A LITTLE CHAT

Chapter Two

Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng stared at their daughter and the boy, who could not be more than eight or nine, that she was insisting was Chat Noir.

"Honey, we've met Chat Noir," Sabine said. "He's...he's a lot older than this."

"I know he is!" Marinette replied. "Usually." She took a deep breath. "I also know this is the real Chat Noir. Look, you know those Akumatized villains Ladybug and Chat Noir fight do a lot of strange things, right?"

Her parents grimaced, exchanging a look. "We, uhh...we do remember being trapped in giant bubbles and floated over Paris," Tom said.

"Well, this is just more of the same," Marinette said. "Ladybug said that thing she does that fixes everything didn't work this time, so she has to track down a way to cure him. It's absolutely him, though. He's Chat Noir."

"I hate to impose," Chat Noir said, "but I'm kind of out on a limb here. I can't go home like this, I can't change back into my real self, and I need to be someplace Ladybug knows she can find me."

Tom scratched the back of his head. "Well, it's not that we mind, of course," he said. "We're always happy to help out the saviors of Paris in any way we can."

"I'll try not to be a bother!" Chat Noir insisted. "I'll even help out around the bakery! I can sweep, clean things, anything you need help with!"

"Oh, now there's no need for that," Sabine said. "But we won't mind if you want to. It's just, are you sure your parents won't...won't understand?"

"Our identities are supposed to remain secret from everyone," Chat Noir said. "Even our families. It's for their protection. Imagine if Hawk Moth knew Ladybug's real identity, or mine, and could go after the people close to them."

Sabine grimaced. "I see your point," she said. "Still, that bothers me, that you're keeping this from your family—I know if Marinette was doing something as dangerous as what you and Ladybug do, I'd be very proud of her, but also very worried."

"WHYYYYY!—don't I get Chat Noir settled in upstairs?" Marinette interrupted, a bit of a nervous hitch in her voice. "I think right now what he needs is some rest and a good meal, right Chaton?"

"R-right," Chat Noir said. He yawned. "I haven't been sleeping well the last couple of days since this happened, mostly because I've been catching cat naps on rooftops."

"Oh dear!" Sabine gasped. "You poor thing! Why don't you go on upstairs with Marinette, and we'll bring up a little something for both of you to eat—you haven't had lunch, right dear?"

"Now that you mention it, yeah," Marinette said, rubbing her own growling stomach. "I got caught up in that Akuma attack while I was on the way home, then I had to deal with Chat Noir, then—"

"Go on upstairs, I'll bring something up in a few minutes."

* * * * *

Nathalie Sancoeur was not having a good day.

Nobody working for Gabriel Agreste was having a good day.

His son Adrien was missing.

Two days ago, the boy had simply disappeared off the face of the Earth. His school had been searched, his friends' homes had been searched, Le Grand Paris had been searched for all the good that did. Everywhere Nathalie could think of that he might have disappeared to had been searched.

His best friend Nino hadn't seen him. Nobody could reach him on his phone.

Gabriel was furious, and his temper only grew worse with every passing minute Adrien was missing.

"André," Gabriel spat at Mayor Bourgeois; the two men were inside Gabriel's study, and Nathalie stood outside. "I want every police officer in Paris searching for my son. I want every detective available scouring this city. I will not—"

"Monsieur Agreste, I assure you, we are doing everything we can," Mayor Bourgeois said. "But you must understand, Paris is a very large city, and no matter how famous your son is, he is one teenage boy—"

"I don't care," Gabriel said. "Find him, or there will be repercussions."

Mayor Bourgeois bristled. "Are you threatening me, Monsieur Agreste?"

Gabriel removed his glasses and stared at Mayor Bourgeois with laser intensity. "Find him," he repeated.

Mayor Bourgeois daubed sweat from his brow and straightened his sash. "I'll do whatever I can," he said shakily. "I'm going to try to contact Ladybug and Chat Noir—"

"Yes, whatever," Gabriel said dismissively and impatiently, turning his back on the mayor. "Just get it done."

Mayor Bourgeois bustled out of the office, his face pale and drawn. Nathalie watched him go, her eyes cloudy behind her glasses.

"Adrien, where are you?" she whispered to herself.

"Nathalie!" Gabriel barked.

