The second Marinette walked into Alya and Nino’s apartment, her best friend didn’t hesitate to pounce on her with a question.

    “Hey girl, did you get the text?” 

  Marinette sighed as she rested her bag on a chair. One of the kitchen lights above her flickered as she moved to follow the brunette to the bathroom.

    “Yes, the same answer as the last time you asked.” 

   Marinette’s feet hit the cold tile floor around the same time Alya looked in the mirror to pout.

   “Okay so maybe I’m a little excited-”

   “Excited?” The bluenette exclaimed as she put a mascara tube back where she grabbed it. “Alya, honey, you called me at three in the morning to talk about it.”

    Despite her greatest efforts, it was hard for Marinette to stay mad at Alya. She wasn’t even mad in the first place. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t fun to mess around.

    “Okay, yeah. But it’s not like you were actually sleeping.” Alya narrowed her hazel eyes at Marinette in the mirror. The blue eyed girl tsked as she began to pull out her ponytail.

    “I’ll have you know I went to bed at one last night.”

    “Last night and not afternoon?”

    “Yup.”

    Alya gasped dramatically and dropped the hairbrush in her hand. It clattered to the floor and she pressed the back of her hand against Marinette’s head.

    “Are you feeling okay? Are you sick?” Marinette shoved the brunette’s hand away with furrowed eyebrows. It was a touché moment. But she wasn’t going to admit it.

     “Well one of us has to remember that we have a double date tonight.” 

    Alya fell silent at that. Instead of responding, she picked up her hairbrush and turned back to the mirror. Marinette combed her fingers through her hair and began to silently ponder if she had somehow brought the conversation too far.

    After Luka and her little… endeavor, for lack of a better word, and long after Alya left, she had gotten a brilliant idea. Obviously, the fighting couple just needed something that would spark a good time, right?  

      “Let’s see what you’re wearing.” Alya’s mood quickly shifted back to the light heart-let’s-kick-everyone’s-ass mood.

     Marinette strolled out into the living room, realizing that the place was actually picked up. Alya always seemed to be running in circles when it came to cleaning up the place. Ariana had the attention span of a goldfish and quickly moved on from one toy to another. Luckily, Alya’s mom volunteered to watch the kids for the night.

  “Do you want me to just show you the clothes or put them on?” Marinette asked, despite being distracted. Alya hummed from the bathroom before popping her head out.

     “You’ll have to put them on eventually, might as well do it now. You can change right there if you want, Nino left a little while ago.” 

      To be honest, Marinette was a little nervous about their double date. Sure, she and Luka technically have gone on dates before. But this was different. They were actually calling it a date. She was nervous to ask Luka out. Even if they had gotten to the physical part of their relationship, butterflies still fluttered in her stomach.

  Quickly switching her clothes, Marinette looked at her reflection to remember she still had to do her hair and makeup. She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and sauntered back to Alya.
   
    The brunette whistled as she took in the outfit. Marinette may be a fashion designer, but she wasn’t all for wearing flashy or distracting outfits herself. She decided to keep it simple.  Especially when taking into consideration that they were going to a carnival.  

       Under the circumstances, Marinette decided it was safe to wear her favorite pink dress that had white polka dots scattered across it. She brought a leather jacket to wear on top of it, but she assumed it was safe to say she wasn’t going to need it in the heat. Other than that, black leggings clung to her legs and eventually led to her black combat boots.

      “You look like a queen ready for war.” Alya grinned.

    “If you help me put on eyeliner, I would look even more ready for war,” Marinette smirked.

    Surprisingly, it didn’t take them long to get ready. Having their outfits picked out beforehand really freed up their time. All Marinette had to do was dab on some electric orchid lipstick (or so Alya said it was called, it was just a darker, but vibrant shade of pink) and a dash of black eyeshadow. Alya was a goddess at doing makeup. Working as a news reporter paid off for her.

      “I like the look you’re going for.” Marinette leaned back on her hands and crossed her legs as she studied her friend’s fashion choices.   

