Soooo I haven't had time to revamp Cats Closet... Anyone see that metaphorical truck that hit me? In any case here is a new little story that is set right after The Cats Shield. Maybe... (If that dam truck stays far away) I'll have the sequel to The Cats Shield Next month when I post. No promises though!

StarLilly Rose... I was originally going to fit Chats kittens into The Cats Shield world but there were little bits of the world that made it not work well with the story lines. SO I suppose its just a random stand alone.

Marinette finds Chat on her balcony and shares a treat with him. Takes place after The Cats Shield.

Purloined Puns

Chat had a new habit and Marinette was sort of at a loss over the whole thing. Lately when Chat had some time he would drop by her balcony in the evening. Most of the time he dropped in to help Marinette on one of her projects for a few minutes, sometimes all he did was steal a cookie as he was saying hello. Either way it was like having a random stray that refused to stick around or become a permanent part of the household. Not that Marinette wanted Chat to be a permanent part of the household. Or maybe she did… after all the drama of Doppelganger he seemed to have become even more attached to her and Marinette wasn't sure how she felt about the whole thing. She liked Chat, he was a good guy but there was something more that was forming these days and she just didn't know what to do about it. It was coming at the worst possible time too since Adrien finally seemed to be taking more of an interest in her. They had gone on their date but an Akuma had happened in the middle of it breaking the group date apart before anything of note could occur. Since then everyone had seem to have the worst luck at getting together to hang out. Adrien's father had really loaded down his schedule since the incident with Doppelganger to help keep a better eye on him so Adrien hadn't had the chance to try inviting her out again and Marinette was far too shy to even think of doing something like that outside of her fantasies. So now she was here on her balcony in the warm evening air nibbling on a kind of popsicle that Manon loved as she waited for her stray kitten to show up.

"What are you doing princess?" Chat asked dropping to her balcony making Marinette jump.

He could be deadly silent at times with the skills of a ninja and then other times he would trip over his own tail, break a pot and yowl as he landed on his face. There didn't seem to be an in between Chat and sometimes Marinette wished he would always be the tripping type since then she would at least always know he was coming.

With a roll of her eyes Marinette turned to face him. "Eating a popsicle. Do you want one?"

Chat eyed the frozen treat she held then nodded eagerly. "Yes please! I haven't had a good popsicle in ages!"

Marinette laughed but she went and got him one out of the freezer. His was green like his eyes and he happily licked at the treat while holding the stick carefully in his claws. The two of them passed several minutes in companionable silence until Chat nibbled the last bit of popsicle off his stick and noticed writing down it. After a moment he snorted and asked "Hey Princess, how do trees get on the internet?"

Marinette turned and frowned at him but then she glanced down at her stick and understood. "Oh right… I forgot these were joke sticks. I haven't seen that joke yet though."

Chat wiggled "So you give up?"

Marinette rolled her eyes but nodded deciding to humor him.

"They LOG IN!" Chat chortled his enthusiasm rather than the joke making Marinette chuckle slightly.

"Very cute Chat, my turn! What do you call a duck that gets all A's?"

Chat fell silent thinking hard but after a minute of pursing his lips and several bad attempts he finally gave up. "I don't know?"

"A wise quacker." Marinette said with a smile as Chat blinked then snickering.

"Oh I like these! Do you have any more?" Chat asked curiously.

"Only one popsicle a night Chat. Besides have you eaten any dinner yet?" Marinette queried sounding like Sabine as she propped her hands on her hips.

"Uh no? But I can't miss more meals at home or they will get suspicious!" Chat whined since he did like eating with them far more than eating alone at home.

Marinette huffed but she didn't try and fight him on the subject since she knew he would come get food if he was still hungry. "Alright then… do you at least want some cheese bread to take with you?"

Chat eagerly agreed to that at least and Marinette was happy to give him some bread since she knew that Plagg would eat it even if Chat didn't. As soon as Chat had the bread in hand he vanished over the rooftops heading to his home since he too had a normal life to lead. Over the next week or so the same pattern held with Chat dropping in when he could for a few minutes to an hour to have a popsicle with Marinette on her balcony and share whatever terrible joke was on their sticks. Marinette had seen a majority of the popsicle jokes at this point so she was able to surprise Chat with the correct answer more often than not. Although the poor kitten sulked when he realized that she had already gotten those jokes before. When that happened Chat tried to make up his own jokes and most of the time they unfortunately fell as flat as his puns.

That happened tonight too as Chat read off his joke "What kind of suits do lawyers wear?"

"Oh… that's a tough one…" Marinette murmured as she pretended to think about it.

Chat wiggled his excitement but it died as Marinette correctly answered "Lawsuits!"

"Awe you've read it before haven't you?" Chat demanded idly wondering how he could get Marinette be this free with him as Adrien. She was loosening up with him a little bit but if he tried interacting with just her, half the time she would go silent or she would babble. Her babbling always made him laugh in a good way but once that happened Marinette would always find a way to run off. Since it always happened within a few short minutes of them interacting it left Adrien feeling very unsatisfied. It was better when Alya or Nino was there with them acting as a buffer but Adrien wanted to Marinette to himself for a minute which was probably why he kept dropping in on her as Chat. Plagg had started mercilessly teasing him for it lately but it was so worth it to have these little moments with Marinette to himself.

