Marinette learned that it was cat's nature to bring dead animals to their owner as their way of showing their love and affection. She thought that there was an exception to the rule and that Chat Blanc was a special case.

How wrong she was.

During the initial weeks of living with her pet, the designer began to receive several amounts of surprises left on her loft staircase, particularly dead black mice.

She could still remember the softness of its furry body against her sole when she walked down groggily on that fateful Monday morning, and the splatting sound that followed together with some flying meat chunks and bloody veins God knows where it landed afterward.

Marinette had to scream her lungs out the first time she encountered such horrendous carcass, and her parents almost called 112 thinking that an intruder attacked their daughter.

And in the midst of that chaos was a mewling Chat Blanc with his tail wagging happily like a good boy he was.

Thanks to her Lady Luck, Marinette didn't throw up on the spot or fall down to meet her demise. She summoned her inner superheroine to lift her murderous leg up and inspect how some strands of the intestines slithered on her skin. The grayish matter stuck on her toenails that she constantly denied being a portion of rodent's brain, however, spoiled her appetite for weeks.

It took her three 'rude awakenings' to discover that the mice were technically not dead but unconscious, and the one that delivered the last judgment was none other than her small, bare foot.

"Aren't you glad that Chat loves you in a most twisted way?" Alya taunted much to her best friend's chagrin. They were staying at the zoo that time for an afternoon stroll.

"That's a typical problem for rescues." Otis eyed the white feline that was sniffing his panther's glass cage. "Even if you'll make him a 100% indoor cat, you still can't stop his instinct to hunt. It's part of their genes."

Marinette received some useful tips from Dr. Moshe on minimizing Chat Blanc's generosity of teaching his Master how to eat dead animals.

One of her workarounds was congratulating the cat for being a good boy after putting the poor mouse on her staircase again, then threw it away as soon as he left the premise.

Unfortunately, he caught her red-handed.

Fortunately, his gross behavior stopped.

The change wasn't drastic though.

At first, Chat Blanc diverted his attention to insects, from catching butterflies in between his canine teeth - much to Tikki's amusement - to live bugs.

The worst experience Marinette had was during her classmates' sleepover.

All girls except Chloe and Sabrina were too busy playing with Truth or Dares to notice the prancing cat and the insect that he slipped near their feet.

It was a cockroach.

Nino almost suffered an aneurysm when they relayed the story the next day.

As far as the designer could recall, that was the last incident of seeing dead inside Dupain-Cheng's household.

She was quite proud of herself. It was a mission accomplished. She really deserves a pat on the back.

Not until she factored Chat Noir.

Her feline partner was fond of bearing gifts to his Lady, and would often pull his Kitty Eyes™ card just to win the argument. Not that Ladybug hates being showered with affection; she didn't want her Chaton to spend hundreds of euros for a piece of jewelry.

As if she didn't know the cost of Charriol.

The cat in him was quite difficult to be conditioned not to bring her gifts, and it took her twice the effort to make him stop. Eventually, she succeeds.

But when Chat Noir befriended her civilian self, his persistence doubled over that even her tactics as Ladybug didn't work on Marinette.

Since that ridiculous 'brownie' point pun, his nightly visits became a normal occurrence between teens and not once Chat Blanc failed to express his displeasures.

"Salut, ma Purr-incess!" the black-clad hero greeted while swinging his leg on the balcony rail, then glowered at the cat behind her leg. "How is it going, Whitey?"

The white feline sneered him like 'Fuck off, Blackey'

Marinette rolled her eyes indignantly at her Chats' ludicrous exchanges.

"What are you doing here, Monsieur Noir?" she crossed her arms with a huff. "Don't tell me you're on a midnight stroll again and saw a 'beauty'" she used her fingers to quote the word. "who in dire need of your company?"

"Me-wow, you read my mind, Princess!"

Her scowl earned a shit-eating grin. "Is this another alibi of 'I-caught-a-baddie-and-got-freebies-but-Ladybug-was-MIA' in a form of crepes?"

"Nope!" he emphasized his 'p' then presented her a container of steaming kebabs with a wink. "Purr-lease don't grill me if I made a mis-steak of skewer-ing your taste purr-eference."

She threw him a beady glare.

During his visits, Chat Noir would always bring her some presents in a form of street foods and rare baubles, and every time she refused to accept them, he would deflate and say 'I'm too used to be rejected.'

That mangy cat really knows how to guilt-trip her, leaving her with no choice but to obey his biddings.

"Do you live in a haberdashery?" she inspected the gold bobbins he handed previously. "Because there's no way you can find these things randomly 'lying around'."

The superhero shrugged his shoulders casually and said. "I preferred to see those at your disposal."

Marinette became cautious not to out herself whenever they engaged in a deep conversation. She also decided not to pry further into Chat Noir's life despite the opportunity. She didn't want to discover something that would lead her to his civilian identity.

Next night came and he brought her rhinestone cufflinks.

"Aren't you acting like a crow?"

"Purr-incess, crows are not the only one that loves shiny things."

Both glanced at Chat Blanc with full-blown green eyes as he pawed the item.

She couldn't remember for the life of her if she told Chat Noir about her dream to become a fashion designer. She might've brought her sketchbook to the balcony once, but she never showed him her designs.

