#he said luka was like sixteen two years ago and I’m rolling with that

[unmaskedagain]

Gabriel Agreste Must Die

I have no idea what inspired this but I just thought this would be funny. It Salt towards Gabriel. So enjoy. Warning Gaslighting ahead

Nino never thought that, out of everyone in the entire world, he would be the one to figure out Gabriel Agreste was Hawkmoth. Granted, it wasn’t like he had done he any searched or used any expert detective or journalism skills. No, instead he had been hanging out at Marinette’s; getting his butt handed to him in Ultimate Mecha Strike III. Alya chilling as she scrolled through her phone. Chloe, who they somehow managed to become friends with, was taking selfies in Marinette’s newest design outfits.

Nino knew it was because the blonde had proven herself to be a good hero and loyal ally. So when Marinette, the new Guardian now that Fu was gone, that more permanent heroes were needed, she brought in Chloe, along with Nino and Alya. It was then that Ladybug and Chat Noir revealed their identities to them and to each other.

It had been one hell of a shock. But they all became really good friends. Though any crushes the original heroes had died. It turned out Marinette thought of Chat Noir as a brother. And Adrien just couldn’t see Marinette in that light. It was for the best. Alya had been pissed about the love square thing.

That had been over a year ago, and the heroes had all become really good friends; banding together against anyone (Lila or Gabriel) who tried to tear them apart.

They had been talking about the recent akuma attacks, when Nino got a text from Adrien apologizing for not being able to hang out.

“Adrien can’t come,” Nino glared at the screen. “His dad’s got him working late.”

“Again?” Alya asked. “He does know what child labor laws are right?”

           Chloe scoffed, “Like he cares.”

“Still, we should do something,” Marinette frowned as she rapidly pressed buttons on her controller. “This isn’t right.”

“Like what?” Nino asked, already gracefully accepting yet another defeat. “He’s Gabriel Agreste. He’s as big of an asshole as Hawkmoth; and I didn’t think that was possible.”

           As soon as he said those words, something just clicked. Everyone in the room suddenly paused as they processed the words in their minds.

           Nino slowly put down her controller, “It’s not possible, is it? That level of asshole-dom can’t possibly be reached by two different people in the same city, at the same time, in the same universe. There’s no way.”

“Even my mom left once Gabriel took power,” Chloe added. “And she’s a total bitch but she knew that Paris couldn’t handle both a Queen Bitch and the King of the Assholes fighting it out.”

           Marinette’s eyes narrowed as she considered everything they knew about hawkmoth and Gabriel Agreste, “When did Adrien say he last saw mom.”

“Three years ago,” Chloe answered. “Sometime near the end of January, I remember. It was before Valentine’s day as I had been planning yet another amazing party.”

“Alya, when was the first akuma attack?” Marinette asked.

“One sec, I’ll look,” The glasses-wearing girl said and as she frantically researched. When Alya was done, she looked up at them with a dark expression on her face. “February 4th, three years ago.”

“Gabriel has a book on Kwami,” Marinette told them. “He uses it for ‘inspiration.’”

           After that, suddenly they were recalling all the little ‘coincidences’ they overlooked involving anything Agreste related and Hawkmoth; it all added up to something no one could deny.

“Gabriel is Hawkmoth,” Alya whispered stunned. “Adrien’s dad is Hawkmoth. We always said Gabriel was a monster but damn, really?”

“What do we do?” Chloe asked. “What can we do? Hawkmoth is too powerful; especially with Mayura on his side.”

           Marinette nodded but there was a thoughtful look on his face, “Hawkmoth is strong but Gabriel is human like the rest of us. He has his flaws, his weaknesses; cracks in his facade.”

“Mom always said Gabriel was nuts,” Chloe said. “On the edge of his sanity. One good push…”

           Marinette shrugged, “If we can’t defeat the villain…”

“…Then we break the man behind the mask,” Alya smirked,

           Nino growled, “Gabriel Agreste Must Die.”

…

…

           The next day after school; the heroes met up again at Marinette and sat Adrien down to talk.

It turned getting Adrien on board with the plan was difficult. He wasn’t hard to convince him that Gabriel was Hawkmoth, though it did take a while for him to stop throwing up. However, there was thing the blond boy wouldn’t budge on…

“You’re not killing my dad!” Adrien told them.

           Nino nodded calmly and folded his hands on his lap, “I get where you’re coming from, dude. I totally do,” He told his best friend. “But hear me out. Your dad? He really sucks.”

           Adrien shot his friends an incredulous look, “And you think that’s a good enough reason to kill him?”

“Well, yeah,” Nino shrugged. “I mean we talked about this before.”

           Alya pushed her ex-boyfriend turned one of her bestie out of the way, “You’re dad is a megalomaniac magical terrorist that’s been destroying Paris, turning people into monsters, and killing innocents. Sure the damaged gets reversed but the victims, who aren’t Akumatized, still have to deal with the freaking trauma.”

“There are support groups for it,” Marinette said. “People remember dying; drowning, burning, crashing; it’s terrible.” She sighed, “However, we can’t just murder someone. It’s wrong.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. It would be wrong not kill him,” Chloe told them. “The amount of time and effort it would save us is nearly too much to count. And the amount of relief all of Paris would feel knowing he was gone is out of this world.  We can stop SO many people from getting hurt if I call my mom’s guy Fredro, and Gabriel has a little ‘accident’.”

           Nino shot up, “See! Chloe agrees,” He shot a victorious look at Alya and Marinette.

           Alya snorted, “Chloe thought burning Gabriel at the stake was good idea.”

“What?!!” Adrien looked at his oldest friend, shock on his face. “What?!!”

           Chloe shrugged, “There’s no such thing as a bad idea. And It was a suggestion..”

“A good one,” Nino added. “And why does it sound like your mom has a hitman on speed dial?”

           Chloe scoffed, “Hitman? Don’t be so crass. Fredro is former MI6. My mom used to work with him. He’s so good even Shield only had the slightest idea he exists.” She looked at her childhood friend with a softest expression anyone had ever seen on her face. “No one would ever know. If you want, he doesn’t even have to feel like a thing. Gabriel goes to sleep one night, and doesn’t wake up in the morning. It’ll look like a heart attack. Trust me, my mother only works with the best.”

“I have a lot of questions about your mother,” Alya said. “And what type of work she did with a former MI6 agent. But we’re gonna circle back to that. That fact is, Adrien, it’s up to you.”

“He’s your dad,” Marinette agreed. “Plus; its two to two. Me and Alya who don’t want to go to prison. And the two psychos who are more than willing to.”

           Nino huffed and moved to stand next to Chloe, “Well, I’m feeling a little called out right now.”

“I told you we should’ve just handled this last night,” Chloe crossed her arms. “Just the two us. Ditch the Halos at home,” She motioned to Marinette, who didn’t like the idea of killing, and Alya, who didn’t want to make the choice with Adrien’s approval. “Bury that asshole alive.”

“Nah, they’d have known it was us,” Nino shook his head. “The second Gabriel doesn’t show up for something he’s supposed to, Marinette’s knocking on my door. I’m always a suspect. Gabriel nearly got killed by a falling headlight during a fashion show in New York, and Alya still gave me suspicious looks for days. Jerk’s literally on the other side of the world, and I’m still the primary suspect.”

           Chloe looked contemplative, “…Didn’t you say you had a cousin in New York?”

“You a cop?” Nino asked. “No? Then stop asking so many questions.”

           Adrien sighed, “I’m sorry, guys; we can’t kill my dad.”

           Alya nodded firmly, “Then option two. We’re rip apart his sanity, destroy his reputation; tear apart everything that makes Gabriel Agreste, Gabriel Agreste until there’s nothing left except the miserable, sorry excuse for man and father, that he really is.”

