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Click. The darkness within the room passed as the glowing light of the TV appeared.
Luka sunk his head deeper into the pillow behind him, subconscious of the dirtied carpet littered with snacks he'd felt too lazy to clean up earlier.
“A new mysterious hero arrives on the scene, what does this mean for Paris? And….”
His mom was definitely going to kill him, he'd promised to take care of the house while she was away.
“Possibly allies with Ladybug and Chat Noir….”
Why had he promised? Juleka was always the more responsible one between them.
“So tell us Ladybug and Chat Noir..”
He should've just kept his mouth shut.
“Is Paon Ev-” Click. The room fell to darkness once again, Luka sighed, he didn't need more hero work on his mind right now.
Rising from bed he felt the soft breeze coming in from his open window finally hit him. Maybe a walk outside would get his mind off things.
Actually, who was he kidding? It's pitch dark outside, maybe tomorrow. he walked to close his window only to be met with the horrifying image of his red watery eyes and electrified hair as he passed by his mirror.
…Maybe a walk wasn't such a bad idea.
A couple of minutes later he was dressed in a light jacket and jeans, he'd managed to take control over his fizzed hair, all in all he looked fairly presentable, aside from his bloodshot eyes that is. With the quiet thud of his door shutting behind him, he silently made his way to the house’s exit, only to be stopped by the call of his sister.
“Luka?” Julekas drowsy voice came from underneath a thin blanket, “Where are you going?” A small smile appeared on his face, “Just going out for a walk Jules, don't worry about it” She squinted at him, not looking very convinced, “At this time?”
“Oh you know, I can't sleep and I need some inspiration for my next song, might as well go out now” He casually replied. If Juleka was conscious she’d probably continue her interrogation, but at the moment she only replied with an approving “Hmph”
“Sleep tight”
…………………
In recent years, and by recent years meaning the last couple of months of his time as ‘Chat Noir’, Luka had grown a habit of impatiently walking in circles while he waited for Ladybug.
Which was what he was before a familiar red and black clothed girl appeared behind him, “So? What did he say?” He probed for information, Ladybug bit her bottom lip a foreign nervousness displayed in her posture, “Well- um-” she stuttered.
“Well?” He tried again, frustration evident in voice. That seemed to make the girl bring herself together, “Master said that we shouldn't do anything rash..”
And for the first time in his life he felt the ugly feeling of rage, he'd always prided himself on the capability of being calm no matter the situation, endless compliments on his way with words and music all became useless at this very moment.
“Rash….? We have huge leads on Hawkmoths identity! Adrien's dying and all he cares about is rationality!?”
Ladybug held out her arms and started, “Look, I like waiting around as much as you do-” Luka cut her off, “Then- then let's not! Let's just go and stop this mess once and for all”
She sighed, her face was twisted in a weird mix of frustration and sadness, he couldn't exactly tell how tired she was because of the masks, but the hollow cheeks and slightly pink eye whites told him enough. How old was Ladybug? 16. 15. 14? Surely too young for any of this.
“We can't.” She said confidently, a far cry from her early stutter, “ Yes. All evidence points towards Gabriel Agreste, But none of it is solid evidence. And we can't really just break into France's richest man's house and forcefully interrogate him”
“Why not? We're Ladybug and Chat Noir, surely people will understand why we did it”
Ladybug nodded, “Yeah. The people. unfortunately, I doubt the press is gonna be lenient to us, we're not really legal entities Chat”
Luka bit his bottom lip, “so what? Should we just wait for Adrien to kneel over? Or for an akuma we won't be able to defeat?” Ladybug held out her hand towards him, as if to comfort him. “Chat..” he took a step back, The hurt in her eyes lessened his anger only to fill the emptied space with guilt.
Since when did he spit such fire at others? When did he stop being easy going luka, but instead stressed out and secretive Chat Noir?
His back turned to face Ladybug, “Talk later, Ladybug”
“Wait, Chat Noir!”
……………………………
He fiddled with the drawstrings of his jacket, trying to focus on the faded black instead of the recurring memories. Suddenly a figure caught the corner of his eye.
It was lean, enough to be mistaken as a woman but the bulkier chest and arms made it obvious it was male.
Luka didn't fancy himself as a kidnapping victim, but the figure's inner music was familiar enough to attract him.
