Chapter Text
Same day Luka's perspective.
Guitar hanging from his shoulder and paper in hand, Luka walked back to the main area surprised to find the team still talking and hanging out.
Ivan noticed him first, "Do you have something for us to practice?"
Luka shook his head, "Not yet," he said and sat on the sofa with his guitar putting the paper on the cluttered table in front of him after pushing the junk to the side for space in a patented "Nettoyage Couffaine" as the family jokingly called pushing stuff to the side for table space so he could write.
Juleka smiled and looked at Rose, Mylene, and Alya, "I think he just had some inspiration."
Alya smirked nodding, she'd noticed Alix's cheeks had matched her hair as she waved goodbye to everyone on her way out.
"I did," Luka said, unaware he was being teased, he picked up his guitar and strummed a few times before he heard the resonance of a memory. A few months ago Bunnyx had come to him and asked him to come with her as a safeguard as she traveled through time. Just in case she ended up in a wall or something he could second chance her out. He agreed, the idea of going back or forward in time and being killed in such a way was horrifying. He smiled… There it was, his nails brushed one way as his fingers pinched and slid his brain counting and remembering. E A. He closed his eyes and leaned back.
"Woah," Rose said, nearly taking the head of the guitar to her face.
Luka opened his eyes, his face warmed when he realized what he'd almost done, "Sorry."
Rose smiled toothily, "It's okay, loverboy," she said wiggling her eyebrows at him. He was as much a big brother as her own and she had no problem teasing him like one. "Is that just instrumental or are lyrics flowing too?"
Luka smiled excitedly, "Both!"
Alya stood, "That's my signal to go. Come on non-Kittens, it's their practice time."
Mylene hugged Juleka and Rose then waved to the guys and walked out starting a procession of unmasked miraculous wielders followed by Juleka who waved them off with a smile then walked back in.
Luka was humming and when they returned he leaned forward to write something down then looked up at Rose squinting, "Rose!"
The girl nodded to him from the doorway, "Yeah?"
"Say that again."
"Bye guys?"
"No, what you said when I almost hit you. Sorry, again, by the way," Luka smiled.
"Woah?" Rose asked.
"Yeah!" Luka nodded hair bouncing around his face, he leaned over the paper and wrote then turned to Ivan. "Say it but try to break it into more syllables."
"Wu-uh-uh-uh-oh?" Ivan asked rather than sang.
Luka frowned, shaking his head he looked at the empty doorway wanting to hear his sister's husky alto. He turned back to Ivan, "More like, 'W-oh-oh-oh', you know?" Luka offered, not really comfortable with singing.
Ivan blushed but repeated it.
Luka nodded then shook his head, "yeah like that but, no." He went back to strumming then leaned forward and wrote something on the side. When he leaned back Rose hurriedly picked up the paper and read out loud.
"'Now you'll live, I can feel your pulse,' Sexy, Luka," she said.
Luka blushed, keeping his eyes closed. There were no people he felt safer with than his band, his mother, and slowly Jagged and Penny had been showing him they were caring too. But these were his feelings laid bare and he wasn't quite sure how other people would take them.
Juleka walked back in, "That was interesting."
Rose nodded referring to the lyrics.
"I mean, I knew some of them but, some were a complete surprise."
Rose handed Juleka the nearly empty sheet music paper.
Juleka read it then looked at her brother critically, "Really?"
Luka opened his eyes, "it's a little deeper than it seems."
"I don't want you hurt," she said protectively.
Luka looked offended, "aren't you, her friend?"
"I'm your sister," she countered.
"I'll be fine," he frowned. He couldn't tell her about the times Viperion and Bunnyx had explored time together, for safety… Could he? It seemed everything was out in the open now. No, he'd talk to Alix first.
Ivan, always uncomfortable with band tension and the first to seek to alleviate it spoke up, "Can I see?"
Juleka handed the page to him, and he read it.
"I don't understand, 'now you'll live, I can feel your pulse' did you bring someone back to life? Did you save someone?" Ivan asked.
Luka strummed and shook his head unwilling to talk about being Viperion, "Just tell me your initial reaction without me telling you what it means. What do you guys think?"
Juleka thought, "I think she gets to live throughout time," Juleka thought about it but it was Rose who spoke up.
