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Where we love is home - home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
“Um… I can explain…” Marinette stammered.
Tom and Sabine stared wide eyed at their daughter, who was frozen in place straddled atop and equally horrified looking Chat Noir.
For a few minutes no one moved.
“So… When did this start up?” Sabine asked at last, gesturing to the two of them, which finally prompted them to realize that they were still in a rather compromising position. They hurriedly clambered to their feet and began talking in rapid succession.
“Well, he’s saved my life a few times.”
“I just kinda got in the habit of checking on her after Akuma attacks.”
“And then it sort of turned into random visits.”
“And then we were friends, so it just became a regular thing.”
“It’s nothing bad- we mostly just talk!”
Tom and Sabine shared an amused look as the two terrified teens babbled in front of them.
“Honey,” Sabine said gently, “we aren’t mad that you have a friend, we were just surprised. It’s not everyday you find a superhero rolling around on the rooftop with your daughter.”
“Maman! We weren’t doing anything-“
“I know that, dear, but that doesn’t change the fact that it accurately describes what happened.”
“Plus you are teenagers,” Tom added, unable to resist teasing her. “It’s only natural that you might start having certain urges…”
“Papa!” Marinette shrieked, her entire face going scarlet. Chat Noir let out a small strangled whimper and jumped away from her as if she was on fire. Sabine desperately tried to stifle a giggle next to him.
“I’m just saying it might be a good idea to sit down and have a nice talk-“
“We already have! Can you PLEASE just stop talking?!”
“It’s important not to deny the fact that you are blossoming into a curious young woman.”
Sabine let out a choked snort, and Chat Noir turned almost as red as Marinette as he fixed the girl with a wide eyed stare.
Marinette buried her face in her hands and began mumbling unintelligibly. Tom was fairly sure she would get her revenge later during their weekly Ultimate Mecha Strike match but It was definitely worth it.
“Well, I should go,” Chat Noir said hurriedly, eyeing both adults warily.
Before he could dash off, Tom put a hand on his shoulder and put on his most stern parental expression. He could hear Marinette groaning at his theatrics, but what is the point of being a father if you can’t occasionally torture your children?
“Next time you visit you should use the front door.”
Chat Noir’s expression froze and he nodded vigorously before dashing off as quickly as he could.
“Papa! You scared him off!”
“Oh relax, sweetheart I was only messing with you both. Besides, he’ll be back.”
…
“You know we were just teasing you when we said you needed to use the door right?”
Tom asked an extremely nervous looking Chat Noir as he hesitantly came through the doorway clutching a large, and if he had to guess very expensive, gift basket.
“Oh, I…no I didn’t. And I didn’t want you to think that I was being disrespectful, or that I have any intention to do anything untoward to your daughter…”
Tom couldn’t resist the loud chortle of laughter that bubbled out of his throat. He glanced down at the red-faced teenaged superhero and smiled.
“Let me tell you a little secret, son. Between you and me, my baby girl is more than capable of taking care of herself.” He gave Chat Noir a wink and the boy seemed to relax slightly.
“Now, I could huff and posture and threaten to skin myself a cat if you harm a hair on her head, and I would mean it, mind you, but I learned a long time ago that if you don’t trust people then they rarely will bother to live up to your hopes and expectations. That is even more important with your children. If Marinette says that you are her friend, well, that’s good enough for me.”
The look of absolute surprise and gratitude that broke out across the boy’s face was almost heartbreaking. Like he had never dreamed that parents could trust children to make their own choices about something as commonplace as who they wanted to hang out with.
“Besides,” Tom added hoping to lighten the mood, “you’ve been selflessly running around Paris fighting monsters for the last two years, not to mention your and Ladybug’s other charitable projects. So you can’t be all bad.”
He clapped the hero on the back and guided him up the stairs to the main family area.
“Sabine? Honey, we have company,”he called up.
“My, Chat Noir, what a pleasure to see you again.”
“Thank you, Madame.”
“Oh, please call me Sabine.”
“This is for you, by the way,” he said, holding out the gift basket.
“Oh, how lovely!” Sabine said, fussing with the basket before pulling Chat Noir in for an unexpected hug. He blushed as she moved away and placed the gift onto the counter. “Marinette,” she called out, “your friend is here!”
“What?” Marinette called before opening the trap door and hurrying down stairs, “Alya, weren’t you supposed to… Chat?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude, but your parents said that if I wanted to visit I should use the door so I was trying to-“
“It’s ok, I was just surprised. I’m not used to you not knocking on my skylight.” Marinette said, smiling at Chat. “It’s good to see you, though.”
