The school was eerily quiet this late in the day. As far as she knew, everyone save for a few of the teachers and the custodial staff had gone home for the day. Which just left her and the empty dance studio, and the occasional echo of cleaning carts going up and down the hall. It was only a matter of time before someone came to kick her out, but the custodians were usually pretty understanding and wouldn’t kick people out until they had to.
So for the time being, she was essentially on her own.
Just her and the music.
And this stupid choreography.
Except, that wasn’t really fair… The choreography wasn’t stupid…
She huffed in frustration as she bailed out of the Italian fouetté. That was the third time she had messed it up today. She never had this much trouble with choreography. And it wasn’t even hip hop! There was no reason she should be having any trouble with this, let alone this much trouble.
Especially since she had done it, if not perfectly than at least almost perfectly, yesterday.
Sighing, she crossed the floor to where her phone was plugged into the speaker and restarted the music. She made her way back to centre, and let the familiar swell of the music wash over her. By this point, she probably didn’t even need the music; she had been at it so long she practically had it memorized.
She ignored the aches in her feet and the soreness creeping into her muscles as she went through the steps. Every move was perfect.
Except…
As the Italian fouetté section drew nearer, what felt like a million akumas began to swirl in her stomach. Every motion of the steps ricocheted off the inside of her head, swirling in a cloud of unwelcome and unwanted chaos as her feet slid into position to prepare for the fouettés.
The first fouetté was sloppy, but at least she had made it through it this time.
The second one was shaky.
The third one…
She tried to place her arms perfectly. Extend her leg perfectly. Keep a serene and effortless smile on her face. Just like Mme. Clément had instructed her to. Except all she could focus on was how nothing was right and none of it was good enough. So she had squeezed her eyes shut, despite knowing better.
Without her place on the wall to spot, she stumbled out of the turn. Angrily, she wiped tears of frustration from her eyes as the music continued on without her.
“Nadine?”
She screamed at the unexpected voice. She whirled to find Luka standing in the door the the dance studio, his guitar case slung across his back and his hair looking more dishevelled than usual.
“Luka? What are you doing here? I thought I was alone!”
He offered her an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I was…” the smile dropped from his face as he sighed and dragged a hand through his hair, messing it up even further. “The song I’m working on, well, I’m stuck right now. Been going in circles for a while now.”
“The song for Marinette?”
“You’ve been talking with Jules too much,” he said, rolling his eyes. And not answering her question. Which meant it was a yes. “What’re you doing here?”
“Can’t you tell?” she asked with a wry laugh, gesturing to her leotard and tights and the speakers, from which the music was still playing.
“You’ve been at it a while though, haven’t you? Your last class ends before mine.”
“Yeah, well,” she said, turning to face the mirror. “I keep messing it up.”
In the reflection of the mirror, she watched as Luka settled himself against the doorframe. “It looked good from where I was standing, until you got in your own head.”
“Good isn’t enough,” she mumbled as she tried to find her place in the song to get back into the steps.
“You can’t be perfect all the time,” he scoffed in that comforting way of his.
“I’m not perfect,” she mumbled, crossing her arms as she looked away from the reflection of his gaze, giving up on the choreo entirely.
“No one is. Now are you going to tell me what’s got you so stuck in your own head?”
“I didn’t get the commercial,” she admitted.
“But this isn’t the first time,” he said, prompting her to continue on.
He was right. That was just show business. She couldn’t expect to land every role. There were plenty of roles she hadn’t landed before, whether she hadn’t been the right look, or she had been too old or too young. But this time… “When they found out they could get Adrien Agreste, they decided I wasn’t good enough. They revamped the entire concept for the commercial so they could cast him.”
In the mirrors, she saw Lukas brows furrow. She knew about Luka’s complicated relationship with Adrien, not that he would ever call it that. He was too nice for that. She on the other hand…
“He can’t even act!” she blurted out, throwing her hands up in frustration. “And I… it just sucks, you know? Losing out to someone because of who they are or their connection. I know that makes me sound like a hypocrite but you know me.”