"'Now you'll live,' because she got the Miraculous, 'Now you'll live like a goddess?' I don't understand the pulse part."
Luka blushed a pretty red.
Rose giggled, "Oh felt it have you?"
"It's not like that," Luka said, "I mean I have but it was only in her wrist."
"Oh," Rose said more than a little letdown, ever the romantic. "Well, wrist kind of rhymes with Goddess if we write the song in English." Rose walked over and pulled the paper from Ivan's hand translating the words to English in her mind. "Now you'll live like a goddess, I can feel your pulse in your wrist' ew, no."
Ivan looked at them from behind his kit, "She moves through time differently than Viperion, she's different from all of us, she moves through the millennia, what are some other words for that?
"Ages," Juleka supplied.
Luka's eyes popped open and he snatched the paper from Rose scribbling quickly.
Juleka walked around and looked at the words, "'Now you'll live through the ages, I can feel your pulse in the pages?' what's that mean?"
Luka couldn't tell her that Alix would write paper notes and put them in the strings of his lyre when she wanted to meet up to explore time. But he wanted to make it about the music, the process of writing too. "The song, every song lives."
The rest of the band nodded.
Rose looked at what he wrote and began to belt out the words and Luka frowned but tried to smile. "Um, can you try singing this as a ballad?"
Rose looked offended but tried.
Luka looked to Juleka, she swallowed then with a husky voice sang with the timbre he was looking for. He turned to Ivan.
"Sing woah, again."
Ivan uncomfortably did.
Luka nodded. "Yeah. Just like that."
Rose fidgeted uncomfortably and Luka ran over to a box and pulled out a tambourine and handed it to her. "I promise you will sing."
Rose smiled and Luka turned to his sister and Ivan.
"Again!"
"Now you'll live through the ages, I can feel your pulse through the pages," Juleka said.
"Wo-oh-oh-oh," Ivan sang turning red.
Luka ran back to the paper with Rose behind him, he muttered but she spoke aloud slowly as every word was written.
"'I, have written, you down… Now, you will live, forever' wow, Luka, that's good," Rose said on a sigh.
Ivan nodded.
"Is this about a song? It doesn't sound like it, people don't read songs, only musicians read pages of music," came Anarka's voice from beyond the doorway.
The band looked at one another panicked not remembering when the last time they mentioned their miraculouses.
Juleka recovered first and whispered, "it's fine."
Luka walked to his mother who was carrying groceries and picked up a bag, "What do you mean?"
"I mean, you're talking about pages but the only people who think of pages with music are musicians," Anarka explained.
"Really?" Luka seemed skeptical.
"Seems that way to me," Anarka shrugged, taking groceries out of the cloth bags. "That's why some musicians actually publish their lyrics as poetry."
Rose sighed dramatically, "Poetry lives forever, it's so romantic."
"And everyone reads it," Ivan agreed.
"Yeah," Juika said.
Luka thought about it, it was actually the same and while music lived forever too people remembered lyrics and put them to different tunes and stories over the years, he rushed back to the paper. When he was done he handed the paper to Rose as she seemed the most eager.
"'All the world will read you, you will live forever since I have written you down', I like it!" Rose said eagerly.
Juleka sang it but found it uncomfortable with the pace of the previous lines and changed it, "I'm changing it just a bit if it's okay. 'I have written you down, Now you will live forever, and all the world will read you, and you will live forever' how does that sound?"
Luka nodded, "I like that more. Thanks." Luka sighed, his chest felt light, the unbearable pressure of the song pushing on him had been released, it wanted to be finished but he found that some songs just wanted to be born and this was one of them. Now he could relax, he picked up his guitar to see if he could add anything to it lyrically and found nothing coming but the music seemed to flow and he marked what he wanted, switching to a new sheet of paper for Ivan as this song seemed to require a lot of drums. He would need to talk to Adrien, he had a feeling he wanted some keyboard or piano in this one but he wasn't totally sure.
"Luka?!," Juleka shook his shoulder and he opened his eyes.
"Huh?"
"I've been calling you for like 3 minutes."
"Oh, sorry."
"Ivan left, you've been in your own world, Jagged is here he wants to know if you want to 'bond'," she said curling her fingers in bunny ears as she said bond.
