-Julian's POV-
From the moment I woke up, I knew today would suck.
Probably because I haven't had a good night sleep for days since the last Akuma attack, or that every movie I've watched since then so coincidentally had the "I'm the traitor!" plot twist, like the universe is doing their hardest to not let me forget…
Chat Noir and Ladybug don't trust me. They probably think I'm working for Hawk Moth.
I freeze at the sudden thought making its hourly rounds through my brain.
They think I'm some manipulative psychopath working under another manipulative psychopath. And when something inevitably goes wrong I'll be the first person they suspect.
"Good morning Julian."
"Son of a-!" I yelp, leaping wildly away from the sudden voice to my left. Nathaniel lets out a squeak of his own too, looking at me with wide eyes.
"Nathaniel! Top of the morning! It's-" I take a deep breath. "Good morning." I try again, forcing a smile which I'm sure makes me look like a deranged sleep deprived lunatic, probably how Ladybug and Chat Noir see me as.
The redhead nods before giving my current attire a worried glance. "A-Are you okay Julian? You look… messier than usual."
"Was I always messy then?" I think to myself, feeling an eye twitch. "I'm fine, I just haven't been sleeping much recently…"
"Did you binge another show?" Nathaniel asks as we both sit down at our usual table.
I sigh. "I wish. Last week I-" I stop suddenly, wincing as Ossi suddenly bites my chest, thank gods he did that, I nearly spilled my most important secret, now that I have friends I need to be more careful about what I say... Noticing the redhead's expectant face, I look away, mood plummeting again. "Sorry, I can't say…" I mumble, this is frustrating, I can't tell him anything about being Faon Vert.
"Oh. Well, if you need someone to talk to…" He mumbles back, and I sigh, wondering what I should do now. It's evident in any form of media that shutting people out is practically accepting a one-way ticket to loneliness, but still…
Maybe I can phrase the question differently?
"Hey Nathaniel?" I say after a while, the boy in question looks up from his sketching. "How do you-" I gulp. "How do you get someone to trust you?"
Understandably, the artist looks caught off guard, even more so when he realized that I would not be elaborating on my question at all. "Umm, well-" He coughs. "Back when Alix and I were kids, whenever I was too scared to say something embarrassing, Alix would start telling me her own stories first."
I nod. "Setting up rapport, effective if you're willing to lose a couple secrets…"
The artist smiles wryly. "She once said that she hides broccoli in her jacket, and then handed me one she forgot she left in there."
The two of us break into laughter, attracting curious looks from our other classmates, Alix herself sends us a suspicious glance but probably decided that walking all the way here isn't worth the energy at 8 in the morning.
"Alright students get to your seats! We have a lot to cover today so you better pay attention!" Ms. Mendeleiev announces as she walks into the class with the urgency of a squad captain sending their platoon off to war. Immediately after that, she begins her lecture.
My eyes start drooping seconds into the lesson.
It's not my fault, why have a class dedicated to particle physics anyways? Why not just regular physics!?
"Hey, Julian." I hear my desk buddy whisper, opening my eyes which I didn't even realize was close, was I asleep? The whiteboard is now filled with different subjects and terms, it even looked like it's been erased a few times… oh well. Shrugging to myself, I turn to look at him shifting around uncomfortably.
"Can… Can I show you something I drew?"
I look at him with wide eyes, Nathaniel, willingly sharing his art?
"Of-" I started saying much louder than expected, before catching myself last minute, thankfully it didn't alert the teacher. "Of course, I would love to."
Smiling, the artist slowly slides his treasured notebook to me. The page shows the sketch of an art based superhero wearing a beret and a butterfly mask, a drawing tablet attached to his right arm, and a stylus in his left hand. The words "Super Nathan" hastily drawn on top, with a couple color palette options painted on the sides.
"Remember when you said I can make a superhero? Well I came up with this, he can create anything by drawing it, a-and can erase things from existence too." Nathaniel explains quietly, pointing at the sections listing his multiple powers.
After reading it all, I look up at him a bright smile, the first genuine one in a while. "He sounds amazing, although… doesn't the name Super Nathan sound a little bit… cliché?" The redhead shrugs, taking the book back and flipping it to continue drawing some of the panels in his book.
"It's just a placeholder, I'm not really good with words so a name might take me some time." He explains, it's relatable, coming up with names for characters is one of the most difficult things to do in my opinion.
"Does he have any weaknesses? Superheroes should have those, it makes them look more relatable." I ask again, pulling out any limited superhero knowledge that I have, most of it are from movies and not the comics where I heard they're typically invincible.
Nathaniel thinks about it for a moment. "I guess when he switches between creation and erasion mode, he can't do both at the same time, or at least it'll take some time to switch between them." He muses. Nodding, I can't help but stare at the rest of the comic hidden securely under his arm.
"...Can I read more of it?" I ask hesitantly, because to ask an artist to show their work is akin to them bearing their souls to you, or that they're just too shy… Maybe even both.
Nathaniel looks up with wide eyes, biting his lip, he looks between me and his sketchbook before nodding timidly, sliding the book to me, face slowly growing red.
