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verfound · 2 months ago

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FIC: "Of Kwamis, Soulmates, and Idiots"

(MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

@lovebugs-and-snakecharmers is doing a Lukanette Month for September 2024, and we all just kinda tossed some prompts in the disco to compile a list? We ended up with 71 prompts, so I decided I’d roll some dice to pick a prompt, do a twenty minute (ish, bc we all know sometimes they run away from me) sprint, and try to get some short fics out this month?

Sorry not sorry for the end...

Read on Ao3

Prompt 09: New Pet

“You should talk to him.”

Marinette felt her shoulders stiffen – felt her entire body tense – at the tiny voice. Irrational as it was, because she knew no one else could hear it. No one else was able to see or hear Tikki except for her – that’s just how kwamis worked.

…well.

Her, and her soulmate.

But she didn’t have a soulmate. Or…she hadn’t found them. Yet. So it was impossible that anyone else currently aboard the Liberty would have heard Tikki’s horrible suggestion.

Talk to him.

Like she could ever do something as crazy as that.

“Shut up,” she hissed under her breath, her eyes still darting up to make sure the band – to make sure he wasn’t listening. She hunched closer to her legs, bringing her face dangerously close to her sketchbook, and tapped her pencil against the page in irritation. “You know I can’t.”

“But why?” the little bug asked, zipping out from behind her pigtails to stare unabashedly at the him in question.

…Luka.

Juleka’s older brother.

Lead guitar of Kitty Section.

Super cool, super nice, super hot, super out of her league…

Tikki was frowning as she looked back and forth from Luka to Marinette’s sketchbook.

“You like him, don’t you?” she asked, tilting her little head to the side. Marinette flailed, sending her sketchbook flying, as she grabbed at the kwami. Did she have to be so loud?!

“Tikki, shut up!” she cried, her face burning as she pulled her against her chest. She looked up at the sudden silence on the deck, and she gave a nervous laugh as she waved off the concerned stares. “S-sorry, guys! You know how…annoying kwamis are!”

Tikki shouted something rude at her, she was sure, but her hand was covering the little brat’s mouth and it came out a muffled squeak. Marinette groaned as she pulled her knees back up on the crate and pressed her forehead against them. Tikki grew suddenly quiet, and Marinette looked up to find…oh. Oh no.

Luka was standing right in front of her, her discarded sketchbook in hand.

“Your kwami’s a little shit, too, huh?” he chuckled, holding the book out for her. She swallowed and glanced down at her clenched hands, but Luka wasn’t looking at Tikki.

…of course he wouldn’t be.

He couldn’t see her.

Because he wasn’t…

“More than usual lately,” she sighed, letting Tikki go as she took her book back. She offered him a shaky smile as he took a seat on the crate beside her. “Sorry. She…likes to tease me.”

“Oh, mine lives for that,” he chuckled. “I don’t think Sass considers a day complete until he’s made my life a living hell.”

She giggled as he grinned at her, and her feet slipped from the edge of the crate back to the deck as she leaned forward. His smile softened, and that…oh, he had the best smile…

“I’m sure he’s not all that bad,” she said, reaching up to tuck some hair behind her ear. She looked up at him with a shy smile and prayed her face wasn’t as red as it felt. “…he’s your kwami, after all.”

“Well, by that logic…someone as sweet as you? Tikki has to be a saint,” he said. She wanted to roll her eyes, but Luka had just called her sweet, and she ended up mumbling out some nonsense that might have been a thank you or maybe a shut up you’re cute, but either way she ended up looking back at the deck as her face burned hotter. After a moment, he nudged he shoulder with his own and nodded towards the sketchbook. “Sooo…what were you working on? It must be good – you looked pretty intense.”

Her stomach clenched, remember exactly what – or who – she had been doodling, and she prayed he hadn’t actually seen the very detailed sketch of himself when he had picked the book up.

…any of the very detailed studies she’d done of him over the last few weeks, actually. Tikki, kill her now…

“N-no, it was…it was nothing,” she said quickly, shaking her head. “Just…you know. Doodles.”

“I’d love to see them sometime, if you don’t mind sharing,” he said, leaning a little closer. “Juleka says you’re crazy talented.”

“She…she said that?” she asked, looking up in surprise. She hugged her sketchbook to her chest, and his smile…there was something in his eyes, something she couldn’t quite place – something she maybe wasn’t quite ready to place yet – that made her stomach flip pleasantly. That made her want to show him the sketchbook, or anything he asked for, if only he’d keep looking at her like that. He nodded, and she looked away as she bit down on her smile. “That…that was really sweet of her.”

“She can be, sometimes,” he said. She glanced back up at him, and her breath caught when he winked at her. “If you’re not related to her.”

A giggle was startled out of her, and he chuckled as he reached over to squeeze her shoulder. He glanced at something behind her, that strange look passing over his face again, before he stood and waved.

“Th-thanks!” she called as he turned away. He looked back, and she waved her sketchbook at him. “For…bringing it back. Thank you.”

“Anytime, Ma-Ma-Marinette,” he said with a wink. She rolled her eyes at the nickname, but her face didn’t feel as hot as it had the first time he’d teased her with it. It felt…familiar, now. More comfortable.

A tiny giggle by her shoulder had her tensing all over again, and she looked down to find Tikki grinning at her.

“Well,” she said, her eyes sparkling, “at least you talked to him!”

. : .

Later, after the others had headed home for the night and Luka was left ‘cleaning up’ the deck (…which was more of an excuse to sit on the stage, staring up at the stars as he worked on that song that had been stuck in his head since blue, blue eyes and Ma-Ma-Marinettes), Sass decided he apparently hadn’t had enough that day.

…as if seeing that crazy drawing of him in her sketchbook hadn’t been enough. He had almost dropped the book all over again when he’d picked it up and realized she’d been drawing him the entire time she’d been watching their rehearsal. When he’d realized she’d been watching him maybe as much as he’d been trying not to watch her.

“You ssstill have not told her,” the little snake hissed softly, settling on the head of his guitar when his playing tapered out. Luka’s grip tightened on the neck as his eyes narrowed at his kwami. His long tail was dangling, swishing almost like a cat – and the smirk on his face was definitely too feline for something that was supposed to be a snake.

“Sass…” he said in warning, but Sass just flicked his tongue out at him. He’d say he was scenting the air, but Luka knew better. Sass lived to torment him.

“Why haven’t you told her?” he asked, tilting his head to the side. Luka rolled his eyes and jostled his guitar, just enough to dislodge the little shit.

“You know why,” he sighed, sinking back against the speaker he was using as a backrest. “She’s not ready yet, buddy.”

“How do you know if you don’t tell her?” Sass pressed. “Shhhe deserves to know, Luka. Wouldn’t you both be happier if she did?”

“…she’s not ready yet,” he insisted, shaking his head. “Her song’s still too…I don’t think she knows what she really wants yet, Sass. And when I tell her…I want her to want it. I want her to want me. Is that too much to ask?”

The kwami’s brow furrowed, as if he didn’t understand – or didn’t believe – him, and Luka sighed as he started picking the familiar notes out again. Marinette’s song. The one that had utterly bewitched him from the moment he had first heard it – that had only intensified when she’d waved goodbye that first night and he’d seen the large, violet eyes peeking out from behind her collar.

Sass heaved a longsuffering sigh as he settled on his human’s head. He flicked his tail against him as he settled in, a clear sign of his annoyance.

“I ssstill sssay you shhhould tell her,” he huffed, and Luka smiled sadly.

“I know, buddy,” he said. “I will. Soon.”

. : .

Except it wasn’t just that the kwamis’ humans were soulmates.

The kwamis needed each other, too.

They were linked, in an ancient, mysterious way no one really understood.

They could never really exist peacefully, in harmony, until they were reunited.

…and soon just wasn’t proving to be soon enough.

After another week went by – and then another two – Sass and Tikki had had just about enough.

“She’s just so shy,” Tikki huffed from their hiding place in the basketball hoop. “She’s so amazing, Sass, but she has no self-confidence! She’ll never make the first move!”

“I fear Luka won’t, either, if shhhe never does,” Sass sighed. “He feels shhhe is…not ready.”

He said it with a roll of his eyes, and Tikki pouted as she stared at the two hopeless soulmates dancing around each other below them.

“She’s more ready than he thinks,” she tutted. “You don’t have to wake up to her kissing her stupid cat pillow and sighing his name.”

Sass snickered, and Tikki tried to pout at him, but it was too easy to return his grin when he looked at her like that. He was more familiar with things like that than she knew, he was afraid.

“Perhapsss it’sss time we ssstopped leaving it up to them, then?” he suggested, tilting his head as he watched Luka bend to help Marinette pick something up – and then crash his head against hers when their hands brushed and she jerked back. “Perhapsss they need a little…pushhh?”

“…what do you have in mind?” Tikki asked, turning to him. He grinned and floated up, winking at her as he made his way below.

“I think it’sss about time I sssee thisss pillow for myssself,” he hummed. It took barely a moment – the briefest of distractions, provided by Ivan calling for Luka to get back to the stage and neither of them watching too closely – and then Sass was phasing through Marinette’s bag, settling into a pocket he was sure would go unchecked until it was too late.

From her place on the hoop, Tikki just…stared.

She…hadn’t known they could do that?

They could do that???

She had thought they were bound to their humans, that they couldn’t travel too far from them, and yet…well.

If Luka was Marinette’s soulmate, perhaps he was a little bit Tikki’s human, too?

Tikki was still hiding up on the hoop a short while later when Marinette received a call asking her to come home, and she watched anxiously as her human waved goodbye to her friends and ran off the boat.

…as Luka watched her go, a look she would call nothing short of longing on his face.

She sank back against the board and wished for a freshly-baked cookie to chew on. Oh, she had a bad feeling about this…

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verfound · 2 months ago

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FIC: "The Dorm" (MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

Read on Ao3

Prompt 22: Dorm

Luka wasn’t sure who was banging on his door at…seven o’clock on a Sunday morning, but he had Words for whoever the hell it was. Colorful words he had learned at entirely too young an age from the Captain that he probably shouldn’t use in polite company, but it was seven o-fucking-clock in the fucking morning on a fucking Sunday, and he wasn’t feeling very polite.

The banging continued, and Luka groaned as he scrubbed at his face. He finally reached the door and yanked it open, ready to chew out whoever the hell was on the other side.

He swore to God, if it was Dingo…

Except it wasn’t.

It was Tom.

Still wearing a flour-dusted apron and looking…kind of desperate.

What the fuck…?

“Luka!” he cried, his smile as wide as ever but filled with too much nervous energy. He looked like…well, Marinette stressing the night before a big project was due. “So glad you’re up! Can I come in?”

“…I was not up,” Luka said, numbly, as he blinked at the man. “Just because I’m ‘up’ now doesn’t mean I was ‘up’ when you…Tom. Tom. Do you realize what time it is?”

“I would have come earlier, but Sabine seemed to think you’d still be asleep,” Tom said, and a strangled laugh was startled out of Luka. And Tom HADN’T? Hadn’t he known him long enough to know better? On a SUNDAY? “Please, son. It’s important. I have a huge favor to ask you. It’s about Marinette.”

Luka was suddenly very ‘up’.

…awake!

Alert!

Not…God-fucking-dammit he needed some coffee…

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his brow furrowing. “Is Marinette all right?”

“Luka. Son,” Tom started, wringing his hands anxiously in front of him, “have you seen her dorm???”

– V –

The problem had started about a month ago, when Marinette was first looking into student housing. Technically she lived close enough to ESMOD that she could commute from her home at the bakery, but it had been important to her to live away from home while she was studying. After so many years fighting Hawkmoth, she had wanted that freedom. That independence.

Luka could understand that.

Her mother could understand that.

Her father, on the other hand…Tom had always been protective of his little girl. And that was fine, usually. He just loved her fiercely and unapologetically. It was one of the things Luka loved about him.

It was also one of the things Marinette was finding particularly…well. Smothering. At the moment. And she desperately wanted the chance to live on her own.

Student housing was usually reserved for international students or special cases, so she had had to start looking for nearby flats to share with fellow students. Juleka and Rose were moving in together and would have offered a spare room, but their own respective universities were far enough away that it made commuting just a bit trickier, and Marinette hadn’t been willing to risk exposing the Miracle Box using Kaalki for transport every day.

“You could portal your scooter,” Luka had suggested, shrugging, but she had just rolled her eyes and nudged his ribs with her elbow.

“Kaalki would throw a fit,” she insisted, “and it’s still too risky. Yeah, Hawkmoth…Gabriel’s in prison now, but the city is still tense. Gabriel had his Miraculous too long for Paris to not be. Ladybug is still needed, at least for now, and I can’t just go tossing portals all over the place. You know better, Luka.”

He did, and he usually respected and supported her decisions when it came to the Miracle Box - she was the Guardian, after all – but he was still…concerned. The places she had been looking at weren’t…well. He would rather her risk a portal and live with his sister, where he knew she’d be safe, than stay at half the places she’d looked at.

He had never really thought Paris was so…dangerous. Before.

She had eventually found a place, although it wasn’t…it didn’t…they all had concerns. To put it nicely.

“…why don’cha have her move in with you?” Dingo had asked him when she had first brought them over. Well. She had invited him, but he had been with Dingo when he’d gotten her call, and Dingo had refused to buzz off. Something about how he ‘hadn’t seen his baby girl in months, Lulu – stop hogging her!’ Or something.

“I can’t do that, Ding,” he had sighed. “She’s not…we’re not…”

He wasn’t quite sure what they were anymore. Less than what he wanted but more than what he’d ever hoped for. Asking her to move in felt like it would tip that delicate balance, but he wasn’t sure in which direction. He wasn’t sure he could live with it, if she said no.

“You barely live here,” Dingo had sniffed. “She could keep your bed warm for you while you’re on the road.”

He had said it with an impressive waggle of his eyebrows. It was almost a shame Luka had had to shove him into an alley (and a pile of overripe garbage bags tossed next to a dumpster) as they passed.

(He had resumed the argument the day before, when they’d helped Marinette move in, and had kept it up well into the night – which was part of why Luka was so cranky that Sunday morning.)

Still. The place was…fine. It was fine. For a first flat. A ‘dorm’. Her roommates were…all right. He was trusting her, and she had looked so happy as she’d showed off her room with the kinda-sorta-maybe broken window (it was just the lock, not the glass, and Luka wasn’t sure how he felt about that) that he couldn’t just…declare it a shithole and insist she find somewhere else. Somewhere like his flat, with its locking windows and running water.

“It’s a work in progress,” she had conceded when she’d seen their expressions, “but it’s home! I’ll make it work!”

Which is what led him to Sunday morning, barely awake after staying out with Dingo until entirely too late (early) Saturday Night and listening to Marinette’s father rant in his living room.

“Make it work?” Tom parroted, staring at Luka with wide eyes. Apparently he had tried to surprise her with a ‘First Day Breakfast’ – but she had still been asleep, still wiped from the day before, and he had left her coffee soaking into the welcome mat when one of her neighbors had come out of his own door and asked if Tom was the new dealer. “She’s going to make it work?! Luka, you’ve seen the place – she’s going to get herself murdered!”

“She can handle herself,” Luka had offered, even though he very much had the same concerns. Still. It was Marinette’s choice, and he was trying to respect that. “She’s going to pick up some pepper spray. She knows how to hold her keys.”

