After going down to the kitchen and fetching a large slice of Camembert, Chat stealthily made his way back up to Marinette's bedroom. He knew his transformation would hold all night if he didn't use cataclysm. He placed the plate of cheese on her table so that should he need to detransform, Plagg had sufficient sustenance to power up.
Chat ran a hand through his hair.
What to do, what to do…
He had never been in a ladies room before-Chloe wasn't counted.
It was so…dainty? Delicate? What was the word for it?
Pleasant?
Assuring?
…Comforting?
He heard a little shuffle and glanced up to Marinette's bed, taking in the little ball under the blankets, she was muttering to herself.
Quietly, he hopped up.
"You should be asleep."He said calmly, almost teasingly. Marinette poked her head out from under the covers.
"I am."
"You're not."
She huffed.
"Wait, Chat, where are you going to sleep?"She asked.
"Why should I sleep?" He asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Don't you have stuff to do during the day tomorrow?" Marinette asked in wonder.
"Not that much. Besides, I'm not here to sleep. I have a job to do." He said.
Marinette yawned, Chat's voice at the moment was so calm, and it was steadily lulling her into a daze.
"You must live a boring life."She mused,not really aware of her words in her drowsy state.
Chat chuckled. "Hardly,princess."He said softly.
Marinette yawned again. "If you do plan on sleeping though, the chaise is super soft,and there are some really soft comforters in the wardrobe." She said.
She yawned once more, eyes bleary with sleepy tears.
"Here I thought you'd invite me to sleep with you." He laughed.
"Never." She said to herself but loud enough for him to hear. He chuckled.
"Alright, that's enough consciousness for you."He said,placing a hand over her eyes. At first before he did, she eyed his hand wearily, and then she took a quick glance at his eyes.
She had always prided herself in her ability to pick out people with ill-intent.
Chat's eyes however just held amusement.
So,in her sleepy haze,she allowed him to cover her eyes with his hand.
The darkness slowly hauled her in,and sleep took over.
Chat waited a few minutes before removing his hand, curious as to whether or not she actually fell asleep.
After noting that she did,he smiled victoriously, and jumped down to her chaise.
*****
It was around 3 a.m that he fell asleep from exhaustion on Marinette's chaise.
At 3:30 a.m , Marinette woke up. It was normal for her to wake up in the early parts of the morning to go to bathroom,the strange pee-ing habits somehow started a year back,and now it was a nightly ritual to need to pee during the course of the night.
Drowsily,she walked down her stairs yawning. She went into the bathroom, pulled down her pants and sat on the toilet seat, smiling contentedly to herself, thinking about a sketch she had made that week.
She had completely forgotten about Chat, or the fact that he was in her room. After washing her hands, she entered her room, a dopey smile on her face.
But a small shuffle caught her attention,she was about to scream when she saw Chat on her chaise,however the sound died in her throat when the events of last night flooded her mind.
Her eyes fixed themselves on Chat's contorted face.
Something was wrong. He seemed to be writhing. It looked as if he was trying to break away from something.A cushion fell to the floor and Chat's head turned to the other side,he continued to wriggle and mouth something.
Marinette's eyes widened. Was he having a nightmare?She walked forward tentively.
"Chat?"She whispered, and the closer she got,the clearer she heard his mumblings.
"I told you already…Stop it…Don't…But this is wrong.I won't!"He said, suddenly shoving the air.
Marinette blinked.
"Hey, it's okay, you don't have to-urm- do anything."She said in what she hoped would be a soothing voice.
Her voice though,sounded awkward and unsure,and Chat didn't seem to hear her.
"Why…but you're a sister to me…I'm not your boyfriend,why do you say that?"He asked the silent air.
Marinette was unsure of what to do.
"Okay, okay, I'll do it… Please don't tell my father… I can't…"His head turned to the side sharply, his eyes scrunched shut.
Marinette stood next to the chaise, clutching her cushion.
"But you're my only friend…but… I don't want to… no…no…"He let out a strange noise. Marinette felt awful.
She was right.
Something did ruin his outlook on life,and it must have been whatever he was dreaming of…
He turned so that he was on his chest. Marinette reached out her hand, to touch his back but the contact seemed too much for him, because he flipped to his side and slashed the place where Marinette stood.
"Stop touching me!"He hissed as his claw scratched. Marinette made it out of the way just in time, but her cushion was ruined.
However, somehow the threads and fluff from the scratched cushion got caught in Chat's claws and the cushion was now seemingly stuck to his hand.
Marinette sighed in relief, but horror flooded her when she heard it…
A sob.
She looked at chats dry eyes…He was crying in his dream…Wait.
A tear slipped out slowly...
Marinette couldn't believe that something was wounding the kitty this badly...Chat Noir, the dangerous supervillain…Quite frankly, it perturbed her to no ends.
Summoning up her courage, she stood at the head of the chaise,out of the way of his claws,and with her best bit of bravery,she placed a hand in his silky hair and petted.
He continued to whine.
