Symbiotic Whiskers
Chapter 3
As part of her many responsibilities of being the assistant of a world famous fashion designer, Nathalie also had the pleasure to assist in Adrien's personal life, which just happened to also connect with one another. Gabriel Agreste cared much for his son, more than anyone realized. Making sure each part of his day, his influences, all were managed by the man who would do anything for his family.
She admired that, and she would see to it that Adrien was well cared for in both his personal, family, and future.
Even if that meant trying to keep his new eating habits in check.
"Do we really have to do this?" Adrien whined, wearing a pair of swim trunks as he lowered himself into a chair sitting into a pool.
Standing beside the pool, holding a remote and having a trained medical technician next to her Nathalie reviewed over their current notes."According to your lack of change in measurements, your increase in calorie intake, your fencing classes not lasting any longer than usual, and the fact that you've been visiting that bakery almost daily you either are very good at tucking in your stomach or all the muscles in your body are being replaced with fat."
Keeping himself quiet, Adrien allowed one of the nurses to strap him into the chair. While he had only heard of these hydro tests to more accurately determine body fat count, he really didn't see a point. He knew skinny kids at school who could eat to their heart's content and still look like a skeleton. Maybe he just had a fast metabolism too.
A snorkel was handed over to him, Adrien taking it and placing it on his face so that they wouldn't accidentally drown in this little test. As he was lowered he could feel the water engulfing him into its grasp. Nathalie stood next to the technician, watching as the numbers on her pad fluctuated until resting steadily.
That couldn't be right. There was hardly any fat on the boy, but his muscle density was higher than it should be. The only reason it should be like this is if he was doing at least ten times the physical activity he was doing. Well, that would explain his rising hunger. She would need to rereview if this was another growth spurt or the fact that staying at the top of his fencing class was more demanding than she predicted.
These were still small changes to Adrien's life, and the fact that his current lifestyle allowed him to enjoy a few more sweets then it was all manageable. None of this would interfere with Gabriel's wishes for his son. So long as nothing major changed in the boy's life that she didn't make aware to Gabriel, everything would be fine.
Alya was an open minded girl, as in she was constantly sharing her thoughts with others. Lately she had been frequently visiting Marinette, her newest best friend. Her hopelessly head over heels for a teenage model friend, who each day revealed a new concerning revelation.
She didn't know which was worse, Marinette's absolute stalker tendencies for a blond boy or the fact that despite every opportunity she can't say a single coherent sentence around him. Right now, Alya was listening to a scarily accurate rant from Marinette going over Adrien's schedule.
Pull down chart and everything.
"And next week the Street Week Fashion magazine is going to be featuring vests! Adrien has a photoshoot scheduled over at a botanical garden for them that will be open access to the public! We can totally go catch them and-"
"Marinette." Alya glanced up from her phone, trying to check and see if there was any news regarding Ladybug to pull her out of this. "Your goal is to see Adrien as much as you can right?"
"Of course!"
"Then why don't you go down and talk to him!" Alya grabbed a nearby meter stick next to all of the sewing supplies, tapping it against the schedule hanging in front of them. "Adrien visits your bakery almost every day and you haven't asked him out on a date yet?"
"A DATE?!" She shrieked as the idea seemed to send Marinette into a mental fit. "I-it's way too early for that a-and I don't know where or w-what we could even do that-"
Oh boy, here they go again. First denial about it being possible, then depression over her failure so far, bargaining out loud for some higher power to take away her awkwardness and/or clumsiness, anger towards Chloe who always seemed to pin herself between Marinette and Adrien whenever possible, it was the five stages jumbled around.
"Stop thinking so hard about it." Alya took some initiative for her hopeless friend, sending a quick text over to Nino who was probably in the most contact with Adrien. "Nino talks about how Adrien loves doing normal stuff, like movies or arcades. You like those."
"W-well yeah, but he probably loves the ones that I don't since that's my luck."
"Oh my gosh stop." Amused and aggravated at the same time over Marinette's exagerations, Alya stood up to ground the girl. Literally, pushing her down into a chair so the more clear headed one could explain a few things. "You don't have to like all the same things, the more important thing is that you can have fun with him!"
"How am I supposed to do that when my head gets all fuzzy and the only thing I can hear is my heart beatIng in my head?" Marinette stared down at her lap, actually trying to think about things logically. It was a fact she loved the boy, but he was so out of her league and lived a much higher standard of life than she could ever hope to achieve. Even if they managed to go on a date, she couldn't see herself doing anything other than freezing in place the whole time. Adrien couldn't be happy with a girl like that.
Alya, the kind and confident friend that refused to leave her side lifted her head softly. "If that seems too hard, then try and find something you both enjoy and just focus on sharing that."
"Well what could that be?"
"Marinette!" The girl's mother called up in a sing-song voice. "Your classmate is here again! Why don't you come down and say hi?"
