Chapter Text
1. Laughter
“ Woo-hoo!” Chat Noir whooped as he flew through the air towards the eiffel tower. Ladybug was right behind him, cheering and laughing as she jumped off buildings and swung over rooftops. They both landed on the highest platform of the tower, grinning.
“I can’t believe we just did that!” She said, jumping a little with exhilaration.
Defeating the akuma had left the pair with a bit of post-battle elation as they came down from their adrenaline rush. They were drunk off the excitement, not completely in their right minds.
“I know, right? You didn’t use your lucky charm, right? I didn’t use my cataclysm. It was so easy !”
Ladybug giggled and shook Chat’s shoulder. “You were amazing.”
They had fought Mr. Pigeon #4 that day, and for whatever reason, they were both in a good mood. Chat had jokingly challenged Ladybug to get the akuma without using her power, and in return she challenged the same to him. It was, amazingly, a fun battle, with Chat Noir cracking jokes the entire time and Ladybug actually laughing at them.
They hadn’t been superheroes for very long, but it was battles like this when Chat thought that maybe they were actually getting pretty good at their jobs. With a jolt, Chat realized that this was the first time he had seen Ladybug act truly happy. Since their very first fight against Ironheart, Ladybug had held a sort of tension with her as they fought. Sure, she masked it with confidence and charm, but he could tell that she was weighed down by the pressure and responsibility of it all.
Today, however, she finally let go a little. Allowed herself to have some fun. Acted like the kid she was.
“I hope Alya got that for the Ladyblog,” Ladybug said, still smiling and ringing with energy.
Chat raised an eyebrow. “Feel like showing off today, do we?”
Ladybug rolled her eyes good naturedly. “ I just want the world to see that moment when you sneezed and tripped over the step and landed in the fountain,” she laughed.
“It’s not my fault I’m allergic to birds!”
“It is embarrassing though!”
“Hey!”
Chat Noir swatted at her arm and she dodged, retaliating by elbowing him lightly in the ribs.
“Oh, you want to go?” He said, and soon they were play-fighting, laughing profusely while they took sloppy swings and petty jabs at each other.
At some point Ladybug managed to haul him over her shoulder, flipping him so he was lying on his back staring up at her.
He squinted around the sunlight to see her holding her bug phone out in front of her.
“Smile!” She said, and he heard the distinct sound of a camera taking a picture.
“Hey, wait! Those things have cameras?”
Ladybug looked down at her screen and snorted, before cracking up entirely. “This is a great picture,” she laughed. “Maybe I’ll make it my wallpaper. Or, better yet, send it to Alya to let everyone know that the great Chat Noir was bested by his Lady!”
Chat Noir huffed and stood up. “Hey! Let me see that!” He grabbed the phone from her hand and couldn’t help but burst out laughing. It was taken from an awful angle, so that it seemed like he had three chins. Lying on the ground and squinting at the sun, his expression was hilarious, with one eye open and the other half-lidded. If a photo like this was ever taken at a photoshoot, his father would never allow it to see the light of day. “This is awful! I look like I’m high or something!”
Ladybug burst out laughing once more. “You look like a corpse!” She said.
“Funeral inspo!” Chat Noir added, and burst out laughing.
“Stop, stop, I’m gonna pee!” Ladybug wheezed, falling to the floor with laughter. “Make a pinterest board called funeral inspo.”
“Oh my god, yes,” Chat huffed. “And send it to Hawkmoth!”
Ladybug collapsed in a fit of giggles. “Why-” hiccup “-why would we send it to Hawkmoth?”
“You mean you don’t want him there?” Chat laughed. “If he’s the one that kills me, he better give a damn good speech!”
It wasn’t funny, god , it wasn’t funny to be joking about being killed by Hawkmoth. But they both burst out laughing again, to the point where they weren’t even making noise anymore, just wheezing on the floor. Chat imagined that if anyone saw them like that, they might think they were dying.
“Stop, I’m crying, I’m crying,” she laughed, haphazardly wiping her face.
Chat looked over and saw that there were, indeed, tears falling from her eyes from so much laughter.
“Hey! Save those tears for my funeral!” He yelled, and they both fell to the floor again.
Looking back, Chat would remember this time as the first time he felt like he actually got to know Ladybug. They hadn’t been superheroes for very long, and it was this day, he decided, that they went from partners to something a little more like friends.
It was also this day that Chat realized Ladybug was human. Well, obviously he knew she was human , but he’d only ever seen her with the confident mask she wore during battles. Today, though, he saw her as someone who gets excited when she completes a challenge and laughs at jokes that aren’t even funny. Someone who can laugh so hard that she cries. Someone like him.
God, he loved her.