#Music is Often simpler than words // Luka | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

theriveroflight · 4 years

Text

sweet song of love

Rating: T

Word Count: 2677

Pairings: Lukadrien, Marigami, platonic Adrinette & Adrigami

Summary: A double date, except the two couples are seeking to get together instead of being together in advance. Fun, right?

For @the-fourth-queen as part of the @lukadrien-winter exchange!

Read on AO3

Thursday morning. Sometime before Christmas.

“Hey, Adrien,” Marinette asks. They’re at school, sitting next to each other because Alya and Nino are both absent due to illness.

Adrien hopes they hadn’t caught it from each other, but that is a distinct possibility. “Yeah?”

“I was thinking, since you can’t come over for Christmas, we could go to the Christmas shops and I was going to plan out a mini Secret Santa, kind of. I’ll be asking Kagami because she can’t do Christmas with us either, but you can bring whoever you want, and it’ll just be the four of us.”

“And because you have a crush on her,” Adrien teases. “It’s okay, by the way, because I was going to ask Luka and make it an attempt at a double date. And maybe we can both get the people that we want to be with.”

She offers him a fistbump. “I was thinking this Saturday after you both have fencing practice — you don’t have anything after, right?”

“I don’t, but something might come up — I’ll text you if something comes up.” Adrien smiles. The bell rings to signal the beginning of class, and Ms. Bustier breezes into the classroom to stand at the board and begins teaching.

Adrien scrolls slowly through his phone to find the unnamed contact in it — sometimes, he has to put in the number again, because he has to delete it before he lets someone look at his phone, but he makes it work. He texts Luka quickly, extending him the invitation to Marinette’s...outing...with Kagami. He doesn’t call it what he wants to, because they aren’t boyfriends (yet?).

Luka responds with a yes, and he doesn’t say anything but he’s tempted to jump for joy or squeal or something overly enthusiastic.

Well, Adrien needs to do some homework, and then practice piano, and hopefully there won’t be an akuma attack to interrupt that.

It’s just a matter of waiting until Saturday.

He ends up abandoning the homework in favor of improvising something on his piano. While he’s been neglecting practice in favor of being Chat Noir, he doesn’t really enjoy the pieces.

Kitty Section renews his enthusiasm towards music — their songs are simpler than the classical that Father insists he play, but they’re more energetic, and he can feel the energy there when he plays with them. Not that he gets to very often — but it’s still something that he enjoys.

And, of course, thoughts of Kitty Section bring with them thoughts of Luka. His fingers still upon the keys, pausing to think up something else. The emergent melody is something slow, improvised, more harmonious than he expects.

He hears Plagg snigger, and switches what he’s playing to the sheet music on the stand, playing more angrily than the piano dynamic marking requires of him.

There is no akuma attack to interrupt his practice. By the time it’s time for bed, he hasn’t even touched his homework.

***

Saturday morning comes, and with it the 8 AM fencing practice. Adrien’s always been a morning person, though, and so he’s been doing his homework since he woke up at 5:30.

Well, he took a break to eat, but otherwise it’s been almost all homework (that he neglected to do Friday due to the akuma attack).

It’s 7:30.

Shoot.

He quickly gets changed into his gear. The gym bag is all packed and ready to go, and he’s already eaten, so he just needs to get downstairs and get going to practice.

He runs downstairs. It’s 7:45 — he has time to walk, but he’s going to get driven anyways, so he’ll be early to practice.

He casually plays that Ladybug and Chat Noir match-3 game on the car ride, as short as it is. He only gets one round in before it’s time to go. Still couldn’t beat Evillustrator…

He deposits his bag in the locker room, and then proceeds to the area where they fence and begins to warm up.

Kagami begins doing jumping jacks next to him. They’ll pair up during practice (if not assigned to help the less advanced students, that is), but he isn’t going to ask her if she’s coming. He hasn’t heard from Marinette — he told her that Luka was coming for sure, but last he knew she still had yet to ask Kagami to come along.

Marinette was a late riser, though, so he doubts that she would have asked her if she still hadn’t on Friday at school, but perhaps she did after school and he just hadn’t heard about it yet.

Mr. D'Argencourt comes into the area.

He is the worst part of these practices — at least he tends to leave Adrien and Kagami to their own devices.

“Partner stretching,” Mr. D’Argencourt declares. “Hold your partner accountable for stretching. I will return in fifteen minutes to announce today’s activities.”

Adrien scoots over to sit across from Kagami. “Did Marinette ask you to come out with us to the Christmas market?”

“She asked me yesterday afternoon.” Kagami doesn’t elaborate any more. “I told my mother that I had a lunch and study session with some of my classmates for a few hours after fencing. Tatsu will be picking me up from the library at 1:30 PM.”

“That should be plenty of time to go to the markets and get lunch. I don’t know exactly what Marinette’s planned, but...”

Kagami nods. “I was hoping to take the opportunity today to confess my feelings for Marinette.”

“Best of luck, then.” He stands up to finish stretching. “Do you think I should go for it with Luka?”

“It can be difficult to discern his feelings, because I do not get to see him as often as you do, but I do not think you should be afraid of telling him. Even if he doesn’t reciprocate, you will both recover from it.”

Adrien nods, but it feels weird because he’s bent over going to touch his toes.

So...maybe he can take a chance.

***

He and Kagami walk from practice to the square where the market appears annually. He’s only heard about it — he’s never actually been.

Marinette and Luka are casually chatting when they get there. He checks the time — it’s 9:53.

“Alright. So, you’re going to draw a name from my purse,” Adrien spots a flash of red darting out, but he can’t tell exactly what it is. “If you get your own, put it back, because you shouldn’t get a gift for yourself. You can go round the market and buy something for the person you draw, and in an hour and a half, we’ll meet back up here for something to eat.”

Adrien reaches into the purse first. He withdraws Kagami’s name from the pouch.

Oh, thank goodness.

Kagami steps up at the same time as Luka to take the next slip. She goes to grab one, unfolds it, and nods.

Luka withdraws a slip, unfolds it, and pockets it without doing anything else.

Marinette takes out the last one. “Perfect! I’ll see you all in an hour and a half, starting...”

“Wait,” Adrien says, “let me set a timer too so we can split up in pairs, or something.” He pulls out his phone and quickly sets the timer.

“You ready?” Marinette asks. He nods in reply. “Starting, now!”

Marinette takes Kagami by the wrist and walks off.

“I wasn’t expecting her to be so bold,” Luka remarks. “So, who’d you get?”

“What if it’s you?” Adrien asks.

“That question tells me it’s not.” Luka winks. “I have Marinette’s.”

“I got Kagami.”

He nods. “So they got us.”

“Well,” Adrien says, looking up at Luka, “that means that we can stick together to shop for them?”

“Of course.”

The two begin to explore the market.

“Look at this,” Adrien says as they walk by a stall, trying not to laugh too hard to the point where it drowns out his words. “I should totally get this. Kagami would love it.”

It’s a really awful sweater. “No you shouldn’t.” Luka lightly shoves him. “I already know what I’m getting for Marinette.”

“Then why are you with me? Wouldn’t it make more sense to just get it and go straight back?”

“Because I like...hanging out with you.”

“Aw, I knew you liked me,” Adrien says. But he doesn’t know that. He doesn’t.

He hears Luka mutter something, but Adrien doesn’t catch it.

“Come on, Adrien, we can get Marinette’s and then you can wander around looking for something fitting for Kagami.” Luka smiles at him, and though Luka isn’t physically dragging him, Adrien still feels compelled to go with him.

And then he spots it. There’s a shop with some wooden statues — they’re all fairly small, they can fit in the palm of his hand, and while most of them are Christmas-themed, there’s a small wooden Eastern dragon.

When he picks it up, the shopkeeper says, “You know, I wasn’t expecting to sell that today. It’s Christmas, after all.”

“This is for a friend of mine.”

“They say that the Eastern dragon brings good fortune.”

Adrien tilts his head. “Well, that’s not why I’m getting it. How much is this?”

“Seven Euros.” That’s...surprisingly reasonable.

“Do you do wrapping, or will I have to request somewhere else?”

“I can give you some paper?”

“Great.” Adrien holds out a 10-Euro bill, and the shopkeeper hands him back three. They grab the dragon, and wrap it in tissue paper. The wrapping is functional, but that’s all it needs to be.

“Thank you!” Adrien says to them. “Have a great day.”

Luka smiles when Adrien turns back to him. “I’m glad you found something good. You know, I’m not actually fond of shopping.”

“I...me too, kind of? This is different from all the other shopping I’ve done before.” Adrien pauses to think a little bit, but they keep walking. Luka’s directing them — he’s going to find Marinette’s gift. “I mean, I get to be with people that I like, and I’m free to buy whatever. If I want something ridiculous, I can do that, too.”

He looks up at the sky. Since when were the clouds that grey?

