Work Text:
There was a thief in the palace.
The king was frantic. He had ordered guards to be stationed around every room with items of value, from the royal treasury to the art exhibition room. The palace bustled with activity. After the last time the thief snuck into the most well-guarded place in the kingdom, none of the nobles or guards wanted a repeat performance.
Nobody remembered the servants held the keys to every single room in the palace.
Marinette, a lowly maid in the grandest plaace in the world, crouched before a flower bush at the edge of the palace grounds, right next to the curtain wall. Holding a pair of pruning scissors, she carefully trimmed the edges of the bush that none of the nobles were probably going to see. Still, everything in the royal palace must be kept to perfection.
As she concentrated on her work, a key fell out of the pocket of her apron. The key to the room where the queen kept her prized jewelry, in fact.
Marinette smiled dreamily, not appearing to notice the key that had fallen under the bush. Her lover was coming to visit the royal palace tonight.
As the sun dawned the very next day, the news broke that a thief had broken into the palace for the second time. Jewelry worth years of the average servant’s salary had been taken from the queen’s jewelry room, the thief slipping in and out as silently as a shadow in the dead of the night.
In her room, Marinette’s copy of the key sat innocently next to her pillow.
When Marinette’s monthly rest day came, she slipped away in the direction of the nearby woods instead of towards town like the rest of her peers.
She had been walking in the woods for scarcely five minutes when a shadowy figure dropped from the tree in front of her, with night-dark clothes and a black mask fashioned in the shape of a cat’s face.
Most travelers would’ve screamed, if faced with such a creature that seemed more spirit than human.
Marinette merely sighed, “…Chaton, must you be so dramatic all the time?”
“What?” Chat Noir, the most feared thief in the kingdom, grinned like a mischievous little boy. “Can’t I be excited to see my beautiful princess?”
The proclaimed princess snorted. “You’re just trying to successfully jump-scare me for once. And like I keep telling you—it’s never happening, Chaton.”
Chat Noir raised his hands into the air. “Guilty as charged.” He said impishly. “You ready see our loot yet?”
Marinette nodded, and followed Chat Noir to a cottage in the middle of the woods.
The inside of the cottage was decorated lavishly with riches beyond human comprehension, much like the inside of the royal treasury. It was a direct contrast to the decaying exterior of the hut.
Marinette did not blink at the riches, for it was not the first time she had been greeted by them. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the table in the middle of the room, which proudly display jewelry that she recognised from the queen’s collection.
“This is all you took?” She asked Chat Noir, who nodded proudly.
Marinette hummed, studying their latest spoils of war. The queen’s jewelry glimmered under the dim sunlight that filtered into the room. Just a single piece was perhaps worth a few months of Marinette’s income, and they had a small mountain of the precious gems.
She smiled, victory sweet on her tongue. “Well done, Chaton. With this, we’ll be able to save that entire village from the famine!”
Chat Noir beamed at the praise, “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you, either.” Marinette giggled, tapping him gently on the nose. “We’re partners, aren’t we?”
“Yes,” Chat agreed. He hesitated, fiddling with the drawstrings of the pouch on his waist. “And, uh…I have a gift for my amazing partner.”
“Oh?” Marinette raised her brows, noting how uncharacteristically nervous Chat Noir seemed.
Chat opened his drawstring pouch, taking something from within. “Open your hand.” He told her.
Bemused, Marinette complied. A pair of round rubies was deposited on her palm.
Marinette studied the two gems curiously. The blood red rubies—no, they weren’t simply rubies, they were earrings—were surrounded by a delicate circle of black opals. The earrings felt heavy in her palm, as if she could sense how expensive they were by mere touch.
Her eyebrows rose as she realised she could recognise this pair of jewelry. The Ladybug earrings, mythical jewelry rumoured to have been made by the Queen of the gods Tikki herself, and imbued with the power to bring immense fortune to its wearer. It was one of the royals’ most prized artefacts.
Personally, Marinette thought the theological origins of the earrings was a load of crap. The blacksmith who created these earrings probably made up the tale so they could be sold better—anyone could make jewelry in Tikki’s colours. Still, she wasn’t about to dismiss the value of the earrings out of hand.
“Chaton,” she whispered, warmth blooming in her chest at the thought of Chat giving such a prized national treadure to her. “You shouldn’t have.”
“This is supposed to be made by the Queen of the gods, isn’t it?” Chat pointed out. “Then the only one worthy to wear the earrings is a queen as compassionate and gentle as you.”
Marinette shook her head, a light blush rising to her cheeks. “You know I can’t wear them.” She’d be executed if anyone ever found her with these earrings.
“Still—keep them.” Chat requested, folding her fingers around the priceless artefacts. “Maybe they’ll bring you luck by just being in your possession.”
Marinette smiled. She sometimes wondered if she had used up her entire life’s luck by finding such an incredible boy, but…if this gift was any indication, he generated more than enough luck for the both of them.
“Chaton,” she murmured, “Can you remove your mask?”
Tilting his head, Chat Noir complied, revealing emerald green eyes and the face of a boy once known as Adrien, the long-dead son of the noble Agreste House.
Marinette took his face into her coarse hands, marvelling at the beautiful kind eyes they had no choice but to hide from the world. It was a tragedy, but some days, she preferred things this way—Chat Noir’s eyes were a gift reserved for her and her alone.
Leaning in, she pressed a kiss to his lips. His lips might’ve roughened from the years of living in the wild, but they tasted as warm and sweet as the first time she kissed him.
“Thank you,” Marinette whispered as she pulled back, her breath ghosting over his lips.
“No, thank you.” Chat grinned, “Thank you for being my partner. I’m so lucky to be with you.”
With that, he pulled her into a longer, deeper kiss, untying her belt with one hand to tug off her tunic. Marinette didn’t emerge from the cabin until long after dark.