Day Five - Red Noses (Lukanette)
Luka was fond of winter. It was the time of sweets and no school and gloomy weather and enjoying time with the people he loved most. Schoolwork was dwindling down and soon, it would be another year finished. He played his guitar with the tune he had made for his sister. He loved his sister with his whole heart - even if Juleka was still unsure of herself. He knew she just needed a little guidance and help, and Luka was the best big brother for the job.
“Sup, bro,” she greeted as she walked in through the door.
“Hey, little sis.” Luka finished the melody and set his guitar down. “What’s good?”
“Who even says ‘what’s good’ anymore?” She scrunched her nose and stuck her tongue out in a teasing fashion. “I want to go to the park with my friends, but Mom said she wants you to come with me. Adult supervision or something.”
“I hardly doubt as an adult.” His laugh filled the room. Before he was about to agree, Juleka pressed on.
“Marinette is going to be there. Not Adrien though, what a shame.” Siblings knew the right buttons to push, and Juleka knew Marinette was Luka’s soft spot. Knowing this, he rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at her.
“I was going to say yes, punk. But now, I suppose I will think about my appearance.” When Juleka first started dating Rose, Luka was careful about looking like a presentable older brother. As time went on, he found that Rose loved and cared for his sister, so he stopped trying to look cool when she or Mylene would come over. They’ve seen him shirtless or in his pants before. Marinette was something else, though. He had to look for an outfit besides the sweats and sweatshirt he was going to wear.
“I’m rooting for ya!” She gave a mock salute before retreating to her side of the room to get ready.
The park had a good amount of snow. So much so that Alya and Nino had already made a makeshift fort. Luka knew of them from Marinette and Juleka, but never explicitly spoke to either one. He settled for waving and that seemed like enough since two other people came looking lightly dressed for the weather.
“Alix, Kim, this is my brother Luka. Luka, Alix, Kim.” Juleka motioned.
“How’s it going?” I shook both their hands.
“More competition? This is going to be so much fun!” Kim cheered.
“Ignore him. So you’re Luka, huh?” She looked him up and down before a smirk settled on her face. “I’ll be watching you.” Alix then walked away.
“Rose! Hey, Mylene. Hey, Ivan!” Juleka went off to greet her friends. Little actions like this showed that she was starting to be more comfortable with herself.
“Kim, start with the other forts while we wait for Mari. I bet she’s still sleeping,” Alya laughed. Kim quickly took to gathering snow and putting it into a pile. Alix was throwing some in his direction defending the actions with an “I’m not trying to hit you! You’re just in the way.”
“Sorry I’m late!” The baker’s daughter called out as she approached them. “I overslept.” Alya and the others laughed while Marinette went and greeted everyone. “Oh hey, Luka! I didn’t know you were going to be here.” She started to blush.
“Mom wanted me to make sure that Juleka was going to be safe. She may have also mentioned that you were gonna be here.” Luka gave her that soft smile that made her insides melt and blushed even harder.
“Let’s get this show on the road!” Rose called out. “Partner up everybody.” The couples went with their respective partners.
“It seems that it was a good idea that you came.” It was now Luka’s turn to blush. Marinette had her arms lightly wrapped around one of his.
It was a free for all. Snowballs were flying in all different directions. Surprisingly, Marinette had quick reflexes and dodged a lot of the projectiles that were heading towards her. Luka wasn’t so lucky. He was mostly wet and even through his gloves, he could start to feel the cold of the snow. It was a solid five minutes of hurling snow at each other before Nino spoke up.
“Dudes, we should like, do a tournament!” Everyone ceased fire to hear his idea. “Partners against partners until there’s a winner!”
“Heck yeah, I’m down!” Alix cheered.
“You are all going down!” Rose exclaimed. There was a bit of competitive banter going around until Nino was able to calm everyone down.
“First will be Rose and Juleka vs. Mylene and Ivan. Then Alya and I vs. Alix and Kim. The winners in the first match will go against Marinette and Luka. Then those winners against Alya and I. You all ready?” Everyone nodded and went back to restore some of the forts.
“What are the rules?” Ivan spoke up.
“Right.” Nino blushed. “Five hits with a snowball and you’re out. We’ll be judging closely.”
Juleka made the snowballs while Rose threw them. She had a surprisingly good right arm and took Ivan out easily. He was bulky and peaked his head out pretty often. Not long after that, Mylene went down.
“Dang, girl!” Alya complimented. “Next time we play dodgeball, you are totally gonna be on my team.”
“You think that was impressive?” Kim shouted to get the attention on him. “Watch us dominate you!”
This round went on longer. Alix was as agile as a bunny, Alya as sneaky as a fox, Nino as slow as a turtle, and Kim as random as a monkey. The first to go was Nino, but the members on the other team only needed two more hits before going down. Alya needed three. It was a clutch, but Alya came out victorious.
“Babe, you were amazing!” Nino gushed and kissed his girlfriend. Alix threw a snowball at them and everyone laughed.