“Marinette, do you want to take you guest upstairs? I am sure we can put some snacks together for you.”
Marinette’s face blanched as she cast a worried look up towards her bedroom. “Uh… sure Maman just give me a minute to clean everything up.” She smiled her ‘I’m not hiding anything I promise’ smile before turning and darting up the staircase. Halfway up she stopped suddenly and turned towards their visitor. “Stay!” she said firmly, pointing an accusatory finger at Chat Noir.
He nodded solemnly, standing at rigid attention with his hands clasped lightly behind his back.
Tom and Sabine exchanged amused smiles at the ingrained politeness that seemed so out of place with the wild hair and black leather.
“So how long have you and Marinette been friends?” She asked.
“Two years.” He responded automatically, but then blanched as if this was somehow the wrong answer. “But, um, we didn’t start really hanging out until more recently. We just MET two years ago. Because of an akuma. He wanted to date her, and I had to come rescue her, it was pretty impressive actually.” He grinned rakishly at the memory, his chest puffing up at the thought of his own heroic prowess.
“Well, that sounds like a fascinating story,” Sabine said indulgently. “Perhaps one of these days you can tell us the whole thing.”
Chat Noir gave them a wide grin, preening at their approval. “Of course! I have all sorts of tales I could share about my and Ladybug’s adventures. For example there was one time where we were facing off against a zookeeper who-“
“Ok, you can come up now!” Marinette voice called down from the open trap door.
Chat Noir only hesitated a moment- clearly wrestling between polite manners and his desire to hurry off to Marinette- before scampering off in the direction of their daughters room.
The trap door closed with a soft click and they listened to the muted sound of excited voices.
“To think the fate of our city falls to those two children,” Tom said pensively.
“At least when they are here we know they’re safe,” his wife replied, laying a hand on his arm as they both stood watching the place where the two oblivious heroes had gone.
…
“Marinette, is Chat Noir up there with you?” Sabine called up from the living room.
“Yes, Maman.”
“Ask him if he would like to stay for dinner.”
She didn’t bother to wait for a reply. Instead she headed into the kitchen to finish prepping for the meal. After all, it wasn’t like they would be short on food either way.
An hour later, they were all seated around the table finishing off the last of their Beef Bourguignon. Chat Noir and Tom had been passing terrible puns back and forth all night much to the groaning dismay of Marinette. The poor girl had almost face planted into her dinner when- in response to Tom detailing the difficulties of incorporating beef into pastries without overcooking it- Chat had stated that it was a shame because, “Who wouldn’t enjoy finishing off their meal with a serving of Chocolate Moooos.”
The following argument between the two teens had quickly veered into an unexpected direction.
“Chat, your puns are terrible, just truly awful.”
“Everybody loves my puns.”
“NOBODY loves your puns.”
“Ladybug appreciates my puns.”
“No, she really doesn’t.”
“How would you know?” Chat prickled defensively. “For your information, My Lady is the most supportive person in the world. She supports me in everything, including my attempts to enlighten this city in regards to underappreciated humor. She is special like that.”
The two adults exchanged suspicious glances.
Marinette opened her mouth as if to argue but closed it again giving her head a small shake.
“You’re probably right, Chat. I suppose it would make sense that your partner would indulge your terrible taste.”
“I prefer to think that she is begrudgingly entertained by my antics more so than indulging them.” He smiled sheepishly. “After all, she sometimes even puns back if I come up with something particularly clever, so she can’t be completely put off by me.”
“If you say so, Chaton.” Marinette said fondly, reaching for her drink.
“You know, Chat,” Sabine said. “You don’t actually talk that much about Ladybug while you are here. Any particular reason?”
Chat blushed and scratched nervously at his neck. “Well, I sort of have a tendency to gush… it’s a little embarrassing.”
Tom and Sabine both noticed their daughter’s eyes light up with a mischievous gleam.
“We wouldn’t mind,” Marinette said innocently. “After all it would be exciting to hear about the famous Ladybug from an inside perspective.”
Tom coughed and shook his head while Sabine tried not to roll her eyes.
“Really?” an oblivious Chat Noir asked excitedly.
“Of course! I would love to hear what you have to say about your partner.” Marinette grinned.
“Well she’s brave, obviously, and clever and loyal. She never gives up, even when the situation seems like it’s hopeless. She always finds a way to keep going and still save the day. And she doesn’t back down from anything.” Chat stared into the distance with stars in his eyes as he waxed on about his partner.
“Well,” Marinette said, her devious smirk getting wider, “what is the worst thing about Ladybug? After all, she can’t be perfect.”
