Twelve: Rainy Days

Author's Note: It's been sunny and warm for a bit in our little universe. Let's see what happens when we introduce a bit of dreary weather to the equation – and an item from Chat's past he never expected to see again. –ep

In the two weeks since we returned from Nice, it had rained nearly every day. It had made both of our commutes to work miserable, though I felt it prudent not to tell Marinette that de-transforming back to my civilian self erased the soggy mess instantly. My costume actually allowed the rain to bead up and roll off; it was generally my hair that suffered the worst aspects of being out and about, and I'd long found having my hair plastered to my scalp very unpleasant.

One especially dreary Thursday morning, I was slumped against the kitchen bar, slurping coffee and debating whether I could call out for the photoshoot I was supposed to be doing at the Grand Palais. Some American automaker had shipped several versions of pickup trucks for the new model year and had come up with the brilliant plan to have the famous French supermodel standing next to each one. Not having driven anything other than on my Xbox, I had zero interest in cars and was not looking forward to the gig.

Marinette came out of her bedroom and saw my expression. "Ah," she said as she shrugged into her rain jacket while simultaneously trying to eat her croissant. "Is that today, then?" she asked, knowing only that I had an unsavory day at the office ahead of me.

"Yeah." I slurped again, something I rarely did.

She chuckled and leaned up for a kiss. "Just think of all the fun we had in Nice. It'll help you get through it."

I knew my face was flushing slightly at the first set of memories that popped into my head, and I smiled a bit sheepishly.

"Maybe not those memories," she laughed as she made a dash for the doorway. "Anyway, I'm doing dinner this evening. Maman has a care package I'm picking up after work."

That brought a genuine smile to my face. "That already sounds delicious."

"Should be," she said. She moved to the side of the door and retrieved an umbrella from the stand. She'd used it a million times before, but that particular morning, the light caught the House of Gabriel logo perfectly.

I nearly choked on my coffee. Actually, I did choke on my coffee, causing her to turn toward me, concern on her face. "Are you okay?"

Waving a paw at her, I coughed the worst of it out, vaguely wondering if a hairball might appear just for good measure. When I could breathe again, I asked: "Where did you get that umbrella?"

Marinette looked to the umbrella, and her eyes widened when she saw the logo. "This? I've had it for years. It was given to me by a… friend." She looked back. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," I smiled, trying to cover my surprise. "Have a great day!"

Wearing a bemused expression, Marinette exited to the hallway.

I stood there at the counter, dumbfounded. For I was reasonably certain it was the umbrella I'd given her that day back at Dupont – my first day in class, my first day as Chat Noir. I'd no idea she'd kept it all these years, nor that it had retained some special significance for her.

One more sliding down the half-wall of the kitchen bar, I sat with my back against it and wondered. Was it significant that she was still holding onto something from Adrien? I'd be the first to admit to a high level of insecurity with respect to relationships; despite her clear joy at our current arrangement, and mine for that matter, I suddenly worried that she was secretly pining away for my alter ego.

The logical part of my feline brain pointed out how loopy this line of reasoning was – especially given the rather special weekend our trip to Nice had turned into. And yet, it had suddenly taken root, demanding that I do something. Knowing I had to scat to make my call for the photoshoot, I drained the last of my coffee and put it the whole crazy train on the back burner.

That lasted about a week, when, on yet another rainy morning, my feline eyes caught her taking the umbrella out of the stand once more. Before she had a chance to escape, I impulsively asked her if she had meetings all day.

"Just in the morning," she said. "I might actually get a lunch break today." Marinette looked at me with a glimmer of anticipation. "Why? Want to meet somewhere?"

"Absolutely!" I said. "I don't know what's on my calendar; let me check it?" I smiled a bit. "I'll warn you that I might think I'm open only to find I'm gonna be late for dinner." I started for my bedroom and quickly logged into my laptop, scanning my daily schedule from both House of Gabriel and my agent. As I suspected, I had a photoshoot over lunch, but nothing at the office.

I trotted back out again. "Bad news," I said, trying my best to look forlorn.

Marinette rolled her eyes, for it wasn't the first time I'd not paid attention to the schedule my assistant dutifully emailed – and then printed out for me each day. "Figures," she sighed good naturedly. "See you tonight," she said as she kissed me again.

