#Vespa vagrants | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

chaoticcultist · 10 months

Text

Miraculous Luberto AU Chap. 2

Alberto had known he loved Luca for a long time. Be it admiration, friendship, or infatuation, the feelings had been there for years. To examine how it had all started, he would have to remember back to before his and Luca’s first interaction, when things like love and companionship had been the furthest from his mind.

He had run out of cash and, more importantly, food. Ever since Alberto’s dad had packed up and left, the boy had been living off the cheap snacks stored in the pantry of their... his house and whatever he could get for the money he had hidden under his bed.

This method of living only lasted him about three months.

Alberto didn’t have any sort of income at 13, so his funds dried up quickly. The options were either to starve in the empty house where he had been abandoned, or go out and steal what he needed.

His dad had taught him how to pickpocket at an early age, so he could snatch wallets and fruits from vendors with regular enough success. The farmers market was always the easiest score, so every Friday, Alberto made his route around the stalls and walkways and snagged whatever caught his fancy.

Only problem was that he was starting to get notorious; vendors were starting to recognize the dirty yellow tank top and stack of brown curls.

“Scram, vagrant! Via! Via!” the apple seller yelled after Alberto’s retreating form, wielding the broom he had used to smack the young man away from his stock.

Shit. The guy had caused such a scene, everyone would know Alberto was here now, and they would all be on guard. So much for a meal today. Alberto slunk into one of the alleyways near the edge of the market, where it filtered into the piazza and only handwoven bags and shaved ice were being sold. He grit his teeth together as his stomach growled. Hunger always puts him in a bad mood…

Alberto thought back to the Vespa poster in his room, hung over the section of wall with the depressing tally marks Alberto had given up on keeping track of. There was nothing good about Genova, especially for a kid no one wanted. Once Alberto got his own Vespa, he was out of here. Arrivadechi, you horrible city, you horrible people, you horrible memories! He would be free to go wherever he wanted, sleep under the stars, not have to listen to anyone.

A commotion out near the fountain in the center of the piazza drew Alberto’s attention away from his fantasy.

“Come on, piccoletto. Just a little bath.”

“Let me go! Stop!”

Alberto peeked his head out to gauge the situation. He recognized three of the four kids around the fountain, Ercole and his two lackeys Guido and Ciccio. The fourth kid was unfamiliar, holding a bag and getting dragged to the side of the fountain by Ercole.

Ugh, Ercole. What a menace. The kid about to get his head dunked in the fountain pool couldn’t be older than Alberto, and was definitely too small to defend himself from a full 17-year-old. He found himself marching towards the fray before he could think too hard about it.

“Hey!” Alberto grabbed the kid’s arm and pulled him to his side, out of Ercole’s grip. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size for a change?”

Ercole rolled his eyes with a scoff. “What do you care, Scorfano? Aren’t you busy dumpster diving for leftovers?”

“You’ll find your head in a dumpster if you don’t back off!” Alberto practically growled back. The kid was hiding from Ercole’s gaze now, holding tightly to the back of Alberto’s tank top.

The poorly mustached man got in close. “Is that any way to speak to your elders?” he asked mockingly as he shoved Alberto’s shoulder roughly, making him stumble.

Oh that’s it!

With a strong shove of his own, Ercole was pushed into the fountain, distracted with his wool sweater getting wet.

“Come on!” Alberto grabbed the unnamed boy’s free hand and ran in the opposite direction of the shrieking bully and his goons. They didn’t have to run far before Alberto determined they were out of the group's danger zone. As the young boy panted from residual panic, Alberto gave him a once over. He didn’t seem hurt at all, just shaken from being manhandled.

Alberto rested his hands on his hips, trying to come across as confident. “What are you doing here all alone? Don’t you have friends or parents or something?”

The boy’s eyes focused on Alberto intently. Hmm, normally Alberto wouldn’t consider brown a pretty color, but... “Oh, I was at the market with my parents and…” He shifted the bag in his hand forward before holding it up in front of Alberto. “You were trying to get these, right?”

Resting in the bag were three of the large glossy apples from the stall Alberto had been chased away from. The boy lightly swung the bag towards him, gesturing for Alberto to take it, so he did. Alberto was still staring into the bag, awestruck, when the boy continued.

