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quickspinner · 11 months

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Indelible - Ch 22 Foot

Luka hugged Renée, grinning as they both stepped back to look at each other. “It’s good to see you,” he said, “Sorry it has to be a business lunch. They’re really packing my schedule lately.”

“I bet they are, but I’m not complaining,” Renée laughed as they sat down at the cafe table. “You’re really making a mark these days, and a scoop with you will feed me for months.”

“I’m just a mealticket to you,” Luka sighed dramatically, and Renée laughed.

“A girl’s gotta eat,” she teased, waving the menu at him. “And so do you. Have you lost weight?”

“A little,” Luka admitted, with a tired smile. It was nice, not to have to put up a front for Renée. “We’re just busy. Our tour manager makes sure I eat regularly, though, I promise. Nobody wants their mealticket wasting away.” He winked as Renée grinned at the joke.

“Well, shall we get the work talk out of the way?” she asked, flipping open her notebook, and Luka settled back with a sigh.

“Can’t we order first?” he complained.

“I already ordered,” Renée told him, and grinned when he gave a half-hearted glare. “No more delays, let’s get into it.”

“If we must,” Luka sighed, and let Renée grill him about the expansion of the tour, the new cities they had added, and the rumors about a second album. The food was good; Renée still remembered what he liked, so at least he enjoyed the meal while he endured the questions.

Finally, she closed her notebook, and Luka relaxed a little. There was still something about Renée’s bloodhound mode that put him on edge, even though he trusted her.

“So, I have a question about Marinette,” Renée said suddenly, leaning forward and putting her elbows on the table.

Luka looked up, surprised, and met her gaze.

“Rumor is she’s dating Felix Graham de Vanily,” Renée continued, watching his face. “Is it true?”

Luka blinked, and then shrugged. “Maybe. I haven’t talked to her for a while, actually.” At the quirk of Renée’s eyebrow, he felt compelled to add, “We’ve both been busy. We talked on her birthday, but not much since.”

“Hm.” Renée eyed him. “And you’re okay with that?”

“I’m okay with whatever makes Marinette happy,” Luka replied, not looking away. “I always have been.” “What was all that business at New Year’s, then?”

Luka winced. Of course she knew about that. She’d been there, after all, and she was observant. “Just a little too much champagne, that’s all. I got a little carried away. I care a lot about Marinette but she’s never been interested in me that way. I accepted that a long time ago. I just had a little…slip in judgment that night. We talked it out afterwards and life goes on.”

Renée frowned, tapping her fingers on the table. “Life goes on, so she decides to date a guy that’s practically her ex’s twin? Don’t you find that a little weird?”

Luka snorted. “I’ve known Marinette a long time. It doesn’t seem like that big of a stretch to me. I don’t think it will last, though.” He closed his mouth on the rest of what he might have said. He didn’t want to be talking about Marinette behind her back. He already felt guilty enough about talking to Adrien about her, even though Adrien’s reassurance that Felix, while self-absorbed and pretentious, wasn’t really a bad guy, had eased Luka’s mind considerably. There was still a niggling suspicion in the back of his mind that Marinette’s infatuation with Felix was more about a second chance at the life she thought she was getting with Adrien, but that wasn’t something he intended to discuss with Renée.

“Well, I hope she knows what she’s doing,” Renée said, finally leaning back into her seat with a slight slouch. “Her reputation’s taking a hit. ‘Gold digger,’ is one of the nicer things people are calling her.”

“She’s a big girl,” Luka sighed, although those headlines had bothered him too. “She can make her own choices.”

Renée shot him one more short glance. “But she hasn’t told you she was dating him?”

Luka shook his head, hands tightening on the arms of his chair. He didn’t want to admit how much that bothered him. At least when Marinette had started dating Adrien she’d had the decency to call him herself.

Not that he was entitled to priority news updates on her love life. Of course not. It just…would have been nice if she had let him know. Or, you know. Talked to him literally at all. He couldn’t seem to get through to her at all these days, and her text responses were long delayed and short. It hurt more than he wanted to admit, when he had the time to think about it. Fortunately time was not something he had a lot of lately.

