"Wanna bet?"
He'd heard her say those words more times than he could count. Ladybug would growl them in the midst of a battle, eyes narrowed at cocky akumas who had the arrogance to think that they could defeat her.
She'd say them with a grin in Chat Noir's direction whenever there was the slimmest opportunity for competition between them, challenges which started with a suggestion that he could outrun her, or distract the akuma more effectively.
Then there were the moments of disbelief, when Chat couldn't see a way for their situation to get any worse. Apparently vocalizing that sentiment was the wrong thing to do, because every damn time Ladybug would turn to him, concern lining her face, and reluctantly laugh. "Wanna bet?"
Or, sometimes, when they were being mobbed by the press, all singing her praises and telling her that she was amazing (a sentiment which Chat Noir agreed with wholeheartedly), he'd hear her murmur the words under her breath with a tinge of bitterness, too quietly for anyone to hear. He wasn't sure if the words were meant for his ears, but he could hear them nonetheless -always spoken just before she'd jump away, back to her everyday life which he wished he knew her in.
Chat Noir had heard Ladybug say that single phrase over and over, in every tone imaginable. He knew how it sounded when she was angry, laughing, and every emotion in between.
So when Adrien Agreste sat in his classroom, listening to Chloé rant that Chat Noir was useless, and that Ladybug didn't need him whatsoever, his head snapped around like a shot when Marinette - whose voice suddenly sounded very, very familiar - growled at the blonde girl.
"Wanna bet?"
