LadyBugOut AU (Snippets)

Don't Give Up the Ship

Juleka hugged herself as she walked back onto the Liberty, feeling Luka’s observant eyes on her as she headed towards the cabin. She wanted to talk about her problems and wanted to talk to him about it, but she struggled to talk first, too many thoughts in her head keeping her quiet.

She walked up the stairs to the cabin, then sighed and sunk down to sit on the floor, wrapping her arms around her legs to start sulking. Memories of the big argument over the LadyNoir kiss were still vivid in her mind, and she couldn’t help feeling conflicted over it. She wondered if it would’ve been better to speak up, or if she shouldn’t have an opinion at all.

It didn’t take long for her to hear familiar footsteps, and she looked up beyond her knees to see Luka appearing, slightly adjusting his guitar so it wouldn’t hit the wall as he went up the stairs. Juleka averted her gaze back to her legs, but didn’t outwardly think that he wasn’t welcome, which he seemed to understand without her saying it. He sat next to her, idly strumming a string or two on his guitar as he pretended to tune it; a typical sign of him giving her space and time to feel her thoughts out.

After a minute or so, when she lifted her head up again to glance at him, he smiled at her and tilted his head towards the helm, offering a light-hearted question of, “Where are you sailing us to, Jule?”

Her mouth twitched, almost pulling into a smile. She straightened up a little, letting the leg furthest from Luka stretch out across the floorboards while she continued hugging the other leg. The words finally came up to her throat, and she murmured, “It’s Rose.”

Luka didn’t respond or ask questions, plucking a high note on his guitar and waiting for her to elaborate.

“Did you hear about that kiss?” she asked. Then, realizing that the question was about as clear as Luka’s nail polish, clarified, “The one Ladybug and Chat Noir had?”

He looked up and off to the side, seeming to think. “I haven’t seen it, but I heard about it.”

It was a cautious answer. Juleka nodded, then explained, “Alya kinda told us that it happened while their memories were gone. She didn’t really say it, but…” She let out a disgruntled noise, hugging her leg tighter. “There was a big fight about it. It was bad and I felt bad for Ladybug, but I didn’t say anything.”

“You didn’t have to,” Luka assured. He grew quiet for a moment, as if piecing something together, then added in realization, “Rose said something.”

Juleka nodded. “She was just—happy,” she muttered, feeling a mixture of bitter and guilty. She ran her fingers anxiously through the bangs covering her left eye, blushing in embarrassment as she added on, “A-and it’s cool when she’s happy, but not there, and it was—it—"She groaned at her inability to work out what she was thinking.

"She didn’t want to fight,” Luka guessed, more as him openly wondering than trying to excuse Rose’s actions, “and she didn’t pick a side?”

She shook her head. “She was supporting Alya. She thought it was romantic, and I don’t, and…” Her eyes shimmered, worry furrowing her brows. “I don’t like it, but I can’t tell her that.”

“Hey.” Luka’s hand grabbed her shoulder, and when Juleka didn’t protest it, he squeezed reassuringly. “You’re great, and Rose knows that. She wouldn’t hate you over something like this.”

She closed her eyes, letting out a huff and mumbling, “B-but I’m mad. I keep thinking about Ladybug and she’s not and…” She buried her face against her knee, breathing in, then rose up again to finish what she was saying. “Ladybug’s probably upset.”

She envisioned herself in Ladybug’s place, the attention of Paris all focusing on her based on a picture she hadn’t posed for. The lights, the microphones, all being thrown in her face as they prodded her all about things that aren’t even relevant to her job. It was the thing Juleka feared most if she were to truly become a model, and—

“Jule, Jule,” Luka called gently, pushing on her shoulder to turn him to her. “I’m here.”

Juleka blinked a few times, feeling her mind drift back to reality. She nodded at him, wordlessly reassuring him that she wasn’t going to spiral. He smiled, nodding back, then looked thoughtfully down at his guitar, pulling his hand away from her to grab hold of it. His hand hovered over the strings at the base of it, then he met her gaze to ensure that she was paying attention.

“You and Rose work at different pitches. Rose is here—” He plucked the thin string, making a high-pitched noise like he had earlier. “—and you’re here.” He plucked the thick string on the opposite end, making a lower-pitched sound. “They’re not the same, but they can still make a melody, and I like how the two of you sound together.” He looked back up at her. “The important thing is that you do too.”

Juleka watched as he strummed the strings, up to down and then down to up. He hadn’t said it with words, but she understood well enough. Saying nothing wasn’t going to do anything, and she needed to meet Rose in the middle - talk to her - in order for her to understand.

“…I do,” she confirmed with a soft exhale, then smiled even if it was small.

Luka smiled in return, then moved his guitar to his back. He leaned in, pressing a small kiss into the side of her head like he tended to do whenever he’d finished comforting her. It always felt like one final, “It’ll be okay,” from him, nonverbal but heard all the same.

Juleka watched him go, then pulled out her phone and stared at the picture of her and Rose on the lock screen. Pressing her finger to the device, she unlocked it, then navigated to her phone’s browser to open up the Ladyblog, already feeling anxious at the sheer amount of clicks the kiss between Ladybug and Chat Noir had. Still, she forced the thoughts aside, going back to the home screen to stare at the picture of her and Rose again.

The negative feelings hadn’t gone away completely, but she could see things more objectively now. Rose always tried to look on the bright side and being against the kiss was inherently negative. It made sense even if she didn’t like it, though this maybe went deeper than she’d initially thought.

They’d be okay. They just had to talk.