LBSC has our motivational WIPvember month, and honestly my only goal is to get this last chapter of PH out. Any additional clearing of the Hoard will just be bonus. 😂
I think I'm going to end up scrapping this entire scene, so I'm sharing it today? I like parts of it, but the chapter is working better if I approach it from a different angle - so I think you'll still see parts of this, just not in this exact form?
Marinette was dimly aware of a lot of things.
Things like the noise around them: of the low, pulsing music she couldn’t be bothered to name; of the murmuring whispers from the people who had been left at the dance, growing louder as the roar from the game disappeared; of the steady breathing by her ear and the thundering heart beneath her cheek. She was also dimly aware of what noise she didn’t hear: an akumatized Rose screeching at her. She could tell the light that had surrounded them was fading, but she just huddled closer to Luka, pressing her face in his shirt. She could also feel Tikki at her hip, inside her bag, pressing against her side urgently.
There was still an akuma to deal with.
But none of that seemed to matter as much to Marinette as the boy holding her. Her fingers bunched in his shirt, and for a second his arms held her closer – until he was pushing her away. She’d barely stumbled back a step, blinking up at him with wide eyes, when he grabbed her face in both hands and tugged her back to him.
He was kissing her in the next moment.
She squeaked in surprise at the force of it, and then he was pulling away like an idiot and gasping, shaking his head.
“Sorry, sorry!” he said, but his hands were still on her face and his thumb was brushing against her cheek and he was smiling at her like… “I just…I know, more important things, but –”
And then the fingers twisted in his shirt – his nice shirt, had he actually taken the time to dress up for an akuma fight…? – were tugging him against her, and her mouth was pressed firmly against his, and he was squeaking she had made him squeak, and…
…yeah. He had been right: it was so much better outside of the akuma’s game. His lips were warm and firm and slightly chapped but blessedly real against her own, and it was better. It was so much better.
“M-Marine…” he mumbled against her lips, but she took the opportunity to nip at his lip and he squeaked again, and her grip on his shirt tightened. She kind of really liked that…
She really liked the way his hand slipped into her hair, cradling the back of her head as he deepened the kiss. She was pretty sure first kisses weren’t supposed to be this intense, but when his hand curled around her side and his tongue licked at her lip…well. She didn’t much care what first kisses were supposed to be like, because she was very much enjoying her first kiss with Luka, and her second, and third, and…
And she would have happily gone on kissing him – he probably wouldn’t have stopped her – if Princess Heartmaker hadn’t taken one look at their impromptu makeout and started squealing.
They leapt apart, both falling into defensive stances, only to find Princess Heartmaker was…jumping. Her hands were clasped in front of her, her grin wide as she kept squealing. She was literally leaping for joy. They shared an uncertain glance, but when they looked back at the akuma she was waving them off.
“No, no, no – go on! Continue! I can wait!” she squealed. The glowing butterfly mask appeared over her eyes, and she frowned as Shadowmoth spoke to her. Clearly, he had other ideas, but in the end the akuma was still just Rose. After a moment of letting Shadowmoth order her around, Princess Heartmaker waved a dismissive hand in front of her and rolled her eyes. “Oh, shush, you!”
Marinette and Luka watched, dumbfounded, as the purple butterfly rose from her phone and seemed to…shake off the darkness. A moment later, a white butterfly was fluttering away, and Rose was standing there, bouncing and giggling.
“Shadowmoth can get someone else to bother Ladybug – my ship is sailing here!” Rose squealed, and the next thing they knew she had tackled into them with a hug. “Oh my God, you guys, finally!!!”
“…I should be really angry right now,” Marinette sighed, leaning her head against Luka’s arm as Rose continued to squeal. “I’m pretty sure I should be furious.”
“I’ll be pissed for both of us,” Luka said, his voice tight. Rose just hummed and squeezed them tighter. “Ro. What the hell were you thinking?”
“You can be mad at me later,” Rose huffed, and Luka pursed his lips as he tried to push her away.
Notes: please don’t be june please don’t be june – I put this note here in February/March, I’m sure. I’m leaving it here so we can all mock my pain. 😂 I kept saying I wanted to finish it before a J month, and Laurel has kindly reminded me that “January is a J month!” (…I finished just in time for 2023 signups, right? 😂)
Chapter Fifteen: Let Me In Somehow – Gotta Find a Way to Brave It
It was a testament to Shadowmoth, Paris that, once the akuma had been dealt with, the dance continued on as if nothing had happened.
