CW: Mention of assault

Comfort Seeking

Day rolled into night; Marinette had finished her work at the cafe and was mentally drained. The owner of the brand absolutely hated her design, despite her working on it for two weeks straight. It was a blow to her confidence to say the least. As she closed her laptop. Marinette thought about what Alya had said about Janet. Yeah, she was a total hardass.

"Are you done for the day, Marinette?" a soothing voice came from behind the counter of the shop. It was cool and comforting, like a cup of strawberry sorbet on a summer afternoon. Marinette peered up from her table, it was a few feet away from the counter full of sweet and savory treats.

"Done is a very subjective word, Luka… but I do think I've accomplished enough to deserve a cheese tart." She giggled.

"Oh, you spoke! For a second there I thought you'd never break that trance you were in." He smiled, the ease in his eyes seeing Marinette disconnect from work growing. Luka had been fetching everything she needed that day without so much of a word as to not disrupt her concentration. He was so incredibly considerate. "One cheese tart, for the beautiful lady at table four. Anything else?" Marinette rolled her eyes, he was flirting again.

"I'm hardly beautiful. And no thanks, I've really got no appetite these days." She looked past her shoulder as she folded her arms. The sky was deep blue, cold and mellow. Inside the cafe was warm, she didn't want to leave just yet. Luka glanced at Marinette from the counter, packing her treat in a bag. She looked so lost in thought, despite them conversing. He wished she would just say what was on her mind. He could read her like a book, and the plot she was spinning was full of twists and trials.

"Yeah, I can see that." Luka said, with a pang of something bitter in his throat.

"What do you mean?" She responded, genuinely unaware of her current physical state.

"I don't mean to sound rude or anything," Luka started, trying to choose his words carefully so she would understand. "It's just that you look like you've lost weight. I hope you aren't skipping meals just to meet a deadline." Luka began to walk from behind the counter to Marinette's table, treat in hand. He set it down in front of her, handing off the pastry with a sort of cheeky smile. "Especially when you've got me to give you goodies on the house whenever you want."

"Well, so long as i have the time to walk here." She brushed off the comments about her appearance, taking the tart and unwrapping it to take a bite. She didn't think anything was wrong, really. She thought people were frething over nothing.

"Walk?" Luka said, tone indicating confusion.

"Well, long story short, my bike is busted." She took a sheepish bite of the tart and looked a bit embarrassed. She hated admitting that things were going wrong, it made her feel weak.

"Dude… a lot of your stuff has been breaking, hasn't it?" Luka shifted closer, his confusion began to morph into suspicion.

"Maybe… I mean, I'm clumsy, stuff happens, y'know?" She crossed her legs, looking down to the floor. "I'm just worried about how much it'll cost to fix."

"Clumsy has its limits." Luka sat back, letting out a sigh. She still wasn't seeing it. "Personally, I think you have bigger issues."

"Bigger issues than money? I highly doubt that."

"Im serious," Luka's voice was slightly louder and not as calm. Marinette was taken aback slightly. "Something is off." He already knew what was happening, but he couldn't just outright tell her. She had to figure it out on her own.

"Jeez, it just doesn't seem that bad to me. You don't have to be so tilted."

"A broken window isn't that bad?" Luka leaned forward with a wide eyed expression that took Marinette by surprise. "What about your personal stuff disappearing when the door is locked?" She frowned. Maybe it was a little suspicious. "I really think this is the doing of someone trying to screw with you, maybe out of jealousy; maybe for revenge." Marinette perked up.

"Jealousy, revenge; what have I done to anyone to warrant harassment?" She wasn't completely buying it, but she would be kidding herself if she said Lukas words didn't affect her. There were things she didn't tell him were going on. The dusty footprints she found one morning; left behind in front of her bed. Phone calls from random numbers that said nothing. Emails asking inappropriate questions at the dead of night. Could she really be getting harassed by a lone person with a vendetta?

"Maybe not 'what have you done' but perhaps, what did they do to you." Luka grabbed his neck, his hand coming from behind his ear to cover his mouth. He was saying too much, but he just wanted her to get it. He wanted her to realize already; Cat Noir… Adrien Agreste was using his abilities to slowly encroach on her life after what he'd done. His motives could be nothing but bad news, and Luka did not intend to allow it to continue.

"... You're scaring me, Luka." Marinette brought her elbows up to the table, burning her face in her hands. "I know what you're insinuating, and I don't like it." She thought for just a moment about that day. "Cat Noir hasn't shown his face since the… incident. He could be halfway around the world at this point, causing trouble somewhere else… causing trouble for someone else."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Luka glanced outside the large cafe window, peering into the dark alley. "He could be playing hideaway, just like you, Mari."