“We should get going,” Luka says, as though he’s reading Adrien’s mind.

“I always have an umbrella,” Adrien says, digging around in his bag. “Oh, huh, the one in here isn’t there. I might have moved it to my messenger bag after I gave it to Marinette...”

“Well, there’ll probably be a place where we can buy one.” Luka shrugs. “And then you can probably ask Marinette to give it back, next time you get the chance.”

The lights in most of the little popup shops are still out. “Yeah. Let’s get it before the rain starts.”

Adrien takes Luka’s hand, and they start running for the shop. Luka somehow knows where the stand is with what he wants.

Now it’s Adrien’s turn to wait while Luka browses — not that Adrien minds, it gives him the chance to take Luka in.

There are a lot of reasons why Adrien is fond of Luka. It starts with his care towards others, and ends with Viperion. Alphabetical list, after all.

Not like Adrien has a physical one, but the mental one is ingrained in his brain.

They both walk out of the tent, Luka with a small bag and Adrien carrying his present in his pocket with his gym bag still over his shoulder.

The skies open up on them. Adrien ducks under a tent to check the time they have left — they still have forty-five minutes before their timer. He texts Marinette, asking her where they’re meeting up now.

Marinette texts them directions to one of the food stands — well, at least they’ll be out of the rain.

Luka puts up his hood. “You ready?”

Adrien puts his bag over his head, a little bit of shelter. “As I’ll ever be.”

They go out into the rain, and the two of them begin to run in the direction given to them.

Adrien can tell Luka’s starting to run out of steam, so he slows down, even though being Chat Noir has fueled his endurance.

“Hey, you good?” Luka looks tired, hood soaked, and he’s still asking Adrien if he’s the one doing okay.

“I could ask the same as you,” Adrien replies, breathless not from the exercise but from Luka — it’s a miraculous moment, and in the Christmas lights it feels almost romantic.

“I...mean, it’s always good, as long as I’m with you.”

Adrien looks up at Luka. “Really?”

“We should keep moving.” Luka turns away. Adrien grabs his jacket.

“No, wait, this is important, because...”

“Adrien, I don’t...”

“Me too. ‘Cause I’m in love with you,” Adrien whispers, the sound of the downpour in the background fading away as he listens for what Luka says next.

“You are?” Luka replies.

They start to walk. “I don’t know when it started, but it was only recently that I realized,” Adrien says.

“I was distracted from realizing. It’s not that the person I liked wasn’t worthy of loving, but it’s you for me, right now.”

They arrive at the pavilion.

Marinette and Kagami are already sitting at a table.

“How’d it go?” Marinette asks, when they sit down. She and Kagami seem to be holding hands under the table, though Adrien couldn’t corroborate that without seeming suspicious.

“I think it went just fine,” Adrien says, looking over at Luka.

“Are we ready to begin exchanging gifts, then?” Kagami asks, removing a small box from her bag.

“I believe we are,” Luka answers.

“We’ll go in order of drawing,” Marinette declares, “so Adrien, you’re up.”

He removes the paper-wrapped statuette from his pocket. “Here you go, Kagami.”

She unwraps it from its packaging. “This looks very nice. I think it will compliment my room nicely. Thank you, Adrien.” She slides the box over to Luka. “I do not know you very well, but I still hope you enjoy this.”

He opens the box to find a ukelele inside the box. “Oh, cool,” Luka says, picking it out of the box and starting to strum a few chords, testing out the instrument. “Thanks, Kagami.”

She nods. “I’m glad my gift was to your satisfaction.”

“Well,” Luka says, “I had you, Marinette, and I hope you’ll like this.” He passes the bag to her over the table. “It got a little wet in the rain.”

She pries away the wet tissue paper to find a black cat glass ornament.

“I love it,” she says, smiling.

“I know you and Chat Noir are friendly,” Luka says, “so I decided to get you this.”

“Better than Ladybug,” she mutters. Then, louder: “Well, last but not least...Adrien, I know this time of year is hard for you, so I got you this at the market...” She passes him a box, with an ornament that’s a golden dove. “And I made you a sweater.”

“You did?!” Adrien says. He slides the box into his gym bag. She gives him a bag, with something soft in it.

He takes it out, and it is one of the worst things he’s ever seen. Adrien absolutely loves it.

“I actually knitted one for each of you,” Marinette says, taking one out of her backpack for Kagami and Luka, respectively. “Merry Christmas.”

Luka nods, looking at his sweater.

“Why are they so...strange?” Kagami asks.

“It’s called an ugly sweater,” Marinette explains. “They’re supposed to be like that.”

Kagami nods slowly.

Time flies as they chat away. Eventually, Marinette walks Kagami to the library, and it’s just Luka and Adrien.

“So, about the rain,” Luka says, “does that mean that...”

“I want to date you,” Adrien says. “I don’t know how we’ll go about that.”

“I want to be boyfriends with you, too.” Luka interlaces their fingers. “We’ll figure it out.”

And even though Adrien knows he’ll have to go back to his lonely home again, he feels the opposite of lonely, whatever that may be.

#miraculous ladybug #lukadrien #fanfiction #my writing #marigami #adrien agreste #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng

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noirewrites · 4 years

Text

Mending the Rip (Of My Shirt and Your Heart)

Kitty Section are practising when Luka’s favorite Jagged Stone shirt rips. Luckily his latest costume designer is on hand to fix it, but who knew Marinette could get so tongue tied? And doesn’t she only do that over boys she likes?

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Warnings: No Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Pairing: Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien Agreste/Kagami Tsurugi, Kagami Tsurugi & Marinette Dupain-Cheng

Tagging @aestheticnpoetic :)

Chapter 2: How Your Song RickRolls With My Heart

Luka couldn't understand how merely a few fluttering touches had turned the sweet, innocent angel into a devious seductress.

Once they were in the cabin, Luka let out a sigh of relief. Ironically, despite the open sky, it had been much more stuffy up on the deck compared to the cabin.

Finally the much-needed privacy , he thought.

“Huh?” Marinette asked, catching his attention. He was confused at first before he finally realised.

“Whoops, I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

“Kind of.” The girl giggled before setting her purse down and picking up her sewing kit. She sat down on the bed to thread the needle, and Luka gingerly took a seat on the other corner.

“That Lila girl was really something,” he mused out loud after a while, causing Marinette to jerk up in surprise as the needle slipped from her grasp.

Luka dove down to retrieve the needle at the same time as her, causing their heads to bump together. Muttering a quick “sorry”, she got up, allowing him to continue the search.

After a moment or two of searching, he finally found the needle. As he reached to pick it up, his hand brushed her leg, causing her to squeak.

“Sorry!” Luka immediately pulled his hand back, blushing a bit. “I didn’t mean that.”

“It’s okay,” Marinette giggled lightly, pulling her feet up to give him space.

Cheeks still burning slightly with embarrassment, he picked up the needle and handed it to her before getting back into his seat. She proceeded to fiddle a bit with it, trying to get the thread in the eye of the needle.

However, Luka needed to know why her heart song had been that—that different earlier today. He knew Marinette’s emotions could change easily, but he had memorised all melodies her song had played.

It was calm, sweet and serene when she was chill. It was like the beautiful notes of a flute whenever she was happy and excited. It was the sad undertones of a mourning song when she was sad or troubled, like the times when she had been getting over Adrien.

Whenever she went crazy and nervous with the hullabaloo of her life, her song was like a mix of all tunes known to man thrown together in an insane mashup. When she stood for the right, the tune carried the tone of pride in them. Whenever she was angered, her heart song raged on like the thrashing waves of an ocean in a storm.

But today, it had been disturbingly different.

Her heart song today had been like the screech of the car tires. Like nails on a blackboard. Like glass slicing through skin.

It was raw with pain, hurt and agony. It was totally wrecked, totally jagged.

“Marinette?”

“Hm?”

“Are you alright?” Luka asked again.

Marinette jolted in surprise, nearly dropping the needle before catching it.

“You won’t give up on that question? I thought you respected my secrets.”

“Secrets of the heart that you wanna keep close to yourself? Yes, I respect them and always will. But this…”

His voice trailed off, before he shook his head and tried to speak again, “Your heart song today troubled me a lot, ‘Nette. I know you prefer to keep your sadness to yourself, being brave and always trying to be happy, but—”

“But what, Luka?”

The boy sighed. “Even when you tried to change the subject when we were on deck? I could hear the undertones of your song of distress. And when you looked at Adrien with that sad look, it crescended again and— I know I am talking a lot in music but, but…”

It had hurt him the way her song had resonated in his chest. As if someone had pulled his heart out and stomped over it, right in front of his eyes. He loved this girl dearly — seeing her even in the slightest bit of distress made him want to chase her troubles away.

“Luka?”

