MiraculElse #23: What Happens on a Rooftop Stays on a Rooftop
by DFC_afterdark
(Timeline: A few years from now.)
"I am boooooored."
Ladybug's voice possessed an unusual-for-her degree of frustration, to Chat Noir's ear.
"We don't have to be out here like this. I'm just saying," Chat replied. "Though I am enjoying the time spent with you."
"Oh, I didn't mean it like that," backpedaled Ladybug. "I'm always happy to be out with you; you know that... and these patrols were my idea. We may not have Hawkmoth or Mayura to kick around any more, but superheroes on patrol helps keep any more villains from showing up, and cuts down on street crime, too."
"Uh-huh..."
"It's just... it's so much ground to cover," she sighed. "And we haven't even found a mugging to stop in, what, three or four weeks?"
"That's a good thing, isn't it?" shrugged Chat. "Less work for us. Less danger for everyone else."
"Of course," Ladybug agreed. "Doesn't mean that I don't want a break sometime soon."
"A break, hmmm?"
Chat took note of their current surroundings, getting a glare from Ladybug. "All right, Kitty. You're up to something," she smiled. "Now what?"
"Follow me."
The two of them ended up atop a tall office building, on the north side of the city. The building wasn't quite as high as the Tour Montparnasse, but it was certainly the highest vantage point in its vicinity. Standing on the rooftop, it was clear that there would be no one looking down upon them.
"What are you doing up there?" wondered Ladybug, watching Chat climbing up onto a small storage shed near the northeast corner.
"Hah! Here they are," Chat called back. When he leapt back down to her side, he had two things in hand; a small cooler and a drab-colored duffle bag.
She watched, eyebrow raised, as Chat unzipped the bag and produced a large, fluffy blanket and a couple of travel pillows. Next came the cooler; Chat reached inside and produced what appeared to be two bottles of wine and a pair of wineglasses.
"Might my Lady be interested in a quick picnic for two?" he grinned.
"A picnic? It's ten o'clock at night," Ladybug grinned back.
"All right, you've got me," said Chat, undeterred. "And it's not like I've got sandwiches and pasta salad stashed up here. But I do have these," he continued, indicating the bottles. "Not the rarest and greatest vintages in the world... but a perfectly decent pair. One red, one white. Close enough to chilled, too, just from the ambient temperature."
"And just what do you suggest that we do with them?"
"Pop them open and celebrate a crime-free city by getting a little bit blitzed together."
Ladybug pondered that for a moment...
He does seem sincere, and I really COULD use a break... and we don't seem to be needed tonight, she reasoned...
...then plopped down on the blanket, cross-legged.
"White first."
It was a surprisingly good wine, Ladybug acknowledged. Especially after she and Chat had made most of the bottle disappear.
"We shouldn't... go through both bottles tonight," she ventured, idly. "I don't want to go swinging home and go, whoopsie! SPLAT, right into a billboard." She punctuated that with a crude pantomime of a bug hitting a windshield, which got a good laugh from her partner.
"Hah. I won't say that I've... never done anything like that," Chat admitted. "But I'm almost always sober when I do."
"Speaking of," Ladybug commented, "how many of these stashes do you have around the city?"
"Three," said Chat. "And this is the only one I've ever cracked open. I'm really not much of a drinker."
"Good," she smiled. "'Cause if you were putting booze all over, I was beginning to wonder if I had to worry about you."
"Nothing like that," Chat assured her. "This is the first alcohol I've had in... um... almost a year?"
"Me, too," said Ladybug, taking another sip. "Last time was... I think it was when the girls and I went to celebrate graduating from lycee."
"What was that like?" he asked.
"Oh, it was quite a night," she grinned. "One of them got so loaded that she puked in the back of the taxi we called for her. Her first time with hard liquor." Ladybug winced, remembering the sight. "I stayed away from that, myself. She was kind of drinking to get loaded, right? But if it doesn't taste good, I don't want it."
"I'm kind of the same way," replied Chat. "I've sampled bourbon a few times, but it seems like a great way to wake up with a sore throat and a splitting headache."
