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It’s half past 6 p.m. when Marinette finally has a spare moment to fish her phone out of her pocket to check her messages. Between interning at the equal-parts prestigious and demanding Gabriel and being the hero of Paris, moments of solace are a luxury she rarely gets to savor.
Five texts from Adrien, and five messages from ViperWave. The parallel brings an amused smile to her face. Without thinking, she opens the ones from ViperWave first.
ViperWave: our band played a gig near the Seine today
ViperWave: a tourist almost fell in
ViperWave: I was in the middle of the set when I saw them near the edge
ViperWave: and oh my goodness
ViperWave: I was so nervous for them that I was barely able to focus on playing
Marinette laughs. There’s always a handful every year, most of which she and her partner end up having to save while patrolling Paris.
LB_theGreat: oh my gosh i can’t even imagine!
LB_theGreat: so… you guys played a set near the seine, eh?
LB_theGreat: is that another clue? :P
She was toeing the line between the real and virtual again. But she couldn’t help it.
Viper was Marinette’s online friend who she’d met on an online chat room called “Hamster Lovers Unite.” After a particularly interesting conversation in the general chat section, they’d taken the chat to their DMs and had ended up clicking instantly. Since then, Marinette had learned much about Viper — things like the fact that he’s a musician, has a sister, and also lives in Paris. He unfortunately didn’t have a hamster like she did, but he was always eager to be bombarded by photos of hers.
It was over four years ago when they first exchanged messages. She considered him one of her closest friends, and hoped he felt the same. But she knows that the frisson she’s been feeling the past couple of months whenever she sees him online is not platonic in the slightest.
Her chest hurts and her anxiety peaks when she thinks about it, though. So she chooses to bury it.
Speak of the devil — Viper comes online as soon as she sends off the last message.
ViperWave: haha, maybe.
ViperWave: it’d probably be hard to identify us though
ViperWave: a lot of other bands were playing here today too. The concert was part of a citywide music festival
Marinette sighs, feeling a pang of disappointment. Why was nothing ever easy with this man?
Actually, that wasn’t true. Their conversations had been nothing but easy and free-flowing, up until a couple months ago. Since then, she’d started to feel an intangible wall between Viper and herself — one that seemed to grow taller and taller by the day.
As she readies her thumbs to reply to Viper, another text message appears on her screen. It’s Adrien, reminding her that she has still yet to read the other five — well, six now — messages that he’d sent. Oops.
Adrien: Hey, you busy tomorrow?
Adrien: I know Kagami set you up on some weird dates the past couple of weeks, but I have a really good friend
Adrien: He’s Juleka’s brother, actually
Adrien: He’s a really nice guy. Humble, too. And good-looking!
Adrien: You interested?
And the last message he’d sent: “Yes? No? Maybe so??”
Marinette sighs. She knows that Adrien and Kagami mean well. But to describe the past couple of dates that Kagami set up for her as “weird” would be an understatement. The last guy, who’d thought it was a good idea to bring his fungus collection to their first (and last) date, had probably taken years off her life.
“I don’t know,” she writes back to Adrien. “I’m still recovering from the last one.” She navigates back to her chat app, but Viper is no longer online. Damn it. She decides to write back anyway.
LB_theGreat: come onnnn give me a clue!
LB_theGreat: we’ve been friends for 4 years now :)
LB_theGreat: let me come to one of your concerts alreadyyyyy :)
Just a couple of months ago, Marinette and Viper had actively been talking about how she could design costumes for Viper’s band. Now Viper barely talked to her at all — and if he did, he completely dodged topics related to his personal life.
She wasn’t usually one to default to blaming herself first in these kinds of situations. But in this case, she can’t help if she’d done something wrong after all.
Just then, her phone begins to ring. Adrien, of course. Sighing, she answers.
“Hello--” Marinette begins, but is immediately cut off.
“I know the last one was bad. Like, really bad.” Adrien cuts to the chase. “But I promise, Marinette. This guy is awesome. Like, if I had a sister, I’d try to set him up with her. Top-tier person. Honest.”
“Why didn’t you set me up with him sooner, then?”
“I tried, actually. But he said that he had a different girl he was interested in.”
