When Marinette awoke the next morning, she noticed the fingers of one hand was tangled in hair.

Which was not her own.

The hair of course, she recognised her own fingers.

She opened her eyes to examine this predicament, to realize the predicament was far worse than what she had previously thought.

First of all, it looked like she'd fallen asleep at her controller.

Taking a break from dress-making couldn't have been better with more Mecha Strike, she'd cleaned up the CPU with relative ease.

She'd had a good time, helping herself to the welcome basket, whilst fighting her way through the levels.

The two kwamis had tried working together to try to use a controller, but struggled to listen to each other. They had given up anyway, being too tired to do much else.

It had been a long, hard day for them. Plagg especially, by the sound of it.

It seemed like Marinette had fallen asleep at her controllers, which did not surprise her.

She had been emotionally exhausted, after such an afternoon of revelations.

Even now she still felt wrung out, as her eyes swept the room.

She could see the morning light spilling into the bedroom throughe open doorway, and guessed it to be later in the morning than she'd like.

But then her eyes fell downwards once again.

Chat Noir was fast asleep on her lap, his arms circling her middle, and his face buried into the corner of one arm and her stomach.

The rest of him was stretched out over her legs, like some cat who was pointedly ignoring the fact they were too big to be a lap cat.

She didn't even have the heart to move.

To be honest, she hardly had the heart to look up, as her neck had developed a painful crick in the night.

She could hardly believe what had happened yesterday afternoon.

Who'd have thought that she'd be revealing herself to Chat Noir?

She'd been an idiot, sure, and she was kicking herself for it.

Somehow, he'd figured out who she was.

She made a mental note to ask him when he awoken, but for now, she was content to just, relax.

Put her feet up, as it were.

Even though presently she realized she could feel precisely neither of them due to Chat's weight.

Absentmindedly, she started running her fingers through the boy's hair, detangling the mess of knots.

Her mind played back to more of yesterday, when he'd been holding her whilst they were talking.

She couldn't believe she'd ended up blushing. Over Chat Noir.

Chat Noir. The incorrigable flirt. The one who'd been chasing Ladybug since the beginning.

The way he'd looked at her, had reshown his striking resemblance towards Adrien Agreste.

The way he'd kissed her temple.

Oh, help, she thought down to the boy in her lap, Why couldn't you just be Adrien? That would make everything so much easier.

Another cursory glance and she chuckled slightly, noticing something else.

He was still wearing the same clothes as the previous night. He'd not even taken his shoes off.

He shifted slightly, and she halted her hand hesitantly.

But, no, Chat Noir was simply resettling himself, so that he was more along the length of her legs, pressing the side of his face against her stomach now in the other direction.

After a long pause, she resumed running her fingers through his hair.

The boy really did look just like him.

Marinette sighed.

I wonder if he gets that a lot? Walking into coffee shops and what have you, and people rushing up to get his autograph?

It was probably lucky he did his hair differently to Adrien, it might help with that sort of issue.

Yet when he was out of costume like this, it did seem to fall quite naturally back into Adrien's sort of hairstyle.

In fact, Marinette could bet that he could do quite a lot of hairstyles.

He could pull it all back, or have it hanging loose in front of his face, so many options.

And he could pull off all of them.

Well, most, she didn't suppose he'd look good with it grown long.

Or a buzz cut, for that matter.

But that would just be a crime against nature, against the gorgeous blond hair he possessed.

No matter which way she changed his part, the only way it looked ridiculous was when it was parted almost down to his ear.

But even then, there was a certain charm about it.

How's a girl supposed to compete with that?

She settled it all back to Adrien's hairstyle. The best, in her totally non-biased opinion.

Maybe she'd recommend the look to him later.

She set the last few strands back into place, and admired her handiwork.

She still could not get over the likeness, and that hairstyle didn't help matters.

But the idea of having Adrien curled up in the way that Chat was sent her blushing to the roots of her hair.