“So what’s your mom up to these days?” Renée asked abruptly, and Luka smiled, appreciating the change in conversation, though he paused to check the time before leaning back in his chair and picking up his cup of tea.

“You’re gonna love this one,” he said dryly, “So I’m three countries away and I suddenly get a call from Juleka—”

***

Luka had to give his label credit, they didn’t sleep on an opportunity. He rubbed his tired eyes and leaned his chin on his elbow as he handed the freshly signed paper back to Lucille. “What’s next?”

“That’s it,” said Lucille with a smile, squaring the stack of paper in her hands. “Congratulations, you’re officially signed for a second album and a headline tour to promote it. Now all you have to do is write and record it.”

Luka grinned weakly. “You make it sound so easy, while I’m still in the middle of this tour’s circus.”

“You’re doing a great job, Luka,” Lucille told him, leaning forward to squeeze his shoulder. She looked at him closely, and Luka tried to pull himself together and look a little more alert. “You’re sure you’re up for all this? We’ve just put an awful lot on your plate with these extra shows.”

Luka nodded, straightening up. “I’ll be glad when it’s over,” he admitted, “and I don’t think I’ll be able to get too much writing done until it is, so I’ll have to buckle down over the break to get everything written, demoed, and recorded, but it’ll be worth it.”

“Your one-on-one interview go okay? The one with your friend?”

Luka blinked for a moment. His talk with Renée seemed like it was months ago but in reality it had only been a few weeks. “Yes, I think so. She should be about ready to release, so I was going to call her and let her confirm the new album now that the ink’s on paper.”

Lucille nodded slowly and sat back. “How’s the new kid working out?”

Luka’s grin was a little more genuine. “Yann? He’s great. You wouldn’t expect anyone as quiet and shy as he is to be able to get shit done like he does, but he’s amazing. I’d definitely like to have him for the next tour if he’s willing.”

Lucille nodded. “I’ll talk to him and get a contract worked up. The label’s finally waking up to how awesome you are,” she grinned as Luka ducked his head, “So I should be able to get some concessions to make the next bit easier.” She stood and bopped Luka lightly on the head with the stack of her papers. “Just don’t overdo it. Make sure you’re taking care of yourself. Every rockstar is a human being who needs to eat and sleep and gets hung over if they drink too much.”

Luka bit back the yes, mom that wanted to escape and just nodded. “Thanks for flying out, Lucille. It really helps to do all this contract crap in person. Too many distractions when you’re not here to chase people away.”

Lucille laughed. “Of course. I’d be here more often if I could.” She sighed with a touch of frustration, and then smiled at him. “Looking forward to the show tonight. It’s been ages since I’ve been able to see you play live.”

“I’ll try to make you proud.”

***

Every day felt like a whirlwind now, with publicity events and signings in addition to the extra tour stops. Road days were almost a relief, when Luka could finally sit down, put on his headphones and let his brain wander for a while. They usually stopped being a relief by the seventh or eighth hour, when he was ready to get up and move a little bit, but Yann was observant and generally knew when one of them needed a break. He usually found them a rest stop before they went for each other's throats. Still, by the time they got to their hotel at night they were all glad to pile out of the van, find something to eat, and separate to their own rooms for a while.

It was their last scheduled show with Jagged and predictably, everything in proximity to Jagged was a madhouse. Luka brought his dinner back up to the room, hoping for some peace, and found Dingo was sitting on his bed. Dingo frowned down at some slightly crumpled sheets in his hands. Luka froze for an instant, knowing immediately what those papers were, but he covered it as well as he could, shutting the door behind him and walking past Dingo.

“You been working on this again?” Dingo asked, looking up and waving the pages at him. “This is the one you started at the beginning of the year, right?” He hummed a bit of the tune, and Luka winced a little.

