High Fashion

by Veritas Found

Marinette can't really believe what Kim's asking her to make, but when you've been locked up in Quarantine for six months and counting…well, what else are you gonna do?

Title: "High Fashion"

Author: Veritas Found

Characters/Pairings: Lê Chiến Kim, Luka Couffaine, Marinette Dupain-Cheng; Lê Chiến Kim & Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng (background), Lê Chiến Kim/Ondine (background)

Rating: K Plus / PG / Teen

Summary: Marinette can't really believe what Kim's asking her to make, but when you've been locked up in Quarantine for six months and counting…well, what else are you gonna do?

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: Bloods posted this pic of these…Idek what to call them (high-heeled flipper shoes?), and Kim is kinda like Dingo: once he gets in your head he just won't shut up. And then I got this idea of sticky-note Quarantine kisses in my head, and honestly the Fleels (…flipper heels) became flimsy background plot for Lukanette Quarantine Fluff. I don't even know anymore. Luka wasn't supposed to be in this it was supposed to be MariKim friendship fluff, but here we are.

post/635265836562726912/whitebeltwriter-that-good-good-blog

"High Fashion"

Marinette blinked at the picture on her monitor. Kim was grinning at her expectantly – stupidly – from the little vidchat window in the corner of the screen. She was almost sad she was safe in her room, where she wasn't required to wear a facemask. At least the mask would have concealed the incredulous (defeated) look on her face.

Because what Kim was asking…

…well. It shouldn't have surprised her. It was Kim, after all. But even being Kim, the fact that he had found the idea on the internet meant that someone else out there who wasn't Kim had also thought it was pretty cool, which…

Marinette wanted to be a famous fashion designer. She wanted to create clothes that people all over the world would wear and enjoy. She was well aware certain aspects of high fashion could be…eclectic (she had personally designed for Jagged Stone! She knew eclectic!). But this? This was…this…

…this made her lose her faith in humanity. Just a little.

More so than everything else the past few months had. Camel, straw, back, or whatever.

"Do you think you can do it, Marinette?" Kim asked excitedly. He was practically bouncing in his seat. Marinette pressed her lips together, forcing herself to take a step back from the absurdity and evaluate the image with a critical eye. Could she? Probably. She could find a way. She was creative, and talented, and she could definitely find a way to make it happen.

But should she?

She was kind of losing her mind in Quarantine. It might be a fun challenge. A nice side project that didn't involve face-masks or other PPE (she'd lost count of how many she'd made by this point for various charity drives). If anything it would be…interesting. It would keep her occupied instead of worrying about…and that was her answer right there, she supposed. She hung her head and pushed out a weary sigh. Kim always got his way in the end, one way or another.

"I'm not making any promises, but I can try," she said. She made the vidchat window a little bigger as he whooped and hollered and punched the air. She smiled, rolling her eyes fondly. Kim was a goof, but he was a sweetheart. She'd miss him when they started different lycée next year…if they started lycée next year…and she stamped that thought down as quickly as it came, forcing her smile a bit wider as she waited for Kim to settle down.

"You're the best, Marinette! Kicking ass, even in Quarantine!" he cheered.

You have no idea, she thought with a mental roll of her eyes. (COVID hadn't been kind to Paris. It hadn't been kind to the world, but when your city had been terrorized for three years and counting by a supervillain who preyed on people's darker emotions she felt it safe to say COVID had hit Paris a bit harder than other places. Quarantine caused plenty of negative emotions for Hawkmoth to prey on, and Ladybug had been exhausted to say the least.)

"I know," she said, grinning at him. "Ok. So. I'm not really familiar with…" She grimaced, not wanting to say it. It was absurd. She didn't even know what to call the things in the picture. "…flippers. Do you have an extra set I could use as reference?"

"I actually have a pair I was hoping you could convert," he said cheerfully. "I thought it might make the project easier if you had something to start with."

"It will, thanks," she said, nodding. She glanced at the time on her start bar and nodded. She had about an hour before Luka would be there. "Ok. I'm going to be outside at a quarter to noon. About an hour from now. Do you think you could swing by then to drop them off?"

"I'll be there with bells on!" he said, offering her a two-fingered salute. "Thanks again, Marinette! You're the best!"

…dear God, she thought as the vidchat window went blank. She would not put it past Lê Chiến Kim to show up at her door with actual bells on. What the heck had her life even become.

