until she falls in love with me
Here it is, folks! Last month’s non-akuma video submissions: The Convention Compilation!You guys sent in so much footage; so I’ll be posting a second compilation later in the week. Thanks for your support! - Alya Cesaire, Ladyblogger Extraordinaire
A group of people are down the street from the camera. They are all wearing black and all have blonde hair. The view turns 180 degrees to show Chat Noir. A cheshire grin and a wink, and he turns it back to the group. The camera bobs as he walks towards them. As he gets closer, it becomes clear that every person in the group is in a Chat Noir costume. They range from I-found-this-in-my-closet to well tailored, used-every-reference-image-the-Ladyblog-had-to-offer imitation. One cosplayer turns his head and catches sight of Chat. He waves and calls out, “Hey man, looks like your going to the con, too! Wanna join us?”
Everyone else turns and most wave or call out greetings. “Sure! Mind if I record?”
They all look at each other, shaking heads. The first one responds as he holds out a clawed hand. “I think we’re all okay with that. I’m Bertrand.”
“I’m Chat Noir!” The group laughs.
“Yeah, so are we!” One of the girls says, still laughing. She’s wearing a simple jeans and t-shirt, both black, and a cat ear headband in blond hair that looks more real than wig. “Woah, wicked costume! Are those the ears off Amazon? It’s great to know they actually work.”
The group starts walking again, and Chat follows with his camera. They chatter about which panels to see (Marvel vs Miraculous: What Comics Can Tell Us About Real Life Superheroes and Protagonist? Villain? Goofy Side-Kick? How to Recognize Your Role in Life and What You Can Do About It seem to be two favorites), make bets on what cosplays they’ll see the most of (“I’m telling ya, Bertie, there’s gonna be more Ladybugs!” “Chat’s costume is easier!”), and eventually moves to celebrity sightings.
“Guys, did you see?! Adrien Agreste is coming! He confirmed on Twitter this morning. Says he’s got his costume ready to go and everything!” He hops up and down in his excitement. “Do you think he’ll dress up as Chat Noir? I loved his work on the Ladybug and Chat Noir movie. His portrayal of Chat Noir was spot on! Do you think he’ll take a picture with me?”
“Don’t you mean ‘his portrayal was purrfect’?” Chat interrupted.
The teen smacks his palm to his forehead. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that!”
Amid giggles, Black Jeans and a T-shirt speaks up again. “Okay, but is he a guest? Or a pleb like us? I’m sure that he isn’t going so he can be mobbed by fans, Matthieu.”
“It’s general knowledge that if you go to a convention in costume, people will want to take pictures.”
“It’s general courtesy to ask before you take pictures, and back off if he says ‘no’.”
“Of course!” Matthieu raises his hands in defense. “Of course I’d back off.”
A curious sound, almost like a heavy-duty fishing reel being released and drawn back in, comes over the video. Chat’s slightly awed muttering can barely be heard, “This is one of the best parts of my day..”, and then Ladybug is dropping gracefully on the other side of the multiple Chat Noirs.
“Hi everyone.” She gives a brief warm smile and then turns her attention to the person behind the camera. Her blue eyes are vivid and piercing. “Are you coming or what?” She waits for a moment, expecting an answer. The group trade confused looks. “Look, I know you hate overscheduled days, but I have a lot to do today, and if I don’t follow mine, I will end up disappointing someone.”
The silence continues. Black Jeans and a T-Shirt shifts from foot to foot. Tuxedo Chat wipes her hands on her pants. Professional Cosplayer Chat looks like he’s about to melt from Ladybug’s mere presence. The camera shifts and picks up a muffled snerk that the cosplayers don’t register.
“Uh, ma’am?” Bertrand starts, then cuts off as she looks at him. “…we’re, uh….None of us are actually Chat Noir.” He pauses a moment. “We’re.. cosplayers?”
