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The first pebble hits the glass with a soft clunk. Nino, who’s spent the last twenty minutes pacing his room in various stages of nervousness, jumps at the sound. His eyes flicker to the small window on the opposite wall.
With the night pressing against its outside, the black glass acts almost as a mirror. Nino stares out into the darkness, his heart drumming a nervous beat against his fingertips. His reflection looks back at him, wide eyes unusually dark against his pale face.
Is it really -
Clunk.
He almost trips over his own feet when he jolts into action , scrambling to flatten his now crumpled button down as he rushes over to open the window. A waft of cool night air, icy against his hot skin, brushes over him. Nino leans out into the darkness.
“Down here!”
The hushed call pulls his gaze to the street below, deserted safe for one dark figure. Green eyes, impossibly green, glow up to him from underneath a black hood. “You ready?”
“Y-yes,” Nino calls back, struggling to keep his voice low as a wave of giddy anticipation flushes through his system. A pearly flash of canines is all the warning he gets before the figure blurs into a black spot, a stray blotch of darkness in the pale shine of the street lamps as it zooms up the facade of the building.
“Hey,” Chat Noir whispers, his voice so close suddenly as clawed hands cling to the windowsill, mere centimetres away from Nino’s own sweaty fingers.
“Hi,” he answers breathlessly.
“Sorry I’m late.”
“Don’t worry about it!” Nino blurts out, the beat of his pulse doing a grand crescendo as he looks into Chat’s apologetic eyes. “You’re here now, that’s all that matters.”
Chat’s smile broadens into a grin. “Then let’s go!”
It’s almost like flying, shooting up towards the rooftops like this. As soon as their feet hit the tin of the roof, Chat let’s go of Nino’s side, taking a step back as he retracts his staff. Ears still whistling from the headwind, Nino can’t help but miss his warmth. He wraps his arms around himself, taking in the sight of Paris stretching out below them. Thousands on thousands of lights glitter up at him, the City never fully asleep, even at this late hour. A few streets ahead, the Seine winds its path between the buildings, city lights and stars united in an otherworldly dance over the dark water.
“Wow.” Nino breathes.
“You like it?”, Chat’s voice is anxiously low, just loud enough to bridge the respectful distance he’s put between them. He pulls down the hood of his sweatshirt, costume ears twitching in the breeze.
“It’s amazing.” Spreading his arms for balance, Nino shuffles his feet, trying to find a proper stance on the slated roof. “Thank you so much for taking me.”
H e turns to smile at his companion, left sneaker giving a loud squeak against the tin roof from the shift of weight. In what seems like an instinctive reaction Chat lunges forward, hands twitching as if to reach out for him .
“Are you okay?” He asks, faux ears and tail flicking about in alarm. His arms hover mid air for a moment before they awkwardly fall to his sides.
“Fine.” Nino squeaks, heart hammering, as he finds himself captured by bright green eyes.
C hat takes a step back, ruffling the hair at the nape of his neck.
“I’m sorry, this was a bad idea. It’s way too dangerous to be up here for a civilian.”
“As long as you’re here to catch me.”
It’s hard to tell in the dark, but he could have sworn Chat is blushing.
“A-always.”
The moon lights their path as they wander between two canopies of stars , silent safe for the occasional warning when Chat’s night vision picks up a potential tripping hazard. He’s closer now, close enough for Nino to feel prickles down his spine when he thinks about it. Every once in a while, they have change directions to avoid roof top parties or people stargazing, but otherwise they are content on going wherever their feet take them. Cars flash in the streets like shooting stars . Without intent, their walk brings them to the edge of the quartier, where the roof-scape of gentle slopes and angles suddenly drops down to the waters of the Seine. A gentle breeze floats up from the river, carrying the sounds and smells from the late night take aways lining its banks. Over fragments of chatter and the sizzling of deep fryers, Nino can hear Chat’s a deep inhale behind him . He turns, finding the hero standing with his eyes closed and a longing smile on his lips.