With the vidchat window closed, Marinette pulled her reference picture back up. Glaring at her from the screen – and they were glaring, because they were a bright, sky blue color that screamed Look at Me, I'm Obnoxious! – was a pair of…well. They were flippers, or at least they had been? Kind of were? But they arched upwards to accommodate a stiletto heel that had been attached to the foot, so they were also kind of a high-heeled shoe? And Kim wanted a pair. He wanted her to make a pair. Because he was Kim, and why the heck not?

Well.

She was Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

She was Ladybug.

And she would never let it be said that she backed down from a challenge, no matter how ridiculous it seemed.

Especially if she was doing it for a friend.

– V –

An hour later Marinette sat on an upturned crate outside the entrance to the bakery, masked up with her sketchbook in her lap and her purse hanging by her hip. She had printed out a picture of the…shoes…Kim wanted, and she had spent the past five minutes she'd been outside sketching various ideas. She tapped her fingers anxiously against her cheek, ignoring the eerie silence of the street around her as she tried to focus on her designs. It was still strange, even after months of life like this. The street was usually bustling with people, especially near noon on a Friday. She missed her busy, loud city. She missed the tolling school bell across the street and the echoing chatter of students on the steps. She missed…

She sighed and clipped her pencil to the cover, closing her sketchbook as she looked up at the street with tired eyes. She missed normal.

She didn't really think she'd come up with anything good until Kim showed up with the flippers, anyway. Spitballing ideas was well and good, but she wouldn't come up with anything practical until she actually saw what she was expected to work with.

A car drove by with a honk, and she waved as the driver smiled and waved at her. She didn't know him, but everyone in the city seemed to have gotten a lot friendlier since Mayor Bourgeois had been forced to shut so much of it down.

"Marinette!"

Her head turned down the street, and she stood as Kim came jogging up to her. He stopped about six feet away, hovering awkwardly.

"Er…social distance hug?" he asked, holding his arms up. She laughed and nodded, and they mimed a hug across the space. She couldn't see his grin beneath his mask, but she knew he was smiling from the way his eyes crinkled. He reached up and grasped the strap of his gym bag stretching across his chest, rocking on his heels. Kim had always been a bundle of energy. She knew he had to be losing his mind, too. (His parents had been extra strict about his workout routines, since this whole mess had started and he'd had that scare at the pool.) "It's good to actually see you again, Marinette. Y'know. Not on a screen."

"Same," she said. "I know we still see each other online every day, but I miss actually seeing everyone."

"Yeah…" he said, looking down and shuffling his feet. She clapped her hands together, making him look up.

"Ok! No more sad stuff!" she said. "Show me the goods!"

His eyes were crinkling again, and he nodded as he took his bag off. He pulled a pair of navy flippers out of the pack, the same color as his swim uniform. He held them out to her, and she took a step closer to take them from him. She knew she didn't have any materials even close to the plastic they seemed to be made out of. She hoped she'd be able to find something online.

"I want to wear them our first day back," he said, "and if they turn out ok…if you're willing…Ondine was hoping to get a pair, too."

"…you're both insane," she said, looking up. "You know that, right?"

"Hey! We're –" he started, but she didn't get to hear what exactly they were because someone else was calling her name. They both looked up as Luka's bike came to a stop a little less than six feet from Marinette. He was wearing his delivery helmet, and the yellow pizza box was attached to the back of the bike.

"Hey, Kim," he said, nodding. Kim laughed and waved.

"Hey, Luka! Man, I haven't seen you in ages! How've you been?" he asked. He shot a look at Marinette, his eyes crinkling again when he saw Luka's facemask. It was a simple white outlined in black, but there was no mistaking the flowers embroidered along the edge. If Luka noticed the look, he didn't comment (or, most likely, didn't care).

It was no worse than the black facemask she was wearing with electric blue music notes stitched along the side.

"Good, y'know. Hanging in there," Luka said, his hands moving restlessly on the handlebars of his bike. "My school's still virtual, and I've been picking up extra shifts here and there to keep busy. No shortage of work for deliver boys. I'm actually delivering for the Dupain-Chengs now, too."

