Day 9 – Belt tail
"Can I ask you a silly question?
"You can ask all you want," Chat said from where he was laying on his stomach facing the bottom of her bed as he leafed through a magazine, "Doesn't mean I'll answer though." He turned his head and smirked a little as he heard her irritated exhale.
Watching her seated form as she reached out towards him hesitantly, he saw her hand pulling back for a half-second as she reconsidered whatever she was about to do. "Can you feel this?" she finally asked, gently grabbing at the leather-like tail swatting in the air above his back and rubbing her thumb against it with a small sigh. His cat ears stood up straight and his stomach took an unpleasant dip from the unexpected sensation.
"Y-Yeah," he said, immensely glad to be lying down already, "Can, um...can I have it back now?"
"Oh, sorry." She let go with a shy smile and curiously followed the tail with her eyes as it returned to it's lazy swishing for a moment before curling against his lower back, and around and up the side of his ribs. "Are you moving it on purpose?" she added as an afterthought.
"Like, intentionally?" he asked with a frown, "No. It just kinda...does it's own thing. The ears too."
"Huh."
This felt uncomfortable. Normally he had no issues with questions per se, it was just that there seemed to be more to this than she was letting on. It seemed a little more personal than usual, though heavens knew how since she was only asking things he guessed a lot of people probably wondered about him. He desperately wished he knew what she was getting at already so they could change the subject back to something normal.
"What is it?" he asked anxiously, "Spit it out."
She often blushed heavily so he wasn't entirely surprised when she did so, but he was amazed at how she suddenly refused to hide it. Marinette always tried to pretend that she wasn't bothered by anything whenever he teased her or she did something clumsy and embarrassing, so she often turned away to busy herself until her blushes faded. She must have been much more invested in whatever she was curious about than ever before because he was able to watch her face bloom to pink directly this time.
"I've seen the reports where you take your tail off to use during fights," she said, "Do you still feel it then?"
"I-" He stopped. Frowned. He cast his mind back to every fight he'd had since his father had been akumatised - the first time they'd detached his tail to use. He couldn't pin point anything but then he'd always been so caught up in the moment. "I'm not sure," he said, "I've always been distracted when I've taken it off before. I guess not? Or I would've noticed, right?"
Marinette tilted her head curiously at the tip of his tail, flicking slightly as if it knew they were talking about it. "Do you want to find out?" he asked her.
And there was the hiding he'd expected. Marinette's blush deepened as she lifted her shoulders and turned her head to the side. "Only if you want to." He watched as she brushed at her bangs with her fingers and decided it was probably mean to distract him.
He slipped his thumb under the belt where it looped around his waist and willed it to detach as he pulled it away from his body. It slid against his lower back and then his stomach where he was still pressed against the mattress until finally it was completely free of him. He realised there didn't appear to be any sensations coming from it so he gently tossed it to the bed where it sat lifeless and looking very much like a belt and nothing more."Huh. Guess that answers that then," he said and returned to his magazine as if they hadn't just had the weirdest conversation.
Marinette reached out towards the belt hesitantly and he saw from the corner of his eye as she glanced towards him to see if he was looking before finally stroking her hand across it. His nerve endings electrified along his back as if his tail were still attached and he felt his ears straight atop his head. He refused to move, refused to react. There was a rumbling sensation in his chest and he pushed it down as much as he could, giving a gentle cough to cover it up when he failed slightly.
The stroking sensation stopped and he dared a look at the girl beside his legs, his head barely moving as it felt like his tail had wrapped around something instead. Again looking from the corner of his eye he spotted his traitorous tail wrapped around Marinette's upper arm, the tip swaying gently back and forth and rubbing against her face during every movement.
"Um, Chat?" she said and he returned his eyes to his magazine quickly, putting on an air of nonchalance before responding.
"Yeah, uh gonna pass me my tail back, Princess?" he said in a remarkably level voice, "I should probably put it back on before I forget. I don't know what'll happen to my transformation if I lose it." Without looking he held out a clawed hand and was relived when she placed the belt in it without commenting on it's actions while emancipated from him.
Maybe if I just pretend, he thought, I can forget this, just like the kitty kisses incident. The one he knew fine well he'd never forgotten.
