In Lieu Of A Date...
Title: In Lieu Of A Date...
Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug
Ship: Marc x Nathaniel
Characters: Marc, Nathaniel, Marinette, Adrien
AU: Bartender!Marc, Marinette’s Cousin!Marc
Word Count: 1,091
Summary: The night was a bust for Marinette after her date canceled on her. But Nathaniel had an idea that leads to him meeting Marinette’s cousin for the first time.
AN: I had this idea a while back but didn’t have time to finish it up for nathmarcnovember (not sure where it would've gone on @nathmarcnovember ‘s calendar tbh) due to cramming for an exam. The inspiration was Superfruit’s song “Sexy Ladies”; a song about gay best friends helping their girl best friends feel better after being ditched.
A couple excerpts:
“I'm just here to make your ex-man jealous Dance the night away with me I can keep you warm, be the candy on your arm So let's take a shot or two Dance the night away with you ... No I won't ever make a move on you, no But I heard your brother's pretty cute”
Nathaniel sighed as he looked up from Marinette's bed as she was sitting in her desk chair, looking down at her phone in despair. He'd been dragged into helping her plan out what to wear for the night. She had a date with Adrien that night and could be pretty indecisive; apparently, Marinette usually recruited her cousin into helping her out, but he was busy at his job as a bartender for the night. Unfortunately, things were turning out less than ideal for the night.
Adrien had canceled at the last moment- something had supposedly come up that he had to deal with, a family matter or something. Utter bullshit in Nathaniel's opinion. He was sure the blond was nice enough, but he could smell an excuse from a mile away. Nathaniel had used them to get out of socializing with people enough times; it was rather easy to tell when you were used to it. So now here they were, after hours of work on Marinette's hair, clothes and make-up, with no date for Marinette and Nathaniel feeling like he'd wasted his time. He couldn't stand the look on her face, however; she was a good friend and Adrien canceling the date angered him more than he thought.
(Neither of them knew that Adrien was Chat Noir and had to cancel to stop an Akuma victim that had shown up across the city.)
It was infuriating, and it wasn't like Nathaniel could do anything else. His gay-ass wasn't going to ask out Marinette after all.
Actually, maybe that's what she needed.
Nathaniel jumped to his feet with renewed confidence, smirking at a frazzled and bewildered Marinette, "Alright, its time to go on that date. Get yourself straightened up while I get my clubbing clothes on!"
Marinette gave him a puzzled look, "D-Date?" She frowned as she looked him over, "I'm... what are you talking about?"
The Redhead chuckled as he dug into his bag, "Well we're gonna make Adrien jealous of course! Hopefully seeing you having fun without him will get him to realize you're independent and not willing to wait on him only to be shown up. Plus," He looked over at Marinette and smiled softly, "You look like you need a fun night out."
The girl chuckled at the comment, as Nathaniel's plan fell into place. Maybe it was petty but she needed this, "Thank you Nath- can't believe you're asking a girl out!" She teased him as he laughed and twirled away, sticking his tongue out.
"I'm just arm-candy for the night Marinette; the day I ask out a girl for real is the day the aliens have kidnapped me!" He joked as Marinette giggled and slapped his shoulder. Nathaniel bowed a bit and went into the bathroom, changing into a flower-patterned button down, black trousers with boots and a sports coat.
He ducked back out with a spin, to applause from Marinette, both of them laughing as the stood up together and made for the door.
Tonight was going to be fun.
"So why did we come to this one in particular again Marinette?" Nathaniel asked, raising his voice as they headed into the club, after being cleared to enter. The black-haired girl laughed as she pulled him along towards where the bar was.
"My cousin works here! I said he was bartending remember? Well, he insisted we come here if we went clubbing so he could keep an eye on me and Adrien," She chuckled, grinning at the person behind the bar, "He's a bit protective and wanted to make sure Adrien didn't take advantage of me; might as well tell him we won't have to worry about that tonight." Marinette said a bit bitterly.
Nathaniel was about to reply when he suddenly caught sight of the bartender. He was finishing mixing up a drink for a customer, giving an affable and charming smile to whoever he was pouring the drink for. The smile was set by light pink lips, lipstick carefully put on; the rest of his make-up was flawless and honestly made Nathaniel nervous about how good Marinette's was looking right now. Then the tomato's eyes landed on the bartender's big green eyes, wide and bright and he was transfixed. They were bewitchingly beautiful, a color he wasn't sure he had ever seen before. Nathaniel was pulled to the bar in a daze by Marinette, drawing the bartender.
"Marinette! You came! ...but um, that isn't Adrien? Did something happen?" The bartender said in concern as his hands moved about, still prepping whatever was next even as he spoke.
"Ah its okay Marc, Adrien canceled at the last minute; Nathaniel here had helped me get ready and suggested we go out and party without Adrien if he was going to ditch us," Marinette said with a smile, a bit vindictive now, making Marc chuckle.
Nathaniel's eyes meanwhile hadn't left Marc's angelic face but for a moment to notice the black-painted and immaculate nails contrasting against his crisp and ironed bartender outfit. The giggle at his right made him suddenly realize that Marinette and Marc had finished talking and had caught him staring; his face flushed red at that.
"Hey Marc, I'm Nathaniel," he said, putting out his hand for an amused Marc to shake. The feeling was electric once their hands clasped and shook. Nathaniel smiled nervously- was Marc blushing a bit too? "You don't have to worry about Marinette; I'm not on her team," he said with a falsely-confident wink.
Marc chuckled a bit, lips quirking upwards into a smile that made Nathaniel's heart stutter like a jack-hammer. "Well, that's good to hear! I'm glad my cousin has someone who's sensible. You two have fun tonight, okay? Forget Adrien," he said, turning to Marinette for a moment. When she nodded, he turned back to Nath with a slightly more timid smile, "And if you're around in a bit, I might join you all out there, if... you’d have me,” he said with a sly wink.
Marinette gave out a little squeal of delight, one that Nathaniel barely noticed but was fairly suspicious if it was just that she was happy he'd be joining them. "That sounds good Marc; we'll see you later!" Marinette sang as she pulled a dazed Nathaniel to the dance floor, giggling endlessly.
She gave him a look as they left the bar for the dance floor, "You want his number?" Marinette said with a knowing smirk.
Nathaniel laughed, "As if you have to ask!"