She'd never been that close to Adrien before, and she had to fan herself momentarily.

Chat certainly did seem to be stealing her firsts away.

First kiss, and second for that matter, first time to be sitting like this, first time sleeping this close to a boy she was interested in-no, she wasn't interested in Chat. It was Adrien she was interested in.

Adrien.

Not Chat.

The mesmerising, charming, courteous young man in her class.

The one who was currently in London.

Not this copychat who had kissed her three times now, who was cheesy and over the top and a flirt.

Not the boy who had sacrificed himself so many times now.

Not the one who had been smitten with her all along.

Marinette let her head tilt back until she was resting her neck against the arm of the couch again, trying to ingore her conflicting emotions.

What would Adrien even say if he found out I was Ladybug?

'Well there's no need to stop on my account,' came a voice, and Marinette nearly leapt out of her skin.

'I-I-I'm so sorry!' She stammered, flushing beet red. He moved to peer up at her, and she slammed her hands against her face.

Adr-Chat Noir grinned at her. 'The pleasure's all mine.' He glanced over at the mess on the coffee table. 'I did try to move you to put my lady to bed,' his smile grew wider, 'But you just looked so peaceful, I didn't have the heart.'

'How long have you been awake for?' She questioned in a small tone.

'Long enough.' He shifted upwards, and she felt a brief peck on her forehead between her fingers, and his own fingers traced down the back of one of her hands. 'Cats do enjoy getting petted by their Ladybugs.'

She wanted to peek.

God, it was so tempting.

But then he had moved on into standing, and she heard the distinct whining noise of someone stretching like their life depended on it.

Bloodflow suddenly burst through her feet, bringing angry pins and needles with it.

She herself made a relieved, yet pained noise as the irritating sensation swept through her toes while she tried to stretch them.

'Well then what made you decide to join me?' She questioned, keeping her eyes closed so that she could rub painfully at her feet. 'It can't have been comfortable,'

'No feather bed could ever even compete with you, Princess.' She could tell he was grinning, but then his voice faltered slightly. 'I just, didn't sleep well.' But he covered for it. 'I couldn't stand to be so far apart from you.'

She seized one of the pillows next to her and flung it in his general direction.

There was a noise like a flumph and the sound of Chat gasping slightly.

She mentally high-fived herself, until the pillow ricocheted off of the boy and onto the coffee table.

Where two disturbed kwamis flew up, complaining.

'Well we don't get into Porto until around four this afternoon, what would you like to do?' Chat questioned.

'Do you know what time it is now?' Marinette stretched her hands above her head, before attempting to shift her legs.

There was a shuffling noise, before; '9:32.' He informed her.

'Well I don't know about you,' Marinette admitted, 'but I could use a day off. From La Cirque de la Ladybug. And I also desperately need to work on my dress. I haven't even started sewing, my god,'

'That sounds fine,' he had turned to look at her, little did she know. 'It'd be good to have a day to kick back. Shall I go and hunt down breakfast?'

She smiled in his general direction. 'That sounds wonderful. Thank you.'

'Come on then Plagg,' Chat said jovially, before,

There was pause, then a sound like a twist, and an almighty crash rang around the room.

Chat swore as things settled around him.

Marinette sat up. 'Are you alright?' She questioned imploringly.

'It's alright,' Chat said, almost sulkily, 'you can look,'

Marinette peered one eye open, then the other, to see Chat Noir had broken the coffee table.

More accurately, he was presently sitting in the coffee table, with one of the legs spread in a perpendicular angle to what it should.

Most of the welcome basket had fallen into his lap, as well as the two controllers, and Marinette burst out laughing. 'Are you okay there?'

'I'm alright,' he attempted to extract himself and failed.

'What happened?' Marinette chuckled, standing to offer him a hand.

'...I don't want to talk about it.' Chat muttered, taking her proffed hand.