“I do,” he sad quietly. His voice was comforting, but his expression was dark.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. Of course he knew what that was like, what with the music video incident that had gone down with Kitty Section and XY, back when Kitty Section had still been together.
His expression lightened; it was still heavy, but the darkness had faded. “I think we’ve both spun ourselves in circles enough for tonight. And you and I both know the worst thing for us is to be alone at times like these. We’re doing take-out tonight, ma wouldn’t mind if you dropped by.”
A small smile crept across her face. “That would be nice. My parents are out tonight anyways, I’ll just text Isabelle that she shouldn’t expect me for dinner.”
Luka nodded. “You pack up, I’ll shut down the sound system.”
“Thanks,” she said gratefully, before hobbling on her aching feet to where she had dumped her backpack and rehearsal bag. “You know,” she said as she kicked off her character shoes and pulled her joggers on over her leotard, “maybe you wouldn’t be spinning yourself in circles if you just asked Marinette out already.”
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Look at me! I made it before midnight on the 28th! Just in time for the February @mlwritersguild event!! This is a gift fic for @eat0crow I hope you enjoy it!!!
Marinette hated armor. It was heavy and noisy and not good for sneaking around. She’d been a knight of the realm now for nearly a quarter of her twenty-four years, and in training for ten years prior to that. Female knights were rare, and those of her size even rarer, but Marinette got by on her brains rather than brute strength, and that frequently required being sneaky, which she could not do while wearing plate armor. And since she was now tasked with ridding the kingdom of a weyr of dragons, sneaky was more important than “well-protected”. She’d cook just as quickly with the armor as without it if the dragon decided it was going to breathe fire on her. Wearing the armor was simpler than arguing, however, and Marinette rode away from the village, fully encased until the road curved into the forest and she was hidden from sight.
As soon as she was out of sight, she dismounted and shimmied out of her armor. Not wanting to even bother carrying it, she hid it in the woods, a fair way off the beaten path, rubbing it with dirt and covering it with leaves and branches, so that it didn’t glint in the sun. She kept the chainmail on over the padded jerkin, planning to ditch it once she got closer. The chainmail she was attached to, and would leave it with her horse, Tikki, as she entered into the final leg of the journey, but until then, she’d keep it on until she had to actually climb the mountain. It was two days ride through the forest, and the first day and a half passed without incident.
Swinging back into the saddle, Marinette checked her unslung bow and quiver of arrows to make sure that they were still in place. As a knight, she was expected to use a sword, but Marinette had always preferred the power and reach of the other weapon, so had kept up her training in both. She sighed as she settled back onto the roan mare, clicking her tongue to get Tikki to trot forward once again.
Humming to herself, Marinette appeared completely at ease as she traveled, when in reality, she was hyperfocused on all that was going on around her. Her eyes darted around, peeking out from under lowered lashes, smiling up whenever sunlight dappled her face. The sun was just starting to sink past the horizon when Marinette stopped to make camp for the night, close to the far edge of the forest.
Electing not to build a fire, Marinette pulled some rations from her saddlebags and picketed Tikki in a clearing where there was plenty for her to eat. The chainmail came off, as well, and Marinette wrapped herself into a warm blanket and lay back to sleep. Dreams swirled through her head that night; dreams of dragons and of the Crown Prince Luka, who had been killed by dragons over 20 years ago. Marinette had been three at the time and did not remember the incident, but she remembered the fear and the mourning, although the story had been told to her many times during training.
Prince Luka had only been a few years older than Marinette, a quiet five-year-old with kind blue eyes. She’d seen him once, and those eyes had stayed with her through the years. He’d slipped away from his tutors that afternoon, tired of reading and numbers, and ready to run and play, but being a responsible child, even at five, had chosen to make the rounds with the gamekeeper. Old Henri had let Luka walk a snare line by himself, checking three traps for rabbits, while he’d gone on the bigger circuit.
