Chapter 7: Room for one more
In current time Paris, every citizen knew to go about their lives with a level of caution.
Every citizen knew that, at any moment, an Akuma could attack and possibly cause a lot of damage, with a slight chance of anyone in the vicinity being mind controlled. It really depended on what exactly the Akumatised villain was upset about.
But even with this knowledge, it was still very easy to get caught up in an attack, like Marc currently was.
There he had been, just minding his own business on the way to school, only to find his way blocked by battle between heroes and villain. And because the universe felt like it hadn't inconvenienced Marc enough, his way back had also become blocked off due to the fight, leaving him to take cover until the fight either moved elsewhere or the villain was defeated.
"Why me?" Marc complained, keeping his head ducked down as he tried his best to keep calm.
"Look out!"
At the call, Marc looked up in time to see a car flying towards him.
"Mother f-" Marc scrambled to get away even though he knew that he wouldn't make it in time.
Just before the car could hit him, a figure dropped down between Marc and the car, knocking the vehicle further into the air so that it flew over them and crashed to the ground far behind Marc.
"Are you okay?"
A hand appeared in front of Marc's face as he registered that he hadn't been hit by the car.
"Uh, yeah. I…" Marc trailed off with his mouth hanging open as he finally looked up at his rescuer.
It was Kleos, in Rooster form.
The early morning sun was behind the hero, illuminating his form with a halo of light and shining through his styled red hair.
"Great." Kleos pulled Marc to his feet. "Though, it's not safe to be here. You should go."
"I-I would." Marc's hand gravitated towards his arm as his social anxiety began to make its appearance in the presence of someone new. "But, well the…I can't."
"Oh." Thankfully, Kleos caught onto the issue. "I better get you out of here then."
The hero smiled at Marc, causing a funny feeling in the young teen's stomach.
The without preamble, Kleos picked Marc up and jumped impossibly high with the teen still in his arms.
In only a couple of jumps they had escaped the disaster area, the hero placing Marc back on his feet and at least having the decency to make sure that the teen didn't immediately fall over, since Marc felt rather dizzy now. And Marc wasn't entirely sure that the dizziness was just because of the sudden jumping around.
"Oh, sorry. I guess I should have asked first." Kleos said, only realising after the fact that Marc may have objected to being picked up and jumped around in such away.
"It's fine." Marc assured, still holding onto Kleos' arms to steady himself.
Kleos smiled at Marc, amazed and proud at how well Marc was keeping it together, knowing that his friend likely wanted to just curl into a ball.
Spotting the temporary hero smiling down at him in such a way, Marc blushed slightly.
"So, uh, thanks, I guess. For taking me out-I mean, taking me away from the danger." Marc fumbled over his words.
"You're welcome." Kleos continued smiling.
"Kleos!" Ladybird's sharp voice interrupted the two. "I brought you in to help deal with the Akuma, not flirt with civilians."
"Oh." Kleos suddenly remembered that he was meant to be saving Paris. "Right. Sorry!" He called to his leader.
Ladybird rolled her eyes and swung back into the fray.
"Well, you better get to class." Kleos said to Marc, pulling away.
With his trumpet in hand, Kleos ran back into the fight.
Marc stayed where he was for a moment before finally shaking his head and continuing on his way to school, taking a detour so that he would be less likely to get caught up in the fight again.
"…and then he asked to take me out on a date." Marinette finished explaining the previous day's events to her friends.
"Just like that?" Alya asked, impressed.
"Yep." Marinette affirmed.
"How amazing." Rose gushed.
"That seems like my brother." Juleka said quietly.
She was slightly shocked, though not surprised.
Juleka knew that her brother had begun to develop feelings for Marinette that went deeper than friendship, but she hadn't expected him to confess so soon.
"I'm sure that you and Luka will be great together, Marientte." Adrien said, having heard the conversation.
Adrien wasn't overly familiar with the older boy, only really knowing him from that time he played music with them before Ms Couffain became Captain Hardrock. But he got a nice enough impression of Luka from their limited interaction.
"Thanks." Marinette smiled. "Though, it's only one date. We'll see if it becomes more than that after."
She was still too unsure as to what her own feelings were to say for sure whether she and Luka would start dating proper. Marinette knew that she definitely liked Luka, just not if she liked him in that way.
"I'm so happy for you, Marinette." The saccharine-sweet voice made Marinette's mood instantly sour as Lila inserted herself into the conversation. "Getting a boyfriend. I hope he's handsome, like my boyfriends have been. Though, your new boyfriend wouldn't have had to keep up his celebrity appearances like mine."
Marinette side-eyed Lila in suspicion.
Even though Lila was using the occasion to lie about having celebrity boyfriends, the liar almost never complimented Marinette without it being backhanded in some way, never missing an opportunity to make Marinette feel down or deepen the wedge between their friends.
From Lila's point of view, she was happy. Though, the Italian was happy for herself rather than Marinette. If Marinette had a boyfriend, that meant she had less competition for Adrien's affections.
Though, that didn't mean that she would miss an opportunity to make Marinette look bad.
"But are you sure that you want to be dating someone older than you? I remember hearing that it can be a bad sign of mental health to go after someone who's not your own age." Lila put on a façade of worry.
"She's dating my brother. Marinette will be fine." Juleka frowned, not liking that Lila had insinuated anything bad in relation to Luka.
"Oh, I'm sure he's a great guy." Lila quickly backpaddled, not wanting to damage her 'pure and caring' façade. "It was just something I read anyway. It could be made up."
Deciding that she was done talking relationships, Marinette retreated to her seat, only just noticing that Nathaniel wasn't in his seat yet.
Said boy made his appearance just after the bell rang, noticeably out of breath as he slumped down in his seat.
Marc sighed in relief after his class let out for lunch. Science with Ms Mendeleiev always left him feeling worn out, especially when she decided to be cruel and call on him for answers.
As he walked, Marc came across Alya and Marinette talking to his comic partner.
Well, Marinette was talking, Alya was more like interrogating.
"Come on, fess up. Something has to be going on with you." Alya pointed a finger at Nathaniel. "You're usually dead last in almost everything, sometimes you don't even try. Then, today, you're suddenly good enough you surpassed me like it was nothing. And I chase around Ladybird during Akuma attacks."
It took a few seconds for Marc to realise what Alya was going on about, before the bags the other teens were carrying reminded him that Nathaniel's class had been doing P.E. before lunch.
"Well, I've just taken up doing exercise, you know?" Nathaniel waved off, slightly freaked out by Alya's intensity. "I decided to take a page from Marinette's book and exercise to deal with creative stress."
