#i am not sold on the pink dress but this is mostly a composition and color study because inspiration struck | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

quickspinner · 5 years ago

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Hey Gorgeous - Under Your Skin 3

It felt like tradition, waiting for him on the stairs.

Except when he arrived he was on foot, and he looked...really good. Not fancy at all, but his laid-back look suited him, and it was miles better than his work clothes. Marinette’s knees turned to jelly when he looked up at her and smiled a genuine, slow smile. “Hey Gorgeous,” he said, and it sounded different, warmer or softer or just...more. “Ready to go?”

Marinette smiled and stood up, and Luka’s smile got broader as she came down the steps toward him. He held his hands out as she reached him and, blushing, she put her hands in his.

“You’re a vision,” he said in that warm voice of his, and she ducked her head a little. She wasn’t that dressed up either, in jeans and the lace edging of her camisole peeking out of her pink pullover. But the admiration in his face was so genuine she couldn’t scold him. “I like your hair,” he added, glancing up at her twin buns. “Cute.”

“Th-thanks,” she smiled. “I like yours too, n-now that I can sssee it.” She dared to reach up and play with a blue strand near his temple. “You l-look nice.” She let her hand brush his shoulder lightly as it fell and saw him swallow.

“Well I didn’t have to do much to improve on the usual,” Luka chuckled. “You haven’t exactly been seeing me at my best.”

“Y-yet, h-h-here I am,” she pointed out shyly, and there were those eyes she told Alya about.

“Yes you are,” was all he said, but the way he said it, like he almost couldn’t believe it himself, was enough to stir up the butterflies in her stomach. He offered her his arm.

Marinette put her hand in the crook of his elbow and let him guide her to the sidewalk.

“So—“ Luka began, but Marinette held up a hand. “What do you—“

“Oh n-no,” Marinette said, raising up a hand. “Wwwe t-talked all about mme last t-time. I want to know about y-you.”

“Oh,” Luka said, looking taken aback. “Oh, sure. Ah…”

“Y-you sssaid you had a sssister,” Marinette prompted. “Wwwhat about the r-rest of your family?”

“Oh, it’s just me, Jules--Juleka, my sister, I mean, and my mom. Actually apparently you’ve met Juleka. She said she modeled for a runway show you were working on.” Luka pulled out his phone and showed her the lock screen picture of he and Juleka together. “That’s her.”

“Oh, I r-remember,” Marinette said with surprise, taking the phone to look closer. “She had sssuch an interesting l-look. R-really n-nice eyes.” She handed it back to him. “Mmmust r-run in the ffamily.” It amused her to see him blush at such a small compliment after all the lines he’d handed her over the past few months.

“She’s beautiful, I know,” he deflected, pride evident in his tone. “A little short on confidence sometimes, but she’s working on that and she’s come so far. She has too much fun roasting her big brother though. We’re only a couple of years apart but she’s always been the baby to me.” He unlocked the phone and pulled up another photo. “That’s my mom.”

“Oh,” Marinette took the phone from him again. “Wow, she’s got ssstyle. She’s the kind of p-person I would ssssit down and draw if I saw her on the sstreet.” Realizing she had just snatched his phone away, she handed it back to him, blushing. “Sssorry.”

“Don’t be,” he smiled, taking the phone back and slipping it back into his pocket. “I like seeing you excited. But yeah, my mom’s kind of an interesting person. Not the easiest person to have for a mom in some ways, but she’s definitely got personality.”

Marinette giggled. “Seems like that runs in the fffamily too.”

Luka grinned at her and winked. They walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes.

“So since I’m not allowed to ask any more questions,” he teased, “what else do you want to know?”

“What else d-do you think I shhhould know?” she countered with a playful sideways look. “What makes L-luka--” she paused. “I d-don’t know your last n-name,” she realized.

Luka chuckled. “It’s Couffaine. Although it’s made up anyway, my mom changed her whole name when she left home. If there was a goddess of rebellious teenagers, it’d be Anarka Couffaine.”