Together they hauled him upright, and he dusted himself off. 'Alright, shall I go and get breakfast?'

'If you please. No room service though.' She smiled.

'Nothing but the best for the princess, of course,' he bowed, grinning.

The day was far more quiet than the rest of their trip, but was equally as fun-filled.

Marinette did so much sewing that she would end the day red-eyed and almost crosseyed as well.

Being careful to not give away too much of where she was, she sent photos of the violet fabric to Alya, then called her to gush about it.

Yet even while she was talking, she held her phone against her shoulder so that she could continue sewing.

Chat, in Marinette's opinion, was mostly underfoot during the cutting and pinning processes, so he was quickly shooed out of the bedroom for the rest of the morning.

Besides, Plagg had seemed to be more worn out than usual, and could only hold Chat's transformation for around two hours, so Chat went to make use of the stunning spa bath again.

'So tell me about what's going on with you?' Alya said after a time, while Marinette was opening the sliding door to pick up some of the fresh sea breeze.

'Well,' Marinette mentally pulled forth the plan of what she was telling the girl.

Marinette was, according to Alya, visiting family in China. A family of second cousins, in fact. Her mothers cousins.

She could not tell her family because they do not get along.

Thus, Alya is helping to cover for her to her parents as well as her schoolmates by pretending that Marinette was with her on the ship as an assistant.

Right.

'We went to the local markets yesterday, that's where I got that fabric from.' She eyed up the ream that was currently leaning against the wall, glittering brightly in the sunlight. 'I went with-my cousin. We had a really good time, actually.' She smiled. 'I got to eat a whole lot of local delicasies. I could hardly move for ages.'

'Really? What's he like? I remember you were really nervous about it.'

'Well,' Marinette paused. 'He's a lot nicer than I thought he'd be. I wasn't really sure what to expect though.' She admitted.

'That's great!' Alya said, and Marinette could hear the grin. 'Can you take a selfie with him? I want to know what he looks like.'

Marinette froze. There was no way she could, and she knew it. 'Well, I can't make any promises, I mean you remember how I said his parents was super strict about technology and phones and stuff?'

Alya sighed. 'Yeah, I know,' she brightened. 'Can't you just take one on the sly?'

Marinette shook her head, but then remembered that Alya couldn't see that. 'I don't think so. I'll try, but,'

'I got it, don't worry about it.' Alya dismissed, before hesitating. 'How are you holding up, being all by yourself?'

Marinette sighed. 'I miss my family. I miss you.' She again shook her head, this time trying to clear it. 'I don't like being away from Paris for this long.' And I don't like lying to you about all of this.

'Don't worry yourself girl, I miss you too. And I know that your parents are missing you like crazy. Just be grateful that we took all those selfies that afternoon before we left so that they can get "updates". You owe me so big for this.'

'Uh huh. It's a massive favour.' Marinette grinned ruefully.

She looked down at her work, of the fabric piled up in front of her.

And a smile spread across her face.

'But I have a surprise to make it up to you,'

'Oh? What's that?' Alya asked curiously.

'Now that would be telling, wouldn't it?' Marinette's smile turned wicked.

'Aww, fine. I guess I'll see it when we get back?' Alya said hopefully.

Marinette shrugged. 'You might see it a bit sooner than that, hopefully?'

'Ohhh, now I'm really curious.'

'Rightly so.' Marinette nodded. 'So, tell me about your trip? Have you got me a souvenir yet?'

'I'll never tell,' Alya teased. 'I've picked up a few things actually, are you sure you don't want me to bring back a gorgeous tanned Spanish guy from Barcelona?'

Marinette rolled her eyes, imagining what Chat would do to the poor guy. 'How will you fit him into your luggage?'

'...let's just say that there'll have to be some contortionism involved.' Alya said a little dangerously.

'Please don't break anyone in Barcelona.' Marinette giggled. 'They might not let you back.'

