LadyBugOut AU (Snippets)

Think Outside the Fox

Summary:
Trixx has a talk with Luka about Luka's relationship with Marinette.

Chapter Text
Luka waved to everyone as they headed off of the Liberty, Marinette flashing him a warm smile while Juleka went off to spend the day with Rose. He sighed happily, content in the fact that everyone had a good time, and seeing Marinette in particular being as happy as she was only strengthened the feeling. Ever since LadyBugOut had been made, she’d been less stressed overall, and while the only information he had on that was that she was honored to be working on such a thing, he was just glad she was doing better.

As he turned to head back below deck, he felt a familiar presence on his shoulder and looked over as best as he could. Trixx was lounging there, tail swishing with a hint of amusement.

“For how much you enjoy Marinette’s company, you don’t spend a lot of one-on-one time with her,” he observed.

Luka blanked for a moment, finding the question odd. Giving a one-armed shrug for the sake of not jostling Trixx, he replied, “I’m happy with what we have, and Marinette likes getting the whole group together.”

“Ah,” Trixx hummed in thought, “so you don’t like spending time alone with her?”

“I do,” Luka responded, “but I want Marinette to do whatever she’s comfortable with.”

“So she doesn’t like spending time alone with you?”

Luka raised a brow, growing suspicious of where Trixx was going with this. Still, he genuinely thought about it, walking over to sit down on a nearby instrument case to think. “I… don’t know. I haven’t spent time with her since…”

He trailed off, his confession to her feeling so long ago by now. It wasn’t as if he’d intentionally kept his distance from her ever since, though perhaps he unconsciously felt like he’d drawn a line where he could only get so close to her without seeming like he had an ulterior motive.

“And you never asked her?” Trixx questioned.

“I wouldn’t want to pressure her,” Luka replied. “If she asked me, of course I’d agree, but—”

“No, no, I get it.” Trixx took a moment to stretch his limbs out, then let out a breath and glanced up at Luka casually. “You want her to make all the decisions.”

Luka was about to answer affirmatively when Trixx’s words fully registered. While the tone had been entirely neutral, the implication was there: that he was making Marinette do all the work. He tried to come up with a proper response like it’s not like that, or that’s not what I mean, but he ended up saying nothing.

Trixx grinned, having clearly hoped for that reaction, then patted Luka where his paw could reach. “You’re a good kid, but how’s she gonna know that you like her the way you do if you don’t want to show it?”

“I’m not trying to date her,” Luka gently retorted.

“So?” Trixx flew up, hovering in front of Luka without leaving his relaxed pose. “There’s nothing wrong with spending time with her without anyone else around. The worst she can do is say ‘no,’ but she can’t do that if you never ask.”

Luka felt somewhat defensive at first, having always been of the belief that he’d go at whatever pace Marinette wanted to go, but Trixx cut in before he could say anything.

“Besides, what if she’s doing the same thing and you don’t know about it?”

Luka paused at that, the thought having never occurred to him. Marinette was considerate enough to do something similar with him, and even if it wasn’t strictly romantic, he wouldn’t have been surprised to hear that she never asked him out anywhere so as to not give him the wrong idea about her feelings. Still, regardless of how she felt about him, if both people let the other set the pace, they wouldn’t get anywhere and were needlessly making the other starved for their attention.

Trixx smiled knowingly, floating closer and adding, “You can’t catch prey if you don’t chase them.”

Immediately, Luka squinted in disgust. “Marinette is not prey.”

“And that’s how I know you’ll treat her well,” Trixx replied, his point apparently made, “and that you don’t see it as a game to win. Look at it this way—” He briefly stopped to gesture to the instrument case below. “—what would you think if you were playing a duet and your partner always waited for you to start first?”

Luka didn’t answer, but admitted to himself: I’d think that they didn’t want to.

He supposed he may’ve presumed too much about what was and wasn’t appropriate to ask Marinette about, simply because of what he thought was best for him to do. As much as he believed he could be on top of things, Trixx was right, and he wasn’t doing Marinette any favors by deciding not to ask her out anywhere while also not telling her that he was doing so. There was a boundary he’d made that she wasn’t aware of, and that wasn’t fair to her.

Luka’s hand twitched, then reached back and pulled out his phone. Unlocking it, he navigated to his contacts and then to his text conversation with Marinette. He hovered his thumbs over the keyboard, hesitated, then glanced up at Trixx, who seemed wholly amused at his reaction.

That was enough to get his thumbs moving.

Hey, Marinette, would you like to hang out at the park sometime? It can be whenever you want, and I’ll bring my guitar if you want me to play for you.

The park seemed like the easiest place to choose for her. After all, it was right next to her house, making it convenient, and it being that close by meant it was normal enough for her not to view it as a date—

“You’re thinking too much,” Trixx observed with a chuckle, having flown near his shoulder again to read off the message. Luka was still getting used to someone being able to read him that well and he wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

He turned off his phone’s screen and set it off to the side, then took a breath and leaned back, still mulling over the situation. He wasn’t egotistical enough to think that Marinette always thought about how much time she wanted to spend with him, but the possibility was there, and he wouldn’t want to miss it if it was something she wanted. He might’ve had feelings for her, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t hang out with her like any other friend would, right?

Not even a minute later, his phone dinged thrice, Trixx making an idle comment about the swiftness of the reply. Luka was about to remind him that it could’ve been anyone, then he turned on the screen and saw that it was indeed Marinette.

Of course I’d like that! You know I like hearing you play!

Are you free tomorrow afternoon maybe? I’ll bring snacks!

(I didn’t mean that I’d only bring snacks if you’re free tomorrow afternoon! I swear I’ll bring them no matter what time we go!)

“Hm~” Trixx hummed, flying over to the phone to lay across the top of it, resting on his side while looking down at the screen. “Yeah, I see what you mean. She seems very pressured to me.”

Luka barely heard the teasing, too busy grinning like a fool.