Author's note: Hello again, Bugs!

So as my exams kept me busy, I wasn't able to write much and therefore missed (again!) the date when That Other Guy was supposed to be updated. I still haven't managed to work on it but I promise that I will and soon! And in the meantime, please enjoy this little one-shot I've started to write months ago, after the premiere of Reflekdoll and only just finished today.

I hope it will make you smile!

Love, Bugaboo.

M'Lady Noire

She was gorgeous.

Not that it was any revelation to him, of course. He'd had his eyes on her from the moment they'd first met, even if they had ended up tangled up in the strings of her yo-yo because she'd been too much of an amateur at the time. It was nothing but mere curiosity at first: a wish to see what his partner was made of and how she would act around him – and if she would somehow make him act differently around her as well.

He'd seen immediately how pretty she was under the mask and albeit blushingly, he had no choice but to admit that her slim silhouette had caught as much of his attention as her big bluebell eyes and rosy cheeks had. Looking back, it wasn't at all surprising that he'd only needed a day to develop a very serious crush on her.

And yet, that wasn't the end. With every day that passed, every battle they won, every little joke he cracked in the midst and each frown he had earned in response, his feelings grew, until they turned into something Cat Noir had no problems identifying as love. Inexperienced as he was, it was one thing that raised no doubt in his mind – and even if his Lady was not willing to accept his affection, he could not bring himself to as much as try to fight it.

Time after time she rejected his advances, but to no effect. He might have learnt to respect her wishes better or to keep his courtship light and flirtatious, if only to keep her mind at ease; how he felt, however, was an entirely different matter.

He loved her.

And like it or not, they just had to deal with it.

Needless to say, he had spent a good deal of time watching her. Whether it was during a vicious akuma attack or a quiet night of a regular patrol, or even just going through the photos on his very civilian phone, she was always the centre of his attention. Oh, Ladybug sure had scolded him enough on that matter, always reminding him to focus on the danger at hand instead of trying to charm her with his supposedly terrible puns. Still, even her wrath wasn't enough to make him forget her for long.

She clearly had no idea that every time she chided him only made him admire her more.

And so it went on, with the two of them fighting evil more often than not, the yin and yang of this superhero duet. Adrien vaguely remembered Plagg using that term at the very beginning as well as his own wondering whether he and Ladybug really could complement each other so well – and what did that even mean to begin with?

There were so many things that could have been taken into consideration back then, starting from their looks and ending with his fluency in foreign languages and his absolute lack of baking skills. For example, his fencing lessons and modelling diet had given him a fairly athletic built and larger-than-average sport skills – did that mean that his Lady was a chubby girl, or was she simply a klutz? The first idea had been proven ludicrous as soon as he'd seen her; and even though she might have seemed clumsy at first (something she had stated herself), that also had turned out to be false as soon as she'd gained some faith in herself.

And yet, he could not help but think that complementing one another was exactly what they always did. They might not have been cut out to be a romantic couple after all (although he certainly wasn't going to stop trying to convince her that they were), but the friendship they had built was the best proof of how true Plagg's prediction had been.

Compared to the usual human relationships, they hardly knew a thing about each other – so how come they actually knew each other so well?

It was either absurd or magical.

Adrien thought it pretty obvious that he chose the latter.

He sighed deeply, smiling to his thoughts and stretched on the couch he was currently occupying. There was nothing that could prove his point better that today's events, was there? After all, it was the unexpected mishap with the miraculous that had allowed them to really look from the other's perspective, making them step into one another's shoes quite literally and deal with the aspects of their respective jobs of which they only could have pondered before.

He certainly had gained some understanding of Ladybug's seriousness and the reasons for why she always seemed so determined not to lose her cool; he knew he would think twice before teasing her about it the next time he had a chance. At the same time, he had his own reasons to believe that she would be more understanding towards his attitude, now that she knew that being light-hearted didn't necessarily mean being careless.

What mattered most, however, was that despite their differences, despite the initial astonishment and novelty of their new roles, they still had managed to work together, and win. And not by sticking to what they knew, nor by lecturing the other about what exactly they should do... but by embracing those new abilities and trusting that the other person would too.

Strangely, today had really boosted his confidence in what the two of them could become one day.

