lmao omg, all of the reveals that are so dramatic and heart-wrenching and this happening is literally so funny
“Ladybug?” Chat Noir asked, his voice merely a whisper as his heart pounded in his chest. A simple question resided within his mind—a question that he had been dying to ask for months—yet had never found the courage to let free up until that moment. “Have you ever wondered what my name is?”
Ladybug offered a shrug, blue eyes surveying the sparkling city below their feet. A breeze blew past the pair in their spot above the world, tousling her hair and sending black strands to kiss the skin of her cheeks. “I guess. There are lots of things I wonder about you.”
“Oh?” Chat raised an eyebrow, head cocked to the side in interest. “Like what, my Lady?”
Ladybug chuckled, resting her back against one of the beams of the Eiffel Tower as she sat criss-crossed, gazing at him with a hand pressed to her chin in thought. “Most of the time, I’m genuinely curious where you get all the puns from. Do you think them up on the spot? Scour the internet for them and write them down just in case? Or do they come with the transformation?”
Chat burst into laughter, surprised at her odd (yet understandable) questions. Of all the things she wanted to know about him, the source of his puns was the first thing on her list?
“I’ll have you know, Buginette,” he began, walking along the iron beam until he settled next to his partner, “that all of those puns are purely original. I’m very good at coming up with them.”
“Are you?” Ladybug snorted. “Are you sure you don’t look them up on some pun archive or something?”
“Paw-sitive.”
A smirk split Chat Noir’s face as his partner groaned and buried her head within her palms. It wasn’t a lie; he did come up with them himself.
“You’re unbearable sometimes, kitty,” Ladybug sighed, shaking her head from side to side. “Why do I put up with you?”
“Another good question,” Chat said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and grinning mischievously. “The answer is because you love me.”
“Yeah, yeah. If you say so.” As expected, Ladybug responded to his touch by giving him a light shove. Chat backed away respectfully, smiling all the while he gave her the space she desired.
They shared a laugh, giggling like two kids enjoying the company of their best friend.
Chat felt warmth spread across his chest at the thought.
Best friend.
“…You know,” Ladybug said after a moment, having turned her attention to the sound of traffic below. It was a quiet night, as evenings usually were, and patrol had been relatively peaceful. “I do sometimes wonder about you, though. I know we’re not supposed to tell each other who we are, for our safety and such, but…I can’t help but be curious sometimes—about who you are and what you do.”
Chat nodded in understanding. Plagg had told him countless times that the secret of their identities was only to keep them out of harm’s way, but the nagging wonder of who his elusive Lady happened to be settled in the back of his mind and frequently succeeded in giving him nights with little to no sleep. She was out there, somewhere, he knew…but deep inside of him, no matter how much he hoped, Chat was sure he would most likely never be privy to such secrets.
It was a tad annoying at times. Part of him was sure Ladybug felt the same.
They were friends, after all. Close friends. Why couldn’t they hang out when not in costume? What was so wrong with that?
But, if Plagg and Ladybug’s kwami (Tikki, was it?) wanted them to keep their identities secret, they would. The little gods knew more about the miraculous than they did, after all, and it wouldn’t do he or Ladybug any good to disobey them.
Chat sighed, settling his gaze on a group of people walking below as their laughter caught his attention. They were loud, smiling, seemingly having a great time with each other.
He and Ladybug could be like that, if their kwamis allowed it. They could do stuff as friends rather than strictly as superheroes.
That would be something, wouldn’t it? To be friends with Ladybug out of the costume, to spend time with her and maybe get lunch at a café
or something, or even to just hang out and take leisurely walks along the streets. That was what friends did, wasn’t it?
“Yeah,” Chat hummed, “I think about that a lot.”
Ladybug turned to look at him, blue eyes meeting green. Her fingers tapped along her thigh as she looked down, glancing around the twinkling yellow lights before her gaze settled on his face once more. She appeared to be pensive, perhaps slightly nervous, if her sudden change in behavior said anything. Her lips parted to speak before they closed and opened again, and Chat was about to ask if she was feeling alright before her voice rose up over the song of the city.
“To answer your question from before,” she began, a hint of a smile twitching at the corner of her mouth. “Yes. Sometimes I do wonder what your name is.”
Chat grinned in response. “And I often wonder about yours.”
“Names are just names,” Ladybug continued with a shrug, “I’m sure plenty of people in Paris share our names…it is a big city…”
“…with a population of over two million people,” Chat added.
“There’s no way we could figure our identities out just because of a name…”
“…it’s not like my name isn’t common…”
“I’m sure…”
“…it wouldn’t be a big deal…”
“…if I told you my name,” They finished in unison, eyes meeting as their bodies froze. A breeze caressed their suits, colder than it had been a few moments ago, and Chat felt his heart stop in his chest.
Was this it?
Was he finally going to learn his Lady’s name?
She probably has a really pretty name, he thought, resting the dopey smile that wanted to spread across his face. Because she’s really pretty and everything about her is really pretty and- and I love her a lot.
“Ladybug?” Chat asked, swallowing. “What is your name?”
A soft giggle rose from Ladybug’s perfectly kissable lips before she glanced away, seemingly shy all of a sudden. She had never acted like that in front of him before.
It was endearing.
“My name,” Ladybug said, voice slightly higher-pitched, “my name is Marinette.”
“Marinette,” Chat repeated in a whisper, absolutely in love with the way it sounded-
Her name-
Marinette.
Marinette?
Marinette!?
“Your name-” Shaking his head, Chat’s eyes widened as realization struck him like a freight train, his breath nearly knocked straight out of body. It was a miracle he didn’t topple backwards off of the Eiffel Tower. “Your name is- it’s- Mar- Mar- Mariiii…”
Ladybug frowned, eyebrows furrowing in confusion and- was that worry? Embarrassment? Regret?
“Chat?” She asked, voice soft. “Is…is everything okay?”
“Fine!” Chat responded in a strangled tone. “Everything’s fine! Your name is Marinette! That’s cool! It’s not like- like one of my b-best friends is named Marinette or anything-!”
But maybe Marinette is a popular name, his mind screamed at him.
Are you crazy? He shouted back, I’ve never met another girl named Marinette in my entire life and I’ve lived in Paris since I was born!
The pigtails, the blue eyes, the freckles and holy heck, the laugh! Her laugh! That was Marinette’s laugh!
He’d never forget the sound of that!
“Aahhhhh,” Chat cupped a palm over his mouth. “Ohhhh. Oh, no. We messed up, Bug.”
Ladybug’s frown grew, but not from sadness. She only became more perplexed. “What are you talking about?”
Chat swallowed, holding out a shaky hand for his friend, his partner, his crush—his crush. His crush who had the same spitfire as Ladybug and his crush who had been sitting behind him the entire time and- and-…
And his crush he’d fallen for on day one who also happened to be the girl he’d began to develop feelings for over the past month.
If she was Ladybug…if Ladybug-Marinette was Marinette-Marinette…
Then he would be the happiest person on Earth.
“Hi Marinette,” Chat laughed, grabbing her hand and giving it a shake. “I’m Adrien.”
And by the way Ladybug’s—Marinette’s—eyes widened at that detail, Chat knew they were both going to need to have a little talk with their kwamis later.
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