Alix chewed on the end of her pen. The teacher was still lecturing, but Alix had long since stopped paying attention. Instead, she was casting her gaze to her left, past Mylène, to Marinette.

She hadn't given Marinette much attention, at first. Sure, she stood up to Chloé at the beginning of the year, but at the time, Alix didn't know how bad Chloé was, beyond reputation. It was the first year that Alix had even met either of them, so it didn't seem so remarkable.

And sure, things conspired to put Marinette in the spotlight, but Alix figured that was just part of who she was. Her engaging and friendly personality meant that she would naturally wind up at the center of attention more than Alix, who, she thought, was outgoing, but otherwise didn't quite fit the requirements to be "popular".

The first time Alix gave the girl a second thought was when Nathanaël was akumatized. At the time, she had hardly spoken with the boy, but was still concerned for him as her classmate. His crush on her also attracted her attention, of course. They weren't best friends at the time, but she respected him and could see that Marinette had a crush on Adrien. So, she paid Marinette special attention from then on, half in a "I need to make sure you're good enough for my friend" kind of way (especially as Nathanaël and she grew closer), and half in a "what's the best way to go about setting you up with my best friend" kind of way (which she gave up on at Nathanaël's vehement insistence).

But later, she could admit, she just found Marinette fascinating. The Evillustrator started it, really, since Alix knew that Marinette played a role in at least the first attempt to cleanse the akuma. And then she became their class president (beating out Chloé), she beat Max at Mecha Strike III (something Alix herself failed to do on several occasions), she made a poster for Alix's competition with Kim (even rooting for her, despite the fact that they'd hardly spoken outside majority-class settings), and, of course, she had that crush on Adrien.

Which would normally not be any of Alix's business, and in fact she didn't think it was, but it was the reason why Nathanaël had given up on Marinette, and anything that affected her best friend like that definitely was Alix's business.

The long and short of it, though, was that Alix had come to regard Marinette as nothing short of impressive. Life wouldn't be dull quite so often with her around, that's for sure. If she's not the epicenter of the drama, she's weaseling her way into being a major player.

I should hang out with her more. I'll talk to Nath about it. Meanwhile, if it's cool with Nath, then I'll need a plan.

With a determined nod, Alix put her pen to paper, though what she wrote was far from class notes. Let's go with a standard, three phase plan.

Phase one, initiate contact. The best way to become friends quickly is to spend time together without other people to facilitate. That means no Nath and no Alya. How to best go about that? Maybe I should go slower. Invite her and her buds along with Nath and I sometimes, maybe invite myself along with them after a while if necessary, and then move on to solo hangouts once we're more familiar.

Yeah, that's probably smarter. In that case, I'll coordinate with Nath. He probably wouldn't mind. If not, then I'll tag along with Kim or something and we'll hang out as a group that way. Point is, still lots of friends, but smaller than the usual crowd. We'll work our way down. Either way, the key is initiative. I seriously doubt Marinette will suddenly decide she wants to spend a bunch of time hanging out with you.

Not that it's impossible. That's kind of what you're doing. From her perspective, anyway.

Let's see… Phase two, acquaintanceship to friendship. Think about her interests. Fashion, obviously. I wonder if she likes my style. I know I'm not "fashionable" but… whatever. Do I know enough about fashion to follow a rudimentary conversation? No. Research? Maybe not. I think Marinette is the kind of person that it'll be just as effective, maybe more so, to just ask questions as they come up. The trick here is to get her to like hanging out with me. Which, given our starkly different interests, should be fun. Not that we don't share anything. We both play Mecha Strike III. I'll ask her about other games she likes sometime. I wonder what her genre is.

Either way, video games works. It's a chance to learn a little about design, perhaps, too. And there's going to be some measure of just winging it. Otherwise it'll be forced and counterproductive so I'll try to just rephrase the general concept and move on. Acquaintanceship to friendship hinges mostly on convincing her that I'm worth spending time with. This phase is complete when Marinette would spend time with you over the control of her normal at-home routine. A good indicator of success would likely be her initiating contact, asking to hang out, though her even just texting you first would be a good indicator that it's at least getting there. I think her initiating a hangout would be best, just to be safe. Slow isn't bad, all the time.

