A/N: Hello fellow readers and Miraculous fans, Redfox here :3 I've decided to publish something of a one-shot-possible-shot-collection of SEASON 2 snippets, particularly the most latest episode Season 2, Episode 12: „Captain Hardrock". I know, not many fans watched it yet, but I just couldn't resist writing something about our new character Luka Couffaine! :) While I still ship the Lovesquare (in particular Marichat XD), Luka's brief character revelation and his short interactions with Marinette just made me smitten with him and I think there could be potential :3
WARNING: -SEASON 2, EPISODE 12 SPOILERS! -SEASON 2 SPOILERS-
Disclaimer: I don't own Miraculous Ladybug!
Enjoy! :)
Of Compasses and Statues
I think Marinette the compass has found herself a new statue.
Marinette bit her lip as she watched her friends say goodbye to each-other before everyone went home, it was close to curfew and Marinette should be getting ready to leave too but…
For some reason, Alya's earlier words bothered her. She knew her friend had been teasing, she hoped, but when she had seen Adrien before, her heart…hadn't started racing a mile a minute like it used to, it almost…beat normally. Almost.
She had felt it accelerate, but no where near it's usual level of crazy whenever she was around Adrien and now she was freaking out.
Was there a possibility she was slowly losing her crush on Adrien? That she was starting to maybe notice Luka?
Marinette violently shook her head, no, no, no!
That can't be!
Of course, she liked – no loved – Adrien! He was perfect! He was cute and kind and polite! And she only knew Luka for a day, sure, he liked Jagged Stone too and he seemed pretty funny and cool, but-
"-see tomorrow?" Marinette's eyes widened and Alya shot her a weird look when she jumped in fright, "Helloo? Girl, where is your mind running off to again?" she rose an eyebrow, already anticipating the answer.
Marinette tried not to stammer, tried, "Uh, I, ah-I mean, it's-," she frantically grabbed at her head, groaning, "I don't know what to think Alya! This is all too crazy!"
"What's too crazy?" she whirled around at the sound of the deep voice and met none other than Luka himself, sporting an easy, calm smile as he looked down at her.
Marinette stared.
Snap out of it!
Alya roughly elbowed her and Marinette's brain turned on again, "I, uh, it…t-the music festival!" she grinned widely, "In a good way, yeah! Today was…definitely a crazy day, huh?" she scratched the back of her neck, shooting Alya a quick, grateful look.
Luka chuckled, obviously amused at her stuttering, "You can say that again." He smiled sheepishly, scratching his neck, "I'm sorry my mom got like that, she can get…pretty passionate about things she likes, like music. I guess that's something that runs in the family," he laughed and it brought a smile to Marinette's face.
Alya smirked from the sidelines, observing the two like a hawk.
Marinette smiled shyly, staring at her feet, "Well…everyone gets like that, it's not your fault, besides, I thought officer Roger had been a bit harsh, since it was the music festival and all. But it was nothing I and-I m-mean, Ladybug and Chat Noir couldn't handle," she grinned nervously, feet tapping on the ground at her near slip-up.
Luka rose an eyebrow in confusion, "By the way, how did you manage to get off the ship and alert Ladybug so fast? She came only a few minutes after I got captured," he searched her face, his eyes narrowing when he spotted signs of nervousness.
Marinette swallowed, "I uhm-"
Alya, bless her soul, intervened, "She's friends with Ladybug, I bet she's got her on speed dial whenever an akuma attacks or something, I swear Ladybug's there only like a few minutes after Marinette disappears, it's like magic!" she laughed, and Luka looked at Marinette curiously.
"Magic, huh…" he rubbed his chin, but the suspicion clouding his eyes went away and he smiled at her adoringly, "Anyway, you were really brave back there Marinette," he smiled at her gently and Marinette felt…weird.
Like she wanted to run and jump and fly off somewhere like a rocket. Like the frenzied butterflies she usually had fluttering about crazily in her stomach whenever Adrien was near suddenly got even crazier tenfold with Luka here.