As the door closed on her departing form, I quickly called my agent and managed to get her to delay the noontime catalog shoot I was doing to mid-afternoon. After I hung up with her, I realized I'd made the call as Chat – it was no wonder she'd asked three times if something was wrong with me. Somewhat chagrined that my emotions were overriding my common sense, I prudently decided to text Marinette.

Adrien: Hey stranger – I'm going to be close to you at noon. Free for lunch? Would love to catch up.

I waited a bit and then saw the response coming back.

Mari: Holy cow! I was just thinking about you. Absolutely! What time?

Adrien: 1145? I'll be in the lobby of your building.

Mari: You won't be hard to miss, that's for sure! See you then.

I put my civilian phone down on the counter and seriously chastised myself for even going down this path. Like it or not, I'd set the wheels in motion, though, and now needed to see where it went. I wandered into my bedroom and over to the walk-in closet, and critically scanned the three outfits hanging there; since I was generally Chat, most of my wardrobe as Adrien was in storage or hanging in my private office space at House of Gabriel. But out of some weird sense of humor, I happened to have an adult version of the t-shirt and button-down I wore religiously while in high school; my mouth quirked into a smile as I dug out a pair of jeans and some tennis shoes to match.

Plagg roamed the apartment while I showered and donned the outfit. He reappeared as I ruffled my hair with my fingers, hovering over my shoulder and examining me in the bathroom's mirror. "This brings back memories," he said, before quickly zipping into my shirt. "Hey!" he said, his tiny voice muffled by the fabric, "there's an actual pocket in here now!"

"It was my first contribution to House of Gabriel," I laughed. "The lead designer thought I was crazy until I told him teens would put their cell phones there."

"Clever," he said as he re-appeared by my shoulder. "Though it appears to be just the right size for a kwami," he added, arching one of his eyebrows.

"Is it?" I said with a smirk. "Whoop! Time to go," I added after a quick glance at my civilian phone.

"Okay," he said, "but Adrien?"

I looked at him.

"Don't mess this up. It's not time for her to know who you are, yet," he said, "and you don't want to… unnecessarily complicate matters for Chat, either." He paused a bit. "You've come so far," he said proudly. "Both of you deserve each other, but if you aren't careful today…" he trailed off.

I saw Plagg's expression, and knew what he was getting at. I turned and leaned against the counter. "This is nuts, isn't it?" I asked rhetorically.

"Yes and no," Plagg answered anyway. "There is some merit to having Adrien remain in the periphery of Marinette's life," he observed. "Especially when the day does finally come that you can reveal yourself to her."

I smiled at my kwami. "You are a smart one, aren't you?"

"It would have saved us a lot of time if you'd realized that years ago," he smirked. "Okay, now I'm ready."

My eyes crinkled with good humor. I had no idea what I would do if Plagg ever left my life. "Plagg – claws out!" I cried, channeling teenage Adrien by going through the transformation moves I once thought were so cool; these days, I essentially did the bare minimum to wash the magic over me. But for a moment, I felt the same thrill I once did all those years ago in the mansion bedroom.

I could have sworn Plagg was seriously laughing at me as he phased into my ring; once the flash of transformation receded, I turned to grab my civilian phone from the counter and once more caught myself in the mirror as Chat. I'd seen myself hundreds of times now, but today, with childhood memories suddenly fresh, I found myself scanning for differences; the general costume was the same, for sure – I'd loved the initial pattern and hadn't tweaked much over the years. My mane was a bit lighter, and certainly I'd filled out with the muscles younger me had only dreamed about, but overall I just looked like a larger, older version of me.

I smiled at that thought, for deep down, I knew I was still that kid of thirteen that Plagg had found when I'd opened the box. I was also reasonably certain it was one of the aspects of Chat Marinette had fallen in love with. That made me smile wider, and as I made for the balcony and the rainy day beyond, made me realize that while my original idea for lunch had been flawed, the chance to spend an hour with her was wonderful. The umbrella may just have been a ringer after all.

Landing in an alleyway close to Marinette's office building, I shook the water out of my mane and belatedly realized I'd neglected to don an overcoat or bring my own umbrella. Peeking around the corner, I assumed I could make a mad dash to the lobby before I got completely drenched; pulling back, I dropped my transformation and then hurried across the street and wider plaza in front of the entrance, head ducked slightly under the relentless downpour.