“Oh but I’m inhumane?” Nino glared. “I was just gonna cut the breaks in Gabriel’s ride. Take him and Nathalie out at the same time. But, yeah, sure, breaking him to the point where he’s ripping out his own hair and locked away in a padded room is a noble cause as any.”

“And yet we’re the evil ones? Really?” Chloe rolled her eyes. “Fine. Whatever. Let’s gaslight the bitch.”

           Adrien looked up at the ceiling just so freaking done with world. “What we do first?”

“Your dad’s a total control freak,” Alya said. “We got to make him feel like he’s losing control.”

           Marinette looked over Adrien, “You’re gonna need tight leather pants, chapstick… And how do feel about piercings?”

“That they look like they hurt!” Adrien protested.

           Chloe shoved his shoulder, “Beauty’s pain, woman up!”

“Why do I need chapstick?” Adrien whined.

“You can’t make out with Scott with dry lips!”

“Make out?” Adrien’s face turned bright red. “And who’s Scott?”

           Nino shook his head, “You’re asking a lot of questions for someone who was against the Murder plan.”

           It turned out Scott was Marinette’s cousin. His mom Melissa was Tom’s half-sister. He was handsome tall sixteen-year-old with olive brown skin, curly dark brown hair, and a crooked jaw. When Adrien met him he was wearing a leather jacket and big happy smile on his face.  Adrien couldn’t stop looking at him.

           He had come out as bisexual to his friends months ago but had only briefly experimented with Luka in the kissing department. Marinette had stumbled upon and quickly squeaked, turned red, and scampered off. Though Adrien did have to deal with her grumbles about having dips. To which Adrien replied, “You snooze, you lose.”

Scott was with a brown haired, pale skinned, gangly guy, with lots moles and a rather pretty redhead.

“Oh come on!” The pale guy complained when he saw Adrien. He looked at Scott. “What leprechaun did you sacrifice so that you got the fucking luck in the world? First the Disney princess Alison, then badass ‘she could stab me and I’d thank her’ Kira, and now Apollo’s freaking love child. No! It’s not fair.”

“Dude!” Scott complained. “Stiles, you’re dating Derek.”

           Stiles suddenly looked really smug, “Yeah I know,” He smirked. “But this isn’t about us. This is about all the other Scotts and Stiles’ of the world who are still growing out of their loser stage. Give them a chance, bro.”

           The redhead rolled her eyes, “Hi I’m Lydia!” She introduced to the young heroes. “The loud moron is Stiles. The moron who’s been drooling since he saw you is Scott.”

           Scott reared back, and started to quick wipe his mouth, “Man, am I drooling?”

“A little,” Stiles shrugged. “I just thought it was moon thing, you know?”

           Lydia ignored them, “I love your dress. It’s an MDC, yes? Up in coming designer, so chic!”      

           Marinette smiled, “Thanks. It took forever to design this.”

           The redhead paused, “You designed?” She looked stunned for a moment before glaring at Scott. “Is your cousin MDC? Did you not tell me your cousin was MDC?”

           It was a little hilarious how quickly Scott stepped back in fear of girl a foot shorter than him.

“About why we’re here,” Alya decided to intervene before blood was drawn. “Adrien, this is Scott. He’ll be your boyfriend for as long as he’s Paris.” She looked between Scott and Adrien and smirked. “And I have no idea who I should congratulate.”

“Me,” Scott let slip as he stared at Adrien in a daze.

           Pictures of Adrien Agreste making out with Scott were everywhere an hour later. Adrien tweeted his response, “I’m Bisexual. So what? To quote Taylor Swift: You need to Calm down.”

           The tweet was the first thing that made Gabriel realize something was very, very wrong.

           Adrien went home and was met the angry expressions of his father and Nathalie. It was time for step to.

           Before either could yell at him. “I quit,” Adrien said. “No more modeling. No more anything I don’t want to do. This is not up for debate. I’m not asking. You can’t make me. And if you try to take me out of school; my friends will public with all the evidence of all times you broke child labors. And if you think I’m bluffing, a copy of the evidence was sent to Nathalie’s email.” He gave them hard looks. “You will go to prison. Try me. It’s over,” Adrien told them but didn’t add that it was in more ways that one.

           He walked passed them; only sparing a glance to see the stunned looks on their faces.

           Adrien knew his father wouldn’t back down. This was only the beginning.

           Unfortunately for Gabriel, he would be far too busy putting out the fires of his burning empire to have any time to rein back in his son.

           During the middle of the night, while everyone was sleeping, an anonymous user *cough Alya* released videos of Gabriel verbally berating his employees for the smallest things, and firing them. It was not a good look.

           The Gabriel brand took a hit. The first of many.

           Over the next few weeks; Gabriel found himself forgetting things. First he found a box of imported silk that Nathalie swore he called her himself to have her order, and he saw the call logged in his phone but for the life of him he couldn’t remember making the call. Then it was scheduling meetings, ordering lunches or coffee that he couldn’t remember doing. Then he forgot where put things.

           For example, one time Gabriel swore he took out his sketchbook from his briefcase and sat it on his desk and left for a meeting. However, when he returned, it wasn’t there. And He nearly went raving mad trying to find it. Only for Nathalie to take it out of his brief case.

           The suit he had laid out for him the night before would be an entirely different color than the one he remembered putting out but then Nathalie would tell him that he ordered her himself to have it pressed.

           It was little thing and big little just slightly out of place that started to grate on his nerves.

“The stress,” Nathalie told him. “It’s getting to you. Perhaps a vacation is in order”

“I’m fine,” He waved her off. “How is the plan to pull Adrien back in?

           Nathalie frowned, “Nothing. He’s still going strong with his boyfriend, a young Scott McCall. Every time we try anything, a new video of Adrien, uh, at work, is released to the media. CPS and the police knocked on our doors three times already. Next time, I fear, they may take him. Amelie Graham de Vanily has been spotted in town, speaking with several lawyers. My sources say she will attempt for custody if CPS deems you unfit.”

“Nothing of the sort will happen,” Gabriel sneered. “I will not lose my son; not to my sister in law, and not to some American boy. Tell Adrien, we will have dinner together. I will talk some sense into him myself.”

           That was his plan at least.

           However, Gabriel found himself waking up in the morning, in his pajamas, utterly confused. “Nathalie, when did I go sleep?”

           She looked confused, “Around midnight, sir. You had dinner with Adrien, and then had to rush off to take a call from Audrey.”

“I… had dinner with Adrien?” Gabriel asked. “Are you sure? I don’t remember. And I didn’t talk with Audrey, did i?”

           Nathalie suddenly looked very concerned. “Sir, I was there. Adrien and you had a lovely conversation about his school and him going back to modeling. Adrien decline. You tried to protest but Audrey called. You two argued for an hour. I was there the entire time. You really don’t remember?”

           No, Gabriel didn’t.

           A week later, after a series of incidents. One of which apparently he had ordered Nathalie to take him to a salon and walked out with blue hair, but couldn’t remember when he woke up the next day. And swore he hadn’t.

“I’ve scheduled a meeting with doctor,” Nathalie told him. “We’re going to get you looked at, okay.”

           It was the first of many, many doctor visits. Until one day Adrien came home and His aunt was there with Nathalie. They told him that his father went on a little “vacation” for a while.

           It turned out the vacation was a very luxurious mental institution.

#ml fic #ml salt #gabriel agreste salt #marinette dupain cheng #adrien deserves better #adrien agreste #alya sugar #nino sugar

[mikauzoran]

Lukadrienette: To Waltz Among Shades: Chapter Nine

To Waltz Among Shades: Chapter Nine: Comprehending

“Hey,” Luka snapped from where he’d been eavesdropping on the stairs.

