Back with the 2nd part. Then it's individual one-shots (for this month. I might use this technique for the other months. Who knows.)
Marichat May 2024
Day #7: Cheek Kiss
(Sequel to Day #3: Protective Marinette)
Just as Evillustrator had instructed her to, Marinette arrived on the left bank of the Seine by Notre Dame right at sunset.
There, Evillustrator had a river boat prepared, decorated with fairy lights, lanterns, some greenery, and even a mini-Eiffel Tower in the middle of the deck.
Evillustrator welcomed her warmly and showed her around the boat. During which, Marinette discovered that he couldn't draw properly in the dark. So when the moon got covered up by some clouds, he had to squat down to the light of one of the lanterns so he could draw a big brighter moon balancing on the top of his mini-Eiffel Tower so he could see again.
Useful information for later.
They set sail, gliding down the Seine at a peaceful pace. The two sat on a bench just in front of the boat's cabin. Marinette sat silently, taking in the beauty of the Parisian night while Evillustrator sat to her left, drawing musical notes on his tablet that actually played a song as they flew off the screen.
Meanwhile, Chat Noir was following them from the bank. As quietly and stealthily as the animal his miraculous represented.
Soon the boat was approaching a bridge. Chat took the chance to get even closer by climbing up onto the middle. He kept his body low as he watched most of the boat pass under—all while trying to keep his jealousy calm at seeing the two sitting together in such a setting.
When the stern of the boat was right under him, just behind the bench, he jumped onto the roof of the cabin quietly, then hid behind it.
"It's so beautiful," he heard Marinette say as he pocked his head up over the top of the cabin.
"I'm glad you like it, Marinette," Evillustrator replied to her sweetly, pausing in drawing music to face her. "All I want to do is make you happy. And protect you and…" he paused, glancing down at her hand on the bench. Then he reached down and grasped it tenderly. Marinette gasped in surprise but didn't resist. Chat on the other hand, was gripping his staff three times tighter than necessary. "for us to be together." He raised their joined hands higher up to his face. "I love you, Marinette," he whispered passionately before kissing the top of her hand.
For Chat Noir, that was the last straw.
Despite that he was acting too soon and in a fit of jealous rage, he pounced.
Chat sprang out from behind the cabin, staff in hand, swinging down. Evillustrator didn't have time to draw anything to defend himself but both he and Marinette at least saw him in time to move.
While Evillustrator leapt away from the bench, further down the deck, Marinette went off to the starboard side, all the way over to the railing.
"Sorry to cut in but…I'm not," Chat snarled out, slowly walking down the deck, eyes narrowed.
Evillustrator stood, the mini-Effeil Tower to his back. "How dare you interrupt our special night!" he grunted, already starting to draw something.
"Marinette is too good to be dating an akuma. Why don't you reject that nasty butterfly than she might reconsider," he replied. Although he really didn't want her to, it was just as likely she would once he was back to normal.
Evillustrator paused for second, considering that maybe this wasn't the right way to get Marinette to love him. But then he remembered Hawkmoth's words from earlier and sneered. "I-I need these powers! All I want is for Marinette to love me! To be her hero!" he yelled before finishing his drawing.
What he drew came to lift; a giant boxing glove. Which sprang out toward Chat to knock him off his feet. But Chat leapt and struck it with his staff, making it shatter into sketch lines that disappeared.
"She already has one," Chat replied fiercely, then he charged at him before he could draw anything else.
As the two started to fight, Marinette quietly crept back along the side of the boat until she reached the cabin and went inside. Now with some privacy, she let Tikki fly out of her purse.
"What was Chat thinking? Jumping in like that. I told him I'd get the pencil from him first," the bluenette designer ranted. They'd gone over the plan at least three times before she left for the date. Why'd he screw this up?
"It seems to me that he was jealous," Tikki suggested. She could hear it in his tone; both back in the library and just a minute ago.
Marinette's eyes widened again, a bit bewildered. He did jump in right after another boy kissed her hand. He was flirting with her back in the library.
Did…did Chat actually like her?
She blushed again, thinking about her feline partner that way, until she felt the boat rock a little too harshly.
Right. Akuma to fight and then capture. "I'll worry about that later," she said, snapping out of her lovey-dovey thoughts. "Tikki, Spots On!"
Instead of springing out and helping her partner right away, Ladybug decided to use the element of surprise since she still had it.
Quietly, she activated her Lucky Charm, which gave her a large red fabric sheet with black polka-dots. She glanced out the viewing window of the cabin to still see the two boys fighting.
After seeing the sheet in her hands light up, then the extra bright moon on top of the mini-Eiffel Tower, she knew what to do.
With Chat distracting Evillustrator, Ladybug easily jumped in, sheet unfolded, and landed right on the glowing moon. The sheet covered over in completely, sending the boat into darkness. Too dark for the Evillustrator to draw properly.
With Chat's night vision, it was easy for him to pin the other boy to the deck, grab the pencil and snap it in half, releasing the akuma.
Ladybug caught the akuma in her yoyo then let it go, pure white and cleansed from evil. Then after retrieving the sheet, she threw it up into the air and called 'Miraculous Ladybug!' Setting everything back to normal.
Everything that Evillustrator had drawn disappeared, which included the boat they were on. But the reset took the three of them and safely deposited them on the bank of the Seine, near one of the bridges. After that, Evillustrator turned back into Nathaneil, then Ladybug and Chat Noir pounded fists.
Hearing her earrings chirp with warning, Ladybug quickly threw her yoyo into the distance and sprang away. Only to swing back around, out of their view, on the same back, on the opposite side of the bridge's base. Hidden around a corner, she detransformed.
