Phew!
So, this chapter has been in the works for a while now, but I had to take a mini hiatus from writing. I had to finish up one of my plays (which took up pretty much every spare minute of my time) and then after that, I had 2 weeks to finish 6 assignments. Honestly, I was SO tired, and it feels so strange having time to myself again.
Though I have put it to good use and FINALLY finished this chapter! It's quite long, so I'm happy. I already have a little bit of the next chapter done too... though... it's the end half of it.
I'm trying to use the Writeometer app to try and get some deadlines set and write a bit more on different fics. (I have over 150 WIPs now so... I'm kinda doomed. The people who are supposed to tell me no keep saying yes.)
Anyway, I really had fun with this chapter. Marichat interactions are brilliant!

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Hair As Black As Night

Marinette blinked, shaking her head in disorientation. It didn't take her very long to figure out she'd been transported to somewhere else.

Oddly, the first most glaringly obvious difference was Chat. He was no longer wrapped protectively around her. He was... gone. He was nowhere in sight. Though, that wasn't the biggest change. Not by far.

It was now nighttime and she was standing at the edge of a forest, looking out at a castle lit up in the distance. The sight of it made her feel... terrified and pretty shaken. Her feet hurt as if she'd run pretty far in horrible shoes. And looking down, she saw that not only was she in an impractical pair of small heels, she also looked like she was wearing a dress that looked like something worn by nobility in 19th century Germany. Her face felt stiff and grimy as if she'd been crying a while and rubbing at her face with her rather dirty hands. They looked a little scraped like she'd fallen over a few times.

"Tikki, what happened?" she asked, still looking down at the dress. At a closer look, it had a torn hem and was splattered with mud and... blood. That was blood! A lot of blood! She was just about to panic at that when she realised that her friend hadn't replied, she tore her eyes away from the dress and began to look about her. "Tikki?" Still no reply or sign of her. Frantically she began searching the folds of her clothing for the small Kwami. "Tikki, where are you?!" she cried. Out of habit, she reached up to touch her earring and froze, a gasp wrenching itself from her chest. She was wearing earrings… but they weren't her Miraculous. "No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" She was practically sobbing, her hands fluttering over herself in a vain attempt to look for Tikki or her Miraculous.

Just when she was three seconds from bursting into tears in a full-blown panic, she was knocked off her feet. A yellow blast of light shot up from the palace into the sky. The blast shook the ground so hard that she was left sprawled on the dirt for a good moment. The light stopped and the shaking ceased, and Marinette remained fallen on the ground, staring at the palace in horror.

' Run ,' her mind told her.

Scrambling to her feet, she bit her lip and continued to look at the castle. Something was happening there…

' Run .'

And even if she didn't have her Miraculous, she was still Ladybug.

' Run .'

She had to do something.

' Run! '

Her breath quickened.

' Run! '

She had to do something…

' Run! '

She had to…

' Run!'

She turned and bolted, her feet taking her into the forest as fast as they could. An irrational fear and her panic over losing Tikki had her sprinting through the woods, barely missing branches and tripping over roots. No matter how much she dodged, the trees still came at her. Branches scratched at her, almost like they were reaching out to swipe at her. Squeals and cries escaped her as she struggled to run away.

A clawed branch curled around her wrist and she shrieked as she was jolted to a stop. She tried to pull her arm from its grip, whimpering in terror when she saw a pair of glowing green eyes.

"Marinette!" a familiar voice cried. A clawed hand came down on her shoulder and she paused her struggling. "Princess, calm down. It's me."

Now that she actually stopped to look at what had grabbed her, she could see a familiar figure with green eyes and cat ears.

"C-Chat Noir?" she stuttered.

"Hey," he said softly, leaning in a little closer now that he was no longer in danger of being hit by flailing limbs.

She noticed that he looked different. He wasn't wearing his usual catsuit. His leather mask, ears and tail were still in place, but he looked to be wearing medieval hunters clothes. Since most of it was made out of black linen and leather, it still looked Chat Noir-esk.

"Chat?" she said again, her voice meek.

"Yeah. Marinette, are you okay?" He was looking at her in concern and she knew that he had never seen her looking this terrified before.

"I don't know," she told him. "I'm only a little scratched up and my feet hurt because of these stupid shoes, but… Chat, what the hell is going on? What did that Akuma do?"

