Look at this art Right Now.
The colour,
The soup meme,
Amazing

It's by Kelsietheacorn on Instagram 😎
Ayo, @ me in Wattpad homie
Edit: they're Wattpad is AcornShadows

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"Oh! Uh—!" I straightened up in my seat as she stared down at me, eyeing my soupy frame up and down. I frantically looked to Chat Noir for help, but he just tilted his head towards her with wide eyes.

With no help from him, I met her eyes again bravely and smiled weakly. "H-Hi Ladybug." The speed of my heartbeat was painful and going far too fast.

She blinked slow and tired, before looking to Chat Noir crossly. "I thought we agreed to only meet out of the eye of the public." She stated coolly, gesturing her hand towards the crowd of people who were slowly walking past, watching and filming from a distance.

A sick feeling settled in my stomach. I hadn't even noticed.

Chat Noir looked over at me, reassuringly before looking back to Ladybug. "That's my fault. I didn't say anything to her when I got here."

The heroine stared blankly at him until the smallest of frustrated frowns creased her face. "It's fine."

Her arms stiffly fell to her sides. "Lets just get going, I'd like to have a word with you and..." Her eyes landed on me. "Whoever exactly you are." With that she turned her back and wound up her arm that held her yo-yo. "Make sure to keep up."

And like a cold wind, she flew away.

Chat Noir whipped out his baton, standing to his feet. "I guess we're on! Let's go!" Without any other word he took to the sky as his baton extended.

I didn't have time to dwell as they rapidly crossed the public courtyard, close to the city buildings already. With a sudden panic coursing through me, I grabbed my thermos and kicked into high gear, a pitiful race on foot after the heroes.

It felt a little humiliating to trail after them in such a way. While they ran high across roofs, I was left to navigate the streets.

Luckily I was fast, because the sheer amount of people and buildings getting in the way was torturous.

A woman stepped out of a store holding a large bouquet of flowers, gushing and thumbing over the bundle of roses, lilies, and some kind of daisy.

I was moving so quickly I only had two options: try to side step her and chance falling over, or run straight over her while keeping my eyes on the skies.

I was a little too late in choosing and ended up panicking and confused. The woman noticed me but didn't do anything, she just stared with a shocked expression painting her middle-aged face.

Ungracefully, I bent my spine away from her in an effort to redirect at the last second. Instead of running her over, I ran straight through the new bouquet. Petals burst into the air and all over my face in a colourful explosion of flora.

The smell was overbearing as I sloppily rubbed my face free of the flowers, not slowing even a little. The woman cries out in surprise while cursing after my speeding form.

The momentary blindness erased my lock on the the pair of heroes, shooting a prickly feeling of irritation through to my fingers.

I thought Chat wanted me here, why are they leaving me behind?!

I thought sourly, turning down a random street, slowing to a lost jog.

This wasn't doing anything for me.

Should I even try to follow them at this point? It didn't seem like Ladybug even wanted me there, why else would she take off like that? Chat is no better.

The prying eyes of Parisian's were suddenly much heavier then before. An embarrassed heat rose to my cheeks as I angrily kept my eyes low.

What was the point? Chat wanted me to help shoulder the burden of protecting Paris for Ladybug, but she clearly isn't on board with that idea.

My fingers curled into a tight ball, pressing to my palm as I slowed to a stop. Humiliation washing over me as it dawned on me that I wasn't actually wanted. I was just an afterthought of convenience.

... but I'm here now.

And like hell I'm gonna make a fool out of myself again. Damn what Ladybug wants. I'm going to see if this is for me, and I won't be left behind unless I choose to be.

My blackened animalistic eyes lift back to the roofing of surrounding buildings. My heartbeat was fast but steady, pushing a power through my body.

A natural shift in my heels moulded the pink coloured heel into a flat rabbit foot that encased the plantar side of my feet.

I relaxed my muscles and crouched low, keeping my eyes where I opted to land. The adrenaline coursed through my veins in swelling, controlled waves.

Within a second, I launched myself up into the air with a powerful push, cracking the sidewalk's cement underfoot. I soar high above the rooftops with wind wiping through my hair and bending my ears back. The sheer power in the jump had me overshooting by maybe twenty feet.

The adrenaline in me turned cold at the sight of the earth rapidly falling away from me, only to turn back just as quickly. As I fell, flailing my arms in a desperate attempt to keep myself upright, I spotted the hero's, at least ten blocks away already.

