When Marinette had transformed into Ladybug and called Chat Noir at the top of the Eiffel Tower she had a feeling in her gut that something wasn't right. When he didn't answer the call she did a quick sweep of the surrounding, still not finding her precious kitty. It was after twenty minutes that Chat did finally show up.
He looked like hell, his hair was a mess (more so than usual), his skin was as white as paper, and he shook every time he walked without his staff. Not to mention the fact that he had almost fallen off of the landmark when he had arrived. "Sorry I'm late Ladybug, it seems I've gotten a cold." He said, giving her a weak smile upon arriving. Marinette stares at him for a second before glaring, walking over to him and pulling his arm over her shoulder.
"You stupid cat! Why would you come if you're sick! You could've gotten hurt on your way here! No patrol for you tonight, I'm taking you somewhere safe." Ladybug scolded him, though he was feeling much too bad for her words to really eat through him.
"I can't take you to her directly but I'll leave you right next to the Dupain-Cheng bakery, there's a girl named Marinette there. She'll help you. Ask her for some food for your kwami as well, she'll leave the room while you're detransformed." She explained as she sat Chat down on the sidewalk.
"I'll finish patrol, you stay here. She should be on her night run. She'll be back any minute, and don't you even dare think of going to school tomorrow!" Ladybug exclaimed, using her lucky charm to produce a polka dotted blanket, wrapping it around Chat's shoulders. Then she zipped up and into her bedroom, grabbing some jogging clothes while she could and then zipped off a few minutes away, changing in an alley much to her discomfort, and started sprinting back towards the bakery.
When the blanket around Chat Noir's shoulder had been taken by a horde of Ladybugs he knew that his partner had detransformed. He didn't really give it that much thought, was too cold to do anything really. It had started snowing when she left and the leather suit wasn't doing much for warmth.
He suddenly heard the patter of feet and then a yell before warm hands grabbed his shoulders. He could see Marinette but her words couldn't be heard, the ringing in his ears made sure of that. "Hey Purrincess, mind taking in a stray?" Chat asked weakly. His teeth were chattering and goosebumps grew underneath his leather suit. She seemed to stop yelling and asking him if he was okay as a small smile replaced her worried voice.
"You can't be serious even when you could die. Come on, let's get you inside Chaton." Marinette said as she threw one of his arms over her shoulder and shouldered most of his weight as she pushed the door open with their bodies.
As Marinette walked into the door, the little bell going off, she heard multiple gasps including a "Marinette when did you leave he house,". "Marinette! Here let me hold him, you just got out of the hospital!" Luka's voice called or first. Her side did hurt from the stitches coming loose the day prior but that didn't matter to her, all that mattered was helping her best friend.
"It's okay, I've got him. Mama, will you make some soup? Alya will you get a warm wet rag? Luka, a blanket would be great? And Papa, can you bring some sweets?" Marinette barked out requests like orders, nobody argued with her, only simply going to carry out the tasks they had been assigned.
When Marinette had carried Chat Noir up to her bedroom she brought him up the ladder and laid him down on her loft bed. It would be warmer and more comfortable for him. "Here you go Chat, don't worry everything will be okay. Do you need anything?" Marinette asks, getting the word cold as a response.
"Oh yeah, sorry. Here, I have just the thing!" She yells out, her eyes lighting up for a second as she rushes off the loft bed and underneath of it. Rustling and clicking could be heard coming from the space underneath the bed before she came back up, now holding a set of warm clothing.
Helping Chat put on the extra clothing pieces, including a hoodie with cat ears and a large green paw print on the front, Chat's teeth soon stopped chattering. "Thank mew Purrincess." He said, his voice still shaky. "Chat what were you doing out there? It was in the thirties!" Marinette exclaimed worriedly, having looked at the temperature on the weather app on her phone while running to get him.
"It's no big deal Princess, the question is, why were you out there jogging. You just got out of the hospital and were wearing less clothes than I was," reaching out his hand to touch her arm he could feel how cold her skin was even through the leather, "Princess! You are as cold as I am!" He exclaimed, a worry stricken look crossing over his face.
"I'm fine Kitty, you are the one who is sick. Speaking of which," she continues on after hearing his miraculous beep, "You are too sick to go home. You will stay the night here and go home when you are better." Chat gave her a sly smile. "Does my Princess not want her knight in shinning leather to leave?" He says, an eyebrow cocked.
"No, Marinette is doing a nice thing because that is who she is. Marinette I brought the blanket." Luka interrupts from the ground with a frown (ha, rhymes), while Alya is video taping the entire exchange of words with a wide smile.