“No, she isn’t perfect.” Chat admitted and Marinette leaned in, clearly eager to hear what he would say. “I guess if I had to say a worst thing… she can be very distant. I think she tries too hard to put everything on herself- like because she is the one who has to purify the akumas the weight of the world is solely on her shoulders. So she tries to always be the perfect heroine. She doesn’t trust that people will support her even if she messes up, which of course she sometimes will because we all do.”
“That’s the worst thing you can come up with?” Marinette asked looking an odd mix between awestruck and disappointed. “Not that she’s… I donno… stubborn or bossy or arrogant?”
“I mean, she can be those things too,” Chat grinned. “But no worse than your average person. I mean, you can be all of those things sometimes and I don’t like you any less for it.”
“Oh.”
“Sound like that is a very special girl you have working with you,” Tom said teasingly, unable to resist a quick, knowing glance at his daughter.
Marinette for her part still seemed lost in contemplation over everything Chat had just said.
“She’s the most amazing partner. And gorgeous to boot,” he added with a cheshire grin.
Marinette flushed a deep crimson and tried to hide her face behind her napkin.
“Are you and Ladybug seeing each other?” Sabine asked mildly and taking a drink of tea as Marinette began to choke into her napkin.
“Are you alright, Mari?” Chat asked turning to her concerned.
“I’m fine, totally fine.”
“To answer your question, Mrs. Cheng-“
“Sabine.”
“Despite my best efforts Ladybug has yet to succumb to my charms. She is playing paw-sitively hard to get. She is always brushing off my furr-tations”
“I wonder why.” Marinette grumbled.
“What was that, sweetheart?” Tom asked turning to Marinette.
“Nothing, Papa!”
Taking pity on the pair, the conversation was guided back to more neutral subjects and the rest of dinner continued along quite pleasantly.
At the end of the meal Chat scampered around gathering up all the dishes to be washed and arranging them next to the sink. They had learned the hard way a few weeks ago that trying to actually scrub dishes while in his suit did not end well for anyone, but he had obstinately insisted that he be allowed to help.
“Did you need to head back now?” Marinette asked having finished her own chore of gathering and putting away all the leftover food for lunch tomorrow.
“No, I’m good. No one’s at the house this weekend so I won’t be missed.”
All three members of the Dupain-Cheng clan winced at the casually thrown out statement. Chat didn’t notice.
“So, Mecha Strike?” he asked hopefully.
“Are you ready to lose again, Chaton?” Marinette asked with a grin.
“Oh ye of little faith. I think I stand a fighting chance.”
“Just for that I am not going easy on you.”
“Way to kick me when I’m down, princess. That was a real punch to the face. You know I’m a good player too . Get it… player two?”
“I don’t know why you think you are funny.”
The two teens continued to banter as they climbed up to Marinette’s room.
Tom and Sabine waiting for a few minutes, quietly washing up the dishes until they were certain the two teens were wrapped up in their games.
“Did you know that they hadn’t told each other their identities?” Sabine asked.
“I’m as surprised as you are. Although I suppose it makes sense. I mean Marinette still hasn’t told us about her extracurricular activities, so I doubt she is going around advertising it to anyone else.”
“I had figured they would at least have told each other. That is a terrible sort of burden to bear alone.”
“They aren’t alone. They have us. And they have each other, even if they don’t know it yet.”
“I suppose that’s true. Still…”
“I know, sometimes I want to just confront her about it too.” Tom sighed. “But we don’t know any of the specifics and I don’t want Marinette feeling like we are judging her for being a superhero. Besides, if it helps her to stay focused and stay safe by not having to worry about what we are thinking than I am willing to play dumb until she is willing to talk to us.”
“I know. I know we’ve discussed it I just… I just worry about them.”
“I do too. But I think the best thing we can do right now is just be here for them.”
…
“Marinette, what are you doing to that poor boy?”
“He’s just helping me get this pattern draped.”
“It’s really not a problem, Mrs. Cheng,” Chat Noir said, glancing over his shoulder but not dropping his arms as Marinette continued to tuck and pin the fabric she had adorned him with.
“Sweetie, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Sabine?” She sighed, giving the boy a stern look.
Chat simply tossed her a mischievous grin.
“Darling,” She turned her attention back to her daughter, “it’s not polite to put your guests to work when they come to visit.”
“It’s not a guest, it’s just Chat,” Marinette teased.
“Where did I go wrong?” Sabine sighed dramatically. “I tried so hard to raise you into a polite, respectable young lady. How has it all come to this?”
“Papa says I take after you,” Marinette said, grinning impishly at her mother.
