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“Hey, LB!” Ladybug looked up to see Chat land beside her. “Ready to start patrol?”
“Actually, I have something else in mind.” She gestured for him to sit beside her at the edge of the roof.
“What’s up?”
“So, I found something in the grimoire about getting closer to the animal side from your kwami. It’s meant to help you understand your abilities better, and perhaps improve your relationship with your kwami! Useful, right?” Ladybug grinned, clearly excited to have found something of use in the grimoire. Something she could actually translate, as well. Fu really should have given her more training.
“That sounds great! I’m up for it! But…are you sure you translated that right? You’ve muddled things up in the past before.” He gave her a sly look, a smirk tugging at his mouth. Sure, there were some things that completely confused her in the grimoire, but she knew she had this right. Totally.
“Shut up! I’m sure about this.”
Chat grinned, playfully bumping her shoulder with his. “Alright then, what do we have to do?”
“It seems pretty straightforward. I already made the potion thing earlier with Tikki’s help, so I guess now we just have to drink it. It should wear off in twenty-four hours. Want to go first?”
“What, scared it’ll go wrong and want to use me as your guinea pig?” Chat teased. Ladybug blushed and shook her head, but he wasn’t that far off. Honestly, it was probably wise to have only one of them take it in case something did happen, and she was the best prepared to try to fix it.
Ladybug waved the vial in front of him. “So...are you gonna drink it or what?”
Chat rolled his eyes and took the small bottle she offered. The liquid was a greenish colour, with a slight iridescent sheen when it caught the light. Chat tried not to look too apprehensive as he swallowed the liquid. It's not like he didn't trust Ladybug, he trusted her with his life, but her track record with magical potions… He shook himself and gulped it down anyways... Surprisingly, it tasted delicious. Cool mint with a hint of strawberry, summery and fresh.
Chat held his breath and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for some drastic change. He didn’t feel any different.
“Chat? Do you feel anything?”
“Ummm...no?”
One minute passed. The silence stretched way into “awkward” territory. Ladybug opened her mouth as if to say something, but stopped and shifted uncomfortably. Chat rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. Two minutes.
He peeked an eye open. “Are you sure-”
Pop! With a flash of light and a very disorienting feeling, like he was being taken apart and put together again, Chat blinked and found himself much closer to the ground than he had been before. Maybe this was an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ situation? One drink to be small, one drink to be big?
Chat looked up at Ladybug, who’s expression was caught somewhere between shock, confusion, worry, and mirth.
“Oh. Well, I get what it means by being closer to your animal kwami now.” Ladybug giggled, a hand rising to cover her mouth.
He went to ask what had happened, but when he tried to speak, all that came out was a high-pitched mew. His eyes widened, and he slowly lifted what he assumed to be his arm out in front of him. Black fur and an adorable (if he could say so himself) little paw appeared. Chat (quite literally now) jumped in the air and tripped backwards over himself, meowing loudly in surprise. He ended up on his back, staring up at the sky in confusion.
Really, it wasn’t that hard to understand; he drank something from the grimoire which was supposed to help him get in touch with his animal side, and it turned him into a cat. Simple, really. But for some reason he just couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that he now had four legs and was covered in fur.
It wasn’t just his appearance and his sudden ability to speak ‘cat’, it was more than that. Being a cat was something he should have been used to, for obvious reasons, but clearly he only got a tenth of the abilities real cats got. Everything seemed too loud now. Too close. His weight distribution was completely different from what he was used to, and he had a distinct urge to chase something, stick a leg up in the air, or rub up against Ladybug.
Ladybug.
He rolled onto his feet, finding it a little easier than he expected this time, and glared at her. Well, he tried to glare at her. Judging by her completely awestruck and overjoyed expression, he wasn’t sure it really carried.
“Oh my God, you are adorable! ” She reached over and pulled him into her lap, scratching him behind his ears and under his chin. Okay, so maybe this wasn’t all bad. Wow, she really knew the right spots to pet him.
