Ladybug threw her weight into the swing, catching ample airtime before her yo-yo shot out with pinpoint accuracy.

This job was stressful. It was exhausting.

Some days, the job even tested the limits of the ridiculous and the absurd. Things that had seemed outright unbelievable not even one years ago now seemed downright mundane.

To top it all off, it was even - rather unfortunately - unpaid.

Of course, that was assuming one didn't count the feel of the breeze whipping against her face and through her hair as she sprinted across the rooftops and swung her way around the city or the adrenaline rush that coursed through her veins as they just barely eked out victory in the nick of time and she sprinted away before Tikki's powers wore off or she was missed in her everyday life.

In her alter ego, she couldn't even tell anyone who she was, not even her own partner.

And truth be told, if she had to ever do it all over again but on her own, she might very well have given up a long time ago. Considering the sheer number of people in her life that the Akuma had touched, that was a truly terrifying notion.

But Chat Noir had been the one true constant in her life (outside of Tikki, of course). He was the second pair of eyes. He always had her back. her Chaton was a surprising source of strength, especially when circumstance had worn her down while she wore the red and spots. Tikki couldn't be there to pick her up, but Chat Noir never failed to try.

And she knew him well in return. Knew every smirk, every quirked eyebrow that danced merrily behind that mask. She could feel when he was gearing up to flirt and occasionally had beat him to the punch in rolling her eyes.

She shook her head as she landed atop the corner of a rooftop, scanning the skyline. Even without the finely honed senses that she borrowed from Tikki, Marinette could spot every pun coming from a mile away.

That was why Alya's notion that Adrien was Chat Noir was patently absurd.

She knew them both, far too well.

She'd had Adrien's posters covering most of her pink bedroom walls. She had his schedule mapped out and nearly committed to memory. She stared at his head in class each school day.

It had taken a while, but she'd even managed to form whole sentences in his presence without sticking her foot into her mouth whole.

Ladybug set her jaw, looping back towards her own rooftop. It wasn't the first time Alya had suggested it, but so help her, it would be the last.

So, she had formulated a plan.

Not that Tikki approved, of course. Their identities were supposed to stay secret for a reason.

In all the time that she and Chat Noir had spent together, she could never honestly say she had heard him laugh.

But Adrien's laugh? Well, that haunted her dreams. She was confident that every bit of Miraculous magic wouldn't be able to mask that musical sound from her own ears.

Ladybug grinned, as she picked up speed. She knew what she needed to do.

She just needed to figure out how best to get her kitten to crack.

Author's Notes: This was originally posted as chapters 36-43 of The Night Patrol as part of the LadyNoirJuly2017 Challenge, Day 28 (In Love With a) Laugh Prompt, now collected here for reading convenience per reader request. Original chapter breaks have also been retained by request.

Thanks as always to EnberLight and SeasonoftheGeek who both helped with some beta work on this fic. *hugs*

I'm not totally tied to this title, but felt it needed something a little different than the prompt, so I am entirely open to suggestions! ;)