Thanking him, I give the panels a careful glance, admiring the amazing attention to detail my desk buddy has put into his art. Currently he is drawing a battle with Stormy Weather and Lady WiFi as a team, the two of them trap Marinette in an ice block before Super Nathan arrives, quickly erasing the parasol from the villain's hand, he traps them in an artists' block. Erasing the ice, Marinette and the superhero embrace, which isn't something suspicious really, the suspicious thing is that the hug takes up the entire page…
"This is really good Nathaniel." I whisper, passing the book back to him with a smile. "Although, are you and Marinette-"
"Shhh!" Nathaniel whisper-screams back, covering my mouth with his hand, looking wildly at Marinette who was sitting in the front desk. "No! But… I…" He mutters before blushing again, looking down.
I give him a small smile, patting his back which makes him peek up at me. "It's alright, I won't tell anyone, I think it's kind of cute, actually…" I say, before frowning as I remember how weird Marinette acts around Adrien, does that mean she likes him? If so...
"Th-Thanks…" The redhead mumbles before looking down at his drawings again.
Snickering, I suddenly remember another thing! Quickly opening my notebook, I start writing my house address. "By the way, I heard that it's your-"
"Julian! Nathaniel!" A hand slams down the table we're at, causing Nathaniel to jump and me to yelp, the both of us completely failed to realize that Ms. Mendeleiev had stopped teaching, and she plus the entire class is now staring at us, immediately I feel my heartrate picking up at the weight of their looks.
The teacher glares at the artist's notebook. "What are you drawing?" She asks shrilly, grabbing a panel from his notebook and scowling. "These artistic endeavors are clearly why you are failing science." She continues, which actually snaps me out of my panic when I fully comprehend her words. She's not implying that being an artist makes you a bad science student, is she?
"I'm sorry…" The redhead says, still confused at everything happening.
"You go march yourself down to the principal's office and show him that chicken scratch! Then you'll be really sorry!" The teacher yells after Nathaniel, who had packed his bags during the yelling and started walking shamefully towards the exit.
To make matters worse, he even trips over a backpack, causing his belongings to fly everywhere.
Chloe (why does it have to be her?) picks up the sketchbook that fell out of his bag. "Ooh! Look, Sabrina! It's him as a superhero! And look who he's saving! It's Marinette!" She says out loud, I wince, I've given the blonde so many chances but she just keeps proving that she's not really a good person.
"He's so totally crushing on you, Marinette!" She taunts, ripping the page out of his book as Nathaniel snatches the book back.
"Enough! Nathaniel, go!" The teacher yells, sending the redhead running away in a panic.
Watching Chloe discreetly hide the page under her arms, I feel something inside me bend, I raise my hand up. "M-Ms. Mendeleiev! Chloe took a page from Nathaniel's book and kept it!" I exclaim, heart beating crazily when the teacher and students turn their looks back to me.
"What? No I didn't!" Chloe screams back, little to no remorse in her tone.
"Y-you did though! I saw it! A-and the rest did too, right?" I looked wildly around at my classmate for any backup, but none of them spoke up,
"Probably still shocked at quiet Julian raising his voice." I think to myself, feeling devastated.
"Enough!" Ms. Mendeleiev yells, tapping her fingers erratically on the table and glaring at me. "Julian, what you just did was incredibly unprofessional, and all for some drawings."
"T-They're not just drawings!" I yell, the lack of sleep and overwhelming anxiety finally snapping something within me. "They're a person's heart and soul! A-and it's not fair that Nathaniel was made fun of because of his drawings!" I finish, before the weight of what I'd done finally sets in and I look up in fear, the teacher looks incredibly ticked off, face boiling red.
"That's it young man, to the principal's office!" She yells so loud that it was a surprise no windows shattered.
Taking in a deep, shuddering breath, I hurry out of class, leaving all my belongings behind, bad memories start flooding my brain again.
The awkward silence was much preferable though, when the entire hall erupts into laughter, daring to look up I see two sets of eyes looking at me like I've ruined everything.
The laughter continues, I look at my supposed friends to see them laughing too, rubbing away the tears in their eyes from laughter. My feet feels like it's in cement-
Kicking the door into the bathroom and shuddering out a sigh of relief when there's no one here, I barricade myself inside one of the stalls before finally letting out a frustrated sob.
"Gods. Why- W-why-" I curse, trying to wipe the tears off but it would just ruin my shirt right now more than anything.
Suddenly I feel something soft and fluffy nudging my face which made me jump before realizing that it's Ossi, hugging my face, or trying too, his arms are too short. "You're safe kid..." He says as I let out another sob, not leaving my shoulder as the two of us sit in silence.
I don't know how much time had passed, or if anyone came in and heard me, but when I was finally able to stop, I stepped out of the stall to wash my face at the sink, the whole bathroom was as empty as when I entered.
"Are ya feeling better?" Ossi asks from my pocket.
I shrug. "I'm not stress crying anymore…"
"Yeah! That's a good thing, right? I'm relieved."