“I don’t approve of stealing, but I figured you weren’t taking food for personal amusement.” he said, awkwardly scuffing the sole of his shoe against the cobblestones.

Alberto looked up from the fruit with stars in his eyes, gazing adoringly at him. “Thank you!” he replied, maybe a little too loud. At the sound of his stomach growling again, Alberto took out one of the apples and took the biggest bite he could.

The boy stifled a giggle as juice dribbled down Alberto's chin. “I was actually looking for you when that guy and his friends ambushed me, so thank you too, for helping me.”

“No problem, kid.” Alberto said with a wink before taking another huge bite.

The boy just watched him eat until the first apple was all but decimated. “My name’s Luca, by the way. Luca Paguro.” he said with a smile.

Alberto thrust his now free hand forward. “Alberto Scorfano.” Instead of shaking Luca’s hand when it was given, Alberto twisted, pushed, and pulled it oddly. “Piacere, Girolamo Trombeta!” Luca just looked at him oddly. “It’s a cool-guy thing. I’m kind of an expert.” he said with a purposely blasé expression.

“What does it mean?” Luca only got a zoned-out lip bite in response. “The thing you just said?” he tried to prompt.

“So!” Alberto exclaimed, changing the subject. “Why’d you do something nice for me before I helped you? I don’t even know you.”

Luca fidgeted, cheeks getting flushed. “Um, because it seemed like the right thing to do?”

Alberto just raised an eyebrow at him as he got out a second apple to bite into. This kid was totally full of it. No one does things for others without expecting something in return. “So what do you want? People don't do nice things just because.” Whatever it was, he would still gladly do it, even if the kid was trying to act all pure and altruistic.

“Nothing! Nothing.” the kid denied, waving his hands in front of him. “Besides, what are you talking about? You didn’t know that bag was for you when you helped me.”

Alberto stayed silent at that, keeping his mouth busy with inhaling the fruit in his hand.

Luca just stared at him for a moment before letting off an exasperated sigh. “You know, if you’re having trouble finding a meal, you can just come to my house.” Alberto froze, but Luca continued nervously. “My mom always makes extra… and the leftovers tend to go to waste… umm…” He was tapping his fingers together anxiously, looking up at Alberto through thick lashes as he anticipated the boy’s answer.

“LUCA!” a woman’s voice called. Luca’s eyes went wide as he looked in the direction of the farmers market.

He quickly took a pen out of his pocket, grabbed Alberto’s wrist around the apple core he was holding, and wrote something on his forearm. “We eat around 7. Come over if you want.” he said before running off.

Alberto didn’t even look down at the address sketched on his arm, he was too busy watching Luca’s shrinking form disappear into the piazza.

Wow, so that’s what an angel looks like.

A week later, Luca wasn’t only providing Alberto with meals in secret, he was also giving Alberto a place to sleep. He had a little nest of spare pillows and blankets at the foot of Luca’s bed, but had more than once nodded off laying next to his new friend. Luca didn’t seem to mind, he said he just enjoyed having Alberto’s company. Apparently even someone that wonderful could have trouble in the friend department.

It was summer, so the two were able to spend all day talking and playing around the house while Luca’s parents worked wherever they did. The only adult fully aware of Alberto’s presence was nonna Paguro, since she was home all the time. She was cool though, and convinced Luca’s parents he was going through a growth spurt, and that’s why he needed a second plate of dinner to take to his room.

“You could definitely use a couple more inches.” Alberto had said snidely.

“Shut up.” Luca had giggled back.

That week had been the best of Alberto’s life so far. Luca was just the best. He was creative, smart, and he liked Vespas too. He totally understood the appeal of riding away on one to live wild.

“Sleeping under the stars~. That sounds amazing.”

“Yeah…”

That had been about when Alberto’s crush on Luca developed. Alberto didn’t really realize it at the time, though, he was just glad to finally have a friend. He wasn’t alone anymore.

It had all been going perfectly until the ninth day of staying at the Paguro house. Luca had told Alberto to stay in his room while he took care of something important, but when Alberto looked out the window, he just saw Luca chatting with the girl next door over their fence.

Alberto’s jealousy was immeasurable.

The two spoke for a whole fifteen minutes before Luca headed back up to his room. “I’m back!” he announced cheerfully as he flopped down next to Alberto on his bed. “Hey Alberto, how would you feel about going next door for dinner today? Signore Marcovaldo makes a mean trenette al pesto.”