Chat Noir sighed, glancing to the side. "From what I can gather, we've been thrown into a fairytale. I'm pretty sure it's Snow White, but it's a little different. Chloé is the wicked step- sister . From what I could gather, magic and sorcery is banned, but since she was a princess, rather than killing her, the king and queen locked her in a tower. Seems like tonight she decided to break out and…" He paused, shuddering slightly. "Well, kill everyone. Except for Snow White, she got away. So, of course, she calls me to go find her and… and, well…"

"You're the huntsman, aren't you?" she said, her question sounding more like a statement. He nodded. As they turned and started slowly walking deeper into the woods, something occurred to her. Evil step-sister Chloé had massacred all of the nobility. She was wearing clothing of royal standards, running through a creepy forest, and had just been caught by Huntsman Chat. "Oh god, I'm Snow White, aren't I?"

Chat gave a rueful smirk. "Seems like it."

"Brilliant," she grumbled. "Chloé's wanted to kill me for years, looks like she's finally getting her chance."

"She doesn't actually kill you," he said with a slight grimace.

"No, she just attempts to suffocate me, and poison me with a comb and an apple!" She almost tripped on a root while she ranted, but Chat caught her and sniggered.

"Well, on the bright side, Princess, you get woken up by a kiss from a handsome prince." He wagged his eyebrows suggestively at her, but Marinette ignored it as she immediately began imagining Adrien dressed as a prince, leaning down to kiss her… "-Marinette?"

"Huh?" she said, snapping back to reality.

"Looks like you already have a prince in mind."He grinned.

"Shut up, Chat!" she cried, her cheeks flaring red. "You are enjoying this way too much. You have to cut out a deer heart to save me, you know."

He instantly paled. "Um… there isn't like… a heart just… lying around ready for me, is there?"

Now it was Marinette's turn to smirk. "Nope. Sorry Kitty, but you have to go hunting. Or you could buy a heart from a butcher in town or something like that. But if Chloé is in the same situation as us she'll know it's not mine already away."

Chat seemed to consider this. "Huh. You're right. When she sent me off she did tell me to go 'pretend' to kill Snow White."

She grinned at him, feeling a little bit better. "So then, are you going to let me go so I can go find the cottage now?"

"I'll do you one better, I'll help you find it."

Her mouth fell open. "What?!"

"Well, considering she knows what I'm going to do, there's no point in doing it at all. There's no point in even going back. And I'd rather spend my time in here with you until Ladybug can get us out." He didn't seem to notice her guilty look, shooting her a cheeky grin instead. "Besides, who else is going to keep you out of trouble?"

"Very funny," she said, sarcastically, narrowing her eyes at him. "I can find the cottage just fine by myself."

She folded her arms and turned away from him. She took one step… and tripped on a root. She was only saved from falling flat on her face by Chat catching her. His arms wrapped around her waist and he quickly pulled her into his chest.

"You know, I'm sure you can, Princess," he said, his breath gently blowing her hair. "But I have night vision and you don't. I'll be able to see where we're going. I could even carry you to save your feet. It would make me feel better knowing you had gotten there in once piece. Besides, it will give me another reason not to go back."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Fine, you can help me find the cottage," she told him. She could think of much worse things than spending time with one of her best friends, even if she would have to stay focused so she wouldn't slip up.

She was always cautious about being around Chat when she was just herself. She was scared that she'd act too much like Ladybug and he'd figure her out. But she did like hanging out with him. She always enjoyed their joint patrols. The moments where they could just sit quietly, or talk, or chase each other over Paris for fun. He was one of the most important people in the world to her, and she'd always been secretly ecstatic that he liked her as Marinette as well, even though she constantly tried to push him away.

"Great!" Chat said, looking… oddly excited. Was he really that excited to be spending time with her? "If you jump up on my back we can get going."

"I can walk on my own," she huffed. She wasn't some damsel or invalid. Why was everyone so intent on helping her? She didn't need help!

Chat just shook his head and chuckled in exasperation. "You are the most stubborn person I know! Well, second most next to Ladybug."

So… the stubbornest person. She wanted to protest, but… well, yeah, she was a very stubborn person and she knew it. Instead, not dignifying him with a response, she turned on her heel and marched off ahead of him.

"Ah… Marinette?"

"What, Chat?" she asked in irritation.

He cleared his throat sheepishly. "Ah, the path is that way," he said, pointing off a bit to the right. Without a word, she strutted back, trying to head in the right direction with as much dignity as she could. Chat easily fell into step with her. "Piggyback offer still stands, Princess." Suddenly his eyes lit up as something occurred to him and he laughed. "Ha! Princess. How appropriate."

This made Marinette smile, but still, she shook her head. "I can't believe you call me that," she said quietly. She had no idea how a one-time joking nickname like that had stuck.

