Faedrien: MariChat May, Prey
There was a girl in the river.
Her long black hair glinted in the sun as she lounged in the water, the river lapping around a red spotted bikini top. Probably a tourist come to savour the regions legendary beaches.
She was pretty, Chat Noir admitted to himself. For a mortal anyway. Not that it mattered. He let a hint of glamor wash over him, calming his eyes from luminescent green cat slits to warm green that human women found sooo irresistible, before teasing out an invisibly charm over his cat ears and tail.
He gave a lopsided smile. That would do.
At the end of the day a fae has got to eat...
Bending, he reached down to a nearby feathery stem, and using his fae power, reached out to the life force within the plant. The feel of the forest washed blissfully though his veins, and with a sliver of energy he coaxed a sunny white blossom from the leaves. No harm in laying on the charm, after all, he had a good feeling about this girl.
The fae were unusual in their appetites; though they could quite happily live on the lifeforce of the forest around them, they were creatures of magic, and the energy for fae magic could only come from one source; confessions. When taken correctly, simple words could steal the slightest life energy from another. Right from the simplest personal information like names to the delicious displays of shame and drama, there was a veritable feast of flavours for the discerning fae, either willingly shared or charmed out at the hint of glamour. The bigger the secret, the more draining it would be to the prey. Alas it was difficult to get a naive human these days for the really big confessions, but Chat happily subsisted on little scraps of juicy gossip that he could wheedle out of tourists.
 He molded his features into the picture of unsure innocence, before slipping out of the deep shade of the forest.
âHey there!â he called out, and the girl turned in the water with a small smile, âdo you know where this path leads?â Chat feigned sheepishness, âI think I am kinda lost.â
The girlâs eyes raked swiftly over his body, before she smiled up at him.
âI donât knowâ she replied, before biting her lip coyly, âSorry. I walked up from the beach, and just thought the water looked inviting.â Her eyes were wide and blue, and Chat got the sense that she wanted him to stay and chat. Which was more than fine by him.
âThanks anyway.â Chat leaned forward, holding out the flower, âhere, have a chamomile flower for your troubles.â
She set aside the book she had been reading, smiling softly at him as she took the flower, completely entranced. Chat smirked internally. He had hardly had to use a glamour and she was already falling over herself.
âSo what ya reading?â
âTwilight" the girl blushed demurely, and her confession spread the lightest glow of lifeforce through Chatâs limbs. How delicious.
âThat is the one about vampires right?â Chat grinned. He had only met a few vamps in his time, but he knew enough to know they were nothing like the fiction he had read in the pre-teen books he had snagged from tourists. Luckily the only bloodsuckers you had to worry about this close to the sea were the mer.
âThatâs right. Itâs quite popular at the moment so I thought I would give it a try.â she smiled, stroking the spine of the book, âOne could say I have a taste for the supernatural.â The poor girl didnât know how right she was.
âThen I wish I was supernatural,â Chat gave a flirtatious grin, and the girl gave a tinkling laugh like falling water. Not one of his best pick-up lines for sure, but he appreciated the irony.
She was going to be a pushover; he could probably collect a few secrets in quick succession and be on his merry way before she even noticed how tired she was.
He plonked himself casually on the trunk of a fallen tree that bridged the river. As a forest creature he far preferred to stay in proximity of his plants, especially when they were so close to such a delicious conversationalist.
âSo where are you visiting from?â the dark-haired girl asked, twisting a pigtail coyly.
âWhat made you think I was a tourist?â he shot back with a smile.
âThereâs a lot of tourists about this time of year ya know? The beach is so busy, but I think I prefer a bit quieter, and only seeing the occasional person.â She gave a conspiratorial smile and leaned towards Chat, âMakes the meetings you do have all the more fortuitous.â Chat swallowed. Maybe he should dial back his glamour before he was the one getting seduced.
âAh so youâre a local lass then?â
âI live nearby I guessâ she answered cryptically. Even that hint of where she was from sent a surprising zing of lifeforce though him. So she was ashamed of where she was from? Interesting, but not uncommon. He decided not to pry; after all there were far better titbits to be had.
âAll the better to meet you then,â he held out his hand, âMy name is Adrien.â He gave his human name smoothly.
