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mc-lukanette · 3 years

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[Part 1] [Part 2]

"Sass, scales rest."

Luka felt the de-transformation light wash over him as Sass emerged, hovering a small distance away. The battle had been easy enough, though Luka's face inadvertently implied otherwise.

The red of Ladybug's suit only reminded him of Marinette's situation - her “fate” - and he couldn't shake it no matter how hard he tried.

"Thanks for your help, Luka. I know I can always count on you," Ladybug said, holding her hand out with the tiny Miracle Box on it. She then paused, noting his expression, and questioned gently, "Is... everything okay?"

He straightened, his hand instinctively reaching for the bangle on his wrist. Stopping short, he hesitated for a moment, then sighed. "Ladybug."

She took a step closer, holding the box to her chest as she replied, "Yes?"

"Can I... talk to Sass?" he asked, then clarified, "Alone, for a while?"

The brows of her mask rose, the concern in her face doubling. Her free hand reached for him, though didn't touch him directly. "Luka, really, is something wrong?"

Luka was glad that she trusted him not to run off with the miraculous at least. Still, he struggled to explain the issue; would she even understand it?

Sass floated in front of his face, eyeing him quietly, then turned to address Ladybug's question himself. "This is a matter between snakes."

She tilted her head in confusion, looking back-and-forth between the two like she was trying to piece together what that meant. When she couldn’t seem to find an answer, she gave in and nodded her head anyway. "Um, okay. It sounds serious. I hope nothing's wrong. I'll—uh—" She looked around, then pointed to a nearby alleyway. "—go recharge and meet you back here?"

Luka nodded, then followed after Sass as he flew in the opposite direction that Ladybug was going. They went into an alleyway of their own, Luka letting out a sigh as he leaned against the wall.

"What did you see?" Sass inquired, crossing his legs and placing his paws on his knees to show that he was offering his full attention.

Luka glanced up at him, frowned, then looked down at the snake bangle and fiddled with it. "My friend... Marinette—" He made eye contact, hoping he wouldn't have to explain himself further. "Do you know her?"

"Ah." Sass gave a hint of a smile, placing a paw to his chin in thought. "Multimouse."

Completely unsuprised and thus unphased by the notion that she'd been a hero, Luka murmured, "So you've seen it. T-the..." He raised his hand to his neck, his thumb and index finger indicating what had already been burned into his memory by then. When Sass didn't respond, Luka hurriedly added, "The red string."

Sass straightened at that. "She had the string... around her neck?"

Luka nodded, grimacing at the sentence. "You didn't see it?"

"I can sense the bonds, but I can't see them," Sass explained. He uncrossed his legs, floating down towards the snake bangle. Luka raised his forearm in response, keeping it level with his chest, and Sass placed his paws on the object, turning it into its transformed state. "The miraculous has more magic in it than simply giving a kwami's power to a holder. I've been sealed in that box for so long, and it's been a very long time since I could affect anyone's fate myself; it's usually just myself and my holder until they have to give up their miraculous."

Luka held still as Sass brought himself to rest on Luka's forearm, keeping his paws on the miraculous while rubbing it in thought. Tail wrapping around Luka's arm, Sass then continued, "But the magical bond the miraculous creates gives my holder power from being connected to me. You see fate because you can interact with the world around you."

"And... Marinette?" Luka urged. "Can I help her?"

Sass took his paws away from the miraculous, settling for lounging on his arms and staring up at Luka thoughtfully. "You said... her neck?"

Luka nodded urgently.

"Ah, she's a victim of the kind of fate no one would want," Sass observed neutrally, though Luka got the feeling that he was hiding concern from him. "Do you remember what I said about her luck?"

"You think that has something to do with this...?" Luka asked, gaping in disbelief. Marinette having terrible luck was bad enough, but this—

"It's possible." Sass pressed his cheek to Luka's skin, never breaking eye contact with him. "Or it could be that the universe has done this for the sake of the one on the other end."

"The other—" Luka felt a spike of irritation, his free hand tightening into a fist "You mean this is all for Adrien? What about her?"

Sass' expression soured at the mention of Adrien. "It's what destiny has already decided for her. It wants everything to happen in a certain way, punishing those it's against and favoring those it prefers."

"Against? Prefers?" Luka hissed, raising his voice at the implications. "So it's tripping Marinette - choking her - for its own sick games? Because Marinette is so talented and amazing that they—they—"

He looked away, idly searching the sky for specks of black and purple while forcing himself to calm down. Running a hand across his face, he took a deep breath through his nose and let it out through his mouth.

"Can I help her?" he repeated as he looked back at Sass. Gesturing desperately with his free hand, he begged, "There has to be a way, Sass, please."

"Snakes choose their own fate, and they have the power to change the fate of others," Sass reminded him, then paused for effect before continuing, "but they can't change everything. It depends on them, the person who has the fate, and what the snake is willing to do."

Luka opened his mouth, ready to say he'd do anything, but noticed that Sass seemed to have more to say. He at least got the feeling that Sass already knew anyway.

Sass offered an approving smile, confirming Luka's feeling, then gave him a brief once-over. Humming with intrigue, he met Luka's gaze with an evaluation of, "If it's you, I won't worry about her."

"Huh? What—"

"Luka?"

Ladybug came to stand at the entrance of the alleyway, backlit by the light behind her. She walked forward, biting her lip for a moment before saying, "Sorry, I was waiting but I got anxious—not that I thought you'd go anywhere, but—" She wrung her hands together, brows furrowed with concern. "—you were taking a while..."

Luka glanced at Sass for an acceptable response, but Sass didn't reply to her. Instead, he uncurled his tail from Luka's arm, floating up to be level with his face and giving him a reassuring nod. Luka wasn't exactly convinced of anything certain, but looking between Ladybug and Sass, he knew he couldn't delay things forever to ask every question he had.

He wasn't sure he wanted the answer to some of them anyway.

Closing his eyes, Luka gripped the miraculous and pulled it off, only opening his eyes again when Sass was back inside. Ladybug approached, a little awkward but nevertheless taking the miraculous from him and returning it to the little box. She then searched his eyes, unsure, but asked, "Was there something wrong with me giving you the miraculous? If it's a problem, I—"

"No," Luka said firmly, bringing one hand underneath hers and the other on the box on top. "It's not that. I'm grateful, if anything. It's..." He sighed. "...someone I'm worried about."

"Really?" She seemed hesitant to prod. "Who...?"

"...Marinette," he answered automatically, his hands dropping back to his side as he ducked his head. "She's going through a lot, and I—I just want to be there for her."

He missed the slight gape Ladybug gave, along with her blush. He was too busy staring at the ground, at a complete loss for what to do; Sass had given him answers, but not a lot of advice, and the idea of seeing that tightening string again tore him up inside.

He only became aware of Ladybug’s presence again when she stepped towards him and placed her hands on his cheeks, gently encouraging him to look at her. Blue eyes met blue as she whispered affectionately, "I'm sure she knows that, and I'd bet both of my earrings that she appreciates it. If you're even half of the person you are as a hero, she's lucky to have you."

Lucky. The word brought a sense of numbness with it, but there was something familiar about Ladybug that made him accept it for now, enough for his shoulders to relax as he was pulled back to reality.

He didn't have a plan, but he was a Couffaine, and he wasn't going to give up that easily; not when Marinette didn't give up on him either when his music had been stolen. She was worth all the support he could offer her and so much more.

#au: Dread String of Fate #Dread String of Fate: writing #Flower Arrangement Shipping #Pro LukaMari #Lukanette #((Was going to wait to post this but I have no patience.))#((So you're welcome I guess??))

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mintaka14 · 3 years

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Locked Out

A Miraculous Ladybug fanfiction

By Mintaka14

Chapter Two - Unlocked

The knock came again, and Luka sighed, dropping the towel that he’d been rubbing over his damp hair around his shoulders. He padded out of the bathroom and over to the front door, yanking it open.

“Jules, if you’ve forgotten your keys again, I swear –“ the words died as he met the insanely blue eyes that he’d been dreaming about ever since he’d first seen them. Her gaze slid over the towel around his shoulders, and dropped to the towel around his waist, and then jerked back up to his face again, which he was pretty sure was turning all sorts of red.

“Here!” she squeaked. “For you. If you want them, the box, I mean. Not the underwear. That’s Juleka’s, obviously, not that she can’t have what’s in the box too. Because I made enough for both of you, and oh God I’m going to just stop talking now.”

With a strangled sound, she shoved a pair of silk and lace underpants at him, and a box with them. He caught box and underwear by reflex.

Unfortunately, the movement dislodged his towel, and he could feel it sliding. There was a confused moment when he grabbed for it, bobbled the box, and heard Marinette squeak. Through the dim mists of his awareness, it occurred to him that she’d probably automatically tried to catch the towel before it could go too far south. That was not, however, where her hands ended up.

There was a frozen moment when Luka became very conscious of small, warm hands on his bare skin, the towel caught and scarcely preserving his modesty as her palms pressed into the dip under his abdominal muscles. Wide blue eyes lifted to stare up at him in horror. Luka drew in a slow, calming breath and let it out, desperately trying to think unsexy thoughts. Those gorgeous blue eyes of hers were not making that easy.

“Out here? Really?” his sister’s voice drawled. “Are you trying to get us kicked out of the building for public indecency?”

Yep. That would do it. Luka looked up to find Juleka in the hallway, her hands full of shopping bags. Marinette squeaked again, and snatched her hands back, and somehow Luka managed to catch at the towel, the box and the underpants still perched on top without losing any of them. He ended up wedged awkwardly against the doorframe with the towel trapped between the wall and his hips, and the box wobbling precariously as he tried to tuck the towel more firmly into place, while his sister stalked towards him and Marinette turned a brilliant shade of red.

“Oh, hey, Marinette,” Juleka said casually. “You’ve met my idiot brother, right?”

She edged past them both, plucking the pair of underpants off the box in Luka’s hand as she went past. He felt a hand on his back, and a sudden shove, and then there was the sound of the door closing and Juleka’s evil cackle on the other side.

“Jules! I’m going to kill you,” he growled. His sister laughed harder.

Luka knew, even before he put his hand on the door handle, that it would be locked. It didn’t stop him from frantically jerking at the handle while Marinette watched with wide eyes. Finally, he accepted the inevitable, and turned back to his dream girl with a sigh.

“If I strangle my sister, will you testify that it was justifiable homicide at my trial?” he asked. Marinette gave a choke of laughter.

“For the right offer, I’ll help you hide the body.”

“What would you consider the right offer?” His worldly goods. His songs. His heart… she could have all of it.

That beautiful smile turned a little mischievous. “I’m sure I can think of something.”

One of the neighbours emerged from their door and threw them a scandalised look, and Luka remembered that he was still a little less than fully attired as the neighbour scurried away. He glanced back at Juleka’s door, which was still firmly closed. He sighed.

“In the meantime, I guess I’m stuck out here until Jules decides to take pity on me.”

Marinette held up a finger in the sign for wait.

“Give me a minute,” she told him, and before he could say anything, she’d disappeared down the hall and up the staircase to the next floor.

About the point when he realised that it was rather chilly in the corridor in nothing but a towel that was feeling smaller all the time, it occurred to him that he was actually standing around in the corridor in nothing but a damp towel at the request of a woman he’d only met twice under odd circumstances. That didn’t bother him as much as it probably should have.

He was still holding the box Marinette had shoved at him.

It did cross his mind that maybe he’d been the victim of some weird practical joke. Before he had a chance to get really worried, however, he heard the sound of returning footsteps on the stairs, and Marinette rounded the corner. She was focused on the black case in her hands and whatever she was pulling out of it, an adorable frown on her face, and as she got closer he saw the light catch on something metal. It looked like a peculiar ring of keys.

Marinette walked past him and bent down to the door handle. Luka lifted his eyes to the ceiling. The curve of her ass in those jeans was not something he wanted to be thinking about in the middle of the very public hallway, particularly while he was in a state of undress. He shuffled uncomfortably in his towel, listening to her muttering under her breath.

“I always wanted to try this,” she said, and he realised she was talking to him. “It turns out there are locksmithing courses you can do, and if I’d had my kit with me the other day I might not have had to climb up the balcony, but then we wouldn’t have met, which would have been a shame.”

Yes! he agreed with silent fervour.

“Still, at least it means I can try it out now, and …” Finally, there was a click, and Marinette straightened. “Tadah!”

She beamed at him, and reached out to turn the handle, swinging the door wide open.

“I knew that would come in handy one day,” she told him triumphantly as she slid the tool back into its case.

Luka came to a realisation that he was making a strange whining noise when she tilted her head quizzically.

“Marry me,” Luka said, and the words only caught up with him when he saw her eyes go wide. He scrubbed one hand over his face. “Oh, God.”

“Luka?”

“I’ve been trying to work out a way to ask you out that didn’t make me sound like a complete creep,” he admitted ruefully. “This was not what I had in mind. I don’t suppose there’s any chance of talking you into going out to dinner with me after this, is there?”

Her eyes flicked down and back up, so fast that he wasn’t sure he’d seen it.

And then she bit her lip. The look she gave him from under the sweep of her dark lashes with those devastating eyes of hers left him wondering if he was having an out of body experience.

“Oh, I don’t know.” The purr he could hear in her voice fried whatever functional brain cells he had left. “You might be able to persuade me. It might be a good idea to put some pants on first.”

“Pants. Yes. Right.” He looked around vaguely as if they might magically appear, and Marinette giggled, one hand going to her mouth. “Pants before dinner. Tonight?” he asked hopefully.

Words.

Would be useful.

Marinette smiled at him like the breaking dawn. “Tonight would be good. Juleka has my phone number.” She was walking backwards slowly towards the staircase, her eyes still on him and her smile bright.

“Call me,” she said shyly, and pivoted on her heel, running lightly up the stairs before Luka could collect his wits enough to respond.

Luka had no idea how he managed to walk inside, or get clothes on, but he was sitting on the couch in jeans and a tshirt and staring into space when Juleka came out of the bathroom and did a double take.

“How on earth did you get in? I locked that,” she said, and eyed the wide open front door. She kicked Luka’s bare foot a few times until he blinked and focused.

“Marinette,” he said blissfully, and Juleka’s eyes narrowed. “Did you know she can pick locks?”

There was a long moment while his sister stared down at him. He opened Marinette’s box which had somehow ended up intact. It was full of macarons, and he absently ate one. It was amazing.

“She’s incredible,” he sighed, and Juleka rolled her eyes, reaching for the macarons. Luka glared at her, and snatched the box away.

“You locked me out. You don’t get Marinette’s macarons.” He took another one and stared at it thoughtfully. “ Macaron. That’s pretty. Maybe we could name our first child Macaron.”

“What the hell did she do to your brain?” Juleka said incredulously. “You might want to wait at least a few months before you start planning the wedding and a family, though.”

“Oh, I already proposed,” Luka said vaguely. “She thought we should get dinner first.”

There was an even longer silence this time, then… “You what?”

He had a feeling that there was something he was supposed to remember.

Dinner. Marinette.

Tonight!

She’d said yes. She’d said yes!