“Don’t think I’ll go easy on you just because you’re my sister,” Luka taunted.
“I wouldn’t have to go easy to beat you.” A series of oooooh’s followed that comment.
“Let’s show them what we’ve got,” Marinette whispered to Luka. Her face showed signs of determination and Luka mirrored it.
Marinette focused on Rose and the siblings focused on each other. So much snow was being thrown that it was hard to discern who was getting hit. Luka used this as an advantage to wedge himself in a corner that couldn’t be seen and tossed relentless snowball after snowball. They were victorious.
“It’s because you had Marinette on your team. She’s crazy awesome!” Rose laughed.
“Yeah. She really is.” Luka sent Marinette a longing gaze that she blushed under.
“You’re amazing too, Luka. The way you were hiding and-”
“Come on lovebirds! I wanna see who’s gonna win!” Mylene cheered.
“If we win, you’re treating us with treats from the bakery,” Alya taunted to her best friend.
“And if we win?” She had her hands on her hips.
“We’ll stop teasing you and Luka,” she thought aloud after a minute.
“Well, let’s get this show on the road!” Marinette skipped over to their fort. “I have no intention of losing. I want to wipe that smug grin off her face.”
Luka nodded and started to form the snowballs. Marinette knew her friends’ style, and that gave her the upper hand. When Alya dodged, she would often land forward on all fours and scurry behind the ice wall. Nino would throw up a shield of ice to protect himself and his girlfriend. They didn’t know Marinette’s style though.
A snowball was heading towards Luka who was too busy making ammunition, he didn’t see it. She grabbed him by his leg and pulled him down. It barely went over his head. Mari then grabbed a handful of snowballs and dodged out of the hiding place. She threw three balls in quick succession and all three of them made their mark on Nino before he could even react. Taking advantage of the confusion, Luka threw one at Alya and another at Nino. The latter was out.
“Why am I always the first one out,” he huffed. Although, it was clear he was impressed with his friends. Alya was not going to give up, though.
Marinette was hit in the face and then in the chest. Luka rushed to her side and got hit twice as well. Marinette sent a couple of balls in the enemy’s direction and was satisfied when she heard a thump.
“Woah, she wasn’t even looking!” Kim admired. The two were back behind the fort, breathing heavily. Luka got out finally and now it was the two girls. Each needed one more hit. Whichever ball made contact first would dictate the winner.
Marinette scanned her surroundings, scrunching her nose as she looked for something that may help her get the upper hand. She looked down at her scarf, then her beanie, and then the stick that lay not that far behind her. She knew Alya was waiting for her to peak out. Once Mariette showed herself, Alya would throw an onslaught of balls to declare her victory. Even the spectators were getting edgy. Marinette knew foxes were good at burrowing, but Alya had major patience.
Mari grabbed the stick that balanced the beanie and scarf and braced herself. The fort was small enough for them to crouch behind but easy enough to jump over. She delve the stick into the ground and the beanie popped up. Immidetaly, Marinette dashed forward and used the fort to jump up. Alya was too preoccupied with the decoy that she didn’t notice the assault from overhead. Ladybug owned the sky. She knew exactly how hard to throw things in the air and add spin if she needed to. The sky was her friend. That’s why it was no surprise when the ball met its target.
The baker’s daughter landed roughly in a nearby patch of snow. Thankfully it wasn’t frozen yet, so her landing wasn’t as hard as it could’ve been.
“Marinette!” Luka carefully ran over. He took his own scarf off and wrapped it around the girl as he helped her up. “Are you ok?” His eyes were so full of concern and worry that Marinette felt her heart swell.
“Y-Yeah,” she managed. She so hope Tikki saw the whole thing from her window because that was awesome!
“Good.” The worry seemed to mostly evaporate. “That was so amazing! You are so special, Mari. I was captivated by you. I think I know how to finish your melody after seeing that.”
They stood only a few inches apart. Luka’s arms were still around the petite girl’s waist. Their noses were bright red from the stark cold, but their cheeks were red for entirely different reasons. Hesitantly, Marinette took the boy’s face in her cold, gloved hands and kissed him. She kissed Chat before, but that couldn’t compare to this. Her body started to warm up and she felt light on her feet. She was thankful the boy was able to keep her standing.
“Finally!” Rose cried out. Everyone started whooping and hollering and the two teens split apart.
“Your nose is still red. Should I do it again?” Luka raised a teasing eyebrow at her.
“C’mon everyone. I’ll get us some warm treats,” the champion proclaimed. No one complained and all started walking to the bakery. “Maybe I do,” she answered once her friends were a little bit ahead. Luka obliged and kissed her with such passion, her hearts did jumping jacks.
“Hey, Rudolph!” Alya called. “You and Prancer coming?” The fashion designer stuck her tongue out and grabbed hold of the musician’s outstretched arm. She was super pale, so it was easy for her nose to get red with the cold. However, if that meant more kisses from Luka, she wasn’t going to complain.