And, technically, Marinette supposed, nothing actually had happened.
At least not to anyone else.
She closed her eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. Her hands gripped the edge of the counter tightly, and she took a moment to focus on her breathing. Slow, steady breaths in. Slow, steady breaths out. She ignored the pulse of music she could hear in the distance. The chatter of people in the hall. The concerned press of her kwami – of two of her kwamis – in the bag at her hip. After a moment, she opened her eyes and stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror.
…she was exhausted. She had been trapped in the akuma’s game for less than an hour, but she felt like she had lived through several months in that short time. And while her fellow students had been more than happy to crank up the music and continue dancing like Shadowmoth hadn’t interrupted their fun, Marinette just wanted to sleep.
Notes: This chapter was SO CLOSE to being done – I closed it down on Sunday with plans to wrap it up Monday and have it posted by Wednesday. And what happened instead? Pneumonia. Y’all I can’t win for trying sometimes – my pulmonologist literally released me a day before symptoms started. 😂 I’m on the mend, and we are so close to the end, and this is the chapter I have been most excited about so I’m just gonna shut up and slap this up here, ok? Ok. 🖤
Chapter Fourteen: All I Know is that I’ve Seen This Scene Some Years Ago…
As she came to, a sense of disorientation – of vertigo – akin to nausea swept over Marinette. She lifted a hand to her head, groaning as she blinked open her eyes. Her head was still throbbing, and her vision was swimming a little. She felt awful, like…like she had been hit by a truck or something. (…she was pretty sure she never actually had been, but she had been slammed into and tossed across the Parisian sky by multiple truck-sized akumas, so she liked to think she knew what getting hit by a truck felt like. Relatively speaking.)
When her vision cleared – at least as much as it was going to – she realized she was on the Liberty.
And there was a niggling in the back of her mind, like a memory trying to worm its way into her brain, that said she had been there all morning. Kitty Section had a show – their first show – and she was helping set up. For the Music Festival. Because Juleka, Rose, and Ivan were her friends, and she had promised them. And…and…
Her head ached as she tried to force the memory, to ignore whatever the niggling was telling her and focus on what she knew was true. Because Marinette knew that wasn’t right. It had been, over a year ago when the Music Festival had actually happened, but it wasn’t true now. Today.
She froze when they entered the cabin and she saw Luka lounging on his bed, guitar on his lap, staring despondently at the ceiling, and wearing sweatpants.
And not just any sweatpants.
The old gray pair.
With ripped knees and frayed edges and the length of rope he’d replaced the tie with three times already.
…she was going to kill him.
“Luka!” she screeched, making him fumble some chords as he jumped and looked at her. Juleka paused by the closed partition, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked back at her. “What are you doing? It’s almost time for the dance – you don’t even look like you’ve showered!”
“…I haven’t,” he said, as if he couldn’t understand why that was so offensive to Rose. When she continued to glare at him, he bobbed his head in a half-nod. “I got one after work last night.”
“Thank God,” Juleka grumbled. “You stunk.”
“It was a busy night,” he said, shrugging. “Work hazard.”
“Boy hazard,” Juleka muttered. She reached for Rose’s hand and gave a gentle tug. “C’mon, Ro. Leave it.”
“I absolutely will not!” Rose huffed, folding her arms over her chest. “Luka. The dance is in two hours. You cannot show up in those.”
His eyebrows soared as she pointed an accusing finger at his sweatpants.
“…I know,” he said, nodding slowly. “Because I’m not showing up in anything. I’m not going, remember?”
Her jaw dropped open. She whipped her head around to gawk at Juleka, who shrugged and looked down, staring at her feet.
“I tried,” she mumbled, picking at the hem of her tunic.
“Obviously not hard enough!” Rose cried. She threw her hands up with a frustrated cry. “Must I do everything myself?!”
She stormed over to his bunk and dropped to her knees, yanking open the drawer she knew held his nice clothes. A moment later, she was chucking a pair of charcoal slacks at him. A second later a navy dress shirt followed. She paused when she reached for the black vest, wondering if that would be too formal, before remembering that he was supposed to have a lapel to pin the flowers to and snatching it up. It was thrown in his face before he could finish yelling at her.
“Ro-!” he started, pausing when the vest hit him in the face. He blinked as it dropped to his lap, frowning. “The hell, Rose?”
