A/N: Bonjour my fellow Miraculouers and Marichat fans! :3 So, I've already posted a notice on my one shot collection A Smitten Kitten & A Lovestruck Princess about the release date for this story but I miscalculated the date and thought the 15th of February was a Friday :P Ahem…(deep Chat Noir bow) I apawlagize for the little misunderstanding and I hope you enjoy this little piece! :)

Inspiration: Moomin Café in Japan actually gave me the idea for this story. I've looked it up and read some controversial opinions on it, having stuffed toys seated with lonely customers. I found the idea really cute and appealing and my Marichat brain went on full blast and…this was born. :3

INFO: This story is an AU! Kwamis don't exist, but our heroes shall still come in many different shapes and forms ;) One doesn't have to wear a suit to be a hero, right? ;) There will be mentions of light Adrienette, mainly Marichat, Human!Plagg & Tikki, Alya & Nino. A question that's sprung up in the PMs I got was: will there be Hawkmoth or will Hawkmoth even exist? Yes and no. Just like with the superhero powers and suits and magical aspects, Hawkmoth won't appear as the traditional villain. Just wait and see! :) It depends on how many people like this story to develop the plot further.

Dislciamer: I don't own Miraculous Ladybug or any of its characters and I don't make any money from this!

Rating: T

And lastly…enjoy! :3

~Dinner for Two~

Marinette let her gaze scan the menu slowly, trying to decide on what to eat. It was her first time in this restaurant, Alya had recommended it to her after Nino had taken her out on their 'surprise' date the day after, talking about how the food was exquisite and how affordable it was in comparison to other more fancy restaurants.

Finally deciding on a simple pasta dish, Marinette smiled kindly at the waiter that took her order, drumming her fingers against the table and checking her phone for messages. The waiter returned first with her water, then minutes later with her food.

She thanked him and smiled, already smitten by the delicious aroma of the steaming plate before her. Having bakers as parents with her mother being a very good cook outside of baking pastries, she had slightly higher expectations than some others. Still, she could appreciate good food when there was some.

Minutes ticked by and Marinette was about to take her first bite after waiting for it to cool when suddenly the waiter from before walked over to her. Her eyes widened as big as saucers when she noticed the giant stuffed cat the man held in his arms, before he placed it on the chair opposite of her.

Marinette hastily called out after noticing the waiter was beginning to leave, "E-Excuse me! I-I didn't order stuffed cat!" she sounded silly, even to herself. Honestly, who would order a stuffed animal? At a restaurant no less?

The man turned back toward her and gestured toward the stuffed animal, "This is one of our principal rules madam," he smiled, "Customers eating alone get to enjoy the privilege of having some company, even in the form of a stuffed animal,"

Marinette's eyes shot to her hairline, surprise clearly radiating off her.

Wait…had Alya known about this? Did she think her friend was lonely? While it was true that Marinette hadn't had a date in a year, it most definitely was not true that she was lonely. Not in particular anyway.

"I'm sorry, but I uhm…I don't need it," she cringed when the waiter winced, obviously thinking he had offended her, "T-thank you for the kind offer though," she smiled, hoping to soften the unintentional blow.

But, when the man picked the stuffed toy up again, the big black cat head visible from over his shoulders, Marinette swore it seemed like the cat was looking at her.

Feeling an odd sense of guilt and loneliness hit her, she timidly called out with a raised hand, "Uhm, please w-wait!"

The waiter stopped mid-step, turning around toward her with a raised eyebrow, "Yes, madam?"

Marinette flushed uncontrollably, fingers fidgeting nervously as she uttered her request in rapid succession, "CanImaybehavethecatback?"

The waiter leaned down closer, face turned to hear her, "Excuse me mademoiselle, I didn't hear you,"

Marinette swallowed down her humiliation at what she was about to request and spoke a little louder and clearer, "M-may I please have the cat back?" she grinned sheepishly, face on fire as the waiter smiled softly and positioned the large black cat back on the chair, facing her.

"I knew the miss would like it, this one seems to be fancied by the ladies quite a lot," he winked and walked off to another group of customers, making Marinette doubt her choice.

Sighing to herself, she began to eat, only to glance up at the stuffed toy after the first bite.

She felt uncomfortable.

It was staring at her while she was eating alone.

