Chat pawed at her hand playfully as she continued to ignore him. He was aiming for her pen, but he settled for getting her hand, as long as it got her attention. She was trying to get on with her work. It was hard enough to write when she lay on the sofa rather than sitting at her desk, but Chat had whined until she came over to pay a little more attention to him. Now she was sitting next to him trying to get this essay done before it was due in tomorrow and now his pawing was making her pen jump so it skidded across her page.

"Chat!" She huffed, "this is due in the morning!"

He knew that. He'd finished his two days ago. It had taken him about twenty minutes because he already wrote a similar essay while being home schooled. Marinette didn't have that opportunity. They had needed Ladybug, and her parents had needed her.

"You've been working on it all night!" He whined.

"It's important!" She argued.

"Take a break for a minute!" He whined.

"Kitty if I take a break every time you want attention, I'll never work again."

She tapped his nose with the pen, which made him make a little surprised face that made her laugh. He grinned. He liked that he could make her laugh without even trying.

"Purr-lease princess?" He purred.

Marinette dropped her hand into her lap. There was no way she was going to get around this. Chat was more distracting than an actual cat when he wanted to be. As much as that annoyed her, she knew she could outsmart it.

"If I take a break what'll we do instead?" She asked.

Chat hadn't thought that far ahead. He glanced around the room for something to entertain them. His eyes fell on a make-up box on the shelf. He perked up with delight. The make-up girls in the studio taught him how to do basic make up when they were looking after him while his father was busy. He could do a perfect base by the time he was nine, and almost perfect nail art when he was twelve. Of course, he'd been practicing on Chloe every time he learnt something new.

"Shall I do your nails?" He offered.

Of all the answers she could have expected, that wasn't one. She stared at him in surprise. That look made him smile. He also liked that he had layers she didn't expect, just like he didn't expect her to be so teasing when she wanted to be. They kept surprising each other.

"My nails?" She repeated.

"I'm good at nail art," he said.

"Why? Cats shouldn't to keep their claws clipped," she teased.

"Come on, two minutes at the most, and you'll have pretty nails too!" He insisted.

Marinette groaned. She knew he was coming over, she should have gotten this done earlier. She had been too busy laughing at the memory of last week. He had crash landed in a tree before coming to the balcony, and his hair was tangled with twigs. She'd had to pick them all out, which made him feel childish, but he liked it. Fingers running through his hair.

"If I let you do my nails, you have to let me get on with my work. It's due in-"

"In the morning, I know. When have I ever let you down?"

Oh, that cocky little smirk caused far more havoc than it avoided, but she didn't care. It was like he had taken her hand and asked her to go on an adventure with him. Marinette bit back a smirk, and set her work to the side. Chat beamed. He leapt to his feet and hurried over to the make-up box to gather up all the nail varnish he could find. He carried them cradled close to his chest.

"Sit on the floor with me," he beamed.

Marinette placed two cushions on the floor, one for her to sit on, and one for him. He was careful to sit entirely on his cushion. She didn't think much of it, but it was important to him that she knew he appreciated the thought.

"What'd you want me to do?" She asked, uncertainly.

"Stretch your fingers like this."

Chat held his hand up to her and stretched his fingers as wide as they would go. Marinette put her hand against his palm and stretched out her fingers so her fingers laid against his. Chat nodded approvingly.

"Now lay it here, on my knee," he said.

Marinette laid her hand on his knee obediently. Chat picked up a bottle of nail varnish and started unscrewing the top.

"Wait, don't I get to pick the colour?" She interrupted.

His eyes sparkled mischievously, and he gave an impish grin that made Marinette feel a little nervous, but smile back anyway.

"What?" She asked nervously.

He said nothing, but laid one hand on top of hers so she couldn't pull it away, and she couldn't see what he was doing. Marinette watched timidly, trying to catch a glimpse of what he was up to. The only time she got close to catching a glimpse was when he lifted her hand gently, and blew on her nails to try and dry them faster.

"Have you got a hair dryer or something?" He asked.

"A hair dryer? This isn't very professional," she smirked.

"This will be a mani-purr fit for a princess, cats honour."

He raised three fingers on one hand, and crossed his heart with the other. It didn't instil Marinette with confidence, but she accepted it anyway.

"There's a hair dryer in the second drawer," she nodded towards her desk drawers.

"Stay here," Chat said.

"Yes sir!" Marinette saluted with the unpainted hand.