I nod, feeling drained, Ossi's right, things could've gone a lot worse (An Akumatized Faon Vert for one). "I can't imagine how bad it must be for Nathaniel, I hope he's alright." I mumble before groaning as the weight of what I did finally sinks in. "Ossi, I shouted in class at a teacher, I'm in so- so much trouble…" I sigh, before blowing my nose with some toilet paper.
"Can't argue with that kid, but lemme just say, that what ya did was amazing."
Looking at him with wide eyes, toilet paper still stuck to my face. "I… Os, I'm not supposed to-"
"Listen." Ossi flies to the center of my face. "When I first met cha, you were scared of everythin', always staying at home and never even botherin' to make friends."
"I'm still the same-"
"Shh. Listen." Ossi headbutts me before continuing. "Sure, we had a rough start, but the more time I spent with cha, the more ya grew on me. You're smart, carin', and 'ave as big a heart as all my other fawns. Ya just scared now because ya slowly turning into the person ya always were all along."
Giving him an awkward chuckle. "I'm turning into a rebellious teenager who snaps at teachers…?" I scratch my neck in embarrassment.
Ossi gives me a deadpan look. "No. You're turning into Faon."
"But I'm not-"
The door suddenly opens, quickly pulling my jacket wider so Ossi could dive into it quicker, panicking as I stare at the door.
"Julian?" A blond's head pokes into the bathroom in question.
"Adrien!" I yelp, quickly darting my eyes to check myself in the mirror (why? I have no idea.) before looking back at him.
"Oh, there you are, I was worried when you didn't come back to class." Adrien says, closing the door behind him and looking at me with worried eyes. "Are you okay?"
Sighing, I rub my face to clean off any tissues still left hanging there. "I'm fine, I just… needed some time alone, it… it really helped." I pretend to put my hand to my chest, patting Ossi on the head through the fabric, feeling his content shudder within my jacket.
"That's good, if you need anyone to talk to, I'm here for you." The blond offers, giving me a brilliant smile, I feel my face heat up a little at the honesty of the offer.
"Thanks Adrien…" I mumble, feeling a little awkward, it didn't feel right pushing the blond away again, I already did it once when Mr. Pigeon attacked and I think doing it twice would drive us apart more than ever.
I sigh. "I… I don't like being in the spotlight, something happened when I was younger, and now I just-" I wince, feeling nauseous at the memory again.
"Now I just freak out at the thought of it." I finish, not daring to look at Adrien, for all I know he could've already left and I've opened up for nothing.
But no, I feel another body lean up against the sink beside me, looking up with wide eyes I notice the blond is now standing next to me, smile gentle and understanding. "I get it, that's why you prefer to stay home, right?"
I nod. "Yeah, being outdoors is just- too risky." I gag for dramatic effect, because I am unable to have a genuine conversation without feeling weird. "I don't know what happened to me today, I've just been having a really bad week and watching Nathaniel get made fun of like that, I just couldn't stand it, I guess. He was technically my first ever friend here..."
Adrien hums, and the bathroom falls silent again, which reminded me that we're having this conversation next to actual toilets , couldn't I have chosen somewhere cleaner?
"Nathaniel's lucky to have a friend like you." The blond finally says.
I scoff internally. "More like I'm lucky to be his friend" I think, since it was his idea that encouraged me into sharing my problems, even if I think I didn't do it right…
"You're my friend too you know, so let me know if you ever feel down, I'll stop at nothing until you feel better."
"Especially since you're my fawn." I think to myself again, smirking at the blond who was now sporting a nice blush.
Yet all good feelings eventually come to an end, as I check the clock on my phone and sigh. "I still have to meet the principal, thanks Adrien, for checking up on me." I say before looking back at the mirror to make sure my face shows no tear tracks or overly puffy eyes.
"Oh, before you go, I have to tell you something." Adrien stands and takes another step closer to me. "We're group partners for the physics presentation, along with Nino and Alya." He explains, before reaching towards my hair. "Hold still."
Blinking wide eyed at his hand slowly growing closer, it plucks an errant piece of tissue stuck in my hair.
"There, all clean." He winks at me, causing my face to erupt in a blush.
"R-right! Well then!" I shout, walking towards the door. "I-I'll be goin' then! Meet ya in the library?"
"Sure! See you then."
"Yeah haha! Bye!" I shout again, shutting the door behind me as I let out a sigh.
"Ya alright there kid? Soundin' a little Marinette there." Ossi asks cheekily, I pat my pocket a little harder than usual, causing an 'oof' to sound from it.
"Shut it, you know how I am with people." I tried to explain, but that did not stop me from hearing the Kwami's quiet snickers all the way to the principal's office.
-For what feels like an eternity later-
Letting out another sigh as I walk down the steps of Mr. Damocles' office, I slowly trudge towards the library. Truth be told I'm absolutely exhausted and in no mood for studying (I just want to go home and do nothing until tomorrow), but the team is depending on me to pull my weight, so I can't let them down.
