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Viperion had big plans for this evening.
Big plans.
Viperion sat at the top of the Eiffel Tower, one leg tucked under him and the other dangling over the edge. He strummed his lyre, trying to soothe his jittery nerves.
After a year of dating Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Luka was going to ask her to marry him. They’d celebrated anniversaries together, birthdays, and the defeat of Hawkmoth. Now they’d fallen into a new normal where they were comfortable with each other, where their relationship continued to strengthen and the ties that bound them were unbreakable.
Marinette had not wanted to take their relationship to the next level until they were married, but that wasn’t why Luka was proposing. No, he was offering himself up for marriage because he wanted to build a life with her.
He wanted to see her covered in flour at four-thirty in the morning; he wanted to wake up next to her; he wanted to be there for her whenever she needed support. And if she desired them, too, he wanted children with her. Maybe. That was a big step Luka wasn’t sure he was ready to take, but he and Marinette had time to discuss and prepare.
Marriage wasn’t the last step for their happy ending and Luka knew that. But it was the next big step in making their own love story. Marriage would require trust, patience, understanding, commitment, love, and respect--all things Luka knew he was ready to provide.
Based on previous discussions with Marinette about marriage, Luka knew she was ready, too. The proposal wouldn’t come out of the blue--they were practically engaged already--and it wouldn’t be public. It’d be private and intimate, a plan made just for her.
Viperion couldn’t wait for Multimouse to arrive. He’d changed their meeting place to something much more iconic to start the scavenger hunt, and he couldn’t wait to see her light up when he explained tonight’s game.
Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long. Multimouse appeared in his vision as a grey speck. She was walking casually across the grass of the Champ de Mars, each foot planted properly. Viperion delighted in the way her hips swung naturally from side to side. From the smile he could see as she approached, she looked happy.
He hoped he could make her happy.
Viperion stood, feeling his hands tremble. He gripped the lyre, swallowing thickly. Will she like the game? Is she on to me?He didn’t think she’d figured him out, but he had been secretive recently. He hoped that didn’t bother her. Oh, I hope she says yes!
Using her jump rope, Multimouse swung up the Eiffel Tower’s girders. She started climbing them just as casually as she had walked, as naturally as breathing.
Multimouse had taken to the hero business like a fish to water. She’d fought akumas by his side, helping Ladybug ultimately defeat her foe. Multimouse was a wonderful hero, and Viperion couldn’t be prouder. He’d told her so on several occasions, so she knew how he felt about her.
But surely she wasn’t expecting a proposal tonight?
Finally, she landed on the top. Viperion resisted the temptation to hop from foot to foot; he was in the suit, and it wouldn’t do to give his nervousness away. It’s just like a chase, he thought, and his shoulders instantly relaxed from their hitched up position. Chases are fun. This scavenger hunt will be fun for her, too.
“Multimouse,” he crooned, his voice lowered by a couple of octaves. It was time to turn on the charm. He strode to her side and slid his hand down her waist to the small of her back. She stared up at him, her cheeks flushing crimson.
Viperion loved that he still had that effect on her. He could make her blush. He could make her yelp. He could make her run. And he wanted to do all that again.
But not tonight. Tonight was for her.
“Hi,” she breathed, pressing a kiss to his chin. And then she gave him bedroom eyes and purred his name. “Viperion.”
He sucked an involuntary breath over his teeth. Viperion was almost overcome by the desire to capture her lips in his and plunge his tongue into her mouth. Focus, Luka!
“I bet you’re wondering why I’ve asked you to come here.” Viperion leaned forward and whispered his next words, trying to make her shiver in his arms. “I have a surprise for you.”
Multimouse gasped and trembled. As always, her shock--tinged with a slight amount of fear--got his blood racing. “A surprise? Is it a run?”
Viperion licked his lips and nipped her ear, hard. She gasped again. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, little mouse. It’s a game.”
She was painting already, licking her lips and gulping. Viperion nearly groaned aloud.
“Don’t worry, Mouse,” he rasped, tugging her closer and pressing his hips into hers. He pulled his head back from her ear to look into her beautiful, bluebell eyes. “It’s not dangerous. There’s nothing to be scared of.”
