Requested by: DragonGirlLife

Prompt: Self given

Warnings: None

Extra: This took so long and I'm so so sorry about that! Burn out hits me really hard when it comes to writing one-shots, and I couldn't find the drive to write this. I finally buckled down and got this out, and I tried to make it as good as possible to make up for the wait. Enjoy!

~*~

His voice was like music.

As long as you had known him, that was the only thing you could compare it too. Even as the two of you grew and matured, even as he dyed his hair and switched styles to find himself, that one thing remained the same.

One of your first memories was of the two of you on his mother's ship together, joyously running around and threatening to push each other off in a friendly competition. Juleka was watching in the background, laughing joyfully and happy to watch instead of join in.

The two of you got older, and your admiration for Luka spread to more than just his voice. There were days where you went into a daze while he was talking, notes registering in your ears as you observed him speaking. When he got passionate about something then he'd use his hands often while speaking. His eyes would light up too, the blue-green deadly similar to the water he lived on. Everything about him just screamed... attractive.

"You've gone off to Wonderland again," he would always say when you got lost in your thoughts of how handsome he was, a small smile on his face.

"Sorry, sorry," you'd smile nervously, hoping that you weren't blushing as badly as you thought you were, "I, um, I got lost in thought. What were you saying?"

His smile grew wider, and your cheeks grew hotter. Did he know? Why did he never say something? Sometimes you thought that having him call you out would end the suffering and allow you to move on with your life no matter the results.

Still, you lasted years without revealing your crush. That was a statement you weren't sure you believed. Despite being friend with him for so long, you'd be reduced to a blubbering mess whenever he did something particularly amazing. And this was Luka you were talking about, everything he did was amazing!

What helped you through the awkwardness you never seemed to outgrow was your long-term friendship. It was easy to fight through unnecessary nerves when you had grown up together. Sure, it added extra reasons to your long list of why you were in love with Luka Couffaine, but it also reassured you. He'd kept you around for this long, what's a little longer until you finally - finally decided to woman up and confess.

You were close to confessing (no you weren't, who were you kidding?) when he appeared in the media. All of Paris and probably all of France knew about Ladybug and Chat Noir, but slowly their ranks started to expand. Rena Rouge, Carapace, Queen Bee (ugh), King Monkey, Pegasus, and Viperion.

Viperion. There was something about him that drew you toward him. The pull was unexplainable, and it was easy to call it magic when superheroes appeared on the streets at least once a week.

As an intern at the news station, it was your job to sniff out new stories. And it just so happened that every time Viperion came around, you were quick to be on the scene to help out the studio. If a few photos were taken on your phone instead of your work-issued camera then no one had to know but you.

So there was the classic problem. A love triangle, except neither of the two interests actively knew they were part of a triange.

Instead of feeling guilty like you knew you should have, something else settled in your gut. Contentment? Understanding? No matter what it was, it was that emotion that made you feel actual guilt.

You were supposed feel like you were betraying Luka by being attracted to Viperion as well, but there was none of that. No inner turmoil around the topic. Your mind was at peace with both of the crushes, and whether it was because you subconsciously knew one of them was highly unlikely, or because of some other reason was yet to be thought over.

Whenever you tried to think about why you were so content with liking both Viperion and Luka, you got a headache. Viperion was so familiar, but looking at him was like looking at someone through a cut of chiffon over your eyes. You knew what Viperion looked like, but a haze surrounded your mind when you tried to think on his face further.

So yeah, magic made a lot of sense concerning the pull.

"(Y/n), we've got a potential Akuma attack downtown. I want you on it and taking as many pictures and videos as possible for tonights broadcast. I want something that even the Ladyblog doesn't have."

"You can count on me!"

Looping your camera around your neck, you rushed out of the station to track down the attack. The Ladyblog was your first stop, and sure enough Alya Cesaire was already reporting on it. The Akuma apparently had powers related to bubbles? But unlike the Bubbler, these bubbles weren't see through and were only half-formed, creating prisons on the ground. 

Alya was unsure who the Akuma was or why they had become an Akuma at that point, but you assumed it was someone younger just because of the power. However, you could never be 100% sure.

The streets were in chaos as people struggled to get away from the Akumatized citizen that was causing so much trouble. After so many attacks, you'd think that Paris would be more on top of having a system to deal with things. Maybe you could propose that story to the higher up: Paris in Desperate Need of Akuma Organization!

Shaking your head to refocus, you went the opposite way of the crowd, following them to the epicenter of what was happening.

Camera on and ready, you made sure to stay hidden and away from the most dangerous parts of the battle so you weren't a distraction. The battle consisted of Ladybug, Rena Rouge, Chat Noir, and Viperion against the Akuma. There were some bubble around the battlefield, and you safely assumed there was either other heroes or civilians in them from the way Chat Noir was attempting to break through them.