She stares at him with an amused eyebrow and a barely-there smile. “I know my partner when I see him.” She glances back at Chat, and mischief dances in her eyes. “Alright, fine, but I’m enacting a penalty game.”
Ladybug shifts her weight into a more relaxed position. Brings her fingers to her chin as if stroking an invisible beard. “Hm…I’ll just have to find your Number 1 Fan and see if I can sway her my way.”
There’s a loud gasp. Chat and his camera begin moving to the front of the group.
“Nope! No! Not happening! Sorry, guys, it was fun, but there is NO WAY in HELL that I am letting that happen.”
“I’m sure it’d be so easy, too. She’s a fashion designer, isn’t she? All I’d have to do is show her how fantastic she’d look in red.”
Chat practically chokes. Ladybug looks smug.
“Bug. You have the Ladyblogger. You have Adrien Agreste, and Chloé Bourgeois. Jagged Stone. You can keep your 90% of Paris. But Marinette Dupain-Cheng is mine. You may not have her.”
“Hey! Jagged loves us equally. And it’s probably more like…” She seesaws her hand in approximation. “..78% of Paris.”
“Um…” The camera turns back to the cosplayers, who are wearing a variety of facial expressions. Mouth-gapingly dumbfounded. Disbelief. Confusion. Stars in the eyes excitement.
The feed cuts as they all ask for autographs.
“Mommy, look! It’s Chat Noir!”
A small girl runs up and hugs him. She has a navy dress, red hair bow, and an orange bag.
“Élodie! You need to ask before you touch.” Élodie’s mom sounds both like she’s said this a hundred times today and like she thinks the scene is adorable. She steps around part of the crowd and into the camera view. Élodie immediately lets go
“Can..can I ha-have a hug?”
Chat Noir looks delighted. His eyes shine and his grin is threatening to overtake his face. He drops to his knees to better accommodate the four year old. “Absolutely!”
She’s squeezing him for all she’s worth, and he’s holding her as if she’s the most precious child in the world. Her mom quietly produces a phone and snaps a picture. She glances at the screen with a small smile. Chat only pulls back when Élodie does.
“You are the cutest Kiki!” Chat tilts his head. He’s still on his knees, at her eye level. “But where is your Jiji?”
Élodie lights up even more and paws for her bag. The black cat plush is proudly presented. Chat takes it, gingerly, and says, “Did you know that cats can talk to one another?”
The little girl nods enthusiastically, hanging on his every word. He lifts Jiji to his cat ears and closes his eyes. Tilts his head. ‘Listens’ for a moment. She squirms, doing a kind of butt wiggle like she can’t possibly contain her excitement.
Finally, Chat nods. “Mm-hm. I’ll be sure to pass the message on.”
She jumps once, twice, three times. Her little hands are clenched fists not quite hiding her mouth. “What’d he say? What’d he say?!”
“He says that he loves you. And also please stop hogging the blankets at night.” His smile turns teasing. “Are you a blanket hog?”
They talk for a few more minutes. She asks him every question under the sun (“Ca-can you really see when the sun goes down? Do you eat cookies? Could you tie up a dinosaur and a tiger?”). She touches his ears and tries to stop his tail from moving. Her last question has him tapping his chest and beckoning Ladybug closer with his other hand. Élodie looks to her mom, who nods and smiles, and lays her head where he indicated. Ladybug slips a hand into his hair and, with what is clearly practiced ease, begins scratching. His eyes droop and close. They stay paused for a moment, until Élodie shrieks with laughter, pulls away to tell her mom giddily, “He purrs, Mommy! Like Jiji!”, then goes back to hear again.
When the little girl and her mom finally go on their way, the cameraperson has scooted close enough to the heroes to catch one final exchange.
Ladybug, who hasn’t taken her eyes off her partner and his tiny fan the whole time, says “Chat, if you ever decide to have kids, you’re going to make the most incredible father.”
The previous scene ended with a red faced Chat Noir. And this scene starts with one.
