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"Do you promise?"
"Yes, you dork, I'll be there, go already, you're going to be late!" Luka scolded, Adrien lingering in the doorway, dressed in his best suit, hair slicked back.
"Pinky Promise?" Adrien pouted cutely, Luka rolled his eyes and struggled to keep the grin off his face at his boyfriend's antics as he crossed the room to stand before the blonde, wrapping his smallest finger around the others wiggling pinky.
"I pinky promise." He echoed, Adrien's smile only grew.
"Seal it with a kiss?" Adrien asked, batting his eyelashes and Luka couldn't help the laughter that erupted from his lips in response.
"C'mon Luka- I'll be late!"
"That's what I've been telling you!" Luka replied, exasperated, but still leaning the distance between them, Adrien and his damn tall genes meaning he pushed his weight onto his toes to reach the others smug lips. Luka thought he was tall but Adrien had shot up one summer in Lycée and had a few inches on him now.
The kiss was chaste, short and sweet but full of meaning, a promise to be upheld and affirmation of their love.
Adrien pulled back first, giving a small smile full of truth, nothing like the fakeness he portrayed to the media, reserved only for Luka, who mirrored the smile himself, hand reaching behind Adrien to open the front door.
"Now, go! I'll see you later!" Luka ordered, pretending to act stern but unable to stop a bubble of laughter erupting from his lips as Adrien childishly stuck out his tongue before bolting out of the door, turning to give a wave before taking off in a dash.
Luka shook his head affectionately as the blonde slowly disappeared from sight, closing the door behind him. Now he just had to get ready to meet back up with the blonde after his interview, he'd promised after all, to treat his boyfriend to a meal, regardless of the results, pass or fail he was still proud at how far the other had come since Hawkmoths defeat and the downfall of the Gabriel brand. At first public opinion of the blonde hadn't been the best, but he'd worked hard to prove himself, that he was nothing like his father, and while some of his friends had turned their backs, Luka had been there for him every step of the way.
The decisions on what to wear had him stumped, and in dire need of a second opinion.
"Sass?" Luka asked, the Snake Kwami appearing through the wall, likely he'd been pilfering their egg supply again.
"Yesss? He asked, the 's' elongated by a flick of his tongue.
"How good are you with fashion advice?" He asked, mostly jokingly since Sass didn't strike him as the type but he did need help.
"I can't claim to have such a great knowledge of modern fashion, but I can offer my opinions, if that would aid you?" Sass offered up, Luka shrugged, it would do.
"Uh, Yeah, that'll do." The tealette proceeded to pull out four potential outfits, pondering over them himself before putting one back away for being a little too informal.
"I've got to look smart, Adrien wore his best suit." Luka added, Sass likely knew though.
"I think this one delivers?" Sass offered, indicating to the second outfit, which had Luka agreeing almost instantly.
"I suppose, thanks Sass." Luka spoke, letting the Kwami get back to stealing eggs from the fridge.
He got ready promptly, tying a longer piece of his fringe onto a little braid, donning his own smart outfit. Not quite a suit but formal nonetheless.
“How do I look?” Luka asked Sass upon his arrival into the kitchen, grabbing a tub of roasted chickpeas from the fridge to snack on.
“Presentable, will you buy more eggs while you’re out?” Sass replied.
“Sure, and cheese?” Luka retorted with a grin, knowing the two Kwami’s were both gluttons.
“Naturally. Plagg is a blackhole when it comes to such matters, he has no sense of refinement.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Luka sighed. Living with two Kwami’s really added to their expenses. After Hawkmoths defeat the temporary hero’s who had aided in his downfall had been allowed to permanently keep their Miraculous. Luka theorized Marinette didn’t want Adrien to lose Plagg after everything else he’d lost. Bless her. She had been a great Ladybug, even if it was only the Miraculous Team who knew her identity.
“Thanksss” Sass acknowledged, and Luka gave a smile in return. Sass really grew on him, despite his more mature personality than Plagg, he was a great friend and companion.
Speaking of companions-
“Oh shit, I better head out, don’t wanna leave Adrien waiting!” Luka swore, dumping the empty chickpea container in the bin, before grabbing his keys and dashing out of the apartment, Sass quickly flew after him, nesting in his hair.
The walk to the restaurant they’d agreed to meet wasn’t far, he had time to walk instead of jog, a respectful 10 minutes before Adrien would be expecting him, the same amount of time it would take to walk there.