"Luka's here every day running deliveries for two hours," Marinette said. She stepped over to him, shifting the flippers under her arm so she could pull a sticky note out of her sketchbook. Kim's eyes widened when he saw the light pink lipstick kiss on the pale yellow post-it. Marinette grinned as she handed it to Luka, who's eyes crinkled in his own smile as he took it. He held it close, watching her stupidly for a moment. "I hate it. I hate that he's out there, but I like that I still get to see him every day."

"You know I'm being careful," Luka said softly, his words barely audible through the mask. Marinette reached out and laid her hand over his, clenching it around the sticky note kiss. She wished she could rip their masks off and kiss him for real instead.

It sucked. They'd technically been dating for at least two months now, but they had yet to go on what normal times could consider a real date, and they hadn't kissed yet. She knew he was being careful, and she knew he was tested regularly simply because his job kept him out among the public. But her parents (her mom) had been…strict with their dating rules, and Luka both respected her mom and cared too much for Marinette's health to even consider breaking the Rules. So instead, she met him every day when he came to pick up the deliveries and presented him with another lipstick-smudged sticky note. She called them her Quarantine Kisses, and told him they were just a placeholder until she could kiss him for real. (She didn't know he kept them in a box by his bedside. He hadn't thrown a single one out.)

"It's not you I'm worried about," she finally said, but she scrunched her nose up and paused. "Well. Not you being careful, at least. I'm plenty worried about you."

He flipped their hands and squeezed her fingers. She tried to keep smiling for him. Even if her mask was covering it, she knew he'd know if she wasn't. Just like he knew she was forcing it.

"Go on," she sighed. "Papa's going to wonder what's taking you."

"He's used to you distracting me," Luka said with a laugh. He let go of her hand to climb off his bike. The sticky note went straight in his breast pocket. "I think he actually encourages it. Your dad's kind of a hopeless romantic, Mari."

She snorted at that: he had no idea. The only thing that had saved him from a fourteen-curse Sweetheart Brunch was Quarantine, but she knew her dad had been cycling through menus for when the day finally came. Luka would learn. She figured they were good, though, if he hadn't run for the hills yet. He actually seemed to like her dad's…enthusiasm.

"I gotta get going," he said, turning back to Kim with a nod, "but good to see you, man. Stay safe."

"Same to you," Kim said, sounding a bit dazed. Luka disappeared into the bakery, where Marinette knew he was heading straight for the hand wash sink in the back. When she turned back to Kim, his arms were folded over his chest as he smirked at her. (At least she assumed it was a smirk, because it was still Kim.) "So. Luka, huh?"

"…shut up," she said, ducking her head and pulling on a pigtail. She could feel her face burning under her mask. Her blush had to have been bad, because Kim started laughing, so she was pretty sure he could see it. "It…does it honestly surprise you?"

"Not really, no," Kim said, shaking his head, but then he shrugged. "Well, maybe a little, considering…y'know. But I'm happy for you. Really. You probably could've picked a better time for it, but y'know."

"Tell me about it," she groaned. She sighed and shifted the flippers, holding them up to wave them at Kim. He laughed and nodded, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "Ok. I'm going to take a look at these, and I'll see what I can do. I still think you're insane."

"It'll be something cool for your Sant-Saëns application," he wheedled. She rolled her eyes and picked at the webbed plastic by the…toes? She wasn't even sure what they counted as.

"I already got in, Kim," she said absently.

"What? Marinette, that's awesome! Congratulations!" he cheered, and she smiled.

"Thanks," she said. "Have…have you heard yet?"

"Oh, as long as school starts on time…who knows though, with everything," he said with a shrug. "At any rate I'll be starting virtual. We all found out last month."

We all being Alya, Nino, Alix, and Kim, who would all be attending the lycée two blocks away once the new school year started. Nino and Adrien had tried convincing Gabriel to let Adrien attend the same lycée, to continue his public education with his friends (or at least his best friend), but then everything had started shutting down. Adrien had been the first one removed from their class, his father unwilling to risk the health of anyone else in his immediate circle (no one had seen his assistant in months, and there rumors she had been one of the first cases in the city). No one but Nino had heard from Adrien since then, and even that was…Adrien would be continuing his education privately, and he hated it.

"I got the news two weeks ago," she said, still picking at the flippers. "Juleka, Rose, and Nathaniel, too. They were delaying the decision in case we all had to…"

Kim grunted, nodding. The schools had shut down well past the halfway point in the year – enough that they were all technically able to pass – but there had been rumors of all students having to repeat the year. In the end, a good number of students kind of just…skated by. Most schools ended up just shoving them ahead regardless of online performance, though M. Damocles had refused to let the esteemed Françoise Dupont bend to such pressures. The whole thing was a mess.