“Yeah,” Luka said, keeping his back to his friend as he set his to-go container down and checked his phone. He answered yet another text message from one of Marinette’s friends, asking if he’d heard from her. Apparently he wasn’t the only one she was ghosting lately. He wasn’t sure whether to feel worried or relieved. “It's still not done though. Where’d you find those sheets, anyway? I forgot where I put them.”

“They were on the floor this morning.”

“Huh. I must’ve dropped them out of some—”

“Play it.”

Luka looked up, brow furrowing. “What?”

“I wanna hear it,” Dingo said, holding the sheets out to him. “Play it. You weren’t near this far along with it last time I heard it.”

Luka shrugged, taking the papers. He didn’t really need them, but it was as good an excuse as any to take them back. “It’s not ready,” he said, shoving them inside one of his bags.

Dingo rolled his eyes. “Don’t bullshit me, mate, just play it.”

Luka sighed, and pulled his guitar case up onto his bed. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he said lightly as he unzipped it, but he could see the way Dingo’s brows were furrowed above his shades and knew. Dingo wasn’t going to let it go. As much as he wanted to pretend like the song was nothing, Luka felt all his muscles tense up as he played the first few chords. His hands stilled and he shook his head.

“Keep going,” Dingo insisted, and Luka sighed. He kept playing, gritting his teeth against the feelings that were flooding back. As soon as he’d gotten as far as he could go, he stopped playing and lifted the strap over his head.

“I’m not ready to finish it,” Luka declared, shaking his head as he put the guitar on the bed. “I might not finish it at all.”

“Why not? It’d be nice to play something with some teeth to it,” Dingo asked, tilting his chin down to look at Luka over the rim of his sunglasses. Luka was tempted to tell him he looked like one of their old high school teachers, about to ask why they weren’t meeting their potential. “We could use a little more bite in our sound, if you ask me.”

Luka just shook his head. “Not the right time. I don’t have time to think about it right now, anyway. Our schedule's insane for the next few weeks with all those big stadium shows they added.”

Dingo groaned, flopping back on the bed with his arms wide. “I’m so bored, Lu. I thought we’d have some fun playing with Jagged again but this leg has been nothing but contracts and paperwork and scheduling and blah blah blah.”

Luka huffed a laugh. “You haven’t made anything explode in months, I can see why. Tell you what,” he added, picking up a drumstick from the table and chucking it at Dingo, who managed to snatch after it bounced off him. “Grab your gear while I eat. Our stuff’s already set up for rehearsal. We'll go jam. You can lead and I’ll find something to go along with it. If we come up with anything decent, we’ll work on it in the breaks. I’ve got to start coming up with something for this next album anyway and I’m not making much progress on my own.”

“Hell yeah,” Dingo cheered, twirling the drumstick as he leaped off the bed. “Think we can make enough noise to make Jagged’s roadies complain?” He grinned wickedly. “If any of them can even hear anymore anyway.”

Luka rolled his eyes. “At the rate Jagged fires people they probably don’t have time to go deaf,” he muttered, but he was grinning as he opened his food.

***

Luka groaned and rolled over to answer his phone. “It’s the middle of the night here, Rose,” he grumbled, glancing at the other bed. The shadowy lump that was Dingo didn’t move, and the snores didn’t stop. Luka wasn’t surprised; they’d done three shows in a row this week and they were all exhausted.

“Good, then you’re free. You’ve barely been answering my texts. What’s going on with Marinette? Have you seen what the papers are saying?”

“Missed you too, Rose. Where’s Juleka?” Luka asked, then cleared his throat. He was getting hoarse. He’d have to try and rest his voice tomorrow.

“Asleep. She doesn’t want to talk about it. She thinks I should just leave it alone.”

Luka sighed through his nose. “She’s right, you know. Marinette can date who she wants.”

“But she wants you !”

“Apparently she doesn’t.”

“I can’t accept that. I’ve seen you two together. How am I supposed to leave this alone ?” Rose hissed. “You’ve been in love with Marinette your whole life! The last time I saw the two of you together you might as well have been married the way you acted! Not just you, her too!”