“Plagg! Listen, he’s purring! Oh I much prefer you this way.” Ladybug laughed. “No more puns, peace and quiet, and you’re just the cutest little thing!” She sighed. “Shame it will only last for another twenty-four hours.” Chat attempted another glare, which of course completely failed, and thought about walking off in a huff, but she was just so good at petting him. Curse this feline body.
Wait. Did she say Plagg?
Sure enough, Chat looked up to see the black kwami resting on Ladybug’s shoulder, smirking.
“Welcome to the life of a cat.” Plagg snickered. “I love it when my holder finds this — I get a break from being sucked into that ring, and you get to enjoy the world of catdom.”
Chat rolled his eyes. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad? Surely he could have a bit of fun as a cat? Enjoy some freedom? He wasn’t quite sure how he’d explain his absence to Nathalie, but he’d cross that bridge later. Fortunately, it was Saturday, so he’d be back to normal by the time school started. His father was away on business, so he should be fine. Hopefully. Maybe he could get Ladybug to excuse him by saying he was hit by an akuma?
“This has happened before?” Ladybug asked.
“Of course. The grimoire has been around for a while, and was created to record pre-existing magical abilities.” As always, Plagg’s unenthusiastic tone managed to make something as exciting as archaic magic sound boring.
“What now? I can’t exactly take him home with me, but I don’t want him wandering around on the streets — he could be hit by a car! Or stolen!”
Chat huffed. “Hey, I’m not that irresponsible.” He knew she wouldn’t understand him, but hopefully she’d get the gist.
“Hmm, debatable, kid. You’re the one who drank something without knowing what it was. But that’s also Ladybug's fault for not fully translating it.” Chat blinked.
“You can understand me?” He asked, as Ladybug blushed.
Plagg looked at him like he was dumb. “Of course I can understand you. I am a cat, remember?”
“Well, this will be useful, I suppose.” Ladybug tilted her head at Plagg. “So…what are we going to do then? He’ll transform back in twenty four hours and he isn’t wearing his miraculous, so will he be transformed?” She paused, her face draining of colour. “Oh God, where is his miraculous? This was a bad idea. What if there’s an akuma? And I can see a million and one different ways his identity could be revealed! Why did I think this would work?!” She really should have put more effort into the translation.
Trying to lessen her panic, Chat nestled further into her lap and moved so her hand was resting on his side. He’d heard somewhere that a cat’s purring could calm someone’s heart rate, so maybe that would help?
“He should be transformed when he comes back, so no need to worry there. And his miraculous is…in this sort of in-between place? Magic is hard to explain. All you need to know is that it’s safe.” Ladybug relaxed.
“But what about his identity?”
“He’s survived this long, don’t you think he’ll be fine?” Wow. Plagg was actually complimenting him? And not encouraging him to use the miraculous irresponsibly? Or maybe that was just because Ladybug was there.
Calmer now, Ladybug asked, “So, what are we gonna do with you, huh Chat?”
“I guess I’ll just go home.” Or maybe visit his friends, but she didn’t need to know that. He had a feeling using this to prank his friends would be deemed an ‘irresponsible use of his miraculous’ or something like that. “I can spend some time getting to know my cat side better.”
Ladybug and Chat Noir both looked expectantly at Plagg, who sighed and repeated what Chat said before muttering something about how he’d “better be getting lots of camembert for playing translator.”
Ladybug considered for a moment, before nodding her head. “That sounds good. I should probably go, it’s getting late. Want me to take you down from the roof?”
Chat was about to agree (totally not him just wanting to get more cuddles with her) but was rudely interrupted by Plagg. “Actually, it might be a good idea for him to get down by himself? Cats and high places and all, got to get in touch with his inner cat.” That little shit. He just wanted to mess with Chat — the stupid smirk on his face spoke volumes.
Ladybug glanced down at the little cat in her arms. “Hmm, it’s not like we’re really high up. Besides, you’ve got down from higher places before, haven’t you, Chat?” She agreed, a slow grin spreading on her face. Those little shits. “Well, I better get going. Send me a message when you’re back and we can meet up to discuss what you learnt.” Seriously? She was giving him homework?