Trudging into the library, I let out a yawn, distractedly walking towards the science shelf, grabbing a book and staring at it, too tired to even absorb the words by this point…
"Run and hide!" Shouts a familiar voice. Jumping, I finally snap out of my haze quick enough to realize that there is a really loud noise in the usually quiet library. Running out of the isle, I see Ladybug riding on a giant hair dryer trying to shake her off like a bull.
"I got wind that you were being blown away by a hairy situation." Another voice rings as Chat Noir lands on one of the bookshelves.
"Fewer puns, more action! And where's Faon?" Ladybug yells, wrestling the hair dryer with all her might.
Looking at the entire scene in shock, I quickly look around for a place to transform, the students in the library are hiding amongst all the other bookshelves, quickly looking at the second floor, I see-
"Super Nathan?" I say in shock, watching the Akumatized super villain drawing feverishly into the sketchpad on his arm. He jumps and looks at me. "I'm not Super Nathan, I'm the Evillustrator." He declares as he taps his screen, materializing boxing gloves and launching them towards me.
"Julian look out!"
I close my eyes, bracing myself for the impact. But instead of the blasts of the gloves like I was expecting, I felt the warm touch of leather and a short feeling of weightlessness before landing again. Opening my eyes, I realized that Chat Noir had saved me from the attack and brought me to the second floor along with Ladybug.
"Are you okay?" He asks, I nod, a little breathless.
"Chat Noir, let's go." Ladybug commands, Chat gives me an apologetic look before charging towards the Akuma along with Ladybug. The Akuma glares before drawing something in his sketchpad, creating a wall which halts Ladybug and Chat in their places before running off.
"Where'd he go?" Ladybug asks, looking around wildly.
Chat Noir shrugs. "I don't know, but he sure has a way of illustrating his point."
Hearing Ladybug's annoyed groan, I can't help but let out a snort, regardless as Faon or not Chat will always make me laugh.
The laugh seems to have brought the cat hero's attention back to me though. "Doing alright?" He asks.
I nod, smiling at him. "I am, all thanks to you." I peek over the railing to the first floor to see that everyone there has already evacuated. "Umm… Mr. Noir, h-have you seen a blond boy, wearing an unbuttoned white shirt and a really cool t-shirt inside with colored stripes on it by any chance, is he safe…?"
Chat looks caught off guard before looking away nervously. "S-Sorry, can't say that I have."
"Oh, that's alright… I hope he's okay though…" I mumble, standing up and dusting myself off, I desperately need a nap right now, or some food, Ossi will-
I looked up so suddenly I nearly lost balance, scaring even Chat with how panicked I looked. "I… I need to go! Sorry!" I yell before taking off down the stairs and out of the library, turning the corner before reaching for my pen.
"Forgot ya were Faon Vert for a second kid?" Ossi teases, and will likely continue to do so for the next week.
"Sh-shut it. I'm just… really tired okay!" I stumble for an excuse which doesn't seem to stop Ossi's laughter. I give him a light glare, raising the pen to him. "Ossi, Horns Drawn."
Ossi immediately dives into the tip of the pen, causing a deer head to appear in front of it. Swiping the pen across my eyes, the mask gets drawn and materializes onto my face, I drag the pen from my left hand back to my right as a brown suit slowly starts to appear from my arms towards the rest of my body. Twirling the pen around effortlessly as it slowly grows longer, I toss it upwards before reaching towards my back and pulling up a newly made hoodie, ears on its side and antlers on top as I catch the pen which has turned into blowgun as I lean against it with an embarrassed grimace and a peace sign raised in the air.
Entering the library again, I raise an eyebrow at the empty building, Chat Noir and Ladybug nowhere to be found. Suddenly my staff rings.
Pressing one of the symbols, I raise the staff to my ear. "Hello…?"
"Hey deer, Ladybug and I are going to Chloe's room to protect her from the Akuma, can I count on seeing you there?"
Frowning as I hear Chat's voice, I can't believe how genuine he sounded, like he actually wanted me to be there, is this all some kind of front too? "Of course, I'll be there." I say, hanging up before hauling myself up the roof of the library, roof jumping all the way to the Grand Hotel.
Landing in the balcony, I swing the door open to see Chloe currently posing with Ladybug and taking pictures, although Ladybug seems to be much more unenthusiastic about the prospect of that than usual…
"Heya Kitten." I say as I land beside the cat hero. The blond barely flinched before turning to face me with a bright smile.
"Hey deer! Took you awhile."
"Yeah well I was grazing in a grass patch farther away than usual so…" I mumble, the blond looks caught off guard for a second, but doesn't say anything as the two of us watch Ladybug break free from Chloe but soon finds herself cornered again.
"Looks like somebody's got a fan." Chat teases as Ladybug breaks off from Chloe's clutches again as she storms towards us.
"Yeah, great." The superheroine replies sarcastically, I tilt my head in confusion, it's not like her to be in such a bad mood.
"So what's the deal? Why are you acting so weird? Come on, you gotta admit that having this girl worship you is pretty awesome." Chat shares as Ladybug picks up a piece of paper from Chloe's couch.
