Like one of your French girls
-A rainy day at the Collège Françoise Dupont, on the Monday following Nathaniel's akumatization.
"Settle down everyone, settle down. I hope you finished your homework this weekend, because we have a pop quiz today on what you learned from the assignment." Ms. Bustier announced as all the kids sat down for class Monday morning.
Nathaniel silently entered class and shuffled to his seat, he was wearing a dark hoodie replacing his usual artistic outfit of a cardigan and tight pants, and didn't have his sketchbook with him, only a school bag with textbooks and what seemed to be a brand-new notebook.
Oh gosh, he thought, I had totally forgotten about the homework with all the craziness that happened last week. Nathaniel still hadn't quite collected all his thoughts since learning about what had happened during his akumatization. What am I going to do?!
As he frantically scoured his near-empty notebook for anything he may have jotted down in between drawing in his sketchbook, he noticed Chloe get up and stomp in her usual, somewhat angry manner of walking, straight towards him. She sat down in the chair next to his and scooted uncomfortably close to him.
"Listen Nathey," He Cringed. "I heard about what happened last week after I exposed your sketchbook to the class, and I can only assume you totally forgot about the homework assignment she's talking about. I can give you a cheat sheet that Sabrina made so you pass the quiz, but I want something in return."
What on earth could she possibly want, Nathaniel thought to himself. Whatever it is, I guess I'll probably do it. I have to pass this quiz. My grades have been going down the drain all quarter up until last week because of all the time I spend sketching in class. This quiz needs to be my turning point.
"So, when I saw your little picture diary..." Ugh she doesn't have even the slightest clue about how art works. "…I noticed that you didn't seem to have any sketches of the real most beautiful girl in class. So, since my daddy's birthday is coming up and he's always wanted a piece of art of his beautiful girl to go up in the hotel, I thought maybe you could paint me sort of like you did Marinette in those little comics. Now I'm usually very busy of course, but I've cleared up some of my schedule to get this done and you can come over after school this week so I can model for the painting. Anyway, here's the cheat sheet and I'll see you after school! Ta-ta!"
Later that day after school, Nathaniel stopped by his house to pick up his sketching supplies to start the piece. God, He groaned. Why did I ever agree to this. I mean, I'm pretty sure I aced the quiz but that's because it was easy, I hardly even needed that cheat sheet! Now I have to stomach drawing that abhorrent girl, and even worse, spending time with her!
He made his way to the Hotel Bourgeois amidst the dreary wet Parisian day. When he arrived, he told the bellman he was there to hang out with Chloe.
"Oh, a guest for Madame other than Sabrina! How Delightful!", he exclaimed.
Wow, I always thought Chloe would be a bit more social, but I guess it should be expected with how mean she is to everyone all the time, Nathaniel thought. He smirked, and sat down on a couch to wait for Chloe.
"Nathey!," Chloe exclaimed as she burst out of the elevator, and stopped everyone in the lobby to look at what terrible squawking noise was polluting the space. "I'm so glad you came! Come on up to my room, I have the best lighting up there for you to start working on my piece!"
They went up to Chloe's room and Nathaniel started unpacking his supplies.
"Ok Nathey, here's what I was thinking… Hold on, you need to wear this beret I got last week it would look so good on you." She picked up a hat from the coat hanger in her room and put it atop Nathaniel's puffy hair. "OH MY GOD, IT'S FANTABULOUS!", Chloe exclaimed. "I have to post this to my snapstachatgram." Chloe snapped a picture and Nathaniel heard a swooping sound as she sent it out to god knows who.
Oh my gosh, this is going to be the WORST, Nathaniel thought. "Sure Chloe, so what exactly were you thinking?"
"Alright, so basically I'm going to wear my daddy's favorite dress he got me, and I want to sit on my chaise looking out over Paris. Or, wait a second I know, I'll try some different poses and you tell me which one would be easiest to draw. I'm going to get changed, don't go anywhere, Monsieur Artiste." Chloe chimed.
As the girl went into her closet, Nathaniel set up his sketchpad on its stand and got out his drawing materials. He found himself curiously picturing what she would wear for the painting. He had been trying to get over his crush on Marinette and didn't think he'd be so interested in developing a new one this soon.
