A newly transformed Chat Noir stood where Adrien Agreste had been just moments before. Standing in the doorway, mouth hanging wide open in a strangled, inaudible scream was Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Her bluebell eyes were wide and staring, but she didn't resist when the black suited hero grabbed her wrist, pulled her further into the room and slammed the door, pressing his back against it and waving his hands in front of himself.

"Please don't freak out!" he begged, taking in her panicked expression.

"Aaahhh... I'm-not-freaking-out-are-you-freaking-out-no-I'm-just-very-interested-in-your-ring-and-the-magical-qualities-it-possesses! How long have you been Chat Noir exactly?"

Chat Noir looked at Marinette quizzically.

"Uh, a few months I guess? Ever since Stoneheart."

"Sorry, that was stupid. I'm just still trying to process."

Marinette sat on the floor next to where Chat stood and he slid down to the tiled ground, kicking his legs out in front of himself to settle next to her.

"So, Adrien Agreste, huh?"

"Uh, yeah. Well. I'll spare you the sob story of poor little rich boy Adrien Agreste, it's a little bit of a... that's a little bit of a downer."

Marinette scooted closer and leaned against his arm, looking up at him imploringly. Chat looked down at her raising an eyebrow considering.

"Huh. Well, Adrien Agreste is the perfect everything. Perfect student, perfect model, perfect son and perfectly boring. Chat Noir could be anything he wanted to be, go anywhere he wanted to go. And for a boy with all these restrictions, I don't know it... just seemed like the better option."

"Hmm..." Marinette eyed him thoughtfully.

"You can't tell anyone about this, okay? It could ruin my whole reputation." Chat Noir's eyes widened into perfect impressions of kitty eyes that Marinette never could say no to. Not that she would ever give away his identity. Of course she wouldn't. As for his reputation...

"Ah. We wouldn't want that," she replied, a teasing twinkle in her eye.

"Well, a fake reputation is all a man has," he nudged her playfully with his arm, pleased to see this new side to Marinette, a side she never let Adrien see, and she nudged back, grinning up at him. "Well," he said, making to stand up and Marinette scrambled up after him. "I should um... I-I should... I should go." Chat went to grab the door handle but a hand on his forearm stopped him.

"Hey," she spoke softly, a gentle smile on her face. "For the record, I think Chat Noir is just as good as Adrien Agreste. And neither one of them is boring."

Chat Noir beamed at her, and it was like a weight had been lifted for him. He felt validated as both a civilian and a superhero by one short conversation. Chat pulled the handle on the door and stepped outside. He took her hand, a little more uncertainly than he would have done before she knew who it was behind the mask, gazing questioningly into her eyes. Her shy smile and the faint hint of a blush assured him that everything would be okay. Chat raised her hand to his lips and brushed them across her knuckles. Her blush deepened and he smiled his crooked grin.

"Thank you, Princess."

And with that he was gone.

"Well! I thought he'd never leave!" exclaimed a small voice from the confines of Marinette's purse before the bluenette sunk to the floor, the events of the past five minutes overtaking her. Suddenly it seemed her legs weren't strong enough to hold her weight.

Chat Noir.

Adrien Agreste.

Of course!

I can only apologise for this. Guess what I've been watching today!