As the girl jerked in shock, Alya grabbed Marinette by the arm and began pulling her to the door leading downstairs. "We'll be down right away!"
Marinette was all but shoved down the opening, Alya dragging the poor girl because she refused to keep embarrassing herself in front of Adrien every time he showed up! Before she was content to just watch him arrive, happily enjoying her parent's bakery and day dreaming of them sharing a house where they spent the days cooking together, getting flour on each other and cleaning their faces off with one another's tong-
"You have to try this one Nino! It's light but it is filled with rich flavor!" Adrien's voice met their ears, and Marinette tried to cling to a door frame before Alya could bring her into view. It was too late, because one thing that has made Marinette's life so much harder is that Adrien always noticed when she was nearby, no matter how quiet she was around him.
"Yo dudettes!" Nino greeted in his carefree attitude as Adrien continued to point out the many selections, almost all of them chocolate based to purchase from Marinette's father. "I didn't know your parents run a bakery Marinette."
Now that her cover was blown, Marinette was limp in Alya's grasp as the two friend groups became a group of four.
"It's one of the greatest!" Adrien cheerfully complimented. "I come by here whenever I can."
"We're always happy to see you." The large man placed a fatherly grasp on the boy's shoulder. "It also doesn't hurt when you bring us more attention."
It was true, because of Adrien's frequent drop ins to the bakery his many fans have taken notice, showing up in hopes to 'accidentally' run into him as they end up buying something to snack on as they wait. It made it all the harder for Marinette to try and stake her claim, because every other girl had no issue running up to try and talk to him, even if she was always here when he arrived.
"Go on." Alya pushed Marinette a little closer to Adrien, the girl accidentally tripping over herself from the shove and nearly falling right onto him. If he didn't just step backwards and easily catch her with one arm as if his body had a mind of its own. She was frozen, staring up into his green orbs as he held her in his arm.
"Careful, it seems like you're always falling around me." Then he smiled, that perfect pretty boy smile she couldn't resist.
"Always falling for you." She whispered to herself, unable to help it as it felt like this was a dream moment.
This was reality though, and she was awake, RIGHT IN ADRIEN'S HANDS!
Marinette snapped up, hoping he didn't hear that as she tried to play it off with a smile that came across as forced and rigid. "T-thank me-I mean you thank-I mean-"
"She means thanks." Alya pulled Marinette away a foot before the girl exploded from the close proximity. "You have some good moves there."
"You should see him at the dance games at the arcade!" Nino joined in, oblivious to the moment.
"We should all go together sometime!" Alya pulled the quiet girl by her side to make sure she was included. "Doesn't that sound fun Adrien?"
"Hm?" The boy was stuffing himself with an eclair, quickly shoving the frosted goodness down in one quick bite. "Yeah, why not? Nino and I were trying to come up with something to do anyways."
"Marinette is a fan of some games too." Her father spoke up, driving in the nail for Marinette to have no excuses not to go. "We've been playing Ultimate Mech Strike Three lately."
"I love that game." Adrien mentioned, making Marinette's heart flutter as she realized she had something she liked to do, that Adrien liked to do, that they could do together, today!
"yEeS!" She cracked out. "Good, um, together we could, over at the place-"
"Yeah!" Nino might not have looked to see whose hand he grabbed, because before any of them could predict it he was leading Marinette towards the arcade with Adrien and Alya following. "Arcade time!"
Adrien always found himself excited for school, even if he sometimes found it tedious to have some classes that reviewed information he was already aware of in private lessons. Today, he wasn't sure how to feel. He was looking forward to another fun day with Nino, and when Alya and Marinette were planning to tag along he was eager to have a chance to finally mend the distance between them.
Then it all got, weird.
Nino was a great friend, inviting Marinette to do all sorts of games and making sure she felt included since Alya had no trouble keeping herself involved. But then whenever he tried to join in, all of a sudden she shut down again and was quiet, like she could hardly even look at him.
Overtime, Adrien found himself not only distant from Marinette, but from Alya and Nino as they kept Marinette comfortable. He wasn't even sure they noticed when he left. At least Alya for the first part was trying to help Adrien by suggesting he partner up with Marinette on a couple of team games, but it was obvious that's not what Marinette wanted.
Now he would be back in the same classroom with all three of them again.
….Hurray.
Adrien could hardly look towards Nino as the boy slipped beside him before class started, both quiet and distracted by their own thoughts. Things were probably better like this for now, because at the moment there was a bitter taste stuck in Adrien's mouth.
"Dude." Then Nino had to go and open his mouth. "I think I might have a crush on Marinette."
"Great." Adrien unenthusiastically congratulated the boy. So that's what their hang out turned into? A way for Nino to hang out with girls when all he wanted to do was have some fun with friends? Luck managed to favor Adrien, because before Nino could get too far into all of the 'signs' he was getting at the arcade the girls entered the class getting him to shut up.