With one last tickle under the chin that he definitely didn’t lean into, she gently set him down and stood, stretching, before pulling out her yoyo and yelling, “Good luck getting down from there!”
She really was a little shit.
oOo
Being a cat was a very strange experience. In some ways it was familiar — he still had Plagg bothering him endlessly and he did enjoy the freedom of being out of his father’s control, like he had when he was Chat. In other ways, it was completely alien to him. People barely glanced at him on the street, and everything was just a lot more. It was like his senses had been heightened to the maximum and the sounds, smells, and tastes that floated around him were bigger and brighter and louder. A cacophony of noise and sights and smells created a dissonance in his senses, like different instruments all competing to be the loudest, to carry the melody.
Interacting with other cats was another interesting experience. They had somehow managed to master the art of being simultaneously curious and standoffish. They’d glare at him, sniff him out, approach, then saunter away. Some spoke to him, and asked him why he smelled strange, others would yell at him to get off their turf. Cats were odd.
The novelty of running around as a cat started to wear off after about an hour, when he began to feel like people’s feet were weapons of mass destruction. Seriously, did humans ever watch where they walked? Soon enough, Chat found himself craving some peace and quiet. No wonder cats slept all the time.
He thought about going to his own home, he really did, but the cold isolation wasn’t the type of quiet that he wanted. No, he wanted warmth and comfort and familiarity. He wanted Marinette.
“I know what you’re thinking. You want to go to Marinette’s, huh kid?” Plagg grinned at him.
“So what if I do? She’s warm and kind and I just know she’d give the best cuddles.”
“Alright, you can go to Marinette’s, but only once you admit that it is perfectly acceptable for me to ask for camembert all the time. Being a cat is exhausting, and I have to transform you as well!”
Chat bristled. He really hated that Plagg had a point — being a cat was tiring. “Fine. But you already get loads of camembert from me, so don’t go expecting more, okay?”
Plagg grinned. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
He was totally going to nag him for more cheese now.
Sighing, Chat made his way to Marinette’s.
oOo
The journey to the bakery was fairly simple. He knew the best alleys and shortcuts to take from being both a superhero and a teenage heartthrob. Learning how to escape crazy fans and rabid paparazzi had its perks, apparently.
One small detail he’d failed to address, however, was the fact that he was a cat. He couldn’t exactly stroll into the shop and make his way up to her room. It was a bakery, and as far as Tom and Sabine were aware, he was a random stray.
So here he was, sitting outside the entrance, feeling like a complete idiot. Where Plagg had gone, he had no idea. They’d be closing soon anyway, since it was nearing six o’clock, so it was unlikely Chat would even be able to see Marinette that afternoon. The thought left him more upset than he would have expected.
He stood up, stretched, and slowly began making his way home, tail drooping. Just as he was leaving, however, the bell chimed and the door swung open. A pair of ankle boots appeared, followed by a shriek and a crash.
Fortunately, his cat reflexes kicked in (and his fear of the weapons of mass destruction called feet) so he managed to get out of the way. Marinette, however, was not so lucky. Marinette! So he’d be able to see her after all.
She was collapsed in a heap of arms and legs and boxes of macarons in the entrance to the shop. Chat winced (could cats wince?), and went to help her up. Or at least check that she was alright considering he couldn’t exactly do much considering his current predicament.
Marinette groaned, reaching up to rub at her head, and glared at him. “Black cat. Of course.” Chat froze, looking down in shame. He hadn’t meant to hurt her, but that didn’t change the fact that he had.
She sighed, collecting the macaroons that had fallen around her, but paused when she noticed his posture. “Oh, don’t go looking all glum on me. I know it wasn’t your fault. I’m a bit clumsy is all.” She reached out to scratch between his ears. “You know, you actually remind me a bit of someone.”
Chat closed his eyes and purred, which was the only reason he didn’t notice her momentarily shocked expression, followed by a half-hearted roll of the eyes.