“Really. Interested in a different girl, huh?” Marinette deadpans. Just what she needed — a guy who was looking to use her as a rebound. “So, what changed?”
As if reading her mind, Adrien says, “He’s not the type of guy who’s just looking for a rebound hookup. If he were, I’d never try to set you guys up.”
“But you just said--”
“Yeah, yeah.” Adrien cuts in. “But it wasn’t anything serious, apparently. It wasn’t even official. I think it was one-sided on his part.”
“You think ? Or you know ?”
“Listen. At the end of the day, he’s literally the nicest person I know. And he’s down to go on a date if you are. No strings attached. And if there’s no chemistry, you guys might end up becoming good friends. Win-win, right?”
“I mean, I guess.” Marinette brushes a hand through her hair. “He couldn’t possibly be worse than the last guy.”
Adrien laughs. “Ever the optimist, milady. All right, it’s a date then. Literally.”
“Sure, sure, whatever.” She rolls her eyes. “So what’s his name--”
But before she can get an answer, the line goes dead.
Annoyed, she shoots off a quick text to Adrien asking (er, demanding) him to text her the details for this date with this so-called perfect guy, and turns back to her chat app. Viper is back online and has read her message, but has yet to write her back. Marinette frowns, then tries again.
Miss_LB: omg guess what just happened
This time, he answers.
ViperWave: what?
Miss_LB: one of my best friends set me up on another blind date -_-
ViperWave: oh. have fun
Dang it, Viper. He wasn’t giving her much to work with.
Miss_LB: yeah apparently he’s a really nice guy
He starts typing, then stops. Then starts again. After about five minutes of Marinette watching the typing indicator like a hawk — and her heart almost stopping five or six times as he pauses in between — a reply finally comes through.
ViperWave: cool. hopefully he’s better than fun-guy
Five whole minutes to type that? Marinette sighs, trying to ignore the palpable disappointment laced with her frustration.
Even just four months ago, her conversations with Viper had been so much easier. Conversation had flowed between them as easily as she sewed clothes or sailed across the rooftops of Paris while on patrol.
What had happened to them?
Miss_LB: lol thanks. wouldn’t be that hard though haha
He reads her message, but doesn’t say anything more and signs off.
Ugh.
Before she can stop herself, her fingers punch out “hey, did I do something wrong” — only for her to delete it all. She closes the app and shoves the phone into her pocket, sighing as she finally starts walking toward the metro station.
The question continues to swirl around her mind as the subway whizzes through the underground tunnels. People shuffle in and out, moving around her. But the somewhat controlled chaos of the Paris metro is almost calming. If anything, it’s certainly a welcome distraction from thinking about where she currently stood with Viper. She doesn’t even know where to begin with that one, after all. To Marinette, the only thing that’s clear is that something had changed between them — but she wasn’t sure when or how. Had she said something to offend him after all?
As she disembarks, she decides to text him anyway. She’s not one who can play the game of beating around the bush forever. Better to rip off the band-aid quickly now than to let it fester.
Miss_LB: Hey, can you be honest with me
His reply comes almost immediately.
ViperWave: yeah of course
Marinette doesn’t mean to, but her nerves make her type slower than usual. The slowest she’s ever written back to him, probably. Finally, she manages to press send.
Miss_LB: did i do something to upset you? like, did i offend you?
She sees him beginning to type, but she continues.
Miss_LB: because i feel like the vibe between us has changed recently
Miss_LB: so i’m sorry if i did something wrong to offend or upset you or something
Miss_LB: you’re a really important friend to me and i’d never want to hurt you
Marinette keeps the chat app open as she waits for him to type. But after seeing him continue to type after several minutes, her anxiety threatens to swallow her whole. She tosses her phone back in her pocket, willing herself to not think about what he might say, and continues walking home.
Once she reaches her apartment, Marinette immediately puts her phone on its charger and abandons it to begin her post-work evening rituals: feeding her hamster, taking a shower, and unwinding with a simple dinner.
When she finally checks her phone again hours later, she sees one text from Adrien and several messages from Viper.
Marinette checks Adrien’s text first this time, knowing she’ll never get to them otherwise.