"Hmm." Alya narrowed her eyes at Nathaniel.
"Is that why you were late this morning, Nathaniel?" Marinette asked her friend. "I noticed that you were a bit out of breath."
"Uh, yes." Nathaniel said quickly, not wanting to give away the real reason he'd been late for class, despite setting out from home early.
Alya snickered.
"I doubt it. You slept in, didn't you?" She teased.
Marc didn't really pay attention to the rest of the conversation, as he was too busy looking Nathaniel up and down.
Now that Alya had brought it up, Marc noticed that Nathaniel had recently developed a more athletic figure, though it was hard to fully tell under the boy's clothes.
'Maybe I could ask to join Nathaniel in his exercise." Marc suggested to himself.
It would give him more time to spend with Nathaniel and be another thing for them to bond over.
Unfortunately, the idea of displaying how unathletic Marc was himself, as well as possibly making a fool of himself in front of Nathaniel, made the teen quickly bolt a lid on that idea.
Nathaniel finally spotted Marc, who had been just standing there, face lighting up as he saw his escape from Alya.
"Hey, Marc. Sorry I got held up." Nathaniel went over to his comic partner. "Let's go do the thing we're meant to do, right now."
Nathaniel didn't give Marc time to respond as he marched them both away from Alya.
Back with Alya, Marinette shook her head.
"Does everything have to be an interrogation with you?" She asked her life. "You need to respect Nathaniel's privacy."
Alya raised an eyebrow.
"Says the girl who didn't respect their privacy in order to get Nathaniel and Marc together." She said.
"As comic partners." Marinette stressed. "It was for the greater good in order for them to unlock their true potential. While nothing comes from you interrogating Nathaniel on why he's fitter."
"I don't know, it certainly made Marc take interest." Alya shrugged with a smile, having seen Marc look Nathaniel up and down.
"Really?" Marinette asked eagerly.
Alya gave Marinette a knowing look.
"I am not shipping them." Marinette immediately denied.
"I never said anything." Alya raised her hands in surrender while smiling smugly.
With nothing to say to defend herself, Marinette turned slightly red before turning around and walking off without another word while Alya laughed to herself.
"And drop."
Marinette sighed in relief as she dropped the weight in her hand, being careful not to drop it near her toes, arms shaking from exhaustion.
"Your time has improved." Gabriel noted.
At the beginning of Marinette's training, she had barely been able to lift the weight for more than a few seconds, now she was able to hold it about her head for a minute.
"That will do for the weights. I don't want you damaging your back." Gabriel said.
"Why does Marinette even need to do weight training?" Duusu said, floating over to Marinette with a small towel. "The Miraculous will already give her enhanced strength."
Silently, Marinette agreed with her Kwami as she took the small towel to mop up her sweat.
"The training contributes to Miss Dupain-Cheng's training as a whole. Besides, I know from experience that there may come a time where a hero needs to fight without being able to use their magical transformation." Gabriel explained with a dull look, having already explained this to Duusu before.
Duusu sighed. "You sound just like those old men from the temple." He said.
Abruptly, Marinette remembered her conversation with Adrien.
Now was the perfect opportunity to bring the issue up, though at the same time she didn't want to accuse her tutor of being neglectful right to his face. So, she quickly came up with an idea.
"Mr Agreste, perhaps we could start using training partners." Marinette suggested. "I know Adrien does his own exercise activities, so perhaps we could combine."
"No." Gabriel immediately shot down, startling Marinette at his abruptness.
"He doesn't have to know about the hero stuff." Marinette tried to placate.
"No." Gabriel repeated.
"Why not?" Marinette questioned.
Sure, it could create some questions as to why Gabriel was training Marinette in more than fashion design, but Marinette was sure an excuse could be made, and it would allow for Adrien to be able to spend more time with his father.
"Because I said." Gabriel didn't care to explain.
Marinette silently fumed at being shut down, wanting desperately to speak out but being kept quiet by the fact that Gabriel was still her superior.
Duusu, however, had no such concept keeping him from speaking up.
"You're neglecting your son." Duusu said, not pulling any punches.
"What? I am not." Gabriel denied with a scowl.
"It sure seems that way." Duusu wasn't intimidated. "Adrien expressed to Marinette about how sad he feels that a classmate gets to spend more time with his father than he does."
Marinette squeaked as Gabriel's judgemental glare turned to her.
"Uh, it's true." She mustered up her courage and care for Adrien to confirm her Kwami's words.
Gabriel paused, at a loss for words.
"This matter doesn't concern either of you." Gabriel eventually said with a glare. "Miss Dupain-Cheng, finish today's training on your own, I need to be elsewhere."
With that, Gabriel turned and left, unintentionally allowing Marinette to see exactly where the hidden passage between the gym and his office was located.
"Well, that went well." Marinette said sarcastically once Gabriel was gone, still trying to calm her nerves.
"What happened to him while I was asleep?" Duusu questioned with deep worry.
"I don't think he'd be very forthcoming with any information." Marinette sighed.
Despite Gabriel training Marinette as his superhero successor, he remained extremely impersonal with her. So, it was highly unlikely that he'd share why he was the way he was with her.
"Anyway, I guess I better finish my training for my day." Marinette said, starting to jog a circuit of the gym. "I wonder if other heroes have to train as hard as I do." She wondered to herself.
Foils clashed, slid against each other and then parted in a single second, the action repeating many times.
The two fighters dodged and wove in and out of each other, trying their hardest to strike the other.
It finally ended when one managed to strike the other.
"Okay, I think we can call for a break." Adrien said after bowing, pulling off his mask.
"Agreed." Kagami said, pulling off her own mask.
Thankfully, it was just the two of them training together today, so no fencing instructor was going to complain about them wasting time.
The two walked over to a bench and drank from their water bottles.
"So," Kagami said after her drink. "Have you done it?"
"Done what?" Adrien questioned.
"Spoken with your friend?" Kagami clarified.
It took a second for Adrien to discern the exact meaning of her words before remembering that he'd vented to her about the situation with his father and Marinette.
"Yeah." Adrien sighed. "She agreed that it wasn't fair to me."
"I am…happy that you are communicating." Kagami paused slightly for the correct word. "I would not abide by someone saying needlessly silent."
"I am glad that Marinette knows." Adrien admitted. "Though, now I'm worried that Marinette might risk her apprenticeship to confront my father, even though I told her not to."
If Adrien's friend really did do that, they would have Kagami's respect, though she would also view them as stupid for not considering consequences well enough.
