MiraculElse #28: It Seemed Like A Simple Question
by DFC
(TImeline: Season 4-ish.)
It was a quiet night by Parisian standards.
The usual ambient sounds were present, of course; cars and trucks puttering by, footsteps on the sidewalk, snippets of conversation, doors opening and closing. Those were easy enough for two teenagers on a familiar balcony to drown out, lying side-by-side on adjacent lounge chairs. The main thing was that there were no running, no screaming, and no villain-energy-blast-burning-through-the-night-air sounds on this particular evening to be heard... and that had to be counted as a positive.
Instead, it was the kind of simple night where two good friends could simply stretch out, face upwards and stare up at the stars together... so that is precisely what they did.
But that is not to say that nothing of consequence could happen on such a simple night.
"You know... I just realized something."
Marinette didn't even blink at Chat's remark. "And what is that?" she asked, without turning her head.
"Your parents know that I'm here with you tonight, don't they?"
"Of course they do," she smiled. "You don't shake the whole house when you arrive, but that *TH-BMMP!* when you land is audible on the main floor, definitely in the bedrooms. Papa rolls his eyes sometimes when he hears it, but he says nothing."
"Hmmph," mused Chat. "Perhaps I need to learn to travel more stealthily. Coming and going like the wind itself."
"And," Marinette continued, undaunted, "I do tell them afterwards when you've visited. "My mother is sometimes curious as to what it is that we talk about for so long... but she trusts us."
"That," grinned Chat, "is precisely my point."
He rolled over to face Marinette, and she did the same, a curious expression on her face. "All right, I'll bite. What's your big revelation, then?" she wondered.
"Here I am, a teenage boy. They don't know me very well. They don't know who I am underneath the mask..."
"Well, I don't know who you are underneath, either," parried Marinette. "And yet I still keep coming up here."
"You do. Not just once or twice, but on many, many nights. Sometimes in your pajamas. Curling up with a mysterious young man in skintight black leather and a mask over his eyes."
"Sounds right so far..."
"And yet they trust me enough to let that happen, over and over again."
Marinette found that a bit funnier than Chat felt that she should.
When her burst of giggling slowed down, Marinette gave Chat a warm smile. "And why shouldn't they?" she asked.
"Well... I'm a teenage boy, right? I have hormones and cravings and fantasies about all kinds of wild things, just like any other boy," protested Chat. "I'm almost a little offended that they look at me and they go, 'Nah, he's harmless enough.'"
"For one thing, they're good judges of character. Like I usually am," she grinned. "And, come on, now. As if you would ever put the moves on me? I'm almost a little bit offended that you've never even thought about it."
Chat let that statement simmer for a moment before answering. "Now, wait a minute. How do you know that I've never thought about it?"
She shot him a look of Really? as a silent response.
"And I didn't realize that it would be such a problem if I hadn't. So making a pass at you is something that you'd want me to do?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I didn't.. I didn't say that," stammered Marinette, having not expected that. "But let me turn that around on you, okay? Here I am, a cute teenage girl..."
"An adorable teenage girl."
"Who... uh, what?"
"An adorable teenage girl," Chat repeated. "Who is beautiful and charming and sweet. An irresistible combination, something that anyone should be able to tell about you."
Marinette's mouth moved for a few moments, but no sounds came out of it.
Chat paused to allow her to continue, then smiled when she proved unable. "...You were saying?" he inquired.
"I was, uh... saying something. I can't imagine how I lost my train of thought just now," she managed.
"Just because I don't drown you in compliments and flattery every time we're together, doesn't mean that I don't recognize you for who you are, Marinette," said Chat, in a gentle tone.
"You..." Marinette trailed off, then shook her head briefly, trying to recenter her thoughts. "Let me put it another way, then."
"Please do."
"All right. So there's this adorable teenage girl," Marinette continued, her cheeks reddening. "She clearly thinks that you're someone special. She chooses to spend her free time with you. She invites you down to her room sometimes, or comes up to meet you in her pajamas. I can assure you that no other boy has those privileges."
"No other boy can just drop in on you like I can. But... point taken," Chat smiled.
"But here I am, un-snuggled after all this time," she grinned, some confidence returning. "And I seem to recall throwing myself at you on one particular evening. If I'm so irresistible... you resisted me then well enough."
"Marinette... that was an absolutely crazy night," backpedaled Chat. "Ladybug and I had just gotten out of a long battle with a giant baby Akuma. Your house was in danger... you were in serious danger! And when you did what you did, said what you said... I was flattered. I really was. But you didn't seem like yourself that night."
