Jerk in Sheep's Clothing

Nighttime Chats

When Adrien hopped on the balcony as Chat Noir, he saw Marinette was not there. Pinning his baton to the end, he held the tip and hung off it to peer into her window to see if she was alone. She was.

She was facing a wall, her back facing him, so he couldn't exactly see what she was doing. He did a somersault backwards, sticking the landing back on the roof, and knocked on the hatch.

Seconds later, she opened it. Her face was softly smiling in a way that made his heart sing. God, why hadn't he noticed sooner how that smile made him feel?

"Chat! It's good to see you."

"Hey there, Princess. Mind if I drop in?"

She shook her head. "Not at all. You're always welcome in here."
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Marinette was glad to see Chat Noir. It had been weeks since his last visit, which was unusual for him. Usually, he came to her balcony for baked goods and heart-to-heart talks at least once a week.

But then again, Chat was going through something in his personal life.

Sure, he hadn't said anything to her, as Ladybug or Marinette, but she had seen something change in him. He had stopped flirting and joking during missions and patrols, and he hadn't made a single pun in weeks. That might have been a good thing, having him focus more on the task at hand.

Except that it wasn't the lack of playful banter that bothered her. He seemed to have lost that fire in him, that mischievous spark that made him, him. He was sadder, less confident, his leaps and stunts had less energy, and he rarely ever smiled anymore, and even when he did, it felt strained. He was basically a shell of his former self.

Once upon a time, Ladybug had been annoyed by his constant comedic attempts and endless romantic pursuit of her. Now, she would give anything to have him flirt with her again, to hear one of his cheesy puns, to see the light in his eyes again.

Marinette moved to let him through into her room. Closing the hatch, she walked over. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Sorry about that, Princess. I've been going through a lot lately."

He didn't notice Marinette's sad look. "You must have been. Your visits usually run like clockwork. Is...Is everything okay? In your civilian life?"

He looked a little nervous at that question, like a criminal who had caught in the act.  "Everything's fine, Princess.  Nothin' I can't handle."

"Are you sure you don't wanna talk about it?"

"If I wanted to talk about my problems, I'd ask my kwami.  I came here because I wanted to talk about you.  I missed you."

Marinette wanted more, but decided it was better not to pry.  "Okay..."
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Part of Chat Noir wanted to vent everything to Marinette.  He wanted to tell her the whole story, without going into too much detail, lest she connect the dots figure out his identity.  But that would be wasting valuable time.  He had come here with a mission—to get Marinette's side of the story.

"So!  Did I catch you in the middle of something?"

She walked past him and picked up a cardboard box.  "Nah, I was just getting rid of a few things."  She held it out to him.  "You can help if you want.  Just hold this by me while I clear out my drawers."

Adrien took the box from her and nodded.  Then he looked inside it and flinched at what he saw.  It was full of photographs from different slots in time, the only thing linking them together was Alya's face in every one of them.  Among her photos were random objects and trinkets, which Chat bet were gifts that Marinette had received from her over the years.