Geez he was having a real bad morning wasn't he? Reaching under his desk towards his bag, Adrien snuck a couple of cocoa snacks from one of the pockets and popped them into his mouth when no one was looking, immediately feeling a rush of relief flow across his mind.
It also made everything else significantly more tolerable.
Towards lunch, Marinette was having a crisis. She managed to have a whole afternoon with Adrien, but not once did she manage to say a word to him! Sure the arcade was fun, but everytime she managed a peek towards the boy of her dreams he didn't look like he was having any fun.
"I don't know how much more my heart can take of this." Marinette confessed to Alya as she could barely eat her food. "My life with Adrien is over before it could even begin."
"Uh huh." Alya couldn't believe the disaster that took place yesterday. It was all set up perfectly! Until Nino kept jumping at every chance to show off, trying to divert Marinette's attention away from Adrien. It didn't help that anytime she tried to get Marinette to do something with Adrien the girl got too nervous to do anything but distract herself in the same games Nino was inviting her to do!
Not to mention not only was Nino acting a little too interested in Marinette, a boy in their class was caught earlier drawing out his fantasies of being a superhero and rescuing Marinette. For a klutz, she had boys stumbling all over her except the one she wanted.
"Look, if you want Adrien you have to do more than find chances to look at him! You keep passing up these chances Adrien is opening you up to and you'll never get another chance!"
"Well how am I supposed to when it's so much easier to talk to-"
"Uh, hey."
Alya's frustration glared over towards Nino, who was giving a shaky smile towards them.
"You mind if I join you?"
"Not now, we're having girl talk." Alya held back a growl, immediately regretting how down the boy became. It wasn't his fault, actually it sort of was but he was just following his heart too. "Marinette, you don't have to kiss the prince to win him over but you have to at least attend the ball."
Marinette pushed her food aside, losing her appetite for the day as she pressed her palms into her forehead. She wanted to attend, to get a chance to get the Prince's attention but not only did she not know how to dance, she had nothing to wear, she doesn't have a ticket-
Oh, and with her luck there would be an invading army that she had to go and fight as Ladybug!
A peasant like her had no place beside a prince.
Chloe's obnoxious laughter pierced her ears, Marinette looking behind her to see that the powdered blonde was clinging to Adrien. It was too frustrating to watch, a wicked witch like her managing to be right at his side. All she had was money and her father's influence, Chloe had nothing to offer, sucking out the life of everything and everyone around her and poisoning the town well just for the fun of it.
"Um, could you give me a little space?" Adrien asked as he tried to gently nudge Chloe off of himself.
"But we hardly get to see each other!" Chloe whined as she rubbed her cheek against his shirt, smearing a thick layer of her foundation onto it. "How could you possibly ignore me?"
If only ignoring Chloe were that easy.
Marinette scowled, hoping this day could change for the better.
"How could anyone ignore your pestering?"
Whoever said that, Marinette wanted to personally hand them an award. It didn't take long to locate who said that, because they were wearing a flashy artist's outfit with makeup and a-oh no.
"I am The Evillustrator! And I'm about to erase you out of this world!"
Another akuma attack.
Students scattered in panic, fleeing as the boy began to draw on his tablet to create massive pieces of clothing, furniture, anything he sketched came to life and began to attack. Marinette grabbed Alya, rushing her out of the way while looking for an opening.
Maybe Ladybug would have a better day than Marinette.
A table cracked out, Marinette looking back at the wreck to widen her eyes in shock. Cat Noir was already here?!
"Good." Cat Noir was crouched on another lunch table, bearing his claws out towards the villain. "I needed something I could use as a scratching post."
"Scratch on this!" The villain quickly sketched out a cannon as Cat Noir lunged ahead, the massive barrel pointed right towards the cat and letting out a plume of smoke as it launched a fatal attack.
Cat Noir caught it with both hands, letting his feet dig through the tile as he caught it. Right before ripping it in half and letting out a snarl. A second cannonball launched out, Cat Noir letting it fly into his palm to whirl it around and send it hurtling towards the akumatized victim.
The villain ducked right in time, seeing a gaping hole where his head just was and swallowing the spit in his mouth. Making a wiser decision, he fled the battle.
"Get back here!" Cat Noir bellowed as he used lines of black string to slingshot himself towards the villain's direction.
Ladybug was going to have a hard day too wasn't she?
Adrien was already having a rough time, but adding letting the villain get away onto his ever growing pile of annoyances was just burning through the patience he had left. With his current job, he wouldn't have any left in the next ten minutes.
In his Cat Noir outfit, he was waiting for the villain to make his return so he could get all of this over with. His bait? The very thing that was eating away at his cool.
"Sabrina just dumped the project into my lap!" Chloe roughly scratched her pencil away on the paper, oblivious to the world around her. "I don't deserve to be forced to work this hard!"