“Well, she met someone else,” Luka sighed, rubbing at his eyes. “It happens.”

“Luka! You need to go see her. Go—go do something about it!”

“Do what, Rose?” Luka asked. “Even if I could leave, which I really can't right now, what do you expect me to do? Beg?”

Rose sighed like he was the dumbest person alive. “Not right away. Sweep her off her feet first! Show her how romantic you can be and that you're just as much her fantasy prince as this, this Felix guy!”

“I'm not though,” Luka muttered.

“ Then you tell her you can't live without her and beg her to come back with you?”

Luka snorted. “And do what?”

“Luka if you don't know what to do after that we need to have a whole different talk.”

“You know what I mean.” Luka rolled his eyes. “I get her back here and what? Cram her and her sewing machine in the back of the van where she can spend all her time on the phone with her lawyer trying to explain why she broke her contract.”

“You're being very unCouffaine right now.”

“Well somebody in this family had to grow up eventually,” Luka snapped. “Rose, do you know how many people’s paychecks I'm responsible for right now?

Rose was quiet for a moment, and when she spoke, she sounded almost hurt. “Don't you want to fight for her?”

“ No ,” Luka replied, with unexpected force, and then he softened his voice. “No, Rose, I don't want to fight for her. I don't want to argue, I don't want to beg. I want to be enough, just like I am.” The words rang in his head and he rolled over, blindly grabbing at the notepad and pen on his nightstand. He flipped on the lamp, blinked against the light, and scribbled the words down quickly. He had enough time to finish, turn off the light, and lay back again before Rose had processed what he said enough to reply.

“Oh, Luka,” Rose sighed. “But she does love you. I'm sure she does. You guys were getting so close again, I was sure—”

“I know,” Luka muttered. “We were wrong, though, Rose.”

“Well it was a shitty thing to kiss you like that and then freak out,” Rose griped, and Luka has to laugh at the unexpected curse.

“Rose—” he began, but she cut him off.

“No!” Rose snapped, and Luka could picture her stamping her foot. “No, I don't have to be okay with this. It's not fair and it's not fine and you deserve better.”

Luka couldn't help smiling, though weakly. “Thanks, Rose. I love you, okay?”

Rose sighed. “I love you too.”

“Are you going to be there for the Paris show?”

“Luka,” Rose said, again as if he were stupid, “Your first headline show at the Eiffel Tower? Of course we’re going to be there. All three nights in fact. Then I’m going to make sure you sleep for a week and feed you your weight in—in food,” she finished lamely, and Luka laughed.

“I’ll see you guys in a couple weeks, then,” he promised. “Now good night, Rose.”

***

It felt like a dream when he got out of the van and looked up at the tower that had been a daily sight in his childhood. It was lit up, and the grandstands were being set up in front of it. He’d watched his first Jagged Stone concert here.

And now it was his name up there on the banner. It didn’t feel real.

The concert personnel swept in and Luka followed Yann’s murmured directions almost in a daze. They ushered everyone to the trailers set up for the performers to get ready. Sound check, hair, makeup, it was was a madhouse, but one that had become routine.

The first two shows went by in a blur, the high of performing mixed with worry that something would go wrong, and the jangling dissonance of both knowing the whirl and rush of the tour would soon be over, and feeling like it would never end.

Luka still wasn’t used to having his own dressing room, but as they started booking larger shows, Lucille had begun stipulating for one, and Yann made sure he got at least five minutes to himself, without dressers and makeup people and coordinators running in and out. Luka appreciated having a space of his own where he could, for at least a little bit, shut out the world and breathe, and appreciated even more that the people supporting him realized he needed it. Luka’s heart sped up even at the thought of an entire tour with this much spectacle. He hoped he would get used to it.

Luka was in the middle of those five quiet minutes, sitting with his eyes closed and counting his breaths, when the door swung open, making him jump. He opened his eyes, and then blinked them in astonishment at the woman standing in the doorway. “Kagami.”