"Well you are!" he cried. "Quite literally at the moment, but I've always thought you have all the perfect qualities one would expect from a princess."

She scoffed in disbelief. "What qualities? Stubborn, clumsy, and able to kick the occasional Akuma butt?"

" No. Beautiful, smart, talented, brave, a natural leader, and able to kick the occasional Akuma butt."

For a moment, Marinette was taken aback by what he said. She stopped, her mouth falling open slightly in surprise. She'd only heard her parents say all of those things. And one or two of them from Alya and a few select others. But never from someone, she was actually interested in.

...Wait, what?

She shook her head, clearing it of that errant thought and focusing on the situation at hand. Was that seriously what Chat thought about her? Not as Ladybug, but her . The thought that he did baffled her but she couldn't let Chat Noir see her falter at his words. Quickly she fell back into step and picked her bravado back off the floor.

"Kicking Akuma butt?" she said with a hint of sass. "Is that a prerequisite for a princess now?"

"Yup, totally is," he smirked. "After all, Princess Pingyang of the Zang Dynasty was a Chat Noir. I don't think she fought Akuma, but she did lead an army, so it seems legitimate. So, there is my proof that one Marinette Dupain-Cheng is in fact, a princess."

"I see," she said with a smirk. "Well then- Ahhh!" She suddenly cried out when she tripped over what she assumed to be another stupid root. "Thank goodness you didn't say 'graceful' on that list because graceful I am not."

"I'd disagree with that," he told her. "You may be a bit clumsy sometimes, but you do have a certain grace about you. Especially when you're doing something you love. Besides, I'd love to see Princess Grace Kelly walking through a dark forest without tripping up." He offered her a hand up and she accepted with a smile. However, that smile quickly turned into a grimace of pain when she put pressure on her foot. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just my ankle. I'll be fine." She attempted to walk on, but the pain bit at her again and she held back a small hiss.

"Yeah, no," he said, stopping her by tightening his grip on her hand. "Come on, jump up on my back."

"Chat I can-"

"Okay, let me rephrase that. You can willingly jump up on my back, or I will put you there. I'm not letting you walk blindly through a forest with a bung ankle. I don't care if it's minor, if you walk on it, it will only get worse. So, easy way or hard way?" Marinette just muttered something he couldn't quite catch and turned sulkily away from him. He just shrugged. "Easy way it is, then." And with that, he grabbed her by the arm and leg and swung her up onto his back, shifting about a bit to get them both comfortable.

"Ahh! Chat!" she growled. "How is that the easy way!"

"Come on, Princess. We both know that the hardest thing for you is admitting that you need help," he said cheekily, starting to walk off down the path with a grin on his face.

"I could easily choke you right now," she said flatly, her arms tightening a little around his neck.

"But you won't. You love me too much." In annoyance, she swung her good leg down in a kick anywhere she could land, managing to hit him in the thigh. "Ow! Okay, that one was deserved."

"Just... mush, Kitty."

"Yes, your highness," he said. She would have bet that if he'd had a hand free, he would have given her one of his two finger salutes.

.

The rest of the journey was completed in blissful silence. It wasn't blissful because they weren't talking – she enjoyed the banter she shared with her partner – but rather is was such a comfortable silence. Piggybacks were never really all that comfortable, but she did grow used to the rhythm. She could feel the way he moved, and the steady movement of his breathing against her chest. Her head was also right in by his neck, and she couldn't help but breath in his rather intoxicating, musky scent.

By the time they arrived at the cottage, the sun had been up for an hour or so, and she was starting to nod off.

"Hey, Princess, we're here," he said quietly, gently jostling her so she could wake up and see.

It was a quaint little home, built into the side of a hill, almost like a Hobbit hole. The roof looked like it was made of the roots of what was once a giant tree, and someone had come along and built a pretty house underneath it.

He walked up to the door, nudging it open. Of course, it was unlocked. This was a fairytale. The inside actually had a lot of space, tunnelling deep into the hill and down slightly. There was even a platform running along the top that gave it a faux second level, like in his own room back home. Thankfully, though, it all seemed clean. He'd be damned if he let Marinette (who was already tired enough as it was) clean up after seven lazy, little slobs.

He found the bedroom after a short look about, snorting when he saw the names on the bed. They weren't the same as the classic dwarf names, and he was interested in finding out who they all belonged to. Nosey, Lazy, Brainy, Arty, Moody, Handy and Cupid. After a moment of deliberation, he decided that the Arty name fitted her best, and he gently plonked her down on it. Instantly, she tiredly began to snuggle into the covers.

