#lukanette february

[airi-p4]

Lukanette February

Day 9 - Letters

[quickspinner]

Something Just Like This 1 - Mine

Woohoo, it’s finally February! I’m planning this to be a continuous fic covering the whole month’s @lukanette-month prompts. Length will vary piece to piece, but I hope you enjoy.

Part 2

Luka rolled his eyes as he took the arrangement carefully out of his van. It was huge and brightly colored and had a large heart-shaped balloon stuck in it that had a picture of a lace doily (or something) with the words Be Mine in obnoxiously bright pink letters. Gag. He hoped the message on the card was nice because this thing was such a cliché it pained him to look at it. 

Luka glanced at the apartment number and hoofed his way up the stairs, pausing at a blandly generic door with a cute ladybug print welcome mat outside of it. He knocked and waited, checking the name as he waited for an answer. Huh, well that was a funny coincidence—the door opened and his head came up automatically, the words tumbling out of his mouth on autopilot.

“Hi, I have a delivery for—Marinette?” Luka blinked at the woman in front of him. She had changed, sure—grown, but he’d know those eyes anywhere. 

“Luka?” Marinette gaped, just as stunned as he was, and he had the barest instant to be pleased she recognized him before she threw herself at him. “Oh my gosh!”

He caught her with one arm, instinctively raising the flowers out of harm’s way with the other.

“Oh my gosh, Luka!” she cried again, “It’s so good to see you, it’s been years!” 

“It has,” Luka chuckled, giving her a quick squeeze with the one arm he had around her. Wow, okay, that felt different in ways he was not going to think about right now.

“Wow, you’re strong,” she said, pushing back with her hands on his shoulders, squeezing appreciatively. Luka grinned and shrugged, trying not to look too pleased. 

“Believe it or not you can actually get injured playing the guitar; building muscle in the shoulders and arms helps prevent it.” 

“Doesn’t hurt at shows either, I’ll bet,” she teased with far more brazenness than the Marinette he remembered would ever have had.

Then again, she clearly wasn’t the Marinette he remembered. At fourteen she was cute, at twenty-two she was—His eyes flicked over her, up and down, and he bit his lip. She’d kept her slim figure, but her sharp edges had all rounded off, and she’d added confidence to that cheerful glow she’d already had. No more hunched shoulders, feet too close together, or slightly ducked head. Marinette stood with her shoulders thrown back, one hand on her hip, her stance was strong, a brilliant smile on her face, and she was just...

“Wow,” was all he could say, shaking his head. “You look—you look amazing, Marinette.” She lit up pink, and he had to laugh. Maybe she hadn’t changed that much. 

“I grew up a little since you saw me last,” she giggled, winking.

“Mm, not so much,” he teased, leveling a hand with her head. The top of her head used to be level with his eyes; now she was closer to his chin. 

“Oh, a short joke already, Luka?” Marinette pouted. “Oh my gosh, where are my manners, please come in! How did you even know I was here? I just moved in last week.’

“Oh,” Luka suddenly remembered what he was doing there. “I—I can’t stay, I’m working, I just wanted to bring you this. I mean, I was sent to bring you this—” he eyed the arrangement again. “It, uh, definitely wasn’t my idea.”

To his mild surprise, Marinette wrinkled her nose as she looked at the flowers. “Great,” she sighed, and then shook her head quickly. “I mean, thanks, Luka, I don’t mean to be rude. It’s just, I'm pretty sure I know who these are from and, well...I’d rather he didn’t.” She perked up a little. “Although it did mean I got to see you, so I guess I should be grateful after all.” The grin on his face was growing moment by moment. “So, delivering flowers instead of pizza now?” 

That brought him back to earth real fast. “Oh, yeah, I—well actually I work at a music store, you know,” he said in a rush, “Instrument sales and rental and all that, and I still write and perform and I do some production work when I can get it. It’s not always the steadiest work though, and it’s been a bit slow lately. There’s always a rush for delivery people leading up to Valentine’s, so Rose got me this gig at the place she works. It’s cool, people are happy to see me, and happy people tip generously, so…” he shrugged. “Just picking up some extra cash on the side.”

“I think that’s great that you find ways to support yourself so that you can keep doing what you love,” Marinette smiled warmly. “It’d break my heart to hear you were working at some soulless nine to five and letting your passion for music wither away.”

“Well, I never could disappoint you,” Luka chuckled, and then he sighed. “But I do kinda have to go, so—” He held up the flowers. “You want these, or should I just drop them in the dumpster on my way out?”

