Pen Tattoos 04/17/2020

The first time Alouette draws on his hand, he's asleep. She wakes him up with a proud exclamation of, "I gave you a tattoo, Daddy!" Luka looks down at the imperfect little ladybug staring up at him from his arm to the smile on his daughter's face. Sass is hovering above her with an apologetic look on his face. He pulls her onto her lap and buries his face into her pigtails to hide the tears that sting his eyes. His couple of tears soon turn into full on sobs as he clutches the little girl tightly. "Daddy?" she asks, worried. "Are you okay?"

Luka takes a deep breath, wipes his tears away, and adjusts her on his lap so she's facing him. "I'm okay, Little Lark. Your Maman used to draw little ink tattoos on me too, some of them I even had turned into permanent tattoos. I just miss her. You remind me so much of her though!" He forces himself to smile and sprinkle little kisses on her face. He glances at the clock on his nightstand and resists the urge to groan when he sees 03:00 flashing back at him. "I think it's time to go back to bed though. It's still pretty early.

"Okay, Daddy," the little girl yawns and cuddles the kwami to her as her father carries her back to her bed. Luka can't help but notice how much she's grown and that she probably won't allow him to do so for too much longer. He kisses her head and tucks her in. He gives Sass a questioning look, confirming he's okay to stay with the child and the kwami hisses out a soft nod. She's already asleep before he's all the way back downstairs.

Luka pours himself a drink and let's the tears fall freely now that Alouette is fast asleep. Tikki, as if summoned by her holder's heartache, appears, places a soft kiss on his cheek and nuzzles into his hair, offering what little comfort she can. Luka absentmindedly reaches up to pat the little kwami's head as he thinks back to all of the monumental ink doodles that his wife had left on his skin while she was alive.

Marinette is seated next to him at the big picnic table on The Liberty. She's working on homework, which is what he should be doing as well. However, with her this close to him, the only thing he can focus on is her song. He has the body of it, but there's still little details that he knows are missing, but he just can't figure out. "Hey Luka?" she hums, pulling him out of his thoughts. She opens her mouth to speak several times, but nothing comes out. Her face falls. His heart falls a little too at the sight. He hates seeing her sad and discouraged. "Do you want to write it out?" he asks her. She nods. He expects her to scribble something down on the paper in front of her. Instead, she takes his hand and pulls it closer to her, shifting in a way that blocks it from his sight. He can feel the pen tickling his skin, but has no idea what letters she's forming on his palm. It only takes a moment though before she releases his arm and turns her head away, but not before he catches the blush that is burning her cheeks. He slowly draws his hand back and looks down at his palm. There, cradled in his calloused hands is a cute little coffee mug, the word 'tomorrow' and a question mark. "Do you want to get coffee tomorrow?" He questions. She nods again, but still doesn't say anything. "Marinette, are you-" he hesitates for just a moment, almost too afraid to get his hopes up. "Are you asking me if I'd like to get coffee tomorrow as a date?" Marinette nods yet again, her cheeks somehow reddening even more. A smile spreads across his face as he gently takes her hand into his own. 'Yes' he writes, as neatly as he can in the matching spot of her palm. Marinette grins back at him, intertwines her fingers with his, and silently goes back to her homework.

They are reading side by side on his bed, leaning up against some pillows propped on the wall. Marinette has her legs draped over his. Luka's absentmindedly tracing his fingers up and down the bare skin her shorts expose, only pausing to turn pages. Suddenly, he can feel her gaze on him, so he stops and glances up at her. She gives him a little grin and climbs off his lap to grab one of the many pens that he keeps on his bedside table in case he's hit with inspiration in the middle of the night. She nuzzles back into his side, this time closer than before, and takes his arm in her hand. He averts his gaze as she marks the ink across his skin. Occasionally he will watch as she draws or writes on him, but most of the time he likes the surprise. He does notice that she is writing much slower than normal, and it seems to be mostly letters rather than her usual doodles. He feels the pen leave his skin, then her lips on his cheek. He looks down his arm and thinks time might have actually stopped. The only thing in the world that exists at the moment are the words on his skin. I think I love you. He finally tears his eyes away from the words right near the nook of his elbow to stare at the girl that wrote them. He takes the pen away from her and writes his own words on her arm. I know I love you. She grins up at him and captures his lips in a gentle, loving kiss.

He's had the ring for ages. He's known since he was eighteen years old that she's the one he wants to spend his life with. They've talked about it several times. She assured him she wanted the same, but there were things that she wanted them both to accomplish first. So there would never be the questions of what if or resentments. He understood and respected her reasonings and waited patiently for her to come to him.