After that, then phase three begins. That's friendship to buddies. Of course, I'm not going to take over as her best friend or anything, but after the friendship phase comes individual hangouts. Depending on her, I may not even have to think about this one. But, after she decides she actually likes spending time with me, then hanging out alone wouldn't be weird – or most likely not. That's where, when she throws herself into the spotlight, I can back her up and I won't look insane. Plus, new friend.

When to initiate, though? After talking with Nath, naturally, but past that probably on the weekend sometime. We could go ice skating. That's something that she knows – probably – that I do with Nath. It wouldn't look too weird if we wanted company. It's a thought. I'll run it by Nath after class.

Phase two is longest, so that's going to require the most creativity. Activities and all that stuff. As I said, ice skating is a good one to… to break the ice. Alix snickered, pausing her pen for just a moment. After that, there's Mecha Strike, but other than that I need to come up with some more ideas.

Well, there goes the rest of my day.

Alix cornered Nathanaël after classes. "Nath. Bud. I need to talk to you."

Nathanael wrung his bag strap and smiled uncertainly. "Um, okay? Why does this sound like it's going to be something huge?"

"It is." Alix said. "I mean, isn't." She shook her head. "Look. I was thinking earlier and I realized that I never really talk to Marinette and that side of the classroom."

"I'm on that side of the classroom."

"That quadrant. Point is, what do you think about inviting those four ice skating with us?"

Nathanaël smiled, opening his mouth and tilting his head before just shaking it instead. "Um. Don't punch me, but do you want to invite those four, or just Marinette?"

Alix furrowed her brow. "What are you talking about? They seem like cool guys. It's a shame we never talk."

"Mhmm. How many phases?"

"Excuse me?"

"How many phases does your plan have?"

Alix crossed her arms, glaring at him. "Three."

He raised his eyebrows. "Really? Huh."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." He turned away, shrugging, but he still had a smile on his lips that told Alix he thought the entire situation was hilarious.

"Hey, Nath, you're not getting away with that." She followed him down the hall. "What's that 'huh' supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, I swear." He bit his lip. "Just that when you decided you wanted to be my friend you sat on my desk and asked me out for pizza."

"That doesn't mean I didn't have a plan."

"Oh, trust me, I know you did."

"Excuse me?" Alix punched his arm, jaw hanging open despite the grin on her face. "How dare."

"Exactly how many notebooks have you burned through writing down your plans?"

"I resent that. It's good to have a plan."

"Sometimes, yeah." The smile began to fall off Nathanaël's lips. He turned to her, stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, and she saw the serious concern in his eyes. "But you can't plan to become someone's friend."

"I've factored the improv into the plan."

"Yes, of course you have, it's just…" He rearranged the books in his hands so that he could grab her shoulder easier. "Sometimes the best plan is to not have one."

Alix frowned. She took a small step back, shaking her head. "Alright, Nath. What, exactly, are you talking about? This isn't about ice skating."

"Just think about it." The seriousness left his gaze and he smirked playfully at her, prancing off as he called over his shoulder, "and I would be delighted to have those four join us for ice skating."

Alix stared at him as he left her behind, confused. She shook it off quickly, though. "Hey!" When she caught up with him, all pretense of a serious conversation had already gone. "Okay, so I'll invite Marinette."

"So, the plan is about her?"

"Of course. You know I like to minimize variables."

"Hate to break it to you, love, but you're not minimizing anything."

"Okay, yes, I still have to factor the other three in, but this way I have a more easily defined goal. That's necessary for a good plan."

"Mhmm. If you say so."

"Okay I swear. Tell me right now what's going through that head of yours."

"Tell you what." Nathanaël rolled his eyes. "I'll tell you after ice skating."

Alix frowned, but sighed. She had enough experience with Nathanaël to let it lie. If it was important, he'd tell her. Still. He's being weird. "You're sure it won't be weird with Marinette along?"

