#relationship: jagged stone & luka couffaine

[aloeverified]

i wish jagged was luka and juleka's step-dad instead.

anarka and jagged meet in a dim, little corner street bar. she doesn't keep up with all the new fancy spots anymore and he's trying to hide away from anyone with a camera who might make his night worse.

anarka goes out for the first time in many, many years. luka and juleka want to have a little get together with their friends at the boat, and she trusts her kids enough and know they'll not do anything too reckless. besides, she remembers what it's like to want freedom and privacy from parents at that age, so she'll let them have a little party while she gets some alone time.

jagged was also looking to have a drink that night, trying to take his mind off another annoying disagreement with his producer. apparently, he'd gone against his contract by playing unreleased music during his television interview and was essentially being put on house arrests: no tours, no shows, no leaving paris. not until he had a new album ready to announce and was ready to do everything his producer asked of him.

he overhears anarka ordering, something strong he's only had on a handful of occasions. he takes a sea on the stool beside her and asks for the same. she smiles over at him, asking if it's been "one of those days."

he replies with a groan, saying everyday is one of those days with this ridiculous coworker of his. she chuckles at that and he questions if she's in a similar predicament.

she shakes her head and takes a first sip as their drinks are placed in front of them. she tells him it's just been a while since she's been able to go out, is all, might as well enjoy all the alone time she can while she has the chance.

he asks if his presence is taking away from her alone time, and she shakes her head once again before taking a larger drink. it's nice to have a drinking partner, she tells him it's been a long time since she's had one. he takes a sip of his drink as well, humming in agreement.

the two of them talk some more with more drinks coming. jagged realizes anarka has a very nice laugh and also a much higher tolerance than him.

somewhere in their conversation, something is said that causes anarka to have an epiphany. she jolts up in her seat, startling jagged, as she turns further towards him and announce that she knows him: he's a musician that her oldest kid is absolutely obsessed with!

jagged tries to hide the surprise in his voice as he repeats that she has kids. anarka nods, still very proud of her discovery. two, she tells him, the sweetest little kiddos in all of france. he listens to her gush about them for a few moments more, enjoying the way she face brightens with each word.

he decides to test his fate by saying he hopes her husband doesn't mind her having a drink with a rockstar, lots of people would get the wrong impression. anarka laughs, loud and heavy, telling him he doesn't have to worry about anything like that. she gives him a mischievous look, telling him that if she ever saw her lousy ex husband again, she'd throw him overboard.

jagged offers her his help if that ever happens, a long with his number written on one of the bar napkins. she stares at it for a moment in bewilderment, before laughing and sliding it into her purse, telling him she'll never turn down a drinking buddy.

from there on, jagged and anarka meet fairly often. it started off as getting a drink once a week together at the bar while so the kids could have a night to themselves and so jagged could unwind, but it eventually turns into them getting together every few nights for drinks, dinner, checking out new instrument stores.

luka grows suspicious that their mom is seeing someone and eventually decides to ask her about it while she's getting ready to go see jagged, and juleka jumps in to let their mom know she's happy for her and supports any relationship she may be pursuing.

she tells the kids to settle down, it's nothing like that. he's just a friend she's been getting together with to have some adult time. though, she does find him quite handsome and charming, and his accent does do something for her. she decides to text her "friend" to come by the boat to pick her up, rather than meeting a few blocks away.

imagine luka's shock when his idol shows up in his living room, more polished and out together than he's ever seen him, with a bouquet of flowers for his mom.

summary: jagged stone falls in love with anarka from the moment he sees her and she decides to entertain it, featuring bonus family shenanigans with juleka and luka having a good father figure for the first time in their lives and jagged realizing that maybe he doesn't mind the idea of settling down and having a family as much as he thought he would.

[rainbow-arrow]

Something people miss with lukadrien: bonding over daddy issues.

okay yes literally this. I love love love playing with this idea in fics bc they really are such mama's boys it's really funny (also why I fully support Adrien being informally adopted by the Couffaine's so he gets a mom figure back).

They both have such valid reasons to hate their dads. Each were either previously or currently protected by a lie (Anarka not telling Luka, and now Marinette keeping Gabriel's identity a secret), but both Jagged and Gabriel were. not great. Jagged knew the whole time, and well, Gabriel's list is long but mostly he's neglectful and really doesn't care about Adrien, despite saying he does.

There's such bonding potential in the sense they have very different relationships to their dads, but they're both, boiled down, to bad.

Unfortunately as much good as I think it would do for him, I don't think Adrien will ever say he hates his father on the basis that he's his father; we saw his reaction to cataclysm-ing Monarch. But fuck I think Luka should say it for him fjdsklafsa.

I also feel like Luka's response to Jagged in canon was...not accurate to his character? (which I hate saying about canon, but they did make him a twin four seasons in) It is important to consider that yeah, he admires Jagged's music, but he really, realistically, especially with Jagged's reaction to Juleka, should've been more upset. This boy got akumatized over the truth TWICE. For Luka to find out that Jagged KNEW, and they'd interacted multiple times throughout the show before that moment, you'd expected any kind of reaction.

LIKE LISTEN. I love love love Lukadrien bc they're both such people pleasers in such uniquely different ways. With Luka (I say this with all the love in my heart) being so fucking enabling if he likes someone he will let them do wHATEVER (see: whatever the fuck he had with Marinette, and Ephemeral). And then Adrien doing whatever anyone and everyone wanted him to do (see: literally his entire existence, and Wishmaker). It places their dynamic on such a 'what do you want' type care is such an hnnnnn. sO good my fAVORITE.

Luka has every. right. to be upset at Jagged Stone. Adrien has every. right. to be upset at Gabriel Agreste. And they have every. right. to bond over this.

Sorry for the TedTalk, in my defense, I did cut like five paragraphs, but I have four fics to update and so much lukadrien passion

[toxinellebug]

Shadybug/ClawNoir supporting character Headcanons

Jagged Stone? More like Jared Smith. He wanted to be a rockin musician, but his type of music is banned by the Supreme so his career never took off. Instead, he ended up marrying his girlfriend, Nannette Couffaine, after accidentally knocking her up with twins, released his pet crocodile into the Seine, got an apartment, and works a regular job that he HATES. But, he secretly still tries to record music and sells it on the black market where it has become somewhat popular in the indie underground, but if he were caught he would go to prison for sure. It’s not a happy marriage but he does what he has to. His kids last names are hyphenated Couffaine-Smith.

No houseboat, and without Royalties from music labels, neither Juleka or Luka could afford to go to Francois Dupont

Penny works as an assistant for Bob Roth and HATES IT. The man is a sexist slave driver, but this business is brutal.

Nadja Chamack is not a news anchor. You can’t be a single mother AND have a career that takes up so much of your time. As a result, Marinette has never had to babysit Manon.

Lila wants to challenge Chloe’s position as queen of the school, but there are no lies about charity work, only lies of what powerful and famous connections she has.

Adrien is not interested in being friendly with Lila, and definitely not going to help her with schoolwork. But he is still the ultimate trophy and key to winning popularity in Lila’s eyes, so she is determined to “win him over”, even though he finds her almost as annoying as Chloe, but Chloe he is stuck with due to her mom’s working relationship with his dad.

Gabriel doesn’t trust Lila one bit.

The sad and negative emotions he is forced to sense due to the power of the Butterfly brooch cause him distress, and he often has to excuse himself due to “headaches” from overworking, as a creative’s work is never done… But he is always listening for the emotions of people crying out for justice, for help, for people who wish they had the power to help.

Andre Glacier is still the Sweetheart’s ice-cream maker, but Sweetheart’s ice-cream is just a special menu item that you can request. Otherwise he has a scheduled route and serves the ice-cream that customers ask for.

Alya’s dad wishes the zoo could focus more on animal enrichment and larger enclosures but they don’t have the budget for such “unnecessary extravagences”.

Mr. Haprel hopes to make it as a famous Mime one day so he can be rich enough to afford to send his daughter, Mylene, to the school he works at as a janitor.

Everyone avoids Ivan.

Thomas Astruc never made it as a famous director, rather, the Supreme favored his University Rival, Andre Bourgeois, who also owns the Le Grande Paris Hotel.

Gina and Roland Dupain are not divorced/separated per say… Gina was sent to prison for civil disobedience. That’s why Tom is a doormat and just goes along with whatever discipline Sabine decides on because he doesn’t want his precious little girl to end up a criminal like her grandmother.

Sabine does not teach an inkpainting class on the weekend or practice tai chi or feng shui.

The walls of Marinette’s home are not pink, they are a boring beige that she hates.

The Agreste Manor is not a sterile, black and white modern decor dungeon. It is a prism of color, function, form, beauty and nature with nods to antiquity and the whimsical. Adrien HATES it. All color and light left this world when his mother died. The art in his house mocks his pain.

There is no school blog for Nathaniel to post his art on… But Marc ended up in that class instead of Marinette. (So did Mireille) He’s still too shy to admit he’s a writer. And even more shy to admit he has a crush on Nathaniel, so all he can do is watch the boy quietly. Rose thinks it’s a romantic tragedy and wants to play matchmaker. Alex thinks it’d be a disaster waiting to happen.

There is no Prince Ali who gives toys to sick kids in hospitals.

There is nothing as frivolous as videogame tournaments, so Max devotes all his spare time to his hobby of robotics and developing an AI… but developing an artificial intelligence is frowned upon. Luckily, Alya can keep a secret… that is, if Max is willing to spare some of his time to helping her havkninto the dark web to research conspiracy theories.

Wayhem is obseesed with Adrien, who can’t stand crazy fanatics and won’t lose any sleep if the Gorilla tackles the scrawny boy to the ground.

After much convincing, bullsh**ing, and bribes, Gabriel is able to host his derby hat design competition at Francois Dupont, (and hopefully, modelling his classmate’s creations will be a bonding point for Adrien to make a new friend) Rose sees it as an opportunity to tries to get Marc and Nathaniel to work with her to create a hat, hoping sparks will fly between them.

Even if Marinette WANTED to enter a stupid contest involving that spoiled, stuck-up Agreste boy, which she DOESN’T, her mother won’t allow it because sewing and doodling outfits is a distraction from her schoolwork.

Chloe still cheats.

But Shadybug discreetly sabotages the fashion show the winning hat is supposed to feature in.

Nathalie never became Gabriel’s assistant or even acquaintance. Instead, she is in charge of the department of the Louvre that archives and locks away all “banned” art and artifacts (aka anything related to Miraculous holders)

Alex thinks she’s creepy and hates how she coldly bosses around her dad.

Audrey is the same as ever, with the exception that she recognizes that her younger daughter Zoe has some talent, and wants Andre to find a movie part for her to play, and ignores Chloe’s bitter jealousy which causes her to lash out at others even nastier than in Ladybug and Cat Noir’s universe.

Nino is treated rudely and ignored by Adrien. Adrien would never agree to play a role in Nino’s movie and even accuses Nino of trying to use Adrien’s celebrity status to give himself an unfair advantage in the student movie competition.

Adrien doesn’t have time for stupid group projects or after school activities. But not because he has a full schedule since this Universe’s Gabriel is a decent father who does not demand perfection and give a 14 year old a burdensome schedule… It’s because outside of fencing and modeling, Adrien plans to spend his time planning out which sections of the city he’s going to take his anger out on that night.

Gabriel never forgot his roots as the son of a fry-cook, and occasionally tries to cook comfort food (NOT PANCAKES) for Adrien, who insists he’s not hungry or that junk is bad for his skin/weight, which has Gavriel worried about Adrien developing body dysphoria and eating disorders… These worries are put to rest when he finds out Adrien has suddenly developed a sweet tooth for baked goods. Therefore he has no qualms about his son frequenting the local bakery so often because a growing boy needs to eat and a treat is good for the spirit.

He wishes he could be more honest with Adrien, but he knows that it would destroy his son if he ever found out that the sickness that took his mother’s life was caused by his creation… He’s also not sure what kind of trauma Adrien would have to the fact he’s not human.

