Not Always Easy to Identify
Sorry I have been so quiet lately, I am trying my best to get more things done to share with you all!
In the meantime here is a short story I did as a gift for the wonderful and amazingly talented @twindoodle!
This is set in her “Chloe can’t keep her identity a secret” comic universe which if you don’t know I HIGHLY recommend checking it out, its adorable and hillarious! Anyways- enjoy!
Somehow Nathaniel wasn’t surprised that he was on his way back from the nurse’s office when the akuma attacked.
It seemed to be his fate these days to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
He wondered, not for the first time, why their school hadn’t instituted some sort of akuma evacuation procedure given the frequency with which they seemed to get attacked?
He pressed himself against the lockers, figuring it was easier to simply wait out the panicked hordes of students legitimately afraid of crossing the akumas path, as well as the few more opportunistic ones (lead by Kim) who were simply looking to take advantage of the excuse to get out of class.
He almost got bowled over by a determined looking Marinette, who barreled through the halls shouting something about her responsibilities to her fellow students as class president. She was almost immediately followed by a frantic looking Adrien, muttering something about ‘hoping she wasn’t already on the scene’, and seeming hell bent on chasing after her. Nathaniel wondered if he had finally joined most of the rest of the class in realizing that he had a crush on their pretty, if somewhat scattered, classmate. He begrudgingly had to admit that they would make a cute couple.
His musings were interrupted by Alya running down the halls at full speed, no doubt anxious to get more footage for the ladyblog.
Just as he thought the chaos had died down enough to safely navigate back to the classroom to retrieve his sketchbook, he heard an excited high pitched squeal from only a few feet away.
“Alright! You have totally got this Chloe! Time to show what you are made of!” she said, obviously trying to psych herself up.
Nathaniel closed his eyes, trying to rationalize once again that this wasn’t his problem. He should just walk away. Maybe go work on some sketches in the park while the weather was nice.
“You are a beautiful talented heroine-”
It wasn’t like he would be doing anything wrong.
“-you are going to earn Ladybug’s trust and respect-”
Just one foot in front of the other…
“You are Chloe Bourgeois! You can do this!”
Nathaniel sighed, scrunching his nose in annoyance, knowing that he was fighting a losing argument with himself.
“Alright Pollen, mrrrrrrrrpppphhhh-”
Her words were cut off as Nathaniel clamped a hand over her mouth and began dragging a now irate Chloe down the halls towards a less crowded part of the building.
“What do you think you are doing!” Chloe spat when he finally released her outside of the arts and humanities wing.
“I don’t know, maybe stopping you from messing everything up, again!”
“Messing…? I am a heroine! I fight against the forces of evil, thank you very much! I should be out there with Ladybug, but instead I am stuck here getting manhandled by Vincent Van Goth.”
“Seriously? Goth?” Nathaniel drawled, glancing down at his outfit of jeans, tee shirt and jacket, before meeting her gaze again with a raised eyebrow.
“Fine, E-MOnet. Except unlike him, you don’t make an impression.”
Nathaniel glared at her but had to admit that her pun filled banter was actually sort of clever. Clearly she had been spending some time with Chat Noir.
“I swear, I should just put you on a leash,” Nathaniel muttered, rubbing wearily at his temples.
“Oh my god have you turned evil?” Chloe gasped, taking a step away from him, “are you in league with Hawkmoth again? Is this because you are still mad that you can’t get Marinette to give you the time of day? Because honestly you really should just give it up, she is never gonna look at you as long as she continues to delude herself that she has a shot with Adrikins. And I don’t even think the forces of darkness are gonna change her mind.”
“I am not in league with Hawkmoth,” Nathaniel groaned, “I am trying to help you, god only knows why.”
“Oh. Cool,” Chloe said giving him a genuine smile that made him do a quick double take as his stomach gave an odd sort of lurch.
“Wait,” she said, her smile faltering, “if you are helping me why did you drag me away from the akuma?”
“Chloe,” Nathaniel sighed through clenched teeth, “how many times do I have to tell you that you need to be more careful about your secret identity?”
“I thought that was your job now.”
“Why on earth would it be my job?”
“Because you said you would keep my secret,” Chloe replied her head tilting slightly and her lips pursing into a concerned pout.
“Yes keep it! Not help you keep in from everyone else!”
“Well why not? I mean I am a superhero, you could be my totally awesome assistant. And hey, if you work really hard at it, someday you can be a superhero too!”
“You can make me a superhero?” Nathaniel asked, trying to repress the small thrill he got at the idea of living out his boyhood dream.
“Well no, I just sort of assumed that’s how it would work. I don’t actually know who’s in charge of handing out magical hero jewelry.”
“Oh,” Nathaniel said, hoping he didn’t sound too disappointed.
“Of course it would be hard to find something that wouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb in that tomato monstrosity you call your hair. You would need a ring, or something, like Chat. Or maybe a nice brooch. That would work with your whole tortured artist aesthetic.”
“You’re welcome!” Chloe grinned oblivious to his sarcasm. “Still, working as my assistant certainly can’t hurt your chances, can it?”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
She gave him an owlish blink.
