In which Chat gets his stitches out and is a bit of a flirt. Hope everyone had a good holiday!
LilactheDryad... Awe another November birthday! Happy belated birthday! Mine was on Thanksgiving this year!
(Slow Burn Detective AU!) Marinette is used to working alone on the streets of Paris as she strives to take down the Hawkmoth gang. When the thief Chat Noir comes crashing into her life things are bound to get magical, especially when co-detective Adrien returns to Paris and seems to want to be her new partner. Will their fated partnership end in a capture or a kiss?
Chats and Explanations
Ducking into the shadows, Chat first made sure that no one was following or watching him. After deeming it was safe, he slipped onto Marinette's balcony peering down into flat via skylight. Unsurprisingly, Marinette was on the floor just below him, papers scattered around her with a cup of tea in hand. Her hair was damp looking like she had just gotten out of the shower so she was in soft looking sweatpants and a sweater like shirt. Chat could have happily observed her for a while but within a few moments of watching her, Marinette's head jerked up and their eyes met. With a bit of a grin, Chat waved feeling a touch uncertain as her eyes narrowed at him but then she waved at him to come in before returning her attention to the files before her.
"Good evening, My Lady. I do hope you're not burning the candle at both ends," Chat called as he slipped inside.
"It's still plenty early, Chat. How's your back feeling?"
"It feels meow-velous, My Lady," Chat cooed making Marinette glance up at him with one eyebrow raised.
"Yep, you're feeling much better," Marinette finally sighed putting her cup down on the ground so she could rise up to her feet. "How are the stitches?"
Chat rotated his shoulders feeling them pull slightly, but it didn't hurt at all to move like it had the day before, "I'm pretty sure they're ready to come out."
Marinette didn't look like she quite believed him but she shrugged and jerked a thumb towards the bathroom, "I'll go grab my sharp threading scissors if you want to go sit down in the bathroom."
Chat nodded and hid a grin when he tossed himself over her loft railing to the floor below making her squeak in alarm, "Problem, My Lady?"
"Yes, people live below me and I don't want complaints of an elephant traipsing over their heads at late hours!" Marinette snipped, easily covering her initial distress.
"I'm a cat. I don't do loud," Chat sniffed stalking towards the bathroom while ignoring Plaggs snickering in the back of his mind.
"A noisy, troublemaking cat," Marinette grumbled to herself missing how Chat stuck his tongue out at her before entering the spare bathroom.
Chat made himself at home in the bathroom while Marinette fetched her things. She walked in on him pawing through her overly-large first-aid kit that he had placed on the counter.
"Nosey much? You know what they say about curiosity and cats," Marinette quipped, slapping his hands out of the kit.
"Ever hear the part about satisfaction and coming back?" Chat retorted, thoroughly enjoying these moments with Marinette.
Marinette rolled her eyes, "Not when I'm the one in charge. Now show me the stitches, please."
Chat raised his hands in surrender taking her warning to heart and unzipped the front of his suit while she busied herself with some supplies.
"That's a rather large and involved med kit. Do you use it a lot?" Chat asked, slipping the top half of his suit off so that it hung loosely around his waist.
"Yes, you're not the only person who has needed my help and I've used it for my own injuries, too," Marinette answered before glancing over at him. Instantly, her cheeks went red as she eyed his well-muscled chest and toned abs. Apparently she stared in silence for too long because he reached forwards, his fingers lightly curling under her chin forcing her to look up.
"My eyes are up here, My Lady," He chuckled, watching as her face darkened dramatically before being suddenly beamed in the forehead by a box of Band-Aids.
"Oh, shut up and sit down before I use more than scissors on you!" Marinette snarled holding said scissors out before her threateningly.
"Yes ma'am," Chat answered meekly, managing to withhold his amused snickers as he turned his back to her and sat down on the toilet. He really wanted to tease her more but thought better of it since she was going to be cutting his stitches out in just a few moments. Chat didn't think that she would stab him with her pointy scissors just to spite him, but there were other ways to cause a person pain without actually damaging them. There was no doubt in his mind that Marinette knew some of those ways.
Marinette growled at his stitched-up back while scooping the Band-Aids off the floor. A few seconds later he jerked with a surprised yowl when a cold, wet cloth slapped against his skin.
"Was that really necessary?!" Chat hissed
"Yes, it was," Marinette retorted with barely contained malice. "I want to make sure the stitches and the surrounding area are clean in case it's not as healed as you think it is."
With a grumble Chat went still, noting that even though Marinette was annoyed with him her hands were feather light and gentle as she started removing the stitches. The icy-cold cloth was the only nasty surprise and he could hardly feel her pulling the threads loose. Deciding to remain silent, Chat let Marinette concentrate as she teased the threads from his skin.