Luka smiled and picked up his sheet music, he put everything in his guitar case and walked to the door, "Sure, are you coming?"
"Nah, Rose and I are going to a concert at her school."
"Sounds cool, have fun."
***
Luka walked outside seeing his mother and Jagged talking on the walkway along the river. They were smiling so that was a good sign. Luka looked over and found Penny holding a clipboard and a leash. The leash was pulling her toward his parents but she was holding it with a death grip keeping both her and the crocodile away as she surreptitiously watched the former couple talk. Luka waved as he walked over to his parents.
"--true for soloists, Jag, but he's going to want to discuss it with the band," Anarka was saying.
Jagged looked at Luka then at the boat but before he could say anything Luka figured him out.
"She's going with her girlfriend to her school's concert."
Jagged nodded then looked at Anarka for guidance. She just lifted her eyebrows as if to say, 'Try,' he frowned but tried, "Did you want to go, too?" he asked tentatively.
"No, I wanted to talk to you about the new song I'm working on. Maman's already heard what we have so far," Luka said.
"Oh, sounds great, let's do it," Jagged looked at Anarka with pride which she just rolled her eyes at and smiled, "Anarka, I'll see you later."
"Bye Maman."
"See you later," she waved to Penny who quickly pretended to not be watching then waved back in a sophisticated but friendly wave. A smirk played around Anarka's lips, she had two teens she knew exactly what was going on with Penny. She turned to Jagged, "Take care of Luka and we need to have a conversation about how you're treating Penny. Fang is bigger than she is and she's expected to control him? Is that her job?"
Jagged sighed, "Nan, can't we have one day without you berating me?"
Anarka nodded, "Just take care of Fang so she doesn't have to. And be nice."
"Yes, Ma'am," he said in English sighing.
Anarka rolled her eyes and walked back onto the boat.
Jagged turned to Luka as they walked to Penny, "You're writing a new song?"
"Yeah, it's coming together really fast, I think we've got the hook but I just can't wait to hear it all."
"What's it about?" Penny asked, surprised when Jagged took Fang's leash, "Oh, thank you," she murmured.
Jagged nodded to her then leaned over to pat Fang, "Yeah, what's it about?"
Luka blushed before his bravery could solidify Jagged nodded sagely.
"A girl? Or a boy?"
Luka turned red, "A girl."
Penny leaned forward to see Luka from around Jagged, "New girl?!"
Luka smiled, "I hope," he said softly. Then pushed his hair over his ear, "But it's also about the music itself."
"What do you mean?" Penny asked.
"Think about the song Layla by Eric Clapton, that song is so old but the woman 'Layla' will live forever because of the song. Every time we write a song about a person they become immortal for as long as the song lives they do too."
Jagged nodded, he'd had this same philosophical discussion with other artists and writers over the years.
"A ballad?" Penny said in surprise, pulling Jagged from his memories, "What did Rose say?"
Luka ran his hand through his hair, "Um, I think she's taking it harder than she's showing me. Especially since… I asked everyone to try singing it and ended up choosing Juleka. I was trying to be objective, she just sounded the best."
Jagged nodded, Juleka had inherited Anarka's husky alto, except she had not inherited Anarka's passion for singing and tended to be more reserved. "How does Juleka feel about being the center of attention?"
Luka smiled, "She's fine with it."
Jagged looked at Penny with a worried look on his face that she mirrored but neither said anything.
"Well, what do you have?" Jagged asked as they neared they crossed the street to the hotel.
"Uh," Luka looked around then pulled the pages out of the guitar case's pocket and handed them to Jagged.
They stopped directly in front of the hotel while Jagged and Penny read the music. When the doorman came toward them to request they move for people to get by Jagged handed him the leash, "Oh, thank you. Service here is impeccable, just take her to her room and send up her favorite please."
The doorman looked down at the crocodile on the other end of the leash with terror but Jagged was leading Penny and Luka away already.
Penny looked over Jagged to Luka, "It's very good. When do you think it'll be ready to perform?"
Jagged turned to her and discreetly shook his head but Penny misunderstood.
"I'm not sure, at the rate, it's coming along, a few weeks if everyone else picks up on it as quickly as they were today," Luka said.