The whole world was a mess.

Marinette had stayed diligent with her work, though, and they would be wrapping up their final year at collège within the month. If everything went according to plan, she'd be starting virtually at Sant-Saëns a month and a half after.

"Hey, we made it, though!" he said, reaching out to clap a hand on her shoulder. He hesitated before making contact, though, his hand hanging awkwardly between them, until they settled for an air-five. "Man, I miss real high-fives."

Marinette paused, looking at his hand and considering. She turned back towards the bakery and said, "Hold on. Wait here – I'll be right back." She paused before opening the door. "It's ok if I keep these for a bit, right? You don't need them anytime soon?"

"They haven't opened the pool since Ondine tested positive," he said, shrugging. She winced a little at that. Ondine was fine now, and she had been one of the lucky ones who only had kind of bad symptoms and hadn't needed to be hospitalized, but Marinette still remembered the month she hadn't been. Kim had been a wreck the entire time. "I don't want 'em back until they're stilettos."

She snorted, shaking her head.

"You are so weird," she said. He just laughed as she slipped inside the bakery. Luka watched her as she darted past him to the back steps, and when she reached the door she turned, lowered her mask, and blew him a kiss. The tips of his ears pinked when her dad let out a booming laugh, but she could tell from his eyes he was smiling. She dashed upstairs, dropped the flippers and her sketchbook off in her room, grabbed a bottle of hand sanitizer, and ran back downstairs. Luka was pulling away, the box on the back of his bike filled with bakery boxes, when she came back out. Kim was waving after him.

"Hey again!" he said, turning back to her. She held out the hand sanitizer and winked.

"Here," she said, dropping a bit in his palm when he held it out to her. After they'd both vigorously rubbed their hands for…well, not the four minutes her Mom said was necessary, but long enough, she held up her arm. "Ok, go!"

The laugh Kim let out when their hands slapped together made the stinging in her palm worth it.

"You are the friggin' best, Marinette!" he crowed. She waved him off, but he was still laughing. "Thank you."

"I'm already regretting this," she groused. She winked at him. "All right. I'll let you know when I have something. See you in class Monday?"

"See you Monday," he said. She waved as he walked off, and then she was heading back upstairs to try and figure out how the heck she was supposed to convert his old pair of swimming flippers into…high-heeled flipper shoes. Floes? Flippos? Heelppers? Fleels?

…she'd work on a name later. She had to figure out how to make the darn things first.

– V –

"He wants what?"

Luka's eyebrows had disappeared under his too-shaggy bangs. His hair was long enough now that he could tie it back into a short ponytail. She had offered to cut it for him, but he had yet to take her up on the offer. He kept insisting it was fine, and he'd cut it when it really needed it. She supposed it didn't look bad, just…different.

She rolled her eyes and settled back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. Luka grinned at her from her monitor, the vidchat window covering most of the screen. It wasn't as good as actually having him there, but it was the best they could do for now.

"I sent you the picture he sent me," she said. She almost felt like she was sulking. At least on vidchat they didn't have to wear masks and she could actually see the stupid grin he was giving her.

"You did, and I'm still not understanding what I'm looking at," he said. Honestly, neither did she – which wasn't good when she was the one who was supposed to make it.

The picture had been simple enough: a bright blue pair of swim flippers, except they were raised in the back with a stiletto supporting the heel? There had been a sound file and a caption of "this is what Daisy Duck sounds like", clearly marking it as someone's idea of a joke, but Kim had just seen it as high fashion for the swimming elite (of which he was obviously a member). When she told Luka this, he just snorted and made a comment about how something was high, though he wasn't entirely sure it was the fashion.

"We should really introduce Kim to Dingo sometime," Luka said with a wry grin and a little sigh. Marinette blanched at that idea. "Dear God. They would burn the city down."

"This year's already a dumpster fire," she grumbled, kicking at her desk. "Why not make it an actual fire?"

"…hey," he said, and she looked up to see him frowning at her. He looked hurt. "This year hasn't been all bad."

Her lips twitched with a smile, and she pressed a kiss to her fingertips before touching them to his lips on the screen. His smile returned at that, which made her smile easier.