“Oh, yes, because that will make it all right when some ruffian mugs her on her way home from the library!” Tom scoffed, still fuming. He stalked over to the couch and sat down on the crates Luka used a coffee table directly across from Luka. “Luka. Son. I need you to do something for me. For Marinette.”

“Anything,” Luka said automatically, without hesitation, because of course he would. If it was for Marinette.

“I need you to ask her to move in with you,” Tom said, and Luka froze.

Well.

He almost froze.

He was pretty sure his eyes bugged out and his mouth dropped open. Then he froze.

“She will, Luka. If you ask. I’ve already tried to convince her – Dingo’s already tried,” Tom said, shaking his head. And Luka was surprised by that, because Dingo hadn’t said anything and…he actually hadn’t realized Tom knew who Dingo was. He hadn’t thought they’d met. There must have been some kind of look on his face, because Tom rolled his eyes and smiled at him. “It was adorable that he thought letting his hair down and removing the shades would fool us. I give him points for trying, though.”

“…I don’t think I want to know,” Luka sighed, shaking his head. “Look. Tom. I can’t –”

“You can, Luka,” Tom said, frowning. “She’ll say yes. If it’s you. If you ask. She won’t ask you herself – believe me, I’ve tried to convince her to – but if you ask her…”

“…you told her to ask me?” he asked, sitting up a bit straighter and blinking at him. “You…you’d be ok with it? Her living here? Us living…together?”

“Luka,” Tom said, giving him a Look that Luka was ninety percent sure was supposed to mean something, but he was still a little too caught up on Tom’s fine with us living together to pick up on it. “Son. Please.”

He pushed something into Luka’s hand, and he looked down to see it was his phone. He had forgotten he had left it on the coffee table the night…earlier that morning. There were a few notifications on the screen – from Marinette, he saw, from the night before. Quickly reading through them, he noted they all sounded too…falsely cheerful to be really convincing.

“She hasn’t even unpacked yet, Luka,” Tom said. “We could have her settled in by this afternoon. I’ll close the bakery, and we’ll use the van.”

…his building didn’t have rats.

It would be nice to spend more time with Sass again.

It would be really nice, having all that extra time with Marinette…

Juleka had never complained about having him as a bunkmate, either – well. Nothing too serious, at least, and he didn’t loiter in the stairwell selling questionable substances. Most of her complaints stemmed from being his sister.

“…go get the van,” he sighed, massaging his temples. “I’ll call her.”

When he showed up at her door fifteen minutes later – without calling, because it had gone straight to voicemail (like his would have, if she had tried calling him at seven o’clock on a fucking Sunday morning) – she was already up. He had an entire speech about how he had a spare room within a reasonable walking distance to her school and the bakery and how important things like dependable plumbing and pest control are and the dangers of questionable doo-wop groups prepared, but when she flung the door open and stood there, panting, with…a kitchen knife held in her hand like she was ready to attack someone?

What the shit?

But she stood there, knife in hand and a look of terrified panic on her face, and he’d barely gotten her name out – never mind his speech – before she threw the knife behind her and flung her arms around his neck, holding onto him tightly as she started sobbing.

“Please, Luka, I can’t stay here there are rats bigger than Sass please let me live with you,” she gasped in a rush. Her ‘roommate’ – the stoner with the septum piercing that had called Marinette by a different name every time he’d been over – was sitting on the couch behind them, and she rolled her eyes before turning back to the television and muttering something that sounded suspiciously like ‘pussy’ in their direction. “I swear the unit the landlord showed me wasn’t this bad, and it was so cheap, but I never thought…I didn’t want to overstep, but I hate this place, and I haven’t even been here a whole day but the shower was brown, Luka, and I didn’t sleep because of the screaming and the rat –”

“Hey, hey, it’s ok,” he said, rubbing her back. “Mari. It’s ok. I wanted to ask, but you…it’s ok. Tom’s getting the van. We’ll have you out before noon. It’s ok.”

She was still crying when she looked up at him, but there was a hesitant smile on her face that was enough to break his heart. He brushed her bangs back and kissed her forehead, and when she sucked in a breath and her hand fisted in his shirt…it was a little too easy, when he started to pull away and saw how wide and blue her eyes were, staring up at him like that…her hand twisted in his shirt to pull him closer, and he wasn’t kissing her forehead that time.

“…come on,” he said, his voice soft and low when the finally separated. He swallowed, his eyes flicking back down to her lips for a moment before returning to her eyes. Her smile felt easier, and it was too easy to steal another quick kiss. “Let’s get you home.”

#miraculous ladybug #luka couffaine #tom dupain #marinette dupain-cheng #lukanette #endgame lukanette #lukanette endgame #ml fic #ver fic #lbsc lukanette month 2024 #prompt: dorm #bad living arrangements #moving out #moving in together #marinette moves into a shithole #nobody's ok with it #luka knows #idek guys #spot the gilmore influence

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verfound · 3 months ago

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FIC: "Of Lost Luggage, Shirts, and Other Things" (MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

(This one is also kinda @rierse's fault, based on a prompt she dropped in the disco about someone wearing their own merch. 😂)

Read on Ao3

Prompt 69: Airport

Luka stared at the woman behind the desk with…honestly, he wasn’t sure what expression was on his face. He was going for disbelief, but with how exhausted he was – and how long the last few days had been – it was probably something more akin to disdain.

He was, admittedly, probably doing a fairly decent impression of the Captain’s scowl.

It wasn’t her fault, he reminded himself. She was just the messenger. You don’t shoot the messenger.

…he was in desperate need of a coffee. And a shower. And some clean fucking clothes.

(And a T-S specialty, because the airport Cinnabon Crusher had bought him as an apology was still sitting too heavy and too much on his stomach, even nine hours later.)

“What…do you mean…” he started, slowly, closing his eyes and forcing himself to take a deep, calming breath, “…you lost…my luggage?”

“I am so sorry, M. Stone,” the poor girl said. She looked like she was about to piss herself – which was probably fair. He was still new enough that she probably hadn’t heard of Luke Stone yet. Most likely, the poor girl just saw ‘Stone’, saw the VIP party his ticket had been attached to, and remembered the horror stories he was sure she had heard about Jay over the years. She was probably expecting a wild crocodile to come barreling out of boarding, ready to chomp her head off for daring to lose a Stone’s luggage. “It…it appears it’s not here. It…looks like it might be in Barcelona?”

…they hadn’t been in Barcelona since the beginning of the summer tour. How the shit had his suitcase traveled to Barcelona from New York, when the rest of them had made it to Paris just fine?

“We can have it back to you in a few days,” she said. “I am so sorry, M. Stone, but –”

“It’s fine,” he said, his jaw clenching uncomfortably as he held up a hand. God, he just needed to sleep. And a shower. And a clean fucking shirt – he’d smelled like bad Indian takeaway since New York, thanks to Crusher. “Just…call me when you have it.”

He slumped away from the counter, rubbing his hands over his face. A throat cleared nearby, and he looked up to find Penny holding a shirt up for him.

“It’s not ideal, but at least it’s clean,” she said. “Until you get home.”

“They lost my bag,” he said. There was a niggling in his stomach, an unpleasant reminder of…his eyes widened as he stared at Penny. “…Penny. They lost my bag.”

“I know,” she said, putting her hands on his shoulders and squeezing. “Breathe, Luka. It’s all right. We’ll get it sorted. Luggage gets lost all the time – it’s not the end of the world.”

…it felt like it. Penny knew just as well as he did what was actually in that bag and how very important it was that it was not lost.

“Penny –” he started, but she shook her head and pushed the shirt into his hands.

“Go change,” she said. “Go home. Get some sleep. I’ll track down the bag, and it’ll be back in no time. Everything will be fine.”

“It’s a sign,” he groaned, dropping his head back into his hands. “Penny, Gina flew out specifically to give me that…oh my God. Oh my God. Gina’s gonna kill me. Tom’s gonna kill me. It’s –”

“Stop that,” Penny said, swatting his arm. “Go home. Sleep. Catch up with your…Marinette.”

…he almost smiled at that. Almost, because as much as he loved the sound of ‘his Marinette’ she was only going to be his Marinette if that damn bag wasn’t lost, which it currently was. God, this day couldn’t get any worse…Penny rolled her eyes and pushed him towards the exit.

“Change. Sleep. Stop freaking out – this means nothing, Luka!” she called as he wandered off. “It’s going to be fine!”

…he wished he could believe her. Usually, he would. But he had too much riding on that damn bag – like the rest of his whole damn life – and he couldn’t help but wonder if losing the bag meant everything really was about to fall apart.

. : .

It didn’t take him long to change his shirt. The other one – the one Crusher had spilled his curry on before the plane took off – went straight into the bin. It was probably stained beyond saving, anyway, and it was just an old white shirt. He could easily replace it.

But when he tugged the new shirt over his head and stared back at his reflection in the mirror of the airport restroom, he couldn’t help but think maybe the curry-stained shirt was preferable.

There was no way Penny could convince him that the only clean shirt in his size they had extras of was the summer tour shirt. He looked like such a tool, walking around with his own face slapped on his chest.

He was not awake enough for this, he thought as he scrubbed his hands over his face. Coffee. He needed coffee. If he was going to make it home, he needed coffee.

Airport coffee wasn’t always the best, but it was still better than nothing, so he found himself shambling towards the food court before making his way into the city. It was probably for the best, anyway – he’d have a time finding a cab now, and the others were probably already on their way to their respective homes.

…like he would be. If the stupid airport hadn’t lost his stupid luggage with the stupid…

He was going to be sick.

Maybe coffee wasn’t the best idea after all…

“Oh my God,” a voice gasped in front of him. His brow furrowed, his expression scrunching. That voice…there was something familiar about it, but he couldn’t quite place what… “I love that artist!”

…fuck.

He did not have the mental fortitude to deal with fans at the moment.

“Oh my God,” he said, his voice maybe a tinge more sarcastic than he had intended, “yeah! Me, too!”

There was a beat – a longer-than-necessary pause – where the person had grown uncomfortably silent, and he sighed as he shook his head.

“…sorry,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “Long flight. Yeah, um…he’s ok.”

He finally looked up at the fan, and his brow furrowed as he stared at her. Large, dark sunglasses covered her face, and her short hair was tucked into a bright pink scarf. She was dressed simply enough, in short pink overalls with a white shirt underneath – but there was something…familiar about that shirt. Something that was trying to click in his jetlagged brain but just wouldn’t.

Something he felt he should recognize about the bits of green – leaves? – peeking out over the top of the overalls.

“More than ‘ok’, I’d say,” she sniffed, her lips turning in a frown. “Though he’s kind of being a butt right now. Might make me reconsider how cool I usually find him.”

“…that’s…fair,” he said, nodding. “Again. Sorry. Long flight.”

“It’s a shame,” she said, sighing as she turned away. There was a bag at her hip, and he would swear he watched it snap shut without her even touching it. What the hell…? “Usually, I’m a pretty big fan. I’d even venture to say his biggest, though I know some people who would fight me for that title.”

She looked over her shoulder, and her cheek moved in a way that made him think she had just winked at him. He blinked, his brow furrowing again as he tried to focus on her. It was…kind of hard, when she was kinda blurry and there seemed to be two of her.

“Anyway,” she said, stepping forward as the line moved ahead of her. “I’d heard his flight was coming in today. I was hoping to surprise him, big fan that I am. But traffic was terrible, and I heard I just missed him…and how bad that flight actually was.”

She heaved a longsuffering sigh, and he shook his head as he scrubbed at his eyes again. That voice…

“So I thought I’d get him some coffee, but you see how long this line is,” she said, turning back towards him. “I’ll be lucky if I catch him at all at this rate. Don’t you – mmf!”

The pieces finally clicked into place, and he grabbed at Marinette’s wrist to tug her against him. He bent her back, slipping her shades onto her head as he kissed her stupid. Her hands gripped at his shoulders, and he would swear her foot even popped behind her.

“…about time,” she giggled at him. He chuckled and shook his head before stealing another kiss.

“Asshole,” he huffed, rubbing their noses together. “You were enjoying that entirely too much.”

“You’re adorable when you’re jetlagged,” she teased, her hand coming up to caress his jaw. She frowned at the touch before tapping a finger against his skin. “You need a shave.”

“Flight from hell,” he sighed, sagging against her. “…forty-eight hours from hell.”

“Penny said they lost your luggage,” she said. A throat cleared behind them, and she rolled her eyes before pulling him out of line with her. He whined as they lost their place, but she leaned up to kiss his jaw. “You know their coffee will taste like feet, anyway. Let me get you home. We can stop at my parents’ and get you some proper food.”

The mention of her parents had his stomach seizing all over again.

“…your dad’s gonna kill me,” he groaned, dropping his forehead on her shoulder. “The suitcase, Marinette. They lost my suitcase.”

“It’s ok,” she said, laughing as she patted his back. “Penny said it’s in Barcelona – it’ll be here by tomorrow. Day after at the latest.”

“No, but I can’t see your parents until I have the suitcase,” he said, shaking his head. “Tom already knows – he’s expecting…I can’t…”

“Luka, Luka, hold on,” she said, placing her hands on his face to try and steady him. She smiled as her thumb brushed beneath his eye, and he took a deep breath to try and calm himself. “What’s going on? It’s just a suitcase. You have clean clothes at home – ones that don’t scream I’m an Egocentric Rock Star.”

She was teasing, he knew, but it still made him frown as she poked the face on his chest. His face still scrunched as he caught her fingers.

“Hey,” he said, “I happen to love the person who designed this shirt. Lay off.”

Her smile warmed, and she pulled his face back to hers for another kiss.

“She loves you, too,” she whispered against his lips. “But it’s still a little tacky wearing your own merch, don’t you think?”

“If it was one of the other shirts – with the album logo or lyrics or something – it wouldn’t be as bad,” he sighed. “It’s just because it’s the stupid tour shirt, with my stupid face on it, that makes me look like a stupid idiot.”

“Hey,” she laughed, hugging him tight, “you’re anything but. Stop being so hard on yourself.”

“I lost my luggage, Marinette,” he groaned, pulling her close. “I lost the ring. How could I lose the ring? I was supposed to hold onto it until it was safely on your finger, where it belongs, but now it’s lost in stupid Barcelona and you’re gonna say no and –”

“…Luka,” she said, her voice suddenly too-quiet with an odd edge to it. He hummed, and her hands fisted in his shirt and tugged. “Luka.”

She pulled back, staring up at him with wide eyes that had no right to look as beautiful as they did, not in the shitty airport lighting. She tugged on his shirt again, and he frowned as she swallowed.

“What?” he asked, shaking his head to try and clear it. She swallowed again, and he was distracted by thoughts of wanting to bite her neck.

“What ring?” she asked, and his eyes widened as his brain finally started to catch up to him.

…shit.

#miraculous ladybug #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #penny rolling #lukanette #endgame lukanette #lukanette endgame #ml fic #ver fic #lbsc lukanette month 2024 #prompt: airport #sleep drunk luka #luka couffaine is a fucking idiot #luka couffaine is not having a good day #mistaken identity #rock star luka couffaine

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verfound · 2 months ago

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FIC: "Shut Up. I Love You."

(MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

Read on Ao3

Prompt 10: A: says something stupid; B: laughing “Shut up. I love you.”

