Nathan pinches the bridge of his nose, trying to stave off an impending migraine at the revelation of his massive crush's alter-ego as Dragon Fyre. He's been crushing on Dragon Fyre all this time…it actually makes his head hurt.

Not to mention the detail that, if Bloom Peters is Dragon Fyre, then Ladybug and Cat Noir are more than likely…also teenagers.

Bloom isn't usually so intense…but, then again, there aren't usually Akuma attacks at school. Which would explain why she never sets anything on fire either…

He's pulled from his thoughts by the sound of someone sitting down next to him, and sees…the same girl he's been analyzing almost obsessively for the past few days. "What's on your mind, Nathan?"

Of course she knows something's bothering him, she always seems to know when something's up with someone. She just doesn't show it as obviously as she does in the mask.

After a few moments, Nathan asks "Why are you doing this?"

Bloom blinks, asking "Doing what? I literally just sat down."

He gestures with his arm at the general area, saying "This! The…the sketching with me, asking my opinion, the…all of it!" Why would she, a superhero, even glance at him once?! He got Akumatized, for mercy's sake!

Bloom's eyes narrow at him, hurt and anger evident on her face as she says "I was trying to not grind your feelings into the dust, that's what! I was trying to not break your heart without even giving you a chance!"

Oh…now Nathan feels really bad, especially since this isn't exactly going how he wanted it. He didn't even want it to go in the first place, though, to be fair. Nathan groans, and says "I just…why me? You could have literally anyone you want, why pick me?" There's literally nothing special about him, he might even get her hurt by being in the wrong place at the wrong time!

Bloom looks away at that, and says "Simple. You picked me first."

Nathan blinks in shock, asking "Uh…what now?"

Bloom waves a hand in the air dismissively, saying "Kim thinks he likes Chloe - why, I couldn't tell you, but whatever floats his boat - but can't figure out he's head-over-heels for Alix even though he keeps challenging her to stupid competitions and such. Honestly, he's basically pulling at her nonexistent pigtails. I'm waiting for the day someone dares him to kiss her just to put everyone else out of their misery. Marinette and Adrien will end up together if it takes my dying breath, Ivan and Mylene have been a thing ever since Marinette set them up after Ivan was Akumatized, can you see where I'm heading with this?"

Nathan shakes his head, he most definitely doesn't see where she's heading with this.

Bloom glances at him after a moment, and whatever it is she sees has her sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose. "Alright, then. Everyone else is getting matched up, and you? You picked me. I don't know why, or when, but you did. What were you expecting me to do, laugh and say 'not a chance' when it came to your feelings like Chloe would?"

Seeing Bloom's probably about to get up and leave, never look at him again and maybe even get Akumatized in the process, Nathan blurts out "IknowyourDragonFyre!"

That turns Bloom's anger and hurt into shock for a moment, before it turns to resignation. "How long?"

Nathan mumbles "Since Darkblade three days ago…"

Bloom sighs, then says "I suppose I wasn't being very conspicuous with that duel, but its not like I had much choice. Someone had to give everyone else the chance to escape." After a moment, she quietly says "So that's what set this off." How she missed that, though...actually, it's not that surprising. Nathan's shy by nature, preferring his sketchbook to people, and he's been avoiding her like the plague lately.

Nathan nods, and says "Yeah…why would you, an actual Superhero, even glance once at me?"

Bloom asks "Why not? What's changed about me? Considering the detail that I had gotten my Miraculous before getting to school that first day?"

Nathan blushes, conceding her point - nothing about her has actually changed, he just knows more about her now. Including that inexplicable warmth he still remembers from his birthday, driving Hawk Moth out of his head and keeping the cruel man from hurting him anymore. It was her magic, the same magic that he's seen knock Akumas off their feet on the news filled him with warmth and probably saved him.

The only other time she's actually gone easy on an Akuma was when Nino was Akumatized into the Bubbler- oh, geez, please no. Nathan groans, feeling his migraine coming back full force, and asks "Do you happen to know who your partners are, Bloom?"

Bloom glances at him, lips pursed, then nods her head and says "Since the second time I saw each of them. Be that Civilian or Superhero."

Nathan groans, and says "Please tell me they aren't classmates of ours…" When he glances over, he sees Bloom giving him a deadpan stare.

Finally, she says "The Miraculous' have some sort of concealment magic on them, it makes it so that most people don't recognize them on sight. Me, though…it doesn't seem to work on me. I can see straight past the mask, and the detail that three teens have to bear the weight of the world is less than reassuring."

Nathan's going to take that as a 'yes, they are classmates of ours.' "So…the Miraculous magic just…" Just...what, exactly? He'd really like to know.

Bloom shrugs, and says "Doesn't affect me, at least not all of it. I think its because of my own magic. I get the suit, and the powers, but the Miraculous Cure doesn't work on me. If I get hurt, its up to me to heal myself. Lucky me, I'm good at healing myself. Not even the Kwamis are sure why, but it works out well enough in the end."

Nathan decides not to go down that particular train of thought - of what if it isn't enough one day? - and instead asks "And, what about your partners?"

Bloom chuckles, and says "I'm not in love with Cat Noir, if that's what your thinking. He's like a brother to me, we sorta adopted one another out of sheer loneliness. Besides, his heart is Ladybug's, completely and utterly. And every Ladybug and Cat Noir, in the history of this world, has gotten together. They're picked especially carefully, apparently, for that exact reason."

"Um…oh." Because what do you say to that?!

Bloom nods, and says "Yeah, oh. These two, though, are driving me up a very tall wall. And you don't particularly want to know why." No need to make Nathan share her pain every time these two display their utter obliviousness.

