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Ten Lords a Leaping

Forget abstract ideas once again, Chat Noir had decided to go back to basics. If he couldn't give Ladybug anything, he couldn't make anything for her, and he couldn't create a beautiful moment for her, then maybe just simply taking her out to dinner would work. After all, how could that possibly go wrong.

But still, Chat Noir wanted to make sure that it was extra special. He decided to take her to one of the most fancy restaurants in town: the one in Mayor Bourgeois' hotel. He was dying to have Ladybug try Marinette's uncle's soup, as he knew it was divine. Plus, he knew that Alya's mother was an excellent chef there. And best of all, he had heard that Chloé would be out for the day.

It was perfect.

Chat Noir had always wanted to have a romantic dinner date with Ladybug, and now was his chance. Of course, it wasn't exactly a date, it was a Christmas treat for Ladybug, but that wouldn't stop Chat Noir from pretending while he was there. He could already feel his cheeks beginning to warm up and turn red at the thought.

Of course, Chat had had to make sure that there was a table available, since it would likely be busy around this time of year. Mayor Bourgeois was all too happy to have them there, getting really excited when Chat Noir had pulled him aside after an akuma attack this morning to ask him. Chat Noir had to remind the Mayor that he wanted this to be a hush hush affair as him and Ladybug would want their privacy. Luckily, the Mayor had given him his word.

"What's going on, Chat?" Ladybug asked as she landed in front of him on the street.

"I'm taking you out to dinner," Chat Noir happily declared, fixing the bow tie he had placed on top of his golden bell. "My treat."

"Dinner?" Ladybug asked, shocked. "Where?"

"At Mayor Bourgeois' restaurant."

"What?!" Ladybug shrieked in horror. "But –"

"Don't worry, Chloé won't be there, I made sure that she wasn't," Chat Noir explained, hooking his arm around Ladybug's before pulling her along down the street and towards the grand hotel. "It's just going to be the two of us having a nice, quiet meal together."

Ladybug relaxed a little at Chat Noir's reassurance, however, she still felt rather tense.

"But this place is really fancy and expensive…I don't know…" Ladybug glanced behind them as if she wanted to flee.

Oh no. Was Ladybug not used to fancy surroundings? Chat Noir had thought that she would be impressed, but instead it looked like the whole situation was making her incredibly uncomfortable. But she was still going along with it. Was she just doing it for his sake? Chat Noir wouldn't put it past her.

He was almost on the verge of giving up before he reasoned with himself that he could still ensure that Ladybug had a good time. He would make sure they were far away from all of the other diners to hopefully make Ladybug feel less uncomfortable. And money was definitely no problem. He would make sure that Ladybug had the best night of her life.

"It's okay," Chat tried to sooth her, "I'll make sure we're far away from everybody else, and don't worry about money, I'm paying."

"Chat! I can't expect you to do that!" Ladybug sounded really uncomfortable now.

"I insist," Chat inserted quickly, "it's my gift to you. Besides, wait until you try the soup here."

"Oh – ummm – right," Ladybug said awkwardly as she continued to follow him into the building.

Chat Noir was shocked at how quiet the entrance was. He was expecting it to be full of people staying in the hotel and waiting for tables at the restaurant. But instead, it looked like the whole place was deserted. Him and Ladybug exchanged a glance, and he could tell that she was wondering the same thing. Just where was everybody?

But still, Chat Noir nervously pressed forward towards the restaurant area, shocked to see that the doors were closed. But…Mayor Bourgeois had promised that space would be available for them. In fact, the Mayor couldn't wait to have them there. So just what exactly was going on? Had something happened? Had there been another akuma attack and neither him nor Ladybug had noticed? It wasn't making any sense.

Growing worried, Chat Noir slowly opened the door, before both he and Ladybug gasped at what awaited them inside. The whole room erupted into cheers as soon as Chat had pushed the door open, revealing what looked like an entire party waiting for them. The Mayor looked like he was the leader of the whole thing as he clapped and cheered the loudest. It looked like he had invited almost every famous person in Paris, including a huge group of people that Chat Noir didn't recognise. And…Chloé was there.

"Our heroes arrive at last!" Mayor Bourgeois proclaimed excitedly.

"What's going on?" Ladybug whispered to Chat Noir. "Did you organise a surprise party or something."

"No, I did not," Chat Noir growled out, glaring at the Mayor. He'd ruined everything. "I just wanted to take you out for a nice dinner," he added.

The Mayor approached them and began forcing them both further into the room.

"What gives?" Chat Noir hissed at him. "You promised me and Ladybug a private evening."

"I'm a politician; I never keep promises," the Mayor chuckled. "When I heard you and Ladybug were coming here, I couldn't resist showing you off to all of my esteemed guests. They all wanted to dine exclusively with Paris' beloved heroes."

Chat Noir rolled his eyes. His gift was already ruined. Mayor Bourgeois just had to hijack the night. Chat Noir was beginning to see where Chloé got it from.

Shaking his head in frustration, Chat Noir glanced down at Ladybug who was once again looking incredibly uncomfortable and like she wanted to bolt out of the room. She had an incredibly awkward smile on her face as Mayor Bourgeois continued to push them both towards all of the guests. Meanwhile, Chat Noir could feel his heart breaking in his chest. His idea had once again been ruined. Now Ladybug was in an awkward situation that looked like it was making her uncomfortable. This was all his fault. He should have taken her somewhere else and been more secretive about it. He should have known that Mayor Bourgeois would likely do something like this.

"I'd like you to meet the ten Lords of the Kingdom of Achoo," Mayor Bourgeois introduced them to some very tall looking men dressed in the finest suits. "They especially wanted to thank you for saving their prince from an akuma attack."