Taking as many pictures as you could, your eyes kept flitting to the different figures around the battle. But you watched Viperion more often than the others. He came out less than Rena Rouge and Carapace, so every chance you got to see him was something you savored.

The Akuma aimed a hand at Viperion, and your legs moved before your brain processed what was going on. Trying to shove Viperion out of the way, the two of you abruptly stopped falling when you hit a rubbery surface and dropped to the ground.

"Ow," you mumbled, sitting up and looking up. You were stuck in one of the bubbles. It looked like a rainbow, constantly shifting around you and blocking your vision of the outside world.

"Are you okay?" Viperion asked, looking at you in concern. The voice calmed your nerves before they could send you into a panic, and you nodded mutely, "Thank you for trying to save me, but it seems like we're both stuck now."

"The heroes will win, and it'll be okay," you shifted so you were a bit father from him, though distance wasn't easy because of the bubble. The farther you were from him, the less flustered you'd get.

A small beeping sounded from Viperion's costume, and his eyes widened in what seemed to be panic. Unsure of what you could do to help, he spoke before you could ask what was wrong.

"Can you turn around? I'm afraid my costume is about to come off and you can't know my identity."

"Sure- sure, yeah," you were quick to turn around so you couldn't see Viperion anymore. Your heart was pounding against your ribcage. Just behind you, Viperion was about to be out of costume, his identity right there for you to see. What a scoop that would be, it would set up your career.

But you couldn't do that. You couldn't bring yourself to turn around. Viperion was trusting you to not look at him when he was at his most vulnerable, and the last thing you wanted to do was break that trust. Not when you were meeting him face to face for the first time.

Viperion began humming quietly, as if passing the time on a boring day. His voice was like music. It was beautiful, and again your brain tried to associate it with something familiar. But the haze thickened right when you felt like you were going to make the connection, and you were back at square one.

Another beep sounded from behind you, and you assumed Viperion's costume was gone. The humming continued. The fog around your mind slowly faded away, and you bit back a gasp when you realized why the voice and the face were so familiar, and why you liked Viperion so much.

"Luka?"

The humming abruptly stopped. Holding your hands tightly together, you prayed that you didn't just make a giant fool out of yourself by calling Viperion a random name.

"The magic should have prevented her from putting the pieces together, even out of costume," a new voice stated, and that prompted you to turn around.

You weren't sure what was more shocking. The fact that you were right, or the fact that there was a small floating snake next to Luka's head.

"Okay..."

"(Y/n)," Luka had that gentle smile on his face that always put butterflies in your stomach.

"How'd you know?" The snake asked, "The magic of the miraculous should have prevented you from recognizing him."

"I could never forget his voice," you admitted, cheeks flushing with embarrassment, but you decided to dig your grave a little deeper, "It's like music. My favorite kind."

Chuckling quietly, Luka looked at the snake, who simply hummed in response, obviously thinking about something.

"A voice like music?" Luka scooched a little closer to you, "You broke through the magic of the miraculous."

"I um, I'm not sure what that means. But... I really like Viperion, and I like you. A lot. Romantically. SomaybeithassomethingtodowiththatandI'veknownyouforalongtime-"

"(Y/n)," Luka reached out and took your hand, "I like you too. Have you not noticed?"

"Huh?" Your brain could not compute.

"My music. It's been telling you for a long time. I assumed you weren't ready, or didn't like me back."

Luka... wrote music about you? Your mind went over some of his most recent songs. The chords, the sound. It was so bright, and so happy. It always filled you with joy and love and- oh.

"Oh. Oh!" You gasped, "I never noticed. I was always a little too distracted by... well, you."

Luka chuckled again, and you couldn't help but chuckle along. The entire situation was ridiculous, but it couldn't be more perfect at the same time. Without warning, the snake popped out of your purse holding the plastic bag you were keeping your snack in.

"Sass," Luka's tone was warning.

"I need to eat to recharge," Sass defended, pulling open the bag, "Otherwise, when all of this is over the bubble will open and people will know."

"It's okay!" You rushed to reassure both Luka and the snake, who he called Sass, "They can eat it."

Giving Luka a smug look, Sass then dug into what was supposed to be your food.

"After this, do you want to go out with me?" Luka asked, motioning to the bubble with a small smile, "I wouldn't count this as a first date, after all."

"Yes. Yes! I'd love to."

Now, the two of you just had to wait for the other heroes to finish their mission. No matter how long you'd be stuck in that bubble, you couldn't bring yourself to care. You could talk with Luka while you waited, and his voice was like music.