“So you can spend the whole meal talking to your new best friend?” Alberto asked petulantly, crossing his arms. “No way.”

Luca gave him an odd smile, as if he found Alberto’s stubbornness amusing in a way he knew it shouldn’t be. “You’re my best friend, stupido.” he said before scooting closer to be pressed up against Alberto’s side. “I just want you to meet Giulia and her dad. I think you’ll like them.”

Luca telling him he was his best friend had calmed him down enough and he agreed.

Giulia had welcomed them in, giving Luca a wink after she laid eyes on Alberto. Alberto had glared daggers at her for that, but she hadn’t seemed to care. He had been introduced to Massimo, and noticed that everyone was talking like they knew something Alberto didn’t. And turns out they did.

“Alberto.” Massimo had addressed him near the end of the meal, interrupting the flow of conversation. “How would you feel about perhaps staying here, with me and Giulietta?”

“What? Stay here? But-” Alberto looked over to Luca, but the boy was only smiling at him. “Luca?”

He grabbed hold of Alberto’s hand. “I was talking to Giulia and asked if Signore Marcovaldo would be willing to house you. If my mom found you, she’d throw you out. If you stay here, you won't have to hide anymore. You deserve to live somewhere you’re welcomed, Alberto.”

Alberto didn’t believe his reasons, and pathetic enough, tears started running down his face. “You don’t want me around anymore…”

Luca’s eyes widened in shock. “What? No! No, I love hanging out with you,” Luca wrapped both his hands around Alberto’s and brought them to his heart. “It's just that you staying at my house is too risky.” Alberto stayed silent as he stared at his friend. “I’ll come hang out with you everyday, I promise!”

Alberto looked around the table - everyone seemed so sincere - before turning back to Luca who was smiling at him hopefully. “Why would you do all this for me?” he asked as more water leaked from his eyes.

“Because you’re my best friend. I care about you.”

Alberto loved Luca so much.

------------------

Alberto still loves Luca so much, even though right now he’s making Alberto do his trigonometry homework.

“Subtract this number from both sides, then divide by the coefficient.” Luca said as he pointed with his pencil to an equation Alberto had been stuck on. Even though Luca was a grade below Alberto, he was much better at understanding the assignments the older boy was given.

Alberto just had his arm slung lazily over Luca’s shoulders, getting closer to him under the ruse of looking attentively at his paper. ��Okay, but-”

A shrill beeping from Alberto’s satchel interrupted him. His pager... Damn it, again?

After Alberto and Giulia had been given their Miraculous’, weird puppet villains had started popping up like daisies. They weren’t even proper villains or monsters, just regular people who would get possessed by these mysterious butterflies that were apparently from another Miraculous wielder, from a different Miracle Box. The siblings' minds boggled when told that pretty much every major country had their own unique Miracle Box. Giulia thought it was cool, but Alberto was starting to resent it. God-damn Butterfly-Man was taking up all his free time with his monster-of-the-week shenanigans, and had been forcing Alberto to ditch Luca far too often. At this rate, Luca would probably stop hanging out with him.

Alberto reached into his satchel where Pesci handed him the noisy device so he could shut it off. “Sorry, Luca. Papa needs me for… a thing.” He needed to work on his excuses.

Luca just smiled at him sweetly as he handed over the sheet of equations they had been working on. “I get it. Be safe, alright?”

That had been Luca’s send-off phrase ever since Alberto came back from a battle with a black eye. One fight with what amounted to a sentient boxing glove and suddenly he was Mr. Accident Prone.

“Yeah, you got it.” Alberto said as he started to stand from his chair. He was stopped by Luca grabbing ahold of his free hand.

Luca looked at him with a frown and his deep brown eyes full of worry. “Alberto, I’m serious. I don’t like seeing you hurt. Promise me you’ll be careful out there.”

If Alberto didn’t know better, he’d think Luca knew what he was about to throw himself into. Alberto sat back in his seat to be next to Luca again. “Okay, okay, I promise.” He said, giving his boy a reassuring smile. He leaned over and placed a chaste kiss on Luca’s cheek, a common goodbye for the two that Alberto pretended was totally normal for best friends. “I’ll see you later.”