"It... was kind of insane that night," granted Marinette.
"I didn't know if it was the adrenaline pumping in both of us, or that we'd just rescued you personally, or... I didn't know what to think. And before I could ask you if we could talk about it, there was your father, inviting me to brunch as your new boyfriend," Chat recalled, his hand reaching up behind his head from anxious habit. "I could've hurt you by not taking it seriously... or too seriously. And you are the last person whom I'd ever want to hurt."
"I understand that, Kitty. I do. And it's so appreciated," she smiled. "And, yes... when we both had time to settle down and think things out... we both kind of backed off."
"And it might've been the right thing to do then," ventured Chat.
"But part of why we both backed off was something that we both knew. That you love Ladybug," insisted Marinette. "Which is... not something I'll judge you over, one way or the other. That's up to you and... her to resolve."
"Uh-huh..."
"Chat, I'm not saying that you and Ladybug are meant to be together forever. What I'm saying is... you don't look at me like you look at her, right? You never have. You don't see me that way. And that's fine."
Chat measured his response carefully in his mind.
"It's how I know that we were meant to be such good friends," Marinette smiled. "That I can be myself with you and not worry that you're going to-"
"...What if that's not true?"
Marinette froze in mid-sentence.
"What... if what's not true?" she mumbled.
"That I don't see you that way."
Blue eyes widened in an instant.
"Marinette... can I explain what I mean by that?"
"You have to," she gasped.
"Okay. Wow," Chat murmured. "I did not see this going this way tonight."
The look on Marinette's face was one that he couldn't quite decipher... but it screamed out at him that she, too, hadn't expected this conversation.
"Marinette... this is not me saying, 'Look out, I'm about to dive over there and jump on your bones,'" he began, cautiously. "Because... well... I still believe that that isn't something that you'd want me to do."
Neither confirmation nor denial followed.
"And... yes, I still have a crush on my partner. Part of me always will, I think," Chat admitted. "But I'm well aware that she doesn't feel that way about me, because she's told me so, so many times. She cares about me, she's a wonderful partner and friend, and even when we have our... differences," he continued, "she doesn't mean to hurt me. I know that for sure."
"I'm... glad that you feel that way," murmured Marinette. "Because she thinks the world of you."
"But you... Marinette, you are on my mind more than you know. A lot more than you know," Chat smiled. "The better that I've gotten to know you, both as Chat, and..."
"...AND?"
Chat shook his head, realizing his slip. "You didn't hear that. You didn't hear that," he insisted.
The shock on Marinette's face told Chat that he needed to move on from that, quickly. "Okay. Look... however I've come to know you... you are like no one else I've ever met," he simmered. "That moment that we had on that one crazy night, and how I handled it... that was then. That was a door that, like you said, we both closed. But I won't lie to you and say that I haven't wondered, more than once... if that was a mistake."
"Ch-chat?" Marinette breathed.
"I'm not expecting you to just fall into my arms," said Chat, with some hesitation. "You and I are... complicated. And I love what we have now, just like this. I'm happy with what we have right now. But what I will say is, if you were to ever reach out to me like you did that night... putting yourself out there, all or nothing... you'd better mean it. Because this time, I'd reach back."
Chat held his breath as Marinette processed his quasi-confession.
"I... I don't know what to say," she admitted. "I don't. We... we are complicated, Chat. More than you could possibly know."
"You don't have to say anything," he answered. "You don't have to change anything, if you don't want to. Not tonight. Not tomorrow. I'm not... this isn't me pushing and shoving for us to go to the next level, okay?"
"I g-get that."
"But when you said what you said... that you knew that I didn't see you that way, Marinette... it didn't feel right to me. And you, of all people... you're someone I always want to be honest with."
"I'm very glad to hear that."
She studied Chat's face for a moment, then grinned. "So, if I wanted to test out your little theory... about you being a teenage boy with wild fantasies and cravings, some of which might even be about me... all I'd have to do is ask, right?" she offered.
"Y-yeah," Chat stammered. "Are... you asking?"
"No. Not... yet," Marinette giggled. "But it never hurts to know that it's an option."
It was still a quiet night by Parisian standards.
The kind of simple night where two good friends could simply stretch out, face upwards and stare up at the stars together... holding hands, without pressure or worry.
Two had a long way to go before they might become one. But, for the first time... they each felt as if they were now somewhere in-between.