Marinette giggled. “L-luka C-c-couffaine,” she repeated thoughtfully. “Mine’s D-dupain-Cheng.”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” he repeated likewise. “Well, maybe it’s a little belated, but—I’m very glad to meet you.”

She squeezed his arm where she held it. “Mmme too. Sso what m-makes L-Luka C-couffaine t-tick?”

“Besides your eyes?” he grinned at her. “Music, mostly. My mother’s a musician and she had a guitar in my hands before I could walk. I’ve always expressed myself better with music than words.”

“Th-th-that surprises me,” Marinette giggled. “Y-you nnnever seem at a loss for w-words.”

“Oh, Gorgeous, it comes so easy when I’m with you,” he sighed, putting one hand to his chest dramatically, and then he dropped it and smiled at her. “Partly because have a week to think about it. And it makes you smile. I get the feeling maybe not enough people have been telling you how amazing you are, so I’m happy to pick up the slack.” He shook his head. “That day with the black dress, though. I think I forgot my own name for a minute.”

Marinette blushed. “Ssso w-w-what k-kind of mmmusic?”

“Listening or playing? I mean, all kinds, really,” Luka shrugged. “I’ll listen to almost anything, and I’ll play anything that catches my ear. I have a soft spot for folk music from all kinds of different places. I always seem to gravitate back to rock though. I play a few different instruments, including just about every kind of guitar there is, but the electric guitar speaks to me the most. I’ve been playing in bands since I was oh, about twelve or thirteen? Been writing music as long as I can remember.”

“Y-y-you write mmusic?” Marinette gasped, impressed. “Th-th-that’s sssoo c-cool.”

Luka nudged her with a grin. “You don’t even know if I’m any good.”

“Are you?”

Luka coughed, turning a little pink. “Maybe. Some people think so.”

“Mmmhmm,” Marinette quirked an eyebrow at him.

“Including the school scholarship committee,” he admitted, lifting his free hand to rub the back of his neck.

“I d-didn’t expect f-false mmodesty from you,” she teased.

“I don’t like to brag,” he said, looking uncomfortable. “I don’t want to jinx anything. Some days I still can’t believe anyone thinks my work is worth listening too. Sometimes I feel like if I tell the wrong person, they’ll realize I don’t actually have any talent and it’ll all come crumbling down.”

“I c-can relate,” Marinette sighed. “Mmmy b-best ffriend is always h-harping on mmme not to d-downplay mmmy accomplishments.” She bit her lip and admitted, “I’ve designed for Jagged St-st-stone.”

Luka stopped in his tracks. “Seriously?”

Marinette’s cheeks warmed and she wished she hadn’t said anything. But she had, so… “Yeah. Just a c-couple of s-small things.” He was still staring at her and for some reason she felt compelled to add, “And an album c-cover.”

“No way, which one?” Luka demanded. “I have all his albums.”

“R-rock Giant.”

“The one with the sticker? Man that was so fresh and original.” Luka cleared his throat. “I um...I sold one of my compositions to a producer friend of mine. It ended up being the base melody for one of Clara Nightingale’s singles.”

“W-wow, that’s amazing!”

They exchanged a look of mingled embarrassment and admiration, and Marinette laughed. “W-w-we’re a p-pair, aren’t w-w-we.”

“I’d sure as hell like to be,” Luka said fervently, and then he bit his lip and his expression clearly showed he hadn’t meant to say that.

Marinette knew her face was red, but she just bumped him lightly with her hip. “I th-think that’s a c-c-conversation that should wait a few mmmore dates.”

“Right. Sorry. Speaking of which--I was kind of hoping if things go okay tonight, maybe you’d like to come see my band play this weekend? You don’t have to answer now, just...think about it?”

“I w-will,” she smiled up at him. “I’d l-like to c-come if I c-can.”

Luka beamed back at her, and they started walking again.

#hey gorgeous #hey gorgeous 2 #campus delivery boy luka #lukanette #i am lukanette trash i admit it #luka couffaine #miraculous ladybug #miraculousladybug #marinette dupain-cheng #quickspins

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