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Chat Noir touches down on the Liberty, trying to catch a glance of Luka.
Ever since he’d come back in town, admittedly, he’s been taking advantage of Luka’s knowledge of his secret identity. It’s been so hard to have so much of himself hidden from his friends all the time, even if it’s for the sake of the world, but having someone that he can entirely unload onto has been supremely helpful. Especially with the whole dead Dad thing recently.
However, he realises a few moments too late that he didn’t check beforehand whether or not Anarka and Juleka would also be on board. He could always come back as Adrien, of course, but the walls on the boat are thin, and in some cases non-existent. Privacy tends to be more of a conscious decision than a real thing, and he’s not about to put his secret identity in jeopardy like that.
Maybe he could just come back some other time, or have the conversation over text.
The decision is made for him when there’s a clatter and thump behind him, and he spins around to find Purple Tigress has just landed, her face even redder than the accents of her costume.
He supposes a distraction is better than nothing.
“What brings you over here?” He asks casually, hoping to brush off the fact that he’s seemingly standing in the middle of a civilian's home, too. He has his theories about Tigress actually being Juleka, thanks to how (not) subtly Ladybug had taken Juleka out of the area the day of Tigress’ debut, but with no confirmation he’s not about to take his chances. Then, he asks, “Are you okay?” because he doesn’t think that she’s often that shade of bright red.
Tigress hesitates, before shaking her head. “I really messed up,” she gasps.
Well that’s… inviting.
Chat shoots a glance behind him, staring at the door leading into the house part of the house boat. “Let’s get to somewhere more private, then we can talk,” he decides.
He pushes himself into the air using his baton, and he waits for a moment for Tigress to scale the building. Then the two take off in a sprint, Tigress allowing Chat to lead her to a place that’s out of civilian earshot.
Once they touch down, Chat sits down criss-cross, hoping that he appears open and calm as he prompts, “So, what happened? Did someone figure out your identity?”
Tigress shakes her head, seeming almost frantic. Chat idly notes that her hair is frizzier while transformed. “I– no. Not that, I just… I flirted with someone. As Tigress. And I have a civilian girlfriend.”
Chat winces, knowing the experience well. He doesn’t want to flirt with everyone, but it just slips out sometimes, among the casual puns. It’s about his least favourite part of the reputation he has as Chat Noir, but with time he thinks he’ll be able to shake that off. Probably. He’ll have to, since he has a civilian girlfriend.
“I mean, you’re a hero,” he says, hoping to reassure her. “You’re allowed to be a little overconfident. Civilian’s won’t know the difference.”
Tigress grimaces. “I flirted with Pigella.”
Pigella.
Rose.
Tigress flirted with Pigella. Tigress, who has a civilian girlfriend, and is likely Juleka.
Chat bites his lip really, really hard to keep from smiling, and isn’t entirely sure that he succeeds. He’s gonna guess that this is as good as confirmation, but that’s a thought for later. “It’ll be fine,” he insists.
“But aren’t I unfaithful!” Tigress cries, before waving her hands around wildly. “I– I know I’m dating someone as a civilian, I can’t find someone I know as a hero pretty! What if she starts flirting back, and I’m cheating, and then my actual girlfriend finds out and—”
“It’ll be fine,” Chat repeats, reaching forward and resting a careful hand on her knee, locking their gazes steadily. “If you feel that bad about it, or something happens again, just warn Pigella. You’re both good, understanding people, and nothing will go wrong unless you let it.”
Later, he’ll have to have a talk with Ladybug about why she thought recruiting couples to work together as heroes, without knowing their couples, would be a good idea, even if he gets yelled at for knowing more identities than he should. Alya and Nino he can excuse as a first-time mistake, but Juleka and Rose definitely feels like more of a risk to their dynamic than it’s worth.
He wonders, in the back of his mind, whether there are any other couples on the team. He’s not sure he’s ready to find out.
Tigress sighs, finally starting to wind down. “Dang it, I feel like such an idiot.”
“That’s okay,” Chat dismisses. “I mean, I’m Chat Noir, and sometimes I can still be pretty clawful.”
She huffs softly. “That was terrible.”
“Hey,” he wines. “I’ll have you know my puns are the most fan-cast-ic ones you will ever hear.”
She pushes herself to her feet, making a weak mhm that only serves to egg Chat on.
“If you think they’re so terrible, why don’t you do better, huh?” Chat taunts as he also gets to his feet. He doesn’t give her any time to respond, instead cupping his hands around his mouth like the drama queen he knows he is, and calls, “That’s right! You can’t!”
“I don’t need to,” Tigress taunts. There’s not much in way of a playful expression, but she sounds a bit happier, at the very least. “I’m just naturally the cooler cat. I mean, green? Don’t you know that purple’s all the rage these days?”
Chat’s pretty sure he didn’t wear any magenta in his final shoots, nor has he seen it in any of the ads he’s passed as of recent, but pointing it out doesn't seem worth the effort, especially when Audrey is somehow one of the Queens of the fashion industry. “It brings out my eyes,” he says confidently. “Which, by the way, are much cooler than yours.”
Tigress scoffs. “Oh, well now you’re just lying to yourself.”
Chat surges forward, and Tigress cackles as the two break into a wild race across the rooftops.