“You will be at that dance, Luka Couffaine!” she snapped, pushing herself up to loom over him – or at least attempt to. When he sat up, she was about eye level with him. “You will wear those clothes, and you will have this –” she reached into her tote and pulled out the cherry blossoms, thrusting them at him “– pinned to your vest. You will be at the doors at 19:00 sharp. And you will have an amazing time, so help me, or you will die miserable and alone with six hundred whatevers and I will never, ever forgive you”
“Six hundred what…Rose, what the fuck are you talking about?” he asked, shaking his head. “I’m not going. I…I can’t, ok?”
“WHY?!” Rose shrieked, stomping her foot. Luka pursed his lips and looked down, to the flowers sitting on top of the clothes in his lap. There was a look in his eyes – something hard and hurting – that almost gave Rose pause.
“…because I’m not that great a guy, ok?” he finally said. Rose did falter at that. His hand fisted on his knee, his chipped nails cutting into his palm. “Because Marinette is going to spend the night with someone else, dancing and laughing and falling in love with…and I can’t watch that, Rose, ok? I can’t.”
“Luka…” Rose whispered. He closed his eyes and took a steadying breath, but not before she saw…they were glistening.
…she was suddenly afraid that maybe her plan had worked a little too well.
“I’ll be a better person tomorrow, ok? Or Monday. When she introduces us and I have to smile and pretend like I’m not the biggest idiot on the planet. Just…please don’t ask me to do that tonight,” he said, shaking his head. He looked up at her, and she sucked in a breath. “Don’t ask me to watch her fall in love with someone else, Rose. Please.”
I was all set to wrap this up Sunday night/Monday, and then that stupid Brielle Girard - who wasn't even supposed to be in this chapter - stuck her stupid head in, and the next thing I knew there was an additional 4k and growing and I have no idea what's happening. That's a lie - I know EXACTLY what's happening. I just haven't had time to write it down yet.
This week will end eventually and I'll have time/energy to finish this, right? 😂 (Our dish guy's been out since Friday, so I've been spending a lot of time in the dish pit this week. I've actually been (mostly) enjoying it, but it's also been a Messy Week and I'm coming home a sludge!pudddle. 😬)
The walk to the school was almost uncomfortably silent. Juleka watched her boots the entire way, absently nibbling on her lip as her thoughts spiraled and darkened. Rose watched the sidewalk, looking for any sign of a dressed-up Luka on his bike. By the time they reached the school, she was frowning, too.
She hadn’t spotted him the entire way, and his bike wasn’t chained up out front.
“…maybe he went to get actual flowers,” Rose hummed, tapping her fingers against her hips. “Maybe he’s actually putting some effort into this.”
“Rose…” Juleka sighed, groaning as she reached up and scrubbed at her face. “Babe. What happens if he doesn’t show up?”
Rose’s head whipped in her direction, her eyes narrowed and her lips pressed into a thin line.
“What?” she hissed. Juleka groaned again and lowered her hands, biting her lip as she looked at Rose. She ignored the kohl smudging her fingers – they’d both need to stop by the bathrooms to touch up their makeup at this point.
“What happens if my idiot brother does not come to this dance?” she asked as patiently as she could manage. If possible, Rose’s expression became even more pinched. “What happens when he doesn’t show, just like he’s been telling us will happen all week? What happens when Marinette is standing at those doors, waiting for someone who doesn’t even exist, and Luka doesn’t show up to make everything better?”
“He’s going to show up, Juleka,” Rose snapped. “Your brother isn’t that stupid.”
“Oh my God, you don’t even know him, do you?” Juleka groaned, tugging on her hair. Rose opened her mouth to answer, but Juleka was already turning on her. “Rose, you need to tell them what you’ve done. I told you this wasn’t going to work – I told you Marinette didn’t want any of us meddling anymore, and Luka is stupid and would push back, and they’re both about to get their hearts broken for nothing. You have to tell them. You have to fix this.”
“I am fixing this, Juleka!” Rose cried, stomping her foot. “You just need to have a little faith, ok? Everything is going to be fine! Luka will be here – he has to! He wouldn’t dare break Marinette’s heart like that!”
“He would if he doesn’t even realize he’s the one breaking it!” Juleka shouted, making Rose flinch at her volume. “Fuck, Rose! He’s not even…he’s breaking it by proxy! You’re the asshole here! If Marinette and Luka end up miserable and alone with fifty or six hundred whatevers after tonight it’s going to be your fault, not theirs!”