Multimouse calmed instantly, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Okay. What’s the game?”
He kissed her cheek, which burned just for him. “It’s a scavenger hunt.”
Her eyes lit up, and a slow smile curved her pretty, pink lips. “I like scavenger hunts.”
“I know.” Viperion puffed his chest out, making her giggle. “You’ll be swinging all over the city. I’ll give you the first clue and wait for you at the end.” He released her and tapped her nose. “Don’t keep me waiting.”
She grinned cheekily. “I won’t.”
“The clue is: double feature.”
Multimouse wrinkled her nose at him. “That’s an easy clue.”
He laughed. “This is the first clue; it should be easy.” Viperion kissed her cheek again. "Go. Enjoy. I'll be waiting for you at the end."
Multimouse nodded. She dove off the edge of the Tower, shooting his heart into his throat with her derring do. But she was fine; her jump rope caught on the girders and she dropped to the ground.
She took off at a dead run, making him chuckle.
When she was out of sight, Viperion hopped off the Tower himself. Nerves jangling, he bounded over to his special spot to wait.
There was nothing on this rooftop but an air conditioning unit and a flat expanse. It was on the left bank of the Seine, just in front of the Tuileries and overlooking the Musée d’Orsay, an Impressionist art museum. To any other Parisian, the rooftop would seem random and completely nondescript.
But to Viperion, this was the place where everything began. This was the place where he’d first cornered the love of his life and told her to run. This was the place where he planned to wait for her to finish his elaborate game with his hands shaking and a ridiculously happy grin on his face.
She’ll probably say yes.
***
“Double feature,” Multimouse murmured to herself as she swung into the 19th arrondissement, landing on the dock of the Le Péniche Cinéma. Her cheeks hurt from smiling so much.
Viperion had gone to all this trouble for her? He’s so sweet.
The cinema was a fixture of Paris: a theater on a barge permanently anchored on the Canal de l’Ourcq. In costume, Multimouse and Viperion had enjoyed Basque tapas and wine at the restaurant on the boat, La Terrasse de Franckie. They’d brought blankets on the winter night and had snuggled under them to watch a double feature of the classic, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and the 2005 remake, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
The first movie was funny, but watching the remake immediately afterwards made everything hilarious. Multimouse and Viperion laughed their whole way through.
It had been their first official date.
She approached the clerk. “Excuse me,” she said, feeling suddenly shy.
“Ah, yes, Miss Multimouse!” the clerk exclaimed, lighting up with a smile. “We’ve been expecting you! Here is your clue.”
He presented her with a small envelope sealed with red wax and continued speaking. “Mr. Viperion says to memorize the clue and then give the envelope to us for safe keeping. All the envelopes should stay in their places and you and he will collect them later so you don’t have to carry them all night.”
“That was thoughtful of him.” Multimouse blinked, taking the envelope with a murmured, “thanks.”
With her excitement building in the form of nerves, Multimouse slipped her finger under the seal and broke it. Biting her lip, she lifted the flap and slid the cardstock out.
Viperion’s careful handwriting read, “chocolat chaud.”
Multimouse beamed.
One of her and Luka’s favorite places to go was Carette’s, near the Palace de Vosges across from her family’s bakery. They’d purchase a hot chocolate to split and then just… stroll the park. Sometimes they’d pop in to visit her parents, who very much approved of a fine, upstanding man like Luka courting their daughter.
The clerk leaned towards her, his brows raised and his smile huge. “I shouldn’t pry. But I’m so curious. What does it say?”
Multimouse chuckled. “Can you keep a secret?”
“Of course, miss!”
Multimouse flipped the card around to show him. “It says ‘chocolat chaud.’”
“Oooh,” the clerk said, waggling his eyebrows, and Multimouse giggled. “Very romantic.”
With another murmured thanks, she handed the card back to him and left the boat. Viperion seemed to be reminding her of all the places they liked to go as a couple. Reliving the memories was like a series of dates without him. Definitely romantic! Multimouse thought, throwing her jump rope onto a nearby roof.
