Chapter Text
Luka blinked down at the phone screen. It had taken a while before the vibration of the phone in his pocket finally registered against the lulling rise and fall of the waves on board the Liberty.
Once the message flashed onto the screen, he let one weary sigh slip past his lips.
Over the past few months, running odd job errands had been excellent side business for him as he worked on making instruments. With Jagged Stone actually around a little more now, his own spending money wasn’t nearly as tight. He could focus more on making stringed instruments and less on biking around goods in his free time.
Only it seemed that duty finally called.
“Hey, Juleka?” he called out, pocketing his phone. The full strum of the bass dampened from the other side of the room.
“Yeah?” His sister spoke up, a little louder than usual for her.
“Let Mom know I’ll be back later!”
After Juleka curiously poked her head out into the hall and nodded, Luka grabbed his bike helmet and raced down the ramp onto solid ground.
No matter what had happened in the past, he wasn’t about to let down a friend.
Most of the usual early evening crowd died down by the time Luka parked his bicycle outside the bakery.
The shop’s bell chimed as he walked inside.
“Luka,” Marinette beamed, racing over to him with a large pink box in hand. “You got here fast.”
He shrugged. “You said you needed my help, Marinette.”
Smiling ruefully, she placed the box delicately into his hands, straightening the already neat loop of ribbon at the top. “You’re the best messenger I could think of.”
He blinked at the address neatly attached to the box by ribbon. “This one isn’t going that far, though.”
Lifting his head, Luka noticed Marinette pacing the length of the glass counter. “Yes, but I need to be sure this will actually get there.”
Arms crossed over her chest, she spun back on her heel. “I mean. I’ve tried to go there before.”
“Marinette?” he asked softly.
Her lips pressed into a deep line, clearly already lost in her thoughts. “Sometimes they won’t even answer the bell at the house.” Her hands rose to clasp her cheeks as she spun to pace back the other way. “And then when they do, I’ve forgotten to sign my name…”
“Marinette?”
“Hmmm?” Marinette’s head finally snapped back up, meeting his gaze.
He gently tapped his fingers on the top of the box. “Is this for Adrien?”
The darkening blush on her cheeks proved to be answer enough, as she tugged him away from where her parents were standing together in amused silence at the bakery’s kitchen door.
“I’ll get it there, Marinette.” Luka smiled softly. “I promise.”
A relieved smile tugged at her lips, as the anxious tension slowly seeped from her shoulders. “Thank you, Luka.”
“I’m afraid Adrien is occupied with his lessons right now. However, you can leave the box in the mailbox and we will see that he gets it.” An indelicate, mechanical cough punctuated the finality of her answer.
Much to his chagrin, the actual delivery — and quick reassurance for Marinette — was easier said than done. “I’m afraid I’ve been asked to put this directly into Adrien’s hands.”
The secretary’s eyes narrowed, betraying her obvious suspicion. “Need I remind you that as a public figure, all gifts need to be screened for safety.”
Luka stood his ground. “Unfortunately, that doesn’t match the terms of the delivery. I guess I’ll take it back to the bakery and see how they want to proceed.”
“You’re welcome to call, if you’d like.” She offered. “But I’m afraid my answer won’t be any different.”
“That’s alright,” Luka smiled, already clipping his helmet back into place. “The bakery isn’t that far.”
Shaking his head, Luka picked his bike up from the fence, staring up at the imposing building once more..
Juleka had mentioned to him before that more than one of Marinette’s letters before didn’t get to Adrien when it came to the house. It was part of what made him so willing to help Marinette in the first place, even before she’d agreed to go with him to the skating rink.
That rotten luck in love was a good part of why he’d felt such a kinship with Marinette in the first place.
Tugging his jean jacket tight against the cold, he balanced himself over the pedals and settled the box carefully back into the basket.
Of course, there was no way for him to have known that Marinette’s luck was actually impossibly good. It was actually Adrien whose luck was quite literally confounding everything.
Luka shook his head. Even if Adrien had always held Marinette’s heart, it was hard not to feel bad for Adrien. His friend clearly had no control over his own luck. Especially not when he couldn’t even get a gift from his friends without his father’s watchful eye stopping whatever was less than desirable from reaching him.
Luka shook his head. In spite of himself, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for the pair of them as he pedalled away from the sidewalk and back around the park.
He’d only just started to ponder if there was some way to convince Ladybug to let him borrow Sass for a little while, when he spotted Chat Noir vaulting up onto the rooftops nearby.
Luka blinked. Wasn’t he supposed to be practicing his piano…?
Stopping his bike, he waved. Maybe Marinette’s good luck was a little more contagious than she realized.
Waving back, Chat Noir vaulted down from the rooftops, clearly happy to see a friendly face. “Luka! Did you need some help?”
Luka’s soft smile slowly warmed. “As a matter of fact… I do.”
Chat Noir grinned, stretching his arms as the baton compressed to bo staff length. “Well, the patrol was a little quiet. I wouldn’t mind something to liven it up.”
Tilting his head, Luka carefully schooled the quiet rueful smile on his face. “I tried to deliver this to Adrien, but no one would let me inside to try to hand it off to him?”
“Really?” Chat Noir’s smile was tight. “That’s...inconvenient.”
Nodding his agreement, Luka smiled. “Marinette insisted this go right into Adrien’s hands.”
Chat’s eyes widened, blinking down at the box now with undisguised interest. “Marinette did?”
Fighting to not chuckle aloud, Luka coughed into his free hand. “I’m not sure why it was so important, but I’d hate to disappoint her.”
“You think she made whatever is inside?” Chat gaping at the box in awe.
“She was down in the bakery when I picked it up,” Luka chuckled. “I wouldn't be surprised....”
“Huh…” Chat Noir blinked slowly down at the pink box in Luka’s basket for a few moments before he remembered himself. “Well, if you don’t mind one more pair of hands. I could certainly offer a window drop off service.” He flashed a particularly catty grin. “The Agreste mansion fences can’t exactly keep me out.”
Luka bit his lip to keep from laughing aloud, as he carefully picked the box back up from the wire bike basket. “It would be a shame for whatever is inside to cool.”
Extending his hands, Chat Noir grinned. “Then I’m definitely the cat for the job. I can get this to Adrien in no time.”
With a final, jaunty nod, he vaulted back up, slowly, carefully balancing the pink box.
Waiting until he saw Chat Noir disappear near the mansion, Luka turned his bike back toward the boat, assured it was already in the right hands.
Snagging his phone from his pocket, he typed off one last message to Marinette before heading home.
The package has been delivered.