"Some things have been nice," she conceded. She sighed and sat up, reaching for her sketchbook again. "This is not one of them. I wonder what would happen if I showed the picture to Jagged."

"…they'll be in his next music video," Luka said. He snickered and tapped out a quirky little beat with his pencil. "Do it, please."

"I have to make them first," she grumped.

"You will," he said. "I believe in you, Mari. You can do anything. Even silly things."

"I'm doing you, after all," she mumbled without thinking, and the choking noise he made had her realizing what she had said. Her eyes widened as her head snapped up. Even with the crappy video quality – his video was never the best, thanks to poor reception on the boat – she could see his face was a dark red. "I-I-I didn't mean…oh my God, I'm so…that's not what…"

"…after Quarantine," he coughed, thumping a fist against his chest. She'd almost call the grin he sent her roguish. It definitely made her stomach flip pleasantly. "God, I love you. You…please keep doing me. I love you doing me."

"Luka!" she whined, ducking her face into her knees as he continued to laugh. She peeked up at him, still hiding her smile behind her knees. "You're awful. I hate you. Juleka's right. You're mean."

"I love you," he said, smiling stupidly at her. She dropped her feet back to the floor and leaned forward, pressing another kiss to her fingers and touching her screen. He returned the gesture, and her smile softened.

"I love you, too," she said. She flicked his forehead on the screen after a moment. "Now go get your essay done. I have to figure out what these flippers are made out of."

"Ninety percent concentrated Lê Chiến sweat by this point," Luka muttered as he looked back at the book in his lap. She snickered, and he winked at her. "I'll see you tomorrow. Sleep well, darning."

"You, too," she said, keeping her eyes on the screen until he disconnected the call. With her boyfriend no longer distracting her, she pulled up the photo of the Fleels again. They really were…well. Maybe not hideous.

In a weird way, they made her think of that 27 Dresses movie. The one with all the bridesmaid dresses from themed weddings. She was pretty sure one of those weddings had been underwater, and she couldn't help but think the fleels would have been perfect for that outfit. Why Kim wanted to strut around their collège in high-heeled swim flippers she still wasn't sure, but hey. It was Kim.

With a sigh, she raised her arms over her head and gave a hearty stretch. She looked over to the flippers beside her on the desk, then looked at the kwami munching on a cookie next to them.

"Ok, Tikki," she said, reaching over to poke her kwami's stomach. Tikki giggled, and she grinned at her. "Let's do this!"

– V –

It took her a couple days, in the end. A few hours for research – both to find out what flippers were even made of (…apart from Kim Sweat) and how to properly merge that with a regular shoe – followed by a few pages of designs she wasn't entirely crazy about. The biggest holdup was the delivery time on materials, because while she had most of what she'd need the main flipper itself would be made out of a material she had to special order – and she'd had to wait for a chance to talk to Kim about that, because it was kind of pricey and she'd wanted to make sure he was ok moving forward with the costs. And despite what he'd told her, she really didn't want to cannibalize his old flippers for the project. She'd rather start with something fresh.

"Whatever, Marinette," he'd said, waving her off through the screen. "It's not like I'm blowing my allowance on movies or gym fees right now, right?"

She'd made her prototype while she waited for the actual materials to get in, and…admittedly had a blast walking around the bakery in them. Her mom had found the noise annoying after a while, but her dad and Luka had found them just ridiculous enough that they couldn't stop laughing. Luka had even given them a spin, after which he had told her she definitely needed to show them to Jagged. She'd made no promises on that, as they both knew how Jagged would be.

And if the prototype had been good, the real deal had been even better. The slip-slapping of the fins wasn't as satisfying on the hardwood floor of her room (though it had still been enough to make her mom pop up through her door with a warning look and a reminder about early mornings), but there had been something ridiculously exquisite about it when she'd walked on the tile of the shopfront. When Luka had come in to pick up the day's deliveries and had seen her strutting around in the flipper-heels, he'd laughed so hard he had to remove his mask just to breathe. Marinette had been momentarily distracted by the curl of his lips, the look of utter joy on his face, and she'd almost jumped him right then.

"Those are amazing," he wheezed, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Oh my God. Darning, I think I want a pair, too."

…well, that had ruined it.

