L'Existence Éphémère et son Ami, Mémoire

Title: L'Existence Éphémère et son Ami, Mémoire

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug

Ship: Marc x Nathaniel

Characters: Marc, Nathaniel, OC

Prompt: Art Exhibit (from the old @nathmarcnovember prompt list. I was busy a lot of that month so I have a lot of unsued prompts to pull from.)

Summary: 

Nathaniel hadn't been to a fancy gathering in a long time, let alone one to celebrate his new art exhibit.

He wasn't used to being alone for it.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18036125

              “Mr. Kurtzberg! Congratulations on your first big exhibit!” Said a tall lady, looking like her cocktail dress was pinching her waist. It probably was tightened far too much, all in an attempt to appear more entrancing. Her ruby red lipstick was perfectly placed on her lips, set in a soft yet playfully wicked smirk. Her make-up was perfectly applied and her hips swayed as she walked up to him.

               If he had been another man, he would have been enthralled by her beauty.

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: 

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!"

ArcAnCiel

Title: ArcAnCiel

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug

Ship: Marc x Nathaniel

Characters: Marc, Nathaniel, Alix, Marinette, Adrien

AU: Youtuber AU

Word Count: 1,592

Summary: Nathaniel had gathered a team to voice his animation of youtuber ArcAnCiel’s short story “Miraculous” - and one tweet in particular catches his eye.

AN: I adore Youtuber AUs, and since its Free Space day on @nathmarcnovember ‘s prompt calendar, I decided to indulge myself. Hopefully the formatting for the tweets in the fic is easy to read, I haven’t done anything like this before ^-^ If you have any suggestions for improving the formatting, please, message me and let me know :)

Nathaniel was sure he was hyperventilating. He hadn't ever done it before, but he was sure that he was about to be dead at this point. Some people might think he was exaggerating, but it was really no joke, not to him. His eyes were still fixated on the tweet by his idol on his screen. His hands scrambled for his phone, speed-dialing a group call with Adrian, and Alix.

Fireworks

Title: Fireworks

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug

Ship: Marc x Nathaniel

Characters: Marc, Nathaniel, Alix, others mentioned

Prompt: Fireworks, from @nathmarcnovember

Word Count: 702

Summary: It was their four year anniversary and everything was perfect for Marc. Nathaniel had really outdone himself. But he wasn’t ready for when the fireworks started.

AN: Lots of cute fluff to rinse my system of the angst my last drabble put in me.

“You know, I wasn’t sure this was going to be worth the cost when you suggested it as an anniversary date Nath,” Marc said, murmuring into Nathaniel’s ear as the two walked side-by-side, arms encircling each other’s waists. The cool air was on the grass of around them as the sun swiftly behind the tree-line. “Especially since we would be going with others.”

Nathaniel chuckled, taking a moment to nuzzle Marc’s soft hair with a deep sigh, “Oh I know, I am the absolute worst. Coming up with a nice date, a fresh concept, instead of taking you out to that park again for our fourth year. It’s a big milestone you know!” Nathaniel said dramatically. Marc giggled at that comment.

“I am more than happy going to that absolutely lovely park with you whenever you want. Buying a plane ticket to come to the American Disney World was absolutely not necessary to make me happy,” he said with a grin before squeaking as they were forced to suddenly weave around some tourist who weren’t paying attention to where they were walking and were more focused on getting into their spots for the impending fireworks show.

“Yes, well, we’re in college now you know, we have to live a little!” Nathaniel giggled as they walked around to the front area of the castle, towards the gardens in between Main Street U.S.A. and Cinderella’s Castle. From the distance, Marinette waved them over; she, Adrien, Alix, Luka and many others from their old school were there already, laughing and giggling.

Marc hummed a little bit, his lip-stick painted lips curling a bit into a smirk, “Nath, we’ve been in college for a while now, that’s a poor excuse; I’ll admit though… I think the best gift so far was being able to see everyone again.” He said with a smile as they came over to the group. They all seemed to have an excited buzz, probably ready for the fireworks show to start.

Alix clapped Nathaniel on the back as she passed by him, shaking his hand and smirking widely, “Oh you have no idea Marc, it’s been an absolute blast; you’ve probably gotten the best end of the deal, being pampered by Nathaniel here,” a comment that sent Marc blushing but grinning as well, eyes flickering to the castle, his heart heavy with happiness.

