Thank you to CoffeeBanana for betaing! Written for Day 3: Dirt of Marichat May.
Marinette waved to Alya as her best friend took her sisters back home so that she could leave her sisters with Nora and get to her date with Nino.
"It was nice to get ice cream with Alya," Tikki piped up, making Marinette giggle.
"I'm sure you thought so," She teased her kwami, making Tikki giggle. There was no end to Tikki's sweet tooth and they both knew it. "Come on, let's take the shortcut through the park."
They were halfway across the park when Marinette noticed something rather peculiar. "Why is everyone staring over there?" People were watching and whispering to each other about something that was happening in the farthest part of the park.
"I don't know but we'd better check it out!" Tikki responded and Marinette nodded back at her resolutely. She quickly ran to see what was so curious, only to stop and stare herself.
"Chat Noir?" Marinette's jaw dropped. The feline superhero was digging holes in the darkest corner of the park, shovel in hand. He paused to look up at her, a grin overtaking his face when he saw her.
"Marinette!" He waved excitedly before pausing. "Um, hello civilian. What are you doing here?"
Marinette resisted the urge to roll her eyes. What was the point of calling her a civilian after he'd already called her by name? "I'm heading home, what are you doing with that shovel?"
Chat Noir looked between her and the shovel, seeming nervous.
"Don't tell me you're here to collect some squirrel you buried," Marinette joked, making Chat Noir laugh out loud.
"It's a bird, actually," he whispered conspiratorially. "It's a present for Ladybug, you think she'll like it?"
Marinette was torn between laughing and groaning. "It better not be a pigeon, you wouldn't want to deal with Mr. Pigeon again," she decided to joke back.
"I like you, Marinette. You're clawfully amewsing," he complimented.
"Two puns in one sentence? You clearly take the whole cat thing very seriously." Chat bowed to her and Marinette shook her head. "Don't think I don't realize you're trying to distract me. What are you actually up to?"
Chat hesitated before sighing. "Oh, alright. I'll tell you since you were the only one brave enough to ask." He moved over to reveal a row of plants. "Rose bushes, I've always wanted a garden of my own."
"I didn't know cats could keep gardens," Marinette joked, her eyes still on the plants. "Why roses?"
"I'll have you know that cats are expert gardeners," Chat Noir sniffed. He bent down to run his fingers across one of the leaves of the rose bush. "As for why the roses," Chat bit his lip, clearly looking for a way out of telling her.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Marinette told him. She didn't want to pressure him into revealing his secrets to her.
He gave her a soft smile before shaking his head. "No, if it's you then I don't mind saying it." Marinette blinked before moving closer to Chat and laid a hand on his shoulder. She was privately quite touched that her civilian self had made such a good impression on Chat that he was willing to put so much trust in her.
"These are my mother's favourite flowers, you see. I wanted to plant them in her memory. You see, I'm not really allowed to spend time in the garden at home, but I really wanted to be the one who takes care of them."
"Oh, Chat, that is so sweet of you," Marinette flung her arms around Chat Noir, trying to provide him with as much comfort and support as she could.
"Thanks, Marinette." Chat sent her another smile and Marinette would deny it to the ends of the Earth, but in that moment, her heart skipped a beat. She let go of him and turned around, only to almost fall into one of the holes Chat Noir had dug.
"Woah!" She teetered on the edge, managing to get her balance just in time. "Chat! Why are these holes so big?" She squatted to see just how wide it was and was even more surprised to see how deep the hole was. "These are for planting bushes? This is almost 30 cm deep!"
"Yeah?" Chat sounded puzzled. "Why what's wrong? Isn't this how you're supposed to do it?"
Marinette stared at him. "Um...have you ever gardened before?" Chat shook his head, looking completely lost.
"You decided to plant several rose bushes by yourself without researching or anything when you've never done it before?" Chat Noir looked down for a moment before giving her a pleading look, clearly asking for help. Marinette bit her lip before sighing. "Oh, alright. I'll help."
Chat gave a sigh of relief. "Thanks! You're really doing your good seed of the day!"
Marinette rolled her eyes at him. "Herb your enthusiasm, you'll have to do everything I say." Chat Noir looked delighted at her pun and gave her a mock salute. "Now, fill those holes in about halfway."
"Are you sure?" Chat frowned at her.
Marinette responded by putting her hands on her hips and leaning towards him. "I'm sorry, between the two of us, who has the most experience in gardening?" Wisely, Chat Noir stopped arguing and began to do as Marinette ordered.
Marinette allowed herself a victory smirk before she got to work, helping Chat make the holes an appropriate depth.
"Okay, since you really want to do this yourself, I'll show you how to do one and you can do the rest. Is that okay with you?"
Chat Noir nodded eagerly. "Thistle be the best rose bushes ever," he declared.
"Of course, we're rooting for them," Marinette said, carefully peeling the plants away from the plastic pots they were bought in.
"You're becoming a real punner, Marinette! I'm so proud," Chat pretended to wipe away a tear.
"Well, you know what they say, If you can't beet them, join them," Marinette shrugged.
"You can call us the puns 'n' roses now," Chat continued. Marinette shook her head at him.
"C'mon, let's get this done. You can pun more later." Chat nodded, obviously planning on holding her to it. He watched carefully as she placed the rose bush into one of the holes they had dug and covered it with the leftover soil.
Then she watched as he did the same with other roses. Soon enough, all of the roses had been planted. "Now we just have to water them."
"Lucky us, then. I think it's going to rain soon." Chat pointed towards the growing storm clouds. He beamed at Marinette as he rested his weight on the shovel. "Garden, you glad we're done? Just in thyme, too."
"This was fun, Chat Noir. Thanks for letting me help," Marinette smiled at him warmly.
"No, thank you, Marinette. You really rose to the occasion." Gesturing at her to wait, he turned to get something out of a bag. He turned back around to her with a single white rose in hand. "For you."
Marinette had spent some time researching the meaning of roses after Chat had gone on about finding the perfect colour for her as Ladybug. She knew perfectly well that a single white rose represented love and respect.
"You're awesome, Marinette. I'm glad to have spent the day with you," Chat smiled, taking her hand and enclosing the rose in it. Marinette was floored.
"There's no one I'd have rather spent the day planting roses with, Chat Noir." She leant forward to press a quick kiss to his cheek, before waving goodbye at him.
Chat stared at her for a moment before waving back. Marinette bit back a grin as she turned around.
"That was interesting," Tikki giggled at her from her purse.
Marinette smiled warmly at her kwami as it began to drizzle. "It most certainly was, Tikki."