I frowned and forced my fearful gaze down towards the swiftly encroaching roof, aiming my feet squarely underneath my body.

It didn't dawn on me that my knees might get blown out by this until I hit the roof.

Fortunately, my suits soles grew and softened the landing just enough that the momentum was nearly totally soaked up. Leaving my knees totally in tact.

My eyes flew towards the duo with a determination that shot my body forward. I leapt over an alley, nearly over-shooting which made me have to jump again last minute to the next building on just the lip of the roof and eavestrough. I ran across the roofs with soft soles, propelling me forward even faster.

Control was barely in my grasp as I basically fumbled after them, quickly shortening the distance between me and the Parisian heroes with each hasty stride.

Tunnel vision closed around my sight as I booked it towards them, slowly falling into a focused autopilot. Skipping and leaping over chimneys and alleys had grown to be second nature.

The speed I'd accumulated wasn't enough. More. I pushed myself harder, the soles of my feet springing me forward in wide bounds until I was almost upon an entire four lane street.

I was close enough for Chat to hear my heavy thumping against the roof tops to stop and turn around.

Just in time for the jump. His eyes widened slowly as I ran straight for him, showing no signs of slowing down.

His eyes dropped to the busy street below. With that simple glance my focus was cut away with the sobering fear I couldn't seem to outrun.

The icy terror yanked my soul back, as my body attempted to follow. My feet planted, skidding down the roof to the eavestrough in a frantic panic, kicking and scraping to avoid the drop. I fell back, thermos tumbling from my hand and rolling into the eavestrough, but it wasn't enough to slow me down. My legs slid off the side, dangling dangerously high as I desperately clawed at the shingles.

"Oh shit, shit, shit, no, no, shit, no!" I cursed as my suit reverted the feet back into impractical heels. My upper body strength disappeared within my panic as I continued to succumb to gravity's pull.

A sudden stability hooked around my being from someone's arm sliding around my torso. The arm pulled me snugly into the body it belonged to and before I knew it, I was sitting on the cat themed hero's leg as he held me. I looked to him over my left shoulder with eyes as big as my swelling my heart.

He dazzled with a wide smile, chuckling at me.

The giddy feeling in my stomach twisted into the humiliation I was desperate to avoid. I could only offer a smile stained with overwhelming embarrassment before dropping my face into my hand, the other arm hesitantly looped behind his neck for stability.

"I really thought you were gonna try to jump it." He says through a light yet nervous laugh, extending his baton until we both were high enough to step back into the sloped roof. I scurried off his leg as soon as I could, nearly tripping over myself again.

"Y-Yeah, I uh... I don't know what I was thinking." I squeaked more pathetically then I was expecting. I could've made that jump, hell I jumped into the air higher than the street is wide. But once I lost focus, something rattled within me.

This kind of blatant wussery wasn't something I was familiar with. The last time I'd ever been so scared or outwardly insecure about something I clearly didn't need to be was some time in my early childhood. So why was it happening to me now of all times? The one time boldness and bravery counted more than anything.

I regained my clumsy footing; forcing myself to turn and face Chat. "I mean I was, I don't know why I didn't." I clarified, pressing my voice to be as even as possible.

An awkward pause blew between us and I suddenly lost all courage, looking down at my feet. "Uh... well... thanks for catching me. That was embarrassing..."

He waved me off as he readjusted his grip on the baton, hooking his ankle around it. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure you'd do the same," He said, leaning over and plucking my thermos from the roof gutter to hand it to me.

A guilty swell in my stomach sent a full body ache careening down my spine. I didn't say anything as I gripped the thermos, quickly shoving it into my tail fanny pack.

Ladybug stood across the street, staring at us with her hands on her hips while her foot taps impatiently. Chat followed my eyes back to the heroine. His ears perked up slightly in alert. "Welp! Looks like we better get over there."

He stepped onto the roof with and retracted his baton, offering me a hand. "C'mon, I'll get us across."

The defeat that swims around me makes it difficult to turn his offer down. So, choking back my pride as insecurity sets in, I placed my hand in his.

He offered a sympathetic smile. "Hey don't worry about it." In one smooth motion he hooked my arm around his neck by my hand, effectively pressing our sides together. My face exploded with warmth discolouring my skin while the shock was clearly scribed across my frozen features. He continued obliviously. "We kinda ran off on you there."