Marinette sat back on her heels, looking over the back of the couch in surprise.

Adrien pushed himself up to gaze at Luka in horror.

Luka stalked over, glaring at Marinette. “You had no right to tell him that. That’s the kind of thing a guy prefers to tell a guy personally. You could have just said you had my permission.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “You’ve had plenty of opportunities to tell him. Like, maybe when you two were snuggling in bed one night?”

Luka’s eyebrow twitched. “That is platonic snuggling as friends, not romantic snuggling. You don’t just say the ‘L’ word while snuggling platonically. That would be taking advantage of him when he’s vulnerable. Trust me. I’ve had a whole year to learn how to compartmentalize my feelings for him.”

“Well, tell him now,” Marinette snorted.

“After that emotional rollercoaster you two just went on?” Luka huffed right back. “He’s already overwhelmed. I’m not going to add one more thing to his plate. But enough about me. You shouldn’t have kissed him like that. You royally mess him up. You can’t just ignore him for a year and then barge back into his life and kiss him like that. I love you, Marinette, but that doesn’t mean I’m just going to let you do whatever you want. I have to think about what’s best for Adrien too, and I don’t think he needs you skipping the friendship line and trying to jump right into something romantic with him…or did you miss everything he said about gradually rebuilding trust between you two? Because I feel like that was super important.”

Marinette looked away, suitably chastised. “I may have gotten carried away.” She turned back to Adrien. “I’m sorry. He’s right. Regardless of my feelings for you, I shouldn’t have rushed things like that. I was trying to prove a point, but I took things too far too fast. Can we just start over as friends with the understanding that I adore you, I’m so sorry that I messed everything up, and I have never, ever hated you, not even when I thought you were the one who put the gum on my chair?”

It took Adrien a literal fifteen seconds before he could get his wits about him enough to respond. “So…no one’s mad at me?” He looked pointedly at Luka.

Luka stepped in with a reassuring smile, smoothing Adrien’s tussled hair. “No one is mad at you, Angel-Face.”

Despite himself, Adrien leaned into the touch. “You’re not just saying that?”

“I’m not just saying that,” Luka confirmed, moving his hand to scratch behind Adrien’s ear. “If you and Marinette want to kiss each other, I’m perfectly fine with that happening. Preferably, I’d like to be present to watch, but that’s not a requirement. Whatever you and Marinette mutually consent to is fine. It’s not cheating on me.”

“Oh,” Adrien whispered, carefully drawing his legs in, trying to put a little bit of distance between himself and Marinette for propriety’s sake without losing contact with Luka’s hand.

“Though, I kind of think—and this is my personal opinion on the matter and not a binding opinion, but—I kind of think you two shouldn’t rush things. Maybe take a month or two or three to get to know each other again as friends before anything romantic happens. Relationships are hard enough as it is. It’s probably not a good idea to complicate things with unresolved baggage. I say this because I care about you two, okay?” He reached out and gave a strand of Marinette’s hair a gentle tug with the hand not petting Adrien.

Marinette smiled sheepishly, taking Luka’s hand in both of hers and turning to nuzzle it. “Thanks for looking out for us, Bluebird.”

“Always, Chanson,” Luka promised.

“So…” Adrien spoke up again. “Sorry. Wait. Can we talk about this? I feel like I’ve fallen into an alternate universe.”

“Talking is good,” Marinette agreed, repositioning herself so that she was sitting up straight with one foot on the floor, the other tucked under her.

“Sure,” Luka consented, giving Adrien’s head one last pat before coming around to the other side of the couch and taking a seat between Adrien and Marinette.

“Hey,” Marinette whined as Luka put an arm along the back of the couch around Adrien.

“What?” Luka snickered. “You’ve been monopolizing him this whole time. I think it’s my turn.”

Marinette snorted. “Says the guy who’s been rubbing it in my face for a year now how cute Adrien is when he sleeps and how precious it is to be able to wake up next to him in the morning.”

Luka had the grace to look sheepish. “To be fair, I was only trying to make you jealous so that you’d talk to him and sort out whatever mysterious misunderstanding there’d been between you two and then be there for him while his life was falling apart…but it turns out that you were right and I didn’t know what I was talking about.”

Marinette paled. “…How long were you listening to us?” she asked as if afraid to know the answer.

Luka winced, averting his gaze. “Long enough to be very confused until I suddenly wasn’t anymore. And then I was just sorry to have learned something you’d obviously been working very hard to keep a secret all these years…but we can talk about that later—or not. Up to you, but I think right now we need to focus on Adrien.”

“R-Right.” Marinette nodded, pushing everything Ladybug- and Guardian-related going through her head to the back corner of her mind.

She looked to Adrien with a neutral smile. “What do we need to talk about?”

Adrien bit his lip, looking from Luka to Marinette. “…I…I’m a little lost.” His gaze landed on Marinette. “You said you loved me?”

“Mmhm,” she agreed, cheeks taking on a carnelian hue.

Adrien frowned. “When did that happen? Every time I’ve ever asked you, you always told Adrien that you admired his work as a model but didn’t have those kinds of feelings for him and Chat that there was another boy…until you started dating Luka, and I thought that that kind of settled things, so…now that you’ve been dating the guy you love for four years…I’m confused. When did you fall in love with me?”

Marinette sucked in a pained breath, her cheeks starting to resemble rust.

Luka snickered, apparently enjoying his girlfriend’s suffering. “Don’t you dare hold out on him. Tell him the whole truth or I will.”

Marinette slapped Luka’s thigh with a rude comment under her breath.

Luka only grinned harder.

Marinette trained her gaze on Adrien. “I fell in love with you when I was thirteen. Not long after we first met, actually. You told me you’d never been to school, never had friends before, so everything was kind of new. It was raining, and you gave me your umbrella, so…” She shrugged, smiling in a way that begged him to have mercy. “That was it.”

Adrien shook his head. “But…you said that was just an embarrassing, ridiculous crush.” The look on his face was one of betrayal. “You said that it was stupid and didn’t mean anything.”

It was Marinette’s turn to frown in confusion. “When did I say that?”

“Remember that party I snuck out for on the Liberty that summer we were sixteen? Well, it was more of a friend gathering, but we were all sitting around in the main cabin,” Adrien recounted, gesturing with his hands, “and Alix accidentally said something about back when you had that ridiculous crush on me, and I was like, ‘…Wait…. What?’, but you said that it was forever ago and that we should all just forget about it because it was stupid and embarrassing and didn’t matter and you were over it anyway.”

Marinette winced, reaching up to rub at the side of her neck. “Oh. Well. I was embarrassed, so I lied. It did matter. Adrien was the guy I always turned down Chat Noir for, so…it wasn’t a stupid, meaningless crush.”

“You okay?” Luka called softly, gently rubbing at Adrien’s arm with his thumb. “You look stricken.”

Adrien shook his head, turning to Luka. “She lied to me. I can’t believe she lied to me.”

Luka gave Adrien a sympathetic smile, squeezing Adrien’s shoulder. “Yeah, I know, P5. That sucks,” he gently consoled, a note in his voice telling Adrien that Luka could relate intimately.

Adrien briefly wondered how upset Luka actually was about finding out his girlfriend was Ladybug. He was doing an exceptional job of hiding it.

“Is it really such a big deal four years later?” Marinette broke into the moment, laughing nervously, trying to play it off as less serious than it seemingly was in hopes that someone would agree with her.

“Yes!” Adrien insisted with unexpected vehemence. “You were dating Luka at that point—like, you were sitting in his lap as you told me that you were embarrassed that you had ever liked me and, even though you had liked me, it wasn’t a big deal, and it was stupid for you to like me—so I just believed you. Unquestioningly. Because you were dating the perfect guy, and of course you were so over me and it was stupid for someone as amazing as you to have ever liked me in the first place because people don’t ever actually like the real me. Ladybug didn’t. Kagami didn’t. Marinette didn’t.”

