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He knew something was wrong the entire fight, despite Ladybug's best attempts to pretend otherwise. And trust, her best attempts were good. Anyone who didn't know her quite as well as Chat Noir wouldn't have noticed all the subtle differences.
She put up a formidable fight against the akuma, and in fact, they defeated it pretty fast, but Ladybug was fatigued and it was obvious to him.
After the fight, she seemed ready to bolt back home, without so much as a little conversation.
“Ladybug, are you sure you're okay? I don't have a good feeling about you going back alone in this state”
“I'm perfectly fine, kitty.” She replied, already walking backwards towards the edge of the roof they were on, to swing away.
“You're tired.”
“No I'm-” but her sentence was abruptly interrupted by the fact that she had already taken a step back too far from the edge without realising and was tipping back.
Chat Noir immediately rushed forward, catching her hand and pulling her forward. Before he could say anything, however, what happened next made him go completely silent.
Ladybug let herself be pulled, stood straight for about a second before she started weightlessly pitching forward right into Chat Noir's arms. She wordlessly wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head snugly against his chest.
For a few seconds, Chat Noir was frozen, before he wrapped his own arms around her and pulled her closer. “What did I say about you being tired?” He said, his reply meant to be snarky but his voice was way softer than before.
“Shut up Chat Noir.” she retorted, but it was weak and she sounded far more contented than she would've liked.
“So do you want to tell me what's got you feeling all cuddly?” He spoke, but there was no answer and they continued to stand there in silence, pressed close, with Chat Noir's arms rubbing up and down her back.
“Have I ever told you how nice it is to be with you?” she spoke after a while, her face still pressed into his chest.
“O-oookay you're definitely out of it,” He laughed, even though it was slightly frayed at the end, like he was hoping it was true.
Ladybug squeezed him a little before speaking, “I'm not joking, it's true. I feel more peaceful with you than I do anywhere else.”
Chat Noir pulled back slightly to look at her with a sweet smile, his face doing nothing to hide just how besotted he felt in that moment. “That's my pleasure, m’lady”
She gazed at him for a few more minutes, her expression unreadable, before blurting out, “Hey, do you wanna go get ice cream?”
He laughed again, shaking his head. “Are you asking me out on a date, m’lady?”
“Chat!” She explained indignantly, before the intensity in her fell away, and she spoke again, quietly, “Well…”
Chat Noir was staring at her stunned, his eyes wide and his jaw on its way to the floor, which forced her to continue immediately, “I-I mean, not like a very romantic date, I just want to spend more time with you before we have to go so I thought we could get ice cream together and hang out, just like casually you know? like chilling out and..”
He recovered from his stupor and spoke up at once to alleviate her rising anxiety, “It's okay bugaboo, I was just joking. And yes, we can definitely do that.” He smiled, taking her hand in his and pressing a small kiss to it, making her flush and disentangle herself from him.
“O-Okay well that's great.” She turned away, trying to hide her blush, and swung herself across the skyline of Paris towards the Seine, with Chat Noir following behind.
They rested on the grass near the river, with the ice creams they'd picked up on the way in their hands. There was silence between them, both just enjoying the quiet moment.
Ladybug finished hers first, putting her cup aside, and wordlessly resting her head against Chat Noir's shoulder.
He moved imperceptively closer before speaking, “You okay?”
“Yeah,” she sighed, “better than before.”
“I'm glad”
Eventually, he spoke again, “Do you w-” but he was interrupted by ladybug answering at the same time, before he even asked.
“It's just, it's a lot, you know? Trying to manage it all… I've just been really stressed these days, and it makes me feel tired. But I meant it when I said you make me feel at peace and you did. Thank you.”
He smiled at her softly before leaning in to press a small kiss to her forehead, “That's what I'm here for, right?”
He turned back towards the river in front of them, while she tried to hide her raging blush in his shoulder.