Seven: Life of the Party

Author's Note: As I was enjoying some time off last week, I am shamelessly re-sharing what turned into a prequel for Roommates that I wrote as part of the LadyNoirJuly 2019 series of prompts. I've adjusted it slightly so if you read the original, points for spotting the differences. As I mentioned when this was first published, it also serves as the backstory for ChubbyUnicornMama's excellent Big Shot. We still laugh at how that spawned Nathalie cleaning up after butterflies – but that is another story (literally) for another day. –ep

"Holy catnip," I said. "Is this the CD that Nino created from his set at the infamous party?"

Marinette poked her head out from her room, hands furiously working to put her hair into a professional ponytail and loosing. "The onenth on thesph counter?" she asked around the ribbon she had in her mouth. "Yesph."

She grimaced as her hands snagged on a knot in her hair. "Ow," she groaned. "I was pulling out some of my old designs from college, and it was in the same box as some of my notebooks."

I put the CD back on the kitchen counter where I'd found it and leapt over to her. "What did you do? This is a rat's nest today."

"One of my colleagues recommended a new shampoo, but it's resulted in this nasty frizz. I hate it."

"Here," I said, "come sit."

I drew her over to one of the barstools and began raking my claws through her hair, carefully detangling it. She wasn't naturally curly, so whatever she'd used had truly been horrible. "I've not seen it this bad in a while," I laughed. "Lucky for you, I am a catspert in fur care."

It only took a few minutes for me to get her back to some semblance of normalcy, and I finished up by carefully tying off her pink ribbon. "I miss the pigtails," I lamented, then quickly added, "but you are pawsitively gorgeous however you do your hair."

She turned up to me and smiled. "Well, they aren't quite the image I want at the office, kitty. But I'll happily bring them back for you this weekend."

"Purromise?"

She could see the smile in my masked eyes. "Absolutely," she said, giving me a farewell kiss and nabbing one of the croissants I'd put out for her. "See you tonight!"

And with that, she was out the door.

I smiled after her, relishing in my delight at her happiness with her career. Munching on my own croissant, my feline eyes fell upon the CD once more. My call for that day's photo shoot was in about an hour, and I realized I had at least that long in the chair while they got me ready. Snagging the CD and sliding it into my costume pocket, I polished off the last of my breakfast, cleaned the kitchen and then leapt out my bedroom balcony for work.

Transforming in an alleyway close to the Grand Hotel, I arrived in the ballroom where the shoot was taking place and moved through it to the dressing rooms beyond. My makeup artist was already there, and I handed her the CD as I settled in.

"I don't know if you like dance music," I said to her, "but do you mind popping this into the player? It's from a friend."

Her eyes bugged out. "You know DJ Nino?"

"Yeah," I smiled. "We go way back," I added. Given my own stature, it was funny she was starstruck. "I can get you an autograph if you want...?"

"Could you?" she said as she slid the CD in and hit play. "And one for my kids? We have all of his albums."

"I'll see what I can do," I smiled as the first strains burst into the room. I closed my eyes as she settled in to create the model everyone expected and let the music wash over me.

The vibrant throbbing of the electronic music took me right back to that night years ago now, when I was still at University. It was the night I realized my budding relationship with Marinette had eclipsed my desire to woo Ladybug – and that I was completely comfortable with that turn of events.

I remembered arriving at the party, unsure of whether I really wanted to be there. Two years into life as a University student, I'd managed to steer clear of most of the social engagements that entailed, but that particular evening, Nino had the gig as a DJ and had asked if I would be going. Wanting to support my best friend, I agreed to an appearance, only intending to stay long enough to satisfy my purromise.

I recalled it had been a long day, one of many where I'd balanced my full course load, continued to model for House of Gabriel and the nearly daily obligation to save Paris from Hawkmoth. I was bone weary, and as I passed the euphemistically named "bar," actually considered grabbing one of the red cups in an effort to unwind. But I also knew one or two of those concoctions would likely have me snoozing in a dark corner, curled up cat-like.