Nathanaël snorted. "Trust me. It will only be great on my end." Alix looked at him doubtfully. "Okay, you're concerned because of the crush thing. I swear I'm not being self-sacrificing for your sake. I know you don't need it, so don't worry. One way or another, I'll have fun. I am as over Marinette as Nino, probably."

Alix smirked, shaking her head slightly. I'll let that pass. "Do you mean you're as over her as Nino is over her, or you're as over her as you are over Nino."

"Both. And since I didn't have a crush on Nino, I think I can handle ice skating with my former crush."

"If you're sure."

"I have literally never been more sure of anything."

"You're excited, aren't you?"

Nathanaël chuckled. "Definitely."

"You think I'm going to make a fool of myself."

"Only to me, Alix. Only to me."

"Okay, you know what? You can shut up." She hit him again, laughing. And then she hooked her arm through his. "Thanks buddy."

"Shouldn't you be asking Marinette out right now?"

Alix scoffed. "I'll text her when I get home."

"You have her number?"

"We did that thing once, remember?"

"Ah, right." Nathanaël bit back another laugh. "Good luck."

"I don't need it. I have a plan, remember?"

"Sure. See you tomorrow."

"See you soon. Love you."

"Love you too, Alix." He rolled his eyes. "Now go, your brother's waiting for you."

Alix shook her head and hurried off to meet her brother, who drove her home. For the rest of the day, as she did for the majority of class, Alix considered the way ice skating could go.

Obviously if she can't come, the thing is moot. It might still be worth it to invite the rest of them, since even though the goal is Marinette, they're kind of a packaged deal. That way, if Marinette herself is busy or something then there's still progress overall.

Otherwise, there's… two to the fourth- sixteen potentials, here? It's the state of good or not at ice skating for each of those four. Of course, if some of them are bad, and some are good, they'll help each other. I shouldn't swoop in if I'm not necessary. With how clumsy Marinette can be sometimes, though… Odds? Hard to say.

Well, swooping is bad. We should think of proper conduct for barely-acquaintances who are going ice skating together. That means excessive touching, excessive clinging – not physically, but like – ugh why do I try to explain things to myself? I obviously know what I mean. Point is, that's off the table.

I should make a list. All sixteen potentials and the most likely short-term outcomes. Yeah. Where's my journal?

Her phone buzzed, distracting her from her search.

NK – btw, remember to factor in that Marinette & Crew are literally some of the most friendly people in class.
AK – Good point.
NK – also don't miss opportunities just because you didn't think about them ahead of time.
AK – I told you I factored improv into the plan. I usually do!
NK – just saying.
AK – Look, I love you, but let me plan.
NK – you're literally planning out your friendship w them! Take a break.
AK – But you know I have to get my plan through congress!
NK – I understand that that was a reference but please reference French things maybe?
AK – Your English isn't so bad that you can't listen to a musical.
NK – you realize I have listened to Hamilton, right? You were obsessed with it a while ago. I couldn't go to your house without hearing it.
AK – Or be within five meters of me.
NK – that too.
AK – Anyway.
AK – Point is, stop trying to change me.
AK – You love me too much to want me any different. 3
NK – not trying to change you so much as give you a nudge in the right direction. Just be genuine!
AK – Lol bye.
NK – I'm serious!
AK – I'm a planner.
AK – Plans are my "genuine"
NK – I know, and I love you. But I can tell this is important to you and I want this to end well.
AK – Don't worry about me, Nath. Even if the plan goes kaput, I have you to back me up ;)
NK – naturally. Just please don't think too hard? Just let yourself make some friends.
AK – I'll make All The Friends.
NK – lol sure. You asked Marinette, yet?
AK – No, I was…
AK – Don't even say it.
NK – planning?
AK – You're the worst.
NK – ask her!
NK – and you have no more than five minutes to write the text.
NK – I will text you in five minutes to be sure; start now.

