Undiscovered Melody |COMPLETED|

Chapter 41

"Marinette," called Cat Noir down into her room from where he stood on the rooftop deck.

"Come on down!" Marinette replied as she added another post card to her wall. She stood back and looked at the concert t-shirt that she had hung on the wall and that was starting to be surrounded by post cards Luka had sent her from each place that he had played. It had only been a few weeks and her wall was starting to look like he had been on travel for months already. She wondered where she would put all of them if he kept sending them at the rate he had been, not that she was complaining.

She heard Cat Noir land behind her and she turned around to greet him with a smile. She was getting used to him showing up at her house regularly and was finding that rather than being annoying or embarrassing, as she had thought it might be after her realization that she loved him, she actually appreciated talking to him. They had settled into a comfortable friendship.

"Wow! That's getting to be quite the collection," said Cat Noir as he stood in front of the postcards and tried to pick out the newest ones. "Milan?" he said as he pointed to one showing a photo of an 18th century style dress and turned his head to her for confirmation.

"Yep. That's from Palazzo Morando. He didn't actually go in to see all of the costumes but he thought I'd be interested. Want to guess the other one he sent from there?" she asked.

Cat Noir scanned the pictures on the postcards and one definitely stood out. "This one," he said confidently pointing at one with a sketch by Leonardo Da Vinci.

She nodded. "He went to a museum there that is all about Leonardo Da Vinci. It sounded really amazing. I think he's having a great time," she said.

He caught the slight sadness in her voice and glanced around the room for something to distract her. "Are you working on Kitty Section's costumes again?" he asked as he pointed to a mask he saw peeking out from underneath a magazine featuring Jagged Stone that was on her desk.

Marinette turned away from the postcards and walked over to the desk. She carefully set aside the magazine that she had been reading and pulled out the mask that had a tear in it. "Yes, Adrien had an accident with it. Don't say anything to him, but he's been kind of clumsy at rehearsals, always tripping over things or getting tangled in stuff. Somehow he got his mask stuck in his guitar strap and it tore a bit." She giggled, remembering the scene. She thought it was funny that he was becoming as clumsy as she used to be, though she had no idea what had caused this change in behavior.  All of her attention was on the mask so she missed the light blush of embarrassment that crossed Cat Noir's face.

"Maybe he just feels out of his element with the band still?" said Cat Noir, feeling the need to defend himself. While what he said was partly true, he knew the real reason, and it was the girl standing near him now, but he obviously couldn't tell her that. Her nearness at rehearsals and at other times when he saw her as his normal self caused him to get nervous for some reason. He wasn't sure why it was so much easier to be around her in his superhero form.

She turned toward him, but continued to keep her focus on the mask in her hands. "That could be, though he should know that he's doing really well. Everyone is impressed with his playing and they think of him as part of the band already."

"Maybe let him know? It can be hard to join something that's already established and even harder if you're replacing someone who's really talented. Maybe he doesn't feel like he's meeting everyone's expectations," he said softly but then quickly added "if that's what he's feeling, I mean."

At his words, Marinette focused her full attention on him. "That's very perceptive," she said.

Cat Noir watched her tilt her head at him, seeming to study him and he was suddenly worried she could see who he really was, so he quickly changed the subject. "So, what are you up to tomorrow?" he asked, since most of the day had already passed.