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Chapter Nine: Princess and the Chat

Three days later had Marinette sitting in the park, busily drawing in her new sketchbook when a black form dropped next to her on the bench. "Aahh!" she shouted, throwing her stuff in the air in fright. She barely managed to catch them before they fell to the ground.

"Sorry if I scared you, Princess," Chat Noir said, a flirty grin crossing his face.

Once she was able to regain her composure, Marinette glared at him. "I don't like being snuck up on, Chat Noir."

He gave her a wink, relaxing on the bench. He had one arm across the back, the end of his fingers behind Marinette's back. "I'll remember that for the future, Princess."

She crossed her arms, shifting her position to get a better view of him. "What's with the 'Princess' thing?"

"I thought that last time we'd decided I was your fairytale prince. That would make you my princess, would it not?" he said, leaning forward.

Marinette scoffed, but a bit of color flushed her cheeks. "Didn't we also establish that you're a superhero, and I'm not a damsel in distress? No princes or princesses here, Chat Noir." She leaned back slightly so that the distance between them wasn't so small.

He straightened his back, that annoying smile still on his face. "You're blushing. Does that mean that you actually like being called Princess? I'm sure I could take a day off from fighting crime to save the lost princess of Paris."

Chat really is just a huge flirt, isn't he? Maybe that means the necklace was nothing! she thought. Out loud, however, she said, "Why would I like being called Princess by you? It's just a silly nickname you made up to put me off balance, right, Pussycat?"

She hadn't thought it possible, but his grin got even bigger. Normally she would have groaned, but seeing that smile made her want to smile too - an urge she resisted, of course. When they'd fought Silhouette, he hadn't talked like this to her. It was nice to see that he was getting over what had made him refuse to talk.

"It seems that you're the one trying to put me off balance, Princess. What were you drawing before I arrived?" he asked, looking down at her sketchbook curiously.

Marinette quickly hugged the book to her chest, her instinct to tease him gone. "I-I, uh, it's nothing. Just sketching some designs is all. You probably wouldn't care about them. You're probably more interested in jumping around Paris than in fashion."

In spite of everything she would have thought, his interest actually seemed piqued by everything she said.

"I doubt I'm as interested as you, but I know more about fashion than you'd think. Exploring the city is nice, but I've got other interests too, you know," he said jokingly. Chat slid over on the bench so he was only a couple inches from Marinette. He held out his black-clad hand, his smile going from shameless to gentle. "So, can I see it?"

She looked at his hand for a second, before she slowly set the book in it. Marinette held her breath, worried about what he would think. Alya was the only one she ever showed her designs, and if Chat Noir actually knew something about fashion then this could be one of the worst moments of her life. The things she designed had always been good to her, and she'd won the contest Gabriel Agreste did but did that mean she was actually good?

Chat opened the sketchbook and his eyes widened in awe. He flipped through the few pages that had anything on them. "These are amazing, Marinette. You've got a real eye for this type of thing," he said.

An invisible, yet crushing, weight lifted from Marinette's slim shoulders. Her face lit up at the praise as he handed the small book back. "Really?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "I'm not really a fashion genius, I tend to wea- I mean, uh, I've just got a limited knowledge. But these look amazing! Where do you get the inspiration to make things like this?"

Marinette smiled, looking out at the park around them. It was empty except for them, so the primary sound they could hear was the fountain and cars on the street. She motioned to all of it. "My inspiration can come from anything. The animals, the people, even the sound of the fountain or the wind blowing through the leaves. But it's normally not interrupted by someone falling from the sky."

Chat laughed lightly. "Technically, I didn't fall. I landed. I think I'm getting better, too, though I'd have to talk to Ladybug."

At the mention of her superhero name, she got an idea. Maybe she could find out how Chat felt as Marinette instead of as Ladybug. It wouldn't be that weird to have her asking those types of questions. Ladybug and Chat got asked all the time if they were in a relationship. She would just be another fan asking the same old question.

"So… How are you and Ladybug doing?" she asked. "You guys seemed a bit weird with the akuma the other day."

He looked down at her, surprised. "Were you there? I don't remember seeing you."

"Oh, uh, I-I heard about it! I had a friend that was there, and he told me all about what happened. Ladybug and Chat Noir at our school, it's kind of big news, you know? So, uh, is there anything wrong? Are the two of you fighting or something?" Marinette struggled to cover her mistake. She hoped he wouldn't notice, but the slip seemed glaringly obvious to her.

