Bonjovi! Here is a drawing I did (Zubblub was my casual art account, it's now wickd0g)! It's kinda orange, I know, I went too hard w the glow anyway, this do be (Y/n) in the flesh. I'm planning on doing a couple of these with a bunch of different body types and skin colours! So go ahead and suggest some you'd like to see as Y/n :) thx.

Anyway,,, guess what time it is! Retcon and home brew time babyyy!! The kwami stuff from the show is going to be changed by me because I can, so,,, ✌🏻😎 idgaf, sue me Thomas

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The end of the school day came quickly and without so much as a hitch. As the final bell rang I made my way to the front doors of the school with the same cluster of students that's been carrying me around all day.

The sun beamed down, blazing hot through the blue, cloud speckled sky. I smiled and drifted to the side of the steps, perching myself on one of the ledges to making sure everything was in the backpack. I also wanted to break off from the stuffy student body, hopefully, to have a better view to spot someone familiar.

That was until Evee's little paw poked at my thigh.

This slapped a sense of sobriety across the back of my head, I casually lifted the bag into my lap to look down at the kwami. She squinted up through the zipper, aggressively tapping her paw against the time on my phone's dimly lit screen.

"Okay okay." I huffed and zipped the purse closed. With little more than leaning forward, my butt slipped from the ledge, landing my shoes against the sun-warmed cement as a muted thump.

The sun arched behind a puffy, drifting cloud that cast a gentle shade over the school and surrounding streets. The summer that still lingered happily behind in the early September days managed to pull a content smile across my lips. Just as the familiar scuff of cement beneath my feet began, the sound of my name being called sunk the soles of my feet into the concrete.

I peered back to see Adrien speeding towards me, a little jog in his steps. "Hey!"

A friendly grin tipped my lips. "Hi, uh... what's up?"

He came to a smooth stop, wearing a matching smile. "Not much, how was your first day?" The politeness in his voice was palpable.

I shrugged, leaning against the ledge I'd just dismounted. "Pretty good honestly. I wasn't expecting it to go so smoothly." A mischievous smile replaced my casual one as I bumped his shoulder with a playful fist. "I guess I have you to thank for that."

He chuckled oddly. "Heh, Yeah—!" His voice cut off suddenly as he swallowed. "Yeah, well, I'm happy to help."

An awkward silence settled over the two of us, making me shift my feet about, both of us suddenly finding the sea of bodies flooding out of school very interesting.

Adrien then cleared his throat and directed his attention back to me with a friendly smile. "So, I was actually meaning to ask if you were free this weekend." He asked, rubbing at his shoulder.

A jolt of confusion and dread painted the walls of my insides, while an open can of worms was dumped in the bottom of my now squirming stomach. "Probably not!" I squeaked out nervously. Warmth flooded my face as I tried to maintain a normal voice.

Adrien's eyes thinned as if taking a moment to read the situation. After a few more unsavoury moments, a soft red visibly crawled up his pale neck to his cheeks and ears. A panic was frantically pushing out from every word until he fumbled into a proper sentence with gentle waving of his hands. "No! Sorry! I-I was just asking— I mean— erm... Some classmates are getting together Saturday, I was gonna ask if you wanted to come hang out with all of us."

An idiotic feeling blistered over as it clicked in my head. "Ohhh! I thought you—" I met his green eyes momentarily before diverting mine away quickly, rubbing the back of my neck. "Sorry... Never mind, uh, yeah! Sure, I'd love to... hang on a second." I took off my backpack and rustled through it, fishing out a pen and a tiny piece of paper I hastily ripped off a corner of some homework. I penned my number down on the little scrap pressed against my thigh.

"Here. Text me the details." I offered the uneven piece of paper to him just as the sun escaped from behind the cloud, beaming its shining rays down on the two of us like a warm rain, blanketing us in a gentle hug.

He graciously took the paper from me, careful not to touch my hand despite the small piece he was trying to grab. His eyes scanned the digits a few times over before lifting back to me. "I really have got to get going, so keep me in the loop. Okay?" I said starting to take small steps backwards.