The view zooms out to bring a full view of the dark haired Chat. Her costume is perfect, down to the honeycomb pattern on the fabric. Hair unbound and rockstar teased, blue cat eye contacts, clawed hands nervously twirling her belt-tail. She’s in a convention hall, surrounded by crowds of people. Some are in costumes like her, some in regular clothes.
“Are you livestreaming this?” Marinette says.
“Nope! But you can bet I’m putting it in this month’s submission compilation post. Your work deserves to be shown off!”
“Alyaaa, you’re making me blush!”
Alya laughs, then gasps as a giant space marine moves and reveals the real Chat Noir. “Chat! Chat Noir! Care to share a few words with the Ladyblog?“
He waves and works his way to them. He’s smiling brightly until Marinette turns to greet him, and he stops dead. His eyes widen and his mouth drops open. His face is now very, very red. He waves his hands like he’s trying to get something out and is having trouble, but then reigns them in, covering his mouth with one and putting the other to the opposite elbow.
“That’s, um,” His voice comes out high and squeaky. He clears his throat and tries again. “Wow. That’s wow. How, uh, how did you get the fabric to do that?”
She seems too stunned to answer for a moment. “L-lots of experiments. And practice. I had to do so much research on how fabrics are made.”
“Wow,” Chat says again. His eyes are roaming all over her form, taking in every detail.
“Hey, M, turn around. I want to get a good shot of you two!” The two jump a bit, but do as she asks and line up facing the camera. Standing next to him only exemplifies how exact her creation is.
Alya leads her impromptu interview with: “How long did it take you to make your outfit?”
“Mmm…six months or so, about when the presale tickets went live.”
“So long?” the superhero asks. He’s mystified.
Marinette just shrugs. “I knew that I’d have to work around school and commissions and other stuff, and I wanted to give the project the consideration it deserved.”
“What was the hardest part to recreate?” Alya asks.
Marinette laughs. “Definitely the fabric! I went through so many different types, trying to figure out the best way to get the pattern on right, because it’s just not something you’ll find in a store. I ended up contacting someone that I’d met at a design competition, and they were able to point me in the direction of a company that will print your pattern for you.”
Chat’s eyes widen once more and he pulls out his baton and starts tapping on it. Nino walks up, in a store-bought Chat Noir costume, also holding his phone out.
Nino glances at Alya, then back down. “He says he’s here, but there’s so many people, it’s impossible to find anybody. Oh, hey, you found Nettie and Chat Noir. HOLY SHIT MARINETTE. That costume is wicked!”
He circles her, putting his phone up, then holds his fist out. She bumps it with a grin.
Chat harumphs and replaces his weapon. “Looks like LB’s already detransformed. I wanted to show off Marinette’s amazing skills!”
Alya laughs. “Ladybug’s right, though. M does look fantastic in red.”
Chat stares at her, decidedly grumpy. The girl in question snorts out surprised laughter. A tall Mad Hatter in the background notices the camera and sticks up crooked bunny ears over Chat’s head. Alya cackles in delight.
“As I told my lady,” he wraps a possessive arm around Marinette’s shoulder, “my Number 1 Fan. Not hers.”
He looks directly at the camera. “Oh, and to anyone still arguing over the position: Look at this” he gestures to her costume “and don’t even bother trying to convince me otherwise.”
Dorothée Beranger
Yeah, that’s fair… She wore that costume to school the next day and it’s *chef’s kiss*. Also she’s, like, Chat Noir’s biggest defender. Word of advice: do not insinuate that he’s a sidekick anywhere this girl might hear.
Antonin Lamarre
I’ve seen her Chat rants on the Ladyblog! She really knows her stuff!
LuminousPollywog
Seeing Chat with that little girl cleared my face, watered my crops, and gave my grades the boost they needed.
miraculousluckycharm13
THAT SOFT LOOK! #LADYNOIR IS REAL
–Paradiddle
–are we just going to ignore the marichat? chatinette? in the room?