"Oh – umm – nice to meet you," Ladybug said, holding out her hand for them to shake.

One of them took her hand and smiled at her as they shook it.

"And I'm Chloé Bourgeois, daughter of the hotel owner, the Mayor, André Bourgeois, you may have heard of me, especially since I'm all that Prince Ali likely talks about," Chloé giggled as she fluttered her eyelashes, pushing herself in between Ladybug and the ten lords.

Both Ladybug and Chat Noir groaned.

"I don't think our prince has ever mentioned you," one of the lords said, looking like he was trying hard to remember.

"What?" Chloé gasped before smiling and waving them off. "I'm sure he's just being shy. Are you here to discuss Prince Ali and I possibly being a couple with daddy? It's an alliance that would be perfect!"

"No," one lord said flatly, looking unamused.

"In fact, maybe Ladybug would be a perfect match for the prince?" another lord suggested.

"WHAT?!" Both Ladybug, Chat Noir and Chloé yelled at the same time.

"There's no way Ladybug would ever date Prince Ali," Chat Noir growled out, jealously standing in front of Ladybug.

"Hey! I can speak for myself!" Ladybug pushed him out of the way.

"Why would he want Ladybug when he's clearly got a thing for me!" Chloé shrieked, stomping her foot.

"Why would our Prince want a little brat like you when he could have the finest superhero in all of Pairs," one of the lords gushed as they began to surround Ladybug, admiring her.

Ladybug blushed before gritting her teeth in anger while Chloé screamed incoherently at their remarks.

"Errr, perhaps, we should get on with dinner," Mayor Bourgeois suggested, growing increasing flustered.

"Daddy, are you going to let them talk to me like this?!"

"I'm sorry sweet pea, but these are very important men, and it's important to be nice to the customer," Mayor Bourgeois laughed out nervously, turning to look at the lords who were still staring at Chloé in distain.

Chloé let out a cry of frustration before storming off, muttering something under breath about making the lords pay for what they said to her.

"Ladybug, Chat Noir, your table is over here," the mayor said, gesturing to a large table in the centre.

Chat Noir growled under his breath. This whole night was a complete disaster. He could have been romancing his lady by now, but instead, he was now trapped in Mayor Bourgeois' ridiculous charade. Ladybug looked just as fed up as he did as they were pushed towards their seats.

"I'm really sorry about this," Chat Noir whispered to her guiltily.

"It's okay," Ladybug sighed.

"We want to sit next to the heroes!" the lords began to order.

"Yes, yes, of course." The Mayor gestured towards the seats next to Ladybug and Chat Noir. "For starters we'll be having Marinette soup, a recipe provided by a master chef all the way from China."

Chat Noir was shocked to see Ladybug beam at this. Maybe she had tried the soup before then. There went his plans for introducing her to some amazing food. Was anything about this night going to go right? Maybe they could just ignore the lords and pretend like they were the only two people in the world.

However, Chat Noir didn't get much time to plan how he would do this as their soup soon arrived. The diners eagerly began diving in, as did Ladybug and the lords. Meanwhile, Chat Noir just stirred his soup around in the bowl, too fed up and miserable to eat. His special night with Ladybug had been ruined. Those thoughts made his heart feel like it was made out of lead.

"AHHHHHHHH!" One of the lords began screaming as he jumped out his chair, leaping on the spot as he began rapidly fanning his mouth. Soon, the other lords joined him while all Chat Noir could do was watch them with eyes wide with confusion as they leaped around the room, their faces turning red.

Ladybug gasped too, and Chat Noir turned around, his confused expression turning to one of horror as he watched Ladybug's face turn a deep shade of red before his very eyes. The rest of the diners began screaming and reaching for their drinks, their faces turning red as well.

"Careful, my lords," Chloé chuckled, swaggering towards their table. "I believe the soup is hot."

Chat Noir gasped before glaring at Chloé and reaching for the jug of water in the centre of the table. He quickly handed it to Ladybug who all but snatched it off him and began gulping it down, her face still a bright shade of red, and her whole body twitching as if she was in intense pain.

However, the lords' eyes zeroed in on the jug, and they dashed towards Ladybug, all ten of them beginning to try and fight it off Ladybug while still jumping on the spot from the intense heat. Startled, Ladybug pulled the jug away from her lips, only for the lords to try and yank it off her. Ladybug was able to keep her grip, however, in the process of trying to keep hold of it, the jug had flipped over in her hands, causing the ice water to pour all over her.

Ladybug screamed as the cold water gushed over her body, ice cubes bouncing off her in the process. The lords screamed as well, beginning to try and attempt to lick the cold water off the ground, sighing with relief at the feeling of the cool liquid against their tongues while Chloé stood over them and laughed.

"CHLOÉ!" Mayor Bourgeois screamed angrily.

"Ladybug, are you oka –" Chat Noir tried to ask, but he was immediately cut off.

"I'm fine," Ladybug growled out, looking like she was trying to take deep breaths through her nose to keep herself calm.

The whole restaurant descended into chaos as people fought over water, causing it to spill everywhere, leading many people to slip and fall over.

Completely defeated and helpless over the sight of his lady seething next to him, Chat Noir slammed his head on the table in front of him.

This was probably the worst gift yet.

I supposed that's what you get for trying to involve the Bourgeois family. And once again, Chloé ruined things for everyone. Sheesh, this chapter ended up being the longest one yet. It felt like it took forever to write for some reason. Only two chapters left now; sad days. But I definitely need a break after updating this story every day, lol. Feel free to leave a review letting me what you think. Feedback is always much appreciated. See you again tomorrow.