It was only one third of the project, and it wasn't even that hard. Cat Noir kept his back turned towards her, just keeping an eye out for anyone that would try and invade Chloe's room so he could clench his fangs around their throat and-
His pupils narrowed, something moving swiftly through the city towards their direction. Cat Noir got into a crouch, ready to pounce on the invader. The window in the adjacent room creaked open, Chloe even taking the time to acknowledge what was happening. "Well Cat Noir? Take care of it!"
"You just blew my cover!" He screamed at her, as he got ready to leap over and-
Ladybug
He stopped himself, as the super heroine stared at the outstretched hands that were aimed right towards him. "Easy kitty, it's just me."
"S-sorry." He retracted his organic weapons as Chloe threw the nowhere near completed project to the side.
"Ladybug! I knew that if I was ever in danger you would drop everything to keep me safe!"
The costumed girl took a steadying breath, putting on the mask of emotions over her literal mask. "I'd help anyone in danger."
"But you picked me over them! We should take a photo to show how much you adore my company as my new BFF." Chloe already snagged a few selfies before Ladybug could protest, the girl instead moving over to Cat Noir with a softly concerned voice.
"It's getting worse." It wasn't accusatory, it was Ladybug watching out for him.
"That bad huh?"
"I know right?!" Chloe inserted herself into the conversation, aggravating both of them. "Everyone around me keeps blowing me off like they're too good for me when obviously the only good about them is being near me."
Cat Noir's fist tightened, but he kept himself together because he was aware of how unsettling this rising negativity of his was. "You should get back to your project."
"Why? Even if I can't get Sabrina to do it I'm sure I can get someone else to. No point in wasting my time on a-"
Ladybug was fed up as well, grabbing Cat Noir's arm and marching him over towards the balcony as Chloe tried to tag along. The heroine slammed the exterior balcony doors in the blonde's face, wrapping her yo you between the handles to prevent her from following.
The two took a few seconds to calm down as she pounded away at the glass, relieved to find that her father paid extra for it to be soundproof.
"Guess she wasn't helping." Ladybug joked, getting an empty laugh from Cat Noir.
"Not really. I'm just glad you made it in time." Stepping over to the railing, looking over the city, he let the air brush against his suit as the sensation was transferred to his own skin. "I tried meditation and yoga, I tried making sure I got plenty of sleep, I even tried listening to Enya but that didn't last long. I don't know what else I'm doing wrong."
Ladybug joined him, keeping a subtle eye out in case they might be ambushed by Hawkmoth's villain at any moment. "There seems to be a lot of differences between how our powers work. You're always using a transformation or a partial transformation right?"
"Yeah?"
"What is your kwami eating to fuel itself? I always have to give mine a couple of sweets to re-energize her before I can transform again."
"We need to feed them?"
Ladybug couldn't hide the shock from her face, because to her not feeding Tikki was appalling! It was more than forgetting to feed a pet, it was like not feeding your child and making them do chores all day long for a week. "Yes! They need to eat to maintain our powers! No wonder you're so hangry all the time. Your kwami's hunger must be affecting your mind since you're always in some kind of transformation!"
That would have been nice to have known sooner! Cat Noir clenched the railing, the metal bending under his grasp as he noticed the damage. Whatever, it would all be fixed by the end of the day anyways. Though that mindset proved he wasn't acting like himself. "So how do I know what I need to be feeding it?"
A thought came across his mind, a dark image of a more feral cat biting the head off of a bird it just caught and munching away at its brains. His stomach churned at the thought, quickly finding that kind of meal disagreeable with his own appetite.
"Have you developed any cravings?" Ladybug asked, eyeing his suit. "Your kwami can't eat if you're transformed, but maybe if you eat for it that will work."
Thinking back towards his recent meals and snacks, Cat Noir easily picked out the one place he had been visiting very frequently but trying to keep himself in moderation to not set off his dad's 'carb' senses. "Chocolate! Ever since I've been a hero I've been snacking on chocolate covered treats all the time."
Happy to finally see a way to help, Ladybug pretended to write out a note for the darker themed hero. "Then I, Dr. Ladybug, prescribe you a large helping of chocolate."
Laughing at how weirdly eloquent Ladybug was acting when pretending to be a doctor, Cat Noir realized that at the moment he didn't have any chocolate. "I'll need to pick some up after this mission."
"Don't wait too long." Ladybug warned as the banging on the glass door from Chloe only got louder. Thinking about how her father had actually been ordering in a lot more chocolate because of Adrien's visits, she knew a place she could easily acquire some. "Actually, I know just the place. Look after Chloe as I see if I can get you some ok?"
Just the thought of dealing with her made him grumble, still, Ladybug was going to be getting him chocolates. Yes it was more of a need to eat them before ripping someone's head off sort of thing but he still couldn't ignore getting chocolates from a girl he liked. "If something goes down, how will I get a hold of you?"