"If that happens, then the fault would not lie with you." Kagami assured Adrien. "You told your friend not to say anything, and her choices are not your own."
"I suppose." Adrien said.
Even so, he knew that Marinette enough to know that she didn't like injustices to just be ignored, and he would still feel guilty if she lost her apprenticeship.
"Anyway. I would like to ask you out on a date." Kagami then said.
She said it so abruptly and without fanfare that it took Adrien a moment to compute what Kagami had just said.
"Uh, what?" Adrien blinked, wondering if he'd misheard.
Kagami frowned slightly at having to repeat herself.
"I would like to ask you out on a date." She repeated.
"Do…do you mean like a platonic date, or a…" Adrien stumbled.
Given Kagami's straight-forward delivery, and the fact that she was even less socially developed as Adrien was, he really didn't want to take the offer the wrong way if Kagami was using her terminology wrong.
"A romantic date." Kagami said simply. "Is that not what is usually implied when asking someone out on a date?"
"Uh, yeah. Yeah, it is. I just didn't want to get things wrong." Adrien said. "You want to go out on a date with me?"
"I don't understand your confusion. You are attractive, skilled and popular, you should hardly be a stranger to date proposals." Kagami lifted and eyebrow.
She was right there. Anytime his father had him attend social gatherings, there would be at least one person suggesting a match up, and he'd gotten many more after finally being allowed to go to school.
"I'm not. I just didn't realise that you felt that way about me." Adrien said.
"Well, I do." Kagami said. "So?"
"'So' what?" Adrien asked dumbly.
"What's your answer?"
"Oh. Um…" Adrien looked around the training grounds as if it would provide an answer for him.
He had no idea what to do.
Did he feel the same way towards Kagami? He certainly liked her, but did he like her in that way?
But Adrien couldn't just turn her down. Kagami wasn't someone he only vaguely new from his father's social events or a nameless fan, she was someone who he didn't want the feelings of by rejecting her. Especially when he could like Kagami in that way, if he had time to sort out and recognise his feelings.
Kagami took notice of Adrien's extended silence as he tried to sort his brain out.
"I see." She said, taking his silence as rejection. "I hope that we can continue our training together then."
Kagami got up to leave.
Adrien's brain jumped to decision at the idea of Kagami leaving hurt from what she believe was rejection.
"I'd love to." The words were out of Adrien's mouth before he could think.
Kagami stopped and turned, allowing Adrien to see the hint of a smile on her face.
"Good." Kagami said. "Considering both of our current schedules, we will not be able to have our date today. Do you have an available time?"
"Uh, I…" Adrien had memorised his schedule enough to know his free time, though that was liable to change via Akuma attack, or other unforeseen events shuffling his schedule. "I'll have to check." Adrien gave a white lie.
It would give him some time to work things out if he didn't have a deadline for his first date.
"That's fine." Kagami accepted. "We have each other's phone number. So, message me when you know."
With that, she left, their training session apparently over.
Plagg let out a whistle of appreciation as soon as she was gone, appearing from Adrien's bag.
"You can certainly attract the ladies, kid." The Kwami grinned.
Adrien just groaned.
…
Back in his civilian clothes, Adrien walked outside to see if his bodyguard had arrived with the car yet.
The training session had ended earlier than Adrien had told him it would, but the Gorilla usually waiting around for him anyway, as long as he wasn't needed elsewhere.
To Adrien's surprise, he spotted Luka leaning against a wall with his bike, the older boy's eyes closed.
"Hi, Luka." Adrien went over to the older boy.
Luka opened his eyes, blinking a few times before focusing on Adrien.
"Oh, hey." Luka said, waving.
"Are you alright?" Adrien asked.
Luka was reminding Adrien of himself after a day of modelling.
"I'm fine." Luka said. "I'm just taking a break before getting back to my deliveries."
The older boy motioned over to the parcels in his bike basket.
"So, are you alright?" Luka turned the question back on Adrien, having noticed how unsure the teen looked.
"Ah, well." Adrien said.
Then, it occurred to Adrien that Luka was now dating Marinette, and that he could perhaps give some advice regarding Kagami.
"Luka, this may be a bit personal, but how did you confess to Marinette?" Adrien asked.
Luka looked surprised at the question.
"I told her of my honest feelings and then asked her out." Luka explained.
"Just like that?"
"Just like that." Luka affirmed. "Is there someone that you're trying to ask out."
"The opposite, actually." Adrien laughed.
"You got asked out?" Luka guessed.
Adrien nodded.
"And you don't like them?"
"That's…I…I don't know." Adrien said. "I don't know but I accepted anyway because I didn't want to hurt her feelings. And now I don't know what to do."
Luka rubbed his chin in thought.
"Then maybe try going on the date." He suggested.
"But I still don't know if I even like her enough to date her." Adrien argued.
"So? What do you think a date is for?" Luka asked. "When I asked Marinette out, she looked unclear about her feelings, just as you are. So, we agreed on some tester dates to help work out if we really feel that way about each other."
"Oh." Adrien said.
Luka was making it sound much easier than it seemed to Adrien.
"So, I go on a date with her anyway?" He asked.
Luka shrugged.
"If you're uncomfortable about it, maybe not. But a date could help you sort things out. And if you decide that you don't like this girl afterwards, just tell her." Luka advised.
"You make it all sound so easy." Adrien moaned.
"Isn't it?" Luka questioned.
As someone who was generally calm and in tune with his emotions, the subject of romance was a much less complicated subject for Luka when compared to other teens.
Adrien sighed again.
Then he heard the beep of a horn, signalling the arrival of his bodyguard.
"Thanks for the help, Luka." Adrien said, turning and leaving.
"Anytime!" Luka called after him.
Looking at his watch, Luka then hopped back on his bike to resume his deliveries.
Sliding into the limo, Adrien huffed, mulling over his conversation with Luka.
"I guess that I should go on the date then." Adrien said to himself. "Hopefully things will become clear then."
His name was Damien, but most people knew him as 'that creepy doll kid', or 'that disabled kid with no friend', or a mixture of the two.
Maybe it was because he didn't walk the same way as other children, wobbling around on a prosthetic leg instead of two stable feet. Or maybe it was because he preferred to keep to himself and play quietly, rather than be loud and outgoing like the other boys.
Or, perhaps, it was because of his enjoyment of making dolls to be his friends, though that had only come due to the lack of people wanting to be his friend in the first place. But no matter the cause, the other children found his hobby creepy and weren't shy about letting that fact be known.