"Ugh, seriously!? I'm over this! Let's go!" Ladybug exclaims before storming off, Chat blinking confused for a moment before chasing after her. Curious, I pick up the paper she dropped, only to feel my heart sink.
The amazing picture that Nathaniel drew has been drawn over with a black marker, Marinette's face now has a moustache and large glasses. Wanting to crumble the paper in rage, I decide it's better not to wrinkle it anymore, folding it nicely into my pocket before storming off towards the balcony as well.
Chloe is currently cheering after Ladybug whom I assume had taken off, Chat standing by the railing, pouting at me when I get closer.
"Looks like it's just you and me deer." He says, face neutral, as if waiting for my reaction.
Letting out a sigh, I lean against the banister, watching Chloe walk back into her room. "Yeah… I guess…"
Chat lets out a groan which startles me out of my downtrodden mood. "What's gotten into you and Ladybug today?"
"W-What do you mean?" I look at him, eyes wide, did he know I know he knows?
"You're both being such…" he widely gestures his hands around. "Downers, and I don't know why." He finishes with a pout.
I heave a sigh of relief, so it's just about my understandably out of character levels of apathy. "It's because of this." I pull out the art Chloe ruined, showing Chat who takes a look at it with a raised eyebrow. "It's just so sad that something that obviously had so much work put into it can be ruined so easily." I mutter, folding it back nicely and sliding it into one of my pockets.
"You're sad because someone's art got ruined?"
I raise my head to glare at him. "Don't tell me you're one of those 'art is useless' people too." I growl, taking a step towards him, I might be too much of a wimp to lecture a teacher, but superhero teammates are free game.
The blond takes a step back, looking at me with wide eyes. "N-Not at all! I just mean that… We don't know the person who drew this."
Blinking out of my rage, I tilt my head in question. He's right, Julian knows the person but not Faon Vert, and Chat Noir probably doesn't know him at all. "You don't have to know the person… To appreciate their art…" I blush, moving out of his personal space. "Sorry, I'm being dramatic, today just irks me I suppose."
"Especially since you and Ladybug don't trust me."
"I understand, hey, if you need anyone to talk to, I'm here to lend an ear, or two." He offers, giving me a strong sense of déjà vu for a second.
"Thanks, same goes to you too Kitten." I offer back weakly. Should I talk about this? It went well with Adrien, so this wouldn't hurt, right? "Hey, Chat? Ladybug said that you and her don't-"
"Hey! Chat Noir, Faon Vert! Are you two any good at particle physics?"
The both of us jump at the sudden intrusion, turning to see Chloe smiling sweetly at us.
Chat is the first to snap out of the confusion. "Oh, this cat's got particle physics in the bag." He proclaims, which I have a feeling it wasn't the best thing to say at the moment.
"Ah! Great!" Chloe immediately pounces on him, grabbing his arm and dragging him to one of the chairs in her room before shoving the folder in his hands. "Sit, kitty! Now, make it sound purr-fect for my presentation." She leaps onto another chair and opens a magazine. "See what I did? I made a cat joke! Ah! I can be funny."
"Yeah, hilarious." Chat says sarcastically. Quietly snickering at the cat hero's pouty look, I walk behind him to observe his workings. Surprisingly, Chat really does know his particle physics, and for such a playful personality, both his handwriting and organization screams professional, almost boring with how methodical it looks.
Suddenly both of our staffs ring, the two of us share a look before walking out to the balcony for some privacy.
"You can't just fly out of here and then decide to make cat calls, Ladybug!" Chat teases.
I nod beside him. "Yeah, are you feeling better though? I saw the picture…"
"I'm sorry Chat, that wasn't cool, and yes Faon I'm fine now. But you two can leave Chloe. I need you to protect this girl instead. Her name is Marinette." Pulling the staff away from my ear I look at the picture Ladybug sent to us, eyes widening as I realize that it's actually my friend Marinette. "Really cute, isn't she? The Evillustrator is in love with her, and promises not to harm Chloé as long as Marinette comes to his birthday party." Hearing a ding next to me, I turn to see Chat spinning Chloe around and nudging her away before smiling at me sheepishly. "While he's distracted, I want you to take him down."
"Are you still sitting out?" I ask worriedly, since without her around we won't be able to purify the Akuma.
"I'm going on… a very important secret mission. I'll catch up with you later. Can you two handle this without me?"
"Ha! Please it'll be a cinch!" Chat brags before the both of us hang up.
"I didn't know the bell could actually ring…" I snicker, reaching out to flick it before the blond hero grabs my hand, giving me an embarrassed glare before turning towards Chloe.
"You're out of danger, uh, so we'll see ya! Later!" He shouts before dragging me off the roof, catapulting us towards another building, Chloe's indignant screams fading away behind us.
Looking towards Marinette's house, Chat and I decided to just break into Marinette's room, but as the two of us prepare to leap to the building, I spot a familiar girl running up the sidewalk.
"Hold on." I say quickly, Chat stops, giving me a questioning look as I point out the girl standing in front of Marinette's door. "I think that girl's Sabrina, she knows Marinette."