'You know, when you become a super-ritzy fashion designer and I'm a world-renouned reporter and we're both super-mega rich we need to take this cruise ourselves.' Alya sighed. 'Top floor. Master suites. The whole shebang.'

Marinette looked about herself. 'That would be lovely.' She remembered her mask tan suddenly. 'We could lounge on a beach, or beside a pool, and get gorgeous and sun tanned.'

'Exactly, girl. Maybe we could bring the boys and you could wear a bikini in front of Adri-chou?'

Marinette flushed beetroot. 'Or, I could not?' Her mind flashed back to the pink and girly one-piece suit at home. 'I couldn't possibly wear a bikini, especially not in front of Adrien.' She shuddered. 'He'd flee for the hills.'

'Don't be so dramatic, Mari.' Alya paused as an idea sprang to mind. 'Summer's still on so why don't we, when we get back respectively I mean, go shopping?'

Marinette flushed red. 'But Alya, there isn't even a beach in Paris!'

'Don't worry about that. We could take a weekend trip to the south? Marseilles? Nice? What do you think?'

'Who, just you and me?' Marinette questioned innocently.

'You, me, Adrien, Nino,' Alya could be heard to be grinning.

'Actually,' Marinette hesitated, 'it could be fun to have something of a class trip? Like a camp or something? That would be fun,'

'And then you can flaunt your bikini-clad stuff in front of Adri-chou!' Alya confirmed slyly. 'Sounds like a plan to me!'

'Alyaaa,' Marinette shook her head exasperatedly. 'I cannot, and thus will not wear a bikini.'

'Pish posh. We just need to find you the right one. Now, what colours would you prefer?'

'Alya-'

'How about red? Or white? Or black? Oooh,' she cooed, 'I have a great idea. What about if you made a Ladybug bikini?'

Then Chat Noir would have a heart attack and die. 'I don't think that's a good idea, Alya. You know me,' she scrambled for an excuse, 'I don't really like wearing red. Like, the kind of red you're thinking of. I'm really more of a pink girl.' She paused. 'Also; I am not wearing a bikini!'

'Not presently you're not,' Alya paused, 'I hope,' she teased.

'No. I. Am. Not!' Marinette exclaimed.

'Ok, what colour would you think suited you best? I mean it shouldn't be just anything,'

Marinette's eyes wandered back over to the Russian violet fabric in the corner. 'If I had to pick one? I'm not sure,' she trailed, before remembering. 'No bikinis though!'

'Yes Mari, I heard you the first time,' Alya giggled. 'What about black?'

'Hmm, I don't know,' Marinette started piling up the red fabric cuttings and sweeping away the cutoffs. 'Black's a bit,' she trailed off uncertainly.

'I think black would look great, actually,' Alya stated. 'Unless you can come up with something better?'

'If you force me into a black bikini Alya I cannot guarentee your safety.' Marinette said firmly.

Meanwhile, Adrien from the bathroom window was nearly having a heart attack.

Ladybug?

In a Ladybug bikini?

Dear God.

Dear God Almighty.

Adrien had a moment wondering whether there would be a chapel or something on board the ship, because he needed to take his ass to church.

And pray.

Because even any kind of red and black spotted bikini that was jumping to his mind was not what models and good boys should be thinking about.

Models and good boys probably shouldn't be eavesdropping from the bathroom window whilst in the bath either, but still.

Plagg was once again rolling his eyes.

'No, don't make me pick a different colour for it, no bikinis Alya!' Came Marinette's voice. 'It doesn't matter if you wear one too!'

Adrien made a mental note to let Nino know.

'Alyyaaaaa,'

What colours would indeed be the best for his lady?

Of course, the red and black spots would be stunning.

Black would be stunning as well though.

Pink would be cute and girly, he wasn't sure.

Green?

No, green wasn't really her colour.

Well, most were, but green wasn't quite her.