"Just a moment, Princess, we have to sort you out first." She just mumbled in response. Something about sleep being good for kitties.

He just shook his head in amusement and took off her shoes as carefully as he could. He could see that her ankle was a little swollen, but it wouldn't be too bad. Nonetheless, he searched about the house until he came across a scrap of fabric he was able to tear into bandages and began wrapping it around her foot with practised motions. She was already half asleep and didn't seem to respond.

With a fond smile, he pulled the duvet up over her, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"You know, Princess," he said, stifling a yawn. "You really do make a beautiful Snow White."

He was about to get up to leave, but his exhaustion caught up with him, and instead, he found himself slowly lying down on the soft blankets at her feet, his eyelids drooping heavily. And as he drifted off, a peacefully slumbering Marinette just in his view, all he could think about was the harm that was going to come to her in this story. And that he would do anything to save her from it. That he would protect her because no one hurt his Princess...

.oOo.

"You know, they kind of look cute like that?"

Marinette slowly drifted back to consciousness, hushed voices the first thing that she was aware of.

"Oh man! I so wish I had my camera!"

"S-she looks really pretty in that..."

"Who is he even meant to be anyway? I don't think he's the prince..."

"Yeah, and what's he still doing here? I thought Snow White was supposed to be on her own."

"Shh! Shh! Guys, she's waking up!"

Tiredly, she rubbed at her eyes and glared at the people around her. She was met by the faces of Alya, Nino, Kim, Max, Nathanaël, Ivan, and... Theo?

"Aww, come on, Mari. That look isn't very befitting of a princess," Alya teased.

"Your face isn't very befitting of a princess," she grumbled, attempting to roll back over. Alya just snorted in amusement.

"As you boys can see, Marinette is not a morning person."

"But, going by the position of the sun, it is definitely somewhere around mid-afternoon," Max said.

"Shut up, Max," she muttered. "We found this place after the sun came up. It's too early to deal with your science!" Again, she attempted to roll over and get comfortable, but something was pinning her legs down. She pushed herself up slightly and looked down to see a messy mop of blond hair and black cat ears snuggled into her hip. A black-clothed arm was draped over her legs, and he had a peaceful, happy expression on his face. He… kind looked cute like that. And he was wrapped around her like he didn't want to let go...

Wait, what the hell was Chat Noir doing wrapped around her waist? She looked at Alya in bewilderment and Alya shrugged.

"He's been cuddled up to you since we found the two of you," she told her, a shit-eating grin on her face.

She scowled and rolled her eyes at what she knew her friend was implying before sitting up a bit and poking at Chat Noir's cheek. "Chat," she said. "Chat, wake up."

"Mmm… no…" he mumbled, snuggling in even more, his other hand coming up to rest by his head, and ended up resting on her butt. Heat flooded her face and she jumped in surprise.

"Chat!" she cried.

"Not now, Princess. Sleep."

"Chat Noir, we have company, I want to get up, and your hand is on my ass!"

That seemed to wake him up, and he snapped bolt upright, snatching his hands away as if he'd been stung. A slight blush could be seen spreading out under his mask and his eyes were wide. "S-sorry!" he said quickly. He was distracted from his embarrassment by Alya snorting as she barely held back a laugh. "Morning, Alya," he said.

"It's the afternoon, Chat Noir."

"Well then, good afternoon." He grinned, looking about at the small group. "What are you all doing here anyway?"

Nino rolled his eyes. "Well, apparently we're the 'dwarves'," he said, using his fingers to make quotation marks.

"...I don't want to belittle you or anything, but aren't you seven a bit tall to be dwarves?"

Beside him, Marinette let out a long-suffering groan. "It's too early for this!" she moaned. "It's too early for everything!"

"Ooh! Ooh! I want to do the name matching!" Chat cried, looking around at them. He glanced at the first bed he could see, seeing the name 'Nosey'. He snorted. "Oh, Nosey has to be Alya."

"I'm not nosey, I'm a reporter!" she huffed, sounding like this was something she'd argued many times now.

"Moody? What kind of name is that? I'm guessing that's Ivan, but he's more… broody and likes metal, you know?" Ivan raised an eyebrow at him and Marinette found herself holding back a giggle. "Brainy…" He looked about the group till his eyes fell on Max and he pointed to him. "No question about it. "Cupid… Cupid?" He looked at the others. The only person he'd associate with Cupid was Alya, mostly because she was nosey and he knew she tried to set people up with each other. Then again… "Oh! Kim! You were Dark Cupid!" He grinned, happy he had cracked the puzzle. His eyes flicked to Nathanaël, and he remembered that he had popped Marinette down on a bed labelled 'Arty'. "You have to be Arty, hands down." Then he turned to the other two.

