he falls in love with her in a moment he sees her courage shining through her doubts. she’s fearless as she’s red and he falls in love with her in a split second, his heart belonging as simply as that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
chat noir falls in love with ladybug because fate writes his story that way.
for she falls in love with him in a slow way, in a way she never sees, in a narrative she doesn’t know that’s happening.
he’s a constant, a friend, an extension of herself and she doesn’t realize when she says “i love you” she also means “i’m falling in love with you.”
for her, love, is as normal as breathing and chat noir has been her breath since she became a superhero. his voice a beacon in the dark and pulls her away from her fears.
he makes her courageous, makes her lion. believes in her as she believes in him and–
when she says “i love you” because she does, she loves him as much as she loves to sew, as much as feels breathless when swinging around the city, as much as she adores being a superhero, it takes her a thousand times to realize that each “i love you” is a tumbling step into “i’m falling in love with you”
so the awe is in a quiet moment when they bump fists after defeating an akuma, an action they’ve done a thousand times.
“good job, LB!” he says, smirking with pride.
ladybug grins too, about to say the same, but–
–perhaps it’s the way illuminates his hair, golden strays charming instead of wild and maybe it’s the way his eyes glow like precious gems and his smile is dazzling like sunshine
and the affection in his voice seeps into her very cells because this person adores her, this person is always there for her, this person is her air
that it hits her in this moment, in one she’s done a thousand times that if he were to vanish, truly vanish, the red of her suit would go with him
half of her soul would go with him
her courage, her zeal, her pride would go with him
and she pulls him into a surprising hug, crushing him close because he’s her best friend and
chat noir laughs into her hair, his clawed hands a warm pressure on her back.
she presses her face closer into his chest, squeezing him close. “just wanted to say that I love you.”
his frame shakes with his laughter and he holds her close too.
“love you too, bugaboo. love you too.”
(she won’t tell him yet that she’s fallen; not yet, not yet, not yet, but one day, soon, she will when everything is a bit more solid.)