Alix sighed, switching to her contacts list to find Marinette. Alright. Five minutes. So most important question. Do I invite her, and extend the invitation to her friends – that's "why don't you join us, your friends are welcome too" – or should I invite the lot with a "hey why don't you and yours join us"?

Either way, I should invite her friends in the same message that I invite her. Less "on the spot" that way. Hmm… Given how friendly Marinette typically is, the first one might be a step further, quicker, than the second one, but it's also more risky, since it's more personal. She might think it's weird?

Ugh. What about a list? No time, Nath will chew me out.

Hey, Nath. I'll just ask him.

AK – Um.
NK – ?
AK – How should I ask her? Two options:
AK – Blah, blah, ice skating, "Why don't you join us? Alya, Nino, and Adrien can come too, if they're free."
AK – Alternatively: "your friends" leaving it unnumbered and unspecific so she can bring like Rose or something if she's so inclined.
AK – And the second option is "…Why don't you and your buds join us?" et cetera we love the company and stuff
NK – The Company.
AK – We WOULD love the company. Happy?
NK – lol yeah. What's the difference?
AK – One invites her, and extends the invitation to her friends at her discretion.
AK – That implies we're more interested in spending time with her only.
AK – Which is more personal and also might be weird if she thinks you still have a crush on her bc there's the possibility that she might guess I'm trying to set her up with you.
NK – not unbelievable.
AK – The other invites all of them from the start, implying an equal desire to hang out with her friends as her.
NK – *rolling my eyes*
AK – Shut up.
NK – is there an equal desire to hang out w alya and the boys?
AK – I don't know.
NK – again, ?
AK – I'm not a sensitive artist soul like you, Nath.
AK – You know it takes at least one (1) Adventure to Find The True Meaning of Friendship for me to have Feelings.
NK – five minutes is up btw
AK – You're no help at all.
NK – okay so what would be more disappointing to you, Marinette coming alone, or Adrien coming alone?
AK – Idk Adrien is like a sunshine child he might melt the ice rink.
NK – your turn to shut up except for to answer the q.
AK – Fine.
AK – Maybe Adrien.
NK – there's your answer.
NK – it's such a small difference I guarantee she won't even notice but if it makes you feel better
NK – you want to spend time w her more than everyone else so let your text reflect that.
AK – You are wise beyond your years.
AK – Also wtf I can't just ADMIT that upfront I have an Image.
NK – then do the other! As I said, she 99% won't even notice!
NK – now ask her!
AK – Alright, I'm going!

Alix, despite what she told Nathanaël, didn't end up texting Marinette until later that night. Mostly because she had to eat dinner. Or at least that was her excuse. Regardless of the reason, it was nighttime by the time Alix finally opened a text conversation with Marinette.

After several more minutes of deliberation, she sent her text.

AK – Hey Marinette! I realized we don't hang out all that often, so I thought maybe it'd be fun if you could join Nath and I for ice skating on Saturday. Alya and your boys are totally invited too :)

Marinette's reply took just long enough to arrive that Alix debated texting Nathanaël. He'd just tease me. I don't know what's gotten into him. Sure, we tease each other all the time, but this is different. Oh shit was that the phone?

MD – Hey Alix! I'd love to come ice skating with you guys! And I'll ask the others if they want to come too. :)
AK – Awesome! I'll see you at school tomorrow?
MD – Yeah, see you then! :3

Alix sighed. She used the cat emote oh my god. She examined the text for a moment, and then shook her head fiercely and went back to the conversation with Nathanaël. No. I overanalyze things as a hobby, but heck if I'm going to analyze the kind of emotes she uses. I just straight up refuse. It is kind of cute, though.

AK – Psst, I asked her.
NK – it's been four hours.
AK – Well I did it!
NK – so do we have The Company coming along?
AK – Marinette agreed, she said she'd ask her buds.
NK – looking forward to it.

Alix shook her head. So am I. Now, where was that journal?

Alix took a deep breath and stepped out onto the ice. With a deft turn, she looked back to the others with her. Nathanaël, who went ice skating with her all the time, was nearly as comfortable (and skilled, she'd admit only to him) on the ice as she was.