Friday nights on the Liberty were becoming something of a habit for Marinette. It was too easy to follow Juleka, Rose, and Luka home from school for band practice. Even if there was still some time before Ivan was expected to be there, Marinette didn’t mind. They usually spent the time either above or below deck, depending on the weather, working on homework or hanging out. She’d lost count of the afternoons she’d spent on a crate beside Luka, sketching her latest creation as he noodled on his guitar.

It wasn’t uncommon that she lingered after practice anymore, either. Sometimes Luka would have to work, but she was still welcome – she was always welcome, he loved to remind her – and the creative space there was just…freeing. Usually Juleka and Rose were still there to keep her company, but sometimes they would wander off on a date. Usually they were all left hanging around, and those usually led to movie or game nights.

Marinette loved it.

The Liberty was, more than ever, starting to feel like a second home.

So there was nothing really unusual about that particular night, with all four of them sprawled out on the couches below deck watching some movie or documentary on…something. Marinette wasn’t quite sure, honestly. She was curled up against Luka’s side, her head on his shoulder and a blanket stretched over them. She had been sketching, when the movie – the first movie? – had started, but Luka had taken her book from her when she’d first started nodding off before it could hit the floor. Now she was…floating. Drifting in and out of consciousness, half awake and barely aware of anything beyond the warm arm holding her against an even warmer chest.

…it felt like what all those failed dates should have felt like. Back when.

She was dimly aware of quiet chatter on the other end of the couch. She wasn’t at all aware of the knowing smirks and giggles Rose and Juleka kept shooting their way. She was kind of aware of the documentary, where some comment had caused Luka to snort, the sound startling her just enough to become aware of the derisive chuckle that followed. She shifted slightly, and his arm tightened around her.

The chuckle was a warm rumble beneath her ear, and she found herself sighing as she sank into it. Into him.

“Because that’s what everyone wants,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm and making her brow furrow in confusion. “Xavier-Yves Roth for Mayor – Paris is doomed.”

She snorted, choking a little on a laugh. She turned her head into his chest, smiling.

“Shut up,” she mumbled, still laughing. He was so dumb. “I love you.”

Now, Marinette was…not all there. Half asleep at best. More than half asleep, really. Which is probably why she didn’t notice the way Luka just…froze beneath her. And she probably wouldn’t have noticed it, if Rose hadn’t let out an ear-piercing squeal that could rival a tea kettle the next moment. She jerked away from Luka, flailing and sending their blanket to the floor (and probably smacking him in the face – oops) – and then sending herself to the floor as she slid off the couch in the commotion. She smacked her knees into the edge of the crate they used as a coffee table, and then Juleka was sliding off the couch as she laughed and laughed and laughed, clutching her stomach. Marinette looked up, blinking wide, confused eyes at Luka, but Luka was…just sitting there.

Staring at her.

“What…what?” she asked, blinking owlishly at him. But then he shook his head, and he was smiling, and oh that was…that was an awesome smile…

“Are you ok?” he asked, reaching out to help her up. She nodded mutely, and she bent to retrieve their blanket before returning to her place against him. “You sure?”

“I think I dozed off,” she said, rubbing at her eyes. She smiled sheepishly at him. “Sorry. I didn’t mean…did I miss anything good?”

“Oh, nothing too important,” Juleka cackled, and for the strangest reason the look she was giving Marinette made heat crawl up her neck. Luka shot her a look, but then his arms were wrapping around Marinette again and tugging her back against him. He tucked his face against the crook of her neck, and she sucked in a breath when he pressed a little kiss there.

“Ignore her. She’s a monster,” he said. His breath was burning against her skin, but not as much as his lips when he kissed her again. “I love you, too.”

#miraculous ladybug #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #lukanette #endgame lukanette #lukanette endgame #background julerose #ml fic #ver fic #lbsc lukanette month 2024 #prompt: shut up I love you #accidental confession #accidental i love you #oops #jules are you ok

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verfound · 2 months ago

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FIC: "Still You" (MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

Read on Ao3

Prompt 61: “Look, I know I don’t deserve a second chance. But I’m hoping you’ll let me have one anyway.”

The Liberty had never felt so…imposing before.

Everything felt imposing just then, though.

The city felt like it was growing up around her, higher and higher until every bright and beautiful and good thing was blotted out by cold and hard and dark.

She didn’t usually have this much trouble shaking akuma effects.

It…had been a long time since one had gotten to her like this.

But being trapped in that dream…in that nightmare…it had been too much.

She could take a lot of things. She just…she couldn’t take that.

And as she broke through the buildings and onto the walk along the Seine, as the familiar barge came into view with its bright and chaotic clash of colors – with that stupid face she used to think had been painted on to scare police away until Luka had told her otherwise grinning back at her – she felt her throat tighten again. Her feet slowed to a stop just shy of the gangway, and she found herself staring up at the boat like…like…

He would be there.

He had to be there.

He almost always was – he definitely was, when she needed him.

…and she needed him now.

So…why did she feel like he’d be gone?

It’s just the akuma, she reminded herself. It’s just a bad dream.

Luka wouldn’t say those things.

Luka would never…Luka loves you.

…loved. He had loved her. Back before he’d come back, before he’d left the first time. Before she’d broken his heart and made him go.

How could she possibly hope he would still be there, waiting for her now?

She started running again, blindly – barely aware of the startled shout of the Captain as she burst past her. Barely aware of anything beyond getting below, through the galley, past the door and to…

“Marinette?”

He was there.

She crashed into him, her arms wrapping tight around him and her head burrowing against his chest as she knocked them back. He fell onto his bed, his arms immediately coming up to hold her close as she openly wept into his shirt. If she had bothered looking up – if she had been able to see through her tears – she would have seen the baffled expression on his face, but all she was really aware of was the warmth of him beneath her, the security she felt with his arms around her, the peace that fought to sink its way in through her panic.

“Shhh, shhh, melody, it’s all right,” he murmured, a hand rubbing up and down her back. He didn’t ask what had happened – of course he didn’t. He had probably seen the akuma alert. Even if he hadn’t been there for the battle, he had to have known. “It’s over. It wasn’t real.”

“It could be,” she gasped, her fist tightening in his shirt. “It should be.”

He didn’t press for more.

He never did.

He was too good like that.

“…I can’t do this anymore, Luka,” she croaked, shaking her head.

“Do what, Marinette?” he asked, his voice too soft and kind for how horrible she felt.

“I can’t love you anymore,” she choked out. She was dimly aware of him…tensing. Freezing? Beneath her. His hand on her back was suddenly too still, and it felt like even his breathing had slowed. She groaned and pushed her face against his chest. “Not when you don’t know. And even if you do know. It’s unfair to you. You deserve so much better, and I know I ruined us. I know I ruined it all, and I don’t deserve a second chance, but I want one, Luka. I want you. I want –”

…she was hit by a sudden feeling of vertigo, like the akuma had grabbed her again and was hurtling her into another reality – only it couldn’t have been the akuma, because nothing good ever came from akumas, and this…this…

Luka had both pushed her away and pulled her up, rolling them until he was pressing her back into his bed as he kissed her senseless – or tried to. And she just laid there, staring at him with wide eyes, as he held her face in his hands and gently coaxed her mouth to move with his and…her eyes were just starting to close as he started to pull away, but she wasn’t ready for him to pull away yet. She reached up to pull him back, her hands twisting in his hair as she dragged his mouth back to hers, and oh, that was better…

She had kissed people before.

Most of them had been…not exactly her choice. Usually because of an akuma. Because she had to – never because she wanted to.

…she had never kissed Luka before.

And if this was what kissing Luka was like…

“No,” she gasped when he tried to pull away again. His chuckle was warm and filled up her insides, like honey in her favorite tea. His nose brushed against her cheek, and she whined as she tried to pull his mouth back to hers. She wasn’t ready yet – she wasn’t done with him yet.

“No?” he asked, his voice somehow lower than that damn chuckle. She squirmed beneath him, sighing when his lips pressed against her cheek.

“I mean yes,” she huffed, tugging his hair. She opened her eyes to look up at him, a pout definitely on her face, and oh the way he was looking at her…she felt…gooey. “I…please don’t stop?”

“…never,” he whispered, kissing her again. He was practically beaming at her when he pulled back. “I have no idea what the hell that akuma did, but thank God.”

“…what?” she asked, blinking up at him. He shook his head, his smile slipping.

“No, not…I mean. Not that it scared you like that – that’s not ok,” he said, leaning his forehead on hers. “But…it got you here. It made you say that. It…yes, Marinette. Hell yes.”

“…yes?” she asked, uncertain. Just uncertain enough that he apparently decided he needed to kiss her again to chase it away.

“Hell. Yes,” he said, emphasizing each word with a kiss. “Marinette…you crazy, wonderful, absolutely insane girl…”

He dropped to the bed beside her with a sigh, curling his arm around her to gather her to his chest. He kissed her again, and then once more. She hoped that meant he was enjoying kissing her as much as she was enjoying kissing him.

“You can have all my second chances,” he said, leaning his forehead against hers as his hand traced absent lines along her back. “And then some.”

“…forever?” she asked, peeking up at him. His smile was so…so…stupid.

She loved it.

She loved him.

“Forever,” he promised, pulling her back to him.

The Liberty suddenly didn’t feel so imposing anymore, once again a symbol of everything that was bright and beautiful and good in her world.

#miraculous ladybug #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #lukanette #endgame lukanette #lukanette endgame #ml fic #ver fic #lbsc lukanette month 2024 #prompt: second chance #akuma trauma #akuma ptsd #getting back together #kisses #I swear this was actually a kiss prompt month #you get some smoochies #aaaand YOU get some smoochies #everybody gets some smoochies!!!!#ok maybe I need to go to bed 😂

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verfound · 2 months ago

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FIC: "When Did You Get THAT?" (MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

Also HUGE shoutout to @goldenlaurelleaveswrites , who is the Juleka Whisperer and absolutely saved this fic when my Get-the-Prompt-Donitis had Juleka sounding like a dyed Alya. You're the best, babes 🖤

Read on Ao3

Prompt 52: Piercing

Luka was…distracted.

Which really wasn’t saying much, because Juleka would argue he was usually distracted when a certain someone was around, but today was…worse than usual.

Because today was hot.

And had been set aside for a seasonal Mop Up Day – one of the few times a year the Captain actually tolerated the word clean on her ship. And Marinette had come over with the best of intentions, not realizing it was a Mop Up Day until it was too late. All Luka had told her, when she had first asked if it was all right to come over that day, was that they’d be busy all day and wouldn’t be able to have anyone over. He had also had the best of intentions, wanting to keep her from getting caught up in the chaos that was the Captain cleaning. He had also known that, because it was Marinette, she would totally offer to help, and while that was appreciated he had still wanted to save her from the Captain cleaning. So imagine his shock when she showed up bright and early – at least for them – with a box of pastries and some harried excuses about how I know you said not to come over but if you’re busy you’ll need sustenance and pastries are always a great pick-me-up, right?

It was just…Marinette being Marinette. Being the awesome girl she was. But it had, unfortunately, also completely blown his plans to save her from cleaning, because she was a helper. A doer. And the next thing he knew, she was hauling boxes and mopping decks with the rest of them.

And he wasn’t complaining, because he would never complain about getting more time with Marinette, but…it wasn’t really fair. For her, totally, because it wasn’t even her home. Sure, she spent enough time there and often joked that it was like a second home, but the Liberty still wasn’t her actual home. She shouldn’t be responsible for cleaning it up.

It also wasn’t fair to…well. Him. Because it was hot, and she had dressed appropriately for a late summer day, and sure he had seen her in shorts and swimsuits before but that never made it any easier when there was just so much Marinette on display.

…he was still a guy. A guy who was still stupid in love with her, even if he was pretty sure it was no longer mutual. A guy who was still stupid in love with her and had eyes.

Somewhere out there, up there, whatever (…probably hiding in her purse, or back in her bedroom but still somehow just knowing), the universe (or a tiny snake-shaped god) was laughing at him. Uproariously.

He was probably playing his pain on fucking loop.

So now Marinette was sticking around for the mop up, and while she wasn’t stuck with the more manual tasks Luka had been assigned – like how he was currently on the roof of the greenhouse, replacing some panes that had broken in the last bad storm – she was still…there. Distracting. Because, if you asked Juleka, Marinette was always distracting. At least for him.

She…really had a point.

Because he was always so aware of her, even when she wasn’t directly engaging him. He was drawn to her, as he had always been, like a magnet. Every time he heard her voice somewhere below. Every time Juleka said something stupid that made her laugh. Every time he looked up and saw the flex of her arms as she lifted something someone so tiny shouldn’t have been able to, or saw the curve of her ass on full display as she bent to pick something up off the deck. The way her white tank top was starting to stick to her skin with her sweat. The glimmer in her eyes when she called up to him and tossed a water bottle his way – “So you don’t overheat!”

…the little glimpse of something, something small and shiny, that he couldn’t be sure he was actually seeing every time that tank rode up just a little too high, which was happening more and more as the day wore on.

He couldn’t be seeing that right. It had to be his imagination, or a hallucination, or…something.

Because there was no way he was seeing what he thought he was seeing.

There was no way Marinette would have gone through with it.

There was no way in hell Tom would have let her.

And there was definitely no way she would have done it without telling him!

…right?

Not that…not that she needed to. But they were friends – really good, really close friends – and they told each other stuff. He had told her before he’d gotten his first tattoo. And sure, that was partly because he’d been hoping she would design it, but…he had still told her. She was actually the first person he had told, when it was still just an inkling of an idea instead of actual ink.

So wouldn’t she tell him if she was planning on…on…

She turned back towards Juleka, lifting an arm to wipe some sweat from her brow, and there. Her shirt lifted just enough that her navel was in plain sight. And she wasn’t moving. And he could clearly see, glinting in the sun…

Juleka noticed it, too.

“Woah, Mari,” she said, her eyes widening. Her hand reached out almost automatically before she seemed to catch herself, and Marinette frowned as she noticed Juleka was staring at her…she squeaked and went to tug her shirt down, but Juleka put a hand on her arm and made her pause. “Can I…is that what I think it is?”

“It…ah…” Marinette stammered, but then she was looking towards the deck as she nodded, lifting her shirt up just a bit more to reveal…holy shit. Juleka gave her a Look, and she rolled her eyes and sighed as she lifted her shirt even higher. Luka swallowed, his throat suddenly too dry. There was a tiny, pink flower – a cherry blossom, he was sure, because what else could it be with her, made of glittering pink crystals – nestled perfectly in her belly button. A smaller white stone poked through her skin just above it. It was…it was…

…hot, a tiny, strangled voice somewhere in the back of his mind offered, most unhelpfully.

“When did you get that?” Juleka asked, her eyes widening even more.

“Not that long ago,” she said. She started to lower her shirt again, but Juleka shook her head as she reached out to stop her. She looked up at her with a grin, one Luka had seen too many times over the course of his short life and now had Marinette looking away anxiously, clearly uncomfortable with her scrutiny. There was a blush on her face. “It’s…it’s still new.”