He suddenly paused. "Oh! Uh... may I? I'm sorry I should've asked." He says, embarrassed as his head dips down a little with a rigid lift of his shoulders, as if cowering from my arm around his neck.

I blinked away as much confusion as I could and looked down to where his hand was hovering hesitantly over the dip on my torso.

I nodded nonchalantly. "Oh, yeah sure."

He let out a relieved breath and stood straight again, tentatively pressing his palm to my side securely.

An embarrassing amount of butterflies fluttered in an frenzy right as he did so, soaking a tingling numbness in the tips of my fingers. Luckily, a cold fear doused my brain in its frigidness as he shot forward on the baton, weightlessness lifting my legs as I fell back down to the other side of the street.

As soon as it started, his baton shot out onto the roof we launched at, slowing us down until my feet gently pressed to the flat shingles.

His arm slipped from me in a hurry as he stepped away.

"Uh..." I looked at him, forcing anything but a shaken expression onto my face. "Thanks."

He smiled then turned to Ladybug.

Ladybug...

Hesitantly, I followed his eyes to the proud heroine.

Her icy blue eyes bore down into me through a scrutinizing squint. "You shouldn't be here if you're this inexperienced," She stated flatly, no trace of malice in her words.

I winced all the same. "Well, wasn't that the whole point of me tagging along?" The words slipped out so easily, it wasn't until Chat's eyes flicked towards me in subtle alarm did my rudeness register.

She wasn't fazed and instead let her eyes lower down to the soup spill remanence still on me, along with a few flower petals still stuck to it. The way she looked down on me was enough for my spine to nearly crumble.

I put my arms across my stomach as casually as I could as my gaze fell away from her.

The coolness of her presence was overpowering and confident. Like with the smallest of effort, she could send me flying through wall after wall. What was I to her?

Her merciless stare then switched over to Chat who was standing quietly on the side lines. He looked off with a defeated, annoyed huff.

This didn't last long enough, because she brought her attention back to me. "Who are you?"

I almost blurted out Y/n, narrowly stopping myself as it caught in my throat. If Ladybug asks you a question you answer. Unfortunately, I wasn't exactly sure what to say.

My mouth opened and closed at random with no plan on actually speaking.

Chat interjected on this painful exchange. "I call them Bunny, they haven't objected to it yet." He chuckled, desperately trying to lighten the mood.

Ladybug's eyebrows knit together harshly, never removing her glacial stare from me. "They can speak for themselves."

Oh god.

Just a say anything at this point. Don't make it stupid though. She'll think you're stupid... maybe it's too late for that.

I took in a deep breath and lifted my head, meeting her eyes head on.

Remember who the fuck you are.

"I'm new to this. So how about you cut me some slack?" My hands found their ways back to my sides, putting the soup back into view.

She remained unwavered. "Who gave you a miraculous?"

I couldn't help but frown as a small fire flickered to life in my stomach. "Why do you ask?"

"I can't trust you unless I have some kind of information about you," She said, unbothered.

My heartbeat was steady as I stared her dead in the eyes, seeing nothing but her, nothing but a challenge. "Is that so?"

"Yes. I regulate all the other miraculous keepers, so it's difficult to see you as anything but an akumatized victim. Let alone an ally." She said, taking a small step towards me, her hand hovering over her yo-yo resting on her hip.

I stood firm, an annoyed glint in my eye. "I didn't come here because I wanted to hurt you guys."

A scowl deepens her stoic features as her hand pressed to her yo-yo. "I can't take that chance." She concludes.

In a show of unbacked bravery, I widened my stance slightly as the soles of my feet began to morph. "Hmph... Fine with me, bug."

"What is with you guys?!" Chat cried out angrily, in disbelief.

I cast my completely black eyes towards Chat for only a moment, but apparently that was all I needed. Instantly, I was pulled from my delusional bravery and cast back into the cowardly wimpiness that I'd been boasting only moments before.

"What did you expect Chat? You let a stranger come along with us!" Her eyes never strayed from me as her hand landed firmly on her yo-yo. "We know nothing about them!"

Chat frowned as slipped between us, shoving us away from each other. "She got her miraculous because it chose her." He snapped, his palms outstretched towards us both. I had no problem staying away now, the look in Ladybug's eye kept me on edge and easily convinced me I wouldn't win this fight.