Gabriel also doesn’t want Adrien in danger. Gabriel wants to create a better world for his son to live in, a world where he and everyone else can be free! Where people can throve without stepping over others, and the poor don’t have to suffer. Where people have rights to love freely and express opinions without fear. A world where people help one another.

Gabriel would never use the rings to control Adrien, instead, he keeps them locked away in a safe, and plans to give them to Adrien someday when he is an adult and less likrly to misplace them because if they were to fall into the wrong hands, Gabriel shudders to think of what would become of Adrien.

Audrey still has a low key crush on Gabriel which makes him cringe but he still acts polite to keep up working relations, and he also pities his friend Andre, trapped in a one-sided marriage and bullied by his daughter and his wife.

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Where have you been?

by vanillaandcookies “And Talia was like…” “Cat Noir was a bitch��took his miraculous…” “So good to be back to the OG group…” I blinked. Once. Twice. Yep, I still see the same thing. The DAMIAN WAYNE, ice prince of Gotham, was sitting with a group of people his age, and one girl was even leaned onto him and he just continued laughing. It’s official. I’m dead. Words: 855, Chapters: 2/?, Language: English Fandoms: Miraculous Ladybug, Batman - All Media Types, Batman (Comics) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/F, F/M Characters: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Sabine Cheng, Talia al Ghul, Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Chloé Bourgeois, Juleka Couffaine, Bruce Wayne, Luka Couffaine, Kagami Tsurugi, Jason Todd, Harleen Quinzel, Joker (DCU), Lila Rossi, Alya Césaire, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Pamela Isley, Caline Bustier, Caline Bustier's Class, Principal Damocles (Miraculous Ladybug), Alfred Pennyworth, Rose Lavillant, Selina Kyle, Batfamily Members (DCU), Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug) Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Damian Wayne, Luka Couffaine/Kagami Tsurugi, Juleka Couffaine & Nino Lahiffe, Chloé Bourgeois/Jonathan Samuel Kent Additional Tags: Friends to Lovers, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug is Called MDC, Fluff and Angst, Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Cat Miraculous Holder Damian Wayne (Miraculous Ladybug), Bullying, Slow Burn, Uncle Jagged Stone (Miraculous Ladybug), Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, Overprotective Batfamily (DCU), Lila Rossi Bashing, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Alya Césaire Bashing, Childhood Friends, Guardian of the Miraculous Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Salty Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Evil Lila Rossi, Manipulative Lila Rossi, Lila Rossi Faces Consequences, Protective Harleen Quinzel, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Has a Crush on Marinette Dupain-Cheng via https://ift.tt/9IRDYz2

[imsparky2002]

Vampire AU - The Main Group

Marinette Dupain-Cheng

Still a klutz and a dork even as a blood-sucking creature of the night. She tries to be intimidating, but is usually seen as too adorable (the only one cuter than her is Rose.)

Dreams of turning Chloe and Lila into her mind controlled servants as revenge for their torment of the other human students. Also wants to turn Adrien into a vampire so he’ll live as long as them.

Nathaniel Kurtzberg

An artist who uses blood for his paint.

Even though he dresses like a classical vampire, he’s a Twilight fan. Marc’s a huge fan of Bela Lugosi.

Marc Anciel

A shy and nervous vampire who writes eerie tales for his classmates.

He’s written many songs of angst or joy of his love for his boyfriend, Nathaniel. You can find him and Juleka playing spooky songs on the pipe organ, and laughing like maniacs.

Juleka Couffaine

A eerie and gothic girl who can be kind to her friends, yet terrifying to her enemies.

She’s actually a major shy dork when arround her family and when she gets embarassed.

Rose Lavillant

A peppy and cheerful girl, with an attitude so bright for a girl who hates the sun.

She’s the vampire that works best with kids, acting as the spooky yet loveable vampire that’ll protect children from the bad guys.

Alix Kubdel

A rebellious tomboy with a love for pranks and dares. Uses her vampiric skills to mess with Kim.

Due to being the shortest of the group, she uses hypnosis and trickery to strike fear into the hearts of her victims.

Various Facts

They all love to wear cloaks! They often give each other cloak hugs, where they smother each other in their capes.

A year in a monster’s life is 12 years for a human. This means that the group are 14 in monster years, but 168 in human years.

They only suck the blood of criminals, animals, and people who have harmed them. Though they still love to playfully scare the citizens of Paris as well as their classmates.

They hangout in a huge creepy castle, but they all live close by in seperate homes. They plan on buying the castle after graduation, and moving in together.

The sun doesn’t kill them, but it burns their skin and generally hurts pretty bad. Umbrellas and sunscreen usually do the trick.

They’re great friends with the demonic Alya, a gorgon named Mylene, and a golem named Ivan, who chose to accompany the vampires when they chose to attend DuPont. These monsters use glamor to appear human to other students.

Juleka has a lovely relationship with her vampiric parents, as the blood-suckers always planned on staying together while having kids. The Couffaine vampires love to rock out and hunt for blood together.

They can shapeshift into small bats, if they want to spy on people without being seen.

The Dupain-Cheng’s bakery has been around for generations, with Tom and Sabine switching up their looks in order to convince people that they aren’t immortal. Jagged Stone is an incredibly famous rockstar, while Anarka is a vampiric pirate. Nathaniel and Marc have made money over the years writing and painting works of art. Rose has been spotted and known as the “Charity Girl” for appearing at various charities over the years while Alix and her family are known for showing up at various points in history. 

And that’s some more info on the Vampire AU! I just wanna shout out @artzychic27 as well as @msweebyness as we’re all doing a Mirrorverse collab together. Lemme know if you have any questions about these spooky students, and next time I’ll be talking about two more vampires, Kagami and Luka. I’ll also talk about the other monster students, Alya, Mylene, and Ivan. Hope you enjoy!

[wisteriasymphony]

him being exactly like his father just one night stands and ghosting, does anarka have a stroke anytime she sees him? 😭😭😭 tweos au gives me class of 09 vibes in the best way imaginable in a way i cant explain into words also *bats eyelashes* u were saying something about botched adrienette and toxic yaoi lukadrien 😍😍😍🙌 (i read the entirety of tweos in one night if u were wondering its so....dramatic i love it the revamps r so good th*mas ass truck could never)

THATS THE IDEA RAAHHHHHHHH in tweos Jack Zimmerman i mean Jagged Stone basically turned his band into a harem i hope you know that. and Luka probably would too but his band is like, kind of mediocre. womp womp (also Anarka disowned Luka and Juleka just lives with him out of choice. so luckily Anarka doesn't seem him too often)(sidenote i have more semi-canon luka content heresies)

Botched Adrinette post is here, botched Ladynoir can also be a post of its own, but i want to have fun so let's talk about how I would go about Lukadrien:

- The year is 2008. If you want to call someone gay, you compare them to Adrien Agreste. Is he actually? Who knows, but he looks like it and he hates it. He thought being mistaken for his mother was bad, but this is arguably worse.

- Luka Couffaine is the frontman of Vampire Revival, and painfully aware of the crush his girlfriend has on Adrien, her classmate. He finds the concept of "getting with him first" just to spite her absolutely hilarious.

They hook up in the aftermath of one of Luka's parties, and undergo an under-the-table strangers-with-benefits relationship. The internalized homophobic animosity is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

"What power do you even have over me?" Luka sneered, following Adrien around; Adrien curled up further into his black coat like a shell, forcing his hands into his pockets. "You're not stronger than me, you're not more charismatic, you don't have anyth—"

"I own you!"

Adrien had spun around, twisting the collar of Luka's shirt in his hands.

"Are you forgetting that someone got cut off of Daddy's money for doing nothing with his life?!" Adrien screamed back. "The only thing keeping your head above water right now is me, not your jackass 'band', and if I want you to not speak a word to me in public you will do that!"

Luka couldn't help but notice that he was still overshadowing Adrien quite literally. Both in height and in muscle.

"Fine, I will," he replied with a smirk. "But if you're going to use your leverage against me—" Luka gripped a fistful of Adrien's hair and forced him to look straight into his eyes. "—I get to use mine."

....Did I mention Adrien paying people he's in sexual relationships with isn't a Claudia-exclusive thing?

Okay, back to the ask—YIPPEE YIPPEE!!! Welcome to Claudrien Nation :))) I'm glad you consider it close to Class of '09, it does feel at parts like a similarly "edgy" take on MLB like how Class of '09 is a take on visual novels. Hopefully there's at least a bit more weight to the horrors though, obvi. A little more melodrama.

[trashyangelic]

I got another ML prompt that anyone is willing to do it as a grant. This is a Gabriel Redemption + Lila Gets Busted.

i have one in mind for lila gets busted but also arrested for theft. but this is no adrienette but a Lukadrien. As for Marinette well she is paired with Felix after leaving Paris to a Fashion School in London with her parents that is moving the bakery there. (Felinette)

┊┊┊┊ ➶ ❁۪ ｡˚ ✧

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐢𝐧𝐬���𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞'𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥'𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬?

While Gabriel realize his sketchbook went missing on his desk from the last meeting with Ms. Rossi but something came up online where Nathalie turn on the news on her tablet for him to see that Lila delivered his designs to a Fashion Competition as her owns which really start to piss him off wanting to fired Lila Rossi in public for stealing his sketchbook in his desk were there is a secruity camera in plain sight and take back the deal he made with Rossi from the start.

After he realize that Ms. Rossi only wants his money and his son which really made mad, why Adrien you ask well Chloe send a video from her phone back in the school where Lila forced sexually harrassed his son but also threaten him too that put him on edge for life. He will try and moved on from his wife Emelie to Nathalie but he had gave up his and the peacock miraculous as he send it back to Ladybug after all she is the guardian. He will also try to retact to his son like he use to when Emelie was alive.

Where he found out himself that his son is dating Jagged Stone's son Luka Couffaine well he has no problem with his son's relationship and decided to accept him. Plus he supports the Gay and the LGBTQ though.

[celestiall0tus]

Miraculous AU - Chapter 37 - Change of Plans

Beginning || Previous || Next

            A man sat at his desk as he stared at his sleeping kwami. His mind swirled with ideas and plans. Everything went smoothly so far. He had sponsored the newest mayoral candidate and she proved he wasn’t mistaken. The fashion show with Gabriel Agreste would happen as planned with everything ready to launch. Half the city was primed to be transformed at his call with successful transformations already. He had even had a few interested parties step forward for deals and exchanges for power when the time was right. Everything was going according to plan, except for the heroes.

            While the city didn’t embrace them immediately, he’d be a fool to deny the fame and respect they’ve garnered already. He would only assist them in gaining more with his creations. He needed to do something to show they weren’t as pure and dependable that the city saw them as. However, he needed to be cautious.

            He was aware of a call to all kwamis from the creation kwami thanks to his Nooroo. More kwamis would arrive and he hoped that he could sway certain ones to his side. He had the spider of betrayal on his side, but he would need more. However, that was a waiting game, and he would need to consider other methods of undermining the heroes.

            With his connections, he had a fair amount of information on the group. Perhaps he could use this to turn them or loved ones, preferably the heroes themselves. The loved ones could only be used as bartering chips, mere pawns. However, if he could transform the holders themselves, he could show Paris that their defenders were just as susceptible as anyone else.

            He pulled out a tablet and examined the information he had about them. There was nothing new on the greatest of them, except for a budding romance between the two. He could attempt to draw on any negative feelings or thoughts about their new relationship, but he feared he wouldn’t have the time needed with the wolf of intuition around.

            He looked through the information on Louve Grise, Alya Cesaire. Daughter of Otis and Marlena Cesaire. Otis was a zookeeper and Marlena was the head chef at Mayor Bourgeois’ hotel. Alya had sisters, an older sister named Nora and a pair of younger twin sisters, Ella and Etta. The twins could be of use, but not quite like the eldest, Nora. She had made a deal with him so long as he assisted with getting Alya to renounce being a hero. No easy task, but he’d need to remove Louve if he would get anywhere with the other heroes. However, he had a plan to use Nora to tarnish Louve’s image.