"Almost done Nathey, I'll be right out," Chloe called from the closet.
Nathaniel blushed and finished setting up. I don't know what I'm thinking, Chloe's like the meanest girl that's ever-
As Nathaniel was busy having conflicted feelings about Chloe, she emerged from her closet wearing the most beautiful dress he'd ever seen. It was bright yellow like her usual outfit, but cut up the side of her right leg exposing nearly to her hips, and had white splotches running the length of her torso. It extended down just past her knees and poofed outwards, almost recreating the natural beauty of a sunflower. His mind raced just imagining all the possible ways he could depict her in the painting. He had gone from dreading spending time with Chloe to realizing she may be one of the most challenging and intriguing subjects he had ever indulged in.
"So, what do you think Nathey? Is it something you can work with? Haha, of course you can, I'm a natural model.", Chloe interrupted his thoughts, briefly reminding him of his original feelings about her.
"Well Chloe, actually I was thinking maybe you could try twirling in the dress. I think it might give me a reference that shows a more lively depiction of-", Nathaniel was again interrupted by another of Chloe's outbursts.
"Ok sure Nathey-babe, you got it. You are the artiste after all", She giggled and began prancing about her room.
Nathaniel quickly roughed out some movement sketches he would use for the final piece.
"So, is it done yet? Let me see!" Chloe exclaimed, running over to Nathaniel's post. "What…. What are these? Why is it all in pencil? Nathey, this isn't what we talked about, I want a beautiful painting!", She pouted and stomped her foot.
"Chloe, art takes time and patience. I'm not going to complete a perfect painting of you in a few minutes. But if we hang out a few more times I can definitely finish it.", he assured her.
"Ok, well do you need me to do some more twirling? Cause that was fun. I got a little dizzy but it was so much fun!", she beckoned, laughing giddily and clapping her hands together.
"No, I think I've gotten everything I need to get started. Let's meet again after class tomorrow, Ok?", he asked. That was about all he could take of interacting with Chloe for now. He was however very intrigued about his newly developed feelings towards her.
As Nathaniel settled back into his room that night, he reflected on his visit with Chloe. He began sketching out more ideas of what he wanted to base his final piece on and ended up falling asleep with his sketchbook on his chest and pencil in clutched tightly in his hand.
The following morning when he got to class, he was startled to see Chloe sitting in the chair next to his usual seat and Sabrina sitting all alone down in the bottom row. Nonetheless, he shuffled to his place. This time he had his sketchbook in an easy to reach position is his school bag so he could work between paying attention during class.
"Nathey!", Chloe bellowed. "That was so much fun yesterday, do you think you can come over again today so I can watch you in your element again while you work on what will certainly be the most amazing art piece of modern times?"
Nathaniel heard tiny giggles and scoffs from Juleka and Rose across the aisle, and found himself rolling his eyes. "Sure Chloe, I'll see you after-". Yet again he was interrupted by the famous Chloe outburst. She really should consider trademarking that interruption technique….
He literally couldn't even finish a thought before…
"Oh my goodness, what do we have here!" Chloe exclaimed, reaching for Nathaniel's sketchbook in his schoolbag. "Did you work late into the night studying my physique and elegance? I'm flattered," Chloe hollered as she flipped the pages he had been working on last night. "They're just wonderful Nathey, just wonderful. Ok well, see you after school, ta-ta!"
Later that day, Nathaniel returned to the Hotel Bourgeois with a canvas and oil paints, aspirationally enthusiastic to begin the final piece. When he got to the lobby, he was surprised at the Bell-keep's encouragement to go on up to Chloe's room, but didn't think much of it and headed straight up the elevator. The illuminated floor number signs ticked by and settled on the penthouse level, emitting a loud bing as the elevator slowed to a halt.
The doors opened and Nathaniel was startled to find a half-naked Chloe dancing around her room and singing into a hairbrush. He gasped as he tried to walk out of the elevator, but tripped over the gap on the floor and all of his supplies came spilling out of his bag and ended up sliding towards Chloe's feet.
"Oh, Nathey! Just in time. Listen I was thinking maybe today we go for a more risqué vibe just for inspiration. How does that sound to you?" She asked excitedly.