"Well, now we're down to the easy ones," Nino said casually, his hands in his pockets.

Chat Noir's brow furrowed. "Easy? You two are the difficult ones," he told them. The only names left were 'Lazy' and 'Handy'. As far as he knew, neither of those fit Nino. He knew his best friend, and he was not lazy… but on the other hand, he wasn't really handy either. On the flipside, he didn't really know much about Theo, he just knew that he did way too many jobs to be considered lazy. "I want to say Handy and Lazy," he said, pointing to Theo and Nino respectively, "but Nino's not lazy. He's just chill."

Nino smiled widely. "Thanks for saying that, dude, but you got it bang on."

"Huh, weird. Then again, Kim got a name based off his Akuma. He's certainly not one of the first people I think of when thinking about matchmakers."

"Really? And who do you think of?" Marinette asked. Subtly, Chat flicked his eyes towards Alya and his head gave the slightest nod in her direction. It was the same subtle body language he used to talk to Ladybug, and she understood every movement. She let out a giggle. "Oh yeah. Definitely. Me too. She's the worst!"

"Uh, did we miss something?" Kim asked in confusion, looking at his best friend. Max just shrugged, not having caught the silent conversation.

"I think she's talking about me," Alya said with a roll of her eyes. "Girl, how did you even end up in here? As Snow, nonetheless."

She grinned sheepishly. "Well… Chat came along and helped me for a bit. But then we were caught, and Ellie said something about having her main characters and… well, we both ended up in here."

"This is nuts," Nino sighed. "Dude, how are we going to get out of here if you're in here with us?"

Chat Noir just smiled easily. "We'll just have to wait for Ladybug to get us out. She always does."

Marinette looked down at the bright quilt guilty, chewing at her lip. Not this time. She couldn't save them this time because both of them were in there. But it wasn't like she could say that.

How were they even supposed to get out at all if both heroes were trapped inside? It wasn't like she could use Miraculous Cure. She didn't even know where Tikki and her Miraculous were!

"B-but don't expect me to clean for you till that happens," she said, trying not to let her voice shake. Attempting to distract herself from that thought. Now was not the time to ponder it.

"Fine by us," Nathanaël said with a shrug. "I mean, it's not like we go to the mines and dig or anything. Actually, we went to this clearing. I was drawing. Nino and Kim were tossing about a ball Kim found."

"Yeah, we were just kind of… compelled to leave the house but after that… nothing," Ivan told them. "Then after a few hours, we had the same feeling sorta telling us to go home.

Marinette nodded. "I had the same thing when I first arrived. Even though I had no reason to be, I was terrified and wanted to run," she said, climbing out of bed and stretching. She winced when she put pressure on her foot, remembering that she'd hurt it, and looked down to see that it had been bandaged up. "Huh. How did that get there?" she wondered.

"That was me," Chat Noir told her. "You were really tired and out of it when we got here, and I didn't want it to get worse, so I strapped it up."

"You did a good job," Kim said, inspecting the bandage. "You must be used to it from like… all the superhero stuff, right?"

"Sometimes. Usually, the suit prevents most injuries, or Miraculous Cure fixes it up. I learnt how to do that playing sports. I've faced Akuma's less dangerous than some sports, yet my father is fine with those, and would flip if he ever found out that I'm Chat Noir." He chuckled at the thought, but also seemed to pale a little.

"What kind of sports?" Alya asked curiously.

He shrugged. "Lots over the years, but I'm only down to a couple at the moment. Badminton, archery, fencing, rock climbing, basketball, polo… I tried hockey once, but I came back covered in bruises the first week and Father didn't let me play again."

"What a dick," Ivan muttered.

"Wow, you play a lot of sports," Nathanael said.

"No wonder you're so ripped!" Kim exclaimed. Chat blushed slightly at the comment but preened regardless. Marinette was about to react like she normally would when she saw pretty much everyone else roll their eyes, facepalm, or shake their head in exasperation at Kim.

.

"Okay, okay, enough chit chat. Let them rest. It's dinner time," Theo said. Everyone looked at him questioningly. "It may be a little early, but we all need food. No one had breakfast, and all we had for lunch was an apple from that tree we found."

"No apples!" Chat said, pointing a stern finger at the artist.