By the time she arrived in the 21st arrondissement and entered Carette’s, Multimouse was beyond giddy. She was ecstatic. Her boyfriend had planned an elaborate game just to entertain her and had gone to a lot of trouble doing it, too. She’d told him she loved scavenger hunts and that was still true. So while this was a different kind of fun than the chase, which she’d been expecting tonight, this game was as the clerk said: romantic.
A quick interaction with the clerks at Carette’s produced a small card with a coupon for a chocolat chaud and instructions to enjoy it before they’d give her the next clue.
As instructed, Multimouse retrieved her treat with extra whipped cream and sat down by one of the large windows, peering out at the darkened park. The rich, velvety chocolate coated her tongue as she indulged in the drink.
Well, now I know why he’s been so secretive for the past week, Multimouse thought, blowing on her hot beverage. I wonder what he’s hiding?
When she was finished, the next clue read, “sunrise.”
Multimouse grinned. There were a few places that she and Viperion had watched the sunrise together, but one that was her favorite: the top of the Notre Dame cathedral, among the statues and when the rest of the world was sleeping.
She tossed her cup, bid farewell to the clerks at Carettes, and booked it to Notre Dame. Viperion, a history buff, had educated her on the statuary at the top of the cathedral.
“The generic term for the stone statues of this time period is grotesques,” Viperion had instructed, rubbing her shoulders in large circles with his thumbs. “It applies to the statues whether their purpose is practical or purely decorative.”
Multimouse had groaned aloud, making him chuckle. “Yeah? So what’s a gargoyle?”
“Gargoyles are specifically the statues with draining spouts used to funnel water away from the building,” he had murmured, pressing a kiss between her shoulder blades. “What you’re thinking of as gargoyles are actually chimera, bizarre hybrid animals that line the roof rather than protrude from it and are simply for decoration.”
Just as he’d started talking about how the chimera were an addition in 1844 by architects Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Lassus and Eugene Viollet-le-Duc, Multimouse had turned in his hold and silenced him with a kiss.
That was a fun night, Multimouse thought, crossing the Galerie des Chimères, a balcony connecting the two bell towers, to the specific grotesque she knew Viperion loved.
The Stryga was one of the most famous chimera, a devil with his head in his hands and his tongue sticking out of his mouth. Parisians affectionately referred to him as “the spitting gargoyle.”
As she expected, Multimouse found the envelope with the next clue in the Stryga’s mouth. She blinked as she read the clue: “thorn.”
Maybe the Tuileries Gardens? she thought, leaning against another chimera. I can’t imagine where he’d hide that amongst all those hedges.
She peered out into the darkness of Paris, wondering what was nearby. “Thorn, thorn, thorn,” Multimouse murmured, tapping her lips with a gloved finger. “Ah, I’ve got it!”
Multimouse’s most-beloved Shakespearean quote was from Romeo and Juliet. “Is love a tender thing?” she recited aloud, smiling to herself. “It is too rough, too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn.”
And Viperion’s favorite bookstore, Shakespeare & Co., was close to the Notre Dame Cathedral.
The clue made sense.
Multimouse carefully tucked the envelope back into the chimera’s mouth and swung over to the bookstore. The shop was closed. Multimouse swallowed her disappointment.
As she peered in through the glass door, a light turned on. “Oh!” she said, just as a clerk hustled over to open the door. “You’re open!”
“Just for you!” the clerk said, passing her an envelope. Multimouse eagerly tore into the folded paper, which had a coupon and instructions to pick out a book before getting the next clue. Any book.
Multimouse sighed dreamily. Viperion knew how much she liked to read. The clerk left her to her devices, and Multimouse soon selected La Mécanique du Coeur by Mathias Malzieu.
The modern Gothic romance’s plot seemed promising: a boy was born with a frozen heart, so he required a replacement crafted from a cuckoo clock. The witch doctor who crafted it became his adopted mother, trying to protect his fragile heart from the dangers of anger and love.
He probably falls in love anyway, Multimouse thought, highly amused as she carted the book to the front desk.
“Oooh, good choice!” the clerk gushed, taking the book from her and wrapping it in a paper bag. “We’ll hold onto it for you.”