Henri had taken off at a run when he’d heard Luka’s screams, but he’d been at the far point of the circuit and when he’d arrived, bursting out of the undergrowth where the young prince had been, there was nothing but a few scorch marks, a lot of blood, Luka’s silver bracelet he never took off, and a lone tree on fire. Henry had screamed for help, and, as they’d heard the scuffle, people had started arriving in the clearing less than a minute after Henri. They’d quickly doused the flames and searched for Prince Luka, but he was gone. A few years later, half a mile away, they’d found the bones of a small child, and the crown prince’s remains had been laid to rest. It was then, at the funeral, as tears coursed down the face of the fiery queen and ever jovial king that Marinette resolved to become a night, and to kill all the dragons in the land, and to keep the people from being sad.
Over the years, Marinette’s reasons for becoming a knight had changed, but her ambition had never wavered. She wanted to protect Princess Juleka, whom she’d become friends with during her time training at the palace, but when the chance to hunt down the dragon that had been circling over the forest came up, Marinette had not hesitated; she’d been the first to volunteer, and offered the best plan for actually capturing the dragon, she planned to go alone, and she was given two weeks. If she had not returned home in that time, she would be presumed dead and have another knight (or group of knights) sent in her place.
Marinette knew that she would not fail. As she lay on her back, peering up at the stars that still peaked through the trees, even as the glow of the sun could be seen upon the horizon, Marinette steeled herself for the day to come. Throwing off her blankets, she packed it and her chainmail on Tikki, unpicketing the mare, knowing that she would stay close, at least until the food in the clearing ran out, and she wandered away, foraging for more. With one last stroke of the horse’s shaggy head, Marinette slipped a padded leather jerkin over her simple green cotton tunic and leggings.
Tying a belt around her waist, she fastened her bow and quiver at her left hip and her seax knife at her right, while her sword nestled snuggly in its scabbard on her back. Setting off up the path that wound out of the forest and to the cliffs where the dragon had been spotted landing. She’d rubbed dirt into her naturally pale skin, but her dark hair and clothing helped her blend into her surroundings. She flitted from one hiding spot to another, making sure she stayed downwind, even though she’d covered herself with the scent of horse, just to be sure. She was about ten meters below a large cave in the cliff, when a roar split the air; an angry sound that made the scrubby trees around her vibrate, but not as loud as she had expected. It was followed by another roar, obviously from a different dragon, and this one was louder, loosening a few rocks around her feet, and sending them bouncing back down the path.
A small jet of flames shot out of the cave, and Marinette dropped to her belly, covering the next couple of meters at a painstakingly slow crawl. She froze when she heard a voice, one that could only have belonged to a human male, deep and soothing, speaking as if to calm frayed nerves, although the words themselves were indistinct. Tilting her head to locate the source of the voice, she gasped when she realized the voice was coming from inside the cave. One of the dragons grumbled, and Marinette had a wave of fear for the man, but his voice was calm and unhurried, and eventually he broke into a song.
The man’s voice was deep and rich, and even Marinette found herself relaxing as she heard it. As the song continued, it became clearer, and Marinette caught a glimpse of the man at the edge of the cave. He had jet black hair and a sharp blade of a nose. He wore richly woven clothes, well made, but many years out of date, and they appeared to be in tatters, and even singed in some places. His beard was as dark as his hair and thick on his face, hiding the shape of his jawline as well as his mouth. She must have made a sound, for he turned to look at her, and Marinette’s mouth dropped open.
She would know those eyes anywhere. Marinette was certain that she was staring into the face of Crown Prince Luka, the same one who had died two decades ago. His name slipped from between her lips, barely more than a whisper, but even with all the distance between them he must have heard, because his eyes grew huge and round.