Chat chuckled. He unfolded his legs from underneath him and stood up so quickly he almost stumbled on his own tail.

"Never has there been a tail of such woe and the one belonged to this kitty-o," Marinette chuckled.

As he dug through her drawers, he chuckled to himself. Her puns were getting better. And by better, he meant far more like his, and far more often. Marinette glanced down at her nails. On her right and, all of them were black apart from her index finger, which was red. She wondered what he would do, but she had an inkling. He cried victoriously, and held the hair dryer above his head, showing it to her proudly.

"Found it!"

"Well done," she smirked.

Chat folded his legs underneath him on the cushion, and she laid her hand back on his knee.

"What're you doing?" She asked.

"Good things come to those who wait princess," he winked.

"Good things come whenever you come through that window," she muttered.

It was so quiet that she clearly hoped he wouldn't hear it. Unfortunately for her, his cat ears picked it up. Chat smiled to himself. He didn't let her he know that he had heard that, just in case.

"So-o-o," he began, casually, "how are thing with Louis?"

"Louis? Oh, Louis," Marinette's ears instantly went pink. "It's all fine."

Chat smirked. he was still trying to figure out if it was Nino. Whenever he saw the three of them together across the playground she seemed to be teasing the two of them into kissing. He thought that maybe the jealousy he had been picking up on were because she had lost her best friends full attention. It seemed to have eased off now that she and Chat were gossiping too. Maybe it had been loneliness.

"Tell me about him," Chat insisted, a little too close to a beg.

"I already told you about him, you tell me about Betty!" Marinette countered.

Chat happily obliged. "Oh well Betty's perfect. She's the smartest girl I've ever met, super creative, really kind, and just so beautiful. When she smiles, I swear the flowers die of envy that they can't be that gorgeous."

Marinette giggled. His tail flicked at he talked about Betty, and she could hear the affection rising in his voice. Marinette's eyes followed his hand as he reached for another colour. She didn't get to see which.

"The other day, Louis came in really tired, and he ran his hand though his hair, and it went all messy and stuck up at funny angles, which made him laugh, and I thought my heart was going to leap out of my throat."

Her soft smile crept up into her voice. Stepping away from her work and just sitting with Chat, talking and relaxing, made her realise how late it was getting. He had come over late, and that was hours ago now. she felt the urge to yawn, so covered her mouth with her unpainted hand. She heard chat chuckle. It seemed they couldn't go five minutes without one of them laughing.

"Tired?"

"No rest for the wicked."

"Good thing I'm one of the good ones then. I can't last a day without a cat nap," he chuckled.

"no wonder you're always away at four in the morning!" she smirked.

He laughed. He was usually only awake then if he had a publicity meeting, or a photoshoot or a final fitting before school. It used to be able to wait until six when he was home schooled, but that's the price you pay for friendship. If he had a minute, or if he was bored enough, he'd text her a good morning text to wake up to. He sent one to Ladybug to, so Marinette assumed he sent one to everyone he knew.

"So this Louis, anyone I might know?" Chat asked curiously.

Marinette thought back to the multiple times that they had had to defend Adrien. Christmas alone was hard enough to defend him. whoever thought he'd go running away with Santa Claus like that? but she saw the cataclysm. She knew Chat had been there to defend him. to save the life of the boy she loved so deeply it hurt sometimes.
But she didn't say any of that. she couldn't. That would give it all away far too blatantly, and she was enjoying their strange, sparsely laid out games of twenty questions to try and figure out who the other was in love with. It was a little unfair, since she didn't really know anyone Chat was friends with except Ladybug, and it couldn't be her. Chat said she was brave beyond hesitation. Ladybug hesitated every time. She hated it, but she did. So it couldn't be Ladybug.

Marinette shrugged casually. "you've met."

Chat gave a thoughtful mewling noise at the back of his throat which made her giggle again. his eyes flashed up towards her face for a moment. That movement, that laughed, it jogged her hand. She had almost jogged his painting.

"Try not to move," he advised gently.

"Sorry. I know it's hard, I've had to do fittings for people, and they get fidgety when they have to be still for more than three minutes," she apologised.

"I've done some modelling in my time, I could do some fittings for you if you like," he smirked.

"Well you probably wouldn't be the best for fittings, especially if they're for specific people, but yeah. Maybe if I ever have to fix something together I'll call you," she said.