“Luka.” She stepped inside and shut the door behind her, then turned to face him, ramrod straight and businesslike as always in a pants suit with sharp lines, white over a red shirt. Luka got to his feet, fidgeting with his rings, feeling very aware of his stage clothes and makeup.

“This is unexpected,” he said, unable to think of anything else. Outside of the occasional congratulatory text, probably prompted by Marinette, he hadn’t seen or heard from Kagami in years.

As casual acquaintances brought together by a mutual friend, they’d always been cordial, but never really friendly. Kagami had never been comfortable around him, and he understood. She presented a poised, perfect, carefully curated version of herself to the world, and his presence upset her balance. That he would never tell her secrets was irrelevant; he could read them, and that was already too much. Luka had always tried to respect her reticence, but she was perceptive in her own way.

“I know,” Kagami replied crisply. “I came to talk about Marinette.”

Luka’s eyebrows shot up. “Now?”

“Yes, now,” Kagami said a little sharply, crossing her arms, a slightly irritated expression cracking her mask. Oddly, it made Luka feel a little better, since it reminded him of the suffering expression she’d often worn when they were out with Marinette as kids. “I’m worried about her,” Kagami added stiffly, when Luka said nothing. “I’m sure you are too.”

“Some,” Luka admitted, and sat back down on the couch, gesturing Kagami to the makeup chair. She eyed it for a moment, and then sat down in it, careful not to lean back. “I don’t see that there’s anything I can do, though. I can barely get her to text me back, let alone pick up the phone.”

“Don’t you find that concerning?” Kagami asked, eyes narrowing slightly as she looked him over again. “It’s not like Marinette not to keep in touch.”

Luka tilted his head slightly. “She’s not talking to you either.”

Kagami looked away.

They were silent for a moment.

“What exactly are you planning to do?” Luka asked.

“I’m going to get her,” Kagami said flatly, giving him a look like it should have been obvious. “I want you to go with me.”

Luka choked on the “Now?” that wanted to come out. Of course now. That was how Kagami was. Never mind that he had a stadium full of people waiting for him.

Well….after the show. If she was willing to wait until after the show, he could go. Technically, after tonight, he was free. There'd be meetings to reschedule and all that corporate bullshit, but...he could go.

Except, there was the new album he'd promised, which he'd barely made a start on. He was on a deadline to get everything witten, demoed, and cut for the album, and if that didn't get done on time then all the plans they had made for next season would come crashing down, and where would that leave him? Him, and the bandmates that trusted him to fulfill his obligations, and the producers who took a chance on him, and Lucille who'd worked so hard to get him the independence he wanted, and Yann, who was already on contract for the next tour...Luka had caught Dingo looking at engagement rings on his phone last night.

“I talked to Adrien,” Luka said finally. “He said that Felix is all right. A bit sharp, but not cruel. Dedicated to the ones he loves.”

Kagami snorted softly, rolling her eyes. “You trust Adrien’s judgment?”

“Not entirely,” Luka admitted. “You know he tends to think the best of people. I do think there’s probably some malice on Felix’s side, dating Adrien’s ex-girlfriend.”

“Undoubtedly. Felix is a much more aggressive opponent than Adrien, and more ruthless. Whether that is his primary motivation or not, Felix will be aware of the effect it has on Adrien, and he will enjoy it.”

“You’ve met him?”

“Briefly, once or twice, when Adrien and I were dating. Not for very long at a time, and it was many years ago,” Kagami admitted. “He won’t be good for Marinette. He won’t be good to her. He is selfish and insular and…and he likes to win.”

Luka let that sink in for a moment. “Adrien doesn’t think Felix would hurt her.”

“Not physically,” Kagami agreed grudgingly.

“What are you afraid he is doing to Marinette?” Luka asked, deciding to go straight to the point. He had a show to put on, after all.