"Excuse me?" The voice was small and trembling. Luka at first was confused, mostly because it sounded like Tikki, but when he looked down he saw that wasn't the case. It was a little girl instead, who'd tugged on his trouser leg, looking up with teary eyes. Luka instantly crouched down to the girl.
"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked softly as the girl sniffled, attempting to catch her tears before they fell with the back of her hand. Outside of the crying, she was a cute child, hair up in the signature Ladybug pigtails with red ribbons that made Luka smile.
“I- I can’t find- I-” She stuttered over her words, her breath hitching out of control from her violent sobs.
“Hey, shh, it’s okay, you can’t find your parents?” Luka supplied, rubbing a calming hand on her back, before digging into his pocket to pull out a tissue for her, attempting to reassure the small child.
“Y-Yeah, I didn’t mean to- they- I turned around and they were gone- and-and-” She mumbled, gladly taking the tissue to dab her eyes.
“I see. Was that here? Or have you moved to try and find them?” Luka asked, after all, one shouldn’t move when lost.
“Uh-” She turned her head around before continuing. “Uh no- there was uh, a park? With Ladybug and Chat Noir! And we got croissants?” She answered as though it was a question, unsure of herself. Luka’s lips quirked because the only place he could think of within walking distance for the young girl was near Marinette's parents bakery.
“Well, lets get you back there, I bet your parents are looking for you there. When you get lost, it’s best to not move, because your parents will look where they last saw you.” Luka explained as he stood back up.
“Mummy told me not to go places with strangers.” She retorted, still sniffling but having stopped crying.
Luka paused. That was good logic he could hardly argue with.
“Hm, what about if it was a superhero?” He asked, because he was still vaguely aware he’d be late to meet Adrien at this rate but he couldn’t leave the little girl alone-
“Like Ladybug?” She beamed, as if a switch had been flipped. So he was right about the Ladybug themed hair, she was a big Ladybug fan.
“Exactly. If a superhero was helping you?” He offered. His logic was still flawed but hopefully she was too young to question it.
“Of course, Mummy said that if a hero needed to get me to safety that was okay.”
“Then, what if I told you I’m a superhero?” Luka offered up. With Hawkmoth gone there was no real reason to hide their identities, some heroes had offered theirs up publicly, like Rena and Carapace, while others had decided to keep theirs private like Ladybug and Chat. Luka could understand both sides. He’d never announced his identity as Viperion but he had no qualms about keeping it secret, he’d only done so to support Adrien without any more pushy press than normal.
“I- hm..” She hummed. “Where’s your costume?” She asked accusingly. Sure it was a sunny day, the streets had other people and he could hardly ask her to follow him into an alley to transform without looking utterly suspicious- welp.
“Sass, Scales Slither.” Luka mumbled, feeling the power of his Miraculous wash over him. He heard more than a few noises of surprise and the occasional camera click or flash. But the girl only squealed in excitement, her previous fear forgotten.
“Mr Snake!” She giggled excitedly, as Luka wearily kept an eye on the crowd he’d made slowly form, the public being respectful, keeping their distance but eager to see one of the hero’s who’d help save their city.
“My name is Viperion, you can call me Luka if you want though. What’s your name?” He asked, holding out an arm in offering. The girl took it and let herself be picked up, Luka holding her against a hip.
“I’m Tempeste.” The girl, Tempeste, supplied.
“Well, Miss Tempreste, let’s go find your parents, huh?” He offered and the girl nodded profoundly as he gave the crowd a wave, glad they formed a gap for him without prompting, allowing him to break out and head towards the park in a fast walk, letting Tempeste play with his lyre instrument, enchanted by the noises it made when she plucked the strings.
"So, Miss Tempeste," Luka began, ignoring the second glances by pedestrians as they stared at Viperion casually walking down the street. "You like Ladybug, is she your favourite?" He asked.
"Yeah! She's so cool, Mummy says once, Ladybug saved her from a scary monster and that's why we have to trust the heros."
"Oh, wow, that's awesome huh?" Viperion nodded, glad his question seemed to have perked up the girl who no longer seemed upset at all.
"Whose your favourite, Luka?" She asked excitedly. He grinned at the question with such an easy answer.
"Easy, Chat Noir." He replied to her, watching her face scrunch up.
"But Ladybug is cooler."
"I think Chat Noir is the coolest, he's my favourite hero, he's saved me a lot and he's really brave." He explained the best he could, its not like he could outright profess his love for Adrien with his own identity out there while in a relationship with the blonde. The dots were easy to connect.
