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.
mithos strikes me as someone who needs other people to make the same choices he did, valuing a single person over the world. idealists who still have faith in the world and its capacity to be better make poor minions.
#cats of tumblr
#lana del rey
#horror movies
#the pitt
