Notes: Aaaaand I had a note in this doc about giving y'all a 'makeout chapter'. Eh let's see if we can't have both. xD

Marinette's 29 Valentine's Days

Day Twenty-Three, Loop Twenty-Two: Gasping for Air

Marinette screamed when her alarm went off. She snatched her phone, silenced the alarm, and sent Luka a quick text to meet her on the roof.

She wasn't really surprised when, instead of a reply, she heard the gentle thud of someone landing on the balcony above her. A tapping on the hatch followed, and she threw the door open. Before Viperion could greet her, she grabbed his hand and tugged him down onto her bed with a startled whoa! She tugged his mouth to her own before he could get his bearings, sliding her hands into his hair and holding him close. He was a little breathless when she finally let him go, though she was pretty sure that had less to do with the kissing and more to do with the manhandling. Well. Maybe it was a little bit of both.

"Morning," he laughed, shifting to brace his arms on either side of her so he didn't squish her. Not that she had minded the squishing – she liked the squishing, actually. She bit her lip and smiled up at him, thinking she wouldn't mind if he decided to squish her again, and he laughed before telling Sass to rest. The kwami made himself scarce as Luka kissed her again. "Shouldn't we be going?"

"…in a minute," she sighed, pushing against him to roll him onto his back. She grinned as she crawled on top of him, snuggling into his chest. Even in the dim light, she could see his face getting red. "We have a few minutes before Maman comes up. I'm comfy."

"I don't think either of us want to explain why I'm in your bed this early in the morning," he said. Still, his arms wrapped around her, and he dropped a kiss against her hair when she pressed one above his heart. "Could get used to this, though."

"I could get used to you," she murmured, scooting up a bit to lay her head on his shoulder. "I like you, Luka Couffaine. I like you a lot."

"Good," he chuckled, pressing his cheek against her head. "Considering I've been in love with you for over a year, I'm glad you like me. A lot."

"Jerk," she laughed, pulling away and sitting up. She straddled his waist, lifting her arms above her head and arching her back in a stretch. She cracked open an eye just in time to see the strangled look on his face, and she grinned down at him as she settled against him. His hands automatically found her hips, holding her loosely. His grip was tense, as if he still wasn't sure holding her like that was ok. Like he wanted to hold her closer but wasn't sure if he should. Her hands rested on his stomach, bunching his shirt so her thumbs could brush against the skin underneath. His eyes shut, lips quirking as he swallowed. She bit her lip and tried not to smile. "I love you, too, Lu…oh my God."

"What?" he asked, suddenly alert. His eyes opened and he looked around, half-expecting to find Sabine glaring at them from below. When he turned back to her, she was looking at his chest. He raised an eyebrow and looked down, but he didn't see what had her so thoroughly distracted – until she tugged on his black shirt, one of her hands lifting to brush against the familiar Ladybug symbol emblazoned on the chest. His lips quirked in a grin when he looked back at her. "Oh. Thought you might appreciate that."

"You dork," she snickered, bending over to kiss him. His grip tightened on her waist, and she smiled against his lips. It was strange, though, in a way. She did appreciate the Ladybug shirt – she loved it on him, actually, but that was…weird. She would have thought it would've upset her, or at the least flustered her. It certainly had any time Adrien had worn Ladybug merch, and it was no secret Adrien Agreste was a huge Ladybug fan.

She remembered the double date she had gone on with Adrien, Alya, and Nino (it hadn't been a date, not really, no matter what Alya claimed, because while it had been a date for her and Nino Adrien had never said anything about it being a date for them), back when the Ladybug and Chat Noir film had come out. True, she and Adrien had already seen it at the premiere (and once had been more than enough for her), but Alya had been adamant about seeing it with her best friend and her guy, and of course Adrien had been roped in. When they had picked her up from the bakery, Alya and Adrien had both been decked out in Ladybug merch. Nino had caved to Alya's demands and had worn a Chat Noir shirt, and Alya had brought extras for her to change into, too (she had chosen the Chat shirt, only because she had been afraid wearing spots as Marinette would be too incriminating).

And it had been weird. She'd seen Adrien in Ladybug spots before, and every time it was weird. Just another reminder that Adrien liked her superhero side more than he liked her. Another subtle nod to the fact that Marinette wasn't as good as Ladybug, and she had hated it. She had no say over what Adrien wore, of course, and she would never ask him to change because his shirt made her uncomfortable, but she hadn't been able to look at him the entire time they were at the movie.

