Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug or it's characters
Chapter 40,
After watching Secondhand Lions, Adrien was a little emotional; but it almost seemed like all of the awkwardness between he and Marinette had miraculously vanished. They had taken a brief moment to talk about the movie and their favorite moments. Marinette's favorite scene was when Uncle Hub first laid eyes on Jasmine. Adrien said he couldn't really decide on a favorite moment; he liked the moment when Walter asked Hub about Jasmine, and when the lion saved Walter, and the end when Walter negotiated with his two uncles.
Then they put on Matilda, and as Adrien watched it, he instantly connected to the Matilda character. She too was often left alone, longing for friends, and desperately wanting to go to school. Granted, she was half his age and had magical powers, but she still wanted the same things she did.
"What did you think of the movie?" Marinette asked Adrien when it was over.
"I liked it. It was very cute." Adrien said and Marinette giggled and tucked her feet beneath herself.
"I've been watching that movie since I was a kid. My grandma brought a copy for me after she saw it in America. I've loved it ever since." Marinette said.
"I love the fact that they were able to make their own loving family." Adrien said and Marinette nodded.
"I find it very cute in the beginning of the film, when they talked about Matilda developing a sense of style." Marinette said and Adrien nodded.
"Yeah... that caught my attention too." Adrien said, but his voice was a little off and she rose an eyebrow at this.
"It did?" Marinette asked and he nodded.
"Well, it kinda got me thinking about myself. I'm not sure if I really have a sense of style." Adrien said.
"Oh, come on, everyone has a sense of style." Marinette said and Adrien shrugged.
"Father's been making my wardrobe for as long as I can remember. At shows, I always wear what they tell me to wear, Everything I wear is the 'best of the fashion world'... but I'm not... I don't think I like most of it." Adrien said and Marinette's eye widened.
"So you don't like what you're wearing now?" Marinette asked and Adrien shrugged.
"Well, I like to wear black, and I don't really mind the yellow, green, and purple on my chest, so I wear this all the time." Adrien said and Marinette nodded. She pulled out a notepad from her purse and a pen with multiple colored inks.
"How would you change your shirt to make it more like you?" Marinette asked. Adrien took qa moment to look Marinette over, with her bright eyes and pink notepad. It hadn't really occurred to him that he could ask Marinette to tailor clothes for him. It's not like she lacked the talent, he was just so use to wearing his father's line, that it didn't occur to him.
"Um. Well first of all, I wish the colors weren't so pale. pastels are ok in general, but I would rather have the full, bold color." Adrien started and Marinette nodded.
"Then there is the size of the colors. It's so small, these colors, that sometimes I forget they are there; or that there are five colors instead of three. Not only that, but they are stacked on top of each other as if they are prim, proper, and perfect. I mean, if art is suppose to be a representation of yourself- and creating your own lines to fill in, then I'd rather not be 'perfect'." Adrien said and Marinette paused to think.
"I think I know what you would like." Marinette said, and she started sketching.
"You want three of the five colors, so we can make a sort of scratch/tear mark across the shirt to expose the hidden color beneath." Marinette said as she drew.
"It's imperfect, with darker colors, and it's a rather simple idea. Therefore, if you chose to wear it, then it should hopefully be an easy transition, since this still honors the shirt you normally wear... Done. What do you think?" Marinette turned the notepad around and Adrien blinked.
"Surprisingly enough... I really love that." Adrien said, gingerly taking the notepad out of her hands.
"Well, Nathalie's not here yet. If you're up for it, we can go upstairs and I can start working on the shirt. Even if you don't wear it right away, I'd be glad to make it for you." Marinette said, and Adrien smiled.
"You know what, that's sounds really fun." Adrien said and Marinette giggled.
"Well, come on, Nathalie could steal you away at any moment." Marinette said, as she reached over and grabbed Adrien's hand and lead him up the stairs.