He looked down, and he was definitely wearing pants. Marinette had said that that was important.

“Can I have Marinette’s phone number?” he asked Juleka.

She blinked. “So… you proposed to her… but you don’t have her phone number,” she said slowly. “That makes sense. Seriously, I’m a little terrified right now of what might happen if you two do get married and have kids together.”

Luka felt a goofy smile spread across his face at the thought. Juleka shook her head, and, in spite of his protest, swiped a macaron from the box he was guarding.

“Damn, that’s good,” she mumbled around a mouthful, and pulled out her phone with her other hand. “I’d ask if she knows what she’s getting herself into, but honestly, she’s even more bonkers than you are. You’re a perfect pair.”

“I certainly hope so,” Luka agreed happily, and wandered away with the box full of macarons to call Marinette.

#lukanette #pro lukamari #Locked Out AU #they're idiots your honor #oh no!#the towel!

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chicoriii · 3 years

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Season 4, Episode 2 - Mensonge (Lies)

Welcome again. I had been logged out from Tumblr for the whole weekend, because I was afraid of untagged spoilers, as I've seen one screenshot here accidentally, fortunately it wasn't spoilerish. And I've watched the Lies today. Again without reading other's people opinion about the episode, so I probably write things that have been said before.

I enjoyed it more than Truth. But not because it's better written, I think the overall quality of both is similar. Lies is about characters I care about more, so it's natural that the episode is automatically more interesting to me. I dislike both Luka and Jagged (to be fair the only member of the Couffaine family I like is Juleka) and that would be hard to make me caring about them, the best thing I could say about any of those characters is that I tolerate them on screen. Sometimes. Don't get me wrong, Truth was the best episode for Luka and Jagged, but they are still dull and/or annoying to me. Creators need to develop son-father relationship more to make me interested in it, that arc was too shallow in Truth.

But the post is about Adrigami episode, not Lukanette one.

I'm surprised that we got only one not very long scene with civilian Marinette. But not surprised that she's still pining over Adrien. Just like Chat is pining over Ladybug. As I'm keeping saying, it's not gonna change. But really, Marinette thinks that Adrien's life is perfect? She should know that tight schedule could be a big problem and has she forgotten what terrible father is Gabriel? Of course she doesn't know details we know, but she should be aware that he isn't as good parent like her own. So probably her enamored brain can't see bad sides of life of her loved one. She still can't think rational when it comes to him. Another reason why she should stop putting him on a pedestal. We need some friendly Adrienette so badly, we need to see Adrien telling her more bad things in his life. He isn't used to complain, but I think he needs to tell someone the truth about his family life. I hope Marinette will be that person.

I had been tired of clown Chat in Truth, but this episode lets us to see the situation from his point of view and now I understand more why he behaves like that. I think that he tries to hide from Ladybug how much he miss spending time with her that way. He is aware that's because of her new responsibility and he doesn't want to make her feel bad for it. Those scenes were so sweet. How much Chat wants an Akuma to appear just to see his lady. Not very noble, but I can't blame him. It only shows that Adrien is a normal human being. We all are selfish from time to time and it's healthy (you only have to find a good balance, being as selfish as Chloé and as selfless as Luka is not good).

Geez, why they can't put the right title of the piece? That's a different composition than that one used back in season 2, but the smartphone's screen says the same. And none of them is actually Raindrop Prelude. This is Raindrop Prelude. They are not even any of Chopin's preludes. I won't be surprised if both are not Fryderyk Chopin's compositions either (although I haven't heard all the solo piano pieces composed by him, so I can't be sure). I love classical music, so I'd love to know what pieces Adrien's playing! By the way, I recommend to listen to all of the 24 preludes, they are usually very short but interesting compositions. If you're too lazy to listen to all, check out number 20 at least, that's a pure, very atmospheric, beauty. One of my favourites melodies ever created.

I have always thought that Adrigami has more chemistry and it's generally more entertaining to watch than Lukanette (sorry stans, but you probably don't even follow me and read my posts, there's a reason why I'm warning that my blog is not Luka and Lukanette friendly in its description). I feel that in this episode as well. Absolutely it's not a perfect relationship and it can't be, as Adrien is still into Ladybug. It's clear that Kagami is the one who really cares, Adrien is more distant. It seems that he's abashed of Kagami's physical intimacy, like he can't be open to her when he's still in love with Ladybug. That was really sad to hear Kagami's words that she's lying to be more often with him and he lies to not spend time with her. But relationship can't work if only one side is invested in it and they both need to learn it. They have some things in common, I like how they spending time together, so I'm sure they would work much better as friends. I'm sorry for Kagami and I wish her a better boyfriend who would love her truly. In some way it was a repeat of Truth, as we've seen Adrien leaving Kagami all of sudden, because of Akuma's attacks, but this time it's not as heavily portrayed like it's not working only because of superhero responsibility, that I didn't like in the previous episode. Another reason why I liked how Adrigami is shown more.

I really, really loved that we've learnt something new about Kagami and that's amazing it's something I have in common with her. I'm really surprised, since she didn't seem to have an artistic soul before. I also love seeing she likes draw animals, it's like me, I'm trying practise it. I enjoy drawing animals (and creatures like Kwamis or Pokémon) more than humans. But at the same time I feel angry at her mother. How could she dare to say that Kagami isn't good enough? Trying to kill a child's hobby is always unforgivable. She's much better than me (I'm a little jealous, but that's not the first time when a teen has much better skill than me), but my family and some others I know in real life often say that I'm talented and some people try to convince me to take pay commissions. That’s me who knows the best than I'm not skilled enough to take money for my art (they don't know really good artists in person and they don’t draw themselves, so no wonder they are not aware that my works aren't that good they think). Maybe some day, but not now, so I only enjoy drawing gifts for others. I'm also got interested in a real French artist she mentioned - Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and I've seen some of his works. Very good for Miraculous for mentioning artist like him, I have never heard about him before, but maybe French students learn about him in school.

Seeing Adrien making Chat's pose was hilarious. I'm sure it's food for true selves trope supporters, but I also agree with Kagami that both model poses and Chat's poses are not ALL Adrien poses. He's more than that. That seemed like he has problems with being natural when he's on the pressure. He's learned how to make model poses, but I also think that when he is in full clown mode is also an act. But that's a mask which he has putted all by himself. In which he tries to be as much different than his public image as he can. Of course being dorky is also a true Adrien side, but not all the time. Being just a cute and polite boy is also true him. It seems that Adrien is not aware of it.

Marinette's lucky charm bracelet is an akumatised object once more. That and the fact she was asking him what he was doing on the boat tell us that Kagami probably think that Adrien is in love with Marinette (it could make also her wonder what stop them from being together if she knows that Marinette likes him as well).

I also liked her reaction to imminent breaking up more. It's more human reaction in my opinion. Some anger, but not too much. She says she doesn't want to see him for a while and that's completely understandable. Adrien has broken her heart, so she need some time to take care of herself without being interrupted by him. I'm going to say something that could be seen controversial, but in my opinion her attitude is way more healthy than Luka's. He still waits for a girl who clearly likes another boy much, but she's trying to really give up on him. And I would like to see a scene in which she says him that Marinette is not worth his waiting, he should be open for another love instead. Uff, I was really worried that they might kill Adrien and Kagami characters. But nothing really bad happened in the episode between them, everything was in-character. Of course salters will still find reasons to hate Kagami, they can say she's possessive towards him (that's true to some extent, but I think it's not really toxic, as she's still cares about his true feelings).

I need to say that Lies is the worst S4 Akuma design we've seen till now. Riposte and Oni-chan were much better. Also the battle was the worst part of this episode in my opinion. It wasn't completely bad, but it felt somewhat boring to me. I definitely enjoyed fights against Truth and Furious Fu more. The thing about that I liked the most what how they made use of Fang.

So the season 4 version of Chat Noir's transformation theme is exactly the same they used in the Shanghai special. It wasn't obvious, since Ladybug's one is a different one than that in the show. I noticed that that Ladybug's theme feels more like a new composition which only uses parts of an original version, while Chat's is clearly "just" an arrangement of the theme we know since season 1. Maybe that's because it's supposed to symbolise that she has even more responsibility now, as she's the Guardian as well. Chat's role hasn't changed that much as hers. I also think the new arrangement sounds cooler, it's more electric guitar-driven. I can't wait to get any of the episodes in which there's his transformation sequence with 5.1 audio to rip it.

All three released episodes are nice for Ladynoir a lot, their scenes are all sweet and wholesome. It almost feel like Ladynoir is close to happen. But I feel that's just calm before the storm. Marinette hasn't reached to her worst moment yet. I'm sure Ladybug will have more breakdowns like that in the season 3 finale.

Three episodes aired and I'm not amazed by any of them. But I don't want to be salty, I'm not worried about that. That's true for season 3 as well, I enjoy the second part of the season more as well. It's important to save the best episodes for later. And I have never expected that I would love all the S4 episodes, despite of pre-release statements, it's impossible. I'm not disappointed. Yet. Just give me some Adrienette food. Please.

#miraculous ladybug #ml lies #ml season 4 #ml season 4 spoilers #ml spoilers #ml spoiler #chicoriii about S4 episodes #chicoriii #original post

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quickspinner · 3 years

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Month of Miracles - Dressing Up Part 2

Find the prompt list here!

Marinette tapped her pencil on the small stack of sketches and sighed. She felt dissatisfied with them, but that was nothing new. She was dissatisfied with almost everything she made these days, so why should this be any different?

Her thoughts drifted back to Luka for the hundredth time. She was going to have to face him again. He was expecting her and she really did need to source some materials from the wardrobe he was offering.

She might be able to put it off a day, though, she mused. Maybe it would be better to give him some space, anyway. She had just rejected him, after all. That had to sting, no matter how chill he acted about it. Marinette would be doing him a favor, staying away for a day. She could go shopping and see what she could get in the way of basic materials first. That was a perfectly plausible excuse.

Coward, she thought sourly at herself, and sighed, dropping her head into her arms.

It would be easier if she didn’t like him so much. Marinette turned her head and looked at her phone where it lay on the table in its cheerful pink case. She could text him, but...would that be weird? People here didn’t seem to do that, they just...popped up. He’d told her just to show up whenever, but…

I don’t have his number, she realized suddenly. How funny was that? All the times they’d talked, and they’d never even traded numbers.

She wouldn’t even be able to text him when she went back to the city. The thought made her ache, but she pushed it aside. That was the kind of problem you could push off for later, she thought as she packed up her things. Not like making out with a guy you were probably never going to see again once the week was out. Which was a real, actual problem that should be avoided.

Right?

Marinette groaned, and grabbed Gina’s car keys, marching out of the door. She had a job to do, and surely she was still professional enough to manage that much.

She had herself mostly together by the time she pulled into the Couffaine farm. The yard wasn’t empty when she pulled in, to her mild surprise.

“Ahoy, Marinette!” Anarka called, waving at her, and Marinette, feeling she should be polite, got her kit out of the car and walked over to where Anarka was working. Ankara was unloading some small saplings from the back of a pickup truck that looked a lot like Luka’s, only about twenty years older. “For a moment there, I fergot it was you and not yer grandma pulling up,” Anarka chuckled as Marinette approached. “Here t’see Luka, I expect? He said ye were comin’ by.”

“Yes,” Marinette tried to smile, and hoped she didn’t blush too hard at Luka’s name. Yes, hi, I kissed your son this morning and broke his heart, so this isn’t awkward at all. Lovely weather we’re having, isn’t it?

“He’s been working like a demon all day,” Anarka commented, lifting another tree down with a grunt. “He was drivin’ me crazy, bein’ so efficient, and I about bit his head off.” She glanced at Marinette, who tried hard not to look guilty. “Told him to make himself scarce for a bit. I think he went t’ take a shower, but he should be done by now.”

“Oh,” Marinette said lamely, trying very hard not to think of accidentally walking in on a freshly showered and not entirely dressed Luka. Maybe awkward small talk was for the best. “He, um. He said you were done for the year?”

“Aye, closed to the public fer the year,” Anarka smiled. “Though o’ course if there was anyone in town that needed anythin’ we’d open right back up. Nah, the public part of business is done for the year. Now it’s just all the work nobody sees.” She turned away from Marinette for a moment, walking over to the rail fence that separated the rows of trees. Marinette followed, unsure what else to do, her kit bumping against her knees as she carefully skirted the saplings.

“Never really thought I’d end up in a place like this,” Anarka said, leaning her elbows against the fence rails. “There’s a kinda poetry t’ it, though. Renewal. Rebirth. The old makin’ way for the young.” She winked at Marinette, and then went on. “I might not even be here by the time these trees are big enough t’ cut. Got a wandering foot, y’know, and it’ll take seven or eight years minimum for these to get the size where anyone would even consider cutting ‘em. Who’s to say I won’t be off to some new adventure by then? But they’ll still be here, growing, because I planted them. Endings, beginnings. Sometimes it’s hard to tell one apart from the other, aye?”

Marinette made a noise in reply automatically, but Anarka’s musings had put her thoughts on another track, and she barely heard the last bit.

Anarka eyed her sidelong for a moment, and then sighed and shoved herself off the fence, turning to smile at Marinette with her hand on her hips. “Out with it, lass, what’s on yer mind?”

Marinette blushed, snapping back to the present. “Nothing. It’s none of my business.”

“Maybe not,” Anarka shrugged. “Ye can still ask, though. If I don’t want to tell ye, I just won’t.”

Marinette shifted her weight and adjusted her grip on the handle of her kit, still uncomfortable, but...“Were you...disappointed?” she asked in a low voice. “When Luka gave up his career?”

Anarka laughed loud enough that it echoed back to them. “Nah, lass, I was proud . Luka was miserable, livin’ that life. It takes guts to admit that and come home, ‘specially when everyone around you is telling you how lucky ye are, having a talent and a chance like that. Like somehow you owe some cosmic debt and if ye don’t stick it out, yer wastin’ somethin’. Like success is a cookie cutter and ye have to slice away bits of yerself to make it fit.” She shook her head. “It’s not how I raised my kids. I taught them to take chances, and I taught them not to let fear make their decisions—and I also taught them that there’s no shame in what the world likes to call failure. There’s no shame in trying out the different shapes of success until you find one that fits, instead o’ tryin’ t’ force yerself into the one kind.”

Marinette blinked at her, surprised at the way her expression softened as she spoke.

Anarka was silent a moment and then sighed. “Still. You do your best to teach them, but you never know whether the lesson’s gonna stick. So when I think of the courage it took for Luka to walk away, to look so-called failure in the face and turn it into just another lesson learned, to find a way to believe that he’s still his father’s son even if he doesn’t follow in the old man’s footsteps—I’m so proud I could burst.” Marinette started slightly as Anarka suddenly stepped forward and put a surprisingly gentle hand on Marinette’s shoulder. “Luka’s never needed to prove his talent to me, lass. He’s still finding his feet again, and that’s okay. When he’s ready, he’ll make success fit him instead of the other way around, I’ve no doubt of that.” She squeezed Marinette’s shoulder, and looked at Marinette for a long moment. Marinette swallowed nervously, but couldn’t think of anything to say.

