'Please hang out with me.' That was the premise of the letter she'd gotten from Chat Noir in early September. It seemed like a terrible idea, but she couldn't help but smile at the idea. She wanted to, she really, really wanted to hang out with him. She missed her knight, her minou, her Chaton, her partner .

She hadn't fully registered just how much she had missed him until she was already on reason 16 of the list he had given her of why the two of them should hang out. 'It won't be as suspicious as you think it will be.' She was absolutely dreading the curiosity that arose in her as she read that reason.

'Here are a list of reasons we shouldn't hang out,' her next letter began.

'Your identity

Monarch

It would be so suspicious if we hung out and I just called you 'my knight' the entire time while you called me 'princess.' Even more suspicious if I called you 'my knight' and you called me by my name. The only other option I could think of would be if I just spent the whole time calling you variations of 'dude, guy, mec, friend, etc.' Someone would think I was being held hostage or something.

I, firmly, believe you wouldn't be able to disguise yourself well enough for me not to identify you, even if I'm actively trying to not figure out who you are.'

It took less than a few hours for her to get a response, but that wasn't something she was going to think about. Nope. Nothing worth spending her time thinking about.

'Hon,' the handwriting was clearly his, even though the new name momentarily made her second guess herself.

'I can pinky promise you that any affectionate little pet names you'd possibly give me aren't going to be given a second thought if the two of us hang out in public. I understand that you're scared about something going wrong, but I need you to trust me.

I know I've hurt you before. I know you're probably still recovering from when I hurt you, but please. I want to take this step into being part of your life again. I miss you and if you'll open yourself up to trusting me again, I'll do my best to make sure I won't let you down.

At least tell me you'll think about it.'

'Sweetheart,

Fine. I'll agree to think about it. I need you to know, though, that if anything goes wrong, this could be it. No more letters, no more of us being friends until things are back to normal. I don't want it to come to that, but I need to draw that line because I know that if I don't, I'm worried about either one of us doing something careless and putting us both at risk.'

'Muffin,

I don't want to understand what you mean, but I do. I wish things were easy and that we wouldn't have to worry about the risks of going out in public together, but I understand why we need to be careful. I'd hate for anything to happen to you because of me. Please, even if we can't see each other for very long, I want to see you.

I don't know if you remember, but when you applied for the Gabriel internship, I told you I was gonna give you the biggest hug when you got accepted. Well, now you're weeks into the internship and I'm months overdue in delivering that hug. Plus, I bet I give much better hugs than these letters could.'

'Dear,

You're probably right. I guess you do owe me a hug. It better be a really good one, though. Not that I'm agreeing to this plan because it's wreckless and ultimately an absolutely awful idea, but… when were you thinking we would hang out? I know that my schedule, at least, doesn't allow for a ton of free time, unless your plan is for us to do something in the middle of the night on like a Tuesday or something.'

'Midnight on Tuesday sounds perfect to me, princess.

Realistically, though. How about I have you home by midnight and instead I come by to get you from the bakery at like… 21h? Unless that doesn't work with your schedule? I don't actually know your schedule, as much as it may seem like I do. Just, let me know and I'll happily work around whenever you have time.'

'You can come by to get me any time after 20h, mon petit. That will give me plenty of time to get ready whenever I'm done at the shoot we have that day. Plus, Wednesday is going to be a very light day for me next week. Just, please make sure you're not prioritizing me over other stuff you're supposed to do that day. I want to see you, but not if you're going to get in trouble because of me.'

'Please, bluebell. Let me worry about me, you just focus on yourself. Make sure you're ready for the biggest hug you've ever gotten.

Okay, one of the biggest hugs you've ever gotten. I've met your dad. I think I've gotten hugged by your dad. I can try , but it'll probably take years of practice before my hugs are even close to being as big and nice as his are.'

'Well, mon banane, Tuesday sounds like a pretty nice day for you to get plenty of practice in. Hopefully you're inclined to agree?'

'Agree to hugs, definitely. Agree to you calling me 'ton banane,' I'm less thrilled about. If that's really what you land on, I'll go along with it, but that one isn't my personal favorite. It feels a little less affectionate and a little too silly.'

'I was just seeing how far you'd let me go, my prince. I'll see you on Tuesday. 20h00.'

'Of course, princess.'

Marinette, as usual, decided to specifically not think about how quickly the notes were getting responses. It felt as though they'd been exchanging letters between almost every class. Now, though, she had different things to think about- including different pet names for her favorite kitty cat and what she should wear on Tuesday.