He was a touch surprised when she spoke, her voice soft to keep from startling him, "The wounds really are healed. That's… pretty amazing, Chat."
"I heal very fast due to the miraculous," Chat commented. "It also make me less susceptible to infections, thankfully, otherwise I would probably be dead in a ditch by now."
"Will the miraculous I have do the same for me?" Marinette asked, her hands finishing working on the first row of stitches she had put in.
Chat went stiff under her fingertips making her wonder if she shouldn't have asked, then he sighed, "I don't know. It might. The stone you have isn't fully activated yet so I don't know what effects it'll have on you. You'll get stronger and faster as the stone wakes up more since it has to strengthen your body so it can handle the excess power that comes with being a miraculous holder, but until it's fully activated I don't know if other traits will pop up."
"Um... what kind of traits? I'm not going to suddenly start growing a tail, am I?" Marinette demanded, glancing behind her in worry.
"No, My Lady, you are not, even though I think you would look awfully cute with a tail," Chat snickered earning his cat ear a flick from Marinette. "Although even without the suit, my hearing and other senses are far stronger than the average human's. There are other cat traits that bleed into my normal hours too, but nothing that would give me away to people. Before I answer any more questions though, I need to know how much you have learned about the miraculous. The night you first took the stone, you recognized the term 'miraculous' and seemed to understand the power you held. How?"
Marinette's hands froze, the points of the scissors suddenly very cold and sharp against his skin. Slowly she let out a breath, the points shifting and another 'snick' sounded as one more stitch was removed. "My now-deceased partner had a file on the miraculous. The night she died, she gave me a key and demanded I burn everything although she passed out before saying anything against me reading the files. I committed every bit of information there was in it to memory before I burned it, and even now I wonder if it was part of the reason why she was targeted. The information was almost unbelievable even though what she had wasn't really up to date. Most of it was historic or word of mouth legends and such, but there was enough information to piece together a vague picture. The miraculous are ancient things that were once upon a time called soul stones. When used for good they created a balance, could be used to protect people from marauding armies, help avert natural disasters or even contain them. People in Egypt worshiped those with the stones as gods, and even the Greeks worshiped them as demigods and heroes. Then some calamity happened and they all went inert. You're here though, and obviously in possession of a miraculous stone, so I'm assuming that not all of them are inert or gone."
"Correct. My stone is already active and the stone you carry is activating. Each stone is different when it activates and they all take on different animal traits. No two stones are alike, although pairs can sometimes end up mirroring each other either in animals or powers. Like they both might end up being birds or sea creatures, although it's not a guaranteed thing. One of the oldest awakened pairs at the moment is a turtle and a bee. Don't ask me how that worked out because I have no clue. I ended up being a cat but I have no idea what you'll come out with. You could be a dolphin or something for all I know," Chat murmured remembering what Plagg had told him earlier that day.
"So, when my stone fully activates it'll randomly take on the traits of an animal, then I'll sprout ears or a tail?!" Marinette demanded, wiping his back off with a cloth and checking to make sure she had gotten all the stitches.
"Hopefully your stone will never fully activate like mine has," Chat ground out making Marinette flinch back. Realizing he had probably scared her, Chat twisted to look up at her, "Do you understand why the miraculous were called soul stones to start with?"
Marinette frowned at him as she thought back to the file that she had read over a year ago. Chat knew she had figured it out when her face paled. "A sacrifice… no… oh, Chat… What happened when your stone activated?"
"I died," the words slipped out of him before he could stop them and guilt instantly tore at him when a stricken look crossed her face. Not wanting to see her pity, Chat returned to facing the wall ignoring Plagg's snarky, "Smooth, kit."
With a bit of a huff Chat continued, taking advantage of Marinette's shocked silence, "Like you said, the stones require a sacrifice to be fully activated and at the initial activation, a soul is pulled in to become the power source of the whole thing. It then binds to another living human who is compatible and there you go. A miraculous user."
Tense seconds passed as Marinette slathered some scar cream over the twin lines in Chat's back but before he could get too uncomfortable, she spoke. "So all your sneaking around and trying to take back the Miraculous stone, you were trying to protect me?"
"Partially," Chat admitted, surprising her again. "I wanted more power and since that stone is technically the other half to my stone, they'll work in tandem amplifying my abilities and powers even in an inactive state. I didn't want anyone else getting their paws on that stone, especially not the Hawkmoth gang since they're the ones who owned the building and safe I stole it from. You getting your paws on it was nowhere in the plan, but the stone likes you and it'll help you without stealing your soul. Although, if you die while holding onto it I can't guarantee anything."