'Thank you.' Marinette said. 'Speaking of holiday snaps,' she said with a dangerous tone, before lightening. 'Have you come up with a plan to get a copy of the photos off of Ladybug and Chat Noir?' She questioned casually.

Adrien raised his eyebrows.

He'd almost forgotten Alya was one of the avid journalists staying on their very ship.

What a tangled web Ladybug was weaving.

Ladybug was best friends with the Ladyblog runner herself.

Frankly, he was amazed that she'd gotten away with it so far.

Obviously, Alya had no idea that Ladybug was so close.

'Well sure, but how are you going to manage that?' She questioned.

He had enough of a job trying to keep Nino and his Father out of it, let alone a literal borderline journalist with a crazy obession of uncovering Ladybug's identity.

'Alya, I don't think breaking into their room is a good idea,-'

Adrien flinched.

'-you'd be breaking the law. Plus, I'm fairly certain that the staff wouldn't let you. Weren't you saying that the press weren't allowed on their floor?'

And he breathed a sigh of relief.

Of course Ladybug's got their backs.

Marinette sighed. 'No, Alya, if you do a Romeo thing and climb up onto their balcony I'm fairly certain you'd die before you even got there.'

Adrien peered over the lip of the sill and nodded in agreement at the sheer drop.

'And what would you do if you managed to get in there? Be all; "hey don't worry I'm totally not here to steal your identities I just want a copy of those photos"?-Wait, of course you'd try and figure it out at the same time.' She sighed.

Adrien shrugged. He hadn't even brought his real phone with him, and had instead brought a "London phone" with further roaming, and decked it out to be a Chat Noir phone.

Presently, 0 contacts.

He knew all the important numbers off by heart anyway.

The only way Alya would figure out who he was by sifting through all of his stuff was if by chance Adrien himself walked in on her doing it.

He was quite proud of that one.

'No Alya, dusting for fingerprints is a bad idea.'

He hadn't thought of that.

But since when would Alya have a copy of Adrien Agreste's fingerprints?

...Actually, he didn't want an answer to that one.

'Alya, I'm getting off the phone now, before you somehow incriminate me too.'

Adrien nodded. That was probably a good idea.

The idea of Alya shomehow breaking into the room still gave him the shivers.

'Alya, bad. No. Goodbye.'

He breathed a sigh of relief, but it was a disheartened one.

Note to self; somehow organise a meeting with Alya that does not involve her breaking and entering.

Somehow he knew that Marinette was thinking the same thing.

The room phone rang, and both Marinette and Chat Noir looked up.

Marinette looked down at the work between the two of them again, and sighed.

'No, don't worry,' Chat smiled. 'I'll get it,' he stood, carefully releasing the tension he had been holding on their pinning project.

He loped easily over to the other side of the room, and through the door to the other room.

Marinette took the minute to gather her thoughts.

She was out of sorts, how easy it was to talk to Chat, especially since she could talk as Marinette as well as Ladybug.

What was going on with her?

'Yes,' Chat reappeared back into the room, leaning against the doorframe. 'Yes that would be fine. I'm sure we could work something out.' His wandering eyes found Marinette again, and he winked at her. 'Purrfect. We'll see you then. Thanks again.'

Marinette fought the blush attempting to appear, and then froze, questioning why it should appear.

'Alright, see you then. Goodbye.' Chat smiled, before ending the call.

'Who was that?' Tikki questioned, as Marinette stood uncertainly.

Chat took a minute to take a few calming breaths, before moving over towards Marinette.

'What are you doin-?'

Chat landed his hands on her waist and scooped her up, swinging her around, whilst letting out a delighted noise.

'Chat!' Marinette exclaimed. 'Chat Noir?'

After a few turns, he settled her, a smile possibly wider than the ship itself on his face.

'What was that all about?' Marinette demanded.

Chat fought the smile, and shifted his hands from her hips to her shoulders.

