CHAPTER 7: Bicker, banter and Cat Walker (and now I'm sure you are all, 'Wait? what?')

[PROMPT: Cat Walker]

Almost a month had passed since they started filming the movie and everything was going according to plan. They would finish the shoot by the end of their summer holidays, just in time to start their second year in University. Though the hardest part of the gig was lying to their friends and family about why they were barely available during those holidays. Well, at least it was for Ladybug. Chat Noir didn't have to worry about family as he had been living on his own since his father's arrest almost a year ago. As for his friends, he made sure he had time on Friday nights or weekends to meet them, and up to now, everything worked pretty well.

The experience was unique. They'd filmed scenes in the studio, they'd filmed scenes all over Paris, and they were soon going to film out of the country. He was so excited about it! One week with his Lady, far from Paris, in the beautiful city of Istanbul. What more could he ask for? Oh right, he did have one wish. Maybe for Aimée not to be part of the trip; the tension between her and Ladybug could be cut with a knife. Unfortunately, they couldn't do without Chloé's cousin. As pawn of the Monarch, she had to be there for the final battle.

But he won't let this kill his mood.

Nothing would kill his mood.

Or so he thought, until the day took an unexpected turn.

When Antoine had called them this morning, asking if they could meet him and the costume department, neither hero could figure out why. They were sporting their transformations after all; kind of a low cost perk for the production.

Well, it turned out they needed a slight modification on Ladybug's suit to fit a part of the script. For a specific scene actually.

"Thanks for coming guys. I don't have much time so I'll go straight to the point. Do you remember this scene in the script where the Monarch uses an illusion that's supposed to lure Chat Noir?" Antoine inquired while already flipping through the script he was holding to find the right page and second his request.

Chat Noir must admit, he had a hard time remembering the entire script. The only thing his memory kept clear was the kissing scene that would take place in Istanbul, in the butterfly farm they would use as The Monarch's lair. This was going to be so romantic... sort of.

Luckily, Ladybug's brain seemed to function quite better than his around this whole 'knowing the script' stuff (or at least, he thought so).

"Yes, I remember. It's the scene where Chat Noir realizes the Monarch's deception," said Ladybug, suddenly bringing light to her partner's memory. "Although, it feels a bit like a lie. I mean, the one time it happened, Chat Noir didn't even recognize the real me," she stated, glaring at him from the corner of her eyes.

"Moi? Pardon?" He gasped, feeling stabbed straight in the back. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Sentibug. Gosh, you have the memory of a goldfish."

"Hey! That's not fair. She was perfect!" Chat objected, using his best theatrical skills.

"And I'm not."

His dramatical pout faded away, leaving a flirty grin in its place. "In my eyes, you're more than purrfect, M'Lady."

Ladybug rolled her eyes, snorting as she focused her attention back on Antoine. "What's going on with that scene? You did realize my Chaton isn't smart enough to see through the illusion, didn't you?" She pursed her lips, obviously trying not to give herself away.

"Looks like someone is in a very good mood today."

And he knew for a fact why; it was still too early to see Aimée hanging around. No mood killer here before noon in the morning (for Aimee Bourgeois, afternoon was her morning).

Eventually, Ladybug broke into a fit of giggles before coughing and motioning for Antoine to keep going with his explanation.

"Well, the thing is that the number of spots on Ladybug's suit will give the illusion away and figure out the Monarch's plan. Because it misses some. So before we tell Ciara from the costume department to sew a whole new suit or to paint spots on the actual real suit, I wanted to know if you can change the details of your outfit?"

"Yes, we can. I did try."

"I can."

They both spoke at the same time.

Ladybug's head turned to him at a neck breaking speed, her eyes shooting daggers. "What? What do you mean, 'I did try'?"

"I tried once," said Chat Noir, his pitch dropping as his cat-like ears flattened on his head. He felt like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. His hand reached for the nape of his neck, nervously rubbing the short hair there. "It's a long story…" he whispered.

"Excuse-moi? When, how?!"

"I'm not the only one who didn't see through the Miraculous magic and didn't recognize the other." He puffed his chest, proud that he could shush the great Ladybug, giving her a taste of her own medicine.

She narrowed her eyes, glaring at him, then suddenly grabbed his tail. "We'll be right back," she muttered as she dragged his cat-tush outside of the room.

"What was that? When did you trick me?"

"You really don't have a clue, do you?"

She pointed a finger toward him, exhaling deeply through her nose. "Spill before I skin you alive to make myself a fur-coat." She pounded her fingertip against his chest, punctuating each of her words ever so slowly.

Tilting his head and pursing his lips, he brought his fisted hand to his mouth and coughed inside of it to clear his voice (and hide the sly smirk currently twitching his lips).

"I find the play on words nicely done. If you'd like, next time, I will laugh," he calmly quoted the line once expressed by his other persona. The one that it had taken him a while to mesh with his second personality of carefree and goofy hero.

Ladybug's jaw dropped, nearly reaching the ground like that of a Looney Tune. Her eyes grew as wide as saucers before her face stiffened. He could almost see the smoke coming out of her ears like in the cartoons of his childhood (so much for the Looney Tunes heart eyes…)

"You!" she hissed. "I can't believe you were him!"

"Plain old me," he smiled smugly. "You see, what's underneath the suit is the well-balanced mix of the silly Chat Noir and the perfect Cat Walker. You're missing something there, M'Lady." He winked at her.

Ladybug's face turned deep red; a mixture of different shades like the 'gosh, he does things to me' shade and the 'I'm going to throw him in the Seine' shade, merging over her features. Forty-eight other shades of red were also written all over her face, but the list was too long to depict; including the less-than-innocent ones inappropriate for the readers' eyes.

In short, she was both flustered and angry at the same time.

Not angry because he'd secretly been Cat Walker, no. Cat Walker had been perfect (too perfect). He'd been a great help and support back that day. Knowing that it was Chat Noir and that she had never had any other partner was a huge relief. Still, she couldn't help but be angry at herself.

For a moment, she'd thought she knew the one who'd been her partner for a single battle. All of Cat Walker's character traits matched Adrien's. Which means… no. She shouldn't follow that train of thought. Not now. Not yet.

"Thank you."

"For flirting with you and telling you that you're missing a good catch?" Chat Noir raised a skeptical brow.

"For telling me the truth, you dork."

"I just wanted to help with the movie, you know. Not to be nice to you," he teased shamelessly.

"I'm taking back my gratitude. You're a jerk."

"Thank you, M'Lady." He snorted while bowing graciously in front of her. "I know that's a very positive compliment, coming from your sweet mouth."

Ladybug huffed as she reached out for the door handle.

"Come on, let's go. I've got a number of spots to count on my suit before I can change these."

"Forty-two."

"What?"

"You've got forty-two spots."

"How do you—" She froze, slowly taking in his nonchalant posture and his smug smile. "There's spots under my feet, between my thighs, on my bu— You're a perv!" Her face heated up hotter than the 2 million degrees stem from the solar corona.

Chat Noir burst out laughing.

"I'm just a man, LB. Just a poor, weak man."

And they're at it again. Can't get tired of them arguing over silly things. This is so cute!

Neither I can get tired of your comments. You guys are all so sweet. It's nice to see that some of you peered at the next prompts for this edition 2022 of LadyNoir July.

Félix isn't planned for this story. (remember the clue, not for this story).

Miraculous kisses!