They were interrupted when Sabine came rushing to the door. “Oh, Marinette, are you alright? Oh no, the macarons.”
“I’m fine, maman. Nothing that hasn’t happened before. Except this time I had a little help, huh kitty?” She glared half-heartedly down at him, and Sabine chuckled. “As for the macarons, it’s fine. I think a couple survived, and Adrien will be fine with only a few.”
“Adrien?” Chat asked. Of course, it only came out as another ‘meow’, but apparently the sentiment was received as Marinette answered him.
“My friend Adrien has seemed a bit down lately, so I thought I’d bring him some macarons. He’s meeting Nino in the park today, so I figured I’d drop by. But why am I telling you? You’re just a cat and you can’t understand me.” She giggled, a smirk on her face as she leaned down and gave him another tickle under the chin.
Wait. Nino! He’d completely forgotten. But…he couldn’t exactly go now, could he? Nino would understand though, right?
“Alright then, Marinette, you should probably get going. You don’t want to be late, do you?” Sabine asked, a knowing look in her eye.
“Oh, right, of course! Bye Maman, and thank you!” She picked her boxes up, carefully stepped around him, and took off in the direction of the park.
Well, he definitely needed to check how much of a mess he’d caused by standing Nino up. If he happened to spend more time with Marinette, then who was he to argue?
Checking the road (cars were dangerous , especially as a cat), he bounded after her as she made her way across the street. Soon, he was trotting alongside her. Marinette glanced down and rolled her eyes.
“What are you still doing here, kitty? Don’t you have some important animal to chase down, or a particularly nice spot of sun to lounge in?” The sun did sound absolutely divine, and it took a surprising amount of willpower to stop himself from daydreaming about it, but he had a job to do.
“I’ve got to see how much damage control I’ll have to do when I transform back.” Laughing, she rolled her eyes again at his long series of meows.
“If you say so, kitty cat.”
To be honest, it was slightly strange how Marinette was completely unfazed by his peculiar behaviour. Cats didn't normally look guilty about tripping you up and they didn’t have long conversations with you as though they could understand you. But then again, if he had a cat (a real one, Plagg didn’t count) he’d probably talk to it too.
Entering the park, they saw Nino sitting on a bench alone and made their way over.
“Hey Nino.” Marinette said. “Where’s Adrien? I thought you were meeting him today?”
Nino looked up and smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “My dude just messaged me. Father’s being an ass again. The usual.”
I messaged him? A blur of black caught Chat’s eye, accented with the silver of a phone. Wow, that was uncharacteristically kind of Plagg. Maybe he felt bad for forcing Chat to make his own way down the roof earlier.
“Ah, that sucks.” Marinette joined him on the bench, pulling Chat up onto her lap.
“Who’s your friend?”
“Oh, just some stray kitty that seems to like me. Nearly made me trip up earlier, didn’t you? Black cat luck, am I right?”
Nino snorted. “More like Marinette luck. In this case I don’t think it’s the cat’s fault.”
“Hey! I’m not that bad.” They laughed, falling into the comfortable rhythm only those who have been friends for years could achieve.
“So, you were coming to see Adrien?” Nino asked.
“Yeah…I noticed he hadn’t been acting like his normal self recently, so I thought I’d pop by and give him some macarons. You can have some, by the way. They’re passionfruit — his favourite — but I think you’ll like them.” Something inside Chat warmed at the kind gesture.
“Made by the Dupain-Chengs? Of course I’ll like them!” He laughed, and eagerly took a couple. “But yeah, I’ve noticed Adrien acting a little more down than usual as well. Probably his father, to be honest. That man does not understand the meaning of fun.”
“Exactly! Adrien deserves a break. He works so hard, and he’s so kind, but it’s like his father can’t even see that! Honestly, if I could, I’d take him far away from his father and show him what a real family looks like. He deserves so much more than what he gets.”
Chat’s heart tightened at how much his friends cared about him. He’d anticipated making a few decent friends, but he hadn’t counted on finding people like this. Friends who loved him unconditionally. It was a concept he was still learning to accept.