'Well,'

'Yes? Chat Noir?'

'So I just received a phone call,'

Marinette wanted to facepalm. 'I did notice that, if I'm being honest,'

'Asking if Ladybug and Chat Noir would attend a dinner with them.'

'Right. What time?'

'Seven thirty. Can you guess who the invite was from?'

Marinette rolled her eyes. 'Chloé?'

Chat shook her slightly. 'Jagged Stone.'

Marinette's face went slack. 'Are you serious!?'

'Yes!' He grinned, releasing her to prance excitedly around the room. 'Jagged Stone called me, and I talked to him on the phone!' He span back to face her. 'And invited us to dinner!'

Marinette flapped her hands excitedly. 'Oh my god,' she hesitated. 'But we're going to have to look all professional, and all "haha yes I meet rockstars all the time", I mean,'

Chat's attention snapped to his backpack next to his bed suddenly. 'I could get that CD signed that you-' He cut himself off, slamming his hands over his mouth, before pausing. 'Wait, I don't have that here.' He muttered, his ears drooping.

'That I-?' Marinette questioned, looking at him. 'I what?'

'Nothing, nothing,' Chat flailed at her, before laughing nervously. 'I-I mean the one you designed, right? That was you, wasn't it?' He quickly changed the subject. 'So how about going into Porto this afternoon until then?'

She gave him a suspicious look, before accepting the change of conversation. 'That works, how is Plagg feeling?'

Chat shrugged, sitting on his bed. 'Annoyed, but what's new? He's on Tikki's side, it seems. Sees all of this,' he gestured at himself vaguely, 'as ridicuous. But he's holding up well stamina-wise.'

'Great, well, keep me in the loop.' Marinette said. 'Was there anything that you especially wanted to look at in Porto?'

'That bridge looked amazing. What was it, the Ponte de Luis?'

Marinette crossed the room to where she had left the welcome book, which was currently crammed full of pamphlets.

She picked them up and carried them over to where Chat was sitting before dumping the whole pile onto his bed. 'Where do you want to start?'

Ever a pair for the dramatics, as the ship passed under the Ponte de D. Luis, the main bridge of the city, Ladybug and Chat Noir watched as it slowly cruised underneath from the bridge.

The upper decks were so close that they could see the spectators, and as they were noticed they could see them waving and taking photos.

It was as if the two superheros were welcoming them into their home town of Porto, rather than them being the guests themselves.

It also wasn't long before they were noticed by pedestrians on the bridge, and they were quickly surrounded by fans requesting autographs.

Chat grinned at all of this, and when the group of people were at their peak he turned and seized Ladybug by the waist, turned, and took a selfie from their own camera with the crowd in the background.

'Salut, Portugal!' He grinned, snapping the photo.

'Chat,' Ladybug complained, lowering her automatic peace sign in shame.

Chat shrugged jovially, and turned back to sign a few more things.

Somone tapped him on the shoulder and he turned, to see a very tourist-y looking fellow looking at him expectantly.

'Hi there,' Chat grinned. 'Need me to sign something?'

There was a noise from behind him, and a little girl peered around the mans legs. She said something up to Chat, and Ladybug watched out of the corner of her eye with interest.

Chat paused, then crouched down to the little girls level and replied cheerfully in what was clearly Cantonese.

If the girl was star-struck before, then she nearly fainted then.

The man spoke, with a clear intention of taking a photo of them together, and Chat looked back up at Ladybug. 'She wants you in on this too,' Chat smiled. 'Care to join, my lady?'

'Of course.' Ladybug turned and crouched to be on her level.

Unexpectedly, the girl threw her arms around Ladybug's neck in a huge hug, and Ladybug smothered her slight flinch as little hands ruffled the hair around her ears. 'Are you ready?' She questioned.

Chat pulled a pose around the two girls and grinned while the girl resettled herself into Ladybug's lap.

Who must have been her father snapped the photo, and grinned back.

