Seventy-Eight: Mustering the Courage
Adrien makes his final preparations to face the Board of Directors at House of Gabriel.
Since becoming a more-or-less permanent resident in Marinette's suite, I'd migrated what few possessions I'd brought to the apartment as Chat from my suite and snuggled them comfortably into her closet, or the drawer she'd thoughtfully provided in her dresser. As Adrien Agreste had yet to formally begin dating Marinette – let alone move in with her – the majority of my personal effects remained in cold storage at a warehouse on the edge of Paris, a nod toward keeping up the fiction that my civilian alter-ego had decamped from the mansion after University.
From time to time, though, I did raid what I thought of as my spare closet when a special occasion called for an outfit that I wouldn't normally keep at the apartment. My big presentation to the Board seemed to be one such occasion; after Multimouse made good on her promise and successfully managed to wear me out enough to grab a few hours of sleep, I popped wide awake close to six and realized I had the perfect ensemble for the day's events. I'd carefully snuck out of the apartment as Chat and made good time retrieving a favorite power suit I'd worn for a few of the more formal occasions I'd had to attend as co-CEO; standing at the mirror in Marinette's bathroom working on my hair, I glanced at the outfit in unrelieved black hanging on the door beside me and couldn't help a Chat smile from appearing. I might not be able to wear the mask during my little PowerPoint, but I could at least mimic some aspects of my costume – enough to hopefully provide the self-confidence I felt like I was sorely lacking, despite Marinette's attempts to pump me up.
Reaching for another glob of hair gel, I looked down at Plagg. For some odd reason, he'd stuck close after I'd dropped my transformation and was observing me with those wide feline eyes of his as he munched on his omnipresent wedge of Camembert. "You must have better things to do than watch me attempt to become model perfect," I said as I plied my blond hair with the gooey material.
"Why haven't you changed your hairstyle?" he countered. "You're not sixteen anymore."
My hand paused and I carefully looked at my image in the mirror. "I suppose I'm not," I laughed, seeing my green eyes narrow in good humor. "But to the rest of the world, this is what Adrien Agreste looks like. I've always assumed making any adjustments would hurt the brand."
"Yet you wear it differently as Chat," he mused. "Why is that, I wonder?"
I smiled. "That's easy – as you constantly remind me about the bell, the costume reflects what I want most." I sighed as I resumed trying to get my hair into check. "And what I want most is not having to do this every day."
Plagg floated upward and flitted around the tubes, tins and bottles that took up three quarters of Marinette's vanity and comprised what was required to become a supermodel each morning, then pulled open the medicine cabinet with his tiny paws to reveal the rest of my stash. Glancing meaningfully at the tiny fraction of the top shelf of the cabinet that held the handful of items that were Marinette's entire beauty regimen, he turned back to me. "I'm glad you gave your fiancé some space in her own bathroom," he smirked.
I felt – and saw – the flame of embarrassment on my cheeks. "Well," I replied hastily, "clearly she has no need to make herself look gorgeous. She's already perfect just the way she is."
"Despite your being rather biased," I heard from the doorway, "thank you."
I turned with a smile to see Marinette poking her head through the door. "Felines cannot lie," I said solemnly, despite rather incongruously only wearing a towel about my waist and having hair gel on my hands. "You have no need to enhance your natural assets. I, on the other hand—"
"Don't either," she said as she pushed in and pulled me close. "I hate it when they force you through the makeup trailer before your photo shoots."
"Some of it has to do with the process itself," I reminded her. "It wouldn't do for me to glisten under the lights."
"True," she smiled. Marinette's eyes strayed to the suit on the door. "What's this?" she asked as she pulled away and ran the fabric through her hands. "Wait…" she added suddenly as she flipped up the edge of the jacket to display her name where she had stitched it. Turning back, her eyes were wide. "This the suit I made for you before I knew you were Chat!"
"Yes," I smiled. "Though I think we both know you were on to my identity at that point," I added.
"Maybe," she said, turning back to the suit. "I do like how this one looks on you."
"I know," I replied as I finished up the gel, washed the remnants from my hands and then tried to decide which skin moisturizer to apply.
"Why this one?"
"Twofold," I said as I squeezed something into my hand. "First, whether you designed that way or not, the cut and color remind me of my Chat costume but isn't obvious enough that anyone else would draw the connection."
