Chat was staring intently at the mirror, never before had bothered him so intently that he was not a human. He'd heard Marinette speaking on the phone with her best friend, Alya, about a boy named Nathaniel and a study date. This irked him due to his observations of interactions between Marinette and the red-haired boy. Especially when the redhead had been akumatized. You'd have to have been a fool to not notice the boy's feelings for the bluenette. This stirred feelings of jealousy that Chat was not aware he could feel as a cat. Entranced in his thoughts, he had not heard Plagg come up behind him.

"Never before have I had a kitten who was literally-well a kitten. This situation is unique as are you, so don't be feeling so blue, kid. Now how about some camembert?" The tiny cat god mused.

Chat stared unamused at him and then leapt down from the sink counter he had been perched upon. A light twinkling laugh that he recognized as Marinette's reached his ears. This filled him with joy despite his misgivings about being a cat. That was until, he discovered the source of his Marinette's laughter. A certain tomato-headed human male. He felt his fur bristle and he willed his jealousy was not appear to the two humans.

His heart clenched painfully in his chest. He was terribly jealous, and hated the thought of it. He could not stand the extreme waves of human emotions that had come along with his miraculous. It had caused him a lot of mental anguish when it had come to Marinette. He was filled with jealousy whenever she gave human males more attention than she would bestow upon him. This was amplified when he was in his human form. When he had a voice to speak his feelings, it got the best of him. She would usually brush him off without much thought. This wounded him at first but he soon grown used to her air of professionalism as Ladybug. His mantra of thought was interrupted by the sudden realization of the time of day. He begrudgingly transformed and made his way for the balcony when he heard a voice gasp in surprise behind him.

"Chat Noir?" His eyes widened when he saw her.

Tikki.

"When Plagg said his newest kitten was quite literally a kitten I thought he was pulling my antennae. Now I see that it is the truth." Tikki said, her eyes filled something not unlike pity.

Chat stared at the kwami in fear. He couldn't let her tell Marinette the truth about him. Not yet. He then found his voice. "P-please don't tell Marinette."

"I don't plan to. But you will, eventually at least." Tikki said.

Chat had most definitely not thought that far ahead. The thought of her knowing the truth terrified him. "I plan to," He bit his lip nervously. "Not today. One day I will, just not today."

As Chat jumped from rooftop to rooftop, he pondered over the conversation he'd had with Marinette's kwami. How would he ever tell her that her beloved cat was also her crime fighting partner Chat Noir? A set of instructions hadn't exactly came with the miraculous. Only bad luck, the only good that had come from the miraculous was the ability to protect Marinette. That, and Plagg's promise. If he could get Marinette to just utter the words 'I love you', Plagg would turn him into a human. You would think it would be easy as he was her beloved cat and partner. Unfortunately, this was not the case. He was not allowed to speak the details of his deal with Plagg or the deal was off. The words had to come from Marinette's heart. They had to be sincere. This made his interactions with her, flirtier than he'd planned. He did love her, but he knew the task of earning his Lady Luck's love back would not be easy. She was not easily impressed by his puns, nor his flirtations as sincere as they may be. And with Nathaniel competing with him for her affections it made the situation even more interesting.

He knew it would make his life harder to suddenly become human, but he did not enjoy being a powerless cat outside of his time as Chat. What would he do if something like the break-in happened when he was out of his suit? He couldn't exactly turn into Chat in front of her that would only complicate things further. He supposed it was on the selfish side to be in pursuit of someone's love for a self-benefiting deal but he had no other options. He wanted to be able to be more help to Marinette than he currently was as a cat.

Chat's momentary distraction was interrupted by a shrill scream. Well, duty calls. He thought as he went towards the direction of the screams.

Today's fight had not taken as much time as their fights with Hawkmoth's akumas usually had. This left Chat with some extra time to enjoy his time as a human. When the first warning rang out, he very begrudgingly drug himself back to Dupain-Cheng bakery. However, he had not been expecting Marinette to be out on the balcony. Before he could slip away without being seen, Marinette called out to him. "Chat Noir, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Am I not allowed to visit my favorite princess without a reason?" He asked, innocently. He mentally took note of her different reaction to him outside of her suit. He had interacted a few times with her out of suit as Chat Noir, and they mostly exchanged pleasantries at the most. This time would most likely be no different.

"How many princesses do you have?" She mused.

"Only you." Chat muttered under his breath. Which was the truth, he flirted with no one else. It wasn't like he interacted with many people in suit outside of akumas and Marinette.

"What was that?" Marinette asked, looking at him intently.

Chat put on his best poker face and smiled back at her. He really did not want her to worry about him. Worry would turn into curiosity. And curiosity would turn into her finding out the truth about him. "Nothing, princess."

A final beep sounded from his miraculous and he excused himself to detransform. As Marinette watched Chat make his retreat from the bakery, she couldn't help but wonder who the person behind the mask was. "What a strange cat." She muttered.

The chat with Marinette had made Chat's way home longer that planned and, unfortunately, more challenging. He had transformed in an alleyway and walked back to the bakery as a cat. Chat waited at the bakery's front door in hopes for someone to let him inside. As per usual, it was Sabine who let him inside. He'd received a light-hearted scolding as she carried him back to Marinette's room.

Once inside Marinette's room he looked around for her but failed. It wasn't until Plagg piped up that he recalled that Marinette would be with Nathaniel for their study date. He felt a slight prick of jealousy but brushed it away and made his way to Marinette's bed. Since he was not needed he would take a long needed nap.

It was hours later before he saw Marinette again. She was smiling at least, which helped subside Chat's feelings of jealousy a tad. She looked exhausted but instead of walking towards her bed, she went in the direction of her sewing machine. He warily watched her, as she threaded the needle. He wished she wouldn't run herself ragged like this, but he could not voice his opinion in this form. He would have to settle for watching over her. For now at the very least.