Continuing Tales

How to Bond With a Cat

A Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir Story
by Theonewhosawitall

Part 11 of 19

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Even though she had shown her parents video after video of cats knocking over Christmas trees, they still insisted that he got to help. She teased him about it. Used the tinsel as yarn, trying to make him catch it. He beamed, knowing fully well what she was up to, but played along anyway. Well it was Christmas after all. Now though, he was halfway up a ladder, and the tinsel was already up.

"Pass me a bauble Mari!" he called.

Marinette picked up a shiny blue bauble and threw it at chat absent minded.

"Ow!" Chat said in surprise as it hit him on the back on the head.

Chat turned around menacingly to look at her. Marinette bit her lip to stop herself laughing. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Uh…passing a bauble?" Her said, innocently.

"Maybe I'll pass you a bauble!" Chat threatened, grinding.

"Maybe I'll catch it!" She said, defiantly.

He laughed at the clumsy girl. "I doubt it!"

"Wanna bet?"

"I'd win!"

"Throw it!"

"No!"

"Throw it!"

"I'm not going to throw it!"

"Come on, are you a cat or a mouse?!"

"What are you, five?! I'm not throwing the-"

Another bauble hit his head. Then his chest.

"I'm not-"

Another hit his chest again.

"I'm-"

His stomach.

"Marinette you will not-"

Another three hit his higher stomach. Tikki giggled, watching from a piece of tinsel strung above the door, safely hidden and out of the way.

"Right that's it!"

Chat leapt down from the stall, and grabbed the closest bauble to throw at Marinette. They were only plastic, so they didn't hurt, but he was careful not to be too hard anyway. Marinette dodged it, and threw one back. She threw a couple more, knocking Chats from his hand. He was impressed, but he was keen to win. He ran at her. Marinette scrambled to her feet to race away. Marinette chased him around the living room as more baubles were thrown between them.
Then Marinette tripped over a stray bit of tinsel. He came crashing down, to the floor. Chat fell to his knees and put his arm on the ground over Marinette, so he couldn't get up.

"I've got you now!" Chat grinned.

"What are you going to do to me?" Marinette challenged, but she knew the answer.

Chat held her down to tickle her. He ran his claws across her soft belly and the groove of his collar bone, careful not to cut her. Marinette wriggled screaming with laughter trying to escape. She knocked him back, so she could jump up and try to regain some dignity.

"You win ok! You win!"

"Good! Now let's clean up."

Marinette and Chat gathered up the baubles that had gone flying all over the place, and placed them back in the box. When Tom came back from the kitchen, he filled the house with a peppermint smell as he baked and decorated cookies. It was wonderful. Marinette left him and Chat to finish decorating, and wandered over to the pile of presents and wrapping paper Sabine had left in the corner to wrap up later. Each one had a name labelled on it, so Marinette could wrap them up when she had the chance. Then Chat glanced out of the window. The little white flurry that had started on his way over here hadn't let up. now it was snowing properly.

"We should build a snow cat!" he declared.

"Maybe later. We've got to finish this before mum comes back," she said.

Chat stood up and dusted his hands off, "pass the lights, I'll get them up!"

Well it was better than having baubles thrown at her. she shifted the box towards him, and his face fell. They were all knotted together. with a twinkled in her eye, she grinned at him. he smirked back. she was keeping him busy. Adrien was liking this new, sly side of her he hadn't seen before. Very mischievous. She must have gotten it from Alya for Christmas.
Marinette hung the finals decoration on the bristles of the tree and stepped back to admire her work. The untangled Christmas lights twinkled against the shiny multi-coloured baubles. The tinsel was hung around the edges of the ceiling with care and some was draped around the frosted tree that stood proudly dressed up before her. Sparkles and twinkles hung from its bristles and every so often a striped candy cane could be seen on the branches. Holly writhes were hung on the walls around picture frames. The top of the tree was bare.

"can I put the star on?" Chat asked, hopefully.

"I'm sorry son, that's Sabine's job. Every year one of my girls puts on the stars and makes a wish. This year it's Sabine's turn," Tom explained from the doorway.

Chat was mildly disappointed, but he understood. It was nice to have traditions like that. he glanced over at what tom was doing. He didn't need the stall to reach higher up like the others did. He was tall enough on his own. That's why he got to pin up the final detail. Mistletoe under the doorway. He glanced over at Marinette, hiding in the sitting room.

"what are you wrapping up princess?"

"Shut your eyes shut them now!" Marinette yelled.

Chat shut his eyes and froze. She stood up and moved the unwrapped presents out of the way, so he couldn't see them. Chat opened one eye to watch her. she was so eager to keep everything a surprise that he didn't even look at the presents. He was watching her. she glanced up.

