Eight: Cooling Off
Author's Note: Given how warm the temperatures have been in Paris this year, it seemed appropriate to see how our duo would react to a sweltering weekend. Chat, as usual, gets creative while also managing to get himself into hot water.
Late August was usually extremely warm in Paris, and this season was no exception. A side benefit to being Chat was that my costume normally kept my personal temperature regulated fairly well; for really cold situations, I could always call on Glacier Plagg for a heavier outfit. I'd never had to try the asbestos-sounding Fire Plagg, though my kwami assured me I'd be able to walk across an active volcano with no problem while transformed with it.
It was nearly hot enough in Paris for me to be willing to break it out.
Our apartment was more modern than most and had central air conditioning, but one unlucky weekend found our part of the city experiencing rolling blackouts. With so much demand on the aging Parisian utility infrastructure, it had been deemed prudent to protect the network. The downside was there had been no notice, nor any rhyme or reason for how the blackouts would occur.
For the first time, I was finding it inconvenient to be encased in black leather.
Late that Saturday, I had my baton out and spinning in the general direction of Marinette, who was sagging on the couch across from my position atop the coffee table. All of the sliding doors and windows were open to catch what little air movement existed to no avail – it was hopelessly stuffy inside our tidy space. Ignoring the cramps in my biceps, I'd been fanning my girlfriend like some sort of strange take on an ancient Egyptian royal court for the better part of the afternoon.
My blond mane was matted down with sweat, and I'd been blinking away same since starting. But I knew Marinette was even more uncomfortable than I was, so I'd kept at it. Just as I was starting to fantasize about submerging myself up to my feline ears in a cold bath – something I'd never dream of doing as a cat, mind you – the lights flickered to life and the HVAC unit began to hum once more.
I rolled off the coffee table and lethargically made my way to the sliders for the balcony, pulling them shut with my rubbery-feeling arms. Seeing Marinette was still blotto on the couch, I repeated the process in my room and then carefully closed the door to her bedroom. It was still early days and I didn't wish to intrude in her personal space unless invited.
Hopping the couch with the last of my strength, I splayed out, face down, on the relative coolness of the coffee table, pressing my forehead into the glass. As table wasn't quite big enough, my legs and arms hung over the sides, which today was a bit of a godsend. The bath was becoming more appealing, even with the relatively cool breeze finally wafting out of the air conditioning grates.
"I am thinking how meowvelous it would be to bury myself in a tub of ice cream," I muttered into the glass. "Better yet, one of those shaved ice things."
"That sounds divine," Marinette agreed, the back of her head still resting over the edge of the couch. "Of all the times for the power to go out."
"Do you mind cold soup for dinner tonight?" I asked, voice muffled by the glass. "I don't think I can contemplate working the stove this evening."
"That sounds good to me," she said. "You want—"
We both groaned at that moment, for the lights cut out again and the breeze from the air conditioning faded to nothing.
Slowly, I started to bang my head against the table. "You know what?" I said, turning sideways to look at her. "Grab your suit. We're hitting the pool."
Marinette didn't move, but I could hear the arched eyebrow in her voice. "Along with all of Paris," she said. "And what, exactly, are you going to wear?"
"Don't worry about me," I smiled, knowing Plagg was going to be very unhappy with me.
To Marinette's surprise, I carried her across the rooftops of Paris toward the Grand Hotel and its exclusive rooftop pool. As Chat, I was well acquainted with our fellow Team Miraculous member, Chloe Bourgeois. While not my most favorite person, Chloe had come a long way from those early days at Dupont; I was sure her time as Queen Bee had adjusted her world view a bit, though she was still far from perfect. In any event, she'd graciously extended Team Miraculous an open invitation to use the Hotel's facilities whenever we wished. Despite her currently being in New York, I knew no one would question my arrival, nor the fact I had a guest with me.
Surprisingly, we had the rooftop to ourselves. I gently let Marinette off in one of the cabanas ringing the pool, and took one next to her so I could re-transform in Aqua Mode. I met her at the edge of the pool a moment later, and smiled as she ogled the subtle changes to my costume. "Fins?" she said at length.
"Yep," I smiled. "And I can breathe underwater."
"Not fair," she laughed and then jumped in with a splash that managed to drench me from ears to boots. I dove in after her, relishing in my ability to truly enjoy being in the water. I wasn't an athlete like my old schoolmate Kim, but I was a reasonably good swimmer even without the special transformation. Fortunately or not, I rarely needed to call on Aqua Mode; trotting it out now felt like I was shaking off the rust, making me only feel marginally guilty for using it without an active akuma being about.
Realizing Marinette might be worried about how long I'd been under, I kicked upward and broke the surface next to her. "Still not a huge fan of water," I said, shaking it out of my mane dramatically, "but today, it's worth it."
She bopped me on the head much like Ladybug would. "Liar," she smiled. "I saw you dolphin kicking around down there. You're loving every minute."
My eyes narrowed with the smile I was wearing. "You can't prove it, Princess," I laughed.
"I think I could," she laughed harder. "But it's too hot to try."
I swam to the edge and pulled myself out smoothly. Several floats were stacked up by the edge, and I grabbed two and brought them back to Marinette. She slid onto one, and I took the other. "I'm not a huge fan of Chloe," Marinette murmured to me, "but it was nice of her to make this available."
"I don't know if Ladybug has ever taken her up on the offer," I replied. "I once used the VIP suite so I could study for finals."
She half-turned toward me. "Really? Why?"
I shrugged. "I needed to be away from everyone," I said, "and it was the least obvious place someone would look for me." Either version of me, I didn't add.
"What was the course?" she asked casually.
My feline ears perked up at the subtle attempt to get personal information out of me. "A tough one," I laughed.
She turned more toward me, eyes narrowing. "That's the best I'm gonna get?"
"Yep," I laughed and rolled off the float and into the water.
I dove down to the depths, flipped, and the kicked powerfully upward toward her float; possibly sensing what I was about, she frantically tried to paddle away from me, but I hit the edge just where I wanted and tumbled her back into the water.
She sunk quickly, and I dove below her, caught her, and kicked toward the surface. She was spluttering. "Not… fair…!" she cried, shaking her head and cascading water everywhere.
"I know," I laughed. "I don't get to channel my inner child often."
"Are you kidding?" she said incredulously. "You act like a thirteen-year-old whenever you have that costume on!"
The smile on my face faltered. "I… I do?" I asked.
"Yes," she said, still spluttering as she kicked away from me and returned to her float. "Grow up, Chat!"
That was not the response I'd expected. Narrowing my masked eyes, I sunk below the surface of the water, careful to keep my feline ears just above the water line. Then, slowly, I started to paddle toward her.
As expected, she started to shriek and began paddling away from me. That was more like it.
I picked up my pace and, just as I reached her, slid below her float and rotated. As I swiftly kicked below her, I ran my claws along the bottom of the plastic, piercing it with clinical precision.
Air bubbles appeared with abandon, and the float folded inward beneath her weight. I came around again and popped up in time to see her kick off and make for the edge of the pool. Two strong dolphin kicks later and I was beside her. "More like a six-year-old, I think," I grinned.
I hefted her over the edge, and she sat, staring down at me and looking just a bit bedraggled. But there was a smile of childish delight that hadn't been there before, and I knew I'd been right – she'd needed to not be an adult for a bit just as much as I had.
"Incorrigible," she said, kissing me between the ears. "And now we owe Chloe for a float."
"I'm good for it," I said cheerfully.
She leaned down and kissed me properly, then pulled back. "That you are."