The girl in question is balancing on the soles of her feet, clutching a bundle of files in her arms, but for some reason I can't help but feel a little apprehensive. "This doesn't look good…" I mutter, Chat nods beside me although he's probably still confused, but before he could say anything the door to the building opens, Marinette nearly jumps out of her skin when she notices Sabrina standing there.
"Can you hear what they're saying?" Chat asks.
"Yeah… But it's just making me feel even worse for Sabrina…" I groan, almost feeling like I should turn down my enhanced hearing before I hear anything even sadder than thinking doing your friend's homework is a normal thing to do in friendships.
Their conversation only escalated from there, Marinette saying that she can't do the project tonight, Sabrina accusing her of being exactly like Chloe (someone I know Marinette hates to be compared to) before the glasses-wearing girl snatches the homework out of Marinette's hands again before storming away.
"That… was a disaster…" I mumble, turning to see Chat… who had disappeared?
"What the…'' I look around for the blond hero before realizing that he had already leapt to Marinette.
"Well, that birthday boy date of yours is bad news. But don't worry. You'll be safe with me." I hear Chat say as I focus my hearing again, laughing lightly at his poses before raising an eyebrow at Marinette, who appears to be mocking him behind his back, like she's used to his antics already… But how-
"What about Ladybug and Faon Vert? Aren't you a trio?" Marinette's voice interrupts my thoughts as I notice my name.
"Faon is… somewhere around here, and Ladybug is busy with something tonight, so… You get to be our Ladybug." Chat slyly offers, turning around and looking at my location, gesturing for me to join him. Leaping towards them, I land loudly enough so that Marinette can be adequately spooked at the sound, snickering at her little jump before spinning around and looking at me with wide eyes.
"Me, Chat Noir and Faon Vert? Fighting crime together? Amaazing! What do I do?" She exclaims. Pursing my lip, I subtly stare Marinette down… I'm not the best critic for acting, but it kind of feels like-
Suddenly I feel Chat's hand grab mine (Can I just have one coherent thought for one sec-). "Just get that drawing pencil away from it, little lady. We'll take care of the rest." He explains before pulling me away again, me yelling incoherent protests behind him all the way.
-A While Later-
Leaping across the buildings with Chat Noir, the both of us stalk Marinette and the Evillustrator's… honestly really romantic stroll down the Seine river with the music playing and the miniature Eiffel Tower and moon glowing brightly in the center of the ship.
"You're so talented! I just don't understand why you wanna use your power to hurt people." I hear Marinette say, watching her scoot a little closer, gotta give her credit for her bravery.
"Not all people. Just Chloé. And I'm never doing that again. After all, you were true to your promise, so I'll be true to mine." The Akuma replies, going back to drawing as Chat and I finally arrive on top of the bridge, quietly leaping off and landing on the boat, rolling back to avoid detection.
Holding Chat back, I focus my hearing a little more.
"I...actually draw a little too, I'm not as good as you are, of course."
"I'm sure you're a wonderful artist."
"Well, can I draw you something special for your birthday?"
Hearing the music stop, I give Chat the all clear as the both of us slowly start to creep towards them. Marinette is in extreme danger and we can't afford to mess up here.
"That would be amazing." The Evillustrator says in awe, Marinette is grabbing his pen but still has not gotten it out of his grip yet, we were too early!
Quickly backtracking along with Chat, I feel my blood run cold as the Akuma seem to have noticed us.
"Marinette, give me my pencil back. I need to draw something. Now!" he orders, I pray silently that Marinette would listen to him instead of agitating him further.
"No, I'm keeping it! Chat Noir, Faon Vert! Now!"
Jumping out of hiding at Marinette's command, I land in front of her while Chat extends his staff to block the Akuma's path.
"Marinette! You're working with them?" The Evillustrator asks incredulously, before the anger finally floods him. "I'm so stupid… I actually thought you liked me! But you're really just like Chloe. Teasing me, mocking me. Leading me on!" He yells, I grip my staff tighter, preparing to stop him from charging towards Marinette.
"Come on! Seriously! Why is everyone comparing me to Chloe tonight?" I hear Marinette exclaim from behind me.
I turn towards her slightly, planning to say that now isn't really the best time to be offended by that, I get caught off guard when the Akuma suddenly kicks Chat's staff towards us, knocking the pen out of Marinette's hand and into the air. The Evillustrator jumps up and grabs it, landing on his fake moon as Chat immediately leaps towards him, but it was too late. The Akuma draws a box which immediately drops onto Chat, pulling him down and onto both Marinette and I, the blond falling right on top of me as I break his fall.
"Ow…" I whine.
Feeling a thud from above, I open an eye to see the Akuma glaring at us. "And I'm taking back my promise! Chloe's gonna get a little lesson she'll never forget!" He declares, messing around with his tablet before leaping away. Shortly after the boat starts sinking.
"We've been penned in! Literally!" Chat exclaims as the both of us start hitting around the box, maybe if I can turn my staff into a blowtorch-
"Chat Noir, your stick! Like this!" Marinette pulls the cat hero down and gestures to the bottom and top of the box. "And extend it!"