For the most part people just stayed away, but others decided that they needed to drill home the point that he was a creepy kid with no friends, these people made him sad and angry but he did his best to ignore them.
Today, Damien sat in the park, watching the other people play and looking for inspiration for the look of his next doll and sketching them in his book. Basing his dolls off of the people around him added a sense of realness to them for Damien.
"Hey look, it's the freak!" Damien heard.
He recognised the voice as Terry, the guy who liked to pick on him the most.
Damien tried to ignore them and continue drawing.
"I'm talking to you, r****d." Terry said.
Damien clutched his pencil in a hard grip, he absolutely hated being called that, he had been called that name all throughout his life just because he thought and acted differently to how other people expected him to.
Damien looked up at Terry and his friends, fury clear on his face.
Damien had always been told by his parents and teachers alike to just ignore the bullies and they'd go away, but that wasn't true of Terry and his friends, and it was very hard for Damien to ignore them.
"Oh no!" Terry said in mock fear. "Creepy kid is angry with me. I wonder what he'll do."
Terry and his friends laughed.
No one but his parents and the teachers called Damien by his real name anymore, it was always some form of insulting name instead, even from those who didn't bother him called him 'Creepy kid' or some other name because that's what he was most known as.
Before Damien could stop him, one of Terry's friends had snatched up his sketch book and was roughly leafing through it.
"What a creeper." The boy said, handing the book to Terry. "He's been drawing people as dolls."
Damien tried to take his book back but he couldn't do much with his prosthetic slowing him down, the thing beat up and no longer fit properly, which caused him difficulty in moving.
"You really do have a sad little life." Terry mocked, turning to the page he had been drawing on, he recognised the person on the page as someone standing not far away. "I wonder if that girl would like to see your drawing of her."
"No!" Damien cried.
"She'd probably call you a stalker and call the police. But don't worry, I'm not going to share this with anyone. In fact, I'll do you a favour." Terry said with a mean grin.
"What?" Damien asked cautiously.
"Yeah, I'll make sure no one can see your creepy little drawings. Tear it up."
Terry tossed the book to his friends and they proceeded to rip the pages out and tear the pages up.
"No! Stop!" Damien cried out at his work being destroyed.
He tried to grab his book but was pushed down to the ground.
"Stay where you belong, freak." One of Terry's friends said.
Soon, all of the pages lay in torn pieces on the ground, Terry and his gang laughing as they walked off.
"We've done you a favour." Terry laughed as he walked away. "Maybe if you dropped your creepy hobby and acted like a real boy, you could get some real friends. Though I doubt it."
Damien sobbed at seeing his work destroyed, all of the designs he had yet to make, gone. Not even salvageable.
With great effort, Damien got up and hobbled back home. In his room he cried even harder at the unfairness of the world.
He looked at the dolls he had made, each one made to be his friend in place of those who shunned him.
"Friend? Who needs friends when I have all of you?" Damien said to his dolls. "You don't hurt me. You don't call me names." He then frowned. "But you aren't there to comfort me either, you just sit there with the smiles I gave you. You're all useless, just like me." He started crying.
As Damien cried he didn't even notice the Akuma fly into his room until it landed on his shoulder bag and was absorbed into it.
"Doll Maker." Iris spoke to Damien as a glowing mask appeared in front of his face. "I am Iris, and I will be your friend."
"Really?" Damien questioned as his crying slowed.
"Of course. And as your friend, I will give you the power to create all the friends you could possibly want. But in return, you need to take down Ladybird and Chat Noir for me. It's only fair that friends do things for each other, after all."
"Anything for a friend." Damien said as a black, bubbling mass overtook him.
The usual suspects were gathered in the art room, using the time to work of their crafts or just talking with each other.
Rose and Juleka, for example, were helping Marinette go over her designs for a date outfit. Some designs, Marinette had already made and were hanging up in her room, others Marinette had yet to make but wouldn't take more than a day to make.
"It's too bad Alya isn't here to help." Rose commented as she looked down at one of Marinette designs.
"Unfortunately, Alya's mum is having to pull double shifts at the hotel, meaning Alya's stuck with babysitting duty more often." Marinette explained.
"Let me guess, it's because of the little princess' birthday?" Alix rolled her eyes as she tried to decide which colour to use next.
"Why Alix, however did you guess?" Marinette deadpanned sarcastically.
The girls laughed.
"Chloe's been so insufferable with her birthday so close, even more than usual. I didn't even think that was possible." Alix groaned. "I heard that she was demanding that Mr Damocles shut down the school for the day, like her birthday is a bank holiday or something."
"I wouldn't be surprised if that's true." Marinette said.
Given how many times Chloe would call her daddy, or at least threaten to, to force Mr Damocles to do what she wanted, it really wasn't a stretch of the imagination to believe that Chloe would demand that the school be shut so that her 'big day' wasn't ruined by lessons.
Meanwhile, Nathaniel, Marc and Casey were gathered together at a table.
Casey, for once, didn't have a book in her hand, instead doodling on a sheet of paper as she interacted with the two comic partners.
"So, you're pansexual?" Casey asked Nathaniel.
Nathaniel shrugged. "Maybe." He said unsurely. "I mean, I don't think Bisexual fits me, but I don't think I've been attracted to enough people to judge whether Pan is right either. It seems a bit…broad."
"There are a lot of sub-groups to consider." Marc told them. "It can get really confusing. I know it was for me."
It had taken him a while to find that Gender-Fluid was an option, that he didn't need to be 'just male' or 'just female', and that to be neither was an option as well.
"There are Lesbian sub-groups as well." Marc added, speaking to Casey.
"Maybe that would explain things." Casey sighed. "Since I haven't met a girl where I've went 'I'd tap that' yet."
Both Nathaniel and Marc snorted at Casey's comment.
Perhaps it was the way the girl talked, but it was always unusual to hear something crude come past her lips.
"Are you sure that you're Lesbian?" Nathaniel asked.
"Well, what else would I be?" Casey shrugged. "I know for certain I don't like boys at all. But I don't think I'm all that attracted to girls either."
Marc hummed. "Maybe you're Asexual?" He suggested.
"I'm not a plant." Casey frowned.
Marc shrank slightly under her frown.
"No, Asexual is an orientation." Marc explained. "It means that you're not attracted to anyone."
"Oh, yeah. I've heard of that." Nathaniel said.
"That's an option?" Casey asked. "I can just not want anyone?"
"Well, yeah." Marc said.