"Well, I guess he is pretty funny."
"Exactly, he's great at puns and jokes."
"And I do like cats…. But Ladybug is still the best!"
Luka only chuckled. "She is awesome too yes,"
The two had reached the park by now, Luka had no idea the time, his phone under his transformation, but he knew for sure he was going to be late at this rate.
"Tempeste!" The voice signaled that his effort wasn't without vain, when a young woman ran over, followed by a man carrying another girl who looked strikingly familiar to the girl in his own arms. Twins then. Very cool.
"Mummy!" Tempeste shrieked, the tears already back. Viperion set the girl down, taking back is Lyre from her as she ran the short distance to her mother. They met in the middle, the woman tugging the girl to her chest.
"Mummy, look, look, that's my new friend Luka, he's a hero, and he helped me find you!" She explained, pointing at Luka who awkwardly gave a wave.
"Thank you so much Viperion." The woman gushed, profoundly.
"It's, uh, it's no problem, happy to help! I- I'm sorry, I'm late for something so uh- I've gotta go!" He rushed, and the woman only nodded.
"Thank you Sir, I'm sorry for all the trouble!" The man offered, setting down Tempeste's twin who instantly wrapped her sister in a hug, the two chattering as Tempeste recounted her time with a hero.
"Remember not to wonder off if you get lost in future!" Luka saluted, turning instantly to take off into a run, offering a wave at the waves and shouts of gratitude and goodbyes he revived.
The suit melted away as he ran, uttering the detransformation phrase as he went, Sass resting back into his hair.
"Sorry buddy, I didn't expect to need to transform so I don't have anything on me." He explained, hearing Sass' little huff but no complaint, content to snuggle back into his roots.
Luka tugged out his phone, noticing the misscall and the time that stamped him at thirty minutes late.
“Shitshitshit.” He mumbled breathlessly, taking a turn on his dash forwards.
When he finally reached their meeting place, he found Adrien perched on the wall on his phone, hair a fluffy mess, obviously the gel had been rubbed out. His tie hung loosely around his neck and his jacket slung over his shoulder. He looked gorgeous. Luka stumbled.
Adrien looked up at the noise and gave the brightest smile, something Luka didn’t expect but returned as he approached.
“I am so sorry, I broke our promise!” Luka explained, shoulders slumping, Adrien only stifled a laugh behind his hand.
“You didn’t break any promise, you said you’d be here and you’re here, you never said when.” Adrien started, Luka taking a seat beside him on the wall.
“But- I’m really late and you’ve been sat here- how did it go?” Luka fumbled, Adrien only offered up a charming laugh once more, shoving a newspage in his face.
‘Snake Hero Viperion aids lost girl: 10 heartwarming pictures to melt your heart.’
Luka’s eyes widened. The internet didn’t mess around, did it?
“Even if you weren’t busy saving children and winning Parisian hearts, I know you don’t break your promises easily.” Adrien paused, interlinking his fingers with Luka. “For what its worth, I’m really proud of you, and I couldn’t ask for anyone better in my life, Luka.” The blonde continued, Luka flushed under the praise, squeezing the blondes hand.
“Thanks. I don’t know what I did to deserve you.” Luka admitted, Adrien only snorted.
“Says the man who saves lost children in his free time.”
“Hey-!” Luka retaliated but stopped when he saw Adrien’s smirk.
“It went well by the way, they’ve offered me a trial position to see how it goes, and it could lead to a full job.” Adrien added, Luka beaming in response.
“That’s great Adrien!” He exclaimed, wrapping the other male in his arms.
“Yeah, I- I’m excited.” Adrien shared, Luka catching his eye and the two broke into giggles.
“Now, let's show up fashionably late to our reservation?” Luka asked, standing up and bowing slightly to offer the other his hand. Adrien took it and was pulled from his perch.
“Promise you won’t run off to save anymore little girls till after our date?” Adrien cheekily asked.
“I promise.” Luka rolled his eyes and nodded.
“Pinky promise?”
“I pinky promise.” Luka supplied, knowing where the conversation was headed by Adrien’s smug little face.
“Seal it with a kiss?” He asked, his tone light and his face split in a big grin as Luka fondly shook his head and closed the gap between them, slotting his lips to Adriens, full of tenderness and love, full of wishes for the future and promises.
“I promise.” Luka whispered against his lips.
“I promise too.” Adrien replied before closing the gap between them again.