“Not that new,” Juleka said, and Luka watched in something akin to amazement – or maybe just…bafflement – as she reached out to poke her fucking stomach. She seemed to remember herself just shy of actually touching Marinette, but Marinette – who was too familiar with such oversteps from other people who had called themselves friend over the years – flinched away all the same. It was enough to make his fists clench against the roof, and the next thing he knew he was making his way down to the deck and over towards them. He didn’t care if Juleka was his sister: she knew better, and even if she had opened up more over her time in lycée – mostly thanks to friends like Rose and Marinette – she knew shit like that wasn’t ok. He noticed she did pull back as his boots touched the deck, her hand moving to rub at her elbow as she looked at Marinette’s stomach. “…sorry. But it can’t be that new, Marinette. It’s not even swollen anymore.”

“Juleka…” she sighed, and Luka felt himself swallowing again when she glanced over at him. Her face turned several shades darker as she saw he was no longer on the roof, and that almost gave him pause. “Cut it…come on. It’s not a big deal.”

Juleka followed her gaze, and her grin turned positively wicked when she saw him, and that was around when Luka realized they were both fu…doomed. His swallow was more of a gulp that time as Juleka coughed and nodded towards him.

“…have you told Luka yet?” she asked, her voice just loud enough for him to hear as he walked towards them. There was a moment – an almost painful moment, as his boot landed heavy on the deck behind Marinette and her entire body seemed to tense before she spun around, her eyes wide and her face several shades darker than it had been moments before. And she looked up at him, her eyes wide and kind of terrified and so, so blue, but…she was still holding her shirt up.

It would have fallen, if she hadn’t still had her hands twisted in the hem so tight he was surprised it hadn’t ripped. If she hadn’t frozen upon seeing him right there, in front of her, with his eyes glued to the piercing like some creep.

“Did you know, brother dear?” Juleka asked, her voice entirely too innocent as she smirked at him from over Marinette’s shoulder. He swallowed, and her grin grew. “Me neither. But I must say: it looks hot. Don’t you think?”

“I think I liked it better when you were too shy to speak…” Marinette grumbled, her eyes dropping to their feet. Luka was pretty sure he was supposed to be yelling at Juleka – or corralling Marinette below, away from the ‘good-natured’ teasing and to the safety of his bunk, where she would be more comfortable.

…because they were friends, and she was comfortable with him, and this conversation was clearly making her so very…not comfortable.

“Come on, Jules,” she sighed, her eyes still on her feet. “It’s not a big deal. It’s just a belly button ring.”

“Lay off, Jules,” he said, finally tearing his eyes away from the piercing to glare at his sister. “You’ve had your fun.”

“Oh, I’m just getting started, brother dear. You, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, are pierced,” Juleka snickered, grinning at her. She nodded towards Luka. “You officially have more holes than that idiot.”

“Juleka!” they both snapped at her, but she just laughed – outright cackled, like the little witch she was – before looping an arm around Marinette’s shoulders.

“Seriously. Did you lose a bet or something? I wouldn’t have pegged you as a belly button ring girl,” she quipped. Her grin was almost feral, and Luka honestly wasn’t sure if the blush on Marinette’s face was from embarrassment or frustration. Probably both. He was starting to feel frustrated himself. “Probably some more on your ears. Maybe a nose ring. But your navel?”

“Juleka –” he started, but Marinette huffed as she tried to shrug her off. Juleka took her arm back, her expression wavering for a moment, and he was relieved to see that. Good. Maybe she was finally getting the picture.

“Shut up, Juleka. It wasn’t like that,” she said, her hands still twisting just enough in her shirt to keep the piercing revealed. He was trying his level best to ignore it. “I just…thought it was cute. And Rose agreed, and she thought –”

That was enough to catch her attention.

“Wait, Rose?” she asked, her eyes widening as she looked up at her. And that…that look on her face possibly made up for how much he wanted to throttle her, putting Marinette on the spot like that. Like she wasn’t finding her game very amusing anymore. That dawning look of horror and realization as she connected some dots in her head. “Son of a –!”

“No, Juleka, wait –!” Marinette called as she spun away from her, but it was too late. Juleka had the look about her of a woman possessed, and Luka knew nothing they said or did would deter her from her goal. “You weren’t supposed to know yet!”

“I need a break! Tell Ma I’ll be back soon – text me what you want!” Juleka called, and then she was gone. Marinette blinked before turning back to him.

“Did…did she actually say where she was going?” she asked, her fingers still twisting anxiously in the hem of her shirt. “I’m assuming she’s going to see Rose, I mean, but…”

“She’ll have to bring something back if she’s going to convince Ma she’s not just shirking her duties,” he said, shrugging. “Might as well take advantage of it. I dare say she deserves it.”

Marinette groaned and dropped her face in her hands – finally dropping her shirt in the process. Luka couldn’t stop the way his eyes flicked down, or the way he reflexively swallowed when he still saw a glimmer of pink along the strip of still-exposed skin.

“Rose is going to kill me,” she said. “It was supposed to be a surprise. She didn’t want Juleka to know until it had fully healed – hers got…why am I telling you this???”

She had squeaked out the last question, and she was peeking out over her fingertips at him. He shook his head, chuckling slightly as he smiled at her. It didn’t feel as easy as his smiles for her usually did, which was…weird. He hadn’t felt this off-kilter around her in…well.

That wasn’t fair.

He usually felt off-kilter around her.

He was just…usually better at hiding it. At least he liked to think he was.

“Because we’re friends? And we talk?” he hazarded. He reached out, laying his hand on her arm and rubbing…it was supposed to be soothing. Comforting. He hoped it was, for her. His skin felt like a livewire where they touched. That damn piercing was still taunting him, begging him to reach out and… “I’m a little surprised you hadn’t told me yet, honestly.”

“Because it was supposed to be a surprise,” she huffed, rolling her eyes. “It…I mean…I didn’t…”

“I’m sorry she kept on you like that,” he sighed, squeezing her arm before removing his hand. He shoved them in his pockets, where he was thankful to find a spare pick he quickly started flipping between his fingers. Anything to fidget with. Anything to keep him from… “She knows how much that sucks. She shouldn’t have embarrassed you like that.

“I’m not embarrassed,” she was quick to say. He lifted an eyebrow, and she pushed out a breath as she rolled her eyes. “I’m not. I just…she just…I was going to tell you, Luka. I was.”

“I know,” he said, because they told each other stuff like that. He had no doubt she would have told him. When she was ready.

“Do…” she glanced back down, her teeth worrying her lower lip in a way that was just as distracting as the damn piercing. “…do you like it?”

…he would have told her he liked XY, with the way she was looking up at him like that. He was amazed she even had to ask.

Like it?

Did he like it?

He didn’t like it.

He loved it.

He was…actually having some very inappropriate thoughts about just how much he loved it. Thoughts he probably shouldn’t be having, considering…

“Yeah,” he finally said, swallowing thickly as he nodded. Her smile turned a bit easier, and he reached out to flick a finger against her shirt. When she didn’t flinch away, he lifted it just a little. Just enough to fully reveal the little flower glinting up at him. His eyes flicked up to her, his smile growing as his finger brushed the warm skin stretched out in stark contrast to the cool silver of the piercing. It had to be his imagination, but he would have sworn she shivered at the touch. “It’s pretty cool, Marinette.”

The smile she gave him at that was one of his favorite things, and he found himself smiling back as she ducked her head, a pretty blush on her cheeks.

“C-cool,” she stammered, reaching up to tuck some hair behind her ear. Her other hand reached out, her fingertips brushing against his until she had pulled his hand towards her, and his breath caught as she threaded her fingers through his. As she held his hand and smiled up at him like…he twisted their hands, pressing their palms together and brushing his thumb against hers. Her smile turned easier, and she took a step closer. One more step, just one, and she’d… “Cool.”

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verfound · 3 months ago

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FIC: "A Port in the Storm" (MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

Read on Ao3

08 September 2024

Prompt 03: Blackout

“Are you sure about this?” Luka asked as he followed Marinette up the stairs to her room. She rolled her eyes as she opened the door and stepped aside, waiting for him to join her.

“Of course I’m sure,” she huffed. “Besides, Maman and Papa already agreed. It’s fine.”

“I’m sure Tom thought I’d be crashing on the couch when you asked,” he said, smiling slightly. She scoffed as she shut the door behind her.

“The couch isn’t as comfy,” she said. “I’m not having you wake up with a sore back when there’s plenty of room up here. Besides, do you really think Juleka is sleeping on Rose’s couch?”

He paused as she took his pillow from him and tossed it up into her loft. She turned back and smirked at him, an eyebrow lifting almost comically onto her forehead. He shook his head, chuckling.

“…I wasn’t thinking about it at all until you said something,” he said. He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her, smiling as his hands slipped into the pockets of her shorts. “How would she put it? Ew. Gross.”

Marinette started giggling, and it would have been perfect if thunder hadn’t crashed outside the minute he started to lean down for a kiss. She jumped closer, and he was just starting to think maybe it actually was perfect after all when another boom rattled the building. The lights flickered, and then they were plunged into darkness.

“…and that is why I insisted you crash here,” she sighed, slumping against him. “The news said this storm’s only going to get worse. No way was I leaving you on the river, in the middle of cyclone by yourself. I wasn’t about to let my boyfriend drown.”

“I’m pretty handy in the water,” he chuckled. “I know how to swim.”

“Juleka’s staying at Rose’s. Our mothers are out of town. Papa is staying with Grandpa Roland while he recovers from his surgery. I have more than enough room here, and it’s safer to wait out the storm here than it would be on the Liberty,” she said. He tipped her chin up and pecked his lips against hers.

“She’s seaworthy,” he insisted. “I would have been fine, but I do appreciate the offer. This is much better than the freezing bowels of the ship. Even if we don’t have lights.”

“Shut up,” she laughed. She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder, her fingers tapping against his chest. “Well, shoot. There goes my plans for a movie night. I wonder how long the power will be out for…I’m not even sleepy yet.”

“I brought my guitar,” he reminded her. “I know you have candles – there’s no ban on open flames here.”

She snickered, and he smiled as he brushed his nose against her temple.

“We have camping lanterns, too,” she said. He hummed.

“Candles are more romantic,” he said. “We could head back downstairs. Curl up on the couch. I could sing you to sleep.”

“We could do that up here,” she said. She stepped back and reached for his hands. “You know my bed’s more comfortable than the couch.”

…he was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to know that as well as he did. At least not if Tom was asking. But Tom was with Roland, and Marinette was looking up at him with dark eyes and perfectly kissable lips, and suddenly he wasn’t even sure he really wanted to bring his guitar up there, anyway.

He could think of a few better things he could be doing with his hands.

“Come on,” she said. “I do have candles up there. Sing me to sleep? There’s nothing we can do about the power, anyway.”

Lightning flashed, illuminating her room – illuminating the warm smile on her lips, the one he was wanting to kiss away more and more with every passing moment. He backed her up against the ladder, bending to do just that, and for a moment he was lost in a world that was nothing more than Marinette and soft and mine. Her hands fisted in his hoodie, tugging him back towards her for a deeper kiss. When she slipped up the ladder a moment later, he was quick to follow her.

She didn’t have to ask him twice.

#miraculous ladybug #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #lukanette #endgame lukanette #lukanette endgame #ml fic #ver fic #lbsc lukanette month 2024 #prompt: blackout #bad weather #storms #blackouts #who needs power anyway

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verfound · 3 months ago

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FIC: "Luka's Secret" (MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

(Rated M for half-dressed smoochies)

Read on Ao3

05 September 2024

Prompt 66: Secrets

Luka had a secret.

Juleka was fairly sure of that.

It was pretty obvious – about as obvious as that time Marinette had been keeping a secret and their squad had gotten themselves akumatized trying to get her to come clean. Luka and Marinette had that in common: they were both terrible at keeping secrets. They had multiple tells, some pretty obvious and some less so, but what that meant was when Luka started jumping at the sight of her own shadow she was pretty sure she knew what was up.

…well. She didn’t actually know what was up. She just knew he was keeping something from her. And while she respected that – they were both keenly aware of how important privacy could be, growing up in such close quarters as they had – it was still driving her a bit nutty.

Because Luka had always been big on truth and honesty. Being open with people was very important to him. So she knew, when he got squirrely like this, that he had a secret, and keeping secrets was bad for him.

She was pretty sure secrets were what had gotten him akumatized, the last time around.

She was just trying to be a good little sister. Help him out. She didn’t actually care what the secret was – that was his own business – just that he was being weird about it and she needed him to stop. The weirdo.

She had been planning on confronting him when he got home, but as she walked towards their cracked door and heard his low voice on the other side she realized she had lost her element of surprise.

“I think she knows,” she heard him sigh. “Or suspects. I told you I was bad at this.”

…no shit, Sherlock. At least he was aware of it. It’d probably be worse if he tried to play it off like everything was fine when, clearly, it was not.

When no voice answered him, she assumed he was on the phone. He chuckled, and then she heard a thump.

“Shut up,” he said. “It’s easier for you. You don’t share a room with her.” There was another beat, followed by: “…she will not. I promise you…she won…but…” Another heavy sigh. Another thump – the sound of his head hitting the wall, she was sure. “Fine. We’ll do this your way. But…it’s not a bad thing, you know. I think she might even be happy about it.”

Her brow furrowed. It was obvious they were talking about her, but what exactly was she supposed to be happy about?

“I know,” he said. “Ok. Ok. I’ll be there. I love you.”

There was a harder clattering, like he had just dropped his phone on the amp he used as a nightstand, and another sigh. She blinked as she stared at their door, fairly certain her heart had just stopped.

Luka…loved someone?

Well…shit.

Who the hell was going to tell Marinette?

. : .

“I think we have a problem,” she said the next day from her place on Rose’s bed. Rose was busy changing – she had just returned from visiting her brothers, and Frankie’s husband had taken her shopping. She had called her over for…well. Juleka was pretty sure for make up makeouts, since she’d been gone a week, but she’d also wanted to show off her haul. She tipped her head back, looking at the closet door that blocked her girlfriend from view. “Rose. Did you hear me?”

“I did,” she called, tossing the lilac dress she’d just shown her over the top of the door. Juleka had liked that one. The hornier part of her couldn’t wait to peel it off her. “I’m waiting for you to tell me what the problem is. I need to assess for optimal reaction.” She poked her head out, and the bra strap sliding off her otherwise bare shoulder was very distracting. “I’m trying to not be so extra, remember?”

“I think Luka’s seeing someone,” Juleka said. She dropped her head back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. “He’s…been avoiding me. And acting weird. Like he’s keeping something from me.”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s seeing anyone,” Rose said, stepping out from behind the door with her arms folded across her chest. Juleka glanced at her before forcing her eyes back up, because if her shoulder had been distracting… “He could just be busy, Jules. You know he’s taken on a bunch of students over the summer.”

“I heard him on the phone,” she insisted. “Didn’t sound like a student he was talking to. He…said he loved them.”

Rose’s brow furrowed.

“…did he have the call on speaker?” she asked. Juleka shook her head. Rose sighed and looked down at her feet. “Well. Shoot. Have you asked him about it yet?”

“Didn’t really know how,” she sighed. Her eyes closed as she settled back onto the bed. “I just…I guess I always thought he’d work things out with Marinette? I like Marinette. I don’t want to have to get used to someone else. She was going to be a great sister-in-law.”