            He moved onto Souris Blanche, Juleka Couffaine, the mouse of perception. Daughter of Anarka Couffaine and rock legend, Jagged Stone. He had her twin, Luka, under his influence, until recently. He did his part as a villain, though he lamented the loss of a creation like him. She had saved him, like any good sister would. He didn’t believe he could directly affect her anymore, unless he could affect the brother again. The mother has reportedly been supportive of her kids, and neither are aware of their father’s identity. He hummed as he considered an idea. Perhaps he could use that information against them.

        ��   As he considered a new plan, he moved to Alix Kubdel. A runaway rebel that is wanted, but always on the run. His butterflies were with her, but he halted their progress. As magnificent of a creation that she’d be with all her trauma, anger, and fear, there was an issue. At the heart of it was a deep seeded hatred for him. He could work around it, but there was no guarantee that she wouldn’t turn on him. No, he would use her friend Ondine. The young lady struck a deal with him. If she persuaded Alix to stop aiding the other heroes, he’d keep his creations from Alix. Not that he could completely guarantee that. Besides, he didn’t expect Ondine to succeed. Ondine would fail and she’d become a monster to scare Alix and the city further.

            Next was Queen Bee, Chloe. He had plans in motion for Chloe’s father, the mayor. Aside from the candidate he was backing, there were arrangements for the mayor’s ex-wife to stay in his hotel. He hoped this would cause a larger stir of emotions that his butterflies could properly exploit. As it stands, the mayor has been resistant and stubborn. That just left her best friends, Adrien and Sabrina. Unfortunately, he had made deals that kept him from touching them. Gabriel demanded his son be left alone and kept safe. That may change in time. The police chief promised him information so long as his daughter, Sabrina, was kept safe. As much as he wanted to use her, the information was far more valuable than a throwaway pawn.

            Last of the main group was Lapine, Rose Lavillant. A young girl that was a romantic at heart and stupidly naïve for her age. She lived with her stepfather since her mother abandoned her while she was young, and her blood father had passed on. He knew that he had his butterflies affecting the stepfather, but he had been hesitant. What the stepfather wanted was her. If he gave the stepfather what he wanted, he’d surely scar her for life. But that could be what he needs, isn’t it? With the wolf of intuition and the snake of health, he wouldn’t have the time to let things fester and grow. What he needed was quick, fast trauma, just like with Stoneheart. It made him sick to consider it, but he told himself he’d pay any price. And what was this one girl compared to his greatest wish?

            That left the last three: Mayura, Carapace, and the snake. Carapace he didn’t have much on aside from what the police chief had shared. According to reports, Carapace had been playing vigilante as he pursued mundane criminals. He was fine to leave Carapace alone so long as he didn’t side with the heroes. Carapace had been seen in the company of the snake and Chat Noir, but he had to hope Carapace wasn’t aligned with Chat Noir.

            The snake had nothing aside from his appearance. The boy had been vigilant with his identity and made himself sparse. He was only ever seen in the company of Chat Noir and Carapace once. He hoped that more information would come to light about the snake, but he would have to wait and see.

            Lastly, there was the mysterious Mayura. This woman had been overly cautious and aware. She always seemed to be aware that she was being watched. Careful not to fully reveal her face as she hid behind her fan. She hadn’t openly sided with the heroes aside from being reported to be training Chat Noir and Queen Bee along with Ladybug recently. Beyond that, there was nothing on her. A part of him hoped he could convince her to join him, but he would need to confront her, reveal himself. Maybe once other potential holder allies arrived, he’d emerge from the shadow, but not yet.

            A knock interrupted his thoughts. He put the tablet away and turned to the door.

            “Come in.”

            His assistant walked into the room. “Sir, it’s time for dinner with your son.”

            “Thank you. Before you leave, inform my son that I will be right down.”

            “Of course. See you in the morning, sir.”

            His assistant bowed his head and left.

            The man turned to his kwami. “Nooroo, get up. It’s time.”

            Nooroo shook, then stirred. “Master, I’m not ready yet. I need a little more time.”

            “You can sleep it off later, Nooroo. We need to work, now.”

            “But!”

            The man pulled out a brooch and placed it on his shirt. “Nooroo, wings rise.”

            Nooroo vanished into the brooch and transformed the man into Papillon.

            Papillon took a deep breath and held out his hand. “Akuma.”

            Dark energy materialized and formed into a purple butterfly. On its wings was a bleeding-heart pattern. The butterfly rested on Papillon’s fingertips. He stared at it, then looked at the pictures on his own son on his desk. Regret sliced through him as he looked at his son. He wouldn’t want this happening to his son, but he didn’t want him dead either. That didn’t stop him from creating monsters to kill and terrify, but this gave him pause.

            Papillon shook his head and looked at the akuma. He needed to do this. He needed to show Paris that their defenders were just ordinary people. People that could be just as easily twisted into monsters. He swallowed hard and threw the butterfly up.

            “Give that man whatever his heart and body desires.”

            Papillon watched the akuma fly off and vanish.

            “Nooroo, wings fall.”

            Nooroo popped out of the brooch and fell to the floor. The man put the brooch away and exited the room. Nooroo lay on the floor for a few minutes before he crawled towards the desk. He managed a few inches, then collapsed. He sighed and curled up on the floor.

            A peacock materialized and approached Nooroo. He looked up and smiled. It nuzzled him before it picked him up and placed him up on the desk.

            “Thank you, Duusu.”

            The peacock bowed its head, then vanished. Nooroo curled up and fell asleep.

[mc-lukanette]

Marinette knew that there were other teenagers around her age who had jobs, but she'd had yet to meet one before the boy with the blue highlights. She hadn't even meant to meet him, but their delivery routes occasionally matched up and she couldn't help being curious whenever they passed each other or happened to be delivering to nearby places to each other.

Curiosity had gotten the better of her, and so she decided that she wanted to say something to him. Thus far, they hadn't exchanged a single word, but rather glances and smiles. It was starting to grate on her, as though they were friends but only in theory.

She got her chance when they both happened to be delivering to separate apartments that happened to be in the same hall. She'd been engaged in conversation with the person she'd been delivering to when she caught hints of blue, white, and black out of the corner of her eye. It took a lot of self-control to pretend not to notice or not get too distracted to hand over the pastries and collect the money like she was meant to.

The door closed as the person went inside with the pastries she'd given them, allowing Marinette to look over to see the boy deliver a stack of pizzas to someone. She'd noticed in the few times they'd crossed paths that he was a boy of few words, usually having a conversation but never anything long. She hoped that might change with her if they hit it off.

She lingered, adjusting her clothes to check if she'd somehow gotten glaze or flour somewhere, faintly concerned if he'd find it creepy that she was waiting for him to finish so she could talk to him. Maybe it was a bad idea? Then again, she supposed that panicking over her as-of-yet undefined relationship with a stranger was rather silly.

She just needed to say something - anything, really - to break the silence between them. Even if she said something stupid, maybe they could at least laugh about it?

She waited until the delivery was officially finished and he was turning away from the closed door to leave, at which point she blurted out, "So, another teen making deliveries? Do they have you enslaved too?"

The "panicking over her as-of-yet undefined relationship with a stranger" picked right back up where it left off. What if that had been the wrong thing to say? What if he actually hated his job to the point where he couldn't joke about it? What if his parent(s) forced him to get the job and it holds bad memories for him? Or worse, what if he'd actually been enslaved by a corrupt pizza place that was making him deliver for no pay and here she was making jokes that only—

The boy laughed before she could spiral further. "Only on weekdays," he joked in return.

Oh. Oh, somehow the world hadn't ended. He was even smiling at her.

"I'm Luka Couffaine," he greeted politely. "I'm glad to get to talk to you."

"Oh, me too!" she exclaimed, then recognized a second later that she hadn't introduced herself in return. She thrust her hand out accordingly. "I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

"Marinette," he echoed, testing the name on his tongue whilst taking the offered hand to shake.

Now that she really got a close look at him, she noticed the Jagged Stone symbol on his shirt. A boy with taste, she noted, always eager to meet someone who shared her likes.

Conversation continued smoothly from there, a mutual agreement to walk back together allowing them to talk for a little longer. They both still had deliveries to make, but promised to greet each other whenever possible.

——-

Luka was pleasantly surprised that he and Marinette got along so easily. It wasn't that he could see a potentially good song coming together, but work didn't offer a lot of opportunities to hang out together. Still, it was nice, and always left a certain curiosity as to whether or not they'd pass by or see each other that particular work day. She made his job unpredictable and exciting, with him looking forward to work on the chance that they might see each other and get to talk.

At some point, it seemed a bit unreasonable to keep hoping when they had conversations they wanted to continue, so they decided on a place to meet up if they didn't see each other at work. The consequences of that was, understandably, that they'd get home later than usual, though Marinette was insistent that her parents wouldn't mind. Luka didn't quite get why she was adamant that their meetings were "none of their business anyway," but could guess they were the type to meddle.

As for his own family, his sister Juleka never failed to notice the apparently delighted expression he had on whenever he got home from his job. "I've never seen someone so happy about work," she said, then paused in thought before correcting, "except for one of my friends, maybe."

It didn't register with either of them how small the world was with that statement.

——-

"You play guitar?" Marinette asked excitedly one day, bouncing on her toes at the prospect. She never would have guessed that Luka was a creative force like she was, which made it all the more like a real bonding moment for them.

"I can play violin too," Luka replied, making a gesture as if he were holding one. "I couldn't decide which one I wanted to play, so I learned both. String instruments really speak to me."

"Do you think..." She fidgeted, unsure if she was pushing his boundaries. "Would you play for me? Do you mind?"

"Why would I mind?" He beamed. "I'd love to. I can bring one of them tomorrow and we can meet?"

"Yes!" She reached out, hands on his. "That'd be great!"

It may've been just her imagination, but his smile seemed to widen at her touch.

"Do you have anything you'd like to hear?" he asked. "Any requests? I can play any of Jagged Stone's songs."

The offer was tempting, but she found she wasn't particularly interested in hearing him cover another person's songs. Being a creator herself, recreating another's work wasn't always where the heart laid.

"If you play a lot... have you written your own songs?" she wondered aloud. He seemed invested in music enough to have done so, but she didn't want to presume; some people just didn't have it in them, which was equally valid.

His brows raised in surprise, disappearing behind his messy bangs. "Yeah, I have."

"Then, maybe I could hear one of those?" She waved her hands reassuringly. "U-unless they're all works in progress! I know how embarrassing it can be to show something that's not finished! On second thought, maybe it's not such a—"

"Yes."

She paused, not fully sure what she'd heard, and looked at him for confirmation. "What?"

Suddenly, he cleared his throat and looked away, faintly embarrassed. "Sorry. I meant yes, I can play one of my songs for you. I've..." He glanced at her, adding meaningfully, "I've been working on something special lately."

There was a sparkle in his eyes and Marinette found herself blushing.

——-

"L-Luka! Luka!"

Marinette waved him down as if he hadn't been standing there and staring at her, waiting patiently to see if she had time to talk before her next delivery. It made him smile: she must've been excited about something.

"Hey, Marinette," he greeted. "What is it?"

"Um..." She looked around, her hands behind her back. "Do you like bracelets?"

He blinked, eyes briefly darting down to his wrist where he had at least three. "Yeah?"

"And music? You like music, right?"

She was stalling. For what reason, he wasn't sure, but she was definitely stalling.

"Yeah," he answered again, genuine even if the reply was an obvious one. His eyes lingered around her waist, wondering what she must have had behind her back.

She shifted on her feet, staring at the floor. "Sp...spe..."

He almost teased that "spe" wasn't on the musical scale - not even part of do re mi - but refrained, not wanting her to feel embarrassed.

"S-special delivery!" she finally blurted out, thrusting her hands forward and shoving whatever the object was against his chest. "Thanks for playing for me!"