“Thank you.” Multimouse couldn’t stop smiling. She really owed Viperion; this had been so much fun and he’d given her gifts besides. She’d have to think of something awesome to pay him back with. “The clue?”
“Yes, of course!” the clerk exclaimed, producing another envelope. “Good luck!”
“Thanks!” Multimouse ripped open the wax seal and raked her eyes over the clue: “Palace.”
Multimouse hummed under her breath. Tough clue, she thought, wondering which of the many palaces in Paris he meant for her to visit.
She ruled out the castle at the lower level of the Louvre because it’d be difficult to search there. And the Palais-Royal, because they’d never visited. The Grand Palais was similarly ruled out.
Which left a few more, among them the Palais du Luxembourg.
“Of course,” Multimouse whispered, her smile back in full force.
The Jardin du Luxembourg was a gorgeous garden around the palace and one of Multimouse’s favorite places to picnic. She and Viperion had many haunts around the gardens; all she had to do was find which one had the scavenger hunt clue.
She zipped over there with her jump rope, giggling to herself the entire way. This will be easy.
It was not easy.
Multimouse checked the Medici Fountain. She checked the statues of former French queens on the raised balustrade terraces. She even checked the vintage carousel.
Nothing.
Nada.
Zilch.
The clock was inching towards eleven pm by the time Multimouse found the note next to a turtle pond near the Liberty Enlightening the World statue, commonly known as the Statue of Liberty. It was the first model of the sculpture by Frederic Batholdi.
“Of course you’d be here,” Multimouse grumbled, lifting the rock to free the envelope from the dirt. She scowled as she slipped her finger under the seal and broke it, pulling the clue out.
“Freak out?” Multimouse read, tilting her head to the side.
There was only one place that could be: the alley where she’d panicked during the chase where she’d gotten to know him. “Strange,” she wondered aloud, furrowing her brow. “I wonder why he’d choose that place?”
Fortunately, Multimouse knew exactly which alleyway that was, even though she’d never returned there. Her hysteria that night had crystallized the look of the alley in her head. She could still remember the smell of it: garbage, industry, and dirt.
As she traveled across the city once more, she recalled the way Viperion had comforted her in her fear of him. She’d never forget the way her throat had closed around her scream when he’d entered the alley. The lamplight from the street had shone on Viperion’s back, lighting him from behind and giving him a halo.
But he’d been gentle with her, taking her to his apartment and calming her down. Viperion had been a perfect gentleman. After he’d wrapped her up in a blanket and told her a bit about himself, she’d kissed him, and they’d made out all night long.
It was the first time she thought she could love him.
Multimouse landed with a rubbery thump on the ground near the alleyway. As she expected, an envelope with her name carefully printed on the front was taped to the wall at her eye level.
She gently extricated it from the wall, noticing it was slightly heavier than the other envelopes. What? she thought, shaking the note. Something small was inside, something hard that rolled back and forth.
She tore into the envelope eagerly, desperate to find out what had made the papery sound. A gold band dropped into her hand.
Multimouse gasped. “What?” With trembling fingers, she unfolded the note.
“Multimouse,” she read aloud, “The year we’ve spent together has been the happiest of my life. You are the one who understands me better than I understand myself. You are the one with whom I can share everything, even my deepest, darkest secrets. With whom I want to share everything. I want to build a life with you, if you’ll have me.”
Her voice cracked. “Multimouse, will you marry me?”
Stunned tears welled in her eyes. She covered her mouth with her palm, pressing the ring against her lips. Her chest shuddered as she sobbed; love overwhelming flowed over her like a typhoon, crashing into her mind and leaving her blindsided by the intensity of how much she cared for him.
“Yes!” Multimouse screamed into the void. “Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes!”
Even after she dashed her tears away, she could barely finish the letter:
“If your answer is yes, I’m back where the game began.”
She carefully tucked the note back into the torn envelope and donned the ring. It fit perfectly, which was only natural, she thought. Muitimouse didn’t give herself even a minute to admire the gift; she bolted out of the alleyway and began swinging back to the Eiffel Tower.