“…it’s been a long time since they tried to make it work, Jules,” Rose said, her voice sympathetic. Juleka sighed and rolled onto her side, reaching out a hand for her. Rose smiled as she walked over, climbing onto the bed beside her and cuddling up against her side. Juleka smiled as she wrapped an arm around her, the skin of Rose’s back hot against her own. “Maybe it’s for the best. Maybe it’s time they both moved on.”

“…who are you and what have you done with my hopeless romantic girlfriend?” Juleka grumped, smiling at her. Rose giggled and leaned up, kissing her slowly.

“It’s called growing up,” she said. “It’s supposed to be good for you.”

Juleka hummed and leaned in for another kiss. She’d worry about Luka’s secrets later. There was entirely too much half-dressed Rose to occupy her attention to worry too much about stupid brothers just then.

. : .

A few blocks away, hidden in the depths of the Liberty (or: hiding out in the laundry room, where suspicions Captains and sisters couldn’t catch them), Luka was busy with his own…distractions.

Specifically the lapful of half-dressed Marinette, who had pushed him back onto the dryer and climbed on top of him the second he’d set the timer. And while he had been the sole focus of his sister’s attention lately, he could safely say she was the absolute last thing on his mind.

It was a little hard to be concerned with worrying about her, when Marinette’s hands were in his hair and her tongue was in his mouth. Or when she tipped her head back like that and made such delicious little sounds when his lips moved along her neck, lower and lower to…

“N-no one’s home, right?” she asked, breathless, and he hummed as his lips found her chest. His hands slid up her back, toying with the band of her bra. “Luka.”

“Jules is at Rose’s,” he said, nipping along the lacy edge of the cup covering her breast. He was starting to think she had fallen into the river on purpose, though she should have known by now there were easier ways to get her shirt off… “Ma’s…not home. We’re safe.”

“I’d hope so,” she giggled. “I mean…it’s bad enough if they catch us together, but if they catch us like this?”

She pushed her chest a little closer to him, wiggling as if to emphasize her point, but all that made him want to do was kiss her more.

“Don’t fall into the river, then,” he teased. He glanced up at her, his eyes darker than they had any right to be. “If you weren’t still such a klutz, we wouldn’t have needed to toss your clothes in the wash.”

“And wouldn’t a gentleman offer me a shirt, too, instead of making me walk around practically naked like this?” she quipped. He hummed, dropping another kiss to her chest.

“I’m a boat kid, not a gentleman,” he reminded her, “and I happen to love you like this.”

“You love me anyway,” she laughed. He chuckled, picking at the hooks of her bra again, and nodded.

“I really do,” he said. He glanced up at her with a wicked little grin. “…klutz and all.”

“…why you��” she huffed, and then he wasn’t sure what happened.

There was a brief moment where the world seemed to spin and flip, and then he was lying on his back across the washer and dryer with Marinette hovering over him, his shirt pushed up around his neck and her lips closing around a nipple. Her teeth scraped the sensitive skin before she sucked, and he gasped as his entire body twitched beneath her.

“Who’s the klutz now?” she hummed, and his laugh turned into a strangled little sound he couldn’t bother being embarrassed about.

“M-my point,” he huffed, his hands sliding up her thighs and around to cup her ass, “is that your secret – our secret – is safe. For now. They don’t suspect a thing, and no one’s here to find out.”

It was just them for the foreseeable future, and he had every intention to take full advantage of that.

“…don’t say it like that,” she sighed, her teeth grazing his nipple again. “We will tell them, Luka. Just…not yet.”

“I know,” he said, squeezing her ass and encouraging her to look up at him. He pushed her up, lifting his head to catch her lips in a slow kiss. “I just…don’t you think it’ll be worse? The longer we keep this from everyone?”

“We could always elope first,” she said. “Then no one will be able to complain. It’ll be too late to, by the time they find out.”

“Bullshit,” he laughed, pecking a kiss against her lips. “Your dad will flip. He’s probably been planning our wedding since you were in collège. He’ll kill me if I marry you and he’s not there to see it.”

“And the Captain won’t kill me?” she teased. He chuckled and shrugged.

“She’s more lenient,” he said. “Eloping has just enough chaotic flair to make her proud. Plus, she already likes you. It’ll just cement you as a keeper in her books.”

“Papa loves you,” she reminded him. She sighed as she settled against his chest, her ear resting above his heart. “We’ll tell them. Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow,” he agreed, the word sounding more relieved than he’d probably meant it to. “Until then…”

He rolled her towards the wall, and she squealed out a laugh as he was suddenly on top of her. They’d tell everyone tomorrow. Eventually. For now, she was still his secret to keep, and he was determined to enjoy every last minute of it.

#miraculous ladybug #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #juleka couffaine #rose lavillant #lukanette #endgame lukanette #lukanette endgame #julerose #ml fic #ver fic #lbsc lukanette month 2024 #prompt: secrets #rated m for makeouts #it's not that bad but body parts are mentioned so just being safe #secret relationship #luka is bad at keeping secrets #but he's trying #protective sister juleka couffaine

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verfound · 2 months ago

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FIC: "So About That Piercing..." (MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

Direct continuation of "When Did You Get THAT?", because Luka had more to say (and do) about that belly button ring...

Read on Ao3

Prompt 25: Change

Juleka didn’t come back for…a while.

And when the Captain came above deck not long after she left to find Luka and Marinette still standing there, smiling stupidly at each other as they held hands and spoke in low voices, she just rolled her eyes and barked out loud enough to catch their attention, making them jump apart.

“I said having yer lass over would be a bad idea,” she called, her tone as rough as ever but a knowing smirk on her face. “Don’t be getting too distracted with yer girlfriend, aye? Make sure that roof be fixed a’fore sundown, at least.”

“She’s not –” Luka tried to argue, but that was when he realized Marinette was still holding his hand. She squeezed it gently, and he turned startled eyes on her to find she was grinning back at the Captain.

“Sorry, Captain,” she said. “It was totally my fault.”

“Ah, don’t be blamin’ yerself, lass,” Anarka said, rolling her eyes fondly. “I know how he gets around ye. It be about time fer a break, anyhow. I’ll be back with some grub in a bit.” She paused before continuing on, leveling them with a knowing smirk. “A wee bit. Mind yerselves, now.”

She waved them off and made her way for the shore, leaving Luka staring after her. Once she was gone, he turned back to Marinette with a wince.

“Sorry about…she means…” he tried, but Marinette’s soft giggle made him pause. She stepped back over to him, her hand squeezing his again as she looked up at him from under her lashes. Her gaze was almost shy, which was…insane, because he couldn’t remember the last time Marinette was shy around him.

“She’s not…she’s not wrong though, right?” she asked, and there was just enough of a nervous edge to her voice – just enough uncertainty in her eyes – that it made him pause. His breath caught in his throat, and she squeezed his hand again. “I…I kind of am. Aren’t I?”

His eyes widened, but beyond that he wasn’t entirely sure what his face did. Whatever expression he was wearing, it made her shrink back – and that was the last thing he wanted. She swallowed as she looked down to their joined hands, and he was vaguely aware of her thumb rubbing against his. He squeezed her hand and gave a gentle tug, encouraging her to come closer again.

“I-I mean…Luka, come on,” she sighed, her thumb tapping against the side of his hand. “The only difference between us and Juleka and Rose most days is that right now Juleka’s probably kissing Rose and showing her just how hot she thinks that stupid piercing really is.” She looked back up at him, a challenge in her eyes. It was an expression he was very familiar with on Ladybug’s face, but not always Marinette’s, and it gave him pause, too. If he thought the piercing was hot… “And I can’t even say that’s a difference from when we were dating, not really, because you never kissed me then, either.”

Well, that hurt.

“…hey,” he said, his voice weak. He tried to grin at her. “It wasn’t for lack of trying.”

That didn’t seem like the right thing to say. If anything, it just made her hold his hand tighter. Made that stubborn Ladybug look intensify.

“So why aren’t you trying now?” she insisted, tugging on his hand. Not for the first time that day, he felt like she had thrown him for a loop. For several, actually.

“You…want me to?” he asked, dumbfounded. He blinked at her, his brow furrowing as he studied her. “Marinette. You. Seriously?”

“I thought it was obvious,” she sighed. “I mean. Luka. I got my belly button pierced just to drive you a little crazy.”

“What?” he asked, his mouth dropping open. She seemed to realize what she had just confessed a second too late, her eyes snapping open with a soft squeak as heat flooded her face.

“I-I-I mean not…I didn’t…I wanted to, because the flower was cute, and it was totally my choice,” she said quickly, shaking her head. He was still staring at her, and she swallowed as she tugged his hand. “B-but then Rose said…she said you’d think it was hot, and I wanted you to think I was hot, and…stop it, Luka!”

She slapped at his arm when he started laughing, but he couldn’t. He was just…hearing her say that…damn it all, he was so happy.

She still…she still liked him.

Right?

That was what he was hearing, right?

She had to, if she wanted him to think she was hot. (And how weird was that, because when had he ever not thought that about her? Pierced belly button or not?)

“Marinette, you didn’t…I love it. Don’t get me wrong. I love it. But you didn’t have to go that extreme to make me notice you,” he said, shaking his head. He reached up to brush some hair behind her ear, and he rolled his eyes at how absurd the idea was. A hesitant smile curled her lips when he looked back to her. “As if you’d ever have to change a single thing about yourself to accomplish that. I always notice you. I have always thought you were hot. More than hot. It is ridiculous how easily you can derail every train of thought I have with just one look.”

Or without a look, but like hell he was about to confess to openly ogling her ass earlier. At least…not yet. He wasn’t quite sure she’d be happy to know about that yet. He swallowed as his thumb rubbed the apple of her cheek.

“You…you do know that, right?” he asked, his voice sounding so nervous in his ears. “You have to know how crazy I am about you.”

“Well, no, not really, when you don’t kiss me,” she huffed, but she was still smiling up at him. “I…had hoped. But I couldn’t be sure when you don’t want to kiss me.”

…she was absolutely ridiculous.

“That’s…entirely my mistake,” he conceded, nodding. “One I should remedy. Right now, if you’d like.”

His hand was still on her face. His other still held hers by their sides. He laid his palm against her cheek, tilting her head towards him just a bit. He smiled softly at her as he leaned in.

“And for the record…I always want to kiss you, Marinette,” he murmured, his eyes starting to close. He saw hers dart to his mouth before he closed them, and he felt her sigh against his lips before he pressed them to hers. She melted against him, her hand squeezing his almost painfully, and that was all it took for him to wrap his arm around her waist and tug her against him. She grunted at the movement, and it was too easy to open his mouth and run his tongue along her lip – to take that little gasp as an invitation to deepen the kiss. At some point her hands had slid into his hair, and God if the way she tugged on it didn’t feel amazing…

She pulled away with a gasp, and when she turned her head it was too easy to trail a line of kisses along her jaw, up to her ear…she pulled on his hair, and he nipped at her earlobe – just below the stud – and then he did it again when that made another delicious little noise escape her. He’d almost call it a moan.

“Too much?” he whispered, nudging her ear with his nose. She hummed, but she didn’t pull away. Her grip loosened on his hair, her fingers scratching lightly against his scalp, and he groaned as he dropped another kiss against her neck. “Marinette…”

“Y-yes,” she panted. He started to pull away, but she twisted her fingers in his hair and tugged. She swallowed and dipped her head towards his shoulder, kissing along the line of his ripped-off sleeve. “No. I mean…I don’t know.”

“Talk to me,” he said, moving his hands to her hips and holding her loosely. He gave her a gentle squeeze before rubbing along the waist of her shorts, and she nodded stiffly. “Clearly, we need to get better at communicating. Tell me what you want, Mari.”

“You,” she sighed, turning her head to kiss his neck. He swallowed again, and she huffed out an exasperated breath. “It’s just…”

“Too fast?” he asked. He smiled when a laugh was startled out of her. He rubbed his nose along her neck. “Too much?”

“But it shouldn’t be, right? We’ve been dancing around each other forever – glaciers have melted faster than we do, Luka,” she huffed. He chuckled, and she tugged his hair again. “I want this. I want you. I’ve always wanted you, Luka. It was always you.”

He must have made some type of disagreeable noise or expression, because the next thing he knew she was tugging his mouth back to hers and kissing him firmly.

“Shut up. It has been,” she insisted. “Even when…Luka. Before. When…when I still thought I liked Adrien. I liked him, sure, but…I didn’t think about kissing him like this.”

“You had your wedding planned out, Marinette,” he said, cocking an eyebrow at her. “Three kids and beach house, remember?”

“Silly vague fantasies any girl would have about a supposed future spouse,” she said, rolling her eyes. “And if I ever thought about kissing him, it was always just…a kiss. Not a kiss. I never dreamt about what his tongue in my mouth would feel like. Never wanted to get pierced just to know what it’d feel like when he licked it.”

“Oh my God, Marinette…” he groaned, his grip on her hips tightening. She ducked her face against his chest, but he could still feel her blush burning through his shirt.

“We’ve been dancing around this forever, Luka,” she huffed, the hand on his shoulder clenching. “I…I know it’s stupid, because it’s not too fast. It just…”

Her fingertips on his jaw turned his head, and then her mouth was on his again. That kiss was sweeter, though. Just as charged, but…slower. Full of some kind of promise that had him leaning into her, until she was taking a step back and…she gasped when her back hit the mast, or maybe that was when his thumb slipped under her shirt and stroked beside her navel. His tongue slid along hers, and she sighed into the kiss as she arched against him.

“This…this is good, too,” she sighed when he pulled away. He pecked another kiss against her lips, catching the lower one between his teeth, and she sighed again. “We have time. We don’t have to rush.”

“This isn’t rushing,” he insisted, stealing another kiss. “You just said it. This is years of missed kisses I need to make up for.”

“Years?” she asked with a giggle, and he nodded with a grin.

“Years,” he insisted. “Starting with that kiss we never got at Crocodile Heart, and every one we missed out on after. I could have been kissing you every day, Marinette.”

“I wanted you to,” she sighed, picking at the frayed edges of his sleeves. “We really did miss out on years of kisses.”

“And I will spend the rest of our lives giving you every type of kiss you could possibly want,” he said, his voice low and dark with promise, “but right now you are driving me absolutely crazy, and I kind of just want to kiss you stupid. So…”

She bit down on her lip as she grinned up at him, and he groaned as he dove at her again. The hand on his shoulder slipped around his neck, tugging him closer, and he found his hand sliding from her hip, along her stomach, until his thumb brushed along her navel. She shivered, a little sound that shot straight through him rising from the back of her throat, and he pulled away with a frown.

“Was…was that all right?” he asked. “Is it still sore?”

“Not…not really,” she said, her hand fisting in the hair at the back of his neck and tugging gently. His eyes started to close on him, and he swallowed as he nodded.

“Too much?” he asked again, just to be sure. She shook her head.

“Definitely not,” she said. She looked shy again when his eyes opened. “I…I think I liked it? It felt…”

He flicked at the piercing, and she shuddered as she tugged his hair again.

“…oh,” she breathed, her other hand fisting in his shirt. “I…I definitely liked that.”

“Killing me,” he groaned, tucking his face against the crook of her neck. He nudged the piercing again, grinning when she shivered. “Ma’s probably not gonna be back for a while.”

“She said a wee bit,” she reminded him. He hummed and kissed her neck.

“There’s a lot we can do in a wee bit,” he argued. He grazed his teeth along her neck, loving the way that made her pull at his hair, too. “…there’s a lot I want to do with you, Marinette. Starting with your idea about licking.”