The other four, however, were different stories entirely. Alya stumbled, and though Alix braced herself and bent down to catch her, she managed to regain control and get a hold of the wall. Adrien nearly fell flat on his butt, but Nathanaël caught him under the arms and hoisted him back to his feet before he could hit the ground. Both of them had red cheeks after that, and Alix was pretty certain that it wasn't the cold. Aw, Nath. Nino was similar to Alya, though Alix did end up holding him and letting him balance on her before he moved to the wall. Lastly, Marinette stepped onto the ice, wavering a little but not losing her balance quite as much as her friends.

Once she had a firm grasp on the wall, Alix skated by, patting her shoulder. "Good job. You were the least close to wiping out."

Marinette giggled. "I was still pretty close to falling on my butt."

"No, Adrien was close to falling on his butt."

"Hey!" Adrien frowned back at her, which made Alix laugh.

"I think you meant, 'Thank you, Nath. You saved my beautiful backside.' Eh?"

"I thanked him!" He tripped over his own feet, then, but caught himself on the wall. "How do you do this?"

"Well…" Alix skated up to his level. "At your level, it's usually smart to keep your eyes forward." He turned his head so that he was looking forward again. "There, see? Other than that, I can do this," she spun and began skating backwards alongside him, "because I've been coming here with Nath for months now, and I roller-blade. Which isn't exactly the same, but still. Principles, yeah? You'll get the hang of it."

With a wink, she slowed and caught Nathanaël's arm as he passed. They spun around each other and separated facing different directions. "Hey, Nino." She said. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Nathanaël spin to face her and exaggeratedly roll his eyes before falling in line with Marinette.

"So, is the ice skating just so you and Nath can show off?" Nino asked, and amused smirk on his lips.

"Well, duh. How else am I supposed to impress you all?"

"Aw, you're trying to impress us?"

"Should I be?"

"I'm pretty sure we all want to be your friends anyway."

"Well then what am I doing? I could have just bought you all a pizza."

Nathanaël's voice over her shoulder drew Nino's attention, making Alix need to stabilize him after he stumbled. "Like you did for me, you mean?"

"Hey, that was a quality pizza."

"No arguments here."

Alya's voice sounded disbelieving when she asked, "You really just bought him a pizza?"

"No," Nathanaël said, "She bought herself a pizza and offered to share with me."

"I bought it for both of us." Alix said.

Alya laughed. "That's truly friendship at its finest."

"I thought so."

This is going well. Nath was right. These guys are basically too friendly for this to ever be awkward or anything. She fell back as Nathanaël skated past her, so that she could bring up the rear of the group with Marinette.

Marinette was eyeing her curiously, so Alix raised an eyebrow to incite the question. "How often do you come here?"

"Every other week or so. Sometimes every week, but that's getting less common."

"I didn't know you liked ice skating."

Alix shrugged. "It's kind of one of my things with Nath. I was only here a few times before we decided to come together." She saw Nathanaël give her a quick, concerned glance before moving his gaze back to Adrien, the concern gone as quickly as the glance.

"Really? And you two decided to keep coming? So often?"

"It was…" Alix paused, glancing at Nathanaël. "It was a way to deal with some stuff. Sort of still is, I guess, but it's mostly just tradition at this point."

"Can I ask what? Or is that too personal?" Marinette's face held only the most tender concern and innocent curiosity. Alix gritted her teeth, inhaling as deeply as she could. I've only ever told Nathanaël that. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. It's none of my business."

Alix released the breath and shook her head. "No. It's cool. I mean, I don't really want to talk about it, no, but I'll say that it had to do with my being akumatized. Lots of stuff to deal with after that. Nath helped. So did this. That's the basics, anyway."

Alix flinched when she looked forward and realized that the rest of the crew had gone uncharacteristically quiet, and the mood was sober and tense. "But, hey, you don't come here often?" She tried. "You're pretty good at this. You seem rusty, not new."

"Ah, well," Marinette said, "I've been here a few times before. Nothing like how often you come."