Adrien: Okay, details for tomorrow. His name is Luka. Meet him at André’s Ice Cream Stand on Pont des Arts at 7pm. He’s about 190cm tall and has blueish hair, blue eyes. Can’t miss him.
She raises a brow as she writes back.
Marinette: blue hair? oh wow, is he a rockstar or something?
Adrien: Something like that. :P
Marinette: Can you send me a photo?
Adrien: And spoil the fun? Nah.
A small sigh of frustration escapes her lips. Typical Adrien. Dismissing his last text message, she launches her chat app to read what Viper wrote. Her heart feels like it’s about to burst from her chest.
ViperWave: You didn’t do anything to offend me.
ViperWave: you’re right though, I think things have changed between us a little
ViperWave: But it’s all my fault really. you didn’t do anything wrong.
The next set of messages were sent an hour after these ones.
ViperWave: You're an extraordinary person, LB.
ViperWave: Clear as a musical note, as sincere as a melody.
ViperWave: I...
ViperWave: I think
ViperWave: I think I’ve fallen for you
ViperWave: I know it’s crazy. we’ve never met
ViperWave: we don’t even know each others’ real names
ViperWave: or even seen each other
ViperWave: for all I know, you could be some 50-year-old guy living in his parents’ basement who’s messing with me
ViperWave: I don’t think you are, though.
ViperWave: we’ve gotten to know each other so well the past couple of years that i think i would’ve picked up on that by now lol
ViperWave: but I guess when you started talking about going on dates with other guys, a part of me was a little sad about it
ViperWave: and I wished I could be the one taking you on dates or something instead
ViperWave: I’m sorry. I know I have no right to be upset
ViperWave: I just
ViperWave: I’m sorry. it’s dumb
ViperWave: i’m dumb
ViperWave: and I know I’m being unreasonable, just dumping all this on you out of nowhere
ViperWave: I’m so sorry
ViperWave: tbh this was why I became hesitant about us meeting in person
ViperWave: because I was afraid I’d ruin our friendship
Another 30-minute pause, and then his final messages:
ViperWave: hey, no matter what you choose, I’ll always support you
ViperWave: i’m gonna take a break from the chat app for a couple of weeks though
ViperWave: talk to you when I get back? :)
Checking the timestamp, he’d sent the initial set of messages to her hours ago, almost immediately after she’d messaged him. But she’d left him hanging. And now he wouldn’t be coming back online to check her messages for weeks.
So he liked her. Viper, her longtime online friend, liked her.
Marinette’s face reddens at the thought. Damn it, why hadn’t she just checked her phone sooner? Then she could have--
Could have what?
What were her feelings toward Viper, anyway?
Marinette puts her phone down, flops onto her bed, and rolls over. Viper was a treasured friend, for sure. She trusted him almost as much as she trusted Adrien, and Adrien had been her crime-fighting partner since her lycée days. And she couldn’t deny that she’d often had to stop herself short of finally making the move to ask Viper to hang out in person outright. Or that she’d fantasized about attending one of his concerts, wondering what it’d be like to feel his eyes watching her the entire time he played with his band.
Maybe she hadn’t taken the time to think about it because she’d been scared, too. Scared that she’d throw a wrench in their longtime friendship with her budding, uncertain feelings.
Despite the uncertainty clouding their relationship now, at least Viper had mustered the courage to be honest.
Groaning, she slips under her covers and falls into a restless slumber.
It’s almost 7:07 p.m. when Marinette checks her watch in front of André’s ice cream stand.
Just shy of being ten minutes late — not a dealbreaker yet. Maybe he got into a tragic accident on his way to the cafe. But his tardiness on their first date certainly hasn’t done him any favors in her book either. Not that her standards for first dates were too high anymore anyway.
“Ah, sorry for being late.” A voice from behind her huffs. “I ended up at Andrew’s instead of André’s. I would’ve texted you ahead of time, but I’m afraid Adrien didn’t give me your number. Marinette, right?”
Marinette turns around to answer, but her jaw drops and renders her speechless.
Holy mother of teal ombre. The man was gorgeous.