“I can’t believe I said that,” she groaned, dropping her head on his shoulder. He chuckled and dropped another kiss against her neck, and then he drug his tongue along it, just to see her reaction. She squeaked and tightened her grip on his shoulders, pulling him closer. “L-Luka! No. You…the Captain’s probably on her way back. You have a roof to finish.”

“I have one more pane to replace and until the sun goes down to do it,” he argued. “And Ma…will probably love teasing us if she comes back and catches us like this. So, ok. We can go below. Find somewhere where I can…what did you say Juleka was doing? Showing Rose how hot she thinks the piercing is?”

She rolled her eyes, but she still kissed him back when he caught her mouth again. He…really wanted to take her below. His bed had to be worlds more comfortable than the mast. One of the deck chairs was probably more comfortable than the mast. He wasn’t picky, as long as she let him continue kissing her.

After all, hadn’t she just agreed they had years to make up for?

“You really like it?” she asked, her teeth pressing into her lip again as she picked at his hair. “You don’t…think it’s stupid?”

“It’s hot,” he insisted. He kissed her forehead, then her nose, then finally her lips. “And I love it. Just like I love you.”

She sucked in a breath, and he kissed her one more time. Just because he could.

“Just to get it all out there,” he said, rubbing their noses together. “Since. Y’know. Glaciers are melting faster than we do.”

“C-climate change is no joke, Luka,” she teased. He rolled his eyes, but that time she kissed him – before he could even try to kiss her. She was grinning as she pulled back. “But if we are trying to beat the glaciers here…I love you, too.”

She kissed him again, her lips chasing after his as he took a step back towards the door that would lead them below. She squeezed his hand as he reached for the door, feeling entirely too giddy for the grin curling her lips as she looked at him.

“You dork.”

#miraculous ladybug #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #lukanette #endgame lukanette #lukanette endgame #ml fic #ver fic #lbsc lukanette month 2024 #prompt: change #luka couffaine is a fucking idiot #navel piercing #belly button ring #glaciers melt faster than they do #they'd probably update faster than I do too

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verfound · 3 months ago

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FIC: "Cookie Teeth" (MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

Read on Ao3

Prompt 19: Thief

“Hey!”

Luka jumped at the shout, the macaron tumbling from his fingers as he jumped back. He looked up to see a girl with short black pigtails angrily stomping towards him. Her face was red and puffed out in anger, her blue eyes sparking…kinda like Ma’s did when Uncle Roger came to ‘visit’. She stopped in front of him, her hands placed firmly on her hips, and peered up at him.

…she was so tiny. Like…tinier than Juleka, and Juleka was pretty tiny. And yet…for as tiny as she was, he was fairly certain she could kick his butt if she wanted to.

She’d bite his ankles, at least. She looked like an ankle-biter.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” she asked, rocking forward onto her toes to make herself just a little taller. He leaned back, but she just followed. He held up his hands in defense, which might not have been the best idea: there was still a half-eaten macaron in his one hand. “You’re only s’pposed to take one!”

“…I did,” he said, waving the one in his hand. She puffed out her cheeks again and stomped her foot. She pointed to the ground where the second one he’d been about to take was lying in crumbles.

“You was taking another!” she huffed. “That’s two!”

Congratulations, you can count, he might have said, if she had been his sister and not a total stranger.

“But it wasn’t for me!” he said instead, hoping to get her off his back. He pointed across the park, where his sister was still playing in the sandbox. Ma was still sitting on the bench nearby, laughing with another parent. “See? That’s my sister. I was getting one for her. And my ma. One for each of us.”

“The sign says take one,” the girl insisted, folding her arms across her chest. Her white shirt had pink flowers on it surrounding a smiling cat. He couldn’t help but think a shirt that happy didn’t belong on someone so…not. “You was takin’ three! If they want one, they gotta come get ‘em!”

He was about to argue – or maybe just agree and go get Juleka anyway – when a huuuuuuuuuuge man walked up, chuckling, and patted the little girl’s shoulder.

“Now, now, mon choux,” he said, his mustache twitching with his smile, “I think we can be a little lenient, don’t you? He wasn’t trying to take them all for himself.”

“He was!” she insisted. “Papa, he’s a teeth!”

…he was a what?

“You worked so hard on those, and he’s just stealing them!” she continued, and his eyes widened.

“Hey! I’m not a teeth…thief!” he cried. “I was just taking them for my ma and sister – honest!”

“Marinette, sweetheart, that’s enough,” the man said, sighing. He knelt down and turned her towards him, frowning. “It’s all right. He can take more than one – we made them to share, didn’t we?”

“But…but…the sign…” the girl insisted, her voice warbly, but the man just shook his head with a smile.

“Maybe this time we go more with the spirit of the law and less the actual letter of it?” he asked, tapping her nose. She looked back over at Luka, her eyes watery, and seemed to study him for a long moment before nodding. She slipped out of the man’s hold and ran back over to the table where an older woman with short, dark hair was handing a box over to a super old guy with eyebrows as big as his mustache. She swiped a long, thin box from the table and ran back over to him.

“Here,” she said, shoving the box at him. She still looked uncertain. “I’m sorry. You can take these.”

The man smiled, nodding in approval, and she shoved them a bit closer. Luka blinked as he reached up to take the box. What the heck…?

“Thanks…?” he asked. His eyes widened when he opened the box to find it was a whole box full of macarons. “Oh, wow, you really don’t –”

“I’m sorry!” Marinette insisted, stepping back when he tried to hand the box back to her. “…even if you are a teeth!”

She turned and ran back to the table where the woman – her ma, he assumed – was waiting. She tucked herself into the woman’s shirt…dress…thing, peeking back at him when her ma laid a hand on her back. The man chuckled and shook his head.

“…it’s thief!” Luka called, his brow furrowing. “And I’m not!” He looked back at the box of macarons, frowning. “…I’m a pirate.”

“Enjoy the macarons, son,” the man said, chuckling as he patted a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry about Marinette. She’s…a little particular about things like signs. She really didn’t mean any offense.”

Luka nodded, but then he puffed his cheeks out as he stared at the girl still watching him suspiciously from where she could barely see over the table the bakery had set up for the neighborhood fair.

“…I’m not a tee…thief,” he said, looking up at the man. “I’m not.”

“I know,” the man said. He waved him a bit closer, and once Luka had stepped over to him he leaned in to whisper in his ear: “Marinette would never tell you, but she’s a notorious cookie ‘teeth’ herself.”

His eyes widened, and he leaned around the man to stare at Marinette. When she saw he was looking at her again, she scrunched up her face and stuck her tongue out at him. His eyes popped open, and the man laughed as he patted his shoulder.

“Go on, son,” he said, nodding at him. “Enjoy your macarons.”

Luka nodded and turned to head back to his ma, but he gave one last look at the little girl by the table before he left. She stuck her tongue out at him again, and he tried not to bristle.

…Juleka would probably love her. They were both brats.

#miraculous ladybug #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #tom dupain #endgame lukanette #lukanette endgame #ml fic #ver fic #lbsc lukanette month 2024 #prompt: thief #childhood au #meet as kids #there's no real relationship here?#but we all know it's lukanette #cmon

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verfound · 3 months ago

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FIC: "I Have Your...Cake" (MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

(Rated M for Bachelorette Party-style shenanigans)

Read on Ao3

05 September 2024

Prompt 27: Opposite

The man who answered the door was the exact opposite of what Marinette had been expecting, going from the pictures.

For one thing, he wasn’t blond. For another, he wasn’t…he was…that is to say…

He had a face, for one. The pictures she had been sent for ‘reference’ were not of her client’s face.

(…but she wasn’t sure you could actually dye…where the pictures were, so again: she had thought the client was blond.)

And from the few phone calls they’d had – because most of the correspondence had been through Rose, because she didn’t normally do this sort of thing but Rose was a dear friend and she was doing her a favor – she hadn’t expected him to be so…well. Cute.

…which was an entirely unfair thought to have, because this man was getting married the next day – she was holding the baked proof that he was very much getting married the next day – and was definitely not someone that Marinette should be considering ‘cute’.

(…panty-dropping, Alya would probably say, because good Lord those eyes and shoulders and…down, girl.)

“Yes?” he asked, and if her brain had still been functioning she might think it weird that his voice sounded deeper, too. Less accented. Less manic.

The voice from the phone had bee grating at best. This voice…oh, she could spend hours listening to that voice. She wondered what her name would sound like wrapped in it. How other things would sound wrapped in it.

…she was perhaps just a little gone, which, going back to the fact that he was completely and utterly unavailable, was a big problem.

“Mademoiselle?” he asked, and she shook her head as she (mostly) came back to her senses. She was making an absolute fool of herself – she had to get it together! She straightened her back and thrust (…goddammit phrasing!) the bakery box out at him.

“I-I-I have your penis!” she actually yelped, and dear God just kill her now. There was a beat that passed between them as her words seemed to sink in, and then his eyebrows were lifting into his hairline and an adorable little flush was coloring his cheeks and Down, Girl! “I-I mean your cake! Your penis cake! The cake of your penis! For your party?”

He blinked again as realization seemed to sink in, and the flush on his cheeks grew darker as a strangled little chuckle left him. She groaned and hung her head.

“…kill me now,” she moaned. She glanced up at him, her head still bent over the box, and bit down on her lip. If she hadn’t been in the middle of dying from mortification, she might have noticed the way his eyes seemed to focus on that. “I am so sorry. That was so unprofessional, M. King. It’s just…I didn’t expect you to be so hot.”

His eyes widened again, and she almost dropped the cake. She jerked up, her back ramrod straight, and squeaked.

“I-I mean cute! Attractive! I mean you’re not – you’re taken! Engaged! Affianced!” and God, now she was rambling. Why wasn’t he stopping her? Why was he grinning like that? She groaned again and pushed the cake out a little more. “…please take this and put me out of my misery.”

“…I think I like your misery,” he chuckled, his voice sounding more than a little strangled, but he still took the cake. He winced as he glanced at the box, distinctly not opening it, and put it on a table behind the door. He turned back to her with an easy smile and folded his arms over his chest as he leaned against the frame. “And for the record. If it makes any difference. I’m not M. King.”

He glanced back at the box as she sucked in a breath, his eyebrows furrowing. His expression turned wry as he looked back at her.

“…that’s not seriously a cake of his junk, is it?” he asked. She nodded, and he grimaced. “I was really hoping he was joking about that. Bri’s gonna hate…shit. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

“…sorry?” she squeaked, her eyes widening again. He turned back into the flat, his expression suddenly furious, but she was more than a little distracted by the way his ass looked in those jeans.

“Dingo, you jackass – you didn’t actually order strippers for your party, did you?!” he shouted, and her eyes grew even wider. Ordered what now??? When no answer came, the man’s jaw clenched. “I am not going to jail for you, asshole!”

“…um…” she coughed, and he jumped as he turned back to her – like he had completely forgotten she was there.

“…shit. Sorry,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s just…Dingo – the groom – is a fucking moron. I didn’t think he’d actually ordered the stupid cake – his fiancée, Bri, told him multiple times she didn’t want it, but he kept joking about…”

There must have been some kind of expression on her face – there had to be, from the heat she could feel filling her cheeks and the way her eyes were stinging – that made him wince and look away. His hand came up to rub at the back of his neck, and his own blush had spread to the tips of his ears.

…he had no right to be that hot and that adorable.

“…sorry,” he said again, wincing. “That’s…that’s not actually your problem. Sorry. They…um. Fuck. They paid you, right? For the cake?”

“Y-yeah,” she said, nodding. She cleared her throat and nodded again, a bit stronger. “Yes. I was just dropping it off on my way home. I…sorry. So you’re not Dingo, then?”

“God, no,” he laughed, shaking his head. He held out his hand, his smile softening. “Luka. Luka Couffaine.”

“Oh! Juleka’s brother, right?” she asked, snapping her fingers. He lifted his eyebrows. “The musician?”

“You know Jules?” he asked. His hand was still held out awkwardly between them. She nodded.

“And Rose,” she said. “We’ve been friends since collège. I’m Marinette.”

“Oh, right! The designer!” the man – Luka – said, nodding. “They talk about you all the time. It’s nice to finally have a face to put with the name. Your parents are bakers, right? Is that how you ended up making…”

He glanced back at the box, and she giggled nervously.

“Rose and Juleka are really good friends, and I never turn down a good friend,” she said, shrugging. “…even if it makes me really uncomfortable. I’m chronically helpful.”

“Your stuff’s incredible,” Luka said. He rolled his eyes and smiled. “Never thought I’d say this, but I’m almost looking forward to eating Ding’s junk now.”

She choked on a laugh, clapping her hands over her mouth, and his smile grew. When she had better gathered herself, she looked up at him with an almost giddy smile.

“…hey, are you doing anything tomorrow?” he asked. Her eyebrows lifted, and he grinned. “I’d love to…well. I’d love to buy you a coffee, but I’m kinda supposed to be in this wedding. I may have promised the groom I’d be his best man.”

She giggled at the way he rolled his eyes, and his smile grew. He dipped his head towards her.

“Care to be my plus one?” he asked, grinning. “I’m told the cake’s going to be amazing.”

She choked on another laugh. She knew it would be – her parents were making it.

“Isn’t it bad form to invite someone to a wedding for a first date?” she asked. “Besides. I’m already going to be there – I have to help the bakers set up the cake.”

“Perfect!” he said. Something moved in her periphery, and she noticed he was wiggling his fingers at her. He was still holding his hand up between them. “You have to be there. I have to be there –best man, remember? Why not be there together? I’d say I’d buy you a drink, but it’s going to be an open bar. Maybe I can buy you some cake instead.”

“…the cake’s free, too,” she laughed. His grin grew.

“Perfect,” he said. “You can buy me cake.”

He wiggled his fingers again, and she rolled her eyes as she raised a hand to clasp his. She was momentarily dazed by how…warm his hand felt around hers. Like it was made to hold hers.

“It’s a date,” he said, squeezing her hand. Her smile warmed, and she nodded. Suddenly she didn’t really care if it was bad form, asking someone to a wedding for a first date.

“I can’t wait.”

#miraculous ladybug #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #lukanette #endgame lukanette #lukanette endgame #ml fic #ver fic #lbsc lukanette month 2024 #prompt: opposite #thirsty marinette dupain-cheng #meet cute #meet ugly #penis cakes #bachelorette party #rated m for penis cakes

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verfound · 3 months ago

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FIC: "Love is a Star" (MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

Read on Ao3

04 September 2024

Prompt 32: Stars (B)

“Have you ever heard of hanahaki?”

He turned his head, looking away from the expanse of stars stretching out above them. They’d had to drive nearly two hours out of the city to find this spot, but lying there now, looking up at the night sky stretching out above them, he thought it was worth it.

That might have just been the company, though.

A lot of things felt worth it when Marinette was with him.

“Hanahaki?” he asked, frowning as he considered her question. “That’s the flower thing, right?”

“Yeah,” she said, tapping her fingers against her stomach. “Kagami was telling me about it. It’s like…when you can’t confess your love to someone. Or if it’s unreturned. Something like that. Flowers grow in your lungs and suffocate you.”

“Sounds awful,” he said. She was still staring at the sky, but he was still watching her. He had the better view anyway, he couldn’t help but think. “What brought that up?”