Nathalie jumped, took a deep, steadying breath, and walked into the very heart of Hell.

* * * * *

Chat Noir blinked in surprise as he climbed through the trap door into Marinette's room.

He'd been there before, of course—as Adrien. But there was something very different about her room now.

"Umm, wow," he said slowly. "You've got...a lot of pictures of Adrien Agreste."

"Eep!" Marinette squeaked as Chat Noir stood in place, looking around. "Oh my God! I, uh, I, ah, I—"

Chat Noir watched Marinette—who he now knew to be Ladybug, his Ladybug—suddenly degenerate into a babbling, blushing, spastic mess. The same babbling, blushing, spastic mess Marinette occasionally turned into whenever she was around him. He raised an eyebrow. "You have a crush on him, don't you?" he asked slowly, a teasing grin playing across his lips.

Marinette went through a series of crazed, jerky, abashed movements that made her look like some kind of deranged cartoon character. "Ah! I! Ah! No! That's! Crush? What? Hahaha, si-silly..." She scratched the back of her head, laughing shakily...then slumped forward, letting out a defeated sigh. "Yes," she admitted in a plaintive whimper. She looked up at him, her face red. "Is that weird?"

"Umm...no, not...not really," Chat Noir said, his cheeks pink. "Having a crush on somebody, that's, umm...that's totally normal." He ducked his head, scratching his hip nervously.

An awkward silence fell between the two, broken only when the trap door opened and Sabine poked her head through. "Lunch!" she called. She emerged into the room, bearing a large tray loaded with bread, sliced meat, and sliced cheese, along with fruit, two plates, and two bottled waters.

"Thank you, Mama," Marinette said.

"I hope you like sandwiches," Sabine said to Chat Noir, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "I didn't have any cat food."

Marinette snickered. Chat Noir laughed. "Good one!" he said heartily. "And yeah, I do. Like sandwiches, I mean. I don't really care for cat food. I don't use a litterbox either."

Sabine laughed. "I'll let you get settled in," she said as she ducked out of the room, closing the door. Marinette rolled her eyes and grabbed the tray, setting it on her work table and dividing up the goodies.

"Come on, Minou, let's eat," Marinette said. She turned to see Chat Noir standing stock-still in the center of the room, a frozen expression on his face. "Chat Noir?"

"I, uh, just thought of something," Chat Noir said, shifting awkwardly. Marinette tilted her head, and Chat Noir coughed, face flaming. "Umm...I think there might be times when I'll have to detransform," he said awkwardly. "You know, to, umm..."

"To..." Marinette's eyes widened as she caught his meaning. "Oh," she said. "Y-yeah. We'll...we'll have to work out an arrangement." She paused. "I mean, if you...if you want to keep your identity a secret." She spread some mustard on the inside of a baguette, then added, "Even though you know mine now..."

"It's...it's not that I don't want you to know who I really am," Chat Noir said as he sat down and started making his own sandwich. "It's just..." He sighed. "I don't want you to know who I really am...like this." His cheeks colored again. "This is, well...it's embarrassing."

Marinette stopped making her sandwich and gave him a soft, tender smile. "I'm sorry, Chaton," she said. "I...I know this must be hard for you. For a lot of reasons. I'll...I'll do whatever I can to help you get through this. I promise."

Chat Noir smiled gratefully at her. "Thank you, My Lady," he said.

They ate in silence for a minute.

"Hey, Marinette?"

"Yes, Chat Noir?"

"He'd be crazy not to like you back," Chat Noir said. "Adrien, I mean."

Marinette smiled and blushed. "Thanks."

After they finished eating, Chat Noir curled up on Marinette's chaise and fell asleep. She smiled at the sight; as infuriating as he could be on a regular basis, right now he just looked adorable. She spread a light blanket over him and brushed his hair out of his forehead. "Sleep tight, Minou," she whispered.

"Aww," Tikki cooed. "You found a pet and a boyfriend all in one!"

"Tikki!" Marinette hissed, face burning red. Tikki giggled and floated over to the desk. Rolling her eyes and groaning, Marinette followed. Her phone was buzzing.

Alya was texting the heck out of her from study hall.

Where R U?

Girl, teacher's getting mad!

OMG Director Damocles just came in!