Ankara let her hand drop and jerked her head towards the house. “Go on now, we’ve both got things to be doing. Go straight on in, he’ll be expecting you.” She turned back to her young trees, and Marinette, clearly dismissed, turned towards the house, butterflies surging back to life in her stomach. She was being stupid, she told herself. Luka had accepted her rejection gracefully, and tried so hard to make her comfortable. Marinette was sure she’d hurt his feelings if she suddenly got awkward about being around him, and that was the last thing she wanted to do.

Marinette sneaked a glance back towards Anarka, and then despite what she had been told, she knocked as loudly as she could. She lingered on the doorstep as long as she dared (which wasn’t very long, knowing that Anarka could see her not going on in), and let herself into the house. She could hear guitar music even before she got the creaky old door open, and once inside, she followed it to the great room. Luka was perched on the same fragile-looking chair as before, with an acoustic in his hands this time. He looked up as she entered, and smiled, laying his hand flat against the strings. His hair was damp, and his t-shirt sticking to him a little bit. He couldn’t have been out of the shower long and Marinette was kind of glad she’d stopped to talk to Anarka.

Luka stood up and put the guitar in a stand, and Marinette realized she hadn’t even said hi, but it seemed too late now. “I was starting to think Mom was going to talk your ear off before you made it up here,” Luka teased gently as he straightened.

“Oh, we were just, um—” Marinette winced. “Talking.” She was so lame, ugh.

“I saw through the window,” Luka grinned. “Figured you’d get here when you were ready. The stuff’s all in the attic, so…” He gestured towards the stairs, and then reached for her kit. “Can I get that for you?”

Too flustered to object politely, Marinette let him take it, and then followed him. She should say something, she thought, but she couldn’t think of anything.

She sighed mournfully as they climbed the stairs. Part of her ached for what he was offering—but she was pretty sure that same part wouldn’t want to let him go, and that was just...and really, she was such a disaster, and he was amazing, and he deserved so much better than someone who was so mixed up and wishy-washy. Why did they have to meet like this? Would it have been different if they met before?

Except before, she was with Adrien, too dazzled and in love to even see anyone else, and Luka had been a rock star, surrounded by all the glamorous women he could possibly want, and she had never really stood out, as Audrey loved to remind her. She just didn’t have Adrien’s celebrity magnetism, nor Audrey’s force of personality, so she was always overlooked. It was no wonder that nobody ever really saw her until she came here.

“Well, here we are,” Luka’s voice broke into her thoughts. He was reaching up to grab a hanging cord.

Marinette shook her head and slapped her cheeks as Luka pulled the attic ladder down and ascended it. None of this was actually solving the problem at hand. She needed to keep her mind on the costumes. Marinette had sketched out some ideas at home, thinking she could probably get some sheets to use as a base, and then maybe she could source some of the less expensive things from Luka’s old wardrobe for embellishments on the fancier things like the angels, or for the snaps and things. There was a single big box store in town, actually; the selection would be limited but surely she could find some things there too. This project was ridiculously easy, when it came down to it. She had a plan that would work, and it was all simple sewing, stuff she could do in her sleep. No sweat.

So why were her hands shaking?

She lifted her hands and watched them tremble before her eyes. She felt her breath getting short.

She started when a large hand closed over both of hers. “Marinette.” She looked up, and Luka was there, framed against the light coming down from the attic. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah,” she said, a little too quickly, with a smile that was a little too wide. “Just, hoping there will be some stuff I can use.”

Luka smiled. “It’ll be fine. Come on up.” He shifted his hold to just one of her hands and drew her up the narrow stairs after him.

He let go of her hand once she was up, and Marinette looked around in mild surprise. The attic was cleaner than she expected. Cluttered, like the rest of the house, and full of things in piles and stacked, sometimes draped in sheets, but she didn’t encounter the dust she had expected, and the small, high windows were clean and let in plenty of light. She wondered if they were just carting things in and out of here so often that they kept it clean, or if they used the space for more than storage. There was a clear path to where they needed to be, and she followed Luka across the creaking floor.

Marinette waited nervously as he whisked the protective sheets off two racks of clothes. Marinette had to blink as the light hit the clothes; there were metal accents and rhinestones and metallic fabrics everywhere, and she was unprepared for the amount of light they threw back in her eyes.

“There it is,” Luka sighed, folding his arms as he sat on a trunk a short distance away. “Every bedazzled scrap of it.”

She had to giggle a little at that. Luke Stone had certainly favored ostentation, though that was almost unavoidable when you played with Jagged Stone.

Still, they didn’t have to, she thought, as she walked up and began mechanically sliding looks along the rack to have a look. They could have played up his simplicity. They could have made him stand out by contrast, rather than by imitation. She wondered if they were deliberately setting up an implied rivalry between father and son with their choices, or if they just hadn’t thought a rock star could be simple. Costume design wasn’t exactly the same thing as fashion design, but there was enough overlap that—

Marinette brought her thoughts back to the present, and swallowed as she stepped back again, suddenly overwhelmed. She turned away and opened her kit slowly, taking out the stack of drawings she’d left on top, suddenly profoundly dissatisfied with them. Rose and the kids expected her to work magic with this stuff, and all she had was a pile of generic toga-style costumes.

Simple. Uninspired. Pedestrian.

Her gut began to churn.

Marinette glanced at Luka nervously, and then jerked her gaze quickly away, but of course he caught it.

“I don’t have to be here if it makes you uncomfortable,” he said quietly. “I can go back downstairs and you can just call me if you need help with anything.”

That was so far from her thoughts that it gave her pause. “You...don’t make me uncomfortable,” she said, and looked back at him with a sad smile. “You never have. You’ve been...really wonderful, Luka, now matter how weird things got. I am uncomfortable, but it’s not about you.” Taking a breath, Marinette stepped back to the rack and ran her fingers down the fabric in front of her in a practiced motion, taking in the composition and the drape almost without conscious thought.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Luka asked quietly.

Marinette thought about that for a moment, and then turned back to the garments on the rack. “Not tonight.” She couldn’t afford to get worked up now, she had to figure something out. She...she had to do something, she couldn’t just…

“Okay.” Luka said simply, and Marinette swallowed hard, squeezing her eyes shut. He was so understanding, but—what was she going to do? She couldn’t just drape the kids in sheets and call it a day, they deserved so much better than that. She had to figure something out, she had to—She put both hands in her hair and pulled it, trying to focus on the clothes in front of her, but her eyes stung. She squeezed them shut tight and held her breath, trying to keep it together.

Luka’s hands closed on her shoulders from behind, squeezing lightly, and Marinette turned to him in a rush, burying her face in his chest.

“Marinette, look at me,” he said, pushing her shoulders back gently and taking her face in his hands. “Just breathe, and look at me.”

Marinette stared up into his blue eyes, reflecting calm and assurance while all that fluttered in her chest was panic and self-doubt.

“Slow down,” he said emphatically. “It’s okay.”

“But I—” she began, and he shook his head.

“Marinette. There’s no failure here. Anything you put together will be better than moldy, moth-eaten rags. Without your help we’d all be frantically cutting armholes in pillowcases or something. No matter what you do, Rose will be ecstatic.” He smiled encouragingly at her. “These are the lowest possible stakes. You can’t screw up, so just have fun with it.”

Marinette turned her head out of his hands, looking at the designer, rock star wardrobe laid out for her to use. “But—”

Luka reached over and grabbed her fabric scissors out of her kit. He grabbed a shirt at random off the rack, and cut it in half in a ragged line. Marinette stared as he offered her the scissors back. “That’s how little I care about this stuff,” he grinned.

Marinette’s mouth closed abruptly and she glared at him, and would have snatched the scissors from them if they hadn’t been—well, scissors. Well-sharpened fabric scissors at that. Instead she took them with the appropriate amount of care even as she narrowed her eyes at him. “I might have needed that,” she told him, kicking his foot lightly.

“I have faith,” Luka grinned wider. “You’ll manage.”

She huffed and turned back to the garments, and looked at the second rack next to her. Luka backed away, leaning his elbows on an old dresser as he watched her.

Marinette studied the racks, and suddenly she pulled out her phone, swiping to the group photo she’d taken at the library today. She looked over the children there, at their dyed hair and punk haircuts and all-black outfits interspersed with riots of color, and began to smile a bit. “Okay,” she muttered, picking up a leather garment studded with rhinestones. “I guess this Christmas is about to get a little bit rock ‘n roll.”

Luka raised his eyebrows slightly.

Marinette barely noticed him, eyes lighting up as her mind began racing. She picked up the stack of designs she had done earlier and crumpled them absently in her hands. “I need my sketchbook,” she muttered.

“I’ll get it,” Luka said, shoving off the dresser and crossing the room. “Where?”

“I left it in my car. On the passenger seat, I think.”

Luka clattered down the stairs and out of the front door to grab Marinette’s sketchbook. Halfway back up the stairs he hesitated, and ducked into his room to grab his own notebook. Marinette practically snatched the book out of his hand, digging in her kit for her pencils, and Luka grinned, sitting back on the trunk again and resting his notebook on his knee.

He watched her, fascinated, as her focus narrowed to her task, and she began sketching, making notes and separating out items from the stacks of clothing he never thought he’d look at again. Luka began scribbling notes to himself as well, just...idle thoughts, the web of concepts and ideas that eventually came together to make a song, but he kept looking up to watch her, intrigued by her creative process. She muttered something to herself or tossed something aside with more vehemence than usual and he grinned.

Slowly, the attic transformed, suddenly strewn with gaudy clothes. Several distinct heaps were forming. Every once in a while Marinette would stop, and go back to her sketchbook, scratching in new details or ideas, or crossing something out with a sigh.

He jumped slightly, though, when she tossed the book aside with a little scream, and buried her face in her hands. “I’m such an idiot,” she muttered. “Why didn’t I think of that? It’s never going to hold up with that kind of weight, I’m so stupid —”

“Whoa,” Luka said, a little sharply than he’d meant to, putting his notebook aside and getting up quickly to go to her. “Hey, hey, hey, slow down. What’s wrong?”

“I just—I should have accounted for this, and I didn’t, and now I have to change it—”

“Okay, so change it,” Luka said, putting his hands on her shoulders again to make her look at him. Marinette looked at him like he had two heads, and he almost laughed at her. “Marinette, you’re an artist, not a machine. It’s okay to backtrack and change your mind.” He smiled at her, hoping he looked reassuring and not enchanted. “I know every artist is different and music isn’t the same as fashion, but for me…” he shrugged. “Success comes from a series of small failures. You try something, and it mostly works, but something isn’t quite right, so you make a change and try again. That’s not something to be ashamed of or upset about. If you’re that frustrated, we could take a break. Or if you want to rework it some and come back tomorrow, that’s fine too. I’m not going anywhere.”

Marinette stared at him for a minute, her mouth working soundlessly. She looked down at the sketchbook in her hands, and then back up at him.

“Do you want to take a break?” Luka asked her.

“I...no,” she said. “It’s...it’s not that big of a deal, I’m pretty sure I can fix it if I...um—”

“Okay,” he said simply, giving her shoulders a little squeeze. He really wanted to hug her, to hold her tight and tell her how amazing he found her, how entranced he was watching her work, how alive she looked when she was creating, but—he couldn’t, so he squeezed her shoulders and then let his hands fall. “No need to explain it, I trust you.” He glanced down at the book, and then looked away. “Sorry, I’m not trying to peek, but that—that looks really badass.” He couldn’t help looking again, and, blushing, Marinette turned the book so he could see. His smile grew as he looked at it. “That’s amazing, Marinette, what are you worrying about? If it looks half this cool in real life we’re going to have to have someone standing by to give Rose oxygen.”

Marinette giggled, and looked back down at it herself. “You really think so?” she murmured, with a small smile that made his heart skip. Just when he thought she couldn’t get any sweeter.

“I definitely think so,” Luka told her, backing away. He sat down on the floor this time, leaning back against the trunk. He groped behind him blindly for his notebook and nearly knocked it off the far side of the trunk.

Marinette gave a pleased hum, and then took a deep breath before her brows furrowed into her concentration face. Luka drew his knees up and leaned one elbow on them, smiling like the fool he was.

There were a few more frustrated groans, but no more spirals, and Luka kept quietly in his place even as piles of fabric grew around him. Finally she sat back and sighed. “I think that’s everything I’m going to need.”

“Cool.” Luka looked up from his notebook and smiled.

“I’m so sorry about the mess,” Marinette gasped, looking around as if she had only just now realized the chaos she had created. “I can help you clean it up—”

Luka cut her off with a laugh. “You’re welcome to,” he chuckled, “but there’s really no need. Clutter is a way of life around here. Trust me, the only reason they were so organized to begin with is because they were delivered that way.” His eyes fell to her sketchbook. “Can I see what you have in mind?” he asked, unable to contain his curiosity any more.

Marinette tensed up immediately, biting her lip. She looked at the book and then at Luka, and then she offered it to him.

Luka took it, though his eyes stayed on her, concerned and a little baffled by her hesitation when the one sketch he’d seen had been so cool. Marinette turned back to the pile of garments she had chosen, though, and so he let his eyes fall and began looking through the few pages of sketches she had made, careful not to go beyond even though he was aching to see more. A slow smile grew on his face as he looked, and he shook his head slightly. “The angels are still my favorite, but these are amazing, Marinette. You might want to get some earplugs because Rose is going to shatter glass when she sees these.” He grinned up at her. “I knew you could do it.”

She smiled faintly, but looked away. “They’re just pictures, though. I still have to actually execute the designs.”

“Hey,” Luka said, reaching a hand up towards her. Marinette blinked in surprise, but she slowly stepped forward and put her hand in his. He tugged gently, and she sank to her knees in front of him. “ Yeah, you might have to make some changes when you go to actually put it together, but that’s part of the process for everybody. Sometimes a song I thought was finished doesn’t work out right the first time I play it with the band, and I have to make some changes.” He hesitated, and then went on. “I don’t know what’s going on in there,” he poked her forehead gently. “And I’m not exactly up on fashion, but—” he gestured at the racks of clothes. “I have some experience too, and I gotta say…” he shook his head, and turned the sketchbook towards her. “You outclass anybody else I’ve worked with by far.”

Marinette blushed deeply. “They’re just costumes,” she murmured, tucking her hair back as she looked away.

“They could have been, but they’re not.” Luka offered her the book back. “Marinette.” He waited until she looked at him. “Do you like them?”

Marinette looked back at the drawings, and bit her lip. Her face was growing red again. “Yes,” she finally admitted quietly.

Luka put his fingers under her chin and tipped her face back up. “Stop thinking so hard,” he said gently. “I know it’s easy to lose faith in yourself, but...you’re creating something, you have to find a way to tune all of that stuff out and just be in that moment. You can deal with the aftermath afterwards.” He grinned. “That’s what editing is for, right? Or so I’m told. I was never any good at it.”

Marinette smiled. “That’s why your music was so good. It was...raw, instinctive. Still polished, but deeply emotional. It’s why I always loved it.”

