Prompt: "Scared, me?"

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug

Character/Pairing: Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant

Rating: K Plus / PG / Most Ages

Notes/Warnings: Remember that "Luka Couffaine hates horror movies – more on that later" note? xD I was amused by the idea that Juleka is Juleka and Luka would hate horror movies. (Personally I love a good horror movie – I live for jump scares and mindfuckery.) Also, since it's my last chance to say it: thank y'all so much for reading & all the feedback. I love that y'all have been enjoying these (mostly) silly little stories. I think I'm taking November off prompt challenges and focusing on some WIPs I've been kicking around. I don't usually post the WIPs until they're complete (there's a bunch of one shots, but I have two big chapter fics in the works), but I'll probably be doing some Six Sentence Sundays and WIP Wednesdays until they're up over on Tumblrland. Anyway, thanks again for reading – happy Halloween, y ¡feliz Día de los Muertos!

31 October 2019

Luka Couffaine was a total wimp, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng found it adorable.

He had faced worse as Viperion – done worse as Silencer – but he still jumped at horror movies. Which…it wasn't even a horror movie. It was Hocus Pocus, which…y'know. Wasn't scary. At all. But he had still hunkered down in the deck chair behind her, the blanket tucked over his head and his face pressed into her shoulder. His arms tightened around her waist as Billy Butcherson burst from his grave, and she snickered as she felt him wince. Oh, but she was a horrible girlfriend…

"Are you actually scared right now?" she snickered as Max, Allison, and Dani screamed.

"Scared, me?" he mumbled from her shoulder, but then Billy was out of his grave and he was ducking his head again.

"Lu," Juleka said, rolling her eyes as she chucked some popcorn at them. Marinette gave her a Look, and she shrugged. It was her Sibling Right to mock him for this, after all. "Stop being such a wuss."

"Dead things are supposed to stay dead, Jules," he harrumphed, his voice muffled by her shoulder. Juleka snickered as she looked back at the mast, where the movie was playing.

"Good thing we didn't put in the zombie movie," she said, and Luka tensed around Marinette.

"Dead things are supposed to stay dead, Juleka!" he shouted into her shoulder. She reached up and threaded her fingers through his hair, patting his head sympathetically.

"Poor baby," she giggled. He gave her a squeeze.

"You're supposed to be on my side, Mari," he grumbled.

"I'm always on your side," she said. She squirmed against him, and she felt his lips pull into a smile. "Quite literally, right now. I just think it's adorable that you find this scary."

"Thank God we didn't put in Lights Out," Rose said. She looked like she wanted to turn the movie off for Luka's sake, but neither Juleka nor Marinette would let her.

"Oh, it's totally going in next," Juleka said, grabbing more popcorn. "That one's great. Luka won't sleep for a week."

"I hate you," he grumbled as she cackled. Marinette scratched at his scalp, and he sighed as he peeked up at her from her shoulder. "My tough guy image is ruined, isn't it?"

"It's endearing," she giggled, kissing his forehead. She didn't have the heart to tell him he never really had a tough guy image anyway. "I don't really like scary movies, either. I just don't think this one's very scary."

"There are witches who come back from the dead to eat children," he deadpanned. "How is that not scary?"

"Because Sarah's an idiot, Mary's comic relief, and Winnifred is…" Juleka paused, searching for the right word.

"Ladybug putting up with Chat Noir and Roi Singe on a bad night," Marinette deadpanned, and Luka pressed his face against her shoulder again – only this time he was trying to smother his laughter.

"Exactly!" Rose squealed, bouncing. Juleka moved the popcorn before she could upend it.

"It's spoopy, not spooky," Juleka said, "and you're a wimp."

"I'm not a wimp!" he snapped. He winced again as Zachary was run over by the bus. "…ok, I'm kind of a wimp."

"I don't mind it," Marinette whispered to him, turning slightly to curl against him. He hummed, the new angle allowing him to press his face against her neck. She giggled as he pressed a kiss against her pulse. "I'm enjoying the cuddles. I almost want her to swap the movies now."

"Ugh," he groaned, laying his head on her shoulder. "I'm out if you put that one in."

"Wuss!" Juleka called. Marinette giggled and tangled her fingers through his hair again. He looked up at her, and she pulled back slightly to kiss him properly.

"I'll protect you," she cooed. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, scary movie shield and security blanket extraordinaire."

"Or we could just go watch Stardust in my room," he said. "There's witches in that one."

"Halloween is for horror, Lu!" Juleka called. She tossed more popcorn at him.

"Juleka!" Marinette whined as some of the kernels fell down her shirt and settled in her bra. Luka's eyebrows soared as she dug them out.

"Um…" he said, leaning back – which maybe wasn't the best idea, as the shirt she was wearing was cut lower than her usual shirt and she was pulling it away for better access to the offending snack.

"What?" she asked, looking up at him, and her eyes widened as she realized what she was doing. "O-oh! Um…sorry?"

They were both surprised Officer Raincomprix didn't come running at how loud Rose squealed, and Juleka collapsed against her, clutching her sides as she howled with laughter. Luka grabbed a fistful of candy corn and pelted her with it, but that didn't stop her.

"Why did double date movie nights ever sound like a good idea?" he sighed, lying his head back on Marinette's shoulder. He glanced up at her and smirked, leaning up to peck a kiss against the underside of her jaw. "Cute bra, by the way."