She walked up to him, the fleels slip-slapping away on the tile, and reached up to hook his mask back over his face. His eyes softened as he watched her, and she gave a quick glance over her shoulder to find her dad watching them with a grin. He held a finger up to his lips and winked.

"Oh, go on," he said. "I won't tell if you don't."

Her eyes crinkled with her grin, and she nodded her thanks before turning back to her boyfriend. He was grinning, too, and he chuckled as she threw herself at him. His arms came up to hold her tight, and a happy little hum escaped her as she snuggled against him. It was over entirely too soon – she felt like he had just started holding her when her dad cleared his throat to let them know her mom was coming back down – but it would have to be enough, for now. She stepped back, still smiling stupidly at him (even if he couldn't really see it), and reached into her pocket for his daily post-it kiss. His eyes darted over her head as he took it, and she gasped when he bent down, lowered his mask, and quickly pressed his lips to her forehead. Her hand fisted in his shirt, but he was pulling away and fixing his mask as she heard her mom's voice behind them,

"Oh, Marinette, you're still wearing those awful things?" Sabine sighed, and Luka snickered as he tucked the post-it away in his pocket.

"They're awesome," he said, winking at her, but her mom just sighed.

"Don't encourage her, dear," she said, walking up with a stack of boxes in her arms. "I want to keep liking you."

"Yes, ma'am," he said, nodding. He looked back at Marinette once before heading back out to load his bike up with the deliveries. Sabine nudged her shoulder, making Marinette look away from him.

"I saw that," she whispered to her, and Marinette's eyes widened. Her mom chuckled and patted her shoulder. "I know it's hard, dear. Just…be careful."

Marinette bit her lip and nodded. Her mom was already moving back to the counter for more boxes, and by the time Luka came back in, Marinette was switching out the fleels for her flats.

"Is Kim picking them up today?" he asked, and she nodded.

"He should be here any minute," she said. She grabbed the last few boxes and followed him out to his bike. "Any big plans after work?"

"I was hoping…I'm supposed to get my results back today," he said, taking the boxes from her and fitting them in with the others. He latched up the box and turned back to her. "Think they might consent to a movie night if I'm clear?"

"You're clear," she said, rolling her eyes. He chuckled and reached for her hand, squeezing.

"I appreciate your confidence, but better safe than sorry," he said. "Just because the other tests have been negative…"

She threw herself at him again, hugging him tight. He sighed, pressing his face against her shoulder as his arms came up around her.

"You're clear," she said again, more firmly. "I'll ask them. Be safe out there."

"You, too," he said. "I mean…I know I'm more exposed, but…"

"Yeah," she said, squeezing him closer. She stepped back, then took another step before she was tempted to latch onto him again. "I really miss your hugs, Luka."

"Same," he said. He put his helmet back on and climbed onto his bike, giving her a final grin. "I'll let you know as soon as I know."

"She's probably gonna spray you down with disinfectant anyway," she said, rolling her eyes. Her mother had been…well, cautious. And she appreciated that – she really did! But she couldn't deny she was getting tired of it after all this time. She knew Luka was still around more people than anyone in the bakery was, but it was hard to fully appreciate that when she saw him every day. He was part of her circle, even if she knew his circle was bigger than hers.

"If she lets me hug you later, it'll be worth it," he said. "I'll bathe in Lysol if she finally lets me kiss you."

She was pretty sure her blush spread straight to her ears at that. He chuckled and waved, calling out an I love you as he biked off.

He was so dumb sometimes.

She loved it.

– V –

Kim showed up maybe twenty minutes after Luka left, fully decked out in his gym sweats and swimming cap. Marinette's eyebrows soared when he jogged up.

"Are…are you aiming to match?" she asked, laughing a little as the towel around his neck billowed behind him like a cape. He shook his head as he stopped a few feet away from her, grinning as he lifted his mask back up over his face.

"Well, yeah," he said, "but even better! They're opening the pool back up today. Only a few of us are allowed in at a time, but they said it should be safe. The water and chlorine break down the molecular bonds of the virus or something, so they've said the pool is probably the safest place in the city right now!"

Marinette just blinked at him, forgetting for a moment that if it was something swimming-related then yeah, Kim probably did know about molecular bonds or something. She also wasn't entirely sure how accurate that was, as the pool had initially shut down because of all the people who had gotten sick there, but she supposed it held the same idea as the handwashing? She guessed. Kim was excited about it, at least, and she supposed that was something, so she laughed and shook her head, shrugging a little.