“I…don’t know,” Kagami admitted, standing abruptly and walking across the room, folding her hands behind her back. “I only know that she won’t talk to me, she won’t see me, and it all started when she took this job with Felix. She wouldn’t just get too busy to talk to m—us. She never has been before, no matter what was going on.”

Luka shrugged. “If she’s in love with Felix then she might just not be thinking about anyone else. Caught up in the pink sparkles, or whatever.”

Kagami’s hand went to a place high on her thigh. “She wouldn’t just forget us.” Her voice was tight and trembling.

Luka found his own hand resting on his side, and tore his thoughts away from washed out colors and blurred lines. He forced his hand down and sighed, trying to be gentle. “I think we both know that neither of us is exactly objective in this situation, Kagami.”

“That is irrelevant,” Kagami insisted. “She’s our friend. Shouldn’t we protect her?”

“From what?” Luka asked, and the words betrayed his frustration. He stood up and paced the small room himself. “Making stupid choices? If she wanted our opinions, she knows where to find us. If she hasn’t asked by now, it’s because she doesn’t want to hear what I—what either of us have to say about it.”

“She listens to you,” Kagami said stiffly, uncomfortable with his emotion. She looked away from him. “If you went there she’d see you. She’d talk to you.”

“You don’t know that, and this time neither do I.” Luka stared at his toes. If only he hadn’t kissed her. If only she hadn’t kissed him , and tangled everything up. Maybe she would still feel safe to talk to him. Maybe he would feel safe asking her to. “You go, if you think you need to,” he said softly, after a moment. “She might not listen to you, but she’ll see you, and at least you can make sure she’s all right. I trust you to recognize…if anything else is going on.” He knew even the strongest women could end up in bad situations, but he still couldn’t imagine anyone lifting a hand against Marinette unopposed and unpunished. Certainly he couldn’t imagine Felix doing it. Manipulative and ambitious Felix might be, but if there had ever been a time when Felix had to resort to physical coercion, it must have been a deep disappointment to him. It wasn’t the kind of victory he would savor. It would be no kind of victory over Adrien if Marinette stayed with him out of fear, after all.

Luka shook his head. No, Felix would have to make her love him to be satisfied. Luka knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that if he went and confronted Marinette about Felix, that regardless of Luka’s intentions, it wouldn’t be a conversation about what Marinette really wanted, about whether this was really the best choice for herself. One way or another, it would become him or me , a choice between Felix and Luka, with the loser shut out for life.

Luka had never been her choice, and he had always respected that. He shook his head. It wasn’t that he was cutting his losses, but…

“I think I’ve given enough,” he said, very quietly, and he heard Kagami sigh.

“Maybe you have,” she agreed. “And yet, I’m disappointed.”

Silence fell, and neither of them moved.

Finally another huff of air left Kagami, and he heard the slide of her shoes and the whisk of her pantsuit as she turned to leave. The door opened, but then she paused.

“Should I call you if anything happens?”

“Of course.” It didn’t have the vehemence, the conviction it would have had a year ago, but it was still an unalterable truth. He would be there if she needed him. If Marinette needed him.

She needs you now , a voice whispered in his mind as the door shut behind Kagami, and Luka shook his head to clear it. Maybe she did, and maybe she didn’t, and the fact that he didn’t know the answer was unsettling all by itself. Wasn’t that proof enough that she was pushing him away? How could he, with all his tangled feelings, ever hope to go into a situation like that with anything like neutrality? How could he possibly be anything besides a complication?

Let her choose first. Then he would be there for her, if he needed to be.

Yann threw the door open, pale and clearly flustered. Luka would have to have a word with Kagami about frightening his staff, apparently. “We’re running late now, are you ready?”

“Yeah,” Luka said, shaking his arms out in an attempt to settle his nerves. “Guess I’ll have to be.”

Fiction Master Post

#quickspins #indelible #lukanette #lukanette endgame #endgame lukanette #marinette dupain-cheng #luka couffaine #miraculous ladybug #miraculousladybug #pro lukamari

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