But why do I gain bravery within a heartbeat, then lose it just as quickly? The question hung heavy in my head, almost completely fuzzing out the surrounding situation.

"You can't be sure! How can you trust that's even possible?" She shot back.

"We don't have a lot of other options at this point!" He flung his hand out towards the darkening Paris. "Hawkmoth is out there getting stronger and we're staying the same!"

Her fist clenched harder around her yo-yo, pulling it off her hip. "This doesn't mean you being in some random you find off the street!" She flamed, stomping a foot towards him.

He stepped back, ears bent back as his pupils became nothing but a thin black line down the middle of the bright green surrounding. "Ladybug please, give this a chance!" He cried out desperately, slowly straightening back up to face her fully with a far calmer voice. "We've needed help for a long time."

She huffed and stepped away shaking her head angrily. "That's not your decision to make, Chat." She groaned, pressing her fingertips to her temples.

The cat boy, now basically pleading, took a few steps after her. "Yes, it is."

Her head fell forwards as her arms landed to her hips, after a beat she peers over her shoulder at him. "We have help already."

"You mean the people you have to go find and bring into a fight? During a fight?" He snaps, agitated.

She remains silent as she looks forwards again. Chat continues, taking another step towards her while throwing his hand back in my direction. "We need someone outside of that. Another constant. Someone that is responsible for themselves. Someone you don't need to keep track of."

A quiet finally settles over us and I can't help my nervous fidgeting the longer it lingers.

The blue gaze finally turns back to face the hopeful Chat Noir, then flicks past his shoulder to me, standing awkwardly and poking the roof with my toe. I perk under the spotlight she seems to shine on me, forcing some kind of reaction out of me in a slow, anxious wave.

She sighs and closes her eyes defeated. "Okay, fine."

Chats ears lift to a point.

"But, I'm not going to be responsible for her at any point." She claims tiredly, running a hand overtop her head until her eyes crack back open. "But someone needs to be until she's up to snuff. If she goes into a fight and isn't ready there's no point in any of this." She said crossing her arms.

Chat nodded eagerly in agreement. "Sounds good to me." A relieved grin spread across his face as he turned back to me. "They'll be great in no time. I'll make sure of it!" She followed his eyes to me with a hesitant stare, frosting the joy radiating from him.

I strained a smile as they talked about me like I wasn't there.

"Well, you'll need a name for your alter ego." Ladybug stated, walking up to me. I shifted about uncomfortably as she and Chat eyed me up, as if they'd find a name etched onto me somewhere. "Also, a grip on your powers would be helpful." She stated before looking to Chat Noir. "You should start tonight."

Chat's smile faltered momentarily as he tracked Ladybugs form walking to the edge of the building. "But, what about patrol?"

"I've got it handled. I'll call if I need you, but right now your priority is to make sure they're able to fight off an akuma." She wound up her arm holding the yo-yo. "Until then, train them."

"W-Wait!—" He called, but she was already off, zipping quickly from rooftop to rooftop in search of trouble.

His hand slowly faltered back to his body as the situation he was in caught up with him.

An awkward air floated around as I watched Ladybug hop away into the distance, then eyed Chat's slumping shoulders.

I rubbed my forearm. "Hey, uh... sorry about that." I said, not really sure what I was apologizing for.

He perked as he turned back to me. "Oh! Uh, don't be. We just gotta catch you up!" He said optimistically, turning towards me.

I didn't want to say anything to hurt his optimism so I kept it to myself, but the question stuck around in my brain. How was I supposed to cram five years of hero work in a timely fashion just to almost be on their level?

"Yeah... right..." I strained a smile until it felt weird to wear.

Chat sighed. "I know, this isn't exactly looking too doable right now, but once you get the hang of your powers everything will come along with practice." He stated, far more believably as he walked passed me, clamping hand on my shoulder on his way.

"Alright, I guess... so, how do we figure out what my powers are?" I asked, turning after him.

He slowed to a stop as his clawed finger curled in front of his lips in thought. "Well... for me I was just kinda thrown into it." He faced me with a perplexed look as his eyes wandered over me, skeptically.

I frowned at his shameless eyes and grew flustered, desperately wanting to shrink into myself as my shoulders stiffen.

His eyes widened at what he took for fear. "B-But with you we have time to figure it out! I won't push you!"

But, could he afford to do this slowly? Afterall, he'll have to be spending a lot of time with you before he can patrol with Ladybug again. A resentment for you was a realistic expectation in this situation.