It was Luka’s turn to flame up red, and Marinette giggled.

“That wasn’t fair,” he huffed, pulling his knees up to hide his face in his arms for a moment.

Marinette laughed harder. “How many thousands of records sold and you blush at a little old compliment from a fan?” she teased.

Luka turned his face on his arms so that he was looking at her. “You’re not just any fan,” he said, and smiled at the pink returning to her cheeks. He sighed, raising his head, and letting his legs fall and cross beneath him again. “Don’t ever let anyone let you feel like you’re not special, Marinette.”

“It’s definitely not a problem when I’m with you,” she said, and then bit her lip, like it had slipped out without her intending it to.

“Good,” he grinned, and then decided he’d better move before he did something stupid. “So, show me what you need me to take down to the car for you, and we’ll just leave the rest of it like this until you’re done in case you need to come back for something.”

“Oh,” Marinette’s eyes widened slightly and she scrambled to her feet. “Right.”

She told him which piles of clothes she wanted to take, and Luka got some bags and gathered them up. Marinette made a token effort at tidying up, despite Luka having told her to leave it. She hung a few things back on the rack, and paused suddenly, hand hovering over a jacket still on the rack.

Marinette picked it up slowly, looking at it. The scent of leather and something like electronics hit her nose, and her eyes widened slightly. She felt around the bottom hem and found something hard and rectangular there. Another minute of searching, and the jacket lit up in her hands, the fiber optic lights sewn into the seam pulsing faintly.

Marinette laughed a little, and crossed over to the trunk Luka had been using as a chair all afternoon. She sat down and spread the jacket across her lap. She remembered this. He’d been wearing it at the show she’d gone to. They’d started with all the lights off and just Luka on stage, wearing this jacket and the pants that went with it, making him just an electric outline on the stage when the curtain went up.

Hard to reconcile that image with the guy from the tree farm, she thought affectionately. But then, he’d always had a reputation for being a sweetheart, good to his fans and generous with his time, so...maybe it wasn’t so hard to believe.

At least this contraption is well made, she thought, running a finger along one of the light tubes. It was still secure after all this time, and clearly in working order.

The lights began to flash and jump around, and Marinette giggled. It had started that right before Luke had swept his hand up and down in a dramatic power chord that had rattled her teeth. Once again it was hard to reconcile them in her mind. It was almost funny, now that she knew Luka, remembering those dramatics.

The light reflected back off something in the corner of her eye, and when she looked, she saw it was the metal coil of Luka’s notebook, half buried under a pile of clothes he had shoved out of the way. She picked the notebook up and smiled a little bit as she did so; the page was a mess, full of scratched out lines, and the writing went every which way in a complicated web. Was this how his mind worked? It was so different from her own process—

Jewels Diamonds in the sands of time Those are my memories with you And even if it’s only a precious few They’re the ones I’ll keep when everything else flows away

It made Marinette think of her first fashion show, when she’d been new and excited about the garments she was putting out there, excited and happy. That moment shone jewel-bright in her memory, despite all the drudgery that had followed it. That was she was working for, after all, another chance at that feeling. All of this frustration would be worth it if she could have another moment like that.

Marinette blinked back to reality and suddenly realized what she was doing. She slammed her eyes shut and turned the notebook over in her lap. Oh, she shouldn’t have looked at that, she thought frantically, her heart suddenly beating triple time. This—this was private, just like her designs were, and she shouldn’t have—but she hadn’t meant to—

Luka’s heavy boots thunked on the stairs and Marinette jumped, dropping the notebook so that it landed on the floor splayed open with an inelegant smack . Marinette scrambled up and hurriedly grabbed it again. She hastily smoothed it out as Luka came the rest of the way up into the attic. “Oh, I think this one is yours,” she said, holding it out to him.

“Oh, yeah, thanks,” Luka said, curling it in half and sticking it in his back pocket. Marinette tried not to wince. “Anything else?” His eyes landed on the jacket in her hands. “Oh, I see you found the switch,” he chuckled.

“Will you put it on?” Marinette blurted, and Luka raised his eyebrows at her. “Please?” she smiled, hunching her shoulders slightly as she held it up.

Eyebrows still raised, Luka took it, and slipped it on. He grimaced slightly as he zipped it up. “Definitely doesn’t fit as comfortably as it used to,” he commented, tugging down on the hem. “Not too bad, though.”

“You probably build muscles in different places, hauling trees,” Marinette said absently, stepping forward to adjust the way it sat across his shoulders for a moment. “Not as uniform a workout as using a personal trainer. It gives you a more natural build.” She smiled a little as she smoothed the arms and stepped back.

“It still looks good on you,” she observed. “You were wearing this at the concert I went to. The first time I saw you live.”

Luka smiled ruefully. “Doesn’t exactly have the same effect in my attic, does it?”

“No,” Marinette smiled back. “It was a wonderful performance, though, and I guess I wasn’t expecting to be reminded of it just now.” She bit her lip and asked in a rush, “Were you...were you writing a song? Just now?” She gestured vaguely toward his pocket.

Luka looked a little taken aback, but not offended. “I was starting to,” he admitted. “I...really enjoy the time we spend together, and it was really nice, seeing a new side of you today. I guess I felt a little inspired, yeah.”

Marinette’s breath caught. “It was...about me?”

“About you and me, yeah,” he admitted. “Does that bother you?”

Marinette’s eyes widened. “No!” How could he think she’d be offended by such a thing? It was...it was amazing, that she’d inspired anything in him, when she was so—and—how she had felt, in that first fashion show, was he...was he saying he felt that way with her ? She shied away from the idea even as she thought it, it was so...so much, and she was so—she was—

Oh no. Luka was looking at her intently, a slight crease in his forehead. She tried to think of something to say, but her internal meltdown was too complete, and she just stared at him.

“You’re extraordinary, Marinette,” Luka said softly, and his expression was completely serious and not at all flirtatious. “Getting to see you work today was a privilege. I’m better for meeting you, even if my heart breaks when you’re gone. It’s...it’s a long way from being a song, but I meant it.”

“But I’m…”

Luka shook his head slightly, a smile softening his expression. “You’re what, Marinette? Tell me everything, I want to hear all of it.”

Marinette gaped. “You—you—how do you do that?” she cried, throwing her hands up. “You’re sweet and kind and you have an amazing talent but you’re so laid back and grounded and—”

“And you are all of those things too,” Luka laughed. “Except maybe the laid back part.” He grinned, and Marinette made a face at him. “You kinda maybe worry too—”

Marinette had taken two large steps toward him. She grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled. Luka staggered, grabbing on to her shoulders as she dragged him down and kissed him.

He made a very undignified noise even as his arms were coming down to wrap around her. Marinette couldn’t hold the kiss very long; she hadn’t taken a good breath and her nose was smashed against his cheek, so she was forced to break it before Luka really even had a chance to respond.

Luka sucked in a breath, blinking at her. “Are you sure?” he blurted, and then looked like he wanted to kick himself. Marinette had to giggle, giddy with elation and adrenaline, her heart fluttering wildly in her chest.

“No,” she told him when she was able, and a little shiver of fear went up her spine before she stomped it down again. “But I’ve never met anybody like you and...anyway, you’re right. It’s stupid to be tearing myself up over it when I could just be kissing you instead.”

“Very logical,” he laughed, and Marinette kicked his shin lightly.

“Take off this ridiculous jacket,” she told him, tugging. “I can’t take you seriously in this thing.”

“I don’t know, I’m suddenly a lot fonder of it than I was a moment ago,” Luka grinned, putting his hands over hers on the lapels. His tone was teasing, but his thumbs caressed the backs of her hands, and there was a light in his eyes that had her heart galloping all over again.

She slipped her hands away, and Luka fumbled at the hem until he found the switch, turned the lights off, and shrugged the jacket off, dropping it carelessly on the trunk beside them before reaching for her again.

They were still wrapped up in each other when Rose popped her head in the attic looking for them, and rattled the windows with her scream.

Fiction Master Post | Month of Miracles

#quickspins #monthofmiracles2020 #hallmark au #lukanette #endgame lukanette #lukanette endgame #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #miraculousladybug #miraculous ladybug #promptfic

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lady-charinette · 4 years

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The Revealing Confession - Adrienette Fluff

A/N: This came as a lovely prompt from the amazing @ghostlyhamburger which I unfortunately couldn't do it justice. Hope you still like it a little my friend :3

Warnings: None (maybe cringe? I didnt write in a while)

Pairing: Adrienette

Genres: Fluff, Humor, Reveal

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Plagg lounged on his holder's bed, surrounded by camembert in a circle with a blissed expression.

Adrien rested his chin on his hand, next to him on the bed. "I can't believe this worked."

Plagg rolled over, bits and pieces of cheese rolling off his body in the process. "Huh?"

The model couldn't help but smile at his kwami's drunken expression, already high on cheese. "I can't believe I made a summoning circle with cheese and you fell for it. You're so greedy, Plagg."

The kwami gave a loud yawn. "Me? What can I do when you buy so much cheese? Don't you know how fast it can go bad?"

A deadpan expression greeted him. "...You eat smelly, spoiled cheese Plagg."

Plagg stuck his nose in the air, gingerly cradling his beloved camembert against his body. "Its not spoiled, its exquisite."

Shaking his head, Adrien rolled over onto his back and crossed his arms behind his head, absently daydreaming.

Plagg chose to fill the silence then. "You don't understand Adrien, camembert is the love of my life!"

Adrien snickered when his kwami levitated in the air, dramatically holding a piece of camembert in the air. "It's the first thing I think of when I wake up in the morning, the last thing on my mind before I go to sleep in the evening!" Plagg floated left and right as he did his monologue, unaware of his holder chuckling at him.

"It occupies my thought every minute of the day and as soon as we're apart, I miss my precious camembert so much! We've had so many moments together! We went through thick and thin! It was camembert and I! Us against the world!" Plagg raised his paw in the air, the other holding the piece of diary tucked into his side.

Just then, something clicked in Adrien's brain.

'You and me against the world m'lady!'

'Ladybug and Chat Noir are always a team!'

Moments he spent with Ladybug resurfaced in Adrien's mind like a movie, a movie he never grew tired of watching.

One scene that stuck out to him since months ago was when he once stuck around longer than usual at his and Ladybug's meeting spot.

It was right after patrol, he had time to kill, he didn't think he would've seen what he had that night.

When he as Chat Noir had stretched after a playful rooftop chase with his lady, he spotted something flashing from the alleyway between the two buildings he stood on.

Taking out his baton and moving low to the roof in case it was a villain, he sneaked close to the edge of the roof to investigate, but what he found instead surprised him in a different way.

It was Marinette.

Talking to Tikki.

If there hadn't been that incident where Ladybug and him both had switched their Miraculous, he was sure he wouldn't even know it was Tikki Marinette was talking to. But the least he could've been sure of was that was a kwami and Marinette was talking to Ladybug's kwami-

"Good job today Tikki." He watched as Marinette retrieved a cookie from the purse she always carried around and fed it to the little goddess, scratching her cheek gently.

Tikki giggled, entirely too comfortable with the interaction to be their first time meeting. "You did a good job too Marinette! You should get home and rest."

Marinette had laughed and slowly moved out of the alley. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Chat Noir is bound to be home already and lounging somewhere on a bookshelf."

He huffed in indignation, he did not normally 'lounge around' on shelves. That had been once and Ladybug never stopped teasing him for it.

Wait.

Ladybug!

Marinette was-

He had hidden behind a chimney and had slapped his mouth closed in case he would scream or squeal, whichever came first. He couldn't believe it.

His lady was his princess!

Ladybug was Marinette!

Marinette was Ladybug! The love of his life! Both loves of his life!

It had been at that point that made Adrien think.

And Plagg's words struck a chord.

The kwami continued his monologue, oblivious to his holder's inner musings. "The pain I feel of being apart can't be described, no matter how many languages you humans invent, you can never invent a language for love! That's how important cheese is to me Adrien, but I don't expect you to understand." Plagg sniffed dramatically, sobbing into his cheese while he discreetly munched on it.

Adrien shot up in bed, startling Plagg causing him to fall on the soft bedding. "Hey!"

"I...love her."

Plagg looked up from inspecting his cheese for scratches. "What?"

"I love her."

Plagg rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know loverboy. You love Ladybug, the love of your life."

Adrien suddenly grabbed Plagg in his hands and stared into his soul. "Marinette! I love Marinette! I love Ladybug! Them both! Because they're the same! Marinette is the girl behind the mask that I love Plagg!"

His kwami's eyes widened in fear. "No wait, Adrien, what we saw on the rooftop that one night, that was- Tikki was- Tikki talks to a lot of humans, you know?"

His kwami's poor attempt was dwarfed by Adrien's unadulterated glee. "It's alright Plagg! I know, you don't have to lie to me. I know!"

Plagg yelped when he was flung in the air and caught again by Adrien, clinging onto the boy's hand in fear of being thrown into the air again.

"I can't believe it! Ladybug, m'lady and Marinette, my princess - they're the same! Plagg, do you know what this means?!"

"...Err...that uh, Ladybug's your classmate?"

Adrien shook his head, green eyes sparkling. "No! It means I have to tell Marinette how I feel!"

Plagg was unceremoniously dumped back on the bed, rolling around until a big block of cheese stopped his descent. "Adrien! Where are you going?"

Adrien was already running for the door. "I have to con-" he froze just as his hand landed on the doorknob. "-confess...to Marinette..." he glanced at his kwami. "Plagg?"

"What?"

"....What if she rejects me?"

The kwami's eyes nearly fell out of his sockets. "Are you serious?"

Adrien fidgeted nervously with his hands, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's just-I didn't- I never confessed to a girl before and- I never confessed to someone as amazing as Marinette! What if she doesn't like me back? Ladybug said she loves another boy! What if she's dating Luka? She never said anything but I saw her at their band practice and the way he smiles at her is the way I want to smile at her and she blushes when she's with him and they ice skate together and how could someone as awesome as Marinette like someone like-"

Plagg flew up to his holder's face and smashed Adrien's cheeks together. "Breathe!"

Adrien froze, lips squished like a fish. "Pwapfh?"

The kwami sighed. Kids these days. "I'm pretty sure bakery girl isn't dating anyone. And I really doubt she doesn't feel the same, Adrien."

Nervous green eyes bore into Plagg's ancient soul. "How can you be so sure Plagg?"

Plagg refrained from counting all the moments he witnessed, while transformed and as a kwami, of pigtails girl breaking her back to act normal around her very obvious crush on his owner. "...Kwami's intuition. Anyway, why don't you uh...practice?"

Adrien tilted his head to the side. "...Practice?"

Plagg slapped his face. "The confession."

"Plagg, you're a genius!" Adrien scratched under the cat god's chin and received an appreciative purr in return. "But not here, Nathalie or father might overhear me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I can do this." Adrien paced back and forth, taking deep breaths. "I can do this. I saw this in movies. I can do this."

Adrien exhaled loudly and then dropped onto one knee, red rose poised in the air. "My lady, my princess, if I could I would take the stars from the skies and gift them to you, not that you would need them, because the whole galaxy is in your eyes already."

