When the destination came into view, he started walking a bit faster, excited to show off what he had planned for his friend. Marinette could barely keep up with his pace, surprised by how much longer his legs apparently were than hers. She tightened her grip on his arm once again, trying to remind him that she couldn't really keep an eye on him and he slowed down, once again falling in step with her.

"Sorry," he apologized with a soft smile hiding under his mask. "I was just excited because we're here." He opened the front door to the building and she walked in ahead of him, trying to keep her eyes down. As they walked in, however, she heard sounds from practically every direction and immediately identified some of the classic games Tom had played when she was younger.

She looked up, careful not to look in his direction, and saw that the building they had entered was lined with game cabinets. She hadn't even noticed Chat had stepped away from her to talk to the person who was manning the entrance. He placed a hand on her shoulder from a short distance behind her.

"Sweetheart," he said, able to break her attention from staring at the glow of the arcade cabinets. "You need a wristband before we can play." She shook her head, briefly, knocking herself from her stupor.

"Right," she breathed. She walked to the counter he'd been standing at a moment ago and held out her wrist to the attendant. He put the wristband on her and the two of them walked further into the building. "I had no idea this place existed," she admitted as the two of them walked to the first wall of arcade cabinets.

Galaga was the first of the retro games she'd recognized from when she was younger. Tom would play it often, but she'd never seen the arcade version in person before. Next to it, there was a Pac-Man game that she was quick to step over to play.

"Yeah," he agreed, "I'm pretty sure that most people don't. They just had their grand opening a few weeks ago. Plus, I don't suspect that a lot of tourists are coming to Paris to go to an arcade, most people are here for a bit more culture."

Marinette rolled her eyes at the notion of tourists. She understood, of course, why they mattered, especially when it came to the city's economy, but that didn't mean she agreed with it. She knew that Chat had heard Ladybug complain about Mayor Bourgeois choosing to keep the city open plenty of times, so she decided it was better not to open that can of worms.

"You're probably right," she agreed. She knew he was right, but she was also hoping to move on to a different topic so that she could avoid thinking about her grievances with the Mayor. After all, she should've been enjoying her date. No, she mentally corrected, not a date. Just her spending time with her friend.

After all, the night that Chat and Ladybug had spent playing video games at the Eiffel Tower wasn't a date, why should Chat and Marinette playing video games together be any different? "What do you want to play first?"

"Well, that depends, honey," he began, "would you rather play something with me, or against me?" She suspected that it wasn't intentional on his part, but she couldn't help but recognize those were the words he'd asked her before they started their Stardew Valley save file that night on the Eiffel Tower.

"With," she replied, almost immediately. She wanted to avoid being against him as much as she possibly could, even though as far as he knew, they'd never been against each other. He was happy to agree, armed with the idea that she'd probably chosen 'with' because it provided as good of an excuse as any for her to not look at him.

He lead her over to a row of machines that were all multiplayer games. Among them were an X-Men game, Rampage, and Bubble Bobble. Marinette's attention was piqued by Bubble Bobble and she gently coaxed Chat into the direction of the game. He was happy to follow along after her and she started the game in two-player mode.

The two of them had fun playing together, but it was clear to see that Marinette had been doing better at the game than he was. He knew that they were both competitive, so he was hoping he wouldn't cross a line by trying to distract her. He poked her in the side gently, just enough for her to feel a slight tickle.

She grabbed her side with one of her hands in reaction. "No," she refused, "cheating isn't allowed just because I'm doing better than you."

"Cheating?" She knew him well enough that she was confident that he was feigning his shock. "I would never cheat at something as serious as Bubble Bobble." She knew, because of the mask, that she wouldn't be able to see the grin she was certain was on his face, but she could hear it in his voice.

"Then tell me. Why don't I believe you?" He, on the other hand, could see every bit of the smile that was on her face. She developed the beginnings of a scowl for a brief moment, but it didn't take more than that moment for her smile to be just as big, and bright, and contagious as it usually was.

She took her own chance to distract him, bumping herself against him with her upper arm. Her shoulder hit a few inches below his, not necessarily distracting him. She was, however, able to knock into him enough that it knocked his character askew. It wasn't by much, but it was enough to get her to giggle as he repositioned the icon.

"Oh? Now, who's cheating, Princess?" His tease came across as a taunt to her and she stuck out her tongue at him.

"What are you trying to accuse me of? I don't need to cheat when I'm already doing so much better than you, my knight." Her smile showed that she knew exactly what she was doing and he figured that he might as well deliver on the hug he'd promised her. Only because he owed her a hug, definitely not to try to catch his score up to hers.

He stepped behind her slightly and hugged her from behind, slightly lifting her off of the ground, out of reach of her controls. He was thankful that his hand was big enough that he could maneuver the joystick and press the button with one hand. "This is definitely cheating!" Her words were giggles that sounded beautiful to his ears.

"No, it isn't," he claimed, "I'm just giving you the congratulations hug that I owe you. This is just the biggest hug I can give." He was adding to their score progressively as he kept her away from her side of the cabinet.

"Love!" Her joy-filled voice came out almost as a squeak. "Put me down!" He felt his cheeks heat under his mask, a blush developing quickly as her referring to him as 'love' played over and over again in his mind. He put her down just in time for their characters to move on to the next stage.

"Was that one too much?" Her voice was quieter than it was before, more nervous than she usually sounded around Chat Noir, at least. "The nickname."

"No," he assured, heart unexpectedly skipping a beat. "Not at all." They spent the rest of the night enjoying themselves- laughing, talking, mostly playing cooperatively, but enjoying some friendly competition between the two of them.