'I wish we could hang out, but I'm gonna be so busy soon. First, I have to make some things, then find a way to sneak them into this movie that I'm gonna be going to next Saturday.

I would invite you, but I'm pretty sure that strays aren't allowed into the theater. However, if a civilian in a mask and some glasses would want to come join me for the 19h15 showing of Howl's Moving Castle, I might be willing to share some sweets with him.

If you know anyone who might be interested in joining me, let them know that I'll be at the theater on Lamarac and I've ordered my ticket for seat E7. If you don't know anyone who will be free then, that's fine, too. Just let me know!' She wondered if the note was too subtle, instead of just straight inviting him to go to the movie with her.

When he got the note, a bright smile grew on his face. He hadn't really expected her to be willing to see him again, given how hesitant she had seemed last time, but not only did she want to. She was the one who had decided what they were going to do. He immediately went online and bought a ticket for himself, seat E8.

He didn't think next Saturday could come soon enough. After what felt like a year, the 10 days passed since he got her response and he told Nathalie that he was going to the movies with Marinette. Nathalie seemed overall pleasantly surprised and informed Gabriel of his son's plans for the evening.

Instead of sending out any akumas, the designer spent his evening doing more research about the Miraculouses, trying to figure out what powers would work well with the Butterfly or Black Cat Miraculouses.

Marinette was carrying a larger bag than usual when she arrived in the theater for the showing. Instead of just being big enough for Tikki and a few macarons, it had space for a bag of candies that she had made for Chat. She sat in her seat at 19h10 and hoped that he was going to show up.

The lights went down in the theater and she started to grow nervous, wondering if he wasn't going to come after all. She flicked on the light of her watch briefly to check the time before covering the watch face when she'd seen it was 19h14. "Is this seat taken, princess?" Once again, the voice was deeper than she was used to.

The inflection he'd used, though, made it perfectly clear that it was him . She made a point to look up at the screen instead of him. "It is now," she responded in a whisper. He sat in his seat and found himself drifting between having his eyes glued to the screen and having them instead be glued to her.

"I made you something," Marinette whispered to him as the opening credits rolled. She was thankful that the theater was close to empty as she opened her purse and pulled out a small bag that contained handmade chocolates. The bonbons were in the shape of Hershey's kisses, but she'd filled them with a center made of cake.

"A birthday cake would have been too difficult to sneak in, but I hope that these make for an okay replacement." He opened the small chocolate and took a bite. The cake filling was delicious, it was soft without falling apart and he could taste a faint hint of fruitiness that he'd suspected was part of the icing that had been mixed in.

"You didn't have to," he whispered in response, getting slightly closer to her. He made sure that he was leaning back further in his seat than she was so that she wouldn't accidentally see him out of the corner of her eye.

"And you didn't have to come see a movie with me," she countered. She placed her hand on his and gave it a gentle squeeze. "They're a birthday gift, or a thank you. Either way, they're yours, my knight." He felt his heart pound in his chest, like it was going to burst from the affection he held for the girl sitting next to him.

He wanted to kiss her cheek to thank her but he knew that taking off his mask was a bad idea. He looked around, briefly, making sure that no one near them was paying any attention to the two of them, then picked up their hands and brought them to his face. He removed the loop from the ear further away from her and used the mask to block any view of his face as he kissed the back of her hand.

"Thank you, Marinette. This really means a lot to me." He knew that he wasn't just talking about the chocolates and he suspected that she knew the same. He watched as a soft pink tint washed over her cheeks, barely being able to see the change in the dim lighting of the theater. He lowered their hands to their original position, resting on the armrest between the two.

She ran her fingers delicately along the back of his hand as they sat quietly watching the movie together. He knew, as Adrien, that it was one of her favorites, so he expected to have very little, if any, of her attention during the film. He wondered, however, if she would be able to spend time with him after the movie was done.

The way that her fingers seemed to dance over the back of his hand was relaxing to him, comforting almost. At least, it was in the beginning. After a short while, her movements seemed to become more hurried, more deliberate. She went from trailing across his hand to across the base of his fingers.

Starting with the index finger of his right hand, she brushed her fingers around. She didn't seem satisfied when she moved on to his middle finger, again, feeling around the base of the finger. His ring finger was next, followed by his pinkie. She didn't seem satisfied with her search and he wondered what caused the furrow of her eyebrows.

With her index finger, she felt out his ring finger once again and gave two taps to the location where the Chat Noir emblem typically sat when he was transformed. He supposed it made sense. She couldn't necessarily verify who it was that sat down next to her, so he offered a solution to her.

He flipped his hand over under hers and used his fingers to gently guide hers to where the ring sat on his thumb. It wasn't the same shape as it was when he usually wore it, but if that was the verification she was looking for, he was happy to provide it. The metal, like last time, was cool on her skin and her face relaxed into a smile.

She entwined their fingers, glad that he'd given her the evidence that he could. It was her turn, then, to lift his hand to her lips, giving her knight a gentle kiss of his own.