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PROMPTS N°12 : CUDDLES written by Malauu-Ladynoir

STARGAZING

XxX

"And I'll still be here, stargazing

I'll still look up, look up, look up for love...

Stars don't disappear, they keep blazing

Even when the night is over

And I will still be here, stargazing

I'll still look up, look up, look up for love"

Kygo - Stargazing

XxX

~Cat got your tongue? Leave a message!~

"Damn! Where is this cat when I need him?" exclaimed Ladybug, bored.

She sighed of defeat, abandoning the idea of trying to contact her partner and then dropped her transformation, which was now useless to her.

Marinette collapsed on her bed, devoid of all energy, her mood sullen: her evening had been a total fiasco and she could only blame herself.

"I thought you wanted to go on patrol?" The voice that had come to whisper in her ear was none other than Tikki's: her kwami.

"Chat Noir is unreachable and I don't want to go out on patrol alone. I wish he could cheer me up with a joke or a bad cat pun…"

She closed her eyes and let out a long sigh again.

"Is everything okay, Marinette?" asked her kwami.

"No, it's not okay, Tikki! It's not okay at all! I made a complete fool of myself tonight!" she answered, ashamed.

She suddenly sat up and turned to the little ladybug. "I have only managed to correctly formulate one sentence out of three without 'my songue ticking out'," she added, deliberately mixing her words.

Indeed, she thought she'd passed this step in Adrien's presence. But that evening, the former Marinette had unfortunately invited herself to their table. Much to the regret of the principal concerned.

"I spilled my glass of water twice, and the waiter even had to bring me another dessert. And that's not including the number of times my fork ended up on the ground, or the countless times I had to run to the bathroom! Adrien will end up believing that I'm incontinent!" she whistled, angry at herself.

She then fell heavily on her mattress. "This date was a disaster. I AM a disaster," she exhaled, facepalming.

"Of course not, Marinette! And I'm sure Adrien had a good time anyway," reassured her little ladybug kwami.

"This evening was a disaster," said Adrien, sitting on his bed, looking down.

"At least she didn't break dishes," replied a little black silhouette.

"Plagg! You're not helping!" he protested. "Marinette may be clumsy and distracted, but that's what makes her... Marinette…" he replied, dreamily. A soft smile stretched his lips and his gaze sparkled with infinite tenderness.

"Marinette is intelligent, creative, gentle, altruistic and above all caring: she's always ready to help others and is always the one who finds the most appropriate solutions or compromises," he added, his eyes shining with adoration for the young woman.

"You're sweating love and it's disgusting," replied the kwami, approaching the boy's face with a piece of camembert between his paws.

"You're the one who's disgusting," replied Adrien, pinching his nose. "Go away from me with this stincky cheese."

"My precious camembert smells much better than that sickening romanticism that emanates from you," said Plagg.

The kwami swallowed the piece of cheese then seriously looked at his holder. "Why did you say that this evening was a disaster if you are even more in love with Pigtails than before your date?" asked the little black cat, perplexed.

"Because... because I thought the time when Marinette was uncomfortable in my presence was over... but it seems that it's not."

Adrien's shoulders collapsed and his eyes fell sadly to the ground. "Marinette was really nervous when I walked her home and I'm sure she feels bad now. I don't want her to think she's messed up... I really wish I could comfort her…"

Suddenly, he straightened his head and his eyes lit up again. "Plagg, Claws out!"

Marinette was on her balcony and was soaked with the calm of the night that had fallen on Paris. She couldn't find sleep because the events of her failed date with Adrien were replaying in her mind.

Finally, although she would have preferred to have Chat Noir's company, which was unreachable when she tried to call him, perhaps a small rooftop race would help her get tired. And, perhaps, eventually, she might ask for a Lucky Charm: with her luck, she could have a shovel to dig a hole and bury herself deep in it with her shame.

"Tikki, maybe we're going to go patro-..."

The girl had suddenly shut her mouth because she saw the eyes of the little Goddess of creation starve only a fraction of a second before she quickly hides.

Marinette then turned again to the Parisian panorama and distinguished a familiar shadow that was heading towards her.

