hand.
"I think I prefer you like this, kitty." She teased, lifting up one of the cat's paws, only to see the toe beans that replaced the hero's black boots.
Her eyes sparkled.
"These are so cute!" She squealed, scooping up the cat to admire his tiny paws. "Chat," she began. "I think I just fell in love with you all over again."
The cat almost looked like it was blushing.
Then, a sudden shout nearby.
"You can't hide furever, Chat Noir and Ladybug!"
She smirked. "Seems like someone else is stealing your bit, huh?"
Marinette sighed, before standing up, Chat Noir still in her hands.
"What are we going to do now, kitty?" She asked, only for the cat to shrug.
"I think the akuma's in his bracelet again," Marinette stated. "Like before, remember?"
Chat Noir purred in agreement.
"If only we could get close…" she muttered. "But anyone who comes close to him is turned into an animal. There's no way I could avoid those blasts, especially without Ladybug." She frowned, touching her earrings. "I'm sure if we destroyed his bracelet, Tikki would turn back. It's just a question of how…"
Her thoughts were interrupted as the cat indignantly started pawing at her, almost as if he were trying to say something.
"Meow! Meow! Meow!"
"Chat, you know that I can't understand you, right?"
Almost frustrated, the cat shoved his paw at her face.
"I know your toe beans are adorable, but that isn't helping right now!"
The black cat shook its head, then mimicked an exploding gesture with its front paws.
"MEOWW meow meow meow!"
Marinette wasn't sure how she could decode his purrs, but found herself understanding what he meant.
Her eyes lit up as his actions started to make sense. She looked down at Chat Noir.
"Are you sure it'll work?" Marinette asked. "We can't be sure whether or not your miraculous still works when you're transformed like that."
The cat only purred, as if to say, "we at least have to try."
She frowned, then nodded, signing off on their plan.
"Well, you're a cat already— so I guess he can't do anything worse."
Marinette let Chat Noir down, then placed a kiss on the cat's forehead. "I'll be right behind you, kitty."
As he ran off toward the villain, she sighed.
She couldn't quite believe that she was putting the fate of Paris in Chat Noir's hands— well, paws, really.
Those toe beans of his were all that stood between Hawkmoth and his victory.
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Chat Noir was running.
On all four of his legs.
He was surprised to find that he was a lot faster— maybe he should start running on all fours after this?
(Sure, as if Ladybug would ever stop teasing him if he did.)
Instead, the cat easily dodged under the flipped-over cars and, easily blending in with the rest of his animal army, suddenly jumped at the unsuspecting zookeeper.
He sure as hell hoped that this would work.
"Cataclysm!"
(Though it more accurately came off as, 'meowmeowmeowmeow!')
And to his complete joy, his paw glowed green, destructive energy overflowing as he aimed his claws at Animan's bracelet, feeling it break apart…
As he consequently transformed, landing back to the ground—
On his two feet.
Chat Noir grinned. "How I've meowsed this body," he sighed dreamily, hugging himself, as a familiar red-suited heroine showed up next to him.
"You were cuter back then." Ladybug looked longingly down at his feet, upset. "No more toe beans."
He pouted. "Is that any way to treat your boyfriend?"
She only rolled her eyes.
"Sorry, maybe I wanted a pet more than I wanted a boyfriend?"
And ignoring his less-than-impressed expression, she only laughed, before throwing up her yo-yo:
"Miraculous Ladybug!"
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end notes—
i forgot ,, to let her use her lucky charm ,,,, jus pretend she used it before tikki was blasted, and she turned back into marinette bc they ran out of time. ;n; i'll probably go back to editing this after the month is over hsjdasjv no time to rewrite it completely for now D:
also found a beta yeet she also gave some amazing ideas which im very excited to write so,, look forward to that if you'd like ! : (+++ if you can't tell i was running out of ideas at this point and basically grasping at straws ,,, id like to apologize lmao)
thank you for reading! ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～