Angel: (n) a spiritual being believed to act as an attendant, agent, or messenger of God, conventionally represented in human form with wings; a person of exemplary conduct or virtue
"There are angels in the room, Bugaboo!"
"You're not dying, Chat, you're fine."
"Walls…spinning…"
"We're outside, Noir."
"Lights…fading…"
"It's noon."
"I've had a good run…"
"Get up, you're fine."
He cracked his eyes open to find his partner standing above him, arms crossed and eyebrows raised beneath her mask. Closing his eyes once more, he flopped his arm dramatically over his face, attempting to block out the sunlight glaring down on him. "Not even a little, Bugaboo?"
She shook her head, and he glanced at her from under his arm to find her shoulders shaking and lips twitching as she tried not to laugh.
"Ah well," said Chat, springing up suddenly (much to the surprise of the concerned citizens around him, who were on the verge of calling for help) and balancing his baton across his shoulders. "It was worth a shot, wasn't it?" Lips pressed together, Ladybug rolled her eyes and pulled out her yo-yo, throwing him a wink and launching the disk behind her, shooting off after it. Chat Noir, hearing the nearing police officers, sprang away in her wake.
Perched on the rooftop of a nearby building, the pair watched as the officers below worked to finish cleaning the park, righting trashcans and cleaning the final bits of debris that the Lucky Charm had missed (with a building to repair, the fluttering pink butterflies had missed a small part of the park). The pedestrians, all perfectly fine, were being consoled by both the police and each other. As the commotion began to break up, the pair saw Alya slip into the crowd with her phone in hand, on the hunt for first-hand accounts of the latest attack that she had filmed (from a distance; at least she was learning basic safety when it came to akumas these days).
"The Ladyblogger is at is again, LB."
"I see her, Chaton. I don't think she's missed an akuma in the last two months – that makes five in a row now."
He chuckled warmly. The brunette from his class was unstoppable, especially when it came to the proclaimed 'heroes of Paris'; there was even an akuma that she got to before they did, and she almost got launched to the Amazon rainforest because of it.
"Does it ever seem weird to you that she cares so much?"
Noir looked to the heroine to his left, leaning on her elbows against the brick wall that marked the edge of the rooftop garden. With the Luck Charm only a minute earlier and no use of the Cataclysm, the pair had time to talk before parting ways. "What do you mean?"
"Like – I don't know…I just-" She sighed, reaching for the air in front of her as though she could pull words from the clouds. "I'm just a normal person, you know? Just because a kwami chose me, or I have a mask, that doesn't make me some big superhero or something. I still just me, just in a spotted suit instead of ballet flats."
"Just you?" Ladybug looked to her right to find him looking at her with an odd expression on his face. Looking back down at the park, Chat twisted his baton in his hand to burn through the last of his built-up adrenaline.
"There's nothing just about you, LB. You were chosen for a reason. Maybe it was because of your caring heart, or your fantastic wit, or your ability to know the right thing to say when someone is alone or scared – or maybe all of the above." He turned to lean his back against the wall, closing his eyes and basking in the sun as he did so. He could feel her beside him and imagined pulling words from the sun and passing them to the blue-haired girl beside him.
"Being a hero isn't all about super-cool outfits and flying from building to building all the time. It's about stopping to talk to people, or working with the police when they need us, or doing something that doesn't seem like much but it has the chance to make someone's whole day." He arched his back against the wall, feeling the muscles pull and relax around his stretched-out spine. The baton went still in his hand as he continued.
"I have a friend from school who reminds me of you," he started again. "She's smart, and kind, and she once said that it's hard to be creative under pressure."
"That's great," she said, "but what does creativity have to do with stopping akumas?"
"I think that creativity is something that comes to you whether or not you're looking for it, so she is always ready in case an idea strikes." He straightened back up slowly and stretched upward, reaching for the sky above them. "I think that heroism is similar to creativity. When an akuma attacks, you don't have time to go looking for the answer, so you have to be ready when comes to you."
"And what if it doesn't?"
"That, m'lady, is why you have me." Chat smiled and opened his eyes, turning back to the park below. "Being a hero may not be all about the cool moves, but at least I'm good for something."
His partner's face deadpanned as she looked out over the emptying park below. "What are we going to do with you, kitty?" He smirked mischievously, looping his baton through the back of his suit.
"Kiss me?"
Ladybug actually broke into laughter at that one – and not just a little giggling, but full-blown peals of laughter that seemed to ring out through all of Paris. "And why," she wheezed, doubling over and holding her midsection, "would I ever do that?" Noir pretended to look wounded, pressing his hand dramatically over his chest and dropping into a mock-pout. "I just saved you from a ferocious man-eating beast and this is how you thank me?"
"It was a dog, Chaton," she gasped, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes."Not a dinosaur."
"A really big dog!"
She pulled herself together (kind of) and looked up at his face, then dropped to a crouch as laughter exploded once more.
"Hey, it was an extra-large poodle, okay!" His arms were crossed and he did his best to look indignant, just now realizing that the front of his black suit had attracted a fair amount of curly white dog hair.
"It just…knocked you over…" She gasped, trying desperately to get out the next sentence. "I don't… even think you… slowed it down!"
He held his frown, determined to believe that just because the dog had run through the park after the akuma was gone had no bearing whatsoever on its dangerousness. He had saved her from a ferocious bout of dog lick, of that he was certain. Jumping in front of the oncoming poodle had been an extreme act of bravery, and heaven help him but he was determined to have the honor of a kiss from his very own angel. Several minutes later when she swung away, he smiled and waved dramatically as she flew, her laughter still floated through his mind. He had waited this long, he reasoned. She'd come around someday, he knew – and he could hardly wait until that day finally came.