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The first time Luka meets Nathaniel, he doesn't think much of it at all.
Holding his sister’s trembling hand as she walks into Collège Françoise Dupont for the first time (despite her insistence that she was old enough to go in by herself) to see her off into her new classroom, he points out a likely potential friend in the bubbly short blonde girl in the corner. Juleka seems hesitant at first glance of her entirely pink attire, but with an encouraging push forwards courtesy of her older brother, awkwardly steps up and introduces herself.
Luka - satisfied - turned around to leave, only to have the wind knocked out of him as someone slammed into his stomach. He looks down to see a boy with bright crimson locks that hide his left eye much like Juleka’s, staring up at him in terror.
“Sorry, so sorry, omigosh I am so sorry, are you okay?!”
Luka chuckles and assures him that all is well. Nothing out of the ordinary - just another kid nervous about the first day at a new school. He waves at Juleka one last time before he finally leaves.
*
The year goes by fairly well for his sister - one stress off his mind. She and Rose grow closer as time goes by, and before long, she's become a regular visitor aboard the Liberty.
Not having a particularly considerable social life to speak of, Luka ends up spending a lot of time with the both of them as well. He doesn't have too much to say, but Rose soon proves that's hardly a problem, easily filling moments of silence with her ever-plenty words. It's something Luka has never found himself capable of, either. Things would be easier if people could understand each other's messages simply and clearly. When Luka tried to explain something, words only seemed to get in the way.
Rose apparently doesn't face the same dilemma. She could talk forever, it seems, and still have more to say. It counters Juleka’s laconic personality perfectly.
*
The red-haired kid appears in Juleka’s class photo. In spite of the blaring shade of his hair, Luka only notices him because he scrutinizes every detail of the image trying to figure out what went wrong. Everything is perfectly normal and ordinary as per a class picture, but Juleka’s own face has been completely masked by the hand of some person in the front row. She identifies him as “Max”, excusing him from the blame with a sad sigh. Luka reminds her “there's always next year”, and the photo lies forgotten in the ashes of the fireplace.
*
While Juleka’s life at school is harmonious enough (a certain character who is apparently the daughter of the mayor is the center of a few memorable stories), Luka can't say the same. He passes his classes with sufficient averages - nothing special, but he was never brilliant to begin with - but he doesn't click with his peers. A bit of an outcast, never quite fitting in... he’d spent more time worrying about his sister's welfare than lamenting over his own lack of social circles. He wasn't concerned (at this point, anyway), but it did occur to him once or twice that he could do with a friend or two more than his beloved guitar. Alas, if only he could convey a proposal of friendship through his guitar chords, instead; then he might be able to communicate a message without screwing himself over.
*
Once, when he was much younger, before their mother became their sole guardian, Luka’s father took his children to a beach. It was late afternoon, later in the year, and apart from a few fishers nearby, they were mostly alone. That was a year before his father abandoned them, but Luka could still remember the serene tranquility of still water on their side of the sandbar.
He idly tossed pebbles into the lake at first, each one landing with a sloppy plunk! until his father showed him how to skip stones. What was formerly a single splash sending small waves became a series of graceful bounces, each leaving the water gently rippling outwards. The same way the guitar he would later receive leaves the sound echoing around even after the chord had been struck.
It’s calm and mesmerizing, and although Luka never ends up going back, he sometimes finds himself sitting on the edge of one of the stone banks of the Seine, skipping any pebbles he finds.
*
They're in the park one day (Juleka and Rose: Luka decides to subtly “tag along” (i.e. stalk them) to see how their inevitable romance is progressing), when Luka spots someone sitting atop the treehe is currently using to conceal himself. It doesn't take too much effort to peek his head through the branches and petrify the person, but a single terror-widened eye stares at him in shock from between thick leaves.
“Oh,” Luka manages, suddenly very aware of how awkward this is. “Um, hi?”
“Hi,” the other says softly, flushing.
“Sorry, I, um, that was stupid of me, I'll just leave you be, now- hey, aren't you that kid in Juleka’s class? Can't remember your name, though, uh...”
“Nathaniel,” he supplies helpfully.
“Nathaniel, right, cool, cool…” Luka takes this opportunity to save himself from further awkwardness and bids Nathaniel a “I'll be gone, then. Um, bye…” before darting out and under.
*
The name “Nathaniel” only really pops up a couple times in all the conversations Luka overhears from the girls. Apparently the guy was akumatized recently...Luka doesn't know much else about him, nor was he brought up frequently enough for him to care very much.
*
At some point in time, someone has some genius idea that results in something wonderful called Kitty Section.
