A/N: Day 5: Milk.
After Friday, joint patrols became a regular thing once again.
"It's convenient." She told Alya, the day after they agreed to it. Chat Noir had been really excited, the voice coming from the communicator cheery and bouncy. "We need to meet, anyways, to talk about the grimoire and- shut up, Alya."
"What?" Her best friend said, not even trying to hide her grin. "I didn't say anything."
"I know you were thinking it."
"Thinking about what? Your weekly date with Chat Noir?"
Alya was so busy laughing that she didn't doge the pillow Marinette threw on time.
Their next joint patrol is a shorter one, but just because she needed to go over some information she managed to piece together through various discussions with Wayzz and looking at the grimoire until her eyes felt like bleeding. Per their study session, Chat Noir had shown himself very focused and managed to find details she didn't catch herself (his high productivity may have been factored into how low hers was because of… distractions). So, as she picked up the hidden notes she left on their favored rooftop, she heard Chat Noir click his tongue.
"Y'know, my lady, I don't think we should do this here." He said, crossing his arms. "It's too out in the open and, honestly, my back was killing me last time we did something like this."
"What do you suggest, then?" She asked, trying to not sound snappish. Running around town to find akumas was tiring and school hadn't been easy, either. But none of that was her Chaton's fault and her back had hurt too.
Chat Noir grinned. "I know just the place."
"The place", as it turned out, was the bar of the Gran Paris Hotel.
Her partner was all smiles as he led her there, dragging her to the counter with a hand on her limp wrist. The place was mostly empty, just a curly-haired lady sitting by the large widows who didn't even do a double-take as she spotted them. She watched, wide-eyed, as the bartender greeted them with ease, only seeming slightly surprised at seeing her.
"The usual, Mr. Noir?" The man asked, as if he was not about to serve a drink to an obviously underaged superhero.
"Make it two, please." Chat Noir said cheerly and her mouth hung open. "Catching flies, bugaboo?"
"Don't call me that!" She said, voice sounding weak even to her. The bartender brought out two glasses. "I just… didn't expect that of you."
Her partner frowned. "Expect what of me?"
Before she could answer, Chat Noir was handed a glass. Her shout of protest died on the tip of her tongue as she saw the liquid he was starting to sip.
"Is that… milk?"
"Yeah." He said, placing it on the counter. "What else would it be?"
"Nothing." She said quickly, taking her own glass and sipping the cool liquid. Maybe cold milk was what she needed after a rough day, maybe Chat Noir had a point.
"It doesn't look like anything." He said suspiciously, before his green eyes lit up. "Could it be… my lady thought I was going to drink alcohol?"
"No!" She half-shouted, turning red. It certainly sounded as unconvincing to his ears as it did to hers, if his smirk said anything.
"I can change that up if you want." He raised his hand. "Mister, can I get a-"
"Stop that and I'll bring cookies to go with the milk next time." Ladybug said rapidly before her partner did dumb stuff to prove a point. She would know, she was the queen of doing that.
Amusement danced in his eyes. "Deal."
She huffed. "Why do you come here just to drink milk, anyways?"
"I like the change of scenery, makes me feel like a grown cat." Chat Noir said, taking a sheet of paper from her binder and looking over its contents. "It's not like I can actually drink anything else here, not that I want to. Besides, I like drinking milk whenever I am-"
He cut himself off, glancing at her before turning his eyes back to the paper.
"So yeah, I like it here, it's quiet, too."
"Whenever you're what?" She said, tring to catch his gaze again.
"I'm sorry?"
"You like drinking milk whenever you're what?"
Chat paused for a second, before sighing. "Lonely, I guess. I like drinking milk when I'm feeling lonely."
Hitting her chest with a hammer would have been kinder, less hurtful. Ladybug couldn't stop looking at her partner, the usual life of the party and detainer of all eyes wherever he went, now hunched over and avoiding taking his sight away from the paper in front of him. It was weird for her to think of Chat Noir as someone who could get lonely, all her images she had managed to come up with about his civilian life filled with friends and family. And more recently, though she didn't say it proudly, of him and his mysterious girlfriend.
"He said it was your usual." She pointed out softly, wanting him to deny. Wanting it to not be true.
Chat Noir laughed, humourless. "That 's true."
Well, that wouldn't stand.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
He shook his head. "Sorry, my lady, but it's identity-sensitive."
"It doesn't matter!"
Her words slipped out before she could think them through, nothing new. Chat Noir turned to her, his shoulders now straight as if he had been given an electric shock and cat ears standing up, too. The piece of paper he had been holding fell from his limp clawed fingers.
"My lady… are you saying?" Chat Noir started, breathless.
"Not now." She said carefully, wincing as the hope faded from his eyes. "But maybe soon? I have the akuma charms now and Tikki has been saying that I should trust myself and- ugh."
Ladybug groaned. Why did she have to ramble so much? Her partner's conflicted doe eyes didn't help.
"I want you to know, Chat Noir, you're my partner." She said, honestly and watched as a slow smile spread on his face.
"My lady…"
"So if you say anything that gives you away, it's okay. I mean, I think we should go slow, but it's not that serious. Secret identities aren't more important than you, anyways."
"I… Thank you." He said and she thought his eyes were shining a little more than normal.
"You can talk about your problems, then, if you want." Ladybug said kindly and he sobered up, quietly wiping at his eyes.
"My mother is, er, gone. She's gone." Chat Noir stumbled in the beginning, but his tone ended up somber. "And now my father's best friend, who I see a little like a mother too, is very sick and I don't know when she'll get better. When I can see her."
"Oh, Chaton." She said, throwing away any inhibition and hugging him. He responded immediately, clinging to her.
"My father is really stressed about that. It's not his fault, really, but I wish he wasn't so… angry all the time. I feel like I can't talk to him." He continued, voice wet. Suddenly, he jerked away. "Sorry, you probably don't-"
"No, of course I do." She said, looking him straight into the eye. "You can tell me anything, anytime, Chaton. If you ever feel like that again, send me a message right away, I'll find you as soon as I can."
"My lady…" He started, eyes watery. Chat went back into her arms, burying his head into her neck. "Thank you."
She didn't answer, only hugged him tighter. They didn't study much that day.