His grin widened as he remembered the thing that had prompted his musings in the first place, the image of his beloved lady once again coming to his mind. It had been so strange to see her wear his costume at first – the familiar plain black suit replacing an almost equally well-known spotted one, the stunningly long braid that clearly came in place of his usual belt-tail, the green cat-like eyes that had looked at him, surprising him with the lack of blue he had not expected. And still, it was a matter of seconds before his astonishment gave way to delight, as he eyed her discreetly, amazed with how much the so-called clown costume suited her...

How much more endearing it made her look in his eyes.

The thought caused his cheeks to flush even now, so many hours after he had made his discovery, but he was no more willing to push it aside that he'd been back then. Instead, he recalled every detail his memory could bring, imagining the particular elements of her suit as well as the overall impression she'd given him, wondering how on earth he had managed to hold back from complimenting her new cunning look on the spot.

Had the sudden change of roles really had such a strong effect on them? True, they had found themselves in the middle of a battle and not an easy one; but that wasn't any different than most of their fights, and even though the loss of their miraculous obviously complicated things, it surely wasn't enough to make him any less perceptive whenever it came to his Lady's undeniable beauty. He knew it wasn't.

Otherwise, how else he could have remembered so much in such a short time?

And yet, he had. He wasn't sure how much of it was a matter of his already extensive knowledge about Ladybug's appearance and the fact that he could easily recall it at any given time. Any element of her costume, any feature of her body and face had been engraved in his mind long time ago; if he wanted to remember the new features she had presented as Lady Noire (the name still made him tremble, though he couldn't quite tell why), all he needed to do was to pick a part of her he'd already known and think of the changes that he'd had a chance to observe earlier that day.

And what changes they were.

Her eyes herself would have been enough to make him lose his head, had he only been given the time to do that. The usual blue of her irises, the peaceful, calming colour that he adored so much, was gone. The white of her eye was too, both turned into the same shade of green he could have seen in his own eyes since the first time he'd transformed. He'd always assumed it derived from the natural grin tint of his eyes; but clearly, he'd been wrong.

Then again, could cats even have blue eyes? And would be giving a cat-superhero those more or less natural?

One thing for sure, his Cat Noir would have looked atrocious with blue eyes like hers.

And yet, speaking of her eyes was merely scratching the surface. The list of alterations went on – alterations not only to her usual looks but even to the good old Black Cat costume. He didn't have a clue why it looked so different on her, why the suit had been black and only black on him, while worn by her it had gained the green lining on her collar and waist, under her knees and even at the edge of her cat ears; not to mention the obvious lack of that ridiculous bell he had been gifted with himself. Of course, he still remembered Plagg's explanations about how the suit was always fitted to its owners desires and style. That, however, hardly explained why he was the one stuck with that bell.

Was he really the clown she had seen in him?

He shook his head vigorously at the assumption, unwilling to succumb to the dark, pessimistic musing when his heart and soul were still so full of light and joy. It wasn't a day to feel sorry for himself or to ponder over the many rejections he had experienced, no matter how awfully constant said rejection felt to him – simply because he knew she could never reject him fully. She was his best friend and he was hers; he was her perfect partner in the same way she was his.

Romantically or not, it was a bond worth dying – or suffering – for.

It was worth anything.

The old sappy grin had found its way to his face before he even realised it was coming back in the first place, growing even beyond its natural limits. Unexpectedly to both himself and Plagg, Adrien laughed – openly, loudly, sincerely, for the first time in his life feeling grateful that his room was separated from his father's studio with so many walls. He needed to laugh, or he would burst. He was too exhausted to run or dance and he couldn't sing to save his life – and so letting out the laughter that had so unexpectedly risen in his chest was the only way in which he could convey the equally sudden wave of happiness which had washed over him and which clearly wasn't going to go away any time soon.

And if the sound of his laughter resonating in the empty space of his room made it seem a little more hospitable... Well, then it was just another benefit to the situation.

"I love her," he whispered through his fingers, both of his hands now covering his more than cheerful countenance. "Gosh, Plagg, I love her so much."

Ignoring a weary sigh that his kwami let out in response, Adrien rose to his feet and walked towards his computer. He turned it on and searched for the Ladyblog (a task as easy as they come, given the frequency with which he visited the site), both anxious and excited to learn whether his assumption was correct.

His heart skipped a beat when the homepage finally loaded.

Once again, Alya did not disappoint.

Yes, he was right. His Lady Noire was gorgeous.

Absolutely so.