"I am pretty hungry. I don't think I've eaten since yesterday," Marinette said. Chat's stomach growled in agreeance.

"Dinner it is then!" he said.

"Alright then, come on, boys. Marinette, you stay here off your foot." Theo started to move off towards the kitchen but noticed that no one was following him. All the boys stood about awkwardly, some making nervous or embarrassed gestures. "What?"

"Um… I can't cook," Chat Noir admitted.

"Yeah, neither," Nino said. Chat's eyebrows rose in surprise, especially when pretty much all the other boys agreed.

"Wait, I didn't know you had a chef too." The look of confusion on her Kitty's face was priceless, but she found her eyebrows rising as what he said suddenly clicked.

"Ah, no. I have a mum , dude!" Nino said incredulously.

"Oh. Oh, ah… I… don't…" he scratched awkwardly at the back of his head and she noticed a glint of sadness in his eyes that she had never seen before.

It seemed… wrong. She didn't like her Kitty looking so upset like that. Her heart ached for him, especially since by what he said, he didn't have a full family. His mother was gone and he missed her. He had never mentioned her before… However, he had mentioned his father once or twice to her before. Every time he had seemed a bit nervous, and just from what he said… She did not like his father. She frowned, feeling her Kitten's pain a moment. She couldn't imagine her life without her wonderful parents. It seemed that the others did a little as well. Chat looked sad and a little nervous at his slip up. She knew that he didn't like attention like that…

"Wait… Chat, are you… rich?!" she cried, suddenly trying to change the mood. "Oh my god! This makes so much sense! You're not an alley cat, you're a pampered show kitty! That's why you're always showing off!"

Chat Noir was taken aback by the sudden change, but at least the pain was now gone from his eyes.

"Um… well, yeah. I kind of am," he admitted, grinning and sheepishly scratching at the back of his head again. "But hey! What makes you think I show off because I'm a show cat?!" Now he sounded mildly offended, but much happier now that he had taken the bait. "What If I'm a pampered show kitty with very strict rules and just like to sneak out of the house to act like an alley cat when I can?"

"Oh really?" she said slyly. "Let me guess? You've got a minder and everything? A bodyguard? Security cameras?"

"Oh yeah, the whole mission impossible. You have no idea!" He grinned.

"Bro, you and Adrien would get along so well," Nino laughed. "I should introduce you… Kid needs more friends. Just… don't steal him. He's my best bud, you got that? Our bromance will last lifetimes!"

Chat sniggered. "Whatever you say, Nino. I have no doubt it will."

"So, are you gonna go find Ladybug and kick this Akuma's butt?" he asked.

"Nope. I'm not leaving Mari's side."

"Wait, what?" she said in confusion, looking at him sharply. "What do you mean you're not leaving my side? Sh-shouldn't you… look for Ladybug or some way to defeat the Akuma from in here? Or maybe some way out? Or-"

"Oh no, I'm not going anywhere," he said firmly.

"Chat-"

"Mari, you're my friend. I don't want anything to happen to you," he said sincerely. "Akuma be damned. This story is literally a death trap for you. So I am going to stay here and protect you."

There was a heavy silence in the room for a moment, and Marinette could feel her eyes tear up slightly. She felt so much affection for her kitty in that moment, she wanted to launch herself at him and hug him.

"So… how did you two even meet?" Ivan asked, breaking the silence.

"Oh, um…"

"Well, we kinda…" The two stuttered as they fumbled for an answer. They both had their meetings as Ladybug and Chat Noir, and Marinette and Adrien so ingrained in their mind that it took them a little bit to remember the first time they 'met' as Chat Noir and Marinette.

"Evillustrator, right?" Alya said for them.

"Huh?" Nathanael said, looking about in confusion.

"Yeah, that's right," Chat said. "We met when she helped me fight Evillustrator."

"Wait, what?!" Nathanael exclaimed, aghast. It dawned on Marinette that since he didn't have any memories of his time as an Akuma, he probably didn't even know she'd been there at all.

"Marinette helped you fight an Akuma?!" Kim said, sounding impressed.

Okay, so maybe a lot of people didn't know.

"Yeah, she did," Alya told them all. "Evillustrator showed up and asked Marinette out on a date-"

"It wasn't a date, it was his birthday!" Marinette was quick to correct.

"Right, so Evillustrator showed up and asked her out to a romantic birthday party for two, and not wanting to incur the wrath of the most imaginative Akuma ever, she said yes. Then she got a hold of Ladybug, who was busy at the time and sent Chat Noir to protect her."

