It was late at night, Ladybug had already called it a night from their evening patrol over an hour ago, and yet Cat Noir found himself still running on the rooftops underneath the moonlight of Paris’ night sky.
He should go back home; however, Cat Noir couldn’t say he particularly wanted to go home quite just yet. The night was still young, and he honestly had nothing better to do at the moment. He had already finished all of his homework for school the next day, so it wasn’t like he needed to go run back home to finish up anything quite just yet.
More than anything, Cat Noir wanted to enjoy the fresh air, and freedom for a little while longer. After school tomorrow, he was going to be booked solid with photoshoots until the weekend was over. He would, of course, make time for their nightly patrols; however, free time will be few and far between otherwise
Cat Noir sighed to himself. He didn’t mind modeling all that much and it was one of the few things where his father recognized he had talent in something, but he did wish he could have more time to himself, and do normal things other teenagers his age get to do.
It wasn’t before long Cat Noir realized he was running around without paying much mind to where exactly he was running to. He stopped in his tracks to see where he ended up. Almost seemed like a coincidence that his subconscious took him into the direction of his school, the one source of freedom he had when he was Adrien.
All the lights seemed to be out in the building. As it probably should be. It was late, and no one should be at the school giving the hour; however, Cat Noir noticed a light on right across the street. The bakery on the ground level had its lights turned off, and was obviously closed for business as was most of the house, but one light in the upper most level was still on.
Now, Cat Noir had to admit he was curious to see who was awake. It was almost 2 AM, surely any sane (normal non crime fighting) person would be asleep by now. He quickly hopped a couple more roofs to get a closer look at the bakery’s third level and he had to admit he was a little surprised to see who was awake at this hour.
❝ Marinette ❞ he said under his breath.
Wait, did Marinette always live right by the school?
A hypothetical question of course. The bakery had always been there, and he knew Marinette’s parents owned a bakery, but he never realized how close it was to the school until just now. He felt like an idiot for never noticing until just now.
Though if she lived next door, Cat Noir couldn’t help, but wonder how she managed to be late.
Then again, it wasn’t like he knew much about Marinette to begin with. The extent of his knowledge is she’s a kind girl, who is also a tad shy, and a little bit of a klutz. She’s the current class president who sits behind him in class and has a knack for designing.
Now Cat Noir found himself curious to what Marinette could be doing this time of night, and before he knew it, Cat Noir found himself gravitating towards her window to see what she was up to; however, from where he was he didn’t have a very good view, and her house was at the corner, so there wasn’t a house he could conveniently perch on.
Obviously he had to go ahead and do the next best thing, go look into her window himself. And in the back of his mind he ignored the voice that told him how it was a little creepy for him to be doing so, and immediately rushed across the rooftops and quietly landed on the bakery’s before he slide down the side of the roof to where Marinette’s window was, and slowly peered inside.
Designing at this hour. Cat Noir couldn’t say he was surprised, and he honestly should have expected that. He knew Marinette was working hard towards her dream of becoming a fashion designer, so it wasn’t unheard of for her to be working so diligently at this hour. He would be the first to say how the fashion business is cruel. One minute you’re loved, and the next you can be hated. You needed to not only be talented, but thick skinned as well. That being said, he had complete faith in Marinette that she could make her dream come true as long as she kept working as hard as she has been.
With his curiosity satisfied, Cat Noir decided he should probably head out before Marinette noticed him, and went to take a step back up to the roof; however, his foot slipped, and he came crashing down, hitting the gutter making a clank sound before he grabbed it, holding onto, dangling off the gutter after tumbling off the roof.
It would seem Cat Noir was two for two in terms of things happening tonight that he didn’t expect that he really should have. However, Cat Noir could only hope that Marinette didn’t hear the ruckus outside her window, or passed it off as a stray cat or something.
All things considered, Car Noir didn’t have much faith in that being true. He was, after all, the living embodiment of bad luck.