It had been easy for Marc to accept. Afterall, if there was an option to not identify as a gender, then there'd be an option to not identity as a sexual orientation.
"There's a lot to it though. Aromanticism, different levels of non-attraction and all that sort of stuff." Marc explained further.
"Huh." Casey said. "It's strange. Everyone always acts like you have to be with someone."
Marc shrugged.
"Most people to experience attraction, so it does seem weird to be without it." He said.
"It does seem like a strange idea." Nathaniel agreed.
He wondered how much easier Casey's life was if she really was Asexual, never having to put up with the awkward feeling that came from interacting someone you were crushing on.
"So, you both experience attraction then?" Casey asked the comic partners.
They nodded.
"Does that mean you're dating? Do you kiss?" Casey asked with absolutely no tact.
Nathaniel and Marc both turned red at her words.
"I…that's…well…" Marc stuttered, turning to look at Nathaniel, who was looking right back at him. "I…I don't really…I mean."
Marc suddenly shot up from his seat and scrambled out the door, leaving behind his stuff.
"Marc?" Nathaniel hastily gathered up their stuff and chased after the teen.
Everyone in the room stared out the door the comic partners had just left through.
"Oops." Casey said, though she didn't understand why what she said had caused Marc to run off like that.
From the hood of Casey's jacket, a red Kwami shook her head.
It didn't take Nathaniel long to find and catch up to Marc.
"Are you alright?" Nathaniel asked his comic partner.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Marc mumbled.
"Sorry about Casey, you know she can be…"
"Tactless." Marc finished Nathaniel's sentence.
"Yeah, that." Nathaniel said.
Nathaniel then looked at Marc, who was fiddling with his sleeve.
"So, are you not ready for our relationship to be out in the open yet?" He asked.
"It's-it's not that. I'm not ashamed. I mean, everyone in the art clubs knows that I'm genderfluid, so I know that they won't think of us any differently. I…just don't want any attention on us." Marc explained.
"Ah." Nathaniel nodded in understanding.
Considering how crazy Marinette had gotten in trying to make them comic partners, and how crazy the rest of the 'girl squad' could get over relationships, a reveal of their relationship was guaranteed to cause at least some fuss, which Marc wouldn't like.
"I guess that we can just do couple stuff and wait for everyone else to catch on." Nathaniel proposed.
Marc hummed. "I suppose, but someone could still make a big deal of it when they find out."
Nathaniel shrugged, they were in a Catch 22 situation with Marc's social anxiety.
Then the screaming started.
Not being stupid, both Nathaniel and Marc started running in the opposite direction of the screams, as screams had a good chance of being accompanied by an Akuma attack.
"Another so soon?" Nathaniel groaned. "Has Iris not got anything better to do?"
"She makes people into villains against their will, I think she lacks a social life." Marc remarked.
Unfortunately, in their attempts to run away from the possible-Akuma attack, they ended up running right into the Akumatised villain due to the spread of the villainous forces.
"Well, that's a contender for the list." Nathaniel said under his breath.
Said 'list' referred to the 'Top 10 most horrifying Akumatised Villains', which was hosted on the Ladyblog.
And this new villain looked set to take the Number 1 spot.
Pale white skin, glowing yellow eyes that were hidden behind tangled grey hair, patchworked clothes, a metal leg that was little more than a metal pole attacked to a metal foot, and a very long clawed metal hand.
Following behind the villain was a growing army of human-sized dolls of varying types, from rag to porcelain, all with button eyes.
"New friends!" The Akumatised villain said upon seeing them.
"Time to go." Marc said, turning to run another way.
"Ah!"
Marc stopped running at the sound of Nathaniel's cry, turning to see his boyfriend being dragged towards the villain with strings that were sprouting from his claws.
"Run!" Nathaniel shouted, fighting futilely against the strings.
Marc began backing away, but couldn't turn his eyes away from Nathaniel as the strings began to have an effect on him, the red-head's skin turning to fabric.
"Marc! Run!" Nathaniel shouted again before his lips were sealed shut by the transformation.
Reluctantly and with tears in his eyes, Marc ran, dodging the army of dolls as they chased after him.
Behind him, the villain placed buttons over Nathaniel's eyes and the teen stopped struggling, falling into line with all the other dolls.
"Well, I've just seen my nightmares for the next week." Chat Noir whistled as he pushed away some dolls with his staff.
"Is there seriously no limit to the Butterfly Miraculous?" Ladybird complained as she used her yoyo to trip several dolls at once. "Granting someone the ability to not only dollify other people, but also control those dolls, on mass. I's ridiculous."
"Someone sounds jealous."
Both Chat Noir and Ladybird groaned, visibly drooping, as Iris made her appearance.
"You know, this fight was going pretty well until now." Ladybird commented, glaring up at where Iris stood above them. "Now my will to care is once again tested."
The villainess would always position herself above her heroes as much as she could, trying to make herself seem taller and in a higher position.
"Aw. You're not happy to see me?" Iris gave a fake pout. "And I went through such effort to bring along so many friends for you to meet."
"Call it a hunch, but I don't think we'll get along with your 'friends'." Chat Noir said, dodging more dolls.
"Oh, you just need to get to know them more intimately, then you'd fit right in." Iris grinned.
Chat Noir's eyes widened when he spotted something coming from behind Ladybird.
"Ladybird, look out!" Grabbing his partner by the arm, Chat Noir pulled her out of the way while using his staff to block some string that had been coming from her.
"Thanks, Chat." Ladybird said as the heroes looked at the new arrival.
"I take it back, that is my nightmares for the next week." Chat Noir quipped, finding the actual Akumatised villain much creepier than his minions.
The Akumatised villain scowled at the comment from behind a stitched mouth.
"This is Doll Maker, my dear friend." Iris introduced.
"You've been hurting my new friend." Doll Maker growled. "I'm going to make sure you can't anymore."
Ladybird sighed heavily, wishing that she could just retire to her room already.
"Usual plan for a minionised army?" Chat Noir asked her quietly.
"Yeah." Ladybird said, swinging her yoyo and launching it. "I'll work on keeping Iris busy, you divide them up."
"You got it." Chat Noir said, launching away on his stick while Ladybird swung towards Iris.
…
(Later)
"Lucky Charm!"
Ladybird raised an eyebrow as a gong fell into her hand.
"I know that look. You need to fetch Kleos, don't you?" Chat Noir said, wrapping his arm up in bubble wrap and tape.
Doll Maker had managed to latch onto Chat Noir with the ropes from his claw during their fight, turning the hero's body into porcelain where they touched.