Alberto then got up and left the room, heading out the school building and not noticing Luca’s frown become more determined.

Once they were on the street, Pesci started talking to Alberto from the opening of his bag. “I still think you should give him my other half. He would make a great defender!”

“And I still think I like him better alive!” Alberto snapped back, already tired of this repeated conversation. “I’m not bringing Luca into this. Now get down, someone’s gonna see you.” He gently pushed the Kwami’s head back into the pocket they had been peeking out from.

It wasn’t too hard to figure out where the new monster was rampaging. Unnaturally deep yelling and a column of smoke rising into the air told Alberto which direction to head in. He had to be discrete heading towards the chaos, only breaking into a run when he was close enough to the fight that the streets were vacant. He paused only for a moment, ducking into a shadowed alley to transform.

Alberto held open the pocket of his satchel to let his Kwami fly out. They didn’t enjoy being pulled through barriers when they were summoned.

“Pesci, Present!”

Alberto’s clothes were changed into a scaly purple bodysuit with a lighter belly and darker belt. The suit cut off at his shoulders like a muscle-tee, leaving his biceps and delts exposed. Next to form were the gloves and boots that had spiky fins protruding from the back of his calves and just below his elbows. His eyes and nose were covered with a mask that had fins fanning out over his ears. His eyes tingled as if he had used medicated eye drops, meaning his sclera had turned yellow and his pupils had become slit, as they always did.

Finally, his weapon formed in his outstretched hand: a large golden trident. Alberto was getting much better at using it, but he still hadn’t gotten his tidal wave power to work by himself.

It should be fine.

Sprinting into the park, Alberto could see that his sister was already battling the large troll-looking monster tearing up the landscaping.

“Hey Lioness! Need some help?” Alberto yelled to her as he whacked the troll in the back on its knee, making it stumble.

“I was wondering when you were gonna show up!” Giulia yelled back as she went in to scratch the monster with her claws again.

Alberto tried stabbing into the troll’s bumpy flesh, but that only drew the monster’s attention to Alberto instead of Giulia. “I was sort of in the middle of something when you beeped!” The siblings kept landing hits on the green beast, but the akuma only got more annoyed, not weakening at all. Even worse, they had no clue what the akumatized object could be. As far as the siblings could tell, the only item the creature possessed was the fur loincloth it was wearing.

Neither the superhero duo nor the monster noticed someone drop their bike and duck behind a tree to observe the fight.

Giulia tried to go for a high kick to the troll’s face, but it caught her ankle in a tight grip. “Oh crap.” Giulia muttered before being thrown several blocks away like a ragdoll. Alberto wasn’t too worried about her, he could see her maneuvering to catch herself even now, he was just getting really pissed at this battle.

“Ugh! This isn’t going anywhere.” He growled. Looking around, he spotted a fountain in the courtyard of a nearby building with plenty of water pooled in its base-dish. Perfect.

The troll may have been stupidly tough, but it was slow. Alberto ducked under the arm it swung at him and dashed for the fountain. Without much preamble, Alberto jumped into the shallow pool and submerged the sharp tip of his trident into the water.

“TIDAL WAVE!” he called out, activating his Miraculous’ special power. When he lifted his weapon, spinning it around before pointing the end at his opponent, the water of the fountain followed it like a living creature before spraying at the troll like a high-pressure fire hose...

For about five seconds.

The pool was quickly emptied of its contents, the water it provided only serving in making the enemy stumble back a few steps.

Yeah, that was what normally happened with ‘tidal wave’. At least this time he hadn’t tried to use a puddle. That had been about as effective as throwing a water balloon at a wall.

“That’s it?!” Alberto shrieked in frustration, gripping the neck of his trident as if he could strangle it. “What do you want, the Liguarian Sea?!?”

His rant was interrupted when the troll backhanded Alberto across the chest, sending him flying into one of the courtyard’s walls. His trident went spinning into the corner. Alberto moved to retrieve it, but the monster was blocking him, having moved too close for Alberto to do anything but press himself against the cold bricks behind him.

The akuma raised its huge fists above its head, and Alberto could only think Shit, I’m actually going to die!

What was the last thing I said to Massimo and Giulia?

Oh God, the last thing I said to Luca…

A flying trash can lid beamed the Akuma in the head, gaining both its and Alberto's attention.