"Yeah. Something sweet... that's what I want," Ladybug declared, raising her glass in a mock toast. "And this is just about right. I like the taste of it, and I can pace myself and feel a buzz without being all over the place."
"You look a little more relaxed," Chat smiled.
"I am," she drawled, lying back with her head on the small pillow behind her, and stretching her limbs out semi-randomly.
Chat admired the sight, silently... this certainly wasn't the same set of curves that his partner had possessed when they'd first started out together. Time (and, he assumed, a sensible diet, exercise programs and good genetics) had been rather good to his Lady. Very, very good, indeed.
Down, boy, he told himself. You already know what her answer would be.
True to their original aim, the young heroes kept the wine flowing at a reasonable rate, keeping a warm and fuzzy glow around themselves without overdoing their intoxication.
What Chat had meant to be, perhaps, a half-hour break turned into two hours of conversation and laughter. All of the usual rules applied - no giving away identities, no asking things that would give them away, and no, Chat, you can't have my underwear - but both of them were old hat at sticking by them, and at talking about themselves and their private lives without letting too much slip out.
"So... you're apartment-hunting?" Ladybug replied to one of Chat's statements.
"I am," he confirmed. "Where I'm at now is okay, but it's an inconvenient distance from a lot of things... the neighbors are noisy..."
"You need somewhere quiet for your swinging bachelor pad, hmmm?" Ladybug teased him.
"Hmmph. I wish," Chat grumbled. "The nice thing about having a queen-sized bed is that I can alternate which side I sleep on."
"You poor boy," she replied, but adjusting to a friendlier tone. "No company at all? And, no, I'm not volunteering."
"You're giving me that look, 'Bug. Don't," he sighed. "No, I'm not waiting for you. We've talked about that. You know that I've dated, here and there... you even met one of them."
"...I did?" she wondered.
"You didn't know it at the time, but yes," smiled Chat. "Remember the Akuma at the Lariboisière Hospital?"
"Oh, God. That one," Ladybug shuddered. "If not for the Miraculous Cure, there would've been body parts flying for blocks."
"The little redheaded nurse's aide that you saw me talking to?"
Ladybug thought... then grinned. "You hooked up with her?" she asked.
"Not 'hooked up with,' exactly..." Chat parried. "I went back and met her as myself, and we went on a couple of dates. Nice girl. Didn't work out in the end, though."
"How come?" wondered Ladybug, rolling onto her stomach, her feet crossing behind her.
"The usual. Between what I go through in my home life and doing this," he replied, indicating the costume, "she didn't have the patience to put up with me. And I couldn't blame her for that."
"God, I know the feeling," she agreed. "I'm glad that I've been Ladybug, but it's been so hard to balance that and any kind of social life. I haven't dated in months, and I haven't gotten laid in..."
Chat raised an eyebrow.
"...Fine," she grinned. "It's not like there are many things that I can't tell you. It's been almost ten months. I must be drunker than I thought if I'm talking about this."
"You don't seem too impaired," Chat noted. "And I find it hard to believe that you can't find the right guy."
"The right guy always finds someone else first," she mumbled.
"So you're as pent-up as I am, huh?" said Chat.
Ladybug's response to that wasn't quite what he'd expected... as she started laughing so hard that her feet were kicking the pillow behind her.
"What's so funny?"
"You... pent-up?" Ladybug cackled. "You're a guy."
"A guy who doesn't date. Or did you not hear that part?" frowned Chat.
"Oh, I get that part," she giggled, sitting up again. "The closeness, the intimacy... you're not getting that. But, you know... you're a guy!"
An up-and-down hand gesture indicated what she meant by that.
"It's a little different for girls," she continued, a part of her wondering why she was continuing. "If I'm by myself, I need everything to be just right... enough time, the right kind of fantasy... it has to be someone realistic in my head, not some random celebrity. Porn doesn't really do much for me. Some kind of emotional connection, you know? Or it just doesn't... happen, sometimes."
"Even by yourself?"
"Even by myself," Ladybug admitted. "You'd be surprised how often it's more 'maybe' than a sure thing."