Thankfully, Ladybird had managed to get him free before Chat Noir could be fully dollified and controlled. But that didn't change the fact that Chat Noir was now incredibly fragile, since his body had started to crack when he attempted to continue the fight. Leading the heroes to have to temporarily retreat.
"I don't know why I bother with the Lucky Charm, I'm starting to predict when it'll tell me to get back-up." Ladybird confirmed.
"Well, I need to finish making myself transport safe." Chat Noir said. "And I think I'm hidden enough for now."
"Right." Ladybird said. "And just run if you're found, at least until I get back with Kleos."
"No need to worry about me, Little Lady. I'm aware of the concept of handle with care." Chat Noir replied.
Ladybird rolled her eyes at the nickname her partner used for her, one he knew annoyed her and so used to express his own annoyance towards her.
"I'll be back soon." Ladybird said, swinging off.
…
Ladybird bounced on her feet and gripped the box in her hand tightly as she looked around, searching everywhere for familiar red hair.
"Where is he?" Ladybird questioned loudly to herself.
She had always managed to track him down rather quickly in all the previous times, no matter where he was, yet she suddenly couldn't find him.
"Ahh!"
Ladybird was distracted from her search by a scream, spotting a civilian running from a group of dolls.
Sighing in frustration, Ladybird temporarily abandoned her search to swoop down an save the civilian, only recognising him as Marc once she got close, grabbing him and carrying them to the safety of a roof.
"Th-thank you, Ladybird." Marc said, trying to calm himself now that he was relatively safe.
"Don't mention it." Ladybird said. "Say, uh, where's N-I mean, did you have anyone with you?" The heroine fished to see if Marc knew where her go-to hero was.
"Yeah, I did." Marc said, looking ashamed for some reason. "My…friend, Nathaniel. But he got caught and turned into one of those dolls."
Ladybird's eyes widened.
"Damn it!" She cursed under her breath.
She had been extremely aware that Nathaniel could be one of the dolls patrolling the streets but had just been hoping that he'd managed to hide away from Doll Maker.
"Now what do I do?" Ladybird questioned herself, feeling slightly helpless.
Her only option for an extra hero was gone.
Who else was there that she could trust with a Miraculous?
"Uh, Ladybird, are you alright?" Marc interrupted the heroine's thoughts.
Ladybird blinked and then turned to Marc, as if only just becoming aware of his presence.
Perhaps she wasn't as out of options as she thought.
"Marc, uhh…" Ladybird rolled her hand, trying to recall what the teen's last name was.
"…Anciel." Marc hesitantly gave his last name.
"Anciel. Right." Ladybird coughed into her hand, standing up straight. "What would you do, if I asked you for help against Iris and Doll Maker?"
Marc startled slightly at the question.
"Well, if you really needed my help, I guess I could help out in any way that I can." He answered unsurely, not knowing how he of all people could help in any significant way.
"And if you had powers, like I have, what would you do with them?" Ladybird questioned further.
"I…" Marc paused to think. "I don't know if I'd have the courage to face the villains like you do, but I like to think that I would help you against Iris and her Akumas." He answered honestly.
Ladybird hummed, not sure what to make of Marc's answer.
However, she didn't have the time to think over the nuances of Marc's words. He was nice enough from her interactions with him, he had said he would fight against the villains, and that was all that mattered for now.
"Then, Marc Anciel." Ladybird presented the box in her hand to the teen. "This is the Goat Miraculous, which holds the ability to reduce the energy of your opponents. You will use it to help Chat Noir and I against Iris and Doll Maker, then return it to me after the battle."
Marc's eyes went wide as he looked down at the box, at a loss for words.
As if on their own, his hands went up to take the box from Ladybird, opening it.
A glowing light from the box caused Marc to shield his eyes, and when a flying creature appeared once the light had receded.
"Yay, I get to play today." The creature cheered, clapping it hands.
At least Marc thought they were hands, they looked more like nubs.
"Though, he does look like how the others described him." The creature put a nub to its mouth.
"That's because there's been a change of plan." Ladybird told the creature. "This is Marc, our newest hero."
The creature bleated happily.
"I get to be the first Kwami for the new hero. Great!" It said.
Finally finding his voice, Marc turned to Ladybird.
"Are you sure that you want to choose me. I-I don't know if I'll make a good hero. I'll probably just get in the way." He said.
"Yes." Ladybird offered simply.
She decided that being honest and saying that Marc was currently her only option probably wouldn't do anything to convince the teen.
"Don't worry, I can tell you'll be great." The Kwami assured. "You just need a kick start to show your stuff."
"Well, if you're sure." Marc accepted.
"Great!" The Kwami cheered again. "Then put on the Miraculous and just say, 'Ziggy, Change Ahead'."
Looking back into the box, Marc picked out a pair of horn-shaped hair clips, sliding them into his hair.
"Ziggy, Charge Ahead!"
It was a shock to go through the superhero transformation, the feeling of a tight bodysuit replacing his clothes, something heavy appearing in his hand, and suddenly feeling like he could run to school a hundred times over without breaking a sweat.
"This is so weird." Marc said to himself once the transformation was complete, looking himself over.
Looking at the weight in his hands, Marc raised an eyebrow when he found himself holding a goat's head on a stick. It took a second for the new hero to realise that his hero-weapon was a hobby horse with a different animal head.
"Why do you and I have toys for weapons?" Marc asked Ladybird.
Ladybird shrugged.
"I don't know, but we can't argue their effectiveness." She said.
As if to prove her point, Ladybird spun her yoyo and threw it, latching onto something for a swing.
"Come on, then." She said, swinging away.
Taking a deep breath to centre himself, Marc attached his hobby goat to his back, magic or something keeping it there, and ran off after Ladybird.
By the time Marc had realised that the gaps between buildings were too big for him to usually jump, he was already leaping across them, gasping in amazement as he easily leapt over the gap.
"Nathaniel would be so jealous if he knew that I was an actual hero now." Marc said to himself as he continued to follow after Ladybird.
…
"Come on, little kitty, you can't keep away forever in your condition." Iris taunted as she and her Akuma chased Chat Noir.
The villains had unfortunately found him, since Ladybird was taking an unusually long time to find and bring Kleos.
"If you stop, I can fix you." Doll Maker offered. "I know how to fix all my dolls."
Chat Noir shivered at the words.
"Because that doesn't sound creepy at all." He said.
"I am not creepy!" The comment seemed to set Doll Maker off, making the villain more vicious in his attacks.