Luka's hands shot up to take hold of the object, and he was partway to replying when Marinette had already taken off. He doubted that she actually had an urgent delivery and was rather just embarrassed, but he focused on the box in his hands.

It wasn't a mystery what the contents might be, but his brain buzzed nonetheless. Bracelet and music, surely she hadn't... and for him...?

He took the top off the box and, sure enough, there was a custom music-themed bracelet inside. When he lifted it up to admire the work she'd put in, it jangled obnoxiously with all the various pieces on it: music notes, tiny instruments, a notable landmark from their meeting spot, and a single tiny pizza box that he could actually open to reveal an even tinier pizza.

He loved it, standing there like a giddy idiot in the hallway until his phone warned him that he needed to get moving.

The next time he saw Marinette, he made sure to raise his wrist and jingle the bracelet accordingly, taking immense delight in how her face colored pink as she covered her mouth to hide a bright smile.

He was never taking it off.

——-

Marinette felt lucky to have Luka's number by that point. They always exchanged routes, just in case they might barely miss each other one day unless they intentionally stopped to wait, which was exactly what she did. She'd even texted him accordingly so he knew she'd be there.

This was very important, after all.

Luka arrived and parked his bike beside her vehicle whilst she was pacing. She only stopped when he approached to say, "I got your text, Marinette. Is something wrong?"

"Yes!" She spun around to face him, a finger raised as she made her point. "I've been a terrible friend!"

"...Really?" he asked, though his tone implied that he didn't really believe her.

He was too pure, really. He must've been either pretending not to notice or was too forgiving to realize it.

She huffed, hands balled up into fists at her mistake. "We have a power dynamic problem, and it's all my fault!"

Luka blinked at her. He even looked around as if he wasn't sure they were really there having this discussion right now.

Finally, he met her gaze again, asking, "...what?"

Distressed, she gestured at their respective rides right next to each other. "Look! Mine's motorized, but you have to pedal everywhere you go! It's totally unbalanced and I didn't even think about it!"

He glanced at the rides, then back to her. "I—"

"But!" she interrupted, a hand raised as a signal for him to wait. "That's all going to change starting now!"

She reached into her bag, which was carefully insulated to keep the cold in. She usually only carried it when it was hot out, but made an exception for this particular occasion.

Pulling out an ice cold water bottle, she held it out to him insistently. "You need to stay hydrated! I also brought these too—" She blindly reached back and pulled out a selection of drink mix packets, presenting them to him. "—in case you don't like the taste of plain water!"

Luka blinked again. She wasn't sure why he was having such a hard time processing. Maybe she'd just been that bad of a friend? It must've felt like she was so smug in her little ride, not having to pedal one bit to get around, and here was Luka biking around everywhere.

"...Pft—" Luka covered his mouth, but Marinette could tell by his eyes that he was smiling.

She pouted disapprovingly. His health was no joke! "W-what? What's so funny?"

"You're adorable, Marinette."

Her grip slackened from surprise, sending the bottle and packets to the ground. Luka, reacting quickly, knelt down to pick them up while she could only blush and stare.

"A-adorable? Why?"

"You're worrying about me," he replies, standing back up and handing the drink mixes back to her save for one that he kept for himself. "I never felt like you were a bad friend. Besides, you went through all this to make up for something you didn't have to. How could I be mad at that?"

"Um." It was a weird feeling for her. She'd gotten so used to being blamed or held responsible for things in her life that she looked for potential slip-ups wherever she could. Could she be wrong this time, perhaps?

"I'll still take this since you brought it for me," Luka reassures, already mixing the drink. "Thank you. I hope you're staying hydrated too."

"You're welcome! And I am!" She nodded firmly. "It's important to feel refreshed when you're out on the job!"

"Hm." He smiled, giving the bottle an extra shake and watching the liquid swish around. "I feel refreshed already."

"Huh? But you haven't..."

Luka turned and tossed a fond glance over his shoulder, placing his drink in the basket before biking away. Marinette stood in place for a few more seconds, at which point the answer clicked and the heat rushed back to her face.

She was glad that she brought another bottle. She needed the cold now.

——-

Marinette was starting to reconsider her stance on the whole "power dynamic problem," staring at her ride refusing to start up again. A bicycle wouldn't be having this problem right now.

She pulled out her phone, anxiously checking her route, then stared at the undelivered baked goods. Her breathing quickened at the idea of her failing and having to return to her parents; would they be angry with her? Was she about to be fired by her own family? Her grandfather at least would complain about her ride and say something about how they "made them better back in the old days."

Either way, she was stuck.

Just as she was considering whether she could either deliver on foot or run away and start a new life, she heard a concerned, "Marinette?" from behind her. She turned, seeing Luka approaching on his bike. He parked it close by and hopped off as he asked, "Did something happen?"

"W-what are you doing here?" she asked, such a question taking brief priority over her predicament.

He pulled out his phone to show her a familiar map, his route overlaying hers. Pointing at the screen, he indicated the part where their routes matched up. "I knew I'd get here before you, but I was worried when you didn't show up. You weren't answering your phone either, so I followed your route backwards from there."

"Huh?!" Marinette whipped out her own phone, then groaned in realization. "I...I sort of turned it off in a panic. I was scared about getting a call from my parents or something. It was just delaying the inevitable, but..."

Luka glanced over her shoulder to her vehicle. "So there's something wrong with your ride?"

"M-mhm." She put her hands on her cheeks, swaying from side to side. "So I don't have a way of making the—where are you going?"

He'd already walked past her, taking the various boxes off of her ride and setting them atop the back of his bike, right on top of the box keeping the pizzas warm. Tying them down to keep them in place, he turned to Marinette to say, "We can still make it if we're fast enough."

"Wha—what?!" Her voice cracked as she spoke in alarm. "You're going to—no! There's only one seat anyway!"

"You can sit in my seat. I can bike without it," Luka said confidently, lightly pressing on the box to make sure that they're secure.

"That's a lot of biking," Marinette fretted, approaching him and eyeing all the "cargo" nervously, "and I'll just slow you down."

"That's not true." He turned to her, looking extremely serious about this. "I need you to help me."

That only puzzled her more. She stared at the bike, trying to imagine even the more creative way in which she could help, but came up empty. "I don't get it."

Presumably showing by example, Luka got onto the bike, one foot on a pedal while the other was firmly on the ground to keep him in place. He looked at her expectantly, Marinette hesitantly approaching and getting onto the seat behind him.

"Hold onto me, alright?" he instructed gently.

Marinette unconsciously went to follow the request, but stopped just before her hands touched his waist. A silent "oh" went off in her head, yet she didn't ask to confirm whether she was correct or not.

She had the feeling that she didn't need to.

As soon as she had a good grip on him, Luka raised his leg off the ground and they were off in a short burst of speed. Even in such a horrid predicament, Marinette couldn't help but smile, glad to have someone there for her.

——-

Somehow, everything worked out, though Marinette could hardly believe it. Both of their deliveries went off within the proper times despite a few close calls here and there, and they returned to where she'd parked her ride to walk it back to the bakery. Thankfully, it wasn't that far away, as it'd been early in her route where everything went wrong.

Marinette eyed Luka as they went. His helmet hair was already a mess, she could physically see the sweat pouring down his skin, and his shirt looked like it was sticking to him. He was an absolute mess.

She'd never been more attracted to someone, and the sweat had nothing to do with it.

"Your legs are a little wobbly," Marinette said, concerned.

"A worn instrument is just well-loved," Luka replied with a faint smile, still sounding breathless.

She didn't disagree with him.

She purposefully waited until they were back in front of the bakery, their respective vehicles parked off to the side, to take Luka's arms and have him face her.

"Marinette?"

She reached into her bag and procured a handkerchief, slowly wiping the sweat from his face. Luka swallowed audibly, but didn't protest, even leaning into her touch.

"Thank you," she said softly, not wanting to break the mood with words.

He chuckled. "You don't have to thank me. We're friends, aren't we?"

This isn't something you do just for a friend! her mind screamed as she put the handkerchief away, the memory of her hands on his waist still vivid in her mind, but she said instead, "You should come inside to relax."

"I don't want to impose."

"Oh my gosh, Luka!" she gasped, throwing her arms out to point out his legs. "Your legs are going to turn to jelly, and then my family will turn them into thumbprint cookies!"

"Really, it's okay," he managed to say, barely containing laughter. "I was happy to help, and I got to spend time with you too. I don't need anymore than—"

"Oh," she suddenly said, ignoring him after having already decided that he'll go inside, "but we need to go through the side door. My parents—"

The door to the bakery flew open, Marinette's father standing in the doorway with excitement all across his face. "Marinette~!"

"...might see you," Marinette finished with a groan. "I'm back, Papa."

"And who might you be?" Tom asked, his attention wholly on Luka.

"I'm—"

Marinette grabbed Luka's arm, almost protectively. "This is Luka Couffaine. I had a little bit of a problem and he helped me because he's a very sweet who also doesn't like to be badgered by—"

Tom clapped Luka on the shoulder, causing him to wobble. "Thanks for taking care of my baby girl, Luka!"

Luka bowed his head, talking over Marinette's sigh to say, "It's no problem, sir."

"That's even her work, isn't it?" Tom asked, looking pointedly at the jingly bracelet around Luka's wrist. "I saw her working on it once."

Marinette watched in horror at Luka's complete shamelessness in showing it off, her face turning scarlet red as he raised the bracelet up proudly to show it off.

"She's very talented," Luka added on.

"Of course she is! That's our Marinette!" Tom proclaimed, chest puffed with pride. He then lowered himself to ask, "So, what kind of flavor would you like for your cake?"

"Cake?" Luka asked, blinking confusedly.

"Your wedding cake!"

"Papa!"

"Well, son?"

Marinette would've dragged Luka in whatever hole she could find to crawl into if she could. Tom's assumptions weren't wrong - Luka was exactly her type, as she'd come to learn - but she'd decided that she want to court him properly, not embarrass him so much that he'd be chased off.

She watched Luka's expression carefully as his eyes darted from Marinette to Tom. Determined not to let this go on, she went to apologize profusely for her father only to then be interrupted by a soft,

"Strawberry."

Marinette could swear it came from Luka's mouth, but was still in disbelief that he'd actually said it. Tom, meanwhile, looked positively delighted, already turning around to head back inside.

"Stick around! We'll do a taste test later!" He gave a look over his shoulder at Marinette. "Oh, and close your mouth, cookie crumb. We're making a cake, not shoofly pie!"

She covered her face with both hands to scream into them, the sound of Tom's laughter muffled after the door had closed. A silence passed by and she was still shocked not to hear Luka's rapidly repeating footsteps.

"Sorry," he whispered. She looked up from her hands, noting that he actually seemed uncharacteristically shy.

A thousand questions ran through her brain - Were her feelings really requited? Had he answered just to make Tom leave and give her an out? Why did he put up with her father? - but somehow the only one that came out was, "W-why strawberry?"

He took one look at her before his gaze diverted in the other direction. The red was visible even on his ear. "...It's pink."

"Pink?" She blinked, now even more confused.

"You told me that was your favorite color."

"O-oh." Oh. Oh.

"I do like strawberry, but..." He trailed off, apparently unsure whether or not he did the right thing.

Marinette stood in place, but could feel the buzzing sensation in her feet urging her to move. Steeling herself up, she turned fully to face him again and grabbed at his sleeve, waiting for him to look back at her to pull him down into a kiss.

It was brief, but full of all the emotion she'd built up over the time they'd spent together. She could feel him losing further grasp on how to stand steadily in place, so she pulled back and whispered, "M-marshmallow frosting."

Luka's eloquent reply of, "...Huh?" took a full five seconds.

"F-for the cake," she clarified, waving a hand at his fringe. "The frosting can be toasted at the tips, l-like your highlights."

He let out a breath, which may or may not have been another attempt at speech. He shook his head at first, staring down at nothing, then reached his hand out to her bag. Realizing what he was asking for, Marinette pulled out the handkerchief again and handed it to him.

He rubbed it against his hand, stashing it in his own pocket with a wordless promise to return it after it'd been cleaned, then took her hand within his own.