"Like… roaming the streets as a normal person?" She chuckled. "I always thought that he was too prideful to stop being Cat Noir, even if there was no need for heroes in Paris."

"Maybe you've mischaracterized him?"

"Or maybe he's changed just as much as we have." Marinette's face was pale, almost gray at the thought of "Cat Noir" being right under her nose, watching her every move as she paraded around like she was 'better'. Luka realized just how much he was pushing her by even mentioning it. She was already so incredibly stressed with her job and dealing with the consequences of Adrien's actions as Cat Noir, he needed to soothe her.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I'm overthinking this whole thing… Maybe it is just some coincidences, I just want you to be safe." He smiled at her sweetly, getting up to give her a hug. "C'mon, don't be scared, I'm right here for you anytime."

"Thanks, Luka." Marinette got up from her chair as well, putting her head on Lukas chest. Her arms wrapped around his waist as he placed a hand behind her head and on her back. She loved his warmth. If his voice was like strawberry sorbet, then his embraces were like wine by candlelight.

"Alright, it's late, Bug." She lifted her chin to look up at Lukas' admiring eyes. "Let me close up and I'll see you off, okay?" She giggled, the worry gently flowing out of her as she let go from his chest.

"Okay, maybe I'll take another tart for the road if you have any left." He patted her head again, his large hand stroking her hair.

"Even if i didn't, I'd run to every bakery and cafe in Paris just to find you one." They both let out a laugh, he was too sweet.

After a little while of doodling in her sketchbook, Luka had finished cleaning up the cozy little cafe. All the tables were spotless and the pastry cabinet emptied. They walked outside, talking about nothing and everything, joking and poking fun. As he shut the doors to the cafe, Marinette thought to herself; the cafe is only comforting when Luka is there, without him, it was just another cold corner of the city.

"Well, I guess this is where we part ways," Luka put on a dramatic expression of sadness, clutching his heart in a theatrical show. "If only… there was more time!" He pretended to sniffle.

"Oh whatever!" Marinette shoved his shoulder as they began to chuckle. "As if I didn't spend the entire day eating your pastries and drinking your coffee here."

"That may be so, but i still dont wanna go just yet." His happy look softened into that of somberness. "I wish we had time to just hang out, you know?" Marinette looked away, staring deep into the dark streets only illuminated by the street lamps.

"You sound like Alya." She was a little sad, a little disheartened. After stewing for a moment, Marinette spoke. "Are you lonely too, Luka?" She looked back into his eyes, brows slightly furrowed. Smile gone.

"If i'm being honest, yeah." He broke eye contact. Her piercing blue eyes shook his heart. "Everyone tells me that being in your twenties is like the best and worst gift you'll ever receive. Heart break, finding yourself and the like… but…" He stopped himself, wondering if he was saying the right thing. "...But so far it's just a whole lotta being alone."

Marinette felt her cheeks heat up as Lukas hand grazed hers. They both looked forward, feeling the warm air of the night flow around them. His pinky hooked onto hers, silently making a promise of commitment to her. She felt her heart flutter; panic welling up inside her head. She yanked her hand away, facing Luka as she stepped backward.

"Thanks for today, really." Marinette walked off, heat not subsiding as her steps gradually faded into the night. Luka whispered to himself.

"Get home safe, bug." He stood there for a few minutes. Watching her hair bounce like a frightened bunny. She was so… good. Amazing, talented, kind… Why was she chosen to suffer so much? She was plagued by some force of hurt. He wanted to trade her pain for his happiness, but really, without her by his side, he wasn't very happy either.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer, perv." Luka whipped his head to the alley beside the cafe, expression cold and unforgiving.

"Shut up, Adrien. You're the fucking perv." Adrien, costumed as he was using the black cat Miraculous, stepped out from the blackness of the shadows. "Why are you stalking Marinette?"

"I'm no stalker," Adrien said with venom in his voice.

"Really? Then why are you breaking into her house and destroying her things?" Luka faced Adrien. This new form of his wasn't frightening to Luka, it was just evidence that Adrien was losing himself and fast. "That sounds like obsessive behavior to me."

"You'd know alot about obsessiveness, right?" Adrien sneered, chuckling, like this was the most ridiculous accusation he's ever heard. "She doesn't want you, isn't it obvious?"

"Oh, and she wants you? Is that what you're saying?"