There, just a few meters away, was a very angry Luca standing next to a lid-less silver trash can.

“Hey ugly! Over here!” he yelled at the monster, waving his arms above his head.

The troll started chasing after him, heavy foot-falls making the ground shake. Luca immediately turned and ran down one of the wide-open roads, turning his head every-so-often to make sure the beast was still following him.

“Luca! What are you doing?!” Alberto screamed after him, panic clear in his voice. This wasn’t happening. An akuma was not chasing his best friend with the intent to kill him!

Alberto quickly scooped up his trident and pursued the monster chasing his friend. Oh he better have a damn good explanation for this! Alberto thought as his heart rate climbed. He didn’t know what he’d do if Luca actually got hurt.

As stated before, the troll was slow, and it became pretty clear to Alberto that quads-for-days Luca was purposely running slower to keep the monster on his tail. When all this is over, Alberto is going to give him such an earful! He quickly caught up and fully stabbed the akuma in the back. If Luca was at risk, Alberto wasn’t going to play around with being gentle. The troll let out a roar and turned to swipe at Alberto.

He saw there was a paper clinging to the akuma’s sweaty hand and without a second thought, sliced it in half with the tip of his trident. A black butterfly fluttered out of the paper and Alberto easily skewered it out of the air, killing it and making it dissipate into black smoke.

Finally!

Black smoke covered the troll before lifting to reveal an unharmed elderly woman with an intact fairytale book. Good thing destroying the akuma reversed any damage inflicted right before and during the fight.

Giulia finally showed back up and started comforting the confused woman as Alberto grabbed Luca by the arm and dragged him behind a building.

“Paguro, what the hell were you thinking?!” he growled at the shorter boy. Alberto was seriously about to cry, but he tried to mask it with anger so his friend wouldn’t see him as weak.

Luca looked up at him with stubborn eyes. “Alberto, I-”

“No!” Alberto interrupted. “Luca, you could have been hurt. Even killed! The fuck you think I would have done if I lost you?!” he yelled at him. The tears spilled easily from his altered eyes.

Luca’s own eyes became wet as he yelled back. “Oh, so I’m supposed to let you die because you have some stupid fish mask?!” Luca shoved him roughly.

Alberto shoved him back. “You’re supposed to let me do my job because I have powers that let me do it safely!”

Luca laughed humorlessly. “You call that safe? You call any of this safe?” He gestured wildly to the area around him. “You keep showing up after going to ‘do a thing’ covered in bruises and scrapes! I can’t just stand by while you get hurt protecting everyone!”

“I would rather get hurt myself than have you get hurt protecting me! Can’t you see that?” The facade of anger leached out of his body as Alberto pulled Luca into a tight hug.

Luca hugged back just as fiercely. “And can’t you see the feeling’s mutual?” He sniffed against Alberto’s shoulder. “Why can’t you ever just ask me for help?”

A gloved hand brushed through Luca’s hair. “I can’t risk you… You mean too much to me.”

“I don’t want to lose you either…”

They stayed like that for a minute, just holding onto each other, listening to the other boy breath.

“How long have you known it was me?” Alberto asked, pulling back just enough to look at his friend.

Luca looked away bashfully. “Eh, pretty much the entire time…” he said with an awkward grin.

Alberto moved back, gripping both Luca’s shoulders and looking at him intensely. “What? How? I thought I was being so sneaky!”

Luca had to stifle a giggle, wiping the old, cold tears from his face. “A fish themed superhero with no sense of self-preservation shows up at the same time my best friend starts constantly wearing a fish necklace I’ve never seen before. How could it not be you?”

“Hey, I have self-preservation.” Alberto argues before the two dissolve into giggles, pressing their foreheads together.

Luca’s hands come up to play with the short curls at Alberto’s nape. “Besides, who else has hair like this?” Alberto’s only response is to rest both palms gently along Luca’s jaw, holding the boy close as he gazes into those wonderfully familiar and comforting brown eyes. Luca could only stare back. “Have to admit though, the weird eyes did throw me.”

“Pfff. I think they look cool.”

“I didn’t say they weren’t.”

Lioness was getting tired standing at the mouth of the alleyway waiting to be acknowledged. “Eh-Hem!” she obnoxiously cleared her throat.

Alberto turned to glare at her as Luca gave her a smile. “Hi, Giulia!”