"Sounds great," he says, and that was all he needed for her to get the message.

Beaming, Marinette took her new boyfriend into the bakery with her.

[mystic-bookshelf]

The Soulmate Train

Chapter 5: Origin

AO3

Many years ago…

Ever since Luka could remember, his life has been filled with music. Growing up in a home that was never quiet, where melodies could be found anywhere and creativity bloomed, music very quickly had became his loyal friend.

Long before he could properly walk, he developed a fascination with the instruments crafted by his mother. Most of them were stringed instruments, a selection of violins, violas, cellos, basses, and even harps. But the instrument he was most fascinated with was the guitar. He’d run his small hands over the huge instrument, too big for him to properly hold, curiously plucking at the strings and laughing delightfully at the sounds they made. It didn’t take long for his mother Anarka to catch on, and soon he learned his first chords on a smaller guitar more fitting for his size.

His father, a well-versed musician who wasn’t home too often, too busy traveling around the area to play gigs under his stage name ‘Jagged Stone’, was over the moon when he returned home and saw his son proudly showing off what he had learned.

“I couldn’t play the guitar so well at that age,” he cooed, picking up his son and lightly poking his nose. “You have an incredible talent, boy.” Luka’s eyes sparkled.

Day after day, Luka practiced to improve at his craft, bringing the songs his mother had sung for him every night closer to perfection. Songs about adventure, songs about the sea, songs about love. The latter were his favorite to play.

“I’ll have to serenade my soulmate one day,” he said. “So I have to be prepared!”

His mother laughed and ruffled his hair. “As ye should, me b’y. It’s the Couffaine’s love language!”

While Luka waited for the day when he’d meet his soulmate, he spent his time serenading other important people in his life, expressing his love in the best way he could. He’d play for the few friends that he had, he played duets with his mother, but his favorite person to make music with was his little sister, Juleka.

Juleka wasn’t as versed with the guitar as her brother, but she made up for it with her incredible voice that left everyone in awe when they’d hear it. Not many people outside her family had heard her sing, because Juleka was a shy and timid girl who wasn’t eager to put herself out there. But Luka figured she’d come out of her shell a little more as she grew up. Some things just needed time. At least she was comfortable enough to sing around him, so sometimes, they’d sit together, Luka playing out a tune on the guitar and accompanying Juleka’s singing. 

For the most part, the siblings had a relatively normal childhood.

But things started to change when they grew a little older and their friends started to have telepathic impressions with their soulmates. For a few seconds, they’d stand still, eyes seemingly staring into the distance, only to snap out of it a few seconds later, processing what, or rather who, they had just seen. More often than not, they’d be over the moon after finding out their crush was indeed the one person for them. 

Sometimes, those impressions were followed by utter disbelief. One of Luka’s friends, a girl named Ondine, made a gagging sound right after her first impression.

“Kim,” she yelled. “Of all people, I saw Kim! What kind of sick joke is this?”

Which in hindsight had been hilarious, because they started dating two months later.

Over time, Luka and Juleka witnessed many of their peers finding their soulmates and getting into relationships. Until they were the only ones who never experienced their own telepathic impressions.

Luka didn’t mind at first. While most people had their first impressions once they hit puberty, some had them a little later in life. His parents told him they had their first impressions of each other around the age of 16, maybe that would be the case for him as well. Whatever the reason for that might’ve been, he often was told that destiny doesn’t make mistakes and he’ll have his first telepathic impression when the time was right. He was a patient guy, he could wait for his love.

His sister, on the other hand, was less okay with it.

“I just don’t understand,” she said one night when they were both tucked in bed but not tired enough to actually sleep yet. “Maybe something is wrong with our soulmates?”

“You just gotta be patient, Jules,” Luka replied. “I know waiting is annoying, but there’s not really anything else we can do.”

“It’s unfair, though,” she pointed out. “All our friends have found their soulmates, and they spend every day with each other, going on dates and whatnot. Why do we have to wait for that? What is it about us or our soulmates that destiny doesn’t deem us ready?”

“Patience.”

The older they got, Luka wondered if he was also starting to tell himself to be more patient as well.

She did have a point. Did destiny really deem them not ready for love? If so, why? Did they have to change something about themselves? Or maybe their soulmates weren’t ready yet? But couldn’t they still meet their soulmates despite that? They didn’t have to start dating immediately, but at least know that they’re doing okay. Or what if they weren’t? What if their soulmates were somehow sick and—

Luka squeezed his eyes shut. No, it won’t help to think like that. They just had to wait. If that’s what destiny wants, so be it.

But that was easier said than done. Luka never admitted that, but being surrounded by couples most of the time did make him feel like he was some sort of outsider. That he was different. It was especially annoying when people commented on it.

“Still no impression? That’s really sad.”

“You must feel so lonely, you poor thing!”

“Hopefully you’ll find them before retirement.”

Luckily there were very few people who said those kinds of things. Luka usually never bothered to say anything back, as his telepathic impressions weren’t anybody else’s business. But there were times where he didn’t hold back on telling people to mind their own damn business, like when he was in a bad mood in general or, god forbid, anyone directed those comments to his sister.

Those comments kept coming more frequently with time and every time, Luka could feel himself getting more and more angry. Angry with people around him, angry with the world, angry with destiny itself.

In moments like this, only his music was able to calm him down. He made himself comfortable on his bed, cradled the instruments in his arm like a lover. He felt the strings on his fingers and gave them a careful pluck, feeling the vibration through the wood. Has there ever been a more comforting feeling than this?

He let the melodies fill the room, letting them console him like an old friend, his fingers moving on their own as they danced along the fretboard. Songs about adventure, songs about the sea… songs about love.

~~~

Life continued for the two siblings. The absence of telepathic impressions carried on into adulthood, but they still found ways to enjoy their lives. Most of their time was spent making music together, obviously. Other times, they’d spend some quality time with their mother and assist her with her craft and one time, they even convinced their father to let them go with him on a small tour. 

There was no point in being gloomy, they just had to make the best out of it to the day they’d finally get a sign from their soulmates.

When that day came, everything changed.

The envelope was sticking out of the mailbox with one corner when Luka went to grab the mail. He pulled it out of the otherwise empty mailbox and examined it. The envelope was golden, the front had ‘Juleka Couffaine’ written on it in beautifully swung letters, which were surrounded by star constellations.

Whoever this was from sure put a lot of effort into this.

“Juleka?” Luka called to his sister, “There’s a weird letter for you.”

Juleka didn’t take long to appear. She took the letter from his hand. “Strange. This isn’t signed by anyone.”

Luka watched intensely as she ripped open the envelope.

“Careful, sis. You might damage what’s inside.”

“Let me do my thing, Luka,” she threw back. Her fingers carefully reached inside the envelope to pull out a golden piece of paper. She turned it in her hand.

“What is that?” Luka tilted his head.

She read what was written on it out loud.

“Name of guest: Juleka Couffaine. Your soulma—”

Juleka looked at her brother with wide eyes, back at the paper, then back at him again. Luka mirrored her expression. 

“Did you just say ‘soulmate’?” Luka asked, perplexed. 

Juleka shrugged. “This is what it says on here. ‘Your soulmate’s first words: I tried to make them unicorn-shaped.’”

Luka frowned. “‘Soulmate’s first words?’ What in the world is this? And ‘unicorn-shaped?’ Unicorn-shaped what?”

“I have no idea,” Juleka replied. “Maybe it’s some kind of letter… from my soulmate?”

“That doesn’t make sense.” Luka rubbed his chin with his hand. “You don’t have telepathic impressions but receive a letter?”

Juleka shrugged. “Buddy, I’m as clueless as you are.” She turned the paper around. “Oh, wait, there’s more… ‘Dear Juleka Couffaine, this is your ticket for the Soulmate Train, a train that travels far and wide, crossing the deepest oceans, the highest mountains, across different worlds, into different dimensions even, to unite you with your soulmate, who was born into a different world than you.’” She looked up. “A different world? Soulmate Train?”

Luka shrugged. “I’ve never heard of a Soulmate Train before.”

Juleka continued. “‘Please come to the train station in a month, the train will pick you up at 4:30 am. As soon as you board, your soulmate will be notified.’”

“I still don’t understand what this is supposed to be,” Luka commented, crossing his arms. “So you’re supposed to travel to… somewhere, because your soulmate lives in a ‘different world’ and I guess this is the only way to meet your soulmate?”

He carefully took the ticket from her hand, rereading the text.

“That’s what I'm getting from that,” Juleka replied.

Luka must’ve turned the mysterious paper in his hand a million times, rereading the same lines as if that was going to give them more answers. But after a while, he just asked, “Do you think this is… a real thing? That there is a train out there that unites soulmates?”

Juleka didn’t answer for a long time, just hugging herself while staring at the ticket. She looked… weirdly uncomfortable.

“It’s probably a prank,” she sighed.

“But who would pull such a mean prank on us?”

“I don’t know, but… I don’t know, if we say this is legit… isn’t it weird?” she mumbled after a while.

“No, why would a random invitation for a train ride to your soulmate be weird?”

Juleka gave him a look. “Sarcasm doesn’t look good on you, idiot.”

Luka rolled his eyes. “Then don’t ask dumb questions.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Juleka took the ticket from his hands. “It’s just… Isn’t it weird that there’s only one ticket? You’re sitting in the same boat as me. We both haven’t heard anything about our soulmates so far, and now only one of us receives a ticket?”

That… was actually a good point. Even if this was a prank from someone, why would they only make a ticket for Juleka, but not for him? Why target just one of them? The thought alone of someone messing with his sister in such a cruel way, giving her hope for the thing she was longing for for a long time, made his stomach twist in an uncomfortable way. Couldn’t people just freaking leave them alone?

But on the other hand, he wasn’t sure how he felt about the possibility of this not being a prank, because… what would that mean for his soulmate? Why didn’t he get any kind of clue about them? And if they maybe lived further away, why hadn’t he received such a ticket?

Before they returned inside, Luka looked into the mailbox again, sticking his hand in to check for another envelope. But his hand remained empty.

The mysterious ticket would occupy their minds for the rest of the day. Juleka kept staring at the ticket for hours, turning it in her hands, rereading the words a thousand times and sighing every now and then. 

Neither noticed their mother returning home. “Why ye seem so gloomy?”

The siblings jumped. “Oh, mom… it’s nothing. Everything’s great!”

Anarka of course didn’t believe them. Her gaze fell on the ticket in Juleka’s hands and she raised her eyebrows immediately. “What ye got there, matey?”

The siblings knew there was no point in hiding anything, so they told her the whole story, how they found the ticket, what was written on it, and their uncertainty whether to trust this piece of paper or not. Anarka listened calmly.

“And a ticket to yer soulmate made ye so sad?” She directed the question at Juleka, who shrugged. “I wouldn’t be if I knew for sure this ticket was real, but… maybe it is just a prank and I don’t want to raise my hopes up too much…”

She swallowed thickly as she curled herself into a ball, resting her forehead on her knees. “It’s just a very mean prank.”

Luka laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently. He hated to see his sister be so down.

“Hand it over fer a sec, will ye?”

Anarka examined the ticket for a while. 

“I can’t tell fer certain if yer ticket is real, but… I can tell ye fer a fact that the soulmate train does really exist,” she eventually said.

The siblings blinked at her confused, then at each other, then back at their mother. “Really? Have you ever seen it?”

“I haven’t,” she answered. “But an ol’ friend o’ mine had two gran’parents who had met that way. The man had showed us the ticket when we were still kids.”

Luka’s eyes became wide. “So you knew people who had traveled with that train?”

Anarka nodded. “The train is real, and it seems Juleka is supposed to board it…”

Luka had always imagined this moment to be more cheerful. That Juleka would hug him with tears in her eyes, gushing about how excited she was, that the waiting was finally over, that she finally had her happy ever after with the love of her life.

His sister didn’t do any of that. Instead she just stared at the ticket blankly.

Anarka scooted over and wrapped an arm over Juleka’s shoulders. “I know ‘tis coming out of the blue, that’s the way of the soulmate train, dearie.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Juleka mumbled and before Anarka could ask any further question, she looked at Luka. “I don’t understand why your ticket wasn’t there? What does that mean for…?”

He immediately tensed up. Earlier, he had tried to not think too much about it. Neither knew whether the ticket was real in the first place, but now that their mother had confirmed it…  His heart twisted in an ugly way. What did that mean? Thoughts and theories about his soulmate’s whereabouts he now was even less ready to touch on were uncontrollably infiltrating his mind to the point where he felt physically sick.

Why hadn’t there been a ticket for him? What did that mean for his soulmate? What did that mean for him ?

What was his destiny?