"I'm kind of like that, too," Chat protested. "I can't just... touch myself and make it always work. I need a little more than that."
"Bullshit," blurted Ladybug.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me," she grinned. "You could go behind that shed over there and crank one out in five minutes, if I wasn't watching. Probably less than five if I was."
"Oh, really?" Chat countered. "So I'm just some randy animal, but you've got self-control, and you need all the trimmings to get there, huh?"
"Yeah, that's what I said," Ladybug challenged him.
"You couldn't..." began Chat, then trailed off.
"...I couldn't what?"
"...make me... very easily... if I didn't want you to," he finished, weakly.
"Chat Noir... I could make you come in your costume in five minutes. Maybe without even touching you," Ladybug declared, the alcohol in her system buoying her defiance.
Both of them were standing now, face-to-face, eye-to-eye.
"Would you care to put a wager on that?"
Ladybug wavered for a moment... but only for a moment.
"What kind of wager?"
Hurried negotiations took place, before either of them could lose their nerve.
"Why do I have to put something else on the line?" Ladybug argued. "You win either way. I'd be touching you there."
"Yeah, but if I win the bet, I still lose. You'd be leaving me high and dry," countered Chat.
"So, what, then? You want me to finish you either way? That's win-win for you..."
"You said that it takes so much to make you come. Emotional connections, you said. Well... I'll bet you that ours is enough for that."
"You think you're that good?" Ladybug smirked.
"I know I am."
The intensity in his eyes made Ladybug's legs go weak, just for a few seconds.
"You get five minutes to make me explode," Chat challenged her. "Costumes stay on. No Lucky Charms. Other that, do your worst," he smiled. "If it happens... I will stop asking you out for three months, and any other personal favors that you want to tack onto that. Three Chat-would-you-please coupons."
"I can do it in three," she challenged back.
"Five. I'm that confident," he repeated. "But if you don't... I get five minutes to please you. Costumes stay on. Anything besides that."
Ladybug weighed her options. "No kissing," she offered. "Like... deep mouth kissing. Mouths can go other places."
"So I'll get five minutes to make you come," Chat continued. "Any other way I like."
"Too easy."
"If you're so sure... what'll you put up as an incentive?"
Ladybug stared him down.
"If you make me come in five minutes, Chat... the instant that I come, I'll lose the costume."
Chat flinched slightly at that.
"You heard me," she grinned. "You've always wanted to see me naked, to know who I am behind the mask, right? All you have to do to get to try for that is to survive five minutes with me, first... and, frankly, I don't think you stand a chance."
"Ladybug..." he interrupted, "...are you sure about this? That you're sober enough?"
"I doubt you could have talked me into this if I was completely sober," she replied. "This is crazy... But I'm clear-headed. I know what I'm doing. Do you?"
"Same."
Chat sat down, his pillow behind him, facing his defiant partner. She showed him a timer on her yo-yo, set it for five minutes, and placed her finger on the start button.
"Show me what you've got," he breathed.
Click.
As a wide-eyed Chat watched, Ladybug's movements and tone abruptly shifted, becoming far more sensual and alluring.
"Chat Noir," she breathed, "I almost feel sorry for you down there. I really don't mean to tease you..."
She closed her eyes and ran her hands down her body in a smooth motion, from her face to her upper thighs. "...With this," she smiled. As her hands came back up and ran through her hair, she added, "Because I know that as soon as I open my eyes... something's going to be throbbing right now."
As her eyes reopened... he couldn't argue with her about that.
"Look," she grinned. "A panther came out to play."
Ladybug gave him a sympathetic look. "Are you sure that you want to go through with this?" she asked, more seriously. "That it's not going to change things between us too much?"
Chat gave her a slow smile. "Giving up already?" he asked.
"All right, then," she smirked. "A bet's a bet. I gave you an out."
Slowly, she went down on all fours and began crawling across the blanket. "If you've got a panther... this little red kitten wants to play with him," she cooed as she approached. "And this kitten would like some... milk, please."
Chat clenched his hands into fists as Ladybug leaned down, her tongue hanging out, less than a hand's length away but moving closer.
