Work Text:
“I hate the Miraculous.” A steel pipe snapped in half before being thrown aside, landing with a loud clank on the rooftop.
“I know.”
“I hate Bitch Moth.” Another steel pipe snapped in half and promptly discarded.
“I know.”
“I hate- “
Chat Noir sighed and shook his head, before quietly pulling his baton out and opening the pocket dimension. Fishing around he quickly found what he was looking for and pulled out a metal thermos. He proceeded to offer said thermos to Ladybug. “You get angry when you are hungry.”
Ladybug looked at the thermos for a minute before looking away. “I’m not hungry, and I don’t need that.” She spoke with disgust, snapping yet another innocent pipe with her bare hands a deep frown on her face. At least this time the pipe remained in her hands.
Chat Noir looked unconvinced, “okay. When’s the last time you ate?” He inquired, looking into her dark red eyes. He missed how her eyes used to stand out so well against her costume.
She hesitantly looked back to Chat Noir, “I had a few cookies with Tikki right before patrol.” She waved him off with the broken pole still in her hands. Upon realizing this, she quickly threw the evidence of her foul mood in the same direction as the other snapped pipes.
“Okay, let me change the question. When is the last time you drank?” An unamused look was on Chat Noir’s face as he once again offered the thermos to Ladybug.
“I had some tea earlier today.” Ladybug responded with an innocent smile on her face.
Chat Noir was growing increasingly irritated with his partner. He could tell that she was actively avoiding answering the question. “Ladybug.” He didn’t mean to growl out her name, but his patience for her antics over this was wearing out quickly.
“FINE!” Ladybug shouted throwing her hands up into the air while walking away from Chat Noir. “A couple of days! I haven’t drank anything in a couple of days!”
Breathing a sigh of relief that he finally got a solid answer out of her, Chat Noir placed the thermos on the roof and walked over to Ladybug. Wrapping his arms around her, he gave her a gentle but firm hug. “Okay. Now want to tell me why you are skipping so many days ‘Bug?” He could feel her body shaking in his grasp, in response he hugged her slightly tighter.
“Because… people need that to live, to survive when things go wrong. I can ration mine out to make it last longer.” Ladybug forced out, her voice wavering. A few tears pooled at the corner of her eyes. “I don’t want to be the reason why someone dies… because I couldn’t stop myself.”
“Oh ‘Bug…” Chat Noir trailed off, a deep frown on his face. Of course, Ladybug was thinking of other people instead of herself. “If you don’t keep your strength up, then even more people are going to get hurt. You know that Hawk Moth is just going to get stronger from here.”
“I know, I know…” She placed her hands on top of his and leaned back into his chest. “It’s just…”
“So hard to accept that we are different now?” He finished for her.
“Yeah… How are you so okay with all of this?”
Ladybug’s question made Chat Noir pause for a moment and think about his answer. “I’ll be honest Ladybug. I would be lying if I said that I was okay with all this.” He started off, gazing into the Parisian night. “But I’ve accepted it. Maybe they’ll be a night where I’m finally okay with it, but that night is not tonight.”
Listening to Chat Noir brought little relief to Ladybug, “Would you change what happened?” The words were out of her mouth before she recognized what she was asking.
“No.” Not a moment of hesitation came from Chat Noir. “Protecting you will always be my top priority. Even if I knew about the consequences of shielding you from that blast, I wouldn’t change a thing. Besides… if there is anyone to be mad at, it’s Hawk Moth.”
Ladybug stood there for a few minutes thinking about what Chat Noir was said. If Hawk Moth never sent that Akuma, then they would have never gotten hit. If they never gotten hit, then their Miraculous wouldn’t have registered the magic as an ‘improvement’ and make it a permanent change. She eventually let out a quiet sigh, “I think I can try your method.”
“Good.” Letting go of Ladybug, Chat Noir walked back to where he placed the thermos on the rooftop and picked the container back up. He offered it to her once more, “now… are you going to have some?”
Ladybug gently bit her lips with her sharpened teeth reflecting the moonlight. Her gaze alternated between the container and Chat Noir; she could smell what was in the container from here. Taking a deep breath in, she slowly exhaled and walked over to him. “Alright.” She took the offered container and cracked it open. The scent of blood filled her nostrils as she opened her mouth and started to drink the warm contents. Immediately she started to feel better once the crimson liquid started to flow down her throat.
She just had to remind herself that it was Hawk Moth’s fault that they were like this. The only upside to this entire situation? She gets to spend the rest of eternity at age 20 with her partner.