Yet here he was bringing her textiles and sewing materials that may or may not be useful for her current project.

"Princess!" he arrived again the following night with a dark bodybag slumped on his shoulder.

"I swear, Chat. If you're bringing me dead bodies I'm going to call the police."

The feline hero snorted then placed the bag on the balcony floor. "Guess what this cat dragged in?"

Marinette unzipped the bag carefully and almost fell over when she saw the content.

She screamed.

Heavy footsteps sounded below with loud raps on her trap door. "Marinette! Honey, are you alright?!"

Both teens froze on the spot.

"I - I'm fine, Papa." the designer squeaked while the hero stopped his breath. "Cha - Chat surprised me with...with something."

There a chuckle followed by an exasperated sigh. "Tell Chat not to bring animal bodies again or he'll be neutered first thing in the morning."

"I - I will!' she squeaked again while averting her gaze from Chat Blanc's impassive look.

"Don't stay up late again, sweetie."

"'Night, Papa! Sweet dreams, Maman!"

"'Night, honey."

The teens waited for a few beats of silence before they released a sigh of relief.

"Geez, Purr-incess. Don't let this Chat out from the bag."

She slapped his arm. "I'm tempted to skin you mangy cat! You surprised me!"

"So what do you think, ma Purr-incesse?" he wiggled his brows at her jaw-slacked face.

"You carried a bolt of fucking guanashina all the way here?!" she exclaimed with arms flailing in the air. "A guanashina, Chat Noir, a guanashina! Do you know how much is the price for its yard?! A month's worth of allowance is not enough for this luxury! And here you are giving me a bolt?!"

"Pssh, nobody gives a damn on this cloth. I'd rather let you have you this than to see it rot."

"Bu-but this is expensive, Kitty. I'm fine with the usual buttons, threads, yarns and some linen scraps. But this?" she closed the bag then stood up. "I'm sorry, but I can't accept this."

"C'mon, Marinette. Don't tell me I have to carry that several pounds of fabric again while leaping on the rooftops?" he whined.

"Why are you doing this, Chat Noir?" her question confused him. "I didn't do anything to warrant this kind of favor."

"You offered me food." was his reply. "And a wonderful company."

"It's the thought that counts, Chat. I can't - "

The feline hero reached her hands when she stepped back. "Marinette."

She flinched upon contact and almost dissolved into a puddle of goo when she met his warm emerald eyes.

"Is it too much to ask you to accept my humble gesture?"

"But - "

"Please? As my friend?"

He batted his lashes while flaunting his Kitty Eyes™ and that moment, Marinette knew she was utterly defeated by his charms.

"Fine!" she clicked her tongue much to the hero's amusement. "But you have to accept my money the next time you pull another trick!"

Chat Noir released her then clutched his chest. "Oh, ma Purr-incesse. There's no trickery on this, for I am but a well-endowed cat. But if you're adamant to return my feelings, I'd rather have your attention instead of your allowance."

If she didn't know him well, she would never decipher the sincerity behind his goofiness.

"You have my attention now, Kitty." she scoffed with hands on her hips. "So what do you want to have tonight?"

"Croissants!" was his immediate reply.

"The usual?"

"The usual."

The designer tapped her chin as if thinking. "I can bring some, but I think we have something that would suit your taste."

She surprised him with a plate of tuna sushi.

"This is purr-fect!" the feline hero moaned happily after he chewed a piece with his chopsticks.

"Cats really love fish, huh." she snickered then glanced at her white cat that was also smothered with tuna.

"You cod say we're hooked," he answered then burped, which earned a scowl. "Oops. Saury."

Marinette wouldn't admit it, but ever since Chat Noir began to drop by every night to say 'hi', she would always prepare him some snacks.

His croissants were actually fresh, and she would slip him some extra pastries like cookies, profiteroles, and macarons she also lied to be stales. He might have noticed it, and probably knows the difference between her parents and her self-made treats, but decided to keep his comments behind his smiles.

After finishing his tea, he asked. "I don't mean to be rude to your preference, Princess. But milk is not an ideal pair for sushi, you know?"

She raised a brow at her cold glass of milk. "It doesn't churn my stomach, so it's fine. Besides, I always drink milk before bedtime."

"And here I thought I'm the cat in this relationship." he teased then poked her shoulder. "Unless you're drinking it to grow taller."

When his words met silence, he guffawed.

"Shu - shut up, you stupid cat!" she kicked his shin with no remorse.

"Meow-ch! No wonder your bones are strong!"

"You have no right to make fun of the person who feeds you!"

Chat Noir only laughed harder much at her embarrassment.

"Girls can still increase their height at the age of sixteen!" her defenses almost cracked him a rib. "And I just grow two last summer!"

"Two what?"

"Two centimeters!"

The feline superhero collapsed on the floor in tears.

"Oh, my gosh - hahaha - Princess! You're so - ahahaha - so cute!"

"Stop mocking me!"

"I'm not - pffft - mocking at your great dream! Ahahaha - meow-ch! Ouch!"

"That's it!" she stormed inside while abandoning his yowls. "You're not allowed to stay on my roof, much more on my balcony, again!"

Chat Noir still came back though.

And when he brought her a carton of fresh milk as an apology, Marinette immediately hauled it directly to his face.