"She wants 'Adrien', doesn't she?" Lukas' posture straightened, disgust coursing through his blood. "What? Cat got your tongue, pretty boy?" Adrien quickly squatted down, touching his hand to the ground. Black mist traveled in an instant to Lukas presence; it wrapped around him like a cord. He walked up to Luka. "Show a hero some respect or I'll separate your skin from your muscle. I promise, its very painful"

"Getting skinned alive sounds better than what you did to Marinette." Lukas words were like knives to Adriens paper resolve. He spit in Lukas face, unraveling his mist. Luka wiped off the substance, secretly relieved to not be dead.

"You don't know shit about what I did or why I did it."

"You're kind of right." Luka dusted off his shirt, as if saying Adrien was dirty. "But I know enough to never trust you again."

"I don't want your trust."

"Do you want Marinette's trust?" Luka paused. Adrien's face flushed slightly, he was embarrassed to be called out by him. "I'm sorry to break it to you, but you're never getting that back." Adrien's embarrassment turned into a fiery attitude.

"Says who?" Luka, stunned, laughed in Adrien's face in absolute disbelief.

"Says anyone who's been fucking raped by someone they thought they could trust for so long! Who the fuck do you think you are?" Luka went right up to Adrien's face, grabbing him from the costume piece on his neck. "This updated costume and shift in your powers is a reflection of how much of a worthless fucking villian you've become. You're an absolute idiot if you think you are above everyone else just because you dated your victim in your civilian form before violating her. You aren't two people. You're a criminal with and without the costume."

Luka let go of his grip, letting Adrien fall to the floor, looking down on him as he detransformed.

"That's… not true…" Adriens voice shifted, a lump forming in his throat. "I'm not a villain… I'm just…"

"Lonely?" Adrien quickly looked to Luka, tears forming in his eyes as he disappointingly shook his head. "We're all lonely, Adrien. That doesn't give us the right to become actual monsters."

"She… was there when… " Adrien swallowed his words. "In my mind, she is responsible for what happened to my father." His hurt was turning into steaming, restless anger.

"Does that make what you did right?" Luka knew Adriens actions were him lashing out, both his parents were taken from him because of the Miraculous. Marinette, Ladybug, just so happened to be the face of the Miraculous at the time. Marinette had told him that when she was attacked by 'Cat Noir' he looked hurt beyond anything, but she didn't know why. To her, he was just Cat Noir, but Luka knew his true identity. He knew that by getting rid of Monarch, they were also getting rid of Adriens last source of stability. It's an unfathomable pain to lose the people you care about. But why, then, did Adrien choose to attack Ladybug? Why did he choose to force her to reveal her identity, to then continue to attack her with even more vitriol when he found out she was Marinette?

"Do you not regret what you did…?" Lukas eyes were full of hope that he'd come to his senses, that he'd just realize he did something unforgivable and give up.

"No… maybe? I don't know anymore. It felt right in the moment… but as time went by… " The silence was deafening as Adrien lost his train of thought. He stood up slowly after a while, refusing to look Luka in the face. Rubbing both the black cat Miraculous and the twin ring, Adrien seemed to approach his resolve once again. "Luka…"

"Yeah?" Luka approached Adrien a little closer, anticipating needing to console him in some way.

"I'm free now. Free from all control that my father had over me. Free from the responsibility to Paris." Luka was unsure of where this was going, he stepped back as Adrien gazed at him. "Free… from your manipulative guilt tripping." Luka was stunned, did he actually think he was trying to mess with his mind? Did he really not realize that he was trying to help him find peace? "Plagg, claws out."

Adrien transformed in an instant. He stomped his foot to the pavement. The black mist traveled once more to Luka, this time, enveloping his right leg. There was a tingling sensation all over it, Luka began to panic, thinking Adrien was really going to kill him this time. He tried tearing off the mist, but it was just flowing out of his hands, pulling in tighter on the circumference of his limb; shattering it in seconds.

"What the fuck! Agh! What the hell are you doing, Adrien!?" Luka fell over, hands gripping his leg in pain and utter disbelief.

"Don't call me Adrien. And if you must know, I just shattered your bone. Be glad I didn't disintegrate your organs." He squatted down, grabbing the phone from Lukas pocket and dialing emergency services, throwing it in front of his face. "I'm so nice, aren't I?" Luka gritted his teeth together in pain, holding back to not alert the people in the buildings around them.

"You really are just villain scum… you're just like your father!" Adrien laughed heartily.

"Yeah… just like my father."