Speak about the devil... Or rather the cat in this case, well... and he appears.

The next moment, her partner's figure landed on the guardrail of her balcony.

"Good evening, Marinette," greeted the hero.

"Good evening, Chat Noir. To what do I owe this visit from you at such a late time?" she asked.

"Well, I couldn't sleep, so I went out to do a little run on the rooftops. Then I noticed that a little mouse was still awake and seemed to need some company. Am I wrong?" He asked, while sitting comfortably on the metal rail of the balcony, like a real cat.

Marinette sighed, with her shoulders vented and her head down.

"You're not wrong... I had a complicated evening," she admitted. "I can't sleep either."

Their understanding gazes crossed for a moment, then they turned away from each other to contemplate the city of light. They stayed for a few moments settled like this, in comfortable silence. Chat Noir then came down from the guardrail and settled right next to Marinette.

"Come on, I have an idea," he gently whispered, while stretching his hand gloved with black toward her.

Marinette had a blind trust in her partner, so she didn't hesitate for a single second before accepting his offer and placing her hand in his. She gave him a soft smile and the feline drew him to her.

"Hold on tight, Marinette," he advised, lifting her up from the ground and carrying her in bridal style.

The young woman wrapped her arms around the hero's neck and closed her eyes as Chat Noir leapt softly and carefully out of her balcony.

The journey was not long, he made only three jumps before landing definitively and putting Marinette delicately on terra firma.

They were now on that terrace where they'd already met once before, when they'd both had a broken heart. Which was again the case for Marinette tonight. And, somehow, for Chat Noir too.

"Come and sit down," said the feline, while pointing to the place beside him.

Marinette imitated him, sitting and passing her legs between the bars, letting those swing pleasantly in the void.

"From here you can see at the same time the lights of the Tour Eiffel, but also all those that border the banks of the Seine as well as those that illuminate the Trocadéro... murmured Chat Noir, explaining to her why he chose this place.

"It's beautiful. Thank you for helping me change my mind, Chat," she replied, smiling with gratitude.

The feline smiled at her and simply shooked his head. "Would you like to talk about it?" he asked, trying not to appear too intrusive.

Marinette hesitated for a moment, then finally threw herself in the water. He was her partner, Chat Noir, she knew she could trust him and, in any case, it didn't jeopardize her identity.

"I had a date tonight with the boy I love..." she whispered.

"Oh... and who is this lucky man?" asked the hero, playing the ignorant until the end.

"It's... Adrien Agreste..." she replied, avoiding the cat-boy's gaze. "But I don't think he should feel very lucky right now. The evening didn't go very well. I ruined everything," she replied, sadly.

"Not at all!" he protested suddenly.

Marinette suddenly turned to the feline, surprised by its reaction. He rubbed the back of his neck, visibly embarrassed.

"I mean, I would be surprised if he'd a bad night with a girl like you. Why do you think something like that, Marinette?"

The girl then explained to him the complete disaster she'd been through all evening, as well as the number of times her legendary awkwardness had struck her during the meal.

"I fled several times to the bathroom to avoid seeing the disappointment in his eyes..." she admitted, turning away again from the gaze of her interlocutor.

She was really overwhelmed by the events.

"Marinette…" softly whispered Chat Noir, his voice broken.

She felt the hero's gloved fingers touch down slowly under her chin and with a delicate gesture he invited her to raise her head towards him.

From the back of her hand, Marinette wiped away the tears that had formed in her eyes and were beginning to escape it. "It's okay, everything's fine, I'm used to making fools of myself in front of him..."

"Marinette! You were just nervous... it happens to everyone..." he reassured the young woman.

"Even to the great and famous Chat Noir?"

"Of course! I'm not as chatty and extroverted without my mask, you know... And I'm certain that this kind of thing could also happen to Adrien 'Model boy' Agreste…" he said, with a comforting smile.

"In fact, it's Adrien Aimé Alexandre Antoine Athanase Agreste..." she whispered, blushing slightly.

"You... you know all his first names?" practically choked Chat Noir while answering Marinette.