Wow, you're off the hook for once! What happened?

Adrien's still a no-show.

Marinette groaned and started replying.

Have a little problem. @ home dealing with it. Mama & Papa are helping. Will be @ school tomorrow.

* * * * *

Marinette spent the rest of the afternoon working on various design projects, occasionally checking on Chat Noir. He was sleeping peacefully, a small smile on his face as he snuggled into her chaise.

At 18:00, just as Chat Noir was starting to wake up, the trap door crashed open and a redheaded ball of energy burst through. "Yoo-hoo!" Alya cried cheerfully, waving her hands above her head. "I'm here with the schoolwork you missed!"

"GWAH!" Chat Noir yelped, springing off the chaise and clinging to the ceiling. His green eyes were wide, alert, and panicked, and his chest heaved.

Marinette groaned and slumped against her desk with a thump, then spun her chair around to face Alya. "Alya!" she hissed. "Do you have to make so much noise?"

Alya smirked and fanned herself with a notebook. "Well, your mom was so nervous about letting me come up that once I snuck past, I just had to—" She trailed off as she looked up and saw Chat Noir. "What...the...?"

"It's okay, Minou," Marinette said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "She won't bite. Come on down."

Chat Noir dropped to the floor, giving Alya a sheepish little wave. She blinked and waved back. "Umm...Marinette? What...?"

"I can explain, really!"

Five minutes later...

Alya burst out laughing. "So...so Chat Noir...got shrunk?!"

"It's not funny!" Chat Noir pouted, crossing his arms. His tail lashed furiously behind him.

"Alya, please don't put this on the Ladyblog," Marinette implored.

"Of...of course not," Alya said, fighting to speak through her giggles. "But still..." She wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. "This is...this is one of the silliest..."

Chat Noir poked her in the stomach several times with his baton. "Cut it out," he said, his eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Okay, okay," Alya said, coughing and struggling to regain her composure. "So, umm...why you?" she asked Marinette. "Why did Ladybug just randomly dump her kitten in your lap?"

Marinette shrugged. "I was there?"

Alya gasped suddenly. "Oh my god! That means Ladybug's going to be coming by to check up on him!" She suppressed a delighted squeal. "If I stick around, I can interview Ladybug again!"

"I don't think she'd be too happy to have you bugging her right now," Chat Noir said crossly. "Not when she's busy trying to save my dignity." He cast his eyes away. "Not to mention I can't even go home until I'm back to normal."

Alya's humor died instantly, replaced by a frown. "Oh," she said softly. "I...I didn't even..." She shook her head. "I didn't mean..." She sighed. "I'm...I'm sorry, Chat Noir." She looked between Chat Noir and Marinette. "Anything I can do to help?"

Marinette shook her head. "This is just something Ladybug has to handle," she said.

* * * * *

Alya stuck around for another fifteen minutes before heading home. After that, Marinette worked on her homework for a time while Chat Noir excused himself to the bathroom for a long-overdue shower, after a quick detour downstairs to collect some cheese for his Kwami.

Sabine had thought the request odd. "Camembert?" she had asked.

"If you have it," Chat Noir said. "Or any cheese, really. It's..." He paused. "There's a living magical creature involved in mine and Ladybug's transformations, and they need to eat to recover their strength. Mine prefers cheese."

"Oh," Sabine had said. "That's really interesting. I'll make sure to keep some available for you then."

"Thanks," Chat Noir had said gratefully. "I doubt I'll be transforming back very often, and pretty much only when I need to, y'know, use the bathroom, but staying transformed for two straight days has really put a strain on him."

"I can only imagine. And on you too, I'm sure."

With some blue cheese in hand and safely locked in the second-floor bathroom, Chat Noir dropped his transformation. Adrien exhaled heavily, slumping against the tile wall, while Plagg sniffed at the chunk of moldy cheese. "It's not Camembert," he said.

"Well too bad, it's what Madame Cheng had," Adrien snapped. "We're relying on their kindness right now, we can't exactly be picky."

Plagg shrugged. "True enough." Plagg gave Adrien a sly grin. "So. Ladybug has a crush on you. That should make you really happy."

Adrien smiled dreamily. "All this time, she was right there in my class..."

