They were on patrol, which was supposed to be a time of alertness and watchfulness. NOT a time for Chat Noir to just run off and leave Ladybug alone in the middle of the day. She could hear him laughing in the distance, so she went to investigate.
What she didn't expect was to find the blond cuddling a potted plant and rubbing it all over his face and head. "What are you doing?" she asked, pushing down the laughter that threatened to spill.
Chat didn't respond; he was too occupied. He was purring quite loudly, which was making it even harder for Marinette to not laugh at him. His mewlings and chatters were all too adorable as he chewed on the plant.
"OK, OK, that's enough of that for you..." Marinette said, trying to swipe the plant out of his hold.
"Nooooo!" he whined. It seemed he was a bit stronger than normal, as he was able to yank the plant down and pull Marinette on top of him. "Mine, mine, miiiiiine!"
"You silly kitty, you know you're not actually a cat, right?" Marinette questioned. He just kept on purring, gently kicking his leg in the air. He was drooling now, too. "Alright, seriously, you're done." Marinette grabbed the pot again and yanked it from his hands.
"Gimmeeeee!" Chat leapt to his feet and used his slight height advantage to grab at the pot. Marinette was able to keep it out of his reach, but he was sure to use every trick he knew to attempt to get his precious plant back. Babydoll eyes, pouting, whimpers, even purring louder didn't work on the girl!
"And, can anyone tell me the chemical in catnip that affects our furry little friends?" their teacher asked that next day.
Rose's hand went up, so she was called on. "It's called Nepetalactone and it's found in the stems and leaves," she explained.
"Correct!" the teacher praised. "It affects the senses of cats and makes them appear what we would consider 'high'. They'll eat, lick, and even just rub the plant. Has anyone seen a cat do this?"
Marinette giggled and raised her hand, so the teacher asked her to explain. Adrien looked over at her, eyes wide. So, it was catnip that had made him act like that?! "The cat just kept rubbing and rubbing his head on the pot and the leaves. He was drooling everywhere and when I tried to take the plant away, he tried to take it back," Marinette explained. Their teacher affirmed that that was completely normal of cats, and then explained how only a small percentage of them didn't have that kind of a reaction.
"I can't believe you told everybody about that!" Adrien complained, nudging Marinette's shoulder when the teacher turned away. Everyone was going on and on either about cute cats are or how dumb they found the animals, so it wasn't like they would be heard.
"Oh, relax, it's not like they know it was you," Marinette said with a giggle. "For all they know, I could have been talking about a stray kitten!"
"But still!" Adrien sighed, knowing that he wouldn't win.
"Alright, attention!" the teacher snapped her fingers to call everyone's attentions back. "Now, since some of you may have never seen or smelled the plant, I brought some in for you all to see." She set baggies of dried leaves down on every table, starting from the back. Adrien tensed where he sat beside Marinette when the bag was plopped down between them. "Go on and open the bags, see what it is these kitties love so much."
Before Marinette could open the bag, Adrien snatched her wrist. "Isn't that a bad idea?" he asked quietly.
"Only for Plagg, stop worrying." Marinette opened the bag, pouring some of the leaves out on their desk. Adrien inhaled deeply, resisting every urge that was in him that said sit on that desk and roll around in that beautiful plant.
"Marinette...this was a bad idea..." he managed to say through his teeth.
Marinette looked over at him, her eyes widening. "It shouldn't do anything!" she hissed through her teeth. "It should only affect Chat Noir!"
"Well, apparently, my mind didn't get that memo," Adrien tried to joke, looking from Marinette to the catnip on the desk. His breathing was getting increasingly heavy, and if he wasn't careful he was going to be questioned. "C-can we get it out of here, somehow?"
"Y-yeah..." Marinette started trying to dump the catnip back into the baggie, but she couldn't do so without getting it all over her hands. She dusted her hands off and wiped them on her pink jeans, which made Adrien's eyes widen even farther.
His eyes were completely dilated, and his nostrils were flaring. If he'd have had his kitty ears and his tail, they would have been twitching like crazy.
"OK, it's all gone, Adr-"
Adrien snatched her hand and buried his nose in the palm as he inhaled very deeply. He let out a content sigh before he rubbed his face and nose all over Marinette's arm. He didn't even care that everyone was staring at him, all he cared about was the traces of catnip left on Marinette's skin and clothes.
When he tried to lay down on her lap and rub some more, that's when the teacher intervened. "Adrien, young man!" she called to get his attention. His head popped up in full attention, until he breathed in again and felt himself go woozy and calm once again. "I believe that behavior is not meant for the classroom, please contain yourself."
"Y-yes, ma'am!" he squeaked. Adrien couldn't even look at the class; he was too embarrassed. Marinette tried to play it off as well as she could, but even she couldn't think of something that would explain why Adrien was rubbing his head all over her. Well, other than oh yeah, he's partially a cat thanks to his superhero form. You may have heard of him, Chat Noir? Apparently those affects stay even when Adrien is normal! Surprise!
Of course, Adrien managed to pull her from her thinking with one simple noise Ladybug was all too familiar with. "Purring?" she tried to ask quietly.
Adrien squirmed as he tried to smother the noise. It just kept growing and growing, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Luckily, the bell rang and class was dismissed.
They waited for most everyone to leave so that Marinette could try and figure out what was wrong with dork. "I thought purring meant you're happy?" she asked.
"N-not always," Adrien started, rubbing at his throat as he tried to stop the cursed noise. "Sometimes cats purr when they're scared, annoyed, or just really emotional."
"Actually, that would be kittens, Adrien," Plagg reminded the boy as he zipped out from his shirt. "It's kittens that can't control their purr!"
Marinette couldn't help but giggle, "So, what are you saying Plagg? Is Adrien a kitten?" she asked. The kwami nodded, and it made Adrien blush.
"I am not a kitten!" he insisted. "There's gotta be another reason!"
"Sure, Adrien..." Marinette sauntered out of the class, shaking the bag of catnip to usher both boy and kwami after her.
Did anyone else find this chapter really cute and funny?
