CHAPTER 4: Let's get started

[PROMPT: The wall between]

"I can act much better than you can, Kitty cat." He put on his best imitation of Ladybug—although it sounded more like a cat with a frog in his throat. He waved his clawed fingers in Ladybug's direction, showing off a fictive manicure before blowing nonchalantly over it.

She glared at him, exhaling slowly and loudly through gritted teeth.

This was the seventh time they repeated this very scene and she still had memory lapses.

"Maybe I'd be able to focus if you stopped going back and forth while we're rehearsing the scene. I'm almost feeling sea sick!" she snapped at him.

"Oh, got it. That's why you are 'word vomiting' then?" A smug smile stretched his lips. He barely managed to duck in time to avoid the script thrown his way and as it passed above his head. "You know, you should really get some help for your impulsiveness. You're going to end up hurting someone," he suggested as he moved toward the table with some sweets for them, so kindly prepared by the production staff.

"If by someone you mean you, I'm fine with it."

"Don't hurt yourself by trying, little Bug," he challenged her as he grabbed a handful of popcorn and stuffed it into his mouth with a cheeky grin and a pretty provocative look.

At that very moment she made a move toward him with a decidedly frightening step. However, she was suddenly stopped in her tracks by a rather annoyed and loud throat clearing coming from her back.

"Ahem. Am I disturbing this weird display of… of… what was that exactly? A cat fight?" The voice was pretty high pitched, a bit like chalk rubbed against a blackboard.

"Cat neutering," Ladybug muttered through gritted teeth, reluctantly tearing her eyes off her smug partner. "Sorry for that," she apologized as she turned to face the newcomer in the room. She took a step closer, taking in the tall, blonde woman now standing in front of her and holding out her hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Ladybug."

The blonde blinked. "I know. Everyone knows," she huffed, ignoring the gloved hand stretched just under her face and making her way to pour herself a glass of water.

Ladybug fisted her hand and took a step back, standing by Chat Noir's side and whispering through pursed lips only for him to hear, "Who the fuck is that?"

"Swearing problem, have we?" Chat Noir tsked.

"Just answer, you fucking dork."

His shoulder bumped into hers as he leaned in. "Her name's Aimée. Aimée Bourgeois."

The heroine's eyes popped wide open. "Bourgeois, like…?"

Her partner gave an affirmative hum and she winced.

"Yikes… How many hidden sisters does she have?" she whispered so as not to be heard by anyone else.

"Actually, she's Chloé's cousin."

"How do you know that?" She jerked, pupils almost blowing out. A bit like in the cartoons. She looked like a Looney Tunes.

Chat Noir reached for the nape of his neck, rubbing it nervously. "I can't answer that one. For the secret identities' sake."

"You're not going to tell me that you're... What… like…hm, Xavier or… I dunno, Olivier Bourgeois…?"

"Not a chance," he chuckled. "My name doesn't hold that much power." Well, not anymore, but she didn't have to know that, right?

"Thank God." She sighed in relief.

Right, she didn't have to know. Underlined and highlighted. Twice.

"You can stick with 'Chat Noir', you know," he laughed as she slapped his chest with the back of her hand.

"Don't you ever stop?"

"Never." He grabbed her hand, flipped it, and brought it to his lips, gently kissing the inside of her wrist.

"So, are you done with the 'Je t'aime, moi non plus'? The staff and the cast are waiting to open the filming with that first scene of yours," Aimée Bourgeois passed them by, not ever looking in their direction, before muttering something about not understanding why she didn't have the privilege of opening the filming with one of her scenes.

Ladybug exhaled deeply. She had a bad feeling that Aimée Bourgeois would make this shoot a living hell. Just like Chloé did with Marinette's life for years…

"Is she the one who plays the big villain of the movie? Well, not the Monarch but his pawn?"

"Yup."

"Suits her very well. Probably a family trait."

"And… cut!"

Chat Noir sighed and got up, holding out his hand in order to help his Lady to do the same.

It was the fifth time they replayed the scene and that Ladybug was falling for… (cough, sorry your author got carried away) on him. What were they thinking back that day when they revealed the story of their meeting for the Ladyblog? Of course, now they wanted to use the 'real deal' for the movie.

"What doesn't work this time?" Ladybug asked, feeling exasperated.

"It doesn't feel… natural."

"How could it be natural? It's a movie; everything is already planned in advance," she pointed out, voice annoyed as she rolled her eyes.

Antoine was about to reply when Chat stepped between Ladybug and the producer. He grabbed his partner's hand, dragging her away. "Leave it to me. We'll be right back."

Once they were on their own, away from the filming staff, Chat Noir allowed a heavy sigh to fall from his lips. He rubbed his eyebrows in a furrowed line, fingers sliding along the bridge of his nose. "Bug, you really need to put yourself in the character's shoes."

She raised a brow and looked down, taking herself in from chest to toe. "Do I look like I'm wearing the Mouse Miraculous?"

A quick flash of memory showing Marinette dressed in a gray, black and pink skin-tight suit and standing in front of him instead of his Lady came to his mind. No, no, no! He'd already been through this a few (many…) times. This very image was the reason why Marinette could NOT be Ladybug. Or…

No. She couldn't have. Could she? Could she have tricked him? She had quite a few Kwamis with her that day… Maybe she had the fox too? It was plausible. So plausible that even if Marinette was not Ladybug, she could still get back on the list because a cloud had just vanished and lightened the horizon.