"Meow?" she teased. "Oh, look... it's dancing for me."
"Uh-huh," Chat agreed.
"Nothing yet, though?"
"If I do... I'll be honest. And I think you'll know."
"Hmmm," Ladybug frowned. "Maybe I will have to get serious about this. And personal."
Two fingers reached out and ran down his chest, gliding across his belly... down into his groin, just barely missing the prominent bulge and tracing little patterns on the inner thigh of Chat's costume.
"Chaaat..." she whispered, "you know what I need you to do for me."
"What's that?" he hissed.
"I need you to... let go."
Her fingers moved upwards, as slowly as she could manage.
"I need you to let go and give me what I need. What you need," she insisted. "Just think about it. Here I am, doing this for you, for the only time ever... and you're going to even think about denying yourself?"
"Oh, I... I want it," Chat admitted, through clenched teeth. "But this is about proving a point. And more than that."
"Is it now?"
A moan escaped from his lips as her fingers went further upwards, then began gliding gently, up and down.
"I bet you've dreamed of this, Chat. Of me touching you like this."
"I... have..."
"Or like this..."
Clearly struggling to hold on, Chat said nothing.
"Or how about like this?"
Slowly, she climbed on top of his lap, wrapping her legs firmly around him, entwining her arms around his neck. Even through the costume, he felt a rush of warmth as she pressed herself firmly against him.
"Chat... you've got me worked up, too. You feel that, right?" she whispered in his ear.
As her hips began to rock in sensuous circles, she said in a long, breathy moan, "I need you to come for me. I need it now. Right there in your costume. Now, Chat. Please. Give it to m-"
DING!
Ladybug froze... and she and Chat shared a long stare.
"Damn it," she exclaimed. "You... didn't?"
He shook his head negatively, words having left him for the moment.
"Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it!" she swore as she realized her defeat. "How could you have not?"
"I am this close," he whispered. "You have no idea how close I was."
Sympathy returned to her eyes. "Chat... do you want me to... finish you anyway?" she asked, softly. "It seems cruel if I don't."
"Not yet."
Gingerly, he lifted Ladybug off of his lap, allowing her to scoot backwards slightly on the blanket.
"I might not offer again," she warned him. "I'm just saying."
"You got five minutes to make me quiver," he reminded her. "And you so did. Now it's my turn. Lay back."
With shivers running all through her, Ladybug laid flat on her back, her head on the small pillow, her hands folded across her belly.
Chat moved next to her, looking down at her nervous expression. "Are you okay with this, Bugaboo?" he wondered.
"A bet's a bet," she gulped. "And I lost my half of it."
"I don't care about that," he insisted. "Not if this would be too much for you."
"Part of me d-doesn't want to do this," Ladybug admitted. "But I would hate myself if I was that wicked with you just now, and I lost, and then I chickened out. And..."
"What is it?" he asked, gently.
"Part of me will always wonder... what it would be like... if I don't let you."
"Okay. I will promise you this, then," Chat replied. "Five minutes, using the same timer. I will be gentle. If I go too far, or you're not comfortable... you tell me. No deep kissing, just like you said."
"O-okay," breathed Ladybug.
"And I'm only going to ask one thing of you. Once you push that button... don't take your eyes off of mine."
Ladybug closed her eyes, and took a deep breath... then reached out for her yo-yo.
Click.
Chat was as good as his word, Ladybug had to admit; he was exquisitely gentle with her. She'd half-expected him to go straight for her most private areas, with only five minutes of permission to explore... but he didn't.
And she was as good as her word... as she locked eyes with him for the duration. Truth to tell... she couldn't look away.
His fingers caressed the sides of her head, as if he was about to lean in and kiss her, long and deep... but he held back from that. They glided down her neck to run lightly over her upper chest and shoulders... then down each arm, lingering on the insides of each elbow. As his fingertips ran over them, she felt like screaming wasn't completely out of the question.
She felt sure that his fingers had moved upwards, as she felt an ache in her chest... a sensation of being touched, a desire to be touched...