"That's… unpleasant to think about," Marinette grimaced, stepping back and putting the cream back into its place in the med kit. "So if the stone I have is your stone's other half, does that mean the more it activates the stronger you get?"
Realizing she was done Chat slid the leather-like top back into place, zipping up the front as he answered, "Yes, but it will also boost your strength and speed, although there is only so much it can do before your body is maxed out. You are only human after all."
"And you aren't?" Marinette whispered watching Chat stand, suddenly realizing just how big and imposing he really was in such a small space.
He flashed elongated cat-like fangs at her in a grin, "No, My Lady, not fully anymore."
The stone at her waist let off a small vibration close to a purr making Marinette realize that she had frozen like a mouse does before a cat. Refusing to be anyone's prey, she crossed her arms, "So if you're not all the way human, how do you walk about in broad daylight? You mentioned something about a transformation when you were bleeding out on my floor."
Chat's shoulders hunched, one hand stretching up to scratch at his neck, "Well… the cat suit is a temporary thing caused by a voluntary re-activation of the miraculous stone. If I were to drop the transformation, I would return to looking fully human. No cat ears or tail. So, if I wanted I could walk past you on the street, you would never know."
Marinette shook her head, then waved at him as she walked out of her bathroom to go collapse on the couch, "Alright, so you don't always look like this… that's interesting. What about abilities? I know you said you were stronger than normal and I know you're faster. You have better senses and your suit is knife-proof and bullet-proof. Anything else I should know about?"
Deciding not to crowd her on the one couch, Chat allowed himself to fall into the longer sofa, careful not to put his boot on the furniture, "I suppose, and I will tell you under one condition. Let me have the Akuma's quill that you collected."
Marinette stiffened, "How do you…" She trailed off for a moment only to sigh, "You can smell the darn thing, can't you? Even I can tell the thing has a funky odor but I can't tell what it reminds me of."
"You've been sniffing it?!" Chat exclaimed looking suddenly worried.
"Only once," Marinette said in a defensive tone. "I was trying to figure out what it was since I didn't really know about the akuma then, and it wasn't like I could turn it over to my coworkers or the Whisperers to ask them."
"Small mercies…" Chat grumbled, resisting the urge to run his claws through his hair. "Look, I'm not totally positive but I think that quill is what turned the guard into an Akuma. That Guard had a quill in it too, and when it was removed he changed back even though he was already dead. I thought the quilled one would be easy to find since they usually try to hunt me down, but I haven't seen or smelled it. I'm hoping that the Alpha Akuma and quilled one offed each other, but someone would have seen the two of them going at it, or heard them at the very least."
"Chat, how many Akuma are running around right now?" Marinette asked making Chat freeze. Her voice was soft but there was something in her tone that reeked of danger.
"Um... true Akuma? Two, but unlike the Akuma I've been fighting, these guys seem to be able to create minions which is new, annoying, and dangerous since I'm only one person," Chat answered hoping she believed him.
Marinette stood, and for a second he thought she might yell or even swat him. Instead, after a long moment of silence, she walked past him without a word vanishing into her room for several minutes. Chat fairly squirmed on the couch until she re-appeared carrying something long, thin, and wrapped in a hand towel. To his surprise, she plopped down next to him instead of returning to her own couch.
"The Akuma are changing aren't they?" Marinette asked unwrapping the quill so that it sat in the open shimmering with barely contained malice.
Chat couldn't help but bear his fangs at the thing, the smell wafting off it being unmistakable, "They are. The first time I faced an akuma it attacked anything and everything and practically died with no fighting on my part. Subsequent Akuma have gotten faster, stronger, smarter, and now they're even making copies of themselves. This last one, the Alpha Akuma… I think it might be the guy named Spike who owned the dogs the Whisperers found. When I fought it… it smelled different than the smaller minions and the little guys had a clear grudge against you, Stormy, and Mime."
Marinette had frozen into a statue next to him but before he could, she spoke, "Are you sure, Chat? Are you sure that this… Alpha Akuma is Spike?"
"The Alpha Akuma has showed too much intelligence to be just an animal. It was controlling those smaller Akuma and as Stormy told me, those minions were his dogs which is an odd coincidence. I, for one, don't believe in coincidences like that. Plus, the way those minions went after you guys even though I was there points at a grudge, specifically against you. Usually the Akuma don't focus on anything but me unless they had a grudge against something when they were human. Humans turned Akuma are always the worst to fight because of that. They'll go after their grudge long before they bother trying to take me out. The bodies of their victims have been attributed as my kills, although that thankfully doesn't happen often. For the most part the Akuma have only tried killing me, although they will go for anyone who tries to aid me. The worst part is that each Akuma, no matter its outward appearance, has always carried the latent energy of a corrupted miraculous stone. Like you said, the stones can be used for good, but negative energy and misuse can corrupt them too. The Akuma are from a corrupted Miraculous, one that hopefully won't go critical before I track it down."