The dance floor was already hopping, full mostly of undergraduates I really didn't know very well. Some of my friends from our high school days were there, and as I scanned further, I finally found two I knew better than most. Working my way through the throng, I put on my best model smile as I approached Alya and Marinette.

"Hey, Prin-Marinette," I said, giving her the traditional French air kiss. I'd nearly blown it, though: it was early days of the Chat and Marinette romance, making it increasingly difficult for me to keep Adrien in the friend zone with Marinette when I saw her. "Alya. How's your fiancé doing?"

She laughed, and my eyes fell to the glittering diamond on her finger. Nino had proposed a few months ago, with some help from a certain black kitty; I smiled every time I saw the photo she'd had the presence of mind to snap of me (as Chat) when I'd appeared tableside at the café he'd taken her to, holding the ring he then giddily presented to her. I was already committed to be his best man. "Not bad," she said. "He's trying out a new set that he might roll together for an album."

That made my eyebrows go up. Nino had been a monster, releasing new mixes for the dance floor one right after the other. His was a star on the rise. "Can we get an early copy?" I asked, pitching my voice to be heard over the thrum of the baseline.

"Of course," she said. "You two are his better beta listeners." Her eyes darted to Marinette, then down to the half-full soda bottle Marinette was holding. Snatching it, she said quickly, "I'll get a refill!"

Alya darted into the crowd and both of us rolled our eyes. Our old friend had pulled her usual stunt, but by now we were both aware that she'd been trying to match us since Dupont. I found myself smiling, Chat-like, at Marinette. Little did Alya know that we had indeed paired off - just not the way she'd expected.

"Good party?" I asked, making conversation. "I just got here, had a nasty photo shoot this afternoon," I explained. I tactfully left out that Chat and Ladybug had been called to action over at the Louvre, too. It was partly why I was late arriving.

"I don't know," she replied, trying to talk over the music. "I've only been here a short while, too." She looked up at Nino. "And as much as I love Nino, parties just aren't my thing."

"Me, either," I concurred. My eyes fell on hers, and it took everything I had not to wink at her and suggest I spirit her away from the crowd. Adrien wouldn't do that. But being this close to my girlfriend, Chat was desperately clawing his way into my consciousness and demanding some action.

Swallowing, I turned toward the raised dais Nino was on, trying to focus on what he was playing. It proved to be difficult; for whatever reason, the atmosphere had gotten to me, and all I could think about was the petite woman standing next to me. A moment later, I realized I'd snaked my arm over her shoulders, and to my surprise, she'd actually snuggled into me. I snuck a look down at her, and mentally weighed the pros and cons of throwing everything to the wind and giving in to the temptation to kiss her, gently, and whisper into her ear who was really holding her. That was nearly as strong as my urge to pick at the ribbon she'd used to put her hair into a ponytail.

Alya managed to save me at the last minute, returning with Marinette's soda. I saw her eyes take in my casual removal of the arm, and knew I was flushing slightly like the inner teen I suddenly felt like. "Chloe's here," she said without preamble.

My head swiveled, looking for the blond head that I knew always meant trouble. "I thought she was in New York?"

"She's visiting her dad," Alya said. "It must not be going well, though," she added. "She's already three sheets to the wind, and that bottle of Dom Perignon she's swigging from now won't improve her prospects much." Alya frowned a bit and finished with: "In the twenty minutes she's been here, she's managed to insult just about everyone."

I groaned, and thought I'd heard Marinette do the same. Nearly every time Chloe got into a state, someone wound up akumatized; I made a snap decision it would be wiser for Chat to be present, if only in the shadows, just in case.

"Wow!" I said, looking at my phone. "Is it that late already? I really need to go."

"You just got here!" Alya cried, eyes darting to Marinette and landing on the phone in her friend's hand. "Don't tell me. You have to leave, too?"

"Maman just texted," she nodded. "They need help with a big order at the Bakery for tomorrow."

I made my farewells and quickly exited despite Alya's pleas to stay for one more set. Marinette parted ways with me at the door to the club and I ducked into the first quiet alley I could find to become Chat Noir. Clawing my way to the roof, I happened upon open skylight and curled through it to a catwalk just above Nino's dais, ignoring the irony. The lighting rig masked my movements, and I stealthily crept to the edge and timed a leap to the balcony rimming the event space for a burst of loud trumpets in the track Nino was playing.