     If it wasn’t clear before, it was clear now how much Alya adored the color brown. Not only did she love it, but it just suited her so well. A Fodera was placed carefully over delicate curls that framed the brunette's face. The long-sleeved button-up just barely covered her collar bone and was tucked neatly into her skirt. The pale flannel brown fabric well passed her knees and nearly covered up her high socks. But it wasn’t long enough to even come close to covering her dress shoes. Boy did Alya look like a pleasant journalist who vowed to travel the world to uncover the truth.

    “I knew you’d approve,” Alya exclaimed, strategically flicking one of her curls over her shoulder. 

    They passed the time with playful bickering, finding new topics to complain about to each other. By the time they reached the topic about who’s cooking was worse, a knock came from the door.

     Marinette felt like her heart jumped into her throat as she took a sharp breath. Butterflies danced in her stomach as she followed Alya to the door. She glanced back to make sure they hadn't forgotten anything, and Marinette’s hand flew to her sick to make sure she still had her purse.

      Alya didn’t waste a single second to swing the door open and let her eyes quickly rack up and down her husband’s body. A retort about Alya keeping her perverted eyes to herself died in Marinette’s throat as her eyes locked with Luka’s.

   Who gave him the right to look so breathtaking? She thought she had accustomed to the fact that Luka could pull off anything. And how well he dressed. But this was just a casual date at the festival. Did he have to look so good?

    There was a lot for her eyes to take in, but they finally focused on his hair. It was combed neatly, and his bangs were clipped to the top of his head. It was new, being able to see his face without hair blocking his features. But that wasn’t just it. He wore those damn ripped jeans that hugged his ass like there was no tomorrow. It was like he knew how much she adored them and teased her with them. He also wore he black dress shirt with the sleeves rolled halfway up his arm, allowing everyone to see his muscles twitch beneath the skin.  

   She couldn’t decide what was better. The hair clip, the pants, the black stud earring, or the shirt? All four were a deadly combination that made her face burn and the tips of her eyes turn cherry pink.

      It was crazy to believe that she had only been looking at him for a full five seconds, and not the five hours it felt like. Alya nudged Marinette forward with her elbow so she could lock and close the door behind him.

    “Spot the couple.” Alya joked as she wrapped her arm with Marinette’s. “We have option 1, Luka and Nino, Me and Marinette. Option 2, Luka and Marinette, Me and Nino. And Option 3, Me and Luka, Marinette and Nino.” 

     The four took their time to make it outside, the boys taking Alya’s question seriously and thinking long and hard about it.

    “Well,” Nino began, gently prying Alya’s hand away from Marinette’s arm to intertwine it with his own. “Our wedding rings say that you and I are married. But…” Nino adjusted his glasses.

   “Yes?” Alya almost begged for Nino to continue. She hated suspense.

   “But if you consider personality-wise, the results change. Especially when you disregard the rings. Just by looking at your relationship with Marinette would incline you two are very close. So close that you have gotten to the point of making passes on each other. You may do it platonically, but others don't know that.”
    
     It nearly sounded like a scolding. A normal husband probably wouldn't be okay with the way Alya and Marinette treated each other and probably would scold them. But Nino was no normal husband. He didn’t even bat an eye when Alya would say suggestive something about Marinette’s appearance.

    “And when you also take into consideration that Nino and I share a passion for music, our personalities seem more compatible. We’d get along well, and you two do, too.” Luka’s eyebrows furrowed together in thought. “As for option 3…” 

     As Luka trailed off in thought, Nino picked up on the tail end of the sentence.

    “I guess Marinette and I's relationship could possibly look like we’re dating? What we know as sibling-ish relationships between me and her, others may see it as, uh, something. Luka, help me out.” Nino narrowed his eyes before looking up at the other man. 

  “In Greece, it would be referred to as Philia love, the bond between friends. I’d almost say Marinette and Alya’s connection is Ludus? It means playful, flirtatious love, but I think that more implies things like one night stands and friends with benefits. I don’t think it has any relation to actual bonds of friendship or actual love. So Philia love as well?” 