At first, it’s only a little thing he and Juleka and Rose do: striking a couple chords for the sake of it, then Rose making up some random lyrics that, although largely incomprehensible and grammatically illegal, were quite something to listen to. It's mostly just for fun, until Ivan joins and they consider turning it into something more.
This gives Luka a lot of things he didn't have before. He is no longer platonically third-wheeling his sister and her girlfriend (they're this close) because now he is properly affiliated with this band and has a legitimate excuse to hang out. The band was gaining some attention from his high school, too, and some potential friends.
One of the bigger things, though, was that Luka found something of a voice through Rose. She suddenly interested herself in writing song lyrics, which actually ended up being surprisingly insightful and poetic at times. She has a way of magically accurately interpreting his music and forming a message in words that, although gibberish to others, hit close to home for Luka. And then there are those lyrics that were just totally and completely for fun. #UnicornsFtw!!!
*
When Luka goes to the riverbank that evening, he isn't expecting to be completely alone. He also isn't expecting company. But this time, he doesn't particularly mind it, either. Nathaniel doesn't take any initiative to start a conversation, and Luka lets the quiet envelope them in peace. It would be too awkward since the last incident, anyways.
After a while of silence broken by a periodic rock hitting the water, Luka finally musters up the courage to communicate a “hey”, just because when he finally gets a decent glance at the guy, he looks so troubled that Luka would feel guilty if he hadn't.
Nathaniel jerks out of whatever semi-trance he's been sitting in and looks at Luka, sighing.
“Hi,” he responds simply.
“I, uh, didn't get to really introduce myself properly last time… I'm Luka, by the way,” he says in a desperate attempt at maintaining conversation. It works.
“Yeah, I'm Nathaniel…” Nathaniel says uselessly. “You're Juleka’s brother, then,” he infers.
Luka nods.
“So, what brings you to the riverbank this evening?” he asks.
Nathaniel doesn't answer immediately, biting the inside of his cheek instead.
“I tried to drown a girl and a superhero here a few days ago,” he finally mumbles.
Luka stares at him, prompting him to elaborate.
“I was akumatized,” is all the explanation Luka really needs, but since Nathaniel goes on further, Luka supposes he might as well get some more details. “Forever, I've dreamt of being the hero, but in the end, I guess I'll only ever be the villain…”
“Who says you can't be the hero?” Luka asks.
Nathaniel shakes his head.
“I even made a superhero design for myself, but that same design ended up being my akumatized self. It's stupid, I know, but part of me just wanted to imagine that my drawings could have been real…”
“You draw?” Luka asks.
“Yeah… I wish I could make actual comics though. I'm no good with words…”
“I can relate,” Luka informs him. “My guitar manages to communicate way better than I ever can.”
“I've kinda lost my inspiration after being akumatized, though,” Nathaniel says sadly. “Thinking about it now, self-insert art is pretty embarrassing. Actually, why am I even telling all this to you? I barely even know you- you probably think I'm super lame now, too…”
“I think it's awesome that you designed a supersona for yourself,” Luka promises. “You shouldn't be embarrassed, just the fact that you drew it makes you about a thousand times braver than I could ever be.”
Nathaniel stares at him with wide eyes.
“Really?”
Luka nods.
“You should post it,” he suggests. “I bet if you did, other people might have the confidence to do the same thing. You can't be the only one, either; superheroes are crazy popular!”
“Maybe,” Nathaniel shrugs vaguely, a small smile forming on his face. Luka glows seeing it.
“By the way, you said you draw? My sister and I actually have this small band, it would be like super cool if you could design our logo or something, I mean, only if you're into it, obviously…” he trails off.
“I could do that, I guess,” Nathaniel says.
“Just consider it for now and maybe let Juleka know if you're interested. If not, you're welcome to watch us whenever we practice,” Luka offers. He doesn't know where this sudden confidence is coming from, but he seems to have plenty of it at the moment.
Nathaniel responds with another semi-smile and a shrug, then gets up to leave after realizing how late it is.
“See you around, maybe,” he says in goodbye.
“You too,” Luka waves.
When Nathaniel has disappeared up the stairs, Luka looks at the small pile of rocks that haven't been thrown yet and realizes he doesn't even need the rest of them to take his mind off things anymore.
*
Nathaniel comes to three of their rehearsals, which is all the time he needs buried in his sketchbook (with screaming vocals and even louder bass pounding in his ears) to present Luka with four different possible designs at the end.
Luka can't pick between two of them that stand out from the rest, so Rose suggests merging them together. Then she and Juleka leave for one of their “friendly dates” ( any day now… ), and once Ivan leaves, it's just Nathaniel and Luka, sharing the space on the bed as the guitarist tries out some sounds for another song, and the redhead figures out how to combine the two graphics he's ended up with.