~~~

Several days passed. While Luka spent even more time than usual with his guitar, singing songs about adventure, songs about the sea, and rarely songs about love, his sister seemed like she had been replaced by a more hopeful and happy version of herself. One who’s hobbies also involved checking the mailbox almost daily.

“You have already received your ticket,” Luka pointed out one time after she had returned from her quest. But she just shook her head.

“This isn’t about me, smartass. It’s about you!”

Upon her brother furrowing his brows, Juleka explained, “There must’ve been some sort of mistake because your soulmate clearly isn’t around. Maybe the train’s delivery person or whoever is in charge of tickets threw it into the wrong mailbox, or they forgot and might deliver it in the next few days! Either way, you will get that ticket!”

Luka just blinked at her confused. “How can you be so sure?”

She shrugged. “I can feel it.”

This went on for the next few days. Juleka kept insisting that the issue would surely resolve itself, that the delivery person would personally knock on their door, hand the envelope to Luka, and apologize a thousand times for the accident. 

“You would have probably already forgiven them once you ripped your letter open,” she insisted.

He would be lying if he said he was convinced that all of that was wishful thinking, that Juleka just told herself all those things to make him feel less crappy about the whole situation. A small part of himself, a very stupid and annoying part, wanted to indulge in those scenarios and let that give him hope. Hope that everything wouldl turn out just fine. That no matter what, he would find his soulmate one way or another. Even if he told himself that he should know better, this hope brought him much needed comfort.

But that hope kept shrinking with every passing day that Juleka returned from the mailbox empty-handed.

“I really hope our soulmates live close to each other,” Juleka said one evening when the siblings were already tucked into bed. There was only one week left until the train would come to pick her up. “That way we will still see each other every day and we can be one big family. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

Luka opened his eyes and looked over to her and smiled. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’ve been replaced by a very nice version of Juleka.”

She chuckled. “I can’t believe it either, but ever since I got the ticket, I’ve lost the urge to be the annoying little sister.”

“I find that hard to believe,” he laughed. It was almost adorable, if it wasn’t so sad. Luka turned to the side so he could face his sister, or at least her silhouette he could barely make out in the dark.

“What makes you so sure that I’ll go with you, anyway?” he asked her. “I still haven’t received a ticket.”

Juleka didn’t answer for a long time. He could hear her shift in her bed, tossing and turning, until the noise died down.

“I’m not sure,” she finally admitted. “But… it’s the only logical explanation, don’t you think? Your soulmate isn’t here, so they’re somewhere else. They can’t just… I don’t know, not exist. And I’m sure the train isn’t perfect in every way, there has to be someone who had made a mistake when delivering the tickets. There just isn’t any other explanation.”

“But even if that were true, we don’t know if I’ll even be allowed to board if I don’t have my ticket on me,” he pointed out. 

“Then we’ll try,” Juleka said softly. He could feel her eyes resting on him. “I won’t let you stay behind. You deserve to find happiness, too… even if you end up in a different world from me and I never see you again…”

Her voice became heavy all of a sudden.

“Jules?”

There was a muffled sniffing sound coming from the other side of the room and without thinking, Luka got out of his bed and walked over to his sister. “Juleka… please don’t cry.”

“I’m not crying, you idiot!” Juleka hissed, followed by a quiet sob.

“There’s the sister I know,” he said as he sat down. That actually got a silent laugh out of her. “Shut up…”

She sat up. “But… the thing is, you’re the most important person in my life and when you’re not annoying me, even my best friend. I know there’s a good chance that this will be a final goodbye, but I have to at least know that you’ll find happiness as well.”

Luka didn’t quite know how to answer that without spilling a few tears himself, so he just leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, which Juleka quickly reciprocated. This was the longest the sibling had ever hugged without saying anything, just enjoying the comfort of having the other around to rely on.

“I didn’t know you could be so mushy,” Luka said after a while, letting go of the embrace.

“Wow, okay. Can’t even appreciate me being nice to you. I can go back to insulting you if that’s what you prefer,” she snickered. 

“You really want to ruin the very sweet moment of sibling love?”

Juleka shifted. “Uh… I didn’t mean—”

“Good thing the lights are out,” Luka’s lips formed into a mischievous grin, “so I don’t have to see your stupid face.”

In the dark, he could just make out Juleka’s eyes growing wide as she gasped and mere seconds later, she hit his face with a pillow. “Is that what the mirror tells you every day?”

Soon enough, the room was filled with feathers and laughter. The siblings forgot their worries about the train and their soulmates, just enjoying the moment with each other as they kept throwing pillows at each other. 

~~~

The breaks screeched and the station was promptly covered in steam by the mysterious train the siblings had been waiting for. Luka stared in awe at the golden ornaments shimmering in the dim light of the lantern and forgot for a quick second completely about his anxiety.

He hadn’t felt this anxious in a long time. He had tried to tell himself that Juleka was right, that the train people would realize their mistake and let him board anyway. They just had to present the issue in a non-confrontational manner. But there still was a nagging voice in his head that constantly asked, “But what if they say no?”

A question Luka didn’t have an answer for. He could just hope that this would work out somehow.

The door opened and an old man with a conductor’s uniform stepped out. His gaze wandered over the station until it landed directly on the siblings. Luka immediately froze, but Juleka took his hand and gently squeezed it.

“Have faith, Luka,” she said confidently. As she pulled him towards the conductor, Luka couldn’t help but admire her. Usually he was the confident one, shielding his awkward, shy little sister from uncomfortable situations and letting her rely on him. Now, she had grown so much that she could do it for him as well. He couldn’t help but smile with how proud he was of her.

The conductor eyed them rigorously through his monocle. “Tickets, please?” 

Juleka carefully handed him the ticket. “Here’s mine, sir.”

The man pulled out a list from his pocket and nodded approvingly. “Juleka Couffaine, welcome to the soulmate train. If I may introduce myself, I’m Pierre. If you may follow—”

“Before I do that,” Juleka interrupted him, “could you please check your list for ‘Luka Couffaine’? That’s my brother and he didn’t get a ticket.”

Pierre looked in between them, confusion written in his face. “If he doesn’t have a ticket, he sure isn’t on my list. I don’t see the problem.”

“But he was supposed to get one,” Juleka explained. “You see, we think that whoever delivered the tickets had made a mistake and—”

“That’s not possible.” The conductor shook his head. “Every ticket has been sent out on time and has arrived at their recipients. Mistakes like that are impossible. No ticket, no train ride.”

“But what if there really is a mistake?” Juleka pressed on, but the conductor promptly shut her up with a glare.

“No ticket, no train ride!”

“Uhm, sir…,” Luka intervened and took a step forward. “We don’t want to accuse you of not doing your work very rigorously and competently. We’re just looking for answers.”

“I can give you one answer, you’re not supposed to be on this train if you don’t have a ticket.”

“At least check that list you have there,” Juleka insisted. “That’s where all the guest’s names must be listed? Look if there’s a ‘Luka Couffaine’ somewhere.”

Pierre turned to her, most likely to tell her off, but then just let out a sigh and pulled out his list again. Luka must’ve held his breath with how dizzy he was feeling all of a sudden. His destiny was dependent on this stupid list that hopefully contained his name somewhere. His destiny of finding his soulmate, who… might actually possibly live very close to Juleka’s soulmate, so they could still see each other, and be a happy little family. It wasn’t impossible—

The conductor lowered the list. “Your name isn’t there.”

Luka felt like he couldn’t breathe, a crushing feeling of anxiety and panic filling his chest to the point where he felt like he was about to pass out. He stared at the conductor dumbfounded, opening his mouth to say something, but no words came out.

This… this wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be. There had to be a mistake. Maybe his name was on a back up list somewhere, or—

“Look, we really need to leave, we have a tight schedule,” the conductor said nonchalantly. Like he hadn’t just crushed all of Luka’s hopes and dreams. “Just say goodbye to your… sister, I assume? As hard as that might be, you have to let certain things go.”

And that finally pushed Luka over the edge, his anxiety turning into anger. “But how is that possible,” Luka yelled, which made the conductor actually flinch, his monocle falling off his face to dangle around in front of his chest. He’d had enough. Enough of all the uncertainties, enough of the loneliness, he just wanted answers. Luka was breathing heavily as tears started to form in his eyes.

“All my life, I’ve seen people get telepathic impressions and to this day, I haven’t gotten a single one. In my town, my sister and I are the only people who haven’t met their soulmate at our age, so when she suddenly received a ticket for the soulmate train and I didn’t, why wouldn’t I assume I should have received one too? This train is my only hope at finding my soulmate, so for the love of everything, just… just…”

He lowered his voice and looked to the ground. It was as if all the anger he had felt had left his body through the screaming, leaving behind a feeling of numbness. He pressed a hand to his forehead.

“Just bring me to my soulmate! I have a right to get to know them!”

He could feel Juleka hugging him from the side.

Pierre stared at him like he had just seen a ghost, but then his features became softer. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and cleaned his monocle with it.

“I understand," he said simply.

After calming down a little and wiping the tears away, Luka looked back at the conductor with hopeful eyes. “You…do?”

“The conclusions you’re drawing are perfectly logical,” Pierre explained. “And you’re right, if you didn’t have a telepathic impression your entire life, especially at your age, it’s safe to assume your soulmate isn’t here.”

“So does that mean… my brother can board the train?” Juleka asked with a hopeful glimmer in her eyes.

“I don’t want to get your hopes up too soon.” The conductor said. “Your case is unique, and there are two options as to why you didn’t have any impressions and are also not on my list. The first one would be that there was indeed a mistake.”

“And the second one?”

“The second, and unfortunately more plausible option, is that you, Luka Couffaine, do not have a soulmate.”

Luka felt like he might collapse. This was a bad dream. None of what was happening was real. This… conductor clown was just a result of some messed up game his mind was currently torturing Luka with! As soon as he would wake up, Juleka would’ve already made her morning tour to the mailbox! She’d wave a golden envelope in her hands, with his name on it, beautifully swung letters surrounded by star constellations… 

As he pinched himself however, he confirmed for himself that this wasn’t the case.

The man working for the soulmate train, the man who knew everything about getting soulmates together, had just told him that his soulmate… 

…didn’t freaking exist. 

No , maybe didn’t exist. 

Emphasis on maybe.

Juleka was the first to speak again. “With all due respect, what the actual hell are you talking about?”

The conductor sighed. “I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true. There are extremely rare cases in which a person doesn’t have a soulmate.”

“I don’t believe you,” Juleka growled. “Quit the nonsense, old man! Everybody has a soulmate!”

“Well, you should believe me,” he said. “After all, that’s also the case for me. I do not have a soulmate either.”

“W-what do you mean?” Luka managed to ask. “You don’t have a soulmate? So… that’s a real thing? You’re not just making fun of me?”

“I reacted in a similar way as you when I found out.” The conductor put a hand on Luka’s shoulder. “It’s confusing and odd at first, because… these anomalies are so extremely rare, people don’t know they exist. In fact, you’re the first person I ever met who might be like me in that regard.”

That… that bastard. That stupid bastard. What was he thinking, acting like he understood anything, like it was somehow something special that he found someone like him? Acting all understanding and whatnot? After dropping a bombshell of… of an idiotic assumption of such magnitude?

They... they were nothing alike! Luka had to have a soulmate! Just because this... this old, stupid man was too proud to just admit a mistake on his part didn’t give him any right to mock him like that! How heartless could one person be?

The anger Luka had felt throughout his life towards different people who had judged him for his lack of a soulmate all his life… none of that even came close to the level of anger he felt in that moment. 

His soulmate exists, they just had to. They exist somewhere, he will find them and rub it in Pierre’s stupid—

“But you’re not actually sure if that’s the case, right?” Juleka asked, bringing Luka back to reality by squeezing his hand lightly. “You said it’s a possibility, not that my brother definitely doesn’t have a soulmate.”

“Correct, I have no way of knowing,” Pierre replied. “It’s an assumption. And there’s only one way of finding out the truth.” He stepped aside and pointed at the door with his hand. “I’ll let both of you board the train together. If you experience a telepathic impression, I’ll let you get off at that station. But if not, that’ll prove my theory.”

The siblings looked at each other, then back at the conductor. 

“Okay then,” Luka finally said. “Let’s see then.”