"It's done now... It's finished. You're okay now."She said softly,when his whining stopped and his body began to still, she mustered up a bit more of her bravery and walked around to the side and knelt next to the chaise,not removing her hand.
"…but it's-"He started to talk again in his sleep but she hushed him,and slowly, his breaths became even as she continued to pet him. Her hands brushed through his hair gently and his body completely stilled,save for the steady rise and fall of his chest. His face turned to hers ,his eyes were still closed,but he looked relaxed now.
Marinette stared at his face and wondered who was the monster who tainted his dreams?
He wasn't a real villain.
The real villain was the one who made him this way.
She lay her head on the chaise, and continued to play with his hair till she succumbed to sleep.
Sometime during the night, the cushion fell off his hand and his hand gently intertwined with hers.
******
Chat awoke to Marinette with her hand in his hand and the other in his hair.
To say he was shocked was an understatement. A weird feeling welled up in his chest, and his stomach felt fluttery…
He blinked a few times ,noting that his eyes felt a bit sore. He looked at her again,and glanced at the clock, 5:30 in the morning.
He knew he needed to wake her up soon, but he didn't want to lose contact with her for some unknown reason.
This was weird, just last night he had to stop her from screaming when she saw him,and now they held hands?And in their sleep no less!But somehow, it felt so perfect, his hand being held...
Sighing, he cursed his wandering thoughts,and sat up,withdrawing his hand.
"Princess,time to wake up…"He said, lightly poking her cheek.
"Noooo…"She groaning, batting at his hand.
"Marinette come on, you have to get up now."He said,getting up from the chaise and going to crouch in front of the sleeping woman.
"Ten minutes more."She mumbled.
"My lady, you're going to be late-"he started but her eyes shot open.
"I'm late?Oh no, oh no, oh no, not again!"She exclaimed jumping up, it was so sudden that even Chat was taken aback.
"Wait, wait princess breathe-" he tried but she was already rummaging through her drawers.
"Urgh I have no time to bath now!"She squeaked, pulling out a clean set underwear and a lacy bra. Chat's eyes bulged.
Marinette had forgotten about his presence,again,and she made to remove her nightshirt.
Chat made it to her in time to forcefully yank it back on her.
"Princess,you have time!"He said, his voice highly strained as he thought about what his eyes had involuntarily seen.
Marinette's eyes fixed on him, she didn't realise he had been flashed. "Oh."
He took her shoulders, turned her around and marched her to the bathroom.
After she was done changing, Chat went over the rules again. He gave her a menacing threat about not ratting him out, she merely rolled her eyes.
He walked her down the stairs to the bakery, and a few of the female shop assistants were waiting outside. She let them in and Chat slinked outside unnoticed.
"Well, this is where I leave you. Till this evening, princess."He said with a bow.
"Right, well, have an awesome day!"She said,determined not to let him know that she knew about his nightmares.
She knew that he didn't want her to see him as vulnerable. So she would pretend,if that made him feel more secure,then she'd do it.
He nodded and took off, not noticing her looking at her timer, squeaking and running in a similar direction.
Chat ran as fast as he could before he rounded a corner and detransformed. Plagg yawned.
"Cheese."He demanded and Adrien handed him some.
When Adrien stepped out of the corner he collided with someone.
It must have looked really frightening for him to step out of the dark alley before catching the little person because she squeaked and a fist landed right on his eye.
"SHIT!" he exclaimed,covering his eye. "Adrien?"Marinette said in horror.
He exhaled, trying to stay calm.
"I'm sorry!Oh my gosh,what is wrong with me! You were just trying to catch me."She groaned.
Adrien looked at her with his uncovered eye.
"That's okay,Marinette,I was stepping out of a dark alley after all.You look flustered, everything okay?"he asked,in a testing manner.
"Well yes,just some crazy stuff happened and I have to get to the police station in 3 minutes."She said in a rush,her eyes darted around.
"I'm really really really sorry Adrien, I don't know where these violent outbursts are coming from." She said, grabbing her head. Her timer beeped.
"Eep! Two minutes! Adrien, I'm sorry again, please come by the my parents bakery later,I'm sure you know it,The Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie ,and you can have anything you like,my treat.I'm sorry.I have to go.I'm so so so sorry."she said and suddenly ran off.
Adrien exhaled. The black eye wasn't going to be visible when he transformed but he knew it would stay on his civilian form
He watched Marinette run to the station. Well, it could have been worse, at least she didn't use her pot this time. He shook his head.
He trudged home and Plagg ate his cheese,choosing not to comment,but light snickers were audible.
"Damsels are violent as hell." He mused to himself. He entered the mansion in the normal fashion, seeing as he wasn't transformed. However, when he entered he knew he really had the worst luck, for there stood Gabriel Agreste, Nathalie, the Gorilla ,Mayor Bourgeois and…
And…
"Adrikins!"
Gabriel gasped at Adrien's black eye and Nathalie rushed to get an ice-pack.
"Where have you been? I was so lonely!"
Adrien felt his heart drop through his chest. Why couldn't she leave him alone…Why?