Something new

chapter 36

"Did we actually ever get to finish last night's round?", the civilian asked the masked cat costumed man.
Chat Noir only shrugged though, "I really don't know." Both were silent for a long moment, getting flashbacks of the morning.
Both decided to just ignore what had happened in the past, instead, (Name) asked if he wanted anything to eat.
"I think we have left over cake in the fridge, you want some?"

Chat Noir immediately nodded without any hesitation, so (Name) went downstairs and got two plates with each having a piece of the pie.
They sat outside on their balcony, gazed at the stars, and let the light wind breeze hit their skin.
"You know, usually I'm not allowed to eat much of this. I'm actually on a strict diet, does this count as a cheat day if I'm masked?", Chat Noir told them and asked mainly as a joke. But (Name) was processing what he was actually saying.
"You don't need a diet though, your muscles are looking pretty healthy if you ask me.", they responded, confused on why he would force himself into such a strict diet when he already has a fit body he can fight in and defend with.
Chat Noir only shook his head, "No I didn't decide on it. My father decided it for me ever since I was 9."

They stayed silent and listened to him munch on his cake, then they decided to speak on what they just heard. "I don't want to be rude but your dad sounds like an asshole, dude."
Chat Noir groaned, "I heard that a lot, don't worry about it." An image of Nino popped into the cat's head.

They raised an eyebrow at him for a second and then stared back at the stars.
Not long after that they felt a soft ball on their foot.
Looking down they saw the kitten. "Oh, you woke up.", they casually remarked, picking the kitty up.

"So did you decide to keep her after all?", Chat Noir asked, taking another bite of the cake. (Name) shrugged. "I don't know. I guess she likes it here, but it'll be hard to keep her in secret for much longer. I still have parents, you know?"

"Would your parents be against a pet?", to the question (Name) could only shrug as a response. Petting the kitten, they thought for a small moment. "I don't think they'd be enlightened to hear that I adopted a random cat off the street if I'm being honest."
Chat Noir snickered, but then his laughter got replaced with an offended gasp after hearing what (Name) had to say next.
"She's kinda like you. Saw me once and now she won't leave my ass alone."

"You should be honored that I come by almost every night! Most people dream of being in your place, you know.", the hero stated, posing dramatically to which (Name) chuckled.
Then they started thinking about his statement and put the kitten back down, petting it one last time before turning their entire attention to the other black cat.

"Why do you even come by to see me though?"

Chat Noir turned to look at their face directly, not ever having thought about why he's coming over so frequently.
Of course Adrien knew why he wanted to visit them first.
To befriend them and see what they are like since they just intrigued him.
But he used to come by as Chat Noir because they didn't talk to him as Adrien at first, he befriended them as Adrien now though, so why would he keep going? Making emotional bonds as a hero with a civilian isn't the safest idea after all.

(Name) didn't let him find an answer though, and instead kept going.
"I mean, I guess I kinda started it first by inviting you to play Mario kart after that one Akuma fight. But I honestly thought that would be a one time thing. And now I'm sitting in my balcony at like 9PM watching the stars while eating cake with you. A couple months ago I would've gagged at the idea. So now I'm wondering why you kept coming here."
Chat Noir stared at them. Observing their features on their face, the texture of their hair, and the cotton used on the clothes they were wearing. As if taking in every detail about even their breath would give him the answer.

He just smiled and shrugged, "I don't know.", he said.

He knew he needed to take his eyes off them, he noticed that when he realized they were looking just as astonishing as they did the night on the Eiffel tower. Even though he really didn't want to, he changed his direction of view back to the stars, seeing that the moon was already out too.
"I guess I was just feeling lonely, and you were just.. well, you were just there." A smile formed on both of their faces.

"Cool."
(Name) honestly didn't know what to say.
They didn't think they'd ever get to the point where'd they befriend someone build an actual bond with them again, other than Nathaniel.

The part that irritated them was that they didn't even know his name, and yet they knew that his dad was most likely a strict prick.

They snickered and stared at Chat Noir's empty dish, realizing he finished his piece of the cake.
Glancing at their own plate, they decided to hold it out to him.
"I'm full, can you eat mine too?"
With excitement in his eyes he accepted the cake.

Maybe his real name isn't too important yet.
They smiled at the view of him.
Of course they wanted to continue eating the cake, it was their favorite after all. But seeing him eat it happily was worth giving up their delicacy.

Even though Chat Noir was munching too proud on the cake, (Name) still enjoyed the silence.
Then they remembered Adrien and quickly pulled out their phone to text him.
Chat Noir noticed that they got out their phone, feeling a bit jealous because they never were on their phone when he was over. "Who are you texting?", he asked curiously.
"My classmate."
"Which one."
"Dude, I can't see my own screen."

Chat Noir was shoving his face into the screen to see something, but then got shoved away by (Name)'s hand.

"Agreste?", he finally saw.
They seriously just put my LAST name? Not even Adrien?
Pouting, he watched them text him.
"Yeah, I did a project with him before, if you can remember that. We worked pretty good together, and that was from the time where I barely even talked to him. So just imagine what ungodly work I can get done with him now."

Then they looked into his eyes and whispered to him, "But to be honest I think he just gets a couple extra points because he's good looking. Pretty people always have that privilege, for some reason."
Chat Noir felt his cheeks heat up from the sudden compliment, but to cover it up he played it cool by teasing them. "You think he's good looking?", he smirked leaning closer to their face.

They however weren't so fazed by that. "Duh. Have you seem him? There's a reason he's a teenage model." they stated blankly the obvious.
Not paying attention to Chat Noir's reactive facial expressions to their little rant on how Adrien is really pretty, they started snickering. "Seriously I sometimes feel like he's glowing. It used to irritate the shit out of me. Still does sometimes, I usually dislike people that are TOO pretty."

Pretending as if he isn't literally inventing a new skin tone from all the compliments he's secretly getting from them, he just raised an eyebrow.
"You dislike pretty people? Damn you must hate me then."
(Name) rolled their eyes and suppressed their laughter, "No because most of the time, when someone is like above average pretty, they tend to be so full of themself." They said, putting a hand on his arm as if they needed support for claiming that.

Then they smirked at him, "You know, like you are."

"Okay, I'm leaving."

"Oh come on, kitty!"