"No, no, no, that's too cheesy!" Adrien stood up and tapped his knuckles against the side of his head. "Technically, I could do that as Astrocat, but I'm not sure how well Ladybug-Marinette would take that, would that be abusing my powers?"

Rubbing his chin, Adrien cleared his throat. "My sweet Marinette, from the day we shared that umbrella under the rain in front of school, you made me realize what romance was like in real life, but more importantly, you made me realize the importance of having a good friend." Adrien stood frozen in the park, sighing heavily. "That's not good either!"

~~~~~~~

"I don't really know Tikki, do you think Adrien might like it?" the girl clutched the new, yet to be released, song of Jagged Stone in her hands, personally signed by the musician. She knew Adrien liked him too, but would he think she was weird for gifting him this?

Tikki smiled encouragingly at her owner. "I'm sure he will love it Marinette! Then you can finally ask him to eat ice-cream with you!"

The girl sighed, staring up at the sky in defeat as she walked. "I don't know Tikki, I doubt Adrien would notice me that way. Besides, I think Kagami and him are an I-wuah!" Marinette's foot slammed against the little protruding rock, probably kicked away from the park onto the sidewalk and fell over on her knees. "Ouch!"

Tikki quickly flew down to inspect her friend. "Marinette, are you okay?"

Marinette winced. "I'm fine Tikki-"

"Argh! No! That's terrible! She'll think I want to kidnap her!" a very familiar voice echoed from the park, one that automatically made Marinette's heart skip a beat.

"W-Wait, is that- am I dreaming again?" forgetting about her fall, Marinette speedcrawled into the nearest bush, bluebell eyes scanning the entirety of the park before they landed on one figure.

It was Adrien.

Tikki hovered near her holder, also watching Adrien. "Look, its Adrien."

"Yeah, but what is he doing out here?" if she recalled correctly, he was supposed to be studying in his room by now for the chemistry test next week.

"Shh." Tikki ushered her to hide deeper in the bush, keenly watching the way Adrien's arms flailed about and he paced back and forth.

"Let's try this. My dearest lady and princess, as your humble knight and number one fan, it is with great honor that I gift you my heart."

Marinette's mouth opened in a scream but Tikki quickly snapped it shut. "Marinette, shh!"

"Mffphh!" Marinette's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates, moving back and forth between Adrien and Tikki.

"No! That's not good either! I'm not giving her an award!" The teen model sighed heavily, moving to sit down on the nearest bench. "I'll never be able to confess to her like this. She's so brave and strong, she can do anything. She's so amazing, what are the chances of her even liking me back?"

Marinette's expression softened. "He must be talking about Kagami..." Tikki nearly dislocated her head when she turned around to look at the girl.

"But Mari-"

A sigh. "I should've known, I guess his encounters with Chat Noir might've rubbed off on him and now he's calling Kagami princess too."

Tikki flew in front of Marinette's field of vision. "No wait, Marinette, that's not what he-!"

Marinette smiled sadly, slowly standing up. "I think Adrien might need help with confessing his feelings for Kagami."

Just before her head peaked over the cover of the bushes, the name that fell from Adrien's lips froze Marinette to the spot.

"Marinette..." his gaze was sad as it looked over the trees and into the sky. "You're so amazing, you're the strongest, smartest, bravest person I know, you're everyday Ladybug even when you aren't transformed, how could I hope for you to love me like I love you?"

Tikki watched the way Marinette remained very still, her eyes unmoving as they locked on Adrien in the distance.

It was now or never.

Gathering all the strength she had, Tikki rammed into Marinette's side, pushing the startled girl out in the open.

With a surprised yelp, Marinette fell out of the bushes and onto her butt.

Her graceful landing made Adrien jump and his eyes widened when he saw her. "M-Marinette!?"

She felt heat rush to her cheeks at being caught spying on him, even more when he jogged to her side and helped her to her feet.

Why was Adrien so nice to her even after she spied on him confessing to her-

"Marinette? Marinette are you alright?" He waved a hand in front of the dazed girl's face, watching the way her eyes came back into focus and stared up into him. "Did you hurt yourself when you fell?"

The warmth from his hands on her shoulders made her squeak, she didn't even notice Adrien's blush at the sound before she took off in the opposite direction.

"Wh- wait Marinette! Where-where are you going!?" Adrien watched the girl sprint out of the park and in the direction of the Seine.

Had she heard him? Had she heard his lousy confessions?

With his heart in his throat and his blood rushing a mile a minute, Adrien uttered two words that never made him tongue tied. "Claws out!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No, no, no, no, no, no!

She had to have heard wrong!

Adrien? Liking her back? No, no, no, no!

"Marinette, wait!" Tikki flew faster to keep up with the girl, she was a fast runner when she set her mind to it. "Why are you running away from Adrien? He was about to-"

Marinette violently shook her head, jumping over a trash can. "No, no, no Tikki, I heard it all wrong. Adrien didn't say my name, maybe he got confused and wanted to say 'Kagami' right? Ka-ga-mi. I mean, our names are kinda similar aren't they?"

"Marinette!"

Marinette nearly tripped again when she heard another familiar voice yell at the top of his lungs her name.

Wait, was that-?

"Chat Noir?!"

Sure enough, the black clad figure was jumping away from street to street, following her direction on his baton.

"Marinette!" He yelled again, waving his free arm frantically to catch her attention.

Had there been an akuma? Her akuma alert app didn't ring! Why was Chat Noir looking for her? Could he need something? Did he need love advice for Ladybug?

Marinette continued running, now close to the bridge where Andre always sold his ice cream at. "Sorry kitty! I dont have time to play with you today!"

She couldn't hear Chat Noir's muttered frustrated curses, nor did she see him speed up and take a giant leap, before he landed on the ground and took off running on all fours after her.

Tikki hid back inside Marinette's purse, hanging on for dear life.

It wasn't until Chat Noir's next yell made her stop in her tracks. "My lady wait!"

Standing frozen on the bridge, Marinett heartily turned around, just in time to watch Chat Noir try to catch his breath.

He looked....angry?

The cat stalked towards her with purpose in his steps before his placed his hands on her shoulders like Adrien did before and- "Why did you run away from me, m'lady?!"

Questions swam in Marinette's mind, questions that made her think she wasn't as sane as she thought she was.

Wait.

"Run away? From you? M'lady? Chat Noir, did you hit your head somewhere?" Marinette blinked up at him quizzically, sweating at Chat Noir possibly knowing her identity.

But how? She was always so careful! He never could've figured it out!

The grip on her shoulders tightened. "Marinette!" He bared his teeth, and in a delirious moment, Marinette almost wished he would bite her.

To snap her out of her daydream!

"Eep!"

"Claws in!"

"Claws in? What are you- A-A-" Marinette's breath caught in her throat and she was face to face with a displeased Adrien Agreste.

His blonde hair which was normally perfectly combed was now messy and disheveled and Marinette could actually see the resemblance between Adrien and Chat Noir who stood in front of her two seconds ago!

"Wait, Adrien, what are- why are-? Chat Noir was here and you- you are now here!"

She was going insane. Tikki should send her help.

Marinette.exe stopped working.

Adrien's expression softened and he sighed heavily. "Marinette," he gazed at her with such fondness and exasperation that she almost felt it was too intimate. "I know."

He didn't even have to elaborate. She was figured out. He knew her identity.

Her shoulder slumped. "But-But how? I was always so careful and- ugh! This isn't right! Now we have to give up our miraculous! Do you have any idea what Master Fu would think if he still had his memories? But I'm the guardian now! Does that mean I take both our miraculous? Would I just keep mine then? Where would I put them? Do I give us different miraculous? Will we still be heroes? What about Hawkmoth-"

Two warm hands found her cheeks and her attention immediately shifted to the forest green of Adrien's lovely eyes, which stared at nothing but at her. "Marinette, please listen to me m'lady." The sound of her nickname strangely calmed her and she exhaled the breath she'd been holding, some of the tension leaving her body.

Adrien took a deep breath, fingers flexing on her shoulders from frayed nerves before he finally looked at the girl of his dreams in determination. "I love you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

"I had these feelings for you ever since I gave you my umbrella and you were the first person to make me laugh again after mom disappeared. You were the one who was always so kind to me and did her best to help everyone all the time. What I told you at the picnic was nothing but the truth: you are our everyday Ladybug, you always were to me. And I'm so happy to know that the hero and the girl I fell in love with were one and the same! I know I made a lot of mistakes as Adrien and Chat Noir, and that I disappointed you often, but I want to make up for it in any way I can and be a better partner for you as Ladybug. My only question is if you would let me be a better partner for you as Marinette, too?"

The sincerity in his gaze stole the breath from her lungs and Marinette couldn't help but tear up at the heartfelt confession that was meant for her.

"Y-Yes! A thousand times yes kitty, my prince!" She fell into his arms with a cry of joy and Adrien fell to the ground from the force of her hug. Despite the small wince of pain, they both laughed in joy, cradling each-other's faces tenderly.

Adrien rubbed his nose against his lady's and smiled. "I love you Marinette."

The smile on Marinette's face was the warmest Adrien ever had ever seen. "I love you too Adrien."

#miraculous ladybug #ml #chat noir #adrien agreste #marinette dupaincheng #ml fic #ml fluff #adrienette #adrinette #adrienette fic #miraculous fic

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chrwrites · 3 years

Text

SOFTober day 28: Blush

“Are you sure you trust me with this?”, Luka asked as he waved a small make-up brush in the air and held a palette in his hands, inspecting the colours.

Marinette nodded reassuringly, “Yes, you can put eyeliner better than me!”, she said as she sat on the chair in front of him, dangling her legs happily.

She was the one who asked him to help her do her make-up, after all, and they still had to wait an hour for the rest of Kitty Section to join them.

Luka had gotten there early since he was done with his deliveries for the day, and Marinette had welcomed him into her house rubbing her left eye with a wipe, still trying to take the pink glittery eyeshadow she was experimenting with off.

“I wanted to try something new”, she justified herself after throwing away the last wipe and looking at him.

Luka nodded in understanding, and Marinette remembered admiring the way his skillful hands effortlessly drew thin even lines of eyeliner on his eyelids before a show, how she slowly got lost in studying his features time after time and noticed how the dark colour never failed to make his eyes shine a brighter blue under the lights, or how the glossy lip balm he put on smelled like apricot and it ended up making her wonder how it would feel on her mouth.

That’s why she decided to ask Luka to help her with her make up.

To… you know, spend time together. And stay close to him. Really close.

Have his hands on her face, feeling his breath on her skin… The usual things friends do when they are together. Nothing much.

And Luka agreed only because he wanted to help her, there wasn’t any hidden reason behind it.

He grabbed two hairpins from her vanity and used them to keep her bangs away from her forehead before he started applying a light eyeshadow as a base, adding a shimmery golden eyeshadow to highlight her eyes. Not that she needed to, her eyes were beautiful just from the way they twinkled when she was happy.

Marinette took a deep breath when she felt Luka catch her chin between his fingers and raise her head delicately, she relaxed under his touch while he hummed soft melodies, his work only interrupted when he had the had to check it in its entirety to make sure that he wasn’t making her look like a clown.

At least his hands didn’t shake as he put on the make-up on her, she didn’t complain when he made her head move the way he needed to, and he was happy to see her finally calm and relaxed.

Luka had to take a deep breath to steady himself when he asked Marinette to open her eyes, revealing the bright sapphires he had fallen for so long ago.

He still managed to draw even lines of eyeliner on both her eyes, and when he was done he couldn’t help but unintentionally whisper a “Beautiful” that made Marinette’s cheeks turn pink as he took a bigger brush to apply some blush on her cheeks.

He smiled fondly at her, his knuckles ghosting her cheeks before he shook the brush in front of her eyes, “I don’t think you need this”, he teased, causing Marinette’s cheeks to turn into a deeper shade of red. Her hands covered them as she squeezed her eyes, shaking her head. “Stop it!!”, Marinette whined, making Luka chuckle.

“I’m sorry, I just really like to see you blush”, he said, his eyes widening at his unexpected boldness. It’s cute, was what he wanted to say.

“Soooo... Do you want to wear any lipstick?”, he asked, trying to change the subject.

Marinette opened her eyes and let her hands fall on her sides, her cheeks still flushed. The make-up he gave her was something she could have easily recreated and didn’t look too heavy on her soft features. Her eyes were framed by gold and brown eyeshadow and a thin sharp line of eyeliner, but her face was clean and delicate as always. Beautiful and mesmerising as always.

She gave him a shy smile before looking at her reflection in the mirror, and her smile widened as she admired his work, “This is amazing, Luka!” she said, making him look down and bite down the smile that was forming in his face as he tried not to think about the butterflies dancing in his stomach.

Marinette’s lips twisted in thought as she valued which shade of lipstick she would go for, and hummed in satisfaction when she eventually picked the deep red she was too shy to wear outside of her room.

She wasn’t very accurate when it came to putting on bright shades on her lips, she always ended up ruining the lip outline because she spent too much time trying to make it perfect, which led to her taking the make-up off and sticking to light colours or her strawberry flavoured lip-gloss.

She waved the lipstick in the air, and Luka had to focus on stopping the voice that started singing in his head about wanting to wear her lipstick because it meant he got to kiss her lips before he took the small stick in his hands. Only then he noticed that they were shaky, and he took a deep breath as he studied the lipstick and tried to gather himself before moving it closer to her mouth.

“Don’t make me look like the Joker, please”, Marinette teased, and her voice soothed Luka’s nerves, he shook his head and felt his shoulders relax. He went on applying the smooth blend of lipstick on her lips delicately, concentrating on the task and trying to avoid the thoughts forming in his mind.

The tiny smile gracing her lips got wider when she looked back at her reflection in the mirror, and Luka couldn’t help but smile with her as he admired her in silence. Marinette scrambled to get up, ignoring how she almost tripped on her own feet, too focused on reaching Luka and hugging him. He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her and enjoying her sweet scent as she thanked him. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before pulling away, giggling as she pointed at the lipstick stain on his cheek.

Luka frowned as he realised that some of the lipstick had smeared under her lower lip, and his thumb automatically reached for it to clean it. He let it rest there, too entranced in admiring how good the colour looked on her, fully taking in her beauty. It made him feel breathless.

Marinette’s eyes were fixed on his, leaving him unable to move. Her lips were slightly parted, and she put her hand on his, slowly making it move away from her face and intertwining it with hers at their sides.

Luka felt his heart pound in his ears as Marinette pushed herself on her tiptoes and leaned to his face, he followed her movements, leaning in until their lips finally met.