"You know, you could just go out there like this," Plagg said. "Let her know who you really are. She'll be even more—"

"NO!" Adrien said harshly. "Absolutely not! Until I'm back to normal, I can't let Marinette know..." He slid down the wall, drawing his knees up to his chest. "Now that I know...now that I know Ladybug is Marinette and Marinette has a crush on me, I can't—I can't risk screwing it up by..."

Plagg tilted his head. "You think she'll stop liking you if she sees you like this?"

"I can't take that chance," Adrien said. "Besides, this is...it's just too embarrassing..."

Plagg rolled his eyes. "Teenagers."

With a sigh, Adrien undressed and climbed into the shower. After a long, luxurious shower, he emerged, freshly scrubbed and smelling of lavender and honeysuckle. He spent several minutes toweling himself dry, then held out his right hand, his Miraculous gleaming in the bathroom lights.

Plagg blinked at him. "Aren't you...going to get dressed first?"

"Are you kidding? My clothes are filthy! Besides, it's not as if they fit anymore anyway. Plagg, claws out!"

Plagg let out a strangled squawk as he was sucked into the ring, and the leather catsuit of Chat Noir covered Adrien's nude body. Running his hand through his still-damp, shining hair, Chat Noir rounded up his clothes and stepped out into the hall, whistling.

Sabine was standing just down the hall. "Oh, you're done?" she asked. "I was just about to let you and Marinette know dinner is in an hour."

Chat Noir smiled gratefully. "Thanks," he said. "Can you show me where your laundry room is, please?"

"Of course."

* * * * *

Once Chat Noir put his clothes in the washer and (when nobody was looking) checked his messages before turning his phone off, he borrowed an old gym bag from Tom to put his things in once they were clean and dry. His phone and wallet, he debated keeping in his costume's zipper pockets, but ultimately decided to stow them with his clothes.

After transferring his clothes from the washer to the dryer, he washed his hands (an interesting experience when wearing clawed leather gloves) and joined the Dupain family for dinner.

"I saw you messing with your phone in the laundry room," Tom said over dinner. "Did you let your parents know you're alright?"

Chat Noir grimaced. "My father...let's just say for right now, it's better for everyone involved if I don't even send an 'I'm okay' text. I've turned my phone off."

Sabine frowned. "But...shouldn't you at least let somebody know you're alright?"

"You don't know my father," Chat Noir said morosely. "Besides, there's...other reasons I can't—trust me, I can't risk making contact. It has to look like I've just disappeared."

"Well...if you're sure," Sabine said doubtfully. She looked at Marinette, who also looked uncertain.

After dinner, Marinette went to her room to change into her pajamas, then came downstairs to find Chat Noir washing dishes. "I, umm...put extra blankets on my chaise," she said. "You can sleep there. Unless you'd rather sleep in the living room."

"I think I'd rather sleep upstairs in your room, if that's okay with you."

Marinette nodded. "Of course."

Once he was done, Chat Noir followed Marinette up to her room. As soon as the trap door was closed, she turned around, crossing her arms and tapping her foot. "Why don't you want to let your family know you're alright?" she asked.

Chat Noir rolled his eyes. "Because I'm supposed to be dead?" he said. "If it gets back to the guys who did this to me that I'm still alive and texted home, that could be...bad."

Marinette frowned. "Okay, I guess I can see the logic there," she said. "Still, it bothers me that your family is out there somewhere, worried sick about you..."

Chat Noir sighed as he sat heavily on the chaise. "Trust me. There's only one thing my father is worried about. It sure isn't whether or not I'm alright." He yawned heavily. "I'm tired..."

Marinette studied him with worried eyes, then sighed. "Yeah, it's...pretty late. It's been a long day." She yawned herself, then padded over to the steps leading to her bed. "Goodnight, Chaton."

"Goodnight, Marinette," Chat Noir said as he nestled into the chaise, covering himself with blankets.

* * * * *

A white shape ghosted silently through the still, peaceful night sky over Paris, gliding over the beautifully lit cityscape and landing on the edge of the roof of the Musée Baccarat.

"Ah, Paris. It's a shame you won't be in the audience for my next show, Tantei-kun. You're going to miss out on a special performance. I suppose I'll see you next illusion..."

À SUIVRE...

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