A/N: Day 8: Admiration.

Ladybug was the person Chat Noir admired the most.

Contrary to what most of the population assumed, she wasn't perfect at all. She was the most stubborn, short tempered and even slightly petty person he knew. Ladybug had a hard time admitting that she was wrong and was quick to fall into self-doubt, surprisingly willing to give up in the face of adversity when she thinks it would do people right. But she always pushed through that and tried her hardest to make up for her mistakes. Even though he loved that she was kind and brave, her strength against her own flaws was what made him see her with other eyes. What made him love her.

Whenever he had the opportunity, he told her as such. After all, his mother used to say the most important things were the ones that needed to be said. Fortunately, Alya Ceseire was always ready to give him one.

"It's stupid." Ladybug grumbled, looking at her yo-yo. It was open on the Ladyblog, an article titled "10 reasons Ladybug is the best superheroine".

"She's right and she should say it." Chat Noir said with a straight face, grin only breaking out when his lady turned a rather pretty shade of puce. "And looks like all the 1.2k comments agree."

"This is so embarrassing. I mean, Alya knows who I am, she knows I'm not all that everyday."

"If she wrote it, it's probably because you are all that everyday." He reasoned. Honestly, he couldn't imagine Ladybug being less than the genuinely good person he knows she is.

"What? No, I'm a mess as my civilian self."

He snorted. "Bad news, my lady, you're a mess as Ladybug too."

She hit his head with her yo-yo, light as she could, and he made a show of rubbing the reddish spot it left.

"But really, you're the best person I know." Chat Noir said honestly. "I never met anyone so willing to give up their time to help people like you do, not without an ulterior motive."

He thought of the great amount of greedy people he met during his on-going career as a mold for the Gabriel line. Something he learned pretty early from his mother, as she traded favors to get to her favored roles, was that nobody did anything without reason. When he asked Chloé about it, at the tender age of eight, she nodded along and gushed "that's what mommy says, too, Adrikins! Aunt Emilie is sooo smart". So he accepted it as a fact of life until he met Ladybug (and one other pig-tailed girl with a heart of gold).

"It's just the right thing to do." Ladybug shrugged, closing her yo-yo and starting to play with it. She didn't understand how her whole existence flipped his world upside down.

"I don't see it often, though." Chat Noir said sincerely. "I think the only person I know as kind as you is a friend of mine from school."

"Oooh, is that friend and a girl?" She teased and he smiled softly.

"Actually, yeah, she is." He said and her smile slipped away from her face. "Sometimes I wish I could see you guys talk, I know you would get along."

"Oh, really?" Ladybug said, but she sounded a bit flat. "What 's she like?"

"She's a lot like you, my lady. She's kind and nice and helpful. Wow, it's weird not saying her name. That would be too much, right?" When Ladybug nodded, he put a hand under his chin, thoughtful. Yeah, super cool girls named Marinette weren't exactly in surplus in Paris. "Let me call her… Sallie. It's a cute name, so I think it suits her."

He read somewhere it meant "little princess", like the silly nickname he gave her when they met as Chat Noir and he was desperately trying to impress her. He thinks he did a pretty good job with that, if her falling in love with him was anything to go by.

Ladybug's yo-yo met the concrete with enough strength to crack it and he shuddered, not quite knowing the reason why.

"Okay, then. Sallie is also super smart and she's always solving other people's problems. Sometimes she goes a bit far, like you, but she always does the right thing in the end, also like you." Chat sighed a, as Plagg so helpfully called it, Marinette sigh. "She's also a natural leader and super crafty, she would do great with a miraculous."

He knew she would do great with a miraculous, but he couldn't exactly tell her that.

"You sound like you really like her." Ladybug said, voice coming out like she was gritting her teeth.

"I do, I admire her a lot." Chat Noir smiled.

"That's great, Chat." From the tone of her voice, it didn't actually sound all that great.

Maybe she wasn't convinced that his friend was all that? Well, she met Marinette and knew she did a spectacular job as Multimouse during the fight with Kwamibuster, so she would probably agree if she knew who they were talking about. Even if she didn't, he had enough time to convince her of how great Marinette was. If he didn't, who would be the maid of honor on his wedding with his lady?

(Since some time ago, everytime he pictured his wedding, Marinette had been there. He wasn't quite sure what her part was, but she's his best girl friend besides Ladybug, who would be the bride, so the best bet was maid of honor, right?)

"You know, Alya was right in one thing." Ladybug said, casually. He jumped back at the abrupt change of subject, but at least the look on her face wasn't so sour anymore. "She didn't claim I'm the best superhero, just the best superheroine. The only way I could stand a chance, really."

"What, no, my lady, you could take on any superhero." Chat Noir insisted, frowning.

"I don't know, there's some stiff competition." She continued, twirling her yo-yo's cord. "Heard about some guy named Chat Noir, he seems pretty tough."

He did his best to not swoon. "I don't think anyone is tougher than you."

"Oh, you haven't met this guy, then." She smiled, bright-hot as the sun.

His heart melted under that heat.

A/N: Feel free to tell me your thoughts or ask questions.