To my surprise, Ladybug was already crouched below the velvet-rimmed railing. "Great minds?" she laughed. "I heard Chloe was back in town."

"You must have picked up on my deepest desire to see you this evening, Milady," I said with a smile. "But yes, Chloe is down there. Somewhere."

"I wonder-" she started, but didn't finish.

A loud crash issued from the "bar" and we both turned toward it. Chloe had upended it with one hand, and the bartender was standing there, soaked by whatever had been on the counter at the time. My feline hearing was able to cut through the noise and discern Chloe berating the bartender for not giving her another bottle of Dom Perignon, and my masked eyes widened as I watched her simply pull one from the ice bath and demand the attendant open it.

"Uh…" I said. "Maybe we should have an intervention?"

"Good idea," Ladybug agreed, but before we could hurdle the balcony, a second crash issued from the far side of the room, followed by the telltale requisite screaming.

I locked eyes with Ladybug. Our akuma had appeared.

Turning, we saw a fellow university student standing just off the dais. Clad head-to-toe in a form-fitting yellow and black outfit, he was wearing some sort of enhanced set of goggles; I watched in amazement as he turned it on a gaggle of frantically escaping partygoers. After a yellow-and-black flash of light, the group had disappeared; I suspected strongly they might now be on the music poster he was holding in one hand.

"Not good enough!" he cried, his voice carrying now that Nino had stopped the music. "I am just as good as this clown! And more than good enough for you!"

Inexorably, the akuma started to move toward Chloe, who simply glared at him. If I hadn't known her as well as I did, I'd have assumed the alcohol was giving her false confidence. "Whatever," she said, swigging from her new bottle. "This party is just ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. I don't even know why I came."

"Don't worry," the akuma said with a menacing smile. "MixMaster will make sure you blend in with the party."

I rolled my eyes. The names Hawkmoth came up with! I looked to my partner, but before I could say anything, a stray spotlight had fallen on her. My breath caught as she sparkled in the glow; for the first time in years, I saw her in that gauzy way I first did as a lovestruck teenager. Clearing my throat, I tried again. "I'll distract?"

"As always," she smiled. I could see she was using her Lucky Vision, and leapt over the railing to give her the time she needed.

"Mind if I join the party?" I asked as I dropped in front of Chloe. "Honestly, though, I'm not really a fan of party crashers."

"At last! Thank you, Chat Noir," Chloe huffed with a glare at MixMaster.

"I was referring to you," I said snarkily.

"What-?" she said, spluttering.

"Fine," MixMaster said, and started to train his goggles on me.

I bounded backwards and nabbed Chloe, rolling to a corner through the dispersing crowd of guests. Coming up and out of the crouch with my baton, I smiled at the akuma. "Sorry, had to change tracks for that last number."

"That's not even a good pun," Chloe said hotly.

"Everyone's a critic," I replied as I moved back toward MixMaster. "I don't know what she said to you-"

The beam shot out and I leapt left, far enough that he had to turn away from Chloe to pursue me. I smiled, for her sense of self-preservation had kicked in - she scrambled from the floor and into the restroom she was close too, locking the door behind her. I suspected the door wouldn't present much of a challenge to MixMaster, but it was cute, nonetheless.

I paused to lean on my baton, hand on cheek. "-but you really have to give it up for her effort. It must have been something-"

He took another shot at me, but I was fractionally faster, falling backwards and under the beam. Scampering around to another corner, he shot at me a number of times; a few of the bystanders, unfortunately, wound up caught in his crosshairs, but I was sure Ladybug would get them out again with the Miraculous Cure.

I stood again, leaning against a temporary light post by the dais, twirling my tail. Above and behind me, I heard Ladybug quietly call out for her Lucky Charm, and knew we were now on the clock. "Look," I said brightly. "Give up now and we'll call it an early night, 'kay? I don't know about you, but I have class tomorrow-"

MixMaster bounded atop a table, nearly growling, and shot his goggles at me in a rapid-fire pace; I leapt, vaulted and rolled, but one errant shot caught my baton. I groaned as I watched it evaporate into thin air. That was likely to complicate things.