The little girl looked up at Ladybug adoringly, and said something that inflected like a question.

Ladybug stared at her blankly, until Chat leaned around her shoulder. 'She's asking if you'll be her bestest friend.'

'Oh, sure!' Ladybug nodded, smiling.

The little girl beamed at her, before disappearing back over to her father.

Ladybug waved as the two proudly wandered off, and was pulled back into the crowd of fans.

'We really should keep moving,' Ladybug said sideways to Chat Noir as a pushy woman bustled to the forefront of the crowd in front of the superheroes.

'I think you're right, my lady,' Chat said with a slight grimance.

So with a final few minutes for photos, they disappeared over the edge of the bridge, and swung back onto the stern of the ship with an easy leap.

Porto was stunning, with its beautiful monuments and breath-taking views.

Unfortunately they didn't have a lot of time, as the ship only docked, albeit slightly early at a half-three in the afternoon, and they had to be back on the ship by seven-thirty.

So Ladybug and Chat Noir, in full costumed glory swung through the city taking a scenic route along the coast, then down along the river, snapping photos as they went.

The two took a magnificent guided tour of several buildings, including Porto Cathedral that dated back to the twelth century and was to Porto as Notre Dame was to Paris.

They swung between the monuments, and eventually wound up atop the Torre dos Clérigos bell tower, dominating the cityscape at seventy-six metres that dated back to some three hundred years previous.

According to the tour guide that they listened in on on the way past.

It was truely breathtaking, and it was also from here they watched the late-afternoon sun sink lazily towards the ocean.

It was a nice change of pace, walking around as properly Ladybug and Chat Noir, as opposed to the disguises Alya had leant them.

The steep roof of the bell tower made for a properly panoramic view of the city, the river, and the ocean to the far west of them.

From there they could almost pick out the route they had taken to get there, like a map.

They saw Ribeira Square, that they had done a press conference at earlier, with some of the other celebreties. It was a true spectacle, but they had also gotten a chance to check out the restaurant that Jagged Stone had invited them to overlooking the river.

But their time was eaten up quickly, and after a wider circuit of the city, as well as explorations to the city of Gaia on the other side of the river, it was soon time for the two superheros to head back to the restaurant.

Yet as soon as they landed, they were once again surrounded.

Stone's security almost had to elbow their way through in order for Stone to get through himself, who threw his hands wide open upon seeing them.

'Ladybug! Cat Noir! It's great to see you!' Jagged stone grinned.

The pair smiled back.

'Yeah! Long time no see!' Chat responded, offering a hand to the star.

Stone shook it vigourously. 'You know, I really love your look. I've been thinking about writing a song about you.' He struck a dramatic pose. 'Cat Noir; the devil in disguise,' he winked, then paused. 'Actually, someone write that down!'

Chat grinned retracting his hand with ideas of never washing it again, while Stone's security produced a pen and paper.

'He's not that demonic, you know,' Ladybug waved, and Stone's attention snapped to her.

'No, no, I mean he's a cool cat, but knows how to rock.' Stone grinned. 'Did you like the song I wrote about you?' He bent and kissed her hand, and she flushed red unbidden.

'I loved it, thank you so much.' She smiled.

'So let's take this party inside!' Stone lead her by the shoulders into the open front of the restaurant. 'Table for three, please!'

Chat noticed a security member sidle up to a waitress, and quietly mention something about a booking.

The waitress nodded, and gestured for them to follow.

'Man, I love going places. There's always tables free.' Stone grinned at the two of them.

Chat grinned. 'So you were talking about writing a song about me?'

'Yeah, yeah,' Stone smiled as they headed up the stairs onto the balcony. 'What do you think? What's your angle?'

'My angle?' Chat faltered slightly, before straightening. 'Purrfection, I'd say. Clawesome.' He glanced down at his nails. 'The second best superhero that Paris has ever seen.'

