Title: Hey Stupid

Author: Veritas Found

Rating: T / PG-13 / Teen

Characters/Pairings: Luka Couffaine, Marinette Dupain-Cheng; Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng

Summary: When Marinette's makeup artist gets injured the day before her first Fashion Week, she's a little desperate. Luckily, Juleka knows just the guy to save the day, and Marinette is so relieved she doesn't question it – until she realizes she's spent the past week flirt…admiring Luka Couffaine and never even recognized him.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's Notes/Warnings: …hey. Hey, Quick. Remember when you said you were wondering if I was your Secret Admirer, and I started tap dancing faster than Fred Astaire trying to (very poorly, I'm sure) throw you off my track? xD DID IT WORK AT ALL? :joy: (Spoiler alert: Luka is not actually her hair guy and I'm totally your Secret Admirer. xD)

Anywhoodles~ This was written for the LBSC Valentine's Day Secret Admirer Exchange 2021, for the wonderful Quickspinner, who had this lovely prompt about "Makeup Artist Luka AU" that bit me harder than a rabid plunny in the zombpocalypse, so I guess this also counts as a Dammit Quick Fic, right? (Our word minimum this year is 1500. I clearly overshot that by…a bunch. xD)

Quick's full prompt, for posterity: Makeup Artist Luka AU - This could be a first meeting or reuniting after a long separation. Luka agrees to fill in for a makeup artist who's supposed to working on an upcoming fashion show. It's not his primary line of work (he's still trying to make it as a musician) but he's good enough at it that he takes a job here and there to make ends meet or get a little extra cash. It can go so many possible directions from there that I can't even pick one for an example.

Hey Stupid

Prologue: Missed

She was late.

She couldn't be late.

She was so late.

Marinette groaned and pumped her legs harder, praying to every deity she could think of (and she knew of at least seventeen hiding in her bedroom) that she would make it in time. She was so stupid! How could she have let this happen? She had stayed up too late the night before working on Luka's good…on his care package, and she had overslept, and now…

She was never going to make it.

There was an incessant buzzing in her back pocket – her phone – but she ignored it and kept running. Why did she live so far away from the river? Why couldn't she run faster?

"Breathe, Marinette! You'll make it!" Tikki shouted from her collar. The kwami had abandoned the purse swinging wildly against her hip early into the mad dash. "You know he won't leave without saying goodbye!"

…he wouldn't. She knew he wouldn't. But Tikki reminding her of that fact – of actually using the darn G-word – only made her feel worse. She grit her teeth and pushed herself harder. She was Ladybug, dang it – she was not about to miss the bus just because she had overslept!

Especially when there would be no Luka on his bike to help her catch it this time. Not when he'd already be on it.

She choked on a relieved sob when she rounded the next corner and saw Jagged Stone's obnoxious purple tour bus still parked on the street above the riverwalk. There was a small cluster of people by the doors, ones she would recognize anywhere: Jagged and Penny lingering back as they spoke with the Captain, Juleka and Rose standing with Brielle off to the side, and the obnoxious lime-colored mohawk of Dingo King obscuring Luka's face as he clung to him, wailing.

He hadn't left yet.

She hadn't missed him.

She never thought she'd say it, but she could kiss Dingo King.

"…can't leave!" she heard Dingo shout, even at this distance. "I don't care if he is Jagged fucking Stone – if he don't bring you back safe and soon I'll fucking murder him!"

Jagged gave an annoyed shout, but from the bob of his shoulders she could see Luka was laughing. His hand came up to pat at Dingo's back, and then Dingo was pulling away and…there he was. He said something to Dingo that had them both laughing before he pulled him in for another hug, his hand thumping against his back three times.

"C'mon, kid – we gotta jet!" Jagged called, but Anarka slapped the back of his head and scolded him (Marinette assumed, because at least that looked like the Captain's Scolding Face). He fussed over his hair and shot her a pout.

"You can't go yet, though!" Rose cried, her thumbs flying a mile a minute over her phone. In her back pocket, her own phone continued to buzz away. "Not until…she's not here yet! You can't leave until she gets here!"

Penny said something that Marinette should have been close enough to hear, but Luka had looked back at Rose – or had started to, until he'd seen her barreling towards him and stepped back from Dingo. His face split in a blinding smile that thoroughly distracted her, and without thinking she ran those final few steps, shoved Dingo aside (by shoving the care package she'd been carrying all this way at him), and leapt at Luka. He staggered back, bracing himself and laughing as he easily caught her, his arms holding her close as her arms and legs wrapped around him. She pressed her face against his shirt, panting as her nose squished against his chest.

"I…made it…" she gasped. She felt his chuckle more than she heard it, and her hands fisted against his shoulders as she squeezed him tight. "So…sorry…"

"You wouldn't be you if you weren't showing up at the last minute," he teased, and her answering laugh was still a little breathless. She pinched his shoulder, making him chuckle again.

"Jerk," she said, but she didn't really mean it. She never really did, and he knew that.

"I wouldn't have let him leave without seeing you," he said.

"You would if we're keeping our schedule," Penny said, but she winked at Marinette over his shoulder, making her smile. Luka just chuckled and held her tighter.