He was right, because while they've managed to get by so far they really needed a way to get a hold of one another in case something happened, like if the Evillustrator attacked and he needed help while she was away. He didn't have a weapon/magical device, but he did have a spare phone. "I have an idea."
Holding up her yo yo, and flicking it open to reveal a screen inside, she held it out towards him. "I'm not sure if it will work, but maybe I can share a number from this with you. Though I don't think it will work if I'm ever destransformed."
"Worth a shot." Holding up his arm, his suit retracted to reveal his own 'hero' phone. Just their luck, magic managed to make it work. "I always wanted your number."
"Don't abuse it." Ladybug teasingly warned as she grabbed her yo yo from the door, Chloe having gotten bored at some point and going off to do something else.
The heroine swung away, rushing back home to see if she could help calm the cat's rising temper. Little did she know there was someone already waiting for her at home.
Now Cat Noir was left alone, with Chloe, who had noticed the door had been open.
"How dare you ignore me!" She came stomping over, Cat Noir's ears flicking in rising agitation. "You realize that I still need someone to do the project so I can give my attention to more important matters?"
"And what's more important?" He didn't know why he asked, maybe it was because he wanted to understand, give her a chance because maybe it was his mentality at the moment but Chloe was so much meaner to him in the costume.
"A million billion things! Like catching up on the latest fashion trends, picking out the most dazzling outfits, getting Adrien to finally ditch those losers that keep clinging to him."
Losers? Who around him was she considering a loser? He never really knew why Chloe liked him more than others, but this was a rare opportunity. "This Adrien, why do you care about who Adrien hangs around?"
Quirking her hips and rolling her eyes like it's the most obvious thing, Chloe didn't bother looking at Cat Noir as she replied. "Obviously because he's above everyone else at the school, except me of course. He's got tons of money, the hottest topic on the modeling scene, and status that is just as good as mine. No one else is worth my time."
Was that all she saw in him? Just a shallow husk fitting into the mold his father was squeezing him into? No, this was worse, because Chloe didn't even mention any of his talents, skills, or knowledge he had been developing all these years. His rage screamed at him, Adrien holding onto the little faith he had in someone he considered a friend.
"Do you know what he likes?"
"Of course!" He had hoped faith won, until the next self absorbed words came from her mouth. "Me."
"I mean his hobbies, what he does when he's alone." Cat Noir managed to get out through gritted teeth, hoping she would prove him wrong because it was hard to see anything else.
"W-well uh." Chloe tried to come up with an answer, the girl trying to prove how close she was to the boy. "He does modeling."
Cat Noir's tail whipped out, slamming the balcony doors and leaving a sticky glob to keep them in place. Right now he could barely stand to be here, grasping his own arms and squeezing them tightly to fight the blinding rage bubbling in his gut.
Please hurry Ladybug.
His phone buzzed, Adrien nearly cracking the screen as he tilted it up. It was Ladybug calling, and he had her chocolate.
Marinette was waiting at home, with a bag full of chocolates because at the moment she needed to be herself and not Ladybug for the plan to work. First part, get kitty a treat to calm him down, second part was having him follow her loosely, the third part was the least predictable part.
Go on a date with a villain.
It was the boy in her class that was akumatized, and it was starting to become obvious that he had a crush on her. Even though his negative emotions were hyped up ten times over to where he would do awful things, he was still gentle with her and only wanted to impress her. It only made her think even more about Cat Noir.
Tikki sat beside her near the computer, staring at the ground deep in thought.
"Is there something wrong with the plan?" Marinette asked.
"Huh? Oh no it's great!" The kwami could only keep up the smile for a moment before memories resurfaced. "It's just, I'm worried about Cat Noir's kwami is all."
"I am too." Scooting her computer chair closer to her little kwami, Marinette began to sketch out what she thought Cat Noir's kwami might look like based on his description. It was hard because Cat Noir's description was really loose based on the few things he mentioned. "I'm just glad Cat Noir didn't hurt anyone."
"It doesn't make sense though." Tikki shook her head as she reanalyzed what Marinette had shared with her today. "We don't alter our wielders' emotions from being hungry, but under rare circumstances just increase the hunger. And Plagg doesn't like chocolate, he likes cheese! Stinky smelly cheese and he would never give that up to eat chocolate!"
"What happens if he eats something other than chocolate to fuel himself?"
"I don't know." Tikki exhausted herself thinking about it, the worrying, the weird behaviors, she wanted to risk Marinette's identity just to make sure that her longtime friend was ok. "We've been around for so long, been with countless miraculous holders, but we've never had anything like this happen….I don't know."
It broke Marinette's heart seeing her like this, because for so long Tikki has been the strong hearted one between the two of them. To see her so distraught, Marinette picked her up in her hands and pressed the kwami to her cheek. "We'll figure it out. We'll do whatever we can to help them."