"Yep! And she was really good. She managed to get the tainted item off him for a bit, and even got us out of a tight spot. She can really think outside the box. "

Marinette groaned, hiding a smile in her hands. "You're terrible!"

"Oh my god, I am so sorry, Marinette! If I had known I-"

"It's okay, Nath, really," she soothed. "Honestly, you were the nicest Akuma I've ever seen. You stuck to your promise of not going after Chloe if I went out with you, and after that, you were more concerned with trying to make the night as wonderful as possible. You didn't even try going for the Miraculous until Chat Noir came into your sight."

"See, I told you it was a date," Alya teased quietly, making Nathanael go bright red.

"Alright, enough. Let's go get this dinner made," Marinette said, trying to stop her best friend from stirring up more trouble. She limped towards the kitchen and looked in the cupboards to see quite a good amount of food stocked in there. This she could definitely work with.

"Ah, what are you doing?" Chat Noir asked her, his tone more reprimanding than curious.

"Making dinner," she stated. "There's some good stuff in here. I was thinking about making bread and soup. It's easy and can easily feed… nine."

"And what about your foot?"

"I can handle it," she told him.

"I told you to rest," Theo reminded her gently. "I can make dinner."

"No, it's fine. I'll do it."

"Typical Mari," Alya sighed, rolling her eyes. She smirked over at Chat. "You've got your work cut out for you, Hero. This girl could be close to death and still work her butt off."

"I'll take that as a compliment," she shot back, grabbing things out of the cupboard.

"I'll help then," Chat said brightly.

Marinette turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "I thought you said you couldn't cook."

"I can't. But I'm willing to learn. Come on, you can show me how to cook, and I can grab stuff for you so you don't have to move too much."

"Alright then, deal." She grinned and placed her hands on her hips. "First off I need you to grab me a bowl for the bread. I'll make that and you can do the soup."

Chat nodded and began to move around the kitchen, looking in the cupboards and shelves for what he was asked for. Marinette kept calling for more utensils and ingredients, and a few minutes later she had everything. Next, she directed him to grab the ingredients for the soup, then to go outside and grab a few buckets of water.

As she began to make the bread, Chat Noir lit the fire under the large, cauldron-like pot, then set up beside her to chop the vegetables. He didn't know how to chop or peel most things, but once she explained it to him, he wasn't half bad.

"This is fun," he told her, a relaxed smile gracing his face. "It's kind of soothing."

"Yep. It's one of the reasons I love cooking and baking so much. That, plus it's fun. I can get creative, and I love sharing it with everyone. Watching people enjoy something I've made is one of my favourite things!"

"I wish I could do this more. I'm not even allowed to step into our kitchen. It's usually locked, and when it isn't the Chef is in there. Sometimes he'll be nice and sneak me something if he can get away with it, other times he straight up chucks me out. Trying to sneak cheese for Plagg was a nightmare. But I've hidden a mini fridge in my room. Makes it easier to feed him, and I don't have to explain to anyone why I'm hoarding so much camembert when I don't even like fancy, smelly cheeses! Nope, I'll stick to cheddar, thanks!"

Marinette gasped in mock shock, placing a floury hand to her breast. "Why, Chaton! You don't like fancy cheese?! I thought you were supposed to be a show cat!"

Chat Noir shot her a glare, though he wasn't able to keep the amused smirk off his face. "I think I preferred alley cat," he laughed.

Marinette giggled, but then frowned when she thought of her own Kwami. She still had no idea where Tikki was and it worried her. "...Plagg's your… Kammi, right?" she asked him.

"Kwami," he corrected. "And yeah, he is. He's a greedy, sassy little shit, too."

"Oh, so you're a perfect match!"

He shot her another half-hearted glare. "Please never compare me to my Kwami again," he said, deadpan.

Marinette giggled again. "So, what does he think of all this? Being in a fairytale?"

"I wouldn't know." He shrugged. "I haven't transformed back yet… Which is really weird, because I have used Cataclysm and slept through the… well, day suited up. Usually, I transform back if I fall asleep."

"So… it's almost like… an unnatural transformation. You're stuck as Chat?"

He nodded, a grim expression on his face. "It's a little worrying, but probably for the best. Probably wouldn't be all that good if everyone found out who I was because I decided to have a cat nap."

"That's true," she said, smiling a little.

"Still, it is weird. I wonder if I can change back…" After a moment's thought, he shrugged. "I'll try it out tomorrow."

"Hopefully it works. We need to get out of this soon."