“...Hi, Luca.” she responded lamely. Apparently she wasn’t all that slick either.

She de-transformed then and Alberto decided to follow her example. His five minute time limit was almost up anyway. Luca cooed at the little fish kwami and Pesci preened at the attention. Leone flew right into Giulia’s hair to take his regular after-battle-nap.

“You know, Alberto, if he already knows our identities, it’s all the more reason to-”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’ll do it.” he said, exasperated. A huge grin broke out on Giulia’s face. “BUT! We should go home first. I want Massimo to be there so he can explain stuff better.”

“Alright then! LET’S GO!” Giulia shouted happily, grabbing one hand from both the boys and dragging them in the direction of the Marcovaldo house. As they exited the alleyway, Pesci ducked back into Alberto’s satchel after giving Luca a sweet little bow.

“So what are those little flying things?” Luca asked Alberto, in his forever-charming knowledge-hungry way.

Alberto smiled down at him and gave him a wink. “I’ll tell you about it when we get home. You’re going to be seeing a lot of these critters from now on.”

----------------------

Massimo was overjoyed to explain kwami and Miraculous' to Luca as they all sat around the Marcovaldo's dinner table. Luca easily nodded along as the large man spoke until Massimo started reminiscing about his own days as a Miraculous holder.

"Wait, you were a superhero too?" Luca asked in amazement as he leaned across the table.

Massimo gave a deep chuckle from under his thick mustache. "Yes, I was a superhero too." He said as he showed off his old Miraculous from the Miracle Box, a bracelet that was adorned with what looked like a Ferdinand charm. "I used the bull Miraculous to protect this city until mi ragazzi were able to take up the mantle. Emilia always had to help me put it on."

The table laughed along with the man as Signora Ricci patted his single forearm with a crooked grin. The moment Alberto and Giulia had walked into the house with Luca talking about a possessed troll, Massimo had dashed down to Emilia's house. Both adults had been anxiously awaiting the day they could bring Alberto’s dear friend into the loop.

"However, before that, I used the very Miraculous Alberto has now." Massimo added as he gestured to the silver necklace resting against Alberto’s chest. "Pesci's other half was held by Signora Ricci. We were quite the team back then."

Pesci swooped down to the table to knock over the salt shaker. "He was far less difficult about having a partner." The small creature griped as they picked up a bit of spilled salt and threw it into their mouth.

Luca looked at the silver fish pendant in consideration. "Other half?" He asked curiously. His gaze shifted up to Alberto’s face, which was turned away in anticipation of what they both knew was coming. Luca frowned dangerously as his friend avoided his eye. "You've been knowingly fighting monsters with only half a Miraculous?"

Giulia tried to stifle her laugh while Alberto looked anywhere in the room except at his crush. "Maybe-" He started carefully.

"ARE YOU INSANE?!?" Luca yelled at the boy as he snatched the front of his shirt. "Alberto Scorfano-Marcovaldo, you never get to claim you have self preservation again!"

Alberto brought his hand up in front of his face defensively. "Okay okay okay! Before you kill me, can I show you something?"

The grip on Alberto’s collar didn't loosen. "I'm waiting." Luca continued to glare at him.

Alberto brought a long necklace out of his pocket, the necklace that had been sitting there for months now. The charm on the silver chain was of a blue and green fish that had far smoother fins than Alberto’s matching purple pendant. "This is the other half of the Miraculous." Alberto explained as he placed the two halves together, showing how perfectly they fit together. "Papa told me to give this to you when he gave me mine, but… I didn't want to risk you getting hurt."

Luca blinked up at him before giving a deep sigh. “Alberto, that is the stupidest thing you have ever said to me. And when we first met, you introduced yourself as ‘Twisty Trombone’!” He was finally smiling again, so a wide grin overtook Alberto’s placating expression.

“Yeah, though in my defense, I wasn’t expecting you to fight a monster with a trash can to protect me.”

That got Massimo and Emilia’s attention. “You what?” The woman felt all the blood drain from her face.

Massimo cleared his throat to get the attention of the room again. “Luca, I understand this is a lot to ask of you, but you are the ideal candidate for the second half of the Pieces Miraculous. You would be the defender of the team, the shield to protect Alberto while he deals out the attacks.”