“Adrien,” Luka called softly, trying to pull Adrien out of the downward spiral.

Adrien wasn’t having it. “And I was in love with you then. Marinette-you. For a second, when Alix said that you had liked me before, I thought I had a sliver of a chance, but…you kind of pulverized it. So, I said. ‘Oh. Okay. Sorry.’, and the party just kind of went on, but I felt horrible, so I made up an excuse about getting back before someone realized I was gone, and I went home and cried a little bit until I started getting worried about being akumatized.”

“Oh, Adrien,” Luka sighed, pulling Adrien into a side hug to more easily nuzzle.

“Adrien, I’m sorry,” Marinette responded in a small, meek tone.

“You should be,” Adrien snorted. “You stole the guy I had a crush on, publicly humiliated me, and broke my heart.”

“We can make two of those things better for you,” Luka offered.

Adrien hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe in a minute. I’m busy being a drama queen.”

Luka nodded, familiar with the drill. “Just let us know when you’re done and ready to be placated.”

“Will do,” Adrien assured, but then paused, a realization dawning upon him. “Wait.” He pulled back from Luka to stare at Marinette. “But that was when you fell in love with me when we were little. You said that you loved me now, in the present tense. When did you fall for me again?” Adrien demanded, even more confused than before.

“I didn’t,” Marinette replied simply with a shrug. “I never got over you.”

Adrien’s mouth fell open. “You didn’t?”

She shook her head, an adoring smile gracing her lips. “Earlier, you told me that your feelings for Marinette and Ladybug had never changed. Mine didn’t either. Even while I’ve been with Luka, I’ve loved you this whole time.”

“…Oh.” Adrien gulped. “I…So that’s why Luka was talking before about something romantic possibly happening in the future between us?” He looked back and forth between Marinette and Luka.

Marinette nodded. “I’ve always been honest with Luka about my feelings, and he’s always been honest with me.”

“Is a romantic relationship with Marinette something you think you’d want?” Luka inquired gingerly, aware of the fragile nature of the situation.

Adrien bit his lip but forced himself to look both of them in the eyes. “Eventually? Yes…but not right now. I’m…” He looked away. “I’ve got a lot of healing still left to do, and a big chunk of it has to do with you, Marinette. Besides, I’m not the person you knew. I’m not—” He choked back tears. “I’m not the guy you think you’re in love with.”

“Adrien?” She inched closer, concern coating her voice.

He shook his head. “I’ve changed a lot this past year. I’ve been through the shredder, and I’m not the same guy I was when you knew me. Maybe we’ll start getting to know one another again, and you’ll find out that you don’t really love me after all. I honestly don’t think you will.”

“Don’t say that.” Luka pulled Adrien back in, squeezing his shoulder.

Adrien shook his head. “Marinette, I don’t want to get my hopes up only to be crushed again. The point is, I need some time for us to get to know one another again because I don’t believe that the person I am right now is loveable.”

“You’re wrong,” Luka insisted. “You’re dead wrong, Adrien.”

“Still,” Adrien protested. “She doesn’t know. She doesn’t know firsthand what I’m like, how bad I am.”

He turned back to Marinette. “I am a pale, sick shadow of my former self, and I don’t think it’s possible to love me as I am. I’m not sure what Nino and Luka have told you, but…”

He trailed off, giving her the opportunity to fill in the gap.

Marinette exhaled slowly. “Luka is of the opinion that, if I truly cared, I’d go check on you myself. He tells me vague, generic details mostly. I get some specifics sometimes, I mean, we do talk about you quite a bit, but he’s very diligent about protecting your privacy.”

Adrien nodded diplomatically.

Marinette took a deep breath. “Nino…Nino and I don’t exactly talk much anymore.”

Adrien blinked as he tried to process her words. “What? But… You guys always got along so well.”

She shook her head, averting her eyes. “He’s mad at me for not being there for you. He’s tried to get me to talk things out with you a couple times, but it’s only ended in me clamming up and shutting him out and him losing his temper. I probably should have just told him what my deal was, and he would have told me that you didn’t hate me or blame me for your father’s death, but…”

She looked up, out the windows over the kitchen sink. “Sorry. Being Ladybug is a heavy responsibility. Being the Guardian and Ladybug can feel like being stuck in a pit with the ceiling pressing down on you sometimes, and that wasn’t a burden I could share with anyone.”

“Marinette,” Luka cooed, slipping his arm from Adrien’s shoulders to wrap around Marinette, pulling her into him, encircling her in safety and warmth. He squeezed her tight, nuzzling her hair, pressing delicate kisses to the top and sides of her head.

“Paris depends on me,” Marinette whispered, letting herself relax into Luka’s hold. “The safety of everyone depends on me. I had to keep my identity secret at any cost…even if that meant dealing with everything on my own. It was suffocating having to keep all of that to myself, but I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t risk being weak and opening up to anyone. It would put everyone in danger. I just had to suck it up and figure things out without help. There was no option to ask for help…. I just learned not to, so…it didn’t feel like telling Nino and asking for help was an option.”

“Okay,” Luka sighed, pulling back to look her in the eye and make sure she was paying attention. “Okay. No more of that. All right? No more dealing with everything yourself. No more not asking for help when you’re drowning. Em, we are a team. Teammates lean on one another. Teammates have each other’s backs. Please know that, whatever it is you’re going through, I will be there to support you. All you have to do is ask. Tell me what you need done, and I will make it happen for you. Until I take my last breath, I will be there for you every step of the way.”

“Luka,” Marinette breathed, eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

“Me too,” Adrien added softly, face set in determination. “We’re still partners, aren’t we? Partners stay by each other’s side and support one another. Marinette was always the one who would fight anyone who called Chat Noir Ladybug’s sidekick, wasn’t she? So…treat me like a partner and depend on me in the future.”

His eyes went soft with a mix of affection for her and regret. “I’m so sorry that you felt like you had to deal with everything alone all these years, My Lady. I’m sorry I never saw you were struggling.”

Marinette reached out across Luka and took Adrien’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “It’s okay, Chaton. It’s not your fault…. Thanks.” She lifted her head to meet both of their gazes. “Thank you both. I can’t promise that I’m overnight going to start reaching out for help, but…I’ll try to keep in mind the next time I feel overwhelmed that it’s okay to say something.”

“Please do, Chanson,” Luka whispered, hugging her closer.

Adrien tightened his grip on her hand, silently letting her know he was there for her too.

They stayed like that for a comfortable minute, Marinette in Luka’s arms, Marinette and Adrien holding hands, Adrien snuggled up at Luka’s side.

Adrien noted that it was nice, natural. It felt like he fit there with them, and that was a wonderful feeling.

It was over too soon as Marinette slowly disengaged, getting up and going over to the table where Sabine had left the pastries she’d been trying to foist upon Adrien.

“Okay,” Marinette sighed as she picked out a pain au chocolat and threw it on a plate with a banana. “So…I need to rely on people more…and Adrien doesn’t think he’s loveable as is.”

“That sounds like an accurate summary,” Luka agreed.

Marinette motioned for Adrien to join her at the table.

Tentatively, he did, taking a seat across from her.

She set the plate she had prepared in front of him with a command of, “Eat. I promised my mother I’d get you to eat.”

Luka came over and exchanged the banana on Adrien’s plate with an orange from the dish.

Adrien cast Luka a look of gratitude before digging into the pain au chocolat.

“So,” Luka announced, carefully moving the Fox Miraculous box out of the way before putting his elbows down and leaning on the end of the counter. “You two are going to work on being friends again so Marinette will be able to say for sure that she loves the person Adrien is now and not just the person he was a year ago?”

