"Earth to Nathanael. Hello. Requesting permission to board?" A voice said, from somewhere far away. Nathanael focused his eyes on the hand waving in front of his face. He'd zoned out a while ago, and came to to see Rose and Juleka standing before him. Juleka moved her hand away from his face and smiled.
"Board?" He repeated.
"Can we sit with you?" Asked Rose.
"Oh. Yeah sure," he said and scooted over. He sat under the big tree in the courtyard of the school. He'd come to school early that morning, hoping to see Marinette. He'd woken up with more bravado then he ended up with by the time he got to the school. Juleka and Rose plopped their bags down and sat on either side of him.
"Haven't seen you in a while," said Rose. She leaned on him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Or heard from you. We were giving you some space, but thought enough was enough," said Juleka. She leaned on his other side, arms crossed, his shoulder supporting her back.
"It's been a weird few days," Nathanael said with a big sigh. He drew his legs up, wrapping his arms around his knees. Admittedly he felt guilty for ignoring his two best friends and he was glad to see they weren't angry with him. They never were.
"You got hit by one of those Akumas didn't you?" Asked Juleka knowingly.
"Juleka!" Said Rose in a loud whisper. "Maybe he doesn't want to talk about it?"
"No it's okay," said Nathanael, leaning his head over to bump against Rose's gently.
"So what kind of powers did you have?" Asked Juleka greedily.
"Why are you so curious?" Laughed Nathanael. "I'm sure if you wait long enough you'll get one too. Seems like our whole class is on its way."
"You could just indulge me, you know," said Juleka, "without interrogation behind my motives. Maybe I just want to empathize with you by knowing about your ordeal."
"Or you just want material for a novel," said Nathanael with a knowing smirk.
"Graphic novel actually," giggled Rose.
"Aw come on, Nattie," said Juleka. "Just tell me."
"I'm busy," said Nathanael. He perched his head on his knees and stared forward. Although his nerve had worked down he was still waiting for Marinette.
"Doing what?" Asked Rose.
"I'm on a mission," he said.
"Doing what?" Asked Juleka, echoing Rose.
"That's classified," whispered Nathanael.
Juleka and Rose burst into laughter. Nathanael felt a blush rise on his cheeks. He wasn't exactly lying that is was a secret, although he had been hoping for this positive a response. Still nowadays it was hard to tell if someone was laughing at him or with him.
"Does it have to do with Marinette?" Purred Juleka. Nathanael's blush deepened as he snuggled his face into his knees.
"No," he squeaked.
"Thought so," said Juleka with a smirk. She looked at Rose and they giggled again. Nathanael's crush was no secret to them, or really to most people. The boy practically worshiped her. But it was just as painfully obvious that she was head over heels for Adrien. Still Juleka and Rose rooted for their little tomato over the pretty boy.
"Okay so what is the mission?" Asked Rose. Nathanael peaked up from his knees, leaning back. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. The two girls rested against him again, closing their own eyes. A warm breeze gently caressed them, sluggishly tugging at the flowers and grass in need of a cut.
"I was thinking about inviting Marinette out to a movie. I... uhm did her a favor last night," he said.
"So you're going to bribe her into a date?" Asked Juleka.
"Oh... I hadn't looked at it like that," said Nathanael. "Wow I suck."
"No you don't!" Cried Rose. She clutched his hand, stroking it gently with her other one. "You're very small and very in love. It makes you think wonky things sometimes."
"She did say she owes me," lamented Nathanael.
"Yeah but a date is a step too far," said Juleka. "You're going to have to start smaller. Or she really will feel bribed."
"Okay, fair enough," said Nathanael. "I was also thinking maybe she could do some pose modeling for me."
"That is a bit more reasonable," said Juleka.
"You're working together on a project, so maybe you could bring it up like that," said Rose.
Nathanael nodded as he watched Marinette enter the gates to the school. She walked with Alya. She looked over at him and sent him a wink which made him shrink down and blush again. Marinette looked at her friend with a questioning look.
"What was that about?" she asked.
"Oh nothing," Alya lied.
"More like, yeah something. Out with it," demanded Marinette.
"I mean, Nathanael answered my call last night."
"I know. I was out of the room and told him he could if you called."
"Oh yeah of course, of course. But uh... well homeboy was shirtless. Nice collar bones."
"Alya!"
"Just saying."
"Just saying what? Are you saying that Nathanael and I were... doing something?"
"No not that! But I mean, if you're just embarrassed to admit you were peeping his bod," Alya said with a snicker.
"No! He was just changing his shirt? Yeah, he spilled his soda on himself. I went to go get him some towels. You just have awful timing," Marinette said with finality.
"Story checks out," said Alya deflating. "Though you would make a cute couple."
"Shut up," said Marinette. They entered their classroom and sat down. "Besides Juleka and Rose were all over him this morning anyway."
"So you were looking, huh? Well if you must know, they've always been like that. You're too busy drooling over Adrien to notice. Juleka and Rose are cuddly with him, but he doesn't usually cuddle back. Unless I'm mistaken he's drawing comics about you."
"Well I think he's over that after the whole Evillustrator fiasco."
"In which you didn't see Ladybug, just Chat Noir. Bummer," said Alya.
"Hey, Chat Noir is pretty cool," said Adrien, eavesdropping. He plopped down in front of them.
"Yeah but Ladybug is cooler," said Alya.
"What do you think, Marinette?" Asked Adrien. Marinette laughed.
"They're both okay," she said.
"Didn't you meet Chat Noir?" He asked. "I heard he's very charming."
"Being charmed is for snakes," said Alya.