There was a bench parallel to the boy, sitting on it he snuck a look at the stranger, “A-Adrien?” He stuttered out.
Familiar green eyes turned to him, with a face almost as shocked as his, “Luka?”
His face was as pale as snow, making his usually pink lips a tad bit more apparent than usual, dark eye bags took over his under eyes, and his skin was a slightly yellowish shade. His whole being mocked the posters that usually decorated the billboards of Paris.
“Adrien! Y-you're here! … in your Pajamas!” He awkwardly shouted, Thankfully Adrien wasn't offended, instead he let out a small chuckle, “Yeah. I've noticed”
Luka leaned at the bench back a bit, his face nearing the others, “Sorry. Probably not the best thing to tell my hero teammate after weeks unseen” A light blush colored his own cheeks.
“No, it's fine, I'm quite shocked to see you out here alone at 3 am with no akuma on the loose” Adrien teased, Luka brushed his loose bangs away from his eyes, “You know how it is, music inspiration and all…” Wait, Lukas thought as the gears slowly turned in his head, “You used your miraculous again..” He said as if it wasn't obvious.
Adrien turned to face the nearby street light, “Adrien. Ladybug- she told you to lay off for a bit” A soft sigh left the blonde, finally meeting his gaze again, “I needed some air. It was only once and I haven't transformed in weeks”
“Once or not Adrien, you could lose your life!” He desperately said though speaking honestly, he knew this was like speaking to a brick wall, “Oh please, Miraculous or no Miraculous, I'm still dying aren't I? I may as well enjoy my remaining time”. Lukas only reply was stunned silence as Adrien quickly added, “Sorry. That's a bit morbid”
Luka gently picked up the others hand, “Adrien.. Ladybug and the Master- they don't want us to take immediate action, I don't know how long it'll take for us” for him, “To save you” Adriens grip on his hand tightened, “I don't…I don't agree with them-”
“Luka.. Ladybug and her Master are right, logically acting now would be a disadvantage-” Luka still argued, “But Hawkmoth-”, “Will be dealt with, eventually” stern eyes stared into his own.
Adrien almost let go of his hands but Luka held tight, “But this isn't about hawkmoth, is it?”
Luka looked down at their interlocked hands and felt: shame? anger? hopelessness? Meeting Adrien had been an experience. It's not that he'd never heard of the boy before, his face was plastered all over Paris of course he knew who he was, yet he'd never envisioned that such a person could be… so much.
From the moment they met he'd heard loud and clear music radiating off the boy, music he'd never heard before, and now that he'd heard it he just couldn't shut it off.
“Luka” Adriens voice called, snapping him out of his thoughts, “There have been things I haven't been able to tell you, mostly because I could never understand what it was in the first place” His eyes softened, “I love you, and I'm sorry that I do” he shifted his gaze as if that were something shameful.
Luka stood up in shock, a hundred things running through his head, only the words “I love you too” made it past his mouth though, Adrien turned to him both in shock and slight horror, “I'm dying” he said as if the sky were blue and the grass were green, a fact.
“No, no you aren't, me and Ladybug will save you” Adrien's face scrunched up in pity, “Don't give yourself false hope”
“I'm not! Look, a lot of crazy things have happened to me these past few months, things I could never envision, so why is it so hard to imagine you living a long and happy life… with me! Adrien. I. Love. You” Adrien's cheeks reddened at Lukas emphasized words. He looked as if he was about to say something but Luka beat him to it, “Did you know I wasn't supposed to be the cat miraculous holder?”
Now that caught him off guard, “What?” Luka smiled, “Yeah! Apparently my soul isn't really that well suited for the god of destruction or whatever, But you know what? I'm still Cat noir!” Adrien blinked at him, probably confused as to why he would bring this up, “The point is! We can… we can do this.. achieve the impossible! If I can accidentally become the owner of a god I'm sure we can get you a long life” he was reaching and they both knew it.
Luka held out his hand, Adrien stared at it for a couple of minutes before reaching out and using it to stand up, Luka was there to catch him when he stumbled.
“You're gonna get yourself hurt y'know” Adrien finally muttered.
And Luka stared, stared at the pale figure, heavy eyebags, disease spread through his lovers veins, Though that didn't bother him, he brought Adriens hand closer to his lips, softly kissing it.
“I know”