Now Marinette was by no means shy of eating in public, but having a large stuffed animal have its empty bleary gaze at her while she was eating was another matter entirely, maybe she should call the waiter again…

A loud chorus of laughter suddenly cut the relatively peaceful silence of the restaurant and the soothing music playing in the background, and she glanced to the side to spot a large group of university students laughing and talking animatedly, gesturing wildly with their hands while they talked.

Marinette felt a twinge of jealousy, missing the times when she and her old friends from university would hang out and go and eat after classes.

Shaking her head vigorously, she stubbornly turned back to her food and after every mouthful of the admittedly delicious dish, she felt loneliness eat away at her the more the university students talked and laughed.

She glanced at the stuffed cat quickly.

"No!" she quickly shook her head again, "I'm a self-respecting, twenty-five-year-old woman, I will not start talking to a stuffed animal because I'm feeling lonely,"

"This food is really tasty," freezing mid-bite, Marinette groaned.

"It's okay, I'm just talking to myself, that's fine right? Maybe people talk to themselves," except she was staring straight at the stupid stuffed cat while she was talking.

"This is not happening, I'm not talking to a stuffed toy, I'm a self-respecting woman, I'm a self-respecting-"

"Are you alright, madam?" the waiter strolled by again, noticing the look of conflicted anguish on her face.

Marinette jumped in her seat, quickly plastering what she hoped was a reassuring smile on her face, "Y-yes, yes I'm fine!" she laughed nervously and the waiter nodded respectfully, continuing on his way.

Marinette slumped back in her seat, sighing heavily.

Hesitantly, she looked at the cat again.

It was large, she was sure if she would pick up it, it would easily dwarf her torso, but it was small enough to sit on the chair and not fall off it. It was completely black, save for it's bright green eyes. Black cat ears adorned the top of its head and Marinette fought down the sudden, childish urge to reach out and feel the texture of them. Oddly enough, it's paw prints were green.

Green?

What an odd color to give to a cat's paws…

She shrugged, figuring it was perhaps a new trend she didn't know anything about.

She became more interested in finishing her meal, after contemplating for a solid twenty seconds if she was losing her sanity after almost asking the stuffed toy out loud if it wanted to eat something too.

Maybe Alya was right, maybe she was getting delusional from her dry spell of not dating for a year.

Maybe the loneliness was getting to her.

But that didn't make any sense to her, she was socializing, just not…overly so. She still hung out with Alya and her boyfriend Nino and all their other friends from university, just not as often as she would have liked. Running a small boutique and designing her clothes herself took a lot of her free time, it was a miracle she could even go out with Alya twice a week due to the increase in orders for custom made dresses for the summer.

Marinette sighed, resting her face in her hands. She slowly lifted it and rested her elbows on the table, looking at the cat with a critical eye, "I bet you don't have any problems socializing," remembering the water mentioning something about this particular toy being "fancied by the ladies".

Maybe it were the green paw prints…they did look kind of adorable.

Shaking her head violently, Marinette lifted her hand to her forehead to check her own temperature, "I must be losing my mind,"

"Well, at least the food was really good," it really was, she would definitely consider coming here again, but next time without the weird company of her temporary stuffed companion.

Sighing heavily, Marinette was about to count her money to pay for the bill when suddenly, she heard a voice, distinctively male, "Yeah, I'm stuffed,"

She froze, eyes quickly glancing to her right and left repeatedly, trying to find who could have possibly spoke so close to her without her knowing.

The closest patron to her was a middle aged woman, eating her noodle soup with a large, oversized bear as her dinner company.

Marinette blinked and ran a hand down her face in exasperation, "Great, I must be really losing it,"

Again, that voice, "Yeah, I'm stuffed,"

Freezing on the spot, Marinette slowly, robotically, turned her head toward the cat toy opposite of her, staring lifelessly at her.

"….Did you just…talk?" her right eye twitched.

Great. Now she was talking to a large, oversized cat toy.

Again, "The food is clawsome!"

She jumped in fright, "D-did it just pun?!" she held her hands up defensively, eyes wide in shock.

No, no, no, no, no, this couldn't be happening!

But it was!

Shooting the cat a dark look, she settled back onto her seat against the cushioned surface of her chair, warily eyeing the toy.

Now it didn't say anything anymore. Perhaps it reacted to being talked to?

Feeling foolish, Marinette cast quick glances around her, making sure everybody within potential hearing range was too busy with their food before she very quietly whispered, "Hi,"

Her heart leapt into her throat when the cat actually replied, "Nice to meowt you," there it was again! That voice!