“…guys?”
They both froze, turning to stare up the steps with wide, unblinking eyes. Marinette stood above them, a white shawl wrapped around her bare shoulders, watching them with a concerned frown on her lips. She shifted a little uncomfortably, tightening the shawl around her as a cold breeze blew past.
My mum is particularly fond of the expression “pulling teeth”. She has so overused it that hearing those words set my own teeth on edge, and yet...y’all. This chapter has been pulling teeth. ><
I was NOT worried about it, because I had written it up MONTHS back. The problem is the story has shifted directions since that first draft, and things had to change. And instead of just acknowledging that and moving on, my brain became a toddler and threw a massive hissy fit. The sprint fics helped shake things up, and I’ve been working on a crochet project that’s given more “chewing” time. I THINK I finally have it, but I’ve been more than a little frustrated with this chapter.
I know it’s part of the process. I’ve been in the game long enough that I know these things happen. I’m just incredibly frustrated by thinking this chapter was DONE and now this one section has been rewritten like...three? Four times now? 😂 We’re getting there. I’m hoping to have it up Sunday, but I said that what three Sundays ago? We’ll get there. The idiots will be fine.
The longer their ‘meeting’ went on – the more detailed their plans became, and the more excited the others got over said plans – the louder they got. Her friends had never exactly been quiet (except for maybe Mylène and Juleka, but even Juleka was in a rock band), especially when excited, and they all seemed very excited over the new Valentine’s event. Marinette just sat there, leaning back against Juleka’s bed as her head continued to ache, and offered up a noncommittal, unenthusiastic nod or agreement whenever they seemed to remember she was still there.
Which wasn’t often, which made it easy enough to slip away with a mumbled excuse about headaches, water, and ibuprofen. Juleka was the only one who seemed to notice her leaving, and Marinette tried not to read too much into that.
She found a bottle of water and some ibuprofen on the counter in the galley, but the thought of going back to Juleka and Luka’s cabin – of staying below deck – felt almost…suffocating. She took a steadying breath after downing the medicine, and without another thought made her way up the stairs.
They were all so excited for this stupid speed dating thing, she doubted they’d miss her much. She just had to get out of there.
Even with all the clutter scattered about, and knowing how tight boats were known to be, Marinette had never before found the Liberty to feel cramped. If anything, the boat had more often than not lived up to its name: it had always felt like freedom. It had always been warm and inviting, welcoming – like a second home. She had always felt wanted aboard because…well, she was. Except…except not lately. Not since…and she hadn’t even wanted to come to the boat in the first place, but her parents were swamped with the Valentine’s rush, and she had known if she’d suggested going to the bakery she’d be roped into helping before they could sort anything out for the dance. The boat had seemed like the most logical place, even if…
…even if there was a very good chance that Luka would be there, too.
Her heart ached at the thought of him. It had been months since their breakup, and things were still…tense between them. Awkward. Not as bad as it had been at first – she remembered nearly a month (closer to two) where she had avoided the boat entirely if she knew he’d be around. It had seemed the smartest option back then, after…everything. No matter how much she missed him. No matter how much she regretted ending things. No matter…
But…no. He had been the one to end things. Hadn’t he? Because she…she…she couldn’t give him what he’d wanted. She couldn’t…she paused halfway across the deck, her head screaming at her. What he had wanted. He had wanted…he had…
“…I just want it to be the honest truth…”
…he had been convinced she was still in love with Adrien. Right? No matter how many times she had denied it – no matter how many times she had assured him she was over Adrien, that she was fully committed to…
“That’s the one thing I can’t give you…”
She leaned against the railing, whimpering as a red-hot pain lanced across her skull.
What did it matter, anyway? Why was she torturing herself like this? The fact remained: for whatever reason, Luka had dumped her. And she had let him. And even though being around him and not being with him still hurt like hell, and even though she had thought they’d gotten back to a good place, a place where they could maybe still be friends and maybe even someday…
“I told you, Marinette,” he whispered, holding her closer. “I’m here. Whenever you’re ready.”
She sucked in a breath, the space between her face and his neck hot and damp from the tears.
“…what if I’m never ready?” she asked, her voice shaky. “What if everything is always too much and I can never give you what you want?”
He was quiet a long moment, and her tears picked back up again. She knew it. She knew she was too much, too –
“Then I’ll still be here,” he finally said, turning his head to kiss her neck. Shivers raced down her spine, and she whimpered as she pressed herself closer to him. “Friend. Boyfriend. However you’ll have me. I just want to be in your life, Marinette. I’m stupid like that, remember?”