And at this point, you might start to wonder where Nathalie had been during this time. Possibly at the Agreste home, doing her job as she always had, making sure the Gabriel company stayed afloat. Or maybe she was out doing some errands for Gabriel, such as picking up his dry-cleaning or getting him his favorite cup of coffee. But in actuality, she was enjoying herself. Oh, she still had her cell phone on her in case Gabriel, or his company needed her, though things were rather quiet. After that last akuma, Gabriel had not asked much of Nathalie. He didn't want to risk losing her, or hurting her again, so aside from her traditional tasks, Gabriel has left her alone. And in-turn, she took this opportunity to hang out with Armand.
So, as Adrien and Marinette watched their movies, Nathalie and Armand changed into their 'Civilian attire' and they went to the bowling alley.
"I haven't been bowling since I was 8 year old." Nathalie said as she and Armand slipped on their rented bowling shoes.
"I use to go bowling when I was in college. It was between the school and my apartment, so most of us, went there to hang out." Armand said and Nathalie smirked.
"Somehow it's hard for me to see you as a college student, goofing off like this." Nathalie said.
"I wasn't always a bodyguard. Once upon a time I was a kid, just like you." Armand said.
"Well that's true. Hey, this might be a stupid question, but what did you want to be when you were little." Nathalie asked and Armand smiled softly.
"A scientist, actually." Armand said and Nathalie's eyes widened.
"Really?" Nathalie asked and he nodded.
"Yes. I loved learning about cell structure, and how oxygen travels through the blood stream to get to the muscles, and learning how black holes are created. There was something about science that I always found fascinating." Armand said.
"Well, what made you become a bodyguard?" Nathalie asked and Armand hesitated.
" My parents weren't rich. I forget if I was in middle school of high school. Heck, I might have been 14 like Adrien. But they pulled me out of school in order to work and help pay the bills." Armand started.
"What did you do?" Nathalie asked and Armand shrugged.
"It felt like I did all the jobs I could. I would wake up at 4 and get down to the newspaper company in order to help print and then deliver papers. Around 7, I'd go to the butcher and help him slice up meat until noon. Then I'd go down to the dock, and help clean fish for a few hours. Around 4 o'clock, I'd get a call from my ma about helping her with something down at the shop, and I'd fix whatever and then help my father and his plumbing company till 9-10ish. I needed to work as a busboy from 10-midnight, for my aunt." Armand said and Nathalie didn't know what to say.
"You'd only be getting 4 hours of sleep, tops. That's not healthy." Nathalie said and Armand shrugged.
"Perhaps not. On Sundays I got to sleep in, because all my employers went to church, and gave me the day off." Armand said and Nathalie smiled.
"They sound nice. I hope they paid you well." Nathalie said.
"Most of my money went straight to my parents because I was a minor. The newspaper gave me $15 a week, the butcher paid e $2 and hour, which equaled about $60 a week, but he always gave my family 50% off any of the meats we wanted. The dock gave me a quarter for every fish I cleaned, so I could easily get $70 a week. My parents didn't really pay me, but my aunt paid me well and helped me out with clothing and books and stuff I actually wanted. She was real nice to me." Armand said and Nathalie furrowed her brow as she mulled this over.
"Wait, if you got to work, then how did you bowl in college?" Nathalie said and Armand rubbed the back of his neck.
"On Sundays, after church, I would take out my frustrations on a punching bag at my uncles gym. The older I got, the more I needed that punching bag. One day this guy came up to me. He was watching me, and I thought he was a boxing trainer. We got those every once in a while at the gym, so I just ignored him at first. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see him toss this little ball at me, and I turn and catch it. He was an instructor down at the college, he taught psychology and several of his students were bodyguards in training and he thought I would be a good bodyguard too." Armand said.
"Did you like the idea of being a bodyguard?" Nathalie asked.
"I wasn't really sure at first. I would have to go back and take classes to finish high school in order to attend college classes. But I did like the idea of only doing one job that was for me and not my family. I guess that's rather selfish of me." Armand said.
"Well, I don't think it was a selfish decision. I think you've worked very hard for your family, and you made a decision that would help you become your own person. I don't think there's anything wrong with that... finding your own path." Nathalie said and Armand smiled.
