Chat Noir stalked the city in an unusually foul mood. His flirting with Ladybug -had once again- been rejected, this time with more bite than usual.

His Lady seemed to be rather tightly wound these days and try as he might, she wouldn't open up about it. Not to him at least.

Why would she after all? It wasn't like he was her partner; that they had spent most nights together, protecting the streets of Paris for the last three years. That they had seen each other grow from dorky, self conscious teens to young adults, witnessed each other at their highest highs and their lowest lows.

Yet despite all that, she still didn't take him seriously! "Aaarghhh" the young man howled into the night. Defeated, he sank to the ground. Laying his back on the cold tiles of the Trocadero and pulled at the messy blonde locks of his hair in frustration.

For a time he just laid there, eyes shut, feeling sorry for himself. That was until he felt the tell tale prickle of eyes upon him, not wanting to deal with civilians at the moment Chat groaned in annoyance as he pried open an eye.

Staring down at him were the most crystalline blue eyes he had ever seen, they sparkled with humour- their beauty was a rival even to Ladybugs. Curious he slowly opened the other, to get a better look; a shock of dyed teal hair framed a handsome face, cocky smirk revealing perfect white teeth.

"Well, if even the hero of Paris is having a shitty night, then I don't feel so bad about my terrible one." Still smiling, the young man sat down next to Chat, who eyed him warily.

"What do you want?" Chat scrunched his nose in distaste as he spoke the words, hopeful his slight sneer would get rid of his unwanted visitor.

Instead the other man shrugged, grinning "you know what they say; misery loves company."

Chat couldn't stop himself from snorting -that he couldn't deny- and it wasn't like he could feel any worse. The leather clad hero sat up, "can't argue with that."

The bright eyed young man extended a hand in greeting, "I'm Luka, by the way. So you, gonna tell me why Paris' most notorious hero is, ahhh laying around in the middle of the trocadero, sulking?"

The jab had Chat dropping the offered hand and flicking his eyes away quickly. He didn't need to be reminded that he was chucking a tantrum like a five year old child.

Luka burst out laughing at the reaction "Hey man, I'm not judging, in fact-" he paused; opening the blue hoodie he wore to reveal a tall bottle wrapped in a paper bag. "I was just on my way home to sulk too. I was just going to go about it in a much more adult way."

Before Chat could feel insulted Luka gave him a wink with those dazzling eyes of his. That cocky smirk, back on his face. Something about the look had Chat blushing under his mask.

Unbothered by the fact they were in public Luka proceeded to pull the bottle from his jacket and offer it to Chat Noir.

The hero scanned their surroundings, regardless of his bad mood he had a reputation to uphold. He could just imagine the scolding Ladybug would give him if she found out.

The young man next to him laughed, bumping his shoulder against Chat's. "Relax, there's no one else out here, not at this ridiculous hour." He decided to lead by example, taking the first swig before passing it to the hero.

Chat hesitantly took the bottle, sniffing it warily before taking a tentative sip. Approving of the warm burn of liquor as it slid down his throat, he took another larger one before handing it back to Luka.

The dark haired man snorted beside him as he watched, "fussy, are we Chat Noir?" He teased, taking the bottle back and downing another mouthful.

The easy banter between the two had Chat sliding straight back into his usual playful self; sitting up straight, he held a black clawed hand to his chest. "I happen to have a very refined purrrlet." He cringed as the words left his lips. Definitely not his smoothest pun.

Luka raised an eyebrow in question, as he looked at the blonde hero. "Jesus Christ, that was terrible."

Chat Noir nodded somberly in agreement. "Yeah, I ah, didn't think that one through. I'm not exactly on my A game at the moment." He slumped back into a sulk, remembering what brought him out here in the middle of the night.

Seeing the troubled look on his new hero friend Luka handled the bottle back over, watching as he took several large pulls. "Okay, I'm curious now! What's got your tail in a twist?"

Chat shook his head, messy blonde locks falling over his eyes. "Mmnnn, you first blueberry boy, what's got you walking around in the middle of the night? With a bottle of -what I can only assume- is very expensive scotch."