Nathaniel's nose began to spurt blood and his face became a ghostly pale while his cheeks burned brilliantly red. "Uh, eh uh well uh sure, uh, whatever you like Ch-Chloe.." His voice cracked and trailed off.
"Hahaha you're so funny Nathey. Ok so here let me just spread out on the chaise and you can start a new sketch. I really think I'm getting the picture now with how this whole art thing works, I can see what inspires you." She said, dancing over towards the lounge chair.
Nathaniel scrambled to his feet and began to set up his sketch pad. It didn't help that Chloe was contorting every possible way over a lounge chair mere feet in front of him. He began to sweat profusely while starting to draw. A couple minutes later and all he had was a few unreadable sketches that looked more like a child's interpretation of an explosion or a cat's hairball rather than a girl laying on a sofa.
"Nathey, you need to relax. Remember yesterday? You were so focused on developing a perfect reference sketch for the painting. Did you end up picking one out?", Chloe prodded.
"Y-yeah. I think it would help if maybe you got back into that dress you were wearing…" He suggested. For the love of god just put some clothes on, I'm having a heart attack over here. His heart was indeed nearly beating out of his chest.
"Ok Monsieur Artiste," Chloe taunted him. She walked back over to the coat rack and picked up the beret again. As she walked past, she placed it back on his head and scraped his cheek with her index finger. "I'll be right back, let's try again."
Nathaniel breathed a sigh of relief and organized his thoughts as well as the productive sketches he had come up with yesterday. He settled on one he thought captured the motion of Chloe in her sunflower dress and began mixing his yellows and whites on his pallet.
"Ok Nathey, how's this?" Chloe emerged from the closet, again dancing about her room in the dress she had chosen to model for the piece. Nathaniel had to admit that she did have a sort of innocent elegance about the way she moved, and the beauty of the dress' flow and how it followed the queue of her movement.
He began with somewhat violent and extended strokes of a more bold yellow to depict the movements of the dress. He touched these up with a darker yellow to define the shadows created by the folds and curves of the poofs the dress created in its movement. He then finished touching up the dress' features and moved on to Chloe's figure.
For this he mixed a sort of beige-tan mixture of pigment. He could tell that Chloe must often indulge in some sort of tanning activity since her skin had a faint bronze hue and glimmered in the Parisian afternoon light. He added minute features like her eyelashes and happy expression, attempting to depict her joy and carelessness that she exhibited while dancing freely through her room.
This was a side of Chloe he wasn't sure anyone in class had seen, one where she was free and didn't have to convey her usual persona that she adopted to uphold her reputation as the most popular girl in class.
After what seemed like hours of focusing on Chloe's movements, Nathaniel jumped at her touch. Chloe was out of breath and standing directly next to him. He quickly glanced at the grandfather clock across the room and noticed it had only been about ten minutes. Her mouth was completely agape and she was staring at what he had created.
"Nath-Nathaniel. It's amazing." She whispered. Before he could respond she tackled him to the ground and started making out with him. Nathaniel had never hooked up with anyone before but fell into the kiss and returned the favor.
The beret was the first item to be thrown away from the pair as they rolled around on Chloe's shag carpeting. He gripped handfuls of clumped shag that was so soft he felt as though he was pulling on sheep's wool. Soon Chloe was back in her lingerie and Nathaniel had lost his tight pants.
A few minutes later and the pair were lying next to each other on the shag rug, panting excessively. Chloe looked over at him and it looked like she was staring to cry.
"What's wrong?", he asked, stroking her hair.
"I just really wish I didn't have to be so mean all the time at school. You really showed me what true beauty is with your passion, and I know you really didn't want to hang out with me since I'm so mean to everyone all the time, but like this painting is so pretty and like your ability to create it just makes me so jealous and I just wish I could just like do something like th-"
Nathaniel put his finger to her lips and shushed her gently. "Chloe, you don't have to be mean all the time you know. I'm sure if you just tried a little bit every day, you could find your creative calling too. All it takes is embracing your hobbies or what you like to do and you can be as good or better in your own way as you say I am at making art." He assured her.
The two got dressed and Nathaniel began packing up his supplies.
"I hope your dad likes the new painting. Tell him happy birthday for me."
As he walked onto the elevator, he turned around to see Chloe smiling and staring at the painting he had created. Well, apparently, she's not that bad after all.