âMarinetteâ She shook his hand, and her fingers were as warm as the lifeforce that slipped out with her words. Names were always the tastiest of morsels. Chat gave a lupine grin.
âSo, Maarinette,â Chat lazily stretched the vowels, âas a local lass, where would you recommend for a night out with, say, your boyfriend?â he tried to look abashed as he asked the question, as if he was a normal human boy asking an attractive girl a thinly veiled question about her relationship status.
She gave a sly grin, and he knew he had her in the bag.
âBoyfriends, I donât know, but my friends often frequent the Ladybug Club.â her voice was lightly flirtatious.
He decided to push harder, letting a sliver more glamour into his words.
âSoooo, no boyfriend then?â he leaned down on his log, âI would have thought a girl like you could have any boy in the town.â
âEveryone has their drawbacks. I am out of town far too much to have an established relationshipâŠâ she slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes widening. Chatâs own eyebrows shot up at the wave of life force that came with the innuendo of the statement. As always, love delivers juicy admissions, and this girl was a goldmine of secrets! It seemed that every sentence she spoke was loaded with ulterior meanings.
âThatâs understandable,â he placated, letting a strong glamour ease her back into conversation.
âUrg, forget I said anything.â She pushed her hair back away from her face, embarrassed. A more dramatic response than expected, but one that Chat did not feel compelled to follow up on, even as a potential road to juicier secrets.
He cast around for a different topic.
Standing up, he snagged a couple of low hanging twigs of white cherry blossom, twisting them into a flower crown. He hoped he had not ruined his chances of further conversation.
âCherry blossom, for beautyâ he said aloud. And white cherry blossom for deception. The two were more similar than most humans would like to admit. This the fae boy knew.
âWhat are you some kind of botany boy?â Marinette said with a giggle as he dropped the flower crown onto her head, the pale blossoms stark against her midnight hair.
âI guess,â Chat grinned sheepishly, âI love forests like this.â Chat was aware of a dopy smile spreading across his face, âThere is just a sense of magic about some places you know?â Marinette smiled gently in response. She did have a love of the supernatural after all.
âThatâsâŠkinda cute.â her words had his head spinning more than the hint of life force that came with it.
Time to ramp up the charm and glamour to see if he could make a really big score.
He plopped himself back on the log, leaning down.
"So you think Iâm cute?" Chat let a little glamour seep into his voice.
Marinette sat up from the rocks she had been leaning against, and her eyes were so very blue as she crossed the little pool of water, the pale shadow of her bare legs moving under the surface. He waited with anticipation for her answer.
âMaybe just a little bit.â her voice was that of water whispering over rocks.
She was so close, hanging on his every movement.
A stray part of his mind was wondering what it would be like to kiss her. He usually tried to avoid such feelings if he had glamoured someone, but there was just something irresistible about her, her humour, the way she laughed. He tried to get his head in gear, ask another question, but the only confession he wanted in that moment was;
Marinette's eyes were heavy lidded as she raised herself out of the water, pulling herself against Chatâs log. Chat didn't dare break eye contact as she leaned in to whisper in his ear, her hands tight around his shoulders as he waited for her reply.
âNot. Quite.â
Her hands bit into his shoulders as she yanked him off the log. Suddenly there was water everywhere. Chatâs glamour dropped as his claws scrabbled to keep a hold of the wood panicking as he felt sharp teeth pierce his neck.
Desperately he grabbed a branch, letting his power flow through it, coaxing a tree into existence in the middle of the pool. Abruptly the teeth in Chatâs neck were whipped away in a flurry of branches. Â
There in the tree hung the girl, pale pink fishtail dangling in the branches as she wriggled, Chatâs cherry-red blood running down her chin.
 There was a moment of silence as Marinette and Chat stared at each other.
It was Chat who broke the silence, sheepishly raising a hand to scratch his newly reappeared cat ears
âWell you did say you had a taste for the supernatural.â
AN: Well tbh Adrien should have twigged something was up when a lone woman comfortably flirted with a man when there was no one around.
âstupid fae, and stupid glamours. I am going back to the freakin oceanâ
âwait does this make you MERinetteâ