She kissed him, and he kissed her back, following her slow hesitant pace before guiding her into kissing him the way she wanted to. He could feel an unfamiliar warmth spread through his body as he got lost into the kiss. Luka smiled on her lips, his free hand tangling in her hair as he deepened the kiss. It was slow and soft, and Marinette felt her skin tingle as he kissed her with all the love and care he had always kept for her.

She reluctantly pulled away when she needed to grasp some air, and Luka let out a breathless giggle before pulling her in again. He couldn’t stop himself from smiling on her lips, and as he kept kissing her he felt like he was falling more and more in love with her.

It was perfect, her hands cupped his cheek, and she guided him to the chaise longue at the back of the room with gentle pecks on his lips, leaving him chasing for more. Then he finally fell on the soft surface and Marinette adjusted herself beside him, not hesitating to kiss him again and sighing happily on his lips.

But then the doorbell rang, announcing the arrival of their friends. Luka groaned as Marinette scrambled to get off him and grabbed a cleaning wipe from her vanity before rushing downstairs to open the door, leaving a star struck Luka in her room. Was it real? Did he really kiss Marinette?

He kept replaying their kisses in his head as his fingers reached for his lips, the dazed smile not leaving his face until he felt Marinette’s voice call for him and he had to shake himself from his hazy state and walk downstairs. He greeted his friends with more enthusiasm than usual, and sat next to Marinette.

Silence filled the room as everyone looked at him with an amused expression, “What?”, he asked, but the laugh that escaped Marinette’s lips was enough to make him realise that he forgot to take her lipstick off.

He blushed, lowering his head at Juleka’s snickering comments. He knew that she was going to give him a hard time about it, but as the afternoon passed, Luka found himself not to care about it.

Marinette was by his side, and that was all that mattered.

#lukanette #endgame lukanette #softober #luka couffaine #marinette dupain cheng

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shelobussy · 4 years

Text

i hate to see you go (but i love to watch you walk away)

read on ao3

It’s been a good day.

Luka had spent most of it, sitting by the Seine with Marinette, playing idle melodies on his bass while she contemplatively watched boats float down the river and occasionally shot Kagami looks across their friends.

They were good looks, though, he was pretty sure. When he had first seen the two interacting there had been some tension between them, but now something had clicked into place and the two girls were thick as thieves.

Luka didn’t want to presume it had something to do with Marinette suddenly being able to interact with Adrien without devolving into a sputtering, embarrassed mess, and her sudden disinterest in catching his attention, but a guy could dream.

Eventually, one by one, her friends paired off, heading back to their respective homes with promises to see each other the next day, leaving Luka and Marinette to watch the sun slowly set across the river.

“It’s getting late,” Luka finally says, regretfully, sliding his guitar back into its case. “Do you want me to walk you home?”

Marinette gives him a tired smile. “You don’t have-”

“It’s not out of my way,” he quickly adds, giving her what he hopes is a casual smile. “C’mon, how sure are we that there aren’t Akumas still wandering about? It would make me feel better if I knew you were safe.”

“I’m pretty sure I could handle myself,” she says, eyes laughing mischievously at a joke he doesn’t get. “But I would like the company,” she admits, hopping off the railing. Her hair bounces slightly, the long tresses having been pulled out of their customary style earlier that night.

He slings his bag over his shoulder and falls into step beside the smaller girl. “Don’t know how much company I can be,” he replies, tightly. “I’ve barely said a word to you today.”

Marinette smiles up at him. “Haven’t you?” she pokes at his guitar.

He smiles back.

The walk to the Dupain-Cheng bakery is mostly silent after that, but it’s a peaceful, comfortable silence that Luka only ever feels with Juleka or Alix. Marinette occasionally hums to herself, or says something adorable or ridiculous that has that small, strange part of his chest squeezing painfully with an undefined emotion.

Mostly, it’s just quiet though.

The two of them pause when they actually reach the bakery.

“Well, this is me,” she says, a little awkwardly, but Luka doesn’t mind. “Text me when you get home?” she adds, looking hopeful.

He grins and gives her a two fingered salute. “As you wish, my lady.”

Don’t call me that,” she snaps, sounding like the words are an automatic response. Marinette’s face goes a little pale and she swallows reflexively. “I-sorry I didn’t mean to-”

Luka wraps his hand around her wrist, gently so she can pull away if she wants. “My apologies,” he says, sincerely. “My muse,” he adds, sliding his fingers to rest over her pulse point. Her heartbeat sutters slightly as her cheeks turn an attractive shade of pink that’s barely visible in the evening light.

Marinette stares up at him, seemingly having an internal debate with herself. Luka loosens his grip, preparing for the inevitable rejection-one that he will not hold against her, not after her breakdown earlier. He doesn’t know the specifics, but he’s fairly certain that now isn’t the right time for his friend to start dating someone-let alone a fucked up mess like himself.

So he gives her the time and space she needs to think, to decide what she wants and if it’s not him that’s fine, he’s okay being her friend because being friends with her is still amazing and incredible and-

Marinette turns her hand around in his grip so that she’s also clasping his wrist. She tugs on him gently, until he’s standing flush against her smaller body.

She’s so tiny, he notes, eyes quickly scanning over her before resting on her face-taking in her lovely blue eyes, smattering of freckles, pink lips-

Marinette has to rise up on her tiptoes to kiss him. It surprises Luka so much-the kissing, not how fucking small his best friend is-that he almost forgets to kiss back.

Almost.

He slides his guitar case off his shoulder and lets it rest against the bakery steps as he bends down slightly to kiss her at a better angle. It’s a little awkward and slightly messy. Her teeth catch slightly on his bottom lip and his nose bumps into her cheek, but after a moment they get it right. He tilts her head back, thumb on her chin and slides another hand into her hair. Her lips part beneath him and he eagerly licks his way inside.

It’s messy, but less awkward and more intense.

He’s not quite sure how long it would have lasted when the front door suddenly opens. Marinette pulls away swiftly, wiping at her mouth with one hand, cheeks flooded red.

Sabine Dupain-Cheng is frozen, like a deer in the headlights for one, long-drawn out moment before something smug settles behind her eyes.

“Ah, Luka,” she says, folding her arms over her chest as she leans against the doorframe. “Thank you for bringing Marinette home. We were about to have dinner. Would you like to come in?”

Luka self consciously rubs the back of his neck. “Actually, I should be getting home. My mother’s expecting me.”

“Tomorrow then,” she says, firmly. “Marinette makes amazing scones.”

Said girl lets out a shrill, nervous laugh. “I’m sure Luka has better things to do then taste my scooooones-oh shit that come out wrong-”

“Language,” Sabine admonies. “We’ll see you for dinner tomorrow night, Luka,” she continues, smiling at him.

Luka grins at Marinette. “I’ll text you when I get home,” he promises, slinging his guitar case over his shoulder once again. “Can’t wait to taste your scones tomorrow,” he adds, lithely hopping down the steps.

Marinette gives him a withering glare that Luka has only ever seen the likes of on Ladybug when Chat is being especially annoying. “Keep that up and you aren’t getting any scones,” she hisses.

Luka smirks back and waves at the two black haired girls watching him leave. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng,” he promises.

As he turns around the corner he just catches Marinette whisper-shrieking “mama!” while Sabine just chuckles “Good, choice Marinette. He’s even more well behaved than the Agreste boy. And politer than the furry.”

“Chat Noir is not a furr--how do you know what furries are-”

Luka grins.

#lukanette #oneshot #post miracle queen #miracle queen #fanfiction #ml fanfiction #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #marinette dupain cheng #luka couffaine #sabine dupain cheng

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uselessnocturnal · 4 years

Text

in which i watch miraculous, react and things come out of my brain

FSHDKSHJDDH omfg not me hopping right back on the mlb train after seeing its trending on tumblr AND there’s a new ep

spent like half an hour hunting down a link i-

((spoilers))

THE OPENING IM SCREAMING IT KINDA LOOKS GOOD??

fuckin pigeon man again

what’s up with the voices

WHAT IS THIS

THE NEW SUITS??? AND ALYAS VOICE HHHHH

i’m crying over the flower symbolism that everyone was dying over HAHAHAHAHA

PARTNERSHIP :””)

guys they’re such good friends pls

this boy,,

i’m on the floor watching this

marinette you fucking simp

WASHINGTON AND LAFAYETTE AS SOCK PUPPETS WTF HAHAHA

........SHES PREGNANT WHO

omg the science teacher :(

lilashut up

marinette wHy ARE YOU LIKE THIS

“yOuR friENd”

LOL THEY LOOK SO ANGRY

nice. but also fuck you gabriek for taking advantage of this

HSJSHDJSHDJDHSH THE KAGAMI AND ADRIEN KISS WAS ACTUALLY SO SOFT

ok but where is the kagami character development wtf is this script

SCREAMING LADYBOIR ON THE ROOFTOPS

THEYRE SO CUTE HAHAHHAHAAHHA

oh no

OH NO

NOOOO HES SO SAD

hsbdjshddhdhfh oh man plagg

crying gabriel really be calling emilie arrests my love but also sleeping with nathalie

LUKA AMD MARINETTE AHHHHHHH

FUCK THEY COULD BE SO CHTE

CHEEJ KISSES

i. don’t remember anything from previous episodes

LMAO SHES SITTING NECT TO ADRIEN HAHAHAHHAHA

why is marinette like this oh my gosh

frickin disaster

marinette imagination drawing has improved

i feel so bad for adrien omg

HAHAHAH ADRIENS BODYGUARD

why the fuck does the headmaster dude have popcorn on the plane

JULEKA AND ROSE CUDDLING

turbulence whilst in the bathroom is so relatable

“it’s beautiful isn’t it” YEAH ADRIEN IM SURE YOU WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT THR VIEW

this is so soft omg i wouldn’t even mind if they stayed friends

nino and alya commentating HAHAHA

these two they’re so cute

HUGS AWWWW

...america has super villains too?

HWO ARE THESE POEPLE

UNITED HEROES?

i just realised this is a forty minute episode fuck

are superheroes just normal here i- Huh

night owl and sparrow???

AAWWWWW MOTHER DAUGHTER DUO (except i think the daughter is a uh robot)

://///// america.

“there’s a superhero for everything here” sure.

nino and adrien HAHAHA

omg no she’s a real girl she’s so cute aaaaaa

these kids......can’t work automatic doors.... absolute disasters

nope she is a robot

ayon?? is that her name?

there eyes are SO BIG

sabrina getting a storyline perhaps?

chloe saying the word cooties,,,, Huh

AYONS FRIEND SHES FUNNY

this party thing is making me laugh too much

the sneaking out and the teacher coming up HAHA boarding school vibes

so frickin weird but kinda cute

HER FRIEND IS SO COOL I WANNA KNOW HER NAME

“is it a bird” “is it a plane” SERIOUSLY

magic hotdogs?? wtf

nope i don’t wanna see this

WHAT

WHATS HAPPENING

they’re really playing matchmaker huh

omfg HAHAHHAHAHAHA THEYRE FLOATING AND DANCING PLEASEEEEE

i- these two DUMBASSES

also the friend’s talent wowza

FUCK ITS ACTUALLY AN HOUR LONG

why are they so bad at automatic doors i-

adrien SHUTUP IM SCREAMINF

*ahem* ladynoir

this girl got so into it so quick compared to what she was like last night and she’s doing it for entertainment too HAHA

gabriel,,,,, what the heck

a whole history lesson

i forgot how fucking stupid hawkmoth’s speech stuff is

“WOULDNT YOU RATHER HAVE AN ATOMIC BOMB” BROKE ME

adrienettes biggest enemy: doors

ohno

o h n o

these superhero transformations Huh

NOOOO AYON

OHNOOO SHES GONNA KNOW

O H N O

this team up is CUTE

nuuu she’s so angry at him

sparrow and ayon are so SKILLS

ohnoohnoohnoohno

MARINETTE WHY

oh my gosh

FUCK

HE JSUT CATACLYSMED HER FUCK

hawkmoth get in bitch we’re hunting down villains

omg they on the RUN

it’s a whole superhero FAMILY

oh nooooooo

THIS JS SAD

NOOOOO ADRIEN

NO WHY WOULD YOU LESVE HER

FUCK

PAIN

and hawkmoth has a whole new miraculous Fuck

“GILBERT” FSGDJSHDHJD HAHAHAHAHA

gabriel is so frickin evil

AAAAAAAAAAAAAA SUPERHERO MOMS IM SCREAMING

IM SO CONFUSED ARE THEY SISTERS OR. FRIENDS

marinette with plagg :(((

america has power rangers

ha that transition was pretty funny

noooooooooo i’m so sad

ALYA DONT SHOUT AT HER PLEASE SHES SAD

i’m-

FUCK MARINETTE DOESNT DESERVE THIS

AND NEITHER DOES ADRIEN

ohno

O H N O

lol it’s fuckin batman and superman but female and married

oh my shit,,,,,,

lol the door guy is kinda funny

oh fuck

yay i love these kids

gosh i LOVE sparrow

uh what the fuck was that

omg “i can’t imagine being ladybug without him” PLEASE

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

plagg why are you like this

HUGS

STOPPPPP GSHDKSHDJS I LOVE THEM

why are there bombs and cannons EVERYWHERE this fuckin country

HER NAMES JESS

this was so cute

SPARROW IS AMAZING

OH MY GOSH SHES GETTING THE MIRACULOUS SCREAMING

uh.

that’s a nuke.

FSHKDHFJSHDGM MAJESTIA WHAT RHE FUCK SHE JST FUCKING CAUGHT IY

JESS GETS TO KEEP THE MIRACULOUS AHHHHHHH (sparrow = robin)

GUYS

STOP THIS IS CUTE

oh fuck when gabriel said his theory was correct i thought he knew adrien was chat noir but it’s FINE

shut up this was so much fun

HUH?

THEYRE MAKING AMERICAN MIRACULOUS HOLDERS NOW? there are other guardians??? i’m screaming

i’m still on the floor but this was actually so good i kinda loved it FUCK

#so i did some googling and her name is spelt aeon #:’)#and her superhero name is uncanny valley #im so in love w jess though FSHKFHSJF #lyss reviews #miraculous ladybug #ml new york #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #ladybug #chat noir #mlb spoilers #spoilers #this is a.....cery long post

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sasuhinasno1fan · 4 years

Text

It happened- Lukadrien June Day 20

So I come to you on my new laptop! I’m so happy I have this, though I need to get used to how big it is. My old one is much smaller. Anyway, this isn’t fully cuddling but I was looking at prompts yesterday and I fell in love and I couldn’t stop thinking about it so I did it. Hopefully you guys enjoy it to. @lukadrien-june Cuddling

He’d imagined it more than he should - all sorts of excuses, mad things that he quickly shoved out of his head. Pretending to fall asleep, head on Luka’s shoulder, deliberately stumbling just to feel the automatic way he caught hold of his waist to steady him with strong calloused palms. When it happened, it was with such an obvious ease and lack of deceit that it stole the breath right out of his lungs. Luka simply caught hold of his hips, dragging him across the sofa and onto his lap in the middle of the crowded party to make more space for someone to sit down. He felt like he should probably protest but he didn’t really want to, and no one even glanced at them. It seemed impossible that no one even glanced at them, the contact had him electrified. And yet, as time passed and Luka’s arms remained snug around his torso, he melted and got comfortable.

Adrien should probably backtrack and explain. Luka was an older student at their university, brother of one of the girls in his dorm. He was studying music and could play emotions of his guitar. He said that he could hear the songs a person’s heart played and when Adrien first met him, he saw that it was true.

He’d gotten into another fight with his dad. His father made the decision of him doing business when Adrien wanted to do was become a teacher. His father doing everything he could to block Adrien from changing his major and it led to a yelling match over the phone. He was angry and upset and he wanted to make noise on one of the pianos in the music rooms. They were usually empty but his usual one, that had a view of the Notre Dame in the far distance, was occupied that day. He swung the door open, anger radiating off him from when he hung up on his father after he called him a childish little boy but it disappeared when instead of an empty room, he was greeted by a guy, long dark hair pulled back, the blue in his hair faded. The guitar in his hands was covered in stickers and band logos, like the laptop sitting next to him.

“Oh, um, hi. This is usually empty.” Adrien said, embarrassment covering his anger from his father.

“I know. My usual room was taken over by a very stressed out Senior, so I let them have it.”

“oh. Right. Um, I’m gonna go.”

“Actually,” the guy called, hands moving into position on his guitar, “could you do me a favour and listen to this first?”