After a moment of thought, I shook my head. "No, you need me to get up to snuff as fast as possible, so push away."

He considered you for a moment before a relief washed over his body. "Ah, okay great, because I have a great first lesson!"

*•.*•.*•.*•.

"Uhh... so... you want me to do what? Exactly?"

He grinned, winding around to stand in front of me, right on the edge of the roof. "Well we need to get rid of any fear you might have of falling off of stuff... so..." He gestured towards the pool of water below. "We jump!"

I approached to the edge and eyed the plummet, vertigo suddenly attacking my body. "... right..." I struggled to keep my voice at a normal volume since all the moisture in my mouth and throat had suddenly evaporated.

He grinned wildly towards you until he caught the crack in my dry voice. His ears poked high up. "It's alright, I'll be right here. Nothing bad'll happen to you."

The certainty within his sincerity was reassuring, it was almost enough for me to ebb the fear to a manageable feeling. "Okay..." I croak, clearing my throat roughly as I back up in preparation.

With a few quick steps I ran towards the edge. Just as I was close enough to jump, my body refused, stomping my feet to the roof underfoot which was helped by the sudden stickier soles underfoot, the adhesion pulling out all my momentum and caused me to fling forward then back like an inflatable arm tube man. As I recover I let out a sigh of relief.

As I slouch into my new stillness, Chat rubbed his chin in thought. "Hmm... we might need different tactics."

I turned towards him with the stickiness on my feet disappearing. "What do you have in mind?" I asked, placing a hand over my racing heart in an attempt to steady its erratic beat.

He pulled his staff out with a flourish before extending it to his side. "Try to catch yourself."

There was no further warning in his words as his staff swept me off the roof in one graceful push along my low back. My feet left the roof before I understood what had happened and began the swift decent towards the pool.

My arms failed and grabbed at the air despite my helpless tumble. What was he expecting me to do?!

It took less than a few seconds of this and I hit the water. Floating suspended in the blue pool was all I could do while my head tried desperately to catch up with what had happened.

An anger swelled inside as what he had did registered, followed by an aggressive swim to the surface of the pool.

I broke the surface with a breathless gasp, my hair flattening from the water that insisted to paste my baby hairs to my forehead. As soon as they opened my eyes were on the enraged hunt for the cat boy. I spun around in the water until he landed on the lip of the pool to the right of me.

He stepped closer to the water before leaning against his staff as he smiled sheepishly at me. "Huh, well I guess that didn't really help." He mused.

I glared at him as my chin and lips dipped under the surface.
Are heroes allowed to murder?

Crouching, he reached for my hand over the pool. "C'mon, let's try something else."

My eyes widened a fraction at the sight of his hand. Did he not see what he was offering? How open he was to revenge?

I tried not to show it, but my sudden eager hunger to dunk him in the water nearly consumed me. Every movement I made was calculated and tailored to look innocent and casual while I swam towards him.

As timidly as I could act, I lifted my hand up and slithered my palm up past his and onto his wrist. His claws on his fingers brushed against my forearm as they curled around my arm in a tight lock.

Finally a wicked grin broke across my face as grip tightened.

However, he smirked back.

I had no time to try and dissect what that look meant as I tried to yank his arm down as hard as I could.

In a flash, his staff spun in his free hand before extending one end into the water, cracking the pool floor as an anchor to prevent my plan from developing past only dipping his knuckles into the water.

I pulled a bit harder, only for him to not move an inch. Now what? I blinked up at him dumbly.

His green eyes bore down onto me mischievously, his smirk spreading prettily across his face. I was entranced with a heat spreading across my face and becoming acutely aware of our strong hold on each others arms. I sourly loosened my grip slightly, just to test the waters of accepting failure, but he didn't let go. His hand curled a bit snugger around around my arm and his thumb hovered over the green paw on his staff.

My heart leapt into my throat at what his thumb was about to do before I met his eyes again. "Wait—!"

He didn't hear it, or he didn't care to. Before I knew it, I was shot out of the water, meant to just dangle from his arm hold as he held onto the rapidly extending staff.

My anger bubbled again, mixing well with the fresh panic to create a quick, instinctual reaction. I swung my body up enough for my feet to connect with the pole and planted an extremely strong kick to the very thing sending me up into the air. This sent a ripple through the metal as it snapped away from me.