It was different with Luka. Maybe because she knew Luka had loved Marinette first, that loving Ladybug came with loving Marinette and not instead of. Maybe because the trust was there, and his wearing a Ladybug shirt was more of an inside joke than an outward, obnoxious, fanboy declaration. With Luka, it almost felt like a reassurance. That he loved all of her, not just a part, and that meant more than he probably knew. He probably hadn't even thought of that when he'd picked out the shirt, or maybe he had. It was Luka. He'd always been perceptive like that.

He nipped at her lip, and her face warmed as a needy little noise escaped her. The rest of her warmed as he held her closer, as his tongue slipped past her gasp to stroke along her own, and suddenly any thought of Adrien and stupid shirts and how much better they looked on Luka were the farthest thing from her mind. She didn't remember sliding back so that she was once again lying atop him as they kissed, but she was thoroughly enjoying the feel of him pressed against her. His hands drifted up her sides, wrapping around her back and holding her tight. One of her hands was trapped between them, still fisted around his shirt with her thumb slipped beneath it, but the other reached up to tug at his hair, and her heart skipped inside her chest as he made his own needy little noise. She was enjoying those noises, too. She wondered if she could get him to make more.

"D-darning, we…we should…" he gasped when she pulled away from his mouth to kiss along his jaw. He groaned as the hand between them released his shirt, flattening her palm against his stomach. She could feel his muscles jump beneath her touch, and a thrill raced through her. "…akuma. Your mother."

She groaned and slumped against him, her fingers curling against his stomach and lightly scratching. Another strangled sound escaped him, and she bit her lip.

"…I like this more than fighting akumas," she said softly. His hands were suddenly on her face, tugging her mouth back to his with a fierce kiss. It was over sooner than she liked, and they were both panting when he pulled back. Ok, so maybe the breathlessness definitely had more to do with the kissing than the manhandling…

"Then let's go find that akuma so we can get back to this, because same," he said, his voice low and rough. He pressed his forehead against her own, and a shiver raced through her. Her stomach was dizzy with the butterflies he'd set loose there, but she knew he was right. "I like this entirely too much, darning."

Her lips quirked in a smile.

"Same. Way too much," she said, pressing a kiss against his jaw. She sat up and placed her hands back on his stomach, smiling as she saw his shirt again. It was significantly more rumpled now. "Ok. Find the akuma. File this under Later."

"…Later. I'm starting to think we need more Nows," he said, smiling slightly as she giggled. She wasn't moving, though, and he squeezed where his hands had fallen by her knees "Darning, you said Ma S has been waking you up. You have to get off me before she comes in here."

"Right," she said. She looked over the edge of her bed, scanning the room for the kwamis they'd need to make their escape. "Tikki? Sass?"

The kwamis flew out from wherever they'd been hiding, going up to her bed. Tikki looked less than impressed, but Sass was smirking at them.

"Good morning?" the little snake snickered, and Marinette felt her cheeks warm.

"Very good morning," Luka confirmed, smiling up at her. "We need to get going, though. Sass, scales slither!"

Sass was still laughing as he was sucked into the bangle, Viperion appearing beneath her in a flash of teal light. She rolled her eyes and looked back at Tikki.

"…I'm happy for you, Marinette, but…" Tikki glanced at Viperion, frowning. Marinette reached out and brushed a finger along her head.

"I know, Tikki. Responsibilities," she said. It was getting harder to remember those responsibilities, though, when catching the akuma seemed so far away and her very real, very present boyfriend was right beneath her. She leaned closer to her kwami, and Tikki giggled when Marinette glanced back at Viperion. "But…have you seen this guy? Can you blame me?"

"Marinette," Viperion laughed, and she grinned at Tikki before calling for her own transformation. Ladybug gave Viperion one last, lingering kiss before she pushed open her hatch and hauled him onto the balcony. They shared a relieved look and tried not to laugh as they heard Sabine's voice below barely a moment after the hatch closed behind them. Ladybug tugged Viperion to her side and threw her yoyo, launching them into the sky before her mom could catch them.

She released him a few roofs later, and he easily fell into step beside her as they raced towards Rue de Bretagne.

"So. What's the plan?" Viperion asked once they were about halfway there.

"Honestly, I've given up on having a plan," she laughed. He pretended to stumble as they came out of a jump, gawking at her with wide eyes.

"You? You're actually winging it?" he gasped in mock horror, and she bounced her yoyo off his head.

"I've got this new boyfriend, you see," she said casually. "His mother is chaos incarnate, and while he's not as bad as her, he has his moments. He's been trying to teach me to…loosen up. Go with the flow more."

She yelped as they landed on the flower shop across from Hannah's building and he tugged her towards him, kissing her quickly but fiercely.

"Sorry," he said when he pulled back, smirking slightly. "I just…really like hearing you say that."