He agreed, seeing how he burst in when the guy had to be working. He watched him start to strum, creating a melody that filled the room. Anger, sadness and discontent. The emotions that rang through the song resonated with Adrien. The melody was Adrien.

“How did you do that?” he asked breathlessly.

“It’s what your heart is singing.” It wasn’t a question, but Adrien felt the need to answer.

“Yeah, it is. My dad, he wants me to take over his fashion business, but I just want to be a teacher. It’s enough that I still must be the face of the company for photo shoots. I don’t want to take over the company that keeps me in its grip all the time. I don’t know why I just told you that.”

The guy shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t mind being an earpiece if you need to rant. Words aren’t my strong suit, so I’m a better listener.”

Adrien didn’t have to believe him, but everything in him said he could trust him. “I’m Adrien.”

“Luka.”

They would see each other in the music building at times after that. He didn’t know he was Juleka’s brother until after he dropped by with food from their mother during a floor wide game of hide and seek. Adrien had been switching to a different spot when he literally crashed into Luka, alerting Max and Markov where he was. He grabbed Luka’s wrist and ran into the hidden laundry room. The open door was large and heavy but thankfully had enough space to hide behind it. It was a tight squeeze with them both, but they stayed as still as possible. Luka held onto his waist when they heard Max walk closer to the room but thankfully Nino let out a loud curse and the two turned and ran over to the sound.

“Hide and seek?” Luka asked, after checking to see if the coast was clear.

“I mentioned I never played, and Rose insisted.” Adrien admitted.

“Yeah, kinda hard to say no to the walking ball of positivity. I should know, she’s been dating Juleka since lycée.”

“You’re her brother?”

“Yeah. I only came to drop off food our mom made for us, but it can wait. There’s a base you need to reach?”

Luka joined them for that game and seemed to be over at their dorm more and more. So maybe he got a crush, could anyone blame him? Seeing how much his friends would tease him, probably not. the one thing he questioned his sanity on was how he felt when Luka touched him. It burned his skin in the best way and all he wanted was to just hold him and not let go.

“You are allowed to like it when your crush touches you. I mean, don’t go all tsundare on them but yeah, no issue to me.” Alya pointed out when he explained how he was feeling to his friends.

“It’s your first crush too isn’t it?” Marinette asked, “It’s kinda not surprising that you feel this way. It’s genuine. Just go about it like Alya suggested.”

“It does explain why you suddenly have no control over walking whenever he’s around.” Nino teased, which turned him red. Ok, so maybe all the tricks he pulled just to be close to Luka was a lot, but he didn’t know what to do. It was either those small touches or jump him unexpectedly. He would have loved it if Luka incited the touches instead of just being nice to Adrien, but he wasn’t going to push him to do anything he wanted.

So, when Luka dragged him across the couch and onto his lap, he tried not to self-combust. He was sure the feeling from Luka holding him close would have made him go insane but he felt at ease.

“Where you gonna dance?” Luka asked, using his closeness to Adrien to talk in his ear. The music was starting to get loud.

Adrien shook his head, turning so Luka could hear him. “Not much of a dancer.”

“What?” apparently, he hadn’t heard him, so he turned his body.

“I said I’m not much of a dancer.”

Luka hooked his hand under Adrien’s knees and turned him to sit sideways on his lap – and much, much closer.

“One more time?”

Adrien kicked himself to speak. “I don’t dance.” He answered, not very loudly, judging from how Luka shook his head to show he couldn’t hear him still. “I don’t dance, really. Ever. A lot of formal parties put me off it.” He said louder.

“I bet you do a mean ballroom dance.” Luka said, teasing him.

“Don’t count on seeing it.”

Adrien could feel Luka’s hand rest on his back, his other arm draped over his lap as if to keep him there. Like he’d want to move. The night had been going on for long and Nino had the keys to the room in the insane pocketed jacket he wore. Marinette wanted to destroy it. He was feeling tired, so slowly, just in case Luka wanted to stop him, he leaned more on him until he was snuggled into his chest. All Luka did was tighten his grip on him.

“Tired?”

“A bit. I spent the afternoon looking for ways to change my major without my dad finding out. I think I can finally do it.”

“You’ll be an amazing teacher, I know it. It’ll be nice to hear true happiness coming from you. You deserve it.”

Adrien tried not to blush as he sat there, cuddling Luka in the middle of a uni party. It was hard, but not nearly as hard to not fall for Luka more when he gave him a huge smile and a tight hug when he announced he was finally a teaching major.

#lukadrien june 2020 #college au #adrien has a huge crush

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waltzofthewifi · 4 years

Text

Kota Chapter 41: Falling In Place

Table of Contents | Beginning

Luka was not surprised when he heard Chat Noir land on the deck of the Liberty.

He immediately detransformed, revealing how ragged he looked. The news of Hawkmoth's identity was taking its toll on Adrien.

Luka offered him a drink, and sat next to him in silence. He was ready to talk when Adrien was.

And if Adrien wanted to spend the night in silence, that was perfectly okay.

That morning, Adrien got up earlier than anyone else on the Liberty. He tiptoed through the boat, and ended up on the upper deck, looking out over the Seine.

"You okay, kid?" Plagg asked.

"I- I don't know," Adrien replied. "Do you really think it's him?"

"It fits," Plagg said. "Ladybug already suspected him for some reason."

Adrien sighed. He wanted to argue - his father had been akumatized - but every argument was something Ladybug already knew. And while she never said what led her to initially suspect him, she had made several good points. Adrien trusted Ladybug with his life - shouldn't he trust her with this?

But then again, they didn't know for sure that it was his father. After all, he did make most akuma's lists of horrible parents - but Adrien didn't know Lacy well, surely she'd have naturally said someone closer to her?

But if it was him, could Adrien fight his father?

"Do you think I should tell Ladybug?" Adrien asked.

"It's up to you," Plagg said. "But I'm with you. No matter what."

"Thanks, Plagg."

Just to be unpredictable, Ladybug held the meeting in the teachers lounge of a school she had never stepped foot in before.

(She did get permission. Kinda.)

Everyone attended the meeting this time. Kota and Roi Singe still refused refused to sit in chairs normally, but everyone else was strangely serious.

Chat Noir was in the corner, sulking. Ladybug didn't know why, or how to cheer her partner up. She would resume trying after the meeting.

"As you all know, Kota helped us figure out Hawkmoth's identity," Ladybug began.

"Speaking of, is anyone going to tell me what I said?" Kota asked. "I don't remember anything from that battle."

"Gabriel Agreste," Ladybug said.

Ladybug had known that it would be one of her friend's family members, but it had still be a shock when Lacy said that. The idea that Adrien - her friend - was living with a super villain was not pleasant.

It made her that much more eager to defeat him.

Everyone else looked as grim. Adrien was a close friend to most of the other heroes too. Carapace looked ready to take on Hawkmoth by himself.

Viperion moved closer to Chat Noir and whispered something that made Chat Noir relax a little.

"Alright, so let's go over the plan-"

"Wait."

Ladybug stopped, surprised to be interrupted by Chat Noir.

"Yeah?"

"I - there's something you should know," Chat Noir said. "If you plan on attacking Hawkmoth with me. I - I don't know if I can."

"Chat, what do you mean?"

Chat Noir closed his eyes. "Plagg, claws off."

Ladybug wanted to scold him for being responsible, or close her eyes, but she didn't have a chance. Next thing she knew, Adrien was standing in front of her.

And then it hit.

"Chat! I'm so sorry."

Ladybug enveloped him in a hug, and Adrien rested his head on her shoulder.

"It's not your fault," Adrien whispered. "I just can't believe he'd do something like that."

Carapace and Rena Rouge joined the hug. Viperion awkwardly patted his arm.

"It's okay, Chat," Rena Rouge said. "We've got you."

"I don't know if I can fight him," Adrien admitted.

Ladybug took a deep breath. "Okay."

"But I don't want to leave you alone," Adrien added.

"She's not alone," Rena Rouge replied.

"It's your choice, Chat," Ladybug said. "I would like to have you by my side, but I won't ask you to fight your own father."

Adrien nodded. "I'll try. I - I want to help."

"Okay." Ladybug took a step back, addressing the whole room. "So this is what we'll do."

They had one day to prepare, and then they'd attack.

Ladybug landed on the balcony of Mylene's apartment, glad to see she caught the two of them together. She knocked on the door, and Mylene let her in.

"Mylene Haprele, Ivan Bruel, I need your help," Ladybug began. "We know the identity of Hawkmoth, and plan to attack tomorrow. Will you join us?"

"You want me to help?" Mylene asked.

Ladybug nodded. "I know you told me you didn't want to keep a secret life as a superhero, but this will be a one-time thing. You were amazing as Souris Rose, and we need as many heroes for this battle."

Mylene nodded. "Okay, I accept."

"What can I do to help?" Ivan asked.

"Ivan Bruel, this is the miraculous of the ox. It grants its user strength and perseverance. I would like you to wield this and assist us in our battle."

"You're giving me a miraculous?" Ivan asked.

Ladybug nodded. "You are steadfast, just like an ox. I trust you."

"Okay. I'm with you."

"Good. Here's what I need you two to do-"

Alix was harder to track down, but eventually she caught her walking home from Nathaniel's.

"Alix Kubdel," Ladybug called.

Alix turned. "Ladybug. Is there a reason you're being extra formal tonight."

"I'll explain," Ladybug said, holding a hand out. Alix grabbed it, and Ladybug yo-yoed them up to a roof.

"Alix Kubdel-"

"Again with the full name," Alix said. "Actually, Alix isn't my full name, but now I'm scared to tell you what is."

"It's not important," Ladybug said. "Alix, I'm here to give you your miraculous."

Alix's eyes widened. "Now? But why?"

"I'll explain." Ladybug held the box out. "I usually have a speech and everything, but I don't think you'd appreciate it. Just remember, this is a powerful miraculous. Don't misuse it."

Ladybug held another meeting in the sports arena for the three new (or newer, in Mylene's case) to practice their powers.

And because she wanted to see their transformations.

Ivan's transformation gave him sturdy brown combat boots, brown loose leather pants with two blue cargo pockets, and a blue top and brown gloves. He had leather armor over his elbows and shoulders, and a brown leather masks. His hair spiked up into two horn-looking puffs, and a cornucopia rested on his hip for his weapon.

"You look good," Ladybug commented. "Have a name picked out?"

"Uh, Taurus."

"Good name. Now, let's see how strong you actually are."

Turned out, Taurus was plenty strong.

Souris Rose wasn't interested in practicing her powers, but instead practiced using her jump rope like a whip. She only ended up hitting herself in the face once, but it left a nasty red welt.

"I'll tell my parents I fell," Souris Rose said. "They should buy it. Hopefully."

"You can tell them the truth after we defeat Hawkmoth," Ladybug said.

"Are you going to tell your parents?" Taurus asked.

Ladybug hesitated. She had dreamed of being able to tell her parents, but now that that seemed like a real possibility, it scared her.

"Maybe," Ladybug eventually said. "I'd like to, but - I guess it's been a secret for so long, you know?"

Alix's transformation was much cooler than future Bunnyx's. She had similar boots as Ibex, except now blue, and baggy blue pants with lots of pockets. She wore a blue turtleneck with long sleeves, and a white crop-top over it that was furry on the top. Her gloves, elbow-pads, and knee-pads were all white, and her hair turned blue. She had a white beanie that bunnies ears sprang out of. Her mask was the only thing that remained the same.

"I want to come up with a name," Alix said. "I know Bunnyx exists, but still."

"Okay," Ladybug replied.

"Hmm, what if I combine 'bunny' with Ibex? That would be - oh. I guess I did come up with Bunnyx."

Bunnyx easily adapted to the umbrella as a weapon. She and Taurus sparred, and Bunnyx was victorious every time.

Ladybug was glad to have her on their side. Bunnyx was vicious.

After the meeting, Bunnyx told Ladybug she had something important to tell her, so they met up in as civilians as Alix's place.

"So I have this idea," Alix said, waving her arms excitedly. "So, you know the whole the-gods-actually-exist thing, right? Okay, so I was talking to my friend Lacy, and the idea of nectar and ambrosia - the food of the gods - came up, and like, kwami are essentially gods, so could they use ambrosia?"

"We can!" Tikki confirmed. "We're not allowed to bring it up, because it helps circumvent the time limit, but now that you brought it up, I can confirm. It works."

"I really wish you were allowed to tell me these things," Marinette complained. "I know, I know, it would be bad if Nooroo could tell Hawkmoth, but still."

"You wouldn't be able to use it in every fight," Tikki informed. "Especially since you and Chat Noir are completely mortal. It's not good for you. And it won't completely avoid the time limit, it just lengthens it and allows you to use your powers again."

"That's still helpful," Marinette said. "Where can we get some?"

"Lacy should have some," Alix said.

"I'll ask her then," Marinette said. "This is great. We need every advantage against Hawkmoth."

"Nectar?" Lacy asked. "Sure, I have some. Why?"

It was night, and Lacy was exhausted from nerves. They were fighting Hawkmoth tomorrow. She had just been turning the lights off when Ladybug had knocked.

"I have a source that says it can help circumvent the time limit," Ladybug replied.

"It's true!" Orikko confirmed, from up on the ceiling fan where he'd made his nest for the night. "If we eat nectar, we automatically power up."

"Okay," Lacy said. "I keep some in my desk. I'll grab it for you. But be careful - this is meant for gods. A single drop can kill a mortal, and even demigods die if they have too much."

"Right," Ladybug said. "I will keep that in mind."

The morning came eerily peaceful.

Lacy woke up to Orikko's yelling, transformed, and went out for her morning patrol.

Marinette slept in, far from a peaceful sleep.

Adrien laid awake on the floor of the band room, where he and Luka had camped out. Across the room, Luka was awake and meditating.

Nino and Alya had, without either's parents knowing, camped out in Alya's room. Neither slept well that night.

Kagami woke up and did her morning stretches. She had something more important than fencing practice to stretch for, after all.

Chloe was up all night, just in case.

Ivan slept over at Mylene's, with her dad fully aware he was there, unlike some people.

Alix stayed up late, talking to her dad about non-Hawkmoth related things. They both fell asleep on the couch, and didn't realize it until the following morning.

Max woke up early, too nervous to do anything but code.

Kim, unfortunately, had to wake up at an inhumane time for swim practice.

Hawkmoth was up, transformed, in his lair that morning, completely unaware of the storm that was brewing. He surveyed Paris, feeling the pull of emotions, and picked a target.

Next Chapter

#kota #miraculous ladybug #Percy Jackson and the Olympians

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centaurianthropology · 5 years

Text

The Magnus Archives ‘The Puppeteer’ (S04E16) Analysis

A solid little creepy tale about a character you might not remember that you’ve met before. Which, honestly, is just so in keeping with the theme of his power. Come on in to hear my thoughts on ‘The Puppeteer’.

Holy shit, one of these assholes has the good sense to see a therapist? Good on Melanie for taking that step. She needs an independent ear to help her out (although I REALLY hope this isn’t the therapist that Peter Lukas recommended, because I don’t trust that person not to be another Lukas family member out to isolate and torment people). And although she’s rightfully reticent to trust any old therapist, trying to find one is good. And insisting that the sessions not be recorded? Probably even better.

The statement itself is a Web statement, which automatically makes thing a bit more convoluted, and delightfully so. I also really appreciate that Jonny Sims continues to write a very diverse cast of narrators, including ones we don’t get to hear from often. Having the narrator be a woman who had a successful career, but because of an unplanned pregnancy and the ridiculous demands of her industry, found herself without a job, is not only a great set-up for a horror protagonist, but also a very real sort of character that is very rarely featured in a lot of fiction.