"Well, that's great, then!" she said. She hadn't heard that the city was opening the gyms back up yet, but she hadn't listened to the Mayor's updates that morning, either. (Chloé had been commandeering them the past few weeks, so Marinette had taken to reading the highlights after the fact.)

"Yeah," Kim said, bouncing a little in his excitement. "I'm supposed to meet Ondine there next. We're just gonna do a few laps, but I can't wait. I've missed being in the water."

"Just…be safe," she said, fiddling with the fleels in her hands nervously. He nodded.

"Always am, Marinette!" he said with a two-fingered salute. As much as she wanted to trust him, Marinette sincerely doubted that: Kim hadn't been the one listening to Max's worried statistics-spirals every time a new Quarantine TikTok popped up on Kim's feed. Oblivious to her worries, Kim slapped his hands together and grinned at the fleels. "Are those it?"

"Oh! Yeah," she said, holding them out to him. She grinned a little ruefully. "You know…I thought you were crazy at first, but they're actually kinda fun? Even my dad likes them."

"See? They're awesome! I told you!" Kim crowed. He stuffed them under his arm and bent over, hopping awkwardly as he tried to switch his sneakers for the fleels.

"I don't know if I'd call them awesome," she said with a laugh, "but at the least they're silly and fun, and that's something we all need a lot of right now, right?"

Kim just grinned at her like that had been his plan all along, and maybe it had been. Kim liked to play the meat-headed jock (ok Kim was the meat-headed jock), but there were times he could be incredibly…perceptive. More than most of them gave him credit for. Marinette wouldn't put it past him to know just how ridiculous the fleels were but still know that that ridiculousness was what made them so special. She had certainly laughed harder than she had in a long while as she watched Luka dance around the bakery, slapping the fleels against the tile as he belted out Jagged's latest single ("Can't Rock The Rona").

"You just wait, Marinette!" he crowed, stomping his foot down. The flipper gave a satisfying smack against the pavement, and her lips quirked in a little grin. He placed his hands against his hips, striking a dramatic pose that looked…well, ridiculous, but very Kim. She choked on a laugh, clapping her hands over her mask to muffle the sound. He just winked at her. "They're gonna be a huge hit – you're gonna have orders coming in all over the place just for flipper-heels!"

"Fleels," she said, snorting. "I think I'm gonna call 'em Fleels."

Kim let out a bark of laughter that was more of a cackle, and Marinette was reminded of Luka's comment that they should really introduce him to Dingo. God help them all if they did.

It gave her a great idea of who could wield the Monkey now that Kim had been retired, though…

"See? Oh my God, they're awesome, Marinette! Check this out!" he cheered, and she laughed as he began strutting up and down the sidewalk. There were a few people out and about that afternoon, and they all paused to watch Kim strut by with wide eyes (and she was sure dropped jaws under their masks). Kim pivoted a little too well, considering the point of the heel, and made his way back to her. He threw his arm up in a dramatic pose, and she started laughing all over again. He grinned at her, tossing her another wink. "How do I look? Fabulous, right?"

"The pinnacle of high fashion," she snickered. He laughed with her as he leaned against the bakery's wall, wiggling the fleels off and putting his sneakers back on. "I'm just glad you like them. And…thanks, Kim. I needed the creative break."

"That's the secret, Marinette," Kim said, straightening and tucking his prize under his arm. "Every now and then, you just need something to make you laugh, y'know? Ondine is gonna love these. Thank you for making them. I can't wait to show her."

"It was my pleasure," she said. He gave her a nod and wave, and she laughed as he called goodbye and started jogging towards the gym. "Hey, Kim!"

He paused and turned, lifting his eyebrows to show he had heard her.

"Make sure you send me a picture when you show her! I want the full ensemble to put in my portfolio, ok?" she called. He tossed her a thumb's up, and she waved as he took off again.

He was so weird, but that was just part of what made Kim Kim, and really…she wouldn't trade that for the world.

– V –

Later that night, Marinette was snuggled under a blanket on the couch with Luka, who had arrived back from his deliveries with a clean bill of health and permission to stay for dinner and two movies, as long as they didn't run too late. (It wasn't a school night, and the city was emptier at night than usual, but it was still a good twenty-minute ride to the boat in the dark, and Sabine still wanted Luka to be safe.) Her parents had stayed with them for the first twenty minutes or so of the first movie, but they had quickly retired to their room with a reminder of the kids' curfew and a reminder that they were just down the hall. Marinette had ducked her face against Luka's shoulder to hide her blush, but he had just given her a gentle squeeze as he nodded respectfully at her parents, promising that they'd be on their best behavior.