“You may often feel like you're useless in battle,” Signora Ricci chimed in. “sometimes it may even feel like you shouldn’t even be in the fight. I should know. But one half of Pesci can’t be used without the other. A tsunami cannot form without the ocean to feed it.”

“Above all, it will be dangerous, especially since you haven’t yet had the training Alberto and Giulia have had.” Massimo continued. “Knowing this, are you willing to take up the mantle of the defending half of the Pieces Miraculous.”

Without hesitation, Luca nodded. “Of course, if you’ll all have me.” He told the room. Luca turned back to Alberto and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “I know you feel like you always have to protect me, but I want to be able to protect you too.”

Alberto could feel his heart jump as he rested his own hand over Luca’s. Smiling down at the shorter teen, Alberto was about to respond when Pesci flew right up between them.

“Great! Now that that’s all settled, we have a ceremony to perform!” The purple fish kwami exclaimed. They gestured for Alberto and Luca to follow them as they started to excitedly zip up the stairs.

“A what?” Alberto called after Pesci.

They turned back to the two boys impatiently. “When two holders must be joined by the Pieces Miraculous, we have a ceremony to officiate it. It’s best held in private, so we’ll use your room. So come on! The sooner we get up there, the sooner I see my other half!”

At that, Luca and Alberto quickly followed the kwami up the stairs, both blushing as they could hear chuckling from behind them. Once they were in Alberto’s room and had the door shut behind them, Pesci had the boys sit cross-legged on Alberto’s bed facing each other.

There wasn't room for them to sit on the floor. Alberto’s room was barely big enough to accommodate his bed, desk, and the small walkway in between. That didn't keep Luca from spending the night almost every day over summer. They would always have to share the bed since there wasn't room for a sleeping bag, but neither minded. Luca was never one to pass up a snuggle, and Alberto embarrassingly took any opportunity he could to cling to his best friend.

“Now Alberto, give him the necklace so Pesci will be released.” Pesci instructed. Alberto handed over the pendent to Luca, who slipped it over his head with ease.

Luca jumped a little when a blue fairy light popped out of the metal and swirled around his head before coming to rest in front of his nose. When the glow subsided, the blue and green Pesci was finally back, gazing at Luca in wonder just as Luca was gazing at them.

“Um, hello.” Luca gave the kwami a smile that absolutely melted Alberto’s heart.

It must have had a similar effect of Pesci, because they responded with an equally radiant smile and an exuberant chirping sound. “Oh my! I have a holder now? This is my holder?” They floated around Luca excitedly before flying right to the other Pesci. “Oh, I can’t believe I get to be out again! This will be so fun!”

“First things first.” Pesci tried to calm their other half. “We have to perform the binding ceremony.”

“Oh, yes, of course.” Pesci spoke quickly before flying right back over to Luca. They cleared their throat. “Do you solemnly swear to defend your other half from all that would do them harm?”

Pesci also floated in front of Alberto. “Do you solemnly swear to defeat all that would do your other half harm?”

“To stand by their side in battle and in peace.”

“To use each other’s powers wisely, and never resort to cruelty.”

Both spoke in unison for the final piece. “And to avenge your other half should they fall?”

Luca and Alberto glazed at each other in mild concern. If Luca didn’t know any better, he’d think Pesci was expecting one of them to die. If Alberto didn’t know any better, he’d say these sounded a bit like wedding vows.

“Umm… I do?” Luca cautioned, unsure what exactly was the correct affirmative in this ceremony. It made Alberto’s stomach flip.

The older boy cleared his throat in embarrassment before responding himself. “Yes, I swear.”

“Then you shall be the fearless wielders of the Pieces Miraculous. May your lives be long, and your partnership strong.” Pesci congratulated them, both zipping off to some corner of the room so one could show the other assorted knicknacks they had grown used to seeing in their time apart.

Luca and Alberto didn’t say anything as they stared at each other, unsure how to process the very quick and very odd ceremony they had just been a part of. It had practically been over before it began, though it seemed like Pesci viewed it with great importance.

A voice from the door broke their tension after a moment. “So, did you two just get kwami married?”

“GIULIA! GET OUT OF MY ROOM!”

#miraculous luberto au #luca x alberto #luberto #luca #alberto #giulia #sorry this took so long #if you find any funny comments inside parenthesis those are from my mom

5 notes · View notes