Café au Lait | Miraculous Ladybug [DISCONTINUED]

chapitre cinq

F I V E
surprises

—

It was Sunday when he first came by.

Unexpectedly.

It was already evening when Marinette had just enjoyed time with her family and was resting in her room, pushing around random threads of thoughts in her brain to form a design for a future creation. With nothing other to do, she blankly stared at the ceiling as if interested in it.

It wasn't long before a muffled crash outside on her balcony drew her attention. Curiosity burned within her, and she got up to investigate.

Climbing up to her bed loft, she opened the trapdoor and peeked out to find a masked cat sprawled on the ground, briefly stunned from whatever he'd been attempting to do. She was just about to call out his name and alert him of her presence, but then she had to remind herself that she was not Ladybug, but a civilian that had never encountered a confrontation with the superhero.

Immediately, her mask was up, and she played the role of the teenager who'd just found a rogue black cat on her property. Having not ever met this hero face-to-face before, she appeared surprised, confused, and awed.

"C-Chat Noir?" Marinette called out, gaining his attention. "Is that you?"

He twisted abruptly as soon as she'd spoken, eyes wide. Stumbling over his words, Marinette noticed the flush on his cheeks. "U-Um...yeah, that's me..." he awkwardly glanced around, and that was when the bluenette noticed the potted plant that was dangerously close to him, in danger of being tipped over if he made one wrong move, and hurried up onto the balcony and over to move it out of the way as Chat pushed himself up to a seated position.

"What...what are you doing here? Where's Ladybug?" Marinette asked, hinting that she was wondering if there was any trouble to need the superheroes' assistance. Or not. Her own eyes widened in faux wonderment.

"Well...I'm alone this time," he said, looking anywhere but her. She didn't understand why.

"O-Oh, um..." Marinette fumbled over her words. After all, she didn't have the confidence of her alter-ego. Why'd she decide this was a good idea in the first place? Was it instinctive? She searched for a response to his statement without prying or being too suspicious. It was the second time this week he'd been out, by himself, and she just wanted to know why...although her gut told her that he'd probably never tell anyone.

There was no reason for him to transform, perhaps other than maybe for his own reasons. Perhaps he was getting used to his double life? He might have even told Ladybug if it was a reasonable excuse, but he hadn't, but they weren't personally close enough and their bond was only limited to a professional one. Marinette still just couldn't help but wonder why he was always out, and not back in his civilian self. It was also Sunday, the day where people spent their day with their families. Shouldn't he have been enjoying time with those who were blood-related? Or, his kin?

"I'm sorry I disturbed your peace," he finally said, as she failed to come up with a conversation starter.

"What were you doing, anyways?" she finally was able to say. "And it's...fine."

Chat was silent for a short moment before he stood up quickly and met her eyes. "Just exploring the city a bit. This superhero stuff is still new to me. I'll get going now, and leave you be. Have a good evening, mademoiselle."