The chords are softer this time, closer to the way Luka played along with Marinette’s heartbeat, but even smoother and mellower. This eventually results in Nathaniel falling asleep against his shoulder, and despite the fact that his arm is getting sore and he should really put his guitar away now, he doesn't dare change position and wake the artist up. The redhead leaves the moment he awakens, but Luka can still catch a glimpse of a blush as he sprints out.
Nathaniel only musters the courage to face him again to present the final design. Luka tells him it's amazing and decides that making Nathaniel blush is his new favorite activity (not that he has any romantic feelings for him, of course. That would just be ridiculous…)
*
They somehow end up spending more and more time with just each other (Luka later figures it has something to do with Juleka and Rose suddenly having something very important to do, leaving Nathaniel alone with the former’s older brother) and grow closer as a result.
After discovering some of the interests they share in common, it takes Luka forever for him to coax Nathaniel into singing. When he finally does get into it and accompanies recorded Brendon Urie in House of Memories, Luka informs him that his voice is nothing short of wonderful and that he needs to sing for him more often.
Nathaniel breaks his own blush factor and proves that a person really can resemble a fruit ( vegetable? What is a tomato, anyways? )
*
If Luka’s words are Rose, Nathaniel’s are Marc. He introduces his new collaboration partner, and Luka already knows he and Marc are going to get along well.
Nathaniel is suddenly lighter and more cheerful and lively than he's been for as long as Luka’s known him. When Marc is in the picture, Nathaniel's confidence rises six levels, something like the way Luka’s did when he talks to the redhead compared to others. It makes him happy to see his ( is he a friend now? ) well-acquainted acquaintance showing another, more outgoing side to his personality, but it also makes Luka feel just the slightest bit off. Between him and Nathaniel, he's clearly the one taking lead. Was it because Nathaniel felt intimidated? Overwhelmed? Is he not as happy with me? He isn't jealous - Marc is way too nice to deserve that - but it does eat away at him just a little.
*
Juleka and Rose have been trying to subtly (and, later, less subtly) enlighten Luka of his growing feelings. Either he's oblivious or in denial (unbeknownst to him, two have already been dating for two weeks after the Zombizou incident) but his attraction to a certain redhead is becoming more and more obvious.
It is with their help that Luka becomes very confused of himself and sets out to figure out his own feelings and how to deal with them for himself.
*
He is apparently successful, because the next time they are alone together, the other is glaring at him on tiptoes because Luka can't help but point out just how short Nath is compared to him. This earns him a good kick in the shins and Nathaniel gives in to his irritation, abandoning attempts to try and reach the considerably taller teen.
Luka does ultimately get his kiss, but it's less than three seconds long as a consequence of the preceding incident. He learns not to tease Nathaniel about his (lack of) height again, which is good because, by the end of lycée, Nathaniel finally achieves a delayed growth spurt that ends him up at 5’8. Luka’s still much taller than him, but at least he isn't walking up to get his diploma looking like a ten-year-old.
*
Luka just about loses it when his original Kitty Section miniature guitar pick goes missing (the first batch they ever got after submitting Nathaniel's design), until Nathaniel comes back to show him what's become of it.
Returning the favor is a trickier task, but he ends up enlisting Rose’s crafty side to make one for him. It's inspired by a juvenile novelty, a fragile ring bearing Captain America's shield that you find on a kids’ Marvel-themed birthday cake, but the star and red and blue rings are replaced by the colors and symbol of Nathaniel's own superhero character, whatever his name is at this point.
A date at the amusement park and a Ferris Wheel ride strongly reminiscent of the scene in Love, Simon later, boyfriends have become fiancés and neither can contain their euphoria when they get back to announce the news.
*
The rare moments that Luka carefully counted out and placed right by heart multiply, and soon there are too many events and incidents and instances to keep track of, but Luka keeps track of them anyways. Their wedding, Marc and Nathaniel's comics being published internationally, Kitty Section’s first official gig, and the public release of their first album to widespread acclaim stood out through the years, but the rest still shone bright like stars in the dark sky.
*
Nathaniel once sat down and let Luka play to his heartbeat. He told him it sounded like raindrops on a window or a quiet street. Calm, at ease.
The next time Luka sensed his own heartbeat, he thought of it like water. Meditating alone in quiet, his heart pulsed consistently like the first droplets before a shower. His first performance onstage in front of a large audience, heart thundering against his ribcage like a torrential downpour during a harsh storm.
And now, on the plane to the States, husband and himself alike in excitement and energetic anticipation for their first experiences at Coachella and Comic-Con, respectively, his heart beat irregularly in the way that could only be described as skipping stones: once, twice, three gentle bloop s as the pebble barely skimmed the water, and an unprecedented hammer in his chest as the rock finally crashed through.