"Forget it, please! This is deeply embarrassing…"

"On the contrary, I think it's quite lovely," said the feline, while gently elbowing her in the ribs.

Marinette gave him a half-smile and let herself fall back, lying on the roof and silently stargazing.

The hero imitated her gesture and lay slowly beside her, not looking at the starry sky, but at the pretty girl who was next to him.

"Do you really like that boy?" he broke the silence after several long minutes.

Marinette went out of her stargazing and then turned her face towards him.

"Yes... That's why I'm a real disaster when he's here. His simple presence warms my heart and I liquefy myself completely. I lose my means and end up melting in a puddle of unintelligible stuttering," she explained. "After three years, I thought I had crossed that line. But when he invited me on that date, my old demons resurfaced," she added, defeated.

Chat Noir felt his heart beating faster following this revelation. It's been three years since Marinette was in love with him, well... with him, Adrien. He turned his eyes away from her, gazing at the stars, feeling his cheeks blushing under his mask and he didn't dare to look at her afraid that she noticed his pink cheeks. If only he could tell her now what he also felt for her...

The minutes passed quickly, they were always lying on the roof and observing the constellations in a comfortable and soothing silence.

The feline felt Marinette shudder beside him and he approached her, allowing himself to slide slowly against her side. Then he rose on an elbow, which drew the young woman's attention to him.

"Come here," he proposed, pointing to his shoulder. "I don't want you to catch a cold even though it's a rather mild summer night."

Against all expectations, Marinette accepted his proposal without hesitation and placed her head on his shoulder while he surrounded his arm around hers.

"You know Marinette, if this isn't the first time he's seen you acting nervously around him and in spite of it, invited you on a date, it's because he must really like you. I'm even convinced that he loves you too…" whispered Chat Noir in a comforting voice.

"How can you be so sure, Chat?" she replied, her lack of confidence clearly reflected in her voice.

"Because we are talking about YOU, Marinette," he said, with a sincere smile.

The first rays of sunlight slowly warmed the face of Chat Noir, he slowly opened one eye, then the other, and realized that he wasn't in his bed, let alone in his room.

He moved slightly but felt quickly that a weight was blocking his movements. He lowered his eyes and saw a hand on his belly, then a head snuggled against his chest, before noticing where his arms were lodged: all around the body of the girl whom he held firmly to keep her against him.

The feline lost himself a moment in contemplating the half face he could see. The rays of the solar star danced in her dark hair, exacerbating their beautiful blue reflections. Her skin was slightly reddened by the warmth that was already spreading on this summer morning and this small reddnesses brought out all the freckles on the girl's cheekbones. Her lips were relaxed and barely opened, giving her mouth a small rounded shape that made it look like she was about to offer a kiss.

A kiss he would have happily put on her lips, if he hadn't been in his superhero suit, and if he hadn't been a perfect gentleman.

Carefully, he got out of under Marinette and, when he was standing, he leaned over to hoist, slowly and delicately, the young woman he loved in his arms. He blocked her against him, making sure that she was well hugged and that she would feel a minimum of impact when he was going to jump on the roofs to avoid awakening her too abruptly.

Luckily, they were right next to the Dupain-Cheng bakery. He made a first leap, landing softly on another roof, then lowered his gaze towards Marinette's sleeping face. He repeated the same maneuver twice more, making sure to land as smoothly as possible each time so as not to wake his sleeping beauty: having the same abilities as a feline was of great help to him to be agile and silent.

Chat Noir was now on the Marinette's balcony and leaned gently to open the hatch that led to her room. He skillfully slid inside the room and placed the girl delicately on her bed. He lifted the blanket up to her belly and before leaving the room, he laid an aerial kiss on her forehead.

He slowly went out of the room and carefully closed the window, then pulled out his stick and laid it like a pole. He was about to jump into the street, when he turned around one last time, a tender smile stretching his lips.

"I had the best night of my life with you. And today, I will make sure that you have the most wonderful day. I promise you, Marinette," he breathed with love and sincerity.

End

Tomorrow PROMPT N°13 : FLOWERSHOP written by Etoile-Lead-Sama.