Unfortunately for Chat, all my muscles contracted which included my hand and it's now vice grip on him, tearing him off the staff with me and doomed him to the fate I was now going through once again within a five minute time frame. His eyes were wide, shocked by the looks of it as he jarred forward after me and soon sailing a little overhead from the sheer momentum I'd kicked into existence.

As we both hit the pool, the crown of our heads were closest to each other while the rest of our body's were flopped uncaringly into the water with a hard slap to our backs. With the sting of water slapping my back, my grip melted from his which positioned my arm over my head.

This time, I slowly, painfully, breached the waters surface letting out a groan as I rubbed my back with one hand in vain efforts to sooth the sting.

Chat surfaced a few moments later with a cry, filled by a laugh, then another cry. This cycle continued as I faced him. "Are... are you okay?" I asked, a hesitant smile pulling my lips.

He coughed and laughed. "Uhh... yeah! Ha, just in pain." The way he said this almost broke you into a fit of laughter. He pulled a sharp breath in through his teeth as he rubbed his back like you did only moments prior. "Shit, that was a good kick, bunny." He complimented through a strained voice.

A chuckle slipped from me as I replied. "Maybe too good."

He nodded, struggling to relax his face enough to meet your animalistic eyes. "Yeah... yeah I think it was a little too well done... good throw-down though... you really got me."

I finally let a few chuckles press through. "You should lay back. That usually helps."

He nodded and attempted to do as I instructed, but he floundered almost immediately. Whether that be from his lack of skill or concentration was difficult to discern.

"Here." I swam closer to him until I was about a foot away from him then offered my hand. He grabbed it pretty much immediately, desperate to ease the stinging pain however he could.

I swam to his side and gently began to lean him back, using my arm as something he could hold onto to stay above water. "Okay, just relax, I've got you, Chat."

The blonde struggled for a few moments with orienting himself, his legs kicking about, trying to keep himself upright.

"Just—! Chill out for a second." I said, firmly.

This seemed to strike a chord with him as his ears perked up towards me. His eyelids fell halfway over his eyes. "Right, like you've been a pinnacle calmness."

I couldn't help but bark a laugh at this, taking him by surprise as his eyes widened again. "Yeah, well can you blame me? You tossed me off a building." I counter, amused and somewhat satisfied at the situation at hand.

He searched his mind only for nothing to pop out as a retort or counterpoint.

After about ten seconds of him trying to figure out what to say, I smirked, triumphantly taking the singular 'W' I'd gotten this entire time.

Luckily, this had taken his attention from his not somewhat floating body. "Hey! You're doing it!" I said grinning widely as scanned his almost fully horizontal body, my hand still positioned in front of him as support. My eyes landed back to his face. "Who ever said cats can't swim?"

The blonde strands pressed along his forehead and temples in wet strands had darkened his hair, making his staring eyes seem to contrast even more strikingly than before.

Staring was not an option though!

I tore my eyes away from his accompanied with a few blinks as I looked away to the edges of the property we were in. "How's your back feeling?" I ask, doing my best to be casual.

"Oh! Yeah, it's good. It still feels like a bunch of nails poking my back, but relaxing into it helps." He admitted with a dramatic sigh.

I nodded and looked back to his body now floating expertly in the water. He closed his eyes with a dad groan and a crinkle of his nose before letting out a deep breath.

"Do you need my hand anymore?" I asked quietly, not really wanting to disturb him.

His eyes peered open and down to my hand that he was holding onto for a few moments. "Uh... yeah, I think I do." The way he said this lacked his usual confidence, like he wasn't sure if he should say no even if his form was perfect.

However, just as that thought crossed my mind he flailed a bit, over-correcting his twisting torso to the point he began to sink under the surface. I hurriedly lifted my arm back up to fish from any deeper water.

"Heh, thanks." He said with an appreciative smile.

A long silence fell between us, the only sound being from my constant paddling trying to keep my arm high enough to actually help him hold onto.

The sun was almost completely gone under the horizon, the only light left was a dim purple glow along the clouds chasing the last red rays that dared to hang back.

"How late do you guys usually stay out?" I ask effectively cutting the silence.

Without missing a beat he spoke. "Around one or two in the morning."

I let out a long sigh from puffed cheeks. "Jeez, you guys ever get a full eight hours of sleep?"