And really, Marinette had had a hard time paying attention to the movies after that. She was enjoying being in Luka's arms too much, feeling the steady rise and fall of his chest as he held her close, the little shivers as his fingers brushed against her bare arm…he still wouldn't kiss her, but the snuggles were enough. For now.

(He would, and it wasn't because he didn't want to. He just felt bad enough holding her like this, cuddled up without masks, when he knew he had still been among the public that afternoon. He didn't want to risk things any more than they already were, and…yeah, ok, she was a little disappointed, but she could respect that. If anything, she loved him all the more for how considerate he was being.

"You're gonna have so many kisses to make up for, Couffaine," she had tutted at him as she pressed her lips against another post-it. Her eyebrows had soared as he snatched her lipstick, generously applied it, then pressed a kiss against a blank post-it. She'd grinned stupidly when he handed it to her, biting on her lip in an attempt to hide it. She hadn't even been that mad when he'd dropped the lipstick in his pocket with her own post-it, fully intending on keeping it now that he'd contaminated it.

"I'm more than ok with that," he'd said, an equally stupid grin on his face. "Once it's safe, I have every intention of kissing you stupid, Dupain-Cheng.")

They had just started the second movie when her phone buzzed. She groaned and wiggled against him, tucking her face against his stomach.

"I don't wanna check it," she whined. "If it's Juleka asking where you are, or Alya, or…"

"You don't have to," he said, chuckling as he ran his hand through her hair.

"It's Luka Time," she grumped. "It can wait, darn it."

"I can check it, if you want," he said. She grumbled again but nodded, and she tried not to smile as she felt him pick her phone out of her pocket. If his fingers lingered longer than they probably should have, she didn't say anything. After a moment, he hummed and handed the phone to her. "It's from Kim. Looks like an image attachment."

"…oh!" she cried, pushing herself up a little to take her phone. He quirked an eyebrow at her, but she ignored him as she opened the attachment. "I had asked him to send me a picture for my portfolio! Oh my God. He is…this is great. Ok, I might have to send it to Jagged. Jagged would love these – can you see them in his pinstripes?"

Luka choked when he saw the picture. He fell back against the couch, an arm thrown over his face as he tried not to laugh loud enough to wake her parents. The picture was of Kim in his speedo, swim cap and goggles on with his towel still tied around his neck like a cape. He was posing with his hands on his hips, waxed chest puffed out proudly as he grinned cockily at the camera. Ondine leaned against him in her own swim garb, an overly-dramatic My Hero! swoon on her face as she puckered her lips towards Kim's cheek. She even had a foot popped up, and she was standing on her toes on the other because…

…Kim was wearing the friggin fleels. And he looked fabulous.

"You know that scene in Mamma Mia? Where the guys are marching down the pier with flippers and posing?" he snickered, and she choked on a laugh and slapped his chest. "I'm just saying. It would make a great music video."

"I am not telling Jagged about these," she huffed, fully realizing that she probably would. They were just ridiculous enough that he'd love them, probably wanting them striped in the colors of the French flag to match his Eiffel tower sunglasses. Jagged Stone Beach Chic, just in time for the end of summer. "He'd probably have me make a set for Fang. Oh my God. No. No, no, no, no –"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes," he laughed, pulling her closer. "Oh my God. Please. Just for the audio. I'm begging you –"

"Absolutely not," she said, shaking her head. "No way. I refuse."

"C'mon," he wheedled, tickling her sides and making her squirm. "It'll be good practice for when the rest of the swim team commissions you…"

…which she could actually see them doing, because Kim would totally talk them into it, and she could just see the team photo next year…the visual was enough to send her into another fit of giggles, and Luka's warm laugh joined hers as he held her close, and it was all too much – and then they heard the door open down the hall, and her dad call out a reminder to keep it down or he goes home, and they lost it all over again.

Kim was right, Marinette couldn't help but think as their laughter died off and she snuggled back against Luka's side. Every now and then – especially when the world was going to hell around you – you just needed something to make you laugh.