Marichatmay2021 - Tumblr Posts

"Wow did you fall from your superhero glory super fast or something?"

"Nah I'm just mopey and being extra about it"

"How does an extra mopey hot chocolate sound, kitty"

"Just dreamy"

Made for Marichat May, day 1: Rain

WIP under the cut!

Day 5 of @marichatmay: Nightmares

@marichatmay, marichat mood, marichat madness

black isn't really my colour | marichat may 2021

written for @marichatmay, day 22: cosplay! :) reposted due to the blog migration ;)

Read on AO3!

"For the seventy-fourth time Chat, I will not cosplay as the cat miraculous holder, and that's final."

Her voice resonated in the air and the note of finality was, indeed, in it. In fact, there was more: a hint of annoyance, caused not so much by her visitor's request but by the stubbornness with which he insisted on her yielding to it; a barely audible sign of tiredness that had nothing to do with the length of his stay and everything with the akumas she'd been forced to fight during the preceding week. Not to mention the exhaustion from shouldering the responsibilities of a Guardian that she'd been carrying for months now but still hadn't become used to.

All the things she'd wished to share with her best friend and partner for so long, but never dared to because of the consequences that would undoubtedly arise from such a choice.

Then again, it was exactly this kind of secretiveness that made persuading him so incredibly troublesome now.

"But Marinette," he protested for what seemed to be – what probably was – the hundredth time that eve, emphasising the last syllable of her name with much more strength than even the French language could justify. "You would look so good in the cat costume. And I'm not just talking about the cat ears."

His hostess rolled her eyes and sighed. "Of course not. It was never about that."

"You can argue all you want. Deep down, you know that I'm right."

"I really don't think I do."

"It doesn't have to be my costume, you know," he went on, as if he hadn't heard her comments at all. "It's designed for a boy, after all, so even though I have no doubts you could still pull it off fantastically, I can understand that it's not your first choice. But Lady Noire's version is right there! You could go with hers, right? It's not like she'd mind."

Quite the opposite, I think she'd mind a lot. Marinette couldn't help but defy silently. Actually, I know that she does. And for good reasons, too.

"Look, it's not that I don't think that the black cat costume is nice, or that I couldn't come up with something interesting for mine specifically," she said out loud. "Black is a classic, in a good way. And some of the details on your suit would work well on a girl's costume too – to be fair, if I were to design a costume for myself, I'd probably base it on yours and not Lady Noire's. It does look good on you. It could look good on a lot of people, too. I'm just not feeling it myself, okay?"

"Why not?"

"Because... black isn't really my colour?"

"Isn't black everyone's colour? You just called it a classic yourself."

"Well, because it is! But that doesn't mean I must like wearing it. Or look good in it, for that matter."

"That last addition is nonsense and you know it, Princess. But fine," Marinette's guest agreed begrudgingly at last; she needed to hold herself back from letting out a relieved sigh. "I guess I'll have to swallow my pride this time, it's not like I can force you to change your mind anyway. Although you still need to come up with something, right?"

"Now that's what I'm trying to figure out," she replied, more cheerfully this time, before turning around and leaning over her sketchbook once more. "And I do have some ideas. I could still use a bit of peace and quiet to pick the winner, though, if you know what I mean?"

Chat raised his hands defensively. "Alright, alright. I'll shut up now. Even though..."

"Even though you have a great fashion sense and could be of great help to me. Yeah, I know."

She guessed rather than saw the pout he made at her remark but only smiled on her part. She wasn't angry, not really. She couldn't be, what with the enthusiasm Chat had been showing the entire evening as well as the knowledge that his insistence truly didn't have much to do with his vanity. He was excited about seeing her wear his miraculous – and yet, she was sure it was far more about the sharing than about imposing. It was as if...

...as if he had wanted to lend her his belonging, the same way a boy would usually offer a girl his shirt, only not having any on his back, he could not give it to her, either. However, the desire for her to carry something of his was still there – even if they both knew she could only pretend to be wearing it.

Thinking of it like this, Marinette realised she really would have liked that, too.

A weary sigh escaped her this time; she scribbled with her pencil forcefully, hoping the noise would draw Chat's attention away from the one she’d made before. She couldn't let him know about the true cause of her sudden melancholy. It wasn't like she could explain it, anyway.

Half a year ago, I might have agreed, she thought to herself instead, flipping the pages and eyeing the designs she'd made until now. When I was still just Ladybug, when there was no Lady Noire. When there was no risk of you recognising me under that mask as well. If only you had asked me then.

Well, he couldn't have. They'd been little more than acquaintances at the time, in his eyes at least. If memory served her right, half a year ago was also around the time Weredad happened... And after that, it was just plain awkward.

And then, seven weeks after the Battle of the Miraculous, he decided to visit.

And he never stopped.

"You're not drawing," she heard him mumble over her shoulder and quite literally jumped in her chair, startled. "You're not even looking at the drawings now. Are you sure you don't want advice? I purr-omise I’ll be purr-fessional about it."

Though still not quite recovered from the shock, Marinette couldn't help but lift an eyebrow at him.

"You want me to believe you after that pun?" she asked.

Chat put a hand on his chest with a solemn look. "It's the pun that proves my honesty."

"I see."

"I'm serious, Marinette, let me help. I swear I won't try to talk you into the black cat suit. Superhero's word."

"And you will let me tweak your ideas? Take what I like and dispose of what I don't?"

"You can be as picky as royalty, my darling, charming Princess."

She raised her eyes to the ceiling and tapped her finger against her chin, pretending to consider his offer carefully. Chat, she knew, was squirming impatiently.

"Alright then, let's hear those ideas of yours," she agreed with a smirk after she'd turned to look at him. "Give me all you've got. I'm all cat ears."

Chat chuckled at her words but surprisingly, returned to his previous seriousness almost immediately. Contrary to her, he lowered his gaze and fixed it on the floor, thinking, arms folded and tail swaying just above the ground. He really was thinking about it carefully, even if the biting of his lip took most of the mature look of it away.

Personally, Marinette didn't mind it at all.

Personally, she thought it was adorable.

She saw him glance up at her after a moment, a glint of uncertainty flashing in his eyes. She smiled at him encouragingly.

Come on, Kitty. Tell me what you have in mind.

"Well, it may be kind of obvious," she heard him speak shortly after. "But I also think it's because of it that you'll have to put your creativity to use and I know that if you do, you'll end up making something splendid. So..."

He swallowed. She waited.

"I was thinking... What about Ladybug's costume?"

Marinette could do little more than stare. Eyes wide open, brow raised high, she stared, she glared, she bore her gaze into his face, not fully able to comprehend – and much less, accept – that what she'd just heard was true.

One look at him told her that it was.

This really was going to be a long night, it seemed.