Ladynoir July 2023

Patrol

Day ten! Something a bit different today, but I really liked how this turned out. Introspection is quickly becoming one of my favorite things to write. Enjoy! -Colorado

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In the beginning, patrol was only strategic. A way to make sure there were no hidden akumas out there biding their time. Ladybug and Chat Noir would patrol different parts of Paris, never conversing with each other unless absolutely necessary. They'd say hello and goodbye, of course, but other than that patrol was spent apart.

Until one night Chat Noir had asked to join her. While she originally had thought he was doing it out of flirtation, she could see that something in his eyes was off. Apparently, he had a bad day and didn't feel like being alone. Well, Ladybug has had plenty of bad days before. She knew exactly (well maybe not exactly but pretty close) how Chat Noir felt. So she let him join her, there was no harm in it. Actually, patrol was a lot more fun when she had a friend by her side, who would've thought? Chat Noir, for the most part, kept his eyes trained on Paris, but every so often he would dare her to race or make a quip about something they saw. When Ladybug got home that night, she resolved to change their patrol schedule. Once a week they'd go on separate patrols without the other, and once a week they'd go on a joint patrol.

As it turns out, Chat Noir wasn't the only one happy about the development. The Ladyblog was suddenly getting a slew of admissions of Ladybug and Chat Noir being out together. Photos of them laughing together, running together, doing parkour together. Alya had a field day and Marinette got to hear all about it. She didn't mind though, she was glad to make her friend happy. Until Alya began to theorize that they were actually dating and in love. Marinette quickly excused herself after that.

Even as rumors flew around Paris as to what Ladybug and Chat Noir could possibly be doing in the night, the two of them kept up their patrols. The new schedule had worked well, each of them having a separate patrol, (with a promise to call the other if they needed back up) but their joint patrol seemed to be the highlight of Ladybug's week. Maybe not always the highlight of Marinette's week, but Ladybug's? For sure.

She still tried her hardest to keep patrols strictly to duty, but it was hard. Especially when the nights were quiet. There were no akumas, the police were doing a fine job at catching muggars and other criminals. They'd occasionally stop one, but without the power to arrest people it didn't do much good. So Ladybug tended to give into Chat Noir's silly challenges more often than not. Besides, the wild grin he gave her whenever she gave in made up for her letting her guard down. 

Chat Noir was such a jokester, Ladybug enjoyed her time with him. She knew he didn't mean half the things he said, so she had no problem rebuffing him. He would challenge her to pun-offs that he won by default. She would challenge him to parkour off of different buildings, just to test their agility! And on quiet nights, when Ladybug was absolutely sure there was no villain lurking out in Paris, they'd sit on a rooftop facing the Eiffel Tower and just... talk.

She had to admit, at first she was skeptical to let Chat Noir in more beyond a business partner. She would take absolute caution when it came to protecting her identity. But Chat Noir seemed to already know that and kept their conversations strictly to patrol, akumas, and the like. She decided to let him in. She was careful, of course, very careful. But small details like the food she ate that day or his very vague rants about the latest anime he was watching posed no risk. As it turned out, strengthening their relationship also strengthened their partnership in battle! Who would've thought? It was nice, being able to call him a friend. A friend who was constantly claiming he was in love with her, but she never let his joking flirtations get to her. They weren't real, after all.