He managed an amused, crooked grin. "Yeah! Definitely."

I chuckled and gave him my best couple of finger guns, which were interrupted as I slipped backwards down a stair, nearly falling completely backwards.

Adrien flinched towards me, his arms outstretched slightly.

Another unneeded wave of embarrassment crashed down on me as I stiffly recovered with waving arms quickly returning to my now stable sides. "Haha! Oops! Stairs!"

That was all I could muster before just turning and all but running away. This wasn't something I could recover from, so I left it up to Father Time to hopefully dull the humiliation by tomorrow morning.

I rushed down the steps of the school, face lit aflame as a blaze licked hungrily at my speeding heels. I didn't dare look back over my shoulder even when I thought myself to be at a safe distance, I didn't want to remember any part of this situation.

As I got to the foot of the steps, the same car from this morning came puttering up, a few feet from me. My eyes couldn't help but take in the distraction and worm their sights into the drivers seat, where the same tattooed young man that brought Juleka to school sat, poking at his dashboard. He lifted his eyes momentarily and caught me staring. Thankfully he didn't seem creeped out or anything, and before I could look away he simply smiled and gave me a friendly wave.

A relived sigh fled my torso as I waved back, smile slightly strained.

I quickly rushed across the street and began my walk to Charlie's school, hopefully not super late.

Attempting to play off that transpired, I took a few minutes to myself. Staying silent until Evee's judgmental eyes starring became almost too much to handle. "So, do you think Charlie had a good day?" I asked down to the hare as I pulled a sleeve of slightly crushed saltine crackers from my backpack.

Evee shrugged and rested her tiny elbows on the open zipper of the purse. "I'm sure it went about as smoothly as yours did, maybe even better." She mused, attentively watching the crackers in my hands.

I hummed, splitting open the top of the plastic sleeve. "I hope so." —I slid a saltine out and lowering it to the kwami— "If any of those little turds picked on him I'm gonna have to kick some kids into next week."

The hare hesitated to accept the cracker I offered to her, eyeing me skeptically. I rolled my eyes. "Not actually..."

This seemed to be enough reassurance for her as she hummed approvingly and snatched the cracker up.

Upon arrival —Evee tucked away with a surplus of crackers— I spotted Charlie sitting on the stairs... alone. My heart couldn't stop the uncomfortable squeeze this sight gave as I strode closer, eyeing the others kids grouped together, laughing together.

"Hey, goober." I greeted, putting on a smiling, unconcerned face. He quickly looked up from the rocks he was poking about with his foot.

Once he got a good look at me, he deflated. "Oh... hey." He lowered his eyes again, collecting his backpack off the warm concrete. Without another word he started walking down the sidewalk, me in tow.

A nervous, sympathetic sweat started to coat my hands. "Are you okay?"

Do I actually need to beat up some kids?

His fingers were white around the straps fastened over his shoulders. "Yeah... I'm okay."

I stepped up next to him, trying to get a glance at his face. "How was school?"

His jaw set as a frustration started to uncover itself. "It was fine." He looked away from me to something across the street, rubbing under his nose. "But I think tomorrow will be better."

I tilted my head. "Oh yeah? Something cool gonna happen?"

Without warning he looked back at me with a determined frown through a pair of  misty eyes. "Of course! Me! I'll be way cooler tomorrow!"

I fought the overwhelming sickness that took my stomach in a tight chokehold and urged me to hug him, opting instead to mask my heart cracking. "Uh... What do you mean cooler? You're already super cool. Anyone worth their salt can see that."

This seemed to strike something in him and his pace slowed, lifting his deflated stare up at me. "Do you... Do you really think so?" His eyes were glossy, but hopeful; hanging off of my every word.

A warm flush of tears warned of their appearance behind my face as my sinuses began to feel liquified. "Ha! Obviously! It's not like I'd say that just to hype you up." I quipped as snarky as I could.

Charlie laughed as he rubbed his eyes clear. "That's true. You're kind of a witch."

