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The phone now sat in the hidden compartment in her desk. Out of sight, but not out of mind.
The thought of the phone call was sickening and now it was making it harder to fall asleep, and the more she couldn't sleep, the more she prayed so hard for the crime rate in Paris to spike again. Anything to get Chat Noir to pop up on live television so she could rush to his location.
She did think of calling Damian, but she thought it would make her look weak in his eyes. Well, she didn't really know him all to well aside from the fact that he was curt and deadly.
She was beginning to realize that the black-leathered superhero was more of a mystery to her than she'd ever thought too. He was never available when she needed him, always full of himself and full of cheesy jokes that had unwillingly rubbed off on her.
She never knew his favourite places or even his favourite food. Sure, he had the distinct smell of aging cheese reeking from him, but he always swore that he hated dairy products.
Above all else, he was terrible at explaining things. It was almost tragic. Communication was clearly his weakest trait. It had taken Marinette about half their partnership to realize Ladybug's true potential for creation.
Okay, so maybe he wasn't all that mysterious. Perhaps just too carefree, especially around her.
But that didn't mean the feline was a bad mentor. His jester-like approach to danger managed to ease Marinette's nerves as Ladybug. He was skilled in hand-to-hand combat, which balanced out Ladybug's strategic but sometimes awkward use of her Lucky Charm.
But what stood out the most was his affectionate nature. Out of the two of them, Chat Noir really understood what it meant to be a caring person. He had even helped Marinette become more understanding as she navigated high school. Of course, there was a limit to how much nonsense an irritable 17-year-old could withstand, but at least she'd learned to practice tolerance.
It seemed like no matter how badly people treated each other, Chat Noir always wanted Marinette to cherish the relationships she'd managed to keep. It gave her the sense that Chat Noir didn't really have that many people in his life, unlike her. Maybe that was why he wanted Marinette and Ladybug to connect with people better than he did.
Marinette hugged her pillow tightly and rolled over to the other side of her bed.
"Oh, Chat. Where could a silly kitty like you be?"
He could make this entire situation go away in a moment. With one dry joke, he could make the festering anger and fear in her heart fly away. Maybe if she just listened to Tikki. Maybe if she just didn't let that akuma get away. Maybe if she just changed her wallpaper then—
Tap. Tap. Tap.
She heard a rhythm on the window of the hatch that led up to her balcony. Marinette froze. Her mother had warned her about moments like these—tapping on the window meant a message was coming, and it could either be the best prophecy of a lifetime or the worst imaginable luck. It was as the fortune foretold.