She nodded. "You're taking my advice, in a way?"
"All the way," I continued. "I'm defelinely leaning on my alter ego today, but as a model, there are times when a prop – or in this case, a set of clothing – can properly put me in the right mindset."
"Interesting. What's the second?"
"It was made by Ladybug," I reminded her. "Which means she'll be with me the entire time."
Marinette's face went soft. "Oh! Oh, wow, Chat," she said, accidently slipping in my alter-ego's name. "That's… that's…"
"Romantically corny?" I laughed. "I know. But I'm the kitty who strung up roses on a rooftop for you."
Marinette's eyes were glistening as she pulled me into a hug. "And I'm the lady who fell in love with you as a result of all of your corny romanticism. And," she added as she looked into my eyes, "I don't find it corny at all. Endearing, yes. But not corny."
"Clawsome," I smiled.
"Ugh," Plagg said from where he was sitting on the counter. "You two need a room."
"I believe we have one," I laughed.
"Then maybe another room," he groaned. Playing against his persona, though, he continued to remain close at hand; for the first time, I wondered if he was worried about something. I filed it away for the moment.
"I might have something to add to your outfit," she said thoughtfully. "And you might want to step on it," she added after glancing at her phone.
"Yikes," I said as she turned it toward me. "I didn't realize it was that late."
Marinette chuckled. "You were rather enthralled by a rodent if I recall correctly," she said as she slipped out of the room.
"Was I?" I said innocently. "I furget."
I managed to accelerate my efforts and was just buckling my belt when Marinette returned. "Here," she said, handing me a silk tie.
Taking it into my hands, I held it up to the light. Much like my suit, it was pure black, though as I twisted the smooth fabric in my hands, the light caught an unusual pattern. Looking more closely, I could see it was a repeating pattern of hexagons had been overprinted on the fabric, identical to the one that comprised my Chat costume. I looked back at Marinette. "How on earth-?"
"That new three-dimensional printer we have is a marvel," she smiled. "I can put almost any kind of fabric through it."
Placing the tie against the off-white shirt I was wearing, I smiled wider. "This is purrfect."
"Thanks," she said as she took it from me and looped it around my upturned collar. As only a designer can, in a few brief movements she'd neatly tied it for me and then carefully snugged the knot up against my throat. "There. My kitty looks stunning now."
"High praise, Milady," I said softly as she helped me into my jacket. I took one last turn in the mirror and nodded with satisfaction. "I think I'm ready now."
"You are more than that," Marinette said as she dusted a trace of lint from a lapel. "Go get 'em, kitty."
I leaned down and kissed her. "I'll call you the moment it's over."
"Good."
"Plagg – claws out!" I said, stepping back from Marinette long enough for the wave of transformation to wash over me; a moment later, I caught my reflection as Chat Noir in the mirror and smiled crookedly. "Are you sure I can't—"
"Absolutely under no circumstances," she replied forcefully. "Adrien can do this, Chat," she added, taking me by the paws and pulling me closer. "I know you can. You've got this."
"I do," I said somewhat unconvincingly.
"Yes," she said firmly, "you do."
"All right," I nodded, my wild mane flowing as I did. For the briefest of moments, I thought about my earlier conversation with Plagg and wondered if it wasn't, in fact, time for a change.
I followed Marinette out into her suite, and then to the balcony where I had introduced her to the apartment nearly a year earlier – where had the time gone? Sliding the door open, I vaulted to the railing and perched, delaying just a little more. "I've got this?"
"Yes," she said. "Now go, kitty."
"I love you," I said impulsively.
"I know," she laughed. "And I love you more."
"I'm not sure that's possible," I smiled fondly.
"It is," she replied softly. "Now shoo! If you delay any longer, you'll force me to whip up a Lucky Charm to motivate you."
"That I would like to see," I teased as I vaulted away from her and into the morning sunshine.
As I made it to my first rooftop, I paused long enough for my cat ears to twist toward her last echo of encouragement on the wind. "You can do this, Chat," she called out just loud enough for a specific feline to hear. "I know you can."
I smiled and put her words of encouragement into my feline heart and started running across the rooftops of Paris toward my destiny.