So, it really could talk!

She shook her head. They must have implanted a speaker inside the toy to not make customers feel so lonely. Funny, she distinctively remembered one of the kids she was occasionally babysitting, Manon, had a similar figure which repeated its catchphrases when a string on its back was pulled.

Marinette giggled to herself, feeling foolish for some reason.

Relaxing again after a while, she reached into her purse and called the waiter over to pay, glancing back at the stuffed cat, "Hm…I guess, it was nice meeting you too, kitty," she had to stifle a giggle when the waiter came to take her money.

He eyed the empty plate first, before he noticed the smile on her face, his schooled neutral expression melted into a small smile, "I assume the madam has enjoyed the company?"

Marinette giggled out loud, "Yes, I have, thank you again. The food was wonderful, my compliments to the chef," the waiter bowed and left, leaving Marinette alone with the cat toy.

She thought he would remove it when she paid, but it still remained there, watching her. At least, she felt like it did.

Grabbing her jacket, Marinette looked around before she allowed her fingers to gently caress the black cat ears perched on top of its head, marveling at the softness.

She quickly pulled her hand back when an elderly couple walked passed her, grinning nervously.

"Thank you for the food, have a nice day!" Marinette called to the two waiters at the counter, before pausing, "…and for the special feature of your stuffed animals, it makes dining alone much more enjoyable," she offered both men a bright smile.

Taking a deep breath, Marinette made her way toward the exit of the restaurant, the soothing music playing softly in the background calming her mind as she cast one last glance back at the black cat toy.

She thought the cat was staring at her.

Taking the headset off his head, a great sigh could be heard coming from the small room and one of the waiters knocked gently on the door, the voice from the inside answering, "Come in,"

"Are you alright? It's almost time for your break," the waiter rose an eyebrow at the array of water bottles, coke cans and smelly cheese bits cluttered around the cramped space.

The figure seated at the swiveling chair groaned, "Thanks Pierre, I'll be out in a minute. And please tell Plagg to clean up after he eats his smelly cheese," the young man rolled his eyes, bright green eyes twinkling in amusement when the waiter chuckled and closed the door.

The man sighed and checked the video tapes, turning off the microphone on his headset while his eyes scanned the customers of today.

One particular customer caught his eye and he moved the camera back toward the specific video footage, showing a young woman with dark hair worn in pigtails sitting with a large, black stuffed cat toy.

He sighed, eyes narrowing, before his lips curled in a smirk, "She seemed interesting," he chuckled when he replayed their brief one-sided conversation.

"She actually thought she was going crazy…" he shook his head, chuckling when he remembered a thing she had said about socializing.

I bet you don't have any problems socializing.

Blonde hair fell into green eyes and the man ran a hand through the messy blonde tresses, now wild and untamed after so many times of combing through it with his hands. He stood up from his seat and stretched his back, walking over to the door and knocking on it twice.

A few minutes after, the door opened and Pierre handed him his own cooked meal, after thanking his colleague, the young man plopped back down on his chair, watching the video footage of the dark haired woman again as he chewed on his noodles.

"Hm…she seemed kinda lonely," he hummed thoughtfully, smiling at her shocked and embarrassed reaction when he had first spoke into the speaker device.

Placing his finished plate aside, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number, putting the caller on speaker while he set up his station.

A bored voice drawled through his phone, "What?"

The blonde snickered, "Where are you? Your break was over five minutes ago, Plagg,"

Another sigh, "Don't get your panties in a twist kid, Tikki held me up and you know how she gets when she starts talking about her favorite bakery," there was annoyance but also open fondness in his friend's voice.

He chuckled, "Yeah, I know. Okay, I think I can forgive you if you clean up your mess of stinky cheese here, you know I can't allow any food in the computer room,"

Plagg yawned, "Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. I'll be over in five minutes. Hey Adrien, get me some of my camembert ready," with that, the call ended.

Adrien sighed and pocketed his phone again, grimacing at the pungent smell of the camembert cheese in the room as he walked over to his bag and fished out a small package of the stinking monstrosity and placing it on his partner's side of the compute r room, before returning to his own seat at the right.

He still couldn't get that woman out of his mind, especially the way she looked at him, or rather the cat, right before she left the restaurant.

Well…at least she liked his puns.

Thank you all for reading! Any suggestions or critics don't hesitate to write in a review or PM! :)