"That you're trying to get me to loosen up?" she laughed, and he shrugged.

"No, not…I mean, you're right, you do need to relax more, but the boyfriend part," he said. His smirk was replaced by a smile, one that was a little goofy and made the butterflies in her stomach swarm again. "I'm your boyfriend."

She supposed she liked saying it about as much as he liked hearing it, or about as much as she liked hearing him confirm it. She bit her lip and tried to tell herself now was not the time to go kissing him again.

"Still getting used to hearing you say that, I guess," he continued, pressing his lips to her forehead.. "It's…hey, there they are!"

And just like that, any thought (or at least most thoughts) of kissing him were gone. Ladybug looked over her shoulder and, sure enough, there were Hannah and Geoff, walking out of her building. Hannah looked nervous, but Geoff was smiling and laughing as he talked, animatedly waving his hands as he relayed some story. Ladybug looked back at Viperion and nodded, squeezing his arms before stepping away.

"Come on," she said, nodding down the street. They followed at a short distance, keeping to the rooftops, until they reached the office building Viperion said Geoff had entered the day before. Sure enough, both Hannah and Geoff went inside, and a short while after Viperion had pointed out Geoff's window he appeared in his office.

"Now what?" Viperion asked, and Ladybug plopped down on the roof beside him.

"Now? We wait," she said. He raised an eyebrow, but he followed her lead and sat down beside her. "Honestly, Viperion, I have no idea. I'm only winging it because I'm so over all of this. I have no idea what to do anymore."

He snorted, and when she shot him a look he shrugged.

"No, I'm agreeing with you," he said, nodding. "Time cancer, remember?"

"Ugh, don't remind me. I'm so sorry about that," she groaned, pulling her knees to her chest and pressing her forehead against them. "I cannot say that enough."

"You can, and it's fine," he said, bumping their shoulders together. "You didn't know. I certainly didn't. Stop apologizing for something that was out of your control."

"Everything's out of my control lately," she grumbled. She sighed and shook her head before she closed her eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. "No. Ok. Winging it. I can't fix this one, and that has to be ok."

He chuckled, and she bumped against him. When she peeked up at him, he was grinning again.

"It's just…frustrating. I'm so used to akumas being…more straight-forward, I guess? There's always a clear goal – something that distinctly upset them – and when they're not going after a specific target it's just general chaos and destruction," she said. She gestured to Geoff's window, where Hannah had just walked in with a coffee. "This one is…frustrating. I know they're involved, but I'm still not sure how. The akuma has barely shown her face, and what's up with that? She doesn't even seem interested in getting my Miraculous, and that's usually when Hawkmoth starts threatening to take their powers away. It just…none of this makes any sense."

"It does seem strange," he hummed in agreement. "And counter-productive, when you look at it that way."

"Counter-productive?" she asked, turning to him. "What do you mean?"

"This whole time loop mess," he said. "Going from standard loop rules –"

"Time loops aren't supposed to be a thing, they can't have rules," she cut in. He just nudged her.

"Going from standard loop rules," he continued, making her roll her eyes, "the loop breaks once you've either achieved your goal or defeated whoever's causing the loop. So what's her goal? And if she gets your Miraculous before achieving said goal, what then?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, you said Chat's out of town," he said with a shrug, "so assume she gets your Miraculous. Then the loop resets. Then what? She has no way of getting Chat's Miraculous unless she lets time continue, otherwise he's just…out of the picture. Out of town and never coming back."

"…I hadn't even thought of that," she said, watching Hannah and Geoff laugh absently. She hugged her knees tighter as Hannah left his office. Her eyebrows rose when, a moment later, the blinds to the window next to Geoff's opened, revealing Hannah's own office. "Ugh. See? None of this makes any sense. I'm so over this akuma, Star."

"Well, hopefully today we'll find her," he said. He gestured to the building across the street. "We know they're involved. So let's just…watch. See what happens. See if the akuma shows up."

It ended up being a pretty boring day.

They weren't sure what the company was, but from all appearances Hannah and Geoff had standard, boring desk jobs. For most of the morning, they stayed at their desks, typing on their computers or making phone calls. Viperion snuck away after an hour or two and came back with coffees and croissants, which he confessed weren't as good as her parents but were something. He also brought back a few cookies and a pack of hardboiled eggs, and after moving away from the ledge they detransformed and let Tikki and Sass recharge, too. That was around when Marinette realized she was still in her pajamas, and she was suddenly glad they were high enough up that only Luka would notice.

