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Just a normal day. Another plain, tedious, nothing-at-all-out-of-the-ordinary day. Nathaniel slammed his face into the wooden desktop and groaned. How miserable.
This wasn’t just another day for him, although he doubted anyone else would really see the difference. Nathaniel’s expression rarely varied from a tired expression of cynical boredom, so a scene of him faceplanting onto his desk wasn’t remotely unusual. Rose might ask him if he was alright, to which he’d give a laconic “fine”, and that’d be the end of that.
One year - had it really been so long ago? It barely felt like a full year had passed in between him and the cause of his unique misery. He was a whole year older, a fair amount of misery less, and a few friends more than he had been then. But then again, he supposed with a sigh, tearing his gaze away from the desk two seats ahead, some things never change.
He shouldn’t be waiting, he wasn’t waiting, but subconsciously, he could just
feel
the stopwatch ticking, counting every moment till someone, anyone, just
someone
came up to him. And as more and more people filed into the classroom and filled up the formerly vacant seats, he couldn’t ignore the horrible sinking feeling in his chest.
Well, that was fine, then. He couldn’t blame them - all he’d done so far was faceplant into his desktop when the room was empty, and sit silently in his seat waiting for someone to notice him. Of course no one would come, but he supposed it was a nice shred of lingering hope while it still lasted.
Now he’d just lower back down into his seat, find a mildly comfortable way to rest his head on the desk, and perhaps fall asleep or conjure some daydream to take him away from this misery…
***
“Nathaniel?”
The redhead frowned, squinting into the bright light of the classroom above him, as someone drummed their fingers on the desk, a finger poking his cheek gently. He slowly rose up and patted his hair down, rubbing his eyes for a moment.
“Marinette?” he asked, still squinting from sleep. “Class is supposed to have started already. Shouldn’t you be at your desk? Why are you here?”
“Shh,” she hushed, kneeling down in front of his desk. “I ran late and Mme Bustier hasn’t come in yet so I wanted to give you this,” she whispered, putting a small wrapped box down on the desk.
He reached for it. “What’s this?”
“It’s a birthday gift, silly,” she smiled, and he was torn between either smiling back and hugging her for days, or giving an awkward thank you and dropping the gift directly in the trash bin and sulking back to a corner to lament.
Instead, he managed an “Oh?”
“Well, you remember last year, don’t you? I mean, I know you made comics about MightyIllustrator and all, but you did get akumatized on your birthday and I never got you a gift last year, so...” she explained, laughing nervously, and gestured to the box.
“Y-you remembered?” he asked, not bothering to hide his surprise.
“Of course I did!” She gave him the sweetest of smiles that sent butterflies flapping madly in his stomach. “I should probably get back to my desk right now, before Mme Bustier comes back. Hope you have a nice birthday!” she said, then quickly dashed to her own seat and sat down.
Nathaniel was left blinking rather dumbly after her. He looked down at the box in front of him, briefly debating whether or not to open it right here, or to save it for home, then dropped all attempts at self-control and figured he might as well have something nice through the rest of the school day. He quietly slid off the ribbon and tore off the wrapping paper. Under a cardboard lid lay a box of high-quality watercolor markers and an envelope. He tore open the envelope, too, and put the card next to his school tablet to read the message while Mme Bustier began instructing the class.
Dear Nath,
I know it’s probably hard being the first anniversary of your akumatization, but I wanted to wish you a happy birthday! You had a super clever and original way of embracing your akumatization and inspiring other people through your art and your comics with Marc. I’m sure Ladybug would be honored to see what you’ve done - you’re an everyday superhero yourself!
Love,
Marinette
Nathaniel traced over the last words, then shook himself to get rid of the fluffy, fluttery feeling. No good getting his hopes
too
high - it would only crash lower when he was ultimately disppointed. But...still...could it possibly be? There was no harm in imagining...was there…?
He looked up at Marinette to pause and wonder, only to be surprised when she turned around to him, giving him a wink before turning back around to talk to Alya.
*
On the first anniversary of the conception of the fictional superhero now known as “MightyIllustrator”, there was no red-haired artist occupying the back seat of Mme Bustier’s class. Instead there was a madly blushing tomato struggling to make sense of his feelings, crowded by his classmates, all of whom were appropriately concerned for his wellbeing.
“Do you have a fever?”
“Nath, say something!”
“Maybe we should take him to the nurse’s office...”
“Hey, Nath, do you want something to eat? I brought these new macarons my dad just came up with, they’re super good, do you want to try-”
Nathaniel promptly blacked out onto his desk and had to be taken to the nurse’s office, so he never did get to try Tom Dupain’s new signature macarons.
Whether he
ever
did, though, well, that - that is completely up to you.