"Don't worry, we will," he said with a certainty that had her blinking in surprise. "Ladybug always gets us out of things like this. And the few times she couldn't, I've managed to find a way out. It will be no problem, just you wait and see."

Marinette said nothing, only forcing a reassuring smile on her face before turning back to the bread. What would her Kitten say when 'his Ladybug' never showed up to help?

.

Dinner was made quickly and efficiently with the two of them working together, and soon nine bowls of soup were laid out on the table, along with a few still warm loaves of bread and some butter that they had found in a cool corner.

It was a very social dinner, with everyone chatting along. A lot of the focus swung to Chat as everyone asked him questions. Alya was near on giving him a full interview, and though she didn't have a pen and paper, Marinette could see her filing all the information away for later. She found it a bit of a relief since the focus was no longer on her. She would say that she felt sorry for Chat Noir, but he looked as if he were loving the attention and getting to know her classmates. He easily deflected anything too personal, and no one bugged or pressed him when he told them so. She felt… father proud of all her friends. Sometimes she just… she got the feeling that her Kitten needed more love. It was nice to see him so happy.

It wasn't long till everyone was sitting there, their stomachs full. But still, the talking continued and talking evolved into games and dares and challenges. It was kind of like one big sleepover… Though it was mostly guys (which was not something her parents allowed often), and there was one adult. Even though Theo said he was only twenty-four and hardly considered himself an adult, he was still the closest thing they had to parental supervision. And no one could deny that he was mothering them.

It was him who eventually called lights out when most people looked too tired to keep their eyes open. Marinette and Chat Noir were still alert as anything, having only woken up that afternoon. And Alya, being used to many late nights writing articles, was still looking pretty good. Still, they all got up and trudged off to their assigned beds. Alya offered to share, and Marinette curled into the small bed with her, cuddling up with her best friend so neither would fall off. Some of the boys offered to share with Chat, but he declined them, instead, gathering cushions from around the cottage and making a small bed out of them. He curled up so much like a cat that the two girls had to stifle their giggles in the blankets.

As was usual with sleepovers, despite the fact they were all trying to sleep, everyone still kept talking to each other in hushed voices. Slowly as the conversations slowed, people began to drop out as they fell asleep and there were a few light snores coming from around the room. And soon there was no one else awake apart from Marinette and Alya. They lay in the small bed, wrapped around each other, almost nose to nose as they talked.

"I think there's at least four or five people snoring right now, girl," Alya whispered. "I kinda hope we don't have to do this for another night. They're worse than my dad!"

Marinette giggled as quietly as she could manage. "Nothing is worse than your dad!"

"I think that it's… Nino. That is definitely Nino. - And Ivan. - I can't tell if that one just then was Max or Kim. Or was it Theo?"

"I think it was Kim."

"Hmm… Not a peep from your cat boy. He's a quiet one."

She grinned, trying to hold back another giggle. "I know. I'm half expecting him to start purring."

"Only if you go pet him, girl."

"Oh my god, Alya!" she hissed.

"Come on, don't play dumb! I saw the two of you. So, what was all that about?"

"All what about?"

"You and Chat Noir!" she urged. "What was up with you two?"

"Um… we were just… talking."

"And since when have you been able to talk to guys?"

She shot Alya a deadpan glare. "I've always been able to talk to guys. You know it's only Adrien that makes me lose control of my tongue."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. It's different."

"It it really, though?" Alya said softly.

"O-of course it is," she stuttered, the question throwing her off. "You know why I… and that is so not… I don't-"

"Oh, you so do," Alya said smugly. "It's okay girl. I won't tell. And I'm always here to help."

"It's not like that," she said quietly, almost no conviction to her statement. "Let's just… let's just sleep now, okay?"

"Okay, hun. Night."

"Night." They shuffled a little bit, wrapping their arms around each other, and closed their eyes.

Across the room, a pair of bright green eyes squinted at the opposite wall, the poor confused cat trying to figure out what the girls had been talking about. What was it that was different about him and… well, him? And what was it that made Marinette speechless around him?

He could tell that not long after the girls had drifted off, but these questions kept him up well into the night.

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Just a note to everyone here on :

I am slowly moving my main writing over to AO3. I tend to post a few days to a week earlier over there.

Honestly, the only reason I still post to anymore is because of all of you wonderful people. just frustrates me so much these days with its complicated system, and lack of formatting and decent tagging system. It's for these reasons that I am working towards moving to AO3 completely.

If you want to follow me there, my pen name is KrazyKyStaHatter. I'd love to see you there!