Ladybug adjusts his position on Chat Noire's broom. They've been flying silently above Paris for about ten minutes, and he's really starting to feel sore. He has no idea how the hell Chat Noire does it all the time, really.
But the silence is really irritating. He has to say something. One of them should, at least; they've both been clammed up since they failed to make it somewhere private in time for the transformations to drop.
The only good thing about it was that they'd been alone.
"So," he says conversationally. "Sabrina Raincomprix, huh?"
Chat Noire tenses up, slowly nodding.
"A-And you're Lê Chiến Kim."
"Yup." Ladybug nods.
The old Kim would have made a crack about the adorable witch being Sabrina of all people – how funny it was that she was so frequently noticed as Chat Noire but practically invisible as herself. The old Kim, the same Kim who'd been teasing Ivan about his song for Mylene the day he came home and found a weird box in his room, would have been merciless.
But times have changed him. He's had to be a little more responsible – a little more mature.
Seeing how often his classmates have become Akuma has made him more empathetic, sympathetic. He doesn't have the heart or stomach to tease anyone anymore.
Especially not Sabrina, who now that he thinks it, he's always crossed his fingers to not be the next Akuma.
"I guess that explains a lot," Chat Noire says suddenly, turning her head a bit. She lets go of her broom to adjust her hat – a short, crooked witch hat with kitty ears that have actually moved before. Never fails to freak Ladybug out. "L-Like why you stopped being so mean."
"Hey, I wasn't that mean, was I?" He sounds skeptical even to himself.
She's quiet again. They both know what she's thinking though: not to her but that was only because no one gave her the time of day.
He looks over Paris as it slowly moves below them. "It explains a lot on your part, too. Like why you started to get over your issue with heights."
Chat Noire laughs. It's a nice sound. "Part of it was because of Plagg. He kept making me go out on the broom until I learned to fly without screaming."
"Speaking of him, when he did get to know so much about pop culture crap? Tikki told me they're like, thousands of years old and only recently woke up – when the hell did he learn about The Teenage Witch?"
"He won't tell me. I would guess he'd binge-watched it after I woke him up, but this outfit appeared the first time I transformed. Maybe it's a lucky coincidence."
"Be ironic."
"Shut up."
Ladybug startles a bit at the phrase coming from Sabrina of all people, but she just looks over her shoulder at him, smiling cheekily. It's less Sabrina and more Chat Noire when she does that – it's a little strange, a little freaky still, and he's honestly not sure if he'll get used to it.
But then, he considers, maybe being a cute witch with kitty ears and a ribbon-tail, a girl who gets the good kind of notice, a girl who isn't in someone's shadow...Maybe this allows Sabrina to open up. Maybe this is closer to herself than the silent, scared girl who trails after Chloe like a puppy.
It's a little depressing.
Chat Noire suddenly grips the broom differently and sends it shooting higher into the sky, forcing Ladybug to hold it for dear life she so doesn't make him fall. The sudden change in altitude and speed is what they need, though, and in a few seconds they're laughing and shouting as the wind whips their hair and clothes, making their eyes tear up. The mood immediately lightens up, and they're back to how they normally are in costume - especially Chat Noire.
The next day, people will start to notice that Kim is standing closer to Sabrina and Chloe. At first it looks like his crush on Chloe is back, but then he calls Sabrina over instead. Sabrina approaches, looking like she knows a secret.
No one's sure how this odd friendship began, but it's actually kinda cute. So who cares.
(The Ladyblog comments that for some reason, Ladybug and Chat Noire seem closer too.)
Notes: My friend on tumblr made a half-joke, half-serious comment about Sabrina getting the Black Cat Miraculous and becoming a witch/cat-themed heroine. Because Sabrina The Teenage Witch.
Later he decided on Kim being Ladybug in the AU and now this happened.