A short tapping at Marinette's window alerted her to the presence of her escort, Cat Noir laying at the bottom of the window outside her room. Tikki sped off into her bag, letting Marinette handle this on her own. She opened it, allowing the hero to roll inside and give a short bow.
"It's good to see you again." He greeted with no hint of aggression.
AGAIN?! Oh wait, she has met Cat Noir as Marinette before.
"Here." She held the goods out to the boy. "Ladybug mentioned you might really-"
He didn't waste any time, snatching it from her hands and ripping the plastic wrapping open. Cat Noir's mask opened up enough to reveal his mouth, the boy ravenously eating away at the chocolate like he hadn't eaten anything in weeks. Marinette backed away, giving him some space.
Once he was finished licking his fingers, he paused, seeing the odd look the girl in his class was giving her. "Uh, sorry about that. How much did Ladybug tell you?"
"Only that you were starving yourself." Marinette grabbed a paper towel from nearby, handing it over as she actually got to see Cat Noir smile before his mask flowed back over the rest of his face. While she had an up close look during the day, it didn't move like her magical transformations. It was like slime crawling across his skin. "Also, that there was a villain after me?"
"Yeah." Letting out a content sigh, Cat Noir's posture changed, like the crushing weight on his emotions was finally lifted. Tossing the used paper towel into the bin across the room, he smirked as it flawlessly landed inside. "No net!"
Good, he was back to his playful self.
"Here's the plan." Cat Noir flipped onto her ceiling, pacing along upside down as he laid out the plan. "He's interested in you, I'm willing to bet he'll keep his attention on you and off me. Get him talking, figure out how his powers work, and if there's a special item he's oddly focused on or protective of then try and point it out to me."
What a well thought out plan, the same one she came up with earlier. "What will you be doing?"
"What any predator does." Cat Noir let himself fall, catching himself with a hand as he pushed out to jump over to the window near her computer. "Stalk through the shadows, and pounce on my prey."
He stopped, staring at something with such a weird look. Marinette glanced over, freezing as she realized he was looking right at her computer screen, Adrien's face plastered all over it!
"AH!" Her arms threw themselves to try and cover the screen, pretending like he didn't just see that. "T-that's just uh-he's just a-"
"You know what." Holding up a hand to pause the girl's ramblings, Cat Noir turned around ready to leap out the window. "I shouldn't even ask."
"Don't tell him!" Marinette wouldn't let that kitty leave before she fixed this. Adrien had gotten a hold of Cat Noir before when she 'borrowed' his phone. Who's to say Cat Noir wouldn't just tell the boy about her obsession over him?! "I-it would ruin everything I've been trying to do."
"And what have you been trying to do?"
Why was she telling him this? Was it because he was a close friend? But that was when she was Ladybug, Marinette barely knew Cat Noir. "I just…I have a hard time with him. Not like you. Despite you being a superhero you're just so easy to be around, comfortable to hang out with, and you even keep my secrets."
Before she knew it, Marinette was spilling her guts out to him as her grasp on him lingered. "I can barely handle being around Adrien, and I don't have the courage to tell him how I really feel because I don't want to make things worse."
Cat Noir could hear her sincerity, the distress, how often did Marinette think about his civilian identity? He never realized he got on her nerves so much. Did his 'supermodel' persona really make her that frustrated? Then again, it almost seemed relieving. Because as Cat Noir, he felt more free than ever, wearing his emotions on his sleeves the good and the bad….when the bad wasn't threatening to turn someone into tuna salad. He only met Marinette as Cat Noir twice, and she already felt that close to him?
Did Marinette appreciate the real him with a black mask than his public self that was presented through photos and magazines? Adrien spent so much time trying to get Marinette to be more open with him, maybe what they both needed was Cat Noir to be more present in her life.
"I won't tell." Cat Noir promised as he put his finger to his lips, hopping out the window but clinging on the edge of it. "Maybe I can swing by a time or two, resupply on my cocoa and you can vent your feelings."
Marinette was surprised to hear him offering, to help her handle her feelings despite his responsibilities? From the beginning Cat Noir had helped her, kept her secrets and more, the clumsy Marinette who made a disaster out of everything and he never judged.
Who knew he was this nice?
"If tonight goes well, then maybe." She accepted, but snapped into a more 'oblivious' state to help protect her cover. "A-actually wouldn't Ladybug have a problem with that? Lots of people, including my best friend Alya think that you two are a thing."
Given how much Cat Noir was constantly flirting with her during missions.
He got a little more quiet, glancing out to the street as he let the wind ruffle his already mangy hair. That was something he wanted, more than anything….but she never accepted any of his advances, only opening up when they were just hanging out or being friends. That's all they could ever be, "just friends."
