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"CAMEL’S MILK?" shouted Chat Noir.
Rena gave him a smooth look. "Well, nobody picked this option from my poll..."
"Where did you get it?" asked Chat again. "I tried it once and it was disgusting!"
"Believe me, I know!" Rena grimaced. "Ni—my boyfriend's family brought some from Morocco. It felt like drinking smoke."
"Yeah." Chat groaned. "A friend made me try it once; I wished I hadn't."
"Soooooo... it's purr-fect!" Rena winked at his glare.
"Hey! That's my line!" Chat pouted, but when everyone laughed, he joined the hilarity.
Ladybug was the first to get serious. "Rena, what's about the milk, and why did you gather us here on a non-patrol night?"
Rena sighed. "A little birdie—" She poked Carapace. "—made me realise that although we've become part of your team on a quasi permanent basis, we know nothing about each other."
"And that's how it should be!" Ladybug groaned. "The less we know the better, to protect our secret identities."
"Come on, Ladybug. You know my identity and Carapace's." Rena looked at her meaningfully and raised an eyebrow. "Some people may feel treated like outcasts."
The quick movement of her chin towards him, as she folded her arms to her chest, went nearly unnoticed by the black clad superhero, but not Ladybug's reaction. She stood up, grabbed Rena and pulled her aside, a bit too far for him to hear their conversation. After a long whispered argument, finally Ladybug returned to her seat.
"Okay, you have a point."
Rena fiddled with her fingers in an excited gesture of victory. "Game's called 'Truth or Drink'." She smirked. "Since we're all minors, we can't drink alcohol. Hence, the camel's milk."
"Ugh." Chat Noir sighed. "What do we need to do?"
"Here, there's a list of carefully selected questions." She slammed a bunch of small papers in between them. "Which we'll answer truthfully. If you don't want to answer," she said, moving a thermos to the centre of the circle, "you drink the milk."
Three sets of disgusted faces stared back. "What?" she inquired.
"No identity revealing questions, I hope?" Ladybug made to grab some papers, but Rena slapped her hand.
"Aha. Don't peek."
"But you know…" protested Ladybug.
"Incorrect." tsked Rena. "My sisters selected the questions, not me."
Chat Noir didn't think it was a good idea initially. But, as the questions rolled on and everyone struggled to find unrevealing but truthful answers, he realised that it was fun. And it did make Rena and Carapace, and even Ladybug herself, become more real.
"Are you with us, Chaton?" Ladybug's question woke him from his réverie.
"Oh, sorry. Is it my turn?"
Carapace nodded. "Yes, dude. What's your ambition?"
"Winning against Papillon isn't an option, obviously," pointed out Rena. "Mine is to become an award winning journalist."
Chat Noir looked at Rena and lifted his eyebrow. That sounded familiar.
"Mine's to become a famous DJ," said Carapace. ‘That sounds familiar too’, thought Chat Noir. His eyes became small slits in his face as he shot a suspicious look at the two heroes. But seconds later, his focus moved to Ladybug, who was busy tapping a finger to her chin.
"I suppose," she mumbled, "my ambition is to be a good leader." She paused for a long time, and then her gaze met his. "And as a leader, I should admit when I'm wrong." She cupped a hand to his cheek, causing him to blush. "I'm sorry I made you feel like an outcast, Chaton. It was never my intention. I promise, I'll include you more."
He squeezed her hand. "Thank you, M'lady. I… know that it's hard for you. I don't blame you. But, to tell the truth..." He glanced at Rena and at the daunting thermos. "It hurt me because I felt useless… and invisible." Chat saw her concerned frown and lowered his gaze. He couldn't believe he was going to say that in front of Rena and Carapace, but, after all, the only person that mattered to him was her and he needed her to know. "My ambition; wh—" His voice cracked, he cursed under his breath. "What I really want is to be seen, for who I am."
"Oh, mon Minou," started Ladybug, stroking his cheek. Chat Noir grabbed her hand and held it.
"I know, LB. We're superheroes, nobody can see the real person behind the suit. That's not what I mean. Every day in my civilian life, I wear masks. I'm used to wearing so many that I don't know anymore where the mask ends and where the person beneath starts. My fath—uh, family only cares about me being perfect and that's what I let people around me see of me. That's why I find being Chat Noir so elating; it's a version of myself that I chose to show. For a long time, I thought Chat Noir was the real me." He hugged his knees. "But recently, somebody made me realise that it's not true. This..." He pointed at himself. "This is me, when I act like a clown. She was right—I'm not a clown. I'm not confident, I'm not brave… I don't know who I am and… my biggest ambition is finding myself and having the courage to let the people I love see the real me."
When he finished saying that, he dared look at her and the tears in Ladybug's eyes warmed his heart. Speechless, she wrapped him in a hug.
"I'm sorry, Chat Noir," she whispered. "I had no idea you felt this way! I should've noticed. I'm so sorry!" She looked him in the eye and placed a soft kiss on his cheek that made his heart flutter. "I promise, Chaton. I'll help you. We can work together and find the real you."
"You and me against the world?" he said with a shy smile.
She nodded and showed her fist to him to bump. "Pound it?"
He smiled and bumped her fist with his. "Pound it, M'lady."