#offscreen mcd

“I was afraid I’d have to go before you woke up,” he said. He winked at her before moving towards the dresser. “Thought I’d have to get the bucket.”

“Bucket?” she parroted, numb. Her eyes widened as he shucked the towel and pulled on his boxers and jeans.

Damn, Couffaine…

“Don’t worry – you’re not a Couffaine,” he said, voice teasing. He looked over his shoulder, pausing as he started putting his bracelets on. “…yet. Ice bucket alarm clocks are reserved for family, according to Jules. She might make an exception for you, though.”

“What…what the fuck are you talking about?” she groaned, rubbing at her eyes. He turned back to her, pausing with a shirt in his hands. “Why the fuck are you in my room? Why the fuck were you naked? Jesus Christ, Couffaine.”

“…because I spent the night?” he asked, sounding bewildered. “Because I have to get to work and don’t have time to head back to my place to shower? You feeling ok, Alix?”

“Really not,” she grumbled, pausing as something else occurred to her. “…you kissed me. The fuck, Luka? The fuck?! Why the fuck are you kissing me?! Oh my God, Marinette’s going to freak– I don’t cheat on my friends with their husbands, Luka! What the fu-”

“That’s not funny,” Luka said, his voice suddenly deadly serious. She looked back at him to find he was glaring at her. His knuckles were white from how tightly he was holding the shirt. “That’s not…what the fuck, Alix?”

“Damn right it’s not funny, it’s –” she started, but he shoved his shirt on and waved a hand at her, signaling for her to stop. He walked over to the door, but he paused with his hand on the knob. His gaze was focused on one his bracelets – one made of knotted rope, interwoven cords of blue and pink. His hand tightened on the knob.

“I might be late tonight,” he said, voice flat. “Hopefully you’ll be less crazy then.”

He yanked the door open and walked out, slamming it behind him. A few minutes later, she heard the muffled sound of another door slamming. She dropped her head in her hands, groaning.

What. The. Fuck?

– V –

About half an hour later, Alix was shuffling through her living room with a bowl of Trix. Everything looked…weird. She’d always been a bit of a minimalist, but the room seemed even more so now. The pictures were weird, too. So many from when they were younger, but where were the recent ones? The one of Team Miraculous, taken the day Hawkmoth had fallen? The ones from their yearly memorial lunch? The one she had just framed from Marinette’s baby shower?

And why the hell were there so many of Luka with her?

An unexpected knock on her door almost had her dropping her bowl of cereal. She was surprised to open the door and find Juleka, her hair cut short enough to be brushing her chin, glaring at her from the hall.

“Lu called,” she said, tightening her grip on her purse. “Said you were asking about…said it was a Bad Day.”

“Yeah,” Alix scoffed, stepping aside to let her in. “If by Bad Day you mean I woke up to your brother naked in my room.”

“…ew,” Juleka said, scrunching her nose. “I know you’re boning my brother, but I don’t need to know the details, Al.”

“Not you, too!” Alix groaned, dropping her bowl on the counter. Juleka raised an eyebrow at her. “I’m not…ugh…boning your brother. So far from interested, Juleka. That’s Marinette’s job, not – ok what?”

Juleka was looking at her like she’d just slapped her. Like it really was a Bad Day, whatever the hell that meant. She sighed and put her purse on the counter, her fingers digging into the fabric.

“I was expecting this, I guess,” she sighed, sitting on one of the stools and dropping her head in her hands. “I was just expecting the call to come from you because he’d decided to spend her birthday in a bar again.”

“…what?” Alix asked. Juleka looked up, glaring at her.

“I know you two have this…thing between you,” she said. “Time Twins or whatever the hell you want to call it. And most days I’m grateful for it. I don’t think anyone else could’ve put him back together after…and he was probably the only one who understood how fruitless all your burrowing was. You guys saved each other after…but hell, Alix. Maybe it’s time you both realize the saving’s done and you need to move on. What you have isn’t healthy. Not if you’re going to keep hurting each other like this.”

“Like what?” Alix asked, throwing her hands up. “I don’t even know what I did, what –”

“You told him he was married to Marinette!” Juleka snapped. “When you know damn well she’s been dead for four years and the only thing that keeps him going most days is holding it together for you!”

Alix stood there, shocked, as Juleka seemed to lose her fight. She looked down at her wrist, panting, and picked at a bracelet Alix hadn’t noticed before. It looked just like Luka’s, except it was red and black instead of pink and blue. She had noticed a similar one on her own dresser, but she hadn’t bothered putting it on.

“…he loves you, Alix,” she finally said, closing her eyes and taking a breath, “but he’s always gonna love her more. And every time you wake up on a Bad Day and mix up the timelines, it’s always gonna kill him a little bit more. He won’t leave you because he thinks I’m being stupid. But damn it, Alix. I need you to leave him before you kill him.”

She looked up, her eyes watery.

“I’ve already lost Rose. We’ve all already lost Marinette,” she said. “I can’t lose my brother, too.”

Alix opened her mouth to answer, but her head was swimming. She had no idea what to say. She…