“Yeah…” Nino sighed, then sat up with an expression that he’d clearly learnt from Alya. “You know, you could always show him how a real family acts by becoming his family.”
Huh? Marinette become his family? The idea sounded fun, but a little strange all the same.
Apparently, it made sense to Marinette because she groaned and rolled her eyes. “Not you too, Nino. I’ve already told Alya that I don’t like Adrien like that anymore. But she still keeps hounding me about it.”
Like that? Did that mean...no, it couldn’t. Could it?
“Sorry, Mari, I’ve got to support my girlfriend. Can you blame her though? She’s been trying to get you two together for years , and suddenly you say you don’t like him anymore and have a new crush? What’s that about anyway?”
Okay, so maybe Marinette did have a crush on him. But not anymore? To be honest, it explained a lot. All the stuttering and blushing made more sense now, and if he thought about it, that had lessened recently. Why did that make him feel sad? He should be glad, right? Having a friend have a crush on you was always awkward.
He felt a little bad eavesdropping on their conversation considering they didn’t know he was there, but when else would he get the chance to hear this? He had a right to know, considering this was about him. Or at least that’s what he told himself.
Marinette sighed. “I don’t know, I just realised it wasn’t realistic. I think...I think I got too caught up in the excitement of having a crush that I didn’t really look at it practically. But this new guy...he’s amazing. So kind and selfless and funny — not that I’d ever tell him that, though. Adrien’s wonderful too, but I don’t think he’s right for me. Besides, he doesn’t like me like that anyway, so what’s the point?”
“The point is that you’re made for each other. Adrien is just too blind to realise that he has the world’s biggest crush on you. I’m sure if you asked him out he’d say yes.” Marinette opened her mouth as if to argue, but Nino continued. “You do seem to really care about this new guy, though, so I won’t push. I’ll leave that to Alya.”
They laughed, and moved on to another topic, but Chat had zoned out. Did he have a crush on Marinette? Sure, she was kind and caring and all round amazing, and he wasn’t blind — she was gorgeous — but did that constitute a crush? He did spend a lot of time thinking about her, wondering what would make her happy and thinking about when he’d get to see her again...
But that didn’t matter. He loved Ladybug, so he couldn’t have a crush on Marinette, because you can’t be in love with more than one person at a time, right?
Right.
Good thing she hadn’t confessed to him then — Marinette was a great friend and he didn’t want things to be awkward between them.
Chat was pulled out of his moment of introspection by Marinette picking him up and putting him down on the ground. “Alright, kitty, time to go. It’s getting late.” She stood up, brushing crumbs off herself and stretching as she stood. “It was nice to see you, Nino. Shame Adrien couldn’t come, though.”
“Yeah… See you at school?”
“Of course, bye!”
Having collected her stuff, Marinette headed back to the bakery. Judging by the light, it was probably around 6pm, which meant he’d been a cat for approximately three hours. Only another twenty-one hours to go.
Once she reached the door, she turned to Chat, crouching down so that she was at eye level with him.
“Don’t you have somewhere to be, kitty? You can’t follow me around, I have things I need to do, as I’m sure you do too.” She smiled at him, and stroked his head. “Go on now, I’m sure you have an owner who’s looking for you.”
He probably did, but for all the wrong reasons. His father wouldn’t have noticed his absence, since he wasn’t home and was away on business, and Nathalie was most likely trying to find him so that she didn’t have to tell his father that he’d disappeared. She’d probably wait until he’d been gone for a couple days before alerting his father.
He didn’t want to go. Spending time with Marinette was great, and the mansion would be cold and empty. But he couldn’t argue with her having things to do, and he wouldn’t want to impose.
His tail and ears drooped, and he slowly turned to wander home.
“Oh, for goodness sake, come here you alley cat! Stop guilting me with those kitten eyes.” He paused and turned, looking over his shoulder to see her rolling her eyes. “Come on then, one-time offer!”