He chuckled with a shrug. "It's not like I actually get to sleep when I'm supposed to anyway." His eyes lift to the soft purple sky. "It's not so bad when you get used to it."

I hummed, but didn't say anything. The total exhaustion that clung to Ladybug's frame told a different story.

"So... you're an insomniac?" I asked and looked to the sky as well.

He laughed a little. "Yes, unfortunately." He lifted his head from the water to get a better look at me. "But I can bet at least half of students are no different."

I cringed at the thought. "Oh man, how hard did your insomnia set in when you became a hero on top of being a student?" My voice was quiet with a hint playfulness.

A calm silence folded over us that I had no intentions of breaking as I waited patiently for his response. However, his hold on my hand tightened a fraction. The action slowly pulled me from looking at the sky and to the hero.

His eyes looked far away as his lips were opening slowly, as if trying to discern how much he wanted to say. "No, I didn't have it in the beginning. It just kinda showed up two years ago." The heaviness in his voice contradicted the casual words.

My eyes flicked about his stone set face, desperately trying to decide what he was saying to me. But, it was clear that was all there was to his story when he peered over at me for some kind of response or just to gauge what I was thinking.

I looked away, pretending to be watching at a nonexistent bug flying away.

"Well, I think my back feels better." He paddled himself back upright, showing the wet backside of his head compared to his partly dry bangs. "We should probably keep figuring out your powers."

"Oh! Right." I agreed and started swimming after him to the edge of the water.

He pulled himself out of the water really gracefully, like he had practice, while I flipped onto the edge with far less coordination and skill.

As I scrambled to my feet I looked after him scooping his baton Ip from the ground. "Speaking of powers and stuff, I've been meaning to ask. Have you ever met your kwami's creator?"

His spine straightened momentarily then turned to me, confused. "Creator?"

I nodded, padding up to him while shaking the water off my hands. "Yeah, like their maker or something."

He rubbed his chin, searching his brain with a cute, concentrated frown. "Well, no... Kwami's aren't created, they just... are." He searched my face. "Aren't they?"

It was my turn to frown and think in concentration. "I mean, yeah? Mine mentioned she was created in like... a set of Kwami's."

This was obviously news to him as he scratched his head, shifting his weight onto one leg. "Well, I was never really close with the guardian, and since he passed that task onto Ladybug we can't ask him. But maybe Ladybug could clear this up for you?"

A chilly shiver ripped up my spine at the thought. "Oh, yeah... maybe." The words were unconvincing as I squeezed out the water weighing my hair down.

Chat wore a curious smile, as if already knowing what I was so hesitant about. "What? Is that a bad idea?"

"I don't know if I wanna chance making her dislike me." I confessed blatantly as I crossed my arms. "She's kinda scary."

The blonde chuckled as he ruffled the back of his head to slap the water out of his locks. "I guess she is kinda intense. But you really don't have anything to be afraid of, she's a good person, one of the best in fact."

"Hm." I grunted before untangling my arms from each other. "Okay, well either way, my kwami was made by someone and another from her... batch I guess, is always following her around and stealing her holders so I would be helpful to find this creator and... well... I don't know, just meeting them would be cool, I'd like to know how they do it. Maybe get them to keep this other kwami from ruining my kwami's life all the time while I'm at it."

Chat stopped ruffling his hair and lifted his head towards me, thinking hard. "I mean, I can help you find this creator if that's what you're wanting to do."

An involuntary grin pulled at my lips. "You'd do that?"

He laughed a bright laugh, lifting his hand to his mouth. "Sure! I mean, you are doing me a huge favour being here and willing to help us, so it's only fair."

Even if this wasn't a huge deal, just something I wanted to do, my heart had swelled enormously. I nearly had to hold myself back from hugging him. Both because of the offer he'd given and the fact that hugging him didn't sound too bad.

"Thank you for feeding my curiosity." I was nearly burying with a newfound determination to make myself a hero in repayment. Even if it wasn't really a huge request, the fact that he'd aid me in diving even deeper into this new world meant more to me than I'd expected.

"Alrighty, with that settled we should get back to work." He instructed, spinning his retracted baton in one hand.

"Then lead the way." I chirped eagerly, a new confidence coating me.

There was no doubt in my mind I was going to keep up with him, no matter what. So as he shot off to the roof tops, I easily bounded up after him.

____________________________

Just a friendly reminder that Adrien is factually a strong swimmer.

Do what you will with that information 👀✨