“How…” He broke off, his brows furrowed in confusion. “How did you know my name?”
Her voice was steadier now, but still barely above a whisper as she answered him. “I saw you. When we were just children.” She pushed herself up, and stood before him, taking a tentative step towards him, hands out to the side, away from her weapons. “Why are you here?”
Luka leaned down, reaching for Marinette’s arm, clasping it, and easily hauling her the last few feet up the cliff face to sit on the ledge with him. When Marinette was settled, he leaned back against the rocks behind him, one leg bent, arms loosely clasped around them, his chin resting on his knee. He looked past her, over towards the treetops of the forest, as if he could see to the village beyond. He looked back at her, his brow furrowing once again. “You make me think of cakes. And that’s a food I haven’t thought of in many years. They’re hard to come by out here.” He gave a self-deprecating little laugh and shrugged a single shoulder.
Marinette beamed at him. “My parents ran a bakery. You and your tutor stopped by to pick up a birthday cake for your sister.” She paused and her smile softened. “I’m Marinette.”
“Luka.” The man in front of her smiled, ruefully. “But you already knew that. Why have you come? I haven’t seen another human in years.”
This time it was Marinette’s brow that furrowed. “I heard there were dragons out here, and I came to rid the kingdom of the menace. Your parents haven’t been tolerant of dragons, since… well, since you disappeared.”
Luka looked genuinely shocked. “But the dragon saved me from the wolves!”
“What wolves?” Marinette asked, confused.
I’d been checking the snares with Henri. The last one had a rabbit in it, but there was a wolf approaching it. I yelled at it, and swung at it with a stick, just like I’d been taught.” Luka’s chest swelled with childish pride. “But then four others slunk out of the trees. One of them lunged and grabbed me by the leg. It was the scariest thing ever, but then Sass flew down and saved me! He ate the wolves, too, but he accidentally burned some trees when he sneezed.”
Marinette listened with a growing sense of disbelief. “Sass? Who’s that?”
“Sass is…” Luka’s face fell. “Sass was the dragon who saved me.” He fixed my leg up, even though I don’t walk so good now.” He indicated a crutch that was just inside the entrance to the cave. “Lady Rose made that for me. She’s a fae healer who lives in the forest, although I’m not sure where. She stops by every time the moon is bright and full. She brought me books and taught me to read. She’s taught me all about plants and animals, too. She’s helped me take care of Sass’s horde, but it’s kinda hard without him.”
She cocked her head to one side. “A dragon horde? You look after it?” At the man’s nod, she asked, “could you show me?”
Luka nodded eagerly. “You’ll have to be quiet though.”
Puzzled, Marinette agreed.
Soon they were standing at the entrance to a chamber just off the main cave. Marinette tried counting all the bodies in the pile. “That’s… not exactly what I was expecting,” she admitted with a grin. “It’s awfully cute, though.”
Luka’s grin matched hers, his voice also a whisper, so as not to wake the pile sleeping baby dragons. “I know. It’s Sass’s dragon horde. The eldest is about twelve, and the youngest is two. He started with one but just kept collecting strays. Now it’s my turn, I guess.” He shrugged his one-shouldered shrug, leaning his weight on the crutch.
Marinette grinned up at him. “So… how can I help?”
The smile that broke across Luka’s face rivaled the warmth of the sun. “Make me a cake?”
Laughing, Marinette offered to take him back home, promising to do what she could for the dragon pups, already making plans to appeal to the King and Queen to create a dragon sanctuary on their lands.
With a grin, Luka agreed, and while Marinette promised him that her parents would bake him as many cakes as he liked.
This drabble was requested through ko-fi by @ladylb. Thanks so much for the support!
___
“Why does your face look like that?”
Adrien startled as Chloe took the empty seat beside him at the fundraising table. The school was raising money to support a new hospital program to provide more entertainment and activities for sick children and different students were set up at booths around the carnival. “Like what?”