Her voice broke him out of his thoughts, and he shook his head to regather himself. “I...your heart song sliced through my heart, Mari. Just this one time, I plead to you, share the reason for your distress with me.”

He placed his hand atop hers, hearing her breath hitch slightly.

“Please.” He said in a low, desperate tone, his eyes pleading.

Marinette sighed, holding his hand in hers as her sapphire gaze turned misty.

“It’s just… Adrien was the first person to know about Lila’s lies. But—but he told me to take the high road and not expose her. ‘Cause app-apparently, her lies weren’t harming anyone and…”

There it was. Her heart song slicing through his heart, again . And this time, he couldn’t bear it.

So he did what he deemed the best to heal that beautiful tune of hers.

Luka hugged Marinette, tight.

The girl froze in surprise. She stayed stiff as a statue, not returning the hug. Feeling he had crossed a line, Luka started to back off.

“I am sorry if I made you uncom— OOF! ”

Only to be engulfed by Marinette in a much tighter hug.

She sobbed into his chest, letting her emotions out. And Luka held her tight, patting her back gently as he kept a lookout for the evilised butterflies.

Her melody transitioned from the heart-wrenching tone to a soft, dull hum. An indication of her being sad, but calm.

They stayed like that for a while, before Marinette slightly shifted, causing Luka to immediately pull back. Her cheeks were tinged a bit pink as she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, looking anywhere but at him.

Maybe she is embarrassed , he thought to himself. Though he couldn’t quite understand why her song didn’t say the same. It was different again, this time something lighter and more harmonious.

Luka cleared his throat, causing her to shift her attention to him. Her eyes were still a bit swollen from crying, but the sadness had now evaporated from her expression, which was a plus.

Setting up his guitar, Luka set it on his lap, noting how Marinette’s eyes sparkled in curiosity.

He closed his eyes and began to strum the notes of the song that resonated in his heart.

As he played, he heard her gasp in surprise. Luka momentarily opened his eyes to find Marinette gazing at him, her hands clasped at her mouth as her eyes once again shimmered with tears.

The song reached a beautiful crescendo with her emotions, and Luka found himself drifting away with the magnificent tune. Finally ending the melody on a soft note, he turned over to the person who had, unknowingly, inspired this song out of him.

“That—” Marinette’s voice wavered slightly, before she gulped and tried again, “That was melodious, Luka. It was...it was like the chirping of birds, the sound of flowing crystal clear waters, the swishing of fresh mountain breeze — but a hundred times better.”

Luka smiled in return, putting his guitar to the side. Her song was back to the usual happy one, and he felt like he had accomplished something great, something worthy.

As he reached over to replace the guitar pick in its place, Marinette asked, “How did you come up with that? In fact, with all these tunes you play? I mean, what are the inspirations?”

He froze at the question.

How wrong she was to think that there were inspirations, when he only had one muse for all his melodies. The muse who had herself asked him that question.

Music is often simpler than words, but this time, even music failed to help him convey his thoughts. After all, how was he supposed to tell it to her face that he loved her? That his heart had fallen for her the day she had first entered his cabin, cutely stuttering a conversation with him. That despite it hurt him, he had still urged her to pursue Adrien. That despite her considering him as just a friend, he had still kept his heart on his sleeve for her.

Love is strange, but one-sided love...it is stranger.

Taking in a deep breath, he smiled at her, opting for a cryptic answer. “There’s only a single inspiration — a tune very close to my heart.”

If she knew which tune exactly was close to his heart, well, damn him.

Marinette hummed in reply, before going back to threading the needle.

Placing the guitar pick, Luka turned to her. She smiled, getting up from his bed.

“So, are you comfortable standing up while I sew the tear up? I mean, it would be easier for me to handle, but you’re probably tired and—”

“Oh, it’s fine by me.”

Marinette bent down to peer at the tear, fiddling with the fabric’s edges a bit. Feeling her breath on his skin, Luka’s brain finally caught up with the proximity he was sharing with his crush.

And as if Marinette wanted to highlight the closeness, her hand brushed against his stomach.

Luka stiffened, trying his best to not let her hear the hitch in his breath. He shifted his gaze down at her, and caught her looking up at him, her cheeks tinged pink.

“Sorry,” she whispered.

“It’s—it’s fine.”

As she resumed her work, Luka couldn’t lift his gaze off her. The way she stuck her tongue out as she focused on sewing the tear, her eyes trained on getting each stitch right — the musician tried desperately to stop his stomach from flip-flopping around, failing miserably.

Her hands fluttered over his shirt, the warmth of her body teasing him in unknown ways. Gulping, Luka tried to wander his mind to somewhere, anywhere that didn’t scream Marinette. Juleka claimed him to be the most patient of all people, but given his current situation….

In his defense, it wasn’t everyday one was this close to their crush.

Suddenly a sharp prick on his stomach caused him to jump slightly.

“Sorry! My hand slipped!” Marinette apologised fervently, causing him to chuckle a bit.

“No harm done, ‘Nette.” He was glad for this miniscule tension relief, but of course he didn’t say that.

Flashing him a radiant smile, Marinette ducked back to complete the task in hand, leaving him feeling jittery once again.

After what seemed like an eternity of unintentional teasing, Marinette finally leaned back.

“There, done! As good as new!”

The musician fiddled with his shirt. The tear was masked perfectly by the dexterous white sews, making the shirt as good as new.

Elated, Luka engulfed her in a tight hug, which she gladly returned.

“Thanks again, Marinette. You’ve made my day, really.”

“It’s no biggie Luka,” she giggled, waving him off bashfully.

“No, you need to know,” he held one of her shoulders, using his free hand to tilt her chin up. A shiver of delight ran through him on hearing her breath hitch and her cheeks tinge pink. “I know I’ve said this before, but I will say it again. You’re the most extraordinary girl, Marinette. Clear as a musical note and as sincere as a melody. And —”

"And?” she prompted, her voice a mere whisper.

Luka gulped a bit, the words seemingly dying on his tongue. It had been so easy earlier, but then, he hadn’t fallen that hard. But now? Getting closer to her had made him fall harder. And now, he was in so deep, that the mere thought of rejection terrified him.

He knew she didn’t want to date anyone right now. And that’s why he had kept his feelings to himself. But right now, something in him prodded him to stop being a coward and just, just spill out everything, every single thing he felt about her, cherished about her.

Gathering himself again, he silently whispered, “You’re the music that’s been playing inside my head since the day we first met.”

Marinette gasped a little, her eyes going slightly wide.

Meaningful silence shrouded the two, neither saying anything. But the reality that neither Marinette rejected him nor she pulled away made Luka’s heart beat faster. Maybe, just maybe, there was a slight sliver of hope that she was willing to give him a chance.

They stayed like that, gazing into each other’s eyes. The desire to know her answer was overwhelming him with every passing second. Finally, putting all his stupid anxieties away, he braved himself to ask the question again.

Only to be interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat.

The couple jerked back in surprise, scooting away from each other to maintain some distance between themselves. Luka turned his gaze to the entrance of the cabin to find a smirking Juleka standing there, holding his jacket in her hand.

He gave her a look that screamed “Oh, how nice your timing was, sis”. She replied by rolling her eyes in return.

Tossing the jacket to Luka and then gesturing towards the deck, Juleka moved upstairs, leaving the two lovebirds alone once more.

“I—uhm,” Marinette started to speak, before her voice trailed off into indistinguishable murmurs.

Tying the sleeves of his jacket around his waist, Luka put his hand in the pants pockets and shook his head lightly. “Guess we should go, they are expecting us upstairs.”

“Yeah, okay.”

He gestured for her to move first. Ducking her head, the designer moved out of the room. As she walked past him, Luka could see her cheeks still dusted in a beautiful pink.

Smiling ruefully, he followed her out, gently shutting the door behind himself.

Awkward silence stretched between them, neither talking to the other. Letting out a sigh at how he nearly managed to get the most wanted answer yet failed, Luka shook his head to drift the thoughts away. He looked up to catch Marinette glancing at him from the corner of her eye. However, as soon as their gaze met, she turned to look forward, not saying anything.

The excited chatter from the deck grew louder and louder as they continued to move up the stairs. However, it was one distinct voice that caught his attention.

“What if she is just playing with his feelings?”

He nearly ran into Marinette, for she had stopped at hearing that voice too.

Why wouldn’t she have? The voice was Lila’s, and the girl was well known for spinning tales regarding Marinette. Though only select people knew that they were actually tales, not reality.

Marinette and Luka stayed where they were, silently listening to the conversation.

“But why would Marinette play with someone’s feelings? She is the one who supports relationships,” Ivan’s gruff voice countered.

“Well,” Lila drawled out, “we know how she was devoted to Ad—”

“Her last crush?” Rose interrupted her all of a sudden. Luka could imagine the look the petite blonde would be giving Lila. Girl code was something sacred after all, he smiled at the thought.