He pushes his bangs back to reveal a set of striking turquoise eyes. Immediately, Marinette’s throat dries up. She’s going to say something stupid, she already knows it--
“Hi, I-- M-M-Marinette. Um, yes, that’s my name.”
“Hello, M-M-Marinette,” he says with a smile, as he walks closer to get a better look at André’s wares. The deep baritone of his voice tickles her ears. “I’m Luka.”
There it was. Why couldn’t she ever keep her cool around hot guys? She groans inwardly. At least she wasn’t tripping over herself. Yet.
“I’ll, um, let you drop the double ‘M’s in front of my name since you’re a friend of a friend.” She blushes, attempting a clever comeback.
“My, that’s very kind of you.” he beams, and she feels her heart skip a bit. Curse him, his smile was downright lethal — especially when it was aimed straight at her.
“Hello, you two!” André greets them, in his signature singsongy voice. “Are you here for André’s fabulous ice cream?”
Luka nods. “Yes! I’ve heard lots of amazing things about it.”
“Oh, you flatter me. Tell you what, I’ll give you two one to share — on the house. Blue like his hair, pink like her lips.” André hums, placing the two scoops carefully on one of his signature waffle flutes.
“We couldn't accept that--” Marinette begins.
André shakes his head. “Nonsense. Now take it and run along, you lovebirds.” He winks, sticking two spoons into the scoops and extending the waffle flute toward them.
“Um, we’re not--” she begins again. But before she can finish, Luka thanks the man and accepts the ice cream before turning back to Marinette.
“I don’t know about you,” Luka says teasingly, “but I wouldn’t turn down a free cone from Paris’s guru of love.”
Marinette tries a spoonful. My, that was good. “Is he really Paris’s guru of love?”
“That’s what everyone says, anyway.” He shrugs, taking a spoonful for himself as the pair walk toward a bench along the Seine. “And honestly, I could use all the luck I can get when it comes to love.”
As if catching himself, he freezes. “Oh, I’m sorry, Marinette. I’m not trying to make a dig at you. It’s actually--” He shakes his head. “I’m sorry, that’s even ruder, isn’t it?”
Reeebound! Reeebound! A flock of pigeons flying by overhead seem to squawk at her.
Well, if he was being candid, she might as well be, too.
“It’s okay, Luka.” She sighs. “Honestly, I’m not exactly the luckiest in the love department either. And I’m actually going through some things myself too.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that.” His face immediately falls. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re downright lovely.”
“I mean, so are you!” she laughs.
He shoots another million-watt smile her way. “Thanks, Marinette.” Her heart skips. That smile was downright lethal, especially when it was aimed straight at her.
Wait, no, Marinette. Focus. The man is going through a crisis, for goodness’ sake. Figures, though. A single glance at his ridiculously perfect features could’ve told her that he was too good to be true. Guys who were this nice and handsome usually had a girlfriend or some sort of emotional baggage, after all.
“It’s… it’s okay. So, um, is this person an ex? I mean, I hope so, if you’re on a date with me.” she stammers out, forcing a laugh.
He turns toward the river. “Not exactly. We never even dated.”
She clears her throat. “So, what happened? I’m uh, happy to listen if you want to talk about it.”
He shakes his head. “No, no. I’ve been rude enough already. The last thing I want to do is weigh you down with my problems.”
“It’s okay, really.” Marinette gently coaxes him as she helps herself to another spoonful of ice cream. “I mean it.”
Luka turns to stare ahead at the Seine. “Actually, I guess the beginning of the end kind of has to do with this spot.”
Vague, but okay. She nods, motioning for him to continue.
“Before I start the story, I need to make something clear — I’ve actually never met her in person.”
She blinks. Now that sounded familiar.
“I actually met her in an online chatroom a couple of years ago. It was so easy, talking to her. I ended up telling her a lot of things about myself that I’d never told anyone before. And before I knew it, I was heads-over-heels for her.”
Luka leans back, thrusting his head upward. “I didn’t realize it until it was too late, of course. That’s how these things usually go. By the time I’d figured it out though, we’d been friends for years and lived in the same city without ever bothering to meet up.” He sighs. “And it was a bit late to propose meeting up at that point.”