Chat grabs her by the waist. "Great thinking!" He says before being shoved off by Marinette.
"Yeah… I'm a genius." She says before grabbing Chat by the shoulders, the two of them lifting the lid off and rising towards the nearby bridge. I jump right behind them, since I have super powers and all.
The three of us land on the bridge, Chat drops Marinette from the previous bridal style hold. "Gotta go. A super hero's work is never done. Damsels in distress, ladies in waiting…" He counts down the responsibilities on one hand. "I've got a lot more saving to do. You can thank me later." He finishes before leaping off towards Chloe's apartment.
I smile at her. "Don't worry about him, his ego is big but he's basically a baby cat. Smart thinking just now Marinette, see you when I see you." I give her a short wave before running after Chat, hopefully nothing too bad has happened to him yet.
-Back at the Hotel-
Landing on the balcony, I realize that both Ladybug and Chat Noir have arrived before me (I got a little lost…) and are staring face to face with the Akuma.
"Sorry I'm late!" I yell as I land behind them, loading a shot into my staffshot. I notice that Chloe is currently hiding in an empty closet.
"In the comics, this is what's known as the final showdown. The thing is, if you knew her, you wouldn't be breaking a sweat to save her skin! She's the real baddie!" The Evillustrator yells.
Chloe gasps. "Oh! It's not true! Everybody adores me!" She shouts indignantly, and it makes me feel a little bit bad for her if she truly believes that.
Before I could respond, the Akuma created four boxing gloves, sending one to each of us including Chloe.
"Look out!" Chat yells before attempting to block one of the shots, resulting in him being knocked back out to the balcony. Taking that into account, I jump over the gloves and fire a shot at the one heading towards Chloe, destroying it before it hits.
Ladybug, leaping over her own glove, launches a yo-yo towards the Akuma, but it was deflected by another artist block. Quickly deleting the block, the Evillustrator draws a spinning saw and flings it towards Ladybug, who deflects it with her yo-yo, but that only changes its course towards.
"Chloe!" I yell, leaping in between her and the saw, holding my staff up to block the attack. However just as it reaches my defenses, the blades suddenly stop moving. Opening my eyes which I didn't know I had closed, I saw that Chat had launched his staff in the center of the saw, grounding it before it could hit. Chat lands in front of me and sends me a quick glare before picking up his staff and snapping it in two, throwing both of them at the Akuma, who dodges it easily, the staff instead destroying one of the lights mounted on the wall.
"Guys, the light! He can't draw in the dark!" Ladybug yells, I nod in realization, so that's why there was a mini moon during his and Marinette's date.
"Got it!" Chat yells before activating his… Cataclysm?
I stare in shock as Chat charges for the light switch, this can't possibly end well, he would probably destroy the entire building if it made contact!
Thankfully (can't believe I'm thankful about something an Akuma did), the Evillustrator erases the light switch, leaving Chat's Cataclysm to only destroy part of the wall the switch was on, which honestly I don't know why it didn't do more, but I'm not complaining.
"Here you go, kitty." The Akuma says before forming a giant ball and chain, attaching it to Chat's ankles. "A little ball and chain to play with."
"Hey!" Chat yells.
The Evillustrator isn't done. "Sadly, those who get in my way get erased." He declares, before slowly erasing the floors of the hotel.
"This is my chance!" I think, leaping towards him before he could erase the floor under Chat.
"Sticks can act as baseball bats, Mind's Eye!" I activate my Miraculous, turning my staff into a large and dramatic looking baseball bat. Swinging wildly at the Akuma, pretending that I'm a certain anti-hero from a movie I've watched recently. The Akuma growls angrily at me, having to use his effort to dodge my attacks rather than use his sketchpad.
"Faon, batter up!" I hear Ladybug yell as I spin to see her, she had activated her Lucky Charm, a bright red rubber ball in her hands as she launches it at a light, destroying it and bouncing to destroy all the lights in one side before heading towards me.
"Oh." I thought before grinning, winding up and batting the ball towards the other side, destroying all the lights in that area too, leaving the room in complete darkness.
"No- AH!" the Akuma yells as a yo-yo grabs onto his pen, yanking it out of his grip and into Ladybug's before she snaps it in half, purifying the Akuma, leaving Nathaniel lying unconscious on the floor.
"Don't worry guys, I'll make sure he gets back safely." I say quietly to the two heroes, who were fist bumping.
Ladybug nods, smiling at me, Chat however glares at me again. "Hang on second, we need to talk about how you jump in front of a saw!" He yells.
"There's nothing to talk about, I wanted to protect Chloe. Besides, I'm sure the staff could take it." I deactivate my bat to wiggle the staff around teasingly, hoping it would relieve some tension.
It doesn't, if anything Chat looks even more angry. "You don't know that! What if it couldn't? It's your Miraculous, you need to be more care-"
" That's what this is about? You just don't want me to lose my Miraculous?" I grit my teeth, glaring at Chat who is starting to get on my nerves, feeling a little pleasure in managing to snap him out of his anger when he realizes his own implications, he steps back from me with wide eyes.
