“Originally, I didn’t hold any feelings towards Luther Weilschmidt. Sure, he’s insanely attractive and it’s unfair in every single way, and he runs a hard business with all the modeling he does, but it was still just a matter of avoiding staring for too long. But....well...”
“...I don’t think I’d be able to tell what happened the moment I fell for him even if I wanted to.”
What is Glaciator like in the context of this au if Chat doesn't confess his love
Most of the change is internal.
This would be the episode in which Luther would finally bring himself to confess, ready for the worst, but his careful optimism would hope that things wouldn’t be awkward if he’s turned down.
After all, up until this point, while he loved his friends, Ladybeetle has been the only person he’s felt he could be himself around, even if he recognizes that him and Chat are still the same person regardless. So when he asks him out and receives a lukewarm response of “I might be there, I might not”, he doesn’t get himself too hopeful. But he begins to doubt every second that it takes to get to the time they’re supposed to meet up at.
Being told that his brother – whom he feels is more just a shadow looming over his shoulder at this point – wasn’t going to show up again for dinner even though he’d insisted he’d come and made him change his plans with his friends - was only salt in the wound.
He was alone. (Again, his mind supplied helpfully.)
With the hope that’d change someday. (It won’t. He won’t, it whispered once more.)
Luther had to stay. But Chat Noir didn’t, and Chat Noir had a date to prepare for.
So it hit even harder when Ladybeetle didn’t show up either. He didn’t hold it against him, after all, the spotted superhero had warned him he might not show up, but the timing of it had been impeccable. If he hadn’t been able to confess, he had wanted to at least gain some comfort from his partner. He wanted to let go of being patient “Luther” for just a bit, and wanted to let go of the heroic “Chat Noir” all the more. He had wanted to sit in the in-betweens, with his other half.
But he couldn’t.
It was his self-doubt and isolation that drove him to make a move when he spotted his own classmate sitting atop the bakery he knew so well. What was troubling Kuro, he didn’t know, but he did know that the frown on his face ached just as much as the one on his own did. Heart ache hurts, whether you were prepared for it or not, and he figured misery loves company.
The balcony scene here would be a lot more heartfelt. Luther is usually more talkative when he feels down, so he’d spill how he feels about Ladybeetle, about how much trust he puts in him, and how - without details - his home life is getting suffocating. He apologizes profusely for rambling, but Kuro smiles and says it’s only fair if he gets to ramble back. Kuro retells the day’s events with his friends, avoiding name-dropping or specifics due to being a very private person. He admits he’s going through heart ache as well, and, just like the canon, Chat realizes he can do something to help. Unlike in the canon, however, he does prioritize helping.
He brings him to the rooftop he’d prepared for Ladybeetle, full of candles and rose petals and the like. Kuro is in awe - He always knew that Chat was a sensitive person at heart by the heavy feelings he’d vent about when they were winding down from patrols, but he’d never figured this was the extent.
And that all of this was dedicated towards his alter-ego, a sinking guilt in the pit of his stomach.
Luther is all forced smiles and showing him what he had planned, up until he turns to see Kuro’s face of empathy - Something that looks completely off on him. After all, he’s used to the silent and brooding Kuro he knows in classes, that intimidates him with a cold air. Instead, Kuro is reaching out, carefully intertwining his fingers in Chat’s hair as he brings him close.
“You don’t have to try and make me happy when you’re hurting.”
They talk a little more, comforting each other. Kuro reassuring him that Ladybeetle probably just had something really important to do, and Chat jokingly telling him he’d beat up the next guy that stands him up, much to Kuro’s quiet amusement.
That’s when Glaciator interrupts, and the hero has to carry his classmate off back to his rooftop, leaving him there and telling him to hide and be careful until him and Ladybeetle take care of everything.
“Chat Noir?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for cheering me up. You’re very sweet.”
And Luther can’t help the surprised blush on his cheeks when Kuro gives him a kiss on said cheek, climbing back inside with a wave as he makes his exit.
The difference here in the fight is that Chat isn’t cold towards Ladybeetle or throwing a tantrum like he is in canon. He’s a bit off, of course, but he keeps his focus on the akuma and doesn’t mention anything personal during the fight, acknowledging that this is his job and not the time for any of that.
When everything is said and done, they meet up at the rooftop Chat had prepared once more, but this time, Kuro is his alter-ego. He admits that accepting Luther’s feelings would be leading him on, and while Luther does visibly stiffen at that, he still accepts that he’s in love with another and calmly tells him that it doesn’t matter, his friendship is still just as valuable to him and that he’s glad he has such an amazing partner, before bidding him adieu with a kiss on the cheek.
Instead of hoping that “some day” Ladybeetle will love him the same way, he admits to Plagg that he does have some heart ache about the rejection, but that the heart wants what it wants and he’ll have to learn how to get over it instead of letting it sour their friendship, which means the world to him.
The next day, upon arriving at the ice cream stand and receiving the ever famous “sweetheart ice cream”, Luther spots Kuro, and, remembering last night, says hello before sitting down with him to eat their ice cream together. Kuro seems just as quiet and cold as ever, until they notice each other’s ice creams, looking back up at each other, before laughing it off, thinking of their superhero alter-egos instead.