Hannah worked straight through her lunch, but Geoff left the building. Viperion followed him, but he only went to a café a few streets away. They were back soon enough, and Ladybug had to smile when Geoff appeared in Hannah's office with the takeaway and made her stop for lunch. She leaned against Viperion's shoulder, smiling as Hannah and Geoff laughed over their food. They were sweet, she couldn't help but notice. She honestly hoped things would work out for them.

The day wasn't all bad, she supposed. It was boring, but at least she had Viperion's company, and that was better than being alone. The long stretches of waiting were filled with easy conversation, silly little jokes, casual touches and not-so-casual kisses. He didn't have his guitar, but he had his lyre, and quite a few times he pulled it out to absently pick at the strings. They were discussing a new song he was working on with Rose – one about a dream she'd had during her bout with the flu the previous month that he was actually pretty excited for ("It's got a real 100 Monkeys vibe. Fever dreams make for some pretty avant-garde stuff.") – when Hannah and Geoff both left their offices and, a few minutes later, the building. Ladybug and Viperion followed them through the city, moving silently along the rooftops, until they reached…the café.

"…are you freakin' kidding me," Ladybug groaned. "This…ugh. We could have gone to school today."

According to the clock in the shop window two buildings down, they really could have. Viperion laughed and shook his head.

"It's not like we haven't taken those classes a hundred times by now," he said. She snorted and kicked at the roof.

"It hasn't been a hundred," she muttered. "I mean…ok. If we don't catch the akuma, it doesn't matter. If we do, one absence won't kill us. I just…"

"I know," he said, laying a hand on her shoulder and squeezing. He looked back at the café and stretched. "Well, almost time now, right?"

"Supposedly," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Damn. I liked this café, too."

"Huh?"

"It's just…it's Valentine's Day," she said with a grimace. "You don't want to celebrate Valentine's next year. I don't know if I want to come back to this café any time soon."

"We can find a new one," he said. He grinned at her. "Honestly…I'm not that crazy about their coffee, anyway. It was just convenient because it was close to both our homes."

"…I thought you liked it here?" she asked, surprised.

"I thought you did," he said. She laughed, burying her face in her hands.

"Oh my God, we're hopeless," she said. "I do. Did. Ugh. Maybe after our nap Saturday we can find a new one."

"Don't kill me, but I have some ideas," he said.

"Why would I kill you?" she asked, frowning at him.

"Because the first one is actually Dingo's fault," he said, laughing when she groaned. "It's actually pretty good. They have a weekly open mic night he's been looking into, and we went last week. They're not bad, and the talent was pretty good. Dingo wanted to sign us up."

"Wait, you were going to do an open mic night? Were you going to tell me?" she asked. His eyebrow lifted over his mask, as if the idea that he wouldn't was laughable.

"Of course," he said. "It's Dingo's thing, anyway. He just wanted some backup."

"So I can support you but I can't support Dingo?" she teased. He snorted and nodded. "He's my friend, too, thanks to you."

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying," he said. "You're only allowed to be my groupie. Dingo has to find his own."

Her cheeks warmed, and she looked back at the café with a little smile. She bit her lip when he kissed her cheek.

"It's still early stages," he said. "I wasn't going to tell you until Dingo actually committed. You know how he is."

"Still. He's my friend, and you're my…more than a friend," she smirked, glancing at him.

"Boyfriend," he said, tugging on a pigtail. She laughed and kissed his cheek.

"Boyfriend," she confirmed. She grinned up at him, "You're right. I do like saying that. And I like supporting my friends, and I definitely like supporting my boyfriend. So let me know when and where, and I'll be there."

"With a banner?" he teased. She winked at him.

"I'll even break out the lime-green glitter paint," she said. "Just for – shoot!"

They both looked back to the café as the door burst open and Hannah ran out crying, or trying not to.

"Ladybug," Viperion called, and she followed where he was pointing to see the purple-black akuma fluttering through the sky. She immediately reached for her yoyo, swinging it as she raced after Hannah and the butterfly. "Ladybug, wait!"

"No!" she called. She could hear him falling into step behind her, but she didn't stop or slow down. "I'm ending this now, Viperion! If that akuma doesn't reach its target then – !"

"LADYBUG, WATCH OUT!" Viperion screamed, but before she could turn something – someone – was hurtling into her back, knocking the wind from her lungs as she was thrown from the roof. Her eyes widened as the sidewalk rushed towards her, a pair of arms tightening around her and a scream echoing amidst the roaring wind in her ears. Whoever had crashed into her was still holding her, falling with her.

She couldn't move. She couldn't catch her breath, and she couldn't close her terrified eyes against the sting of the wind.

Before she could hit the ground, a blinding light engulfed her.