Marinette nodded, grabbing the discarded banana and thoughtfully peeling it. “That’s the plan.”

“It’s okay if you don’t end up loving me,” Adrien remarked, trying to be realistic. “I don’t expect you to. If we could just be friends again, even that would be—”

“—Perfect Fifth, why don’t you just eat your pastry and not worry so much about the future,” Luka suggested gently. “The future will take care of itself, so let’s just let what happens happen.”

Adrien bit his lip and looked like he was about to protest, but then he decided to concentrate his efforts on the pain au chocolat.

“We can start with study sessions,” Marinette jumped in through a mouthful of banana. She swallowed and continued, “There’s still a week before exams. We can still get you up to speed enough to pass Business.”

“And you could come over and have dinner with the Dupain-Chengs,” Luka added, stealing a lavender honey macaron from the pastry box. “Marinette told me she invited you over to cook and have dinner whenever you wanted.”

Adrien nodded. “Maybe we could do that on Wednesday.”

“Would you want to stay after to play video games?” Marinette inquired tentatively. “I guess it depends on how you’re feeling that day, but…My mom and dad would probably appreciate someone a little more on their level to go up against.”

Adrien turned to Luka. “I think your girlfriend just insulted my video game skills.”

Luka shrugged. “She’s kind of a beast. You’re either nicer than she is or not as good because, when I play against you, I don’t feel as badly beaten. I’m a total noob, and her parents both trounce me.”

Adrien’s eyebrows pinched together as he grabbed a napkin and wiped the chocolate smears from his mouth. “Let’s just say that I’m nicer.” He picked up his orange and bit into it, creating a foothold from which he could remove the rest of the peel.

“You are nicer,” Marinette confirmed, “but you’re also not as good at video games.”

Adrien flicked a piece of orange peel at her. “Why do I like you again?”

“She’s worth liking,” Luka snickered, picking up the peel that had glanced off of Marinette’s arm and landed on the table and setting it back down on Adrien’s plate with the rest of the orange detritus.

Adrien shrugged, dropping the pouty act.

“You know, we never finished watching that one anime you were showing me,” Marinette changed the subject. “We should go back to Saturday anime and Chinese food night.”

Adrien paused with an orange slice halfway to his mouth. “Which anime was it?”

Marinette pursed her lips, trying to think of what it had been called. “The one with the English title pronounced the Japanese way.”

“You just described a quarter of all anime,” Luka snorted, stealing the banana from Marinette and taking a bite.

Marinette swatted at her boyfriend. “The one with the zodiac.”

Luka raised an eyebrow. “Starry Sky?”

Adrien’s face went red. “I wouldn’t show her a reverse harem anime.”

Marinette frowned. “You showed me Ouran High School Host Club. Isn’t that a reverse harem?”

“Technically, but it’s not just a reverse harem. There’s an actual compelling plot,” Adrien explained.

Luka hummed, wracking his brain for all of the anime Adrien had showed him pertaining to the zodiac. “It wouldn’t be Etotama. …Was it Furuba?”

“Fruits Basket!” Marinette exclaimed, stealing back the banana from Luka. “That’s it. We should finish Fruits Basket…start hanging out more like we used to.”

“I’d like that. If things could go back to normal.” Adrien nodded, holding out the last slice of orange to Luka.

Luka leaned in, taking it between his teeth.

Adrien chuckled, picking up his plate and taking it over to the sink. He deposited the orange peel in the compost bin and the plate in the dishwasher before washing the sticky juice off of his hands.

Marinette swung around on her stool to face him. “The three of us should hang out more often too,” she proposed tentatively.

Adrien looked up. “Yeah?”

Luka grinned, turning his body towards Adrien. “Yeah.”

Adrien nodded again, a cautiously hopeful smile pulling at his lips. “I’d like that.”

“Maybe we could all hang out at your apartment sometime,” Marinette suggested. “I mean, if you feel okay with that. I’d love to see it.”

Adrien frowned, not yet sure how he felt about having Marinette in his space where he couldn’t escape if he needed to.

“Or we could start out here or on the Liberty.” Luka intervened, seeing Adrien’s hesitation.

Adrien finished drying his hands and turned to look at Luka with gratitude. “That sounds good. Maybe we can hang out at my place in a few weeks.”

“Okay,” Marinette hastily agreed. “Sure. Of course. Yeah. We could start out here…maybe make dinner together…watch a movie while snuggling on the couch…go for a walk by the Seine afterwards…stop by a park and just sit and talk…watch the stars.” She bit her lip, casting her boyfriend a sidelong look. “Maybe Luka could bring his guitar and serenade us.”

“Sure,” Luka consented, reaching out to twist a lock of Marinette’s hair around his finger before looking to Adrien. “If that’s something Adrien would be interested in?”

Adrien gulped, trying to restore moisture to his suddenly parched throat. “I…Yeah. Yes. I…That sounds great. I’d like that sometime. Um…When…When exactly would you be wanting to do that?”

“Whenever you’re ready,” Marinette assured. “If that’s in two weeks or two months… Whenever you’re ready.”

Adrien inhaled slowly, starting to nod. “O-Okay.”

“Maybe we can start with something less stressful,” Luka was quick to suggest. “Maybe the three of us just have dinner with my family sometimes or just get together to watch a movie or play board games or go through the pile of instruments my family has in storage. Just fun, low-pressure stuff. I think the Liberty is fairly neutral ground, if we want to start there.”

Marinette nodded enthusiastically, eager to be accommodating. “Sure. Okay. Whatever you two think is best.”

Adrien cast Luka another grateful grin.

Luka winked, returning the smile. “We’ll figure it out. Play it by ear and see what feels right. It’ll all work out.”

Marinette leaned in to press a quick kiss to her boyfriend’s cheek. “Thanks.”

“Sure thing.” He returned her kiss with a peck on the temple and then turned back to the box of leftover pastries. “P5, there are a couple cheesecake and passionfruit macarons left if you want to take those home for you and Plagg to snack on later. I will be laying claim to the lemon poppyseed one. Chanson, are you feeling more like pink champagne or salted caramel? One of each?” He pushed the box towards her.

Marinette blushed, looking away, ashamed. “I actually prefer the salted caramel. Pink champagne is okay, but I usually only take them so that I can sneak them into my purse for my kwami.”

Luka’s eyes widened, and his eyebrows raised. “Oh. Well. I guess I’m going to have some work to do relearning your favourite foods and flavours. Off the top of your head, is there anything else that I think you love that you’re not all that enthusiastic about?” he inquired patiently, trying to take it all in stride.

Marinette’s cheeks darkened. “The chocolate chip cookies are also a Tikki thing.”

Luka nodded, slowly processing. “Good to know.”

“Sorry,” Marinette whispered, peeking anxiously at him. Her heart sank when she saw the hurt that he wasn’t entirely able to hide.

Luka forced a smile, thinking it was ridiculous to feel personally betrayed over something as inconsequential as food preferences. “It’s okay,” he lied as he wondered what else he didn’t know about her, what else she’d been keeping from him.

“Sorry,” she repeated before turning her attention back to Adrien. “Hey, would you want to hang out now? Luka mentioned you’re on a Frozen kick lately. Would you want to watch Frozen II? I haven’t seen it yet.”

Adrien was tempted to say yes. He wanted nothing more than to cuddle with Marinette and Luka on the couch and savor that sense of rightless and belonging he’d felt not fifteen minutes before when they’d been loving on Marinette…but he got the feeling that he needed to go.

Luka was obviously not feeling too great about discovering that his girlfriend had been leading a double life of sorts, and he and Marinette probably needed to talk about that and get things sorted out.