“Wait, are you … hungry?”
Chat’s ey es fly op en in a flash of green. “ Uh -” his stomach growls loudly, “I guess I didn’t have that much for dinner? It’s fine” he quickly a d ds at the sight of Nino’s rising brows, “I mean I would usually be asleep right now.”
Nino shakes his head in disbelief. “That’s not good enough, man.” H e points to a small back road. “ Drop me off over there, I know what I gotta do.”
“You like it?” he asks a few minutes later as they stroll along the low wall confining the slope of the riverbank. Next to him, Chat hums appreciatively, ears and tail once more hidden in the bulge of his hoodie.
“Fif if fo good!” He beams, mouth full of food, “Whaf dif fu say fif waf again?”
He blinks at Nino with puffy cheeks, a sight to o adorable not to laugh.
“It’s just bastilla, dude.” Nino says as Chat swallows another huge bite. “My dad makes it from to time to time.”
“Well, it’s awesome.”
“Glad you like it.” A smile spreads on Nino’s face. On a whim he grabs the hero by the wrist, the supposedly cool suit sending hot sparks into his fingers, “C- come on, let’s sit over there.”
They lean back on one of the public benches and Chat finishes both his servings in record time, laughing over Nino’s story of how Chris got banned from cooking with their father. One of Nino’s impression has him snort so hard he almost chokes on his food, still unable to stop laughing as Nino pats his back forcefully. Finally, he swallows the last bite neatly folding the paper napkin once he’s done.
“Uhm, you got – a little something,” Nino says awkwardly, gesturing at his own mouth to illustrate.
“What? Where?” Chat rubs the back of his hand over his face, smudging the formerly small speck of sauce all over his left cheek.
“Stop!” without thinking, Nino grabs his hand. Both of them freeze. Chat blinks at him over their joined fingers.
“T-take the napkin!” Nino mumbles, his own cheeks surely just as stained as Chat’s.
Sheepishly, Chat cleans his face.
“Gone now?”
“Gone.”
They’re still close, so so close and Nino finds his gaze exploring Chat’s face, wandering along the edges of his mask, dipping over his cheeks, flushed from rubbing, linger ing on his lips that –
“Uh” Chat says and Nino anything but bolts of the bench, jolting upright as he stares out over the water of the Seine.
“No! I didn’t – I wanted to -” Chat stammers, “I -” he takes a deep breath, “I kind of – uhm- liked your hand on mine a-actually and -”
Nino almost cranks his neck from spinning so quickly, “You – did?”
“Yes?” The bell nestled under Chat’s sweatshirt jingles muffedly as he pulls up his shoulders “I – is that okay?”
“It- yes!”
“Wait, really?”
“Y-yeah.”
“So you would -”
Instead of an answer, Nino inches closer, his knees bumping into Chat’s as the fingers of his left hand hesitantly find gloved claws . They just sit like this for a while looking out over the water, occasional passers-by blending into the background as every point of contact between them buzz es with pure energy. Nino can feel it down to his bones, hear the air around them hum from –
wait -
“Dude, are you – are you purring?”
Chat stiffens next to him, the sound dying down instantly. He peeks over at Nino out of the corner of his eye.
“Sorry!” He yelps, his hand twitching in Nino’s. Instinctively Nino tightens his grip.
“Don’t be! That – It means you’re happy right?”
“I- I guess?”
Nino can feel a smile break over his face as he returns Chat’s wide-eyed stare. He shifts his weight, snuggling closer until his head ever so slightly brushes on Chats shoulder. Another suppressed purr makes it tremble beneath him.
“Then it’s my favourite sound in the whole world,” he whispers.
Neither can say how long they stay there on this spot, in this moment. But when Chat finally drops him off in his room, dawn already tugging at the blanket of darkness covering them, and when his lips brush Nino’s cheek in a kiss goodbye, it feels like a promise. A promise for more.