He glanced down momentarily, giving her a chance to steal a glance as well... and to her surprise, his hands hadn't actually moved any closer to her breasts.
"May I?" he whispered.
"I didn't ask you for permission," Ladybug breathed.
"I am."
Nervously, she nodded her head, her eyes connecting with his once more.
A sharp intake of breath coincided with Chat's next movement, which was just as whisper-soft as everything else he'd done so far. She felt his hands tremble a bit... or was that her trembling?
Ladybug felt her willpower slipping away with each passing second. Yes, Chat's fingers were talented... but his eyes were hypnotizing her. Every bit of compassion in his handling of her, every drop of excitement that he was visibly suppressing, every glance making sure from her reactions that he wasn't overstepping...
"Ch-Chat," she gasped.
"Are you all right?"
"Keep going."
One hand began trailing lower and lower, seeking a very specific destination. Ladybug's eyes went huge when he found it. Little noises started emerging from her throat that she hadn't authorized, and she felt like she was going to claw a hole through the blanket.
And still his eyes were soft and searching.
"You're... you're running out of time," she whispered.
"Do you want me to try my hardest?"
"Do you want to win the bet?"
"...That's up to you," he breathed.
"Do it."
Smoothly, he slid down her body... parting her legs gently with the hand that was already there. When she saw him lay down in between them, his mouth lowering down, she cried out when he made contact even with the costume still in the way.
As he began to caress her in that way, she felt herself floating, unable to resist...
DING!
Ladybug stared at Chat, her mouth hanging open, her breath rapid and unsteady.
He smiled up at her as he began to rise up from that position. "My Lady... you won your side of the bet," he admitted. "I'm impressed. Maybe that's for the-"
"Don't you dare stop."
"You're sure?" he asked, carefully.
"Please."
This time, it was her eyes that told Chat something that he could not help but obey.
As he worked, his motions remaining slow and deliberate, Chat felt like his heart was about to pound straight out of his chest.
Every bit of Ladybug's body language told him that she was enjoying this immensely; every sound she made had him tingling a bit more.
But, surely... he kept thinking, she's going to pull the plug on this sooner or later? I lost.
"Nnnnngh," Ladybug whimpered. "I can't... quite get there like this."
"What can I do?"
"Shut your eyes, Chat."
He blinked, still staring up at her. "...What?" he asked.
"Shut your eyes tight. Keep them closed until I tell you to open them," Ladybug panted. "PROMISE ME!"
She watched as his eyes slammed shut with all the force that he could muster.
"Stay still," he heard, and did.
In darkness, he felt Ladybug stand up in front of him.
"Spots off," she said, very quietly.
"You don't... Ladybug, what are you..." Chat gasped.
"Keep them closed," she repeated.
He heard rustling sounds... then felt something bonk him on top of the head.
"I'm sorry!" her voice hissed. "I just kicked a shoe off, and I didn't aim very well."
"Ladybug... I didn't earn this," protested Chat. "You don't have to."
"You more than earned it," she replied. "And I need it."
As she reassumed the position... Chat felt bare skin instead of magical costume spandex against his hands and face.
"Do what you were doing," she breathed. "Please."
And he did.
With the timer's pressure removed... Chat took his time and was patient and deliberate, until he was told in very exacting terms not to be.
The initial five minutes had turned out to be an overly optimistic target for both of them; another eight on top of that, though, were all that were required.
Chat heard his partner attempting to recover her composure and laid still. "My eyes are still closed," he said. "Can I-"
"Just a m-moment."
Once again, he heard clothing rustling for a minute.
"Spots on," she said. Once the whooshing sound had passed, she added, "Open your eyes."
It took about half a second after they opened for Ladybug to yank him into her arms, pull him in close... and kiss him with every bit of emotion she had in her.
She laid there for a while cuddled in his arms, snuggled up, still trembling a bit.
"That was... I can't even describe it," Ladybug whispered. "Thank you."
"Believe me... it was my pleasure."
"It was mine. Holy shit."
After a moment, Chat felt thoughtful. "Ladybug... you didn't have to let me do that," he reminded her. "You beat the timer."