"Lovely. If they're anything like that designs in your book I'm sure they'll be beautiful," he said.

"Thanks," she yawned again.

"But remember, I like tutu skirts. I like that ballerina feel," he winked.

She giggled again, and he glanced back down at his work. He had to plug the hair dryer into an extension chord, so it could reach her hand and he could use it to dry her nails. She watched, curiously, and tried to peep past his hand. He smacked her other hand, scolding her.

"Curiosity killed the cat!" he warned.

"But satisfaction brought it back," Marinette countered.

Chat paused to stare at her for a moment, and then burst into the brightest grin she had seen him give all week.

"I knew there had to be a good counter to that! thanks Mari," he beamed.

"Any time pussycat," she smiled.

Chat chuckled approvingly, clearly tickled by the new answer he had to use on people that tried to use that old phrase on him. he turned off the hair dryer and laid it down on the hard-wooden floor beside him.

"Close your eyes," he stated.

She raised an eyebrow. "you're not serious?"

"I'm very serious princess. Close your eyes," he said, seriously.

"Whatever you say Sir Staff-a-lot," she smirked.

Marinette closed her eyes. Chat raised her hand out in front of her, and spread her fingers, like he had before he started painting her nails. She felt his claws scratched against her, sharp enough to remind her of the damage they could do, but nowhere near hard enough to hurt her in any way.

"Three… two… one… open."

Marinette opened her eyes. she gasped. The black nails had been given an extra sparkle with a glitter brush she didn't even know she still had, and Chat had drawn a lime green pawprint on her thumb. His ring finger had been painted green, the same green, and he had drawn black cat ears and little whiskers, to outline a cat face that couldn't be seen. The index finger, the one he had painted red, now had little black spots too. They looked strikingly beautiful.

"Wow… Chat they're… they're amazing! Where did you learn to do that?" she asked, amazed.

Chat ran a finger along his mask, slyly. "I have my ways."

"Of course, you realise you have to do the other hand to match, and it's going to take up so much time I won't be able to finish my work," She said, seriously.

"You're right handed right?"

"yeah."

"then you're your right hand to write, read me the questions, and I'll answer them the best I can to help you," he shrugged.

"You don't have to do that," she insisted.

"It's be done already if I wasn't here. clear your mind, take a breath, and read the first question to me," he ordered.

He took her left hand by the wrist and laid it on his knee, grabbed her work book and laid it on her right knee, and grabbed her pen, and pushed it into her hand. Marinette pulled back for a moment, to make herself more comfortable. She laid on her stomach across the floor, and laid her hand on his knee.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Question one," she read aloud.

Using her elbow to keep the paper still as she wrote with her right hand. Chat Noir was good at multi-tasking. He had to be. the answers that he gave just rolled from him, like he'd done this homework before somehow. Marinette was thoroughly impressed. Or she would have been, if she wasn't exhausted. Marinette's yawns got closer, and the spaces her eyes were open between blinks got fewer and further between. She laid her head on the cushion for a moment, and almost immediately fell asleep.

"Princess?" Chat said in surprise.

Marinette was out cold. clearly, she had been more tired than he realised. He chuckled affectionately.

"Sleep well princess. Your knight is here. I won't let you down," he whispered.

Tikki stepped out of her hiding place curiously, watching Chat. Marinette was asleep. Sound asleep. She could fall asleep anywhere, in record time, Tikki was never unimpressed by it. but now, Chat Noir was still sitting there, while she slept, finishing her nails. He dried them with the hair dryer, and made sure they matched almost perfectly, before giving a satisfied nod. Tikki ducked back as he climbed up the ladder. She assumed he was leaving. He wasn't. he came back down with a blanket, and laid it over Marinette gently. He couldn't resist running his fingers though her hair, as she had run hers though his last week. She gave a content moan, and he smiled. She was cute asleep. Tikki raised an eyebrow. Surely that was it? surely, he'd be leaving now.
But no.
Chat picked up Marinette's homework, and her pen, and sat cross legged beside her until he had finished it. then he folded the book shut, and laid it under her perfectly painted fingers. He even put her phone on charge before he left. Tikki watched the skylight as he vanished off into the horizon.

What a cat.

-

"Heya Marinette."

"H-hi Adrien!"

"Wow, your nails are awesome!"

"Thanks, a friend of mine did them for me."

"Wow. Some friend."

"Yeah, he's one of a kind."