“Like you’re upset about something.” She leaned over to glance at the tablet they were using to keep up with pledges. “It can’t be the pledges. It looks like my idea to have you sit here and look pretty so people gave us money worked. I still think they should’ve used my kissing booth idea too though. Guys and girls would’ve been lined around the building.”
He nodded distractedly. “Yeah, people are really nice.”
Chloe followed his gaze across the crowded room and spotted Marinette and Luka talking beside the stage the class set up for Kitty Section to perform on later during the fundraiser. Marinette was holding a guitar and laughing and Luka was smiling as he moved her hands into the right position. His fingers lingered over hers and Marinette’s face washed out in pink. “Oh, I get it now.”
“Get what?”
“The look.”
Adrien’s brow furrowed and he turned to his friend. “What are you talking about, Chloe?”
“You’re jealous of Luka.”
“What? No, I’m not. He’s my friend.”
She rolled her eyes. “You can be jealous of your friends, Adrikins. It’s not like there’s a rule against it. People like to pretend they aren’t but they’re just lying.” Her voice rose into falsetto. “Oh, I would never be jealous of them. They’re my friend. That wouldn’t be nice.” She huffed. “Puh-lease. Everyone gets jealous sometimes.”
“I’m not jealous of Luka. I think he’s awesome. What would I even be jealous of?” Adrien’s gaze had drifted to Luka and Marinette once more and he frowned.
“Oh my word, you don’t even realize it, do you? Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.”
He sighed and sat back in his chair. “As much as I love our conversations, Chlo, if you aren’t going to be helpful--”
“Fine. If you aren’t jealous of Luka, why do you keep looking over there, hmm?”
Adrien looked away from the couple guiltily. “I guess I’m just wondering about something, that’s all.”
“What?”
He glanced around and then lowered his voice. “Well, I think Marinette and I are friends-- I mean, I consider us friends and I think she does too-- but she doesn’t seem to like talking to me.”
“Uh-huh.” Chloe produced a nail file from her purse and leaned back in the chair. She propped her shoes on the table and went to work on her makeshift manicure.
“It’s weird really. She shows up in places I don’t expect but then if we do have an opportunity to hang out or talk, it feels like she’s always running away or making excuses or something.” He gave his friend an earnest look. “Do you think she doesn’t like me? Maybe I get on her nerves.”
“That’s definitely not the problem.”
Adrien sighed and his attention wandered to Luka and Marinette once more. “It just seems like everyone else can talk to her so easily, especially Luka, and she looks so relaxed with him. It bothers me that she isn’t that way around me. We’ve been friends for a while now. I just want her to be comfortable around me and want to hang out.”
“Because you’re friends,” Chloe reiterated with a smirk.
“Yeah.”
“Uh-huh.”
“What’s that tone for?”
Chloe dropped her feet back to the floor and stood. “Far be it for me to help Marinette Dupain-Cheng out,” she sniffed, “but I don’t think Luka and Marinette are friends, at least not just friends.”
“Oh?” Realization dawned on his face. “Oh. I see.”
She patted his head as she moved behind him. “So if you aren’t worried about the way she acts with Nino or Marc or Ivan or any of the other dum-dums around here, maybe friendship isn’t why you keep watching her and Luka talk.” She waved her hand as she began to walk away. “But what you should be worried about is getting more pledges so get to it, Adrikins. There are still plenty of people to charm out of their money.”
Marinette’s laughter traveled across the room and her face was bright with joy as Luka strummed the guitar and spoke to her and Adrien felt his entire universe tilt on its axis. “Oh,” he whispered.
I wrote a short page for something that happens in the Lady Luck AU, and I decided to toss it into the void.
“You are a goddamn weeb!” Chat Noir shouted.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Lady Luck said.
Of course she knew exactly what he was talking about. In fact, from her rooftop perch, she had a great view for watching the new Hero test out his powers. She was waiting for the right moment to show up and say hello.