He ran over to her, rubbing up against her legs and purring. “Yeah, I know, I know. I’m going to put my stuff away upstairs and speak to my parents then I’ll come and get you.” She disappeared indoors with a smile and a wave.
A couple minutes later, she opened the door, picked him up, and brought him inside. After a quick meet-and-greet with her parents, during which they fawned over how cute he was, he settled into a nice make-shift bed with some leftover chicken from their dinner, waiting while Marinette did some homework.
All in all, being a cat hadn’t been too bad, but his favourite part of it was that evening he spent curled up on her floor, safe and warm.
oOo
Sunlight fell through the skylight in the morning, bathing the room in a pink-ish golden glow. Chat yawned, stretched, and blearily blinked open his eyes. It took him a second to realise that he wasn’t in his room, but in Marinette’s. Another moment later he realised he was a lot closer to the ground than usual, and then it all came flooding back.
Right. Cat.
He could hear Marinette’s quiet breathing in the stillness of the morning, so he knew she was still asleep. He wasn’t surprised; he tended to wake up early, and she had a habit of sleeping in. Looking around the room, he saw Plagg curled up in one of the bundles of fabric on the floor. With another kwami. A red kwami.
Tikki.
Ladybug.
Slowly, he turned his head up to the loft bed. He couldn’t see her, but he could imagine her sleeping. In his mind, a red suit replaced pink pyjamas, and suddenly, everything made sense. Of course Marinette was Ladybug! Who else? They had the same tenacity, the same strong sense of justice, the same kindness, and the same intelligence — they even had the same hair!
He ran forward to wake up Plagg, but tripped over his four legs, landing in a certainly unflattering position that made him glad that Marinette liked her lie-ins. Apparently, any improvement he’d made yesterday in adjusting to his new body had disappeared overnight.
Picking himself up, he slowly made his way over to the kwamis.
“Plagg! Plagg, Tikki! Marinette is Ladybug!” he mewed at them, lifting a paw to gently shake them awake.
“Marinette? Is it morning now?” Tikki asked, blinking her eyes adorably. She looked up to see him, then down to Plagg, and finally up to Marinette, still asleep. “Oh.”
“Kid, why are you waking me up? It’s too early .” Plagg groaned, and rolled over to go back to sleep but was stopped by Tikki shoving him lightly and gesturing wildly to herself and then Chat.
Plagg looked between them for a moment, clearly not comprehending the situation in his tired state. You could see the moment the dots connected. “Oh shi-” Tikki slapped a hand over his mouth.
“Marinette is Ladybug. Ladybug is Marinette. I’m in love with Ladybug. I’m in love with Marinette! Because they’re the same person!” Chat exclaimed excitedly.
“Shh! Be quiet or you’ll wake her up. Plagg, you’re going to have to translate for me.” Tikki sighed.
“Oh, it was just him and his hopeless romantic soul. You should hear the stuff I have to put up with. Finally you’ve accepted that you love her. The amount of times I had to sit through ‘Marinette is an amazing friend, she’s so kind and wonderful and sweet. Did you see what Marinette did today? She’s so cool. I wonder if Marinette would like this? I’m going to tell her about this tomorrow. I’m seeing Marinette today!’ It was exhausting. ”
Okay, so maybe he was a little bit of a blind idiot, and he’d definitely been in denial about his feelings, but oh well. He knew now, that was all that mattered. He was in love with Marinette.
Oh, that felt so good to finally admit.
“Oh no. She doesn’t like me anymore! She likes someone else! And it’s all my fault! Now we won’t get married and have three kids and a hamster and live happily ever after! My life is ruined.”
“Oh stop being so dramatic, you’ll be fine. Right, Tikki?” Plagg gave her a LookTM, communicating in a way that had only been gained through their millenia of partnership.
“Oh! Y-yeah, you’ll be fine. Totally.”
“I will?”
“Yes.” Plagg confirmed. “Now, onto more important things so I can go back to sleep. You know Marinette’s identity, which was Fu’s big no-no. But Marinette is the new guardian now, so technically we should be fine. You should let her know though, when you turn back. We good? Anything you want to add, Tikki?”