Alix smiled, seeing Marinette glide along, barely touching the wall. "Come on, get off the wall for a bit."

"What?" Marinette's eyes went wide? "No! I'm definitely going to fall!"

"Nonsense. You're good at this. Just pass up Alya, okay? And if you do fall, which you won't, I'll catch you."

Marinette worried her lip for about half a lap around the rink before agreeing. Alix sped up and spun around, so that she could face Marinette and was ready in case of a fall, and Marinette let go of the wall.

Alix was right, of course, in that Marinette was better than she thought she was. She stuck out her tongue in concentration and made it as far as even with Adrien before she got distracted by his laughing at something Nino said and tripped.

Alix caught her under the arms, but she had been too slow to react and Marinette had fallen a little too far. As a result, Alix was squatting on her skates, holding Marinette only just high enough that her knees didn't hit the ice. As Alix began trying to lift Marinette, the other girl also tried to lift herself, which threw Alix off just enough that her skates flew out from under her and she tipped backwards onto the ice.

"Ow." Nathanaël said, holding his hand. Alix looked up at him, realizing that he had slid in front of them and put his hand under her head so that it didn't hit the ice directly. Unfortunately for him, that meant his hand and knees has pretty hard hits. Better than a concussion, he'd say at least. "You two okay?"

"Dude! Nice save, Nath!" Nino exclaimed.

"Seconded." Alix said, still looking up at him. "That was impressive."

"Ahh, I'm so sorry!" Marinette squealed, trying to disentangle herself from Alix. Because of the slick ice, though, she only ended up propping herself up on her hands and knees before slipping and falling back onto Alix.

"Oof. Alright, girl. You're good. It's cool. You're not hurt?"

"Me?! I fell on you! Are you okay?"

Nathanaël and Alya worked together to help Marinette to her feet. Once she was up, Nathanaël pulled Alix up. "I'm fine, Marinette. I've had much worse falls, believe me." With a wink, Alix turned to thank Nathanaël for saving her head. Once she had, she turned back to Marinette, putting a hand on her arm. "You're okay, though?"

"Y-yeah. I'm fine."

"Then let's go!" She turned to continue around the rink, meeting Nathanaël's amused grin. "What?"

He coughed awkwardly. "Nothing." She rolled her eyes and skated past. But as she did, Nathanaël leaned close to whisper in her ear. "Smooth, by the way."

"Okay, spill. What has been up with you?" Alix crossed her arms, frowning at Nathanaël, who just stared contentedly at her with a massive grin. They had only just gotten back to Alix's house after ice skating and saying goodbye to the others.

"You like her."

"What?"

"Marinette. Duh."

"I- what?" Alix blinked. "Wait, like…"

"Yes, like romantically." Nathanaël rolled his eyes.

"Don't be ridiculous. I don't-"

"Don't worry about whether you're being too forward by asking if she'd like to go somewhere with you and only inviting her friends in the next sentence, rather than the same one?"

Alix opened her mouth to retort, and quickly shut it. "Okay, fair, but-"

"Don't create three stage plans to get close to her, despite historical evidence that all you really need to make friends is pizza?"

"Okay I know that's the joke but we first really started talking about the akuma thing that is not applicable."

"Don't say things like 'I've had much worse falls' and winking after she literally falls on you."

"You make it sound like-"

"Flirting. Yes. You were flirting."

Alix pursed her lips, staring down Nathanaël for a long moment. He thinks I like her? Why would I even? I've barely spoken to her! Though… she is cute. And we had fun at the ice rink. And she is pretty impressive.

And now that he mentions it, I don't usually put this kind of effort into something that should be pretty simple.

Shit. Does that mean I like her?

"Not to mention the touching. You haven't touched anyone that much except me since you were akumatized. All the shoulder touches, arm touches. Like every time you passed her, I swear."

"Okay, okay, I get it." Alix rubbed her temples. "But, um… if I did like her, romantically…"

"Alix, I thought you might have had a crush when you asked if we could invite her. I still mean what I said then. I had a crush on her, yeah, but I'd be ecstatic if you wanted to ask her out."