Nathan groans, and says "I'll take your word for it, Bloom." He's heard about Dragon Fyre telling the both of them, multiple times, that they drive her up a wall. He quickly decides he doesn't want to guess at who her partners are, one superhero being in the school is almost too much for him to process. And he figures Bloom is relatively easy to process, all things considered - she, at least, acts more or less the same in and out of uniform.

Bloom quietly says "You can't tell anyone, Nathan. Ever. It's a secret for a reason, having a Miraculous puts a target on my back…well, my neck, actually. And if word ever got out about my identity, it would put everyone in class in danger as well." And that's with it being her identity, she has relatively few strings attached to her identity compared to her partners. No family, her only friends are at school, and nobody knows where she lives.

Nathan nods, and says "My lips are sealed, Bloom. Always."

Cat Noir leaps onto a nearby rooftop, enjoying the scenery for once - he's on patrol, yeah, but that doesn't mean he can't admire the view. Besides, he spends all day either cooped up in his house or at the classes his father says are 'for his own good' - he figures he's allowed to metaphorically stop and smell the roses for a minute as Cat Noir. Sometimes he wishes he could just stay Cat Noir forever, leave behind the mask of the perfect son Adrien Agreste has to wear - be - all the time.

"Hey."

Cat Noir just about jumps out of his skin, a hiss nearly escaping him at the sudden sound of Dragon Fyre's voice. When he manages to reassure himself his heart isn't trying to make an escape attempt straight of his chest, he turns around and sees his sister sitting on the neighboring rooftop.

"Hey, Super-sis," he breathes out "what're you doing out so late? I thought it was my turn to patrol?"

His fire-haired sister just shrugs, and says "I've got nothing better to do, honestly. And being alone with my thoughts is just kinda depressing on nights like tonight."

Cat Noir tilts his head, jumping over to her rooftop and landing like the cat he's themed after, and asks "Longg isn't interested in talking?"

Plagg almost certainly wouldn't be, though that could well be because he's a cat. They do whatever they want.

Dragon Fyre shrugs, and says "He's interested, yes, but he's not very helpful in this particular situation. The most he can say is that he's the Kwami that's the most compatible with my magic. And that there used to be an island of ladies similar to me, one of whom created the Miraculous' at the Kwamis' wishes to interact with mankind, but now they're gone."

Cat sits down next to his sister, asking "And...?"

Dragon Fyre slumps her shoulders suddenly, looking more defeated and down than he's seen ehr look...well, ever, and asks "And...who am I, Brother? According to Longg, magic like mine doesn't just appear out of nowhere, I had to have been born with it. Except...neither of my parents had magic." If they had, they might still be alive.

Cat Noir puts an arm around her shoulders, asking "What makes you so sure?"

A despairing chuckle that sounds close to a sob escapes her, and she says "Aside from the detail that they're dead? Mom ran a flower shop on the first floor, and Dad was a Firefighter. If they had magic, I doubt they would've had to work at all. And they would've been able to fight back, even if only a little."

Cat Noir studies his sister for a moment, then asks "So, what's bothering you, sis? Why's this coming up now?" Either she had some kind of epiphany, or something brought it all to the front of her mind. If it was the latter...well, he could get rid of the reason for his sister's current mood. Plagg seems to like her well enough that he wouldn't say anything, to.

Dragon Fyre sighs, then quietly asks "Who am I, then? If my parents weren't my parents, and my magic couldn't have just appeared out of nowhere..." She sighs again, a sound Cat's all-too familiar with these days, and runs a hand down her face.

Deciding his sister needs a distraction, he says "Let's have a race."

"What?!"

Cat Noir nods, saying "We do a round of patrol, then three laps around the city. First to the top of the Eiffel Tower wins. No Miraculous powers, no magic." It won't get her any answers, but at least it'll give her a distraction for a little while.

To his utter relief, Dragon Fyre grins and says "Its on, Cat-Nip!"

About an hour later, the two of them are through with Patrol for now and are standing at the base of the Eiffel Tower. Cat Noir grins, asking "You ready, sis?"

She smirks at him, and says "Hope you can keep up, Kitty." They count down from three, taking off as soon as they both yell 'GO!' and speed off towards the nearest rooftop. Cat Noir uses his staff to vault to the nearest rooftop, seeing a flash of red, orange, and black out of the corner of his eye, and jumps onto a veranda before leaping from balcony to balcony. He loses sight of his sister a few times, has to get real creative with his staff a few times to keep up - turns out the Dragon Miraculous gives her the greatest boost to speed, agility and strength, something to remember next time - but he makes it to the Tower maybe ten seconds after her and starts leaping from bar to bar.

By the time he gets up there, he's out of breath even in the suit, sweat's dripping off his face…and it was absolutely worth every moment of it, since it got his sister smiling again.

Kwamis, he loves his sister. Doesn't know what he'd do without her and Ladybug. Probably go insane, actually, if he couldn't crack jokes and make puns with his Lady while trying to win her over or have city-wide races with his sister.

Plagg coming into his life was the best thing that ever happened to him, and now that he's had a taste of freedom from the gilded cage his father keeps him in - otherwise known as his schedule, bedroom, and the car - he's willing to fight tooth and claw to keep it.

AN: Hey, everyone! I know, late update, sorry! And, yeah, more of the identity crisis for Bloom - to be fair, at least it's a fairly reasonable question. I've seen some fics where either Mari or Adrien start wondering whether they're civilian or superhero selves are the 'real' them. Which...right, gotta admit I can't see it. At least, not in this story, where there's a flaming red-head to screw their heads on straight. If you were hoping for some more action, hang tight, it'll be soon - we're getting closer towards the holidays, though, and I found a 'Christmas special' that looks a bit like a really good fan-made video...or like the producers tried to make it 3D. You'll get what I mean if you watch it.

Anyway, enjoy! More updates coming soon!