As Marinette watched Cat Noir leap away, she watched him swing through the streets as her eyes never left him. Was he seriously giving up? He made his huge crush pretty obvious at times but he never pushed that hard, giving Ladybug space and being respectful. The girl expected to be relieved, glad to simplify her love life so she could focus solely on Adrien.
But knowing that he was done, giving up on pursuing her after all the rejections, she couldn't help but feel disappointed that the chase was over. It was for the best though, because Ladybug was just a confident facade she wore when handling the tons of stress that came with being a superhero.
The idea of Cat Noir, wanting to spend time with her out of costume, was uplifting to know that he enjoyed the person under the mask.
Now to get ready for a date with a boy in her class turned villain. Wow her love life really was complicated.
Cat Noir stalked the tops of the roof, making sure to keep himself hidden as he stalked Marinette. She was there, sitting right next to the akuma victim on…actually a rather lovely boat ride. It had lights all around it, a little Eiffel tower, and even a fake moon. It was crazy how awesome some of their powers could be, too bad they were all forced to serve Hawkmoth.
This guy though, Nathaniel seemed very in control of himself, wanting to just please Marinette while they had their one on one time together. It was hard to hear from this distance, the cat ears atop his head flickering to try and eavesdrop on the two.
He could hear enough though, hearing that he only wanted to target Chloe after what she did to him and even promising to never hurt anyone again. Again, Chloe hurt someone else and they became influenced by an akuma which risked so many lives. How often did this have to happen before Chloe learned to be nice to people?
If she didn't, should he do something about it? Chloe wasn't directly responsible, but if half of the akumatized people were caused because of Chloe's attitude then something needed to change.
Maybe he should talk to Ladybug about this.
Ladybug
Again his senses focused towards the boat, specifically the girl riding on a bench atop it. What was up with that? Anytime Marinette came into view he was suddenly on edge because it felt like Ladybug was nearby.
Still, he should get closer, but still out of sight. With hope, Marinette might be able to convince him to stop. Cat Noir hid behind a chimney, waiting until they were a little farther ahead before he exited his cover, leaping through the night air until he was close enough. Just before his toes touched the water he sent out a thick black string to stick to the back of their ride, pulling himself onto it to stick out of the passenger's view.
"What was that?" The Evillistrator snapped up, on edge in case a hero intervened.
"Maybe a fish?" Marinette tried to keep Cat Noir's cover, changing the topic to distract him. "You know, I draw a little bit as well. Nothing as good as you but-"
"-I'm sure you're a wonderful artist." Cat Noir almost rooting for the guy if he wasn't being manipulated by a supervillain.
"Then, would it be alright if I drew you something special for your birthday?"
"I, I would love that." He fell right into her trap, the hero climbing around towards the side of the boat to get a little closer. His tail moved up, slowly peeking above the side as Adrien silently cursed to understand what it was doing?!
Pencil
"Now Cat Noir!" Marinette called out, Adrien leaping into the open as his eyes spotted a pencil in her grasp with unusually enhanced design. Wasting no time, he shot out a short glob to stick the villain in place on the bench. He fought, he struggled, but he wasn't going anywhere.
"You, tricked me! Used me! I bet you were laughing behind my back just like Chloe!" He accused Marinette, Cat Noir coming to her side.
"You're not yourself right now." Marinette gently reminded the boy. "You need help."
"NOOOO!" The Evillistrator thrashed in place, consumed by anger and hate for everything and everyone around him.
"Here." Cat Noir held his hand out to Marinette, who gave him the pencil. "I'll get a hold of Ladybug so we can cure the akuma inside of it. Thanks for your help. You've been brave tonight."
"Thanks." Marinette gave one last sorrowful glance to yet another member of her class who had fallen under a manipulative villain, hoping that the one responsible would be stopped soon. Before she knew it, Cat Noir had wrapped his arm around her waist and jumped away from the boat, Marinette suppressing a yelp as he landed on the street and letting her go. It was one thing pulling stunts like that when she was transformed, but the rush from her depowered state left her legs shaking with adrenaline.
"Can you get home?" He asked to make sure.
"Y-yeah. You go ahead and find Ladybug, I'll be fine."
He zipped off, letting out a whoop as he ascended above the buildings, Marinette wishing she could experience that thrill again.
When Ladybug arrived home for the night, she was hoping to try and obtain the same sensation as before. Nope, her powers kept her body from freaking out from interrupting her travel through the city. Opening up the balcony and jumping down into her bedroom.
"Spots off." Her costume vanished, Marinette taking her place as Tikki emerged from her earrings.
"Well?" Tikki went over to the small bowl of sweets Marinette always set aside after a day of superpowers. "Did the chocolates work?"
"Yeah actually." Marinette went to her personal stash, looking to see if she had any more chocolates. "He had a good handle on himself."
"Well, I'm glad it worked." Tikki didn't seem all that happy at the situation overall.