“It was in that new book she’s reading,” she said, shrugging a little. “You know how I’m always late. She’s started bringing books while she waits on our juice dates.”

He grinned at that. They hadn’t been drinking juice during their meetups for a while now.

“I dunno,” she said, shrugging a little. “It just kinda…stuck with me. The thought that telling someone you love them could be so paralyzing you just…choke to death. I’ve just been thinking about it lately, I guess.”

He frowned.

“…you’ve been thinking about suffocating on flowers?” he asked. She giggled and reached over, blindly swatting at his shoulder. She missed, hitting his ribs instead, and he moved an arm from behind his head to find her hand. He smiled once their fingers were linked. “We have a zillion beautiful stars up there to distract us, and you’re here thinking such morbid thoughts. If I had wanted to hang out with someone so grim, I would have stayed home or invited Juleka.”

“Jerk,” she laughed, squeezing his hand. “No, it’s just…I don’t know. It’s not necessarily the choking on flowers part, but…huh. I wonder if it’s always flowers?”

He frowned, waiting for her to continue. She sighed and shrugged, a little awkwardly since they were still lying down.

“Like…I don’t know. What if you choked on stars? What if your love turned into a light, so warm and bright inside you you just…couldn’t contain it? And then it just had to get out, but you’re a hopeless disaster that could never tell the boy you liked you were so nuts about him?” she asked. She finally turned away from the stars. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at him. “I wonder what would hurt more: thorns scratching as they came out or stars burning? I mean, you’d be dead either way, but I wonder which is worse.”

There was a haunted, distracted look to her face – one that reminded him of days long past filled with plots and schemes and too many tears. It didn’t sit right with him – it never really had.

“…thank God it’s not real and the answer is neither,” he said, his voice soft. She rolled her eyes and looked back at the sky.

“Seriously,” she said, huffing out a little laugh. “I bet I’d have it, if it was. I’d be dead by sunrise”

“No, you wouldn’t,” he said, his voice firmer. “Don’t say that.”

“Why not? It’s true,” she said. She sighed and closed her eyes, her smile turning bittersweet. “You remember Adrien.”

Of course he did.

“…yeah,” he sighed. It was hard to forget, some days. She’d been in love with Adrien for most of the time he’d known her. He finally looked back at the stars, unable to look at her any longer. “No offense, Mari, but…I kind of hated him, in the end.”

She frowned, and he knew she had misunderstood.

“He had nothing to do with –” she started, but he shook his head and squeezed her hand again.

“I didn’t care about the Hawkmoth stuff,” he said. “I know how hard that was on him. I meant because of you. I never understood how someone could be so…calloused with another person’s heart. You deserved better, Marinette.”

“It was all for the best, in the end,” she said. “Kagami saw him not so long ago. He’s happy in London. And it’s been a long time since I would’ve choked on anything for him.”

She closed her eyes, sighing, and he wondered at the little inflection of her voice. The emphasis she had put on the ‘him’. He wondered who she would choke for, if not Adrien Agreste.

“No, it’s just…I don’t know. I just wonder sometimes…” she said, shrugging again. “Am I just doomed to never be able to tell the people I care about how much I love them, and isn’t that the root of hanahaki? I’d choke to death in under a week, all because I’m a coward.”

Bullshit, he couldn’t help but think. She was anything but. He pushed himself up on his elbows and leaned towards her, his brow pinched.

“…you’d tell me,” he said, his voice firm. She opened her eyes and looked at him, and they widened just the slightest when she saw him leaning over her. “You would tell me if you loved me, right? You wouldn’t put yourself at risk like that. Especially since you know that’s all I’ve ever wanted to tell you.”

“…I…” she started, but then his hand was on her cheek and his thumb brushed beneath her eye.

“Marinette, promise me,” he said. “Because there’s no way in hell I wouldn’t return it. And there’s no way in hell I’d just sit back and watch you die because…God, Marinette. You wouldn’t do that to me. Right?”

“…I thought hanahaki wasn’t real,” she said, her voice quiet. “So why would it matter?”

“It matters,” he said. “Your feelings always matter.”

She swallowed. The stars suddenly didn’t seem as interesting anymore, which was kind of a shame. Luka had put so much work into this trip for her, wanting to get her out of the city so she could finally relax. You couldn’t see stars like this in Paris, and she was so busy staring at his stupid face she was missing the whole thing.

…she didn’t really mind. She was pretty sure she had the better view, anyway.

“…of course I’d tell you,” she said softly. “I’d try, at least.”

“There’s no try, Marinette,” he said. Her lips twitched with a smile.

“Only do or do not?” she asked, and he rolled his eyes as he chuckled.

“You’d tell me,” he said, ignoring her joke. “Promise me, Marinette. Promise me you’d tell me.”

“I’d tell you,” she said. He sighed, his body seeming to sag with relief, and he nodded. She swallowed, a pleasant thrumming running through her as she studied his profile in the darkness. “…hey, Luka?”

“Yeah?” he asked, opening his eyes, and something about the way they glittered in the starlight was making her dizzy. She reached for his hand again, then seemed to think better of it and reached up to tuck some of his hair behind his ear. He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch, his smile growing.

“I love you,” she said. Her breath caught as he turned his head and kissed her palm. She lost it entirely when he opened his eyes to smile down at her.

“…I love you, too, Marinette.”

#miraculous ladybug #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #lukanette #endgame lukanette #lukanette endgame #ml fic #ver fic #lbsc lukanette month 2024 #prompt: stars #hanahaki #love confessions #past unrequited adrienette #who actually writes hanahaki when you can just write them TALKING about hanahaki 😝#this is partially min's fault #she knows what she did #🖤🖤🖤

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verfound · 3 months ago

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FIC: "A Good Surprise" (MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

Read on Ao3

04 September 2024

Prompt 32: Stars (A)

Marinette was exhausted.

The door closed behind her, perhaps a bit louder than it usually did when she flopped against it and slammed it the rest of the way. She thought about announcing herself, letting Luka know she was home, but if the door hadn’t made it obvious…she sighed and flopped her head back against it.

Her feet hurt. Her ankles were swollen. She had a headache. And her newest salesgirl, a sweet girl still in lycée who was ok with customer service and absolutely hopeless with a needle, had eaten the dumplings Sabine had dropped off for her lunch. And if Marinette hadn’t been seven and a half months pregnant and grumpy (hormonal) to boot, she might have forgiven her for it. Gen was sweet enough, but those had been her dumplings. She had been too queasy to eat them the day before, and she’d been looking forward to them.

…Jocelyn had casually suggested she fine her as she’d handed Marinette the takeout menu for the bistro down the street, but Marinette was trying to be understanding. Kind.

She was better than that, dammit.

“Darning?” Luka called, and she sighed as she pushed herself off the door – or tried to. He popped his head out of the hallway, grinning when he saw her. “Finally.”

“…I will cut you, Couffaine,” she grumped. He was chuckling as he walked over to her, the sound warm and gooey like chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven. She smiled as it washed over her – and then as he was beside her, pulling her up from the door and into his arms. She melted against him, at least as best she could with her stupid belly in the way. “…better.”

“Welcome home,” he said, kissing her temple. “Dinner’s in the oven. Joce called and said you might be hungry.”

“…tattler,” she harrumphed. He chuckled and nudged her back, and when her head tilted towards him he stole a kiss. She sighed against his lips, smiling. “…ok. Making up for it.”

“I have a surprise for you,” he said. She groaned at the words: she was thoroughly sick of surprises by this point. She was going to scream if he opened that door and another baby shower was waiting behind it, she thought as he started walking backwards, leading her towards the…nursery. Because it wasn’t a guest room anymore, was it? It was a nursery, or the starts of one. It wasn’t quite ready yet, and she was a little anxious about that, but he assured her they still had time. “I found something amazing for the baby.”

“…Couffaine amazing or Dupain-Cheng amazing?” she asked, frowning, because the last time he’d said that he’d ended up sleeping on the couch for the night. (Well. Part of the night, because she hadn’t really been able to sleep with him out there and not tucked around her.) He chuckled and stopped outside the door, turning back to her to kiss her again.

“Harmonika amazing,” he murmured against her lips. She rolled her eyes as he led her into the darkened room, towards the rocking chair she’d set up in the corner.

“We are not calling her that,” she said. “I like Harmony, but I draw the line at bluegrass instruments.”

“It’ll grow on you,” he chuckled. He sat her down in the chair, and she rolled her eyes. “It’s a Couffaine tradition, Marinette.”

“That your mother started,” she huffed.

“Tradition,” he chuckled. “Now. Close your eyes.”

“…Luka,” she sighed. He kissed her forehead and squeezed her hands.

“Close your eyes,” he said. “Please?”

“Fine,” she huffed, but only because he was so cute when he asked like that. She settled back in the chair and closed her eyes, and the next thing she knew he had dropped a large bundled something in her arms. She frowned and started to open her eyes, but he laid a hand over them and clicked his tongue.

“Ah-ah-ah,” he tutted, tapping her nose. “Not yet.”

“What am I holding?” she asked, feeling the bundle. It felt like the throw she usually kept on the couch, rolled and bundled up to represent…”Luka, is this supposed to be our baby? Star, she’s not gonna be this big for ages yet!”

“Humor me,” he said. He sounded like he was on the other side of the room. She heard a click, and then a gentle whirring. “Ok, I think…yes. Now.”

She opened her eyes, and then she sucked in a breath. She almost dropped the ‘baby’.

It was beautiful.

The lights were still off, the shade on the window drawn, but the ceiling and walls were covered in thousands, millions of tiny stars. She noticed a projector sitting on top of the changing table – they’d have to move it, because surely it couldn’t stay there when they’d need to actually use that table – casting the little pinpricks of lights all over the room. She was reminded of photographs she had seen of the desert at night – or of the few times she had actually been to space, as Cosmobug.

It was breathtaking.

“I was going to get those old glow in the dark stars you can stick to the ceiling,” he said as he walked back over to her. He stood behind the chair and laid his hands on her shoulders, his smile warm as he looked up at the ceiling. “This seemed better. What do you think?”

“I love it,” she said, looking up at him with a watery smile. She was going to start crying again, she just knew it. He was so dumb like that. “I love you.”

He knelt beside the chair, pausing to kiss her on his way down.

“I love you,” he said. When he was settled, he pressed a kiss to her belly. “Both of you.”

#miraculous ladybug #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #lukanette #endgame lukanette #lukanette endgame #ml fic #ver fic #lbsc lukanette month 2024 #prompt: stars #house band #harmony couffaine #pregnant marinette #i had two ideas and sprinted this twice #will post the other tomorrow #this week's been too long #😴😴😴

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verfound · 3 months ago

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FIC: "That Time Xuppu Broke the Chair" (MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

Read on Ao3

02 September 2024

Prompt 11: Broken Chair

“I’m bored,” Xuppu whined from his spot in Marinette’s window. Tikki looked up from the desk, where she had been watching a video on Marinette’s computer with some of the other kwamis.

“Come watch with us, then,” she said. Xuppu huffed and rolled onto his back, throwing a paw over his eyes dramatically as his head lolled towards the desk.

“But I’m bored!” he whined again. “Mistress hasn’t let us out in forever! I miss my doofus!”

“Yeah,” Barkk sighed, nudging the ball with her nose to roll it back towards the wall. She sighed as it bounced back towards her. “Me, too.”

“I do miss Rose,” Daizzi piped up. Tikki frowned as she looked around at her fellow kwamis.

“You all know why we have to lay low,” she said. Beside her, Sass hissed out a sigh.

“Yesss, yesss,” he said. “We all know why. That does not make it any easier, Tikki.”

“Yeah,” Xuppu said. “At least you and egg-breath get out sometimes.”

“It’ssss not my fault my power is more ussseful than yours,” Sass bit. Xuppu sat up, ready for a fight, but Tikki called them to order before they could get out of hand.

“Enough, enough!” she called. “Xuppu, you know it’s not personal!”

“Feels personal,” he grumbled, thinking of how often Sass’s holder had been around lately. Of course he would get out more – their Guardian liked the musician. He never got to see Kim anymore.

“It is not,” Tikki huffed. “Just…find some way to entertain yourself, ok? You’ll be back in the field soon enough, I’m sure of it!”

Xuppu grumped and flopped back onto the windowsill, pouting as he looked around the room. Something shiny under Marinette’s chair caught his eye, and he grinned as he sat back up.

“Ok, Tikki,” he said, hopping up to float over to the desk. “I think I will.”

. : .

“It’s just up here – you don’t have to follow me up,” Marinette laughed, rolling her eyes as Luka stepped into the room behind her. “I’ll only be a minute. Promise.”

“It’s fine,” he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he looked around. She had a new dress partially completed on the dress form in the corner – something black, from the looks of it, but he wasn’t sure how far along in the process she was. The black fabric could always be a template or something. “I’d…rather avoid Tom’s interrogation, if its all the same.”

“…interrogation?” she laughed, looking back at him. “What interro…”

It all happened so fast.

One minute Marinette was sitting down on her chair, intent on rolling over to her desk to look for the folder she had forgotten that morning. The next thing she knew, the chair tilted and wobbled as the wheels went one way and the seat went another, and she was hit by the sudden feeling of weightlessness as she crashed to the floor. For his part, Luka realized what was happening the second her eyes widened and had reached for her hand, but it was already too late. He grabbed onto her wrist, trying to stop her, but all that managed to do was pull him down after her.

There was a loud crash, and a rattle from the desk, and maybe even a shout. The next thing she knew, Marinette was on her back on the floor, Luka sprawled on top of her and staring down into her wide eyes with his own. They were both panting and slightly rattled.

What the hell…?

“…are you ok?” he asked, his eyes searching her face. She swallowed, her mouth snapping shut, and nodded. He frowned, his brow pinching as his eyes darted down to her lips. “You sure?”

“Y-yeah,” she mumbled, her fingers twitching at her side. “Nothing. Um. Nothing feels broken. You?”

“Yeah,” he said absently, nodding. Her brow pinched, and he shook his head as he realized what he had said. “I-I mean no. Nothing…nothing broken.”

“…we should get up now,” she said.

“Probably should,” he agreed, nodding. She swallowed again, and his eyes dropped to her throat.

“Can’t…um. Can’t do that if you don’t,” she said, tapping her fingers again. “You know. Move. First.”

“…yeah,” he said, but he made no effort to actually get up. She lifted an eyebrow, and he shook his head. “Is it…ok if I kind of don’t want to?”

“Luka…” she said. His hand was by her face, and her eyes fluttered shut as he brushed his fingers against her temple. “I-if you thought the interrogation from just standing around downstairs was going to be bad, don’t you think Papa finding us like this will be worse?”

“Kind of don’t care,” he chuckled. He sounded dazed. She couldn’t blame him – she felt a little dazed, too. “Mari. Can I…”

“Can I?” she asked, and when had her hands lifted from the floor to his sides? Her fingers were still nervously tapping, and he chuckled again as he leaned in closer.

“We should probably pick you up a new chair when we go out,” he said, brushing his nose against hers. She liked how that sounded. Them. Going out – though staying in was starting to sound pretty good, too. “What even happened there, anyway?”

Marinette had her theories, but with a whole Luka on top of her and his face that close to hers…she didn’t really care. She probably owed someone a treat, though, if…

“It’s on old chair,” she said softly.