"I have a friend working on the committee for Le Bal des Débutantes and they asked me to help book a young band. They're interested in, Kitty Section."
Luka looked stunned.
Jagged, who had been uncomfortable, seemed to finally relax.
Penny smiled brightly at Jagged then nodded to Luka, "What do you think? Do you think everyone will go for it?"
Luka nodded then frowned and shook his head watching his opportunity to see Alix at her ball disappear before his eyes., "Adrien's a guest, or debutant or whatever they're called. I don't think he'll be able to perform."
"He'd be a 'cavalier'," Penny supplied the term.
"I doubt cavaliers are allowed to be part of the band," Luka said sighing.
Jagged turned to Penny, "Why isn't Luka going?"
Penny turned to Luka who shook his head.
"I don't want to be a, a," he switched to English, "an arrogant rich kid!"
Jagged laughed, "Is that what you think of Adrien? I thought you were friends. Or is that what you think it means in English?"
Luka's mouth fell slightly open and he closed it embarrassed, "He's different."
Jagged nodded, "I think you'll find a lot of the kids going are like him. But I understand if you don't want to go. I didn't even want to go to my prom. But why don't you talk to Adrien and the rest of the band about this opportunity?" Jagged said.
Luka nodded.
Penny smiled holding the paper. "I'd like to know a little more about the song and the mysterious young lady." Luka's cheeks pinkened, and Penny couldn't help but smile he looked so much like Jagged, "Unless it's a secret," she said.
"No, it's just new. I think."
" That new?" Jagged smiled.
Luka nodded, "We just decided to talk tonight a couple of hours ago."
Penny looked at the music in her hands, this was a lot for someone who had only been on his mind for a couple of hours. "How long have you known each other?"
"Uh, six years I think?"
Penny nodded, she must be a school friend, that was sweet, she thought as Jagged spoke to his son.
"How do you know each other?"
"She's Juleka's school friend."
Penny mentally smirked, friend's big brother what a cliche, and a rock star, this girl, whoever she was, never had a chance.
"Do I know her?" Jagged asked.
"Her father is the head curator of the Louvre," Luka shrugged.
"Kubdel?" Jagged asked.
Luka nodded, "Her name is Alix."
“Do I know her?” Jagged asked, and Penny winced inwardly. Jagged was having a difficult time remembering Luka had done just fine without his father smothering him his whole life and this could easily turn into one of Jag’s overbearing parenting moments instead of a sweet father-son moment.
“You’ve probably seen her, she comes to everything. She’s in Juleka, and Rose’s group of friends,” Luka replied, not noticing Penny’s tension.
“That’s right you said she was friends with Juleka. She’s friends with Rose too? The whole group? Marinette?” Jagged fished.
“Yeah, that group,” Luka confirmed.
Penny nearly sighed audibly, Marinette was like Jagged’s ‘wholesome meter’. If someone or something was good enough for her then he trusted her judgment.
“I’d love to meet her,” Jagged said with a smile.
Luka pinkened, “Uh, we’re not-- It’s not-- We haven’t…” Luka trailed off uncomfortably.
“Maybe later, after you’ve had some time for yourself,” Penny offered, saving him.
Luka looked at the magenta haired woman gratefully and sighed, “Yeah.”
A few hours later sitting on the deck he plucked at his guitar while thinking of some of the places she’d taken him over the past year. “‘I can’t tell our story out loud, so…’ So? So, what Luka, you’re going to sing about it?”
“Why don’t you?” Juleka said from the stairs.
Luka looked around wildly.
“It’s fine, she’s asleep, she has to wake up early tomorrow. Why don’t you sing it, and why don’t you write about it?” Juleka asked.
“What do you want me to say? I look forward to moving backward through time with you?”
“Damn, you don’t even know how good you are do you?” Juleka said.
“I can’t say that, I can’t even write it, Juleka,” Luka said leaning back in the lawn chair.
“Yes, you can, poets write stuff like that all the time, and no one ever thinks they’re superheroes on the side,” Julika laughed as she hopped up on the ping pong table to sit cross-legged in front of her brother.
Luka looked down and his hair covered his face slightly in a very Julika like display and he murmured something.
“Huh?” his sister said.