Nathanael entered with Rose and Juleka. They looked at Marinette and then Nathanael and giggled. He hid his face behind his sketch book and hurried up to his seat in the back. They continued to laugh as they made their way to their own seats. It was good to have him back.
"Hey are you free to do some work on our project now?"Asked Marinette. She had stopped Nathanael as the day was ending. The after school clubs were starting to get set up, and everyone was packing up to leave. Nathanael smiled at her.
"Let's go to the library," he said.
"I never really got to say thank you about last night," said Marinette as they strode through the halls. The sounds of sports teams outside the windows could be heard. The halls were otherwise empty, aside from them.
"Marinette you've said thank you about a million times," he said with a laugh. She laughed too and he felt a blush trickle around his face as the sound. It was sparkling.
"I just don't feel like I said it well enough. You got me out of a really tough jam."
"N-no problem, Marinette. That's what friends are for, right?" He asked.
Marinette stopped and turned to face him. He stopped too, turning to look at her. The sun gleamed in through the windows and made a halo of light around her and he felt his stomach flip. God she was gorgeous. Were humans allowed to be this beautiful. And talented. And... Well the list would go on too long.
"Is something wrong?" He asked nervously. Was it too forward to call them friends?
"Yeah. We're no friends," she said and his stomach sank. "We're more than that. We're confidantes, right?"
"Ohmygod you scared me," he said and slumped down a little.
"I guess I could have worded it better, huh?"
"Yeah I'd say so," he said with a laugh. She laughed too and granted him another smile. His collection was growing. He looked out the window and saw something.
"What's that?" He asked, pointing. She turned around and they both moved closer to look out the window.
"Trouble," said Marinette.
Down on the field was an Akumatized person. She really couldn't catch a break lately could she. They watched a little longer. It seemed like the person could control plants and was using that power to grab people by the handfuls. Or was it vinefuls?
"We've gotta go do something!" Said Marinette.
"We?" Asked Nathanael.
"Well I don't know what I'm getting into and I could use a little back up? What do you say?" She asked, holding out her hand.
"Our project..."
"Can wait. Come on, you know you want to," she said with a wink. He melted.
"Oh yeah," he said grabbing her hand.
Together they raced down to the field. It was thrilling and a little scary, running down halls and stairs. He was equal parts terrified and excited by the idea of someone seeing them together like this. Though he trusted Marinette and her instincts. It wasn't hard to see how she easily masqueraded as Ladybug.
By the time they reached outside the scene had changed quite a bit. A jungle had grown out of nowhere on the soccer field. Marinette and Nathanael skidded to a stop and let go of each others hands. She began looking around, closer to the building.
"What are you looking for?" He asked.
"A place to transform," she mumbled. He looked too, noticing a large pillar.
"How about right there? I'll block you from view of anyone else. But I think they may all be preoccupied at the moment," he said pointing to the jungle. Marinette nodded and opened her purse. A small red creature shot up from the purse and Nathanael jumped back.
"What the heck is that?" He asked, startled.
"Oh," said Marinette distracted. "This is Tikki."
"Hi! You must be Nathanael?" Said the red creature.
"Yeah, uh, hi?" Stammered Nathanael. "Uhm... Wh-what does a Tikki do?"
"No a Tikki, just Tikki," corrected Marinette. "And I'll show you. Tikki, Spots on!"
Nathanael watched in awe as the small creature vanished into her earrings and her clothing changed to the well known Ladybug uniform. He remembered, in some hazy part of his brain, a voice telling him he needed Ladybug's earrings. Her... Oh what were they called. It was too fuzzy to really remember. Chat Noir had one too, it was his ring. So that meant Marinette always had her Ladybug earrings. Chat Noir must always have his ring too.
"What do you think?" Asked Ladybug with flirtatious bravado. Nathanael blushed deeply. The outfit really changed her personality to be more bold. "It's the first time anyone has seen that actually."
"It's... R-really incredible, Marinette," he gushed.
"Shhh shh shh!" She scolded, putting her finger to her lips. "Ladybug. I'm Ladybug when someone might hear you."
"Oh right, sorry! So... Uhm what did you need me for?" He asked nervously. Her smile fell.
"I... Hadn't really thought that one through," she admitted. "It just felt right in the moment, you know?"
"I'm flattered," he whispered. "I could just watch the bags I guess."
"Yeah... uhm do that for now. I'm gonna go," she pointed toward the jungle.
"Yeah no I get it, go ahead. Good luck," he said with a smile. She bounded off into the dense growth.
Nathanael sat alone, shoving their bags behind the pillar. He took out his sketchbook and began to draw the scene before him. Maybe Alya could use it for her blog. Time passed, he wasn't sure how much. No sign of Chat Noir. More time. His pencil flew across the page, taking in a much detail as he couldn't. It would be a really messy drawing.
He felt his pocket vibrate and reached into his pants to pull out his phone. It showed an unlisted number and he looked across to the field with a small horror. It was Marinette. Why was she calling him? He answered the phone quickly.
"Hello?" He asked.
"Hey," came Marinette's voice.
"Are you okay?" He asked panicked.
"Yeah, but Chat Noir decided not to show up. I figured out how I could use your help," she said. It sounded like she was struggling.
"What do you need?" He asked.
"Just come into the field. I'll find you and explain from there," she said. "Please hurry Nathanael. I could really use a hand."
She hung up and Nathanael looked down at his screen. Now this is what he was talking about. This is what he wanted last night. Finally he could be Marinette's hero. He shut his sketchbook, shoving it into his backpack.
"This is crazy," he said gulping hard. "I'm crazy."
He ran as fast as he could toward the field and disappeared into the jungle.