“You know I have a lot of horribly embarrassing stories I could be sharing young lady,” Sabine said, switching over to Mandarin and smiling as Marinette glowered at her lack of understanding.
“You know I am more than happy to listen to any of these stories ,” Chat replied flawlessly back without missing a beat.
“You speak Mandarin?”
“I am a cat of many talents.”
“So I see. Perhaps you can teach Marinette. I’ve been trying to get her to learn for years but she doesn’t seem to have the patience to humor her poor mother.”
Chat laughed.
“What are you saying about me?” Marinette asked worriedly. “I heard my name!”
“We were talking about how incredibly beautiful and talented you are.” Chat said with a devious smirk.
Marinette glared at him, her nose wrinkling in annoyance. “You are making fun of me aren’t you! Why do I even put up with you, you worthless cat?”
“You really shouldn’t tease her so,” Sabine chided him.
“I just can’t seem to help myself. I am sure you can relate.” Chat smiled at her, but Sabine didn’t miss the soft blush that crept across his face when a still irate Marinette began poking at his stomach demanding a translation of their conversation.
“Fair enough.”
“Maman, stop encouraging him, he is bad enough already without allies. I’m your daughter - aren’t you supposed to be on my side anyways?”
“Sorry, darling.” Sabine said without the slightest trace of remorse. “Anyways, dinner should be ready soon so try to finish up, dear.”
“Yes, Maman.”
Sabine climbed back down through the trapdoor.
“Are the kids doing alright up there?” Tom asked, looking up from where he was dicing beef for the stew.
“Apparently Marinette has decided to turn our little stray into a human mannequin.”
“I can’t imagine he took to that too well.”
“On the contrary. He seemed perfectly content to stand there and get turned into a pincushion. Didn’t even break his pose once during the entire conversation.”
“I see.”
“And he speaks fluent Mandarin.”
“Looks like our little theory has been upgraded to a strong probability.”
“It would seem so. Poor boy, no wonder he comes over so much. What with all the responsibilities his father dumps upon him and his responsibilities as Chat Noir it’s a miracle he hasn’t exploded from the pressure. Not to mention constantly having to waste away in the big empty house while his father is off doing god knows what.”
“Now, Sabine, we don’t know that it’s as bad as all that. For all the man’s faults no one questions that Gabriel Agreste loves his boy.”
“That doesn’t stop him from being a lousy parent. And clearly it is as bad as all that or the poor
dear wouldn’t be crashing out on our couch at least once a week.”
“I suppose that’s true.” Tom sighed as his wife began pulling various baking equipment out of the cabinets.
“Sabine, what are you doing?”
“I’m making a tarte tatin for after dinner obviously.”
“Is that really necessary dear?”
“If Gabriel Agreste has a problem with me fattening up his underfed son then he can come fight me.”
“Sometimes you scare me, woman.”
“Just pass me the apples.”
“Yes, dear.”
…
“Look who I found pawing at the door,” Tom said, followed by a bouncing Chat Noir.
While Chat had long since returned to the more convenient habit of arriving via skylight, every now and again he still would show up knocking on the front door to keep them on their toes. Once he had even come by way of the bakery entrance during open hours, leading to a flurry of autographs and selfies that had brought a good amount of positive attention to the bakery.
“Hello, darling, will you be here for dinner tonight?”
“I was hoping so.”
“Wonderful! I have a new recipe for spiced duck that I need a test audience for,” Sabine said.
“Well, while that’s going what do you say to another round of Ultimate Mecha Strike III? See if between the two of us we can finally get a new name on that high score list?” Tom asked.
“Well I know Mari was planning on doing some design work tonight, but I wouldn’t mind trying to convince her to being social. Knowing my luck she would probably have me pressing and pinning down pleats tonight anyways.”
“You know, I don’t even think I know what that means.”
“I wish I didn’t know what it means.” Chat shuddered dramatically. “I personally would much rather spend the night beating up giant robots.”
“Well, hopefully you can talk her into it. It’s always a treat when you kids can stop eyeing each other enough to give some love to us older folks.”
“What do you mean?” Chat asked nervously.
“Simply that you’re visits have always centered on a certain member of this household.”
“I… I mean I…”
“And I accepted long ago that you don’t come around just to see me.” Tom said with a wink.
Chat Noir flushed and looked down at the floor. “It’s not like that.”
“Oh really?”
“Marinette and I… well we’re just friends. Best friends! But… um… I don’t think she thinks of me that way.”
“If you say so.” Tom grinned. “Well in any case it’s always nice to have you around, son.”