“I— yeah, her last crush. But now he is with someone else and… I really find it hard to believe she moved on this quick. I mean, if she didn’t move on, then she is clearly choosing Luka as a second option, which is not a justice to his feelings. And if she did move on… well, will not she fall out of love for Luka that fast? Is this fair to him?”

Hearing her words, Luka felt just one emotion. Anger. Raw anger at how this lying doll was muddying Marinette’s name and trying to break her apart from him even before they were together. Marinette who was so sweet, so caring— that Marinette playing with someone’s feelings?

It was like claiming the sun to have risen from the west.

But what broke his heart was the silent sob that escaped Marinette. He felt an immediate urge to right her. And if he had to fight fire with fire, then so be it.

Immediately, Luka threw his jacket on Marinette’s shoulders, causing her to turn to him in surprise. Cradling her face in his hands, he swiped a gentle thumb beneath her eyes, wiping her tears away, before whispering, “Trust me on this.”

Saying so, Luka grabbed the girl’s hand. Ignoring her gasp, he marched forward to the deck, squinting a little as the sunlight hit his eyes. He heard a few murmurs go around about how Marinette was wearing his jacket, but the musician paid them no mind. For his entire focus was on defeating the lying doll’s malicious intentions.

“Lila,” he spoke in a calm voice, a very calm voice that caused the mentioned brunette to widen her eyes a bit as she turned to face him, “I am extremely glad that you care about my feelings, but I can assure you that Marinette feels the same about me.”

Everyone sans Lila gasped at the faux revelation. The girl beside him let out a squeak, her grip on his hand tightening all of a sudden.

The Italian squinted her eyes slightly in aggravation, before putting on an innocent expression, “Oh Luka, you don’t need to lie for her sake. You don’t always need to be the ‘Welcome’ doorma—”

“What makes you think I am lying?” He interjected. After all, he wasn’t saying complete white lies, for his next words were going to hold some truth in them.

“You weren’t there, down in the cabin when I confessed to Marinette—” Another series of gasps, along with a slight one from Marinette. That little gasp twinged at his heart in a bitter way, as he realised that she had not realised the truth behind his confession.

But ignoring the agony, Luka continued, “And she returned my feelings. She said so right after Jules left.” Turning to his sister, he asked, “Weren’t you there, Jules?”

“I—yeah. I kind of walked in on them. I told you guys,” the goth girl mumbled.

“There.” Luka shrugged, putting on a smile as he proved his point.

Lila gritted her teeth in anger, giving the musician a sense of satisfaction. But as her expression once again turned pleasant, he knew trouble was bound to come.

“Oh, I don’t know why, I still can’t place a finger on this. How about you to prove it to us here, right now? That you two are actually official?”

Luka couldn’t believe this girl.

Marinette clearly wasn’t comfortable, for her grip shifted in his, her fingers digging into his palm. Her song got those sad undertones too, along with some uncertain notes that highlighted her nervousness even more.

He wouldn’t do anything she wasn’t comfortable with, not at any cost.

As he prepared to give Lila another subtle verbal bashing, someone else spoke up.

“That’s incredibly rude of you to ask, Lila! Love doesn’t always need proof.”

It was Adrien.

Luka looked at the blond with surprise, before a little smile crept on his face. Marinette’s broken state and Kagami’s reprimands must have helped the Agreste boy gain a back bone.

“What do you mean, Adrien?” Lila asked, feigning confusion.

“Love is something that sprouts from within, Lila. An emotion that is always there with you in any form, be it romantic or platonic. One just needs to look for it. And it doesn’t need proof for its existence, for love has been there since creation has been there. Love is what builds this world, after all.”

There was a bout of silence, before the deck broke into an applause. For Adrien’s words had sure impacted everyone. As the now-flabbergasted brunette gazed at the Agreste boy in shock, Luka was thankful that he had finally got some time to think about how he would counter the Rossi girl’s need for proof.

That’s when amidst the applause, a tug at his hand caught his attention.

Looking down, he saw Marinette looking up at him with a pleading face as her nails scratched his palm. She opened her mouth to speak something, before closing it immediately and ducking it low, her cheeks slightly pink.

Luka’s breath caught in his throat, his mind totally puzzled. Did she really want him to —

Lifting her chin, he looked into her shimmering gaze questioningly. She caught his question and she bit at her lower lip tentatively. Her gaze darted around a bit, before it finally focused on him. Something steeled in her eyes and they fluttered close as she leant in.

Taking in her answer, Luka gulped slightly as he leaned in and closed the distance between them.

Brushing his lips with hers, Luka leant back a bit. The kiss would be enough of the proof Lila desired and would also not make Marinette that uncomfortable.

But what surprised him was the pair of lithe arms that wrapped around his neck, before pulling him back into the kiss.

Luka's eyes widened a bit in shock before he melted into the embrace. Their lips glided over each other as his arms wrapped around her waist, holding her close to himself. She reached up on her tiptoes, twisting her fingers in his hair and lightly scratching at his scalp.

He was sure he would have turned into a puddle right there, had he not been in the presence of an audience.

After what seemed like only a few moments, the need of air made the two pull back. Breathing heavily, Luka leaned his forehead with Marinette’s. Her breath fanned his face as she looked into his eyes, her own gaze half-lidded.

Blood rushed in his ears. He was sure everyone on the deck could hear his frantic heartbeat. How merely a few fluttering touches and a kiss had turned the sweet, innocent angel into a devious seductress — this was something Luka was completely unaware about.

It felt like time had stopped. They were oblivious to everyone, everything, lost in their own world. But that was when another exploding sound of applause and a wolf-whistle brought the couple back to reality.

Jerking back a little but still not breaking the embrace, Luka and Marinette looked over to see everyone clapping for them. Rose and Mylene were squealing in joy, Juleka and Ivan had a subtle smile on their face, Kagami was beaming and shaking her head slightly as Adrien let out another wolf-whistle.

And Lila? Lila was clapping too, her expression happy, though the shadow on her face narrated an entirely different tale.

As he straightened up, Luka felt Marinette snuggle into his side, his jacket still on her. His heart swelled as he kept his hand on her waist lightly. The musician was glad he had won this battle. That he had shown Lila her place and finally did Marinette some right.

“Marinette, Luka!” Rose squealed, catching the duo’s attention. “I am so happy to see Lukanette is finally sailing now!”

Lukan—what?

Apparently, Marinette shared similar sentiments, for he immediately felt her stiffen up.

Oh goodness. He certainly hadn’t thought this through properly.

“Uhm, thanks?” Marinette squeaked beside him, and he wasn’t sure how he felt — hearing her squeak made his heart soar in the skies as well as plummet into the deep unknown.

An alarm went off, causing Marinette to jerk off him as she opened her side-purse. Fishing her phone out, she looked at it with exasperation before directing a glare at the purse. Turning back to others, Marinette let out a nervous laugh.

“I forgot — bakery — counter manning — got to go! Uhm, see you guys later?”

“Sure,” Luka replied. Maybe being away from him would help her sort out things a bit.

The girl waved awkwardly at the group as she backed away from them. She turned around to dash, but then immediately froze.

Turning back to him, Marinette marched up to him. Before he could even comprehend using his already scrambled brain as to why she had that determined glint in her eyes, the girl held his jaw and leaned up to place a kiss on his cheek.

“See you later,” she whispered, her cheeks a pretty scarlet.

“Uhh, yeah, see you.”

As she sprinted away, Luka dashed off to his own cabin before anyone could speak anything to him.

Not even meditation was going to help him with this freak-out.

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angelofthequeers · 5 years

Text

Hold Me By Both Hands: Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.

Chapter 21 | Chapter 23 | AO3 link

“Wait, really?” Marinette’s mouth droops. “But he promised you could come to the concert!”

“I know he did,” Adrien’s voice says rather bitterly through the phone. “Apparently, I’m not good enough for him.”

“That’s rubbish!” If Marinette’s hands weren’t occupied with her phone and a cardboard box, she’d either be crossing her arms firmly or tugging on the hair that she’s left loose around her face today. “You’re a better pianist than half the people our age put together!”

“To be fair, I’d probably be better if I’d stop playing recordings to pretend I’m practicing while I actually go see – uh, go and do other things.”

Marinette snorts. “You sure you can’t sneak out? Put your foot down? It just won’t be the same without you here.”

“I would if I could. I’m sure Gorilla would cover for me if I asked, but there’s no getting past Nathalie. And she wouldn’t cover for me this time. She saw how annoyed Father was at my performance. Even if I could sneak out through my window, he’d know where I went, so there’d be no point. I wouldn’t want him to ruin your concert.”

“I’m sorry, Adrien. I know how much you were looking forward to it.”

“Yeah, well…I’d better go practice. Maybe if I’m up to his standards, he’ll let me come near the end. Better than nothing, right? And I was really looking forward to seeing Luka.”