~~~

Life on the train was hard to get used to at first. The siblings quickly grew sick of seeing the same two rooms over and over again without any variety. Other than eating in the dining car and socializing with others, there wasn’t exactly much to do. Luka found himself to feel bored rather quickly.

Both also tried really hard to avoid Pierre. Everytime Luka would merely see the guy, his stomach would turn on itself and have him think about this very unpleasant theory about… about…

He didn’t even want to say it out loud. The old geezer had to be wrong, anyway. He’ll show him. He’ll have a stupid impression and get off this train!

On the plus side, Luka didn’t have to share a cabin with Juleka anymore. Not that either ever minded sharing, but having his own space for once was quite nice. Besides, the cabins on the train were too small for two people, anyway.

Over time, they traveled through a variety of different worlds, picking up all kinds of different people for their journey. People who had spent their lives without a soulmate up to that point. People like Juleka and him. It was easy to connect with them and he enjoyed listening to all kinds of different stories and sharing his own. Of course, he kept the uncertainties surrounding his own soulmate a secret. Why would he tell them? He wasn’t any different from these people. They were on their way to their soulmates, just like him. And he looked forward to his new life every day…

Until the day Juleka had her first telepathic impression.

It had occurred during dinner. The siblings had been enthralled in a conversation with a few other travelers, when her fork fell out of her hand and hit the table with a thud . As everybody at the table turned to her, she stood perfectly still, staring wide-eyed into the distance for several seconds before snapping out of it again. She quickly lowered her gaze and blinked.

“Juleka, are you okay?” one of the travelers asked.

She slowly looked around the table until her gaze stopped at Luka.

“They’re… cookies.” Her lips formed into a smile. “Unicorn-shaped cookies.”

Everyone at the table stared at her as they processed what had just happened, then they were congratulating her. 

“I’m so happy the mystery is solved, sis,” Luka grinned at her and Juleka simply laughed as the group stayed up all night to celebrate the milestone.

He was happy for his sister, he really was. But at the same time, his heart grew heavier with every passing day he didn’t have a telepathic impression. They had been on the train for such a long time now, and still, nothing had happened.

And on top of that, Juleka’s wish wouldn’t be granted.

“It was foolish of me to think our soulmates were in the same place,” Juleka said the night they were supposed to reach her destination. Luka had insisted he’d stay up with her until 4:30am to give her a proper goodbye. “I got so excited about it, I sort of deluded myself that there’s no way our soulmates don’t live in the same world, you know?”

Luka shrugged. “Yeah. I mean, what were the odds, anyway?”

“Do you realize what that means? We’re a few hours away from… never seeing each other again.”

That had also been on Luka’s mind for the past few days. He had tried not to think too hard about it, because the thought of being separated from his sister… permanently… saying that it hurt was an understatement.

“How do you feel, Jules?”

She drummed a rhythm on the table with her fingers. “I’m excited, of course, to meet that blonde whirlwind I keep seeing already. But it’s just not going to be the same without you around.”

Luka sighed. “I know, it’s going to suck so hard to be on this train without you. And I have no idea how much longer I’ll stay on board.”

“I hope not for too long,” Juleka said quietly. “M-maybe at the following station? Maybe that’s not too far… Maybe there’s somehow a way we can still travel that distance…”

God dammit. He hated it. He didn’t want to feel that way, because he wants nothing more than for his sister to finally meet her soulmate, which will happen just a few hours from now, and eat tons of unicorn-shaped cookies and just… finally be happy. Like she deserved to be. And yet, the part where they’ll never see each other again seemed to overshadow everything great and magical about that moment that Luka couldn’t help but feel guilty. Couldn’t Juleka just come out of this with at least one pleasant memory? 

Everything about this journey had been tainted from the start. The missing ticket, the uncertainty of Luka even having a soulmate, the separation… Why did all of this have to be so hard? Why were their soulmates in different worlds than them? Why did they have to endure seeing everybody around them having found their soulmate at a younger age, seemingly without any effort, but they had to travel far far away to a completely new world. 

Why was destiny treating them that way?

“You know,” Juleka said after a while. “I have to admit that the food on the train was pretty delicious.”

“Right? Pierre sure knows a thing or two about seasoning.”

“It was definitely better seasoned than the stew ma used to make,” Juleka chuckled. “Do you remember that one time when…”

As the hours passed, the siblings reminisced about their time together, remembering different stories from their past, laughing together and simply enjoying each other’s company one last time before Pierre would appear to announce that the train was just about to reach the station.

As the train slowly came to a halt and as the door opened, Juleka pulled her brother into a tight hug that he reciprocated.

“So this is goodbye, then.”

“I guess so.”

Neither tried to hold their tears back. They stayed like this for several minutes, crying and hugging, whispering to each other how they only wished for the best for the other, that they should find happiness and that they’ll never forget each other, that they’ll always be brother and sister.

“Promise me you’ll take good care of yourself, little sis,” Luka said as he finally let her go. Juleka smiled up to him and nodded. 

“You too, idiot.”

And with that, she stepped out of the wagon, looking around the station, until a petite, blonde woman with big, blue eyes approached her. When she reached Juleka, she gave her a kind smile and pulled a small steel box out of her coat and opened it to reveal the baked goods.

“I tried to make them unicorn-shaped.”

Luka felt like he was going to cry all over again. That girl seemed so incredibly sweet and gentle with the way she already looked at his sister with this enamored expression… It seemed like he had nothing to worry about.

Juleka will find happiness.

They waved at each other when the train slowly left the station and after the little town was out of sight, Luka let himself flop into the red cushions of one of the seats. The dining car suddenly seemed so much emptier and more quiet without her.

Juleka had reached her destination. She was no longer with him. And when that truly hit him, he just felt this overwhelming feeling of emptiness consuming his body.

The most important person in the world, his best friend, was no longer there.

He was now on his own. On a journey with unknown duration and unknown destination.

If there even was a destination for him to begin with.

“Are you not planning to return to your cabin?”

Luka looked up to see the conductor standing in front of him. Right, he was still there as well.

“Soon.”

Luka leaned his head back and closed his eyes, but he could still feel the presence of the conductor. God, what else did he want, couldn’t a guy just have a crisis in peace?

“You must miss her a lot already.”

That grabbed his attention. Luka lifted his head again. Pierre had averted his gaze, staring at the floor.

“Your sister, I mean. You two seemed like you were very close.”

Luka blinked at Pierre. That came a little out of the blue.

“I mean… yeah, we grew up together.”

The conductor nodded. “You must feel lonely.”

Luka sat up. “With all due respect, I really don’t want to talk about this right now.”

Pierre bit his lips and sighed. “I know that after our first meeting, you probably don’t like me very much. But just so you know… I hope my theory is wrong.”

That made Luka stop altogether. Where was that suddenly coming from? But before Luka could say anything to that, Pierre was already heading for the door. “I’ll leave you be for now.”

Luka looked after Pierre as he disappeared behind the door.

The next morning, he found himself still laying on the red cushion.

~~~

It must’ve been months at this point that Luka had been on this train, and with every day he didn’t have a telepathic impression, he grew more frustrated and his hope started to fade. It didn't make it any better when other travelers asked him about the duration of his stay, they annoyed him just as much, if not even more, than the comments he had received at home. Especially when after relatively short periods of time, they’d have their first telepathic impressions and cooed about how pretty their soulmates were and whatnot. 

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, it made him sick. Which he felt guilty about. Extremely guilty. It wasn’t their fault that Luka’s soulmate was just a little harder to find… or actually… truly didn’t…

It still hurt to finish that sentence.

Luka had a hard time accepting that possibility and with every day, it weighed him down more and more. He started to hang out less in the dining car, isolating himself from the other travelers, those with actual soulmates. At some point, he didn’t come out of his cabin at all. He spent his time with his guitar in his lap, the only thing that brought him at least a little comfort in these times, and he’d play for hours to no end, filling the small cabinet with sad little melodies until his fingers would hurt.

He’d play songs about adventure. Songs about the sea. But no longer songs about love.

Those brought too much pain. He had been on the train for so long already. Love seemed unreachable at this point, so why bother?

~~~

“Pierre?”

The conductor seemed surprised to see Luka approach him, after having done his best to not engage in conversation with the old man. 

Or leave his cabin at all. In fact, Pierre wasn’t even sure he had seen him at all the past few weeks, which might explain Luka’s poor shape. He seemed thinner than before and his eyes were… weirdly empty.

He looked more like a zombie than a person.

“Luka… have you eaten at all today?” Pierre asked confused.

The man just shrugged. “Wasn’t hungry.”

The conductor lifted his brows. “Actually, have you eaten anything these past days?”

“Can you stop talking about food?” Luka threw back, irritated. Normally, Pierre wouldn’t let such behavior slide, but the sight of his guest just made him pity him.

He had a pretty good idea as to why Luka was really here.

“I’ve made an observation, how most travelers pass around five to six stations until they have their first telepathic impression. The highest number that I counted was ten.”

Oh, Pierre really didn’t like where this was going. “And I assume you have counted how many stations you have passed as well?”

Luka tensed up, clenching his fists as he tried his best to breathe steadily.

“Last night, I counted one hundred,” he said, his voice sounding very weak all of a sudden. “One hundred stations that the train stopped at ever since you let me board.”

A tear rolled down his pale cheek. “I’m afraid your theory was right, after all.”

Pierre let out a breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding. The devastation in the young man’s eyes, the hopelessness, the disbelief in his voice…

It reminded him too much of himself.

The conductor made a step forward and carefully placed a hand on Luka’s shoulder. “I am so incredibly sorry, boy. I wished I had been wrong, I truly do. There is no greater pain than knowing that—”

He was suddenly interrupted by Luka crashing into him, wrapping his arms around the conductor and hiding his face in his shoulder. The room quickly filled with heavy sobs as Luka started to look reality in the eyes.

The whole journey… had been for nothing.

He had no destination.

His soulmate didn’t exist.

Pierre let out a heavy sigh and patted Luka on his back. “There, there…”

He was no stranger to this reaction. He hadn’t acted much differently when he had been in the situation and had a hard time not shedding tears himself. 

Destiny was truly cruel.

After a while, Luka still hadn’t moved, but at least the sobs were starting to die down.

“I know the situation seems hopeless, but I promise, you will be okay. You’re not doomed or anything, just… destiny had other plans for you.“

Luka pushed himself up. “What plans? It pretty much feels like destiny completely screwed me over for no reason.”

“I understand that,” Pierre said. “We’re told from a young age that the only thing that matters is finding our soulmates. That this is the only thing that will bring true meaning to our life. But even without a soulmate, life isn’t meaningless. You can find meaning right here on this train.”

Luka rubbed his face with his hands. “If you say so…” he said, not sounding entirely convinced.

“Just come with me for a second.”

The conductor walked through all the cabin cars, followed by Luka, until they reached the door to the very last car.

“This is the caboose,” Pierre explained. He turned the knob and revealed his cabin, which was significantly larger than the guest’s cabins. With the way it was furnished, it looked quite cozy.