Any moment now the show would begin.

Nathaniel grinned widely at that too, “Oh I agree, but its far from my best gift you know; I do have one more surprise for you,” he said pulling away from Marc, fumbling with something that suddenly had appeared in the hand Alix had been shaking.

“Hm?” Marc began, only to stop as understanding dawned on him as Nathaniel dropped to one knee, their friends quieting but grinning widely. It seemed like even the crowd nearby had quieted a bit- or perhaps the rushing in his ears simply made them impossible to hear.

“Marc, I’ve known you for five years, and honestly, I’m kicking myself for not having done this sooner. Marc Anciel, would you marry me?” Nathaniel asked, quelling the butterflies in his stomach and happy the others were here to take pictures for them- he never wanted to forget this moment.

Marc swallowed thickly, suddenly aware of the nice sweater Nathaniel had chosen, one that Nath knew Marc adored. The rustling of the wind in the grass, the beginning of the music of the show, the fact that his heart was fit to burst with a joy he was sure was trying to make him pass out.

Thankfully, he didn’t need much of his brain to function for this.

“Yes.” Marc whispered, tearing up a little, “No matter when or where you might’ve asked, the answer was always going to be yes.” He said, their eyes only for each other once again. Nathaniel took the ring out, their friends cheering and clapping.  Nathaniel slid the ring onto Marc’s awaiting finger- only to gasp with surprise as Marc grabbed him by the sweater and pulled Nath up hastily to him, lips moving to meet, the camera flashing as they heard a crackle and boom overhead.

The fireworks show had finally started.

At the Hawk’s Behest

Title: At the Hawk’s Behest

Series: To the East | 1.At the Hawk’s Behest | 2.Make-up

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug / My Hero Academia

Ship: Marc x Nathaniel

Characters: Marc, Nathaniel, Hawk Moth

Prompt: Superheroes, from @nathmarcnovember

Word Count: 2,059

Tags: Villain!Nathaniel , Villain!Marc

Rating: T (for a few swear words towards the end)

Summary: Evillustrator has been working for Hawk-Moth and his criminal empire for years, and now he has a new assignment- and a new partner.

AN: It’s time for a My Hero Academia and Miraculous Ladybug fusion! While the prompt was just generalized superhero-theme, my current love for My Hero Academia reared it’s head and wrote out this; then you get my need for a special twist taking their villain forms and running with it! I hope you all enjoy!

“So, who’s the new villain you’re bringing into our little group Hawk-Moth?” Evillustrator asked, leaning against the wall of the manor of his employer. The manor was gilded with expensive gold, silver and marble, wood flooring and paneling giving it a dignified feeling. It was quite the opposite of most evil lairs Evillustrator had heard of, worth more than most criminals had to live off of; given Hawk-Moth had complete control over most organized crime in Paris, and rumored ties to the government, perhaps it was to be expected for someone of his stature.

After A Long Night Out

Title: After A Long Night Out

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug

Ship: Marc x Nathaniel

Characters: Marc, Nathaniel, Alix, Marinette

Prompt: First Date, from @nathmarcnovember

Word Count: 1,284

Summary: Just because you manage to ask your crush out and manage a successful date, doesn’t mean you don’t get after-date nerves. Luckily, best friends are there for you afterward.

AN: Full disclosure, I’m not really into Miraculous Ladybug show/fandom, but I adore Marc and his design, and I find the ship very cute. So enjoy some scribblings of mine.

"God, I was so awkward," Nathaniel groaned as he leaned back in his chair in his room, a loud and irritating squeak being drawn from its spring. Air escaped his lips and he began pressing his face into his hands as Alix chuckled next to him. It was a late night for the both of them, with school tomorrow morning; Nathaniel was beyond tired after a long day but he was numb to it right now. The wind whistled loudly outside, strong enough to send leaves and papers swirling around pedestrians legs and ruffling the hair of those walking. His mind wandered back for a moment to the messy black hair of his date and he felt his cheeks flush yet again, the heat creeping over them. God, he felt like he needed to slap himself a few times to get his mind back on track.