“No, that would be a waste,” Marinette grumbled. “I’ll take them. I guess I just have to call him and tell him it’s not going to happen, I’m not his and I don’t want to be. Again.”

Luka frowned. “Again? Marinette, are you safe?” He grimaced. “Sorry, I know I’m probably overreacting—”

“No, you’re just being you. Sweet and concerned for everybody,” Marinette smiled, putting a hand on his arm and letting it slide off. “I’m fine. He’s harmless, I promise, just...overly enthusiastic. It’s, um...complicated.” She blushed and looked uncomfortable.

“Sure,” Luka said sympathetically. “I didn’t mean to pry.” 

“You didn’t,” Marinette said, taking the flowers and leaning on the doorframe. She looked at him with a softness in her blue eyes that made him weak, even after all this time. “Thanks, Luka. For the concern, as well as the flowers. Oh!” She straightened and turned back into her apartment. “I know you have to go, but hang on just one minute...where are they...argh…” 

Luka put his hands on his hips and looked at the ground, shoulders shaking slightly with laughter as he listened to her dig around. He lifted his head again as she reappeared, looking at her through his shaggy bangs. She held out a card decorated with her signature flowers and a monogrammed M. “Here’s my new number,” she told him, smiling hopefully. “I’d love to see you again sometime soon. Maybe we can get together and catch up?”

“I’d love that,” Luka grinned, taking the card. “It was really great to see you again, Marinette, even if only for a few minutes. I’m glad you’re doing so well.”

“I’m glad to see you too, Luka,” she said, with more warmth than was good for him. “But I won’t keep you, you’ve got places to be. Text me, okay?” She popped out of the door for a moment and he leaned down automatically to receive and return her bise. “Have a good day!”

Luka went down the steps with a stupid, dazed grin on his face. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, after all this time. Once he got back to the van he programmed her number into his phone, and shook his head incredulously as he put her business card carefully in his wallet. 

[missmalice202]

Designing Your Melody - Chapter 01: Mine

Chapter 02

*I’m new to the Lukanette fandom (and fanfic writing lol), but I love this pairing. I started late on the whole “Lukanette February prompts” thing, but I’m going to try to catch up and finish this story. Any and all feedback is welcome and I hope you like this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it!*

Rushing through the streets of Paris like an absolute madwoman, Marinette DuPain-Cheng began to wonder what course of events had resulted in her current panicked state. Then again, she had to admit that it was absolutely her own doing. As usual.

A few days ago, she had received a phone call from Jagged Stone’s assistant, Penny Rolling, requesting a special commission for Marinette to design an outfit for the rocker to wear to promote the release of his latest single. Completely over the moon to be asked by THE Jagged Stone to design the clothes that would be featured on TV and magazines all over the country, she hadn’t hesitated for a second to accept the job and had begun drawing design after design after design. But in her excitement – and feeling the pressure of a job of this magnitude – nothing she had come up with seemed good enough.

So after drawing non-stop and pulling one last all nighter before her initial concept meeting, Marinette had finally compiled a portfolio full of designs for Jagged to choose from. Only for her to sleep through her alarm. Again. When she had finally woken up to her phone buzzing incessantly next to her ear where she had laid her head on her desk to “rest her eyes for a minute”, she had shrieked when she realized that she only had fifteen minutes to get to her meeting. All the way across town!

She had reeled back in such a panic that she flipped her computer chair right over, leaving her dazed and confused lying on the floor on her back. She scrambled to her closet and tried to find an outfit appropriate for an up and coming designer to represent herself and her professionalism, because if there was anything that Marinette needed help with, it was trying to be “professional”.

She grabbed a pair of pale pink skinny jeans with a large black bow where the belt buckle would be, a loose pink top with black lace embellishments on the hem, and a sleek studded leather jacket. Shoving her feet into a pair of black lace ballet flats, she quickly grabbed her portfolio and dashed down her stairs, calling out a greeting to her parents on the way out.

 “Bye Maman, bye Papa! Wish me luck!”

She didn’t wait to hear their response as she made a bee-line straight for the nearest metro station.

Oh my god, Marinette, way to drop the ball! Not only am I going to be late for the biggest job I’ve ever had, but Jagged Stone is probably not going to like anything I came up with! He’s going to laugh at my designs and tell me that he’s changed his mind that he wants me to be his designer! Then I’ll never get another job because who would want to hire someone that Jagged Stone laughed at and I’ll have to work at my parents’ bakery for the rest of my life and I’ll never have my own place and I’ll never get to have a hamster named –

Marinette’s mental breakdown was abruptly interrupted when she turned a corner and slammed head-first into another person. She fell backward, landing hard on her butt as her portfolio went flying into the air, papers scattering around her.

