"Alya, I can't do this." The heroine sat next to Alya on the bench in the school hall.
The bespeckled girl eyed her best friend. She loved Marinette very much, don't get her wrong but, hearing her over-active imagination and constant ramblings were sometimes way too tiring. Her senses told her that this was one of those moments.
"Do what?" She asked.
"This," the ravenette pointed to her sketchbook, "I am a no-talent, Alya. All rising talented designers are taking part in this competition. What chance do I have? What's the use anyway? I would probably end up designing trash or mess up the fittings or trip over my feet and pour all my coffee over Mr Agreste, he would kick me out of the event and Adrien would never look at me again. He would probably end up marrying Chloe or... or Lila. Meanwhile, I won't become a fashion designer and will die like an old lady." She pulled her hair in frustration.
Alya blinked. "Mari, you don't drink coffee."
"What if I start doing it before the competition. My life is overrrrrr." She hugged Alya.
"Why is my shirt wet? Girl, are you really crying?"
"No." The bluenette sniffed.
Alya wrapped her one arm around the girl while she ruffled her best friend's hair with the other. "Where is this coming from?"
"Sleep deprivation." Marinette groaned.
"Girl, girl, girl, I love you and all but, you need to chill." She rubbed her back comfortingly.
Meanwhile, a certain blonde model was watching the whole scene unfold from a distance. Nino was talking to him about some cool EDM but, his mind was elsewhere.
I wonder what's on Marinette's mind. She's been stressing out a lot lately and hasn't been sleeping properly. Though I wish she would come to me about her problems.
Adrien stiffened as he saw Alya noticing him staring at her best friend. She gave him a devilish look.
Abort! Abort! She saw me! Why is she looking at me like that?
He saw Alya tightening her grip around Marinette.
"Alya?" The exhausted girl asked.
"Shh... Rest up, Marinette, before the class starts."
Hey, I want to hug Marinette too.
Adrien pouted.
"Dude?"
His attention snapped back to his DJ best friend. "What?"
"Are- Are you jealous of Alya getting a hug from Marinette?"
"..."
"...No?"
Darn it! Why did that sound like a question? I am SO not jealous.
He heard Alya cooing, "Aww... She fell asleep. Poor girl."
Only I get to hold my princess while sleeping!
Adrien hissed and was rewarded by a weird look by his best friend.
"Dude, I think that-"
"I am NOT jealous, Nino."
"Sure, I believe you, bro." He said sarcastically.
.
.
.
Yep! Just friends.
******
"You know," the blue-eyed girl looked her feline friend, "sometimes I think that all these stars tell us a story."
Cat Noir looked at her, they were currently on her balcony, lying on a rug, star gazing. He turned on his side, propped himself up by his elbow, his face resting on his palm so that he was looking down at her. "Really, what would that story be, chérie?"
"The story of the Cat and his Princess." She booped his nose. He was thankful for his mask that covered his blush.
"Once upon a time," the sleepy girl started, "in a faraway land of the Dupain-Cheng Kingdom, there lived a princess called Marinette." She giggled softly. "She was an absolutely weird person, always tripping, stumbling, falling here and there. She was hardly ever punctual. Then there was a knight, Cat Noir, who was also her best friend. They did all the goofy stuff together."
"Like stealing candies from the royal kitchen?" Cat suggested.
"And probably busying themselves with annoying other people in the castle," Marinette added.
Cat Noir chuckled and observed her with a fond smile. Watching and listening to her ramble nonsense was his favourite pass time. He raised his free hand and ran his fingers through her silky hair, startling the girl at first. Then, she smiled warmly at him and leaned into his touch, continuing her wild fantasies.
She was so cute like this when she was babbling on and on about bizarre things. Anyone else would have thought of this as a waste of time but, he liked wasting his time like this, so much that this wasn't a waste of time to him at all.
Maybe just maybe, he loved wasting his time, like wasting time like this was all he ever wanted...
He covered her mouth with his hand but, she continued to speak. "And ipf do loof closee do fwind," he uncovered her mouth, "that all these stars tell us a different story," he covered her mouth again, "lipe dat owne, itt issh a twend shetter," he withdrew his hand, "it is a leader, it likes to change things."
Cat Noir flopped on his back and laughed. This was too cute for him to handle. Shortly after, Marinette joined him two. After sharing a peal of hearty laughter, they calmed down.