She shook her head, "What, me? Oh no, I," she smiled shyly, "I uhm, I just wanted to save everyone before anyone got hurt," she shook her head, "And besides, you were…really brave too," she smiled shyly.
But this time, Luka shook his head, "Nah, I didn't really do anything, it was you that alerted Ladybug. And that's what heroes do too, right? Think of everyone first before they think of themselves?" he winked, "In that respect, you're just like anyone else saving people on a regular basis,"
Alya latched onto her best friend's arm and Marinette knew she was doomed when she said, "You hit the nail on the roof, Luka! I totally agree! Marinette's a real hero, isn't she?" she gave her friend a quick hug, grinning from ear to ear and Marinette's face burned.
"No, no, no, really, I'm totally nothing special, especially not someone who saves lives every day!" she flailed with her arms frantically, trying to bring her point across.
But then, she noticed this. Luka wasn't necessarily comparing her to Ladybug, he was comparing her to any other civilian person saving lives daily, like firefighters, doctors or the police.
He hasn't even mentioned Ladybug and her in the same sentence!
Marinette relaxed, if only slight. Good, there wasn't the possibility of getting connected to her alter ego.
She just had to change the subject, "Uhm, anyway, I-I found your playing earlier was-" Alya roughly poked her in the back and Marinette's last sentence ended up in a high squeak, "-g-GREAT!"
Marinette clamped her hands over her mouth, shooting Alya a quick mortified look. Alya barely suppressed her laughter while Luka was already chuckling.
"Really?" Luka suddenly made a show of arching his back just like Marinette did earlier when Alya had poked her, his tone exceedingly playful, "T-THANKS Marinette," he grinned at her gently, his eyes open and playful and she realized why.
He was trying to make her understand it was all in good fun and that he didn't mean any harm in teasing her like he did earlier when she had stuttered.
And then, she burst out into a fit of giggles and Luka couldn't help but join her, enjoying the way she relaxed when he teased her as opposed to their first meeting where he got her upset.
Alya crossed her arms and whispered under her breath, "Yeah, the compass is definitely going crazy,"
She gave Nino a thumbs-up when he looked at Luka and Marinette curiously and his eyebrows shot to his hairline at Alya's signal, shooting her a confused look in return.
What in the world was going on?
When things had calmed down, Marinette smiled apologetically at Luka, "Wow, it's really getting late!" she grabbed Alya's arm, "I guess we should be going now, thanks for the wonderful day!"
But Marinette froze when Luka suddenly stopped her, "Uh, wait!" she stopped and turned to look up at him.
He smiled and held out a piece of plastic toward her, it was his guitar pick with a custom design of Jagged Stone, "You forgot this," he smiled at her and she noticed he was smiling at her.
Marinette briefly fumbled with her fingers before taking the pick and when their fingers met, both quickly pulled their hands back when she held the pick in her hands now securely and she swore she was blushing, "Thanks Luka," she smiled at him genuinely and he smiled back, nodding.
"I…guess I'll see you around then, huh?" he buried his hands in his jeans pockets leisurely.
Despite her mind screaming at her, Marinette said, "Yeah…see you around, Luka," she waved and he waved back.
She said goodbye to Juleka and her mother before they joined Nino, who was waiting for them on the street.
While Marinette searched something in her purse a little ways ahead of Alya and Nino, secretly feeding Tikki and making sure she was alright, the couple hung back and had a hushed conversation.
"Is happening what I think is happening?" Nino whispered to Alya heatedly, who had a secretive smirk on her face, watching Luka and Marinette.
Alya giggled quietly, "Let's just say the compass has found a new statue,"
Nino shot her strange look before they both caught up to Marinette again.
The end for this one shot – or maybe not? I'm still unsure if I want to continue or not, so for now, it's the end! Thank you kindly for reading :) :3