"We'd be stopping by the bakery, then," he insisted, and Penny rolled her eyes as she muttered something about a Mini-Jagged in Training, God Help Me.

"I overslept," Marinette said, ignoring her. She leaned back, and one of his arms settled under her butt to support her. She kept her arms around his shoulders and tried to smile at him. It was harder than it usually was. "I stayed up late making you a care package for the road, and –"

"You didn't have to do that," he said quickly, interrupting her, but she shook her head. She hopped down and took the box from Dingo.

"I did, though," she said. "This is just for you. I mean that, Jagged!" She shot a look towards the rocker, who just grinned at her, and tapped the smaller bakery box on top. "Except for this one. This one's for Fang."

"Aw, cruel, baby girl!" Jagged laughed. Marinette's hands shook as she went to hand the box to Luka. It felt so…final. Like giving him the box was admitting…his expression softened when he saw her shaking hands, and she shoved the box at Dingo instead before throwing herself back at him. Her face smooshed against his chest, and he pressed his face against the crook of her neck. Her hair – or maybe it was his – tickled her ear when he took a deep breath, as if he was trying to memorize the scent of her shampoo or perfume or…probably the same way she was breathing him in, trying to memorize that smell of sunblock and Seine and Luka.

"…I don't want you to go," she whispered, her voice almost breaking. He squeezed her tighter, and the way his lips brushed against her shoulder almost felt like a kiss. It wasn't, though, because beyond friendly, lingering pecks on the cheek they didn't Do That. They weren't…people who kissed.

Despite the Feelings that had always been there, on both their parts, they had never actually made it to becoming People Who Kissed. She had always been distracted by Adrien, or busy with Ladybug and school and commissions, or…and he had always respected her choices, choosing to give her time or space or whatever she needed from him, and now he was leaving and it was too late and…

And they'd missed their chance. Before they'd ever really had it. And now he had to leave, and chase a different chance, and…she couldn't make him stay. She couldn't stop him from doing that.

She had to let him go.

"I'll be back before you know it," he said softly. "It's only a few months."

He was right, of course, but it felt like so much longer. So much more final. There was a part of her, no matter how irrational, that was afraid if he got on that bus she would never see him again. But that was dumb. This was a great opportunity for him – how could she ever tell him not to take it? He was chasing his dream. She wanted the world for him, and he…

And it wasn't like they were…anyway! She had no right to tell him to stay. And he was right! He'd be back before she knew it!

The only problem was…she already knew it, and he wasn't even gone yet.

"Make sure you call me," she said, pressing her nose against him so hard it almost hurt. The lips against her neck definitely felt like a kiss that time.

"Every day," he promised, though they both knew that was impractical and not very likely to happen.

"I'll see you in a few months?" she asked.

"I'll see you in a few months," he said. She gave him one final, desperate squeeze and stepped away. She tried to convince herself the burning in her eyes wasn't from tears. She rubbed at them anyway, laughing weakly when his hands gripped her shoulders and his lips pressed against her forehead.

"I'm gonna miss you so much, Marinette," he whispered, his lips brushing against her skin. It wasn't fair. They were just…they weren't…there was so much wasted time between them. So many missed opportunities. There had always been Adrien, or Ladybug, or the Guardian, or…and he had always been there, but she had never told him…and now he was going.

He was chasing his dream. He was going to be a big, famous rock star, sharing his music with the world, and she…she was going to support him, like he had always supported her. Because she loved him, as much as she knew how, and she wouldn't stand in his way. She wouldn't make him feel bad for leaving her behind when…no. He would go, but he would come back, and when he did…

"Luka, Marinette…we really do have to go," Penny said softly. Marinette pulled him in for one final hug, but then she was pulling away, grabbing the box back from Dingo, and shoving it at Luka instead. She gave him the brightest smile she could manage, and his returning smile was enough to make her heart flutter.

"Go on," she said. "Go…go have the time of your life, ok? And when you get home, you can tell me all about how amazing it is, and how dumb Jagged really is, and…"

"Oi!" Jagged called, but she just stuck her tongue out at him. He winked at her before jogging the rest of the way up the steps of the bus. Marinette lightly punched Luka's shoulder, nodding towards the bus where Penny was still waiting.

"Go," she said. He looked like he wanted to say something more, but he just nodded, adjusted the box in his arms, and headed towards the bus. He was halfway up the steps when he paused, looking back over his shoulder at her. The look on his face twisted her heart, but she stood firm. She tightened her fist over her heart and gave him her best smile. His own smile warmed, and then he was turning and disappearing onto the bus.

She didn't realize the tears had started falling until Dingo handed her a wrinkled bandana, his hand squeezing her shoulder.

"He'll be back sooner than we'll know it, baby girl," he said, and she nodded as she wiped at her eyes, trying not to think too hard about where the bandana had been before Dingo had handed it to her. Within moments, the bus roared to life, and with a jarring blare of its horn it rolled away from the river, from the Liberty, and from Marinette.

She didn't know it then, of course, but it would be nearly ten years before Marinette Dupain-Cheng would see Luka Couffaine again.