Inspired by Mintaka14's fic Tangled Webs where Chat becomes convinced that LB, Marinette, and Luka are a throuple. My mind immediately wondered how else Sunshine Boy's poor deductive reasoning skills could cause chaos, and here we are. It'll probably be short and sporadic with small updates.

I hope you enjoy it, so read on, lovelies.

Needless to say, if I owned MLB, we would finally get the MariChat scenes that we deserve.

~o0o~

Ladybug gave Chat a grin as they bumped fists. "Guess you could say we nailed that one, right Chat?"

She could practically see the hearts in his eyes as he turned to her slowly. "Milady, did you just make a hammer pun?" She let out a snort at his dazed expression, caught somewhere between love-struck and disbelief.

"Oh don't look so surprised, Chaton. His name was literally Hammer-head. It was too easy, even I couldn't resist." He grabbed her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it, then started to press even more kisses against the back of it.

"You're literally amazing. I can't believe you made a pun!" She rolled her eyes at his antics, and pulled her hand back, making a show of wiping it on her spotted suit. Even her faux disgust with his silly adoration didn't mitigate his extreme enthusiasm at her totally stupid pun, though. He let his staff shoot a few feet in the air, then spun around it a few times sliding back to the ground, crowing- or maybe he was singing- "My lady made a pun, Milady made a pun, MY LADY MADE A PUN."

He touched down next to her. "You made a pun."

She raised an eyebrow, trying to smother her giggles. The sun was setting and it was about time

for her to head home, but she couldn't resist spending a few more moments with him. "Now stop it you silly kitty, or I'll pun-t you across Paris." His jaw dropped, and she reached out her hand to close it for him, giving him a few scratches under the chin for good measure. She couldn't help but feel some smug satisfaction at rendering him totally speechless with such a stupid line.

"Marry me?"

She giggled.

"Sorry Chat, but this bug is spoken for and it's time for her to fly. Places to be, you know how it is. See you on patrol tomorrow!"

She didn't give him a chance to respond, throwing her yo-yo as hard as she could in the direction of the bakery, grinning as she flew after it onto a nearby roof. Without using her yo-yo, she ran the length of the roof and launched herself across the street onto the bakery roof with a graceful summersault, rolling on impact.

She popped up and steadied a potted plant that had been dislodged upon impact. Brushing her flowers with gloved fingers, she smiled. They were blooming. Maybe she could take some down into her room to freshen up the space a tiny bit and give Tikki some sweet flowers to explore where she couldn't be seen. Taking her time (after all, she doubted anyone would be looking at her roof and she had plenty of time left on her transformation) she picked out a few small, red blooms, and some larger white flowers. Holding them in one hand, she nudged her trapdoor open with her foot and squatted down to grab the edge before it could slam closed and wake her parents.

There was a light thud. She stared at the door confused. No, it definitely wasn't her, and she had steadied all of her pots. Plus, it wasn't the thud of a falling pot, more of the sound of something gracefully landing, like a cat. She froze. Like a… Chat.

"Marinette, you won't believe it! Ladybug made two puns today. Two!"

Ladybug froze, her hand still holding the door open, and turned slowly to Chat who was perched on the metal railing of her balcony.

What is he doing here?!

Chat's visits were a recent occurrence, and were relatively rare and always after dark. Once every few weeks, he would stop by to hang out on her balcony. He would flex and attempt to impress her with idiotic jokes, beg for some leftover cookies and croissants, and would often wax on about how amazing Ladybug was. Sometimes their encounters drifted to more serious topics, but usually it remained lighthearted and was just a nice way to end a stressful day. It had been annoying at first, but she had grown to appreciate his brief appearances. Plus, it was a bit of an ego boost to hear him talk about her alter-ego, and it was nice to see a different side of his personality.

But he had never come over directly after an akuma attack, and had never appeared before it was completely dark. Damn him for changing things up today of all days, when she had lingered on her patio without releasing her transformation. She hadn't ever worried about Chat catching her at home as Ladybug, so now she was standing her about to go into her bedroom- Marinette's bedroom- as Ladybug and had no excuses prepared.

Chat was staring at her, his tail whipping behind him and green eyes narrowed suspiciously. He hadn't moved from his spot on the railing.

"Uh-" she started.

He cut her off. "Ladybug? You're not Marinette?" His voice lilted at the end, making it sound like a question and she tried not to break into hysterical giggles, which would undoubtedly give her away.

