Ladynoir July 2020

Day 24 - Post-Reveal, Pre-Relationship

Chat was wiggling with excitement. He could hear her gentle voice filter through the trapdoor, and his muscles began to tense in anticipation.

"Tikki, spots on!" he heard her exclaim in a quiet but still audible voice. He couldn't help the smile that pressed into his cheeks, and he gripped the railing tighter. The lights in her room flicked off, bathing him in darkness from the little light that he'd gotten. On nights when she wasn't planning to go out, she turned on the lights that hung on her balcony, and in that moment, he almost got distracted by thinking how radiant her skin looked under those lights.

Focusing his attention back on the present, Chat watched as a spotted hand pushed the trapdoor open, holding his breath. He expected her to see him right away, but she turned and closed the door behind her quietly, her back to him.

When she finally turned around and saw him, she jumped, squeaking and holding up her fists in self-defense. He laughed, making her realize that she wasn't actually in any danger.

"Chat!" she hissed, frowning at him but eventually giving in and laughing along. He gave her a playful grin as she lowered her fists, putting her hands on her hips.

"I should push you off," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. He chuckled, tilting his head as she sighed and shook hers. He could tell she was tired, from the slump in her shoulders to the way she blinked slower than usual. Sometimes if she was swamped, she would leave the patrol to him, but since she'd become the guardian, that had been occurring less and less often.

"Ready to head out, bugaboo?" he asked, readying his baton and raising his eyebrows at her. She smiled at him, nodding just before he took off.

Their patrol route didn't take them long to get through, especially since they'd been running it consistently for a few weeks at that point. He could tell that she was having a little trouble keeping up, so he took it easy and implemented a few shortcuts along the way since she'd let him take the lead.

Once they'd circled back to the Notre Dame with no trouble in sight, he figured she should head home to get some rest. But before he could say anything, she stretched and sighed loudly, flopping down on the roof.

"How was your day, kitty?" she asked, looking up at him with a fatigued smile. He blinked quickly, wanting to tell her how cute she looked but opting against it.

"You mean after that brutal physics test?" he asked, sighing and sitting down next to her. She chuckled, yawning as she nodded. "It was fine. Fencing was tiring, but I learned how to call someone incompetent in Chinese, so today wasn't completely terrible," he told her playfully, hearing her hum and giggle. He glanced down at her as he sat up next to him, looking out at the Seine. She was so pretty without even trying, and the way she blinked slowly had his heart racing.

It was moments like that where he imagined leaning over to kiss her and being able to taste the drowsiness on her lips. He longed to run his fingers through her hair until she fell asleep in his arms, holding her close and reassuring her that he would be there to keep her safe.

He shook his head a little, tearing his eyes away from her and gazing at the moon. Hearing that she wasn't ready to be in a relationship after they'd revealed their identities had come as a bit of a surprise to him, but he did everything he could to respect her wishes. The time he spent with her was something he would always treasure no matter what they were doing or what their relationship was.

"What else?" she asked gently, leaning her head on his shoulder. He blinked down at her, unable to hold back the smile that spread across his face. She was completely adorable.

"Hmm, let's see," he said, drumming his fingers on his legs. She often asked him to talk about something when she wanted to be distracted, but she hadn't seemed particularly stressed lately. He went along with it even though he had his questions, thinking carefully about his day.