Chapter Eight – Hand Kiss

A chill autumn wind blew lazily through the park, rustling the leaves, rippling the water, which splashed in its fountain. An owl hooted somewhere behind the bench where two teenage superheroes sat. Both jumped at the noise, the spell of their conversation broken. How long had they been sitting out there? Cat Noir yawned widely, and Ladybug watched with interest as his nose scrunched. Had he always been this adorable? Was she only noticing this now?

"So what time is it?" he asked.

"Uh..." Ladybug quickly fumbled for her yoyo and flipped it open, then blinked at the blinding 1:45. "You have to get up early for school tomorrow, right?" How had they stayed out here that long? They'd never done that before.

"Yeah."

"Then you probably don't want to know."

"Fair enough." Cat Noir stood up and stretched, his tail swinging lazily through the air, the muscles of his back taut. He stopped abruptly, sensing her eyes on him and whirled around. "Like what you see?"

"Yes," she said, standing up.

Cat Noir choked.

"You happy again."

Color rose in his face as he looked down at his claws. "I'll take it," he mumbled.

He was quiet for several seconds, until she thought maybe she'd said something wrong, but just as she was about to apologize, his head snapped up.

"Thank you," he said. "Thank you for staying out her with me for so long. I don't know if you meant to do that." The words tumbled out of him, getting faster and faster. "And thank you for cheering me up, and even wanting to cheer me up. I appreciated it. You're amazing. I really love spending time with you."

Ladybug could feel heat rising from her heart and into her face. By the time he'd finished, a full blush had blossomed. Why?! He'd said things like this before. Why was he making her blush?

In the darkness, she was hoping he wouldn't notice. She thought about turning away, leaving quickly, hiding her face, but his eyes were so bright in the moonlight that they almost glowed, and she couldn't look away. And when a smile started to creep across his face, she knew she'd been caught.

"You're really pretty, too."

"Wow, shallow," she said, taking a step back. "And I was beginning to think you liked me for my personality." This time, she did turn away to hide her flaring blush. Play it cool, she told herself as she hopped onto the short rock ledge around the fountain. He's just being his normal flirty self. There's no reason to go to pieces.

Except she was.

"Let me rephrase," he said, walking on the ground beside her. "Your smile is almost as sparkling as your wit. Your eyes are the most beautiful I have ever seen, but they pale in comparison to your kind soul."

"Do you practice these beforehand, or do you come up with them spur of the moment?"

"Oh, I come up with them on the spot." He poked a black dot on her side, exactly where he knew she was ticklish. She shrieked and almost lost her balance, but as she pinwheeled toward the water, Cat Noir caught her hand and drew her back to safety. Her heart thumped wildly as she stammered a thank you.

This was terrible. Why couldn't she act normally around him? It must be because of how late it was, she decided. She was probably overtired. Even with that new reasoning, she still felt no desire to go home.

"Have I mentioned how creative you are?"

"Are you still doing this?" She picked a penny off the ledge and tossed it into the water before continuing her stroll.

"They way you bring down those akumas." He whistled. "It's like magic."

She laughed. "Aren't you a little too famous to be fangirling?"

"Of course not! And since I know more about you than anyone else..." he trailed off, looking delighted at his insight. He knew her in a way no one else did. She felt the same way about him, honored to be part of this boy's secret life he shared only with her.

"... than anyone else," he continued, "I know more details to fangirl about."

She stopped. The ledge she had been walking around was only a few inches high, but it was just enough to let her look him directly in the eye.

"I'm going to bring a pen to our next patrol," she said, frowning slightly to let him know she was serious.

"Why?"

"So I can autograph your face. You're forbidden from washing it off."

"If you doodle a little heart next to it, you've got yourself a deal," he said, holding out a hand.

Instead of shaking it, she used it to hop down. "We should get going, you goofball. It's late."

"Can I at least get a picture?" He waved his baton around like an overexcited tourist with a new camera, but she suspected this request was real.

"Don't you have enough pictures of me?" she asked. "You took six during tonight's patrol alone."

"Never," he said. "And it was fourteen." Smiling timidly and extending a hand for her, he waited, until she finally slipped in beside him.

"Dork," she said, preparing her camera smile.

"Of course." He moved in even closer. Warmth radiated from him as he held her, letting his head fall on hers. She couldn't help but wrap her arms around him and lean in. When he started to purr quietly, her picture perfect smile morphed into a delighted one.

The baton's camera flashed, the moment was broken, and Ladybug pulled away. "Now we really should get going," she said.

Cat Noir yawned again. "Yeah, I guess."

He bowed, reaching for her hand, which she graciously bestowed. He did this enough that she knew what to expect next, a kiss and a wink and maybe one last flirt, but that wasn't what happened.

He kissed her, his lips lingered over the back of her hand, and Ladybug had to put two fingers to her mouth to remind herself not to call off her transformation. The sudden desire to feel his lips on her skin was as overwhelming as it was unexpected.

When she didn't pull away, he kissed her again. And again. Gently, to make his intentions clear. Again, reverently, so she would know what she meant to him. And again, lazily, a promise that he would kiss her all night if she wished. Ladybug's breath caught as he dragged his lips across her hand, turning it over slowly, and pressed a kiss to the inside of her wrist, where her pulse beat wildly. Unable to respond, unable to do anything but wait and see what he would do next, Ladybug watched as he straightened and held her gaze.

"Goodnight," he whispered, and disappeared into the darkness. She was left stunned, breathless, as she stared after him.

Stumbling back to her room much later, Ladybug collapsed onto her bed and contemplated her ceiling. Since when could Cat Noir shock her into into silence? Actually, she couldn't remember any other time he'd been able to do it. Surprise. That must have been what it was. That's why she had been quiet.

She didn't detransform right away. No doubt Tikki would have words for her about staying out so late or questions about how she felt about Cat Noir. Both seemed like good topics to avoid, so Ladybug waited, her finger idly outlining the areas his lips had touched, until her yoyo buzzed with an incoming message.

Her own face smiled up at her when she flipped it open. Cat Noir had sent her the picture he'd just taken, and it was easy to see why he had wanted to share it. Ladybug had never seen herself so happy in a photo, wrapped around her partner, joyful and absolutely beaming. They were framed by the moonlit fountain in the background, which sparkled like stars.

But it was Cat Noir who drew her attention the most. His head rested on hers, nose in her hair, eyes closed, smiling softly. He was completely at peace as he snuggled against her. There was no one he would rather be with, and it showed in how he held her.

Ladybug debated for less than a second before jumping off her loft bed and turning on her printer. It was too good of a picture not to display. But where to put it? Alya would notice a photo like this, and the questions she would ask about it were best avoided.

By the time it had finished printing, she'd figured out the perfect spot. She tucked it up in a corner next to her loft bed, invisible from below. No one else would see it. It was for her eyes only.

"One more thing," she muttered to no one. She pulled open her yoyo for the last time that night, took a picture of her new decor, wrote a caption, and sent it back to her partner. She detransformed before she got his reply.

Author's note: Cat Noir uses romance. It's super effective! Nice to know his hours of anime research are finally paying off.

While I was planning this, I tried to stick to what I think their love languages would be, but then when I wrote it, I think I accidentally gave them both mine. Oops. Anyone care to take a guess at what it is? I feel like it's super obvious in this chapter.