“Why not?” she blurted out.
“What do you mean?” he replies, confused.
“Why would it have been too late to meet up?”
“Well,” he begins, then pauses. “Actually, that’s a fair point. It never would’ve been too late, really. I’m sure she would’ve been up for it if I’d brought it up.”
“So, why didn’t you?” says Marinette, trying to silence the million thoughts racing through her head. No, no. It couldn’t be.
Could it?
He laughs. “I guess a part of me was afraid that making it real would ruin things somehow. I know it makes no sense. But she’d become such an important part of my life that I really didn’t want to do anything that might potentially lead to me losing her.”
Sighing, he brushes his hair out of his face. “I guess I should’ve figured it out by that point, but I think I was a little scared.”
Marinette slowly shovels another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, nodding.
“I was trying to keep it under wraps while I figured out what to do about my feelings or how to confess to her, but she kept telling me about these dates she was going on. Terrible, terrible dates.” He lets out a wry laugh.
“I can’t say I was exactly heartbroken for her though. And the more she told me about them, the more I wished I could’ve been the one to go on a date with her instead. But, I don’t know. The fact that she was telling me about them made it clear that she didn’t see me as anything more than a friend.”
He turns to her. “Not that I blame her, of course. She doesn’t owe me anything. And it’s not like I’d ever confessed to her or anything. So that’s on me.”
“It’s just, the more I imagined her on dates, laughing, or holding hands with another guy that wasn’t me, the sadder I got. And I guess I wasn’t as good at hiding my feelings as I thought I’d been, because she asked me if she’d offended me in some way.”
Marinette’s chest tightens. There was no mistaking it now. She may have met him in person just this evening — but sitting next to her was a dear friend who she’d met years ago.
Luka gives her an apologetic smile, misinterpreting her silence. “I’m really sorry, Marinette. That was kind of a long story, wasn’t it? You’re a lovely person, and it’s really rude of me to be distracted on our date. Let alone be rambling on about another woman--”
“Viper.” She murmurs.
He bristles.
Marinette tries again. “Are you… Viper?”
Turning to face him, she sees his eyes fill with confusion — then surprise.
“You… I. Are you… But, M-M-Marinette, I...” At this, Marinette smiles. Ah, how the tables have turned.
“I thought I told you that you could drop the double ‘M’s.”
He blinks dumbly, cheeks flushed. “Oh my--you’re… LB?” Luka finally manages. His hands cover his face. “I can’t believe this.”
“Are you… disappointed?” Marinette murmurs, not looking at him.
His face immediately re-emerges from behind his hands. “No! Why--how could you even think that? I--” He stops short, burying his face in his hands again.
“I can’t believe my luck.”
Marinette feels her cheeks getting warm. “What do you mean?”
“What are the chances, right? To think that you’re actually the girl--” He doesn’t finish his sentence. “Anyway, I’m sorry. I know my last message to you online was a little--”
She leans over and kisses his cheek. He almost drops the cone in shock, but slowly smiles.
“Your... lips are cold.” he manages.
“Well, I was just eating ice cream--”
Her words roll back down her throat as he leans over, cupping her face in his hands, to reciprocate with his own chilly kiss on her cheek.
“Viper--Luka!” she giggles, turning away. “I was still eating that!”
He brushes his thumb over her lips, then licks it. “It’s sweet.”
“Is it?” Marinette smiles coyly. Then she places a chaste kiss on his lips. “What about this?”
Blushing, Luka smiles back. “I… I don’t know. I might need another taste to know for sure.”
He doesn’t wait for an answer before drawing her in by her shoulders for another kiss. This one is gentler and slower than hers, more exploratory than salutatory.
And absolutely the sweetest thing she’s ever tasted.
Across the bridge, André watches the pair from afar as a knowing smile spreads across his face.
Ah, he loved love.
Epilogue
To: Marinette
[22:01] Adrien: So, how'd the date go
[23:43] Adrien: Hello?
[23:50] Adrien: That good, huh? heh heh heh
[23:51] Adrien: ok i'll leave you guys alone for now
[23:51] Adrien: but you better fill me in tomorrow during patrol
[23:52] Adrien: OR ELSE