As for our other main player in the statement, a quick spot of research tells me, although in this universe Neil Lagorio worked with John Carpenter (real horror director), in our universe Neil Lagorio doesn’t exist, nor do any of his movies. I suppose that someone who was alive and working in the ‘70s might be a bit too recent to turn into a character in a horror podcast the way Jonny has with other real figures like Robert Smirke. Particularly as there are strong hints that the Puppeteer, Neil Lagorio, was a proper avatar of the Web.

Not only that, but he partnered with another avatar, this one of the Spiral, the Worker-in-Clay Gabe on his early Claymation. They eventually split, but it’s fascinating to see that two avatars of different powers might come together and work together because they wanted to work on creative endeavors.

It brings up questions of free will. We know Jon works with others, has interests and cares. We could see him partner with another avatar so long as they had aligned interest and morals. And it seems the same case with Gabe and Lagorio. It might not have worked for long (Gabe had his ritual to attempt, and Lagorio had other matters that needed looked after), but when it wasn’t about trying to remake the world, they were happy enough to be creative together. And I really like that, horrible as they inevitably were together.

And like the easter-egg appearance of Gabe, this is also not the first appearance of Mr. Lagorio. He did the special effects work for Dexter Banks in ‘Creature Feature’ on his (never-finished) film Widow’s Weave about a giant spider and the entire town of people who calmly fed themselves to it. All based on a movie and/or book that didn’t seem to have existed. Not only were many of the actors fed to the supposedly animatronic spider that Lagorio built, but Banks himself eventually was consumed as well. Given what we heard about how he treated those who he didn’t like, but who did interest him, I think this is entirely in line with Lagorio’s character to have arranged for both, and for the Web to have been running a very long game in regards to Dexter Banks. It’s also notable that, in that episode, Lagorio seemed far more in the background, with Banks the mastermind of the plot to feed people to the giant spider. But then again, that’s also a very Web thing to do, using someone flashy as a front for the true schemer in the background.

That the avatar of the Web is called the Puppeteer isn’t at all surprising, although I wonder if the Stranger felt as though it had been ripped off afterwards. But the Puppeteer himself did seem to be the very embodiment the Web. He was very cold, almost emotionless, and people either interested him (those he liked or hated both fell into this category) or they may as well not have existed to him. That’s the Web all over, uninterested entirely unless it can wrap someone into its schemes.

I also find it interesting that his powers seem to have turned on him in the end. While he started out being able to control others, he eventually lost control of himself. I wonder if eventually the power that is being conducted through any avatar burns them out. Even the ones who aren’t killed through other means will eventually fail because the human body can’t process that sort of power for that long.

But even in that the Puppeteer was brought joy by turning himself into a puppet in his own house, using a web of ropes and pulleys, and created a parody of normal movement for himself. And he enjoyed his retirement right up until the Web replaced him with Anabel Caine, and she came to finally kill him. It doesn’t seem like he was sad or frightened to see it happen either.

And then there was the end. If someone would have told me that Daisy would get a lot more Welsh and a lot more practical after being trapped in that coffin, I would have laughed. But I loved her talk with Jon. I loved her leveling that whether he was a monster or not, moping around was pointless. He can’t wallow and he can’t blame everything bad that happens to everyone around him on himself.

I do like that he basically defaulted to I’m-alone-because-Martin-won’t-talk-to-me, and I sort of wanted Daisy to point out that Martin was not only not dead, but also being influenced by a being of the Lonely. Maybe a bit of persistence on Jon’s part in talking to him wouldn’t go amiss.

Either way, Daisy may be one of the few who really gets Jon at this point. She’s also been a monster, been taken over by a power, only to have it supplanted by another. And somehow, that has created a sense of balance in her. No, she’s not overtly strong anymore, but what Basira seems to fail to realize is that Daisy now has real emotional strength. She survived the coffin. She reclaimed her dreams by signing a contract with the Institute. Even as Basira is finding her a burden, Daisy is forging her own path.

And dragging Jon out of his own head for drinks seems like one of the most practical solutions at this point. I’m really hoping that she might even be able to do it for Martin (she’s certainly stubborn enough, and after the coffin, I don’t think Peter Lukas would scare her much) and Melanie.

And honestly, I hope Basira begins to recognize the strength and the level-headedness that is Daisy. This season really has been about turning the tables between major pairs. Martin is now the distant one and Jon is pining away in the most obvious fashion possible. Basira is stronger and taking risks and running errands for Elias while Daisy is in the archives being practical and making certain everyone around her doesn’t go insane due to the powers saturating the place. The people who seemed the most down-to-earth now seem lost, and those who were lost are making genuine efforts to be better people.

I’ll admit that Daisy has never been one of my favorite characters. The whole cop-who-abuses-her-power thing is just not a good look. But having a Daisy who’s finally at least more in control of herself, who has slipped the leash of the Hunt by getting tied to the Buried and the Eye? By finding a balance between powers rather than an unhealthy devotion to one?

I think this Daisy is awesome. Not only that, but I think Daisy may have inadvertently done what I’ve only seen a few other characters do: find a perfect balance in which she is herself and maintains control over herself. Robert Smirke spent his entire life trying to create an almost supersymmetric balance between the powers, and is the only non-aligned character I can think of with crazy powers. It’s not clear if he managed it right up to his death, but that’s what makes Smirke so interesting to me. I think he realized that the powers might cancel one another out if ones allegiance was split between multiple parties. Leitner did the same, and managed to wield an amazing power in that balance as well.

And now we have Daisy who is balanced between the Hunt, the Buried, and the Eye. Because it was unintentional, I don’t know if she can keep it up, but in this balance she’s found a peace and a stability I’ve never heard in her before.

And that strangely leaves me hopeful about Martin as well. Because I think he may be intentionally balancing multiple powers. He’s stringing Peter Lukas along, clearly not the terrified and mindless thrall that Lukas was thinking this poor innocent boy was going to be. And I think he can do that because he’s been previously balanced between the Eye and the Web. And honestly, a Martin who forges a deliberate balance is one that interests me a lot. Martin has always been such a passive character that seeing him become passive aggressive with both Elias and Peter has been heartening. Now, honestly, I want him to get even more proactive. I really want a Martin who is using Peter far more than Peter is using him, and because of his connections with the Web, Peter doesn’t even know it’s happening. I want a Martin who comes out the other side of this plotline having created a unique balance between his own fear of being alone, his desire for knowledge, and his desire for control and slight tendency toward manipulation. Any of the powers on its own destroys those it claims (every avatar who truly embraces their powers is evidence of that, and Lagorio is just a very overt example of being ultimately consumed by his own power), but those who manage the balance may be the only people who can actually achieve a degree of mental well-being and real, independent power in the entire show.

Either way, I’m very excited to have not one but two characters who may be intentionally or unintentionally dabbling in the balance between multiple powers. Daisy is getting more and more interesting, and through her I’m getting interested in what Martin might do as a parallel. And that’s a solid place to be.

Conclusions

Robert Smirke has been my favorite and most intriguing background character since his introduction. His whole balance-and-fear thing is such a different approach to the powers than any of the avatars or other worshippers have attempted. I have to imagine that achieving that balance is incredibly difficult, and maintaining it without being torn apart must be even harder. But he managed it. Leitner managed it. And now both Daisy and Martin might be managing it. It all may end terribly, but I am really excited that we’ve possibly got two characters trying to find that balance.

#The Magnus Archives #analysis

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breg21 · 5 years

Text

Ladrien Week: Valentine’s Day

@ladrienjune

Fanfiction Ao3

Sweets, sweets, and more sweets.

Cupcakes are gooooooddd. Hope you enjoy!

Neither hardly noticed when, in a blink of an eye, four months pass.

While they were starting to become more bold with going out and enjoying the day— always making sure that they didn't get caught by paparazzi of any of the sort— they still liked their time in his room.

Like, for instance, right now it was nearing two in the morning on the weekend— week days they were regulated to a One AM curfew because of school, which they actually kept to pretty well, considering it was only themselves that could inforce it— both in front of the TV, controller in hand as she and Adrien battled bot against bot.

She was detransformed with a Ladybug mask she had gotten just for the occasion. She wore Adrien's clothes, as to not be identified by her civilian outfit, and she wouldn't deny the coy smile that had graced her lips at the look in his eyes at the sight of her in his clothing.

It also allowed Tikki to rest, which she was happily doing on a plate of cookies Adrien had provided her— the two actually got along quite well. Two peas in a pod almost.

Every now and then, she'd mindlessly pluck a sweet that he had set on the table for them to munch on, her fingers always going for the cupcake with chocolate frosting first.

As the game intensified, with tongue sticking out in concentration, she plucked one of the cupcakes up from its plate and licking the frosting clean off before taking the tiny cake into her mouth to consume.

And with only one hand, she won the game.

She jumped up from her spot on the couch, whooping in victory, all the while, Adrien grumbled about how unfair it was that she literally beat him with one hand.

She sunk back down into the couch, rubbing her nose against his cheek. "All's fair in love and war, hot stuff.."

He grumbled again, but there was no heat attached to it. "Anyways," He said as he went to change the subject. "Valentine Day's just around the corner, and I was wondering if you'd like to do something special? I have the plans all sorted out, I'd just have to direct you there as we go, but I already have a thing set in motion. But only if you'd want to, of course."

Ladybug squealed, throwing herself at her boyfriend. "I'd definitely want to go! So, on Valentine's day? That's…" She paused to look at the date on his phone, smiling at the background picture of them cuddled up together. "In three days. Should I be by early?"

He shook his head. "Nah, usual time should be good. Less people out, the better."

She nodded in agreement and settled into the silence around them as they decided to pick one last game to play before she was to head home. But that silence didn't last before Adrien broke it once more. "Hey, I was wondering…"

She looked away from his stack of games and met his eyes. "Yeah?"

He moved from his couch over to his computer desk, and grabbed something flimsy— almost like….paper— off of the desk and handed it over.

It was the Valentine's day card she had given to him. He had gotten it.

He kept it.

"I..um…" He hardly got nervous around her anymore, but in the few cases that he did, Ladybug found it adorable. "I had been hoping it was from you."

She smiled. "It.. it was."

A smile of his own flashed across his lips. "T-that's great. Really great." He paused, as if to consider what he wanted to say next. "At one point, I thought it was a friend from school, but then I realized that she probably likes this other boy, so it couldn't have possibly from…..her…."

His words trailed off as he took her in, as he really looked at her, as if he was looking through her— through her mask. He was studying her.

And as quickly as he looked at her, he shook away whatever thought that had been lingering in his mind.

Ladybug couldn't help the way her shoulders slumped just a bit at that. At the possibility that he was considering who she might be and just maybe was making the connection. Even if she should be relived. She should be. She was. She was.

But she couldn't help but wonder. "Who… who did you think made that card for you?"

He chuckled a little. "Um, well, a friend from school: Marinette. Now, please don't be worried. She's just a friend."

Ladybug had to hold back the flinch her body automatically wanted to make at those words. "What… what if… hypothetically, I was Marinette. I'm only asking out of curiosity sake."

"Honest answer?"

She nodded.

His tongue ran the length of his bottom lip. "I would actually be pretty happy. Marinette's an amazing girl. Strong, brave, smart. She has a strong sense of justice. You are a lot alike, honestly. I mean, I've called her our everyday Ladybug because I truly believe that. But you couldn't be her, because she likes Luka. Besides, she's just starting to get comfortable around me."

Ladybug felt as if her brain was ready to explode. He thought about her like that? He thought that highly of her? If Ladybug never existed, would they be together? So may thoughts with this new insight. She couldn't tell him that he was wrong, that he didn't make her uncomfortable. But one thing couldn't help but slip through.

"What makes you think she liked Luka?"

His eyes went sideways once before going back to her. "I don't know. I saw them at the ice rink, and it kinda seemed like… she well, liked him, I guess."

Her heart dropped to her stomach. She wanted to correct him. Tell him. Tell him that she actually loved him— Adrien. So many things that she wanted to do.

But what she wanted, and what needed to happen were to completely different things.

And a good superhero listened to her head, not her heart. No matter how much the heart wanted to speak.

The date finally arrived, and she had been directed to take them to a random rooftop that had an amazing view of the city.

And what was set before her was a table with arrange of her favorite— and a couple of his as well— foods.

But the best food that he had on the table was the cupcakes that she could eat days on in.

Did… did he know that was her favorite of all the sweets? Sure, a chocolate cupcake was simple and anyone could make it, but she had a soft spot for the plain deserts.

"I can tell you like them so much because they're the first thing you look for when you're distracted. Every time in fact. You know, I'm more observant than you think."

He noticed. He cared to the point that the smallest things about her was what he wanted to learn about her. Even if it was as simple and plain as a cupcake, the effort that he put into making sure everything that she wanted was what she wanted. She was a priority to him, and that just made her heart flutter a little more so.

She turned her head just slightly to see that signature goofy grin plastered on his lips. It was one he only used for her. It made her feel all the more special.

Her gaze continued to go back between the dinner table and her boyfriend. "You did all this….for me?"

He pulled her in close, sliding his arms around her waist. "You and only you, Lovebug. Now, c'mon. This dinner isn't gonna eat itself."

She laughed, hugging him just a bit tighter. "Kay."

They took their seats, but not before he pulled her chair out for her, being the gentleman that he was.

Once both comfortable, Adrien raised his glass of orange juice, asking her to do the same. "Happy Valentine's day, Ladybug."

"Happy Valentines Day, Adrien."

#ladrienjune #mlb #ml #Miraculous Ladybug #love square #Ladrien

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