     Marinette honestly couldn’t put any input in this conversation. She didn’t think anyone else would take the challenge seriously. But clearly, she was mistaken. Nino began nodding his head. Luka stepped closer to Marinette and rested a hand on her hip.

    “And our actual relationships would be Eros, right?” Nino pondered.

    They finally reached the point where they were only a block or two away from the festival .. Alya and Marinette had to guide the boys in the right direction since they were distracted. The humid air wrapped around them and Marinette failed to hold back a shudder. Luka glanced at her from the corner of his eye. There wasn’t any real reason for her to shiver. The changing of seasons just did that to her.

    “Um, maybe? I think maybe me and Marinette have Eros.” The guitarist paused before shaking his head and continuing. “And you and Alya probably started out as Eros. But I think at this point in your relationship it’s considered Pragama.”

    “Oh yeah, because to get to pragama you need to have eros first,” Nino noted.

    Alya rolled her eyes and grabbed Marinette’s wrist. She tugged her friend forward, either forgetting or ignoring the fact that Marinette was still a bit of a klutz. The bluentte stumbled forward into Alya’s arms, her forehead hitting the other’s shoulder.

    “Come on, Mari. These two are too busy with foreplay to notice us.” Alya snickered as she streddied Marinette on her feet. “Let’s go get some cotton candy.”

   Marinette couldn’t hold back a laugh as Alya dragged her under the archway of balloons and to the cotton candy stand. Marinette threw a glance back in time to catch Nino’s pout and Luka resting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

     The two just bantered as they waited in line. It was only six pm but people were still crowded together. And it would only get worse. 

    “We should get some for the boys.” Marinette pointed out. Alya sighed dramatically.

    “Mari, honey, you’re too sweet.” The brunette mumbled as she stared off into the distance. “Okay, get this. What if we just get two and then share?” Alya’s mood bounced back at the idea.

     “You mean we share with our partner or between you and me?” Marinette didn’t trust Alya for a second. Well, in terms of food at least. 

       Alya huffed as if Marinette caught her in the act of a crime. They got pink and blue cotton candy. Only after Marinette finally sorted out Alya’s proposal and each pair of boy and girl got one cotton candy. 

    Satisfied with the agreement, Alya hummed in approval. They decided it was only fair that they would go and search for their significant others. It seems easy enough. Until it wasn’t. 

    “How the heck did we lose two grown-ass men?” Alya grumbled.

    Marinette bit her bottom lip and shrugged. It was a fair question indeed. It only took around five to ten minutes to find them. And when they reunited, Alya was immediately at Nino’s side.

   “I see how it is.” Marinette pressed a hand to her chest fake hurt. “After everything I’ve done for you, you still choose him. Well, the joke’s on you, I have Luka.” 

    As if on cue, Luka hugged from behind and he rested his chin on her shoulder. His raven hair tickled the skin behind her ear.

    “I’m just glad I was your second choice.” He murmured. “There are a lot of great people out there, I’m glad I’m only second to Alya of the people you know.”

         Shivers wracked her spin again but for a completely different reason this time. 

  “I’m glad I have a worthy opponent,” Alya said, but not without sizing Luka up. “For now.”

   Luka clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. For what reasons was beyond her.

   The guitarist's arms loosened from her waist as he settled for looping their arms. Honestly, whatever contact Marinette could get from this man she was grateful for. 

    “What shall we do first?” Luka asked. He fumbled with his pocket for a second before he pulled out some tickets. “Nino and my journey wasn’t just to tease you, girls.”

     Nino snorted as he patted his wife’s back. “Speak for yourself, buddy.”

    “If you boys don’t stop flirting, I will take Marinette to do fun things without you.” Alya threatened.

      Several minutes of playful arguments later, they decided to settle for going to get some actual food.

   “What?” Marinette asked, staring at Luka, who had a small smile on his face. 

    “Nothing.” As if he could lie. He realized she noticed this and laughed. “I just can’t wait for later tonight, I have something planned.”
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               Author's notes:
     What's up beautiful dorks? Not much to say this chapter I guess.

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