'Oh? Who's the best, in your opinion?' Stone questioned.

'Why, Ladybug of course.' Chat gestured sideways to his partner, who smiled a little shyly.

'You're exaggerating, Chat.' Ladybug waved at him.

Of course, throughout the entirety of the dinner, Ladybug was struggling to keep it cool.

Well, how often did she get to go to dinner with her favourite musician?

Artist, even?

Luckily she could see that Chat Noir was in the same boat.

Frantically trying to keep up the façade of level-headed superheros, whilst fangirling to the extreme on the inside.

Chat in particular, it seemed.

The idea of getting a song written about him was, as he put it, "off the charts! Way cool!"

Jagged Stone indeed kept the pocket notebook and pen next to him throughout the dinner as inspiration for lines appeared.

They talked about the different places that they had visited so far, but Stone was particularly looking forward to Barcelona after hearing so much about it.

He even showed off his Eiffel Tower sunglasses that "that girl Marinette had made for him". According to Stone, she had a major career in designing ahead of her.

To this, Ladybug could absolutely not stop grinning.

'I can't believe we got to have dinner!' Ladybug exclaimed. 'With Jagged Stone!'

'I know!' Chat returned, checking his door-locking abilities and turning to face her. 'And he's writing a song about me!' He straightened. 'Do you think it's possible to be your own biggest fan?'

Ladybug flopped down onto the couch, and released her transformation.

Tikki landed in Marinette's waiting hands appreciatively. 'I'm not sure, try asking Plagg.' Tikki smiled tiredly. 'He seems to be an expert on the subject.'

'Of course he is,' Chat rolled his eyes, and leant against the couch. 'I didn't know you made those glasses for him? He loves those things it seems.'

'Yeah, actually. Long story, but I actually designed and made them for him! It was possibly the greatest day of my life, right next to when Jagged Stone accepted my proposed album cover,' Marinette sighed.

'Wow, Ladybug,' Chat grinned at her, resting his elbows against the edge of the couch over her. 'Do you have a crush on Jagged Stone?'

Marinette burst out laughing. 'No, but I'm a huge fan of his. You should see the massive poster I have in my room at home.'

'Oh, really? I never saw you as the poster-toting type?' Chat tilted his head at her. 'I see you more with your walls papered with designs and fashion and such.' He paused. 'What about model crushes? Any favourites?'

Marinette flushed a deep, deep red.

'I, nope! I have a pin-up board for my d-designs, but they're mostly i-in my sketchbooks.'

Chat wiggled his eyebrows at her. 'That doesn't look like the face of someone who doesn't have a celebrity crush,' Chat grinned. 'Isn't it supposed to be that girls never shut up about their crushes like that?'

Marinette was not avoiding eye contact with Chat. Not at all. 'Ok, so I maybe have one or two posters of someone I like.' She shifted suddenly. 'I mean, not like like, like, just like. Maybe.'

'That's a lot of likes, my lady.' Chat half smiled at her. 'Do I need to fight them in a duel to win your affections?'

Marinette shot him such a look that he backed down. 'I never said "affections", you said that. Don't put words in my mouth. You wouldn't know him anyway.'

'Wouldn't I?'

Marinette flushed again. 'God, I hope not.' There was enough confusion going on in her life that they looked almost the same, let alone the two knowing each other.

'Why do you say that?'

'I didn't know you spoke Cantonese?' Marinette suddenly changed the subject. 'I mean, you said you only spoke a few words?'

Chat Noir looked startled at the sudden change. 'I've been learning for a while. It's sort of like a hobby. It's a really challenging language though. I'm terrible at writing it.'

'Is that so?' Marinette sighed.

'Does it bother you?'

'No,' she said, albeit slightly reluctantly. 'Never mind.'

Chat saw her dismiss the entire conversation and straightened, making a mental note to pursue parts of it later. 'I wonder what my song's going to be about?'