Adrien needed to go for his own sake too. This was all overwhelming. Too much had happened in the hour he’d been there, and he knew he should take a step back and process. It was liable to all hit him at once and reduce him to a puddle of snot and tears. It would be better to go home and mentally sort through it, acclimate, and then come back another day to spend more time with Marinette, with Luka and Marinette both. He should be taking baby steps, not plunging right in.

“Could I get a raincheck to do that another day?” Adrien asked sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck. “I really need to get home and do laundry and…you know, process. Today was a lot—a lot of good things,” he hastened to add, “…but still a lot. If that’s okay?”

Marinette nodded, hopping down off of her stool to come give him a crushing hug. “Of course,” she assured into his shoulder. “Always do what’s best for you. I’ll be here whenever you’re ready.”

“Dinner with your parents on Wednesday,” Adrien blurted out. “What time?”

She pulled back with a wide grin. “Cooking starts at five. Dinner at six. I’ll make sure it’s vegetarian in case your stomach isn’t feeling strong that day, so just come whenever. Stay as long or as short of a time as you want. We’ll be thrilled to have you for any length of time at all.”

“Thanks.” Adrien let out a relieved sigh. “But the whole meal doesn’t have to be vegetarian. I know your dad loves his coq au vin and beef bourguignon. I’ll be okay.”

Marinette rolled her eyes, giving his arm a pat. “Papa will be okay eating vegetarian at least one meal a week. His cholesterol levels will thank you. Besides, he adores you, so it’ll be easier to get him to try ‘weird’ vegetables if he thinks he’s doing it for your benefit.”

Adrien broke out in a laugh. “My Lady is sly and shrewd as ever.”

Marinette waggled her eyebrows playfully.

“I’ll walk Adrien down,” Luka volunteered with an easygoing smile, coming over to Adrien’s side. “Ready?”

Adrien nodded.

“Don’t be a stranger, Chaton.” Marinette gave his arm a squeeze before stepping back and letting him go. “I’ll see you on Wednesday?”

“I’ll be there,” Adrien promised as he turned to go.

Luka and Adrien were quiet as they descended the stairs to the ground level.

Adrien reached the bottom first and looked back up at Luka, a worried frown causing a dip in his brow. “Are you okay?”

Luka stopped two steps from the bottom to blink in confusion. “Am…I okay?” He laughed, coming down to Adrien’s level to give Adrien’s hair a tussle. “P5, I feel like I should be the one asking you. That was really intense up there.”

“Yeah, and I’m probably going to have a meltdown once I stop and think about everything like how Marinette said she loves me, but she really doesn’t, and she’s not going to be able to once we get to know each other again, so…” The creases in Adrien’s brow deepened. “Where was I going with this? There was supposed to be a ‘but’ somewhere. This was supposed to be a positive sentence.”

“Hey.” Luka stepped in, hands going to Adrien’s back and pulling him into a hug. “You’re okay.”

Adrien sighed, letting his eyes slip closed as he melted into Luka’s arms, his familiar pine scent sending a rush of chemicals to Adrien’s brain, promoting a sense of calm and wellbeing.

“Yeah,” Adrien agreed.

“And you’re going to be okay,” Luka continued, running a hand up and down Adrien’s back. “You know, as much as you’re different now than you were a year ago, you haven’t actually changed at all.”

Adrien lifted his head to blink uncomprehendingly up at Luka. “Wha-What?”

“Not the important bits,” Luka clarified. “Not the things that actually make you you, Adrien. You’re different, but none of the things Marinette loved about the old you have changed.”

All Adrien could do was stare.

“I know her,” Luka insisted softly, “and I know you…and she is going to fall in love with you all over again.”

Adrien ducked his head, pulling Luka back to him, hiding his face in Luka’s shoulder.

“You’ll see,” Luka promised, pressing a kiss to the side of Adrien’s head. “Like Rose would say, it’s not going to be all unicorns and rainbows, but it’s going to work out. You’re going to be fine.”

It was nearly two minutes before Adrien could get himself together enough to respond.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

He didn’t have to ask if Luka was sure. Luka had been right the entire time. Adrien was through doubting just because he was scared to believe. If Luka said that things with Marinette would work out, everything was going to be fine.

“Do you need me to take you home? It’d be no trouble,” Luka offered, giving Adrien a squeeze as he trembled. “If you want to be alone to process, I wouldn’t have to stay…just get you home and leave?”

Adrien pushed back, shaking his head and pulling himself together. “No. Thank you, but no. I’ll be okay. I need you to go back upstairs and talk things out with your girlfriend. Things won’t be okay between her and me, if things aren’t okay between her and you…plus, I want you to be okay, and you don’t look okay right now,” Adrien added, worry clear in his eyes as he gazed up, studying Luka’s expression.

Luka sighed. “That obvious, huh?”

Adrien nodded, smiling in consolation. “You’re doing that thing where you’re not okay, but you think people you care about need you to be strong, so you push your own needs and feelings down to deal with later because the other person’s needs are more important to you.”

“Ah,” Luka chuckled ironically, mentally kicking himself for causing Adrien to worry. “You noticed.”

“Of course I noticed,” Adrien sighed, reaching up to cup Luka’s cheek and play absentmindedly with his hair. “I’ve only been watching you do it up close and personal for a year now. I saw you do it before too. With Marinette. With your family. Maybe it seemed like I didn’t notice because I’ve been a wreck, but I know how close I came to breaking you at times, and I’m sorry.”

Adrien went up on his tiptoes to press a kiss to Luka’s forehead.

He pulled back and smiled as Luka looked down at him, stunned.

“Sorry,” Adrien repeated. “But don’t neglect yourself anymore, okay? I care about you, so stop putting yourself last. You and I are a team too, so lean on me a little sometimes, okay? I know in the past you haven’t felt like that was an option, but…on my good days, I want to be there to support you like you’ve supported me on my bad days.”

Luka dropped his head to Adrien’s shoulder, pulling Adrien in tight.

“Shhh,” Adrien shushed as Luka began to tremble.

“It’s okay.” Adrien started to purr as he moved his hand up and down Luka’s back just like Luka had done for him hundreds of times.

“It doesn’t feel okay,” Luka admitted into Adrien’s neck. “I thought she trusted me. I thought we didn’t have any secrets. I told her everything. All the ugly stuff I didn’t want anyone to know. The things I struggled with in the past, the things going on in my life now, the things I wanted for my future. Everything,” Luka hissed.

Adrien gave him a squeeze to let Luka know that Adrien was there with him.

“I told her about Viperion because I couldn’t lie to her like that, but…” He shook his head. “I thought she was my other half. I thought I knew her as well as I knew myself, but…I was wrong…and now I’m wondering who she really is and what else she isn’t telling me.”

“You understand why she did it, though?” Adrien prompted gently.

He could feel Luka nod against his neck. “I understand. She had a lot of pressure on her. That’s a big responsibility, everyone’s lives depending on you, but…a part of me wants her to have made an exception for me. Like…does she not trust me? Doesn’t she love me enough?”

“I felt the same way when she wouldn’t let us tell each other our identities,” Adrien hummed sympathetically. “I was really surprised last week when I found out for sure she hadn’t told you. She said you were safer if no one knew they could get to Ladybug through you. In a way, it makes sense, but…I would have told you, if I were in her place.”

“You did tell me,” Luka chuckled softly, pulling back and straightening up.

Adrien shrugged, caressing Luka’s cheek. “I told you I would have.”

Luka forced a brave smile. “Thanks.”

Adrien bit his lip, hating the pain still lingering in Luka’s watery eyes. “Hey.”

“Hm?” Luka inclined his head, placing his hand on top of Adrien’s trapping it against his cheek.