“You gave Luka the Rat Miraculous,” Chat huffed.
“Technically it’s the Mouse Miraculous,” Lady Luck said. “Which is odd, isn’t it? They’re based on the Zodiac so it should be a rat.”
“Mouse, Rat, whatever,” he said. “But you gave it to Luka.”
“Would you prefer I gave him the dog?” she asked.
“See! You know exactly what you’re doing!” he shouted.
“Again, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said. “Just because I happened to narrow down the choices for your romantic rival to animals that are known rivals to yours doesn’t mean I’m a weeb!”
“Yes it does,” he said. “Because no one thinks of the Rat on equal terms with the Cat unless they’ve watched Fruits Basket. So you’re a goddamn weeb!”
“You have no right to call me a weeb,” she said. “You caught onto it. And I know for a fact that you’ve been doing Sailor Moon poses since before you were ever a superhero.”
“So we’re ignoring your cosplay closet?” he wondered.
“Shut the hell up,” she said. “Come on, Adrikitty. Time to say hello to a new Hero. And please, try to be civil. Might scare the poor mouse.”
“I don’t think that’ll work anyway,” he sighed. “Fine.”
Lady Luck stood up, taking a moment to stretch before jumping down from the rooftops. This was going to be quite the entertaining team up.
@fenheart87 This is all your fault...
(Yeah... this is the story behind Six Sentence Sunday)
The slamming of a car door and the heartbroken wail of the man emerging from it dragged everyone's attention from the stage where Kitty Section was setting up for their practice. A haggard, soot-stained man whose clothing had originally been white but was now liberally streaked with black and some brown, gloopy substance that those present desperately hoped was chocolate. His eyebrows were gone, and the smell of burned hair clung to him in a way that his once flowing locks no longer did.
The gasps that came from the group huddled around the stage cut off when they understood the word that the wraith-like man was wailing. "Marinette!" All eyes turned to the girl in question, and several people took an unconscious step back from the young designer. She exchanged a glance with Luka, who was hemmed in upon the stage, and she reached out to the man, quickly ushering him downstairs, to where Anarka was curled on the couch, reading. The woman looked up and immediately burst into peals of laughter. "Jagged, you old Pirate, what on earth have ye gotten yerself into?"
A sob came from the depths of his chest, but he quickly squelched the theatrics, looking at the two somber-faced women standing in front of him. "I was trying to bake cookies for Penny, to show her how much I appreciate her. Things didn't go quite as rock'n'roll as I planned for them to be."
Marinette did her best to smother her chuckles, but Anarka had no such compunction, her laugh ringing out once again. "But that doesn't explain why you're on my ship."
"I went to Marinette's house first, but I think I scared the customers, and Sabine said I could find her here." Turning to Marinette, he dropped to his knees dramatically clasping his hands in front of him. "Please, Marinette. Help me bake cookies!" This time she gave in to her laugh and giggled at the rockstar's antics. Tapping her chin thoughtfully, she wondered aloud what he could do for her in exchange.
He immediately offered her tickets to a concert, slyly adding that she could bring a friend along with her. She completely ignored his insinuations and agreed. Anarka offered to throw Jagged into the Seine to clean him off. Politely declining the invitation, Jagged and Marinette made their way back upstairs, pausing at the doorway to look at the rest of Marinette's class, especially the dark-haired girl who was holding court in front of the stage. Marinette held up her hand causing Jagged to stop, and they both listened to what she was saying.
"You know, I could definitely get you guys tickets to the next Jagged Stone concert. He said he might even sing the song that he wrote for me there." Luka's eyes had traveled to Marinette as soon as she had appeared in the doorway, and they widened slightly at the claims that Lila was making, but she shook her head, with a slight smirk on her face as she tightened her grip on Jagged's wrist. "I'll ask him if I can get the band backstage, but he is extremely busy."