Alix bit her lip, not quite sure whether to believe him or not. So, rather than think about it, she decided to just tease him. "Okay, but since you got to call me out. You and Adrien?"

Nathanaël flushed. "Nothing."

"Oh, please. Don't pretend. If I can't hide a crush, neither can you."

He buried his face in his hands. "Ugh, you're the worst."

"Thank you."

"This isn't about me, though."

"Excuse you. I disagree."

"Okay, look. I will go along with whatever shenanigans you cook up with that whole situation, but only after we deal with your crush."

"Come on, I want to put it off, too."

"No. I am putting my foot down."

"You're cute when you get serious. I should call Adrien."

"We don't even know if he's gay."

"Nor Marinette."

Nathanaël frowned, and then lit up with a grin. I just lost this argument, didn't I? "Well, as you said, we should focus on only one goal, right? That's necessary for a good plan. So, we deal with your crush first, since that's kind of what we're already working on."

"I hate you."

"Don't be a sore loser."

"I mean you did tell me to ditch the planning, so I could win, but I'm letting you win."

"Why?"

"Because I don't like this feeling. It's like… I want to be around her but also I'm terrified to be around her. And not for the usual reason I'm terrified to be around people. Like I actually care about her opinion of me, and it's freaky."

"Aww. My little Alix is so in love."

"Don't you even dare say that word. I will admit it is a crush but that is it."

"Alright." He rolled his eyes. "So, we keep hanging out with her. When do you ditch me and go on dates?"

"Phase three. Which is characterized by Marinette choosing to spend time with me over her day-to-day life at home."

"So, when she asks you out, is what I'm hearing."

"Yes, but not like that. Like… when or if Marinette asks me like how I asked her. You know, so that the implication is that the hangout is kind of mostly for her sake but also inviting everyone else to make it not weird."

"So, when Marinette asks you to hang out, instead of the other way around."

"Yes, but not if she asks for both of us as a set, or to invite us or me to an already arranged thing with her friends."

Nathanaël laughed, shaking his head. "Wow. I've never seen you like this. Crushing Alix is adorable."

"You shut your mouth."

"How do you plan to find out if she likes girls?"

"I don't know."

"You don't?"

Alix smiled uncertainly. "I was kind of thinking that either it'd come up during phase two – these hangouts and generally getting closer – or I'd just risk it."

"Just risk it?" Nathanaël's eyes went wide. "Are you sure?"

"What? This isn't a bad high-school drama. I'm not just going to spontaneously kiss her. If the time comes, I'll tell her, and just… let things fall where they may."

"And you can't do that now?"

"No, we're hardly even friends!"

"Okay, well you seemed to be pretty chummy at the ice rink."

"It's not enough. These things take time."

Nathanaël was quiet for a long time. "Those spontaneous kisses always made me uncomfortable, to be honest."

"Ugh, trust me, you're not alone. Like even when the other person is into it, it's still just like, you didn't ask permission!"

"Seriously!"

"I just don't understand why anyone would kiss someone without asking first. Especially as a crush confession."

"It's kind of scary that that's so widespread."

Alix nodded, sighing. "Oh, man, I'm so screwed."

Nathanaël furrowed his brow. "Sorry?"

"Just imagining Marinette and Adrien getting together."

"Which one of them would scream if they did the spontaneous kiss thing?"

"Both."

Nathanaël laughed. "Probably."

"What do I do about her crush?"

"I'm not sure there's much you can do, except show her that there are other options. She seems pretty… singularly minded on the subject."

"True. I'll just have to step up my game and woo her right out from under him." Alix frowned. "Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"Why wouldn't I be? I only told you three times now."

"Yeah, but this is where we gave up with you. The whole, 'she has a crush on Adrien' thing."

Nathanaël stood and took her shoulders in his hands, looking intently into her eyes. "Alix, I swear I'm okay with this. Encourage it, even. I'm the one who asked you not to pursue this for me. It was my decision. This time around, it's your crush, and we'll take it as far as you want to. Okay?"

"Okay."