"What happens if one goes critical?" Marinette asked slipping one hand out from under the quill to place it on Chat's shoulder. It couldn't be easy for him to be talking about all this, but he was talking for her sake since she had run into her fair share of the beasts these days.
"I think the last time one went critical, the others had to band together to seal it which caused all of the stones to go inert. The ones who were left that knew about the powers sealed the inert stones away in hopes that no one would try to reach for that power again," Chat huffed and reached for the quill, lifting it up with a grimace. "The last stone known to create Akuma was in the dark ages when the fox and peacock battled. No one knows what happened to those miraculous, although I think the turtle has the fox and the peacock might just be on display at a museum. I don't know the identities of those in possession of the stones, and even if I did I couldn't reveal to you who they are. It's a magic thing woven into the stones from the day of their creation."
Marinette watched as Chat lifted the quill, taking a long deep breath as he memorized the scent embedded in it. He had just given her a ton of information that would take a while to fully sift through and organize. Chat was starting to look tired, and even as she thought it Marinette realized that she was starting to get tired as well. Thankfully, she didn't have a lot of questions left.
"That's a lot to think about Chat. A-are the activated stones dangerous?"
Chat raised an eyebrow at her, "Marinette, I am based off a large hunting cat, have claws, fangs, and the power of destruction. Of course the activated stones are dangerous."
Marinette slapped his shoulder lightly, "That's not what I meant and you know it. Will the stone affect your health since you're using it? Also the power of destruction is new, what the heck is that supposed to mean?"
"I'll show you," Chat sighed deciding to hell with the whole 'keep his powers a secret' thing that Plagg had tried to instill in him. Eventually he was going to have to use Cataclysm right in front of Marinette and he would rather her freak out now in a safe environment than somewhere dangerous. "Cataclysm."
His empty, clawed hand lit up with black flames, the edges tinged with green and Marinette jerked back for a brief second before leaning in curiously. "Don't touch my hand," Chat said rather unnecessarily but he felt the warning was needed since her one hand was rising as if to try to touch the flames.
"Don't you dare set fire to anything in my house, Chat," Marinette retorted.
Chat chuckled, "They're not really flames, My Lady. It's just a manifestation of the destructive power. Matter of fact, sometimes it manifest as bubbles. With it I can turn objects or living things to ash, or simply cause something to malfunction. It all depends on what I need the power to do. Destruction is just an umbrella term." That being said, he took hold of the quill in his other hand and Marinette gasped as the flames surged into the quill turning the whole thing black before crumbling to ashes. The ashes unfortunately went everywhere as the quill fell apart and Marinette jerked forward with the towel so most of them landed on it instead of them.
"Have you ever done that to a person?" Marinette asked, the question slipping out of her before she could censor it. "Sorry… sorry, you don't have to answer that. I just…"
Chat had gone stiff at the question but he patted her knee as she stumbled over her words, "I have killed with my power before but it uses too much energy to disintegrate a whole body. I tried it once since I didn't want the body found. I barely made it back to where I was staying before collapsing and sleeping for two days. The power uses my energy to manifest and destroy things so it's neither invincible, nor unlimited. For small things I can use it about 5 times per transformation, although if I use it to destroy something large then I can only manage it once or twice. Recovery time increases depending on how much power I put into the attack."
There was so much trust he was placing in her telling her these things Marinette realized, instantly feeling guilty, "You don't have to tell me anything more, Chat. And if you ever wear yourself out and need a place to crash, you can crash here. My skylight will be open from now on."
Marinette stood ignoring the stunned look on Chat's face as she wrapped up the ashes in the hand towel. "Did using your power this time wear you out?"
Somehow Chat managed to shake his head, still floored that Marinette had offered him sanctuary rather than freaking out.
"Good. I have some leftovers if you're hungry."
The offer hung in the air between them, too tantalizing to ignore, "I would love leftovers." Chat managed wondering if maybe Marinette would be ok if he revealed who he really was.
As if sensing his intentions, Plagg spoke up, "I think if you spring any more surprises on her tonight, she really will pass out. Tell her another time."
Chat grumbled but part of him realized that Plagg was right. Marinette had a lot to think about and process. Dumping his identity on her too would just overload her. "Soon, then," he hummed to himself, happy that Plagg hadn't been against telling her in the end.
