MariChat May, Day 8: Fashion- Marinette is stumped and easily startled.

Sorry guys! I completely missed "happy pawing", mainly because I was completely uninspired. I'm skipping it for now, though I may revisit it later on. I'm picking up today with Fashion. It's short and sweet, but better than nothing, yes?
This installment goes out to AmyNChan! As a regular reader and commenter, you've been a great source of encouragement. Thank you!

Marinette sat pensively on her lounge chair, tapping out an erratic beat on her sketch book with the eraser end of her pencil as she considered the rough rendering on the page. Bah. It was rubbish. She scratched through it and tossed the book to her table with a huff.

She was itching to draw, was restless with it, and yet none of her ideas would gel into anything satisfactory. It was damned annoying, to feel at once driven and stymied. She stood and went to lean dejectedly on the balcony railing with another frustrated huff.

"Design not going the way you want it to, Princess?"

Marinette jumped with a shriek, and whirled to see Chat Noir sitting on the roof above her, with a hand pressed to her chest.

Chat winced, and dropped down beside her. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to startle you. You ok?"

"Yeah," she said breathlessly, nodding. "But you have got to stop sneaking up on me, you mangy cat."

His ears fell. "You know it isn't intentional."

"Yes, well, intentional or not, it still scares me half to death." She flicked his bell playfully, and smiled to take the sting from her words. "Perhaps you need a real bell, so I can hear you coming."

"Perhaps I do," he replied, perking at her smile. "So, what are you working on?"

"I have no idea." Marinette heaved another sigh and leaned her forearms on the railing once more, resting her chin on her fist to stare sightlessly over the city. "That's the problem. I want to sketch out plans for a new project, but I don't know what. My ideas have no direction, so I'm not getting anywhere."

He leaned his arms on the railing next to her, and laid his cheek on them to look at her. "What if you made something for me? Something with a bell?"

She straightened, frowning thoughtfully. "Here, stand up for a minute."

He did as she asked, and her eyes roamed over him, taking in the details of his suit with a critical eye. He could tell that Marinette had gone fully into her creative mode, and that she wasn't really aware of him as anything other than a mannequin for the suit. Still, it was hard not to squirm as she circled behind him. He jumped a bit when he felt her hand trace the seam across the back of one shoulder, but she didn't seem to notice. She came back to his front, and stood on tip toe to examine the bell at his throat.

"It's a zipper! How did I never notice that before?"

He shrugged. "You've never had a reason to look before." She looked up at him with bright, distracted eyes, and he smiled fondly. "I've lost you to the sketch book, now, haven't I?"

"Maybe, a little," she giggled. "I've got so many ideas now! But, can I sketch you?" Her eyes widened and she blushed. "Your suit, I mean. Sketch your suit. For reference?"

He chuckled, blushing a bit himself. "Uh, sure. But I'll expect payment in advance for my time. Cookies are an acceptable currency."

She laughed outright at that. "Come on, you silly kitty. Let's find you a treat."

He followed her into the house with a smile.

I have a pretty good idea of where I'm going with this. Stay tuned!
Comments and feed back are always welcome. Thank you for reading!