“She’s still the same person. Trust me. I’ve had a year to lose sleep over this,” Adrien assured, laughing self-deprecatingly, “and I’ve come to understand that there was a reason why I fell so silly in love with the both of them. Ladybug is just Marinette in focus mode,” he explained.

Luka frowned, puzzling over the words.

Adrien shook his head. “She’s not a totally different person who you don’t know with some secret life you know nothing about. She’s still Marinette…she just saves Paris thrice weekly in her spare time. Don’t think too hard about this,” he entreated.

His voice and eyes softened as he smiled up at Luka. “She’s still your other half. There’s just a little bit more to learn about her now, a few more ways in which she’s the most amazing girl you’ve ever met. Don’t let this ruin what you have,” he begged. “You two are so beautiful together.”

Adrien’s smile turned bittersweet. “I’d kill to have that with someone.”

“Oh, Adrien,” Luka sighed.

Adrien shook his head, stepping back, pulling away. “Go up there and let her know that she hurt you. Let her know that if she hurts you again, she’s going to have to deal with me.”

Adrien winked, and Luka burst out laughing.

“My hero,” Luka snickered, but then his voice softened into a more genuine tone. “What would I do without you, Perfect Fifth?”

Adrien shrugged. “Be miserable, Orpheus. We both know I give your life joy and meaning.”

Luka snorted in laughter. “That you do.” He leaned in, giving Adrien’s cheek a kiss. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

Adrien nodded, turning toward the front door. “I’m just going home and doing laundry. Plagg will call if I need you. You know that.”

“Good old Plagg,” Luka sighed. “I’ll check up on you later, okay?”

“I know you will,” Adrien sang, waving back over his shoulder as he went. “Go make up with your girlfriend.”

 Nino was in Adrien’s kitchen microwaving calzones when he arrived home.

“Luka called you,” Adrien accused, setting the little takeaway box of day-old Tom and Sabine’s passionfruit and cheesecake macarons down on the counter.

“Luka texted me.” Nino shrugged, setting the plate with the calzones on the island before heading back to the fridge to fetch the marinara sauce for dipping.

“What did he say?” Adrien hummed, picking up a calzone and beginning to tear off the corner. He dropped it when the steam from inside the pizza pocket burned his fingers. “Youch!”

Nino whipped around. “Dude,” he chastised, glaring as he shooed Adrien away. “Did you not just see me take those out of the microwave?”

Adrien shrugged, giving Nino a winning, “how could you blame me for anything?” smile.

Nino glared harder, not affected by Adrien’s tricks.

Adrien shrugged again, conveying that it had been worth a shot.

Shaking his head, Nino turned back to the fridge. “He just said to please check on you and that you’d probably be home in fifteen minutes.” He turned and placed the plastic cups of marinara next to the plate, gingerly popping their tops off. “What’s up?”

Adrien groaned, reaching for the calzone once more.

Nino smacked his hand. “Dude.”

Adrien shot his best friend a wounded expression.

Nino wagged a finger pointedly in Adrien’s face. “Mec, use a fork and knife.”

“Alya says only pretentious, elitist snobs eat pizza with a fork and knife,” Adrien parroted, getting even Alya’s inflection perfect.

Nino rolled his eyes. “Calzones aren’t pizza. They’re pizza-adjacent.”

“Right.” Adrien grabbed the piece he’d already torn off and dipped it into the sauce.

Nino let loose a longsuffering sigh, going to get a fork and knife for himself. “So why did Luka text me to come check on you?”

Adrien paused mid-chew to stare distractedly down at his food as if it were suddenly the most interesting thing he’d ever seen.

“Adrien? Come on. Don’t freeze me out. You okay?” Nino prompted.

Adrien shook his head, swallowing. “Marinette kissed me and told me she loved me, and I’m pretty sure Luka and Marinette asked me on a date—like, both of them. Like, I think they want me to be their boyfriend, and how the hell did I get so lucky? but at the same time that’s kind of terrifying? so I’m kind of trying not to implode right now.”

Nino stared wide-eyed at Adrien for a minute before he could formulate a response.

Adrien looked up to his friend for guidance, eyes begging for reassurance and answers.

Nino took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair. “Shit,” he replied.

Adrien sighed, disappointed in Nino’s sage advice. “Yeah. I got that far on my own, thanks,” he snorted.

Nino clicked his tongue. “None of your sass, Child. But I’m going to smack Luka. How could he possibly think springing all this on you was a good idea?”

Adrien shrugged, carefully tearing off another piece of calzone. “I don’t think he did. Marinette kind of had the reigns of the conversation. Luka was just trying to mitigate the damage.”

Nino sighed, shaking his head as he studied Adrien intently. “You okay, Mec? Anything you want to talk about?”

Adrien looked back down at his food, considering. “No. I think I’ve done enough talking for today. I can’t handle any more feelings or emotions right now. Can we just hang out and maybe play Smash Brothers or something? I need to turn my brain off and not deal with anything serious for a couple hours.”

“Gotcha. Can do,” Nino assured, reaching out and giving Adrien’s hair a tussle.

#Lukadrienette #Adrienette #Lukadrien #Miraculous Ladybug #Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction #Adrien Agreste/Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Adrien Agreste #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Luka Couffaine #Nino Lahiffe #Post-Reveal #Pre-Relationship #Mikau's Writings #To Waltz Among Shades

[romaniassexdungeon]

Two Lucas? Drama at Lu-topia!

Luca Morgens- Luxembourg

Tolli- Iceland

Luca Rotaru- Moldova (copyright @phyripo™)

Plus a LadKug cameo

…

File name is ‘Luca discourse ™ meta ™’.

Based on the rather amusing coincidence of myself and @phyripo giving each half of LuxMold the name Luca, but hey, people share names all the time (I’ve known about 10 James for one). Kind of a silly jokefic based on that (the only other idea I had was adult them having a running joke of “I can’t believe you called your own name during sex” but I’m still trying to regain the dignity lost in the NSFW OTP challenge sooo…). This isn’t supposed to be all that in-character, by the way. It’s just me trying to be funny.

This is short and stupid and I don’t know why I keep coming up with LuxMold high school Aus™ of all things… they’re just around that age, I guess. Also it’s set in an English high school because I’m lazy like that.

Anyway, hope @phyripo and the 5 or so other LuxMold shippers like this… thing.

Can we just settle this discourse by agreeing I am the alpha Luca? (Okay I’m a Luka bUT OHWELL).

…

Luca Morgens was almost certain he was not meant to be here.

Since when did he get detention? Well, there was that time he turned up to school hungover, forgetting he had a two-hour chemistry lesson about alcohols of all things, and promptly throwing up all over his notes. That had been the grimmest day of his life so far, in all honesty.

But aside from that- !- he’d never gotten a detention in his life- and the previous event had actually resulted in a week’s suspension and a concerned phonecall to his brother anyway, so technically his slate was still spotless.

So why the hell had his form tutor only today informed him of a month’s worth of detentions- starting with this one right here. How? What could he have possibly done to warrant a whole month of his life spent writing lines after school as punishment?

Seriously, what had he done?

It was the art teacher he’d cheesed off, apparently, given that he was now surrounded by drying racks and A1 sized card paintings, mostly depicting detailed and often surreal portraits, and then his own vase of flowers, inspired by the likes of Jan Brueghel the elder and Ambrosius Bosschaert, and others from the Dutch Golden Age. It was with great amusement that he’d linked his brother’s own love of gardening to the Dutch Flowers movement and thus his inspiration for GCSE art- though actually painting in such detail was a challenge he’d not quite grasped until it came to practicing his own paintings. But boy had it been a struggle to finish every little detail in two days.

All in all, Luca was proud of the work he’d put into his final piece, finished only today at the end of a grueling, two-day exam, so why the hell was he here? He didn’t like getting in trouble, not in the slightest, and hadn’t done anything to offend Mr Kirkland. Well, not deliberately.