"N-no, I just-"
"Is that why you're being so friendly now? Because you and Ladybug don't trust me? That you don't think I know what I'm doing? So you need to babysit me?" I spit out venomously, glaring at both Chat and Ladybug now.
"Faon, it's really not like-" Ladybug tries to say but someone suddenly crashes into her.
"Ladybug! You saved me! Let's take another picture to celebrate." Chloe declares before adjusting her phone to take a million selfies on the two of them. Taking this opportunity, I turn to pick up Nathaniel, who was still unconscious and run towards the balcony.
Climbing onto it, someone grabs my shoulder, turning around to see the cat superhero looking at me with big wounded kitten eyes.
"Listen, Faon, I didn't mean it that way, really." He says earnestly.
I glare at him for what seems to be forever before sighing again, I just can't stay mad at him can I? "I know, I think I know, at least…" I mumble. "Today just isn't a good day for me…" I paused for a moment to think of a way to describe my current problems without revealing too much about myself, but the chance to do so was snatched from me as I noticed Chat's ring beeping, looking dangerously close to depleting.
"Looks like you need to get going, and me too, we'll talk more about this next time... Promise." I say quietly before leaping off the balcony before he could reply, heading towards the nearest bus stop.
Nathaniel seems to have woken up as I lay him gently against the bus bench. "Ugh… Where am I…" He mutters, wiping his eyes before he finally notices me. "F-Faon Vert! What are you doing here!?" He asks, sitting up straighter.
I give him a tired smile. "Hero work, you were akumatized, I volunteered to get you to a bus safe. Also, I wanted to give you something…" I explain before reaching into one of my pockets, pulling out the torn off comic page Chloe took from him. "I'm sorry that it's kind of ruined, it was like that when I found it…" I apologize sincerely before handing him the drawing.
Nathaniel looks surprised at this, before looking back at his drawing, frowning a little before looking back at me. "It's okay, I can use this as reference, thank you…" He says earnestly, face reddening.
I smirk, patting him on the head playfully. "It's no problem really, anything for one of my fawns." I declare before my staff beeps again, I probably have a minute or so left. "I have to go, get home safe okay?" I boop him on the nose, laughing at his confused expression again before leaping off towards one of the nearby buildings and back home.
After that I got changed into my sleepwear and leaped into bed, homework or bathing be damned, I will be sleeping well tonight. Despite everything I did, and the stupid things I said out of stupid impulse.
"Can't keep blaming sleep deprivation Julian." A clear judgmental voice rings through my head.
"Kid, ya know how I'm the Kwami of Imagination?" Ossi suddenly asks as he polishes the plate of eclairs I left him.
I jumped at the question, not aware that I was pretty much half asleep by that point (the bed is too comfortable not to be). "N-No, why?"
"Well, all my Holders tend to have that similarity. The good, and the bad." He says before flying on top of my head, loudly snoring despite having such a small body.
I frown, wanting to pursue the sudden topic, but the warmth of the blanket and the surprisingly soothing sound of the Kwami's snores have me knocked out in seconds.
-The Next Day-
Waiting for Nathaniel in the courtyard after school, I write a few notes in one of the scripts I'm currently working on. Thanks to the unfortunate Akuma incident yesterday I did not manage to ask him something pretty important, which was why I asked for him to meet me here after school today, since Nathaniel overslept and only came in after lunch (not that I can blame him).
"I have loved you, I did my best…" I repeat the sentence out loud a couple of times before frowning, it doesn't flow well enough, maybe if there was something in between it-
"Hey Julian." Turning at the familiar voice, I finally let out a bright smile at Nathaniel's arrival.
"Hey Nathaniel!" I greet, standing up and packing the notebook in my bag.
The redhead smiles. "You look better today."
"You must've absorbed some of the negativity yesterday." I joke before wincing. "Sorry, too soon, I'm still feeling terrible, but I actually slept well yesterday, no dreams." Mostly cause I spent so much energy fighting you. I refrain from saying the last part.
Nathaniel nods before his smile turns into something more confused. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Well, I wanted to ask you this yesterday, since I was told that it was your birthday from an anonymous contact."
"It was Alix wasn't it?"
"It was Alix." I smirk before continuing. "Anyways I wanted to ask if you want to come over and celebrate, I have a wicked entertainment room with all the games and movies you can ask for, you can invite over anyone you want."
Nathaniel looks at me with wide eyes before blushing. "Umm… Sure, but you don't have to do this, it's just a birthday…"
"Everyone deserves to celebrate their birthday." I say seriously before looking at him considerately. "Of course if you're not okay with it it's fine, I'll just think of something else to get for you."
"O-Of course I'm okay with it!" Nathaniel yells defensively before giving me a light glare as I snicker.
"Well then it's settled, I'll have the car pull over. Seriously though feel free to invite anyone you want in the meantime." I say excitedly before walking off towards the school entrance and calling my driver to come quickly. Whatever problems I have right now will have to wait, because today is going to be the best late birthday celebration for Nathaniel ever.
