.o.O.o.
Nathaniel felt exhausted, even though he slept all day. Walking home from the Grand Paris took almost half an hour and he had never been very athletic. That fact didn't bother him; Nathaniel much preferred sitting alone and sketching his surroundings. However, his muscles felt stiff from the late night stroll. Add in being akumatized for the better part of yesterday and it was no wonder he couldn't get enough rest. Sensing his weariness, his parents were willing to let him stay home from school.
Ah, school. Nathaniel was not looking forward to going back tomorrow. How could he? His crush on Marinette was announced to the entire class, courtesy of Chloe. Then, from what he gathered from Ladybug and Chat Noir, he attempted to drown half of Paris's superhero duo along with Marinette while he was akumatized. With these thoughts, he groaned loudly and yanked a fistful of his blanket over his head. At least while he was surrounded by a fortress of pillows he could avoid facing his problems.
His thoughts were interrupted by a voice declaring, "Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" The covers were forcefully pulled from his face despite his attempts to fight for their comfort.
"Go away, Alix," he grumbled, turning on his stomach and holding a pillow over his head to try to block her out. Unfortunately, Alix had been really working on her upper body strength lately and easily took it out of his grasp. "Just leave me alone!"
"School's already over, you don't have to hide anymore," she replied, tickling his sides in an attempt to rouse him.
After he couldn't handle anymore of her antics he decided to give up. He swung his flannel-clad legs over the edge of his bed and stretched his arms above his head. "Fine, you win, I'm up. What do you want?" he asked irritably, tugging at the hems of his sleeves.
"Well, Rose, Juleka, Kim, Max, and I were waiting for you to show at the Louvre for over an hour last night and you never came. You said that's what you wanted to do for your birthday! Then today at school Chloe kept going on about how you got akumatized and attacked her in her room and erased her precious closet. So, I had to see for myself." She paused and looked down, then in a smaller voice said, "We were all worried, you know."
Nathaniel felt guilty for standing up his friends. Sure, he hadn't been quite himself yesterday, but he had been looking forward to viewing the new art exhibit at the Louvre. Alix managed to get her dad to agree to let them in early so he could see it on his birthday.
"I'm sorry, Alix. I just felt so angry after Ms. Mendeleiev called my drawings chicken scratch and then Chloe... ugh. Then I attacked Marinette! How could I face any of them today? It's so embarrassing." He cradled his head in his hands with his elbows on his knees, hunched over as if his humiliation was physically perched on his shoulders.
Alix eyed her friend for a moment before jumping up and throwing a handful of clothes in his face. "You're not the only one to have been akumatized, you know. All you really did is doodle, it's not like you literally killed your friends to use their life force to go back in time or something crazy like that." Nathaniel looked up as she laughed at herself. Despite being one of the scariest akumas, Alix had such a carefree attitude toward it. She had a rough time when she first heard what happened, but after being reassured by their classmates that it wasn't her fault she decided to be positive and make a joke out of it. "Come on, let's go out. We never did get to celebrate after all!"
Nathaniel smiled to himself as she left his bedroom; perhaps this birthday wasn't so terrible after all.
Once he had gotten dressed, the pair found themselves visiting the Trocadero, where they found Kim and Max.
"Hey guys!" Kim called excitedly, then he clapped his hand on Nathaniel's shoulder. "Glad to see you're doing alright, man! Hey Alix, want to try to race me again?"
The pink haired girl smacked his arm and leaned in. "I won last time, Meathead. That means no more dares!"
Max pushed up his glasses and faced the jock. "She is correct, Kim. Until the end of the school year you are not permitted to initiate any dares."
"I didn't dare anyone! I simply asked Alix if she wanted to race," Kim smirked. He knew that even though it wasn't an official challenge she wouldn't back down without a fight. Alix was too competitive for that.
Sure enough, after a moment of deliberation, she accepted his offer.
"Are you sure you're okay by yourself?" Alix asked, her brows scrunched in concern. The racers were getting ready to walk down the steps to their track with Max playing the role of referee again when Nathaniel announced he would stay behind.
"Yeah, you guys go on ahead. The view of the Eiffel Tower is beautiful from here and I'd like to draw for a while."
Satisfied, the threesome left and Nathaniel sat at the top of the stairs with his sketchpad. His turquoise eyes glanced toward the tower occasionally for reference as detached lines began to take the form of the architecture in front of him. So absorbed in his work, he missed the light pat of feet landing behind him. Finally satisfied, he lifted up his work in the air, comparing the finished product to the original.
"That's beautiful," a voice gasped in awe, causing him to almost drop the book. After fumbling for a moment, he held the sketchpad safely on his lap. The voice began to frantically apologize. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to startle you, I just couldn't help but admire your drawing. You're heart must have stopped, that's what happens to me when someone sneaks up on me! I shouldn't have looked without your permission, I'm so-"
"Hey, it's alright. Thank-" Nathaniel's words died in his throat as he turned around and was met with the sight of a pair of black pigtails tied with red ribbons. "Ladybug?!"