“The hell did you do?”

The teacher had yet to arrive, and so far there were only three- now four- students waiting for him: Luca, two strange-looking pipsqueaks from a few years below him, and now his mate Tolli. To be honest, they only really talked in the art and history lessons they shared, but the boy seemed nice enough.

And apparently had been discovered to be the one who changed every desktop screen in the graphics design computer room to a picture of Robbie Rotten. Oh well. He’d tried to get away with it.

“I don’t know,” he hissed back as the guy sat next to him, “seriously, what could I have done to tick the fellow off?”

“I don’t know,” Tolli gave a little shrug, “I can’t remember anything ya did… Are you crying?”

“…No.”

“Were ya crying?”

“Maybe,” Luca almost sobbed.

Tolli’s eyebrows knotted together. “You cried… over a detention?”

“That a problem?” Yes, yes he’d cried over his first ever detention, okay? Not only was it a new experience for him, but he’d somehow done something so bad-

How did a person even get a month’s worth of detention? What did they have to fuck up to get that result? Luca was almost impressed at himself.

“What about those two?” Tolli nodded over at the pair of what were clearly future art students- one had tied his hair in multicoloured ribbons and the other somehow had paint on his face. Not that Luca had particularly cared to people watch at that moment in time. They seemed a little couply though, practically on each other’s laps as they cuddled.

“Don’t know.”

“What’re ye in for?” he called to the pair.

“Painting nudes for homework,” paint-face called back.

Okay. Luca was officially done with trying to understand young people. Yes, he was only sixteen but anyone younger was beyond reasoning now. Then again, the inner mechanisms of Mr Kirkland’s mind could be a complete mystery too.

“Oh! I got it!” Tolli snapped his fingers for emphasis, “Luca Rotaru!”

“Morgens. I’m Luca Morgens, remember?” Christ, had Tolli been paying that little attention to his life?

Tolli just raised an eyebrow at that. “No, Luca Rotaru in year nine!”

“Who?” There was another Luca in the school? Now that he thought of it, it was hardly some miraculous coincidence. Luca wasn’t the rarest of names.

“Really?” For some reason, Tolli looked absolutely astounded at his friend’s ignorance. “I barely care and even I know about Rotaru.”

“Why? Is he famous or something?” He either had celebrities for parents or had set fire to his previous school. Luca was hoping for the latter, to an extent.

“Famous for being weird as shit,” Tolli was saying, “he’s that kid who brought in a real live hamster and set it loose in the greenhouse, remember?”

“Oh, that guy.” Nice to place a name to an incident.

Tolli just looked like he was happy to be getting somewhere. “Yes, that guy. The one who drew a pentagram in the gym. That guy. Doesn’t own a pair of underwear guy. Claims his brother knows how to summon Satan guy.”

“He sounds… disturbed.” Maybe he had burnt down his previous school after all, and a hospital, an Aldi and a couple nursing homes. Also what the actual fuck was wrong with this kid?

“He probably is. I don’t think he has parents.”

“Does that really excuse vandalism?”

Tolli just shrugged.

Maybe he had something more to say, but Mr Kirkland’s arrival prevented him from speaking another word, like why the hell were they talking about a wannabe Satanist and how did they get onto the subject?

“Separate tables,” Mr Kirkland growled in greeting, indicating to the pair of now rather dejected duos. Well detention sure sounded fun. Luca wanted to crawl under a pile of paintings and cry.

“Morgens, what are you doing here?”

Being miserable and a little ashamed of himself. “I don’t actually know, sir.” Might as well be honest- and at least this way he could get some answers. Unless Mr Kirkland decided the best course of action was to fly off the rails for no reason, like teachers tended to do.

But Mr Kirkland just ran a hand through his hair with a groan. “That may be because you’re not meant to be here at all.”

“I’m not?” What was this? A song in his heart? A cloud beneath him? A light spring breeze in his hair?

“No, it seems your name must’ve been mixed with another’s at some point.” Mr Kirkland seemed unwilling to name names, but Luca could guess who the real hooligan was.

“So I can take my leave now?” he asked, causing yet another eye roll from Tolli.

“Yes you may; sorry for keeping you, lad.”

…

Well, that was the other Luca, supposedly.

Luca M. hadn’t been too sure what he was expecting, but a scruffy borderline feral fourteen year old wandering about a crowded school corridor seemed about right. Very little of what Luca R. was wearing seemed to be the correct school uniform, but given his track record, that probably wasn’t the school’s biggest concern for once.

Everything about him screamed tryhard, needless eccentricities though, from the necklace made of old Halloween fangs, to the fur coat whose original owner might have had the mange, to the somewhat disturbing lack of shoes. Did he… not come to school with shoes? Did he even own a pair? He, apparently, went out of the way to buy his own miniature hat, so why not even a cheap pair?

Was this even something he could find out? Luca M. couldn’t exactly ask such a thing in polite conversation.

Besides, he had a job to do and should honestly stop staring at the kid from afar because it probably looked creepy.

“Hey,” he called, keeping his voice as soft yet audible as possible, “Luca Rotaru, right?”

Luca R. jumped at that, spinning round slightly and glancing up with a pair of massive doe eyes, like he’d been caught taking ecstasy, or was a cat begging for food. It probably would’ve been cuter if he was a manga character, as opposed to a real life teenage boy.

“Um, yes? Oh gosh, what have I done now?”

“Erm, nothing,” Luca M. replied in surprise. Well, nothing he actually knew of that recently happened. Even the hamster incident had been a month or so ago.

“Oh, hello,” he held out a hand awkwardly, “I’m Luca Morgens.”

The adorable edgelord smiled at that. “Hello fellow Luca!” The way he said that made Luca M. wonder if the kid was about to ask him to join a secret cult of people named Luca.

Could they drink at cult meetings? Because he might consider it (exam season had more or less broken him at this point).

“Well, erm,” he licked his lips trying to find the right words, “your presence is required at… erm, well, detention with Mr Kirkland. For the next month.”

“Oh.” Luca R. seemed to deflate at that, giving a half-hearted shrug that ruffled the remaining fur on his coat. “I suppose I had it coming.”

“What did you even do?” The words were out of Luca M’s mouth before he could stop them. “I mean, if you don’t mind my ask-“

“I tried to make a new mother in art,” Luca R. explained, “and one of the kids in my class called me a dickhead so I punched him.”

“Ah.” Almost cute. If cute was tragic mixed with unnerving.

“Why did sit ask you to deliver the message though?” asked Luca R. as the other Luca turned to leave. Oh.

“There was a mixup,” he explained, “probably something to do with us being the only ‘Luca’s in the school.” Or to his knowledge, at least.

“Oh you didn’t have to sit my detention, did you?” Luca R. looked horrified at the thought, a hand shooting up to cover his mouth.

“Not at all; it was all sorted out fine,” Luca M. tried his best to look reassuring, but wasn’t sure discount Luca actually believed him.

“Oh I’m so sorry.” Now they were holding hands… why? Luca R. sure had a sweet side to him, hidden somewhere under the weird. “Let me make it up to you!”

“Really, it’s-“

“No, I feel really bad about it.” His little bottom lip started wobbling, and Luca M. simply sighed.

“We can hang out sometime, if that’s okay with you.” A rather simple but ingenious plan was beginning to form in his head: if he befriended Luca R, he could buy him a pair of shoes for his birthday.

“Yeah! That sounds really fun, Luca!”

#luxmold #aph luxembourg #aph moldova #hetalia #phyripo #guess who did dutch flowers for GCSE art #drawing vases of flowers is surprisingly hard #and guess who also turned up to a two hour chemistry lesson drunk #didn't throw up though