"That's how my mom felt. My dad was a little reluctant, but my mother said I was 18, and I won't be living with them forever. So the decision was mine. I wasn't sure what to do, so I talked to my employer, Mr. Green, who ran the butcher shop. It was just the two of us, so we got to talk and really get to know each other. He told me that it sounded like a good opportunity, and even if I didn't specifically become a bodyguard, going to college was still a beneficial experience. Besides, he knew how much I loved science, so he knew psychology was right up my alley. He knew that if I deprived myself of this, I may not get another chance to actually study science." Armand said.
Nathalie watched him pick up his bowling ball, and throw it at the pins, knocking over 8 and forming a 7-10 split. He snapped his fingers in mild disappointment.
"Dang, I can never get that." Armand said and Nathalie smiled at him. She took note of his outfit as well. He was wearing blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and a light weight black hoodie.
"Well, I'm glad you did become a bodyguard. We may not have met otherwise." Nathalie said with a slight blush on her face.
"Very true. so what about you? What did you want to be when you were young?" Armand asked and Nathalie looked away.
"It's a little silly, but I... always wanted to be a dancer." Nathalie said and Armand rolled his 2nd ball and then sat next to Nathalie.
"Why is that silly? As far as I know, being a dancer is still a very respectable way to make a living." Armand said and Nathalie smiled, but it was small and bashful.
"I loved dancing a lot. I loved choreographing dance routines and performing them for my friends all throughout high school. I was good to... At least, I thought I was good. But.. it sort of caused a lot of friction between my parents." Nathalie stood up and took her turn.
"My father was very supportive of me being a dancer. My mother thought I should do something more productive and female empowering, then disgracing myself ti the misogynistic displays of caveman eroticism." Nathalie said, before finishing her turn and sitting back down.
"That's a little extreme. What type of dancing were you doing?" Armand asked as he stood up.
"Mostly ballet. My mother just hated dancing. She saw it as men emotionally forcing women to perform in tight clothing for nothing more then money and their approval." Nathalie said and Armand glanced at her.
"So they fought over you being a dancer or not?" Armand said and Nathalie nodded.
"For my 15 birthday, my father bought me this beautiful black leotard, and this purple tutu... I was saving up my money to buy it, I don't even know how he knew, but he got it for me. Mother said it would only make me look like a colorblind clown and showed me her present. She bought me a three-piece suit to wear to the business classes she signed me up for. I think those two fought for a week straight, before they decided to just... stop talking about it." Nathalie recalled as Armand bowled.
"And... you stopped dancing to keep them from fighting?" Armand asked and Nathalie nodded.
"Yes. I hated the way they were fighting. It made my dancing... almost a painful experience. My last performance was my high school's play... I told my father it had really stressed me out, and I wanted to take a little break from dancing... Little did her know... I'd never dance again." Nathalie said. Armand twisted his lip and thought a moment.
" 'Haven't' not 'never'." Armand corrected and Nathalie blinked.
"Excuse me?" Nathalie asked.
"Just because you haven't danced since, it doesn't mean you never will. I believe you will dance again." Armand said.
"You think?" Nathalie asked and her question was met with Armand's surprisingly warm smile, which made her blush.
"I'll make sure of it. Even if I have to take you out dancing myself." Armand said and Nathalie found herself staring at him.
She knew that she was out of her comfort zone. She was no longer in her usual business suit and bun. Instead she had her hair down in a loose braid; and she was wearing one of her favorite tops, a Cinderella 'Don't Know What You Got Till It's Gone' T-shirt; and then she was wearing a very comfortable pair of ripped black jeans, and a pair of classic black tennis shoes. She was sitting with a co-worker, and friend, feeling emotions that made her question herself.
Why hasn't she become Armand's friend sooner?
Why has it been so long since she's worn clothes this comfortable?
And why did Armand's smile make her heart race?
Last time she felt like this, was when Gabriel hugged her. Perhaps it was because she wasn't accustomed to seeing Armand act this warm, and friendly, and human. He really was full of surprises. Nathalie smiled and decided it didn't really matter how much she blushed, or how her heart raced, or the occasional vulnerable feeling she had around Armand.
Despite all the awkwardness, she adored Armand, and loved being around him. And she got the feeling, that he felt the same.