He cradled her head, bringing it closer to him, he kissed her forehead, "Ma princess."
She kissed his nose, "Mon chaton...", she caressed his cheek with her thumb. Suddenly, drowsiness overtook her and her arm fell limp and she surrendered to sleep, snuggling into Cat's chest. He hugged her tightly, enjoying the moment, "Sweet dreams, Mari." He whispered into her hair.
.
.
.
Still, just friends!
******
Cat Noir had everything prepared. He was looking forward to this treat.
When Plagg had initially given him the suggestion, he had thought that getting the Miraculous from Ladybug would be difficult, after all, one must not use their powers for personal reasons. But, Ladybug had agreed after a little persuasion. He was planning on telling her how he wanted to use it after actually using it.
Let's do this!
******
"Ready to go purr-incess?"
Marinette looked up at her silly best friend. He had told her that he would be taking her somewhere on his birthday and she had readily agreed. She knew that's why he asked for the Horse Miraculous.
"As ready as I will ever be Cat." She grinned.
******
"So, um, this is where you and your family came to celebrate your birthdays?"
Cat sighed. "Yes. But, that was when my mother was still around. When she left..." His voice cracked.
Marinette immediately knew that he was hurting. The very topic of his mother pulled a certain string in his heart.
Cat had brought her to his family's holiday house in Versailles. To say she was surprised would be an understatement.
Why? Because, the house was one of the biggest, luxurious one she had ever seen, that is, in pictures, so let alone she had ever been inside one. They were taking a stroll in the garden when she just had to bring up his family. She cursed her slip up.
She quickly changed the topic. "Alright kitty, she won't want you to get all sad on your special day." She said smiling. "Besides, people who love us never really leave us. You will always find them in your heart."
Cat sniffed and looked up at her, suddenly a huge smile plastered his face. "Such a Potterhead princess."
Marinette rolled her eyes but was happy to know that she had lightened his mood.
"So purr-incess, are you up for baking some mini-cakes with me?
"I thought you already did everything kitty cat, including the baking."
"I wasn't feline like it. Okay, honestly I find baking much easier with you around."
Marinette giggled. She knew how he felt because she too felt that doing most of the things was easier when he was around.
Like saving Paris.
******
The two great heroes were busy in the kitchen of the holiday house. The supposedly 'cooler' one was finding it very hard to dress his mini-cakes. Marinette was done long ago and was right now enjoying seeing her kitty suffer. And yes, she was totally filming him.
Cat Noir on the other hand was too busy to notice her actions. First, the piping bag had squirted out the buttercream on his cake rather too quickly for him to register, leaving a large blob of frosting on his cake and him pouting.
Marinette tried to stifle her laughter. But she couldn't help bursting into a fit of giggles when Cat messed up all the chocolate syrup that now covered his face.
How did he even do that?
Cat Noir looked at her with an unamused expression. He looked at the piping bag in his hand, his lips forming a mischievous smirk.
Before Marinette could even register, he had already covered her nose with the frosting. He laughed at her shocked expression.
Marinette narrowed her eyes. Two can play at that game.
She took the bottle of chocolate syrup and squirted it out all over his apron causing the boy to back away and hiss. It was her turn to laugh.
Before they knew it, they had already started a battle of throwing eatables at each other. Cat took a fistful of flour and threw it at her. She coughed as the flour rested on her hair. She quickly grabbed whatever came into her hand and aimed it at his head. Her eyes widened when she heard a plop. She had just thrown an egg at him which landed on his head.
They both stopped and looked at each other. Suddenly, they burst out laughing. Had her parents been around they would've scolded them but, it was just them.
"Let's go and get all cleaned up kitty," Marinette said between laughs. Cat nodded. He didn't want this moment to end though. He loved goofing around and Marinette surely didn't mind it. His father would've been mad at the very thought of him baking.
After they cleaned up they carried Cat carried the mini-cakes to the picnic spot, Marinette followed him as he held her hand to get her to the place as she had to have her eyes closed.
She frowned when he let go but, she figured out that he must've been placing down the tray as they had arrived.
"Open your eyes, Marinette."
She opened her eyes and gaped. Five trees stood in a circle, creating a beautiful shady spot between them. They were illuminated by fairy lights. A table was placed on the ground which was covered with food. There were two pillows for them to sit on.