"Hey! You're not allowed to open them!" Marinette scolded.

"I'm sorry Marinette but you have icing all over your mouth!" Chat grinned.

"I do?"

Marinette's tongue escaped from her mouth and crept out searching for the icing.

"Here, let me!" Chat said.

He stepped forward to try and wipe her mouth, like Alya had whipped Nino's but she held out her arms against his chest to push him back.

"Close your eyes!" Marinette repeated firmly.

"Alright, alright!" Chat said.

Chat closed his eyes and Marinette grabbed him but the shoulders to turn him around and march him out of view of the presents. Tom chuckled. He had memories of a much older girl who looked just like Marinette, doing the very same thing to him when they were younger. He hadn't seen it, but he could imagine her with that same look of stubborn determination. She pushed Chat into a seat on the other side of the room, and hurried back to her presents.

"can I open my eyes now?" chat asked.

"if you must!" she said.

Chat smiled. He was sat beside left-over baubles. bauble after bauble bounced off of Marinette's back to get her to play. Marinette rolled her eyes. she turned away from the present to glance at Chat.

"No, I will not tell you what I'm wrapping!" Marinette said.

"But it's so pretty! I wanna tear it all open!" Chat whined.

Marinette rolled her eyes again. He threw a bauble back at Chat and told him to continue decorating the tree. Downstairs they heard the front door shut. Tom stepped back, still underneath the mistletoe, and grinned like a teenager at the idea of his wife having to kiss him. she laughed when she saw him, and recognised the grin before she even saw the mistletoe. She reached up on her tiptoes to kiss her husband.

"can I come in now?" she teased.

"You're going to love it," he smiled.

He stepped aside, and Sabine came wandering in, arms full of fresh wrapping paper for their Christmas cookie boxes, and looked around the room. She gasped.

"It's wonderful. It must have taken you ages!"

"What's the point in having powers if you can't use them?" chat shrugged.

"Chat!" Marinette laughed.

He had used his staff to lift her up to reach the branches she couldn't while tom fetched the stall.

"Merry Christmas Chat. It is gorgeous," Sabine smiled.

Chat beamed. He'd never had a Christmas like this before, with a family like this before. The tree didn't look particularly amazing, but it did to them, because they had done it together. as a family. With so much love and fun together that it came off in the tree. Tikki smiled to herself. this was a wonderful place to be at Christmas.

"I left the bag with the coco in downstairs," Sabine sighed with realisation.

Tom kissed his wife's cheek again. "You must be freezing. I'll fetch the coco."

"I'll clean up the mess," Sabine said, and followed him.

Chat and Marinette could hear them laughing all the way back downstairs. Chat glanced over at Marinette. She had put on a Santa hat that she found in her mother's shopping bag as she went thought it. he took it, and pulled it on his own head before she could protest.

"Hey!" she laughed.

He posed. "How do I look?"

"Like a regular Santa claws."

"You got to my pun before I did!"

"Ah you missed it by a whisker."

"If you keep me on my claws like this, I'll have to get quicker."

"You will. Do you wanna build a snow man?" she asked.

He grinned. "Desperately."

"Come on, let's go and play!"

She ran off to find her jumper, and an idea struck Chat. When she came back, he took her by her untied scarf, and led her across the room. Curiously, but amused, she allowed him to. He placed her under the door, adjusting her so she was exactly under the mistletoe, and beamed at her.

"I'm not kissing you," she said firmly.

His tail drooped. then he shrugged. "just as well. one kiss and you wouldn't be able to resist me."

It was the cocky self-assured tone in his voice that made her do it. it was too much of a challenge that she was too competitive to let slip. She laid her hand on the curve of his neck, and pulled him down to her level. She kissed him, hard, right on the lips, just as she had to cure him of Dark Cupid's spell. When she pulled away, she didn't move her hand. Chat's eyes were saucers and he stared at her. she smirked, and tapped her finger against his bell, so it jingled again.

"Merry Christmas kitty."

Chat's cheeks turned red.

They wanted to make the most of the snow before they had to go back to school. There were only a few days left in the year, and there was a lot of snow on the ground. Nino and Alya had abandoned their break up plan after the mistletoe incident. Alya tried to keep it going, but Marinette wasn't buying it and Nino was fed up of being separate in class. To celebrate Alya, Nino, Marinette and Adrien met up to play together, and ignore how childish it sounded. Especially when the first five minutes of running towards the park they were heading for, was spent being giggling six-year olds, dusted with snow and pretending to be dragons as they bellowed out steam as breath. Marinette pretended to be the damsel running away from the ferocious Alya dragon, and ran into the park. Alya chased her as she ran. Then with Alya still pretending to be the dragon, Adrien was the gallant knight that had to slay the dragon and rescue the maiden. Marinette blushed, but her cheeks were already rosy from the cold, so it wasn't noticed. Nino shook the small tree they were standing under, and shook the snow so it fell on them. some of it hit Plagg, who was hiding in Adrien's scarf, warm and safe in his jumper. The sudden cold made him yowl. Nino grinned, thinking the noise was Adrien.