Marinette grinned but instead of answering she held up her stick and to his surprise her stick held the same joke. Chat pouted and Marinette laughed outright ruffling his hair as she pulled the stained stick out of his hand to throw away. "They only have so many jokes you know."

Chat nodded still a little sullen but then brightened as he jumped up onto her railing. "Then how about this… I wish to purrrloin your heart, Princess," Chat said, a ready grin stretching across his features as he reached a hand down to her. If she accepted his hand he would whisk her away on a magical tour of Paris under the stars. In his mind it would be like something out of a Disney movie and maybe if he was brave enough he could try getting these silly confusing feelings off his chest. Maybe he could even confess to knowing she was Ladybug.

Marinette cocked her head, confusion knotting her brow. "Pure… what?"

Chat huffed, his Disney dreams crashing around his ears. Lips poking out in a pout Chat realized his pun (therefore his random not very good plan) fell flat since she didn't know the word. With a slight sigh he explained. "Purloin is an old English word. It means to steal."

"And since it already has Pur in it you decided to pun the poor word," Marinette finished and sighed. "Well, too bad, it's rude to steal and my heart already belongs to someone."

Chats ears twitched a little, his curiosity instantly perked as he dropped back down to the balcony floor. He had wanted to ask this question long ago or at least since he had realized she was Ladybug but there had never been a good moment and bringing the subject up out of the blue felt a little too much like prying. Doppelganger had told him that Marinette liked him but there was a part of him that simply couldn't believe such a thing was true. "Oh? The princess has a prince in mind?"

Marinette winced, her gaze flicking down. "Yeah, but I can barely talk to him without practically foaming at the mouth! I mean I've gotten loads better but still It's so embarrassing! He's such a good person though, even when I can't string two words together he is so understanding and just gives me this smile that makes me want to hug him even if I always bolt instead."

Now Chat's curiosity was peaked even higher, as he wondered if he knew this boy who had captured his princesses heart. If he were being honest he would say he might even be a little jealous! "R-really? Who is he, if I may be so bold as to ask?"

Marinette twitched her eyes snapping to his. "No way."

Chat's ears went flat, his jaw dropping a little in his surprise at her utter refusal. "W-why? I won't tell anyone! You and Ladybug are the only two people I talk to and besides I don't tell secrets!"

"Uh, Chat, that's not what I am worried about," Marinette sighed, making Chat tilt his head, clearly not understanding.

"Then what are you worried about?" He asked.

Marinette shook her head looking flustered. "It doesn't matter, and it's not important who I like."

Seeing the blush seep across her face Chat realized he had made her uncomfortable and felt a little bad. Moving to her side he slid an arm across her shoulders. "Princess, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, I just wanted to help if I could."

For once Marinette could hear the utter honesty in his voice and with a hitch in her voice managed to say, "Adrien Agreste."

Chat jerked away, feeling as if he had been zapped by a Taser. "The… the model?" he managed to croak realizing that it was probably the least flattering thing he could have said about himself.

To his surprise Marinette glared at him. "Don't talk about him that way, Chat. It's like someone saying you're just a sidekick, and we both know that's the furthest thing from the truth. Adrien is gentle and kind and he works so hard to do everything that's asked of him, even when he is totally exhausted. He's super smart and has amazing patience, but I worry about him sometimes because he seems so sad at times, like the weight of the world is on his shoulders." Marinette sighed, missing the thunderstruck look on Chat's face. "If I could talk to him properly I would invite him over and feed him cookies till he bursts because sometimes I don't think he gets enough attention, like good attention at home. Truthfully, I just want him to know that someone really cares about him. I don't need to date him, even though I would absolutely love that, I just want him to be genuinely happy, you know?" Marinette asked, turning to Chat.

To her absolute shock, he wrapped her up in a hug before she could really get a look at him, but Marinette swore she saw a tear running down his cheek.

"Chat?!" Marinette squeaked, even as she wrapped her arms around his suddenly shaking form.

"You… you see too much, princess," Chat murmured, much to her confusion. "You are amazing and gentle and kind and I won't believe for a second that he wouldn't want to date you if he had the chance."

Marinette could feel herself blushing at Chats kind words and at the fact that he still clung to her. She was starting to feel a touch self conscious but like Adrien Chat sometimes gave off that feeling like he didn't get enough love at home either. It was one of the many reasons she had invited him inside and why she never pulled away first when giving him a hug.

"Chat are you ok?" Marinette asked softly running one free hand through his hair. Something had changed in him the moment she had confessed her feelings for another boy and Marinette wondered if she had hurt his feelings.

Chats face was buried into her shoulder and she could feel his hot breath tickling her neck and making her shiver slightly as she became aware of the sensation. Feeling her tremor Chat pulled away a slightly watery grin on his face. "If I say no can I have another popsicle?"

Marinette couldn't help but laugh even as she patted Chat on the cheek. "You can have another Popsicle either way Chat."

The grin still hadn't left his face "Then I guess I'm just purr-fect. Can I try a blue one this time?"

Rolling her eyes Marinette waved Chat into her room and the two of them went to share another popsicle and new bad jokes with her parents. At some point they would speak on this again although when it finally happened it wouldn't be in a way either of them expected.