Hello Miraculers,

As you know we're writing this Marichay May in collaboration. You already met my friend Etoile-Lead-Sama. And today it's my turn. I'm Malauu-Ladynoir and I'm glad to present you my work.

I hope you'll enjoy my story.

Have all a good reading.

PROMPT N°3: DIRT by Malauu-Ladynoir

Ps: English is not my native english but I handle it pretty well.

BÊTA : Etoile-Lead-Sama.

MY PLACE IS YOURS

Marinette grabbed the bag of unsold pastries prepared by her father before coming out from the back of the bakery. She went to the garbage room in their building to throw them in a container, but when she opened the door, she jumped over and dropped the bag on the floor. There was an intruder in the room. An intruder who had his hands plunged into the trash where the unsold were thrown. An intruder whose figure was exceedingly familiar.

"Chat Noir?" Marinette gasped, frozen with surprise.

The boy turned suddenly towards her, immediately crossing her questioning gaze.

"Marinette! I'm… uh… I'm..." he stuttered, very embarrassed. "I'm here be-because…"

He rubbed nervously the back of his neck, probably not finding the words to explain his presence here.

"It seems to me that being a superhero doesn't give you permission to enter civilians' home without their consent, Chat Noir," Marinette protested, arms crossed on her chest.

She saw the feline hero pale in the face of her admonitions, before seeing his shoulders drop in resignation.

"I'm sorry... It's quite embarrassing..." he admitted, his eyes moving to the ground.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, more softly, seeing how her partner looked uncomfortable.

Chat Noir didn't answer but he showed her, ashamed and contrite, what he'd in his hands and hid behind his back.

"Are you getting your hands dirty to stole yesterday's croissants?" she wondered, completely astonished.

"Well...uh… Looks like the cat's out of the bag… Er, yes… I stole your unsold…" he admitted, embarrassed and confused.

Marinette approached him softly, always a little incredulous in the face of the strangeness of this situation. She felt anxiety slowly gripping her over her partner's unusual behavior.

"Why?" she asked, perplexed.

"Because... because... I ran away from home yesterday morning..." he replied, his voice filled with sorrow.

Marinette's eyes suddenly widened, becoming bigger than those of the feline standing in front of her.

"How long haven't you eaten, Chat Noir?" She asked, worried.

"With your unsold pastries, I was able to eat last night," he replied, terribly uncomfortable.

She grabbed the hero by the hand and quickly dragged him out of the garbage room.

"Go up!" she ordered, pointing at the stairs leading to the family apartment.

Chat Noir looked at her, sheepish, and accepted without any protest. He climbed the steps, side by side with Marinette, then they entered the apartment together.

Marinette then pointed out to him the hatch leading to her room and invited him to take the lead. The cat-boy entered the room and during this time, in the kitchen, the girl prepared a well-stocked tray for him.

She put bread rolls, butter, ham, a slice of quiche, some pastries and fresh macarons of the day. But also, an apple and a banana, a hot chocolate and a bottle of water.

"Tikki?" she whispered in a low voice.

"Yes, Marinette," replied the little kwami calmly, coming out of her chosen's bag.

"Plagg eats Camembert, right?" she asked, concerned about feeding her partner's kwami.

She didn't know if he'd something to feed Plagg with him, nor even since when he'd not de-transformed himself to give a little rest to the kwami cat. If Shadowmoth attacked, they had to be both in good shape. As a Guardian and fight partner, it was her duty, and she would ensure that she paid close attention to them.

She took a whole Camembert in the fridge and put it on the tray, before leaving the kitchen to go to her room where Chat Noir was waiting for her.

When she entered the room. The feline hero gazed at her with an intense, admiring and grateful look. Marinette felt her cheeks warm and she breathed deeply to avoid a catastrophe. It really wasn't the time for her clumsiness to catch up.

"Marinette... it's... it's way too much! You didn't have to do that for me…"

"Shht! You need strength to protect Paris! I'm sure Ladybug would agree with me!" she answered firmly. "Now, go wash your gloves that have been lying in the dirt," she added, pointing to him the sink.

For the first time in the evening, she saw a half-smile on her devoted partner's face. He'd conscientiously washed his black-gloved's hands and was now eating a ham and butter bun. Then he put macarons on each claw of his right hand and gobbled them one by one, which made her laugh loudly..

She then saw the look of the cat-boy falling on the camembert wheel on the tray.

"Marinette, do you mind if I take the whole pack of camembert?" he asked, always a little bit ashamed to enjoy the hospitality of his classmate. "It's for Plagg... Uh... it's the little creature that grants me my powers. He usually eats cheese, so now, he starts to become really unbearable and grumpy by eating sweet things," explained Chat Noir.

"Of course you can! I wouldn't want you to be unable to transform in the next attack that will threaten Paris."

"Thank you," he breathed very sincerely, by placing his hand on the Coeur de Lion*, which the girl had prepared on the tray.

Marinette held out her hand and put it on the hero's, stopping it on top of the box containing Plagg's precious Camembert. Delicately, she applied a comforting pressure on the boy's fingers.

She was mad that she didn't see anything as Ladybug. Chat Noir wasn't the kind of boy to let his negative emotions appear. He was always cheerful and facetious. But still, she felt guilty and angry at herself for not noticing that something was wrong.

"Chat Noir, I don't want to know what happened. It's none of my business, especially knowing that you have a secret identity to protect. But I'm here for you. If you need to talk… or eat," she said, in a soft and reassuring voice.

Her partner gave her a sincere and bright smile.

"You know what they say, Marinette... Feed a cat and he-..."

"He will always come back..." she interrupted him, drawing him into a sudden friendly embrace. "You come whenever you need it, Minou. Consider this house as yours," replied Marinette, hugging him a little harder.

"Thank you, Purrincess," he whispered, wrapping his arms around her waist and giving her back her warm embrace a hundredfold.

End

*Cœur de Lion (Lion heart) is a french Camembert product in the west side of the country, in Normandie.

Tomorrow you'll have a rendez-vous with me, again, for prompt n°4 : CAFÉ.

Don't forget to leave us a comment if you like our stories.

Miraculous kisses