Pushing through the revolving door, I halted in the wide multi-storied atrium. Voices echoed across the chamber, and as I took my bearings, I was pleasantly surprised to find a café hiding behind the bank of glass elevators in the center of the space. As it was still early for the lunch hour, I made my way across to small table for two beneath a potted tree decked out in happy party lights that reminded me of Marinette's old rooftop escape at the Bakery.

On the dot of 1145, Marinette exited one of the glass elevators and paused, scanning for me. I stood and called out: "Mari!"

She turned her head and her face lit up with her warm smile. "Adrien!" she said as she walked over.

I took her into a hug and gave her the traditional French kiss, though it took every ounce of willpower not to do my Chat bow-and-kiss-hand maneuver. "Mari, you look amazing!" I gushed as I pulled the chair out for her, and then returned to my own. As I waved to the waitress, I handed her the second menu. "I had no idea this little spot was here."

"It's pretty good," Marinette said carefully.

I nodded. Having seen the prices on the menu, I presumed as a junior designer she wasn't a frequent patron. I resolved to have Chat surprise her with a gift card when it wouldn't raise much suspicion. "Great," I said, "and by the way, this is on me. I can expense it back to House of Gabriel," I added conspiratorially as I leaned in and winked.

"All right," she laughed.

After we'd ordered, we fell into conversation like old friends do; as we talked, it dawned on me that I'd last seen her, as Adrien, during that color fiasco where I'd created a partnership between our two companies. I remarked on that as the soup course was cleared away, asking: "How has the line been going? From my side, it looks like it's been selling well."

"It has," Marinette replied. "It's funny you should bring that up. I think we have a meeting in a few weeks to talk about the spring line we're working on. You'll be there?"

"With a be—wouldn't miss it," I said, nearly dropping in a standard Chat line with her. That brought me up short; I was so comfortable with Marinette that I now realized I'd have to work harder to stay in Adrien mode.

Marinette caught the self edit, though, and got a wicked look on her face. "Still hanging with Chat, I see," she observed as she began work on her bœuf à la Bourguignonne.

I felt my face flush and then realized she'd just given me an opening. "Guilty as charged," I said. "He doesn't visit as much as he used to, but I still catch up with him from time to time."

"Oh?" she said, her fork paused halfway.

"Yeah." I spooned up some of my own dish. "He's pretty coy about it, but I get the sense he's finally settled down a bit," I said, my eyes twinkling devilishly.

"He has," she replied.

"You two look good together." I smiled even wider at her startled expression, and explained. "I still follow the Ladyblog. I don't know how Alya does it, but she's got some incredible shots of you out and about with Chat."

Marinette's face flamed slightly. "That girl and her camera will be the death of me," she muttered.

"Not as long as you have Chat by your side," I reminded her.

"True," she laughed.

We continued on companionably until she polished off her after-lunch coffee and grimaced at her phone. "I've got to get back," she said as she stood.

"I understand," I said as I came around to her side. "This was delightful. Let's do lunch a bit more regularly," I said.

"I'd like that," she smiled as I carefully kissed her farewell (in a very un-Chat manner).

I watched as my girlfriend made her way back toward the elevators and then rose up into the building, amazed once more that I'd managed to become part of her life. After settling with the waitress, who also asked for an autograph, I headed back out into the worsening storm and transformed in the alleyway once more. Back in full Chat mode, I rose up to the roof on my baton, and then paused to check my messages.

There was a text from Marinette waiting for me.

Purrincess: I know what you did today, Chat.

I raised a masked eyebrow, recognizing that she thought I had scoped out a time for my "friend" to have lunch with my girlfriend. I decided not to disabuse her of this notion.

Chat: I have no idea to what you are refurrring ;-)

Purrincess: Regardless, thanks. It was fun seeing Adrien today.

Chat: My pawleasure. Home on time?

Purrincess: Yes. Do you mind something light for dinner? Lunch was great but I might have overindulged. :-(

Chat: Nope. I'll make scrambled eggs and toast.

Purrincess: Sounds divine, kitty. xx uu

Chat: Till then xx uu

Snapping the baton shut, I smiled to myself. I truly was the luckiest cat alive.