“Let’s go see what my daughter is up to shall we?” Sabine said, placing her hand on the boy’s shoulder and guiding him towards the stairs.
Tom shot her a questioning look, glancing pointedly up to Marinette’s room, then to Chat, then back to his wife with a raise of his eyebrow.
Sabine raised a finger to her lips.
Tom rolled his eyes, shaking his head, but his wife didn’t miss the smile creeping at the corner of his lips.
“Marinette, dear,” she called as Chat climbed up into the room ahead of her. “Your father is waiting for you downstairs.”
“We must reclaim our honor after last week’s game!”
“Chat! What are you doing in here!” Marinette spun around, her gaze flicking guiltily to her normally carefully concealed display.
“Oh, relax, princess, no one cares if you have fabric scattered everywhere. It’s not like I’m not in here all the…” he trailed off.
Sabine resisted the urge to cackle as Marinette paled and Chat’s ears turned a flaming shade of red.
His jaw dropped open as he took in the array of photos and posters covering the far wall of the room.
He pointed one clawed finger towards a particularly large spread. “But that’s… that’s…”
“Don’t you dare make fun of me,” Marinette grumbled. “And it’s not some lame celebrity crush he’s in my class. We’re actually friends.”
“You have pictures,” Chat breathed, “dozens of pictures!”
“Look I know, ok! It’s pathetic and creepy and I am a total stalker.” Her eyes began to get suspiciously damp. “But no matter how I try I can’t seem to act normally around him most of the time. I stutter and make an idiot of myself and choke everytime I try to tell him how I feel. But I really, really like him so this is the best I can do!”
She glared at him as if daring him to say anything.
Instead, Chat reached out and pulled her into his arms.
“You are adorable. You have nothing to feel ashamed of.”
“You don’t think I’m crazy?” she said softly, cuddling into his embrace.
“Never.”
“And you won’t make fun of my crush?”
“I told you, you have nothing to feel ashamed of.”
“Thanks, Chat.”
“I might tease you a little.”
“Chat…”
“No wonder you find me so devilishly attractive, you really have a thing for the pretty boys don’t you, princess?”
“I never said I found you attractive.”
“Doesn’t make it not true. Besides, I guarantee I could give Adrien Agreste a run for his money.”
Sabine quietly slipped out of the room feeling quite pleased with the results of her meddling.
Hopefully now they might finally get on the right track.
…
“Tom, what are you doing standing around in the dark?”
“Shhh. The kids are sleeping,” he whispered pointing over to the couch where the two teens were cuddled together.
The movie they had been watching had long ended. The sound of the repetitive music of the DVD home screen drowning out the soft sound of breathing.
Marinette had at some point crawled on top of her snoring partner, her head cradled on his shoulder and his arms and legs wrapped possessively around her smaller frame.
“Have you just been standing here watching them sleep?”
“Sometimes I just like to remind myself that they are ok.”
Sabine circled her arms around her husband and leaned into him. She understood the feeling. That afternoon’s akuma attack had been particularly brutal. The pair had watched breathlessly as the two heroes took blow after blow from the almost wolf like monster. Sabine had let out a horrified cry when at one point the feral villain had sunk its long pointed teeth into Chat’s shoulder as he shoved Ladybug out of the way of his attack. They had both let out an audible sigh of relief when the footage had finally shown the glitter red trails of Ladybug’s healing magic soaring out across the city.
When Marinette arrived home ‘from shopping’ 30 minutes later, she didn’t question that both her parents had engulfed her in a hug reminding her how proud they were to have her for a daughter and how much they loved her. They in return didn’t ask why she didn’t have any packages or bags after a 3 hour shopping trip.
Instead they simply nodded as Marinette headed off to grab a quick shower before dinner and began prepping bouillabaisse and some cheese popovers for dinner, Chat’s favorite.
No one was surprised when he showed up at the window an hour later.
For several minutes neither adult moved. Instead they stood in the near darkness of the room simply gazing down lovingly at their sleeping children.
Eventually Tom quietly crept forward and began silently gathering up the empty plates and glasses strewn across the coffee table as Sabine turned off the television.
They carefully covered the pair with a large blanket and crept back towards the stairs that lead down to their bedroom.
“I just wish there was more we could do for them sometimes,” Tom sighed. “I guess that’s part of being a parent though, right? Always wishing you could do more for your children?”
“Pretty much,” his wife replied, taking his hand and giving it a light squeeze.
“I suppose all we can do is try to help however we can.”
“That’s right. And we will keep doing everything we can to help them. In the meantime at least they know that they always have a home.”