"Tag!" yelled Adrien, hitting Nino's arm.

He ran off sending up a snow storm and crackling with laughter. Nino had to take a moment to laugh at how childish this man was. then he rushed after Adrien. The two of them went racing after the girls, dragging them into playing, and after half an hour or so, it was only the girls playing. Nino and Adrien built a large snowman together. they went rolling the head all around the park, and had to lift it together to put it on the body. Still it almost crumbled apart. Just as Nino was saying if nobody touched it, it'd be fine, Alya began building a supply of snowballs. Marinette took a photo of the boys posing with their snow man, and suddenly a snowball came flying past her, and slammed into the snowman's head.

"hey!" Nino shouted.

Alya held up another snowball, and waggled her eyebrows at him. Nino recognised a challenge when his saw one. Suddenly Marinette and Alya were crouching behind a snow-covered bench, in an all-out war against the boys, with one aim. Destroy the snowman. Tikki, in her little jumper, tried to help make ammo, but she was only little herself. Plagg spotted a tree behind the bench, with a branch full of snow right above their heads, and whispered to Adrien. Adrien grinned back at him, and started aiming for the tree. When he finally hit it, the air was full of screams from the two girls, and victorious laughter for the boys, which was silenced when Alix got Nino square on the glasses with a hastily built snowball that crumbled over his face.
he was blinded.

"I'll avenge you!" Adrien swore, dramatically, and hazily readied another snowball.

Plagg did not like the cold, but he had to admit, he was beginning to enjoy himself here. Badly aimed snowballs flew everywhere and anywhere, smashing into anything and everything that got into their way. Even Max, which they urgently apologised for, but made Kim and Alix eager for revenge. Now there were three teams. Marinette, Alya and Tikki, vs Adrien, Nino and Plagg, vs Alix, Max and Kim. In the chaotic mess of ducking and diving to avoid a face full of snow, no one noticed the lanky man trying to pass. He was hit in the face with a snowball and knocked backwards.

"KIDS! HONESTLY DON'T YOU HAVE SCHOOL TO BE IN?!" He fumed.

Marinette, Adrien and Nino filled with guilt and apology, Kim, Alix, and Alya filed with disdain, and Max filled with a need to explain that, "Actually, we don't have to return to school until-"

"I DON'T CARE! JUST GET OUT OF MY WAY!" He huffed.

"You don't have to be rude about it!" Kim snapped, defensively.

"Yeah dude, he was just explaining why you're wrong," Alix spat.

"DON'T TALK BACK TO YOUR ELDERS! KIDS THESE DAYS, HONESTLY! BACKINMYDAYYOUWOULDNEVERTALKABOUTYOURELDERSLIKETHAT! SODISRESPECTFULTHESEYOUTHES-"

Marinette's heart sank in her chest. One of these two, she wasn't certain which, was going to draw an akuma. The fun was over, as it so often was, too soon.

"Tikki-"

"IT'S TIME YOU YOUTHS LEARNT ABOUT RESPECTING YOUR ELDERS!"

"HEY MAN YOU CAN'T-"

Kim was hit by a beam of light from the new akuma, and was suddenly an elderly man, complaining about everything. "Ooh my back. slow down you kids! You're nowhere near as good as I was when I was your age!"

"Dammit…" Marinette leapt to her feet, "Everybody split up! He can't catch all of us!"

The akuma set his sights on her. the others didn't need telling twice. They scrambled to get away, and find a place to hide where he wouldn't come looking for them. but the akuma had her in his sights, and she had no way of getting away from him. until, that is, Chat Noir's silver staff landed in the snow in front of her, like a rope to safety. She latched on with both hands, and up she shot into the air, landed in his arms like a bride. He flashed her a smile.

"Bet you're glad I'm here," he said.

"I am. Elderly people love cats!" she grinned.

He laughed too, "Let's get you to safety. Bugaboo can handle this on her own for a while."

"But-"

"No arguing. I'm taking you home."

"Whatever you say kitty."

Alya filmed Chat Noir carrying Marinette, bridal style, over the roof tops high above them, and back towards her bakery. She felt an uneasiness in her chest. She had to talk to Marinette. Soon.

How to Bond With a Cat

A Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir Story
by Theonewhosawitall

Part 11 of 19

<< Previous     Home     Next >>