I smiled softly down at him before it turned mischievous as I wrapped my arm around his shoulders. "Yeah, so good luck getting rid of me." I lowered my voice, scanning our surroundings. "Witches are immortal you know."

"Oh great. A life time of this." He sighed dryly, but he wasn't able to suppress the light grin that stamped its print on his face.

.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.

"Why are you so bad at using keys?" My brother pesters, leaning his back dramatically against the doorframe.

"What do you mean?! I haven't even put any keys in yet!" I snap.

He just groans and slides down to the floor. "You're so slow though... I'm hungry, hurryyyy."

A glare shot it's red-eyed rage down on him."You turned down the crackers I offered you!"

He lazily tosses a bored look at me. "I don't want your musty crackers. Who knows where they've been."

"THEY ARE IN A PLASTIC—!" I cut myself off, pulling my hands from their automatic trajectory to wring his little neck.

I force my focus back onto the key in a huff and unlock the door, so tempted to leave him out in the hallway. "Finally." He mutters, standing up and rushing through.

I sigh and close the door, locking it behind us. "I'm gonna make some soup, would you like any or—?" When I turn around he was already at our shared room, shutting the door behind him.

I purse my lips and slide my backpack off my shoulders, onto the kitchen table. Evee peeked out to survey the desolate surroundings then floated up out of my purse tentatively. "Is he alright?" She asked quietly, eyes stuck on our rooms door.

"I'm not sure, but I don't think he wants to talk about it." I deduce, tipping the hare's crumb coated purse upside down over the sink. Sheets of cracker bits pour out. "Besides, I think we're both pretty tired anyway."

The grey kwami sat in thought, silent, until her eyes sat on the door warily. "Uh when is your mom going to be home?" She asked, meekly circling over to me as I fished out a small pot from a drawer in the little island.

"I don't know, whenever she decides to come home I guess." I turned around towards the oven reaching for a wooden spoon, it had bite marks along the handle. "I don't know why you're so worried about being seen, you're a magical being, it should some kind of catalyst for you."

The glare she sends digs itself into my profile.

"What I mean is—" I turn with a swish of my spoon. "—Who's gonna fuck with you? You're a magical being with powers, right? You could fold any human like a lawn chair." I commented, fishing a can opener out of a half emptied box on the counter nearby.

"It's not humans I'm worried about." She retorted, rubbing her arm.

I go to work on the can passively as I stare at the kwami. "Hawkmoth?"

She shakes her head. "No, I'm scared of Hawkmoth for your sake. Plus, they're a holder... they're still human." Her eyes slide up to lock with mine.

"Getting pretty cryptic there aren't you, Evee?" I chuckle callously to myself, until it sinks in that she isn't so casual about it. A cold apprehension surfaces in her eyes.

The lightheartedness in my voice slips into the void as her gaze turns glassy. I stop turning the can opener. "... Can you... tell me?..."

Her eyes scrunched and widened at random, fighting with herself. "I... can. I just don't know how you might take it."

The warmth drains rapidly from my face. "What does that mean?" I asked, stilling my entire body.

The hare avoided eye contact, fiddling with her little hand nubs. "Your reaction to this isn't very reassuring so far, Y/n."

I didn't say anything, instead continuing to watch her as my brows fell slightly in a deadpan stare.

She cleared her throat roughly into her fist. "Uh, right well... there are more kwami's. Like, many more..." Evee floated down next to the half open can of soup. "And with so many that have been made, not all of them are actually... particularly... very morally guided." The tone she spoke with was slow and careful.

Unfortunately, despite the gentle delivery, it hit like a stampede. "Wait, hold on, how many kwami's are there out there?"

The hare shrugged shyly, tipping her paw back and forth. "It's hard to give you an exact number, but, I'd say at least one thousand and at most twenty thousand, give or take."

"Twenty thous—?!" I get cut off quickly, harshly being shushed by the grey kwami as she frantically gestured towards my shared room.