Chat nodded. Her explanation worked perfectly for him as if it was nothing more than what really happened.

"Don't worry, everything is fine between Ladybug and I. We-" Chat Noir was interrupted by the flashing of cameras. They both looked around until they saw the small group of people taking pictures of them.

"I guess that's our cue to leave, huh?" Marinette said. The words came out so naturally, she cringed once they were out. Nonono I'm not Ladybug right now!

He gave her a look of confusion. "What do you mean by 'our', Princess? They're only after me."

"W-well, uh, you don't intend to leave me, do you? I was just innocently trying to create some designs, I didn't sign up for a bunch of questions because you decided you wanted to talk to me." Marinette folded her arms to help keep her serious. She gave him her best 'you're taking me with you now' look, praying that it would work. It did.

"Alright, whatever you say, my humble Princess." He stood up and offered his hand with a flourish. Marinette ignored it and stood, wrapping her arms around him. Chat chuckled, then took out his staff. He held it up and extended it to shoot them into the sky towards the nearest roof.

She looked below them as they flew, her breath taken away. No matter how many times she did this same thing, the view always got to her. It was one of the best and most beautiful things she'd ever seen. It was so much better as a civilian when she wasn't so focused on where they were going to stop.

They landed, and he kept going to put some distance between them. When he took off again, Marinette tightened her grip on him. A small part of her mind couldn't help but think that he smelled nice. Almost familiar.

Then, they stopped, and she had to let go of him. She looked around, getting her bearings. It was a building near the school, but Marinette couldn't see it from here. Chat Noir looked at her, obviously expecting some reaction.

"That was amazing," Marinette said. "You and Ladybug see that all the time?"

He nodded, leaning against his staff. "Every time we go on patrol or fight an akuma. Want to do it again?"

She was nodding before she could stop herself. There were things she had to do, but she'd never wandered the streets just to look around before.

Chat placed his arm around her waist, holding her securely to him and jumping. Marinette held on tightly. Around them, the world became fuzzy as they moved around Paris. The wind blew through her hair, whipping her jacket and pigtails about. Her purse soared behind them. She briefly thought about Tikki inside, but her thoughts quickly changed as they stopped once again. Chat's arm disappeared from around her. Marinette felt cold where he had been pressed against her, the extra warmth now gone. She looked around, immediately recognizing their new surroundings. They were on top of the school building.

Chat Noir walked to the edge and crouched, looking out at the spread of buildings. "Other than the Eiffel Tower, this is one of my favorite views of the city," he said, his voice soft.

Marinette walked over, careful to stay further from the edge than normal - if she fell as a civilian, she couldn't swing her yo-yo to catch herself. She looked out at the view, suddenly wondering how Chat saw it. She knew that he had night vision, as well as enhanced hearing. Maybe his sight was better too. If that was the case, what must this wonderful sight look like to him?

"It's beautiful," Marinette said from behind him.

Chat stood up, taking a step back to stand next to her, though he kept his eyes towards the horizon. His heightened senses made everything as Chat Noir clearer. Whereas Adrien he couldn't see very far when transformed he could make out even the small houses in the distance with strong clarity. "I'll be honest, no matter how much you're up here, you never get used to seeing the city from this angle. What do you think?"

Marinette smiled at him, then looked back out at the buildings. "I think it's great. I can see why you'd never get used to it. It's stunning," she said.

"Glad you like it. Maybe I'll have to take you to see it more." He gave her another wink, then turned around to examine the landscape around them.

Did I just say that? Did I just offer to take her out more? Did- did I just ask Marinette on a date?! I didn't mean to do that. Asking out one of my best friends was not what I planned to do today. He looked down at his staff, checking the time. I've got to get home before Nathalie checks in on me. Good thing too, I need to take her home before I do anything else.

He pointed a clawed hand in the direction of the bakery, which he saw in the distance. "That's your house, isn't it?"

She squinted in the direction he pointed and nodded. "That's it."

"Let's get you home before you miss anything important, shall we?" He held his hand out to her. Instead of ignoring it, she took it this time. Chat gently placed her arms around him, then grabbed ahold of her himself. In seconds they were moving towards the bakery.

Luckily, the street in front of the bakery wasn't that crowded. He stopped briefly on her balcony, then jumped to the street. As he did, he switched to carrying her bridal style so she wouldn't hit the sidewalk. His suit absorbed the shock, but she had nothing to protect her. Once they were on the ground, he set her down.