"Wait, where's Marinette?" she heard Chat Noir ask. She smiled at his concern before running toward them.
"Nathaneil! Chat Noir!" she yelled.
The two boys turned and sighed with relief and smiles when they saw her. "Marinette!" they both yelled.
When she was close enough, Chat resisted the powerful urge to hug her. "What happened? Are you okay?" he asked, looking her over for injuries of any kind. She was still on the boat, wasn't she? He assumed she hid when they started fighting. Shouldn't she have appeared next to them when the miraculous cure placed them there?
"I'm fine. I was hiding in the boat's cabin when Ladybug found me. Then she brought me to the bank before going back," she explained.
Chat Noir and Nathaneil nodded in understanding. "Good," Chat replied.
"Marinette," Nathaneil spoke up. The bluenette stepped closer to the red-headed artist while Chat took a step back, letting the two talk. "I'm…I'm sorry," he said, shame in his voice. "I don't really remember anything but-" he paused. "I must have done some pretty bad things." He at least knew he had been akumatized so he must have.
"You didn't. You were just trying to impress me. And I really appreciated the thought but-" Marinette told him, then paused to take his hands. "Nathaneil, you're a terrific friend and an amazing artist," she paused again, choosing her words carefully. "but…I just don't feel that way about you." Chat snapped his head over to them. Marinette was actually turning him down? "I hope we can still be friends and I hope you're not too upset."
Nathaneil was quiet for a couple of seconds, collecting his thought before replying. "I am upset. But I understand," he finally said. "It's not about what I did as an akuma or what I didn't do. You just don't love me, and I can't make you. I see that now," he said sadly but still offered her a friendly smile.
Marinette smiled back at him. "So…we're okay?"
Nathaneil nodded. "We're okay." Marinette pulled him in for a hug, he hugged her back.
Chat grinned. "Well then, how about I take you home?" he said to Marinette when their hug ended. He sort of wanted a small talk with her too before the night was over.
"My house is literally right over there," she replied, pointing to the street above the bank. They could still see Notre Dame on the over side of the river so her house was close as well. "But Nathaneil lives a bit further away," she added.
The two boys looked at each other and shrugged, grinning. "Alright then," Nathaneil said. And with that, Chat let the red-headed boy climb onto his back and Chat jumped away with him.
Meanwhile, Marinette walked the short distance back to her family's bakery, let herself into her apartment, greeted her parents, went up to her room, and then went up to her balcony.
The Parisian night was just as beautiful as it was when she had been gazing at it from Evillustrator's boat. The moon had come out from behind the clouds, lightly illuminating the city below.
A few minutes later, a voice spoke to her from behind. "Hey there, princess."
Marinette turned around with a light gasp. But she smiled, glad to see him again. "Chat Noir. What are you doing back here?" she asked him.
"Just checking in since I couldn't escort you home," he replied, leaping from her chimney to stand next to her at her railing. Marinette continued to smile at him before glancing back out at the city. "You okay?" he asked, tilting his head curiously at her. The far-off look in her eyes told him that she was thinking about something.
"Yes," she replied. Then she sighed before crossing her arms on the railing and leaning on them. "I mean, I never liked Nathaneil like that and I still don't. I just felt bad for having to turn him down."
Chat nodded. "I see that. But if you don't mind me asking…" Chat rubbed the back of his head, hoping he wasn't being too nosy by asking this. But he had to know. "Why did you turn him down? Why not give him a chance?"
Marinette was quiet for a moment. "Because…well," she hesitated. Chat stared at her, anxiously awaiting her answer. "I'm sort of crushing on someone else."
Chat's face fell. "Really?" He was still sort of surprised that that someone wasn't Nathaneil but it made sense to him now. It would be hard to date someone while your heart was with someone different. "That's…that's nice," he said, a bit saddened.
Her heart was already taken. Whoever she was crushing on was a lucky person.
As Chat looked down at the street below with a crestfallen frown, Marinette stared at him and sighed, then she grinned. Looks like she needed to get straight to the point.
Slowly, Marinette leaned toward him and planted a lingering smooch on his right cheek.
Chat's eyes widened. When she pulled back, he turned to her and stared.
She just kissed him on the cheek. And it wasn't in a friendly way to say hello.
So…the person she was crushing on…was him?
"Good night, mon chaton," she said sweetly before walking over to her skylight.
As he watched her, Chat finally snapped back to his senses just as she was climbing through.
"Sweet dreams, ma princesse," he said to her with a charming purr just before she closed the trapdoor. He gave her a two fingered salute before jumping back toward her chimney and over.
~*MDC+CN*~
The next day at school while Adrien was at his locker, he overheard Alya interviewing Marinette as she was putting books into her locker. She knew about what had happened yesterday with Nathaneil being akumatized and wanted to hear all about it for her Ladyblog.
Marinette answered her questions honestly about what happened and what she witnessed during the battle. Then she went into more detail about how awesome he—Chat Noir—was.
She blushed and smiled while singing his praises.
Adrien blushed and smiled as well while touching the cheek she had kissed just the night before.
He was never washing it again.
They really should have touched on Nathaneil's crush on Marinette at the end of the episode. It was literally never talked about again afterwards. Don't get me wrong, I love the Nathaneil/Marc ship (3rd fav ship in the show after Marinette/Adrien and Alya/Nino). It just felt a little unfinished and/or forgotten. There was no proper wrap up or closure for it.
Next one-shot will be posted on the 10th. See u then =^.^=