"Oh dear, it seems you've upset my dear friend." Iris said with fake worry. "Why don't you come back here and apologise properly?"
Iris then made her own go at Chat Noir, forcing him to have to defend himself with his staff.
Unfortunately, due to not wanting to do anything too risky in his fragile state, as well as his reduced agility from all the bubble wrap and tape he's wrapped around himself, Iris was able to disarm Chat Noir and knock him down.
"It was so nice of you to gift wrap your end for me." Iris grinned victoriously as she raised her weapon.
Thankfully, Chat Noir was saved by a familiar yoyo wrapping around Iris' wrists and yanking her away from him and sending her flying into Doll Maker.
"Chat, are you alright?" Ladybird ran to her partner's side, helping him to stand.
"I think I have a few more cracks, but nothing that some glue won't fix." Chat Noir said. "Where's Kleos."
"Dollified." Ladybird reported.
"Oh," Iris laughed as the dolls pulled her off Doll Maker and set her on the ground. "Is that little pest out of the picture. How unfortunate for you." She grinned. "And how lucky for me."
Thankfully, an upside to so many people having been dollified was that Kleos wasn't in much risk of his identity being found out from Iris knowing that information.
"So, back-up is a bust. What now?" Chat Noir asked his partner, warily eying all the dolls advancing on them.
Ladybird smiled assuring at him.
"Lucky Charm!"
Red and black spotted scissors fell into the heroine's hand.
"Hmm." Ladybird opened and closed the scissors, eying Doll Maker's bag.
"You're not getting past my army." Iris gloated, already seeing what Ladybird was wanting to do with the scissors. "Give up."
"I wouldn't be so sure." Ladybird said, twirling the scissors with her finger. "Afterall, I never said that I failed to bring back-up."
Iris gasped, realising that she didn't have as much of an upper hand as she thought.
"Sleep Song!"
What sounded like a drawn out animal cry vibrated across the street.
Iris squinted as she suddenly felt herself become drained of her energy, having to fight to remain standing.
And all around the villain, dolls fell to the ground, some slumping while others seemed to be outright unconscious. Soon, only Iris and Doll Maker were left standing, and Doll Maker was similarly drained to Iris.
"I wanna go to bed." Doll Maker slurred.
"Now!" Ladybird shouted, shooting forward.
Chat Noir was quick to follow after his partner, the two easily weaving their way through the dolls, who barely lifted their hands to try and stop them.
"No." Fighting the sudden fatigue she was experiencing, Iris moved to intercept them, only to find herself intercepted by a figure in black and white.
Still fighting the fatigue, Iris almost fell on her butt as she was pushed away. She then growled at the newcomer.
"You're not Kleos." Iris noted, looking at the new hero's black hair.
"Astute observation." The new hero said, holding a hobby horse with a goat's head defensively in front of himself.
"So, Ladybird finally picked a new hero." Iris said, bringing up her cane. "I guess this means that she gave up on Kleos."
Of course, Iris knew that Kelos was dollified from Ladybird herself, but she wanted to try and manipulate the situation.
"So, that will probably mean that Ladybird will drop you like hot garbage as well, once she finds another new hero." Iris said.
"Yeah. So what if she does?" The new hero bit back.
"Don't you enjoy having a Miraculous?" Iris tempted. "A Miraculous that Ladybird will just take away from you if you continue working for her."
"I already knew the terms before I accepted. There's no way that I'm turning to your side." The hero raised an eyebrow, not falling for Iris' manipulations.
"Ugh." Iris sneered. "You're all so sickening."
While the two fought, Ladybird and Chat Noir faced off against Doll Maker, who was still able to attack despite the energy drain, sending out his strings to stop them from getting close.
"Ah!" Ladybird cried out as the strings latched onto her arm, replacing her suit and skin with calico fabric.
"Cataclysm!"
Chat Noir grabbed all the strings within his destructive grasp, making them crumble away, much to Doll Maker's horror.
"Are you alright?" Chat Noir asked his partner.
"Yeah, he only got my arm." Ladybird said, wrinkling her nose at how her arm crumpled when she squeezed it.
Doll Maker growled and tried to send out his strings, only for nothing to happen, Chat Noir's Cataclysm having completely destroyed them.
"Wow, I wish I'd sewn to do that sooner." Chat Noir grinned.
"Ugh." Ladybird said at the bad pun.
She punched him with her dollified arm, the stuffed fabric providing zero effect against the bubble wrapped porcelain.
"Let's just end this." Ladybird said.
The two dove at the Akumatised villain, weaving away from his still dangerous claw. And while Chat Noir used his staff to keep the claw raised, Ladybird ducked underneath and used her scissors to cut the strap of the bag, grabbing it and rolling away before Doll Maker could bring his claw down on her.
"No!" Doll Maker cried out.
With both hands, Ladybird tore apart the bag with the advanced strength her Miraculous granted her, freeing the Akuma inside.
"You were an annoying one." Ladybird said to the Akuma as she caught it in her yoyo.
A back bubbling mass washed over Doll Maker as he turned back into a normal person.
Seeing that her Akuma was defeated, Iris decided to cut her losses rather than attempt to take on all three heroes.
Kicking the new hero away, Iris turned and fled, holding her flute up to her lips as she ran.
"Mirage!"
A sudden snowstorm appeared, obscuring her escape as the new hero attempted to give chase.
Instinctively, he shielded his eyes against the snow, only to remember it was all an illusion when he felt nothing hit him.
"Let her go. None of us have the timer to chase her." Ladybird sighed, swinging her yoyo around to clear the fake blizzard.
Pulling the yoyo back into her palm, Ladybird tapped the top to allow the cleansed butterfly out.
"Miraculous Ladybird!" The heroine then threw her scissors into the air, where they burst into millions of glowing ladybugs that washed over the dolls, turning them back into regular people.
The new hero's eyes widened as he realised that one of the dolls near him had in fact been Nathaniel.
"Hey," He went over to the teen, helping him to his feet. "You're alright now."
"Thanks." Nathaniel said, looking at the hero. "Oh."
Nathaniel felt something funny in his stomach as the new hero smiled at him.
"Uh, I don't think I've seen you around before." He said.
"Well, I haven't been. I mean, I haven't been as a hero." The new hero gave a stumbled explanation.
"So, you got a name?" Nathaniel asked. "Alya will kill me if I don't get one for her."
"Uhh…" The new hero trailed.
He hadn't actually thought of a name yet.