We stared at the door, waiting for any sign of movement. A cold silence met us in turn, steadily. I slowly returned my inquisitive gaze to Evee and whispered.

"Where the hell are they all?!" A valid question, as far as the world knew, there where only maybe seven miraculous out there.

"It's a little challenging to explain to a non-guardian." She mutters, scrunching her eyebrows in thought and floats in a slow, tight circle . "Okay, basically we kwami's are supposed to be in these... communal boxes where we stay dormant, kinda like sleeping, until we're put out into the world by our guardians or makers. Either to be given to a holder, be turned loose to find a holder on our own, or just to stretch our legs for a moment." She punctuated her thought with a slight nod as her circular pattern came to a stop. "From what I hear, the reason not many kwami's are out there is a mixture of there being a shortage of guardians, and miraculous makers just keep crafting more sets of miraculous' boxes. So many other kwami's are in 'storage', so to speak."

This overload of information had me bobbing between the suffocating nether of being overwhelmed, and a frigid air that held an intense curiosity. "Wait, hang on... okay so you were made, and came from a box? With other Kwami's? Like... a litter?"

She lowers her eyelids in a stale stare, slouching against the can of soup. "If that helps you keep up, then yes. I came from a litter."

My legs grow restless and start to pace back and forth in front of the kwami. "W-Well who are your litter-mates?! Where are they? And where's your maker!?" A giddy grin spread across my face as I excitedly pranced in place. "This is so exciting! I didn't know you had a family!"

Evee huffs to herself, kicking her feet over one another as she mutters. "Family is a strong word."

The chilliness she spouted didn't land of deaf ears as it tempered the excitement back to a gentle simmer. I studied her but couldn't say anything in time as the front door's lock jimmied.

My eyes slid over to the door just as my mother swung the door open and strode in. "Hey Y/n."

Panic was all that fuels my motor functions as I swing my head back to Evee, who was no longer there on the counter.

"Where's Charlie?" She prods, slipping her high-heeled shoes off, placing them on the shoe rack.

The subconscious me pulled my safety line back to earth enough to soothe the unnecessary racing heart caged behind my ribs. I say coolly. "He's in our room."

She shrugged off her jacket. "How was school for him?"

I go back to opening the can. "Not great."

A disappointed frown paints her made up face. "Oh no, why?" She asks, hanging her purse on the coat pegs on the wall.

"Because he can't speak French fluently." My voice is flat as I tip the can upside down, shaking the globbish soup out of it's metal prison. "It's hard to make friends when nobody can understand you."

She tuts at this and walks in, disapprovingly staring at my backpack lying on the table. "Well, he probably should have gotten some help with that."

Something in her tone of voice held an accusatory aspect. An all too familiar bait she used when she was in a bad mood or just itching to air some grievance with me.

Instead of engaging, I breathed a deep sigh and agreed. "Yeah, probably."

Unfortunately, the sigh must've been too loud or something because this was apparently unavoidable. A sharp frown crossed her features as she placed her hand on her hip while the other curled around the back of a kitchen chair. "Watch your tone with me missy."

A fire raged up my spine as I hunched over the soup, chopping up the liquid covered globs before adding any water. "Okay, sorry."

She throws her hands up while laughing sourly. "The sass I put up with." She mutters as she loudly picks up your backpack, hanging it on the wall mounted coat pegs by the door. Now loaded with more ammunition, she spoke again. "All I'm saying is that a little help around here would be nice."

My hand tightens around the wooden spoon I'm using to stir.  A soup I'm making for Charlie this very moment.

When I say nothing she huffs, tapping her foot on the floor. "Well?..."

I ask. "Well what?" My jaw sat, clenched tightly.

"Don't you think that you could have helped Charlie with his French a little?" She prodded, lifting an eyebrow at my back.

The fire reached a critical point, we both could feel it rising in suffocating swells.

I slam the spoon down onto the counter and rear my ugly rage back to her. "I never even wanted to move to France in the first place!! Why in the world would you make me responsible for learning an entirely new language over the span of a few months, and expect me to teach it too?!" I screamed, pointing my finger at her. "That's absurd! You're his mother so why don't you act like it?!"

