"Save Me" | a Ladrien heart-warmer

Singing

Stray cat strut, I'm a ladies' cat~

In Adrien's defense, it was .

As the soul behind Chat Noir, he practically had a contractual obligation to sing along whenever it came on his playlist shuffle, and never let it be said that Adrien skipped out on his duties as Chat Noir.

I'm a feline Casanova—

(Other duties could suck it in times of need, but Chat Noir would always, always step up to the plate, no matter the circumstance or cost.)

Hey, man, that's where it's at!

Rather less in his defense, he could have changed the song. He knew Ladybug would be showing up very soon; the smart thing to do would have been to change the song.

But change the song he did not, and sing along he did.

Which, of course, meant that he was dancing around, obliviously singing at the top of his lungs into the grip of the stick he used for playing ball hockey (he kept the small net stashed behind his halfpipe) when Ladybug came into his room.

"Get a shoe thrown at me from a mean old man~"

He dipped the 'microphone' like a lover. Spun around. Dipped backwards with one foot in the air and—

"Get my dinner from a garbage ca-a-aAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Caught sight of Ladybug.

She stood by his (open) doorway, hand half-raised in forgotten greeting and grinning like the cat who got the cream.

He clutched the hockey stick to his chest, shaking with his heart pounding painfully hard. The first thing out of his mouth that was not a string of swearwords was, "Knock."

"I did," she shot back, as strangled as he, though the thickness in her voice sounded more like laughter than shock. "You didn't answer."

"Knock harder," he hissed, blood rushing to his face.

Of all the times for her to walk in...

Unholy glee sparked in her eyes as she approached him. "But then I would've missed out on the show—"

"—that's the point—"

"—and you have such a great singing voice," she carried on, ignoring him entirely to rest an elbow on his shoulder. "Don't stop for little old me."

"Watch me."

"I slink down the alley looking for a fight..."

"Shut uuuuup," Adrien moaned, burying his face in his hands, the hockey stick pressing into his shoulder.

"Howling to the moonlight on a hot summer night— C'mon!" she laughed.

"No."

"Wow, stray cat, you're a real gone guy!"

"Stop."

"I wish that I could be as carefree and wild..."

"...But I got cat class and I got cat— Goddammit!"

"I don't bother chasing mice arouuuuund!"

"Oh god— slink down the alley—"

"Looking for a fight!"

Then, together: "Howling to the moonlight on a hot summer night!"

Ladybug was laughing too hard to sing the next line, so Adrien did it for her. "Singing the blues while the lady cats cry—"

"Wo-ow! Str-stray ca-a-ahaHAHAHA!"

"-stray cat, you're a real gone guy!"

Ladybug managed to collect herself enough to sing the last few lines together with him.

"I wish that I could be as carefree and wild, but I got cat class and I got cat style~"

And then, to Adrien's utter delight, she meowed.

She looked at him and his silly grin and said, "Oh, shut up."

"Never."

She puffed her cheeks at him.

He booped her nose.

She blinked once, twice, and gave him the softest, sweetest smile he'd ever seen.

Oh, fuck.

The smile stuck with him even as she dragged him away to the DDR competition she'd been promised, stuck in the back of his mind and under his heart like a stove burner.

He could take a little embarrassment, a little humbling for this; for this companionship and camaraderie and friendship from her on both sides of the mask. For getting to know all these different sides of her, for getting to spend time with her like this... he could take it.

This was both more and less than all he'd ever wanted, but somehow, it was exactly what he needed.

(Though it would have been nice if she'd let him win at DDR at least once.)