She wrapped her arms around herself in a hug, squeezing her arms tightly as her vision blurred and her head swam. That was…that wasn’t…she squeezed her eyes shut and bent over the rail, gasping as her head throbbed. Luka wasn’t…Luka was…
“Here.”
She jumped, twisting her head so quickly she would swear her neck cracked. Luka was behind her, his hands on her shoulders and smoothing down the sleeves of the heavy black coat he’d just dropped onto her. She blinked at him, but he wouldn’t meet her eyes.
“You looked cold,” he said, his voice soft. His eyes flicked up, barely catching hers before he looked away again. “It’s warmer below, you know.”
I thought I was being SO CLEVER with Ch7, thinking I might trick some of y’all into thinking I goofed with the chapters/uploaded the wrong doc. Y’all have my number, though, huh? 😂 On to Level 2 hopefully this weekend...
“I’m curious,” [Luka] said with a shrug. “And like you said: I don’t know what platform you’re on, so what could it hurt? What’s your buddy’s name, Marinette?”
She was quiet for a long moment, glaring at him, before she turned back to her sandwich. Why was he so annoying?
“…I might even be a rock star twenty-two,” she finally said, scowling at him before taking another bite of her sandwich. She missed Juleka’s surprised gasp.
“But…that’s –” Juleka started to say, but there was a scuffing Marinette didn’t quite catch before Luka was speaking again. When Marinette looked back up at them, Juleka was scowling at him.
“What is that? A Hannah Montana reference?” he asked, chuckling. “And what’s up with the twenty-two?”
“So what if it is? And it’s just a number,” she huffed. “Why does anyone add a number onto their handle?”
“His age,” Luka said, nodding. She jumped up in her seat, outraged, but he snapped his fingers and grinned at her. “Or, even worse, the year he was born. You could be messaging a centenarian, Marinette.”
“He is not, you jerk!” she snapped, and he waved her off with an easy laugh.
“Fair. Centenarians aren’t usually that savvy with tech,” he said. He looked up, thoughtful. “Number of tattoos he has?”
“Number of times I’ve told him about you and he’s called you an idiot,” Marinette grumbled. He laughed, nodding.
“Number of times he’s called himself an idiot,” he countered. She groaned and dropped her head onto the table.
“Luka, stop,” she groaned. “So what if I have an internet pen pal? Lots of people have online friends. It’s not some earth-shattering revelation.”
“Lots of people have online friends,” he agreed, “but you were smiling like he’s more than a friend. That’s the part I’m interested in.”
“And why, Luka? Huh?” she huffed, sitting up. “It’s not like you have any reason to be jealous of Star. It’s not like you like me – it’s not like I like you! So what’s the big deal?”
Something about that seemed to strike a nerve, and he watched her for a long moment before turning back to his noodles. He poked at them, disinterested, before he finally shrugged.
“You’re right,” he said, nodding. “I’m sorry, Marinette. I was just…curious.”
Notes: …you know. The LBSCers know this, because I’ve been whining about it with them, but y’all realize poor Luka’s been on that damn bike since May? Ch6 – the last time we were outside of the akumaverse – was May. Our boy’s had four months of leg day. 😂 (I swear I was trying to finish this while I was off in August, and then We’re a Chance happened. Sorry, fam. 😂)
Chapter Thirteen: And all this Time I Thought that We were Ok, Despite the Darkness Somedays…
Meanwhile, somewhere outside of Princess Heartmaker’s immediate influence…
Luka.
Was.
Pissed.
He was pissed at Rose. He was pissed that she couldn’t just…mind her own business. That she had meddled, even after being asked repeatedly by multiple sources not to. That she had taken it upon herself to be some kind of romantic crusader, willfully ignoring the damage she was leaving in her wake. He didn’t care that her heart was in the right place. He didn’t care that she had meant well. He cared that she had lied to them, that she had manipulated them, and in the process she had hurt Marinette. He didn’t so much care that she had also hurt him.
It was Dingo’s text he couldn’t get out of his head.
I think she’s been crying.
Rose’s carelessness – her stubbornness – had made Marinette cry, and that was unforgiveable in Luka’s book.
…except it wasn’t just Rose that had made her cry, was it? This was his fault, too. He had made Marinette cry, too. And so he was also pissed at himself.