“Luka? Who?”

“Juleka’s brother.”

Marinette blinks. “Juleka has a brother?”

“That was my reaction too,” Adrien says. “But he saved me and Kagami when we snuck out of fencing the other day and nearly got mobbed.”

“I’m not sure why they think chasing you down and demanding you marry them will make you want to do that,” Marinette snorts. “Anyway, good luck with your piano. I know you’ll smash it!”

“Don’t tempt me,” Adrien jokes. “Have fun, Marinette.”

“I will.”

The line goes dead a moment later. Marinette sighs and pockets her phone.

“Cap’n Anarka speakin’ to ya!” announces a rough woman’s voice. Marinette whirls around to see Juleka��s mother standing next to Rose with her hands on her hips, making Rose jump while adjusting the microphone stand with her sudden appearance. “So, how’s it comin’ along, me young pirates? Ready to celebrate the –”

Marinette gulps when Anarka’s blue eyes narrow at her. The older woman adjusts her red glasses before striding straight over to Marinette.

“Whatcha up to there, lady?” she says, snatching the box from Marinette. When Marinette explains that she’s cleaning the houseboat for the concert, Anarka laughs long and loud and then starts scattering the contents of the box everywhere on deck. “We never pick up in this house! Didn’t me daughter tell ya? We love the lived-in look! We have no rules on the Liberty! Out of chaos comes creation! Messiness is life!”

Huh. Maybe that’s why Marinette’s a hot artistic mess. With a smile, she heads with Alya and Nino into the steering room for a few minutes of quiet while Rose, Juleka, Mylène, and Ivan continue their loud preparations outside.

“Dude, don’t tell me Adrien’s dad put him on lockdown again,” Nino complains while Marinette rifles through a box on a shelf. She grimaces when a layer of dust billows out and coats her pink wrap-around top, white T-shirt, and blue jeans

“Afraid so,” she says, frowning as she pulls out a strange metal statue of a hand with its index and pinky fingers out. Nino groans.

“Bummer. I was lookin’ forward to hanging out with him for once.”

“We all were,” Alya says. “Man, and I thought my older sister was overprotective.” She takes the statue from Marinette, squints at it, then dumps it on the compass. “Wow, that’s creepy. I see where Juleka gets it from.”

“Juleka’s not creepy!” Marinette says. “She’s just…quietly punk.” When she reaches up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, her bracelet gleams in the sunlight, and her eyes are irresistibly drawn to it as it brings back the vivid memory of Chat Noir and his confession to her on her birthday over two weeks ago. She hadn’t been lying when she’d said that she’s got strong feelings for him, but she also hadn’t been lying when she’d said that she’s not completely sure of their nature yet, although she’d be deceiving herself if she insisted that they were definitely not romantic.

And yet…she can’t get Chat Noir’s confession out of her head. The thought of him is enough to send tingles down her skin and butterflies through her stomach, but what if this is just a rebound thing? The only downside about romance built on friendship is that if the romance goes sour, what if the friendship does too? And she’ll be damned if she loses Chat Noir’s friendship, especially after all the nights they’ve spent together being utter dorks.

And none of this would have happened if not for André. She never would’ve had that conversation with Chat Noir when he came to comfort her. He never would’ve tried to start moving on from Ladybug and fallen for her instead. Heck, he probably wouldn’t even have been as cool as he was on her birthday.

What if…André’s ice cream hadn’t been referring to Adrien, but rather to Chat Noir? After all, Chat Noir’s lips are also peach pink – not that she’s been thinking about them, ha, not at all – and his hair and eyes are also gold and mint green. In that case, is André’s ice cream really magical? Had he really been predicting her soulmate?

“Oh, ho ho, sailors!” Anarka once again appears out of nowhere, this time to snatch the statue off the compass as Marinette and Alya jump and clutch their chests. “Never put a metal object next to a compass! Ya hear, lass? Metal attracts the needle just like a magnet, which is why ya can’t get ‘em anywhere near each other.”

“I’m pretty sure there’s a deep literary metaphor in there somewhere,” Alya says sarcastically. Marinette and Nino conceal their laughter behind their hands.

“We’re ready, captain!” Rose salutes from the foot of the stairs, Juleka just behind her. Marinette can’t help but smile at what a cute couple they make. “Uh…but Luka’s missing!”

Anarka squints at Marinette. “Marinette, right? Since you’re free from yer cleanin’ duties, could ya go and tell Luka that we’re waitin’ for him to start rehearsals?”

“Of course!” Marinette says, then frowns. “But, uh…where is he?”

“In his cabin, of course!”

It’s a treacherous journey through the living room of the houseboat, what with the various musical items and other items scattered all over the floor. But there’s something comforting and warm about the mess; something that invites you to come in and revel in it. Marinette shrieks and jumps when she slips through a doorway and comes face-to-face with a boy sitting cross-legged on a bed, his eyes closed and his hands resting on his knees. Between his thumbs and index fingers are two black guitar picks, which make a lot more sense when Marinette catches sight of the black guitar next to him.

She jumps again when she realises that he’s opened his eyes and is staring straight at her with a smile. His eyes are the same shade of blue as his mother’s, also matching the teal tips of his black hair, and he’s wearing ripped black jeans and a short-sleeved blue jacket over a white Jagged Stone shirt.

Holy crap. He’s gorgeous.

“Hey!” Marinette blurts out. “My name’s Mama – Ma-Ma-Marinette!” Oh god, she’s stammering again. Why is this her life? She takes a deep breath to compose herself and pushes on. “Your mum sent me down here. The groove – ah, the group’s waiting for you.”

“Hello, Ma-Ma-Marinette,” the boy – Luka – says in a cool voice, then snickers behind his hand. Marinette’s heart drops. Great. He’s gorgeous, but he’s also a jerk. This is really Juleka’s brother? Her feelings must be painted across her face, because Luka’s smile vanishes, and he adds, “Sorry. I tend to make more sense with this.”

He pats the bed next to him. Marinette accepts the invitation, while he slings his guitar around his neck and then strums a few chords.

“That’s strange.” Luka frowns at her. “It seems you have something like this in your heart.” He plays a short tune, rising and falling in pitch, somehow exactly matching the utter chaos that’s currently got Marinette’s heart in a vice grip. She closes her eyes and rests a hand on her heart, losing herself in the sweet melody, and it takes a moment for her brain to register that Luka’s stopped playing.

“How do you do that?” she says in awe. Luka smiles at her when she opens her eyes.

“Music is often simpler than words,” is all he says. Marinette hums and jumps up to get a closer look at the pick collection underneath his Jagged Stone poster. Her eyes are drawn to a pick with Jagged Stone’s face, which she grabs so that she can get a closer look.

“You like Jagged Stone?” she says.

“He’s my favourite singer.” Luka slides off the bed to stand next to her.

“Mine too!”

Luka’s smile widens, and he looks at the pick in her hand. “You can have it if you like. I’ve got plenty.”

“Thanks!”

“I think I’d better go and join the… “groove” you said,” Luka says, rolling his eyes with a smirk. Marinette whines and facepalms.

“Did I really –? Oh no! At least Adrien wasn’t here to see that. He’d never let me live it down, the dork.”

“Adrien?” Luka tilts his head. “You know him?”

“Yeah, he’s one of my best friends. You’re the guy who saved him from being mobbed, right?”

Luka nods. “He wasn’t ready for a child just yet.”

“Uh…what?”

“An inside joke. One of his fans was screaming for him to have her babies.”

Marinette shudders. “Ick. I can’t believe I used to be like that.”

“That’s not the impression I get.” Luka plays a few oxymoronic notes, somehow both chaotic and gentle. “You have a passionate heart. You just struggle with your chaotic brain. You’re not the kind of person to behave like that.”

“Seriously, how do you do that?” Marinette complains as blood rushes to pool in her cheeks and stomach.

“Just like I told Adrien, I can hear people’s heart songs,” Luka says. Whoa. Seriously? That’s…how is that possible? “And just like I told Adrien, I talk to Juleka. You’re a funny girl, Marinette.”

With that, Luka heads out of the room, leaving Marinette scrambling to catch up so that she’s not left all alone with her whirling thoughts because nope, nope, this is not happening. Although what happens only minutes later is enough to push all thoughts of Luka from her mind, when Anarka is reprimanded by Roger Raincomprix for pretty much blowing the sound barrier with Kitty Section and their instruments. Apparently, Hawkmoth doesn’t take a day off, because Marinette can’t even enjoy a music festival with her friends without him being a bastard and akumatising someone. Before anyone can so much as blink, Anarka has became the pirate Captain Hardrock, with a sentient ship totally under her control that chains up Marinette and her friends when they try to reason with Captain Hardrock and point out that maybe Roger had a point about the volume.