"Chat!" I heard from Ladybug. "I need your tail!"

I scrambled a bit to stay ahead of a now clearly furious MixMaster, unbuckling my belt as I ran. Nearing Ladybug's perch, I hurled it up to her. "What's the plan?" I asked as I vaulted up to the lighting catwalk.

"How are you at swan diving?" she asked. "And get your Cataclysm ready," she added as she landed next to me on the catwalk.

"Cataclysm!" I cried. I long ago had stopped questioning her when it came to the Rube Goldberg nature of her plans. As the power flew into my fingertips, I felt her reposition my belt around me; she'd quickly re-fashioned it into a climbing harness, and once it was re-buckled to me, I felt her tug at it from where she'd hooked her yo-yo.

Looking up, I saw she'd threaded the yo-yo through her Lucky Charm – some sort of polka-dotted pulley slung through a lighting hook in the ceiling. I looked back at her and just simply understood what she was going to do. "Ready," I said, holding my ring hand carefully as I used the other to grip the catwalk railing.

"Go for the poster," she said. "Now!"

I leapt from the catwalk, and felt the yo-yo play out behind me. Down I went, and she pulled slightly to give me just the right arc. Arm outstretched, I rolled sideways to avoid a shot from his goggles and to stay online with the poster. My fingertips grazed it as I went by; my arc sent me upwards slightly, and I tensed, intrinsically knowing Ladybug would release the yo-yo from my belt at the best moment for me to roll.

Hearing the ziiing of the retracting yo-yo, I curled and landed, rolling up into my pounce-crouch just in time to see her snag the purple butterfly. A moment later, her cleansing spell washed through the space with a million of her tiny helpers; my baton dropped into my hand just as I'd started to put my tail to rights.

I hopped quickly over to a bespectacled student, wearing the bewildered expression common to Hawkmoth's victims. He didn't remember why he was angry, but he was also still quite drunk; opting for caution, I used the baton to call for a taxi and sent him home. But in the end, it didn't matter. Chloe had pulled her usual stunt and screwed up someone else's life, albeit briefly.

We found Chloe passed out in the bathroom, a slight trickle of drool running down her face. I was seriously tempted to snag a photo with my baton, but this time Adrien poked his head into my consciousness and decried the very thought. She might not be a true friend, but she was, after all, still a friend.

As we loaded her into a second taxi destined for the Grand Hotel, my ring chirped the two-minute warning. I could see from Ladybug's earrings that she was also down to two spots. "And here I was hoping we'd be able to spend more time together this evening," I quipped to her.

"I thought you already had a girlfriend," she teased.

"I do," I said, extending my baton and leaning on it with a dreamy expression. "I'm sad to say, my days of flirting with you are over, Milady."

Ladybug, of all things, started to smirk. "I never thought I'd see the day," she said, chuckling.

"And what would that be?" I was now leaning an elbow on the top of my baton, chin in hand.

"You. Giving up on me," she said good naturedly as she readied her yo-yo.

I leaned toward her on my baton and managed to graze a chaste kiss on the portion of her cheek that wasn't covered by her mask. "How will you ever survive?" I teased.

"Oh, I suspect I'll find a way…" she answered as she sailed off into the night.

As the final strains of the last track on the CD faded out, my makeup artist whisked away the apron and I refocused on the here-and-now. Ladybug and I had fallen into a comfortable relationship after that evening; nearly from that point forward, I'd spent every free moment I had with Marinette. Whether in her dorm room, her bakery rooftop patio or random quiet spots that Chat Noir wouldn't attract as much attention, we'd set ourselves on a path that had led to our current situation with the apartment.

Standing and moving toward the ballroom and the long day ahead, I paused to smile at my fortune. Having Marinette in my life was like living inside of pure joy. The chance discovery of the CD had simply reminded me just how lucky this kitty had been.

Reformatting my Marinette smile into the megawatt supermodel version, I stepped out into the fracas with a song in my heart.