"The timer wasn't what was important," she replied, rolling in place to look up at him. "You told me that our connection was strong enough to get me there. And as soon as I looked in your eyes... I knew that you were right."
"Good," he smiled, simply.
"I think that you just moved out of your 'friend zone,'" Ladybug grinned. "Up to friend-with-benefits."
"That was one hell of a benefit."
"Just to be clear," she continued, "there are certain things that... I'm not ready for yet between us."
"Like..." he ventured.
"Like both of us getting naked at the same time. That's kind of necessary for... you know."
"I did keep my eyes closed," Chat smiled.
"I don't know how you did," Ladybug smiled back. "And that was a huge leap of faith for me that you would. But you did."
"Maybe we should invest in some blindfolds?" he suggested.
"Heh! Maybe," she giggled. "But let's explore other things first... and there's something that I really need to do right now."
"Oh?"
"Chat..." Ladybug declared, "I was mean and teasing that whole time. I left you right on the edge when the timer went off... and then you made me feel like that. We're not ending tonight like that."
"And how do you propose that it should end?"
"I have my eyes closed, Chat. And they're staying closed."
Chat took a deep breath.
"Claws in."
A few breathless minutes later, it was Chat's turn to be the little spoon, running his hands over the slender red arms holding him close.
"Now, that... I'm sure that you've dreamed of before," Ladybug breathed into his ear.
"M-maybe once or twice."
"Are you okay?" she asked. "I mean... obviously, you liked what I did. I loved what you did. But we didn't just make everything... weird for us, did we?"
"You want an honest answer?" Chat replied.
"Of course I do."
"I don't know yet."
He watched Ladybug sit up and turn his way, looking down at him with concerned eyes. "I'm happy that we took the next step. Don't get me wrong," he smiled, apologetically. "But I'm also... this isn't quite how I pictured it, you know?" He stared up at the night sky and added, "I just did intimate things with the woman I love. But neither one of us even knows the other's name."
"...And I get why!" he added, hastily, as Ladybug frowned. "I'm not pushing for knowing that."
"I know you're not," she noted. "You had every opportunity to find out mine tonight. You just had to open your eyes."
"You told me not to," he explained. "That was all I needed to know."
That got him a kiss.
"But..." he insisted, "it still feels a little strange to me, you know? I've never done... things... outside of a relationship before."
"We have a relationship. Maybe not that kind..." Ladybug noted, "but after all these years... whatever we have... you know that it's real." She paused, then added, "I don't bed-hop, either."
"I didn't mean to suggest that you-"
"Shhh," she quieted him. "I know you didn't. What I'm saying is... this was important to me, too. I wouldn't have let you do it if it wasn't."
"That's not the wine talking?" wondered Chat, hesitantly.
"Nope," she smiled, before looking serious once more. "So... let's not spend all night wondering what this means, okay?"
"I won't if you won't," Chat assured her. "Will there be a next time for things like this?"
"Let me put it this way. On our next patrol... you might not need a bottle of wine."
More kissing followed... interrupted by Ladybug interjecting, "But bring one anyway."
Once proper goodbyes were said, along with an honest-to-goodness goodnight kiss for the first time, Chat watched Ladybug swing away as he gathered up his stash and returned it to his hiding place.
I... don't believe it, he marveled. I just don't believe it. After all these years...
I have enhanced hearing as Chat Noir. REALLY enhanced hearing. All of my senses are enhanced to some degree.
I don't know if Ladybug was trying to tell me something... or if she really did have too much wine... or if she just forgot. But she transformed right in front of me! Then she talked with me, she laid there with me for fifteen minutes, moaning and gasping and crying out...
...with me comparing the two up close, did she think that her normal voice wouldn't sound at least a little bit familiar to me?
He shook his head in disbelief.
My Lady... I've finally found you.
If you wanted me to know... well... I'm not so sure about that. But if you wanted to know MINE... you had your chance, and you didn't take it.
So, now... what am I going to do with you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng?
Apparently... a whole lot of things, he grinned. With masks on, and maybe blindfolds, too...
...until you're ready to tell me on your own.