"Yes. Yeah. I am not- nope definitely not Marinette. Not Marinette. I mean how could I be Marinette when she is totally not me? Also, she was Multimouse, so I couldn't be her! Y-ep." She choked a little bit at the end and internally cursed herself. Real smooth, Marinette. She was most definitely, totally screwed. Chat would see through her in an instant.

Chat raised an eyebrow, then repeated himself with a steadier voice. "So you're not Marinette." This time it wasn't a question.

She shifted a little bit in her crouch, letting the trap door close gently. "Yes. No Marinette here."

He hopped down from the railing and stalked toward her slowly. He was standing right in front of her and bent forward in a distinctly predator-like crouch. Leaning forward enough that she had to shift backward to avoid touching noses, almost causing her to tip over, he gave her an appraising stare that made her feel like he was peeling her disguise off piece by piece. She held his gaze and he gave a small smirk. "Are you lying?"

Woah. She was hit by an almost stifling wave of deja-vu and was struck for a moment by just how attractive Chat could be. She flushed and pitched backward onto her butt.

"No." She squeaked, living up to her alter-alter-ego of Multimouse. She cleared her throat and shifted so she was cross-legged. Trying to recover her pride, she reminded herself that this was just Chat, and leveled him with her usual Ladybug-look. "No, of course not Chat. Why would I lie about Marinette not being here?"

He pulled back and gave a shrug. "I don't know, Milady. But if Marinette's not here, why are you here? I knew you had spoken to her once or twice, but that doesn't explain you sneaking into her bedroom when she isn't here."

Ladybug gave an outraged noise, somewhere between a scoff and a groan and a laugh. "You make me sound like some sort of creep! I'll have you know that I know Marinette very well. Why are you here, Chaton?" Chat frowned at her.

"Don't get upset with me, Ladybug. That just doesn't make any sense. I know Marinette much better than you, and I would never go into her bedroom when she isn't here! And I just wanted a cookie." He looked at the trapdoor wistfully, and her outrage softened.

"Aww, Kitty. I can ask Marinette to give you a cookie later. Maybe tomorrow?' He lit up for a moment, but then frowned.

"I still want to know why you were going into her bedroom. I mean it is you, Milady, but I don't like the idea of random people in Marinette's room when she isn't there."

It was nice to know that Chat was so protective of Marinette, especially seeing as they weren't truly that close, but at the same time couldn't he just drop it? Just this once? Affection and annoyance surged and she couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"I'm glad Marinette has such a valiant protector," it was only a little bit sarcastic, "but she has nothing to worry about from me, Chat. Trust me, I'm the last person who would ever hurt her." She gave him a gentle smile in an attempt to reassure him. His posture didn't change.

"So why are you here then?"

Clearly, he wasn't going to let it go. She scrambled for an excuse, and under his intense stare just blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"I'm surprising her. Surprising my good friend, that's it." She kicked herself. Surprising her? At night? By creeping into her bedroom? There was no way he was going to believe that.

But Chat backed away and seemed to take her at her word, if only a little bit tentatively. He nodded slowly, and his eyes examined her, glanced to the trap door, then focused on her hand. She glanced down, curious what he was staring at, and saw that she was still holding tightly to the flowers she had picked a few moments before.

"You're surprising her? Your good friend? Oh. Ohhhhhh." He went super stiff and backed away slowly.

She frowned. That was not the response she was expecting. "Chat?" He just smiled and gave her an awkward thumbs up before changing them into finger guns. Then he dropped his hands to his thighs, mumbling something before giving her another smile. His teeth were clenched, however, and he looked more than a little bit strained.

"All good here Milady. Have fun surprising Marinette."

She stood up and took a step towards him. "Chat, why are you being so weird?"

He coughed. "Noth-nothing, Milady. Sorry for treading on your turf."

What? He definitely didn't think she was Marinette, so why did he call this her turf?

She took another step forward.

Chat turned around and ran for the edge of the roof, letting his pole extend. She reached for his tail to pull him back, but it slipped through her fingers. As he soared onto the rooftop across the street, she could hear his voice trail through the air, breaking at the end.

"HavefunwithyourgirlfriendI'llseeyouatpatrolbye-eeeee."

She dropped her flowers. "Did he just say my girlfriend?"

~o0o~

Next time on "How to Prove You're Worthy"... Plagg does his best to help Adrien out.

Reviews make my day :) Drop a thought below. I'm also ISO a beta, so review if you're interested and I'll reach out!

XOXO Fred