“Ow!” Rose cries when her head knocks against the wood. Groaning, Marinette struggles to sit up, pushing back against Luka to as a counterweight; thankfully, he catches on and adds his force to the equation to help them sit up. Around them, the other bound pairs are doing the same.

“Well,” Alya says when they’ve all rolled to a stop in the ship’s hold. “That was fun. Now what?”

“I guess we wait for Ladybug and Chat Noir?” Nino says. Marinette’s eyes dart down to her purse, not that that’ll do much good since she can’t very well transform in front of a bunch of people, especially someone she’s only just met. Luckily, Tikki’s skills extend beyond magical transformations, as she’s able to zip out of the purse and phase through the padlock securing the chains around Marinette and Luka.

“Wow!” Luka exclaims when their chains fall away. “How’d you do that?”

Marinette freezes and fumbles for an explanation. She dips her hand into her purse to make sure that Tikki’s back inside, and her fingers close around the pick that Luka had given her. Perfect! “Uh…with this!” she says, showing him the pick. Luka smiles as he climbs to his feet.

“You’re a real magician, Marinette,” he says, helping her up. Marinette scoffs.

“Oh, it was nothing! Just – you know –” Her face grows warm under Luka’s awestruck gaze.

“Ahem.” Alya clears her throat. “When you’re quite ready?”

But before Marinette and Luka can work on freeing the others, Captain Hardrock comes stomping down the stairs. With a hasty apology, Marinette and Luka sprint through the door behind them and secure it shut with Luka’s guitar, and while this isn’t enough to keep Captain Hardrock out, it buys them enough time to get the window open. Luka immediately pushes Marinette towards the bed and points at the slim but long drawer built into the base. Catching on, she races over and shuts herself inside, and not a moment too soon.

“Run, Marinette! Quick!” Luka calls when the door smashes open. Marinette’s heart leaps into her throat at Luka’s pained cry when Captain Hardrock’s chains capture him again, but his sacrifice works; Captain Hardrock storms out of the room a moment later, clearly under the impression that Marinette had escaped through the window, dragging Luka with her judging by the scraping sound that accompanies her.

“Phew! That was close!” Tikki says when Marinette pushes the drawer back open and clambers out.

“I have to save my friends!” Marinette clenches her fists. “Tikki, spots on!”

Chat Noir’s already arrived when Ladybug finally manages to sneak up to the deck. Although the battle against Captain Hardrock and the Liberty is fairly straightforward as far as akuma fights go, it’s made far more difficult by the fact that Ladybug’s got a constant chanting of don’t flirt with the cat in her head to keep her on track because if Ladybug is one thing, it’s not a hypocrite. She can’t exactly flirt with Chat Noir after lecturing him about inappropriate timing in the wake of Green Giant, especially since he doesn’t even know that it’s her civilian form that he’s caught feelings for and vice versa.

With the help of the metal clasp of her Lucky Charm chain and Chat Noir, they chain Captain Hardrock to the ship’s compass and, just like when Alya had put the statue on top of it, the compass goes haywire around the clasp. This time, though, the entire ship is affected by the compass going out of control, and they manage to steer the ship up one of the slopes on the bank of the Seine and crash-land on a patch of grass. With the ship out of commission and the prisoners in the hull no longer in danger, it’s a simple matter for Chat Noir to Cataclysm the compass and disintegrate the ship, freeing the akuma for Ladybug to purify.

Pity, though, that Chat Noir has to book it as soon as Captain Hardrock turns back into Anarka. Ladybug wouldn’t have minded a bit of post-battle banter with him, along with asking what was up with him earlier. But really, it’s probably for the best for her headspace, considering that she’s only ninety-nine percent sure that she wants to be with him and it’s that one percent that’s shrieking inside her skull that she’s going to mess everything up.

“You okay, girl?” Alya says when Ladybug’s detransformed and re-joined everyone as Marinette.

“Uh huh,” Marinette mumbles. Alya raises an eyebrow but she thankfully doesn’t push the issue.

An hour or so later, while Kitty Section is still rehearsing for the music festival, they’re pleasantly surprised by a familiar face boarding the houseboat, waving and beaming at everyone.

“Adrien! Hi!” Marinette bounces on the spot and waves. Adrien’s face lights up and he waves back, then immediately trips and sends a long, thin black case flying, and Marinette can’t help the flutters inside her and the giggle that escapes her at what a dork he is.

“Adrien!” Nino runs over to help Adrien sit up. “You okay, bro?”

“Nah, it’s all good, I –” Adrien pauses rubbing his head to open the case he’d knocked over, revealing a keyboard inside. “Whoa, an original ZX20.4? I love the sound of this instrument!”

“Aww, that old thing?” Anarka scoffs. “No one knows how to play it.”

“I know how to play it,” Adrien says.

“Great.” Luka holds out a hand to help Adrien to his feet. “Welcome to the band, Adrien.”

Adrien beams. “Really? Thanks, Luka!”

Luka and Adrien still haven’t let go of the other’s hand. An odd look passes between them, making Marinette squint, until Adrien catches sight of her and quickly lets go of Luka’s hand.

“Looks like I could make it after all!” Adrien says to her. Marinette grins and gives him a thumbs-up.

“Your dad caved in?” she says. Adrien shrugs.

“Yeah. I think I impressed him enough.”

“Can’t wait to see how you impress us, then,” Luka says. Adrien jumps, his cheeks pinkening, and Marinette raises her eyebrows and bites her lip when Luka smiles and winks at him as well as her.

Well. One thing’s for sure: the future’s going to be very, very interesting.

63 notes · View notes

tewqut · 4 years

Text

“Music is often simpler than words.” ~ Luka Couffaine

After leaving Paris to follow his dreams, Luka comes back for the girl he has always loved. The music that’s been playing inside his head since the first day they met.

#luka couffaine #miraculous ladybug #luka couffaine fancast #miraculous fancast #harry styles #sweet boys #lukanette

16 notes · View notes

tev-the-random · 5 years

Text

Self-expression - A Miraculous One-Shot

Would you look at that! Someone is back at the writing table! I do hope y'all enjoy this little thingy I made out of my need to talk about the Couffaine Siblings and that one scene in Frozer where Luka smiles at Marinette and Adrien.