...But I couldn't say that...

Deflated, my shoulder sunk down with a silent puff of air. "Yes mom. Sorry."

She hummed to herself, eyeing me like a lion would after toying with it's next meal. "That's okay. Just try to look outside of yourself, okay?" And without waiting for an answer, she strode away to her room to change.

There was nobody on Earth who got to me quite like my mother did. The sense of entitlement always hung heavy, and whenever she spoke to me it was exclusively condescending. Despite the many times she did this, it never got easier to choke back my pride.

Frustrated tears started to well as a fresh, familiar spring in my stinging eyes. A sob pressed up against my vocal chords that I struggled to choke back as I continued with the soup, filling up a can of water in the sink.

As I returned to the pot and dumped the water in, Evee phased through the backsplash on the wall, peering up at me sympathetically.

I couldn't look her in the eyes, instead opting to train my focus on mixing the canned soup and water. A heat of humiliation lifted to my face as I rapidly blinked my tears away.

Why was I even crying? I thought I was getting a thicker skin.

"Y/n?" Her small voice called, floating only an inch farther out of her hiding spot within the wall.

I took a shaky gulp of air and snuffed in any running my nose was doing. I straightened up, lifting my eyes to the ceiling. "I think we're gonna go out tonight."

She visibly perked and fought off any joy that might slip onto her face. "R-Really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah." I quickly swiped the pads of my fingers under my eye, catching the sudden rivulet. "I've gotta get out of here."

Once the soup was finally finished, I scooped a couple ladle's full into a bowl and brought it to me and Charlie's room. The sound of a woman pronouncing the word 'fun' in French was pouring out from beneath the closed door, which was quickly followed by Charlie's crude pronunciation.

I didn't want to get even more depressed, so I quickly knocked on the door. "Goob? I've got some soup here for you."

The video paused and was followed by light footsteps to the door. He cracked it open and eyed me then the steaming bowl of broth and broccoli in my hand. "Oh, Meyer-see." He thanked and reached for the bowl.

I smiled warmly and as encouragingly as I could. "De rein."

He suddenly lit up. "You understood me!"

I chuckled lightly and ruffled his hair, not too aggressively that he spilled his soup though. "Sure I did, did you understand me?"

This stumped him for a moment until he winced as he looked up to me. "You're welcome?"

I broke out into a grin. "Yeah! Good job Charlie! De rein means you're welcome!"

He proudly puffed his chest out. "Heh, I knew I could do it!" He paused and meets my eyes. "Do you need to come in?"

I shook my head. "Nah, I'm gonna go out soon. If mom asks I'm with some friends."

He visibly deflates at this. "Oh, okay, will do... See you later then." As he's closing the door I catch him muttering 'De rein' to himself over and over until it shuts.

With Charlie fed and no other responsibilities, I felt the need to get away from my mother grow tenfold. Pouring soup in a thermos felt almost urgent as I rushed out of the apartment early. I checked my phone.

Five hours early...

Still better than hanging around that old hag.

The streets were busy as ever, so it was made a habit to put all my things of value into my purse and have it zipped and gripped in my hands at all times. Pickpockets we're rampant in big crowds like this.

The sun was on it's path of decent, but still shone brightly down on the city and it's citizens. With all these bodies walking around I couldn't help but wonder just how long it would take to actually get to the Sacre-Cœur.

I whipped out my phone and pulled up the maps app, typing in the location.

1 hour and 40 minutes on foot.

I inwardly groaned at the number. There's no frickin way I'm walking through a slew of strangers for two hours. As I replaced my phone back into my purse, I eyed Evee munching on a cracker.

I swiftly wove through the crowd while clutching my purse to my chest protectively until I ducked into a busy fast food restaurant. There were cameras, but I wasn't really concerned once I spotted the bathrooms.

I rushed in and took one of the stalls just as a woman walked out of it. She gave me a strange look but other than that, nobody cared.

Finally.