Jagged looked at Marinette, and she tugged him back downstairs. She explained Lila in a furiously whispered conversation, and Jagged just grinned. "That's not very rock and roll of her.” He grinned, looking possessed with all the remnants of his cooking exploits still littering his person. “Can you make sure she's at the next band practice?"
When Marinette nodded, Jagged slipped off the boat in a surprisingly quiet way, and rehearsal continued as normal. Much later, when pretty much everyone else had left, Luka came and sat next to where Marinette was sketching, dropping into the chair next to her. "So... Jagged Stone showed up, looking like he'd blown himself up, I know he heard that girl lying, but then he left, and I had no idea he could even be so unassuming."
Marinette smiled. "I have no idea what he's up to, but he wants Lila to be here at the next band practice."
Saturday rolled around, and Rose invited her whole class to rehearsal when Luka suggested that having more people at their practices helped fill them with a creative spirit, bringing even more passion to their music. Having invited a few of his own friends, Rose thought nothing of it, and the majority of their class was present for a sunny Saturday practice on the deck of the Liberty.
They'd just finished a song, the last echoes of the notes blending with the piercing whistles of one of Luka's friends, a young man who's lime green mohawk matched the kilt he wore when a car screeched to a halt and Jagged tumbled out, followed at a slightly more sedate pace by Penny, a large envelope and a plate of cookies clutched in her hands.
Crossing the gangplank, Jagged hailed the unseen Captain, and a grumble came from the atrium, where Anarka was waiting to see the fun that was going down on her boat. He then smiled at everyone and congratulated Kitty Section on their song.
Reaching out, he proudly offered the cookies to everyone, the only evidence of his cooking disaster the new haircut that he was sporting. Then he smiled at the gathered crowd, winking at Marinette who was standing, as instructed right next to Lila. He made his way to the center of the group of kids, and held up his hands, talking to the group.
"You guys have an amazing friend. She did me a huge favor last week, and I offered her tickets to my next show, but she said she couldn't be satisfied with that, she wanted to take all of her friends with her, and that the members of Kitty Section would like to go backstage. I am here to offer you those tickets to next Friday night's concert."
He turned to Kitty section, "And while I can't offer you backstage passes for free, I'd love it if you could play 2 songs as an opening act for me." He turned back to where Lila was standing and slowly walked in her direction, the smile on his face growing with every step. "I'm sure nobody here is wondering who they should thank for this because there is nobody here more rock and roll than she is." Stopping in front of Lila he smiled and held out his hand. "Come out here Marinette and give me a hug."
Stepping around Lila, Marinette threw her arms around the rocker, her smile radiant, and whispered in his ear, "Thank you so much."
Someone asked about Lila's involvement, and Jagged looked around, confused, his arm casually draped over Marinette's shoulder. "Lila who?" When she was pointed out, Jagged just shrugged as if she meant less than nothing. "I don't usually associate with kids. I just know Marinette because of all the work that she's done for me. Paid, of course."
He turned to Penny. "Hand them their tickets. I need to talk to Kitty Section about what they're going to play next week."
As the class turned on Lila, confronting her about the lie, she made some excuse about having to meet up with another celebrity, leaving before Penny could hand her a ticket to the concert.
As she was running along the street, she heard her name being called and she turned, looking up towards the unfamiliar voice. Seeing that he had her attention, the boy turned ad flipped up the edge of his kilt, and the echo of laughter chased Lila's indignant scream as she turned to run once more.
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“She can’t stop looking at him. I’m getting secondhand embarrassment,” Kagami said before she sipped her coffee.
Chloe took a bite of her macaron. “Both of their faces are as pink as her apron. How can she be so oblivious? If she’s not going to make a move, I will. He would look pretty in the pictures for that gala Daddy is hosting next week.”
“Get in line. I would get him before you. Princess.”