“Why are there two beds in there?” Luka asked. “Isn’t this just your cabin?”

“Not too long ago, I shared this cabin with my superior, but he grew old and couldn’t do his job anymore. So I remained the only conductor of the soulmate train.” He turned to the younger man. “Until you showed up, having the same fate as me, and him, and his superior, and so on.”

Luka’s eyes widened. “So all the people who didn’t have soulmates became…”

“They all became conductors for this train,” Pierre finished the sentence. “And now, it looks like you will follow in those footsteps and fulfill your destiny of uniting soulmates which have been born into different worlds from each other.”

Luka wrapped his arms around himself as he looked around the cabin once more. 

“So.. you’re suggesting I stay on the train and become your apprentice?”

“I can’t force you to, of course,” Pierre said. “If you wish to leave the train at a chosen station, I can’t stop you.  You’re not bound to this train.”

“As if that would do me any good,” Luka scoffed. “I don’t feel the need to live my life, surrounded by people who see nothing but… but some loser who was left without a soulmate. A loner. A weirdo.”

His gaze dropped to his shoes. “Even if I somehow went back to my mother’s world… or the one my sister is living in now… it would be the same thing. I don’t have a place anywhere…”

He took a deep breath.

“Anywhere… but on this train.”

Somehow, Luka looked even more deflated than before. Pierre made a few steps in his direction and put a hand on his shoulder. “I understand you must feel confused right now. I’ll give you some more time to get accustomed to your new life. If you want, we can start by moving your things from your cabin into here?”

Luka turned his head and gave Pierre something close to a weak smile. 

“Okay.”

[statixzcoffee]

This is going to be the most bewildered theory/headcanon about Luka Couffaine/Couffaine Family.

I don't really know the full story of how the mom and the dad got with each other. But, Anarka definitely looks like she loves alcohol (or wine - which is still an alcoholic drink) while having a good time. When she was pregnant. She probably still drink alcohol and probably stopped when she is officially pregnant.

Because, she was scared to see the confirmation of Arnaka Couffaine and Jagged Stone's official deed. So, she just continued normally. But, it got a bit heavy when Jagged Stone left her.

Luka Couffaine suffers from Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. His mother drank so much wine after Jagged Stone left her in the pregnancy.

Eh, being in love and then getting left while pregnant makes you do sad things. Like drinking alcohol.

OH yeah! Juleka and Luka are apparently twins- oh- uhm... Yeah, I couldn't really find a good pic of her full face. But, tbh. I do like Luka and Juleka not being twins. Jagged Stone and Anarka had a on and off relationship. Both of them are mistakes btw. Yw! :D Anarka laid off the bottle the second time, however Juleka is a bit affected. Jagged Stone officially cut off contact as Juleka was born.

Luka didn't really remember his father, because A: "he didn't really visit." B: "He didn't want too and hiding it and actually forgetting him within the progress. Then he saw Jagged Stone and attaching onto him."

[ao3feed-ladynoir]

Together ( Miraculous )

Together ( Miraculous ) by BTS Dragon army

Ladynoir + Adrienette

After a conservation with Marinette, Adrien decides to help Marinette to take down Lila but it might not be easy as it seems. As Ladybug becomes new Guardian, Hawkmoth is making things difficult but they are perfect team aren't they ?

They began their plan to take down Lila but losses few friends and maybe find new ones.

Some angst with adventure, new miraculous holders.And new ships.

Note- This idea is before Season 3, so don't expect things same as shows. ( I haven't all s3 episodes even or s4 ).

Words: 1402, Chapters: 2/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Miraculous Ladybug

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M, Multi

Characters: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Tikki, Plagg, Master Fu, Kagami Tsurugi, Tom Dupain, Lê Chiến Kim, Sabrina Raincomprix, Marc Anciel, Max Kanté, Mylène Haprèle, Emilie Agreste, Original Akumatized Character(s), Nooroo, Jagged Stone, Trixx, Alya Césaire, Nino Lahiffe, Luka Couffaine, Sabine Cheng, Lila Rossi, Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Rose Lavillant, Gabriel Agreste, Ms. Mendeleiev, Akumatized Character(s), Caline Bustier, Alix Kubdel, Juleka Couffaine, Nadja Chamack, Ivan Bruel, Chloé Bourgeois, Wayzz, Principal Damocles, Other Miraculous Ladybug Characters, Lila Rossi's Mother, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir's Parents, Markov, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug's Parents

Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Plagg & Tikki

Additional Tags: Angst with a Happy Ending, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Lila Rossi Bashing, Evil Lila Rossi, Manipulative Lila Rossi, Jealous Lila Rossi, Lila Rossi Faces Consequences, Lila Rossi's Downfall, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs a Hug, Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng Fluff, Protective Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Has a Crush on Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Identity Reveal, Minor Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Angry Alya Césaire, Break Up, Awesome Nino Lahiffe, Good Friend Nino Lahiffe, I'm Bad At Tagging

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47192755

[vwritesawholelothm]

HER GETTING A ROCKSTAR DAD CUZ JAGGED TAKES ONE LOOK AT THIS SWEET INSECURE CHILD AND GOES “that’s my daughter in law”

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Luka Couffaine/Sabrina Raincomprix, Penny Rolling/Jagged Stone, Luka Couffaine & Jagged Stone Characters: Luka Couffaine, Jagged Stone (Miraculous Ladybug) Additional Tags: back on my lukabrina bullshit, ignore canon i bearly know her at this point, Parent-Child Relationship, idk what to tag this one Summary: Jagged tries to connect with his son during one of their new custody visits.

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Where have you been?

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/9IRDYz2 by vanillaandcookies “And Talia was like…” “Cat Noir was a bitch…took his miraculous…” “So good to be back to the OG group…” I blinked. Once. Twice. Yep, I still see the same thing. The DAMIAN WAYNE, ice prince of Gotham, was sitting with a group of people his age, and one girl was even leaned onto him and he just continued laughing. It’s official. I’m dead. Words: 855, Chapters: 2/?, Language: English Fandoms: Miraculous Ladybug, Batman - All Media Types, Batman (Comics) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/F, F/M Characters: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Sabine Cheng, Talia al Ghul, Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Chloé Bourgeois, Juleka Couffaine, Bruce Wayne, Luka Couffaine, Kagami Tsurugi, Jason Todd, Harleen Quinzel, Joker (DCU), Lila Rossi, Alya Césaire, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Pamela Isley, Caline Bustier, Caline Bustier's Class, Principal Damocles (Miraculous Ladybug), Alfred Pennyworth, Rose Lavillant, Selina Kyle, Batfamily Members (DCU), Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug) Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Damian Wayne, Luka Couffaine/Kagami Tsurugi, Juleka Couffaine & Nino Lahiffe, Chloé Bourgeois/Jonathan Samuel Kent Additional Tags: Friends to Lovers, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug is Called MDC, Fluff and Angst, Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Cat Miraculous Holder Damian Wayne (Miraculous Ladybug), Bullying, Slow Burn, Uncle Jagged Stone (Miraculous Ladybug), Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, Overprotective Batfamily (DCU), Lila Rossi Bashing, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Alya Césaire Bashing, Childhood Friends, Guardian of the Miraculous Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Salty Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Evil Lila Rossi, Manipulative Lila Rossi, Lila Rossi Faces Consequences, Protective Harleen Quinzel, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Has a Crush on Marinette Dupain-Cheng read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/9IRDYz2

[imsparky2002]

Miraculous Beatles - Luke's Family and Partner

Luke Lennon (Luka Couffaine/John Lennon)

Juliet "Jules" Lennon (Juleka Couffaine)

Birthday - October 9, 1942

Personality - Luke's twin sister. She certainly stands out with her pale skin and tall stature. She is quite shy and finds fascination with the macabre and morbid. Her and Luke have a talent for writing demented and dark songs, something they've done since childhood. Jules is secretly dating a peppy and adorable girl called Rosie Wallace (Rose Lavillant), and they want to start a band together. Jules plays the bass.

Jack Lennon (Jagged Stone)

Birthday - July 14, 1912

Personality - The father of Luke and Jules. Unlike the canon Jagged Stone, Jack actually stuck around for his children, and he's a damn good dad. He taught his kids to go with the flow in life, but to fight for what they believe in. Jack is an amateur jazz musician, and his voice ain't too shabby. He is the one who created guitars for his children and taught them how to play it.

Anna Lennon (Anarka Couffaine)

Birthday - March 12, 1954

Died - July 15, 1958

Personality - Luke and Jules' mother and was quite possibly the most badass woman in the universe. She taught them how to sing, how to defend themselves, and how to be activists. Anna had a job entertaining children as a pirate, and had picked up an occasional swashbuckling accent from her line of work. Tragically she died in a car accident. It's hard to keep going on, but the family carries on, always making sure to honor her memory.

Kagami Ono (Kagami Tsurugi)

Birthday - April 23, 1942

Personality - A Japanese-American girl who is dating Luke. She is incredibly calm, stoic at times, but knows how to have fun. Kagami is a guitarist as well as a singer. She's friends with all the boys, but is besties with Mary Powell-Pang (Marinette Dupain-Cheng) as well as good friends with Alya Cox (Alya Cesaire) and Jules Lennon (Juleka Couffaine). Kagami and Mary created a singing duo called Kawami, with Kagami being the more subdued and technically brilliant singer, while Mary is the lively and creative singer.

Ok, so that's Luke's family and romantic partner. As you can see, I took one or two elements from John Lennon's family, but overall Luke certainly has a happier relationship. Next up is Adrian McCartney's family and partner. @artzychic27 @msweebyness

[wisteriasymphony]

Stupid MLB 'Rewrite' Lore Dump!: Jagged Stone and the Waifs of Wonderland

Luka Couffaine, the frontman of Vampire Revival and notorious cheater, is nothing but the spitting image of his father. The only thing Jagged Stone (or, as he was born, Jack Zimmerman) had that Luka doesn't is that he combined the two.

(whole ass fake article under the cut)

Founded in 1978, Jagged Stone and the Waifs of Wonderland owed its inspirations to the psychedelic movements of the 1960s as well as musical giants such as David Bowie and The Rolling Stones. Their first album, titled "Jagged Stone and the Waifs of Wonderland" was not a commercial success, but in recent years has amassed a following of fans who prefer the older psychedelic style of this album. In contrast, the second album, "A Kiss Too Far", was an instant hit that took on a much more "glam rock" aesthetic, helping popularize the style in France and Germany.

Much like his glam rock contemporaries, Jack Zimmerman took on a flamboyant, ostentatious, and occasionally androgynous style in his performances, and encouraged his bandmates--the aforementioned "Waifs of Wonderland"--to do the same. Each also adopted a stage name ending in "-ka". Drummer Anne "Anarka" Couffaine, Rhythm guitarist Ellen "Elvenka" Blackwell, Bassist Lucy "Lunoka" Müller, and Keyboardist Tori "Tonika" Blackwell are considered the most recognizable "Waifs of Wonderland", though other instrumentalists and artists have been featured in JSWW albums and been given their own "Waif Names" accordingly.

Aside from their music, Jagged Stone and the Waifs of Wonderland is best known for the sheer amount of scandal they used to further drive publicity. Zimmerman was reported to be in committed relationships with all permanent "Waifs" at various points in the band's career, with later testimonies by band members reporting that Zimmerman was involved with no less then two relationships simultaneously (though it was not confirmed whether these stayed within the band itself). This caused significant strife for the band in their later years, notably leading Anne Couffaine to formally leave the group in 1988, shortly preceding the births of Luka Marcel and Juliette Élise Couffaine.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

oh boy, there we go. if you got this far (or skipped past to get here), thank you :) tell me if y'all want to see more lore drops like this! mostly stuff for worldbuilding that isn't related to the main plot, obvi.

also, if it wasn't clear by the fact that i decided that Nino's name is now Nicolas Lahiffe... I like giving them all new names :) That, and because TWEOS is set nebulously around 2008-09, I changed the timeline of everything accordingly. :)))))