I unzipped my purse again and grinned down at the kwami. She lifted her eyes to mine, slightly creeped. "What?" She asked quietly.

She took in where she was, and then groaned. "This isn't a good idea." She whispered below the constant chatter and hand air dryer.

"It'll be fine, there's a window!" I coaxed, placing my little thermos on the back of the toilet. She didn't look too convinced but I didn't let her warn me again before I whispered. "Evee, ihop."

Her form was sucked into the hidden hair clip, and the same feeling of power once again flooded over me in a flash of light.

I then sat on the lidded toilet and waited for all the women who may have seen me go in had been cycled out. I picked at the soles of my feet, idly waiting as I peeked under the stall door once and a while to see if all the familiar ankles had been replaced.

Finally, after a safe thirty minutes, I opened my stall door and strode out. The chatter amongst the women gradually came to a stop as they all stared.

I felt obligated to wash my hands, even if I hadn't used the toilet. So I did. I set my thermos down on the sinks counter and ran my gloved hands under the stream of water, and lathered them with soap.

However, the stares where getting more intense and it was only a matter of time before someone whips out their phone.

So I shook my hands and grabbed my thermos, walking towards the high window. The women all parted for me, giving me a safe, wide wake to stay in.

I stepped up onto the baby changing station and shoved the window open with ease, breaking the lock as I did. Quickly, I hopped up and set my torso through the open frame gracefully. Unfortunately that's where my grace ends as I struggled to heave my leg up through the window as well, so it kind of just scraped at the wall underneath.

I knew someone had to be filming now, this was too embarrassing not to.

So instead to save time, I opted out just fall out head first and hopefully roll to my back mid fall.

I awkwardly wriggled until my legs were the only things still in the bathroom and just let myself fall out from there. My legs smack around the frame a few more times before I cleared it.

My slack body slipped out of the window and landed with a roll along my spine, smacking my heels down against the ground loudly. I shifted myself up onto my butt, unfazed. The back alley behind the building was empty aside from a truck with five people loading some kind of goods into the kitchen.

The usual slack jawed stares follow as I peel myself off the pavement. "Eh— Bonjour!" I greet politely, shakily standing to my feet, then quickly walk in the opposite direction along the back alley.

A warmth flooded my face as I felt their confused stares on my back, unresponsive. The embarrassment nipped at my heels sharply, and within a few moments I broke into an erratic sprint, desperately hoping this was not setting the tone for the evening with the heroes.

Another wave of warmth rushed to my cheeks as the reality sunk in. I was going to do something that millions of people could only dream of, spend an entire evening with Ladybug and Chat Noir, upon Chat Noir's request no less. Sure, I wasn't a huge fan of actually being a hero myself, but I'd have to be blind to not acknowledge the dream I was living out.

The grip on my little thermos tightened, riding out the flipping and twisting of my suddenly woozy stomach.

My pace quickened alongside my anxiety, a drum in my head started to beat a rhythm that was erratic and horrifying. The suit that encased my body felt as if there was pure nerves coursing through it in hot waves, licking flames against my heart and twitching muscles.

Faster and faster, until the walls on either side of the alley slipped by like butter in a hot pan. Until I didn't have to think about anything but my feet hitting the cracked, uneven pavement.

*•.*•.*•.*•.*•.*•.

The landmark we agreed to meet at was strife with peddling, scamming, and tricking tourists into buying homemade bracelets, poorly made trinkets of the Eiffel Tower, and cheap, breakable toys comparable to a kinder surprise. Nothing truly out of the ordinary aside from me dressed like a rabbit sitting on a bench. Luckily, not a single peddler bothered me even once to buy their stuff, only the pidgeons dared to walk within a five meter radius of me. Looking crazy definitely had its perks.

I watched the Parisians and foreigners mingle amongst themselves from my spot on an empty bench. Even got to see a real life pickpocket nab a man's wallet, only for the man to turn around and sock him in the face. I looked on with a little amused smile, unbothered as I took a sip of my soup out of the little thermos.