She fiddled with her earring and giggled nervously. "Yep, that's me." Sitting down beside him, her countenance turned serious. The sincerity in her sapphire eyes shone intensely as she apologized again. "Listen, Nathaniel. A little birdie told me that yesterday was your birthday. I'm so sorry that you were akumatized on your special day. I just finished patrol when I saw you here and I would really like to make it up to you. Is there anything I could do?"
Stunned, Nathaniel wasn't sure how to react. His jaw dropped on it's own accord as his wide eyes landed on the girl beside him. The heroine of Paris sought him out just to make sure he had a good birthday? He could hardly believe his ears. As she began to shift uncomfortably, he realized just how long he had been staring at her. Turning red, he cleared his throat awkwardly and shook his head. "No thank you, Ladybug. I'm sure you have plenty of more important things to do."
Not taking no for an answer, she rose to her feet and extended her hand to him. "Come on. Your birthday is important. Besides, I was getting ready to head home and I think I know of something we could do that would really make it up to you."
Intrigued, the redhead took her hand and let her pull him up. "As long as you're sure. What do you have in mind?"
"It's a surprise," she replied with a smirk. Ladybug put a hand around his waist and admonished him to hold on tight. When his feet first left the ground, Nathaniel held back a scream. Heights had never been a preference of his and soaring through the air via yoyo didn't seem like a reliable form of transportation. Nonetheless, he trusted Ladybug and wanted to retain his dignity, so he took to biting his lip and tightly shutting his eyes.
It wasn't until a soft giggle pierced the air that Nathaniel realized that they had landed. Embarrassed, having realized that Ladybug must have seen his pained expression, he looked away. All humiliation was soon forgotten and a gasp of surprise left his mouth once he took in the scenery surrounding them. "This... This is stunning!" The pair was perched on top of the Palais de Chaillot, facing toward the Eiffel Tower.
"Do you like it?"
"Like it?" he scoffed, "This is the most amazing view I have ever seen! But why did you take me here?"
Smiling fondly, Ladybug explained, "When I saw your drawing, I thought you would appreciate the view from up here. I've sat up here plenty of times myself to sketch because it's so inspiring."
"Y-you enjoy drawing, too?"
Suddenly she looked a little embarrassed. "It's more of a hobby really, it's nothing like what you do! You're a true artist!"
Nathaniel blushed at the compliment, but he was more preoccupied with the newfound knowledge he received. The girl with a kind heart, strong determination, and graceful aura was an artist, just like him? His blush quickly grew at the thought of them drawing together. Perhaps she would sit and pose for him as he tried to capture the way the afternoon glow created a halo around her hair. She would stand awestruck once he handed her the portrait. Then her eyelids would flutter shut and she would start leaning in-
"Nathaniel! Where are you?!"
"Uh-oh, it sounds like your friends are looking for you. I should get you back before they get worried."
Ladybug slid her hand around Nathaniel's waist again, but this time he didn't feel nervous about letting her carry him. He trusted her completely. Still, his heart thumped almost painfully in his chest with the physical contact and it's impending absence. Sure enough, they soon reached the ground and Ladybug quickly waved goodbye so she could escape unnoticed by his search committee.
"There you are! Where have you been?" Alix called out after seeing him.
"Oh, I was just getting a better view of the tower so I could draw," he replied. He was already going to get a lot of attention at school tomorrow because of being akumatized, he didn't want to add more fuel to the fire.
Kim and Max appeared soon after and the group headed towards their respective homes. After saying goodbye to his friends, Nathaniel went inside his bedroom and sat at his desk. He pulled out a blank sheet of paper and his set of colored pencils. Graphite lines grew on the blank page, carefully curving to the form of a young woman. He thought of her strength and cunning, infusing these characteristics into her eyes. Picking up a black marker, he added the heroine's signature spots. After completing her image he decided to create a title, as if it was a comic book cover
"The Amazing Ladybug... No, that sounds like Spiderman... The Incredible- nope, that's taken too..." He thought out loud as he pondered the adjective that would complete the title. It needed to be something that would encompass her persona. A word that would describe just how special she was. "It's truly a miracle a girl like her even exists... That's it!"
He finished the cover and carefully taped it in his sketchbook after crossing out the pages of Super Nathan. His cheeks grew red when he realized he had added red hearts at the bottom of the page, but be couldn't bring himself to scribble them out. Smiling, he admired his finished work.
"The Miraculous Ladybug!"
.o.O.o.
Next time: Even though he inadvertantly caused Roger to be akumatized, Plagg can't seem to avoid getting into mischief. His misadventures after the end of Rogercop.