"If you're so worried-" Marinette managed to find some cheaper ones, which should hopefully work for now. "-why don't you chat with his kwami? What was his name again?"
"Plagg." The little red bug sighed. "But we can't risk exposing your identity."
"Then I guess we'll have to come up with something for that then-"
"Hello again." Cat Noir's voice came from above.
Marinette spazzed out, accidentally kicking her desk and sending everything on it all over the floor which caused a good distraction for Cat Noir.
"Oops." The sneaky kitty that blended way too well with the dark sky, his bright green eyes almost glowing as they peered down towards her. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."
"You're back sooner than I thought." Marinette began cleaning up as Cat Noir slowly descended into her room by his tail. "You did say maybe tonight, is tonight maybe?"
The teenager grabbed her belongings, which consisted of some homework, half made sewing projects, and those chocolates she set aside earlier. Of course, it didn't go past him.
"Are those by chance for me?" He asked a little too excited.
Chuckling by his child-like obsession over the treats, Marinette held up in her hand as a short black string snagged it from her. "Don't make a mess this time."
"I'll keep my claws clean this time." He promised, pacing himself this time as the bottom of his mask peeled away to let him throw a small chunk in. "Say, what's that little red plushy thing?"
Spilling out everything in her arms, Marinette scrambled to try and catch it all, slapping them mid air but not managing to get any of them. Several small black strings interlinked together snapped out, catching them before being raised to her eye level. It was Cat Noir's yarn, but it wasn't knitted or firm like the string she knew. It was so elastic, adhesive, and by the pattern wrapped around her stuff it was more like a web.
"Thanks." Marinette held her arms out, thankful for someone to provide support during her random involuntary twitches.
"Don't sweat it. Just a small way of showing my thanks." He kept hanging around, literally as Marinette tidied up her room. Cat Noir slowly spun in place, actually taking the time to examine everything inside. Lots of arts and crafts, a lighter tone for the room with pinks and blacks. Overall pretty girly and contained. "Despite how small your room is, I kind of like it."
"Let me guess, you sleep in a big fancy room with all sorts of toys?" Marinette played with him, glad he had moved on from the whole 'I saw your kwami thing'. Actually, the fact that he didn't even recognize Tikki to be a kwami was concerning. He mentioned seeing his kwami before but, how different was it?
"A bunch of toys I never get to play with." The hero grumbled, rotating in place a few times until slowly coming to a stop as his eyes narrowed towards Marinette' bag. Weird, it felt like something was watching him. Maybe he doesn't have a good grasp on his enhanced senses yet. "So, um….huh."
"What? Cat got your tongue."
"Ha ha." He faked a laugh. "But, you're not wrong. Our plan was to vent our feelings but, I'm honestly feeling a lot better thanks to you."
"Well, thanks." She fiddled with her loose hair ties, one of them accidentally breaking free to let half of her hair fall into her face. Marinette recoiled, trying to spit out the tangled mess from her face. Cat Noir got a sincere chuckle out of that, Marinette giving up to just let all her hair fall down. "Yeah laugh it up fuzzball."
But maybe that's exactly what they needed. A chance to just, let their hair down and relax. Marinette didn't know why Cat Noir felt more comfortable pretending to be a superhero hanging out with clumsy disaster girl Marinette.
Alright, now that we've established how things are working at the moment we can start to branch off and begin other plots that I have in mind. Be warned, things are about to start getting more intense. Actually, I might have to bump up the rating. Not from cussing or gore, but these are going to be heavy moments for the characters.
Also, I have been slow on the writing I admit. Though I have been watching the show, given when I did start writing this I only half watched season 1. By the time I post the next chapter, I should be caught up on movie and show content. Though I do hear some good things about the manga as well.
Kamen Rider Sentry: Well, what I can promise is that I have developed a new plot for Chloe from your request. Can't say it will be as you expect.
Planar-Walking-Entertainment: I think it can work well if done right, but I want to drag out a solo symbiote for a long while. If I do involve another, it will be for a temporary plotline.
RianZx: His identity is definitely at higher risk, because not only is it under the watchful eye of Hawkmoth but also Marinette, Tikki, and Master Fu watching over him out of concern.
Fire turtle: As he is now, I won't have him do anything as intense as Venom's major feats, at least not unless there was an extra power up he could somehow get a hold of. This is all still in the air, and if he gets more powerful I guarantee you things will get worse.
AmazingBran: Trust me, it's going to get a whole lot darker soon. In about two chapters at least.
vipoluxtor: I've got a line up for some plot stuff in mind, and as far as I'm watching from the show I'm definitely going to approach it differently. Right now, things seem decently similar to canon but as you might also be able to tell this story is also splitting off from the standard road.
SSJB312: We'll see him in the future, but I can't guarantee it will be the near future.
AlterInk: Glad you like my symbiote stories! I do plan on actually picking up Dark Desires again around the release of the second PS5 game.