"It's, um, it's, uh…" He tried desperately to come up with a name, anxiety starting to rear its head now that the adrenaline of the fight was draining. "Púca!" The name suddenly came to him. "My name is Púca." He restated more confidently.
"Púca." Nathaniel repeated with a smile. "Well, I hope I can see you around more, Púca."
The newly named Púca smiled. "Thanks. I hope to be around more too."
"Come on." Ladybird appeared behind Púca and grabbed the hero by the back of his costume and dragging him away. "Remember that you have a timer that's going down."
"Bye!" Nathaniel called after them.
Sighing, Nathaniel looked around as all the other civilians who had been caught up in the attack started heading home.
"So, she finally found another person." Nathaniel said to himself happily.
He was glad that Ladybird had seemingly taken his advice.
Though, another temp' hero meant that Nathaniel would be called on half as much to help Ladybird and Chat Noir, which was a little sad.
"I wonder if Ladybird will call on both of us at once." Nathaniel muttered to himself.
"Hey, Nathaniel!" A voice called to the teen just as he prepared to leave.
Turning around, Nathaniel saw Chat Noir walking up to him with the original Akuma victim.
"I'm about to time out, do you mind walking our friend here back home." The hero asked.
"Uh, yeah, sure." Nathaniel agreed before he could really think it over.
"Thanks." Chat Noir quickly ran off, his ring beeping on its last pad.
"So…" Nathaniel said awkwardly. "Which way to your house?"
The kid looked at him silently before starting off in a direction, leaving Nathaniel to follow him.
"What's you're name." Nathaniel tried to make small talk with the boy.
"Damien." The boy mumbled, Nathaniel barely able to make him out.
"Damien, right." Nathaniel said.
Then continued walking.
"You don't have to see me home." Damien eventually spoke up.
"Chat Noir charged me with getting you home, and I'm not going to dismiss a hero asking me to do something." Nathaniel said. "Plus, I've been Akumatised before. It's nice to have someone there after suddenly finding yourself somewhere else. And, in my case, an entire day having gone by without you."
"Which Akuma were you?" Damien asked.
"Evillustrator." Nathaniel answered.
Some people were sensitive about their Akumatised selves. But Nathaniel had come to view his Akumatisation with a sense of detachment since becoming a hero himself.
"I don't think I've heard of that one." Damien said.
"I'm not surprised, I wasn't one of the showy villains who ran around making noise, or-"
"Enslaving people." Damien finished Nathaniel's sentence for him.
"Yeah." Nathaniel said, going back to the awkward silence. "Honestly, getting Akumatised was sort of my own fault." He then opened up. "I was drawing in class, which the teacher sent me to the headmaster for, then I let myself get worked up by Chloe Bourgeois of all people, because she made fun of my crush at the time."
"You got sent to the headmaster for drawing in class?" Damien frowned.
Nathaniel laughed. "Yeah. My college seems to have an issue with the teachers sending students to the headmaster way too often. The teachers just don't like dealing with issues by themselves." He said.
"Yeah, my teachers don't like dealing with issues either." Damien said. "All they ever seem to do is tell me to ignore it and it'll go away."
"Ugh, that's a painfully familiar sentiment." Nathaniel groaned. "So, you're bullied then?"
Damien nodded, rubbing his arm.
"I like to make dolls, and people find that creepy." He said.
There were other reasons on top of that, but that was the main issue people liked to pick up.
"You make dolls? Cool." Nathaniel said. "I have a friend who makes dolls too. Though, I think she only did it for a short while."
Damien looked at him.
"You don't think it's creepy?" He asked.
Nathaniel shook his head.
"Why should I?"
"Because everyone else says it is!" Damien burst out.
"Well, they're all snot nose brats, so you shouldn't care about what they say." Nathaniel said.
Damien gave a burst of laughter.
"How good are you?" Nathaniel asked.
"I…I'd say I'm good with it." Damien said, feeling more at ease with Nathaniel now. "I've learned how to make all types of dolls."
Nathaniel hummed.
"Maybe you could teach a shop." He suggested.
"Huh?" Damien questioned.
"There's a local craft shop that allows people to run their own craft classes. Maybe you could teach others how to make dolls, I'm sure you get at least a few people who are interested." Nathaniel explained.
"I…I could do that?" Damien said, amazed at the possibility of meeting and teaching others who enjoy his hobby.
"Well, I think you'd need your parents' permission or something. But I don't see why not." Nathaniel shrugged.
Damien went silent as he contemplated this.
Finally, they arrived at Damien's home.
"Thanks, for walking me home." Damien said as he opened his front door.
"No problem." Nathaniel said. "And try talking to more people about your bullying issue. There's bound to be someone who can help you."
"Okay." Damien said, disappearing inside and shutting his door.
Nathaniel sighed and continued down the street towards his own home. It was rather late in the day and he just wanted to rest.
Author's note: Please Comment.
Like with Luka and Marinette, I decided to give Adrien/Kagami a go (give the two pairings some love because you know that canon is going to mess them up).
For this story, the Rooster and Goat are meant to be a matching pair in terms of abilities.
The Rooster is the "buffer" of the team, able to refresh others if their tired, give them an extra boost in speed, agility and strength, etc. This comes from how Roosters signal the morning and a fresh start to the day. The ability also goes well with the weapon I gave the Rooster, that being a Rag-Dung trumpet, which can be long enough to fight with like a staff, and blowing into the trumpet could activate the ability.
On the other side, the Goat would be the "debuffer" of the team, making targeted enemies loose energy, slow down, and even fall asleep if they're weak enough. This comes from the idea of counting sheep. And the hobby goat for a weapon came from one of the people I watch on Tumblr, I can't remember which.
No character concept drawings this time, I've got no time or creative energy to spare for drawing right now.
You should be able to find an old drawing of Doll Maker if you dig through my DeviantART gallery, and look to "MiraculousKiwi" on Twitter for an idea of how Rooster-Nathaniel and Goat-Marc will look, at least until I come up with my own designs.
…
Though I'm putting effort into giving Casey more of her own personality, rather than just the admittedly self-insert she was last time, I still like to use how I remember my teen years to be as inspiration.
Nathaniel, Marc and Casey's discussion was inspired by my experience with the LGBT+ spectrum. Because the idea of being Asexual/Aromantic is something relatively new, it wasn't something that really came up in Sex-Ed or in media, so I had no idea they were options. So, up until I was 18, I was under the impression that I had to be a Lesbian, because I knew for certain that I didn't like boys, even though I had zero interest in girls as well. Thankfully, I did eventually find out about Asexuality, and then Aromanticism, later on.