He loves me, Multimouse thought, her mind going a mile a minute as her heart hammered behind her breastbone. He loves me! And I love him so much, too.
The Tower soon appeared in her view, but she couldn’t get there fast enough. Multimouse took off across the Champ de Mars park at a dead run, pumping her arms and legs to get to the monument.
I want to build a life with you, Luka… I want to be there for you like you’ve been there for me.
But when she climbed to the top, her heart stopped.
He wasn’t there.
“Viperion?” Multimouse whispered, darting across the Tower’s girders to see if he were hiding behind any of them. She couldn’t fathom why he’d leave. Why would he go? Did I take too long? Am I too late?
She crouched down and wrapped her arms around her knees, biting back a sob. Tears rolled down her cheeks. Maybe he doesn’t want me anymore. Maybe this entire night was a set up.
Her gaze caught on her ring, her shock caught in her stomach, and her breath caught in her throat. Multimouse shook her head, angry with herself for the traitorous thoughts. She dashed her tears away with the back of her wrist.“No. Luka wouldn’t do that to me. He wouldn’t go to all this trouble just to abandon me.”
But she was still miserable without him.
Where could he be? she wondered. Where the game began…
Abruptly, the answer hit her. “Not tonight’s game!” she shouted as she shot to her feet. “The first game! The chase! Of course!”
Filled with the desire to see him and kiss him and possibly punch him for putting her through all of that, Multimouse scampered to the edge of the Tower and dove off.
***
The lyre wasn’t helping. Viperion’s nerves had stretched like taffy, sticky and strung out. She said no, he thought, feeling the sting of tears high in his nose. It’s the only logical explanation for her being so late. She’s not coming.
He sat on the edge of the roof, his legs dangling in the air and his head hung low. Viperion gaze over at the Seine with dry, sandpapery eyes, wondering why, exactly, he’d let himself get his hopes up. Why he’d thought he was worthy of a person like Marinette.
He wasn’t. He wasn’t worthy of her. She didn’t have to give him the time of day. The year they’d spent together meant nothing.
“No,” Viperion thought, angry with himself for his traitorous thoughts. “I just have to be patient. She is coming. She is.”
But what if she’s not? a small voice from the back of his brain whispered. Viperion set the lyre down and gripped his head, digging his fingers into his skull.
“Auuuugh,” he groaned aloud, his heart feeling like it was being torn in two. “Multimouse… I…”
A body slammed into him from behind. Viperion almost overbalanced and fell off the roof, but someone pulled him back with their strong, lean arms wrapped around his chest. Panic licked at Viperion’s brain and he froze. He felt himself being dragged into a lap and then kissed soundly from someone upside down.
Wait. He knew those lips.
Mouse… Viperion reached up and threaded his fingers through her hair, gripping one of her space buns. His eyes drifted closed. Her mouth devoured his hungerily, and he found himself starved for her. Viperion parted his lips eagerly for her questing tongue, and as she tangled her wet muscle with his, he moaned softly into her mouth.
She giggled and broke the kiss. “Yes,” she whispered, holding his cheeks and rubbing her nose against his. He opened his eyes. “A thousand times, yes.”
Viperion’s heart soared. He grinned broadly up at her. “Yes? Really? You mean it?”
She laughed as clear as a church bell. “Of course, silly.” Multimouse pouted playfully down at him. “Do you doubt me?”
“No,” Viperion said quickly. “I don’t, I… I doubted myself.”
Multimouse peered at him curiously. “Why?”
Viperion swallowed. “I didn’t think I was worthy--”
“What!” Multimouse exploded. “Luka Curtis Couffaine, how could you even think you’re not worthy of me?”
He opened his mouth but then shut it again, because he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say. At his silence, she continued. “You are worth everything, Viperion. You are the one who came up with such a clever and romantic way to propose. You are the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. And you are the one I plan to kiss all night long, if you’ll let me.”
Viperion’s smile was a slow thing, but as it grew his heart felt like it was growing three sizes in his chest. He tugged her down by her bun and spoke against her lips. “Well,” he murmured. “Then let’s get started.”