Luka wakes up and stretches his arm across the bed looking for Marinette. When his fingers fail to brush against her soft skin, he frowns and opens his eyes. He glances around the room for her, and registers the sound of the shower in the other room. He sighs contentedly, and rolls on his back to stretch his arms, fingers interlocked above his face… and freezes. A black band of sharpie circles the third finger on his left hand. He jumps out of the bed, nearly falling face first when his foot gets tangled in the sheets. He races for the dresser and calls out to Sass, who is almost instantly by his side. He wordlessly holds his left hand out to show his kwami the inked band, while he digs around his drawer for the waiting box with his right. Sass smiles almost as widely as his wielder and wraps his tail around the mark. It tickles a bit and strikes Luka as a little strange, but he doesn't say anything. He knows that it's a special moment for him as well. Sass and Tikki have become an extension of the two humans after so many years together. "Is it time?" the kawami asked, excitedly. "It's time," Luka nods, handing him the ring. "You know the plan. Sass wraps his tail securely around the ring and hides on his holder's person.

Luka traces the band on his finger. It's the first of her doodles that he has permanently tattooed onto his skin. "Tikki," he whimpers, his voice cracking. "I miss her so much." Tikki stirs from her nap and brushes up against his cheek, sadly. "Me too, Luka." She notices the way his thumb rubs back and forth over the inked skin and adds, "She loved you more than anything, and she knew you felt the same." He nods to the kwami, his vision blurred by tears again. He's more thankful that he can express that Marinette entrusted Tikki to him in these late night moments. He isn't sure what he'd have done if he'd had to pass her onto someone else.

"Any more aggressive treatment could be a risk to the baby. The choice is yours." The words hit him like a freight train. He wants to scream and object, beg that there must be something they can do. As if sensing his thoughts, Marinette lays a gentle hand on his arm, calming him. He knows what she's going to say. Of course he does. He wants to fight her on it, but he knows that it's useless.

"I'm not risking our baby," Marinette says firmly.

"Marinette, we can have another. I can't lose you," Luka protests once the doctor and nurses have left the room.

She's put on a brave face, but Luka knows her well enough to see that she's scared too. Still, the intensity in her eyes, makes him drop it, if only for now. "You're asking me to put my life before our child's, and I just can't do that. I"m sorry."

"I know." Tears flood his eyes as he takes his seat in the chair next to her hospital bed. They sit in silence as they wait for the nurse to return with discharge papers and an at home treatment plan. He doesn't have his guitar with him, so he traces out a rhythm on her arm as she sketches. He doesn't even register her turning his arm around and marking the same spot in the crock of his elbow as she had so many years ago.

It isn't until they have gotten home and settled, and Marinette's napping that he notices the I love you. He scribbles out a quick note to her, leaves it on his pillow, calls for Sass, and grabs his keys, already dialing a familiar number.

Ryker has the station prepped by the time he gets there. The tattoo artist clasps his hand around his friend's arm and pulls him into a hug as soon as he sees him. He doesn't bother with any forms of apologizes as they head to the back of the studio. It doesn't take long for Ryker to immortalize the words on Luka's arm, and he refuses any payment once he's done. "Just tell your girl to fight hard, and come get her own once she beats this." Luka hugs him again, promising to pass on the message before leaving.

Luka doesn't want to know the sex of the baby. He knows he won't be able to handle it if he knows and ends up losing them both. Marinette does want to know. She tells him she doesn't want the possibility of never knowing. They've talked about names. Alouette for a girl. Micah for a boy. It isn't until after she's born, and Marinette whispers, "I love you, Little Lark," that Luka realizes the significance of the little birds that Marinette had been drawing on him for months.

The last doodle that Marinette leaves on him is drawn just hours before she passes. She's back in a hospital bed. Sabine and Tom are coloring in the chairs with Alouette when she asks their daughter if she can borrow her red marker. The toddler nods and hums, "Here go, Maman," handing her the pink marker instead. Marinette only smiles at her, not bothering to correct the child. Some part of Luka knows what she's doing even before he recognizes the familiar kwami Marinette's drawn there. Marinette looks to her parents cautiously to see if they are paying attention. She looks to Luka, then Alouette and finally nods down to the drawing of Tikki. "Take care of our girls. Hold onto our girls," she whispers. Luka nods, understanding her words that he knows she can't outright say in front of her parents. He kisses her deeply. "I will," he whispers, placing another kiss on her cheek.

Luka finishes his drink, wipes the tears from his eyes, and stares down at the ladybug there. He pulls his phone out of his pocket, locates a contact he hasn't used in a while and types out a quick text before setting it on the charger and heading back upstairs, a gentle hand bracing the sleeping kwami on his shoulder.

Ryker, I need a new doodle tattooed.

This was written for the prompt Pen Tattoos from mlweeklyprompts on tumblr.

Hugs,
Honey