“It’s embarrassing,” he said, not looking up.
“No it isn’t,” Julika replied, thinking of the things he said to Marinette.
“I sound obsessed.”
Yeah, you do, “No… It’s normal to have strong feelings at the beginning, why don’t you call Alix? I bet she feels the same way,” Julika said.
Luka looked up hopefully then looked around for his phone, surprised to see it floating in front of his face in Julika’s hand. He smiled, “Thanks.”
“Tell her, I said, Hello.”
“I will,” Luka said, typing the number into his phone he looked up as the phone rang and beeped to tell him she was on the phone with someone else. He was about to hang up and tell Julika she wasn’t available but he was alone on the deck and suddenly he heard Alix’s voice.
“Oui?”
For a moment he didn’t actually know what to say, what he was supposed to say, then suddenly sanity returned, “Alix? This is Luka.” He heard a soft sigh, that was good, right?
“Yes, this is Alix,” Alix sat in her bedroom and pulled her phone from her ear and looked at it accusingly then mouthed ‘Yes, this is Alix?!’ WHO SAYS THAT this isn’t a business call!! She mentally berated herself.
“Good! I hope I’m not calling too late… “ Luka said, why is this so uncomfortable? He thought.
“No, not too late. I just got back from errands with my grandmother.”
“Yeah? So, is everything okay with you two?”
“Yeah, we got stuff done for their party they want me to go to,” she said dejectedly.
Luka frowned not knowing what to say… Should he tell her about his day- No that would make it seem like what she was saying was unimportant. Maybe a simple ‘Uh-huh’ but that seemed like a bad idea too- Oh! She’d been waiting a long time Say anything! “Wanna come over?”
“Now?”
“Uh…” What were you thinking! “ Tomorrow?”
“Sure,” Alix’s voice happily came through the receiver.
“Yeah?” Luka smiled, “10 okay?”
“Yeah, perfect, any particular plans?”
“Don’t you already know?”
“Ha, why do people assume that I just know everything?” Alix said relaxing.
“You usually do, and when you don’t you have an opinion about it,” Luka teased comfortably.
“That’s true except the opinion part, even my opinions are facts, fact . I’m very knowledgeable, I’m just willing to share my considerable knowledge with everyone else. You all should be thanking me for educating you,” she joked.
Luka laughed and she joined in. He was one of the few people who knew how smart Bunnix and now Alix was. When she came around to train with the team she was usually sarcastic, competitive, and athletic. But the team (with a few exceptions) didn’t tend to think of her as smart, sarcastic, athletic, or even competitive, they saw her as a bad omen. It didn’t take long for the team to notice Bunnix rarely fought. At first, they thought it was because no one had her phone number but then they realized she knew when to come and would without being called. Ever since the team with the exception of Ladybug, Chat Noir, Pegase, and Viperion viewed Bunnix’s arrival as a bad omen for a fight. Viperion had tried to explain to the team once her being there proved they could get through it. But his logic was not the favorite opinion.
“Did you have somewhere in mind?” Alix asked
“Not really, you?”
“Some when?” she asked carefully.
“Sure,” Luka smiled.
“I’ll show you my tattoo,” Alix said looking at the inflamed skin.
“You got a tattoo? With your grandmere ?!” Luka said shocked, he’d seen Alix’s grandmother when he’d been doing deliveries, she was a walking advertisement for what a classy older woman should look like.
“It’s a tradition in our culture, she has them too,” Alix said partially self consciously partially defensively and more than a little irritably.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be offensive, I was just surprised.”
“It’s okay, I get it, she doesn’t look like the type of grandmother who’d have tattoos… Like Marinette’s grandmother.”
“I’m not sure if I should agree or not,” Luka replied honestly although that was exactly what he thought.
“Up to you, but it is getting late. See you tomorrow?” Alix said.
“Yeah, tomorrow, here?” Luka said hoping he didn’t sound like a puppy.
“Yeah, sounds good, uh, bye?” Alix said uncertainly.
“Yeah, good… Bye… ?” Luka said but neither of them ended the call
“Um, I’m gonna go now,” Alix said.
“Oh, yeah sure,” Luka replied.
They both ended the call and sighed in relief then,
“Tomorrow!” they both said in unison miles apart.