“That seems okay. Just be careful when you tell her, she has an insane ability to catastrophize.”
Chat nodded. It was strange to see them interacting, and to see Plagg acting so efficiently, but he supposed this had probably happened before. Plus, with the right motivation, Plagg could be surprisingly helpful.
“Great.” Plagg agreed. “I’m going back to sleep now.” He nestled back into the fabric and was snoring softly within seconds.
Chat turned to Tikki, who was looking at Plagg with an expression of fond exasperation. “I’m going to hide,” she said. “You might want to wake Marinette up, or else she’ll never get up. But use this time to get all your fanboying out now if you need it.” She giggled a little, smiled at him, then flew off to hide.
Chat trotted back to his make-shift bed and flopped down. Marinette was Ladybug. His day had barely begun and it was already incredible. He was floating on cloud nine. Had he been human, he would’ve had a giddy smile on his face all day.
He revelled in his newfound knowledge for a moment (Tikki was right, he totally needed his fanboying moment), before going to wake Marinette.
The ladder was a bit difficult, but he got there in the end. Nuzzling her face, he gently nudged her awake.
“Marinette. Marinette, you need to get up.”
She groaned and lightly pushed him aside. “Donwanna. Tired. S’early. Sleep.” She mumbled.
“I know, but you have to get up sometime. And you have designing and things to do today. That’ll be fun.”
She sighed, and then dragged herself up, glaring at him. A look of confusion flitted across her face for a moment. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she yawned and made her way off her bed, picking Chat up along the way.
She headed downstairs and took a couple croissants from the counter, her parents already working in the bakery downstairs. It was strange, his breakfasts were normally spent in silence, but this was different. This silence was warm and full of love. Comfortable. Easy.
After breakfast, he was left to relax in Marinette’s room while she worked in the bakery. He would have liked to see how the bakery worked, but being a cat, it wasn’t the best idea for him to be in the kitchen.
Chat hadn’t had such a relaxed morning in months. He finally got that nap in the sun he’d been thinking about since Marinette had teased him the day before, and for the first time in far too long, he did nothing aside from rest and recuperate. When she came back from helping in the bakery for a few hours, he felt more refreshed than ever.
Unfortunately, she had a sewing commission to finish, and so spent the next two hours working. It was peaceful, though. He lounged in the sun, the quiet hum of the sewing machine lulling him into a sleepy daze. Every now and then, Marinette would pause and play with him, directing beams of sunlight along the floor for him to chase (logically, he knew they were impossible for him to catch, but he still felt compelled to try), or giving him some of her yarn to attack.
It had been one of the best mornings he’d ever had, and when the time came for him to go, he left with a bittersweet cuddle. If you asked him, Marinette was sad as well. The thought warmed him, and certainly helped him feel more confident about the prospect of explaining that he knew her identity.
For as long as he’d known her, keeping who she was behind the mask a secret had been her number one rule. Now that he’d broken it, albeit unintentionally, he felt as though he was in uncharted waters. How she’d react could swing any way — she could have a complete meltdown or go into catatonic shock. She could shout, cry, smile, or be dead silent. Not being able to predict how she’d react terrified him.
But he knew what he had to do. Delay it any longer and she’d only be more angry. That he could be certain of.
So here he was, in one of his favourite transformation spots, waiting to turn back. Part of him was sad to see his cat experience come to an end, but most of him was relieved. Being a cat had been a fun experience, but definitely not something he’d want long-term.
Somehow, transforming back was worse than turning into a cat in the first place. Seeing the floor drop away from him and feeling his body contort and change gave him far too much vertigo for his liking. In the span of a few seconds, he was back to normal. Plagg’s whine cut off as he disappeared back into the ring, and his one-time (hopefully) experience was finished.
Chat sighed, straightening, hand still braced on the wall.
“Bye, cat.” he murmured. He checked the time: 3pm on the dot. Ladybug would be waiting. Time to break the news.
oOo
Chat landed beside Ladybug on their roof.