“Neither of you are getting him,” Alya reminded them as she tore into a croissant. “We’re here for moral support, remember?” She tore her eyes away from Marinette and Adrien’s painfully apparent flirting behind the bakery counter and looked at the pair of women with her. “Wait, are you two dating right now or not?”
“Obviously not.” Chloe flipped her ponytail and lifted her chin defiantly. “I need someone who understands what is necessary for a good relationship.”
“She broke up with me for not buying her a diamond tiara to apologize for missing a dinner because of work. I’m quite devastated,” Kagami deadpanned.
“You should be,” Chloe sniffed. “I’m amazing and you’ll be alone forever now.”
“I can’t believe we’re the ones giving Marinette love advice,” Alya sighed. “Can you both at least admit they’d be cute together?”
“They would be a lovely couple.”
“They’re both so pretty, I want to die.”
“At least that’s settled then,” Alya grinned. “So now we just have to...” She trailed off as the door opened and a new customer walked in. “Oh, crap.”
Chloe leaned across the table. “Why is he back in town?! Did you know he was back?”
“I heard that the tour was over but I didn’t think...”
“This isn’t going to be good.”
___________________________________
“You can put a few more on that tray,” Marinette instructed. She was finding it very hard to keep the dopey grin off her face as Adrien transferred a few more pastries to the display tray.
“I don’t want to overcrowd them.”
“You aren’t going to overcrowd them,” she laughed.
Adrien lifted one of the chocolate eclairs and gently shook it. “Listen here, lady, it’s getting cramped on this tray, ya see? I’m an eclair, not an ecramped!”
Marinette snorted and covered her mouth as a bright blush painted her cheeks. “Stop playing with the food, you goof. This is very serious business.”
He dropped his head and bowed the eclair. “We e-pologize.” He glanced up through his eyelashes, amusement clear on his face.
“How can you possibly be this cute?” Her eyes widened as soon as the words came out and she busied herself with wiping a few imaginary crumbs off the counter.
He blinked and dropped the eclair on the tray. “I, uh...” He chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head. “Sorry.”
Marinette felt her friends’ eyes on her and tried very hard not to look in their direction. “Do you want to work the counter or finish the macarons on the back table?”
“I can do the macarons.” He nodded towards the table near the door. “That way you can go talk to your friends if you want.”
She smiled at him. “Thanks! That’d be...” Her attention had gone to the door as the small bell above it chimed and her throat went dry. “Luka! Hi!”
Luka smiled as he reached the counter. “Hi, Marinette. I was hoping you’d be working today.”
“I’m here!” She could feel her face burning and knew she was talking too loud. “I didn’t even know you were back in town. How was the tour?”
“Really great actually.” He ran a hand into his hair and beamed at her. “I have so many stories to tell you.”
“I can’t wait to hear them.” Marinette caught Alya motioning to her from behind Luka and she faltered. “Oh, uh, you haven’t met Adrien! Adrien, this is Luka. Luka, Adrien.” She anxiously watched them shake hands over the counter. “Adrien just moved here from London and he’s really great!”
The men seemed to size each other up even as they smiled and shook hands. “I should get to work on those macarons,” Adrien said. “It was nice to meet you, Luka.”
“You too, Adrien.” He watched him go back to the work table and lowered his voice. “He seems nice.”
“He is,” Marinette nodded.
“Are you two...”
She bit her lip and half-glanced over her shoulder. “We’re friends.”
Luka gave her half a smile. “I get it. Want to talk later?”
“I’d really like that.”
“I’ll call you,” he promised. “Can I get a couple of doughnuts to go? I’ve been thinking about them for months.”
Marinette bagged them up and handed them over to him. “On the house.”
“You’re enabling my sweet tooth, angel.”
“I try.” She attempted to ignore the glares Luka was getting from her table of friends. “Let me know when you’re free and we’ll do dinner or something.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He wasted one last smile on her and then went to the door. “Ladies.” He nodded to the table and then he was gone.