A polka dotted hand passed in front of his eyes, tearing him out of his réverie. He shook his head, his cheeks flushing as he met his Lady's gaze.

"Earth to Chat Noir?"

"S-sorry, you were saying something?" He blinked absent-mindedly.

"I was saying that I couldn't be more in the character's shoes." She motioned at her body. "See, red, black spots, like a ladybug. Me. Ladybug."

"Oh, yes. Yes. You're Ladybug. Not Multimouse," he huffed, brushing it off with a wave of his hand. "You're Ladybug and you can do this," he stated, finally regaining some composure. He firmly grabbed her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes. "Maybe… hm, maybe you can try while closing your eyes? You aim your yoyo toward the right chimney and once it's hooked, you close your eyes and let yourself be pulled. That way, you won't really know when you'll land and it will feel 'natural'," he suggested, tone thoughtful.

She cringed, crossing her arms on her chest. "It's kind of… risky."

"M'Lady…" Chat tsked, tilting his head to the side. "I'll be down there to catch you, no matter what," he reassured her, his voice filled with softness. "I will never let you down." He winked, a genuine smile stretching his lips.

"Okay… Let's do it your way."

"Okay… Let's do it your way."

Such a brilliant idea Marinette!

Ladybug now found herself atop of the Grand Paris with a bunch of high buildings blocking her view, and she had to land on the location behind them. Behind them, where where her partner was, somewhere on the left. Yes, but... His left or her left? Ugh! This was a really bad idea! They were slowly but surely breaking down the walls between them, but that did not mean literally adding more walls; real walls, high walls, which prevented her from seeing her partner. From seeing the reassurance in his soft gaze...

"I'll be down there to catch you."

"I will never let you down."

Okay, she could do it. She trusted him—completely.

She unfurled her yoyo, spinning it around slowly before hurling it toward a chimney stack in the distance. She let herself be hauled, closed her eyes and… Let go! Her body fell heavily into the void and she couldn't help but let out a slight cry of fright. It was nothing like she'd ever experienced before. It felt scary and yet, it felt right. Just right. The walls standing high between them couldn't do anything to stop her from reaching her partner. It was such an exhilarating and empowering feeling to know that she could freely place her life in the hands of someone else—her faithful partner. She wasn't surprised at all, they'd been through everything together. Their bond was strong and unique, and likely indescribable.

Soon, her body collided with his, like two planets wanting to defy the laws of the universe to try to blend into each other, both desperate to stay as close as gravity allowed them to.

"Gotcha," he whispered in her ear, only for her to hear. His voice echoed throughout her like an earthshaking big bang, allowing her to finally register it was over; she was safe. His hands, firmly holding her, were her roots to the ground—metaphorically. She could clearly feel now that she was upside down. Oh, how familiar it was. They couldn't have done it better.

Opening her eyes, she was met with mesmerizing green eyes and a dizzying soft smile. This situation they found themselves pulled at the string of her memory. Speaking of a throw back… if she hadn't noticed back then how devilishly handsome he was, she now had.

For a second, she caught a glimpse of Adrien Agreste's last advertisement mocking her behind her partner. Uh-oh, seems like she has a type. Looking back to Chat Noir, her heart tightened, her confused feelings back in full force, painful like a stab in the chest.

Distracted, she retracted her yoyo, both of them suddenly free of the tangle of strings. The two fell on the ground, Chat Noir cushioning the heroine's fall before trying to get up, only for her yo-yo to end up knocking his head. Her hand flew to her mouth, muffling a squeak and muttering a weak apology.

Anyway, Chat Noir grinned with satisfaction, staying perfectly (purrfectly) in character as he delivered his line. "Why, hello! Nice of you to drop in," said Chat Noir while gently rubbing his sore head. "You must be my partner. I am… hm… Chat Noir. You can call me Chat Noir, and you?"

"Hi!" she squeaked. "S-sorry for the blow. I haven't gotten the hang of it yet. You can call me… Ladybug."

"Cut!" The cameraman looked sternly at the two heroes. "What was that?! That blow and those lines were not in the script!"

Ladybug snorted, annoyance plastered all over her face. "You asked for something natural. You got it." She was slightly offended. The scene had an authentic feel to it. It really reminded her of how she first met her partner, she could even feel her heart fluttering as much as it did back then, as well as the building tension of the unknown newness creeping up inside of her lower belly.

"Besides, she really knocked me with her yoyo the first time. M'Lady has some punch."

"Still, you can't improvise like that. We'll have a retake," The man urged them as he replaced his camera in the right angle to frame the heroine's fall.

No way. Ladybug started to run out of patience. She opened her mouth, ready to object when Antoine cut her off, coming to the rescue.

"We wanted something natural, we got it. And if it's even closer to reality than we expected, that's just a bonus," Antoine prompted.

"But…"

"It's a wrap!" The producer stated, leaving no room for any objections.

Both heroes grinned as they exchanged their trademark pound it. If they really had their say, and if they disregarded the nasty temper of Chloé's cousin, this shooting promised to be a very interesting experience.

Thank you for the support! I hope you all like the bicker and banter for this aged-up Ladynoir dynamic.

See you tomorrow for more. Feel free to leave a review if you like my work.