Suddenly, what looked to be a metal bar struck into the soil right in front of me, digging into the grass roughly. The jump this pulled from me was embarrassingly noticeable as I choked on the gulp of soup in my mouth, it sputtered out, back into my thermos.

With some soup spilled onto my suit, I quickly looked up the pole while wiping my mouth with the back of my wrist. There was Chat Noir falling quickly and controlled as the pole he balanced against shortened in his palm.

He looked heavenly against the warmly painted sky, while I was painted with warm soup.

"Hey! You're here early too!" He cheered, gracefully setting his feet against the ground. He eyed me curiously before his ears perked up. "Oh crap, did I do that?" He asked worriedly, pointing at the soup all over my front.

I almost opened my mouth to reply until a dribble of soup slipped out. Embarrassed, I slapped my hand back to my face and caught the soup on my arm. I forced myself to swallow the warm, spicy liquid. "Uh, don't worry about it." I croaked pathetically, looking down at the embarrassing mess. "I was bound to spill it at some point anyway."

He laughed lightly and fully retracted his baton. "Ah don't worry about your suit, it should be hydrophobic." Without warning he took a seat on the bench next to me, a respectable foot away as he casually placing his arms along the back of the bench.

The magnitude of tension only I felt was astronomical, hyper aware of how close his hand was to me.

He leaned back into the bench, hooking an ankle over top his knee. "Hey, I'm glad you decided to come out tonight, I really owe you one." He let his head fall back prettily as his cast a grin my way.

I was still covered in soup. "O-Oh! It's nothing." I stammered as coolly as I could, twisting the lid back on the half empty thermos. "I didn't really want to be home longer than I had to anyway."

Chat Noir's ears perked at this as he turned his head towards her. His full stare was like a searchlight finding a criminal caught in the act with the way I tensed.

"You mean... you don't like your home?" The way his voice sounded was soft as a feather.

I scratched my neck as I placed the thermos between us. "Not today, it's just a little suffocating when you can never do anything right, y'know?" My ears swivelled back slightly as I peered down at my knees.

The hero next to me was quiet for a few seconds too long which pulled my blacked out eyes back to him. His thoughtful stare was already sitting on my form, quietly digesting every word.

My spine straightened. "Oh! Uh, sorry, I didn't mean to overshare." I backtracked, waving my hands embarrassed.

He shook his head, a certain comforting air about him. "Heh, don't worry, I can empathize with that. Home sometimes doesn't feel like it should." A tainted grin then stretched his mouth, showing off a little bit of a sharp fang. "You just gotta find a home away from home."

I blinked slowly as my ears swivelled forwards once more. "I guess so. I'd just like to find one soon."

Chat's eyes widened a little, as if insulted. "Hey! What about hero time?" He gestured to both of us with a playful chuckle. "We just had a tender moment, right?"

I snorted at his proclamation. "Yeah, okay, if having a single tender moment counts then half the cashiers I've gone through are my home."

He lifted his eyebrows. "What kind of conversations are you having with cashiers?"

I shook my head leaning back into the bench. "That's between me and my actual homes."

He gasped, turning towards you with his hand on his chest. "Why are you so mean?" He cried dramatically as his ears folded sadly.

"I'm not." I said with the most theatric harshness I could muster, lifting my chin up at him.

The young man rested the back of his hand to his forehead as he fell back, holding himself up with a single arm draped over the back of the bench. "There they go again, striking me down." He peeked at me again. "You should be feline bad right now. You've insult Paris' most beloved stray!"

I started to laugh uncontrollably. "Beloved?"

"I—!?" He paused then sat up again, his face half a foot from you. "Hey!" He squeaked, a shocked smile replacing his playfulness.

I hunched over my stomach, covering my face with my hand.

Suddenly, a thump before me pulled my attention from my laughter. The joy died down gradually as I lifted my head, noticing a pair of red and black spotted feet in front of me. My lips sunk into my mouth as my eyes travelled up to the stern face of Ladybug boring down onto me.

I was still covered in soup.