"Luka! Things were just starting to get good!" Alya scolds and hits his shoulder a little. "Mari, come on down, he's sick. We wouldn't want you to get sick." Luka says, glaring at Chat Noir. Chat, being the overprotective cat he is, with his mind barely registering anything in his sick stupor could only process one thing.
So he did what any knight would do for their princess, and pulled her into him, holding her body close to his as he glared daggers at Luka. A growl, as much as a cat can growl, formed in his throat as he held Marinette close to him. Nobody but Tikki, who was having a great time watching this scene play out from her hiding spot behind the giant cat plush, could see Marinette's beet red blush.
"You're gonna give her a cold!" Luka exclaims, throwing the blanket to the ground and climbing the ladder to the loft bed. "She's as cold as ice already! Why did you all let her go and exercise in these conditions!" Chat yelled, his stuffed nose making his voice sound funny.
"What? We didn't let her leave! Wait- Marinette how did you leave?" Luka asked, turning his head to look at the beaut- ahem, blue haired girl. He was too curious to even blush at his own train of thoughts as Marinette peeked to the side, seeing everyone looking at her.
Her eyes, quicker than the flash, darted over to Tikki before meeting Chat's and Luka's. While Chat just held her closer Luka looked over to the spot she had looked so pleadingly at, only to find nothing but the cat pillow. "I, er, climbed down?" She said quietly, her voice sounding unsure and questioning as she provided the lie.
"You climbed down? Marinette what the hell, how?" Alya exclaimed, joining everyone and sitting down with Luka as Chat sat up, still clinging to Marinette as she turned around in his arms to face the others. "I've been working out." She mumbles and realizes she never actually told anyone about it. "But I guess you guys wouldn't know since I forgot to tell you..." she said, her voice small and hollow, just as it usually was.
Everyone noticed the change except for herself. When she thought she was alone with Chat it seemed as if the girl everyone once knew was there and alive and ready for anything to happen. But when she realized people were there, were watching her, she caved in, retreated back to the shell she'd been living in.
"Show us?" Alya asked quietly, trying to coax the girl that she just saw still existed back out. Marinette nodded and turned her head up to Chat, without even saying anything the cat let go of her, though his hands still trailed her body as she stood up, letting the blanket fall off of her, and took off the shirt she was wearing to reveal rock hard abs and stone cold biceps. For what the others could see her calves were like that of a Greek demigod!
Chat and Luka both blushed at the sight of the girl as Alya went on to ask what kind of workouts she was doing and in what timeframe was she doing them in. "Before school and after school. I see Chat sometimes." She says, sitting back down with him but turning to look at him when hearing the second to last warning of his miraculous. "We can leave if you want." She says softly.
"No. Anything to cover face?" He asks quietly, digging his face into her shirtless shoulders. "Mhm, made it the other day." She says, getting up and coming back with a detailed masquerade mask. It was your standard shape, fitting perfectly onto his face when placed there, and had intricate gold patterns. "Wait a minute, doesn't Chat Noir have a girlfriend?" Luka interrupts as Chat hides underneath the thick blanket and lets his transformation up. When he comes back up the mask hides his identity and the clothes Marinette made cover the ones made by his father's company.
"Yeah! Ladybug said it in an interview on my website! Is Marinette your girlfriend?" Alya exclaims and Chat blushes. "No, no she's not. Marinette and I are friends. My girlfriend is dating my civilian self, she doesn't know that I'm Chat Noir." He explains as Plagg floats over his shoulder glaring at him before catching sight of Marinette.
"Kid!" He exclaims happily and flies right into her, hugging her cheek and Marinette raises her own hand to hold him close. "Hey Plagg, how are you?" She asks with a chuckle. Everyone looks at the pair in surprise. "I could be better. Apparently your knight forgot to bring any Camembert for his source of power." The kwami grumbles.
Marinette lets out a soft laugh. "I figured he might have, you said he doesn't usually bring it with him on patrols and I thought he might've stopped by tonight anyways so I set something up for you in your usual spot." Plagg bowed to the girl and thanked her before zipping over to a small corner hidden high up underneath the loft bed where Tikki was already there and staring at the cookies with a patient smile.
"What was that?" Alya exclaimed with a surprised look. "I didn't know you knew Plagg." Chat says curiously. Luka stayed oddly silent, staring at the stranger in Marinette's bed with a glare.
Luka could already tell, from the moment he walked in on the twos friendly banter, that there was something more than friendship there.
He had an inkling of whatever it might be, and may he just say one thing:
He didn't like it.