“It was a cool chair,” he said. Her fingers tapped against his sides again, and he smiled at her.

“Luka?” she asked, making him hum. “Shut up and kiss me.”

#miraculous ladybug #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #xuppu #lukanette #endgame lukanette #lukanette endgame #ml fic #ver fic #lbsc lukanette month 2024 #prompt: broken chair #kwami shenanigans #luka's not complaining

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verfound · 3 months ago

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FIC: "Who Weaves Fate's Fate?" (MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

Read on Ao3

01 September 2024

Prompt 49: Fate

“What are you working on today?”

She looked up at his voice, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the god of song. She beckoned him closer, her smile as warm and welcoming as ever, before turning back to her tapestry.

“Come,” she said. “See.”

His smile softened as he approached, but it left him in a rush as his mouth dropped open. The tapestry was beautiful, as beautiful as its weaver, but then again weren’t all her works divine? His grip tightened where his hands were clasped behind his back, fighting the urge to reach out and touch.

The slightest touch could change things irrevocably, in this state. Before she fastened off the ends and declared her work complete. He would never jeopardize her work like that.

She cared too much for her charges for him to ever do so.

“It’s amazing, Marinette,” he said, his voice reverent. Her smile turned shy, a faint pink dusting her cheeks as she bent her head. You’re amazing.

“Thank you, Luka,” she said, pushing her needle through the thick cloth.

“You never said what it was, though,” he said, smiling as the pink grew darker. There was a curl that had fallen loose from her headdress, dangling just behind her eye. He longed to reach out and tuck it back behind her ear, to let his fingertips brush along her cheek…he kept his hands firmly behind his back.

She was not his to touch, much as he wished otherwise.

“It’s a love story,” she finally said, pausing to brush her fingers along the couple she was so painstakingly stitching. That much had been obvious, from the embrace they were locked in, but he loved to hear her say it. To tell of the fates she poured so much of herself into. “Aren’t they always love stories?”

“They are your favorite kind,” he chuckled. She hummed in agreement.

“I’ll leave the darker ilks for my cousin,” she said, picking her needle back up. “Kagami prefers them, anyway.”

“How do they meet?” he asked, looking back to her tapestry. She shrugged.

“The usual,” she said. “Boy meets girl.”

“Boy falls hard for girl?” he asked, grinning.

“Girl makes him work harder than he probably should have to,” she giggled, glancing up at him. The giggle cut off abruptly as her eyes found his, and he wondered what she saw there to make the pink of her cheeks darken to red. If he was as obvious as he sometimes feared, though he had never intentionally kept the heart on his sleeve a secret. She swallowed, her smile wavering as she held his gaze. “I…should maybe be kinder to them. Sometimes.”

“You say that as if you aren’t always kind,” he said softly. As if she wasn’t the kindest of all of them. She shrugged, and whatever spell had been lingering between them seemed to break as she turned away.

“…I like stories,” she finally said, reaching for her needle again. “What good is any story without a few twists? I can’t make things too easy for them, can I? The work makes it worth it.”

“And what of you, Marinette?” he asked, his eyes still on her dark curls. They weren’t natural, he knew – he had seen her hair spilling over her shoulders in dark rivers. Had heard Rose tell his sister of the time it took for some of her updos. That didn’t make them any less lovely – or any less tempting. “What is your story?”

“…pardon?” she asked. She paused again and looked back at him. “What do you mean, what is my story? I am Fate. My story is to tell their stories.”

His smile softened as he chuckled, shaking his head.

“I envy them sometimes,” he said, tipping his head back with a smile. “How easy they have it. To have someone like you weaving their tales, watching over them all their days. But it does make me wonder. Sometimes.”

“…Luka?” she asked, her voice too quiet in the stillness of the room. There was a sprawling design on her ceiling, a mural she had painted eons ago of cherry blossoms just in bloom. Sometimes, if he stared at it long enough, he would swear the blossoms were dancing in some unseen breeze.

“Who weaves Fate’s fate, Marinette?” he asked softly, finally looking back to her. “How does her story go? Is it a love story, as well?”

She swallowed, her eyes locked on his for the longest moment. A century passed in that moment, he thought, lost in the swirling infinity of her eyes.

“…they are her favorite,” she finally said, as if her very words would break the spell that had seemed to settle over them. “Would it be anything less?”

He hummed as she turned back to her tapestry. He wondered, sometimes. If it truly could be.

. : .

She was working on a new tapestry the next time he came to visit.

“And what of this one?” he asked, smiling once she had invited him in. He was always welcome, he knew, but they both knew he would always wait for her permission to approach. The choice was always hers, in the end.

She was silent a long moment, and he let his eyes trail over the embroidery. There was something…familiar about it, though it was obvious the tapestry was still in its early stages. And yet…there was something about it that spoke of years, lifetimes, of love and care. Of careful thought, maybe even some hesitation. Of hope.

He could see the faint outline of another couple sketched onto the cloth, the man holding the woman close as she bent her head back towards him. The moment before the fall, he couldn’t help but think, just before the first kiss that would change everything forever. Before he could take in any more details, she was standing, holding a few spindles of blue thread up to his face. He blinked at her, startled.

“…Marinette?” he asked, his brow furrowing at the way her eyes darted between his and the thread.

“This will never work,” she huffed, shaking her head. “I’ll need new blue. None of these are right, and it won’t work if it’s not right.”

His eyes widened as he glanced back at the early tapestry, suddenly realizing why it had all felt so familiar. He reached up, finally allowing himself to catch her wrist, and swallowed as he looked at her.

“Marinette?” he asked again, his voice breathless. “What…what are you working on today?”

She bit her lip, the spools tumbling from her fingers as she broke his grasp – just to thread her fingers through his instead.

“Isn’t it obvious?” she asked, smiling shyly as she stepped closer. He felt himself leaning in, his eyes drawn to the perfect bow of her lips. An eternity passed between one breath and the next as he held back, waiting for her permission.

…he would always wait for her permission. The choice was always hers. In the end.

“…it’s a love story.”

#miraculous ladybug #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #lukanette #endgame lukanette #lukanette endgame #ml fic #ver fic #lbsc lukanette month 2024 #lovebugs-and-snakecharmers #prompt: fate #god au

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verfound · 2 months ago

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FIC: "Of Found Things and Mme. Stones" (MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

...who gave these fics the right to be a series? (They probably would have worked fine as chapters, but too late now. 😂)

Read on Ao3

Prompt 07: Street/Craft Fair

The Ring

Marinette gently, quietly closed the door behind her, turning back for one last look at Luka before she went. She doubted the sound of the door closing would wake him: he had fallen asleep before they’d even made it up the stairs to their flat, and she’d had to hoist him over her shoulder and haul his lanky ass up four flights before reaching their front door. That would have been fine, except Carlos – their older neighbor who lived across the hall, who still hadn’t fully warmed up to Luka thanks to his dyed hair and tattoos – had been leaving his own flat, and he had barked out a laugh at the sight. Marinette had offered him a sheepish smile and tried to explain that it had been a really long couple of days, but Carlos just shook his head, patted Luka’s ass, and chuckled “Bienvenidos, mijo” on his way past.

Her idiot boy…fiancé had slept through the whole thing, which was a shame: it was the closest to approval he’d probably ever get from the old man.

(Carlos did adore him – about as much as his wife Manuela – but he still loved to give Luka grief about his appearance and being a rock star. She supposed it was fine: Luka loved to give him grief about the amount of pizza he loved to eat.)

She had maneuvered Luka to their room as soon as she’d had their door open, and she’d dropped him on the mattress as gently as she could. Still, he had groaned and mumbled something incoherent before reaching for her, and she had almost slipped into the bed with him – except she did still have some work that needed done, and he needed his rest.

Neither would get accomplished if she crawled in after him, she thought as she closed the door. He was sprawled out in the center of their bed, her pillow hugged to his chest with his face buried in the damn thing, and that was exactly where he was going to stay until he actually slept.

…she could always wear him out again later.

. : .

Of course, as she would later learn, it had been a really long forty-eight hours leading up to the nine-hour flight from hell, and it was well into the next day before Luka actually stirred.

He had wandered his way out towards dinner time, but that had really only been to shuffle into the bathroom. He’d found her before heading back to bed – just long enough to bend her back over the (thankfully off) stove with a deep kiss – but that hardly counted. She still wasn’t sure he had actually been awake, no matter how thoroughly he’d kissed her.

He’d mumbled something incoherent when she’d climbed into bed that night, and she had barely had time to crawl under the covers before he’d wrapped himself around her. He hadn’t woken, though, and he still wasn’t awake when she slipped back out of bed the next morning.

If she hadn’t been dealing with Couffaine sleeping habits for almost ten years now (first at sleepovers with Juleka and later with him), she might have worried. But as long as he was still breathing, she figured he was fine and let him sleep.

Penny showed up at their front door early the next morning. Marinette was still wearing her dressing gown when she knocked, her first cup of coffee still in hand.

“Guess what wasn’t actually in Barcelona,” Penny said by way of greeting when Marinette opened the door. Her eyes widened as Penny patted the suitcase beside her. “It was mislabeled and about to head to Hong Kong, but you’d be surprised how effective a crocodile can be in tracking down misplaced luggage.”

“Liar,” Marinette laughed, pulling her into a hug. “More like how effective Jagged Stone’s irate wife can be in getting anything done.”

“Well, that, too,” Penny laughed, patting her back. “But years of dealing with Fang doesn’t hurt. Has he calmed down yet?”

“He’s still sleeping,” Marinette said, and Penny’s eyebrows lifted. Marinette waved her in and wheeled the suitcase over to the dining area. She lifted it onto the table and opened it, rooting through the front pockets until she found…she grinned when her fingers brushed against a small box. “He was already exhausted, and losing this didn’t help.”

“Shouldn’t you let him find it first?” Penny asked, an eyebrow lifting as Marinette pulled the ring out and slipped it onto her finger. She held her hand up, her smile growing as she finally saw it. The pink opal burned just as brightly as it did in her memory. “I’m fairly certain he’s supposed to ask you before you start wearing it.

“Oh, he’s not getting this off my finger any time soon,” Marinette laughed, grinning at her. “If he wanted to surprise me, he shouldn’t have told me he lost it in the first place.”

“He was exhausted, Marinette,” Penny said, frowning. “He didn’t know what he was saying. You should give him this. Let him do this properly.”

She gave her a pointed look, and Marinette sighed as she looked back at her hand. She knew Penny was right, but…she really didn’t want to take it off. She liked how it looked – how it felt – there. Like it belonged.

…like she was always supposed to be Marinette Couffaine.

“Just for a little bit?” she asked, looking back at Penny. “I’ll put it back before he wakes up.”

Penny shook her head, but she was smiling as she laid an arm across Marinette’s shoulders and puled her into a half hug. She looked back at her hand, her smile warming as she studied the ring.

“It’s a lovely ring, Marinette,” she said. “Very…you.”

“Lay off,” Marinette giggled, nudging her side. She glanced down at Penny’s own hand, which sported a stone in the shape of a heart and the color of Penny’s hair. It was ringed by black stones on a gunmetal band – not at all traditional, but very rock-n-roll and very ‘Rolling-Stone’, if Jagged did say so himself. “Your ring is so much worse, and this is a family heirloom.”

“Really?” Penny asked, surprised. “I knew Gina gave it to him – she met us in Rome – but he didn’t tell me the story. I figured she had found it at some street fair or something. Some…sorry, but it really does look like cheap costume jewelry.”

“I’m not offended, but only because your ring does, too,” Marinette giggled, sticking her tongue out at her. She looked back at her nonna’s old ring, her smile softening. “I promise you it’s one hundred percent genuine. It was Nonna’s mother’s. Nonna was just a baby when the war started – barely a year old – and her family had to flee Italy before things got really bad. They didn’t make it back until Nonna was almost ten. This ring was the only thing of value her mother was able to bring with them.”

“It’s a beautiful ring, Marinette,” Penny said softly, and Marinette nodded. It was. A round, pink opal sat in the center of the ring, ringed by tiny diamonds and flanked on either side by flowers made of pink quartz. They were generic looking enough, but she had always liked to imagine they were cherry blossoms. The whole thing sat on a gold band, and it had captivated Marinette since she was a little girl.

“Nonna always called me her Little Fairy, but I always thought she was the fairy,” she confessed. “I didn’t understand how opals worked back then – I always thought it was fairy magic that made the stone burn like that, not opal fire. She never bothered correcting me, either.”

Penny laughed, shaking her head.

“It’s very you,” she said. “Luka was really excited when Gina offered. He went through all the trouble of getting Tom and Sabine’s blessing – Jagged was pouting for weeks after that, by the way. He couldn’t understand why Luka didn’t ask for his blessing, too.”

Marinette laughed at that, not surprised at all.

“Of course he was,” she said. “What, do I need to ask him for Luka’s hand first, too?”

“It probably wouldn’t hurt,” Penny snickered. “But you know how Luka is. He’s not a planner. I think part of him honestly didn’t think Tom would even say yes.”

“Dummy,” Marinette said, shaking her head. “Like Papa would ever say no to him.”

“That boy is crazy for you, Marinette,” Penny said, squeezing her shoulders. “He’s not above being completely irrational when it comes to you. I’ve seen him put up with a lot on the road, between his father and the rest of the band, and sometimes I honestly think the only thing that truly scares him is the thought of losing you. Even if he knows it will never happen…I don’t know. It’s like…I don’t know if he saw something. During an akuma attack, back in the day. Maybe that breakup you two had when you were younger. But he says things sometimes, like he’s all too aware of how things could be. How fragile life really is. I think it makes him hold on a bit tighter to how they are.”

Marinette bit her lip. She wondered if Penny realized just how right she actually was.

“I gave him up once, Penny,” she said, brushing her thumb over the opal. “I have no intention of doing so again. He’s stuck with me.” She looked back up at her, her grin coming back. “And he’s going to have to pry this ring off my cold, dead finger.”

Penny laughed and leaned in to smack a kiss against her temple.

“And don’t you let him forget it,” she said. She winked at her. “After you let him get the proposal out, all right? You know he had something big and romantic planned.”

“Luka? Plan?” Marinette gasped, her eyes wide. “How dare you accuse him of such a thing! That’s my future husband you’re slandering, Mme. Stone!”

“Only because I have entirely too much experience wrangling his family, Mme. Stone,” Penny said with a roll of her eyes, but Marinette was too busy grinning at being called Mme. Stone to pick up on her tone. Penny just smiled and shook her head, waving her off. She told her to tell Luka to call her – she wanted him to rest up, but they still had work to do in the studio – and headed towards the door. When Marinette was alone again, she turned back to her ring with a soft smile.

…street fair costume jewelry. Tch.

(…she wasn’t going to think about it. If not for the fact that Tom had known her great-grandmother and could confirm the truth…she wouldn’t put it past Gina Dupain to embellish a tale about smuggled wartime jewels just to entertain her little fairy.)

#miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain-cheng #penny rolling #lukanette #endgame lukanette #lukanette endgame #ml fic #ver fic #lbsc lukanette month 2024 #that time luka lost the ring #penny rolling to the rescue #luka couffaine is a fucking idiot #marinette dupain-cheng loves luka couffaine #family heirloom #prompt: street fair craft fair

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