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“I know,” Luka said to the mirror, desperately trying to psych himself up. “I know it’s you, Marinette. I know who you are.”
He’d long since figured out Marinette’s secret identity: that of Ladybug, Paris’ superheroine. Luka knew he had to tell her somehow, that she’d been compromised. But he just couldn’t find the words.
“I’m bad with words,” he’d told her once and that was still true. He was awful with words, despite trying his hand at songwriting.
So he had no idea how he was going to gently let Marinette know that her secret had been blown.
The pieces fit. Even before he’d been given Sass as a permanent hero, Luka had known his girlfriend’s excuses were paper-thin. And her disappearances almost always coincided with akuma alerts on their phones. Marinette and Ladybug had the same build, the same voice, the same walk--heck, even the same pigtails.
How could he not know? But the problem he had now wasn’t knowing, it was telling her. Luka must tell her. He must.
He just didn’t know how.
***
In the end, Luka decided on the simple, straightforward approach. He’d called Ladybug on Viperion’s lyre and asked her to meet with him on a rooftop near her parents’ bakery, so she could easily run home if she needed to.
He showed up in costume with a stargazer lily, which earned him a skeptical look. “What’s this all about?” Ladybug said, cocking her head at him.
“Ladybug,” Viperion started, but then his words dried up on his tongue. “I…”
Her steely gaze softened. “What is it, Luka?” she whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I’m here.”
That was all the reassurance he needed. He knelt in front of her, extending the lily. “I want you to know that you’re safe with me,” he began as her eyes widened. “I know.”
Her jaw dropped. “You… know?”
“I do,” Viperion said, delighted when she took the lily. Once she did, the words were like a waterfall gushing out of him. “And I don’t mind that you had to make so many excuses. I understand the burden that has been placed on you. I’m terrified that I won’t be there for you, but I trust Chat to protect you. And I hope beyond hope that you’ll still… be okay with dating me after this.”
Tears welled in Ladybug’s eyes. Marinette’s eyes. “Thank you, for telling me.”
Viperion heaved a sigh of relief. He’d done it. He’d told her that he knew.
And she hadn’t rejected him.
As she took his hand and helped him up, Viperion knew they could take on the world. She could do anything, and he’d back her up. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and she seemed to feel the same.
Together.