"Wow." She muttered. Cat laughed and sat her down on her pillow. They quickly pounced on the food.
.
.
.
"Hey! Cat Noir, that was the last one." Marinette whined.
The idiot smiled slyly at her, he put the last cookie in his mouth, though not completely, half of it was outside. "We can share purr-incess," he tried to smirk, "Unless you are too scared~", he winked.
She narrowed her eyes, then smiled widely as a plan came to her mind. She moved closer to the stupid cat, his eyes widened as she opened her mouth, she bit the chocolate chip cookie, closed her mouth, her lips gently brushing against his as she pulled away, half of the cookie was now in her mouth and she chewed as nothing happened.
A high-pitched squeak startled her. She looked at Cat Noir— his entire face was red, his hand was on his mouth, the other half of the cookie laid on the ground as it had fallen from his lips.
Did I break him?
"What was that?!" He yelled.
"I thought you already learnt your lesson about challenging me, kitty cat." She smirked.
"I thought so too." He mumbled.
.
.
.
Yeah, just friends!
******
"There's one more place that I would like to take you to, princess."
They had cleaned up after having lunch and had chatted for a while.
"Where to now, chaton?" Marinette
He handed her a blindfold as he wore an oversized coat and a hat that covered his cat ears. Marinette tilted her head in confusion but complied.
"Voyage!" She heard him call for Kaalki's power. She felt him pick her up bridal style. She blushed as they went through the portal. He didn't put her down at once but walked, carrying her like that.
He finally set her down. He undid her blindfold. She gaped.
'Rainbow Magicland' read the headboard.
"Cat y-you got me to Rainbow Magicland. We are in Rome? As in Rome in Italy?" Marinette whispered in disbelief.
Cat Noir laughed. "Yep," he said, popping the 'p'. "I remember you telling me that you wanted to come here, so yeah..."
Marinette looked at him and then at the entrance of the amusement park. "Well, then what're we waiting for?" She grabbed his hand as they joined the ticket line.
The rest of the day was very thrilling for the two teens. They had somehow agreed on not going on dangerous rides much to Marinette's dismay. But, she knew it was for good. Earlier the evening, they took a roller coaster ride that had too many wild twists and turns, they also went upside down a few times. Of course, she didn't mind. She was Ladybug, for crying out loud. She did this every day without a seatbelt and just with her yo-yo. And it was safer than piggyback riding Cat Noir.
The case wasn't the same for Cat. For a superhero, he sure was freaked out a lot.
Even if there was a safety restraint.
He ended up throwing up after the ride and they didn't think of taking any other risks.
"You know, I wasn't looking for revenge but, Karma."
"Shush you." He cleaned his mouth to get rid of the taste of the vomit.
They enjoyed themselves very much. Cat was so jumpy when Marinette won him a panda. They had danced, being instructed by the 'weird-dance instructor machine' as Cat had called it.
They were on their way out, Cat was holding the panda as Marinette ate her cotton-candy.
"Today was fun," Marinette said as she took another bite of her cotton candy.
"You know what else is fun, purr-incess?"
Marinette looked at him, raising an eyebrow.
"Being in a foreign country without a passport." He snickered.
Marinette gasped. Not once had this thought occurred to her.
What if we get caught? What if we are sent to prison? No one will ever know. I won't get to see my parents again. Adrien will be mad at me. I might find out about Cat Noir's identity during our lock-up, I would have to give up being Ladybug, I would never become a fashion designer.
Other uneventful thoughts came to her mind. She prepared her free hand to smack the laughing cat.
As if he could read her thoughts, he scooped her up, catching her by surprise.
"Voyage!" She heard him say.
Within a second they were on her balcony. He set her down. He was still laughing at her shocked state.
Marinette blinked, coming out of her trance, she remembered she had unfinished business. She smacked his head before he could comprehend her intentions.
"Ow! That hurts Marinette." Cat rubbed his forehead.
She simply stuffed her face with more cotton candy.
•°•°•°•°•°•°•
A/N: Hey guys!!
I am extremely sorry for the lame chapter.
I promise that the coming ones will be good. At least I think they will be.
I really hope that you are liking the story until now...
Love you guys 😘😘
Bug Out 🐞🐞🐞
(Edited: February 20, 2020)