Also on AO3!

~~~~~~~~

The Couffaines had a tendency to not express themselves very well.

Juleka was used to being misinterpreted in her mumbles and deadpan expressions. Even if it was quite inconvenient at times, she learned to live with it. After all, she was an observer, not a talker.

Her mother, on the other hand, was certainly a talker. She oftentimes talked before thinking and did little to no weighting of her actions. It wasn’t to say that Anarka wasn’t a wise woman, but her children knew not to take everything she said to heart. After all, words said without thinking expressed just as much as no words at all.

Luka, too, wasn’t a talker. He was decidedly an observer, yes, but he was also a musician. All of them were musicians. But Luka had it in him to use music as his direct translator for anything he wished to express, be it his own feelings or, more often than not, others’.

“Music is often simpler than words”, he usually said. So Juleka dearly wished he would just drop the plate he had been pretending to wash for the past eight minutes and go play his guitar; because he’d been humming off-tune since he got back, and she just knew something was wrong.

They would have to go a little more complicated than music, then.

‘So…’ she murmured without taking her eyes off her tea mug ‘how did it go?’

‘It went pretty well’, said Luka simply ‘It was fun.’

‘I heard there was an akuma attack there.’

‘Mm’ he rinsed his plate for what was probably the fourth time already ‘Ladybug took care of it pretty quick. No one got hurt.’

‘Uh-huh’ Juleka took a sip of tea and eyed her brother as he went back to humming that half-hearted melody.

Earlier that day, Luka said he was leaving to hang out with Marinette at the ice-rink, and his sister had half a mind to call the girl in pigtails and give her a good rant about how inviting someone else to the ice-rink was a stupid move. But then again, Juleka was not a talker. So she stood still. The thought that Luka could wingman her friend while ice-skating was a funny one; the thought that he could at least keep her mind off of Adrien for a bit while Kagami the Ice Queen somehow conquered the blond was hopeful, even if unrealistic.

In any way, Juleka expected her brother to come back with some awkward Marinette stories to laugh about or maybe with the news that Marinette had finally murdered Kagami and married Adrien. Ok, maybe not that much. But at the very least, she expected Luka to come home with a merrier sounding tune.

The purple-haired goth watched as the blue-haired one finally put down his perfectly cleaned plate. He took a deep breath before he spoke again, and it sounded as if he was trying hard not to sigh.

‘Marinette is in love with Adrien, isn’t she?’ he didn’t face Juleka as he asked.

‘Uh, yeah’ she answered raising an eyebrow ‘She’s crazy for him.’

‘Figured as much’ Luka said in a strangely toneless voice and went back to rewashing his plate.

Juleka frowned at her brother. ‘Why do you ask?’

She normally wouldn’t go about that subject so bluntly, but something was definitely wrong, and she felt like they would have to go a little deeper in words for her to find out what it was. Nevertheless, she got up and went for her guitar sitting on the couch, just to be sure.

‘I don’t know. She just really seemed to appreciate being there with him. Or looking at him, for that matter’ Luka chuckled lightly.

‘And…?’ Juleka encouraged.

He put the dish down again. ‘And I guess she wanted to talk to him after we left the rink. She looked really…’ his hands went instinctively to a guitar that wasn’t there, and he seemed to struggle with his words for a moment. ‘Happy. She looked happy when looking at him, and also really nervous. And kind of melancholic, if that makes any sense; as if she was missing something, you know?’

‘That’s Marinette, alright’ Juleka mumbled with a short smile. ‘And then…?’

‘And then I told her to go talk to him.’

Despite him still not facing her, something in Luka’s demeanour told his sister they were getting to the point. ‘So…?’

‘So…’ once again Luka searched for an invisible instrument to translate the feeling he couldn’t convey. That was the closest he ever got to fidgeting.

Juleka went ahead and played a few chords to try and help him out. Granted, she wasn’t as good at reading feelings like they were sheet music as he was. But it still seemed to have some effect, as Luka finally turned around.

He had a soft smile on.

‘So I let her go.’

Once when they were kids, Luka fell from a tree in the park and broke his arm. Of course he cried, for no kid in his right mind would refrain from immediately crying upon breaking an arm. But as soon as he saw a worried little Juleka desperately sobbing after him as if she was the one in pain, he stopped. In his mother’s arms, he stopped crying and gave her a soft, tranquilizing smile, reassuring her that it was fine, that there was nothing to worry about…

The smile he had on right now was way too reminiscent of the one he had back then.

“I’m fine”. Luka thought that was a white lie, because it harmed no one. Juleka highly disagreed.

‘Why does it upset you?’ she asked, still strumming her guitar.

‘It doesn’t’ he said simply.

Anyone else would have stopped the conversation there, because the boy genuinely didn’t seem bothered. But Juleka knew better than to fall for that.

‘Yeah it does’ she shot back, unimpressed.

He shrugged, much to her frustration.

The Couffaines had a tendency to not express themselves very well.

Juleka found herself lost under the more glooming and suspicious sound her fingers produced. It clearly wasn’t Luka’s arm that was broken; nor did he seem to be physically injured in any way. She rewound their conversation in her head in search for an answer, and her melody started to accompany her process of thought.

“It went pretty well. It was fun.” So it’s not like Marinette didn’t show up or just ignored him all day. I wasn’t like her to do so anyway, even if she could get caught up with staring at Adrien sometimes.

“Marinette is in love with Adrien, isn’t she?” Of course she was, everybody knew that. Well, everybody but Adrien. But despite his cluelessness, Marinette was head over heels for him, and that’s just what it was. Why should that matter for Luka?

“She looked happy when looking at him”. Something in his face lit up when he said those words, as if nothing in the entire world would have made him more contented than putting a smile on Marinette’s face.

“Melancholic”, he said “as if she was missing something”. It was then that that cheerfulness disappeared as smoothly as it appeared; somehow as if the boy was actually talking about himself in that statement. For a moment it seemed as nothing could make him more distressed than having Marinette sad.

It was on the tip of her tongue, she knew it…!

Luka was now done with the plate, and started to entertain himself with washing a perfectly clean fork, again lost in his odd little tune. It reminded Juleka of something. Or rather, of someone…

She eyed her brother once again. He seemed relaxed, not a concern in the world. Those misty eyes could have been read as dreamy by someone who didn’t know him well. And that smile was still there, hanging on his face as if he’d forgotten to turn it off. Lost in the thoughts he tried to console himself with, that was the face of a boy who lost something he held dear…

“So I let her go.”

Juleka’s melody came to a halt.

Oh.

Oh…

‘You like her’ she mumbled slowly.

‘What do you mean?’ her stupid blue-haired love-struck brother had the audacity to ask, trying not to appear ever so obvious.

‘You like Marinette!’ she put an emphasis in the word like that made it impossible to not understand what she meant.

How could she have been so blind?! The way he asked about her after the Music Festival, the way he looked at her whenever she was on board, the way he lit up whenever she talked to him, the way he talked about her whenever he had the chance… heck, the way he started playing after they met! And he gave her his favourite Jagged Stone pick, for crying out loud! It was all done so casually, Juleka didn’t even notice that was the exact same way she acted towards Rose. She felt stupid.

Luka wasn’t one to fall in love easily. But if there was something in Marinette that made him fall for her – and Juleka herself could name quite a few good traits about their Everyday Ladybug –, the youngest Couffaine was willing to believe her brother was the happiest person on Earth for going out with the girl in pigtails.

“And then I told her to go talk to him.”

…Oh God, she let Luka wingman his crush…

To her surprise – or maybe not so much –, the boy was still smiling, this time more truthfully, as if caught in the middle of a pleasant thought.

‘What can I say? She’s an extraordinary girl’ he commented.

‘And you didn’t say anything?’ Juleka questioned almost in disbelief.

‘Why would I?’

‘And you just let her go after Adrien without a word!’ she wasn’t sure if she was angry at him, at Marinette, at Adrien or at herself. Probably all of the above. ‘You encouraged her!’

‘She likes him. If he makes her happy, I don’t see why I should ever get in their way.’

Her brother was literally the most amazing person in the entire world. The aura of sheer joy he had on him whenever he talked about Marinette was enough to brighten the gloomiest of days. There was something right there between them, maybe an exchanged look, maybe a single smile, something that made Juleka doubt everything she thought she knew. And she never really meant to pry on her friend’s love life, but right now, she felt the need to commit herself to never again participate on the active plots against what was probably Marinette’s last drop of common sense. “Sorry, Adrien” didn’t feel quite right, but neither did “you’re welcome, Adrien”.

Luka went to the counter his sister left her empty mug on and, for a solid minute, she saw him mentally debating his will to spend another ten minutes washing said mug. He decided against it and came to sit with her on the couch instead.

‘I kind of just wanna see her happy, you know?’ he said, probably reading questions on Juleka’s mostly expressionless face ‘If it means letting her go, then I’ll do it. If it means being by her side when she needs it, like today, then I will be. And that’s just it’

The boy then reached for his own guitar. The tune he hummed earlier found its way into his strings, sounding somewhat more melodic than before. Juleka had half a mind to play along, but she found herself silently admiring the music. It reminded her of Marinette, now that she thought about it.

There were days when looking at Rose gave her stomach butterflies that could take down Hawkmoth’s akumas any day. She now wondered if Luka ever felt the same about Marinette.

Juleka was a Couffaine. And as such, she had a tendency to not express herself very well.

But oh boy, would she cheer loudly if that ship sailed…

#Miraculous Ladybug #Luka Couffaine #Juleka Couffaine #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Rose Lavillant #Couffaine Siblings #Frozer #Juleka ships it #Luka is trying ok?#Lukanette #Julerose #One-shot #Writing #Word Count: 2000

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unembarrassingone · 5 years

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Day 1 - First Meeting