Luka huffed, letting his shoulder slouch "just the usual I suppose. Met a super cute guy at a music gig I was doing, we hit it off and he asked me out." He stopped, grabbing the bottle that now sat on the ground between them. He took a slow nip, then toyed with the bottle. It was clear whatever he was trying to say was hard for him to speak out loud.

"Turns out, he was only trying to get some gossip to use for a tabloid piece. And Jagged Stone's 'no longer secret, son' fit the ticket." He kept his eyes forward while he spoke, but the bitterness in his voice was clear.

Chat could understand his pain, in his civilian life he was the only child of world famous fashion designer Gabrielle Agrest. Living under the shadow of a father like that had significant challenges. The difference being he had had a lifetime to get used to it, whereas Luka had been thrust into this life. No doubt sending his world upside down in the process.

Of course he was unable to share all of that with his agitated new friend, what with having to keep his identity secret and all. "So you're-"

"Single? Yup sure am."

The blonde man coughed and snorted at the same time, the comment taking him completely off guard. "Christ! I was gonna say Jaggeds' son, but umm… good to know… I guess?" He could feel the blush rising on his cheeks again. What was with him tonight?

Luka smirked, obviously pleased with the effect his comment had on the now flustered hero. "Just putting it out there. But anyway, what about you, whiskers?"

Chat's ears flattened against his head, and he may have shown -just a little bit more of his prominent canines then he really needed to. "Whiskers?" The words were a low growl, not quite a threat, but definitely a warning.

The other man held his hands in the air in surrender "hey, you didn't think I was just going to let that 'blueberry boy' comment slide did you?"

The hero nodded, he supposed that was a fair call. He let out a "mmmph" in unhappy acknowledgement. Yet those hauntingly beautiful eyes continued to stare into his, a feat that wasn't lost on Chat Noir.

There were very few people who could, or would look the hero in the eyes for more than a moment. Sure he understood it, they were unnerving it was true but it didn't make it any less painful when the civilians he saved wouldn't even maintain eye contact when they thanked him.

And here Luka was; maintaining eye contact like it was nothing, throwing quips back and forth like a pro and sharing a drink and his life's troubles with him as if they had been friends their whole life. He really was something else.

He decided, if there was any civilian to disclose his woes to then this man right here was it! The hero took a breath, an attempt to steel his nerves before letting it out audibly. "It's Ladybug."

The admission had Luka sitting up straighter to listen, he hadn't been expecting to hear the inner goss from Paris's notoriously tight lipped superhero duo. He raised a dark brow, encouraging Chat to continue.

"I don't know, it's complicated. She, I - were partners! We have been for years, fighting side by side together to protect Paris and… I love her." The last admission was spoken softly, hardly audible in the dark night air.

Luka didn't push, he gave the hero time to digest the words that were so hard for him to utter. Silently he waited, knowing there was more to his story. It was already heavily speculated throughout the city that the two were a couple.

"She doesn't feel the same. She said it was impossible, when we only know each other with our masks. I accepted that, figured I'd give her time, show her I was someone she could trust, that I would always be there for her. But recently something has changed, with her, with us, our dynamic. She's short and cold with me and there doesn't seem to be anything I can do to fix it!"

The hero's voice rose in pitch, along with his desperation as he got to his feet. He paced back and forth while he vented, before coming to an exhausted stop in front of Luka and covering his tear soaked face with his hands.

He was so lost in his own misery that he didn't notice that the other man had moved, until he was wrapped up by surprisingly strong arms. They enveloped the hero and held him tightly while he sobbed, just letting him feel what he needed to in that moment.

Chat returned the gesture fiercely, not knowing how desperately he craved the comforting touch of another person. It wasn't something he experienced regularly, and when he did it was a fleeting touch of hands or reassuring squeeze on the shoulder… all from his lady.

There is no way he would have experienced it in his civilian life, not from his father at least. That was for sure.

Sensing the hero's need for closeness, Luka let him be the first to break their embrace. When he did, Luka kept an arm draped around his broad shoulders. "So I don't know about you, but I'm hella cold out here! Let's go back to mine and hang out, we can play cards or something, honestly anything's better than sitting out here on this cold ass pavement."

Chat had intended to say no, to continue on his moping alone, but something in those blue eyes had him following along. Honestly, what was the worst that could happen?