“Back to normal, m’lady.” Chat said by way of greeting. “No more cat, just plain ol’ me.”
“Hey kitty! Good to see you again!” She grinned, pulling him into a hug. “I will miss your adorable little paws, though.” She giggled and booped him on the nose.
Chat shifted, rubbing the back of his neck. “Ummm… Ladybug? I have something I need to tell you.” The speed with which her expression changed was unbelievable. Lighthearted to serious and worried within a second.
“Chat?”
“I...um… IknowyouridentityMarinette!” he blurted out. Wow. Well done, Agreste, very smooth.
She paled. “...What? Y-you know my identity?”
“Yes.”
A pause, and then, “I think I need to sit down.” He stepped back, giving her the space to all but collapse on the roof.
“You called me Marinette.”
“I did.”
“You know my identity?”
“I do.”
“How?”
Chat sighed. “It was an accident. I saw Tikki in your room when I was a cat.”
“Oh. Okay then.” She stared into space. Chat didn’t know what to do. Let her process? Ask if she was alright?
The silence stretched on. Maybe he’d made a mistake in telling her.
“Um, LB?”
“Okay. This is okay. I am the guardian, so we aren’t breaking any rules. It was partly my fault anyway by not fully translating the grimoire.” She smiled at him. “Honestly, I’m fine.”
Chat let out a relieved breath. “So...you’re not going to take my miraculous away?”
“Your miraculous?! Of course not! You’re the best partner I could ever hope for, and like I said, it wasn’t your fault. If anything, it’s Tikki’s.” Ladybug laughed, bumping his shoulder with hers.
“...Are you alright? With her being me? And with knowing in general?” She looked away and fiddled with her yoyo.
“What are you talking about? Of course I am! You are amazing, both in and out of the mask. You’re the best partner I could ever hope for.” He paused. “Do...do you want to know who I am? Would seem fair, right?”
Ladybug considered. “Well, the miraculous are all about balance. It would make sense for us both to know, right?”
“Right. So, um, here goes, I guess? Claws in.” The flash of green light melted away to reveal Adrien, shifting awkwardly. “Ta da?”
“Oh my God. You have got to be kidding me. I fell for you twice? And here I thought you were the hopeless romantic in this relationship.” Her eyes were bright, sparking with tears of joy and laughter. She pulled him into a hug and whispered, “I’m glad it’s you.”
He grinned, and squeezed her back just as tightly. His heart overflowed with joy, and this moment, despite the unusual nature of the reveal, was perfect.
Leaning back, he only just registered her words. “You fell for me twice? As in, you love me? But you got over your crush on Adrien and fell for someone else.”
She shoved him lightly. “Yeah, that’s you, dork! I fell for Adrien and then fell for Chat Noir when I thought Adrien wouldn’t ever love me.”
“But I do! I’ve been in love with Ladybug since the moment I met you, and was too much of a blind idiot to realise that I loved Marinette as well! I love you so much.” He laughed, a joyful, earnest expression on his face as he brushed a stray hair from her eyes.
“You love me?”
“I love you. You and me against the world, remember?”
“Always and forever.”
oOo
Three months later, Ladybug dropped down next to her boyfriend, pressing a quick kiss to his mouth in greeting.
He smiled. “Hey, Bugaboo. Ready to patrol?”
“Actually, I have something else in mind.” He tilted his head in question, sitting down next to her. “So, I was looking through the grimoire-”
“No. Nope. Remember how last time turned out?”
“I realised the two loves of my life were actually one and we started dating?”
“Well, yes, but remember one other little detail? I got turned into a cat! Life lesson: don’t drink potions from the half-trained guardian.”
“Aw, come on, I’ve got better.” She pouted, and he laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her to his side.
“I’m sure you have. But why don’t we leave the guardian stuff today, bug? How does hot chocolate and a movie sound?”
“Scaredy-chat. But that does sound great, so I’ll let it slide.”
Chat laughed again. “Your place?” Ladybug nodded, pressing a kiss to his cheek before standing up.
“Race you?”
“You're on.”