♪ You'll always be my Day 1♪ "Ah!" I hear a startled squeal. How cute... But... Am I that startling? I open my eyes to see a beautiful girl, with the most anxious-filled body language. My ears get filled with a melody I've never heard before. It plays out harmoniously with her scared movements, and the shine in her blue eyes. I've had blue eyes all my life, but why do hers feel so different? "Hey, my name's Mama uh Mamamarinette!" She stutters out an introduction. "Your mom sent me down here. The groove...uh... the group's waiting for you." Her sweet voice is creating a sweet chorus along with the melody playing in my head. How comforting. How beautiful. I think I just fell in love. ♪Day 0 when I was no one♪ He opened his eyes to show beautiful dark blue eyes. I think I'm drowning. "Hey, my name's Mama uh Mamamarinette!" Ugh... I'm so stupid. "Your mom sent me down here. The groove...uh... the group's waiting for you." I can't even stop it with Adrien. Why did I ever think I wouldn't with this cute guy? "Hello, Mamamarinette," he repeats my stuttering. And as if I heard my future, he gives off a hearty chuckle. I really am embarrassing. As if he heard my thoughts, he apologizes, with his brows furrowed and eyes filled with worry. "Sorry. I tend to make more sense with this," he says, then, he plays a wonderful chord. It struck me to the core. He pats the bed, gesturing me to sit down, and I can't help but be drawn. "That's strange. It seems you have something like this in your heart," he tells, and continues to play more wonderful music. A song I've never heard, but a song my heart can resonate with. "How do you do that?" I ask, thinking out loud. "Music is often simpler than words," he replies plainly. My heart pounds, but there's no lump in my throat. I'm not overwhelmed, but I'm drowning. In his eyes. In his music. In his passion. Today, I found my better self. ♪I'm nothing by myself♪ I can't believe a single girl can give me more happiness in one moment than in the past week. She picks up one of the picks hung on my wall. "You like Jagged Stone's music?" She asks me in her sweet voice that paints the melody in my head brighter than any other color. "He's my favorite singer!" I gush to her. It's hard for his fans to come around, and I'd be so glad if we had common ground! "Me too!" My heart squeezes at her reply. There's common ground! I want to make her happy. "You can have it if you like. I've got plenty," I tell her. I hope it makes her happy. She fumbles on it, and looks to me, with a smile. "Oh! Thanks!" She exclaims, and my heart goes giddy. Is she happy about it? That smile surely means so, right? Smile more for me. Give meaning to me with your smiles, Mamamarinette. ♪You or no one else♪ We both like Jagged Stone! He gave me one of his guitar picks with Jagged Stone on them! He can hear the song that my heart sings! He's so amazing! "I think I'd better go join the...groove, you said?" He teases. Oh, God. What did I say? "Did I really say that? Oh, no," I voice out my thoughts, slumping my body, cringing on my shenanigans! He turns away. That was definitely a turn off, wasn't I? "You're a funny girl, Marinette," he says, before leaving. My heart stops, does a flip, then goes on like normal. He knows my heart and sees me differently than how others see me. He's definitely the one. ♪Thankful you're my Day 1♪ Marinette soon after follows after Luka. She loves the way he plays on stage. He loves the way she listens to his songs. They're both grateful for that day. Their Day 1.

----

Waahhh... It’s my first time participating in anything like this! I hope it was something okay...

I was listening to Day 1 by Honne and it really fit the style of story I wanted to write! Additionally, I’ve been wanting to recreate that style of drawing with cute stars and triangles so, I thought I’d use it on the first meeting!

Have a nice day! :>

#lukanetteseptember2k19 #lukanettemonth #day1 #lukanette #luka couffaine #marinette dupain cheng

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missallanea-archive · 1 year

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@storiedhistories: ❛ you know you can always talk to me. ❜ [Luka to Kagami]

"I'm... not much of a conversationalist."

Understatement. Somehow, when she tried to speak her mind more openly, things always seemed to come out wrong. Her words were too cold, often misconstrued as judgemental. And yet -- when she would spend time with Luka, the way that she had as of late, she found that he was comfortable enough to sit in the silence with her. Something about listening to her inner song, a statement which had sounded positively ridiculous the first time she'd heard it... but she had kept coming back around.

Sitting in silence with Luka was more comfortable than she would have expected.

an assortment of dialogue prompts

#❮ storiedhistories / luka couffaine ❯ ━━ ❝ music is often simpler than words .#❮ kagami tsurugi / answered ❯ ━━ ❝ i hope you found what you were looking for .#❮ kagami tsurugi / verse.01 ❯ ━━ ❝ bring the storm !

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arolla-pine · 6 years

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She said YES - p.3

He was stuck. Hopelessly. There was no option to move on with the song. No matter how many times he tried to play the nostalgy in his heart – every time it wasn’t that. Marinette wasn’t a sound of sadness. He couldn’t create a sad song about her. He couldn’t create a sad song about his feelings to her. There was something wrong, as if the feelings didn’t correspond with the notes. As if his intuition was mistaken and gave him wrong tones, and he couldn’t translate it into the melody. For the first time in his life.

At first, he tried to move on and just follow the steps dictated by – as he thought – his heart. It took him a week to discover that it wasn’t his heart, but the reason. The reason which interpreted all that had happened between him and Marinette. Or rather what hadn’t happened, because of Adrien. What could the reason do with all that? Logically – it could only mess up in his song.

Luka laughed out loud at his own stupidity. No wonder that every time he tried to play the song, something was wrong.

He closed his eyes and suddenly he found those notes. The melody just went from his fingers to the strings of the guitar. And it wasn’t a sad song. This was… Just Marinette. Ma-Ma-Marinette, as she had introduced herself during their first meeting. He smiled to those memories. And continued playing…

Suddenly, he felt someone’s eyes on him. He stopped playing and opened his eyes. There was Marinette standing at his door. And – just like that first time – she blushed when his eyes met hers.

“I-I’m sorry…” she murmured. “I didn’t want to…”

“It’s OK, Marinette.” He smiled immediately. He just couldn’t help that.

“Ju-Juleka invited me, so I came. And now I was passing. And I heard your song. And I liked it. I couldn’t stop listening. So… That’s why… Uhm… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t disturb you…” she was chattering, and he could imagine how much embarrassed she was.

“It’s OK, Marinette.” He repeated. “You never disturb me.”

“Oh…” she muttered. “Can… Can you play that song once again?” she asked unexpectedly, coming in.

“You really like it?”

“It’s like you played the music from the bottom of my heart.” She confessed. “I have no idea how you do it…”

“This time is the melody of my heart, Marinete.” He said.

“Oh…” she hesitated and took one step back. “Maybe I should go…”

“I can play it again, if you want. I like this song very much. I’ve been looking for those notes for so long…” he added quietly, as if just to himself.

“Are-are you su-sure I don’t disturb you?” she asked shyly.

“I’ve told you, Marinette. You never disturb me. Please, sit down.” He smiled.

This time he didn’t close his eyes. The moment was just perfect – he could play his song for Marinette and watch her listening. He felt like he could spend his life on that. They both felt so comfortable with the song, that even when Luka stopped playing it, they stayed contemplating the melody.

“How’s your band-aid?” he blurted out suddenly.

Marinette looked at him in astonishment.

“Ripped off.” She answered after a moment.

“So? Healed? Or infected? A gangrene or something…” he gave her a wink.

“What do you think?” she replied jokingly. “I’d prefer not to amputate my heart, Luka.”

“You can always try with a transplantation.” He advised in a similar tone.

“Where will I find a new heart?” she laughed.

“I can give you mine, if you’d like.”

Marinette became serious immediately and blushed terribly. They’d just crossed the line.

“But you need your heart.” She said carefully.

“I can take yours. The one with a gangrene.” He suggested and seeing her shocked face he added quickly in a humorous tone: “I have self-healing superpowers, so I can deal with a gangrene.”

“It’s not funny anymore, Luka.”

“It’s never been funny, Marinette.” He smiled.

“I don’t get it.” She whispered.

“Uhm…” he sighed and put his guitar away. “The serious things shouldn’t be funny.”

“But… We’ve just made some jokes.”

“You can talk about serious things in a humorous tone. But you should never make fun of them.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand you at all…” Marinette laughed.

“Sometimes I can’t explain in words what I want to say.” Luka sighed. “It’s because I music is often simpler than words. And sometimes it’s easier to say in a humorous tone words so strong to describe something so important that most of teenagers couldn’t bear this pressure. Like giving someone your heart. Don’t you think it’s the matter of the greatest importance?”

“But… Luka… You seriously mean it?”

“Yes, Marinette. I seriously mean it. Although in a humorous tone…”

“But…”

“I know, Marinette. We both were at the ice rink.”

“But…”

“I’m not going to make you choose…”

“But…”

“I just…”

“Can you be quiet for a moment, please?!” Marinette interrupted him finally. “You don’t even know what I’m going to say!”

“You start from ‘but’, so…”

“So, what? Wasn’t that you who said recently that you like talking to people, asking them questions even if you know the answer? So, maybe you could start listening? Because maybe I’ll surprise you?”

“You remembered all that?”

“Sure, I did! It was very wise, Luka.” Marinette admitted and then she sighed and continued: “I just wanted to say that I liked all those things you told me about my heart and your heart. Maybe except the part of a transplantation…”

“Oh…” he murmured.

“But I don’t want you to think that you’re like a backup or plan B for me.”

“That’s OK.” Luka nodded.

“I… I think I need some time.”

“We have plenty of time, you know?” he smiled at her.

“Re-Really?”

“You don’t?”

“Well, yes I have time. But I thought…” she hesitated.

“I’m patient. And I know it’s worth waiting for something special. Do you know that the most beautiful songs have been composed the longest? The same with poems or stories. People love the most those ones that were created in the biggest pains.”

“Thank you very much for comparing me to pains!” Marinette laughed.

“Not you, Ma-Marinette.” He corrected her in a serious tone. “I’m not saying that waiting is nice. I’m saying that it is worth waiting, when you know what you wait for.”

“Thank you…” she whispered, so moved with his words.

“Do you want me to play the song once again?” he asked, taking the guitar.

“You know the answer!” she laughed and in the next moment she closed her eyes to contemplate the melody just from their hearts.

Lukanette Week

Day 3 - Confession

She said YES - p.2 <- Previous part | Next part -> She said YES p.4

Start reading the story from the beginning

#Lukanette Week #mlshipfleet #Lukanette #Miraculous Ladybug #Luka Couffaine #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #fanfiction #She said YES

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