"Thanks for entertaining me, Princess. I'll see you around." Chat waved quickly, then left. He went vaguely in the direction of his house, not wanting to go straight there and tell all of Paris where he lived. It took several minutes longer for him to get there than usual, but he had found it to be worth it in the past.

Chat Noir was about to swing back into his room when his staff started beeping. He stopped on the walls surrounding the house, bringing up the small screen.

"An akuma attack? Now? Father's gonna kill me!"

Marinette greeted her parents with hugs when she entered the bakery. However, they were busy at work, so she went up to the house and into her room. Tikki flew out of the purse immediately.

"Did you have fun with Chat Noir?" Tikki asked, giving her a look filled with much more meaning than the girl wanted there to be.

"He dragged me around doing things I could do any time I wanted, Tikki. Sure it was fun, but no more fun than if it had been just me. I just haven't seen Paris for a while when I wasn't on patrol or fighting an akuma. Or having weird interactions with Chat Noir. Well, I guess this was a weird interaction with Chat, too," Marinette said.

Tikki's look didn't go away, much to her chagrin. "But you didn't object to his nickname for you. And you didn't care about being so close to him…"

Marinette glared at the red kwami. "What are you trying to say, Tikki? That I like Chat Noir? Because I most certainly do not! I'm in love with Adrien, I couldn't be-" Her phone rang insistently in her pocket. She gave Tikki once last glare before answering the video call. Alya appeared on the screen, her face taking up the entire thing.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng! What on Earth have you been doing today, and why didn't you tell me?!" she said. Her voice came through the phone slightly tinny, but mostly unaffected. "I've seen a bunch of pictures online of you jumping around Paris with Chat Noir! And I have a video of him dropping you off at home!"

"W-what? How many pictures are there?" her cheeks started going pink, and she thought about the way he had dropped her off at home. The way he'd carried her was not in a traditionally platonic way.

Alya watched her critically. The look on her face told her that she was not going to give up until she got the answers she was looking for. "O-okay. H-he showed up when I was at the park. We started talking a little bit, and then some people showed up. Chat Noir saved me from the pictures and the questions. Everything else was just kinda… an accident."

"An accident?" she asked blandly. "You hugging him while he showed you the sights and then took you home was an accident? Girl, I'm not going to believe that for a second. What happened to Adrien?"

Marinette's eyes widened. "What happened with Chat Noir has nothing to do with Adrien! Adrien is so much better than Chat Noir!" she said, desperately trying to convince both Alya and Tikki that she didn't care about Chat Noir in that way.

"In the video, he called you 'Princess', Marinette. That's not what you call someone you just met!"

The blunette scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "Well… I've kind of met him before," she said, remembering the time when he had shown up on her balcony.

"WHAT?! You've been holding out on me! I need details!" her best friend demanded.

"Well, uh, It's a little complicated. I mean he just kind of showed up on my balcony and we started talking… Okay, maybe not so complicated," Marinette said guiltily. "I didn't tell you because it was nothing. Chat Noir is always going around the city doing weird things, right?"

Alya was about to respond when there was a beep that came from both ends of the call. Marinette's eyes widened to see that it was an akuma alert.

"I've gotta go!" Alya said, staring at her phone. "Where there's an akuma there's something for the Ladyblog. Don't think that you've gotten out of this!"

They ended the call. Marinette quickly turned on the news to get information for the akuma alert. Tikki joined her, both of them looking intently at the screen.

"Nadja Chamack here with live news about the newest villain to rampage in the streets of Paris! It seems that the center of the carnage is La Santé Prison. There appear to be several fires set inside the building, and only a few people have come out! Each one reports that the perpetrator is an akuma calling herself Nemesis."

Behind Nadja was the prison, where there were plumes of smoke emanating from different points. Police surrounded the scene, and what looked to be several prison guards were being questioned. The purple-haired news reporter hurried over to the closest one eagerly.

"What did you see inside the prison? What is happening?" she asked, pushing the microphone over to the guard.

He opened his mouth to speak, but a portion of the prison wall burst open, interrupting them. The camera panned to the side, leaving Nadja to take only a corner of the screen. The dust cleared quickly to reveal the whole. It looked as if the bricks had moved out of place instead of been blown out of the way.

"I am Nemesis, and Paris shall pay!" she cried. Her hair was a glimmering bronze, and bright red eyes looked out over the crowd. She lifted her hands and the screen went black.

Marinette stared at the screen for a moment before turning to Tikki. "This isn't good. We've got to get over there. Spots on!"