“Aah! I am so sorry!” she scrambled to her hands and knees as she began to gather up her fallen designs. “I’m so clumsy. Please pardon me. I wasn’t watching where I was going and I-” Her apologetic ramblings were cut off when a hand covered her own, stilling her frantic movements.

“It’s okay,” a soothing voice calmly murmured above her downcast head. “There’s no harm done. Don’t get so worked up. Your sound is so chaotic right now, try to calm down.”

Marinette looked at the hand covering her own. It was masculine and strong, with black polish painting his nails and when she slowly withdrew her hand from under his, she could feel the subtle scrape of calluses on his fingertips.

Taking a deep breath, Marinette closed her eyes for a moment to gather her thoughts. And immediately began to panic once again when she realized that SHE WAS GOING TO BE LATE!!! “Thank you for your help! Once again, I’m sorry for almost tackling you while you were walking down the sidewalk, minding your own business. I really have to go. Bye!” She gathered up the rest of her drawings and rushed off, not even glancing back at the boy crouched on the sidewalk stunned by the whirlwind that had just about knocked him off his feet.

Standing back up, he adjusted the guitar resting behind his back and was about to continue on his way when he noticed a piece of paper under his boot. Leaning down to pick it up, he gasped when he saw what was on it. It was – in a word – glorious.

He gazed at the drawing with his heartbeat echoing in his ears, creating a deep baseline for the melody he suddenly heard flowing through his soul. The design he stared at was of a punk rock style outfit. It showcased a male wearing studded and ripped black jeans, untied black combat boots, and a white screen printed tee. But the focal point of the entire design was the absolutely beautiful leather jacket that the designer had made separate sketches of to emphasize the details: teal plaid lining, black lace inserts, studded cuffs and chains hanging from the shoulders. It was a work of art that had the guitarist in awe.

Did that girl draw this? He wondered. He clenched the paper in his fist as he quickly turned and tried to run after her. Reaching the end of the block, he looked up and down the street trying to find out where she had run off to. But she was gone without a trace. With a sigh, he once again looked at her design. Narrowing his eyes just a bit, he noticed in the bottom corner, three small letters, the only clue to the mystery designer’s identity. MDC.

Smiling softly to himself, he folded the paper he held and stuck it into the back pocket of his jeans. I have to find that girl. I have to find her and get her permission to make that outfit for me. She doesn’t know it yet, but she made that jacket for me. And if I have to, I’ll just have to convince her that it’s already mine.

Chapter 02

[kryptored]

“It’s mine now!”

This one’s for Lukanette February 2020.

DAY: 1 (mine)

Luka had never expected Marinette to be territorial with his clothes. He wouldn’t have believed anyone who told him if it weren’t for the image he was seeing in front of him.

As of the moment, Marinette was tightly clinging to one of his hoodies. It was one of his favourites, navy blue in colour, and quite soft. He honestly couldn’t blame his girlfriend for loving that particular hoodie, but he’s taken by surprise with her admission.

“I love this hoodie because it smells so much of you!” she said, her arms tightly holding onto the garment as if it were her lifeline. He had a hard time keeping the coo to himself as he watched his girlfriend nuzzle the inside of his hood. How could he be so lucky to have the most adorable girl in the universe to ever grace him with her presence, let alone be in a relationship with him?

“I haven’t washed that yet, Sweets. Are you sure you’re not too bothered with the smell?”

“No, it’s just as I wanted. It smells purely of you.” Her eyes peek out from the comfortable cocoon she wrapped her face with.

Luka let out a sigh, his gaze dropping to the floor. Partially to avoid combusting on sight from the level of adorableness his girlfriend was emitting, and partially to think hard on something. It takes him quite a while, to which Marinette doesn’t mind as she’s too busy sniffing and smothering herself deeper into his hoodie.

Eventually, he looks up and clears his throat to catch her attention. “Alright, it’s yours.” He succeeds at his first attempt, judging by the quick swiveling of her head.

“Really?!”

“Yeah,” he nods, “it’s yours. Keep it.”

“A-are you sure?”

“Definitely. I have another one, anyway.” He’s relieved to see the pure joy on her face, her smile so wide that her cheeks puff up like newly risen dough.

“It’s mine now!”

[airi-p4]

Lukanette February

Day 23 - Gasping for Air

[airi-p4]

Lukanette February

Day 13 - Kisses (Bonus comic)

[airi-p4]

Lukanette February

Day 2 - Time

[airi-p4]

Lukanette February

Day 14 - Valentine’s Day